,,the                     ,,collected   
,,works ,,of ,,william ,,hazlitt        
,,in ,,twelve ,,volumes                 
,,volume ,,four                         
,all rights reserved    ,illustration3  
,william ,hazlitt4      ,from a         
miniature on ivory ,executed by ,john   
,hazlitt about #aghd                    
,,the ,,collected ,,works ,,of          
,,william ,,hazlitt                     
,,edited ,,by ,a4 ,r4 ,,waller          
,,and ,,arnold ,,glover                 
,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,by         
,w4 ,e4 ,,henley                        
,a ,reply to ,malthus                   
,the ,spirit of the ,age                
,etc4                                   
#aijb                          ,,london3
 ,j4 ,m4 ,,dent  ,,co4                  
,mc,c,l,u,r,e1 ,,phillips  ,,co43 ,,new 
,,york               ,edinburgh3 ,t4 and
 ,a4 ,,constable1 7late7 ,printers to   
,her ,majesty                           
,,contents                              
,,page   ,a ,,reply ,,to ,,malthus',s   

,,essay ,,on ,,population               
#a     ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age  
#ahe     ,,preface1 ,,etc41 ,,from ,,an 
,,abridgment ,,of ,,the ,,light ,,of    
,,nature ,,pursued    #cfi     ,,preface
 ,,from ,a ,,new ,,and ,,improved       
,,grammar ,,of ,,the ,,english ,,tongue 
#chg     ,,notes                        
#cig                ,a ,,reply ,,to     
,,the ,,essay ,,on ,,population ,,by    
,,the ,,rev4 ,t4 ,r4 ,,malthus    ,,in  
,a ,,series ,,of ,,letters4 ,,to ,,which
 ,,are ,,added1 ,,extracts ,,from ,,the 
,,essay1                                
,,with ,,notes                          
,,bibliographical ,,note      ,published
 anonymously in one #hvo vol4 of #cgh   
pages 7#ahjg7 with the  following       
title-page3 #8,a ,reply to the ,essay on
 ,population1 by the ,rev4  ,t4 ,r4     
,malthus4 ,in a ,series of ,letters4 ,to
 which are added1 ,extracts from  the   
,essay2 with notes4 ,london3 ,printed   
for ,longman1 ,hurst1 ,rees1 and  ,orme1
 ,paternoster ,row4 #ahjg4' ,the volume 

was printed by ,arliss and  ,huntsman1  
#cb ,gutter ,lane1 ,cheapside4          
,,advertisement      ,the three first of
 the following letters appeared         
originally in  ,cobbett's ,weekly       
,political ,register4 ,there are several
 things1 in which  they may seem to     
require some apology4 ,first1 some      
persons1 who were  convinced by the     
arguments1 have objected to the style as
 too flowery1  and full of attempts at  
description4 ,if ,i have erred in this  
respect1 it  has been from design4 ,i   
have indeed endeavoured to make my book 
as  amusing as the costiveness of my    
genius would permit4 ,if however these  
critics persist in their objection1 ,i  
will undertake to produce a work  as dry
 and formal as they please1 if they will
 undertake to find  readers4 ,secondly1 
some of the observations may be thought 
too severe  and personal4 ,in the first 
place1 ,i shall answer that the abuse1  
of  which there is to be sure a         
plentiful sprinkling1 is not ,i think   

unmerited or unsupported2 and in the    
second place1 that if ,i could have     
attacked the works successfully1 without
 attacking the author1 ,i should  have  
preferred doing so4 ,but the thing was  
impossible4 ,whoever troubles  himself  
about abstract reasonings1 or calm1     
dispassionate inquiries  after truth8   
,the public ought not to blame me for   
consulting their  taste4 ,as to the     
diffuseness1 the repetitions1 and want  
of method to be  found in these letters1
 ,i have no good defence to make4 ,i may
 however  make the same excuse for the  
great length to which they have run1 as 
the  ,frenchman did1 who apologised for 
writing a long letter by saying1 that   
he had not time to write a shorter4     
,,letters ,,in                          
,,answer ,,to ,,malthus1 c4             
,,letter ,i                             
,,introductory      ,,sir1--,as the     
proposed alteration in the system of the
 ,poor ,laws must  naturally engage your
 attention1 as well as that of the      

public2 and1 as  the authority of ,mr4  
,malthus has often been referred to1 and
 has great  weight with many people on  
this subject1 it may not be amiss to    
inquire1  how far the reputation which  
that gentleman has gained1 as a moral   
and  political philosopher1 can be      
safely reposed on as the foundation of  
any  part of a system which is directed 
to objects of national utility1 and     
requires close1 comprehensive1 and      
accurate reasoning4 ,you1 ,sir1 are not 
ignorant1 that a name will do more      
towards softening down prejudices1  and 
bolstering up a crude and tottering     
system1 than any arguments  whatever4   
,it is always easier to quote an        
authority than to carry on a  chain of  
reasoning4 ,mr4 ,malthus's reputation   
may1 ,i fear1 prove fatal to  the poor  
of this country4 ,his name hangs        
suspended over their heads1 in          
terrorem1 like some baleful meteor4 ,it 
is the shield behind which the  archers 
may take their stand1 and gall them at  

their leisure4 ,he has set  them up as a
 defenceless mark1 on which both friends
 and foes may  exercise their malice1 or
 their wantonness1 as they think proper4
 ,he has  fairly hunted them down1 he   
has driven them into his toils1 he has  
thrown his net over them1 and they      
remain as a prey to the first  invader1 
either to be sacrificed without mercy at
 the shrine of cold  unfeeling avarice1 
or to linger out a miserable existence  
under the  hands of ingenious and       
scientific tormentors4--,there is a     
vulgar saying1  #8,give a dog a bad     
name1 and hang him4' ,the poor seem to  
me to be pretty  much in this situation 
at present4 ,the poor1 ,sir1 labour     
under a natural  stigma2 they are       
naturally despised4 ,their interests are
 at best but  coldly and remotely felt  
by the other classes of society4 ,mr4   
,malthus's  book has done all that was  
wanting to increase this indifference   
and  apathy4 ,but it is neither generous
 nor just1 to come in aid of the  narrow

 prejudices and hard-heartedness of     
mankind1 with metaphysical  distinctions
 and the cobwebs of philosophy4 ,the    
balance inclines too  much on that side 
already1 without the addition of false  
weights4 ,i  confess ,i do feel some    
degree of disgust and indignation rising
 within  me1 when ,i see a man of ,mr4  
,malthus's character and calling        
standing  forward as the accuser of     
those #8who have none to help them1' as 
the  high-priest of #8pride and         
covetousness1' forming selfishness into 
a  regular code1 with its codicils1     
institutes and glosses annexed1 trying  
to muffle up the hand of charity in the 
fetters of the law1 to suppress  #8the  
compunctious visitings of nature1' to   
make men ashamed of  compassion and     
good-nature as folly and weakness1      
#8laying the flattering  unction' of    
religion to the conscience of the       
riotous and luxurious  liver1 and       
#8grinding the faces of the poor' with  
texts of scripture4  ,formerly the      

feelings of compassion1 and the dictates
 of justice were  found to operate as   
correctives on the habitual meanness and
 selfishness  of our nature3 at present 
this order is reversed2 and it is       
discovered  that justice and humanity   
are not obstacles in the way of1 but    
that they  are the most effectual       
strengtheners and supporters of our     
prevailing  passions4 ,mr4 ,malthus has 
#8admirably reconciled the old quarrel  
between  speculation and practice1' by  
shewing 7,i suppose in humble imitation 
of  ,mandeville7 that our duty and our  
vices both lean the same way1 and that  
the ends of public virtue and           
benevolence are best answered by the    
meanness1 pride1 extravagance1 and      
insensibility of individuals4 ,this is  
certainly a very convenient doctrine2   
and it is not to be wondered at1  that  
it should have become so fashionable as 
it has4#a    ,while the prejudice       
infused into the public mind by this    
gentleman's  writings subsists in its   

full force1 ,i am almost convinced that 
any  serious attempt at bettering the   
condition of the poor will be           
ineffectual4 ,the only object at present
 is to gain time4 ,the less it is       
meddled with either with good or bad    
intentions1 the better4 ,tampering  with
 the disease #8will but skin and film   
the ulcerous part1 while foul           
corruption1 mining all within1 infects  
unseen4' ,i have not confidence  enough 
either in the integrity1 the abilities1 
or the power of our  state-doctors to be
 willing to trust it entirely in their  
hands4 ,they  risk nothing1 if they     
fail4 ,the patient is in too desperate a
 state to  bring any imputation on their
 skill2 and after all1 it is only trying
  experiments in corpore vili4 ,the only
 thing they need be afraid of is  in    
reality doing too much good4 ,this is   
the only error which would  never be    
forgiven by those whose resentment they 
have most reason to  dread4 ,this       
however there will be no danger of4 ,the

 state of public  feeling1 the          
dispositions of individuals1 the narrow 
jealousy of  parties1 and the interests 
of the most powerful members of the     
community  will1 ,i suspect1 suffer     
little effectually to be done for       
bettering the  condition1 exalting the  
character1 enlightening the             
understandings1 or  securing the        
comforts1 the independence1 the virtue  
and happiness of the  lower classes of  
the people4 ,but1 ,i am not equally sure
 that the means  employed for this very 
purpose may not be made a handle for    
stifling  every principle of liberty and
 honour in the hearts of a free people4 
,it  will be no difficult matter1 as    
things are circumstanced1 under pretence
  of propriety and economy1 to smuggle  
in the worst of tyrannies1 a  principle 
of unrelenting1 incessant1 vexatious1   
over-ruling influence1  extending to    
each individual1 and to all the petty   
concerns of life4    ,this is what      
strikes me on the first view of the     

subject4 ,i would ask1  ,is ,mr4        
,whitbread sure of the instruments he is
 to employ in the  execution of his     
scheme8 ,is he sure that his managing   
partners in this  new political firm of 
opulent patronage will not play the game
 into the  hands of those whose views of
 government and civilization are very   
different from his own8 ,but it seems1  
that whether practicable1 or no1  ,mr4  
,whitbread must bring in a ,poor ,bill4 
,the effect of it appears to me  to be  
putting the poor into the wardship of   
the rich1 to be doing away  the little  
remains of independence we have left1   
and making them once  more what they    
were formerly1 the vassals of a wealthy 
aristocracy4 ,for  my own part1 who do  
not pretend to see far into things1 and 
do not  expect miracles from human      
nature1 ,i should wish to trust as      
little as  possible to the liberality   
and enlightened views of country        
squires1 or  to the tender mercies of   
justices of the peace4    ,the example  

of ,scotland is held out to us as a     
proof of the beneficial  effects of     
popular education1 and we are promised  
all the same  advantages from the       
adoption of the same plan4 ,the         
education of the poor  is the grand     
specific which is to cure all our       
disorders1 and make the  leper whole    
again2 and1 like other specifics1 it is 
to operate equally  on all constitutions
 and in all cases4 ,but ,i may ask1 ,is 
the education  of the poor the only     
circumstance in which ,scotland differs 
from  ,england8 ,are there no other     
circumstances in the situation of this  
country that may render such a scheme   
impracticable1 or counteract its  good  
effects1 or render it even worse than   
nugatory8 ,is knowledge in  itself a    
principle of such universal and         
indisputable excellence that it  can    
never be misapplied1 that it can never  
be made the instrument and  incentive to
 mischief1 or that it can never be mixed
 and contaminated  with #8baser matter'8

 ,do not the peculiar principles and    
discipline of  the church of ,scotland1 
does not the traditional and habitual   
faith in  the doctrines of religion1 do 
not the general manners not of the poor 
only1 but of the other classes of       
society1 does not the state of          
cultivation1 do not the employments of  
the people1 the absence of  luxury1 and 
temptation1 the small number of great   
towns1 and the remains  of ancient      
customs1 tend to strengthen1 to forward1
 to give consistency  to1 and secure the
 good effects of education8 ,or will    
,mr4 ,whitbread say  that he can supply 
the place of these with a beadle1 a     
white wand1 a  spelling book1 and a     
primmer8 ,supposing it practicable1 will
 the  adoption of a general plan of     
education have the same effect in our   
great manufacturing towns1 in our       
sea-ports1 in the metropolis1 that it   
has in the heart of ,scotland1 or in the
 mountains of ,cumberland8 ,will it  not
 have the contrary effect8    ,it is not

 reading in the abstract1 but the kind  
of reading they are  likely to meet     
with1 and the examples about them       
leading them to emulate  the patterns of
 sobriety and industry1 or of vice and  
profligacy held  out to them in books1  
that will do either good or harm to the 
morals of  a people4 ,in the country the
 people read moral or religious1 or1 at 
least1 innocent books1 and therefore1   
they are benefited by them2 in  towns1  
they as often meet with licentious and  
idle publications1 which  must do them  
harm4 ,it is in vain to say that you    
will give them good  books1 they will   
get bad ones4 ,will those hotbeds of    
vice1 the  factories of ,manchester1 c41
 be less fruitful for having the farina 
of knowledge sprinkled over them8 ,will 
not corruption quicken faster1  and     
spread wider for having this new channel
 opened to it8 ,will a  smattering in   
books1 and the current pamphlets of the 
day tend to quench  and smother the     
flame of the passions1 or will it add   

fuel to them8 ,i do  not scruple to     
assert1 that religion itself1 when it   
comes in contact  with certain          
situations1 may be highly dangerous4 ,it
 is the soil in  which the greatest     
virtues and the greatest vices take     
root4 ,where it  has not strength to    
stop the torrent of dissolute manners1  
it gives it  additional force by        
checking it2 as the bow that has been   
bent the  contrary way1 recoils back    
with tenfold violence4 ,it is for this  
reason  that the morals of the people in
 the trading towns in the north of      
,england are1 ,i believe1 worse than    
they are farther south1 because they    
are brought up more religiously4 ,the   
common people there are almost all  of  
them originally dissenters4 ,again1 it  
may be asked1 will the poor  people in  
the trading towns send their children to
 school instead of  sending them to work
 at a factory8 ,or will their employers1
 forgetting  their own interests1 compel
 them to do it8 ,or will they give up   

their  profits and their wealth for the 
sake of informing the minds1 and        
preserving the morals of the poor8 ,oh6 
no4 ,it may be replied1 that it is      
chiefly for the peasantry and country   
people1 who compose the largest  part of
 the community1 that this plan of       
education is intended4 ,but they  are   
the very people who do not stand in need
 of it1 and to whom1 if it  does no     
harm1 it will do little good4 ,if       
working hard1 and living  sparingly are 
the chief lessons meant to be inculcated
 in their minds1  they are already      
tolerably perfect in their parts4 ,as   
for the rest1 it  is in vain to attempt 
to make men any thing else but what     
their  situation makes them4 ,we are the
 creatures not of knowledge1 but of     
circumstances4    ,for all these reasons
 ,i cannot help looking at this general 
parallel  between the benefits derived  
from education in ,scotland1 and those  
expected from it in this country as     
little better than a leurre de  dupe4   

,the advantages of education in the     
abstract are1 ,i fear1 like  other      
abstractions1 not to be found in nature4
 ,i thought that the rage  for blind    
reform1 for abstract utility1 and       
general reasoning1 had been  exploded   
long since4 ,if ever it was proper1 it  
was proper on general  subjects1 on the 
nature of man and his prospects in      
general4 ,but the  spirit of abstraction
 driven out of the minds of philosophers
 has passed  into the heads of members  
of parliament3 banished from the closets
 of  the studious1 it has taken up its  
favourite abode in the ,house of        
,commons4 ,it has only shifted its      
ground and its objects according to the 
character of those in whom it is found4 
,it has dwindled down into petty        
projects1 speculative details1 and      
dreams of practical1 positive           
matter-of-fact improvement4 ,these new  
candidates for fame come in  awkwardly  
holding up the train of philosophy2 and1
 like the squires of  political romance1

 invite you to sit down with them to the
 spoonfuls of  whipt syllabub1 the      
broken scraps of logic1 and the same    
banquet of  windy promises which had    
been so much more handsomely served up1 
and to  satiety1 by their masters4    ,i
 know nothing of ,mr4 ,whitbread        
personally4 ,his character stands fair  
with the public1 for consistency and    
good intention4 ,but ,i cannot          
recognise in his plodding1 mechanical1  
but ill-directed and unsuccessful       
endeavours to bring to justice a great  
public delinquent1 in his flowery       
common-place harangues1 or in the cold1 
philosophic indifference of the         
sentiments he has expressed upon the    
present occasion1 either the  genius1   
penetration1 or generous enthusiasm1    
7regulated1 not damped by  the dictates 
of reason7 which shall be equally proof 
against the  artifices of designing men1
 against the sanguine delusions of      
personal  vanity1 or the difficulties1  
the delays1 the disgust1 and probable   

odium  to be encountered in the         
determined prosecution of such a task4  
,the  celebrated ,howard fell a martyr  
to the great cause of humanity in which 
he embarked4 ,he plunged into the depth 
of dungeons1 into the loathsome  cells  
of disease1 ignominy1 and despair2 he   
sacrificed health and life  itself as a 
pledge of the sincerity of his motives4 
,but what proof has  ,mr4 ,whitbread    
ever given of his true and undissembled 
attachment to the  same cause8 ,what    
sacrifices has he made1 what fatigues   
has he suffered1  what pain has he felt1
 what privation has he undergone in the 
pursuit of  his object1 that he should  
be depended on as the friend and        
guardian of  the poor1 as the dispenser 
of good or ill to millions of his       
fellow-beings8 ,the #8champion' should  
be the #8child' of poverty4 ,the  author
 of our religion1 when he came to save  
the world1 took our nature  upon him1   
and became as one of us3 it is not      
likely that any one should  ever prove  

the saviour of the poor1 who has not    
common feelings with  them1 and who does
 not know their weaknesses and wants4   
,to the officious  inquiries of all     
others1 ,what then are we to do for     
them8 ,the best  answer would perhaps   
be1 ,let them alone4--    ,i return to  
the subject from which ,i set out1 and  
from which ,i have  wandered without    
intending it2 ,i mean the system of ,mr4
 ,malthus1 under  the auspices of whose 
discoveries it seems the present plan is
  undertaken1 though it differs in many 
of its features from the  expedients    
recommended by that author4 ,i am afraid
 that the parent  discovery may1        
however1 in spite of any efforts to     
prevent it1 overlay  the ricketty       
offspring4 ,besides1 the original design
 and principle gives  a bias to all our 
subsequent proceedings1 and warps our   
views without  our perceiving it4 ,mr4  
,malthus's system must1 ,i am sure1 ever
 remain a  stumbling block in the way of
 true political economy1 as innate ideas

  for a long time confused and perplexed
 all attempts at philosophy4 ,it is  an 
ignis fatuus1 which can only beguile the
 thoughtless gazer1 and  lead him into  
bogs and quicksands1 before he knows    
where he is4 ,the  details of his system
 are1 ,i believe1 as confused1          
contradictory1 and  uncertain1 as the   
system itself4 ,i shall1 however1       
confine my remarks to  the outlines of  
his plan1 and his general principles of 
reasoning4 ,in  these respects1 ,i have 
no hesitation in saying that his work is
 the most  complete specimen of         
illogical1 crude and contradictory      
reasoning1  that perhaps was ever       
offered to the notice of the public4 ,a 
clear and  comprehensive mind is1 ,i    
conceive1 shewn1 not in the             
extensiveness of  the plan which an     
author has chalked out for himself1 but 
in the order  and connection observed in
 the arrangement of the subject1 and the
  consistency of the several parts4     
,this praise is so far from being       

applicable to the reasoning of our      
author1 that nothing was ever more      
loose and incoherent4 #8,the latter end 
of his commonwealth always forgets  the 
beginning4' ,argument threatens         
argument1 conclusion stands opposed  to 
conclusion4 ,this page is an answer to  
the following one1 and that to  the     
next4 ,there is hardly a single         
statement in the whole work1 in which   
he seems to have had a distinct idea of 
his own meaning4 ,the principle  itself 
is neither new1 nor does it prove any   
thing new2 least of all  does it prove  
what he meant it to prove4 ,his whole   
theory is a continued  contradiction2 it
 is a nullity in the science of         
political philosophy4    ,i must1       
however1 defer the proof of these       
assertions to another letter1  when1 if 
you should deem what ,i have already    
said worthy the notice of  your readers1
 ,i hope to make them out to their and  
your satisfaction4                      
,,letter ,,ii           ,,on ,,the      

,,originality ,,of ,,mr4 ,,malthus',s   
,,principal ,,argument      ,,sir1--,the
 ,english have been called a nation of  
philosophers2 as ,i  conceive1 on very  
slender foundations4 ,they are indeed   
somewhat slow and  dull1 and would be   
wise1 if they could4 ,they are fond of  
deep questions  without understanding   
them2 and have that perplexed and       
plodding kind of  intellect1 which takes
 delight in difficulties1 and           
contradictions1  without ever coming to 
a conclusion4 ,they feel most interest  
in things  which promise to be the least
 interesting4 ,what is confused and     
unintelligible they take to be profound2
 whatever is remote and  uncertain1 they
 conceive must be of vast weight and    
importance4 ,they are  always in want of
 some new and mighty project in science1
 in politics1  or in morality for the   
morbid sensibility of their minds to    
brood over  and exercise itself upon3   
and by the time they are tired of       
puzzling  themselves to no purpose about

 one absurdity1 another is generally    
ready  to start up1 and take its place4 
,thus there is a perpetual restless     
succession of philosophers and systems  
of philosophy3 and the proof they  give 
you of their wisdom to-day1 is by       
convincing you what fools they  were six
 months before4 ,their pretensions to   
solidity of understanding  rest on the  
foundation of their own shallowness and 
levity2 and their  gravest              
demonstrations rise out of the ruins of 
others4    ,mr4 ,malthus has for some   
time past been lord of the ascendant4   
,but ,i  will venture to predict that   
his reign will not be of long duration4 
,his  hour is almost come2 and this     
mighty luminary1 #8who so lately        
scorched  us in the meridian1 will sink 
temperately to the west1 and be hardly  
felt as he descends4' ,it is not        
difficult to account for the very       
favourable reception his work has met   
with in certain classes of  society3 it 
must be a source of continual           

satisfaction to their minds by          
relieving them from the troublesome     
feelings so frequently occasioned by    
the remains of certain silly prejudices1
 and by enabling them to set so         
completely at defiance the claims of    
#8worthless importunity in rags4'  ,but 
it is not easy to account for the       
attention which our author's  reasonings
 have excited among thinking men1 except
 from a habit of  extreme abstraction   
and over-refined speculation1           
unsupported by actual  observation or a 
general knowledge of practical subjects1
 in consequence  of which the mind is   
dazzled and confounded by any striking  
fact which  thwarts its previous        
conclusions4 ,there is also in some     
minds a low and  narrow jealousy1 which 
makes them glad of any opportunity to   
escape from  the contemplation of       
magnificent scenes of visionary         
excellence1 to hug  themselves in their 
own indifference and apathy1 and to     
return once more  to their natural      

level4 ,mr4 ,malthus's essay was in this
 respect a nice  let-down from the too  
sanguine expectations and overstrained  
enthusiasm which preceded it4 ,else1 how
 a work of so base tendency1 and  so    
poorly glossed over1 which strikes at   
the root of every humane  principle1 and
 all the while cants about sensibility  
and morality1 in  which the little1 low1
 rankling malice of a parish-beadle1 or 
the  overseer of a work-house is        
disguised in the garb of philosophy1 and
  recommended as a dress for every      
,english gentleman to wear1 in which    
false logic is buried under a heap of   
garbled calculations1 such as a  bad    
player might make at cribbage to puzzle 
those with1 who knew less of  the game  
than himself1 where every argument is a 
felo de se1 and  defeats its own        
purpose1 containing both #8its bane and 
antidote' within  itself1 how otherwise 
such a miserable reptile performance    
should ever  have crawled to that height
 of reputation which it has reached1 ,i 

am  utterly unable to comprehend4 ,but  
it seems ,mr4 ,malthus's essay was a    
discovery4 ,there are those whom ,i have
 heard place him by the side of  ,sir   
,isaac ,newton1 as both equally great1  
the one in natural1 the other  in       
political philosophy4 ,but waving this  
comparison1 ,i must confess1  that were 
,i really persuaded that ,mr4 ,malthus  
had made any discovery at  all1 there is
 so little originality1 and so much     
ill-nature and  illiberality in the     
world1 that ,i should be tempted to     
overlook the  large share of the latter 
which ,mr4 ,malthus possesses in common 
with the  rest of mankind 7and which in 
him may probably be owing to            
ill-digestion1 to a sickly constitution1
 or some former distaste  conceived     
against poverty7 and to consider him    
merely in the light of a  man of genius4
 ,multum abludit imago4 ,indeed ,i do   
not much see what  there is to discover 
on the subject1 after reading the       
genealogical  table of ,noah's          

descendants1 and knowing that the world 
is round4 ,but  even allowing that there
 was something in the nature of the     
subject  which threw over it a veil of  
almost impenetrable obscurity1 ,mr4     
,malthus  was not the first who found   
out the secret4 ,whatever some of his   
ignorant admirers may pretend1 ,mr4     
,malthus will not say that this was  the
 case4 ,he has himself given us a list  
of authors1 some of whom he had  read   
before1 and some since the first        
publication of his ,essay1#b who  fully 
understood and clearly stated this      
principle4 ,among these ,wallace  is the
 chief4 ,he has not only stated the     
general principle with the  utmost force
 and precision1 by pointing out the     
necessary disproportion  between the    
tendency in population and the tendency 
in the means of  subsistence to increase
 after a certain period1 7and till this 
period1  namely till the world became   
full1 ,i must contend in opposition to  
,mr4  ,malthus that the disproportion   

would not be necessary1 but             
artificial72 but what is most           
remarkable1 he has brought this very    
argument forward as an answer to the    
same schemes of imaginary  improvement1 
which the author of the ,essay on       
population first employed  it to        
overturn4#c ,for it is to be remembered 
that the use which our  author has since
 made of this principle to shut up the  
work-house1 to  snub the poor1 to stint 
them in their wages1 to deny them any   
relief  from the parish1 and preach     
lectures to them on the new-invented    
crime  of matrimony1 was an             
after-thought4 ,his first1 his grand1   
his most  memorable effort was directed 
against the modern philosophy4 ,it was  
the  service his borrowed weapons did in
 that cause1 that sanctified them at    
all other purposes4 ,i shall have       
occasion by and by to examine how far   
the argument was a solid one2 at present
 ,i am only inquiring into the          
originality of the idea4 ,and here ,i   

might content myself with referring     
your readers to ,wallace's work2 or it  
might be sufficient to inform them  that
 after indulging in the former part of  
it in all the schemes of  fancied       
excellence and ,utopian government1     
which ,sir ,thomas ,more and so  many   
other philosophers and speculators have 
endeavoured to establish1  he then      
enters into an elaborate refutation of  
them1 by describing the  evils1 #8the   
universal confusion and perplexity in   
which all such perfect  forms of society
 must soon terminate1 the sooner on     
account of their  perfection1' from the 
principle of population1 and as he      
expresses it1  #8from these primary     
determinations in nature1 a limited     
earth1 a limited  degree of fertility1  
and the continual increase of mankind4' 
,however1 as  it is probable that most  
of your readers may not have the book   
within  their reach1 and as people do   
not like to take these things upon      
trust1  or from a mere general          

representation of them1 ,i must beg your
 insertion  of the following extract    
from the work itself2 and though it is  
pretty  long1 yet as you1 ,sir1 seem to 
be of opinion with me that the subject  
of  ,mr4 ,malthus's reputation is a     
matter of no mean interest to the       
public1  ,i am in hopes that you will   
not think your pages misemployed in     
dissipating the illusion4 ,as to ,mr4   
,malthus himself1 if he is a vain  man1 
he ought to be satisfied with this      
acknowledgement of his  importance4     
#8,but without entering further into    
these abstracted and uncertain          
speculations1 it deserves our particular
 attention1 that as no  government which
 hath hitherto been established1 is free
 from all seeds  of corruption1 or can  
be expected to be eternal2 so if we     
suppose a  government to be perfect in  
its original frame1 and to be           
administered  in the most perfect       
manner1 after whatever model we suppose 
it to have  been framed1 such a perfect 

form would be so far from lasting for   
ever1  that it must come to an end so   
much the sooner on account of its       
perfection4 ,for1 though happily such   
governments should be firmly            
established1 though they should be found
 consistent with the reigning  passions 
of human nature1 though they should     
spread far and wide2 nay1  though they  
should prevail universally1 they must at
 last involve  mankind in the deepest   
perplexity1 and in universal confusion4 
,for how  excellent soever they may be  
in their own nature1 they are altogether
  inconsistent with the present frame of
 nature1 and with a limited extent  of  
earth4    #8,under a perfect government1
 the inconveniences of having a family  
would  be so intirely removed1 children 
would be so well taken care of1 and     
everything become so favourable to      
populousness1 that though some sickly   
seasons or dreadful plagues in          
particular climates might cut off       
multitudes1 yet in general1 mankind     

would encrease so prodigiously1 that    
the earth would at last be overstocked1 
and become unable to support its        
numerous inhabitants4    #8,how long the
 earth1 with the best culture of which  
it is capable from  human genius and    
industry1 might be able to nourish its  
perpetually  encreasing inhabitants1 is 
as impossible as it is unnecessary to be
  determined4 ,it is not probable that  
it could have supported them during  so 
long a period as since the creation of  
,adam4 ,but whatever may be  supposed of
 the length of this period1 of necessity
 it must be granted1  that the earth    
could not nourish them for ever1 unless 
either its  fertility could be          
continually augmented1 or by some secret
 in nature1  like what certain          
enthusiasts have expected from the      
philosopher's  stone1 some wise adept in
 the occult sciences1 should invent a   
method of  supporting mankind quite     
different from any thing known at       
present4 ,nay1  though some             

extraordinary method of supporting them 
might possibly be  found out1 yet if    
there was no bound to the increase of   
mankind1 which  would be the case under 
a perfect government1 there would not   
even be  sufficient room for containing 
their bodies upon the surface of the    
earth1 or upon any limited surface      
whatsoever4 ,it would be necessary1     
therefore1 in order to find room for    
such multitudes of men1 that the  earth 
should be continually enlarging in bulk1
 as an animal or vegetable  body4       
#8,now since philosophers may as soon   
attempt to make mankind immortal1 as  to
 support the animal frame without food2 
it is equally certain1 that  limits are 
set to the fertility of the earth1 and  
that its bulk1 so far  as is hitherto   
known1 hath continued always the same1  
and probably could  not be much altered 
without making considerable changes in  
the solar  system4 ,it would be         
impossible1 therefore1 to support the   
great numbers  of men who would be      

raised up under a perfect government2   
the earth  would be overstocked at last1
 and the greatest admirers of such      
fanciful  schemes must foresee the fatal
 period when they would come to an end1 
as  they are altogether inconsistent    
with the limits of that earth in which  
they must exist4    #8,what a miserable 
catastrophe of the most generous of all 
human systems  of government6 ,how      
dreadfully would the magistrates of such
  commonwealths find themselves         
disconcerted at that fatal period1 when 
there was no longer any room for new    
colonies1 and when the earth could      
produce no further supplies6 ,during all
 the preceding ages1 while there  was   
room for increase1 mankind must have    
been happy2 the earth must have  been a 
paradise in the literal sense1 as the   
greatest part of it must  have been     
turned into delightful and fruitful     
gardens4 ,but when the  dreadful time   
should at last come1 when our globe1 by 
the most diligent  culture1 could not   

produce what was sufficient to nourish  
its numerous  inhabitants1 what happy   
expedient could then be found out to    
remedy so  great an evil8    #8,in such 
a cruel necessity1 must there be a law  
to restrain marriage8  ,must multitudes 
of women be shut up in cloisters like   
the ancient  vestals or modern nuns8 ,to
 keep a ballance between the two sexes1 
must a  proportionable number of men be 
debarred from marriage8 ,shall the      
,utopians1 following the wicked policy  
of superstition1 forbid their  priests  
to marry2 or shall they rather sacrifice
 men of some other  profession for the  
good of the state8 ,or1 shall they      
appoint the sons of  certain families to
 be maimed at their birth1 and give a   
sanction to the  unnatural institution  
of eunuchs8 ,if none of these expedients
 can be  thought proper1 shall they     
appoint a certain number of infants to  
be  exposed to death as soon as they are
 born1 determining the proportion       
according to the exigencies of the      

state2 and pointing out the  particular 
victims by lot1 or according to some    
established rule8 ,or1  must they       
shorten the period of human life by a   
law1 and condemn all to  die after they 
had compleated a certain age1 which     
might be shorter or  longer1 as         
provisions were either more scanty or   
plentiful8 ,or what  other method should
 they devise 7for an expedient would be 
absolutely  necessary7 to restrain the  
number of citizens within reasonable    
bounds8    #8,alas6 how unnatural and   
inhuman must every such expedient be    
accounted6  ,the natural passions and   
appetites of mankind are planted in our 
frame1  to answer the best ends for the 
happiness both of the individuals and of
  the species4 ,shall we be obliged to  
contradict such a wise order8 ,shall  we
 be laid under the necessity of acting  
barbarously and inhumanly8 ,sad  and    
fatal necessity6 ,and which1 after all1 
could never answer the end1  but would  
give rise to violence and war4 ,for     

mankind would never agree  about such   
regulations4 ,force1 and arms1 must at  
last decide their  quarrels1 and the    
deaths of such as fall in battle1 leave 
sufficient  provisions for the          
survivors1 and make room for others to  
be born4    #8,thus the tranquillity and
 numerous blessings of the ,utopian     
governments  would come to an end2 war1 
or cruel and unnatural customs1 be      
introduced1 and a stop put to the       
increase of mankind1 to the  advancement
 of knowledge1 and to the culture of the
 earth1 in spite of  the most excellent 
laws and wisest precautions4 ,the more  
excellent the  laws had been1 and the   
more strictly they had been observed1   
mankind  must have sooner become        
miserable4 ,the remembrance of former   
times1 the  greatness of their wisdom   
and virtue1 would conspire to heighten  
their  distress2#d and the world1       
instead of remaining the mansion of     
wisdom  and happiness1 become the scene 
of vice and confusion4 ,force and fraud 

must prevail1 and mankind be reduced to 
the same calamitous condition as  at    
present4    #8,such a melancholy        
situation in consequence merely of the  
want of  provisions1 is in truth more   
unnatural than all their present        
calamities4 ,supposing men to have      
abused their liberty1 by which abuse1   
vice has once been introduced into the  
world2 and that wrong notions1 a  bad   
taste1 and vicious habits1 have been    
strengthened by the defects of          
education and government1 our present   
distresses may be easily  explained4    
,they may even be called natural1 being 
the natural  consequences of our        
depravity4 ,they may be supposed to be  
the means by  which providence punishes 
vice2 and by setting bounds to the      
increase of  mankind1 prevents the      
earth's being overstocked1 and men being
 laid  under the cruel necessity of     
killing one another4 ,but to suppose    
that in  the course of a favourable     
providence1 a perfect government had    

been  established1 under which the      
disorders of human passions had been    
powerfully corrected and restrained2    
poverty1 idleness1 and war  banished2   
the earth made a paradise2 universal    
friendship and concord  established1 and
 human society rendered flourishing in  
all respects2 and  that such a lovely   
constitution should be overturned1 not  
by the vices  of men1 or their abuse of 
liberty1 but by the order of nature     
itself1  seems wholly unnatural1 and    
altogether disagreeable to the methods  
of  providence4    #8,by reasoning in   
this manner1 it is not pretended that   
'tis unnatural to  set bounds to human  
knowledge and happiness1 or to the      
grandeur of  society1 and to confine    
what is finite to proper limits4 ,it is 
certainly  fit to set just bounds to    
every thing according to its nature1 and
 to  adjust all things in due proportion
 to one another4 ,undoubtedly1 such an  
excellent order1 is actually established
 throughout all the works of  ,god1 in  

his wide dominions4 ,but there are      
certain primary determinations  in      
nature1 to which all other things of a  
subordinate kind must be  adjusted4 ,a  
limited earth1 a limited degree of      
fertility and the  continual increase of
 mankind are three of these original    
constitutions4  ,to these               
determinations1 human affairs1 and the  
circumstances of all  other animals1    
must be adapted4 ,in which view1 it is  
unsuitable to our  ideas of order1 that 
while the earth is only capable of      
maintaining a  determined number1 the   
human race should increase without end4 
,this  would be the necessary           
consequence of a perfect government and 
education4 ,on which account it is more 
contrary to just proportion1 to  suppose
 that such a perfect government should  
be established in such  circumstances1  
than that by permitting vice1 or the    
abuse of liberty in  the wisdom of      
providence1 mankind should never be able
 to multiply so as  to be able to       

overstock the earth4    #8,from this    
view of the circumstances of the world1 
notwithstanding the  high opinion we    
have of the merits of ,sir ,thomas      
,more1 and other admired  projectors of 
perfect governments in ancient or modern
 times1 we may  discern how little can  
be expected from their most perfect     
systems4    #8,as for these worthy      
philosophers1 patriots1 and law-givers1 
who have  employed their talents in     
framing such excellent models1 we ought 
to do  justice to their characters1 and 
gratefully to acknowledge their         
generous efforts to rescue the world out
 of that distress into which it  has    
fallen1 through the imperfection of     
government4 ,sincere1 and ardent  in    
their love of virtue1 enamoured of its  
lovely form1 deeply interested  for the 
happiness of mankind1 to the best of    
their skill1 and with  hearts full of   
zeal1 they have strenuously endeavoured 
to advance human  society to perfection4
 ,for this1 their memory ought to be    

sacred to  posterity4 ,but if they      
expected their beautiful systems        
actually to take  place1 their hopes    
were ill founded1 and they were not     
sufficiently  aware of the consequences4
    #8,the speculations of such         
ingenious authors enlarge our views1 and
 amuse  our fancies4 ,they are useful   
for directing us to correct certain     
errors  at particular times4 ,able      
legislators ought to consider them as   
models1  and honest patriots ought never
 to lose sight of them1 or any proper   
opportunity of transplanting the wisest 
of their maxims into their own          
governments1 as far as they are adapted 
to their particular  circumstances1 and 
will give no occasion to dangerous      
convulsions4 ,but  this is all that can 
be expected4 ,though such ingenious     
romances should  chance to be read and  
admired1 jealous and selfish politicians
 need not  be alarmed4 ,such statesmen  
need not fear that ever such airy       
systems  shall be able to destroy their 

craft1 or disappoint them of their      
intention to sacrifice the interests of 
mankind to their own avarice or         
ambition4 ,there is too powerful a charm
 which works secretly in favor of  such 
politicians1 which will for ever defeat 
all attempts to establish a  perfect    
government4 ,there is no need of        
miracles for this purpose4 ,the  vices  
of mankind are sufficient4 ,and we need 
not doubt but providence  will make use 
of them1 for preventing the             
establishment of governments  which are 
by no means suitable to the present     
circumstances of the  earth4' ,see      
,various ,prospects of mankind1 nature  
and providence4 ,chap4  iv4 p4 #aac4    
,here then we have not only the same    
argument stated2 but stated in the  same
 connection and brought to bear on the  
very same subject to which it  is       
applied by the author of the ,essay4    
,the principle and the  consequences    
deduced from it are exactly the same4   
,it often happens that  one man is the  

first to make a particular discovery or 
observation1 and  that another draws    
from it an important inference of which 
the former  was not at all aware4 ,but  
this is not the case in the present     
instance4  ,as far as general reasoning 
will go1 it is impossible that any thing
  should be stated more clearly1 more   
fully and explicitly than ,wallace  has 
here stated the argument against the    
progressive amelioration of  human      
affairs1 from the sole principle of     
population4 #8,so will his  anticipation
 prevent ,mr4 ,malthus's discovery2' for
 it happens that  ,wallace's book was   
published so long ago as the year #agfa4
 ,as to the  details of the ,essay1 ,i  
shall leave them to the connoisseurs1   
not  pretending to know much about the  
matter2 but as to the general  principle
 or ground-work1 ,i must contend that it
 was completely  pre-occupied3 ,mr4     
,malthus has no more pretentions to     
originality on that  score1 than ,i or  
any one else would have1 who after      

having read ,mr4  ,malthus's work       
undertook to retail the arguments       
contained in it and did  it in words a  
little different from his own4--#8,oh6  
but1' ,i hear some one  exclaim1 #8the  
geometrical and arithmetical series6    
,has ,wallace said any  thing of them8  
did he find them out1 or was not this   
discovery reserved  entirely for the    
genius and penetration of ,mr4          
,malthus8' ,why really ,i do  not know3 
whether after having brought his        
principle to light1 he  christened it   
himself1 is more than ,i can pretend to 
determine4 ,it seems  to me sufficient  
for ,wallace to have said that let the  
one ratio  increase as fast as it would1
 the other would increase much faster1  
as  this is all that is practically     
meant by a geometrical and arithmetical 
series4 ,i should have no objection to  
let ,mr4 ,malthus have the honour of    
standing godfather to another's bantling
 7and ,mr4 ,shandy was of opinion  that 
it was a matter of as great importance  

to hit upon a lucky name for  a child as
 to beget it7 but that the technical    
phrase he has employed as  a convenient 
shorthand method of explaining the      
subject1 in reality  applies only to one
 half of it4 ,the gradual increase      
applies only to the  degree of          
cultivation of the earth1 not to the    
quantity4 ,these two  things are        
palpably distinct4 ,it does not begin to
 take place till the  whole surface of  
the earth has been cultivated to a      
certain degree1 or  only with respect to
 those parts of it which have been      
cultivated4 ,it is  evident that while  
most of the soil remained wholly        
unoccupied and  uncultivated1 7which    
must have been the case for many ages   
after these  two principles began to    
operate1 and is still the case in many  
countries7 the power of increase in the 
productions of the earth1 and           
consequently1 in the support of         
population would be exactly in          
proportion to the population itself1 for

 there would be nothing more  necessary 
in order to the earth's maintaining its 
inhabitants than that  there should be  
inhabitants enough to till it4 ,in this 
case the  cultivation of the earth would
 be limited by the population1 not the  
population by the state of the          
cultivation4 ,where there was no want of
  room1 and a power of transporting     
themselves from place to place1 which   
there would naturally be in great       
continents1 and in gradually  increasing
 colonies1 there could be no want of    
subsistence4 ,all that  would be wanted 
would be power to raise or gather the   
fruits which the  earth had in store1   
which as long as men were born with     
hands they would  be always able to do4 
,if a certain extent of ground easily   
maintained a  certain number of         
inhabitants1 they would only have to    
spread themselves  over double the      
surface to maintain double the number4  
,the difficulty is  not in making more  
land maintain more men1 but in making   

the same spot  of ground maintain a     
greater number than it did before4 ,thus
 ,noah might  have taken possession of  
the three contiguous quarters of the    
globe for  himself and his three sons2  
and1 if instead of having three sons1 he
 had  had three hundred1 there would1 ,i
 believe1 have been no danger of their  
starving1 but the contrary1 from the    
rapid increase of population4 ,what  ,i 
mean to shew is1 that it is not true as 
a general principle that the  increase  
of population and the increase of       
subsistence are necessarily             
disproportionate to each other1 that the
 one is in a geometrical1 the  other is 
in an arithmetical ratio2 but1 that in a
 particular and very  important view of 
the subject1 the extent of population is
 only limited  by the extent of the     
earth1 and that the increase of the     
means of  subsistence will be in        
proportion to the greater extent of     
surface  occupied1 which may be enlarged
 as fast as there are numbers to occupy 

it4 ,i have been thus particular1       
because mathematical terms carry with   
them an imposing air of accuracy and    
profundity1 and ought1 therefore1  to be
 applied strictly1 and with the greatest
 caution1 or not at all4 ,i  should say1
 then1 that looking at the subject in a 
general and  philosophical point of     
view1 ,i do not think that the          
expression of an  arithmetical and      
geometrical series applies3 for1 with   
respect to the  extent of ground        
occupied1 which is one thing on which   
population  depends1 and in the first   
instance always1 this might evidently be
  increased in any ratio whatever1 that 
the increase of population would  admit1
 until the earth was entirely occupied2 
and after that there would  be no room  
either for a geometrical or arithmetical
 progression2 it  would be at an        
absolute stand4 ,the distinction is     
therefore confined to  the degree of art
 and diligence used in the cultivation  
of those parts  which have been already 

occupied4 ,this has no doubt gone on at 
a very  slow kind of snail's pace from  
the very first1 and will ,i dare say    
continue to do so4 ,or to adopt         
,wallace's distinction1 the increase of 
population is either not restricted at  
all by the #8limited nature of the      
earth1' or it is limited absolutely by  
it3 it is only kept back  indefinitely  
by the #8limited fertility' of the      
earth2 and it cannot be  said to be kept
 back necessarily by this1 while there  
are vast tracts of  habitable land left 
untouched4 ,till there is no more room1 
and no more  food to be procured without
 extreme exertion and contrivance1 the  
arithmetical and geometrical ratios do  
not naturally begin to operate2  and the
 gradual increase that might take place 
after that period1 is not  in my opinion
 7who am no great speculator7 of        
sufficient importance to  deserve a     
pompous appellation4 ,i would1          
therefore1 rather stop there1  because  
it will simplify the question4 ,till the

 world is full1 or at  least till every 
country is full1 that is1 maintains as  
many inhabitants  as the soil will      
admit1 namely1 till it can be proved    
satisfactorily  that it might not by    
taking proper methods be made to        
maintain double  the number that it     
does1 the increase of mankind is not    
necessarily  checked by the #8limited   
extent of the earth1' nor by its        
#8limited  fertility1' but by other     
causes4 ,till then population must be   
said to be  kept down1 not by the       
original constitution of nature1 but by 
the will  of man4 ,till then1 ,mr4      
,malthus has no right to set up his     
arithmetical  and geometrical ratios    
upon the face of the earth1 and say they
 are the  work of nature4 ,you1 ,sir1   
will not be at a loss to perceive the   
fallacy  which lurks under the gloss    
which ,mr4 ,malthus has here added to   
,wallace's text4 ,his readers looking at
 his mathematical scale will be  apt to 
suppose1 that population is a naturally 

growing and necessary  evil2 that it is 
always encroaching on and straitening   
the means of  existence1 and doing more 
harm than good3 that its pernicious     
effects  are at all times and in all    
places equally necessary and            
unavoidable2  that it is at all times an
 evil1 but that the evil increases in   
proportion to the increase of           
population2 and that1 therefore1 there  
is  nothing so necessary as to keep     
population down at all events4 ,this is 
the imperious dictate of nature1 the    
grinding law of necessity1 the end  and 
the fulfilling of the commandment4 ,i do
 not mean to say1 that ,mr4  ,malthus   
does not often shift his ground on this 
subject1 or that he is  not himself     
aware of the deception4 ,it is          
sufficient for him that he has  it to   
resort to1 whenever he is in want of it1
 that he has been able to  throw dust in
 his readers' eyes1 and dazzle them by a
 specious shew of  accuracy2 that he has
 made out a bill of indictment against  

the  principle of population as a common
 nuisance in society1 and has  obtained 
a general warrant against it1 and may   
have it brought into  court as a felon  
whenever he thinks proper4 ,he has      
alarmed men's minds  with confused      
apprehensions on the subject1 by setting
 before their  eyes1 in an orderly      
series1 the malignant nature and        
terrible effects of  population1 which  
are perpetually increasing as it goes   
on3 and they are  ready to assent to    
every scheme that promises to keep these
 dreadful  evils at a distance from     
them4 #8,sacro tremuere timore4 ,every  
coward is  planet-struck4' ,but nothing 
of all this is the truth4 ,population is
 only  an evil1 as ,mr4 ,malthus has    
himself shewn1 in proportion as it is   
excessive2 it is not a necessary evil1  
till the supply of food can1 from       
natural causes1 no longer keep pace with
 it3 till this is the case1 no          
restraints are necessary1 and when this 
is the case1 the same wholesome  degree 

of restraint1 the same quantity of vice 
and misery1 will operate  equally to    
prevent any tremendous consequences1    
whether the actual  population is great 
or small2 that is1 whether it is stopped
 only from  having reached the utmost   
limits prescribed by nature1 or whether 
it has  been starved and crushed down   
long before that period by positive1    
arbitrary institutions1 and the perverse
 nature of man4 ,but this is  entering  
upon a matter which ,i intended to      
reserve for another letter in  which ,i 
shall examine the force of the arguments
 which ,mr4 ,malthus has  built upon    
this principle4 ,at present1 ,i have    
done all that was  necessary to the     
performance of the first part of my     
engagement1 which  was to shew that ,mr4
 ,malthus had little claim to the praise
 of  originality4                       
,,letter ,,iii     ,,on ,,the           
,,principle ,,of ,,population ,,as      
,,affecting ,,the ,,schemes ,,of        
,,utopian                               

,,improvement         #8,a swaggering   
paradox1 when once explained1 soon sinks
 into an                                
unmeaning common-place4'                
,,burke4      ,,sir1--,this excellent   
saying of a great man was never more    
strictly  applicable to any system than 
it is to ,mr4 ,malthus's paradox1 and   
his  explanation of it4 ,it seemed1 on  
the first publication of the ,essay on  
,population1 as if the whole world was  
going to be turned topsy-turvy1  all our
 ideas of moral good1 and evil were in a
 manner confounded1 we  scarcely knew   
whether we stood on our head or our     
heels3 but after  exciting considerable 
expectation1 giving us a good shake1 and
 making us  a little dizzy1 ,mr4        
,malthus1 does as we do when we shew the
 children  ,london1--sets us on our feet
 again1 and every thing goes on as      
before4  ,the common notions that       
prevailed on this subject1 till our     
author's  first population-scheme tended
 to weaken them1 were that life is a    

blessing1 and that the more people could
 be maintained in any state in a        
tolerable degree of health1 comfort and 
decency1 the better3 that want  and     
misery are not desirable in themselves1 
that famine is not to be  courted for   
its own sake1 that wars1 disease and    
pestilence are not what  every friend of
 his country or his species should pray 
for in the first  place3 that vice in   
its different shapes is a thing1 that   
the world  could do very well without1  
and that if it could be got rid of      
altogether1 it would be a great gain4   
,in short1 that the object both of  the 
moralist and politician was to diminish 
as much as possible the  quantity of    
vice and misery existing in the world3  
without apprehending  that by thus      
effectually introducing more virtue and 
happiness1 more  reason and good sense1 
that by improving the manners of a      
people1  removing pernicious habits and 
principles of acting1 or securing       
greater  plenty1 and a greater number of

 mouths to partake of it1 they were     
doing  a disservice to humanity4 ,then  
comes ,mr4 ,malthus with his octavo     
book1  and tells us there is another    
great evil1 which had never been found  
out1 or at least not sufficiently       
attended to till his time1 namely       
excessive population3 that this evil was
 infinitely greater and more to  be     
dreaded than all others put together2   
and that its approach could  only be    
checked by vice and misery3 that any    
increase of virtue or  happiness1 was   
the direct way to hasten it on2 and that
 in proportion as  we attempted to      
improve the condition of mankind1 and   
lessened the  restraints of vice and    
misery1 we threw down the only barriers 
that  could protect us from this most   
formidable scourge of the species1      
population4 ,vice1 and misery were      
indeed evils1 but they were absolutely  
necessary evils2 necessary to prevent   
the introduction of others of an        
incalculably1 and inconceivably greater 

magnitude2 and that every  proposal to  
lessen their actual quantity on which   
the measure of our  safety depended1    
might be attended with the most ruinous 
consequences1  and ought to be looked   
upon with horror4 ,i think1 ,sir1 this  
description  of the tendency and        
complexion of ,mr4 ,malthus's first     
essay is not in  the least exaggerated1 
but an exact and faithful picture of the
  impression1 which it made on every    
one's mind4    ,after taking some time  
to recover from the surprise and hurry  
into which  so great a discovery would  
naturally throw him1 he comes forward   
again  with a large quarto1 in which he 
is at great pains both to say and unsay 
all that he had said in his former      
volume1 and upon the whole concludes1   
that population is in itself a good     
thing1 that it is never likely to do    
much harm1 that virtue and happiness    
ought to be promoted by every           
practicable means1 and that the most    
effectual as well as desirable  check to

 excessive population is moral          
restraint4 ,the mighty  discovery1 thus 
reduced to1 and pieced out by common    
sense1 the wonder  vanishes1 and we     
breathe a little freely again4 ,mr4     
,malthus is however1  by no means       
willing to give up his old doctrine1 or 
eat his own words3  he stickles stoutly 
for it at times4 ,he has his fits of    
reason and his  fits of extravagance1   
his yielding and his obstinate moments1 
fluctuating between the two1 and        
vibrating backwards and forwards with a 
dexterity of self-contradiction which it
 is wonderful to behold4 ,the  following
 passage is so curious in this respect  
that ,i cannot help  quoting it in this 
place4 ,speaking of the reply of the    
author of the  ,political ,justice to   
his former work1 he observes1 #8,but    
,mr4 ,godwin says1  that if he looks    
into the past history of the world1 he  
does not see  that increasing population
 has been controlled and confined by    
vice and  misery alone4 ,in this        

observation ,i cannot agree with him4 ,i
 will  thank ,mr4 ,godwin to name to me 
any check1 that in past ages has        
contributed to keep down the population 
to the level of the means of            
subsistence1 that does not fairly come  
under some form of vice or  misery2     
except indeed the check of moral        
restraint1 which ,i have  mentioned in  
the course of this work2 and which to   
say the truth1  whatever hopes we may   
entertain of its prevalence in future1  
has  undoubtedly in past ages operated  
with very inconsiderable force4'#e      
,when ,i assure the reader that ,i give 
him this passage fairly and fully1  ,i  
think he will be of opinion with me1    
that it would be difficult to  produce  
an instance of a more miserable attempt 
to reconcile a  contradiction by        
childish evasion1 to insist upon an     
argument1 and give  it up in the same   
breath4 ,does ,mr4 ,malthus really think
 that he has such  an absolute right and
 authority over this subject of         

population1 that  provided he mentions a
 principle1 or shews that he is not     
ignorant of  it1 and cannot be caught   
napping by the critics1 he is at liberty
 to  say that it has or has not had any 
operation1 just as he pleases1 and  that
 the state of the fact is a matter of   
perfect indifference4 ,he  contradicts  
the opinion of ,mr4 ,godwin that vice   
and misery are not the  only checks to  
population1 and gives as a proof of his 
assertion1 that  he himself truly has   
mentioned another check4 ,thus after    
flatly denying  that moral restraint has
 any effect at all1 he modestly         
concludes by  saying that it has had    
some1 no doubt1 but promises that it    
will never  have a great deal4 ,yet in  
the very next page1 he says1 #8,on this 
sentiment1 whether virtue1 prudence or  
pride1 which ,i have already  noticed   
under the name of moral restraint1 or of
 the more comprehensive  title1 the     
preventive check1 it will appear1 that  
in the sequel of  this work1 ,i shall   

lay considerable stress1' p4 #che4 ,this
 kind of  reasoning is enough to give   
one the head-ache4 ,but to take things  
in  their order4    ,the most singular  
thing in this singular performance of   
our author is1  that it should have been
 originally ushered into the world as   
the most  complete and only satisfactory
 answer to the speculations of ,godwin1 
,condorcet and others1 or to what has   
been called the modern philosophy4  ,a  
more complete piece of wrong-headedness1
 a more strange perversion of  reason   
could hardly be devised by the wit of   
man4 ,whatever we may think  of the     
doctrine of the progressive improvement 
of the human mind1 or of  a state of    
society in which every thing will be    
subject to the absolute  control of     
reason1 however absurd1 unnatural1 or   
impracticable we may  conceive such a   
system to be1 certainly it cannot       
without the grossest  inconsistency be  
objected to it1 that such a system would
 necessarily be  rendered abortive1     

because if reason should ever get this  
mastery over  all our actions1 we shall 
then be governed entirely by our        
physical  appetites and passions1       
without the least regard to             
consequences4 ,this  appears to me a    
refinement on absurdity4 ,several       
philosophers and  speculatists had      
supposed that a certain state of society
 very different  from any that has      
hitherto existed was in itself          
practicable2 and that  if it were       
realised1 it would be productive of a   
far greater degree of  human happiness  
than is compatible with the present     
institutions of  society4 ,i have       
nothing to do with either of these      
points4 ,i will allow  to any one who   
pleases that all such schemes are       
#8false1 sophistical1  unfounded in the 
extreme4' ,but ,i cannot agree with ,mr4
 ,malthus that they  would be bad1 in   
proportion as they were good2 that their
 excellence  would be their ruin2 or    
that the true and only unanswerable     

objection  against all such schemes is  
that very degree of happiness1 virtue   
and  improvement to which they are      
supposed to give rise4 ,and ,i cannot   
agree  with him in this because it is   
contrary to common sense1 and leads to  
the subversion of every principle of    
moral reasoning4 ,without perplexing    
himself with the subtle arguments of his
 opponents1 ,mr4 ,malthus comes  boldly 
forward1 and says1 #8,gentlemen1 ,i am  
willing to make you large  concessions1 
,i am ready to allow the practicability 
and the  desirableness of your schemes1 
the more happiness1 the more virtue1 the
  more refinement they are productive of
 the better1 all these will only  add to
 the 8exuberant strength of my          
argument02 ,i have a short answer to    
all objections1 to be sure ,i found it  
in an old political receipt-book1       
called ,prospects1 c4 by one ,wallace1 a
 man not much known1 but no  matter for 
that1 finding is keeping1 you know'3 and
 with one smart  stroke of his wand1 on 

which are inscribed certain mystical    
characters1  and algebraic proportions1 
he levels the fairy enchantment with the
  ground4 ,for1 says ,mr4 ,malthus1     
though this improved state of society   
were actually realised1 it could not    
possibly continue1 but must soon        
terminate in a state of things pregnant 
with evils far more  insupportable than 
any we at present endure1 in consequence
 of the  excessive population which     
would follow1 and the impossibility of  
providing for its support4    ,this is  
what ,i do not understand4 ,it is1 in   
other words1 to assert that  the        
doubling the population of a country1   
for example1 after a certain  period1   
will be attended with the most          
pernicious effects1 by want1  famine1   
bloodshed1 and a state of general       
violence and confusion1 this  will      
afterwards lead to vices and practices  
still worse than the  physical evils    
they are designed to prevent1 c4 and yet
 that at this  period those who will be 

the most interested in preventing these 
consequences1 and the best acquainted   
with the circumstances that lead  to    
them will neither have the understanding
 to foresee1 nor the heart to  feel1 nor
 the will to prevent the sure evils to  
which they expose  themselves and       
others1 though this advanced state of   
population1 which  does not admit of any
 addition without danger is supposed to 
be the  immediate result of a more      
general diffusion of the comforts and   
conveniences of life1 of more enlarged  
and liberal views1 of a more  refined   
and comprehensive regard to our own     
permanent interests1 as well  as those  
of others1 of corresponding habits and  
manners1 and of a state  of things1 in  
which our gross animal appetites will be
 subjected to the  practical control of 
reason4 ,the influence of rational      
motives1 of  refined and long-sighted   
views of things is supposed to have     
taken place  of narrow1 selfish and     
merely sensual motives3 this is implied 

in the  very statement of the question4 
#8,what conjuration and what mighty     
magic'  should thus blind our           
philosophical descendants on this single
 subject  in which they are more        
interested than in all the rest1 so that
 they  should stand with their eyes open
 on the edge of a precipice1 and        
instead of retreating from it1 should   
throw themselves down headlong1 ,i      
cannot comprehend2 unless indeed we     
suppose that the impulse to  propagate  
the species is so strong and            
uncontrolable that reason has no  power 
over it4 ,this is what ,mr4 ,malthus was
 at one time strongly  disposed to      
assert1 and what he is at present half  
inclined to retract4  ,without this     
foundation to rest on1 the whole of his 
reasoning is  unintelligible4 ,it seems 
to me a most childish way of answering  
any one1  who chooses to assert that    
mankind are capable of being governed   
entirely by their reason1 and that it   
would be better for them if they  were1 

to say1 ,no1 for if they were governed  
entirely by it1 they would  be much less
 able to attend to its dictates than    
they are at present3  and the evils1    
which would thus follow from the        
unrestrained increase of  population1   
would be excessive4--,almost every      
little ,miss1 who has had  the advantage
 of a boarding-school education1 or been
 properly tutored  by her mamma1 whose  
hair is not of an absolute flame-colour1
 and who has  hopes in time1 if she     
behaves prettily1 of getting a good     
husband1 waits  patiently year after    
year1 looks about her1 rejects or       
trifles with half  a dozen lovers1      
favouring one1 laughing at another1     
chusing among them  #8as one picks      
pears1 saying1 this ,i like1 that ,i    
loathe1' with the  greatest             
indifference1 as if it were no such very
 pressing affair1 and  all the while    
behaves very prettily2 till she is at   
last smitten with  a handsome house1 a  
couple of footmen in livery1 or a       

black-servant1 or  a coach with two     
sleek geldings1 with which she is more  
taken than with  her man3--why1 what an 
idea does ,mr4 ,malthus give us of the  
grave1  masculine genius of our ,utopian
 philosophers1 their sublime attainments
  and gigantic energy1 that they will   
not be able to manage these matters  as 
decently and cleverly as the silliest   
women can do at present6 ,mr4  ,malthus 
indeed endeavours to soften the         
absurdity by saying that moral          
restraint at present owes its strength  
to selfish motives3 what is this  to the
 purpose8 ,if ,mr4 ,malthus chooses to  
say1 that men will always be  governed  
by the same gross mechanical motives    
that they are at present1  ,i have no   
objection to make to it2 but it is      
shifting the question3 it  is not       
arguing against the state of society we 
are considering from the  consequences  
to which it would give rise1 but against
 the possibility of  its ever existing4 
,it is absurd to object to a system on  

account of the  consequences which would
 follow if we were to suppose men to be 
actuated  by entirely different motives 
and principles from what they are at    
present1 and then to say1 that those    
consequences would necessarily  follow1 
because men would never be what we      
suppose them4 ,it is very  idle to alarm
 the imagination by deprecating the     
evils that must follow  from the        
practical adoption of a particular      
scheme1 yet to allow that we  have no   
reason to dread those consequences1 but 
because the scheme  itself is           
impracticable4--,but ,i am ashamed of   
wasting your reader's time  and my own  
in thus beating the air4 ,it is not     
however my fault that ,mr4  ,malthus has
 written nonsense1 or that others have  
admired it4 ,it is not  ,mr4 ,malthus's 
nonsense1 but the opinion of the world  
respecting it1 that  ,i would be thought
 to compliment by this serious          
refutation of what in  itself neither   
deserves nor admits of any reasoning    

upon it4 ,if however  we recollect the  
source from whence ,mr4 ,malthus        
borrowed his principle  and the         
application of it to improvements in    
political philosophy1 we  must allow    
that he is merely passive in error4 ,the
 principle itself  would not have been  
worth a farthing to him without the     
application1 and  accordingly he took   
them as he found them lying snug        
together2 and as  ,trim having converted
 the old jack-boots into a pair of new  
mortars  immediately planted them       
against whichever of my uncle ,toby's   
garrisons  the allies were then busy in 
besieging1 so the public-spirited       
gallantry  of our modern engineer       
directed him to bend the whole force of 
his  clumsy discovery against that      
system of philosophy which was the most 
talked of at the time1 but to which it  
was the least applicable of all  others4
 ,wallace1 ,i have no doubt1 took up his
 idea either as a paradox1  or a jeu    
d'esprit1 or because any thing1 he      

thought1 was of weight  enough to       
overturn what had never existed anywhere
 but in the  imagination1 or he was led 
into a piece of false logic by an error 
we  are very apt to fall into1 of       
supposing because he had never been     
struck  himself by the difficulty of    
population in such a state of society1  
that  therefore the people themselves   
would not find it out1 nor make any     
provision against it4 ,but though ,i can
 in some measure excuse a lively        
paradox1 ,i do not think the same favour
 is to be shewn to the dull1  dogged1   
voluminous repetition of an absurdity4  
,i cannot help thinking that our author 
has been too much influenced in  his    
different feelings on this subject1 by  
the particular purpose he had  in view  
at the time4 ,mr4 ,malthus might not    
improperly have taken for the  motto of 
his first edition1 #8,these three bear  
record on earth1 vice1  misery1 and     
population4' ,in his answer to ,mr4     
,godwin1 this principle was  represented

 as an evil1 for which no remedy could  
be found but in  evil2--that its        
operation was mechanical1 unceasing1    
necessary2 that it  went strait forward 
to its end1 unchecked by fear1 or       
reason1 or  remorse2 that the evils1    
which it drew after it1 could only be   
avoided  by other evils1 by actual vice 
and misery4 ,population was in fact the 
great devil1 the untamed ,beelzebub that
 was only kept chained down by  vice and
 misery1 and that if it were once let   
loose from these  restraints1 it would  
go forth1 and ravage the earth4 ,that   
they were  therefore the two main props 
and pillars of society1 and that the    
lower  and weaker they kept this        
principle1 the better able they were to 
contend with it3 that therefore any     
diminution of that degree of them  which
 at present prevails1 and is found      
sufficient to keep the world in  order1 
was of all things chiefly to be         
dreaded4--,mr4 ,malthus seems fully     
aware of the importance of the          

stage-maxim1 ,to elevate and surprise4  
,having once heated the imaginations of 
his readers1 he knows that he can       
afterwards mould them into whatever     
shape he pleases4 ,all this bustle  and 
terror1 and stage-effect1 and           
theatrical-mummery1 was only to serve  a
 temporary purpose1 for all of a sudden 
the scene is shifted1 and the  storm    
subsides4 ,having frighted away the     
boldest champions of modern  philosophy1
 this monstrous appearance1 full of     
strange and inexplicable  horrors1 is   
suffered quietly to shrink back to its  
natural dimensions1  and we find it to  
be nothing more than a common-sized tame
 looking  animal1 which however requires
 a chain and the whip of its keeper to  
prevent it from becoming mischievous4   
,mr4 ,malthus then steps forward and    
says1 #8the evil we were all in danger  
of was not population1--but  philosophy4
 ,nothing is to be done with the latter 
by mere reasoning4 ,i  therefore thought
 it right to make use of a little terror

 to accomplish  the end4 ,as to the     
principle of population you need be     
under no alarm1  only leave it to me and
 ,i shall be able to manage it very     
well4 ,all its  dreadful consequences   
may be easily prevented by a proper     
application of  the motives of common   
prudence and common decency4' ,if       
however any one  should be at a loss to 
know how it is possible to reconcile    
such  contradictions1 ,i would suggest  
to ,mr4 ,malthus the answer which       
,hamlet  makes to his friend            
,guildenstern1 #8',tis as easy as lying3
 govern these  ventiges 7the poor-rates 
and private charity7 with your fingers  
and  thumb1 and this same instrument    
will discourse most excellent music2    
look you1 here are the stops1' 7namely1 
,mr4 ,malthus's ,essay and ,mr4         
,whitbread's ,poor ,bill74 ,to sum up   
the whole of this argument in one  word4
 ,let us suppose with ,mr4 ,malthus that
 population can only be kept  down by a 
certain degree of vice and misery4 ,let 

us also suppose that  these checks are  
for a time removed1 and that mankind    
become perfectly  virtuous and happy4   
,well1 then1 according to the former    
supposition1  this would necessarily    
lead to an excessive increase of        
population4 ,now  the question is1 to   
what degree of excess it would lead1 and
 where it  would naturally stop4 ,mr4   
,malthus1 to make good his reasoning1   
must  suppose a miracle to take place2  
that after population has begun to      
increase excessively1 no inconvenience  
is felt from it1 that in the  midst of  
the #8imminent and immediate' evils     
which follow from it1 people  continue  
virtuous and happy and unconscious of   
the dangers with which  they are        
surrounded2 till of a sudden ,mr4       
,malthus opens the flood-gates  of vice 
and misery1 and they are overwhelmed by 
them1 all at once4 ,in  short he must   
suppose either that this extraordinary  
race of men1 in  proportion as          
population increases1 are gradually     

reduced in size1 #8and  less than       
smallest dwarfs1 in narrow room1 throng 
numberless1 like that  pygmean race     
beyond the ,indian mount1 or fairy      
elves'2 or that they have  some new     
world assigned them as a breeding-place1
 from which attempting  to return they  
are immediately squeezed to death1 like 
people rushing  into a crowded theatre4 
,on the other hand1 ,i contend that in  
the natural  course of things1 that is1 
if we suppose people to retain their    
usual  dimensions1 to eat1 and drink1   
and beget children1 and bring them up in
  the usual way1 all this could never   
happen3 for it is impossible but  they  
must see and feel that there was only   
room for a certain number4  ,the moment 
population became excessive from the    
excess of virtue and  happiness1 its    
inconveniences would return1 and people 
would no longer  be perfectly virtuous  
and happy3 that is1 the old checks of a 
certain  degree of vice and misery would
 come into play again1 and a less degree

  of them 7,i suppose about as much as  
we enjoy the advantage of at  present7  
would be sufficient to deter men from   
plunging into greater1  would put a stop
 to the further increase of population1 
and anticipate  those tremendous evils  
which ,mr4 ,malthus apprehends from it1 
which could  never happen unless we     
suppose people to have come to a        
previous1  deliberate resolution        
mutually to starve one another to death4
 ,there is  therefore no foundation for 
the alarm given by ,mr4 ,malthus1 for   
vice and  misery are such ready and sure
 resources that we can be at a loss for 
them at no time2 and farther with       
respect to the state of society         
supposed by ,mr4 ,malthus1 that is if we
 could once drive vice and misery  out  
of the world1 ,i really do not see what 
occasion we should have for  them       
afterwards4    ,the most important      
question yet remains1 which is not how  
,mr4 ,malthus  came by his discovery1   
nor whether he was right in endeavouring

 to  exemplify it in the first instance 
by shewing its effects on an  imaginary 
state of society where it would be      
naturally disarmed of its  malignity1   
but whether the practical conclusions he
 has drawn from it  are not of weight   
and moment in themselves1 and whether   
they are not  established so clearly and
 fully as to make it necessary for us to
  reverse almost entirely all our old   
reasonings on the principles of         
political economy4 ,i confess1 ,i have  
some difficulty in determining1  whether
 ,mr4 ,malthus's principles do or do not
 materially affect the  commonly        
received notions on this subject1       
because ,i really do not know  what     
those principles are1 and till ,mr4     
,malthus himself tells us1  whether he  
would have us believe in the new        
revelation or the old1 it is  impossible
 that any one should4 ,if we are to     
consider those as ,mr4  ,malthus's real 
and chastized opinions which are the    
least like himself1  which most flatly  

contradict his former assertions1 which 
being forced  from him may be looked    
upon as confessions of the truth1 ,i see
 nothing  in these that in any manner   
interferes with the common sense of     
mankind4  ,and though ,mr4 ,malthus     
still perseveres in almost all his      
extreme  conclusions1 yet as those      
conclusions are for the most part       
unwarrantable assumptions1 disproved    
even by his own concessions1 and  shew  
nothing more than ,mr4 ,malthus's       
qualifications for the delicate  office 
of conscience-keeper to the rich and    
great1 ,i am so far from  considering   
them as new and important discoveries1  
that ,i must be  excused if ,i consider 
them as in the highest degree false and 
dangerous1  and treat them accordingly4 
,,letter ,,iv              ,,on ,,the   
,,general ,,tendency ,,of ,,population  
,,to ,,excess      ,,sir1--,mr4         
,malthus's argument against a state of  
unlimited improvement1  of perfect      
wisdom1 virtue and happiness1 from the  

vice1 misery1 and  madness inseparable  
from such a state would1 if admitted1 be
 an  effectual bar to all limited       
improvement whatever4 ,it is for this   
reason1 that ,i have dwelt so long on   
the subject4 ,if out of timidity1 or    
complaisance1 or prejudice against an   
unpopular system1 we suffer  ourselves  
to be wheedled into a silly persuasion1 
that the worst thing  that could happen 
for the human race would be their being 
able to  realise not in words only1 but 
in deed all the fine things1 that have  
been said of them1 we then fairly throw 
ourselves upon the mercy of our         
adversaries4 ,for what is there in this 
case1 to hinder ,mr4 ,malthus1 or  any  
one else1 from representing every degree
 of practical improvement as  an        
approximation to this deplorable crisis1
 from binding up the slips  and scyons  
of human happiness with this great trunk
 of evil1 and root of  all our woe1 from
 marking with his slider and graduated  
scale all our  advances towards this    

ideal perfection1 however partial or    
necessary1 as  so many deviations from  
the strict line of our duty1 and only   
sphere of  our permanent happiness8 ,it 
is evident1 that the only danger of all 
imaginary schemes of improvement arises 
from their being exaggerations  of the  
real capacities of our nature1 from     
supposing that we can pick  out all the 
dross1 and leave nothing but the gold2  
that is1 from their  being carried to   
excess1 and aiming at more than is      
practicable4 ,but if  we allow that     
improvement is an evil in the abstract1 
and that the  greater the improvement1  
the greater the mischief1 that the      
actual and  complete success of all such
 schemes would be infinitely worse even 
than  their failure1 for that the most  
complete and extensive improvement      
would only prepare the way for the most 
deplorable wretchedness1 and  that the  
very next step after reaching the summit
 of human glory would  plunge us into   
the lowest abyss of vice and            

misery1--why truly there will  be little
 encouragement to set out on a journey  
that promises so very  disagreeable a   
conclusion2 such a representation of the
 matter will not  add wings to our zeal 
for practical reform1 but will rather   
make us stop  short in our career1 and  
refuse to advance one step farther in a 
road1  that is beset with danger and    
destruction4 ,people will begin to look 
with a jaundiced eye at the most obvious
 advantages1 to resist every  useful    
regulation1 and dread every change for  
the better4 ,our feelings  are governed 
very much by common-place associations1 
and are most  influenced by that sort of
 logic which is the shortest4 ,thus1    
#8that the  parts are contained in the  
whole1' is a general rule which is found
 to  hold good in most of the concerns  
of life2 and it is not therefore easy   
to drive it out of people's heads4 ,for 
this reason1 it will always be          
difficult to persuade the generality of 
mankind that a less degree of           

improvement is a good thing1 though a   
greater would be a bad thing1 or  that  
the subordinate parts of a system1 that 
would in reality embody all  the ills of
 life1 can be very desirable in         
themselves4 ,mr4 ,malthus has  however  
by no means left this conclusion to the 
mere mechanical  operation of our       
feelings4 ,he endeavours formally to    
establish it4 ,the  following passage   
seems the connecting link in the chain1 
which unites  the two worlds of theory  
and practice together2 it cements the   
argument1  gives solidity and roundness 
to it1 and renders it complete against  
all  improvement1 real or imaginary1    
present or future1 against all absolute 
perfection or imperfect attempts at it1 
and gradual approaches to it4 ,it       
fairly blocks up the road4    #8,it     
cannot but be a matter of astonishment  
that all writers on the  perfectibility 
of man1 and of society1 who have noticed
 the argument of  an overcharged        
population1 treat it always very        

slightly1 and invariably  represent the 
difficulties arising from it1 as at a   
great1 and almost  immeasurable         
distance4 ,even ,mr4 ,wallace1 who      
thought the argument itself  of so much 
weight as to destroy his whole system of
 equality1 did not  seem to be aware    
that any difficulty would occur from    
this cause1 till  the whole earth had   
been cultivated like a garden1 and was  
incapable of  any further increase of   
produce4 ,were this really the case1 and
 were a  beautiful system of equality in
 other respects practicable1 ,i cannot  
think that our ardour in the pursuit of 
such a scheme ought to be damped  by the
 contemplation of so remote a           
difficulty4 ,an event at such a         
distance might fairly be left to        
providence2 but the truth is1 that if   
the view of the argument given in this  
,essay be just1 the difficulty so  far  
from being remote1 would be imminent and
 immediate4 ,at every period  during the
 progress of cultivation1 from the      

present moment to the time  when the    
whole earth was become like a garden1   
the distress for want of  food would be 
constantly pressing on all mankind1 if  
they were equal4  ,though the produce of
 the earth might be increasing every    
year1  population would be increasing   
much faster2 and the redundancy must    
necessarily be repressed by the         
periodical or constant action of vice   
and misery4'#f    ,in answer to this    
statement 7allowing however that it is a
 fair  inference from ,wallace's        
reasoning1 and from our author's own    
principle7  ,i would simply ask1 whether
 during this progress of cultivation1   
the  distress for want of food would be 
constantly pressing on all mankind  more
 than it does at present4 ,let us       
suppose that men remain just as         
vicious1 as imprudent1 as regardless of 
their own interests and those of  others
 as they are at present1 let us suppose 
them to continue just what  they are1   
through all the stages of improved      

cultivation to the time  when the whole 
earth was become like a garden1 would   
this in the  smallest degree detract    
from the benefit8 ,would nothing indeed 
be gained  by the earth's being         
cultivated like a garden1 that is1 by   
its producing  ten times the quantity of
 food that it does at present1 and being
 able  to maintain ten times the        
quantity of inhabitants in the same     
degree of  comfort and happiness that it
 does at present1 because forsooth they 
would not at the same time be ten times 
better off than they are now8 ,is  it an
 argument against adding to the         
happiness of mankind tenfold1 by        
increasing their number1 their condition
 remaining the same1 that we  cannot add
 to it a hundred-fold1 by increasing    
their number and  improving their       
condition proportionably8 ,or is it any 
objection to  increasing the means of   
subsistence by the improved cultivation 
of the  earth1 that the population would
 keep pace with it8 ,it appears to me   

that there must be a particular         
perversity1 some egregious bias in the  
mind of any person who can either deny  
the inference to be drawn from  these   
questions1 or evade it as a matter of   
indifference1 by  equivocation and      
subterfuge4 ,we might as well assert    
that because it is  most likely that the
 inhabitants of the rest of ,europe are 
not better1  nor indeed quite so well   
off as the people of ,england1 that it  
would  therefore be no matter if the    
whole continent of ,europe were sunk in 
the  sea1 as if human life was merely to
 be considered as a sample of what  the 
thing is1 and as if when we have a      
sample of a certain quality1 all  the   
rest might be very well spared1 as of no
 value4 ,as however ,i  conceive that   
,mr4 ,malthus is not a man to be moved  
either by common  feelings or familiar  
illustrations1 ,i shall venture to lay  
down one dry  maxim on the subject1     
which he will get over as well as he    
can1 namely1  that an improved          

cultivation of the earth1 and a         
consequent increase of  food must       
necessarily lead to one or other of     
these two consequences1  either that a  
greater number of people will be        
maintained in the same  degree of       
comfort and happiness1 other things     
being the same1 or that  means will be  
afforded for maintaining an equal number
 in greater ease1  plenty1 and          
affluence4 ,it is plain either that     
existence is upon the  whole a blessing 
and that the means of existence are on  
that account  desirable2 that           
consequently an increased population is 
doubly a  blessing1 and an increase in  
the means of existence doubly desirable2
 or  else life is an evil1 and whatever 
tends to promote it is an evil1 and  in 
this case it would be well if all the   
inhabitants of the earth were  to die of
 some easy death to-morrow6    ,for my  
own part1 #8who am no great clerk1' ,i  
cannot by any efforts1 of  which ,i am  
capable1 separate these two             

propositions1 that it is  desirable     
either that population should have stood
 still at first1 or  that it should go  
on increasing till the earth is         
absolutely full2 or in  other words1 ,i 
see no rational alternative between the 
principle of  extermination 7as far as  
it is in our power7 and the principle of
 the  utmost possible degree of         
populousness4 ,it is1 ,i conceive1 an   
incontrovertible axiom1 that the        
proportion between the population and   
food being given 7and ,mr4 ,malthus     
tells us that it holds nearly the same  
in all the stages of society7 the actual
 increase of population is to be        
considered as so much clear gain1 as so 
much got into the purse1 as so  much    
addition to the sum of human happiness4 
,mr4 ,malthus says in another  place    
7second edition1 p4 #ceg71 #8,the only  
point in which ,i differ from  ,m4      
,condorcet in this description' of the  
evils arising from increased            
population1 #8is with regard to the     

period1 when it may be applied to  the  
human race4 ,m4 ,condorcet thinks that  
it cannot possibly be  applicable1 but  
at an era extremely distant4 ,if the    
proportion between  the natural increase
 of population and food1 which was      
stated in the  beginning of this essay1 
and which has received considerable     
confirmation from the poverty that has  
been found to prevail in every  stage   
and department of human society1 be in  
any degree near the truth1  it will     
appear on the contrary1 that the period1
 when the number of men  surpass their  
means of subsistence1 has long since    
arrived1 c4' ,mr4  ,malthus in different
 parts of his work makes a great rout   
about the  distinction between actual   
and relative population1 and lays it    
down  that an actual increase of        
population is an advantage1 except when 
it  exceeds the means of subsistence2   
yet he here seems to treat the          
proportion between the increase of      
population1 and food1 which he says  has

 always continued pretty much the same1 
as the only thing to be  attended to1   
and to represent the progressive        
increase of the actual  population1     
unless we could at the same time banish 
poverty entirely  from the world1 as a  
matter of the most perfect indifference1
 or rather  as the most dangerous       
experiment1 that could be tried4 ,is not
 this being  wilfully blind to the      
consequences of his own reasoning8 ,oh6 
but1 says  ,mr4 ,malthus1 you do not    
state the case fairly4 ,if men were to  
continue  what they are at present2 if  
there were the same proportionable      
quantity  of vice1 and misery in the    
world1 what you say would be true4      
,every  thing would then go on as well1 
or indeed better than before4 ,but this 
is impossible1 because this increased   
cultivation1 and a more equal           
distribution of the produce of the earth
 could only take place1 in  consequence 
of the increased civilization1 virtue1  
good sense1 and  happiness of mankind3  

and this would necessarily spoil all4   
,for remove  the present quantity of    
vice and misery existing in the world1  
and you  remove the only checks1 that   
can keep population down4 #8,though the 
produce of the earth might be increasing
 every year1 the population  would be   
increasing much faster2 and the         
redundancy must be repressed by  the old
 restraints of vice and misery4' ,that  
is to say1 though  7according to the    
second edition7 vice1 misery1 and moral 
restraint1  operate mutually as checks  
to population1 and though the diminution
 of  vice and misery could only be the  
consequence of the increased strength   
in the principle of moral restraint1 yet
 this latter principle would in  reality
 have no effect at all1 and in          
proportion as the other checks to       
population1 viz4 vice and misery1 were  
superseded1 they would become  more and 
more necessary4 ,if there could be a    
gradual1 and indefinite  improvement in 
the cultivation of the soil1 and every  

facility could be  afforded for the     
supply of an increasing population1     
without supposing  some change in the   
institutions of society1 which would    
render men  better and wiser1 than they 
now are1 ,mr4 ,malthus will perhaps with
 some  reluctance1 and uncertainty      
hanging over his mind1 allow that this  
would  be a considerable advantage2 the 
population might in this case be kept   
within some bounds1 and not increase    
faster than the means of  subsistence3  
but as this is a change that cannot be  
looked for without  supposing a         
correspondent improvement in the morals 
and characters of  men1 we must set off 
one thing against another1 and give up  
the chance  of improvement1 to prevent  
the shocking alternative connected with 
it4  ,with our present modicum of wit   
and command over our passions1 we do    
contrive in some measure to make both   
ends meet1 or to cut our coat  according
 to our cloth1 or look before we leap1  
and are not carried  away1 neck or      

nothing1 by this high-mettled courser1  
,population1 over  all the fences and   
barriers of common sense4 ,but if we    
were to make any  considerable          
improvements in horsemanship1 or in our 
knack at  calculation1 we should        
instantly1 belying all reasonable       
expectation1  throw the bridle on the   
horse's neck1 rush blindly forward in   
spite of  all obstacles1 and freed from 
the shackles of necessity without having
  acquired the discipline of reason1    
though the one always instantly  resumes
 its sway1 the moment the other ceases1 
plunge into all the  miseries of famine1
 without remorse1 or apprehension4      
,this ,i conceive is an express         
contradiction in terms4 ,yet ,i grant   
that  it is a logical inference from    
,mr4 ,malthus's original statement1 that
  vice and misery are the only adequate 
checks to population4 ,if this were     
indeed the case1 all the consequences   
that ,mr4 ,malthus describes1 the       
utmost degree of vice and misery1 would 

necessarily be the lot of man in  all   
stages and departments of society1      
whether in his improved or  unimproved  
state1 because in all cases and at all  
times his reason would  be of no use to 
him4 ,however great or however small our
 attainments in  arts or science1 or in 
all other virtues might be1 in this     
respect we  should still be the same2   
that is1 we should be exactly in the    
condition  of the brutes1 entirely      
governed by an impulse1 over which we   
should  have neither check nor control4 
,mr4 ,malthus1 however1 finding that    
this  account is inconsistent with the  
state of human life1 and with those     
checks which certainly do keep          
population back from going its natural  
lengths1 now adds moral restraint as a  
convenient supplement to his  theory1   
and as our chief security against vice  
and misery1 though he  still insists    
that where its effect must be greatest1 
it would have no  effect at all4 ,he    
gives up his principle1 but retains his 

conclusion1 to  which he has no right4  
,he is like a bad poet who to get rid of
 a false  concord alters the ending of  
his first line1 and forgets that he has 
spoiled his rhyme in the second4 ,on the
 whole1 then1 it appears1 that at  no   
one period during the progress of       
cultivation from the present moment  to 
the time when it should have reached its
 utmost limits1 would the  distress for 
want of food be greater than it is at   
present4 ,in the mean  time1 the number 
of mankind1 and consequently their      
happiness would go  on increasing with  
the means of their happiness1 or        
subsistence1 till  the whole earth had  
been cultivated like a garden1 and was  
incapable of  any further increase1 and 
we should then be exactly where we are  
now  with respect to the checks on      
population4 ,that is1 the earth would   
maintain ten times its present number of
 inhabitants in the same comfort  as at 
present1 without our having involved    
ourselves in any of those  straits and  

difficulties1 those pits and snares1    
against which we are so  kindly warned  
by ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,the population1 and  
the means of  subsistence would indeed  
be stationary1 but so they may be said  
to be at  present4 ,the only difference 
is that they are at present             
unnecessarily  stationary from          
artificial causes1 from moral and       
political  circumstances2 in that case  
the line would be drawn by nature       
herself1  in other words1 by the limited
 extent of the earth1 and by its limited
  fertility4 ,this being the case and   
were a beautiful system of equality  in 
other respects practicable1 7for        
observe1 reader1 ,i leave the  question 
as to those other respects exactly where
 ,i found it7 ,i  cannot think that our 
ardour in pursuit of such a scheme can  
in any wise  be damped by the           
contemplation of the difficulties       
attendant upon it  from the principle of
 population4 ,all that could be gained1 
would be  pure gain without any loss    

whatever4 ,in short1 the principle of   
population does not1 as ,i conceive1    
affect the future improvement of        
society in any way whatever1 whether on 
a larger or a smaller scale1            
theoretically or practically1 generally1
 or particularly4 ,i have thus1  ,sir1  
endeavoured to answer ,mr4 ,malthus's   
argument against the improved           
cultivation of the earth1 and an        
increase of population1 from the        
increased difficulties 7as he falsely   
represents them71 that would all  the   
way press upon society during its       
progress4 ,he has rendered his  paradox 
in some measure palatable to the reader1
 by introducing it as  one branch of his
 answer to ,condorcet1 and others of the
 same school1  herein imitating the     
policy of the house of commons1 who     
sometimes  prevail on the house of lords
 to pass a bill which they do not much  
like1 by tacking a money-bill to it4    
,however as the two subjects are        
entirely distinct1 ,i beg that they may 

not be confounded4 ,the question  is    
simply1 whether we are to look upon the 
progress of agriculture1  civilization1 
and the populousness which would follow1
 7no matter to  what extent1 nor by whom
 it is brought about1 whether it is     
projected by  a junto of philosophers1  
or decided upon in a committee of the   
house of  commons1 enlightened by the   
genius of ,mr4 ,malthus and guided by   
,mr4  ,whitbread's wisdom71 whether ,i  
say1 as a general principle we are to   
look upon an addition to the inhabitants
 of a state1 if there is enough  to     
support them1 as a good or an evil4 ,mr4
 ,malthus has chosen to answer  this    
question under the head1 modern         
philosophy1 so that he is secure  of the
 protection of the court4 ,i have been  
willing not to deprive him  of this     
advantage1 and have answered it under   
the same head4 ,if however  any of my   
readers should dislike the argument in  
this connection1 they  may easily take  
it out of the mould in which it is cast1

 without doing  it the least hurt4 ,to  
shew how lightly all schemes of         
improvement sit on  ,mr4 ,malthus's     
mind1 how easily he thinks they may be  
puffed aside with  the least breath of  
sophistry1 it will be sufficient to     
quote the  following passage4 ,after    
allowing in general that even the best  
cultivated countries in ,europe might be
 made to produce double what they  do at
 present1 he says1 #8,we should not be  
too ready to make inferences  against   
the internal economy of a country from  
the appearance of  uncultivated heaths  
without other evidence4' ,it is         
wonderful with what  slowness and       
circumspection ,mr4 ,malthus always     
proceeds in his  disapprobation of any  
thing1 that comes in the prepossessing  
garb of an  evil4 ,he is only confident 
and severe in his decisions against     
those  hidden mischiefs1 which lie      
concealed under a delusive appearance of
  good4 ,there is something in the      
prospect of dearth and barrenness which 

is perfectly congenial to the           
disposition of ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,he is    
unwilling to give up a subject which    
promises so much scope for his  singular
 talents of bringing good out of evil4  
#8,but the fact is1 that  as no country 
has ever reached1 or probably will ever 
reach its highest  possible acme of     
produce1 it appears always1 as if the   
want of  industry1 or the ill-direction 
of that industry was the actual limit to
  a further increase of produce and     
population1 and not the absolute        
refusal of nature to yield any more2 but
 a man who is locked up in a  room1 may 
be fairly said to be confined by the    
walls of it1 though he  may never touch 
them2 and with regard to the principle  
of population1  it is never the question
 whether a country will produce any     
more1 but  whether it may be made to    
produce a sufficiency to keep pace with 
an  unchecked increase of people4' ,this
 ,i confess is a singular passage for  a
 practical philosopher to write4 ,mr4   

,malthus here lays it down that the     
question is not whether we should do all
 the good we can1 but whether we  should
 do what we cannot4 ,as to his          
illustration of a man locked up in a    
room1 though it is smart and clever1 it 
is not much to the purpose4 ,the  case  
is really that of a man who has the     
range of a suite of rooms and  who in a 
fit of the spleen1 or from indolence1 or
 stupidity1 or from any  other cause you
 please1 confines himself to one of     
them1 or of a man who  having hired a   
large commodious apartment1 says1 ,i    
never make use of the  whole of this    
apartment1 ,i never go within a foot of 
the walls1 ,i might  as well have it    
partitioned off1 it would be snugger and
 warmer1 and so  still finding that he  
does not run against his partition any  
more than  against the wall1 should     
continue1 being determined to have no   
unnecessary spare-room1 to hemm himself 
in closer and closer till at  last he   
would be able to stir neither hand nor  

foot4 ,that any one1  allowing as ,mr4  
,malthus does1 that with proper         
management and industry  this country   
might be made to maintain double its    
present number of  inhabitants1 or      
twenty millions instead of ten1 should  
at the same time  affect to represent   
this as a mere trifling addition1 that  
practically  speaking cannot be taken   
into the account1 can ,i think only be  
explained  by supposing in that person  
either an extreme callousness of        
feeling1 or  which amounts to pretty    
much the same thing1 a habit of making  
his  opinions entirely subservient to   
his convenience1 or to any narrow       
purpose he may have in view at the      
moment4--,perhaps if the truth were     
known1 ,i am as little sanguine in my   
expectations of any great  improvement  
to be made in the condition of human    
life either by the  visions of          
philosophy1 or by downright1 practical1 
parliamentary  projects1 as ,mr4        
,malthus himself can be4 ,but the matter

 appears to me  thus4 ,it requires some 
exertion and some freedom of will to    
keep even  where we are4 ,if we tie up  
our hands1 shut our eyes to the partial 
advantages we possess1 and cease to     
exert ourselves in that direction in    
which we can do it with the most effect1
 we shall very soon #8go deep in  the   
negative series4' ,take away the hope   
and the tendency to  improvement1 and   
there is nothing left to counteract the 
opposite  never-failing tendency of     
human things #8from bad to worse4'      
,there is  therefore a serious practical
 reason against losing sight of the     
object1  even when we cannot attain it4 
,however1 ,i am #8free to confess' 7to  
borrow the language of my betters7 that 
there is as much selfishness as  public 
spirit in my resistance to ,mr4         
,malthus's contradictions4 ,it is a     
remote question whether the world will  
ever be much wiser than it is3  but what
 ,i am certainly interested in1 is not  
to submit to have all my  ideas         

confounded by barren sophistry1 nor to  
give up the little  understanding which 
,i may actually possess4 ,nor for my own
 part1 were ,i  confined to my room1    
should ,i think myself obliged to any   
one for  blocking up my view of a       
pleasant prospect1 because ,i could not 
move  from the place1 where ,i was4     
,the fundamental principle of ,mr4      
,malthus's essay is that population has 
a constant tendency to become excessive1
 because it has a tendency to  increase 
not only in a progressive1 but in a     
geometrical ratio1 whereas  the means of
 subsistence are either positively      
limited1 or at most can  only be made to
 increase in an arithmetical ratio4 ,but
 to be sure of  avoiding any thing like 
misrepresentation in this part of the   
argument1  where the least error or     
omission might be fatal to our author's 
whole  scheme1 let us take his own      
words4    #8,it may be safely affirmed  
that population when unchecked goes on  
doubling itself every twenty-five years1

 or increases in a geometrical  ratio4  
#8,that we may be the better able to    
compare the increase of population  and 
food1 let us make a supposition1 which  
without pretending to  accuracy1 is     
clearly more favourable to the power of 
production in the  earth1 than any      
experience that we have had of its      
qualities will  warrant4    #8,let us   
suppose that the yearly additions which 
might be made to the  former average    
produce1 instead of decreasing1 which   
they certainly  would do1 were to remain
 the same2 and that the produce of this 
island  might be increased every        
twenty-five years by a quantity equal to
 what  it at present produces2 the most 
enthusiastic speculator cannot suppose  
a greater increase than this4 ,in a few 
centuries it would make every  acre of  
land in the island like a garden4       
#8,if this supposition be applied to the
 whole earth1 and if it be allowed  that
 the subsistence for man which the earth
 affords1 might be increased  every     

twenty-five years by a quantity equal to
 what it at present  produces2 this will
 be supposing a rate of increase much   
greater than we  can imagine that any   
possible exertions of mankind could make
 it4    #8,it may be fairly pronounced  
therefore that considering the present  
average state of the earth1 the means of
 subsistence1 under  circumstances the  
most favourable to human industry1 could
 not possibly  be made to increase      
faster than in an arithmetical ratio4   
#8,the necessary effects of these two   
different rates of increase1 when       
brought together1 will be very striking4
 ,let us call the population of  this   
island eleven millions2 and suppose the 
present produce equal to  the easy      
support of such a number4 ,in the first 
twenty-five years the  population would 
be twenty-two millions1 and the food    
being also  doubled1 the means of       
subsistence would be equal to this      
increase4 ,in  the next twenty-five     
years1 the population would be          

forty-four millions1  and the means of  
subsistence only equal to the support of
 thirty-three  millions4 ,in the next   
period1 the population would be         
eighty-eight  millions1 and the means of
 subsistence just equal to the support  
of half  that number4 ,and at the       
conclusion of the first century1 the    
population  would be a hundred and      
seventy-six millions1 and the means of  
subsistence only equal to the support of
 fifty-five millions2 leaving a         
population of a hundred and twenty-one  
millions totally unprovided for4        
#8,taking the whole earth instead of    
this island1 emigration would of  course
 be excluded3 and supposing the present 
population equal to a  thousand         
millions1 the human species would       
increase as the numbers #a1 #b1  #d1 #h1
 #af1 #cb1 #fd1 #abh1 #bef1 and         
subsistence as #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 #f1  
#g1 #h1  #i4 ,in two centuries the      
population would be to the means of     
subsistence  as #bef to #i2 in three    

centuries as #djif to #ac1 and in two   
thousand  years1 the difference would be
 almost incalculable4    #8,in this     
supposition no limits whatever are      
placed to the produce of the  earth4 ,it
 may increase for ever1 and be greater  
than any assignable  quantity2 yet still
 the power of population being in every 
period so  much superior1 the increase  
of the human species can only be kept   
down  to the level of the means of      
subsistence by the constant operation of
  the strong law of necessity acting as 
a check upon the greater power2'  or as 
he elsewhere expresses it #8by misery or
 the fear of misery4'    ,oh6 my good   
,sir1 spare your calculations4 ,we do   
not wish to be informed  what would be  
the exact proportion of the imaginary   
means of  subsistence to the imaginary  
population at a period1 and at a rate of
  increase1 at which1 if it had been    
possible for it to have gone on only    
half so long as you suppose1 the whole  
race would have been long ago  actually 

extinct4 ,mr4 ,malthus here treats us as
 the fantastical  landlord treated      
,sancho ,panza1 by giving him a         
magnificent list of a  great variety of 
delicacies1 which it appeared on        
examination were not  to be had1 but    
made no mention of an excellent dish of 
cow-heel1 which  was the only thing he  
had in the house1 and which exactly     
suited the  stomach of the squire4 ,i   
am1 like ,sancho1 disposed to be        
satisfied with  what ,i can get2 and    
therefore ,i must fairly tell ,mr4      
,malthus that if he  will only spare me 
that first ratio of his1 of a doubled   
population with  respect to this island1
 or to the whole earth 7though there1   
begging his  pardon1 if all other things
 went right1 his arithmetical and       
geometrical  distinction would not as ,i
 have shewn come into play for some     
time71 ,i  say if he will allow1 as far 
as the principle of population is       
concerned1 that it is possible to double
 the number of inhabitants of  this     

country or of the world without any     
injury1 ,i shall be perfectly  content  
with this concession3 this first ratio  
shall be to me the golden  number of    
,pythagoras1 and he may do as he pleases
 with all the remaining  links of an    
impossible series1 which he has started 
only1 ,i imagine1 as  we throw out a tub
 to a whale by way of diversion4 ,as to 
any serious  argument1 it is perfectly  
immaterial1 perfectly irrelevant to the 
question1 whether we should double our  
population1 that we cannot  forsooth go 
on doubling it for ever2 unless indeed  
it could be shewn  that by thus doubling
 it once1 when we can do it without any 
inconvenience1 we should be irresistibly
 impelled to go on doubling it          
afterwards when it would have become    
exceedingly inconvenient1 and in  fact  
till the consequence would be general   
famine and the most extensive  misery4  
,without this addition to his argument1 
either expressed or  implied1 ,mr4      
,malthus's double series is of no use or

 avail whatever3 it  looks very pretty  
upon paper1 and reads very neat1 but is 
of no  practical importance4 ,the evils 
which it describes so accurately as     
arising from the increased disproportion
 between the ratios at every  step are  
mere imaginary things1 existing no where
 but in the morbid  enthusiasm of ,mr4  
,malthus's mind1 unless we suppose that 
every increase  of the existing         
population1 either with or without a    
proportionable  increase in the means of
 subsistence1 is a vicious habit1 a     
species of  phrensy1 where one step only
 leads to another1 till we are plunged  
into  irretrievable ruin4 ,but ,i would 
ask1 supposing the inhabitants of a     
country to have increased gradually in  
consequence of an increase in the  means
 of subsistence1 from two millions to   
four1 how that population of  four      
millions would have a greater tendency  
to excess1 than the present  population 
of two millions8 ,would not the same    
sense of inconvenience1  the same dread 

of poverty1 the same regard to the      
comforts of life1  operate in the same  
way and just as much upon every         
individual of the  four millions1 as    
upon every individual of the two        
millions8 ,what then  becomes of the    
increased tendency to excessive         
population in consequence  of its actual
 increase8 ,yet without this1 an        
increased population is not  in itself  
an evil1 or a good necessarily leading  
to evil1 but a pure and  unmixed good   
unconnected with any greater evil4      
,even our author's own account will give
 us a new country and a new  earth2 it  
will double all the happiness and all   
the enjoyment that there  is at present 
in the world4 ,if he had been a man of  
sanguine or poetical  feelings1 methinks
 this single consideration would have   
been enough to  have made his heart leap
 up with a lively joy--to see #8fast by 
hanging in  a golden chain this pendant 
world1' c4 but he is a man whom you may 
call rather of a saturnine than of a    

sanguine disposition4 ,he therefore  had
 no leisure to behold this cheering     
object1 but passes on #8to  nature's    
farthest verge1' till he enters once    
more into #8the confines of  ,chaos1 and
 the bosom of dim night4' ,mr4 ,malthus 
somewhere speaks  familiarly of the     
association of ideas1 as if he were     
acquainted with  that doctrine4 ,he has 
here at any rate very skilfully availed 
himself of  that kind of reasoning1     
which owes all its weight to that       
mechanical  principle4 ,in all the      
stages of an unchecked population1      
except the  first1 it having appeared   
that there is a great disproportion     
between  this principle and the progress
 of agriculture1 our author concludes   
that his readers will forget that that1 
which is so often represented as  an    
evil1 can ever be a good1 and therefore 
peremptorily adds1 in  defiance of his  
own statement1 that in every period of  
the increase1  the power of population  
is much superior to the other4 ,though  

it appears  to me then that ,mr4        
,malthus by his ratios has gained       
nothing in point of  argument over his  
readers1 he has gained much upon their  
imagination4 ,by  representing          
population so often as an evil1 and by  
magnifying its  increase in certain     
cases as so enormous an evil1 he raises 
a general  prejudice against it4        
,whenever you talk of any improvement or
 any  increase of population consequent 
upon it1 he immediately plays off his   
infinite series against you4 ,he makes  
the transition from a practicable  to an
 impracticable increase of population1  
from that degree of it1  which is       
desirable to that which is excessive1 by
 the assistance of his  mathematical    
scale1 as easily as you pass from the   
low notes of a  harpsichord to the high 
ones4 ,there seems no division between  
them4 ,it  is true that so long as we   
confine ourselves to the real question  
before  us and distinguish between what 
is practicable1 and what can never      

possibly happen1 the evil consequences  
of the system we contend for are  merely
 chimerical4 ,but as ,hercules in order 
to strangle the earth-born  ,antus was  
obliged to lift him from the ground1    
,mr4 ,malthus1 in order to  complete his
 triumph over common sense1 is obliged  
to call to his aid  certain airy        
speculations and fanciful theories of   
dangers1 that1 by his  own confession1  
can never possibly exist4 ,whenever you 
are for setting  out on the road of     
reform1 ,mr4 ,malthus stops you on the  
threshold1 and  says1 ,do you consider  
where you are going8 ,don't you know    
where this  road will lead you8 and     
then1 with a #8come on1 sir1 here's the 
place3  look how fearful and dizzy 'tis 
to cast one's eye so low'2 he hurries   
you forward to his imaginary precipice1 
and shews you the danger you  have so   
narrowly escaped4 ,however1 it is not   
,mr4 ,malthus's rhetoric1 but  our own  
wilful blindness1 that must persuade us 
that we have escaped  being dashed to   

pieces down any precipices1 when he     
himself tells us  that the road is      
nothing more than a long winding        
declivity4    ,i conceive there were two
 very capital errors in ,mr4 ,malthus's 
first  essay1 which though he has       
abandoned or in a great measure softened
 them  down in his subsequent edition1  
still adhere to all his reasonings1 and 
give them a wrong bias4 ,the first of   
these was1 that vice and misery are  the
 only checks to population3 secondly1   
that if population were for any  time   
freed from these restraints1 it would in
 that case go on increasing  with a     
force and rapidity1 which nothing would 
be able to withstand1 and  which would  
bear down the feeble mounds that had    
before opposed its  progress till the   
whole would end in one wide scene of    
universal uproar  and confusion4 ,as if1
 in the first place1 mere misery of     
itself1 without  a sense of greater     
misery1 and a desire to avoid it1 would 
do any thing  to prevent population2 and

 in the second place1 as if though the  
tax of  vice and misery were taken off  
for a time1 yet the recurrence of the   
same evils afterwards would not operate 
in the same way to repress  population1 
or as if population would in the mean   
time have acquired any  preternatural   
strength1 with which its counteracting  
causes would be  unable to contend1 or  
as if the mere mechanical checks to     
population  from the actual evils       
attendant upon it were not always       
necessarily a  match for1 and           
proportioned to1 the strength of the    
principle itself1  and its immediate    
tendency to excess4 ,it is astonishing  
to see how those  men1 who pique        
themselves the most on the solidity of  
their  understandings1 and on a kind of 
dull matter-of-fact plodding accuracy1  
are perpetually led away by their       
imaginations3 the more so because they  
are the dupes of their own vanity1 and  
never suspect that they are  liable to  
any such deception4 ,in the present     

instance our author has  been hurried   
into an unfounded assumption by having  
his imagination  heated with a          
personification4 ,he has given to the   
principle of  population a personal     
existence1 conceiving of it as a sort of
 infant  ,hercules1 as one of that      
terrific giant brood1 which you can only
 master  by strangling it in its cradle2
 forgetting that the antagonist         
principle  which he has made its direct 
counterpoise1 still grows with its      
growth  and strengthens with its        
strength1 being in fact its own         
offspring3 and  that the sharper evils  
which excessive population brings along 
with it1  more severe in proportion to  
its excess1 naturally tend to repress   
and  keep population down to the same   
level1 other circumstances being        
supposed the same4 ,nothing can be      
clearer to my understanding than this2  
yet it is upon the misrepresentation or 
misconception of this principle  that   
most of ,mr4 ,malthus's sophisms and    

ambiguities hinge4    ,it is necessary  
to make a distinction between the       
tendency in population  to increase1 and
 its power to increase2 otherwise we may
 fall into great  errors4 ,the power of 
population to increase is an abstract   
thing  independent of circumstances1 and
 which is therefore always the same4    
,its effects may therefore be very well 
described by a mathematical  series4    
,when we speak of the power of          
population to increase in a  certain    
continued ratio1 we do not mean to say  
that it will or will not  do so1 but    
merely that it is possible that it      
should do so from the  nature of the    
principle itself4 ,the power of         
population to increase is  in fact the  
same both before and after it has become
 excessive4 ,but ,i  conceive this is   
not the case with its tendency to       
increase1 unless we  mean its unchecked 
tendency1 which is saying nothing2 for  
if we speak  of its real tendency to    
increase1 this certainly is not always  

the same1  but depends exceedingly on   
circumstances1 that is1 is greater or   
less in  proportion as the population is
 or is not excessive4 ,the ratio in     
which  ,mr4 ,malthus has represented    
population as having a natural tendency 
to  increase1 can therefore only relate 
to its unchecked progress1 or to its    
increase while the means of subsistence 
can be made to keep pace with  it2      
inasmuch as it has an actual tendency to
 increase in this ratio1  only while it 
is free from checks2 but the moment     
these checks begin to  operate it is    
necessarily limited by them1 or kept    
down within a certain  point to the     
level of the means of subsistence4 ,in  
short1 as a practical  guide1 ,mr4      
,malthus's table is extremely           
fallacious2 for the population  has a   
tendency to go on as #a1 #b1 #d1 #h1 c4 
only while the subsistence  answers to  
it1 or is as #a1 #b1 #d1 #h1 c4 and when
 the means of  subsistence can only be  
made to increase as #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 c4  

then the  population will1 in the       
natural course of things1 come down to  
it and  increase only as #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1
 c4 or supposing it to have generally a 
certain tendency to excess1 it will then
 increase as #a1 #b1 #c1 #e1 c4  ,the   
actual1 positive1 practical tendency in 
population to increase is  not therefore
 always the same1 and for that very     
reason its tendency to  excess is always
 the same1 neither greater nor less1 in 
consequence of  the absolute increase in
 population4 ,mr4 ,malthus himself      
admits fully  the distinction between   
the actual increase of population and   
its  excessive increase1 between the    
tendency of population to increase with 
the means of subsistence and its        
tendency to increase beyond those       
means4 ,in fact1 almost one half of his 
voluminous work is taken up by          
extensive historical researches to prove
 that the population is in all  ages and
 countries1 in every form of society1   
and stage of civilization  kept down    

nearly to the means of subsistence3 that
 population has not  therefore at one   
time more than another1 when it is      
strong than when it  is weak1 in an     
improved than in a neglected state of   
cultivation1 a  tendency to rush on     
beyond its necessary limits3 yet if     
there is any one  inference to be drawn 
from the general spirit and tenor of    
,mr4 ,malthus's  reasonings1 it is this1
 that we ought not to encourage         
population1 nor  be anxious about the   
increase of the means of subsistence1   
but ought  rather to keep them back as  
much as possible1 because every addition
  made to population by whatever means  
or in whatever circumstances1 has a     
direct and unavoidable tendency to make 
it go on increasing with an  accelerated
 force2 or that the positive benefit of 
an enlarged  population is always       
counterbalanced by the increased danger 
of the  excess to which it naturally    
leads4 ,mr4 ,malthus by setting a       
certain  degree of plenty against a     

certain degree of excessive population1 
has  made it appear as if the two things
 were inseparably connected1 as if      
supposing a certain progress made in the
 one ratio you may then by  passing over
 to the opposite line see immediately   
what progress had been  made at the same
 time in the other1 that is1 what       
quantity of actual and  excessive       
population1 proportioned to the increase
 in the means of  subsistence and its   
immediate consequence1 would require to 
be cut off  by forcible and unnatural   
means1 by vice and misery4 ,it therefore
 looks  very much as if plenty were the 
immediate fore-runner of famine1 as if  
by sowing the seeds of virtue and       
happiness you were ensuring a larger    
harvest of vice and misery1 the evil    
engrafted on any good being always      
greater than the real benefit itself1   
and as if by advancing population  and  
increasing the means of its support1 you
 were only opening a new  ,iliad of     
woes1 and giving larger scope to the    

baneful operation of this  principle4   
,so that it is not the increase of good 
that we are to think  of1 but the       
introduction of evil that we are to     
guard against4 ,the  proportion by which
 we are to be guided is clear and       
demonstrable2 it is  as #bef to #i1 and 
so regularly through all the gradations 
upwards and  downwards4 ,at this rate it
 is pretty clear that our only object   
must be  to confine human happiness     
within as narrow limits1 and to keep the
  population down as low as possible1 at
 least to suffer no addition to  it4 ,we
 are something in the condition of a man
 suspended on a balance  with           
sharp-pointed spikes placed close to his
 body1 and who must not  stir for his   
life4 ,now the source of this fallacy   
7on which the whole  turns1 for without 
it it is null and abortive7 lies here1  
namely in  supposing that of the two    
ratios here connected together1 the one 
is the  cause of1 or has any thing to do
 with the other4 ,for the ratio in the  

upper line being at number #bef does not
 depend on the other ratio being  at    
number #i1 but simply on its being so   
many removes from the root or  first    
number4 ,it only expresses a possible or
 imaginary series1 or the  independent1 
direct1 physical power of increase1 or  
abstract tendency to  increase in       
population at each step1 and what that  
increase would amount  to in a given    
number of steps1 being left entirely to 
itself4 ,if it  expresses any thing     
else1 or the actual increase of         
population combined  with and in        
reference to the means of subsistence1  
it is utterly false  and delusive1 and a
 contradiction in terms4 ,for population
 as regulated  by1 and arising out of   
the means of subsistence cannot have got
 the  start of it in so prodigious a    
manner1 and as unconnected with the     
increase of the latter cannot depend    
upon it4 ,in the one case1  population  
instead of being to the means of        
subsistence as #bef to #i1  will only be

 a little a-head of it1 or as #i to #i3 
in the other case it  will be as #bef1  
whether the food has in a given time    
increased from #a to  #i1 or only from  
#a to #f1 or whether it has stood still 
at #a4 ,the number  of inhabitants from 
the beginning of the world1 proceeding  
by the  geometrical ratio1 would have   
been going on just the same whether they
  had ever had any thing to eat or not  
7they are a kind of enchanted  people   
who live without food7 whether the      
quantity of food had been more  or less1
 whether there has been any improvements
 in agriculture or not4  ,though the    
improvements in agriculture had stood   
still at #a in the  arithmetical scale  
this would not lessen or alter the      
height to which  the geometrical scale  
would have mounted in the interval4     
#8,it keeps on  its way unslacked of    
motion4' ,by advancing in the           
arithmetical scale or  increasing the   
means of subsistence1 you do not advance
 the geometrical  scale1 much less by   

increasing the disproportion between the
 two1 do you  increase the waste        
population of the world1 which must be  
greater in  proportion as less of it had
 been provided for4 ,on the other hand1 
you  necessarily lessen this            
disproportion4 ,for instead of supposing
 that if  we had remained at #a in the  
lower scale1 we should then have been at
 #a  in the upper1 or that if we had    
advanced no further than #c1 the        
disproportion would then only have been 
#d to #c1 and so on1 whereas by  going  
on it is now as #bef to #i1 the fact is 
that the disproportion  instead of being
 as #bef to #i1 would have been #bef to 
#a1 or #b1 or #c3 and  that the further 
we go in the one scale1 though we cannot
 keep up with1  or overtake the other1  
yet we lose so much the less ground and 
are  nearer it than we should otherwise 
be4 ,to argue otherwise is to be like   
the children who when they cannot keep  
up with others1 stand still and  begin  
to cry1 thinking this the likeliest way 

to make them slacken their  pace4 ,i    
shall therefore beg leave to look upon  
every increase in the  means of         
subsistence or actual population1 as so 
much gained upon the  infinite series3  
by keeping back the actual means of     
subsistence1 ,i  do not lessen the      
possible or abstract tendency of        
population to  increase1 and ,i only add
 to its actual tendency to increase in  
proportion as ,i add to its actual means
 of support4 ,we have therefore a  clear
 addition to its actual quantity without
 any addition to its  tendency to       
excess1 or without strengthening the    
evil principle1 the  germ of            
incalculable mischief1 which population 
contains within it4 ,mr4  ,malthus has  
taken no pains to guard his readers     
against the conclusion1  that by        
increasing the actual population1 you   
increase its actual  tendency to        
increase1 as if either the disposition  
to propagate the  species were stronger 
in proportion to the number of those who

 possess  it1 or as if in proportion as 
the power is spread over a larger       
surface1  it were not counteracted by   
being accompanied in each individual    
with a  proportionable share of common  
sense and reason1 so that he will not be
  a bit more likely to run upon famine  
because there will be twice as many  to 
keep him company as there used to be4   
,the tendency to excessive  population  
in any community does not depend upon   
the number of  individuals in it1 who   
have the power of abusing their liberty1
 or on  the quantity of mischief they   
might do1 but upon the moral character  
of the individuals composing it1 upon   
the difference between the  strength of 
moral restraint and the strength of     
physical appetite1 or on  the actual    
inconvenience to which they will submit 
for the sake of  gratifying their       
passions4 ,in short the tendency to     
excess does not  depend on the point in 
the scale where the limit is drawn1 but 
upon  the tendency to overleap that     

limit2 now this tendency or impetus is  
not increased by the distance which it  
has gone1 like a stone rolling  down a  
hill1 or like a torrent of water        
accumulating1 but is like a cart  or    
waggon left on a declivity with a       
drag-chain fastened to one of the       
wheels1 which is carried forward till   
the chain is pulled tight and then  it  
stops of itself4 ,this is a very clumsy 
comparison1 but it has some  resemblance
 to the thing4 ,we are not to calculate 
the actual tendency to  excess in       
population by the excess of the power   
itself over the means of  subsistence1  
which is greater as we advance1 but by  
the excess of the  power restrained by  
other motives and principles over the   
means of  subsistence4 ,in algebraic    
language the tendency to excess is not  
equal  to the power of population       
simply1 but to the power1 minus the     
difficulty of providing for its support1
 or the influence which that  difficulty
 has on the conduct of rational beings4 

,if we suppose a barren island with half
 a dozen savages upon it1 living  upon  
roots1 vermin1 and crawfish1 without any
 of the arts or any of the  conveniences
 of life1 ignorant of agriculture1      
neither knowing nor  caring how to      
improve their condition1 passing their  
time in stupid  indolence1 with as      
little pretensions to reason or         
refinement as can  well be desired1 in  
short a very unphilosophical1           
improgressive1  viscious1 miserable set 
of barbarians as need be2 now what      
difference  would it make in the        
condition of these poor uninformed      
wretches1 or how  would it add to their 
vices1 their ignorance1 or #8squalid    
poverty1' if  we suppose another island 
at a few leagues distance1 of about the 
same  circumference1 maintaining nearly 
the same number of inhabitants living   
in the same manner8 ,yet as it is       
probable that these poor lousy          
wretches#g leading a life of sloth and  
hunger1 may upon the whole have  more   

enjoyment than misery 7for even the life
 of a savage seems better  than no life 
at all1 nay some have gone so far as to 
say that it was  better than any other  
life7 it would be desirable that there  
should be  such another island so       
inhabited4 ,but it is exactly the same  
thing  whether we suppose twice the     
number of people inhabiting twice the   
extent of ground1 or maintained on the  
same ground1 being twice as much        
cultivated2 population would not press  
the more on the means of  subsistence1  
nor would the misery be greater1 nor the
 checks required to  prevent it greater4
 ,that is to say1 an advance made in the
 state of  cultivation and in the arts  
of life so as to maintain double the    
population must always be the means of  
doubling the numbers and  enjoyment of  
any people4 ,the only possible          
difference would be that as  this       
increased population would be the       
consequence of greater industry  and    
knowledge1 it would1 one should think1  

denote of itself1 that the  people would
 be less liable to unforeseen accidents1
 and less likely to  involve themselves 
in wilful distress than before4 ,this is
 the first  step in the progress of     
civilization and in the history of all  
nations4  ,from this description of a   
barren island supporting a few wandering
  half-starved ignorant savages1 such as
 ,england might have been once1 let  us 
turn our eyes to what ,england is       
now2--populous1 enlightened1 free1      
rich1 powerful and happy2 excelling     
equally in arts1 and arms1 the  delight 
and terror of the rest of the world2 the
 abode of science1 the  nurse of virtue1
 the darling seat of the muses2 boasting
 her long line  of heroes1 and sages2   
her ,bacon1 her ,newton1 her            
,shakespear1 her ,milton1  and her      
,locke2#h blest with the most perfect   
government administered in  the most    
perfect manner2 having a king1 lords1   
and commons1 each  balancing the other1 
and each in their several station and   

degree being  security for every kind of
 liberty and every kind of property1    
harmoniously conspiring together for the
 good of the whole1 taking care  first  
of their own rights and interests as the
 most important1 and then  of those of  
others3 subject to mild and equal laws1 
which afford the  same immediate        
protection to every one in the enjoyment
 of his liberty  and his property1      
whether that property is five thousand a
 year or no  more than a shilling a day3
 maintaining in different degrees of    
comfort1  and affluence1 from the common
 necessaries to the highest luxuries of 
life1 ten millions of souls1 all        
supported by their own labour and       
industry or that of others2 all plying  
close with cheerful and patient         
activity to some ingenious and useful   
handicraft1 or some more severe  but    
necessary labour1 or else reclining in  
ease and elegance1 and  basking in the  
sunshine of life2 her meanest beggar    
owing the rags which  cover his         

nakedness1 and the crust of bread which 
keeps his body and  soul together to    
some of the most useful inventions which
 support1 and  to that humanity which is
 only to be found in civilized society4 
,shall  we forget her schools1 her      
colleges1 her hospitals1 her churches1  
her  crowded cities1 her streets lined  
with shops1 enriched with the produce   
and manufactures of her own soil1 or    
glittering with the spoils of a  hundred
 nations1 her thronged assemblies1 her  
theatres1 her balls1 her  operas1 her   
#8palaces1 her ladies and her pomp'2 her
 villas1 her parks1  her cottages1 her  
hamlets1 her rich cultivated lands1     
teeming with  plenty1 her green valleys1
 her #8upland swells1 echoing to the    
bleat of  flocks1' her brave contented  
peasantry1 their simple manners and     
honest  integrity2 and shall we wish to 
degrade this queen of nations1 this     
mistress of the world once more into a  
horde of fierce barbarians1  treading   
back our steps1 and resigning this      

splendid profusion of all  that can     
adorn and gladden human life1 this gay  
variety1 this happy  union of all that  
is useful and all that is ornamental1   
the refinements  of taste and           
decorations of fashion1 the beautiful   
distinctions of  artificial society1 and
 the solid advantages derived from our  
constitution in church and state1 for   
the groveling dispositions1 the  brutal 
ignorance1 the disgusting poverty1 the  
dried skins and miserable  huts of the  
inhabitants of ,terra del ,fuego1 or    
,new ,holland8 ,yet this it  seems from 
the doctrine of ,mr4 ,malthus is our    
only safe policy1 since  the lower we   
are in the scale of existence1 the fewer
 and more miserable  we are1 the farther
 removed we must be from the tremendous 
evils of  excessive population1 which   
are the necessary consequences of the   
progress of refinement and civilization4
 ,but as the fact so far does  not1 as  
,i suppose ,mr4 ,malthus will himself   
allow1 square with his  theory1 7for at 

no time during the progress of          
cultivation does the  population appear 
to have been pressing with increased    
force on the  means of subsistence1 so  
that though the produce of the earth was
  increasing every year1 the inhabitants
 were increasing much faster1  every    
addition to the actual produce only     
occasioning some new addition  to the   
swoln and bloated state of population1  
and aggravating the  already dreadful   
symptoms of the disease7 as ,i say the  
progress of  cultivation and improvement
 of different kinds has not produced any
 of  those fatal consequences we might  
be led to expect from it1 so neither  do
 ,i apprehend any of these fatal        
consequences in future from carrying  it
 as much farther as it can go4 ,i should
 just reverse the reasoning of  ,mr4    
,malthus1 who taking the evil as at its 
greatest height when the  world is      
supposed to be completely full and      
completely enlightened1  thence argues  
downwards against all attempts at       

improvement as dangerous  innovations2  
so ,i1 finding that an improved         
cultivation and enlarged  population are
 good things through the inferior       
gradations1 am apt to  think they would 
continue so1 proceeding upwards to the  
topmost round of  the ladder1 as far as 
population is concerned1 for ,i once    
more give full  and fair warning that ,i
 engage in this question no farther1 any
 loose1  general or accidental          
expressions to the contrary             
notwithstanding4 ,to  make good ,mr4    
,malthus's argument against population1 
we must suppose1 as  ,i have said       
before1 that the tendency in population 
to increase goes on  increasing with the
 thing itself3 this would be true1 if as
 our author  supposes in his first      
edition1 the passion always required the
 same  vent1 in all circumstances1 that 
is if we suppose man to be a mere       
headstrong animal in this respect1 his  
reason having no influence  whatever    
over his conduct1 or which amounts to   

the same thing1 that  actual vice and   
misery 7not foreseen1 but felt7 are the 
only checks to  population4 ,at this    
rate1 it is evident that the degree of  
misery  attending the gratification of  
the passion would have no effect to     
restrain it1 all degrees being alike    
indifferent or that the quantity of     
actual misery incurred would be in      
proportion to the increased power of    
producing it4 ,i shall examine these    
positions more at large in another      
letter2 ,i here wish to shew in a few   
words that as applied to the  subject of
 increasing population1 they lead to a  
direct absurdity4 ,if we  suppose this  
passion to be perfectly blind and       
insensible1 to be deaf to  all          
remonstrance1 and regardless of all     
consequences1 then no matter in  what   
depths of misery it involves us1 it will
 have its way1 and go its  own lengths4 
,take away the preventive check of moral
 restraint 7which  only comes in as a   
snivelling interpolation in some places 

of the second  edition7 and the         
population would no doubt go on doubling
 as fast as it  could1 not as fast as   
the means of subsistence would let it2  
that is1  the excess of population would
 be great in proportion to the actual   
previous increase1 or the excessive     
multiplication of the species would  be 
the necessary consequence of1 and       
commensurate with the power of          
excessive multiplication1 which would   
depend on the number of persons  having 
that power4 ,now this is contrary to all
 we know of facts and  human nature1    
since in this case there could be no    
restraint to  population at any time1   
but the extreme of vice or the extreme  
of  misery4 ,the power of population to 
increase is 7we will grant7  unlimited1 
but the tendency to increase is         
necessarily limited by its  tendency to 
excess and limited by it in proportion  
to the excess4 ,that  is to say1 it does
 not follow that though when there ought
 to be only  two millions of            

inhabitants1 there may be four1 owing to
 the weakness of  the above-mentioned   
principle of moral restraint1 that      
therefore that  four 7by the tendency of
 population to increase in a geometrical
 ratio  or to double itself17 will in   
like manner become eight1 and so on1    
namely because the checks to it will    
increase in proportion2 or though  the  
prospect of the inconveniences arising  
from doubling the population  in the    
first instance1 the quantity of food    
remaining the same1 might  not be       
sufficient to deter people1 or overcome 
this propensity1 yet the  prospect of   
famine consequent upon the second       
doubling undoubtedly  would1 because    
their regard to consequences is supposed
 to remain the  same1 and the evils they
 have to dread in the one case are      
greater1 and  unless we suppose them to 
have become more stupid and brutal1 must
  operate upon them more forcibly than  
in the other4 ,the strength of the      
passion itself may be considered as     

always the same1 or a given  quantity3  
but the motives to resist it arising    
from the consequences of  its indulgence
 are not always the same1 but may be    
either none at all1  or very slight1 or 
considerable1 or extreme1 as the        
obstacles to its  indulgence may be     
either none at all1 of a trifling       
inconvenience1 or  poverty1 or absolute 
famine4 ,now the degree of excess in    
population1 or  the inconveniences to   
which we expose ourselves by            
inconsiderate  gratification will depend
 entirely on the difference1 be it more 
or  less1 between the strength of the   
passion in each individual1 and the     
strength of moral restraint4 ,if the    
latter principle is weak1 it will       
require to be stimulated by the         
immediate apprehension of some very     
great inconvenience1 before it will     
become a match for the importunity  of  
physical desire4 ,if it is strong1 a    
general conviction of the  propriety or 
prudence of self-denial will be         

sufficient to incline the  balance4 ,but
 in no case unless we suppose man to be 
degraded to the  condition of the       
brutes1 will this principle be so low   
and weak as to  have no effect at all1  
so that no apprehension of the last     
degree of  wretchedness1 as the         
consequence1 would take off or abate the
 edge of  appetite4 ,there is therefore 
always a point at which the excess      
ceases1  and we have seen what this     
point at all times is4 ,thus if the     
operation  of rational motives is so    
much upon a level with the physical     
impulse1  as to keep population exactly 
or nearly down to the means of          
subsistence1 it will do so equally      
whether that population is actually     
greater or less1 whether it is          
stationary or progressive1 for it will  
increase only with the means by which it
 is supported4 ,on the other hand  if   
from the manners1 the habits1 and       
institutions of society1 there is a     
considerable tendency in population to  

excess1 this tendency to excess  will   
not be greater or less in proportion to 
the actual number of  inhabitants1 or   
the actual quantity of food1 nor will it
 depend on their  being progressive or  
stationary1 but on the morals of the    
people being  retrograde1 progressive1  
or stationary2 for the tendency of      
population  itself to excess or to      
increase excessively 7a dubious kind of 
expression7 is not a perpetual1         
indefinite1 invariable tendency to      
increase from #b to #d1 from #d to #h1  
c4 7as ,i have just shewn7 but a        
tendency to increase beyond the means of
 subsistence to a certain  point or     
degree4 ,this tendency to excess will   
consequently be the same  wherever we   
fix the point of subsistence1 because it
 is only a given  tendency to outstrip  
that limit whether nearer or farther    
off1 whether  advancing or retreating4#i
 ,it is true there is a tendency in     
population  in this case to increase    
faster than the means of subsistence1   

but not  to increase faster and faster1 
or to get more and more a-head of it4   
,it is in fact only a disproportionate  
superiority in certain motives  over    
others1 which subjects the community or 
certain classes of it to a  great degree
 of want and hardship3 and as far as    
their imprudence and  folly will carry  
them1 they will go1 but they will not go
 farther4 ,they  will submit to be      
pinched1 but not to be starved1 unless  
this  consequence may sometimes be      
supposed to follow from the partial and 
unnatural debasement of certain classes 
of the community1 by driving  them to   
despair and rendering them callous to   
suffering4 ,but the general  tendency in
 population to become excessive can only
 be increased by the  increased         
relaxation of moral restraint1 or by    
gradually weakening the  motives of     
prudence1 reason1 c4 ,i cannot make this
 matter plainer4    ,mr4 ,malthus has   
not ,i conceive given this question of  
increasing  population and practical    

improvement fair play4 ,he has contrived
 to  cover over its real face and       
genuine features with the terrible mask 
of  modern philosophy4 ,his readers     
having been prevailed upon to give up   
the  fee-simple of their understandings 
into his hands1 that no undue           
advantages might be taken of them by the
 perfectibility school1 they  find it   
difficult to get it back out of his     
hands1 though they want it  to go on    
again 7the alarm being over7 in the old 
road of common sense1  practical        
improvement1 and liberal discussion4 ,he
 had persuaded himself  that population 
was such an enormous evil in connection 
with a scheme of  unlimited improvement1
 that he can hardly reconcile himself to
 it1 or  tell whether to think it a good
 or an evil in any shape1 or according  
to  any scheme4 ,by indulging his       
prejudices1 he has so confounded his    
perceptions1 that he cannot judge       
rightly1 even when he wishes to do it4  
,he found it most convenient1 when he   

had to confute ,mr4 ,godwin1 to         
describe reason as a principle of no    
practical value whatever1 as a mere     
negation4 ,as therefore by the removal  
of vice and misery the office of        
checking population would devolve upon  
this principle1 which could do  nothing1
 population would in fact have no check 
left to it1 and then  certainly the most
 terrible consequences would ensue4 ,the
 only question  would be1 how soon we   
should begin cutting one another's      
throats1 or how  many 7whether a greater
 or a smaller number7 had better be     
employed on  this kind of work4 ,we     
perceive very plainly that this must be 
the  inevitable consequence of increased
 population1 if it can only be kept     
down by the positive checks of vice and 
misery4 ,we apply the theory very       
clearly to a future stage of the        
progress2 but though1 if the theory     
were true1 exactly the same scenes ought
 to be acting before our eyes at        
present on a smaller scale1 yet as we   

find that this is not the case1 we      
leave this circumstance out of the      
question1 and conclude that there  must 
be some secret difference1 some occult  
cause1 something we cannot  very well   
explain1 which makes the present state  
of things preferable to  all others3 at 
least whatever might be the consequences
 of population1  if certain alterations 
and improvements were to take place1 we 
are sure  that it produces no such      
consequences at present4 ,with respect  
to the  lower1 or actual stages of      
population and improvement1 ,mr4        
,malthus  supposes the preventive checks
 to operate as well as the positive1    
the fear of misery as well as the misery
 itself1 because we know that it  does3 
but whenever you suppose any alteration 
or improvement to take  place in the    
world1 so that you have not the fact to 
confront him with1  he immediately      
assumes the positive checks1 or actual  
vice and misery1  as the only checks to 
population2 herein trusting to his      

theory4  ,whenever you are found to be  
advancing in the scale 7which must be   
indeed from some of the restraints being
 taken off7 he directly supposes  that  
you are to be set free from all         
restraints whatever4 ,he lets loose  his
 ratios upon you1 and away they go like 
a clock running down4 ,this  indeed     
would not be so well4 ,mr4 ,malthus thus
 artfully makes the  question of        
progressive improvement to be1 whether  
we are to be governed  as now by mixed  
motives1 or to be released from all     
moral restraint1 for  he supposes that  
if population once passes a certain     
bourne1 which he  points out to you1 it 
will then become perfectly untractable1 
all its  future excesses will be        
prevented only by actual vice and       
misery4 ,thus  though all the good of   
our present situation1 all wherein it   
differs  from a state of brutal violence
 or lingering want1 is in fact owing to 
the prevalence of a less degree of      
reason and foresight1 yet that if  that 

principle were strengthened1 and the    
consequence were an increase  of        
population1 and a more general diffusion
 of the comforts of life1  this         
principle would then be of no avail in  
preventing or correcting the  excesses  
to which the unrestrained indulgence of 
our appetites would  give rise4 ,there  
is a degree of absurdity1 which staggers
 belief and  almost challenges our      
conviction1 by making it incredible that
 if we  ourselves do not labour under   
some strong deception1 the human        
understanding should be capable of such 
extreme folly4    ,i shall conclude this
 letter by laying down two or three     
general maxims1  which appear to me to  
follow clearly from the view which has  
been here  taken of the subject4        
,first1 while population goes on        
increasing at that tremendous rate      
described by ,mr4 ,malthus1 it shews    
that there is nothing to restrain it2   
that there is no need of any thing to   
restrain it3 that it is wanted1  that   

its increase is a thing to be desired1  
not to be dreaded1 and that  if it were 
possible for it to increase ten times   
faster1 it would be so  much the better4
    ,secondly1 when it arrives at a     
certain point1 that is1 where the       
population begins to press on the means 
of subsistence1 either from  natural or 
artificial causes1 or when it threatens 
to become an evil  from excess1 it      
naturally stops short of its own accord1
 the checks to  it from vice1 misery and
 moral restraint taken all together     
becoming  stronger as the excess becomes
 greater4 ,it therefore produces its own
  antidote and produces it in quantities
 exactly in proportion to its own       
extent4 ,it is not therefore 7as ,mr4   
,malthus would1 when he pleases1 have   
us believe7 like a stone hanging        
suspended over a precipice1 which if it 
once loses its balance will be hurled   
furiously down1 rolling and  bounding   
from steep to steep with increased      
velocity till it reaches the  bottom1   

but like a balance suspended by a       
check-weight1 where you cannot  increase
 the pressure on one side without       
increasing the resistance               
proportionably on the other4 ,it may    
therefore at worst be left very  safely 
to itself1 instead of being considered  
as an evil against whose  unforeseen    
ravages no precautions are sufficient4  
,thirdly1 as the same quantity of vice  
and misery co-operating with the  same  
degree of moral restraint1 will always  
keep population at the same  7relative7 
point1 so a less degree of actual vice  
and misery operating  on a greater      
degree of moral restraint1 that is1 of  
reason1 prudence1  virtue1 c4 will      
produce the same effect3 and we may     
always judge of the  happiness of a     
people1 and of the beneficial effects of
 population by  the prevalence of moral 
restraint over vice and misery1 instead 
of  supposing that vice and misery are  
the best pledges of the happiness of  a 
state1 and the only possible security   

against excessive population4           
,consequently1 the object of the        
philosopher must be to increase the     
influence of rational motives1 and      
lessen the actual operation of vice  and
 misery4 ,it is only in proportion as he
 does this1 that he does any  thing2 for
 not only are vice and misery such cheap
 commodities that they  may be had at   
any corner merely with asking for 7any  
bungler may  contract for them in the   
gross7 but farther though they          
undoubtedly  operate as checks to       
population1 ,i must be excused from     
admitting that  they remedy the evils of
 population1 unless the disease can be  
considered as its own remedy1 for in the
 degree in which they generally  exist1 
they are the only evils1 that are ever  
likely to rise from it1  and as to those
 imaginary1 unknown and unheard of      
evils1 with which ,mr4  ,malthus is     
perpetually threatening us in order to  
reconcile us to those  we bear1 ,i deny 
the possibility of their existence upon 

any known  principles of human society1 
either in its improved1 or unimproved   
state4    ,i do not mean to say that    
there is any thing in the general       
principles  here stated that ,mr4       
,malthus is at present disposed to deny1
 or that he  has not himself expressly  
insisted on in some part or other of his
  various work2 it is enough for my     
purpose that there are other parts  of  
his work in which he has contradicted   
them and himself1 and that the  uniform 
tenor of his first work leans directly  
the opposite way2 and it  is not my     
business so much to inquire1 how much   
,mr4 ,malthus retains of  his old       
philosophy1 as how many of their old    
feelings his readers retain  on the     
subject1 on which he will be able to    
build as many false  conclusions as he  
pleases1 and with more safety to        
himself1 than if he  still persevered in
 the direct and unqualified assertion of
 exploded  error4 ,plain1 downright     
consistent falsehood is not dangerous3  

it is  only that spurious mixture of    
truth and falsehood1 that perpetual     
oscillation between the two extremes1   
that wavering and uncertainty that      
baffles detection by rendering it       
difficult to know on what ground you    
are to meet your adversary1 that makes  
the sophist so formidable as he  is4 ,in
 order therefore that ,mr4 ,malthus may 
not avail himself of his                
inconsistencies1 ,i shall assume a right
 to contradict him as often as he       
contradicts himself1 and to consider the
 peculiar doctrines of his work  as its 
essential and only important doctrines4 
,,letter ,v  ,,whether ,,vice ,,and     
,,misery ,,are ,,the ,,necessary        
,,consequences ,,of1 ,,and ,,the ,,only 
,,checks ,,to1 ,,the ,,principle ,,of   
,,population      ,,sir--,i have in my  
last letter taken more pains than1 ,i   
believe1 was  necessary to shew that the
 tendency of population to increase is  
not a  dangerous one2 or at any rate    
that the actual increase of population  

does not increase the danger4 ,the same 
proportionable quantity of vice  and    
misery would always be sufficient to    
keep down the excess of  population     
beyond the means of subsistence1 whether
 we suppose those  means to be great or 
small3 there is another question1       
whether the same  quantity of vice and  
misery is always necessary for this     
purpose2 and  further1 whether all the  
vice and misery in the world are not    
only  necessary checks to1 but the      
immediate effects of1 the principle of  
population1 and of nothing else4        
,before ,i proceed1 ,i must stop to     
observe that ,i have just been perusing 
the corrections1 additions1 c4 to the   
third and last edition of the  ,essay2  
and ,i confess ,i have not much heart to
 go on4 ,the pen falls from  my hand4   
,for to what purpose is it to answer a  
man1 who has answered  himself1 who has 
hardly advanced an opinion that he has  
not retracted1  who after all your pains
 to overturn the extravagant assertions 

he had  brought forward1 comes and tells
 you1 ,why ,i have given them up myself2
  so that you hardly know whether to    
look upon him in the light of an        
adversary or an ally4 ,i do not like    
this shadow-fighting1 any more than     
,sancho liked his master's fighting with
 enchanters4 ,when ,don ,quixote had  to
 encounter the knight of the ,prodigious
 ,nose1 his valour was inflamed1  and he
 rushed fiercely on his antagonist1 but 
when after having unhorsed  him1 he     
found that it was his old friend and    
neighbour the ,batchelor  ,carrasco1 the
 fury of his arm was suspended1 and he  
knew not what to say  or do4#aj ,till   
,mr4 ,malthus lays aside his harlequin's
 coat and sword1  and ceases to chase   
opinions through a rapid succession of  
varying  editions1 it is not an easy    
matter to come up with him or give him  
fair  battle4 ,it was thought a work of 
no small labour and ingenuity to make a 
harmony of the ,evangelists4 ,i would   
recommend it to some one 7who thinks    

himself equal to the task7 to make a    
harmony of ,mr4 ,malthus's different    
performances4 ,till this is done1 it    
seems impossible to collect the  sense  
of his writings1 and consequently to    
answer them4 ,it should not  therefore  
be the object of any one who would set  
himself to answer ,mr4  ,malthus1 so    
much to say that such and such are the  
real and settled  opinions of that      
author1 as that such opinions are       
floating in different  parts of his     
writings1 that they are floating or     
fixed in the minds of  his readers1 and 
that those opinions are not so correct  
as they might  be4 ,if ,mr4 ,malthus had
 chosen to disclaim certain opinions    
with their  consequences1 advanced in   
the first edition1 instead of denying   
that he  ever held such opinions1 though
 he may still be detected with the      
manner1 he would have saved me the      
trouble of writing1 and himself the     
disagreeable task of reading1 this rude 
attack upon them4    ,mr4 ,malthus lays 

down as the basis of all his reasonings 
the two  following positions1 viz4      
#8,first1 that food is necessary to the 
existence of man4'    #8,secondly1 ,that
 the passion between the sexes is       
necessary1 and will  remain nearly in   
its present state4'    #8,these two     
laws1' he adds1 #8ever since we have had
 any knowledge of  mankind1 appear to   
have been fixed laws of our nature2 and 
as we have  not hitherto seen any       
alteration in them1 we have no right to 
conclude  that they will ever cease to  
be what they are now1 without an        
immediate  act of power in that ,being  
who first arranged the system of the    
universe4 ,the best arguments for the   
perfectibility of man are drawn  from a 
contemplation of the great progress that
 he has already made from  the savage   
state1 and the difficulty of saying     
where he is to stop4 ,but  towards the  
extinction of the passion between the   
sexes1 no progress  whatever has        
hitherto been made4 ,it appears to exist

 in as much force at  present as it did 
two thousand1 or four thousand years    
ago4 ,there are  individual exceptions  
now as there always have been4 ,but1 as 
these  exceptions do not appear to      
increase in number1 it would surely be a
  very unphilosophical mode of arguing  
to infer merely from the existence  of  
an exception1 that the exception would  
in time become the rule1 and  the rule  
the exception4'    ,as to the first     
position here laid down that food is    
necessary to the  existence of man1 ,i  
shall not certainly dispute it4 ,as to  
the second  kind of necessity1 the      
gratification of the passion between the
 sexes1 ,i  must beg leave to deny that 
this necessity is #8like unto the first'
 or  to be compared with it4 ,does ,mr4 
,malthus really mean to say that a man  
can no more abstain from the commerce of
 women1 than he can live without  food8 
,if so1 he states what is not the fact4 
,does he mean to assert1  that the      
impulse to propagate the species1 call  

it lust1 or love1 is a  principle as    
strong1 as ungovernable1 as importunate1
 as uniform in its  effects1 as         
incapable of being subjected to the     
control of reason1 or  circumstances1 in
 short as much an affair of mere        
physical appetite1 as  hunger8 ,one     
would suppose so1 for he makes no       
distinction between them1  but speaks of
 them both in the same terms1 as equally
 necessary1 as  equally fixed1 and      
immutable laws of our nature1 the       
operation of which  nothing short of a  
miracle can suspend or alter4 ,there are
 two  circumstances1 the mentioning of  
which will however be sufficient to     
shew that the two kinds of necessity    
here spoken of are not of the same      
order1 or cogency1 and cannot be        
reasoned upon in the same manner1       
namely1 that there are many instances of
 persons who have lived all  their lives
 without any intercourse with the other 
sex1 whereas there is  no instance of   
any person living without food2 in the  

second place1 what  makes a most marked 
distinction between the two cases1 is   
that the  longer we have been accustomed
 to do without the indulgence of the one
  appetite1 the more tractable we find  
it1 whereas the craving occasioned  by  
the want of food1 the longer it         
continues1 becomes more and more        
pressing1 and at last utterly           
ungovernable1 and if not satisfied in   
time1 is sure in all cases whatever1    
without a single exception1 to  destroy 
the person's life4 ,these two           
considerations are of themselves  quite 
sufficient to overturn the analogy which
 is here pretended to be  set up between
 love and hunger 7a delicate            
comparison7--to shew that the  first of 
these impulses is not an affair of mere 
physical necessity1  that it does not   
operate always in the same way1 and that
 it is not a  thing1 over which reason1 
or circumstances have no power4 ,what   
can be a  stronger instance of the power
 of reason1 or imagination1 or habit    

over  this principle than the number of 
single women1 who in every country1     
till the manners become quite corrupt1  
preserve either through their  whole    
lives1 or the best part of them the     
greatest purity and propriety  of       
conduct8 ,one would think that female   
modesty had been a flower that          
blossomed only in other climes 7instead 
of being the peculiar growth of  our own
 time and country67 that ,mr4 ,malthus  
in the heat of his argument1  and urged 
on by the ardour of his own feelings1 is
 blind to the example  of so many of his
 fair countrywomen1 in whom the         
influence of a virtuous  education1 of  
virtuous principles1 and virtuous       
dispositions prevails  over the warmth  
of the passions and force of temptation4
 ,mr4 ,malthus's  doctrine is a most    
severe satire against the modesty and   
self-denial of  the other sex1 and ruins
 in one sweeping clause the unblemished 
reputations of all those expecting or   
desponding virgins who had  hitherto    

been supposed to live in the daily1     
hourly practice of this  virtue4        
,trenched as he is behind history1      
philosophy1 and a knowledge of  human   
nature1 he laughs at all their prudery  
and affectation1 and tells  them fairly 
that the thing is impossible2 and that  
unless a miracle  could be worked in    
their favour1 they might as well pretend
 to live  without eating or drinking1 or
 sleeping1 as without the men4 ,he must 
be  of opinion with ,iago1 that #8their 
greatest merit is not to leave it       
undone but keep it unknown4' ,surely1 no
 maid could live near such a            
man4--,though this is what ,mr4 ,malthus
 might say1 it is not what he  does say3
 on the other hand1 when he comes to    
particulars1 7as he is  rather a candid 
man1 and does not trouble himself much  
about  consistency7 instead of          
representing real chastity as a kind of 
miracle  or monster in nature1 he       
represents it as a very common thing and
 bears  honourable testimony to the     

virtue of most women1 particularly in   
the  middle and higher ranks of life1 in
 this respect4 ,but then this virtue  is
 confined entirely to the women2 the men
 neither do1 nor ever will be  able to  
practise it2 and this again salves the  
objection to his  argument4 ,but this is
 of all others the strongest proof of   
the futility  of ,mr4 ,malthus's        
reasoning3 for to what is this          
difference owing but to  the opinion of 
the world respecting their conduct1 that
 is1 to moral  causes8 ,it cannot be    
said ,i presume that the greater command
 which the  other sex have over         
themselves is because their heads are   
stronger and  their passions weaker1    
7this would1 ,i am sure1 be out of all  
anatomical  proportion73 it is owing    
solely to the institutions of society1  
imposing  this restraint upon them2     
though these institutions1 if we are to 
believe ,mr4 ,malthus1 can never in any 
circumstances whatever have any  effect 
on this passion4 ,it is impossible to   

add any thing to the force  and         
conclusiveness of this argument by      
enlarging upon it3 it speaks for        
itself4 ,i can only say1 that ,i am     
willing to rest the whole controversy   
on this single fact4 ,if the passion is 
thus capable of being modified  and     
influenced by circumstances1 opinion1   
and manners1 and not merely  slightly   
modified1 or for a short time1 in one or
 two solitary  instances1 as an         
exception to the general rule 7though   
even this would  shew that the necessity
 is not absolute1 invincible1 fatal7 but
 actually  kept under 7as far as it has 
any thing to do with population1 or     
child-bearing7 by one half the sex in   
every well-regulated community1 ,i      
conceive ,mr4 ,malthus can only be      
justified in saying1 that no possible   
circumstances will ever render this     
passion entirely subject to the  control
 of reason1 by saying that no           
circumstances will ever arrive in  which
 it would be the imperious and          

indispensable duty of every one to      
habituate himself to such restraint1 in 
which that necessity would be  generally
 felt and understood and enforced by the
 opinion of the whole  community1 and in
 which nothing but a general system of  
manners formed  upon that opinion could 
save the community from ruin1 or from   
the evils  of excessive population1     
which is point-blank contrary to ,mr4   
,malthus's  whole doctrine4 ,in short1  
,mr4 ,malthus's whole book rests on a   
malicious  supposition1 that all mankind
 7,i hope the reader will pardon the    
grossness of the expression1 the subject
 is a gross one7 are like so  many      
animals in season4 #8,were they as prime
 as goats1 as hot as  monkeys1 as salt  
as wolves in pride1 and fools as gross  
as ignorance  made drunk1' matters could
 then be no worse than he represents    
them4  ,population could then only be   
checked by vice and misery and by       
nothing  else4 ,but ,i hope things are  
not quite so bad4#aa ,mr4 ,malthus says1

  #8that the passion between the sexes  
is necessary1 or at least that it  will 
remain nearly in its present state4' ,to
 this ,i might perhaps  assent1 if ,i   
knew what #8its present state' is4 ,does
 ,mr4 ,malthus mean by  its present     
state its present state in ,england or  
in ,scotland1 or in  ,italy1 or in      
,asia1 or in ,africa1 or ,america1 for  
in all or most of these  places is its  
present state a very different thing    
from what it is in  the rest of them8   
,one would imagine from the easy        
complacency with which  ,mr4 ,malthus   
treats the subject1 that the present    
state of this passion  was a something  
really given1 a fixed quantity1 a       
general rule like the  relation between 
two and two and four1 or between food   
and the human  stomach1#ab that it was  
indulged universally and equally in all 
countries1 instead of being as various  
in itself and its effects as  climate   
and all other causes1 natural and       
artificial1 can make it4--,thus  to give

 an example as much in point as can be1 
is the present state of  this passion1  
i4e4 of the indulgence of it1 the same  
in ,lancashire1  that it is in          
,westmoreland1 the very next county to  
it8 ,in the one you  find the most      
profligate manners1 and the most extreme
 licentiousness1  in the other there is 
hardly any such thing4 ,mr4 ,malthus    
often says1 he  will never dispute any  
thing that is proved by experience and a
 real  observation of human life4 ,now  
,i conceive that the observation which  
,i  have just stated is a fact4 ,yet    
,mr4 ,malthus seems to have been quite  
insensible to this1 and many other facts
 of the same kind4 ,but the truth  is1  
that your practical reasoners1 your     
matter-of-fact men are the  dullest of  
all mortals4 ,they are like justices of 
the peace who are  bound to receive no  
evidence unless it is given in upon     
oath1 and who  without descending from  
the bench and forfeiting the dignity of 
their  pretensions cannot attend to any 

of those general surmises1 those        
obvious sources of information or casual
 impressions1 by which other  people    
arrive at common sense1 and human       
feelings4--,they shut their eyes  to the
 general face of nature1 and trying to  
grope their way by the help  of facts as
 they call them1 wander like blind men  
from pillar to post1  without either    
guide or object1 and are lost in a      
labyrinth of dates1  names1 capital     
letters1 numeros1 official documents1   
authenticated  copies of lying          
affidavits1 curious records that are    
nothing to the  purpose1 registers of   
births1 deaths1 marriages1 and          
christenings1  voyages and              
travels4--,mr4 ,malthus may perhaps     
mean1 when he says that  #8the sexual   
passion will remain nearly in its       
present state1' that it  will remain in 
the same state in each country4 ,to this
 ,i should also  assent1 if ,i could    
agree with him1 #8that ever since we    
have had any  knowledge of mankind1 the 

passion of which we are speaking1       
appears to  have been a fixed law of our
 nature1 and that as we have not        
hitherto  seen any alteration in it1 we 
have no right to conclude that there    
will  ever be any4' ,if ,mr4 ,malthus in
 this passage meant to confine him to   
the  passion or impulse itself1 ,i      
should not certainly be at much pains to
  contradict him4 ,but that is not the  
question4 ,the question relates  solely 
to the irregular indulgence of1 or the  
degree of restraint  imposed on the     
passion2 and in this respect his        
assertion is evidently  false4 ,the     
difference in the state of manners in   
the same country at  different periods  
is as striking and notorious as that    
between the  manners of different       
countries4 ,there is as much difference 
between what  ,england was in this      
respect a hundred and sixty years ago1  
and what she  is now1 as there is       
between ,england and ,italy at the      
present day4 ,was  there no difference  

between the manners of ancient ,rome in 
the early  periods of her history1 and  
towards the decline of the empire8 ,may 
not  the state of manners in ,italy     
under the republic1 under the emperors1 
and under the popes1 be distinctly      
traced to the influence of religious  or
 political institutions1 or to other    
causes1 besides the state of            
population1 or the facility of          
gratifying the abstract instinctive     
propensity to sexual indulgence8 ,was   
there not a striking difference  between
 the severity and restraint which was   
required and undoubtedly  practised     
under ,charles ,i4 and in the time of   
the ,puritans1 and that  torrent of     
dissipation and undisguised profligacy  
which burst upon the  kingdom after the 
restoration of ,charles ,,ii48 ,this    
sudden transition  from demure and      
saint-like or hypocritical austerity to 
open shameless  licentiousness cannot   
assuredly be accounted for from the     
increasing  pressure of population4 ,nor

 can it be pretended to have been owing 
to  this principle that the tide        
afterwards turned again at the          
,revolution  with the habits and        
fashions of the court1 and with the     
views and maxims  of that party who had 
now got the ascendancy4 ,a learned      
writer might  easily fill a volume with 
instances to the same purpose4 ,but the 
few  which are here skimmed from the    
mere surface of history1 and which must 
be familiar to every one1 are sufficient
 to disprove ,mr4 ,malthus's  assertion1
 not as a metaphysical refinement1 but  
as a practical rule1  that the passion  
between the sexes and the effects of    
that passion have  remained always the  
same4 ,the indulgence of that passion is
 so far from  being a law antecedent to 
all other laws1 and paramount to all    
other  considerations1 that it is in a  
manner governed almost entirely by      
circumstances1 and may be said to be the
 creature of the imagination4  ,but ,mr4
 ,malthus says1 that no regular or      

gradual progress has hitherto  been made
 towards the extinction of this passion1
 and that it exists in  as much force at
 present1 as it did two thousand1 or    
four thousand years  ago4 ,the question 
is whether this passion is fixed and    
stationary1  always remaining at the    
same point1 controuling circumstances1  
but not  controuled by them1 not whether
 the change of circumstances and lapse  
of  time may not bring it back to the   
same point again4 ,i think it probable  
that if ,mr4 ,malthus had to preach a   
sermon on the truth and excellence  of  
revealed religion1 he would be inclined 
to take for one of his topics  the      
benefit we have derived from it in the  
government of our passions1  and general
 purity of our manners4 ,he might launch
 out into a  description shewing how the
 contemplation of heavenly things weans 
the  affections from the things of the  
world1 and mortifies our carnal         
desires1 how a belief in future rewards 
and punishments strengthens our         

resolution1 and is indeed the only thing
 that can render us proof  against every
 species of temptation2 he might enlarge
 on the general  purity and elevation   
which breathes through the sacred       
writings1 on the  law confining the     
institution of marriage to pairs2 he    
might dwell on  the grossness and       
pernicious tendency of the ,pagan       
mythology2 he might  glance at the      
epistle to the ,romans1 or the preamble 
to the ,jewish laws1  and finding that  
the practices there described are not   
common among  us1 without travelling to 
,rome1 or inquiring into the present    
state of  ,chalda1 conclude by          
felicitating his hearers on the striking
 contrast  between ancient and modern   
manners1 and on the gradual improvement 
of  morals and refinement of sentiment  
produced by the promulgation of         
christianity4 ,though we in general     
reason very incorrectly in comparing    
ancient and modern manners1 7for we     
always confound the former with         

eastern1 and the latter with our own    
manners7 ,i am apt to think that  some  
change has taken place in this passion  
in the course of time4 ,it  seems to be 
more modified by other feelings than it 
used to be2 it is  less a boiling of the
 blood1 an animal heat1 a headlong1     
brutal impulse  than it was in past     
ages4 ,the principle is somewhat taken  
down and  weakened1 the appetite is not 
so strong1 we can stay our stomachs     
better  than we used to do1 we do not   
gorge indiscriminately on every kind of 
food without taste or decency4 ,the     
vices of the moderns are more           
artificial than constitutional4 ,they do
 not arise so much from instinct  as    
from a depraved will4 ,the spirit is    
willing1 but the flesh is weak4  ,we    
stimulate ourselves into affected       
passion3 we are laborious imitators  of 
folly1 and ape the vices of others in   
cold blood4 ,but whatever may be  the   
result of an inquiry into the           
comparative state of ancient and  modern

 manners1 ,i cannot allow that it has   
any thing to do with the  present       
question4 ,i will allow that the        
progress of refinement and  knowledge   
has in ninety-nine instances out of a   
hundred tended to  deprave instead of   
improving the morals of men1 that at the
 same time  that it has taken away the  
gross impulse1 it has introduced an     
artificial and studied depravity1 the   
operation of which is more subtle1      
dangerous and universal2 in short that  
nations as they grow older like         
individuals grow worse1 not from        
constitution1 but habit4 ,still this    
fact if granted 7and ,i am afraid it is 
too near the truth7 will not at  all    
prove ,mr4 ,malthus's theory1 that this 
passion remains always the  same1 being 
influenced neither by time nor          
circumstances4 ,secondly1 it  will not  
overturn the speculations respecting the
 possibility of making  an entire change
 in the passion #8in a state of society 
altogether  different from any that has 

hitherto existed1' but will on the      
contrary  render such a change more     
desirable and necessary1 as our only    
resource  against the general contagion 
of vice and profligacy4 ,if this vice is
  found to spread gradually wider and   
wider1 clinging to the support of       
institutions1 which in all other        
respects favour selfishness and         
sensuality1 if it is not the only one   
among the vices1 which1 while all       
others spread and flourish and are      
fostered in the eye of the world1  does 
not hide its diminished head1 this is   
not to be wondered at4 ,but it  would be
 a singular way of defending the present
 institutions of  society1 that from all
 our past experience we find that their 
progress  has been attended with the    
gradual corruption of manners1 and has  
uniformly ended in an utter debasement  
of character and the relaxation  of     
every moral tie2 and it would be a      
strange kind of inference to say  that  
no alteration in the circumstances or   

institutions of society would  ever make
 men different from what they are1      
because as long as those  circumstances 
and institutions have been known to     
exist1 mankind have  remained always the
 same1 or have been growing worse       
instead of better4  ,mr4 ,malthus denies
 that ,mr4 ,godwin has any right to     
conclude that  because population has   
not produced the dreadful effects he    
ascribes to  it in any known state of   
society1 it would not therefore produce 
them in  a state of society quite       
different from any other2 and in the    
same  manner ,i should deny that ,mr4   
,malthus has any right to infer because 
the  progress of the human mind has not 
in the past history of the world been   
productive of any very beneficial       
consequences1 that it will never be     
productive of any such consequences     
under very different circumstances4     
,knowledge1 as ,i have shewn in a former
 letter1 is not a necessary1  absolute  
good3 neither is it a necessary evil4   

,its utility depends on  the direction  
which is given to it by other things2   
e4g4 in ,scotland1  the case before     
alluded to1 knowledge does not seem to  
be the enemy of  sobriety and good      
manners1 but a support to them4 ,the    
decay in the  purity and simplicity of  
,scotch manners1 whenever it arrives1   
will not ,i  dare say be owing to the   
increase of knowledge1 but to the spread
 of  luxury1 or other external causes4  
,when the whole mass is tainted1 it     
cannot be expected that knowledge should
 escape the infection4 ,all  therefore  
that the advocates for the future       
progressive improvement of  mankind have
 to prove in order to make out a        
consistent case1 is that  the state of  
the passion between the sexes depends   
not upon physical1  but moral causes2   
that where these latter causes have been
 favourable to  severity of manners1 and
 the elevation of the character1 these  
effects  have uniformly flowed from     
them1 and may be seen not in one or two 

singular exceptions1 but in large       
classes of people1 in the prevailing    
manners of whole ages and nations4 ,thus
 we do not merely know that  ,scipio was
 chaste1 and ,nero profligate1 but we   
know that there was  nothing singular in
 the chastity of the one1 or the        
profligacy of the  other2 it was little 
more than the emanation of the character
 and  circumstances of the times in     
which they lived4 ,the leaders of the   
republican party in the time of         
,cromwell1 such men as ,milton1         
,hampden1  ,pym1 ,marvel1 ,sydney1 were 
not ,i believe in the command over their
  passions exactly on a level with the  
young courtiers in the following  reign3
 but though the names of these men stand
 out and ever will stand  out in        
history1 giving dignity to our nature in
 all its parts1 yet it is  not to be    
supposed that they alone drank of the   
pure waters of faith and  reason1 which 
flowed freely at that time2 but that the
 same lofty  thoughts1 the same common  

exertions1 and the same passions1       
growing out  of the circumstances of the
 times1 must have imparted a sort of    
severe  and high-toned morality to men's
 minds in general1 influencing the      
national character in a very different  
way from the foreign fopperies  and     
foreign vices1 from the train of        
strumpets1 buffoons1 fiddlers1 and      
obscene rhymers let loose upon the      
people in the succeeding reign4 ,it is  
not necessary to prove that manners have
 always changed for the better1  but    
that they have always changed for the   
better1 as far as those  general causes 
have operated in part1 from the complete
 success of which  a total change is    
predicted4 ,this passion as it runs into
 licentiousness  is certainly one great 
obstacle in the way of improvement1 and 
one of  those passions which we must    
conquer before we can hope to become    
perfectly reasonable beings 7if this is 
a thing either desirable or  possible74 
,but to say1 that we may get a complete 

mastery over our  passions1 and that we 
shall still be in danger from the       
principle of  population is to me a     
paradox4 ,population is only dangerous  
from the  excess of this passion1 and ,i
 see no reason why its excesses may not 
be  restrained as well as those of any  
other passion4 ,we find by uniform      
experience that it is1 like other       
passions1 influenced by example1        
institution1 and circumstances1         
according to the degree of strength they
  have2 and if there is reason to       
suppose it possible that any of the     
other passions should ever be totally   
eradicated1 or subjected to moral       
restraint1 there is no reason why this  
should not be so too4 ,it does not  form
 any anomaly to the other prevailing    
passions of men4 ,it is not1  like      
hunger1 a necessary instinct4 ,its      
effects are more like those of          
drunkenness3 and we might as well make  
this latter vice an  insurmountable     
objection to the good order and         

happiness of society1 by  saying that   
there will always be as many drunken    
disputes1 brawls and  riots1 as there   
are at present1 because there are as    
many instances of  people getting drunk 
now as there were two thousand years    
ago1 as  pretend to deduce the same     
consequence from the existence of such a
  passion as lust4--,to judge from his  
book1 ,i should suppose ,mr4 ,malthus to
  be a man of a warm constitution1 and  
amorous complexion4 ,i should not       
hesitate in my own mind1 to conclude    
that this is #8the sin that most  easily
 besets him4' ,i can easily imagine that
 he has a sufficient  command over      
himself1 in all other respects4 ,i can  
believe that he is  quite free from the 
passions of anger1 pride1 avarice1      
sloth1  drunkenness1 envy1 revenge1 and 
all those other passions which create so
  much disturbance in the world4 ,he    
seems never to have heard of1 or never  
to have felt them2 for he passes them   
over as trifles beneath the notice  of a

 philosopher4 ,but the women are the    
devil4--,the delights and  torments of  
love no man1 he tells us1 ever was proof
 against3 there all  our philosophy is  
useless2 and reason but an empty name4  
#8,the rich  golden shaft hath killed   
the flock of all affections else1' and  
here  only he is vulnerable4 ,the smiles
 of a fair lady are to him              
irresistible2 the glimpse of a petticoat
 throws him into a flame2 and  all his  
senses are up in arms1 and his heart    
fails within him1 at the  very name of  
love4 ,his gallantry and devotion to the
 fair sex know no  bounds2 and he not   
only answers for himself1 but undertakes
 to prove  that all men are made of the 
same combustible materials4 ,his book   
reminds one of the title of the old     
play1 #8,all for love1 or the world     
well lost4' ,if ,mr4 ,m4's passions are 
too much for him1 7though ,i should  not
 have the worse opinion of him on this  
account7 ,i would advise him to  give   
vent to them in writing love-songs2 not 

in treatises of philosophy4  ,i am      
aware1 however1 that it is dangerous to 
meddle in such matters4 ,as  long as    
,mr4 ,malthus gravely reduces the       
strength of the passion to a            
mathematical certainty1 he is sure to   
have the women on his side2 while  ,i1  
for having the presumption to contradict
 his amorous conclusions1  shall be     
looked upon as a sour old batchelor1 and
 convicted of rebellion  against the    
omnipotence of love4    ,but to return4 
,it is the direct object of ,mr4        
,malthus's philosophy to  draw our      
attention from the slight and           
superficial influence which human       
institutions have had on the happiness  
of man1 to those #8deeper-seated'       
causes of misery which arise out of the 
principle of population4 ,these1  he    
says1 are by far the most important1 and
 the only ones worth our  attending to1 
because they are the only ones on which 
all our reasonings  and all our         
exertions will have no effect4 ,he very 

roundly taxes ,mr4  ,godwin and others  
as men who talked about what they did   
not understand1  because they did not   
perceive that social institutions1 and  
the  different forms of government1 and 
all the other means in our power of     
affecting the condition of human life   
are #8but as the dust in the  balance1' 
compared with a principle entirely out  
of our power1 which  renders the vices  
of those institutions necessary1 and any
 essential  improvement in them         
hopeless4 ,he is also angry with ,hume  
for saying  something about             
#8indolence4' ,we are in no case to look
 beyond the  principle of population1 in
 accounting for the state of man in     
society1  if we would not fall under    
,mr4 ,malthus's displeasure1 but are to 
resolve  every thing into that4 ,in his 
hands1 population is the ,aaron's rod   
which  swallowed up all the other rods4 
,the piety of some of the old divines   
led them to see all things in ,god4 ,mr4
 ,malthus's self-complacency leads  him 

to see all things in the ,essay4 ,he    
would persuade us that his  discovery   
supersedes all other discoveries2 that  
it is the category of  political        
science2 that all other causes of human 
happiness and misery  are merged and    
sunk in that one1 to which alone they   
owe their  influence1 and their birth4  
,so that we are in fact to consider all 
human  institutions1 good1 bad1 and     
indifferent1 all folly1 vice1 wisdom1   
virtue1 knowledge1 ignorance1 liberty   
and slavery1 poverty and riches1        
monarchy1 aristocracy1 democracy1       
polygamy1 celibacy1 all forms and  modes
 of life1 all arts1 manufactures1 and   
science1 as resulting  mechanically from
 this one principle2 which though simple
 in itself1 yet  in its effects is a    
jumble1 a chaos of contradictions1 a    
mass of  inconsistency and absurdity1   
which no human understanding can        
unravel1  or explain4 ,over this crew   
and medley of opinions1 ,mr4 ,malthus   
#8sits  umpire1 and by decision more    

embroils the fray by which he reigns'3  
for  he is not quite undetermined in his
 choice between good and evil1 but is   
always inclined to give the preference  
to vice and misery1 not only as  the    
most natural1 but as the most safe and  
salutary effects of this  principle1 as 
we prescribe a low diet and blisters to 
persons of too  full a temperament4     
#8,our greatest good is but plethoric   
ill4'--,mr4  ,malthus may perhaps plead 
in his own defence that at the outset of
 his  work 7second edition7 he professes
 to treat only of one of the causes     
which have hitherto impeded the progress
 of virtue and happiness1 and  that he  
was not therefore1 by the terms of the  
agreement1 bound to take  cognizance of 
any of the other causes which have      
tended to produce the  same effect4 ,he 
is like a man who takes it into his head
 to make a huge  map of ,scotland1      
7larger than any that ever was made of  
the whole world  besides7 and gives you 
into the bargain as much or as little of

 ,ireland  or the rest of ,great        
,britain as he pleases4 ,any one else   
who chuses1 may  make a map of ,england 
or ,ireland on the same scale4 ,there is
 something  fair and plausible in this4 
,but the fact really is1 that ,mr4      
,malthus  will let nobody make a map of 
the country but himself3 he has put     
,england1 ,wales1 and ,ireland in the   
three corners of his great map 7for  the
 title takes up one of the corners7 and 
he insists upon it that this  is quite  
sufficient4--,what he aims at in all his
 plans and calculations  of existing    
grievances is to magnify the evils of   
population1 to  exonerate human         
institutions1 and to throw the whole    
blame on nature  herself4 ,i shall      
therefore try to give such a sketch1 or 
bird's-eye view  of the subject as may  
serve to shew the unfairness of our     
author's  statement4 ,how little he has 
confined himself to his professed       
object1  and how little he can be       
considered in the light of a            

joint-inquirer  after truth1 will be    
seen by quoting the following passages  
at large4    #8,the great error under   
which ,mr4 ,godwin labours throughout   
his whole  work is1 the attributing of  
almost all the vices and misery that    
prevail  in civil society to human      
institutions4 ,political regulations1   
and the  established administration of  
property are with him the fruitful      
sources  of all evil1 the hotbeds of all
 the crimes that degrade mankind4 ,were 
this really a true state of the case1 it
 would not seem an absolutely  hopeless 
task to remove evil completely from the 
world2 and reason seems  the proper and 
adequate instrument for effecting so    
great a purpose4 ,but  the truth is1    
that though human institutions appear to
 be the obvious  and obtrusive causes of
 much mischief to mankind1 they are1 in 
reality1  light and superficial1 in     
comparison with those deeper-seated     
causes of  evil which result from the   
laws of nature4'    ,now by #8the laws  

of nature1' of which human institutions 
are here made  only a sort of cat's-paw1
 our author means neither more nor less 
than  the principle of population4 ,for 
after supposing in compliment to ,mr4   
,godwin1 a state of society in which the
 spirit of oppression1 the spirit  of   
servility1 and the spirit of fraud1 in  
which envy1 malice1 and  revenge1 in    
which every species of narrowness and   
selfishness are  banished from the      
world1 where war and contention have    
ceased to exist1  where unwholesome     
trades and manufactures are no longer   
encouraged1 c41  he breaks out into his 
usual cant of1 #8,i cannot conceive a   
form of  society so favourable upon the 
whole to population4' ,he then proceeds 
gravely to shew1 by a train of reasoning
 which has been already  recapitulated1 
and which need not surely be refuted    
twice1 how in such a  state of happy    
equality population would go on         
increasing without limit1  because all  
obstacles to it1 #8all anxiety about the

 future support of  children1' would be 
entirely removed1 though it would at the
 same time  be attended in every stage  
of the progress with increasing and     
aggravated wretchedness1 because those  
very obstacles1 and the same  difficulty
 of providing for the support of        
children would still remain4    #8,here 
then1' he says1 #8no human institutions 
existed1 to the  perverseness of which  
,mr4 ,godwin ascribes the original sin  
of the worst  men4 ,no opposition had   
been produced by them between public and
 private  good4 ,no monopoly had been   
created of those advantages which reason
  directs to be left in common4 ,no man 
had been goaded to the breach of  order 
by unjust laws4 ,benevolence had        
established her reign in all  hearts4   
,and yet in so short a period as fifty  
years1 violence1  oppression1 falsehood1
 misery1 every hateful vice1 and every  
form of  distress1 which degrade and    
sadden the present state of society1    
seem to  have been generated by the most

 imperious circumstances1 by laws       
inherent in the nature of man1 and      
absolutely independent of all human     
regulations4'    #8,it is a perfectly   
just observation of ,mr4 ,godwin1 that  
there is a  principle in human society  
by which population is perpetually kept 
down  to the level of the means of      
subsistence4 ,the sole question is1 what
 is  this principle8 ,is it some obscure
 and occult cause8 ,is it some          
mysterious interference of heaven1 which
 at a certain period strikes the  men   
with impotence1 and the women with      
barrenness8 ,or is it a cause open  to  
our researches1 within our view2 a cause
 which has constantly been  observed to 
operate1 though with varied force1 in   
every state in which  man has been      
placed8 ,is it not misery and the fear  
of misery1'  certainly two very         
different things #8the necessary and    
inevitable  results of the laws of      
nature1 which human institutions1 so far
 from  aggravating1 have tended         

considerably to mitigate1 though they   
can never  remove8' ,he then proceeds to
 shew how the distinctions of property  
and  the other regulations of society   
would necessarily result from the       
principle of population1 and adds1 that 
#8certainly if the great  principle of  
the ,essay be admitted1 it affects ,mr4 
,godwin's whole work1  and essentially  
alters the foundations of political     
justice4 ,a great  part of his book     
consists of an abuse of human           
institutions' very sad  indeed #8as     
productive of all or most of the evils  
which afflict  society4 ,the            
acknowledgement of a new and totally    
unconsidered cause of  misery must      
evidently alter the state of these      
arguments1' comfortable  again #8and    
make it absolutely necessary that they  
should be either  newly modified1 or    
entirely rejected4'--,how fortunate to  
have  discovered that the evils in      
society are not owing to a cause which  
might be remedied1 but to one that      

renders their removal absolutely        
hopeless6    ,i might here1 if ,i were  
to follow the impulse of my own levity1 
say that  the yellow fever has ,i       
believe made its appearance since the   
first  edition of ,political ,justice1  
though ,i do not know that this         
circumstance would make it necessary    
entirely to new-model the  arguments4   
,as to ,mr4 ,malthus's #8new and        
unconsidered cause of misery1' ,i  deny 
that the necessity of providing a       
proportionable quantity of food  for an 
increase of people was new or           
unconsidered4 ,all that ,mr4 ,malthus   
has discovered is that the population   
would go on increasing1 though  there   
was nothing to support it6--,our author 
has chosen to justify or  palliate the  
real disorders which prevail in society 
by supposing a case  of fictitious      
distress2 by which means he proves      
incontestably that the  present vices   
and defects of political institutions1  
c4 are  comparative blessings4 ,he      

supposes that in a state of society     
where  the public good was the constant 
guide of action1 men would entirely lay 
aside the use of their reason1 and think
 of nothing but begetting  children1    
without considering in the least how    
they were to be  maintained4 ,now ,i    
will also for a time take a license from
 common sense1  and make a supposition  
as wise as ,mr4 ,malthus's4 ,i will     
suppose all the  inhabitants of this    
town to come to a determination to live 
without  eating1 and do nothing but     
drink gin4 ,what would be the           
consequence8  ,perpetual intoxication1  
quarrels1 the fierceness of hunger1     
disease1  idleness1 filth1 nakedness1   
maudlin misery1 sallow faces1 sights of 
famine and despair1 meagre skeletons1   
the dying1 and the dead4 ,but why  need 
,i attempt to describe what has been    
already so much better  described by    
,hogarth8 ,here then1 ,i might exclaim1 
no human institutions  existed1 no      
unjust laws1 no excessive labour1 no    

unwholesome trades1 no  inequality1 no  
malice1 envy1 lust1 or revenge1 to      
produce the dreadful  catastrophe we    
just have witnessed3 yet in the short   
space of a single  month or fortnight we
 see that scenes of distress1 shocking  
beyond any  thing of which we can at    
present form even a conception1 would   
arise out  of the most imperious        
circumstances1 from laws inherent in the
 nature  and constitution of man1 and   
absolutely independent of all human     
regulations1 namely1 from the           
unrestricted use of gin4 ,the inference 
is direct and unavoidable1 that we ought
 to submit patiently and  thankfully to 
all the abuses1 vices1 and evils that   
are to be found in  this great city1 and
 flatter1 excuse1 and encourage them by 
all the  means in our power1 because    
they all of them together do not amount 
to  a tenth part of the mischief that   
would be the consequence of the         
unrestrained indulgence of a single     
pernicious habit4 ,this is something    

the way in which ,mr4 ,malthus reasons  
about the unrestricted increase of      
population4 ,but the absurdity is too   
gross even for burlesque4    ,the       
following is1 ,i conceive1 a fair       
summary of ,mr4 ,malthus's theory4      
,first1 that the principle of population
 is a necessary1 mechanical  thing1 that
 it is the #8grinding law of necessity1'
 unavoidably leading  to a certain      
degree of vice and misery1 and in fact  
accounting for  almost all the evils in 
human life4 ,secondly1 that all the     
other sources  of vice and misery which 
have been so much and idly insisted on1 
have no  tendency to increase the       
necessary evils of population1 but the  
contrary1 or that the removal of those  
different sources of evil would  instead
 of lessening the evils of population1  
which are much the most  important1     
really aggravate them4 ,here then three 
questions naturally  present themselves4
    ,first1 how much of the vice and    
misery in society is actually owing to  

human institutions1 or the passions1    
follies1 imperfections1 or  perversities
 of human nature1 independently of the  
principle of  population4    ,secondly1 
whether the removing or diminishing the 
evils produced by  those causes would   
necessarily increase the evils of       
population1 and  open a door to the     
influx of more vice and misery than     
ever4    ,thirdly1 whether the tendency 
of population to excess is the effect of
 a  simple principle operating          
mechanically1 whether it is to be looked
 upon  as one of the laws inherent in   
our very nature1 or whether the state of
  morals in every country does not      
depend greatly and principally on the   
state of society1 on the condition of   
the people1 on public opinion1 and  on a
 variety of other causes which are more 
or less within our power2  that is1     
whether human institutions1 laws1 c4    
instead of being the mere  blind        
instruments of this principle1 do not   
re-act very powerfully upon  it1 and    

give it its direction and limits4--,if  
it can be shewn under this  last head1  
that there is some connection between   
the form of government  and the state of
 morals1 and that the better the        
government1 the better  the morals1 the 
evils of population instead of forming  
an excuse for bad  governments will only
 aggravate their mischief1 and increase 
the  necessity of getting rid of them4  
,again1 if it can be made to appear     
that there is no necessary1 or general  
proportion between the degree of  vice  
in any country1 and the pressure of     
population on the means of  subsistence1
 that it is not always the effect of    
want1 but constantly  outruns the       
occasion1 being self-propagated1 and    
often spreading like a  contagion       
through those countries and those ranks 
in life1 where the  difficulty of       
providing for a family is least felt1   
this will shew that  the mere existence 
of vice is no proof of its being        
necessary1 or that  it is to be         

considered as a test of the excessive   
increase of  population4    ,farther1 if
 on the other hand1 improving the       
condition of the lower  classes of the  
people is generally found1 instead of   
leading to an  unrestrained increase of 
population1 and thus adding to their    
misery1 to  give them a greater         
attachment to the decencies and comforts
 of life1 to  make them more cautious   
how they part with them1 to open their  
ideas and  prospects1 to strengthen the 
principle of moral restraint1 and so    
confine population within reasonable    
limits1 this will be an additional      
motive for improving their condition    
7really and truly1 not by taking  from  
them the comforts and privileges they   
already possess74 ,again1 if  it should 
be found that independently of the      
immediate acts of tyranny  exercised by 
particular governments1 and the poverty 
and wretchedness  experienced by certain
 classes of the community there is a    
tendency in  some governments to keep   

population down infinitely below the    
level to  which it might rise by a      
proper encouragement of agriculture1 and
 the  methods of industry by which      
population is supported1 it will be but 
a  poor defence of the folly or tyranny 
of such governments to say1 that  they  
are a necessary expedient to prevent the
 excess of population4    ,lastly1 if   
those states or communities1 where the  
greatest equality  prevails1 are those  
which maintain the greatest number of   
inhabitants1  and where the principle of
 moral restraint is likely to operate   
with  most effect1 that is1 where       
population is soonest able to reach its 
utmost limits1 and goes the least beyond
 them1 certainly those  institutions    
which favour the greatest disparity of  
conditions1 the  extremes of poverty and
 the extremes of luxury1 will receive no
 very  striking support from the        
principle of population4 ,these are ,i  
think the  chief points and inferences  
to which ,i wish to direct the reader's 

attention in the few slight remarks     
which ,i have to make upon the  subject4
    ,it may be proper to observe1 in the
 first place1 that ,mr4 ,malthus by     
making vice and misery the necessary    
consequences of his favourite  principle
 lays himself open to a very obvious    
objection4 ,for if he means  to prove   
any thing by his theory1 the question   
immediately is1 what  degree of vice and
 misery is rendered necessary by this   
principle1 or by  the physical          
constitution of man8 ,are we to suppose 
that only so much  evil is necessary as 
naturally grows out of the ,british     
constitution8 ,or  does this principle  
also prove that all the evils that are  
suffered  under the ,turkish government1
 or that were suffered under the old    
government of ,france1 or that may arise
 out of its present government  are     
equally necessary and salutary8 ,how far
 are we to go8 ,where are we  to stop8  
,are we to consider every evil and abuse
 as necessary1 merely  because it       

exists1 or only as much of the thing as 
we cannot get rid of8  ,but how much can
 we really get rid of8 ,are vice and    
misery uniformly  owing to the          
development of this principle in certain
 situations1 or are  they to be in part 
ascribed to the intervention of other   
arbitrary1 and  gratuitous causes1 the  
operation of which may be more easily   
set aside8  ,in what manner are we to   
distinguish between what is necessary1  
and what  is not8 ,all these questions  
require to be asked before we can       
proceed to  build any practical         
conclusions on ,mr4 ,malthus's theory of
 the evils of  population4 ,the vague1  
general term1 #8vice and misery1' gives 
us no  clue4 ,it is mere cant2 and      
applies equally to the best and worst of
 all  possible governments4 ,it proves  
either nothing1 or it proves a great    
deal more than ,i conceive ,mr4 ,malthus
 would in all cases wish to prove  by   
it4    ,there is no species of vice or  
oppression that does not find a ready   

excuse in this kind of reasoning4 ,and  
besides1 by leaving the quantity  of    
vice and misery always uncertain1 we    
never subject ourselves to the          
necessity of following a general        
principle into any obnoxious            
conclusions2 and are always at liberty  
to regulate our opinions  according to  
our convenience by saying--,i would have
 no more vice and  misery than at       
present prevails3 but that degree of    
vice and misery  which is inwoven with  
the present constitution of things1 ,i  
would by no  means have removed1 it     
might endanger the whole fabric4 ,this  
is a double  advantage4 ,we thus        
sacrifice to the powers that be1 without
 violating  decorum1 or being driven off
 our guard by an inflexible and pedantic
  logic4 ,i have so good an opinion of  
,mr4 ,malthus that ,i do not think he   
has any predilection for vice and misery
 in the abstract1 or for their  own     
sakes3 ,i do not believe he would stand 
forward as the advocate of  any abuses  

from which he himself does not reap some
 benefit1 or which he  may not get      
something by defending4    ,i do not    
know that ,i can go so far as with ,mr4 
,godwin to ascribe the  original sin of 
the worst men to social institutions1   
but of this ,i am  very sure that that  
original sin and those institutions do  
not proceed  entirely from the principle
 of population4 ,there are other vices  
and  mischievous propensities inherent  
in our nature1 besides the love of      
pleasure4 ,we are troubled with a       
complication of disorders1 and it is    
bad advice to say1 that we ought to     
direct all our attention to the one     
that is perhaps the most inveterate1 or 
because we despair of doing any  thing  
with that1 make no attempts to          
counteract the progress of the  others1 
either by palliatives or otherwise4 ,if 
we are deceived with  respect to the    
real extent1 and sources of our         
disorders1 it is  impossible we should  
hit upon the right method of cure1      

whatever might  be the case1 if we were 
informed of our true situation4--,the   
principle of  population alone1         
according to the description ,mr4       
,malthus gives of it  as a principle of 
unbridled and insatiable lust1 would    
indeed be  sufficient to account for all
 the vice and misery in the world1 and  
for  a great deal more than there is in 
the world4 ,it would soon overturn      
every thing4 ,but we have seen that that
 account is not just4 ,it is in  fact   
only one of the principles or passions  
by which the conduct of  mankind is     
influenced2 and he would be a bold man  
who should assert that  neither         
ambition1 nor avarice1 nor sloth1 nor   
ignorance1 nor prejudice  have had any  
share in producing the various evils    
that abound in civil  society4 ,the     
other passions are sturdy claimants and 
know how to bustle  for themselves1 and 
will not be so easily pushed out of the 
world4 ,let  any one write the words1   
ambition1 pride1 cruelty1 hatred1       

oppression1  falsehood1 selfishness1    
indolence1 lust1 and hunger in the same 
line1  and let him see if there is any  
peculiar charm in the two last1 which   
draws all their virtue and meaning out  
of the rest4 ,yet this is the           
impression which ,mr4 ,malthus seems    
anxious to leave on the minds of his    
readers4 ,indeed all the others appear  
to owe their efficacy and their  sting  
to lust alone4 ,if it were not for this 
one principle1 the world  might go on   
very well4    ,mr4 ,malthus charges it  
as a great error on ,mr4 ,godwin's      
system that  #8political regulations and
 the established administration of      
property  are with him the fruitful     
sources of all evil1 the hotbeds of all 
the  crimes that degrade mankind4' ,be  
it so1 that this is an error4 ,the next 
question is1 as ,mr4 ,malthus does not  
deny that these institutions are  the   
immediate causes of many of the evils   
that exist1 to what principle  they     
really owe their rise4 ,mr4 ,malthus    

says1 they are the necessary  results of
 laws inherent in our nature1 and that  
though all the other  passions and vices
 of men could be got rid of altogether1 
the principle  of population alone would
 still render those institutions with   
all the  abuses belonging to them as    
necessary as ever4 ,this ,i take upon me
 to  dispute4 ,will he say1 that        
7leaving the principle of population    
entirely  out of the question7 pride1   
avarice1 and indolence have had no share
 in  the establishment1 or continuance  
of the inequality of property1 in       
goading men on to the accumulation of   
immense riches by oppression1           
extortion1 fraud1 perjury1 and every    
species of villainy1 or in making  them 
undergo every kind of distress1 sooner  
than apply themselves to  some regular  
and useful occupation4 ,if ,i were      
inclined to maintain a  paradox on the  
subject1 ,i might take up ,hume's       
assertion1 #8that  indolence is the     
source of all mischief in the world4'   

,for if men had  not been averse to     
labour1 if there had been no idlers to  
take advantage  of1 to offer temptation 
to1 and enlist upon any terms in any    
lawless  enterprize1 that promised an   
easy booty1 the tyrant would have been  
without his slaves1 the robber without  
his gang1 and the rich man  without his 
dependents4 ,but these smart points and 
pithy sayings are  soon found to be     
fallacious1 if we attend a little       
closely to the  subject4 ,for instance1 
it may be true that if there had been no
 idle  people1 there would have been no 
one to take advantage of1 but if there  
had been no pride1 rapacity1 or         
selfishness1 there would have been no   
one to take an undue advantage of them1 
or foment the mischief4 ,the  fellows   
that generally compose a gang of robbers
 only wish to gain a  cheap livelihood  
by acts of violence2 the captain of the 
gang is also  actuated by vanity1       
revenge1 the spirit of adventure1 and   
the desire to  keep the country for     

twenty or thirty miles round in awe of  
him4 ,the  common soldier is glad of    
sixpence a-day to be shot at every now  
and  then1 and do nothing the rest of   
his time3 the general is not easy1      
unless he can lay waste provinces1      
overrun kingdoms1 and make the world    
ring with the terror of his name4 ,the  
lazy and unthinking would not do  half  
the mischief1 of which they are capable1
 without the active1 the  enterprizing  
and turbulent3 fools and knaves are as  
necessary to the  body politic1 as the  
head and limbs are to the human body4   
,the ,romans  might have staid quietly  
within their own walls1 but for the     
plotting  heads at home that sent them  
out to victory2 and his thirty thousand 
followers would no more have thought of 
setting out to ,india of their  own     
accord1 than ,alexander would have      
thought of marching there by  himself4  
,it is to me pretty clear that as long  
as there are such passions as  sloth and
 rapacity1 these will be sufficient to  

account for the unequal  division of    
property1 and will render the laws      
relating to it necessary3  and it is    
equally clear to my mind that if these  
passions could be  completely subdued1  
so that no one would refuse his share in
 the common  labour1 or endeavour to    
take an unfair advantage of others      
either by  force or fraud1 that the     
established administration of property  
would be  no longer necessary4#ac ,if1  
as ,mr4 ,malthus supposes1              
#8,benevolence had  so far established  
her reign in all hearts1' that every one
 was ready to  give up the enjoyments of
 ease and luxury as far as related to   
himself1  ,i do not think that in such a
 state of unparalleled disinterestedness
  and heroic virtue1 any madman would be
 found to violate the public  happiness1
 and begin the work of contention anew1 
for the sake of  transmitting a         
contingent inheritance of vice and      
misery to his heirs6  ,if reason and    
virtue are at present no match for the  

principle of  population1 neither are   
they a match for the principle of       
selfishness1  or for any of our other   
passions4 ,but truly1 if benevolence had
 once  established her reign in all     
hearts1 we should see wonders1 she would
  perform the part of vice and misery to
 a miracle4--,it is evident then  that  
the seeds of inequality1 of vice and    
misery are not sown entirely  in the    
principle of population2 that the same  
untoward passions which  first rendered 
civil establishments necessary1 have    
continued to operate  ever since1 that  
they have produced most of the disorders
 in the world1  and are still in as much
 force as ever2 that they very well     
deserve a  chapter by themselves in the 
history of human nature1 and ought not  
to  come in as a note or parenthesis to 
,mr4 ,malthus's great work4    ,but     
whatever account we may chuse to give of
 the origin of the  establishment of    
property or government in general1 this 
has nothing to  do with the real        

question1 unless it could be shewn that 
the same form  of government1 the same  
inequality of conditions1 and the same  
degree of  vice and misery are to be    
found alike in every country4 ,mr4      
,malthus's  system goes to the support  
of all political regulations and        
existing  evils1 or it goes to the      
support of none4 ,let us cast our eyes  
over the  map of ,europe1 and ask       
whether all that variety of governments 
and  manners by which it is             
distinguished took their rise solely    
from the  principle of population4 ,a   
principle common to human nature1 a law 
inherent in the physical constitution of
 man1 may in its progress be            
necessarily attended with a certain     
degree of vice and misery2 but it       
cannot be productive of different       
degrees of vice and misery in  different
 countries2 as the stern law of         
necessity1 it must operate  every where 
alike4 ,if it does not do so1 this of   
itself shews that it is  not the sole   

moving spring in all human institutions1
 that it is not  beyond the reach of all
 regulation and control1 and that there 
are other  circumstances1 accidents1 and
 principles on which the happiness of   
nations depends4 ,whatever difference   
there is1 then1 between one  government 
and another1 whether that government is 
despotic1 or mixed1  or free2 whatever  
difference there is in the              
administration of that  government1     
whether it is cruel1 oppressive1 and    
arbitrary in the  extreme1 or mild1     
just1 and merciful2 whatever difference 
there is  between the manners of one    
nation and those of another1 whether the
 most  licentious that can be1 or strict
 and exemplary2 whatever difference     
there is in the arts and conveniences of
 life1 in the improvements of  trade and
 agriculture in various countries1      
whatever differences are  produced by   
religion1 by contrarieties of opinion1  
by the state of  knowledge1 by useful or
 mischievous regulations of all kinds1  

all these  cannot be owing to one and   
the same cause4    ,will ,mr4 ,malthus  
say that all these differences are as   
nothing1 that  they are not worth       
insisting on1 or contending about1 that 
they are  nominal1 rather than real1 or 
at any rate that what is gained in one  
way  is lost in another1 for that the   
principle of population still requires  
the same vent1 and produces first or    
last the same quantity of vice and      
misery of one sort or other in every    
country8 ,he must assert on the one     
hand that all other causes put together 
do not materially affect the  happiness 
of a people1 or on the other hand that  
the state of all those  other causes    
depends on1 and arises out of the state 
of population1  though they do not in   
the least influence the principle of    
population  itself4 ,these absurdities1 
than which it would be difficult to     
advance  greater1 are however necessary 
to bear out the author's conclusion1    
that  arts1 knowledge1 liberty and      

virtue1 and the best institutions can do
  little for the happiness of mankind4  
,for instance1 if it is true that       
religion or opinion of any kind exerts a
 direct influence over morals1  then it 
is not true that morals depend entirely 
on the state of  population4 ,or if it  
is true1 that the invention of a useful 
art1 which  is accident1 or the public  
encouragement of it1 which is design1   
may  contribute to the support of a     
larger population without multiplying   
its  inconveniences1 then it is not true
 that all human happiness or misery  can
 be calculated according to a mechanical
 ratio4 ,but these matters  are1 ,i     
confess1 set in the clearest light by a 
reference to facts1 and ,i  can quote no
 better authority than ,mr4 ,malthus    
himself4    ,he says1 #8,it will not be 
difficult1 from the accounts of         
travellers1 to  trace the checks to     
population1 and the causes of its       
present decay in  ,turkey2 and as there 
is little difference in the manners of  

the  ,turks1 whether they inhabit       
,europe or ,asia1 it will not be worth  
while  to make them the subject of      
distinct consideration4' ,i shall       
presume  that ,i have so far reconciled 
the reader's mind to the bugbear1       
population1 that he will not regard     
depopulation as one of the most         
beautiful features in the economy of a  
state4    ,our author then proceeds1    
#8,the fundamental cause of the low     
state of  population in ,turkey1        
compared with its extent of territory1  
is  undoubtedly the nature of its       
government4 ,its tyranny1 its           
feebleness1  its bad laws and worse     
administration of them1 with the        
consequent  insecurity of property1     
throw such obstacles in the way of      
agriculture1  that the means of         
subsistence are necessarily decreasing  
yearly1 and  with them1 of course1 the  
number of people4 ,the miri or general  
land-tax1 paid to the sultan1 is in     
itself moderate2 but by abuses  inherent

 in the ,turkish government1 the pachas1
 and their agents have  found out the   
means of rendering it ruinous4 ,though  
they cannot  absolutely alter the impost
 which has been established by the      
sultan1  they have introduced a number  
of changes1 which1 without the name1    
produce all the effect of an            
augmentation4 ,in ,syria1 according to  
,volney1 having the greatest part of the
 land at their disposal1 they  clog     
their concessions with burthensome      
conditions1 and exact the half1  and    
sometimes even two-thirds of the crop4  
,when the harvest is over1  they cavil  
about losses1 and1 as they have the     
power in their hands1  they carry off   
what they think proper4' ,what they     
leave behind them1 is  what ,mr4        
,malthus when he gets into his          
abstractions calls #8the fund           
appropriated to the maintenance of      
labour1' or1 #8the aggregate  quantity  
of food possessed by the owners of land 
beyond their own  consumption4' #8,if   

the season fail1 they still exact the   
same sum1 and  expose every thing that  
the poor peasant possesses to sale4 ,to 
these  constant oppressions are added a 
thousand accidental extortions4         
,sometimes a whole village is laid under
 contribution for some real or          
imaginary offence4 ,arbitrary presents  
are exacted on the accession of  each   
governor2 grass1 barley1 and straw are  
demanded for his horses'2  ,mr4 ,malthus
 thinks1 farther on in his book1 that   
#8the waste of the  rich1 and the horses
 kept for pleasure' in this country are 
no detriment  to the poor here1 but     
rather a benefit1 page #dgh4 #8and      
commissions  are multiplied1 that the   
soldiers who carry the orders may live  
upon the  starving peasants1 whom they  
treat with the most brutal insolence and
  injustice4 ,the consequence of these  
depredations is1 that the poorer  class 
of inhabitants1 ruined1 and unable any  
longer to pay the miri1  become a burden
 to the village1' something ,i suppose  

in the same way  that the poor among us 
become a burden to the parish #8or fly  
into the  cities2 but the miri is       
unalterable1 and the sum to be levied   
must be  found somewhere4 ,the portion  
of those who are thus driven from their 
homes falls on the remaining            
inhabitants1 whose burden1 though at    
first  light1 now becomes insupportable4
 ,if they should be visited by two years
  of drought and famine1 the whole      
village is ruined and abandoned2 and    
the tax1 which it should have paid1 is  
levied on the neighbouring lands4  ,the 
same mode of proceeding takes place with
 regard to the tax on  ,christians1     
which has been raised by these means1'  
by what means1 by  the principle of     
population8 #8from three1 five1 and     
eleven piastres1 at  which it was first 
fixed1 to thirty-five and forty1 which  
absolutely  impoverishes those on whom  
it is levied1 and obliges them to leave 
the  country4 ,it has been remarked that
 these exactions have made a rapid      

progress during the last forty years1   
from which time are dated the  decline  
of agriculture1 the depopulation of the 
country1 and the  diminution in the     
quantity of the specie carried to       
,constantinople4 ,the  peasants are     
every where reduced to a little flat    
cake of barley1 or  doura1 onions1      
lentils1 and water4 ,not to lose any    
part of their corn  they leave in it all
 sorts of wild grain1 which often       
produces bad  consequences4 ,in the     
mountains of ,lebanon and ,nablous1 in  
time of  dearth1 they gather the acorns 
from the oak which they eat after       
boiling  or roasting them on the ashes4 
,by a natural consequence of this       
misery1  the art of cultivation is in   
the most deplorable state4 ,the         
husbandman  is almost without           
instruments1 and those he has are very  
bad4 ,his plough  is frequently no more 
than the branch of a tree cut below a   
fork and  used without wheels4 ,the     
ground is tilled by asses and cows1     

rarely by  oxen1 which would bespeak too
 much riches4 ,in the districts exposed 
to  the ,arabs1 as in ,palestine1 the   
countryman must sow with his musket in  
his hand1 and scarcely does the corn    
turn yellow before it is reaped and     
concealed in subterraneous caverns4 ,as 
little as possible is employed  for seed
 corn1 because the peasants sow no more 
than is barely necessary  for their     
subsistence4 ,their whole industry is   
limited to the supply of  their         
immediate wants1 and to procure a little
 bread1 a few onions1 a  blue shirt1 and
 a bit of woollen1 much labour is not   
necessary4 ,the  peasant lives therefore
 in distress1 but at least he does not  
enrich his  tyrants1 and the avarice of 
despotism is its own punishment4'       
,note4--,these are the unhappy persons1 
as our author expresses it in a         
passage1 which may hereafter be quoted  
at length1 #8who in the great  lottery  
of life have drawn a blank2 and with    
whose exorbitant and  unreasonable      

demands the owners of the aforesaid     
surplus produce neither  think it just  
nor natural to comply4' ,i confess1 ,i  
cannot account for  all the contention  
and distress which is here implied1 for 
the conflict  between famine and riches1
 when ,i seriously consider with ,mr4   
,malthus1  #8that the quantity of food1 
which one man can consume1 is           
necessarily  limited by the narrow      
capacity of the human stomach2 that it  
is not  certainly probable that he      
should throw away the rest2 or if he    
exchanged his surplus produce for the   
labour of others1 that this would  be   
better than that these others should    
absolutely starve4' ,but human  life1 as
 well as our reasonings about it1 is a  
mystery1 a dream4 #8,this  picture which
 is drawn by ,volney1 in describing the 
state of the  peasants in ,syria1 seems 
to be confirmed by all the other        
travellers in  these countries1 and     
according to ,eton1 it represents very  
nearly the  condition of the peasants in

 the greater part of the ,turkish       
dominions4  ,universally the offices of 
every denomination are set up to public 
sale1  and in the intrigues of the      
seraglio1 by which the disposal of all  
places is regulated1 every thing is done
 by means of bribes4 ,the pachas  in    
consequence1 who are sent into the      
provinces1 exert to the utmost  their   
power of extortion1 but are always      
outdone by the officers  immediately    
below them1 who1 in their turn1 leave   
room for their  subordinate agents4 ,the
 pacha must raise money to pay the      
tribute1 and  also to indemnify himself 
for the purchase of his office2 support 
his  dignity1 and make a provision in   
case of accidents2 and as all power1    
both civil and military1 centers in his 
person1 from his representing  the      
sultan1 the means are at his discretion1
 and the quickest are  invariably       
considered as the best4 ,uncertain of   
to-morrow1 he treats his  province as a 
mere transient possession1 and          

endeavours to reap1 if  possible1 in one
 day1 the fruit of many years1 without  
the smallest  regard to his successor1  
or the injury that he may do to the     
permanent  revenue4 ,the cultivator is  
necessarily more exposed to these       
extortions  than the inhabitants of the 
towns4 ,from the nature of his          
employment1 he  is fixed to one spot1   
and the productions of agriculture do   
not admit of  being easily concealed4   
,the tenure of the land and the right of
  succession are besides uncertain4     
,when a father dies1 the inheritance    
reverts to the sultan1 and the children 
can only redeem the succession  by a    
considerable sum of money4 ,these       
considerations naturally occasion  an   
indifference to landed estates4 ,the    
country is deserted1 and each  person is
 desirous of flying to the towns1 where 
he will not only in  general meet with  
better treatment1 but may hope to       
acquire a species of  wealth1 which he  
can more easily conceal from the eyes of

 his rapacious  masters4 ,to complete   
the ruin of agriculture1 a maximum is in
 many cases  established1 and the       
peasants are obliged to furnish the     
towns with corn  at a fixed price4 ,it  
is a maxim of ,turkish policy1          
originating in the  feebleness of the   
government1 and the fear of popular     
tumults1 to keep  the price of corn low 
in all the considerable towns4 ,in the  
case of a  failure in the harvest1 every
 person who possesses any corn is       
obliged  to sell it at the price fixed1 
under pain of death3 and if there be    
none  in the neighbourhood1 other       
districts are ransacked for it4 ,when   
,constantinople is in want of           
provisions1 ten provinces are perhaps   
famished for a supply4 ,at ,damascus1   
during a scarcity in #aghd1 the  people 
paid only one penny farthing a pound for
 their bread1 while the  peasants in the
 villages were absolutely dying with    
hunger4 ,the effect  of such a system of
 government on agriculture1 need not be 

insisted on4  ,the causes of the        
decreasing means of subsistence are but 
too obvious2  and the checks which keep 
the population down to the level of     
these  decreasing resources1 may be     
traced with nearly equal certainty1 and 
will appear to include almost every     
species of vice and misery4' ,happy     
country1 secured by the very nature of  
its government from the terrors  of     
increasing population1 and where every  
species of vice and misery1  wisely     
anticipated1 on the principle that the  
imagination of a thing is  worse than   
the reality1 takes away all fear of any 
greater evils than  those they already  
endure6    ,in the same chapter1 he     
says1 that in ,persia #8the lower       
classes of  people are obliged to defer 
marriage till late2 and that it is only 
among the rich that this union takes    
place early4 ,the dreadful  convulsions 
to which this country has been subject  
for many hundred  years1 must have been 
fatal to her agriculture4 ,the periods  

of repose  from external wars1 and      
internal commotions have been short and 
few1 and  even during the times of      
profound peace1 the frontier provinces  
have  been constantly subject to the    
ravages of the ,tartars4--,the effect of
  this state of things is such as might 
be expected4 ,the proportion of         
uncultivated to cultivated land1 ,sir   
,john ,chardin states to be1 ten to     
one2 and the mode in which the officers 
of the state and private owners  let out
 their lands to husbandmen1 is not that 
which is best calculated  to reanimate  
industry4 ,the other checks to          
population in ,persia are  nearly the   
same as those in ,turkey4 ,the superior 
destruction of the  plague in ,turkey is
 perhaps nearly balanced by the greater 
frequency of  internal commotions in    
,persia4'    ,these extracts furnish1 ,i
 think1 a tolerably clear idea of the   
manner in  which it is possible for     
human institutions to aggravate instead 
of  mitigating the necessary evils of   

population4 ,we have a sufficient       
specimen of the effects of bad          
government1 of bad laws1 of the worse   
execution of them1 of feeble and selfish
 policy1 of wars and commotions1  or of 
diseases probably occasioned for the    
most part by the numbers of  people who 
are huddled together in dirt and poverty
 in the great towns  in the manner we   
have seen--in altering the natural      
proportion between  the produce of the  
soil1 and the maintenance of the        
inhabitants2 in  wantonly diminishing   
the means of subsistence by a most      
unjust and  unequal distribution of     
them2 in diverting the produce of       
industry from  its proper channels1 in  
drying up its sources1 in causing a     
stagnation  of all the motives and      
principles which animate human life1 in 
destroying all confidence1 independence1
 hope1 cheerfulness1 and manly          
exertion1 in thwarting the bounties of  
nature by waste1 rapacity1  extortion   
and violence1 and spreading want1       

misery1 and desolation in  their stead4 
,how admirably does ,mr4 ,malthus       
balance his checks6 ,what the  plague   
does in ,turkey1 is in ,persia happily  
effected by means of civil  commotions4 
,population is thus kept down to the    
level of the means of  subsistence4 ,but
 it seems1 that wars1 and intestine     
commotions1 those  blind drudges of     
,providence in clearing away the filth1 
rubbish1 and  other evils of a too      
crowded population1 sometimes go beyond 
their  errand1 or do their work the     
wrong way1 by striking at the root of   
population instead of lopping off its   
superfluous branches4 ,according to  our
 author's general system1 the killing   
ten1 or twenty1 or a hundred  thousand  
men is an evil of a very trifling       
magnitude1 if it is to be  looked upon  
as an evil at all4 ,population will only
 go on with the  greater alacrity1      
marriage will be rendered more          
practicable1 and the  deficiency will   
soon be supplied from the sprightly and 

ever-teeming  source of nature4 ,the    
dreadful convulsions1 however1 to which 
,persia has  been subject for so many   
hundred years have not been merely vents
 to  carry off the excess of population 
beyond the means of subsistence1 but    
they have further been fatal to         
agriculture itself1 or to those very    
means of subsistence4 ,the proportion of
 uncultivated1 to cultivated  land1 we  
find1 is ten to one2 so that the        
population is not only reduced  to a    
level with the means of subsistence1 but
 reduced ten times lower  than it need  
be4#ad    ,i beg leave to accompany this
 description of the effects of political
  regulations and the established       
administration of property in ,turkey1  
with the following critical commentary1 
taken from another part of the  same    
work1 which will throw considerable     
light on the necessity of  those        
institutions to prevent the evils of    
population4 ,mr4 ,malthus's  usual plea 
for #8vice and misery1' is that nothing 

else can put a stop to  the excesses of 
population2 which they do in the most   
effectual and  eligible manner4 ,but he 
has here deserted his idols4    #8,it   
has appeared1 ,i think1 clearly1 in the 
review of different  societies given in 
the former part of this work1 that those
 countries1  the inhabitants of which   
were sunk in the most barbarous         
ignorance1 or  oppressed by the most    
cruel tyranny1 however low they might be
 in  actual population1 were very       
populous in proportion to their means of
  subsistence2 and upon the slightest   
failure of the seasons1 generally       
suffered the severities of want4' ,yet  
it was the sole object of ,mr4          
,malthus's discovery to prove the       
converse proposition1 that the  highest 
degree of knowledge1 and a perfect      
exemption from every  species of tyranny
 would only lead to the lowest state of 
human  wretchedness4--#8,ignorance and  
despotism seem to have no tendency to   
destroy the passion which prompts to    

increase2 but they effectually  destroy 
the checks to it from reason and        
foresight4 ,the improvident  barbarian  
who thinks only of his present wants1 or
 the miserable  peasant1 who from his   
political situation feels little        
security of  reaping what he has sown1  
will seldom be deterred from gratifying 
his  passions by the prospect of        
inconveniences which cannot be expected 
to  press on him under three or four    
years4 ,but though this want of         
foresight1 which is fostered by         
ignorance and despotism1 tend thus      
rather to encourage the procreation of  
children1 it is absolutely  fatal to the
 industry which is to support them4     
,industry cannot exist  without         
foresight and security4 ,the indolence  
of the savage is well  known2 and the   
poor ,egyptian or ,abyssinian farmer1   
without capital1  who rents land1 which 
is let out yearly to the highest bidder 
and who  is constantly subject to the   
demands of his tyrannical masters1 to   

the  casual plunder of an enemy1 and not
 unfrequently to the violation of  his  
miserable contract1 can have no heart to
 be industrious1 and if he  had1 could  
not exercise that industry with success4
 ,even poverty  itself1 which appears to
 be the great spur to industry1 when it 
has  once passed certain limits1 almost 
ceases to operate4 ,the indigence  which
 is hopeless1 destroys all vigorous     
exertion1 and confines the  efforts to  
what is sufficient for bare existence4  
,it is the hope of  bettering our       
condition and the fear of want1 rather  
than want itself1  that is the best     
stimulus to industry1 and its most      
constant and best  directed efforts will
 almost invariably be found among a     
class of  people above the class of the 
wretchedly poor4'    ,what a pity that a
 man1 who writes so well at times1      
should1 for the  sake of an hypothesis1 
involve #8himself in absurdities and    
contradictions that would disgrace the  
lips of an ideot4' ,mr4 ,malthus  will  

excuse me1 if ,i make use of some of the
 hints contained in this  excellent     
passage1 for the benefit of our ,english
 poor1 who ,i think  should not have    
harder measure dealt them than others1  
and try to soften  some of the harshest 
constructions of the grinding law of    
necessity in  their favour4 ,i do not   
see why they alone are to be the martyrs
 of an  abstraction4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus 
reserves the application of his theory  
in  its purity for his own countrymen4  
,he has some natural feelings1 and a    
certain degree of tender weakness for   
the distresses of other countries1  but 
he will not suffer his feelings for a   
moment to get the better of  his reason1
 with regard to those to whom he is     
bound by stronger ties1  and over whose 
interests he watches with a paternal    
anxiety4 ,he will  hear of no           
palliations1 no excuses1 no shuffling   
temporary expedients to  put off the    
evil day1 he insists upon their         
submitting to the full  operation of the

 penalty incurred by the laws of ,god   
and of nature1  nothing short of the    
utmost severity will satisfy him1 7'tis 
death to  spare7 he will not bate them a
 jot of his argument1 he makes them     
drain  the unsavoury cup of misery to   
the very dregs4    ,in the same chapter1
 which is entitled #8,of the principal  
sources of the  prevailing errors on    
population1' he says1 #8,it has been    
observed that  many countries at the    
period of their greatest populousness   
have lived  in the greatest plenty1 and 
have been able to export corn2 but at   
other  periods1 when their population   
was very low1 have lived in continual   
poverty and want1 and have been obliged 
to import corn4 ,egypt1  ,palestine1    
,rome1 ,sicily1 and ,spain are cited as 
particular  exemplifications of this    
fact2 and it has been inferred1 that an 
increase of population in any state1 not
 cultivated to the utmost1 will  tend   
rather to augment than diminish the     
relative plenty of the whole  society1' 

c4 ,after contradicting this inference  
without giving any  reasons against it1 
he goes on1 #8,scarcity and extreme     
poverty1  therefore1 may or may not     
accompany an increasing population1     
according  to circumstances4 ,but they  
must always accompany a permanently     
declining  population2 because there has
 never been1 nor probably ever will be1 
any  other cause than want of food1     
which makes the population of a country 
permanently decline4 ,in the numerous   
instances of depopulation which  occur  
in history1 the causes of it may always 
be traced to the want of  industry1 or  
the ill-direction of that industry1     
arising from violence1  bad government1 
ignorance1 c4 which first occasions a   
want of food1 and  of course            
depopulation follows4 ,when ,rome       
adopted the custom of  importing all her
 corn1 and laying all ,italy into       
pasture1 she soon  declined in          
population4 ,the causes of the          
depopulation of ,egypt and  ,turkey have

 already been alluded to2 and in the    
case of ,spain1 it was  certainly not   
the numerical loss of people1 occasioned
 by the expulsion  of the ,moors2 but   
the industry and capital thus expelled1 
which  permanently injured her          
population4' ,i do not myself see1 how  
the  expulsion of capital could         
permanently injure the population4      
#8,when a  country has been depopulated 
by violent causes1 if a bad government1 
with its usual concomitant1 insecurity  
of property1 ensue1 which has  generally
 been the case in all those countries   
which are now less  peopled than        
formerly2 neither the food nor the      
population1 will recover  themselves1   
and the inhabitants will probably live  
in severe want1' c4  ,yet ,mr4 ,malthus 
elsewhere affects to consider all human 
institutions and  contrivances as       
perfectly indifferent to the question4  
,we have here1  however1 a truer account
 of the matter4 ,the state of population
 is  evidently no proof of what it might

 be3 to judge whether it is more or     
less than it might or ought to be1 we   
must take into consideration good  and  
bad government1 the progress of         
civilization1 c4 ,it is a thing de      
facto1 not de jure4 ,it is not that     
rock1 against which whosoever sets      
himself shall be dashed to pieces1 but  
the clay moulded by the potter  into    
vessels of honour or dishonour4 ,with   
respect to ,spain1 it is  allowed that  
her population is deficient1 or short of
 what it might be4  ,the problem of     
political economy ,i take to be1 how far
 this is the case  with respect to all  
other countries1 and how to remedy the  
defect2 or  how to support the greatest 
number of people in the greatest degree 
of  comfort4 ,but ,i have said this more
 than once before4    ,to the same      
purpose ,i might quote ,algernon        
,sydney1 who in his ,discourses  on     
government gives the following account  
of the decline and weakness of  many of 
the modern states from the loss of      

liberty4#ae    #8,i take ,greece to have
 been happy and glorious1 when it was   
full of  populous cities1 flourishing in
 all the arts that deserve praise among 
men2 when they were courted and feared  
by the greatest kings1 and never        
assaulted by any but to his own loss and
 confusion2 when ,babylon and  ,susa    
trembled at the motion of their arms3   
and their valour1 exercised  in those   
wars and tumults1 which our author      
,filmer looks upon as the  greatest     
evils1 was raised to such a power1 that 
nothing upon earth was  found able to   
resist them4 ,and ,i think it now       
miserable1 when peace  reigns within    
their empty walls1 and the poor remains 
of those exhausted  nations1 sheltering 
themselves under the ruins of the       
desolated cities1  have neither any     
thing that deserves to be disputed among
 them1 nor  spirit or force to repel the
 injuries they daily suffer from a proud
 and  insupportable master4'    #8,the  
like may be said of ,italy4 ,whilst it  

was inhabited by nations  governing     
themselves by their own will1 they fell 
sometimes into  domestic seditions1 and 
had frequent wars with their neighbours4
 ,when  they were free1 they loved their
 country and were always ready to fight 
in its defence4 ,such as succeeded well1
 increased in vigour and power2  and    
even those which were the most          
unfortunate in one age1 found means  to 
repair their losses1 if their government
 continued4 ,while they had a  property 
in their goods1 they would not suffer   
the country to be  invaded1 since they  
knew they could have none1 if it were   
lost4 ,this  gave occasion to wars and  
tumults2 it sharpened their courage1    
kept up a  good discipline1 and the     
nations that were most exercised by     
them1  always increased in power and    
number3 so that no country seems ever to
  have been of greater strength than    
,italy was when ,hannibal invaded it1   
and after his defeat the rest of the    
world was not able to resist their      

valour and power4 ,they sometimes killed
 one another2 but their enemies  never  
got any thing but burying-places within 
their territories4 ,all  things are now 
brought into a very different method by 
the blessed  governments they are under4
 ,the fatherly care of the king of      
,spain1 the  pope1 and other princes has
 established peace among them4 ,we have 
not in  many ages heard of any sedition 
among the ,latins1 ,sabines1 ,volsci1   
,equi1  ,samnites1 and others4 ,the     
thin1 half-starved inhabitants of walls 
supported by ivy fear neither popular   
tumults1 nor foreign alarms2 and  their 
sleep is only interrupted by hunger1 the
 cries of their children1  or the       
howling of wolves4 ,instead of many     
turbulent1 contentious cities1  they    
have a few scattered1 silent cottages2  
and the fierceness of those  nations is 
so tempered1 that every rascally        
collector of taxes extorts1  without    
fear1 from every man1 that which should 
be the nourishment of  his family4 ,and 

if any of those countries are free from 
these pernicious  vermin1 it is through 
the extremity of their poverty4'    ,how
 differently do people see things6      
,according to ,mr4 ,malthus1 this       
rascally tax-gatherer1 this vile        
nuisance1 is a very sacred sort of      
character1 a privileged person1 one of  
the most indispensable and active       
instruments in the procession of vice   
and misery1 those harbingers of  human  
happiness2 and all our reproaches and   
indignation should fall on  the poor    
peasant1 for bringing beings into the   
world whom he could not  maintain1 in   
#8the face of the clearest warning1 and 
in defiance of the  express command of  
,god1' as proved by the tax-book4 ,our  
superficial  politician was not aware   
7,mr4 ,malthus tells us that first      
appearances  are very deceitful7 that   
the produce of the husbandman's labour  
was much  better employed in supporting 
the waste and extravagance of the rich1 
than in affording nourishment to his    

family1 as this would only enable  him  
to rear his family1 which must operate  
as an encouragement to  marriage1 and   
this again would produce other          
marriages1 and so on ad  infinitum1 to  
which unrestricted increase of          
population it is necessary  to put a    
timely stop4    #8,even in ,rome a man  
may be circumvented by the fraud of a   
priest1 or  poisoned by one1 who would  
have his estate1 wife1 whore1 or child2 
but  nothing is done that looks like    
violence or tumult4 ,the governors do as
  little fear ,gracchus as ,hannibal2   
and instead of wearying their subjects  
in wars1' ,we have not yet reached this 
pitch of perfection #8they only  seek by
 perverted laws1 corrupt judges1 false  
witnesses1 and vexatious  suits1 to     
cheat them of their money and           
inheritance4 ,this is the best  part of 
their condition4 ,where these arts are  
used1 there are men1 and  they have     
something to lose2 but for the most     
part1 the lands lie waste2  and they who

 were formerly troubled with the        
disorders incident to  populous cities1 
now enjoy the quiet and peaceable estate
 of a  wilderness4--,again1 there is a  
way of killing worse than that of the   
sword2 for as ,tertullian says upon a   
different occasion1 vetare nasci  est   
interficere2 those governments are in   
the highest degree guilty of  blood1    
which by taking from men the means of   
living1 bring some to  perish through   
want1 drive others out of the country1  
and generally  dissuade men from        
marriage1 by taking from them all ways  
of supporting  their families4' ,our    
author1 we see1 has not here put the    
cart before  the horse4 ,he seems to    
have understood the necessity of food to
  population1 though ,mr4 ,malthus's    
essay had not then been heard of4       
#8,notwithstanding all the seditions of 
,florence1 and other cities of          
,tuscany1 the horrid factions of        
,guelphs and ,gibelines1#af ,neri and   
,bianchi1 nobles and commons1 they      

continued populous1 strong1 and         
exceeding rich2 but in the space of less
 than a hundred and fifty years1  the   
peaceable reign of the ,medici is       
thought to have destroyed nine  parts in
 ten of the people of that province4    
,among other things it is  remarkable1  
that when ,philip the second of ,spain  
gave ,sienna to the ,duke  of ,florence1
 his embassador then at ,rome sent him  
word1 that he had  given away more than 
six hundred and fifty thousand subjects2
 and it is  not believed there are now  
twenty thousand souls inhabiting that   
city  and territory4 ,pisa1 ,pistoia1   
,arezzo1 ,cortona1 and other towns1 that
  were then good and populous1 are in   
the like proportion diminished1 and     
,florence more than any4 ,when that city
 had been long troubled with  seditions1
 tumults1 and wars1 for the most part   
unprosperous1 it still  retained such   
strength1 that when ,charles the eighth 
of ,france1 being  admitted as a friend 
with his whole army1 which soon after   

conquered the  kingdom of ,naples1      
thought to master them1 the people1     
taking up arms1  struck such a terror   
into him1 that he was glad to depart    
upon such  conditions as they thought   
fit to impose4 ,machiavel reports1 that 
in the  year #abih ,florence alone1 with
 the ,val d',arno1 a small territory    
belonging to that city1 could1 in a few 
hours1 by the sound of a bell1  bring   
together a hundred thousand well-armed  
men4 ,whereas now that city1  with all  
the others in that province1 are brought
 to such despicable  weakness1          
emptiness1 poverty1 and baseness1 that  
they can neither resist  the oppressions
 of their own prince1 nor defend him or 
themselves1 if  they were assaulted by a
 foreign enemy4 ,the people are         
dispersed or  destroyed1 and the best   
families sent to seek habitations in    
,venice1  ,genoa1 ,rome1 and ,lucca4    
,this is not the effect of war or       
pestilence3  they enjoy a perfect peace1
 and suffer no other plague than the    

government they are under4 ,but he who  
has thus cured them of disorders  and   
tumults does in my opinion deserve no   
greater praise than a  physician1 who   
should boast there was not a sick person
 in a house  committed to his care1 when
 he had poisoned all that were in it4   
,the  ,spaniards have established the   
like peace in the kingdoms of ,naples   
and  ,sicily1 the ,west ,indies1 and    
other places4 ,the ,turks by the same   
means  prevent tumults in their         
dominions4 ,and they are of such        
efficacy in all  places1 that ,mario    
,chigi1 brother to pope ,alexander the  
seventh1 by one  sordid cheat upon the  
sale of corn1 is said within eight years
 to have  destroyed above a third part  
of the people in the ecclesiastical     
state4  ,and that country1 which was the
 strength of the ,romans in the time of 
the ,carthaginian wars1 suffered more by
 the covetousness and fraud of  that    
villain1 than by all the defeats        
received from ,hannibal1 c4 ,chap4  ii4 

p4 #bbc4    ,it will be worth the       
reader's while to turn to ,lord ,kaims's
 account of  the kingdom of ,siam1      
which1 though one of the most fertile   
countries in  the world1 is reduced to  
the lowest state of poverty and         
wretchedness by  the absurd and         
tyrannical policy of its government4    
,some of the finest  districts that were
 formerly cultivated1 are now inhabited 
only by wild  beasts4 ,one of the arts  
by which they preserve the balance of   
population  in that country is1 that the
 keeper of the king's menagerie is      
authorized to let loose the elephants   
into the gardens of all those  within a 
given distance of the capital1 who do   
not pay him a large fine  yearly to be  
excused from this intrusion4 ,yet       
according to our ,essayist1  human      
institutions have a very slight         
influence on the happiness of a  people1
 because they cannot alter the necessary
 ratios of the increase  of food and    
population4 ,it is probable1 however1   

that some of the cases  here cited1     
which seem to bear rather hard on ,mr4  
,malthus's rule1 might  have led those  
hasty writers1 whom he censures for     
their want of a due  insight into the   
subject1 to conceive an unjust prejudice
 against human  institutions2 and       
perhaps some of my readers may also be  
led to suspect1  from not comprehending 
fully the scope and connection of his   
arguments1  that bad governments are not
 quite such innocent things1 as ,mr4    
,malthus  would sometimes represent     
them4 ,is it necessary to press this    
subject  any farther8 ,i do not pretend 
to be very deep-read in history1 in the 
constitution of states1 the principles  
of legislation1 the progress of         
manners1 or the immediate causes of the 
revolutions that have taken  place in   
different countries4 ,all that ,i can   
presume to bring to this  question is a 
little stubborn common sense1 an        
earnestness of feeling1  and a certain  
familiarity with abstruse subjects1 that

 is not willingly  or easily made the   
dupe of flimsy distinctions4 ,but       
without much  learning in one's self1 it
 is easy to take advantage of the       
learning of  others4 ,by the help of a  
common-place book1 which is all that is 
wanted  in these cases 7and ,i am       
fortunate enough to have such a one by  
me in  the collections of #8that honest 
chronicler1' ,james ,burgh7 ,i might    
soon  swell the size of these letters to
 a bulk1 which the bookseller would  not
 like1 by a number of striking          
illustrations from the most celebrated  
authors4 ,i might make myself a splendid
 livery of the wisdom of others4  ,but  
,i have no taste for this pompous       
drudgery4 ,however1 to satisfy those    
readers who are unable to discern the   
truth without the spectacles of  facts1 
it will not be amiss to refer to the    
opinions of a few of the  writers1 who  
seem with sufficient clearness to have  
traced the causes of  the rise and fall 
of particular states to principles quite

 independent  of1 which were neither    
first set in motion nor afterwards      
regulated by  the principle of          
population1 and the effects of which    
were utterly  disproportionate to the   
actual operation of that principle4     
,after all1  it is impossible to answer 
a paradox satisfactorily4 ,the real     
answer  consists of the feelings and    
observations of our whole lives2 and of 
course1 it must be impossible to embody 
these in any single statement4  ,all    
that can be done in these cases is to   
set the imagination once more  in its   
old track4    #8,hear1' says my         
authority1 #8the excellent ,montague on 
the prevalence of  luxury among the     
,romans4'    #8,if we connect the       
various strokes interspersed through    
what we have  remaining of the writings 
of ,sallust1 which were levelled at the 
vices  of his countrymen1 we shall be   
able to form a just idea of the manners 
of the ,romans in his time4 ,from this  
picture1 we must be convinced1 that  not

 only those shocking calamities1 which  
the republic suffered during  the       
contest between ,marius and ,sylla1 but 
those subsequent and more  fatal evils1 
which brought on the utter extinction of
 the ,roman liberty  and constitution1  
were the natural effects of that foreign
 luxury1 which  first introduced        
venality and corruption4' ,now by luxury
 we may  understand a very great        
superabundance of the good things of    
this life1  either in the community at  
large or in certain classes of it1 but  
it  cannot by any construction be made  
to signify the general and absolute     
want of them4 ,luxury in some classes   
may produce want in others1 but  poverty
 is in this case the effect of the      
unequal distribution of the  produce of 
the earth1 not of its real deficiency4  
,or if by luxury we  understand only    
certain exterior decorations or         
artificial indulgences1  which have     
nothing to do with the real support of  
life1 such as dress1  furniture1        

buildings1 pictures1 gold and silver1   
rarities1 delicacies of  all kinds1     
every thing connected with shew and     
expence 7though all these  things among 
the ,romans being the effects not merely
 of leisure or of  supernumerary hands1 
but of power1 and foreign dominion1 must
 imply a  command over the more         
substantial necessaries of life7 yet    
even in this  sense the passion for     
luxury or for those indulgences 7which  
is here  said to have been one great    
instrument in the overthrow of the      
state7 is  certainly a very different   
thing from the passion of hunger1 or    
want of  food1 ,mr4 ,malthus's key to   
the solution of all problems of a       
political  nature4 #8,though the        
introduction of luxury from ,asia       
preceded the ruin  of ,carthage in point
 of time1 yet as ,sallust informs us1   
the dread of  that dangerous rival      
restrained the ,romans within the bounds
 of decency  and order4 ,but as soon as 
ever that obstacle was removed1 they    

gave a  full scope to their ungoverned  
passions4 ,the change in their manners  
was  not gradual1 and by little and     
little as before1 but rapid and         
instantaneous4 ,religion1 justice1      
modesty1 decency1 all regard for  divine
 or human laws1 were swept away at once 
by the irresistible  torrent of         
corruption4 ,the nobility strained their
 privileges1 and the  people their      
liberty1 alike into the most unbounded  
licentiousness4  ,every one made the    
dictate of his own will1 his only rule  
of action4  ,public virtue1 and the love
 of their country1 which had raised the 
,romans to the empire of the universe1  
were extinct4 ,money1 which alone  could
 enable them to gratify their darling   
luxury1 was substituted in  its place4  
,power1 dominion1 honours1 and universal
 respect were annexed  to the possession
 of money4 ,contempt1 and whatever was  
the most  reproachful was the bitter    
portion of poverty2 and to be poor1 grew
 to  be the greatest of all crimes1 in  

the estimation of the ,romans4 ,thus    
wealth and poverty contributed alike to 
the ruin of the republic4 ,the  rich    
employed their wealth in the acquisition
 of power1 and their power  in every    
kind of oppression and rapine for the   
acquisition of more  wealth4 ,the poor1 
now dissolute and desperate1 were ready 
to engage in  every seditious           
insurrection1 which promised them the   
plunder of the  rich1 and set up both   
their liberty and country to sale1 to   
the best  bidder4 ,the republic1 which  
was the common prey to both1 was thus   
rent  to pieces between the contending  
factions4--,a state so circumstanced    
must  always furnish an ample supply of 
proper instruments for faction4 ,for as 
luxury consists in an inordinate        
gratification of the sensual passions1  
and as the more they are indulged1 the  
more importunate they grow1 the         
greatest fortune must at last sink under
 their insatiable demands4 ,thus  luxury
 necessarily produces corruption4 ,as   

wealth is necessary to the  support of  
luxury1 all those who have dissipated   
their private fortunes  in the purchase 
of pleasure1 will be ever ready to      
enlist in the cause  of faction for the 
wages of corruption4 ,and when once the 
idea of  respect and homage is annexed  
to the possession of wealth alone1      
honour1  probity1 every virtue and every
 amiable quality will be held cheap in  
comparison and looked upon as awkward1  
and quite unfashionable4 ,but as  the   
spirit of liberty will yet exist in some
 degree1 in a state which  retains the  
name of freedom1 even though the manners
 of that state  should be generally     
depraved1 an opposition will arise from 
those  virtuous citizens1 who know the  
value of their birth-right1 liberty1 and
  who will not submit tamely to the     
chains of faction4 ,force will then be  
called in to the aid of corruption1 a   
military government will be  established
 on the ruins of the civil1 and all     
commands and employments  will be at the

 disposal of arbitrary1 lawless power4  
,the people will be  fleeced to pay for 
their own fetters1 and doomed1 like the 
cattle1 to  unremitting toil and        
drudgery1 for the support of their      
tyrannical  masters4' ,all this is      
evidently erroneous1 when we apply to it
 the  touch-stone of the theory of      
population4 ,the people are not fleeced 
and  worked in this manner for the      
benefit of those who fleece and work    
them1  to gratify any appetites or      
passions of theirs1 it is out of pure   
good-will to the poor wretches          
themselves1 that they may live more at  
their ease1 and in a greater degree of  
affluence than they would without  this 
timely warning of the evils of poverty4 
#8,or if the outward form of  civil     
government should be permitted to       
remain1 the people will be  compelled to
 give a sanction to tyranny by their own
 suffrages1 and to  elect oppressors    
instead of protectors4--,from this      
genuine portrait of  the ,roman state it

 is evident that the fatal catastrophe  
of that  republic1 of which ,sallust    
himself was an eye-witness1 was the     
natural  effect of the corruption of    
their manners2 and again1 that this     
corruption was the effect of the        
introduction of foreign wealth and      
luxury4 ,this fatal tendency was too    
obvious to escape the notice of  those  
who had any regard for liberty and their
 ancient constitution4  ,many sumptuary 
laws were made to restrain the excesses 
of luxury2 but  these efforts were too  
feeble to check the over-bearing        
violence of the  torrent4 ,cato proposed
 a severe law1 enforced by the sanction 
of an  oath1 against bribery and        
corruption at elections2 where the      
scandalous  traffic of votes was        
established by custom1 as at a public   
market4 ,but  he only incurred the      
resentment of both parties by that      
salutary  measure4 ,the rich1 who had no
 other merit to plead but what arose    
from  their superior wealth1 thus found 

themselves precluded from all           
pretensions to the highest dignities4   
,the electors abused1 cursed and  even  
pelted him as the author of a law which 
reduced them to the  necessity of       
subsisting by labour4 ,corruption was   
arrived at its height1  and those       
excesses which were formerly esteemed   
the vices of the  people were now1 by   
the force of custom1 become the manners 
of the  people4 ,to pilfer the public   
money and to plunder the provinces by   
violence1 though state crimes of the    
most heinous nature1 were grown so      
familiar1 that they were looked upon as 
no more than mere office  perquisites4' 
,really ,i am afraid that the reader    
will suspect me of  falsifying the      
historical record to write a satire     
against our own  times4 ,some of these  
remarks are ,i confess home truths4 ,to 
a person  who has not that mysterious   
kind of penetration which the author of 
the  ,essay possesses1 they carry more  
weight1 and give a clearer insight into 

the principles that operate in the      
decomposition of states1 than all ,mr4  
,malthus's indiscriminate and shadowy   
reasonings on the evils of  population1 
which can no more prove anything        
decisively on the subject1  than we can 
account for the inequalities in the     
surface of the earth  from its being    
round4    ,the same author adds1        
#8,though there is a concurrence of     
several causes  in the ruin of a state1 
yet where luxury prevails1 that parent  
of all  our fantastic wants1 ever       
craving1 and ever unsatisfied1 we may   
safely  assign it as the leading cause2 
since it ever was and ever will be the  
most baneful to public virtue4 ,as      
luxury is contagious from its very      
nature1 it will gradually descend from  
the highest to the lowest ranks  till it
 has ultimately affected a whole        
people4--,we see luxury gradually       
increasing and prevailing over the      
,roman spirit and virtue1 till at       
length the contagion even reached ladies

 of the greatest distinction1  who in   
imitation of the prince and his court1  
had their assemblies and                
representations in a grove1 planted by  
the ,emperor1 where booths were  built1 
and in them sold whatever incited to    
sensuality and wantonness4  ,thus was   
even the outward appearance of virtue   
banished the city1 and  all manner of   
avowed lewdness1 depravity and          
dissoluteness introduced in  its room1  
men and women being engaged in a        
contention to outvie each  other in     
glaring vices1 and scenes of impurity4  
,again4--,about the time  that the      
,roman republic was tottering to its    
fall1 it was observed that  there was an
 universal degeneracy of manners        
prevailing1 particularly  that the women
 were very scandalous in their behaviour
 at ,rome1 while  those of the countries
 called by them barbarous were          
remarkably  exemplary in this respect4' 
,was this difference wholly owing to the
  difference in the state of population8

 ,or shall we believe that the  ladies  
of ,roman knights1 that the wives and   
daughters of ,emperors1 that  the       
mistresses of those to whom the world   
was tributary1 who scattered  pearls and
 gold among their followers1 who gave   
largesses of corn to the  people1 and   
entertained them at ten thousand tables 
at a time1 who ate  the tongues of      
peacocks and nightingales1 and the      
brains of parrots1  whose dogs were fed 
with the livers of geese1 their horses  
with raisins1  and their wild beasts    
with the flesh of partridges and        
pheasants1 shall  we believe that these 
delicate creatures1 who dreamt of       
nothing but  pleasure and feasting1 who 
reclined on silken couches1 whose baths 
were  made of rose-water and wine1 who  
scented the air with all the perfumes   
of the ,east1 whose rich dresses were   
upborne by a train of  waiting-women1   
and idle boys1 were driven to the       
necessity of  stimulating their passions
 by lewd exhibitions1 and wanton dances1

 and  lascivious songs1 and soft music  
and obscene practices1 because they     
were hindered from gratifying their     
honest desires in a lawful way by  the  
difficulty of providing for their future
 offspring1 or the pressure  of         
population on the means of subsistence8 
,yet this is what we must be  led to    
suppose from ,mr4 ,malthus's theory1    
according to whom vice is the  natural  
consequence of want1 and want the effect
 of increasing  population4 ,for any one
 who is acquainted with the state of    
manners1 and  the mode of living among  
the great at ,rome at this time to      
pretend that  all this was owing to     
nothing but the advanced state of       
population1 just  as the rising or      
falling of the weather-glass depends on 
the pressure of  the air outside1       
betrays a most astonishing ignorance of 
human nature4 ,i  think ,i am warranted 
in laying down the two following maxims2
 that  luxury is itself an immediate    
cause of dissoluteness of manners2      

secondly1 that example1 particularly    
that of the great1 has a powerful       
influence over manners4    ,before ,i   
quit this subject of ,roman luxury1 ,i  
shall just mention a fact  quoted by my 
author1 which seems to contradict ,mr4  
,malthus's notion that  the luxuries of 
the rich do not in the least affect the 
condition of the  poor4 #8,the good     
,emperor ,aurelius1' says ,burgh1 #8sold
 the plate1  furniture1 jewels1 pictures
 and statues of the imperial palace1 to 
relieve the distresses of the people1   
occasioned by the invasion of           
barbarians1 pestilence1 famine1 c4 the  
value of which was so great1  that it   
maintained the war for five years1      
beside other inestimable  expences4' ,if
 according to ,mr4 ,malthus's reasoning 
on this subject in  different parts of  
his work1 every man's stomach can hold  
only a certain  quantity of food1 and   
what does not go into one man's stomach 
necessarily goes into some other's1 that
 is1 if every person has as  large a    

share as it is possible he should have  
of the necessaries of  life1 ,i do not  
see what this moving of pictures or     
statues about1 or  setting them up to   
auction should have to do with the state
 of  provisions1 or how it should       
relieve the necessities of the poor4    
,mr4  ,malthus's reasonings are         
sometimes as remarkable for their       
simplicity as  they are at others for   
their complexity4 ,he sees things in the
 most  natural or in the most artificial
 point of view1 as he pleases4 ,at one  
time1 every thing comes round by a      
labyrinth of causes1 and all the        
intricate secretions of the state2 at   
another time the whole science of       
political economy is reduced to a flat  
calculation of the size of a  quartern  
loaf1 and the size of the human stomach4
    ,all authors 7but ,mr4 ,malthus7    
seem agreed that luxury has been fatal  
to  the spirit of liberty1 and that the 
loss of liberty has led to the loss  of 
independence4 #8,the welfare of every   

country depends upon the morals  of the 
people4 ,though a nation may become rich
 by trade1 thrift1 and  industry1 or    
from the advantages of soil and         
situation1 or may attain to  great      
eminence and power either by force of   
arms1 or by the sagacity of  their      
councils2 yet when their manners are    
depraved1 they will decline  insensibly1
 and at last come to utter destruction4 
,when a country is  grown vicious1      
industry decays1 and the people become  
unruly1  effeminate1 and unfit for      
labour4 ,luxury1 when introduced into   
free  states1 and suffered to spread    
through the body of the people was ever 
productive of that degeneracy of        
manners1 which extinguishes public      
virtue1 and puts a final period to      
liberty4 ,thus the ,assyrian empire     
sunk under the arms of ,cyrus with his  
poor but hardy ,persians4 ,the          
extensive and opulent empire of ,persia 
fell an easy prey to ,alexander  and a  
handful of ,macedonians4 ,and the       

,macedonian empire1 when enervated  by  
the luxury of ,asia1 was compelled to   
receive the yoke of the  victorious     
,romans4 ,the descendants of the heroes1
 philosophers1 orators1  and free       
citizens of ,greece are now the slaves  
of the ,grand ,turk4 ,the  posterity of 
the ,scipios and ,catos of ,rome are now
 singing operas1 in  the shape of       
,italian eunuchs1 on the ,english       
stage4'#ag ,it should seem  from the    
length of time which these countries    
have remained in the same  degraded     
condition without a single effort or    
even wish to relieve  themselves from   
it1 that there must be other causes of  
the permanent  depression of states1 and
 other channels of transmission1 by     
which the  habits1 and characters of the
 people1 their customs and institutions1
  are handed down through successive    
generations without any hope of a       
change for the better1 besides the      
mechanical fluctuations in the          
principle of population4 ,if all laws1  

institutions1 manners1 and customs  were
 only so many expressions 7as ,i may    
say7 of the power of that  principle1   
kingdoms would rise and fall with the   
operation of the checks  provided for   
it2 their alternate renovation and decay
 would be as  regular as the ebbing and 
flowing of the tide2 in proportion as   
they  sank deep in wretchedness1 they   
would tower to greater happiness and    
splendour2 the foundation of their      
future prosperity would be laid in  the 
lowness of their fortune2 the exhausted 
state would rise1 like the  phnix1 out  
of its own ashes1 and enter the career  
of liberty and glory  in all its        
pristine vigour4 ,but we do not find    
that the accounts in  history correspond
 with the oscillations of ,mr4          
,malthus's theory4 ,we  find through a  
long1 dreary tract of time1 during which
 our author's  ratios must have been    
ascending and descending like buckets in
 a well1  that the inhabitants of those 
devoted countries have remained just    

where  they were1--in the lowest scale  
of human being4 ,they have for a great  
many hundred years been undergoing the  
wholesome discipline of vice and  misery
 without being the better for it1 the   
iron yoke of necessity to  which they   
have so long and patiently submitted    
does not seem ever to  have been relaxed
 in their favour1 and they have reaped  
none of those  reversionary benefits    
which might be expected from slavery and
 famine4  ,these powerful principles    
have not done much to rekindle in their 
breasts their ancient love of liberty1  
the glow of genius1--or to open a  new  
field for the rapid increase of         
population4 ,they have not been         
favoured with any of those ups and      
downs1 those pretty whirls and          
agreeable vicissitudes of good and evil1
 which ,mr4 ,malthus describes as  the  
natural consequence of the principles on
 which his machine of  population is    
constructed4 ,this is a radical         
objection to his machine2  it shews     

plainly that it is not constructed on   
true principles1 that we  cannot safely 
trust ourselves in it1 and will ,i hope 
deter us from  getting up into it4      
#8,the ,swiss keep the same unchanged   
character of simplicity1 honesty1       
frugality1 modesty1 bravery4 ,these are 
the virtues which preserve  liberty4    
,they have no corrupt court1 no         
blood-sucking placemen1 no  standing    
army1 the ready instruments of tyranny1 
no ambition for  conquest1 no debauching
 commerce1 no luxury1 no citadels       
against  invasions and against liberty4 
,their mountains are their              
fortifications1  and every householder  
is a soldier1 ready to fight for his    
country4'  ,this is the account which   
,voltaire gives of that country4 ,since 
that  time1 it has fallen by a power    
greater than its own1 and paid with its 
liberty for the folly and madness of the
 rest of ,europe4 ,i hope ,i shall  not 
offend any of the sycophants of power1  
any of the enlightened  patriots of the 

day who regard the general distinctions 
of liberty and  slavery as slight and   
evanescent1 by adding to my list of     
political  grievances foreign conquest  
as an evil1 and an evil that tends to no
  certain good4--,i would fain know from
 the adepts in the science of           
population whether according to that    
system it would be an advantage to  this
 country to be conquered by the ,french4
 ,the necessary ratios of the  increase 
of food and population 7which according 
to our author are every  thing1--he     
utterly rejects the idea that           
established governments can do  any     
mischief7 would of course remain the    
same2 and as to the practical  part1    
population would1 if any thing1 go on   
slower than before4 ,i cannot  but think
 however that most of my readers would  
in such a case  anticipate the          
consequences which our political        
reformer describes in  his croaking     
old-fashioned way as proceeding from    
another cause1 the  corruption of the   

people1 and the abuses of government at 
home4 #8,i see'  he says1 #8my wretched 
country in the same condition as ,france
 is now4'  ,this was written at a time  
when it was the fashion for the ,english
 to  reproach all other countries for   
their misery and slavery1 as they have  
since been in the habit of hunting them 
down for their attempts at  liberty4    
#8,instead of the rich and thriving     
farmers1 who now fill or who  lately    
filled1 the country with agriculture1   
yielding plenty for man and  beast1 ,i  
see the lands neglected1 the villages   
and farms in ruins1 with  here and there
 a starveling in wooden shoes1 driving  
his plough1 his  team consisting of an  
old goat1 a hide-bound bullock1 and an  
ass1 value  in all forty shillings4 ,i  
see the once rich and populous cities of
  ,england in the same condition with   
those of ,spain2 whole streets lying  in
 rubbish1 and the grass peeping out     
between the stones in those which       
continue still inhabited4 ,i see the    

harbours empty1 the warehouses shut  up1
 and the shop-keepers playing at        
draughts1 for want of customers4 ,i  see
 our noble and spacious turnpike roads  
covered with thistles and  other weeds1 
and hardly to be traced out4 ,i see the 
studious men reading  the ,political    
,disquisitions1 and the histories of the
 eighteenth  century1 and execrating the
 stupidity of their fathers1 who in     
spite of  the many faithful warnings    
given them1 sat still1 and suffered     
their  country to be ruined by a set of 
wretches1 whom they could have crushed4 
,i see the country devoured by an army  
of #bjj1jjj men4 ,i see justice  trodden
 under foot in the courts of justice4 ,i
 see ,magna ,charta1 the  ,habeas       
,corpus act1 the bill of rights1 and    
trial by jury1 obsolete1  and royal     
edicts and arrets set up in their place4
 ,i see the once  respectable           
land-owners1 tradesmen1 and             
manufacturers of ,england sunk  into    
contempt1 and placemen and military     

officers the only persons of            
consequence1 c4' ,i do not know but     
there may be some staunch adherents  to 
the new philosophy1 some hyper-graduates
 in the school1 who would  think such a 
state of things #8a consummation        
devoutly to be wished4' ,but  it is     
happy that where our reason leaves us1  
our prejudices often come  to our aid4  
,though there may be some persons in    
this country who would  not care a fig  
for the ,bastile1 or letters de cachet1 
there is no one  who has not a just     
dread of ,buonaparte2 or who would not  
indignantly  spurn at the wretch who    
told him that so long as the            
disproportion in  the increase of food  
and the increase of mankind continued1  
it was of  little consequence to him    
whether he was subject to the yoke of a 
foreign tyrant1 or governed by a mild   
and lawful sovereign4--,it has  always  
been the custom for the ,english to     
extol themselves to the skies  as the   
freest and happiest nation on the face  

of the earth4 ,ever since ,i  was a boy1
 ,i remember to have heard of the trial 
by jury1 ,magna ,charta1  and the bill  
of rights1 of the ,bastile in ,france1  
and the ,inquisition in  ,spain1 and the
 man in the ,iron mask4 ,now whether it 
is that ,i was a boy  when ,i first     
heard of these things1 or that they     
carry some weight and  meaning in       
themselves1 certain it is that they have
 made such a strong  and indelible      
impression on my mind as totally to     
preclude the effects  of ,mr4 ,malthus's
 philosophy4 ,whether it is owing to the
 strength of my  reason or my           
prejudices1 ,i cannot receive the       
benefit of his new light4  ,as these are
 some of the strongest feelings ,i have1
 7though they may  perhaps be just as   
childish as those which ,i still have in
 reading the  story of ,goody           
,two-,shoes1 or the ,little ,red        
,riding-hood7 it occurred to  me to make
 some use of them in answer to ,mr4     
,malthus's challenge to shew  that there

 is no difference between one government
 and another in the  essentials of      
liberty and happiness4 ,or ,i thought ,i
 might contrast the  constitution of    
this country with that of ,denmark1     
where 7says ,lord  ,molesworth7 the     
peasants are as absolute slaves as the  
negroes in  ,jamaica1 and worse fed4    
,this seemed to be strong ground4 ,but  
then ,i  recollected that the very same 
expression had been applied by a person1
  whom it would be unbecoming in me to  
contradict1 to the peasants in this     
country4#ah ,i also met with a passage  
something to the same purpose in  the   
,political ,disquisitions1 which a      
little damped my patriotic  eagerness4  
#8,a poor hard-working man1 who has a   
wife and six children to  maintain' what
 a wicked wretch6 #8can neither enjoy   
the glorious light  of heaven1 nor the  
glimmering of a farthing candle1 without
 paying the  window tax and the candle  
tax4 ,he rises early and sits up late2  
he fills  the whole day with severe     

labour2 he goes to his flock-bed with   
half a  belly-full of bread and cheese  
denying the call of natural appetite1   
that his wife and little starvelings may
 have the more4' ,why he is very  justly
 punished to be sure4 ,true2 but mark   
the sequel4 #8,in the mean  while the   
exactors of these taxes are revelling at
 the expence of more  money for one     
evening's amusement1 than the wretched  
hard-working man  7who is obliged to    
find the money for them to squander7 can
 earn by half  a year's severe labour4' 
,on the whole1 ,i was obliged to        
relinquish my  project4 ,i found that my
 picture must either want effect1 or be 
out of  all keeping4 ,and besides the   
relations of things had not only        
changed1  but men's opinions had changed
 with them4 ,an overcharged description 
of  ,english liberty and continental    
slavery would not be at all to the taste
  of the times4 ,it would sound like    
mere rant1 and would come to nothing4   
,but when ,i came to that fine          

representation of the effects of        
slavery1  which ,burgh has left us1 with
 those exquisite figures of the old     
goat1  the bullock and the ass1 and the 
group of shop-keepers playing at        
draughts for want of something to do1 ,i
 was determined to bring it in1  cost   
what it would4 ,at last1 ,i bethought me
 of the expedient of an  invasion1--at  
that word ,i knew that every true friend
 of his country  would grow pale1 would 
see the odious consequences of slavery  
in their  native deformity1 and turn    
with disdain from those vile panders to 
vice  and misery1 those sanguine        
enthusiasts of mischief1 who would      
artfully  reconcile them to every       
species of want1 oppression1 and        
unfeeling  barbarity1 as the necessary  
consequences of the principle of        
population4  ,so much more credit do we 
attach to names1 than things6--,the     
whole of the  account of ,denmark to    
which ,i have just referred1 is well    
worthy of  attention3 ,i cannot forbear 

giving the following extract4 #8,the    
consequence of this oppression is that  
the people of ,denmark finding it       
impossible to secure their property'    
from the tax-gatherers #8squander  their
 little gettings1 as fast as they can1  
and are irremediably poor4  ,oppression 
and arbitrary sway beget distrust and   
doubts about the  security of property2 
doubts beget profusion1 men chusing to  
squander on  their pleasures what they  
apprehend may excite the rapaciousness  
of  their superiors2 and this profusion 
is the legitimate parent of that        
universal indolence1 poverty and        
despondency1 which so strongly          
characterize the miserable inhabitants  
of ,denmark4 ,when ,lord ,molesworth    
resided in that country1 the collectors 
of the poll-tax were obliged to  accept 
of old feather-beds1 brass and pewter   
pans1 c4 instead of money1  from the    
inhabitants of a town1 which once raised
 #bjj1jjj rix dollars  for ,christiern  
,,iv4 on twenty-four hours' notice4 ,the

 quartering and  paying the king's      
troops is another grievance no less     
oppressive4 ,the  boors are obliged to  
furnish the king and every little       
insolent courtier  with horses and      
waggons in their journeys1 and are      
beaten like cattle4  ,consequently1     
,denmark1 once very populous1 is become 
thin of  inhabitants2 as poverty1       
oppression1 and meagre diet do miserably
 check  procreation1 besides producing  
diseases which shorten the lives of the 
few who are born4' ,how miserably       
short-sighted must our author have  been
 not to perceive that these were great  
advantages6 #8,all this the  rich and   
thriving and free people of ,england may
 bring themselves to1 if  they please'  
by following up ,mr4 ,malthus's theory4 
#8,it is only letting  the court go on  
with their scheme of diffusing universal
 corruption  through all ranks1 and it  
will come of course4'--,there is one    
passage in  this account1 which         
malevolence itself cannot apply to the  

history of  this country4 #8,before the 
government of ,denmark was made         
hereditary and  absolute in the present 
royal family1 by that fatal measure in  
#affj1 the  nobility lived in great     
splendour and affluence4 ,now they are  
poor and  their number diminished4'     
,i shall conclude these extracts with   
the following passages1 taken at        
random1 which will at least serve to    
shew the strange prejudices that        
prevailed on the subject1 before ,mr4   
,malthus1 like the clown in             
,shakespear1 undertook to find out an   
answer that should explain all          
difficulties4 #8,it must indeed be an   
answer of most monstrous size that  fits
 all demands4' ,but perhaps ,mr4        
,malthus is by this time convinced1     
that #8a thing may serve long1 and not  
serve ever4'    #8,the richest soil in  
,europe1 ,italy1 is full of beggars2    
among the  ,grisons1 the poorest country
 in ,europe1 there are no beggars4 ,the 
bailage of ,lugane is the worst country1

 the least productive1 the most  exposed
 to cold and the least capable of trade 
of any in all ,italy1 and  yet is the   
best peopled4 ,if ever this country is  
brought under a yoke  like that which   
the rest of ,italy bears1 it will soon  
be abandoned1 for  nothing draws so many
 people to live in so bad a soil1 when  
they are in  sight of the best soil in  
,europe1 but the easiness of the        
government4'  ,burnet's ,travels4       
#8,italy shews1 in a very striking      
light1 the advantages of free           
government4#ai ,the subjects of the     
,italian republics are thriving and     
happy4 ,those under the ,pope1 the dukes
 of ,tuscany1 ,florence c4 wretched  in 
the extreme4--,lucca1 to mention no     
other1 is a remarkable instance of  the 
happy effects of liberty4 ,the whole    
dominion is but thirty miles  round1 yet
 contains1 besides the city1 #aej       
villages1 #abj1jjj  inhabitants1 and all
 the soil is cultivated to the utmost4  
,their  magistrates are re-elected every

 two months out of a body of nobility1  
who are chosen every two years4' ,modern
 ,universal ,history4 ,see also ,a4     
,sydney as before quoted4--,these       
differences cannot be accounted for by  
the length of time or the force with    
which the principle of population  has  
operated in these states4 ,the countries
 are equally old1 and the  climate very 
nearly the same4    #8,in ,england an   
industrious subject has the best chance 
for thriving1  because the country is   
the freest4 ,in the ,mogul's dominions  
the worst1  because the country is the  
most effectually enslaved4'    #8,the   
title of freemen was formerly confined  
chiefly to the nobility and  gentry1 who
 were descended of free ancestors4 ,for 
the greatest part of  the people was    
restrained under some species of        
slavery1 so that they  were not their   
own masters4' ,spelman's                
,glossary4#bj--,on this passage my      
author remarks very gravely1 #8,what has
 been in ,england may be again4 ,if     

liberty be on the decline1 no one knows 
how low it may sink1 and to what  pitch 
of slavery and cruelty it may grow4'    
,mr4 ,malthus's theory tends to         
familiarise the mind to such a change as
 the necessary effect of the  progress  
of population4 ,but this pretext is here
 clearly done away1 as  we have fought  
up to our present free1 and flourishing 
state1 in the  teeth of this principle4 
,our progress has not been uniformly    
retrograde1 as it ought to have been to 
make any thing of the  argument4        
#8,it is constantly 7said a member in   
,queen ,elizabeth's time7 in the  mouths
 of us all1 that our lands1 goods and   
laws are at our prince's  disposal4' ,we
 do not at present come quite up to the 
loyalty of this  speaker4    #8,nations 
have often been deceived into slavery by
 men of shining  abilities4' ,perhaps   
the late ,mr4 ,burke was an instance of 
this4 ,i by no  means insist that he    
was1 because there may be differences of
 opinion on  that point4 ,but of this ,i

 am sure1 that the effect of his        
writings1 good  or bad1 cannot be       
measured--by the principle of           
population4    #8,a single genius       
changes the face and state of a whole   
country1 as  ,gustavus ,adolphus of     
,sweden1 and ,peter the great of        
,russia4 ,confucius  produced a         
reformation in one of the oriental      
kingdoms in a few months4'              
#8,commerce introduced by the czar      
,peter introduced luxury4 ,universal    
dissipation took the lead1 and          
profligacy of manners succeeded4 ,many  
of  the lords began to squeeze and grind
 the peasants to extort fresh  supplies 
from them for the incessant demands of  
luxury'--not of  population4    #8,the  
extreme poverty occasioned by idleness  
and luxury in the beginning  of ,lewis  
,,xiii4 of ,france filled the streets of
 ,paris with beggars4 ,the  court       
disgusted at the sight1 which indeed was
 a severe reproach on  them1 issued an  
order1 forbidding all persons1 on severe

 penalties1 to  relieve them1 intending 
thereby to drive them out of the town1  
and not  caring though they dropped down
 dead1 before they could reach the      
country towns and villages4' ,this was a
 project worthy of the genius of  ,mr4  
,malthus4    #8,government1 according to
 ,plato1 is the parent of manners4 ,one 
judicious  regulation will often produce
 a very salutary effect on a whole      
people1  as experimental philosophy     
shews us1 that a wire will secure a     
castle  from the once irresistible force
 of lightning4--,mankind may be brought 
to  hold any principles and to indulge  
any practices1 and again to give them   
up4--,is there any notion of right and  
wrong1 about which mankind are          
universally agreed8 ,is it not evident  
that mankind may be moulded into  any   
shape8 ,how come we to know that        
antimony or quicksilver may1 by         
chemical processes1 be made to pass     
through twenty different states1 and    
restored again to their original state8 

,is it not by experiment8 ,are not  the 
various legislations1 institutions1     
regulations of wise or designing        
statesmen1 priests1 and kings1 a series 
of experiments1 shewing that  human     
nature is susceptible of any form or    
character8' ,according to the  most     
modern discovery1 these things never    
did1 nor ever will have any  effect at  
all4 ,the question is simply whether the
 state of food and the  state of        
population being the same1 the different
 causes here alluded to  have not       
produced very different results with    
respect to the degree both  of vice and 
misery existing in the world4#ba        
#8,the great difference we see between  
the behaviour of the people called      
,quakers1 and all others2 between       
,english1 ,scotch1 ,irish1 ,french1     
,spanish1 ,heathens1 ,mahometan1        
,christian1 ,popish1 ,protestant manners
 and  characters1 c4 the regular and    
permanent difference we see between the 
manners of all these divisions of       

mankind1 shews beyond all doubt that    
the principles and habits of the people 
are very much in the power of  able     
statesmen4'    #8,among the             
,lacedemonians there was no such crime  
as infidelity to the  marriage-bed3 yet 
,lycurgus in framing his laws had used  
no precaution  against it1 but the      
virtuous and temperate education he     
prescribed for  the youth of both       
sexes4--,the influence which education  
has on the  manners of a people is so   
considerable that it cannot be          
estimated4 ,but  by education it is to  
be observed1 we must understand not only
 what is  taught at schools and         
universities1 but the impressions young 
people  receive from parents1 and from  
the world1 which greatly outweigh all   
that can be done by masters and tutors4 
,education1 taken in this  enlarged     
sense1 is almost all that makes the     
difference between the  characters of   
nations2 and it is a severe satire on   
our times1 that the  world makes most   

young men very different beings from    
what those who  educated them intended  
them to be4' ,this last remark is ,i    
think of the  utmost force and          
importance2 and has never been          
sufficiently attended to  by those who  
prate most fluently and triumphantly    
about the inherent  perversity of human 
nature4 ,a young man is seldom tainted  
by the world1  till he becomes dependent
 on it4 ,i have known several persons   
who ,i am  sure have set out in life    
with the utmost purity of intention1 and
 a  noble ingenuousness of mind1 and    
were prepared to act on very different  
principles from those1 which they found 
prevailing in the world4 ,is the  fault 
in this case in the wood1 or in the     
carver8 ,is it in the stuff1 or  in the 
mould1 in which it is cast8 ,the        
difficulty seems to be1 how to  get a   
better mould4    #8,aristotle lays down 
very strict rules concerning the company
 young  people may be allowed to keep1  
the public diversions they may attend2  

the pictures they may see1 and against  
obscenity1 intemperance1 c4 ,and  the   
eighth book of his politics is employed 
wholly on education1 in  which he shews1
 that youth ought to be strongly        
impressed with the idea  of their being 
members of a community1 whose good they 
are to prefer to  their private         
advantage in all cases where they come  
in competition4 ,he  commends the wisdom
 of the ,spartans in paying such        
attention to this  great object4 ,such  
is the delicacy of this old ,heathen1   
that he  hesitates about the propriety  
of young men's applying to music1 as    
being  likely to enervate the mind4'    
#8,lycurgus did not allow the ,spartans 
to travel1 lest they should be  tainted 
by the manners of other nations4' ,i do 
not chuse to name all the  vices that   
have been imported into this country    
within the last fifty  years by the aid 
of foreign travel4 ,vice is             
unfortunately of a very  tenacious      
quality1 and there is no quarantine     

against the epidemics of  the mind4 ,in 
return1 however1 we have learned to     
converse1 to dress1 and  dance better   
than we used to do4    #8,at ,sparta1   
the poets could not publish any thing   
without a license2 and  all immoral     
writings were prohibited4 ,a very wise  
man#bb said he  believed1 if a man were 
permitted to make all the ballads1 he   
need not  care who made the laws of a   
nation4 ,the ancient legislators did not
  pretend to reform the manners of the  
people without the help of the  poets4' 
#8,the grave ,romans did not allow a    
person of character to dance6 ,it was a 
saying among them1 no one dances unless 
he is drunk or mad4'    #8,in the old   
,english laws1 we find punishments for  
wanton behaviour1 as  touching the      
breasts of women1 c4--,by the ancient   
laws of ,france1 the  least indecency of
 behaviour to a free woman1 as squeezing
 the hand1  touching the arm or breast1 
c4 was punishable by fire4'#bc ,what    
odd1  sour1 crabbed notions must have   

prevailed in those days6 ,not squeeze a 
lady's hand6 ,no--a much more agreeable 
latitude of behaviour is allowed  at    
present3 we are as much improved in our 
notions of gallantry as of  liberty4    
,the polite reader will not suspect me  
of a design to hold up  the shocking    
manners of our ancestors as models of   
imitation in the  present day2 ,i only  
mention them to shew what a wide        
difference there  may be in the notions 
of decency and propriety at different   
times6    ,if a stranger1 on entering a 
large town1 ,london for example1 should 
be  struck with that immense number of  
prostitutes1 #8who elbow us aside in    
all our crowded streets1' and not well  
knowing how to account for this         
enormous abuse1 should apply to a       
disciple of the modern school for some  
explanation of it1 he would probably be 
told with great gravity1 ,that  it was a
 necessary consequence of the progress  
of population1 and the  superior power  
of that principle over the increase in  

the means of  subsistence4--,if ,mr4    
,malthus1 contented to follow in the    
track of common  sense1 and not smitten 
with the love of dangerous novelty1 had 
endeavoured to trace the torrent of vice
 and dissipation which threatens  to    
bear down every principle of virtue and 
decency among us to the chief  sources  
pointed out by other writers1 to the    
particular institutions of  society1 to 
the prevalence of luxury1 the inequality
 of conditions1 the  facility of        
gratifying the passions from the power  
of offering  temptation1 and inducements
 to accept it1 the disproportion between
 the  passions excited in individuals1  
and their situation in life1 to books1  
to education1 the progress of arts1 the 
influence of neighbouring  example1 c4  
these are all causes1 which1 as they are
 arbitrary and  variable1 seem as if    
they could be counteracted or modified  
by other  causes2 they are the work of  
man1 and what is the work of man it     
seems  in the power of man to confirm or

 alter4 ,we see distinctly the source of
  the grievance1 and try to remedy it3  
hope remains1 the will acts with  double
 energy1 the spirit of virtue is not    
broken4 ,our vices grow out of  other   
vices1 out of our own passions1         
prejudices1 folly1 and weakness3  there 
is nothing in this to make us proud of  
them1 or to reconcile us to  them2 even 
though we may despair1 we are not       
confounded4 ,we still have  the theory  
of virtue left3 we are not obliged to   
give up the distinction  between good   
and evil even in imagination3 there is  
some little good  which we may at least 
wish to do4 ,man in this case retains   
the character  of a free agent2 he      
stands chargeable with his own conduct1 
and a sense  of the consequences of his 
own presumption or blindness may arouse 
in  him feelings that may in some       
measure counteract their worst effects2 
he  may regret what he cannot help3 the 
life1 the pulse1 the spring of  morality
 is not dead in him2 his moral sense is 

not quite extinguished4  ,but our author
 has chosen to stagger the minds of his 
readers by  representing vice and misery
 as the necessary consequences of an    
abstract principle1 of a fundamental law
 of our nature1 on which nothing  can be
 effected by the human will4 ,this      
principle follows us wherever we  go2 if
 we fly into the uttermost parts of the 
earth1 it is there3  whether we turn to 
the right or the left1 we cannot escape 
from it4 ,o  rather for that warning    
voice1 that once cried aloud1 ,insenss  
qui vous  plaignez1 sans cesse de la    
nature1 apprenez que tous vos maux vous 
viennent de vous6 ,as however ,i deny   
the sufficiency of our author's         
all-pervading principle1 ,i may be      
required to point out more  particularly
 what ,i conceive to be the real and    
determining causes of  the decay of     
manners4 ,i do not know that ,i can     
mention any that do not  come under the 
heads already alluded to1 but if ,i must
 give a short  answer1 ,i should        

say1--,great towns1 great schools1      
dress1 and novels4  ,these things are   
not regulated exactly by the size of the
 earth1 and yet  must be allowed to have
 some influence on manners4 ,to instance
 only the  two last4 ,is it to be       
wondered at that a young raw ignorant   
girl1 who is  sent up from the country  
as a milliner's or mantua-maker's       
apprentice1  and stowed into a room with
 eight or ten others1 who snatch every  
moment  they can spare from caps and    
bonnets1 and sit up half the night to   
read  all the novels they can get1 and  
as soon they have finished one1 send    
for another1 whose heart1 in the course 
of half a year1 has been pierced        
through with twenty beaux on paper1 who 
has been courted1 seduced1 run  away    
with1 married and put to bed under all  
the fine names that the  imagination can
 invent to as many fine gentlemen1 who  
has sighed and  wept with so many heroes
 and heroines that her tears and sighs  
have at  last caused in her a defluction

 of the brain1 and a palpitation of the 
heart at the sight of every man1 whose  
fancy is love-sick1 and her head  quite 
turned1 should be unable to resist the  
first coxcomb of real flesh  and blood1 
who in shining boots and a velvet collar
 accosts her in the  shape of a lover1  
but who has no thoughts of marrying her1
 because if he  were to take this       
imprudent step1 he must give up his     
shining boots and  velvet collar1 and   
the respect they procure him in the     
world8 ,zaleucus  ordained that no woman
 should dress herself gorgeously1 unless
 she was a  prostitute4 ,if ,i were a   
law-giver1 and chose to meddle in such  
matters1  ,i would ordain that no woman 
should expose her shape publicly1 unless
  she were a prostitute4--,the female   
form is more proper for child-bearing1  
than for public exhibition2 this secret 
analogy1 when coupled with  modesty and 
reserve1 is however its greatest charm4 
,the strange  fancy-dresses1 the        
perverse disguises1 the counterfeit     

shapes1 the stiff  stays1 and enormous  
hoops worn by the women in the time of  
the ,spectator  gave an agreeable scope 
to the imagination4 ,the greedy eye and 
rash hand  of licentiousness were       
repressed4 ,the senses were never       
satisfied in an  instant4 ,love was     
entangled in the folds of the swelling  
handkerchief1  and the desires might    
wander for ever round the circumference 
of a  quilted petticoat1 or find a rich 
lodging in the flowers of a damask      
stomacher4 ,there was room for years of 
patient perseverance1 for a  thousand   
thoughts1 fancies1 conjectures1 hopes1  
fears1 and wishes4 ,there  seemed no end
 to difficulties and delays3 to overcome
 so many obstacles  was the work of     
ages4 ,a wife had then some meaning in  
it3 it was an  angel concealed behind   
whalebone1 flounces1 and brocade4 ,the  
transition  from a mistress in          
masquerade to a wife in wedding sheets  
was worth  venturing for3 now it is     
nothing1 and we hear no more of faithful

  courtships1 and romantic loves4 ,a    
woman can be but undressed4--,the  young
 ladies we at present see with the thin 
muslin vest drawn tight  round the      
slender waist1 and following with nice  
exactness the  undulations of the shape 
downwards1 disclosing each full swell1  
each coy  recess1 obtruding on the eye  
each opening charm1 the play of the     
muscles1 the working of the thighs1 and 
by the help of a walk1 of which  every  
step seems a gird1 and which keeps the  
limbs strained to the  utmost point1    
displaying all those graceful           
involutions of person1 and  all those   
powers of fascinating motion1 of which  
the female form is  susceptible--these  
moving pictures of lust and nakedness1  
against which  the greasy imaginations  
of grooms and porters may rub           
themselves1  running the gauntlet of the
 saucy looks and indecent sarcasms of   
the  boys in the street1 staring at     
every ugly fellow1 leering at every     
handsome man1 and throwing out a lure   

for every fool 7true ,spartan  girls1   
who if they were metamorphosed into any 
thing in the manner of  ,ovid1 it would 
certainly be into valerian67 are the    
very same1 whose  mothers or            
grand-mothers buried themselves under a 
pile of clothes1  whose timid steps     
hardly touched the ground1 whose eyes   
were constantly  averted from the rude  
gaze of the men1 and who almost blushed 
at their  own shadows4 #8,of such we in 
romances read4' ,it does not require any
  great spirit of divination to perceive
 that this change in appearance  must   
imply some change in manners4 ,is this  
change then owing entirely to  the      
increased pressure of the principle of  
population1 or have not  ,french        
fashions1 ,french milliners1 and ,french
 dancing-masters had some  hand in      
producing it8#bd--,mr4 ,malthus inveighs
 with great severity  against squalid   
poverty1 and the vices produced by filth
 and rags4 ,i  allow the justice of his 
remarks1 and think that the condition of

 the  poor in this respect is one of the
 chief nuisances of society4 ,after     
giving the poor a scrubbing with a      
coarse towel in the manner he has  done1
 it would not have been amiss if he had 
taken a clean white  clerical           
pocket-handkerchief1 and applied it to  
wipe off the rouge from  the cheeks of  
painted prostitution1 or thrown it as a 
covering over the  polished neck and    
ivory shoulders of ladies of high       
quality4 ,the bishop  of ,london would  
have praised the attempt4 ,mr4 ,malthus 
might have  distinguished between the   
involuntary rents1 and the unlucky      
loop-holes  which sometimes appear in a 
poor girl's petticoat1 and the elegant  
dishabille and studied nakedness of high
 life4 ,the dirt that sticks to a       
wench's face in cleaning a saucepan is  
,i think likely to have less  effect on 
the character than the red paste daubed 
on the cheeks before a  looking-glass1  
to give animation to the eyes4 ,the     
contempt which dirt  and poverty excite 

must destroy all moral sensibility4     
,must not the  glare of fashion and the 
perpetual intoxication of personal      
vanity have  the same effect8 ,the poor 
grovel in disagreeable sensations1 the  
rich  wanton in voluptuous ones4 ,the   
passions are not more likely to be      
inflamed by stale porter1 the screams of
 a fiddle1 and the clattering of  a     
hornpipe at a hop in ,st4 ,giles's1 than
 by the elegant liqueurs1 the  soft     
sounds of the clarionet and hautboy1 and
 the languishing movements  of walses1  
allemandes1 and minuets de la cour at a 
ball in ,st4  ,james's4 ,a fair1 or an  
opera may equally turn the head of any  
silly girl  that goes to one4 ,of the   
two1 a tune on the salt-box would be got
 over  sooner than ,narcissus and the   
,graces4 ,the tawdry prints to be seen  
in  garrets1 and the ballads sung at the
 corners of streets do not much  improve
 the morals of the people3 but ,i put it
 to the conscience of our  sentimental  
divine1 whether the ,wanton ,wife of    

,bath1 or the tall captain  with his arm
 round the chambermaid's waist1 or      
,jemmy ,jessamy lolling on  the sofa    
with his mistress1 may be expected to   
produce more accidents  than those      
luscious collections of the poets1 or   
those grave  scripture-pieces1 or       
classical chef-d'uvres of ,venus and    
,adonis1 of  ,leda with her ,swan1      
,nymphs1 ,fawns1 and ,satyrs1 which     
gentlemen of  fortune keep in their     
houses for the instruction of their     
wives and  daughters4 ,mr4 ,malthus is  
convinced that no young woman brought up
 in  nastiness and vulgarity1 however   
virtuous she may seem1 can be good for  
any thing at twenty3 ,i confess ,i have 
the same cynical opinion of those1  who 
have the good fortune to be brought up  
in the obscene refinements of           
fashionable life4    ,i never fell in   
love but once2 and then it was with a   
girl who always  wore her handkerchief  
pinned tight round her neck1 with a fair
 face1  gentle eyes1 a soft smile1 and  

cool auburn locks4 ,i mention this1     
because it may in some measure account  
for my temperate1 tractable  notions of 
this passion1 compared with ,mr4        
,malthus's4 ,it was not a  raging heat1 
a fever in the veins3 but it was like a 
vision1 a dream1  like thoughts of      
childhood1 an everlasting hope1 a       
distant joy1 a  heaven1 a world that    
might be4 ,the dream is still left1 and 
sometimes  comes confusedly over me in  
solitude and silence1 and mingles with  
the  softness of the sky1 and veils my  
eyes from mortal grossness4 ,after all1 
,mr4 ,malthus may be right in his       
opinion of human nature4 ,though my     
notions of love have been thus aerial   
and refined1 ,i do not know that  this  
was any advantage to me1 or that ,i     
might not have done better with  a few  
of our author's ungovernable transports1
 and sensual oozings4  ,perhaps the     
workings of the heart are best expressed
 by a gloating  countenance1 by mawkish 
sentiments and lively gestures4 ,cupid  

often  perches on broad shoulders1 or on
 the brawny calf of a leg1 a settlement 
is better than a love-letter1 and in    
love not minds1 but bodies and  fortunes
 meet4 ,i have therefore half a mind to 
retract all that ,i have  said1 and     
prove to ,mr4 ,malthus that love is not 
even so intellectual a  passion as he   
sometimes admits it to be1 but          
altogether gross and  corporal4    ,i   
have thus attempted to answer the       
different points of ,mr4 ,malthus's     
argument1 and give a truer account of   
the various principles that  actuate    
human nature4 ,there is but one         
advantage that ,i can conceive of  as   
resulting from the admission of his     
mechanical theory on the subject1  which
 is that it would be the most effectual 
recipe for indifference  that has yet   
been found out4 ,no one need give       
himself any farther  trouble about the  
progress of vice1 or the extension of   
misery4 ,the  office of moral censor1   
that troublesome1 uneasy office which   

every one  is so ready to set up in his 
own breast1 and which ,i verily believe 
is  the occasion of more unhappiness    
than any one cause else1 would be at an 
end4 ,the professor's chair of morality 
would become vacant1 and no one  would  
have more cause than ,i to rejoice at   
the breaking up for the  holidays2 for  
,i have plagued myself a good deal about
 the distinctions  of right and wrong4  
,the pilot might let go the helm1 and   
leave the  vessel to drift carelessly   
before the stream4 ,when we are once    
convinced  that the degree of virtue and
 happiness can no more be influenced by 
human wisdom than the ebbing and flowing
 of the tide1 it must be idle to  give  
ourselves any more concern about them4  
,the wise man might then  enjoy an      
,epicurean languor and repose1 without  
being conscious of the  neglect of duty4
 ,mr4 ,malthus's system is one1 #8in    
which the wicked cease  from troubling1 
and in which the weary are at rest4' ,to
 persons of an  irritable and nervous   

disposition1 who are fond of kicking    
against the  pricks1 who have tasted of 
the bitterness of the knowledge of good 
and  evil1 and to whom whatever is amiss
 in others sticks not merely like a     
burr1 but like a pitch-plaister1 the    
advantage of such a system is           
incalculable4--    ,happy are they1 who 
live in the dream of their own          
existence1 and see  all things in the   
light of their own minds2 who walk by   
faith and hope1  not by knowledge2 to   
whom the guiding-star of their youth    
still shines  from afar1 and into whom  
the spirit of the world has not entered6
 ,they  have not been #8hurt by the     
archers1' nor has the iron entered their
  souls4 ,they live in the midst of     
arrows1 and of death1 unconscious of    
harm4 ,the evil thing comes not nigh    
them4 ,the shafts of ridicule pass      
unheeded by1 and malice loses its sting4
 ,their keen perceptions do not  catch  
at hidden mischiefs1 nor cling to every 
folly4 ,the example of vice  does not   

rankle in their breasts1 like the       
poisoned shirt of ,nessus4  ,evil       
impressions fall off from them1 like    
drops of water4 ,the yoke of  life is to
 them light and supportable4 ,the world 
has no hold on them4  ,they are in it1  
not of it2 and a dream and a glory is   
ever about them4                        
,,extracts ,,from ,,the ,,essay ,,on    
,,population                            
,,with ,a ,,commentary1 ,,and ,,notes   
,i intended to have added another       
,letter on the principle of population  
as affecting the laws of property1 and  
the condition of the poor4 ,but ,i      
found it impossible to combat some of   
,mr4 ,malthus's opinions without        
bringing vouchers for them4 ,i might    
otherwise seem to be combating the      
chimeras of my own brain4 ,there are    
some instances of perverse reasoning  so
 gross and mischievous1 that without    
seeing the confidence with which  they  
are insisted on1 it seems a waste of    
time to contradict them4 ,the  reader   

may perhaps have had something of this  
feeling already4 ,by  throwing the      
remainder of the work into the form of  
,extracts with notes  ,i shall at least 
avoid the imputation of ascribing to    
,mr4 ,malthus  singularities he never   
dreamt of1 and have an opportunity of   
remarking  upon some incidental         
passages1 which appeared to me liable to
 objection  in the perusal4 ,my remarks 
will be confined almost entirely to the 
two  last books of the work4    #8,m4   
,condorcet's ,esquisse d'un tableau     
historique des progres de  l'esprit     
humain1 was written1 it is said1 under  
the pressure of that  cruel proscription
 which terminated in his death4 ,if he  
had no hopes of  its being seen during  
his life1 and of its interesting ,france
 in his  favour1 it is a singular       
instance of the attachment of a man to  
principles1 which every day's experience
 was1 so fatally for himself1           
contradicting4 ,to see the human mind1  
in one of the most enlightened  nations 

of the world1 debased by such a         
fermentation of disgusting  passions1 of
 fear1 cruelty1 malice1 revenge1        
ambition1 madness1 and  folly1 as would 
have disgraced the most savage nations  
in the most  barbarous age1 must have   
been such a tremendous shock to his     
ideas of  the necessary and inevitable  
progress of the human mind1 that nothing
  but the firmest conviction of the     
truth of his principles1 in spite of    
all appearances1 could have withstood4' 
,mr4 ,malthus in his pick-thank way1    
here takes occasion to sneer at         
,condorcet for his attachment to        
principles1 which1 he asserts1 every    
day's experience was contradicting4 ,as 
this of mine is not a pick-thank  work1 
,i must take the liberty of observing1  
as ,i have never read ,m4  ,condorcet's 
work1 that if his ideas of the future   
progress of the human  mind were the    
same as those of other writers on the   
subject1 that  debasement of character1 
and that mass of disgusting passions1   

which  developed themselves in the      
events to which ,mr4 ,malthus here      
alludes1  were the strongest            
confirmation of the necessity of getting
 rid of those  institutions which had   
thus degraded the human character1 and  
under  which such passions had been     
fostered3 for to say that the progress  
of  the human mind1 in spite of those   
institutions1 was necessary and         
inevitable1 or that there were no such  
passions as fear1 cruelty1  malice1     
revenge1 c4 belonging to the character  
generated by the old  system in ,france 
7in which an immediate change could not 
be expected  without a miracle7 would   
have been such a contradiction to common
 sense1  and to all their own favourite 
schemes of reform1 as no madman in the  
height of revolutionary madness was ever
 guilty of4 ,all that could ever  be    
pretended by the advocates of reform was
 that there were capacities  for        
improvement in the mind1 which had      
hitherto notwithstanding the  advantages

 of knowledge been thwarted by human    
institutions4 ,the  contradiction rests 
therefore not with ,condorcet1 but with 
our author4  ,the same objection has    
been often made1 and often refuted4 ,but
 there are  some reasoners who care     
little how often a fallacy has been     
exposed1 if  they know there are people 
who are still inclined to listen to it4 
#8,this posthumous publication is only a
 sketch of a much larger work  which he 
proposed should be executed4 ,it        
necessarily wants1 therefore1  that     
detail and application1 which can alone 
prove the truth of any  theory4' ,this  
remark ,i cannot admit4 ,i do not think 
for instance that  any detail or        
application is necessary to prove the   
truth of ,mr4  ,malthus's general       
principle of the disproportion between  
the power of  increase in population1   
and in the productions of the earth1 or 
to shew  the bad consequences of an     
unrestricted increase of population4    
#8,a few  observations will be          

sufficient to shew how completely this  
theory is  contradicted1 when it is     
applied to the real and not to an       
imaginary  state of things4' ,the       
contre-sens implied in this expression  
is not a  slip of the pen1 but a fixed  
principle in ,mr4 ,malthus's mind4 ,he  
has a  very satisfactory method of      
answering all theories relating to any  
imaginary alterations or improvements in
 the condition of mankind1 by  shewing  
what would be the consequences of a     
certain state of society1 if  no such   
state of society really existed1 but if 
every thing remained  just as it is at  
present4 ,he thinks it sound sense and  
true philosophy  to judge of a theory   
which is confessedly imaginary or has   
never been  realized by comparing it    
#8with the real and not with an         
imaginary state  of things4' ,that is1  
he does not adopt the necessarian maxim 
that men  will be always the same while 
the circumstances continue1 but he      
insists  upon it that they will be      

always the same1 whether the            
circumstances are  the same or not4     
,some instances have already appeared of
 this in the  foregoing work4 ,the      
following passage may serve as another  
instance4  ,after supposing ,mr4        
,godwin's system of equality to be      
realized to its  utmost extent1 and the 
most perfect form of society            
established1 he  exclaims1 #8this would 
indeed be a happy state2 but that it is 
merely an  imaginary state with scarcely
 a feature near the truth1 the reader1  
,i  am afraid1 is already too well      
convinced4' ,mr4 ,godwin himself was ,i 
apprehend very well convinced that this 
imaginary state was very  different from
 the truth or from the present state of 
things1 when he  wrote his book to shew 
how much better the one would be than   
the other  is4 ,he then goes on1 #8,man 
cannot live in the midst of plenty4 ,all
  cannot share alike the bounties of    
nature4 ,were there no established      
administration of property1 every man   

would be obliged to guard with  force   
his little store4 ,selfishness would be 
triumphant4 ,the subjects of  contention
 would be perpetual1' c4 ,if there were 
no established  administration of       
property1 while men continued as selfish
 as they are  at present1 7which is ,i  
suppose what ,mr4 ,malthus means by     
applying the  theory to the real state  
of things#87 the consequences here      
mentioned  would no doubt follow4 ,but  
it is supposed that there is no         
established  administration of property1
 because the necessity for it has ceased
 or  because selfishness is not         
triumphant1 but vanquished4 ,this is the
  supposition4 ,mr4 ,malthus however    
persists1 that were there no            
established administration of property1 
#8every man would be obliged to  guard  
with force his little store since       
selfishness would still be as           
triumphant as ever4' ,this is contrary  
to all the received rules of  reasoning4
 ,he then proceeds to examine1 how long 

,mr4 ,godwin's theory if  once realized 
might be expected to last1 and how soon 
the present vices  of men would         
discompose this perfect form of society1
 concluding very  wisely that #8a theory
 that will not admit of application     
cannot possibly  be just4' ,true3 if a  
man tells you that a triangle has       
certain  properties1 he is bound to make
 good this theory with respect to a     
triangle1 but not with respect to a     
circle4--,the outcry which ,mr4 ,malthus
  here makes about experience is without
 any meaning4 ,it is evident that  we   
cannot make this word a rule in all     
cases whatever4 ,for instance1 if  a man
 who is in the habit of drinking a      
bottle of brandy every day of  his life 
and consequently enjoys but an          
indifferent state of health1 is  advised
 by his physician to leave off this     
practice1 and told that on  this        
condition he may recover his health and 
appetite1 it would not be  considered as
 a proof of any great wisdom in the man1

 if he were to  answer this reasoning of
 his physician by applying it to the    
real1 and  not to an imaginary state of 
things1 or by saying1 #8,the            
consequences you  promise me from       
submitting to your regimen are indeed   
very desirable2  but ,i cannot expect   
any such consequences from it3 ,i have  
always been in  very bad health from the
 habit ,i have constantly been in of    
drinking  brandy2 and it would be       
contrary to the experience of my whole  
life to  suppose1 that ,i should receive
 any benefit from leaving it off4' ,in  
like  manner1 ,i conceive that it is not
 from any great depth of philosophy1    
but from the strength of his attachment 
to the good things of this life1  that  
,mr4 ,malthus makes so many ill-judged  
appeals to experience4 ,he is  afraid of
 launching into the empty regions of    
abstraction1 he stands  shivering on the
 brink2 or if he ventures a little way1 
soon turns back  again1 frightened out  
of his wits1 and muttering something    

about  population4 ,his imagination     
cannot sustain for a moment the idea of 
any  real improvement or elevation in   
the human character1 but instantly      
drops down into the filth of vice and   
misery1 out of which it had just        
crawled4 ,his attempts at philosophy put
 me in mind of the exploits of  those   
citizens who set out on a ,sunday       
morning to take an excursion into  the  
country1 resolved to taste the fresh    
air1 and not be confined for  ever to   
the same spot1 but who get no farther   
than ,paddington1 ,white                
,conduit-house1 or ,bagnigge-wells1     
unable to leave the smoke1 the noise    
and dust1 to which they have so long    
been used6 ,mr4 ,malthus is a perfect   
cockney in matters of philosophy4    ,m4
 ,condorcet1 allowing that there must in
 all stages of society be a  number of  
individuals who have no other resource  
than their industry1 or  that #8there   
exists a necessary cause of inequality1 
of dependence and  even of misery1#be   

which menaces without ceasing the most  
numerous and  active class of the       
community1' proposes to establish a     
fund1 which  should assure to the old an
 assistance1 produced in part by their  
own  former savings1 and partly by the  
savings of others1 who die before  they 
reap the benefit of it2 and that this   
fund might extend to women  and         
children1 who had lost their husbands or
 fathers1 and afford a  capital to young
 beginners1 sufficient for the          
developement of their  industry4 ,to    
those who have not fathomed all the     
depths and shoals of  the principle of  
population1 this plan seems feasible    
enough4 ,mr4  ,malthus's cautious       
reserved humanity1 his anxious concern  
about the  support of the aged1 the     
infirm1 the widow1 and the orphan1 his  
wish to  give every encouragement to    
industry1 and above all1 his regard for 
the  rights and independence of his     
fellows1 lead him to see nothing but    
difficulties and objections in the way  

of such a plan4    #8,such              
establishments may appear very promising
 upon paper2 but when  applied to real  
life1 they will be found to be          
absolutely nugatory4 ,m4  ,condorcet    
allows1 that a class of people which    
maintains itself entirely  by industry  
is necessary to every state4 ,why does  
he allow this8 ,no  other reason can    
well be assigned1 than because he       
conceives1 that the  labour necessary to
 procure subsistence for an extended    
population1 will  not be performed      
without the goad of necessity4 ,if by   
establishments1  upon the plans that    
have been mentioned1 this spur to       
industry be  removed2 if the idle and   
negligent be placed upon the same       
footing with  regard to their credit1   
and the future support of their wives   
and  families1 as the active and        
industrious1 can we expect to see men   
exert  that animated activity in        
bettering their condition1 which now    
forms the  master-spring of publick     

prosperity4 ,if an inquisition were to  
be  established to examine the claims of
 each individual1 and to determine      
whether he had1 or had not1 exerted     
himself to the utmost1 and to grant  or 
refuse assistance accordingly1 this     
would be little else than a  repetition 
upon a larger scale1 of the ,english    
poor laws1 and would be  completely     
destructive of the true principles of   
liberty and equality4'    ,this passage 
only shews the shyness of our author's  
benevolence4 ,he will  hear of no       
short-cuts or obvious expedients for    
bettering the condition  of the poor4   
,all his benefits are extracted by the  
,csarean  operation4--,in the first     
place1 he contradicts himself4 ,he first
 supposes  that labour cannot be        
performed without the goad of necessity1
 and  then affirms that it is the       
prospect of bettering their condition1  
that makes men exert themselves1 and    
forms the master-spring of public       
prosperity4 ,but why is it necessary    

that the idle and negligent should  be  
put upon the same footing with the      
industrious1 with respect to their      
credit1 the support of their families1  
c48 ,as to the first of these1 it  is   
proposed to be only temporary1 to serve 
as a beginning1 and if a  proper use is 
not made of it1 the goad of necessity1  
to which ,mr4  ,malthus is so ready to  
resort on all occasions1 will soon begin
 to do  its office4 ,as to the second   
object1 the support of a surviving      
family1  in case of accidents1 did ,mr4 
,malthus never hear of any distress     
produced in this way1 but in consequence
 of the idleness and negligence  of the 
deceased8 ,is not a poor family         
necessarily reduced to distress by  the 
death of the husband1 let his industry  
and sobriety have been never  so great1 
and even reduced to greater distress in 
proportion to his  industry1 as they    
must miss his help the more8 ,besides1  
it is not likely  that the withholding  
this assistance from a man's family     

after his death  will be any inducement 
to the idle and negligent to exert      
themselves1  when the sight of the      
actual distress in which their families 
are  involved by their ill conduct has  
no effect upon them4 ,i see no          
objection to proportioning the allowance
 to the old1 or to those who  have had  
time to make a provision for themselves1
 to the contributions  they have really 
made to the fund in a given length of   
time4 ,this would  be a sufficient test 
of the validity of their pretensions1 as
 they could  not contribute largely1    
without proportionably straitening      
themselves1  and the idle and profligate
 are not very apt to part with their    
present  gains to provide for any       
speculative uncertainties or future     
difficulty4  7,mr4 ,malthus may measure 
the support allotted to their families  
in the  same way47 ,while the           
distinction of the idle and industrious 
continued1  and while it was necessary  
to encourage the one and discountenance 

the  other1 ,i do not understand what   
objection there can be to this mode1 or 
how it would trench upon the true       
principles of liberty and equality4     
,true equality supposes equal merit and 
virtue4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus is  alarmed  
at this scheme1 because1 he says1 it is 
little else than a  repetition on a     
larger scale of the ,english poor laws4 
,if the ,english  poor laws are formed  
upon this principle1 ,i should1 ,i      
confess1 be very  sorry to see them     
abolished4    #8,were every man sure of 
a comfortable provision for a family1   
almost  every man would have one2 and   
were the rising generation free from the
  8killing frost0 of misery1 population 
must increase with unusual  rapidity4'  
,this is an utter falsification of the  
argument1 as ,i have already shewn4     
,every man could not be sure of a       
comfortable provision for a family1     
unless this provision existed1 and ,i   
see no reason why the rising  generation
 should not be free from the killing    

frost of misery1 at least  while they   
can4 ,to argue that our enlightened     
posterity will feel  #8secure that the  
general benevolence will supply every   
deficiency1' is  to suppose them        
strangely unacquainted with the         
principles of ,mr4  ,malthus's ,essay4  
#8,the period when the number of men    
surpass their means of subsistence  has 
long since arrived4' p4 #ceg4    ,this  
,i must deny4 ,that the period of the   
utmost degree of populousness  would    
have arrived long ago1 if nothing had   
prevented it1 ,i am very  ready to      
grant4 ,but that it has ever actually   
arrived1 is another  question4 ,because 
population would have arrived at its    
greatest possible  or desirable height  
long before our time1 if it had not been
 kept back  by any artificial and       
arbitrary checks1 is that any reason why
 it should  never attain that height1 or
 should not now be suffered to go on1   
though  those checks have always        
operated to keep it back much more than 

was  necessary1 viz4 below the level not
 only of the possible1 but of the       
actual means of subsistence or produce  
of the earth8 ,as to the period  when   
the world is likely to maintain the     
greatest possible number of  inhabitants
 in the greatest possible comfort1 ,i   
have no notion that it  will ever arrive
 at all4 ,if however it should ever     
arrive1 it must be in  consequence      
either of a gradual or immediate        
complete improvement in the  state of   
society4 ,if this improvement is        
gradual1 the increase in  population    
will be so too1 and will not reach its  
farthest limit till a  considerably     
remote period2 if the improvement is    
sudden and rapid1  still it must be some
 time before the operation of the new   
system of  things will have overcome all
 obstacles1 and completely peopled the  
earth4 ,so that in either case the event
 seems a good way off4 ,the danger  of  
arriving at this point does not         
therefore appear to be #8immediate or   

imminent1' but doubtful and distant4    
,mr4 ,malthus in his examination of     
,condorcet's arguments1 in favour of    
the indefinite prolongation of human    
life1 7one of those absurdities  against
 which no good reason can be given1 but 
that it shocks all common  sense7 shews 
considerable ingenuity1 mixed up with a 
great deal of that  minute verbal logic1
 to which he seems to have accustomed   
his mind1 and  which is perpetually     
leading him into erroneous methods of   
reasoning1  even when he happens to be  
right in his conclusions4 ,as in the    
following  passages4    #8,variations   
from different causes are essentially   
distinct from a  regular and            
unretrograde increase4 ,the average     
duration of human life  will1 to a      
certain degree1 vary1 from healthy or   
unhealthy climates1  from wholesome or  
unwholesome food1 from virtuous or      
vicious manners1  and other causes2 but 
it may be fairly doubted1 whether there 
has been  really the smallest           

perceptible advance in the natural      
duration of human  life1 since first we 
had any authentic history of man4 ,the  
prejudices of  all ages have1 indeed1   
been directly contrary to this          
supposition4'    ,now this statement is 
very unsatisfactory1 to say the least4  
,for the  only reason that can be given 
why the causes here mentioned1 on which 
,mr4 ,m4 allows that the duration of    
human life depends1 have not produced  a
 regular and permanent effect must be1  
that they themselves have  neither been 
regular nor permanent4 ,the mere fact1  
therefore1 of the  variableness in the  
length of human life proves nothing but 
the  variableness of those moral and    
artificial causes1 which are supposed to
  have some influence on our physical   
constitution4 ,but ,condorcet supposes  
a regular advance to be made in these   
causes1 and that an indefinite  advance 
in some of them 7as the knowledge of    
medicine for instance7 is  probable1    
will hardly be disputed4 ,the question  

7in this point of view7  of the         
necessary duration of human life is not 
properly a question of  fact1 or        
history1 but depends on a comparison of 
the present  circumstances of mankind   
with their past circumstances1 and on   
the  probability that may thence appear 
of preventing or counteracting those    
maladies and passions which are most    
unfavourable to long life4 ,that our    
reason may sometimes get the start of   
our experience is what no one can  deny4
 ,thus when the art of printing was     
first discovered it required no  great  
stretch of thought to perceive that     
knowledge and learning would  soon      
become more generally diffused than they
 had hitherto been1 though  till this   
event no perceptible or regular progress
 had ever been made4  ,those who reason 
otherwise are a kind of stereographic   
reasoners who  take things in the lump  
without being able to analyse or connect
 their  different principles4           
,experience is but the alphabet of      

reason4 ,with  respect to the general   
shortness of human life compared with   
what it was  in the first ages of       
mankind1 this fact seems rather against 
,mr4  ,malthus1 for if there is no      
certain date1 no settled period to human
  life1 beyond which it cannot hold out1
 but that it has varied from a  thousand
 to a hundred years1 so far there is no 
reason why we should not  tread back our
 steps1 or even go beyond the point from
 which we set out4  ,there is no fixed  
limit2 the present length of human life 
is not  evidently a general law of      
nature4 ,the mere naked fact of its     
never  exceeding a certain length at    
present is just as decisive against its 
ever having been longer1 as it is       
against its ever being longer in        
future4 ,mr4 ,malthus argues about human
 life1 as ,hume argues about  miracles4 
#8,it will be said1 perhaps1 that the   
reason why plants and animals cannot    
increase indefinitely in size1 is1 that 
they would fall by their own  weight4 ,i

 answer1 how do we know this but from   
experience8 from  experience of the     
degree of strength with which these     
bodies are formed4  ,i know that a      
carnation1 long before it reached the   
size of a cabbage1  would not be        
supported by its stalk2 but ,i only know
 this from my  experience of the        
weakness1 and want of tenacity in the   
materials of a  carnation stalk4 ,there 
are many substances in nature1 of the   
same size1  that would support as large 
a head as a cabbage4    #8,the reasons  
of the mortality of plants are at       
present perfectly unknown  to us4 ,no   
man can say why such a plant is annual1 
another biennial1 and  another endures  
for ages4 ,the whole affair in all these
 cases1 in  plants1 animals1 and in the 
human race1 is an affair of experience2 
and  ,i only conclude that man is       
mortal1 because the invariable          
experience of  all ages has proved the  
mortality of those materials of which   
his  visible body is made4              

#8,what can we reason but from what we  
know4'    ,this is making use of words  
without ideas4 ,it is endeavouring to   
confound two things essentially         
distinct1 because the same lax          
expression may be applied to them both4 
,it is an attempt to deprive men  of    
their understanding1 and leave them     
nothing but the use of their  senses1 by
 a trick of language4 ,does it follow   
because all our knowledge  may be traced
 in some way to something which may be  
called experience1  that all our        
conclusions are nothing but an affair of
 memory8 ,does ,mr4  ,malthus know of   
only one sort of experience8 ,is there  
not a blind and a  rational experience8 
,is it not one thing merely to know a   
fact1 or a  number of facts1 and another
 to know the reason of them8 ,or if our 
philosopher is determined to intrench   
himself behind a word1 is there  not a  
knowledge founded on the experience of  
certain positive results1  7which often 
extends no further than those results7  

and a knowledge  founded on the         
experience of certain general principles
 or laws1 to  which all particular      
effects are subject8 ,mr4 ,malthus seems
 to insinuate  that the knowledge of the
 general law or principle adds nothing  
to the  knowledge of the fact1 because  
both are equally an affair of           
experience4  ,he might as well assert   
that a ligature of iron would not       
strengthen a  deal plank1 because they  
are both held together by the same law  
of  cohesion4 ,the fact expresses       
nothing more than the actual            
co-existence  of certain things in      
certain circumstances1 and while all    
those  circumstances continue1 no doubt 
the same consequences will follow4 ,but 
we know that they are hardly ever the   
same1 and the question is1 which  of    
them is necessary to produce the effect 
talked of4 ,this the reason  points out1
 that is1 it points out a relation      
between certain things1  which has been 
found to hold not merely in the given   

circumstances1 but  in all others1 which
 is properly the relation of cause and  
effect4 ,our  idea of cause and effect  
is not derived from our immediate but   
from our  comparative experience3 it is 
only by taking our experience to pieces1
  by seeing what things are1 or are not 
necessarily connected together in       
different circumstances1 that we learn  
to reason with clearness and  confidence
 on the succession of events4    ,the   
succession of events is not the same    
thing as the succession of  cause and   
effect4 ,by assigning a reason for a    
thing1 ,i mean then being  able to refer
 it to a general rule or principle      
collected from and  proved by an        
infinite number of collateral instances1
 and confirming the  particular fact or 
instance to which it is applied4 ,it is 
drawing  together the different         
ramifications of our experience1 and    
winding them  round a particular bundle 
of things1 and tying them fast together4
 ,thus  suppose we have never seen a    

carnation of the size of a cabbage3 does
 it  follow that we never shall1 or that
 there can be no such thing8 ,we might  
say1 ,i know no reason why a flower of a
 certain shape1 colour1 c4  should not  
reach a certain size1 but that it has   
never been so within my  knowledge4     
,this might however be owing to the     
soil1 culture1 or a  thousand           
circumstances1 which are not            
invariable4--,but the moment the  reason
 is given 7supposing it to be a good    
one7 namely1 the connection  between the
 contexture and weight1 7though this    
reason is also derived  indirectly from 
the general fund of our experience7     
there is an end at  once of the         
question4 ,to suppose a flower to grow  
to a greater height  than it could      
support from the slenderness of the     
stalk would be to  suppose what never   
happened not only with respect to that  
particular  flower1 the carnation1 but  
with respect to any other flower1 or    
plant1  or animal1 or any other body    

whatever4 ,we know that climate has such
 an  effect that what are plants with   
us1 in the tropical climates become     
large trees3 but the necessary          
proportion between the size or weight of
  the plant1 and the strength of the    
stalk that is to support it1 is what  no
 change of soil or climate can          
supersede1 unless we could supersede    
the law of gravitation itself4 ,the mere
 experimental or historical proof  is   
here then buttressed up by the general  
rule1 or reason of the  thing4--,i have 
always seen a stone fall to the ground2 
,i remember a house  always to have     
stood where it does2 a hill has never   
stirred from the  place where ,i first  
saw it4 ,is the inference to be drawn   
from these  different cases equally     
certain8 ,am ,i to conclude that the    
house will  last as long as the         
mountain1 because ,i have the same      
positive evidence  of their permanence8 
,no3 because though ,i have never seen  
any alteration  in that particular      

house1 ,i have seen other houses pulled 
down and built  up2 and besides1 from   
the size of the objects1 the shape and  
nature of  the materials1 ,i know that  
one of them may be very easily          
destroyed1  whereas nothing but some    
great convulsion in nature is ever      
likely to  destroy the other or remove  
it from its place4 ,our particular      
experience  is only to be depended on1  
as it is explained and confirmed by     
analogy  to other cases1 viz4 by a      
number of other facts of the same kind1 
or by  general observation4 ,secondly1  
the aggregate of our experience with    
respect to any given class of events is 
constantly over-ruled by the  reason of 
the case1 viz4 by our knowledge of cause
 and effect1 by the  intelligible1      
explicit connections of things1 and by  
considering whether  the principles     
concerned in the production of a series 
of events1  7forming a body of facts1 or
 the concrete mass of our experience7   
are  resolvable into a simple law of    

nature operating universally1           
unchangeably1 without ever being        
suspended for a moment1 7as for         
instance1 the law of gravitation which  
holds equally of all bodies in  all     
cases1 and can never be separated from  
our reasonings upon them7 or  whether   
the event has been owing to a           
combination of mixed causes1 which  do  
not always act alike and with equal     
force1 or the effect of which  depends  
upon circumstances1 which we know may be
 altered1 7as in the  case of soils1    
climates1 methods of culture1#bf c4 to  
return to the  former example74 ,suppose
 a rock to have stood for ages on the   
summit of  a mountain4 ,am ,i sure that 
it will stand there always8 ,yes1 if    
nothing  happens to prevent it4 ,but can
 ,i be sure that nothing will ever      
remove  it1 because nothing has ever    
done so hitherto8 ,on the contrary1 ,i  
know  that if a man points a cannon     
against it1 it will be shattered to     
pieces  in an instant1 though it has    

stood there for ages1 and though there  
is  not at present the least appearance 
of a change in it4 ,here then my        
experience is of no avail against my    
reason4 ,in one sense of the word1  it  
is all thrown away1 and goes for        
nothing4 ,to judge rationally1 ,i must  
take other circumstances into the       
account1 the effects of gunpowder1 c4   
,the resistance made by the rock will   
depend upon its hardness1 not upon  the 
length of time it had stood there4 ,our 
experience then is not one  thing1 or   
any number of things1 taken absolutely  
or blindly by  themselves1 but a vast   
collection of facts1 and what is of     
infinitely  more importance1 of rules1  
founded upon those facts1 bearing one   
upon  another1 and perpetually modified 
by circumstances4 ,it is not upon any   
single fact or class of facts1 or on any
 single rule1 but on the  combination of
 all these1 and the manner in which they
 balance and  control one another1 that 
our decisions must ultimately rest4 ,it 

is from  this rational and abstracted   
experience that we obtain any certain   
results1 and infer from the altered     
relation of causes and events1 that     
things will happen which never happened 
before4 ,the future is contained  in the
 past1 only as it grows out of the same 
powers in nature1 but  acting in        
different situations1 and producing     
different practical  results by         
invariable laws4 ,to apply all this to  
the question4 ,if it is  allowed that   
the improvements in physic have an      
influence on the  duration of human     
life1 and that these improvements may go
 on  indefinitely1 ,i do not think ,mr4 
,malthus's answer a conclusive one that 
no considerable progress will ever be   
made in this respect1 because none  has 
hitherto been made4 ,if the improvements
 in science have not hitherto  been     
regular and permanent1 it cannot be     
expected that any advantages  depending 
on them should have been so3 nor does   
the past history of  mankind in this    

instance furnish a rule for our future  
conjectures1  inasmuch as in all that   
relates to the permanence and general   
diffusion  of knowledge1 a new turn has 
been given to the question 7as before   
observed7 by the invention of printing4 
,this single circumstance1 which  was   
matter of mere accident1 may be said in 
many respects to have given  a new      
aspect to human affairs2 to say that it 
has not yet produced the  effects       
predicted from it1 when it has had no   
time to produce them1 is  like saying1  
that the repeated blows of a            
battering-ram will not break  down a    
stone-wall1 because for the two or three
 first blows it does not  begin to move4
 ,the true question is1 whether the     
cause is adequate to  the effect        
ascribed to it1 that is1 whether its    
operation is of a  sufficiently general 
and powerful nature to produce a        
correspondent  general change in the    
circumstances of mankind4 ,i think it   
will hardly  be denied that printing may

 be applied with great success as an    
instrument for the propagation of vice3 
may it not then be made use of  to give 
currency to the principles of virtue8   
,at any rate1 to deny that  it is a     
means of diffusing and embodying        
knowledge is to deny that such  a       
contrivance exists at all1 or that books
 will be more generally read1  or less  
liable to be lost from the facility with
 which they are  multiplied4 ,while     
therefore ,mr4 ,malthus allows certain  
moral habits1 and  the state of physical
 knowledge in a great measure to        
determine the  length of human life1 he 
cannot object on any allowed principles 
of  philosophy to ,m4 ,condorcet's      
employing these causes as intermediate  
links in a chain of argument to         
establish the probability of the gradual
  approach of mankind--to a state of    
immortality4 ,the error does not lie in 
,m4 ,condorcet's general principles of  
reasoning1 but in the wrong  application
 of them2 though ,i do not know that ,i 

could detect the error  better than ,mr4
 ,malthus has done4 ,what ,i have       
endeavoured to shew in  these hasty     
remarks is that the admission of the    
rule laid down by our  author1 that in  
our calculations of the future1 we are  
to attend to  nothing but the general   
state of the fact hitherto1 without     
giving any  weight to the actual change 
of collateral circumstances1 or the     
existence of any new cause which may    
influence the state of that fact1  would
 overturn every principle1 not only of  
sound philosophy1 but of the  most      
obvious common sense4#bg ,i dissent     
equally from ,m4 ,condorcet's           
paradoxical speculations and from ,mr4  
,malthus's paradoxical answers to  them4
 ,it would be unfair not to add that    
,mr4 ,malthus has made one good         
distinction on the subject1 between an  
unlimited and an indefinite             
improvement4 ,it is the old argument of 
the ,heap1 and is here stated with      
considerable effect1 and novelty of     

appearance4 ,the conclusion of ,mr4     
,malthus's argument on this idle        
question is a sensible and pleasant     
account of the matter4 ,after all1 ,i do
 not quite dislike a man who  quotes    
,bickerstaff so well4    #8,it does not1
 however1 by any means1 seem impossible1
 that by an  attention to breed1 a      
certain degree of improvement1 similar  
to that  among animals1 might take place
 among men4 ,whether intellect could be 
communicated may be a matter of doubt3  
but size1 strength1 beauty1  complexion1
 and perhaps even longevity1 are in a   
degree transmissible4  ,the error does  
not seem to lie1 in supposing a small   
degree of  improvement possible1 but in 
not discriminating between a small      
improvement1 the limit of which is      
undefined1 and an improvement really    
unlimited4 ,as the human race1 however1 
could not be improved in this  way1     
without condemning all the bad specimens
 to celibacy1 it is not  probable1 that 
an attention to breed should ever become

 general2 indeed1  ,i know of no        
well-directed attempts of the kind1     
except in the ancient  family of the    
,bickerstaffs1 who are said to have been
 very successful in  whitening the      
skins1 and increasing the height of     
their race by prudent  marriages1       
particularly by that very judicious     
cross with ,maud the  milk-maid1 by     
which some very capital defects in the  
constitutions of  the family were       
corrected4'    ,mr4 ,malthus afterwards 
adds1 #8,when paradoxes of this kind are
 advanced  by ingenious and able men1   
neglect has no tendency to convince them
 of  their mistakes4 ,priding themselves
 on what they conceive to be a mark of  
the reach and size of their own         
understandings1 of the extent and       
comprehensiveness of their views2 they  
will look upon this neglect  merely as  
an indication of poverty1 and           
narrowness1 in the mental  exertions of 
their contemporaries2 and only think1   
that the world is not  yet prepared to  

receive their sublime truths4'--,this is
 said bitingly  enough4 ,for my own     
part1 ,i conceive that the world is     
neither prepared  to receive1 nor       
reject1 nor answer them1 nor decide any 
thing about them  but that they are     
contrary to all our notions of things1  
which1 till we  know more about the     
matter1 is perhaps a sufficient answer4 
#8,mr4 ,godwin at the conclusion of the 
third chapter of his eighth book1       
speaking of population1 says1 8,there is
 a principle in human society1 by  which
 population is perpetually kept down to 
the level of the means of  subsistence4 
,thus1 among the wandering tribes of    
,america and ,asia1 we  never find1     
through the lapse of ages1 that         
population has so increased  as to      
render necessary the cultivation of the 
earth40 ,this principle1  which ,mr4    
,godwin thus mentions as some mysterious
 and occult cause1 and  which he does   
not attempt to investigate1 has appeared
 to be the  grinding law of             

necessity--misery1 and the fear of      
misery4'    ,there is a want of         
clearness here4 ,the cause which ,mr4   
,malthus thus  explains so accurately   
has still something dark and mysterious 
about it4  ,with respect to the savage  
tribes ,mr4 ,malthus states in another  
place1  that it is not owing to the     
backwardness of population that         
agriculture  has never become necessary1
 but to the want of agriculture that    
population has never increased among    
them4 ,the passage is worth quoting4    
#8,it is not1 therefore1' he says1 #8as 
,lord ,kaimes imagines1 that the        
,american tribes have never increased   
sufficiently to render the pastoral  or 
agricultural state necessary to them2   
but1 from some cause or other1'  ,mr4   
,malthus also deals in occult causes    
#8they have not adopted in any  great   
degree these more plentiful modes of    
procuring subsistence1 and  therefore1  
cannot have increased so as to have     
become populous4 ,if  hunger alone could

 have prompted the savage tribes of     
,america to such a  change in their     
habits1 ,i do not conceive that there   
would have been a  single nation of     
hunters and fishers remaining2 but it is
 evident1 that  some fortunate train of 
circumstances1 in addition to this      
stimulus1 is  necessary for this        
purpose2 and it is undoubtedly probable1
 that these  arts of obtaining food1    
will be first invented and improved in  
those  spots that are best suited to    
them1 and where the natural fertility of
  the situation1' ,is not the soil of   
,america sufficiently fertile8 #8by     
allowing a greater number of people to  
subsist together1 would give the        
fairest chance to the inventive powers  
of the human mind4'--,here then we  see 
#8the grinding law of necessity'        
converted into a #8fortunate train of   
circumstances1' so that we have a fact  
arising from a necessary cause1  and    
that necessary cause depending on an    
accident4 ,the population is  kept down 

to the level of the means of            
subsistence1 but not to what it  is1 by 
the law of necessity2 since there are   
ways and means of raising  that level1  
and the population along with it4       
,notwithstanding all the  misery1 and   
all the fear of misery1 which ,mr4      
,malthus describes as thus  operating to
 keep population down to its proper     
level1 he is altogether  unwilling to   
lighten their pressure1 or to extend the
 benefits of that  fortunate train of   
circumstances and of those more         
plentiful modes of  obtaining food      
beyond their present necessary limits4  
,nothing can exceed  his jealousy on    
this point4 ,he is apprehensive lest    
some speculative  philosopher should    
take it into his head #8to exterminate  
the inhabitants  of the greatest part of
 ,asia and ,africa' on a principle of   
humanity4 ,he  proposes rather #8to     
civilize and direct the industry of the 
various  tribes of ,tartars and         
,negroes1 as a work of considerable     

time1 and as  having little chance of   
success4' ,he looks with an enlightened 
concern  at the encroachments daily made
 by the thriving population of the      
colonies on the deserts and uncultivated
 plains of ,north ,america1  grieving to
 see the few scattered inhabitants      
driven #8from their  assigned and native
 dwelling-place1' and foreseeing that by
 this means  the whole population of    
that vast continent will be some time or
 other  completely choaked up6 ,it is1  
,i know1 a painful object to ,mr4       
,malthus 7,i  cannot tell how it        
happens7 to see plenty1 comfort1        
civilisation and  numerous swarms of    
people succeed to want1 ignorance1      
famine1 misery1  and desolation4 ,those 
who are the well-wishers of the         
happiness of  mankind 7among which      
number ,i reckon ,mr4 ,malthus one7 are 
always  diverted from their projects by 
their own delicacy and scruples4 ,those 
who wish to enslave or destroy them     
never boggle at difficulties1 or  stand 

upon ceremony6    ,mr4 ,malthus says    
that the principle1 by which population 
is perpetually  kept down to a certain  
level is the grinding law of            
necessity--misery and  the fear of      
misery4 ,this may be true of the savage 
tribes there spoken  of1 but if he means
 to apply it generally1 #8it is not in  
any degree near  the truth4' ,at this   
rate1 all those who do not formally set 
about  propagating their species ought  
to be restrained by want or the fear of 
it4 ,is this the fact8 ,misery or the   
fear of misery may be the check to      
population among the poor1 but it cannot
 be the check to it among the  rich4    
,yet we do not find that the rich1 any  
more than the poor1  regularly marry and
 get children4 ,if this were the case1  
the rich would  long ago have multiplied
 themselves into beggars4 ,they would   
all have  descendants1 and those        
descendants would have others1 till the 
world  would not have room for such a   
number of poor gentlemen4 ,all their    

wealth would be turned into rags1 and   
they would be glad of a crust of  bread4
 ,the world would be one great          
work-house4#bh ,there must therefore  be
 some other principle which checks      
population among the higher  classes1   
and makes them stop short within many   
degrees of actual  poverty1 besides     
#8misery and the fear of misery4' ,they 
do not even come  within sight of       
misery3 the fact is that they are as    
unwilling to  descend from the highest  
pitch of luxury as the poor are to sink 
into  the lowest state of want4--,mr4   
,malthus by asserting in this careless  
manner that population can only be      
checked by misery or the fear of        
misery1 gains a main point4 ,he has     
always a certain quantity of misery  in 
bank1 as you must put so much salt in   
your porridge1 and so many  poor devils 
standing on the brink of wretchedness1  
as a sort of  out-guard or forlorn hope1
 to ward off the evils of population    
from the  society at large4 ,thus the   

enemy is sure to be defeated1 before it 
can  make any impression on the body of 
the community4 ,this would be very  well
 if we had to deal with an external1 and
 not with an internal enemy4  ,but is it
 the poor then only1 who are subject to 
this disease of  population8 ,are the   
rich quite proof against the evils of   
this  all-pervading principle1 this     
inevitable law of nature8 ,if the       
account  which ,mr4 ,malthus gives of   
that principle were true1 its ravages   
could  no more be checked by devoting a 
certain class of the community to glut  
#8its ravenous maw1' than you could keep
 the plague out of a house by  placing  
some one at the door to catch it4       
,either misery and the dread of  misery 
are not absolutely necessary to keep    
population within due  bounds1 or       
nothing short of the general spread of  
misery and poverty  through the whole   
community could save us from it4 ,mr4   
,malthus tries to  shut the gates of    
mercy on mankind by an ill-natured      

manuvre6 ,from the  little trouble our  
author gives himself about the          
application of his  arithmetical and    
geometrical ratios to the rich1 and his 
confidence in  the method of inoculating
 the poor only by way of prevention1 one
 would  suppose that the former had no  
concern in the affair3 that #8they      
neither  marry nor are given in         
marriage'2 but leaving the vulgar       
business of  procreation to their       
inferiors1 only look on to see that they
 do not  overstock the world4 ,why no1  
says ,mr4 ,malthus1 ,i have always      
insisted on  vice as one of the         
necessary checks to population2 and     
though in the  upper ranks of life1 the 
restraints on marriage cannot be said to
 be  imposed by misery or the fear of   
misery1 yet it cannot be denied that    
these restraints lead to a great deal of
 vice and profligacy1 which  answer the 
purpose just as well4--,there is one    
merit ,i shall not deny to  ,mr4        
,malthus1 which is1 that he has adapted 

his remedies with great skill  and      
judgment to the different tempers1      
habits1 and circumstances of his        
patients4 ,in his division of the evils 
of human life1 he has allotted to  the  
poor all the misery1 and to the rich as 
much vice as they  please6 ,these last  
will ,i daresay be very well satisfied  
with this  distribution4--,these remarks
 sufficiently shew that we cannot       
apologize  for all the misery there is  
in the world by saying1 that nothing    
else  can put a stop to the evils of    
population2 nor for all the vice1 by    
saying that it is the alternative of    
misery4 ,it cannot be pretended1  that  
no one would ever indulge in vicious    
gratifications1 but from the            
apprehension of reducing himself to want
 by having a family4--#8,but he  cannot 
maintain them in a certain              
style4'--,true3 vice is then a very     
convenient auxiliary to pride1 vanity1  
luxury1 artificial distinctions1  c4 but
 it is not a resource against want4 ,i  

once knew an instance of a  gentleman   
and lady who had a very romantic passion
 for each other1 but  who could not     
afford to marry because they could only 
muster seven  thousand pounds between   
them4 ,were they not to be pitied8 ,what
 could  they do in this case8 ,why1 the 
lady no doubt would behave with all the 
wonted fortitude of her sex on the      
occasion3 but the poor man must         
certainly be driven into vicious        
courses4 ,oh6 no3 ,i had forgot he was a
  clergyman2 and his cloth would not    
admit of any such thing4 ,vice does  not
 therefore seem to be always a necessary
 consequence of the  obstacles to       
marriage4 ,moral restraint is always    
practicable1 where the  opinion of the  
world renders it necessary4 ,at all     
events1 ,i conceive  that either one or 
the other of ,mr4 ,malthus's remedies   
may be dispensed  with3 they are not    
both necessary4 ,by his own account1 7as
 formerly  seen7 extreme poverty is a   
very ineffectual bar to population2 and 

as to  vice1 if it could be administered
 in doses1 proportioned to the          
occasion1 so much and no more1 it might 
be an excellent cure2 but the           
misfortune is1 that when it once begins1
 there is no end of it4 ,to  change my  
metaphor1 it takes the bit in its mouth1
 and sets off at a  glorious rate1      
without the least spur from necessity1  
always keeping as  much a-head of the   
occasion as ,mr4 ,malthus's geometrical 
series keeps  a-head of his arithmetical
 one4 ,some persons may perhaps argue1  
that  there is a natural connection     
between vice and misery1 inasmuch as    
without the temptation of want among the
 poor1 the vices of the rich  would lack
 proper objects to exercise themselves  
upon3 so that1 there  being no one to   
offer temptation to1 and no one having  
any very great  temptations to offer1   
people would be forced to marry among   
their  equals1 unless the trifling      
consideration of not being able to      
provide  immediately for a large family 

should induce them to moderate their    
passions for a while4 ,this is an       
argument which ,i shall not controvert3 
the disturbing that beautiful harmony   
and dependence which at present         
subsists between vice and misery would  
certainly lead us back in a great       
measure to all the evils which ,mr4     
,malthus anticipates as arising out of  
a state of excessive virtue and         
happiness1 and the most perfect form of 
society4    ,i shall here quote at large
 ,mr4 ,malthus's account of the origin  
of the  distinctions of property as     
necessarily arising from the pressure of
  population on the means of            
subsistence1 and from that principle    
solely4  ,i shall mark what ,i think the
 most noticeable parts in italics1 and  
make  some observations at the end4     
#8,it may be curious to observe in the  
case that we have been supposing1  how  
some of the principal laws1 which at    
present govern civilized  society1 would
 be successively dictated by the most   

imperious necessity4  ,as man1 according
 to ,mr4 ,godwin1 is the creature of the
 impressions to  which he is subject1   
the goadings of want could not continue 
long before  some violations of public  
or private stock would necessarily take 
place4  ,as these violations increased  
in number and extent1 the more active   
and  comprehensive intellects of the    
society would soon perceive1 that while 
population was fast increasing1 the     
yearly produce of the country would     
shortly begin to diminish4 ,the urgency 
of the case would suggest the  necessity
 of some immediate measures being taken 
for the general safety4  ,some kind of  
convention would then be called1 and the
 dangerous  situation of the country    
stated in the strongest terms4 ,it would
 be  observed1 that while they lived in 
the midst of plenty it was of little    
consequence who laboured the least1 or  
who possessed the least1 as every  man  
was perfectly willing and ready to      
supply the wants of his  neighbour4 ,but

 that the question was no longer whether
 one man should  give to another that   
which he did not use himself2 but       
whether he should  give to his neighbour
 the food which was absolutely necessary
 to his own  existence4 ,it would be    
represented that the number of those who
 were in  want very greatly exceeded the
 number and means of those who should   
supply them2 that these pressing wants1 
which from the state of the  produce of 
the country1 could not all be gratified1
 had occasioned some  flagrant          
violations of justice2 that these       
violations had already  checked the     
increase of food1 and would1 if they    
were not by some means  or other        
prevented1 throw the whole community    
into confusion3 that  imperious         
necessity seemed to dictate1 that a     
yearly increase of produce  should1 if  
possible1 be obtained at all events2    
that in order to effect  this first     
great and indispensable purpose it would
 be advisable to make  a more complete  

division of land1 and to secure every   
man's property  against violation by the
 most powerful sanctions4    #8,it might
 be urged perhaps1 by some objectors1   
that as the fertility of  the land      
increased1 and various accidents        
occurred1 the shares of some  men might 
be much more than sufficient for their  
support2 and that when  the reign of    
self-love was once established1 they    
would not distribute  their surplus     
produce without some compensation in    
return4 ,it would be  observed in       
answer1 that this was an inconvenience  
greatly to be  lamented2 but that it was
 an evil which would bear no comparison 
to the  black train of distresses which 
would inevitably be occasioned by the   
insecurity of property2 that the        
quantity of food which one man could    
consume1 was necessarily limited by the 
narrow capacity of the human  stomach2  
that it was not certainly probable that 
he should throw away  the rest2 and if  
he exchanged his surplus produce for the

 labour of  others1 this would be better
 than that these others should          
absolutely  starve4    #8,it seems      
highly probable therefore1 that an      
administration of property  not very    
different from that which prevails in   
civilized states at  present would be   
established as the best though          
inadequate remedy for  the evils which  
were pressing on the society4    #8,the 
next subject which would come under     
discussion1 intimately  connected with  
the preceding1 is the commerce of the   
sexes4 ,it would be  urged by those who 
had turned their attention to the true  
cause of the  difficulties under which  
the community laboured1 that while every
 man  felt secure that all his children 
would be well provided for by general   
benevolence1 the powers of the earth    
would be absolutely inadequate to       
produce food for the population which   
would inevitably ensue2 that even  if   
the whole attention and labour of the   
society were directed to this  sole     

point1 and if by the most perfect       
security of property1 and every  other  
encouragement that could be thought of1 
the greatest possible  increase of      
produce were yearly obtained2 yet still 
the increase of food  would by no means 
keep pace with the much more rapid      
increase of  population2 that some check
 to population therefore was imperiously
  called for2 that the most natural and 
obvious check seemed to be to make      
every man provide for his own children2 
that this would operate in some  respect
 as a measure and a guide in the        
increase of population1 as it  might be 
expected that no man would bring beings 
into the world for whom  he could not   
find the means of support2 that where   
this notwithstanding  was the case1 it  
seemed necessary for the example of     
others1 that the  disgrace and          
inconvenience attending such a conduct  
should fall upon  that individual who   
had thus inconsiderately plunged himself
 and his  innocent children into want   

and misery4    #8,the institution of    
marriage1 or at least of some express or
 implied  obligation on every man to    
support his own children1 seems to be   
the  natural result of these reasonings 
in a community under the difficulties   
that we have supposed4    #8,when these 
two fundamental laws of society1 the    
security of property1  and the          
institution of marriage were once       
established1 inequality of  conditions  
must necessarily follow4 ,those who were
 born after the  division of property   
would come into a world already         
possessed4 ,if  their parents from      
having too large a family were unable to
 give them  sufficient for their        
support1 what could they do in a world  
where every  thing was appropriated8 ,we
 have seen the fatal effects that would 
result  to society if every man had a   
valid claim to an equal share of the    
produce of the earth4 ,the members of a 
family which was grown too large  for   
the original division of land           

appropriated to it1 could not then      
demand a part of the surplus produce of 
others as a debt of justice4 ,it  has   
appeared that from the inevitable laws  
of human nature some human  beings will 
be exposed to want4 ,these are the      
unhappy persons who in the  great       
lottery of life have drawn a blank4 ,the
 number of these persons  would soon    
exceed the ability of the surplus       
produce to supply4 ,moral  merit is a   
very difficult criterion except in      
extreme cases4 ,the owners  of surplus  
produce would in general seek some more 
obvious mark of  distinction2 and it    
seems to be both natural and just1 that 
except upon  particular occasions their 
choice should fall upon those who were  
able1  and professed themselves willing 
to exert their strength in procuring a  
further surplus produce1 which would at 
once benefit the community1 and  enable 
the proprietors to afford assistance to 
greater numbers4 ,all who  were in want 
of food would be urged by imperious     

necessity to offer  their labour in     
exchange for this article1 so absolutely
 necessary to  existence4 ,the fund     
appropriated to the maintenance of      
labour would be  the aggregate quantity 
of food possessed by the owners of land 
beyond  their own consumption4 ,when the
 demands upon this fund were great and  
numerous it would naturally be divided  
into very small shares4 ,labour  would  
be ill paid4 ,men would offer to work   
for a bare subsistence2 and  the rearing
 of families would be checked by        
sickness and misery4 ,on the  contrary1 
when this fund was increasing fast2 when
 it was great in  proportion to the     
number of claimants1 it would be divided
 in much  larger shares4 ,no man would  
exchange his labour without receiving an
  ample quantity of food in return4     
,labourers would live in ease and       
comfort1 and would consequently be able 
to rear a numerous and vigorous         
offspring4    #8,on the state of this   
fund the happiness or the degree of     

misery1  prevailing among the lower     
classes of people in every known state1 
at  present chiefly depends2 and on this
 happiness or degree of misery  depends 
principally the increase1               
stationariness1 or decrease of          
population4    #8,and thus it appears1  
that a society constituted according to 
the most  beautiful form that           
imagination can conceive1 with          
benevolence for its  moving principle   
instead of self-love1 and with every    
evil disposition  in all its members    
corrected by reason1 not force1 would   
from the  inevitable laws of nature1 and
 not from any original depravity of man1
  or of human institutions1 degenerate  
in a very short period into a  society  
constructed upon a plan not essentially 
different from that  which prevails in  
every known state at present2 a society 
divided into a  class of proprietors and
 a class of labourers1 and with         
self-love for  the mainspring of the    
great machine2 we may1 therefore1       

venture to  pronounce with certainty1   
that if ,mr4 ,godwin's system of society
 were  established in its utmost        
perfection1 instead of myriads of       
centuries1  not thirty years could      
elapse before its utter destruction from
 the  simple principle of population4'  
,not to insist on the absurdity1 with   
which ,mr4 ,malthus seems to be         
enamoured1 of believing that the change 
here predicted would be the  consequence
 of the inevitable laws of nature1 not  
of any inherent  depravity in the human 
mind1 when it is evident that the whole 
mischief  originates in the folly and   
headstrong passions of the individuals  
composing this extraordinary society1   
all the members of which are  actuated  
by the purest motives of reason and     
virtue1 ,i shall at once  suppose a     
state of society not indeed perfect1 but
 equal1 and with  self-love1 and a      
little common sense1 instead of         
benevolence and perfect  wisdom1 for its
 moving principles2 and see whether it  

would not be  possible for such a state 
of practical equality1 admitting neither
  poverty nor riches1 to last more than 
#8thirty years1 before its utter        
destruction from the simple principle of
 population4' ,the question is1  if ,i  
understand it rightly1 how that         
principle alone 7,i do not enter  into  
the general structure1 foundations1 or  
purposes of civil society1 ,i  propose  
to examine the question only as a branch
 of political economy1  or as it relates
 to the physical sustenance of mankind1 
which is the  point of view in which    
,mr4 ,malthus has treated it7 how ,i say
 that  principle imperiously requires1  
that there should be one class of the   
community1 ready to perish of want      
except as they are kept from it by      
severe and unremitting exertion1 and    
another class living in ease and  luxury
 for no other purpose than to keep the  
good things of this life  from the first
 class1 because if they were admitted to
 a share of them  they would be         

immediately subjected to greater want   
and hardships than  ever4 ,it is to be  
remembered that ,mr4 ,malthus here      
pretends to bring  forward a new theory 
of property2 to have added the key-stone
 to the  arch of political society1     
which1 he says1 was in danger of falling
  without it2 to enforce the rights of  
the rich1 and set aside the claims  of  
the poor as false and unfounded2 and by 
shewing how the distinctions  of        
property are immediately connected with 
the physical nature and very  existence 
of mankind in a way that had not been   
supposed before1 to  point out the      
necessity of arming the law with new    
rigour1 and steeling  the heart with    
fresh obduracy to second the decisions  
of his pragmatical  philosophy4 ,the    
laws of ,england recognize the right of 
the poor man to  live by his labour2    
,mr4 ,malthus denies this right1 and    
holds it up to  ridicule4 ,the question 
is1 which of them we shall believe4 ,i  
shall  therefore examine the subject    

freely1 having so good an authority on  
my  side4    ,all that ,i can find ,mr4 
,malthus has discovered is1 that it     
would be  necessary in the progress of  
society1 in order to stave off the evils
 of  population1 to make a regulation1  
that every man should be obliged to     
work for a subsistence1 and to provide  
for his own children4 ,a great  matter  
truly6 ,but having allowed to ,mr4      
,malthus that these two  regulations    
would be necessary in the common course 
of things1 ,i  cannot at the same time  
help thinking that they would also be   
sufficient--to avert the approach of    
famine1 which is the point at  issue4 ,i
 can easily understand if every man had 
a valid claim to an  equal share of the 
produce of the earth1 that this abstract
 unqualified  right would lead to great 
inconveniences--but not when that       
abstract  right is clogged with the     
condition1 that he should work for his  
share  of it4 ,i can also admit that ,i 
can have no claim to the surplus produce

  of another without some compensation  
in return4 ,this would certainly be     
hard4 ,but it does not appear 7upon the 
face of the argument7 how ,i  should    
therefore have no claim to the produce  
of my own industry2 or how  any other   
person has a right to force me to work  
for him without making  me what         
compensation ,i think fit4 ,he has a    
right to his estate1 ,i  have a right to
 my labour4 ,as to any produce1 whether 
surplus or not1  which he may raise from
 it1 he has a right to keep it to       
himself2 as to  that which ,i raise for 
him1 it seems to be a subject of        
voluntary  agreement4 ,again1 if a man  
who is as industrious as myself1 and    
equally  reaps the benefit of his       
industry chuses to have the additional  
solace  of a wife and family1 as he has 
all the fun1 ,i see no reason why he    
should not have all the trouble2 it is  
neither fair nor equal that ,i  should  
make a drudge of myself1 or be put to   
inconvenience for the sake  of his      

amusements4 ,let us see then how the    
argument stands in this stage  of it4   
,the reason which appeared for not      
allowing to every man a valid  claim to 
an equal share of the produce of the    
earth was1 that the  admission of such a
 claim would only be an excuse for      
idleness4 ,the  extravagant1 the        
worthless1 and indolent would thus prey 
upon the honest  and laborious part of  
the community4 7,we are supposing a case
 where  every evil disposition and      
original depravity had not been         
completely  eradicated by reason and    
philosophy47 ,even if no such characters
  existed1 they would hardly fail to be 
produced by having such fine            
encouragement given them4 ,on the other 
hand1 if every one was at liberty  to   
saddle his neighbour or the community   
with as many children as he  pleased1   
there would either be no sufficient     
check to the inordinate  increase of    
population1 or at least any one person  
who got the start in  the race of       

matrimony would have it in his power to 
deprive the others  of their right to   
the surplus produce of their labour by  
claiming it for  his family4 ,it is     
necessary then to prevent the imposition
 of any one's  fastening himself and    
children on another for support1 that   
there should  be a certain appropriation
 of the common stock2 that is1 that each
  man's claim upon it should be in      
proportion to the share he had in       
increasing it4 ,the next consideration  
is whether with this hold upon  him1 you
 would not be able to make him          
effectually exert himself1 and at  the  
same time prevent him from having more  
children than he could  maintain1 the   
same all-powerful stimulus of           
self-interest equally  counteracting his
 indolence and his indiscretion4 ,mr4   
,malthus says that  the true cause of   
the difficulties under which the        
community would  labour1 would be the   
excessive tendency to population1       
arising from the  security felt by every

 man that his children would be well    
provided for  by the general            
benevolence3 by taking away this        
security then1 and  imposing the task of
 maintaining them upon himself1 you     
remove the only  cause of the           
unavoidable tendency of population to   
excess1 and of all  the confusion that  
would ensue1 by making his selfishness  
and his  indolence operate as direct    
checks on his sensual propensities4 ,he 
would  be tied to his good behaviour as 
effectually as a country fellow is at   
present by being bound in a penalty of  
twenty pounds to the parish for  every  
bastard child that he gets4 ,if every   
man's earnings were in  proportion to   
his exertions1 if his share of the      
necessaries1 the  comforts1 or even the 
superfluities of life were derived from 
the  produce of his own toil1 or        
ingenuity1 or determined by equitable   
compensation1 ,i cannot conceive how    
there could be any greater  security for
 regularity of conduct and a general    

spirit of industry in  the several      
members of the community1 as far as was 
consistent with  health and the real    
enjoyment of life4 ,if these principles 
are not  sufficient to ensure the good  
order of society in such circumstances1 
,i  should like to know what are the    
principles by which it is enforced at   
present4 ,they are nothing more than the
 regular connection between  industry   
and its reward1 and the additional      
charge or labour to which a  man        
necessarily subjects himself by being   
encumbered with a family4 ,the  only    
difference is in the proportion between 
the reward1 and the  exertion1 or the   
rate at which the payment of labour is  
fixed4 ,so far  then we see no very     
pressing symptoms of the dissolution of 
the society1  or of any violent         
departure from this system of decent    
equality1 from  the sole principle of   
population4 ,yet we have not hitherto   
got 7in the  regular course of the      
argument7 so far as the distinction of a

 class of  labourers1 and a class of    
proprietors4 ,it may be urged perhaps   
that  nothing but extreme want or misery
 can furnish a stimulus sufficiently    
strong to produce #8the labour necessary
 for the support of an extended         
population1' or counteract the principle
 of population4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus      
himself admits that #8the most constant 
and best directed efforts of  industry  
are to be found among a class of people 
above the class of the  wretchedly      
poor1' among those who have something to
 lose1 and something  to gain1 and who1 
happen what will1 cannot be worse off   
than they are4  ,he also admits that it 
is among this middling class of people1 
that we  are to look for most instances 
of self-denial1 prudence1 and a         
competent  resistance to the principle  
of population4 ,i do not therefore      
understand  either the weight or        
consistency of the charge which he      
brings against  ,paine of having fallen 
into the most fundamental errors        

respecting the  principles of government
 by confounding the affairs of ,europe  
with those  of ,america4 ,if the people 
in ,america are not forced to labour    
7and there  are no people more          
industrious7 by extreme poverty1 if they
 are not  forced to be prudent 7and     
their prudence is ,i believe equal to   
their  industry7 by the scantiness of   
the soil1 or the unequal distribution of
  its produce1 no matter whether the    
state is old or new1 whether the        
population is increasing or stationary1 
the example proves equally in  all cases
 that wretchedness is not the sine qua  
non of industry1 and  that the way to   
hinder people from taking desperate     
steps is not to  involve them in        
despair4 ,the current of our daily life1
 the springs of  our activity or        
fortitude1 may be supplied as well from 
hope as fear1  from #8cheerful and      
confident thoughts' as the apparition of
 famine  stalking just behind us4 ,the  
merchant attends to his business1       

settles  his accounts1 and answers his  
correspondents as diligently and        
punctually as the shop-keeper4 ,the     
shop-keeper minds his customers1 and    
puffs off his goods1 tells more lies1 is
 a greater drudge1 and gets less  for   
his pains than the merchant4 ,the       
shoeblack piques himself upon  giving   
the last polish to a gentleman's shoes1 
and gets a penny for his  trouble4 ,in  
all these cases1 it is not strictly the 
proportion between  the exertion and the
 object1 neither hope nor fear in the   
abstract1 that  determines the degree of
 our exertions1 but the balance of our  
hopes and  fears1 the difference that it
 will make to us in our situation       
whether  we exert ourselves to the      
utmost or not1 and the impossibility of 
turning our labour to any better account
 that habitually regulates our          
conduct4#bi ,we all do the best for     
ourselves that we can4 ,this is at      
least a general rule4--,but let us      
suppose1 though ,i do not think ,mr4    

,malthus has thrown any new or striking 
light on the way1 in which such a       
change would be brought about1 that it  
is found necessary to make a  regular   
division of the land1 and that a class  
of proprietors and a  class of labourers
 is consequently established4 ,let us   
see in this case  what proportion of the
 surplus produce of the ground might be 
supposed  to fall to the share of the   
labourer1 or whether if any thing more  
was  allowed him than what was just     
enough to keep him alive and enable him 
to stagger through the tasks of the day1
 both rich and poor 7but  especially the
 latter7 would not suffer grievously    
from all such impious  and inhuman      
attempts1 as our author afterwards calls
 them1 to reverse  the laws of nature1  
or decrees of ,providence 7which you    
please7 #8by  which some human beings   
are inevitably exposed to want4' ,i     
shall argue  the question solely on the 
ground stated by ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,i shall
 suppose  that every proprietor has an  

absolute right to his property1 and to  
the  whole produce of his own exertions4
 ,there are two other questions to  be  
considered1 namely1 whether the right to
 the labour of others and to  the       
produce of their labour attaches to the 
possession of the soil1  secondly1 if   
that is not the case1 to what proportion
 of the produce of  the ground the      
labourer is naturally entitled by his   
exertions4 ,mr4  ,malthus infers that   
from the establishment of the two       
fundamental laws1  security of property1
 and the institution of marriage1       
inequality of  conditions must          
necessarily follow4 ,i confess ,i do not
 see this  necessary consequence4 ,i    
would ask1 upon what plea ,mr4 ,malthus 
succeeded  in establishing these two    
fundamental laws1 but because they were 
necessary and competent to stimulate the
 exertions and restrain the  passions of
 the community at large1 that is1 to    
maintain a general  practical equality1 
to regulate each person's indulgences   

according to  their industry1 to lay an 
even tax upon every man1 and thus       
prevent the  return of fraud1 violence1 
confusion1 want and misery4 ,grant that 
the  most fatal effects would result to 
society1 if every man had a valid  claim
 to an equal share of the produce of the
 earth2 it by no means  follows that the
 same fatal effects would result to     
society from  allowing to every man a   
valid claim to a share of the produce of
 the  earth proportioned to his labour4 
,yet ,i doubt whether any great         
inequality could subsist1 while each man
 had this valid claim4 ,it is one  thing
 to have a right to the produce of your 
own exertions1 and another  to have a   
right to the produce of the earth1 that 
is1 of the labour of  others4 ,it is so 
far from being fair to apply the same   
reasoning to  these two things1 that the
 evils which would be the necessary     
consequences of the one1 cannot possibly
 result from the other4 ,the one  is a  
direct contradiction to the other4 ,it  

is on this distinction in  fact1 that   
all property and all society is         
originally founded4 ,by making  it      
equally the interest of each individual 
to exert himself1 you in all            
probability secure an equal degree of   
industry and comfort in each            
individual4 ,at least1 a society formed 
upon this plan would have as fair  a    
chance of realising all the advantages  
of which it was capable1 with  as few   
deviations from the original direction  
and design1 as a society1  where only a 
less degree of equality was possible1   
would have of  coming up to its original
 idea4 ,industry and regularity of      
behaviour  must gain ground1 where these
 habits were enforced by the general    
example of the whole society1 and where 
the sacrifice to be made was  less1 and 
the reward more certain4 ,i might appeal
 to the history of all  countries in    
proof of this4 ,industry flourishes most
 in those countries1  where there is the
 greatest equality of conditions1 and   

where in  consequence instances of      
extreme distress can rarely occur4 ,the 
excessive depression of the lower class 
of the community can only 7by  taking   
away the spring of hope1 and making it  
nearly impossible for them  to fall     
lower17 dishearten industry1 and make   
them regardless of  consequences4 ,it   
cannot be laid down as an axiom1 that   
you animate  industry1 in proportion as 
you take away its reward4 ,it may be    
said that  the poor will not go through 
extreme hardships but from the fear of  
starving4 ,i know no reason why such    
hardships are necessary but because  one
 man is obliged to do the work of       
several4--,these general observations   
are not set aside by supposing the right
 of property to be established4  ,all   
that ,i can understand by a right of    
property is a right in any one  to      
cultivate a piece of land1 be it more or
 less1 and a right at the  same time to 
prevent any one else from cultivating   
it1 or reaping the  produce4 ,this1 in  

whatever way a man comes by it1 is the  
utmost extent  of this right4 #8,those  
who were born after the division of     
property1'  says ,mr4 ,malthus1 #8would 
come into a world already possessed4'   
,how  the whole world should come to be 
possessed immediately after the         
division of property ,i do not          
understand4 #8,if their parents1 from   
having too large a family1 were unable  
to give them sufficient for their       
support1 what could they do in a world1 
where every thing was  appropriated8'   
,just now the world1 and at present1    
every thing in  it is appropriated4     
#8,we have seen the fatal effects that  
would result  to society1 if every man  
had a valid claim to an equal share of  
the  produce of the earth4' ,this has   
been answered4 #8,the members of a      
family which was grown too large for the
 original division of land  appropriated
 to it could not then demand a part of  
the surplus produce  of others as a debt
 of justice4' ,certainly not4 ,they     

would have no  right to it1 because one 
man would have no right to another man's
  property2 but that right1 as far as   
relates to the surplus produce1 is  not 
backed by the necessity of the case1 as 
,mr4 ,malthus would lead us to  suppose1
 or because every thing is already      
appropriated4 #8,it has  appeared that1 
from the inevitable laws of human       
nature1 some beings  will be exposed to 
want4' ,that is the question4 #8,the    
number of those  persons would soon     
exceed the ability of the surplus       
produce to  supply4' ,i believe so1 if  
they depended on the surplus produce of 
the  labour of the rich to supply them4 
,but the long and the short of it is    
that these laborious landholders1 these 
owners of surplus produce1  finding that
 their own exertions could not supply   
all their own wants1  and at the same   
time keep pace with their benevolence to
 those unhappy  persons1 who in the     
great lottery of life had drawn a blank1
 would call  to their aid such of these 

as professed themselves able and willing
 to  exert their strength in procuring a
 further surplus produce1 which  would  
enable the proprietors to afford        
assistance to greater numbers1  that is1
 out of the produce of their own labour1
 not out of that of the  proprietors4   
,to hear ,mr4 ,malthus talk1 one would  
suppose that the rich  were really a    
very hard-working1 ill-used people1 who 
are not suffered  to enjoy the earnings 
of their honest industry in quiet by a  
set of  troublesome1 unsatisfied1       
luxurious1 idle people called the poor4 
,or  one might suppose that a landed    
estate was a machine that did its own   
work2 or that it was like a large       
plum-cake1 which the owner might at     
once cut up into slices1 and either eat 
them himself1 or give them away  to     
others1 just as he pleased4 ,in this    
case ,i grant that the poor might  be   
said to depend entirely upon the bounty 
or surplus produce of the  rich2 and as 
they would have no trouble in procuring 

their share but  merely that of asking  
for it1 their demands would no doubt be 
a little  unreasonable1 and in short1 if
 they were complied with1 the estate1   
the  surplus produce1 or the plumb-cake 
7call it which you will7 would soon  be 
gone4 ,the question would no longer be  
#8whether one man should give to        
another that which he did not use       
himself3 but whether he should give to  
his neighbour the food which was        
absolutely necessary to his own         
existence4' ,but ,i cannot admit that   
they would be reduced to any such       
necessity merely from allowing to the   
labourer as much of the additional      
produce of the ground as he himself had 
really added to it4 ,i repeat  that ,i  
do not see how a man's reaping the      
produce1 and no more than the  produce  
of his industry1 can operate as an      
inducement to idleness1 or to  the      
excessive multiplication of children1   
when notwithstanding all his  industry  
it is impossible he should provide for  

them without either  diminishing his own
 comforts1 or if the population is      
already full1  plunging them and himself
 into want and misery4 ,this addition to
 the  argument is like a foil to a      
sword--it prevents any dangerous        
consequences4 ,if ,i say to a number of 
people1 that they may each of them  have
 as much of a heap of corn as they      
desire1 the whole of it would  very soon
 be bespoke1 but if ,i tell them that   
they may each of them have  as much as  
they can carry away themselves1 there   
might be enough to  load them all1 and  
,i might have plenty left for my own    
consumption4 ,the  ability and the      
willingness of a man to labour1 7when   
these are made the  general foundation  
of his claim to the produce of the      
earth7 at once set  bounds to his own   
rapacious demands1 and effectually limit
 the  population4--,if ,mr4 ,malthus had
 shewn that nothing but extreme misery  
can  excite to industry or check        
population1 he would then have shewn the

  necessity of such a state4 ,but if it 
has appeared in various ways that  there
 is no connection between these things1 
or that if there is1 it is  directly    
contrary to what ,mr4 ,malthus supposes 
it1 then he has failed in  his attempt  
to regulate the price of labour by the  
principle of  population1 or to prove   
that this should be fixed so low1 as    
only just  to keep the labourer from    
starving4 ,certainly any advance in the 
price  of labour1 or a more equal       
distribution of the produce of the earth
  would enable a greater number of      
persons to live in comfort1 and would   
increase population2 but it is the      
height of absurdity1 as ,i have shewn   
over and over again1 to suppose that it 
would lead to an excessive or           
unrestricted increase2 as if by making  
people acquainted with comfort  and     
decency1 you were teaching them to fall 
in love with misery4 ,this is  the real 
jut and bearing of the question4 ,the   
author of the ,essay1 to  assist his    

argument1 transposes the question4 ,he  
represents the  labouring class of the  
community as a set of useless1          
supernumerary  paupers1 living on       
charity1 or on the labour of the        
industrious  proprietor4 ,if this       
representation had any foundation1 ,i   
should be ready  to admit that these    
interlopers had no claim on any part of 
the surplus  produce of others as a debt
 of justice4 ,they must owe every thing 
to  favour1 and would be entirely at the
 mercy of their benefactors4 ,every     
reader must perceive1 how little this   
account is in any degree near the       
truth4 ,the case is not that of a person
 both willing and able to labour  for   
himself1 and imparting freely to        
another1 who had done nothing to        
deserve it1 a part of the surplus       
produce of the soil1 but of a person    
bargaining with another to do all his   
work for him1 and allowing him as  a    
bribe part of the produce of his own    
labour in return4 ,it is not  therefore 

a question of right any more than it is 
a question of  expediency1 but a        
question of power on one side1 and of   
necessity on the  other4 ,on the degree 
of power1 or on that of the necessity1  
and on  nothing else1 will the price of 
labour depend4 ,mr4 ,malthus somewhere  
talks of a man's having no right to     
subsistence when his labour will not    
fairly purchase it4 ,this word fairness 
conveys to my ears no meaning  but that 
of the struggle between power and want1 
just spoken of4 #8,a  man1' he says1    
#8born into a world already possessed1  
if the society do  not want his labour1 
has no claim of right to the smallest   
portion of  food4' ,this is1 as if the  
question was of an individual1 pestering
 a  laborious community for a job1 when 
they do not want his assistance1 and    
not of the laborious part of the        
community demanding a small portion of  
food or the means of subsistence out of 
the surplus produce of their  labour as 
a fair compensation for their trouble6  

,i sometimes think  that abstruse       
subjects are best illustrated by        
familiar examples1 and ,i  shall        
accordingly give one4 ,suppose ,i have  
got possession of an island  which ,i   
either took from somebody else1 or was  
the first to occupy4 ,but  no matter how
 ,i came by it1 ,i am in possession of  
it1 and that is  enough4 ,suppose then  
,i see another person coming towards it 
either in a  canoe 7these questions are 
always first decided in a state very    
nearly  approaching a state of nature7  
or swimming from some other island as ,i
  conceive either with intent to drive  
me from it1 or to defraud me of the     
produce of my labour4 ,now even allowing
 that ,i had more than enough for       
myself1 that part of my surplus produce 
was devoured by fowls or wild  beasts1  
or that ,i threw it for sport into the  
sea1 yet ,i should contend  that ,i have
 a right1 a strict right in one sense of
 the word1 to take  out a long pole1 and
 push this unfair intruder from the     

shore1 and try  to sink his boat or     
himself in the water to get rid of him1 
and defend  my own right4 ,but suppose  
that instead of his coming to me1 ,i go 
to  him1 and persuade him to return with
 me2 and that when ,i have got him      
home1 ,i want to set him to work to do  
either part or the whole of my  business
 for me4 ,in this case ,i should        
conceive that he is at liberty  either  
to work or refuse working just as he    
thinks proper1 to work on  what terms he
 thinks proper1 to receive only a small 
part1 or the half1  or more than half   
the produce as he pleases2 or if ,i do  
not chuse to  agree to his terms1 ,i    
must do my work myself4 ,what possible  
right have ,i  over him8 ,his right to  
his liberty is just as good as my right 
to my  property4 ,it is an excellent    
cheveux-de-fris1 and if he is as idle as
  ,i am lazy1 he will make his market of
 it4 ,i say then that this original     
right continues in all stages of        
society1 unless where it has been       

specifically given up2 and acts as a    
counterpoise to the insolence of        
property4 ,if indeed the poor will work 
for the rich at a certain rate1  they   
are not bound to employ others who      
demand higher wages1 or a  greater      
number than they want3 but as it is     
plain that they must either  work       
themselves1 or get others to work for   
them1 over whom they have no  right     
whatever1 ,i contend that the mass of   
the labouring community have  always a  
right to strike1 to demand what wages   
they please2 the least  that they can   
demand is enough to support them and    
their families2 and  the real contest   
will be between the aversion of the rich
 to labour1 and  of the poor to famine4 
,this seems to be the philosophy of the 
question4  ,it is also the spirit of the
 laws of ,england1 which have left a    
provision for the poor2 wisely          
considering1 no doubt1 that they who    
received their all from the labour of   
others were bound to provide out  of    

their superfluities for the necessities 
of such as were in want4 ,if  it be said
 that this principle will lead to       
extreme abuse in practice1 ,i  answer1  
,no1 for there is hardly any one1 who   
will live in dependence1 or  on         
casualties1 if he can help it4 ,the     
check to the abuse is sufficiently      
provided in the miserable precariousness
 and disgusting nature of the  remedy4  
,but if from the extreme inequality of  
conditions1 that is1 from  one part of  
the community having been able to       
engross all the advantages  of society  
to themselves1 so that they can trample 
on the others at  pleasure1 the poor are
 reduced so low in intellect and feeling
 as to be  indifferent to every         
consideration of the kind1 neither will 
they be  restrained from following their
 inclinations by ,mr4 ,malthus's        
grinding  law of necessity1 by the      
abolition of the poor laws1 or by the   
prospect  of seeing their children      
starving at the doors of the rich4 ,it  

is not by  their own fault alone that   
they have fallen into this degradation2 
those  who have brought them into it    
ought to be answerable for some of the  
consequences4 ,the way to obviate those 
consequences is not by  obstinately     
increasing the pressure1 but by         
lessening it4 ,it is not my  business to
 inquire how a society formed upon the  
simple plan  above-mentioned might be   
supposed to degenerate in consequence of
 the  different passions1 follies1      
vices1 and circumstances of mankind1    
into a  state of excessive inequality   
and wretchedness3 it is sufficient for  
my  purpose to have shewn1 that such a  
change was not rendered necessary by    
the sole principle of population1 or    
that it would not be absolutely         
impossible for a state of actual        
equality to last #8thirty years' without
  producing the total overthrow and     
destruction of the society4 ,equality   
produces no such maddening effects on   
the principle of population1 nor  is it 

a thing1 any approaches to which must be
 fatal to human happiness1  and are     
universally to be dreaded4 ,the         
connection therefore between that       
degree of inequality1 which terminates  
in extreme vice and misery1 and  the    
necessary restraints on population1 is  
not so obvious or  indissoluble1 as to  
give ,mr4 ,malthus a right to #8qualify'
 the luxuries  of the rich1 and the     
distresses of the poor as the inevitable
  consequences of the fundamental laws  
of nature1 and as necessary to the  very
 existence of society4 ,i shall here    
take the liberty of quoting the  two    
following passages from ,mr4 ,malthus's 
,essay1 which seem exactly to  confirm  
my ideas on the subject1 only better    
expressed1 and stated in a  much neater 
manner4 #8,in most countries1 among the 
lower classes of  people1 there appears 
to be something like a standard of      
wretchedness1 a  point below which1 they
 will not continue to marry and         
propagate their  species4 ,this standard

 is different in different countries1   
and is  formed by various concurring    
circumstances of soil1 climate1         
government1  degree of knowledge1 and   
civilization1 c4 ,the principal         
circumstances  which contribute to raise
 it1 are1 liberty1 security of property1
 the  spread of knowledge1 and a taste  
for the conveniences and the comforts   
of life4 ,those which contribute        
principally to lower it are despotism   
and ignorance4' ,for what purpose did   
,mr4 ,malthus write his book8 #8,in an  
attempt to better the condition of the  
lower classes of society1 our  object   
should be to raise this standard as high
 as possible1 by  cultivating a spirit  
of independence1 a decent pride1 and a  
taste for  cleanliness and comfort among
 the poor4 ,these habits would be best  
inculcated by a system of general       
education and1 when strongly fixed1     
would be the most powerful means of     
preventing their marrying with the      
prospect of being obliged to forfeit    

such advantages2 and would  consequently
 raise them nearer to the middle classes
 of society4' ,yet  ,mr4 ,malthus       
elsewhere attempts to prove that the    
pressure of population  on the means of 
subsistence can only be kept back by a  
system of terror  and famine1 as the    
pressure of a crowd is only kept back by
 the  soldiers' bayonets4 ,i have thus  
endeavoured to answer the play of       
words1 by which ,mr4 ,malthus undertakes
 to prove that the rich have an         
absolute right to the disposal of the   
whole of the surplus produce of  the    
labour of others4 ,after this           
preparation1 ,i shall venture to trust  
the reader's imagination with the       
passages1 in which he tries to put  down
 private charity1 and to prove the right
 of the rich 7whenever they             
conveniently can7 to starve the poor4   
,they are very pretty passages4         
#8,there is one right1 which man has    
generally been thought to possess1      
which ,i am confident he neither does1  

nor can1 possess1 a right to            
subsistence when his labour will not    
fairly purchase it4 ,our laws  indeed   
say1 that he has this right1 and bind   
the society to furnish  employment and  
food to those who cannot get them in the
 regular market2  but in so doing1 they 
attempt to reverse the laws of nature2  
and it is1  in consequence1 to be       
expected1 not only that they should fail
 in their  object1 but that the poor who
 were intended to be benefited1 should  
suffer most cruelly from this inhuman   
deceit which is practised upon  them4   
#8,a man who is born into a world       
already possessed1 if he cannot get     
subsistence from his parents on whom he 
has a just demand1 and if the  society  
do not want his labour1 has no claim of 
right to the smallest  portion of food1 
and1 in fact1 has no business to be     
where he is4 ,at  nature's mighty feast 
there is no vacant cover for him4 ,she  
tells him to  be gone1 and will quickly 
execute her own orders1 if he do not    

work upon  the compassion of some of her
 guests4 ,if these guests get up and    
make  room for him1 other intruders     
immediately appear demanding the same   
favour4 ,the report of a provision for  
all that come1 fills the hall with      
numerous claimants4 ,the order and      
harmony of the feast is disturbed1 the  
plenty that before reigned is changed   
into scarcity2 and the happiness  of the
 guests is destroyed by the spectacle of
 misery and dependence in  every part of
 the hall1 and by the clamorous         
importunity of those1 who  are justly   
enraged at not finding the provision    
which they had been  taught to expect4  
,the guests learn too late their error1 
in  counteracting those strict orders to
 all intruders1 issued by the great     
mistress of the feast1 who1 wishing that
 all her guests should have  plenty1 and
 knowing that she could not provide for 
unlimited numbers1  humanely refused to 
admit fresh comers when her table was   
already full4'  ,this is a very         

brilliant description1 and a pleasing   
allegory4 ,our  author luxuriates in the
 dearth of nature3 he cannot contain his
  triumph3 he frolics with his subject  
in the gaiety of his heart1 and his     
tongue grows wanton in praise of famine4
 ,but let us examine it not as a        
display of imagination1 but as a piece  
of reasoning4 ,in the first place1  ,i  
cannot admit the assertion that #8at    
nature's mighty feast there is no       
vacant cover for the poor man4' ,there  
are plenty of vacant covers but  that   
the guests at the head of the table have
 seized upon all those at  the lower    
end1 before the table was full4 ,or if  
there were no vacant  cover1 it would be
 no great matter1 he only asks for the  
crumbs which  fall from rich men's      
tables1 and the bones which they throw  
to their  dogs4 #8,she 7nature7 tells   
him to be gone1 and will quickly execute
 her  own orders1 if he do not work on  
the compassion of some of the guests4'  
,when ,i see a poor old man1 who after a

 life of unceasing labour is  obliged at
 last to beg his bread1 driven from the 
door of the rich man  by a surly porter1
 and half a dozen sleek well-fed dogs1  
kept for the  pleasure of their master  
or mistress1 jumping up from the        
fireside1 or  bouncing out of their warm
 kennels upon him1 ,i am1 according to  
,mr4  ,malthus1 in the whole of this    
scene1 to fancy nature presiding in     
person  and executing her own orders    
against this unwelcome intruder1 who as 
he  is bent fairly double with hard     
labour1 and can no longer get employment
  in the regular market1 has no claim of
 right 7as our author  emphatically     
expresses it7 to the smallest portion of
 food1 and in fact  has no business to  
be where he is4 ,the preference which is
 often given  to the inferior animals   
over the human species by the           
institutions and  customs of society is 
bad enough4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus wishes to
 go farther4  ,by the institutions of   
society a rich man is at liberty to give

 his  superabundance either to the poor 
or to his dogs4 ,mr4 ,malthus will not  
allow him this liberty1 but says that by
 the laws of nature he is bound  to give
 it to his dogs1 because if we suffer   
the poor to work upon our  compassion at
 all1 this will only embolden their     
importunity1 #8and the  order and       
harmony that before reigned at nature's 
feast will be  disturbed and changed    
into want and confusion4' ,this might   
probably be  the consequence1 if the    
rich1 or the chief guests had provided  
the  entertainment for themselves2 or if
 nature1 like a liberal hostess1 had    
kindly provided it for them1 at her own 
proper cost and expence1 without  any   
obligations to the poor4 ,it might be   
necessary in this case for  those who   
had either provided the feast1 or been  
expressly invited to  it1 to keep a     
pretty strict hand over those idle and  
disorderly persons1  to whose           
importunity there was no end4 ,but the  
question really is1 not  whether all    

those should be supplied who press      
forward into the hall  without having   
contributed any thing to the plenty that
 abounds1 but  whether after the        
different guests have contributed       
largely1 each of  them having brought   
his share and more than his share1 the  
proprietors  of the mansion have a right
 to turn them all out again1 and only   
leave a  few scraps or coarse bits to be
 flung to them out of the windows1 or   
handed to them outside the door4 ,or    
whether if every man was allowed to  eat
 the mess which he had brought with him 
in quiet1 he would  immediately go out1 
and bring in half a dozen more1 so that 
he would  have nothing left for himself1
 and the hall would be instantly        
overcrowded4 ,this statement is1 ,i     
believe1 considerably nearer the truth  
than ,mr4 ,malthus's4 ,and if so1 we can
 have little difficulty in deciding     
whether there is any ground for ,mr4    
,malthus's apprehensions of the  danger 
of raising the condition of the poor1 or

 relieving the distresses  to which1 in 
their present unnatural and unnecessary 
state of  degradation1 they are         
unavoidably subject4 #8,the spectacle of
 misery and  dependence' never arises   
from the scantiness of the provision1 or
 from  the nearly equal shares1 in which
 it is divided1 giving encouragement to 
a greater number of applicants2 for     
those helpless intruders1 against  whom 
,mr4 ,malthus issues such strict orders1
 namely the rising  generation1 never   
come into the world till they are sent  
for1 and it is  not likely that those   
who find themselves warm in their seats 
with every  thing comfortable about them
 and nothing to complain of1 should when
  there is really no room for fresh     
comers1 send for more people to shove   
them out of their places1 and eat the   
victuals out of their mouths4 #8,the    
,abb ,raynal has said that1 8,avant     
toutes les loix sociales l'homme avoit  
le droit de subsister40 ,he might with  
just as much propriety have said1  that 

before the institution of social laws1  
every man had a right to  live a hundred
 years4 ,undoubtedly he had then1 and   
has still1 a good  right to live a      
hundred years1 nay a thousand if he can1
 without  interfering with the right of 
others to live2 but the affair1 in both 
cases1 is principally an affair of      
power1 not of right4 ,social laws very  
greatly increase this power1 by enabling
 a much greater number to  subsist than 
could subsist without them1 and so far  
very greatly enlarge  le droit de       
subsister2 but neither before nor after 
the institution of  social laws1 could  
an unlimited number subsist2 and before1
 as well as  since1 he who ceased to    
have the power1 ceased to have the      
right4'  ,in this passage ,mr4 ,malthus 
#8sharpens his understanding upon his   
flinty  heart4' ,the logic is smart and 
lively and unembarrassed3 it is not     
encumbered with any of the awkward      
feelings of humanity4 ,after all1 he    
misses his aim4 ,for his argument proves

 that the right of subsistence or  one  
man's right to live is only limited by  
its interfering with the  right of      
others to live3 that is1 that a man has 
then only no right to  live1 when there 
is nothing for him to live upon2 in     
which case the  question becomes an     
affair of power1 not of right4 ,but it  
is not the  question whether the        
proprietor should starve himself in     
order that the  labourer may live2 but  
whether the proprietor has a right to   
live in  extravagance and luxury1 while 
the labourer is starving4 ,as to his    
absolute right to the produce of the    
soil1 that is to say1 of the labour  of 
others1 we have seen that he has no such
 right either to the whole of  the      
surplus produce1 or to as much of it as 
he pleases4 ,with respect  then to the  
share of the produce which the labourer 
has a right to  demand1 #8it is not     
likely that he should exchange his      
labour1 without  receiving a sufficient 
quantity of food in return1' to enable  

him to  live1 unless the right of the   
proprietor to exact the labour of others
  on what terms he chuses1 is seconded  
by a kind of power1 which has very      
little connection with the power of the 
earth to bring forth no more  produce4  
,as to the right of the rich1 in a moral
 point of view1 wantonly  to starve the 
poor1 it is ,i think best to say nothing
 about it4 ,social  institutions1 on    
which our author lays great stress as   
enlarging the  power of subsistence and 
the right along with it1 do not deny    
relief to  the poor4 ,for this very     
reason ,mr4 ,malthus wishes to shoulder 
them  aside1 in order to make room for  
certain regulations of his own1 more    
agreeable to the laws of nature and the 
principle of population4 ,a  little     
farther on he says1 #8,as a previous    
step even to any considerable           
alteration in the present system1 which 
would contract or stop the  increase of 
the relief to be given1 it appears to me
 that we are bound  in justice and      

honour #8formally to disclaim the right 
of the poor to  support4' ,it would be  
more modest in ,mr4 ,malthus to let them
 disclaim  it for themselves4 ,but it   
appears that the reason for contracting 
the  relief afforded them by the present
 system1 and denying the right          
altogether1 is that there is no         
subsistence for an unlimited number4 ,as
  to the point at which it may be       
prudent or proper for the rich to       
withhold assistance from the poor1 ,i   
shall not enquire into it4 ,but ,i      
shall dispute ,mr4 ,malthus's right to  
thrust the poor man out of  existence   
because there is no room for him #8at   
nature's mighty feast1'  till he can    
give some better reason for it than that
 there is not room  for an unlimited    
number6--,the maintainance of the needy 
poor is a tax  on the inequality of     
conditions and the luxuries of the rich1
 which they  could not enjoy but in     
consequence of that general depression  
of the  lower classes which continually 

subjects them to difficulties and want4 
,it is a douceur to keep them quiet1 and
 prevent them from enforcing  those more
 solid1 and important claims1 not       
interfering with the right  of property1
 but a direct consequence of the right  
of personal freedom1  and of their right
 to set their own price on their own    
exertions1 which  would raise them above
 the reach of want1 and enable them to  
maintain  their own poor4 ,but they     
cannot do this without a general        
combination  of the labouring part of   
the community2 and if any thing of this 
kind  were to be attempted1 the         
legislature we know would instantly     
interfere  to prevent it4 ,i know indeed
 that the legislature assumes a right to
  prevent combinations of the poor to   
keep themselves above want1 though  they
 disclaim any right to meddle with      
monopolies of corn1 or other            
combinations in the regular course of   
trade1 by which the rich and  thriving  
endeavour to grind the poor4 ,but though

 the men of property  have thus retained
 the legislature on their side1 ,mr4    
,malthus does not  think this practical 
security sufficient3 he thinks it       
absolutely  necessary to recur to first 
principles2 and that they may see how   
well  qualified he is to act as chamber 
counsel in the business1 he makes them  
a present of his ,essay1 written        
expressly for the purpose1 and          
containing a new institute of the laws  
of nature1 and a complete theory  of    
population1 in which it is clearly      
proved that the poor have no right  to  
live any longer than the rich will let  
them4 ,in this work which those  to whom
 it is addressed should have bound in   
morocco1 and constantly  lying by them  
as a text-book to refer to in all cases 
of difficulty1 it  is shewn that there  
is no injustice in forcing the poorer   
classes to  work almost for nothing1    
because they have no right to the       
produce of  their labour1 and no        
inhumanity in denying them assistance   

when they  happen to be in want1 because
 they ought not to be encouraged in     
idleness4 ,thus armed with              
#8metaphysical aid1' and                
conscience-proof1 the  rich will ,i     
should think be able very successfully  
to resist the unjust  claims of the     
poor--to a subsistence6    ,neither the 
fundamental laws of property then1 nor  
the principle of  population seem to    
imply the necessity of any great        
inequality of  conditions4 ,they do not 
even require the distinction of rich and
 poor1  much less do they imply the     
right of the rich to starve the poor4   
,what  shews that there must be some    
radical defect in our author's reasoning
  is1 that a substantial equality does  
really prevail in several  countries1   
where the right of property is          
established1 and where the  principle of
 population has been known to exist for 
a great length of  time4 ,property may  
certainly be made a handle for power2   
and that power  may1 and does almost    

constantly lead to abuse1 ,i mean to    
want and  wretchedness4 ,but neither the
 power nor the abuse is any part of the 
original right2 and the original end and
 design of the right itself1  namely to 
procure a sufficient supply for the     
actual population1 and to  prevent an   
unlimited increase of population1 is    
just as well1 or indeed  much better    
answered without1 than with the         
abuse4--,but perhaps we  have mistaken  
,mr4 ,malthus all this while4 ,perhaps  
he only wishes to  secure to the rich   
their original right1 which is to       
reserve a certain  share of the produce 
for their own use2 and to prevent their 
being  driven out of house and home by  
the poor1 under pretence of population4 
,he seems to say in one place1 that the 
fund appropriated to the  maintenance of
 labour is the aggregate quantity of    
food possessed by the  owners of land   
beyond what is necessary for their own  
immediate  consumption4 ,he says this1  
or something like it4 ,in this case1 it 

is  evident1 that #8no man would be     
forced to exchange his labour without   
receiving an ample quantity of food in  
return4' ,at this rate the  labourer    
would be as rich1 only not so idle as   
the proprietor4 ,the only  difference   
between them would be that one of them  
would get his share  for nothing1 and   
the other would be obliged to work for  
it4 ,it would in  fact be a common fund 
divided equally between the rich and    
poor1 or more  properly speaking1       
between the sleeping and the acting     
partners in this  joint-concern4 ,if so1
 ,i do not see what the poor could have 
to complain  of1 as1 if they were ever  
in want1 it must be owing to their own  
idleness1 extravagance1 and imprudence1 
and they would deserve to be  punished4 
,now ,mr4 ,malthus is ready to prove    
with a pair of compasses  that this is  
always the state of the case4 ,the poor 
are always just as  well off as the     
rich1 if it is not their own fault1 and 
the want in  which they are sometimes   

plunged is not owing to an unequal      
division of  the shares among as many as
 can possibly subsist1 but to the folly 
of  pushing population beyond the verge 
of subsistence4 ,by this means there  is
 nothing left for those who come last1  
who have consequently no right  to be   
where they are1 because there is nothing
 for them4 #8,the quantity  of food'    
7says ,mr4 ,malthus7 #8which one man can
 consume is necessarily  limited by the 
narrow capacity of the human stomach2 it
 is not certainly  probable that he     
should throw away the rest2 and if he   
exchange his  surplus produce for the   
labour of others1 this is better than   
that these  others should absolutely    
starve4' ,here then we see the necessary
 limits  of the inequality of           
conditions1 or of the almost            
imperceptible  difference in the        
advantages which the rich have over the 
poor4 ,but is  there really then no     
difference between being gorged and not 
being  starved1 between eating venison  

and turtle-soup1 and drinking three     
bottles of wine a-day1 and living on    
crusts of bread and water8 ,is it       
physically impossible that one man      
should eat more than does him good1  or 
that another should not get his full    
share8 ,but it may be asked1 what       
advantage can it be to the rich to      
consume more than they want8 ,none4     
,but the food which is thus misapplied1 
might be of great use to the  poor4 ,is 
there no such thing as waste in great   
houses1 which must  considerably        
diminish the disproportion between the  
quantity of food1  and the narrow       
capacity of the human stomach8 ,when ,i 
consider that the  rich are neither a   
bit taller1 nor stouter1 nor born with  
larger  stomachs than other men1 it does
 indeed seem at first sight a little    
extraordinary that they should make such
 havoc in the world as they do4  ,but   
the wonder vanishes the instant we      
recollect that crowd of  dependents     
always dangling about them1 who         

intercept the surplus produce  long     
before it can reach the labourer1 and   
who instead of dividing his  toil with  
the husbandman1 or sharing in other     
tasks not less useful or  necessary are 
maintained by the distresses and        
hardships of the poor4 ,a  rich man has 
not only himself and his family to keep1
 but he has to keep  his gentlemen1 his 
valet1 his butler1 his cook1 his        
coachman1 his groom1  his horses1 his   
hounds1 his ornamental gardener1 his    
architect1 his  upholsterer1 his        
jeweller1 his silversmith1 his          
man's-mercer1 and  haberdasher1 his     
pimps1 parasites1 and players1 his      
poets1 painters1 and  musicians1 not to 
mention a hundred more1 who are of no   
service on the  face of the earth1 nor  
have any mortal thing to do--but to tend
 upon his  person1 to dress his hair1 to
 brush his clothes1 or air his shirt1 to
  run on his errands1 to do his jobs1 to
 manage his affairs1 to please his      
taste1 to pamper his appetites1 to study

 his humours1 to follow his  steps1 to  
fawn and cringe and bow and smile as he 
directs4 ,all these  persons depend     
entirely on the bounty of their patron2 
and though they  do nothing to increase 
the produce of the ground1 they do not  
devour it  the less eagerly1 and it may 
be supposed that they make a good gap in
  it4 ,in the mean time1 the productive 
labourer1 and hard-working mechanic  are
 straitened in their circumstances1 and 
doomed to unremitting toil  and         
drudgery1 that these hangers-on of the  
rich may live at their ease1  or        
contribute only to the vanity and       
convenience of their employers4  ,this  
as ,i understand it is the pinch of the 
grievance4--,the rich man has  not only 
to supply his own wants1 but the wants  
of those who depend upon  him1 and who  
do nothing to support either him or     
themselves4 ,he is  something in the    
situation of a balance-master1 who      
undertakes to  support twenty men1 some 
on his head1 some on his shoulders1 and 

others  suspended from different parts  
of his body3 his own weight is nothing3 
it is the weight of those who hang upon 
him that makes the rich man a  burthen  
to the poor4 ,i see a little old        
emaciated man riding on a poney  along  
the street1 and a stout healthy1 well   
looking man riding behind  him at some  
distance1 who follows him like his      
puppet1 who turns as he  turns1 and     
whenever he passes him touches his hat  
in a respectful  manner4 ,what is the   
meaning of this8 ,it is a nobleman1 and 
his servant4  ,the man is as well-fed1  
as comfortably clothed1 and as          
well-mounted as  his master3 what makes 
all the difference is1 that there are   
thirty or  forty gradations of society  
between them1 each looking up with envy1
 or  down with contempt on the other1 as
 they have more or less power over  the 
necessaries and conveniences of life not
 for themselves1 but others1  and so can
 hire the respect of a certain number of
 dependents4 ,so little  can we judge of

 the state of society in the mechanical 
way pointed out  by ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,but 
it is time to proceed with my author4   
#8,as ,mr4 ,godwin seems disposed to    
understand1 and candidly to admit the   
truth of1 the principal argument in the 
essay1 ,i feel the more  mortified1 that
 he should think it a fair inference    
from my positions1  that the political  
superintendents of a community are bound
 to exercise  a paternal vigilance and  
care over the two great means of        
advantage and  safety to mankind1 misery
 and vice2 and that no evil is more to  
be  dreaded than that we should have too
 little of them in the world1 to        
confine the principle of population     
within its proper sphere4' ,this ,i     
think a fair statement of the argument4 
#8,i am at a loss to conceive  what     
class of evils ,mr4 ,godwin imagines is 
yet behind1 which these  salutary checks
 are to prevent4' ,it is not ,mr4       
,godwin's business1 but  our author's to
 find out such a class of evils4 #8,for 

my own part1 ,i  know of no stronger or 
more general terms than vice and misery2
 and the  sole question is1 respecting a
 greater or less degree of them4 ,the   
only  reason why ,i object to ,mr4      
,godwin's system1 is1 my full conviction
 that  an attempt to execute it1 would  
very greatly increase the quantity of   
vice and misery in society4'    ,be it  
so4 ,but still ,mr4 ,malthus thinks a   
less degree of them necessary  to       
prevent a greater2 and it therefore     
seems a fair inference from his         
positions to say1 that the greatest care
 ought to be taken1 not to  diminish the
 necessary quantity4 ,he approves much  
of the things in his  own mind1 but he  
does not like to hear them called by    
their names in a  disrespectful way4 ,he
 does not like the odium attached to    
them4    #8,mr4 ,godwin observes1 that  
he should naturally be disposed to      
pronounce  that man strangely           
indifferent to schemes of extraordinary 
improvement  in society1 who made it a  

conclusive argument against them1 that1 
when  they were realized1 they might    
peradventure be of no permanence and    
duration4 ,and yet1 what is morality1   
individual or political1 according  to  
,mr4 ,godwin's own definition of it1 but
 a calculation of  consequences8' ,this1
 ,i must say1 is a very abortive kind of
  argument4 #8,is the physician the     
patron of pain1 who advises his patient 
to bear a present evil1 rather than     
betake himself to a remedy1 which1      
though it might give momentary relief1  
would afterwards greatly  aggravate all 
the symptoms8' ,the real case is of a   
physician1 who tells  his patient he    
must not get well1 and endeavours to    
keep him from doing  so1 because if he  
were once in perfect health1 he would be
 subject to  more violent returns of his
 disorder4 #8,is the moralist to be     
called an  enemy to pleasure1 because he
 recommends to a young man just entering
  into life1 not to ruin his health and 
patrimony in a few years1 by an  excess 

of present gratifications1 but to       
economize his enjoyments1 that  he may  
spread them over a longer period8' ,our 
,essayist would advise the  young man to
 neglect his affairs1 and ruin his      
health1 because by a  contrary method   
his estate would increase so that he    
would not be able  to manage it1 and it 
would be thrown into complete and total 
disorder1  at the same time that his    
improved health and spirits would urge  
him to  plunge into much greater        
excesses1 than1 if his constitution were
  debilitated in time1 he would be      
capable of committing4 #8,of ,mr4       
,godwin's system1 according to the      
present arguments by which it is        
supported1 it is not enough to say1     
peradventure it will be of no           
permanence3 but we can pronounce with   
certainty that it will be of no         
permanence3 and under such circumstances
 an attempt to execute it would         
unquestionably be a great political     
immorality4' ,according to the  present 

arguments against it1 this has not      
appeared to be the case4    #8,the      
permission of infanticide is bad enough1
 and cannot but have a bad  effect on   
the moral sensibility of a nation2 but  
,i cannot conceive any  thing much more 
detestable1 or shocking to the feelings1
 than any direct  regulation of this    
kind1 although sanctioned by the names  
of ,plato and  ,aristotle4' ,mr4        
,malthus in this passage very properly  
gives way to his  feelings1 which are1  
in my opinion1 a much better test of    
morality than  a calculation of         
consequences4 ,at the same time1 he     
would himself make a  law to starve the 
children of the poor1 because their     
parents are not  able to maintain them4 
,mr4 ,malthus's humanity is of the      
intermittent  sort4 ,the mention of the 
,chinese1 of ,plato or ,aristotle1 has a
 great  effect in bringing the fit on3  
at the mention of population or the     
poor-laws it vanishes in an instant1 and
 #8he is himself again4'--,i hope ,i    

shall sometimes be allowed to appeal to 
my feelings against ,mr4  ,malthus's    
authority1 as he dissents from that of  
,plato and ,aristotle on  the same      
unphilosophical plea1 and to look upon  
those arguments as  narrow and          
superficial1 which pay no regard to     
#8the moral sensibility of  a nation'2  
the more so as the system of morality   
prevailing at present  is built upon the
 natural affections and common feelings 
and habitual  prejudices of mankind1    
not1 as ,mr4 ,malthus pretends1 on pure 
reason1 or  a dry calculation of        
consequences4 ,our author's plan is     
addressed  neither to the head1 nor     
heart4 ,it retains the common sympathies
 of  our nature only to shock and insult
 them1 and engrafts the vices of a  bad 
heart on a perverted understanding4     
,mr4 ,malthus defies ,mr4 ,godwin to    
point out a method1 by which it is      
possible #8to limit the number of       
children to each prolific marriage4'    
,according to his theory1 there seems no

 way but by having a constable in  the  
room1 and converting bed-chambers into a
 kind of lock-up  houses4--,speaking of 
the possibility of delaying the         
gratification of the  passion between   
the sexes1 he says1    #8,if the whole  
effect were to depend merely on a sense 
of duty1  considering the powerful      
antagonist that is to be contended with1
 in the  present case1 ,i confess that  
,i should absolutely despair4 ,at the   
same  time1 ,i am strongly of opinion   
that a sense of duty1 superadded to a   
sense of interest1 would by no means be 
without its effect4 ,there are  many    
noble and disinterested spirits1 who1   
though aware of the  inconveniences     
which they may bring upon themselves by 
the indulgence of  an early and virtuous
 passion1 feel a kind of repugnance to  
listen to  the dictates of mere worldly 
prudence1 and a pride in rejecting these
  low considerations4 ,there is a kind  
of romantic gallantry in sacrificing    
all for love1 naturally fascinating to a

 young mind2 and1 to say the  truth1 if 
all is to be sacrificed1 ,i do not know1
 in what better cause  it can be done4  
,but if a strong sense of duty could1 in
 these instances1  be added to          
prudential suggestions1 the whole       
question might wear a  different colour4
 ,in delaying the gratification of      
passion1 from a sense  of duty1 the most
 disinterested spirit1 the most delicate
 honour1 might  be satisfied4 ,the      
romantic pride might take a different   
direction1 and  the dictates of worldly 
prudence might be followed with the     
cheerful  consciousness of making a     
virtuous sacrifice4'    ,i am happy to  
learn that ,mr4 ,malthus has been able  
to reconcile the  sense of duty and     
interest with the gratification of his  
favourite  passion4 ,by preaching the   
virtue of celibacy with such success to 
others1 he found it no longer necessary 
to practise it himself4 ,he is  not the 
first philosopher who extracted the     
flames of love out of ice4  ,we read of 

such a one in ,hudibras4 ,i should be   
sorry to scandalize the  modest reader2 
but really whenever ,i think of our     
author's escape from  the consequences  
of his own doctrine in a wife1 it puts  
me in mind of  ,st4 ,francis's triumph  
over his desires1                       
#8,which after in enjoyment quenching1  
,he hung a garland on his engine4'      
,this ,st4 ,francis was as great an     
adept as our author in the cold-sweat   
of the passions4    ,there is no end of 
,mr4 ,malthus's paradoxes4 ,i come now  
to his attempts  to prove that in       
proportion as you raise the wages of the
 poor1 you take  away their livelihood4 
#8,suppose1 that by a subscription of   
the rich1 the eighteen-pence1 or two    
shillings1 which men earn now1 were made
 up five shillings1 it might be         
imagined1 perhaps1 that they would then 
be able to live comfortably1 and  have a
 piece of meat every day for their      
dinner4 ,but this would be a  very false
 conclusion4 ,the transfer of three     

additional shillings a day  to each     
labourer would not increase the quantity
 of meat in the country4  ,there is not 
at present enough for all to have a     
moderate share4 ,what  would then be the
 consequence8 ,the competition among the
 buyers in the  market of meat1 would   
rapidly raise the price from eight pence
 or nine  pence1 to two or three        
shillings in the pound1 and the         
commodity would  not be divided among   
many more than it is at present4 ,when  
an article is  scarce1 and cannot be    
distributed to all1 he that can shew the
 most  valid patent1 that is1 he that   
offers the most money1 becomes the      
possessor4 ,when subsistence is scarce  
in proportion to the number of  people1 
it is of little consequence1 whether the
 lowest members of the  society possess 
two shillings or five4 ,they must1 at   
all events1 be  reduced to live upon the
 hardest fare1 and in the smallest      
quantity4'    ,again1 some pages after  
he says1 #8,the question is1 how far    

wealth has a  tendency to better the    
condition of the labouring poor4 ,it is 
a  self-evident proposition that any    
general advance in the price of  labour1
 the stock of provisions remaining the  
same1 can only be a  nominal advance1 as
 it must shortly be followed by a       
proportional rise  in provisions4 ,the  
increase in the price of labour which we
 have  supposed1 would have no permanent
 effect therefore in giving to the      
labouring poor a greater command over   
the necessaries of life4'    ,on these  
two passages which explain the drift of 
our author's reasonings  pretty clearly1
 ,i shall remark1 first1 that wealth is 
nothing but the  power of securing to   
yourself the fruits of the earth1 or    
commanding the  labour of others4 ,the  
more equal distribution of wealth1 or   
the throwing  a greater quantity of     
money 7bona fide7 into the hands of the 
poor  must therefore enable them to     
procure either a greater share of       
provisions or of the labour of others1  

or both4 ,this ,i hold to be an  axiom1 
as far as ,i can comprehend the subject4
 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus says that  if the   
wages of the poor were raised to double 
or treble what they are  at present1    
this in the first place would not       
increase the quantity of  meat in the   
market1 nor the share which the labourer
 would have of it1  because any advance 
in the price of labour must be followed 
by a  proportional rise in provisions4  
,this word is equivocal4 ,to make out   
the argument1 the rise ought to be not  
only proportional but equal to  the rise
 of wages1 which it evidently would not 
be4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus is  willing to   
exclude the possibility of bettering the
 condition of the  poor1 even in theory1
 by an equivoque1 or any thing else4    
,but to put  an end to this miserable   
quackery1 ,i would ask1 whether if the  
rich were  to divide their incomes with 
the poor1 the latter would be any the   
richer for it4 ,to say in this case1    
that the good things of the world  would

 not be shared more equally among them1 
is flat nonsense4 ,but any  approach to 
a more equal division of wealth must    
lessen the difference  between the rich 
and the poor proportionally4 ,it is true
 that the  lowest members of the        
community will still live upon the      
hardest fare1  and in the smallest      
quantity3 but their fare will be less   
hard and in  larger quantities than it  
used to be1 in proportion to the advance
 in  the price of labour4    #8,it may  
at first appear strange1 but ,i believe 
it is true1 that ,i cannot  by means of 
money1 raise the condition of a poor    
man1 and enable him to  live much better
 than he did before1 without            
proportionably depressing  others in the
 same class4 ,if ,i retrench the        
quantity of food consumed in  my house1 
and give him what ,i have cut off1 ,i   
then benefit him without  depressing any
 but myself and family1 who perhaps may 
be well able to  bear it4 ,if ,i turn up
 a piece of uncultivated land1 and give 

him the  produce1 ,i then benefit both  
him and all the members of society1     
because  what he before consumed is     
thrown into the common stock1 and1      
probably1  some of the new produce with 
it4 ,but if ,i only give him money1     
supposing  the produce of the country to
 remain the same1 ,i give him a title to
 a  larger share of that produce than   
formerly1 which share he cannot  receive
 without diminishing the shares of      
others4 ,it is evident1 that  this      
effect in individual instances must be  
so small as to be totally               
imperceptible2 but still it must exist1 
as many other effects do1 which1  like  
some of the insects that people the air1
 elude our grosser  perceptions4'    ,it
 will be sufficient to ask in answer to 
this passage1 whether when ,i  give away
 my money to another1 ,i do not         
necessarily retrench the  quantity of   
food or other things consumed in my own 
house1 and give him  what ,i have cut   
off4 ,i give him a title to a larger    

share of the common  produce by         
diminishing my own share4 ,it does not  
matter to the  community whether he or  
,i spend the money3 the only difference 
that it  makes is between               
ourselves4--,mr4 ,malthus seems to have 
a notion that the  rich are never the   
worse for their charities4              
#8,supposing the quantity of food in any
 country1 to remain the same for  many  
years together1 it is evident1 that this
 food must be divided  according to the 
value of each man's patent1 or the sum  
of money which  he can afford to spend  
in this commodity so universally in     
request4 ,it  is a demonstrative truth1 
therefore1 that the patents of one set  
of men  could not be increased in value1
 without diminishing the value of the   
patents of some other set of men4'      
,at any rate1 then1 the poor would be   
enabled to contend with the rich4  ,the 
increased value of the patents of the   
poor would necessarily  diminish the    
value of the patents of the rich4 ,in   

order to out-bid them1  they must make  
some other sacrifices1 which they will  
not always be  willing to do4 ,food to  
the rich is in a great measure an       
article of  luxury3 to the poor it is a 
necessary2 and the one1 about which they
 are  chiefly concerned4 ,many a        
petit-matre1 and ape of fashion goes    
without his dinner to pay for his coat1 
or go to the play1 #8where he  picks    
clean teeth1' c4    #8,no person1 ,i    
believe1 will venture to doubt1 that1 if
 we were to give  three additional      
shillings a day to every labouring man  
in the kingdom1  as ,i before supposed1 
in order that he might have meat for his
 dinner1  the price of meat would rise  
in the most rapid and unexampled        
manner4'    ,mr4 ,malthus here creeps   
on4 ,he first spoke of a number of      
individuals as  having a certain sum    
given them4 ,he now includes every      
labouring man in  the kingdom4 ,because 
if we were to give five shillings a day 
to five  hundred thousand men1 the      

remaining five hundred thousand might be
 the  worse for it1 therefore he would  
have us suppose that the same or        
greater mischiefs would follow from     
giving the same sum to the whole        
number1 or in fact from doing away that 
very inequality1 which was the  only    
source of the mischief4 ,to suppose that
 we can allow five shillings  a-day to  
five hundred1 or ten hundred thousand   
people without  retrenching from our own
 superfluities1 or that we can          
distribute our  own patents among others
 without diminishing our own number1 is 
one of  those perversities which ,i     
shall not attempt to answer4 ,if the    
labourer  with his three shillings extra
 is only able to purchase an ounce of   
meat1 this will be an advantage to him4 
,let the rise be what it will1  the rich
 man will evidently be less able to     
out-bid him than he is at  present1 and 
the rise can only be in proportion to   
his capacity to  out-bid him4 ,besides1 
it is not to be supposed that his       

additional gains  would all be laid out 
in meat1 but in articles of trade1 c4   
which would  be rendered cheaper by the 
neglect of the rich1 or in proportion to
 the  run upon provisions4 ,to assert   
generally that increasing the wages of  
the poor does not give them a greater   
command over the necessaries of  life1  
is as much as to say that if they were  
forced to work for nothing1  and could  
get nothing to eat1 this would lower the
 markets1 and they  would be much better
 off than they were before4 ,it would be
 looked upon  as an insult1 rather than 
a consolation1 to tell them that they   
ought to  be contented with the         
cheapness of provisions1 and to consider
 that  allowing them any thing for their
 labour1 would only raise the price of  
meat by enabling them to buy some of it 
to satisfy their hunger4    ,how things 
being cheap or dear1 or how there being 
much or little to  spare1 proves that   
that much1 or little will not be divided
 according to  the ability of different 

people to pay for it1 is beyond my      
comprehension4 ,it is ridiculous4 ,it is
 saying that the money of a poor  man   
will not pass1 even when he has it4 ,if 
the poor in consequence of  having more 
money1 or being richer could not draw to
 themselves a  greater portion of food1 
there could be no room for competition1 
nor for  an increase in the price or the
 demand4    #8,the poor who were        
assisted by their parishes had no reason
 whatever to  complain of the high price
 of grain2 because it was the           
excessiveness of  this price1 and this  
alone1 which1 by enforcing such a       
saving1 left a  greater quantity of     
corn1 for the consumption of the lowest 
classes1  which corn1 the parish        
allowances enabled them to command4'    
,yet ,mr4  ,malthus has just tried to   
persuade us1 that the increased price of
  provisions1 occasioned by the         
competition of the poor1 does not       
enforce  any retrenchment of the        
superfluities of the higher classes1 or 

leave a  greater quantity of corn1 for  
the consumption of the lower classes4   
#8,the greatest sufferers in the        
scarcity were undoubtedly the classes   
immediately above the poor2 and these   
were in the most marked manner          
depressed by the excessive bounties     
given to those below them4' ,it is      
better that these classes should be     
depressed than those below them1        
because they can bear it better4 ,is it 
an argument that because the  pressure  
of a scarcity does not fall directly    
upon those who can bear it  best1 viz4  
the very rich1 that it should therefore 
fall upon those1 who  can bear it least1
 viz4 on the very poor8 ,unless ,mr4    
,malthus can  contrive to starve some   
one1 he thinks he does nothing4 #8,this 
distribution by giving to the poorer    
classes a command of food1 so much      
greater than their degree of skill and  
industry entitled them to1 in the       
actual circumstances of the country1    
diminished1 exactly in the same         

proportion1 that command over the       
necessaries of life1 which the classes  
above them1 by their superior skill and 
industry1 would naturally  possess4' ,is
 a man then to starve on account of his 
want of skill8 ,to  tack industry to    
skill as if the lowest classes did not  
work the hardest  is impudence indeed4  
#8,and it may be a question1 whether the
 degree of  assistance which the poor   
received1 and which prevented them from 
resorting to the use of those           
substitutes1 which1 in every other      
country1 on such occasions1 the great   
law of necessity teaches1 was not  more 
than overbalanced by the severity of the
 pressure on so large a  body of people 
from the extreme high prices1 and the   
permanent evil  which must result from  
forcing so many persons on the parish1  
who before  thought themselves almost   
out of the reach of want4'    ,it is a  
contradiction to say1 that the poor were
 forced on the parish by  the assistance
 they received from it4 ,if they were to

 be denied this  assistance from a      
tender regard for their morals and      
independence1 it is  a pity that the    
same disinterested motives1 joined to   
the #8severe  pressure' of the high     
prices on the classes above the poor1   
did not  induce some of them to         
condescend to the use of those cheap and
  wholesome substitutes recommended by  
,mr4 ,malthus1 by which means they      
would have saved their own pockets1 and 
not have #8forced so many persons  on   
the parish4'    #8,if we were to double 
the fortunes of all those who possess   
above a  hundred a year1 the effect on  
the price of grain would be slow and    
inconsiderable2 but if we were to double
 the price of labour throughout  the    
kingdom1 the effect1 in raising the     
price of grain1 would be rapid  and     
great4'    ,i do not see the harm of    
this rise4 ,it would be in consequence  
of1 and  would denote the number of     
bellies that were filled that had not   
been  filled before4 ,mr4 ,malthus in   

this passage seems to prefer a little   
evil  to a great good4    #8,the parish 
rates and the prodigious sum expended in
 voluntary charity1  must have had a    
most powerful effect in raising the     
price of the  necessaries of life1 if   
any reliance can be placed on the       
clearest  general principles1 confirmed 
as much as possible by appearances4 ,a  
man  with a family1 has received1 to my 
knowledge1 fourteen shillings a  week   
from the parish4' ,shocking to be sure4 
#8,his common earnings were  ten        
shillings a week1 and his weekly        
revenue1 therefore1 twenty-four4        
,before the scarcity1 he had been in the
 habit of purchasing a bushel of  flour 
a week with eight shillings perhaps1 and
 consequently had two  shillings out of 
his ten1 to spare for other necessaries4
 ,during the  scarcity1 he was enabled  
to purchase the same quantity at nearly 
three  times the price4 ,he paid        
twenty-two shillings for his bushel of  
flour1  and had1 as before1 two         

shillings remaining for other wants4'   
,good3 but  does ,mr4 ,malthus deny that
 the scarcity would of itself have      
raised the  price of wheat8 ,and in that
 case if the labourer had had no        
addition to  his #8weekly revenue1'     
instead of having the large sum of two  
shillings  at the end of the week to lay
 out in other necessaries1 he would have
  had nothing4 ,perhaps ,mr4 ,malthus is
 ready to prove1 that half a bushel  of 
corn will go farther with a poor family 
in a time of scarcity than a  whole one1
 because they would husband it more     
carefully4 #8,such  instances could not 
possibly have been universal1 without   
raising the  price of wheat much higher 
than it really was during any part of   
the  dearth4 ,but similar instances were
 by no means infrequent1 and the  system
 itself1 of measuring the relief given  
by the price of grain1 was  general4'   
,i cannot conceive of any better rule4  
,but the gentleman is alarmed at  the   
voluntary contributions extorted from   

the rich4 ,after all1 ,i do  not see how
 the rich would suffer by their great   
charity1 if1 as our  author says1 the   
poor got nothing by it4 ,i would ask1   
were the rich ever  in danger of        
starving in the late scarcity1 and were 
not the poor in  danger of it1 and would
 they not have starved1 but for the     
assistance  given to them8 ,is it better
 that the poor should starve than that  
the  rich should be at the expence of   
relieving them8 ,or if the pressure in  
scarce times falls on the middle        
classes1 have they to complain1 that    
they1 in whom #8life and death may      
always be said to contend for  victory1'
 are still just kept alive1 or that the 
sleek and pampered  continue to fatten  
on the distresses of others8 ,the false 
feeling which  runs through all ,mr4    
,malthus's reasonings on this subject   
is1 that the  upper classes cannot be   
expected to retrench any of their       
superfluities1  to lie at the mercy of  
the seasons1 or to contribute any thing 

to the  general necessity1 but that the 
whole burthen of a scarcity ought to    
fall on those whom ,mr4 ,malthus calls  
#8the least fortunate members of the    
community1' on those who are most used  
to distress1 and in whom the  transition
 is easy and natural from poverty to    
famine6 #8,they lay heavy  burthens on  
the poor and needy1 which they will not 
touch with one of  their fingers4'      
,would it not be worth our author's     
while to comment on  this text1 and shew
 how little it has been understood8--,i 
remember to  have heard of but one      
instance of a real1 effectual1 and      
judicious  determination in the rich to 
retrench idle and superfluous waste and 
expence1 some years ago at a time when  
the poor were in want of bread4  ,it    
originated in a great and noble family1 
where seventy or eighty  servants were  
kept1 and where twenty or thirty guests 
of the first  distinction #8fared       
sumptuously every day4' ,these humane   
and enlightened  persons1 struck with   

the difference between their own good   
fortune1 and  the necessities of others1
 came to a resolution that the pieces of
 bread  which they left at dinner should
 neither be thrown nor given away1 but  
that the bread-baskets should be divided
 into little compartments with  each    
person's name affixed to them1 where he 
could conveniently put the  piece of    
bread which he left1 and have it saved  
till the next day4  ,this humane example
 was much talked of in the              
neighbourhood1 and soon  after followed 
by several of the gentry1 who got their 
bread-baskets  divided into little      
compartments with the different names   
affixed1 and  eat the pieces of bread   
which they left one day1 the day        
after--so that  the poor were thus      
placed completely out of the reach of   
want6    ,mr4 ,malthus next talks about 
the embarrassments of commerce1         
returning  cheapness1 c4 ,now ,i do not 
see1 according to his doctrine1 what    
cheapness has to do with the question4  

,he says1 every thing depends on  the   
quantity of provisions in the country1  
and that this being given1  all the rest
 follows as a matter of course4 ,what   
then does it signify  whether you call a
 piece of paper one pound or two if you 
can get a  proportionable quantity of   
food for your money8    #8,if instead of
 giving the temporary assistance of     
parish allowances1  which might be      
withdrawn on the first fall of price1 we
 had raised  universally the wages of   
labour1 it is evident1 that the         
obstacles to a  diminution of the       
circulation1 and to returning cheapness1
 would have  been still further         
increased2 and the high price of labour 
would have  become permanent1 without   
any advantage whatever to the           
labourer1'--or  disadvantage to the     
proprietor4    #8,there is no one that  
more ardently desires to see a real     
advance in the  price of labour than    
myself2 but the attempt to effect this  
object by  forcibly raising the nominal 

price1 which was practised to a certain 
degree1 and recommended almost          
universally during the late scarcities1 
every thinking man must reprobate as    
puerile and ineffectual4'    #8,the     
price of labour1 when left to find its  
natural level1 is a most  important     
political barometer1 expressing the     
relation between the  supply of         
provisions1 and the demand for them2    
between the quantity to  be consumed1   
and the number of consumers2 and taken  
on the average1  independently of       
accidental circumstances1 it further    
expresses1  clearly1 the wants of the   
society respecting population2 that is1 
whatever may be the number of children  
to a marriage necessary to  maintain    
exactly the present population1 the     
price of labour will be  just sufficient
 to support this number1 or be above it1
 or below it1  according to the state of
 the real funds for the maintainance of 
labour1  whether stationary1            
progressive1 or retrograde4 ,instead1   

however1 of  considering it in this     
light1 we consider it as something which
 we may  raise or depress at pleasure1  
something which depends principally upon
  his majesty's justices of the peace4  
,when an advance in the price of        
provisions already expresses that the   
demand is too great for the  supply1 in 
order to put the labourer in the same   
condition as before1 we  raise the price
 of labour1 that is1 we increase the    
demand1 and are then  much surprised    
that the price of provisions continues  
rising4 ,in this1  we act much in the   
same manner1 as if1 when the quicksilver
 in the  common weather-glass stood at  
stormy1 we were to raise it by some     
forcible pressure to settled fair1 and  
then be greatly astonished that  it     
continued raining4'    ,this is         
certainly a most excellent illustration4
 ,as to the argument  itself1 it is all 
false and hollow4 ,with respect to the  
rise in the  price of provisions        
consequent on the rise of wages1 ,i am  

not ,i confess  at all concerned about  
it1 so that the labourer is still       
enabled to  purchase the same necessary 
quantity as before4 ,all that is wanted 
is  that the one should keep pace with  
the other4 ,what the natural level of   
the price of labour is1 otherwise than  
as it is regulated by the  positive     
institutions of society1 or as ,i have  
before stated1 by the  power of one set 
of men1 and the wants of another        
is--like many other  things in this book
 of ,mr4 ,malthus's--what ,i do not     
understand4 ,if we are  to believe him1 
the whole is a trick4 ,there is a       
pretence of sacrificing  something for  
the relief of the poor in hard times1   
and then the next  thing is to render   
that relief ineffectual1 by out-bidding 
them1 by  lowering the value of money1  
by creating artificial wealth1 and other
  methods4 ,if then the rich are so     
entirely masters of the price of labour 
that they can render it real or nominal 
as they please1 and take good  care     

never to lose by it in the end1 ,i      
should like to know how this most       
important political barometer has any   
relation to real plenty or want3  how it
 expresses any thing more than the will 
of the rich and great2 or  the miserable
 pittance they are willing to allow out 
of the support of  their own extravagant
 and ostentatious establishments to the 
maintainance of the mass of the people4 
,it does indeed express the  relation   
between the supply of provisions1 and   
the demand for them1 c4  supposing that 
a certain number of people are to       
consume four or five  times as much     
7either in quantity or quality7 as the  
others3 and that  this proportion is    
unalterable and one of the laws of      
nature4 ,it further  expresses the wants
 of the society respecting population1  
while this  division continues1 or that 
degree of poverty beyond which it is    
impossible for people to subsist at all4
 ,the object in a scarcity is not       
however to stop the ordinary process of 

population1 but to alleviate the        
distresses of those already in          
existence1 by a more equal distribution 
of the real funds for the maintainance  
of labour4 ,by these funds ,mr4         
,malthus means any arbitrary division of
 the produce of the ground1 which  the  
rich find it convenient to make1 and    
which the poor are forced to  take up   
with as better than nothing4 ,but the   
real funds for the  maintenance of      
labour are the produce of labour4       
,according to ,mr4  ,malthus1 they are  
not the produce itself1 but what happens
 to be left of  it1 as the husks only   
and not the corn are given to the swine4
    #8,the number of servants out of    
place1 and of manufacturers wanting     
employment during the late scarcities1  
were melancholy proofs of the  truth of 
these reasonings4 ,if a general rise in 
the wages of labour had  taken place    
proportioned to the price of provisions1
 none but farmers  and a few gentlemen  
could have afforded to employ the same  

number of  workmen as before4           
,additional crowds of servants and      
manufacturers would  have been turned   
off2 and those who were thus thrown out 
of employment1  would1 of course1 have  
no other refuge than the parish4 ,in the
 natural  order of things1 a scarcity   
must tend to lower1 instead of to raise1
 the  price of labour4'    ,this natural
 order has been already explained to    
mean a very artificial  order4 ,our     
ingenious author is a great admirer of  
moral analogies4 ,he  sticks to the old 
proverb1 those that have little shall   
have less4 #8,the  most laborious and   
deserving part of the community' are to 
bear the  brunt of all distress1        
ordinary and extraordinary4 ,he will not
 suffer  the positive regulations of    
society1 which carry inequality of      
conditions as far almost as it can go in
 common cases1 to relax a little  in    
their favour in extreme cases1 so as not
 to push them quite out of  existence4  
,i know no reason why in the natural    

order of things a  scarcity should tend 
to lower1 instead of raising the price  
of labour2  but upon that common        
principle that the weakest are to go to 
the wall4  ,the rich forsooth are a     
privileged class1 out of the reach of   
fortune1  #8whose solid virtue the shot 
of accident or dart of change can       
neither  graze nor pierce4' ,in the rest
 of this passage1 ,mr4 ,malthus quarrels
  with his own favourite system1 with   
those capricious and arbitrary          
institutions1 in consequence of which   
those who ministered only to the  vanity
 and artificial wants of the rich will  
in times of difficulty be  turned adrift
 and reduced to want1 or else saddled as
 an additional  weight on the common    
labourer1 who had enough to do to       
support them and  their employers under 
the most favourable circumstances4      
,,general ,,answer4--,i wish ,mr4       
,malthus to state explicitly whether he 
means  that the rise in the price of    
labour should be nominal or real4 ,he   

has  shifted his ground four or five    
times on the subject in the course of   
the chapter1 now supposing it to be a   
mere non-entity1 and now fraught  with  
the most terrible consequences1 famine1 
and ,god knows what4 ,but it  seems to  
me1 that if nominal1 it must be         
nugatory1 and therefore  innocent2 and  
that if real1 it must be proportionably 
beneficial4 ,for if  real1 it must throw
 a greater quantity of the necessaries  
or comforts of  life into the hands of  
those who most want them1 and take them 
from  those who are oppressed with their
 superfluities4 ,for suppose the        
quantity of food and the quantity of    
money to be fixed1 given quantities     
7unless we suppose both1 there is no    
reasoning about the matter7 and  that an
 additional price is given for labour3  
let us suppose farther  that this raises
 the price of provisions4 ,it is evident
 in this case1  that the rich having    
less money to give1 and being obliged to
 give more  for their former luxuries1  

will be obliged to retrench somewhere4  
,this  must be either in provisions1 or 
other things4 ,first1 they may retrench 
in the article of provisions4 ,this will
 evidently leave a greater plenty  for  
others1 who stand very much in need of  
them2 and their additional  wages will  
be laid out in supplying themselves with
 what they could not  otherwise have    
obtained4 ,secondly1 they may retrench  
in articles of  furniture1 dress1       
houses1 c4 and there will consequently  
be less demand  for these things4 ,well 
then1 in the first place1 with regard to
  provisions1 the poor will be no worse 
off in this respect than if there  had  
been no advance in the price1 for it is 
not to be supposed that if  the rich are
 so attached to the luxuries of the     
belly as notwithstanding  the increased 
price to buy the same quantity as ever1 
that they would  have bought less1 if   
the price had continued lower4 ,they    
would have  engrossed the markets at all
 events4 ,on the other hand1 they must  

retrench their expences in other things1
 in superfluities of different  kinds1  
which will thus fall into the hands of  
the poor1 who having been  excluded from
 the meat-market can only lay out their 
additional wages in  providing          
themselves with household conveniences1 
good clothes1 tables1  chairs1 c4 ,what 
should they do with their money8 ,it is 
supposed that  they cannot get a morsel 
of meat with it3 and it is not be       
expected that  they should throw it     
away4 ,sooner than do this1 they might  
spend it in  buying smart buckles for   
their shoes1 or garters and ribbons for 
their  sweethearts4 ,the labour of the  
mechanic1 inasmuch as it is not wanted  
by  the great1 will go to enrich the    
lower classes4 ,the less they are       
employed by the rich1 in consequence of 
#8a more equal distribution of  the     
money of the society1' the better able  
they will be to employ one  another4    
,the farmer's servant will employ the   
mechanic with the same  money with which

 the farmer or his landlord would have  
employed him3 if  he has the same wages 
as before1 he will have as much to do1  
or if his  wages are doubled1 and he has
 only half as much to do1 this will be a
  proportionable relief to him on the   
score of labour1 and would be no        
prejudice to his earnings as he would   
get the same wages for doing half  as   
much work4 ,but there is no occasion to 
suppose any such slackness in  the      
demand for labour4 ,the proportion      
between the money1 the productive  and  
mechanical labour in the community1     
would remain the same3 and the  rise in 
the wages of the labouring manufacturer 
and mechanic to be real  and effectual  
ought to be paid out of the profits of  
the master and  proprietor4 ,in this    
case1 the demand would be the same3 and 
it would  evidently be his interest to  
employ the same number of men that he   
did  before1 as though he would get less
 by each of them1 he must get more1  the
 more hands he employs1 as long as the  

demand continues4#cj ,if  however our   
rich men and manufacturers should grow  
sulky upon the  occasion1 and take it   
into their heads to hoard their money in
 order to  spite the poor1 thus driving 
them altogether out of employ1 ,i       
conceive  the best use that can be made 
of this hoarded wealth would be to      
transfer it to the poor's fund1 for the 
relief of those who are willing  to     
work1 but not to starve4 ,on the whole1 
and in every view of the  subject it    
appears to me that any addition to the  
price of labour must  as far as it goes1
 be an advantage to the labourer1 and   
that the more  general and permanent it 
is1 the greater will be the benefit to  
the  labouring class of the community4  
,the rise of wages would certainly take 
from the pomp and luxury of the rich1   
and it would as certainly and in  the   
same proportion add to the comforts of  
the poor4 ,i am not here  recommending  
such a change4 ,i only contend that it  
would follow the  distribution of       

wealth2 and that it is absurd to say    
that the poorer a  man is1 the richer he
 will be4    ,mr4 ,malthus's acuteness  
amounts to a species of second-sight1   
whenever  there is a question of famine4
 ,thus he demonstrates that this must be
  the necessary consequence of fixing a 
maximum in a time of scarcity4 ,now  ,i 
do not see this necessary consequence1  
because if it were fixed at a  certain  
height above the common price in        
proportion to the deficiency1  this     
would check the too rapid consumption4  
,or even without supposing  this1 as it 
would be necessary to have some kind of 
law or order of the  police to enforce  
the observance of a maximum1 and make   
the farmers and  dealers bring their    
corn to market1 the quantities in which 
it was  brought forward might be        
regulated in the same way as the price4 
,besides1 ,i do not believe that people 
would starve themselves with their  eyes
 open1 whether the police interfered or 
not4 ,as to the epithets of  illiberal1 

unjust1 and narrow policy which some    
people may apply to such  a measure1 ,i 
would ask them whether fixing the assize
 of bread in ,london  is not just the   
same thing4 ,but corn-factors1          
forestallers and regraters  are a set of
 people whose liberal notions place them
 above the law1 who  ought not to be    
looked upon in the same light with every
 little scurvy  knavish bread and       
biscuit baker1 nor cramped in their     
generous exertions  to economize the    
public resources1 and save the poor from
 famine at the  latter end of the       
year--by starving them in the beginning4
 ,with respect  to the parallel which   
,mr4 ,malthus attempts to establish     
between fixing a  maximum1 and raising  
the price of labour1 ,i am so           
unfortunate as not to  perceive it4 ,he 
sometimes argues against raising the    
price of labour  because it would give  
the poor no greater command over the    
provisions  than before2 he here talks  
as if it would enable them to devour    

every  thing before them4 ,i think      
neither of these suppositions is true4  
,the  high price of corn in proportion  
to other things will always make people 
unwilling to lay out more in that way   
than they can help1 and will            
consequently diminish the consumption4  
,as to famine1 people will look  many   
ways1 before they submit to it4         
#8,independently of any considerations  
respecting a year of deficient  crops1  
it is evident1 that an increase of      
population1 without a  proportional     
increase of food1 must lower the value  
of each man's  earnings4 ,the food must 
necessarily be distributed in smaller   
quantities1 and consequently1 a day's   
labour will purchase a smaller  quantity
 of provisions4'    ,why of earnings    
more than property8 ,mr4 ,malthus would 
have this  considered as an elementary  
or philosophical work4 ,yet he looks    
only at  the flattering side of his     
subject4 ,a day's labour will purchase a
 less  quantity of provisions1 but a    

day's idleness will purchase the same4  
,in  this case idleness and industry are
 plaintiff and defendant2 and the       
verdict is in favour of idleness1 and   
industry is not only cast1 but  pays the
 costs4--,it is all very well4    #8,the
 quantity of provisions consumed in     
workhouses1 upon a part of the  society1
 that cannot in general be considered as
 the most valuable  part1' or in other  
houses on footmen1 c4 who are not the   
most  respectable kind of paupers       
#8diminishes the shares that would      
otherwise  belong to more industrious   
and more worthy members1 and thus in the
 same  measure1 forces more to become   
dependent4    #8,fortunately for        
,england1 a spirit of independence still
 remains among  the peasantry4 ,the poor
 laws are strongly calculated to        
eradicate this  spirit4' ,is it the man 
who reduces me to beggary1 or he who    
affords me  relief1 that lowers my      
condition and breaks my spirit8 #8,they 
have  succeeded in part2 but had they   

succeeded as completely as might have   
been expected1 their pernicious tendency
 would not have been so long            
concealed4'    ,it would have been      
discovered sooner1 if ,mr4 ,malthus had 
read ,mr4  ,wallace's book sooner4      
#8,the parish laws of ,england appear to
 have contributed to raise the  price of
 provisions and to lower the real price 
of labour4' ,our  author's              
demonstrations are delusive appearances4
 ,what must his  appearances be8 ,shall 
we take them for demonstrations8 #8,they
 have  therefore contributed to         
impoverish that class of people whose   
only  possession is their labour4 ,it is
 also difficult to suppose1 that they   
have not powerfully contributed to      
generate that carelessness and want  of 
frugality observable among the poor1 so 
contrary to the disposition  generally  
to be remarked among petty tradesmen and
 small farmers4 ,the  labouring poor1 to
 use a vulgar expression1 seem always to
 live from  hand to mouth4 ,their       

present wants employ their whole        
attention2 and  they seldom think of the
 future4 ,even when they have an        
opportunity of  saving1 they seldom     
exercise it2 but all that they earn     
beyond their  present necessities1 goes1
 generally speaking1 to the alehouse4   
,the poor  laws may1 therefore1 be said 
to diminish both the power1 and the     
will1  to save1 among the common people1
 and thus to weaken one of the          
strongest incentives to sobriety and    
industry1 and consequently to           
happiness4'    ,this passage is         
remarkable4 ,it may be asked in the     
first place1 whether  the parish laws   
are not equally open to petty tradesmen 
and small  farmers1 as to the poor4 ,if 
so1 they cannot account for the         
difference  observable between them4 ,i 
shall therefore1 as far as this very    
striking  contrast goes1 put the poor   
laws out of the question2 and say that  
the  difference in their behaviour can  
arise from nothing but the difference   

in their situations1 from the greater   
hardships imposed on the labouring  part
 of the community1 from their different 
prospects in life1 and the  little      
estimation in which they are held4 ,mr4 
,malthus accounts for the  carelessness 
and laziness of the poor from their     
casting a sheep's-eye  at the           
work-house4 ,no3 they are to be         
accounted for from that poverty  and    
depression which makes the work-house a 
temptation to them4 ,we  cannot say of  
those who are seduced by the prospect of
 a  work-house--#8,alas from what height
 fallen6' ,mr4 ,malthus proposes to     
remove this dazzling object out of their
 way2 to make them indulge in  larger   
views of things by setting before them  
the prospect of their  wives and        
children starving1 in case of any       
accident to themselves1 and  to         
stimulate their industry by lowering    
their wages4 ,the poor live from  hand  
to mouth1 because1 in general1 they have
 no hopes of living in any  other way4  

,they seldom think of the future1       
because they are afraid to  think of it4
 ,their present wants employ their whole
 attention4 ,this is  their misfortune4 
,others have better luck4 ,they have no 
time to think of  wind-falls4 ,mr4      
,malthus may take his glass of wine     
after dinner1 and his  afternoon's nap1 
when1 having got the ,essay on          
,population out of his  head1 queen ,mab
 #8comes to him with a tythe-pig's tail1
 tickling the  parson as he lies        
asleep3--then dreams he of another      
benefice4' ,the poor  cannot indulge in 
such pleasing speculations4 ,if what    
they earn beyond  their immediate       
necessities goes to the alehouse1 it is 
because the  severe labour they undergo 
requires some relaxation1 because they  
are  willing to forget the work-house1  
their old age1 and the prospect of      
their wives and children starving1 and  
to drown care in a mug of ale1 in       
noise1 and mirth1 and laughter1 and old 
ditties1 and coarse jokes1 and  hot     

disputes2 and in that sense of          
short-lived comfort1 independence and   
good-fellowship1 which is necessary to  
relieve the hurt mind and jaded  body4  
,but all these1 when our author's system
 is once established1  #8shall no more  
impart1                #8,an hour's     
importance to the poor man's heart4'    
,no human patience can submit to        
everlasting toil and self-denial4 ,the  
prospect of mere physical comfort is not
 a match for continued physical         
suffering3 and the lower classes of the 
people have no other motives to  animate
 them to bear up against the ills of    
life1 in habits of moral  reflection1 in
 the pursuits and example of the rich1  
or in the real  respect and credit      
attached to their own good behaviour4   
,you reduce them  almost to the         
condition of brutes1 and then grudge    
them their coarse  enjoyments3 you make 
machines of them1 and then expect from  
them  firmness1 resolution1 the love of 
independence1 the fruits of an erect    

and manly spirit4 ,mr4 ,malthus1 like   
the ,sphinx1 destroys his victims by    
the help of riddles2 and makes a snare  
of impossibilities4 ,as to the  workmen 
and mechanics in manufacturing towns 7to
 say nothing of the  closeness and      
unwholesomeness of their occupations1   
which would go a  good way in accounting
 for #8their drunkenness and            
dissipation'7 the  noise and turbulence 
in which they live1 and their being     
crowded  together as they are must unfit
 them for enjoying the quiet and        
stillness of domestic life3 they are    
glad to escape from the contempt  which 
their #8squalid appearance' excites in  
the well-dressed mob who  walk the      
streets1 and hide their greasy clothes  
and smutched faces in  the nearest      
pot-house2 and to say the truth1 with   
respect to those of  them who are       
married1 the hard features1 the         
disjointed shapes1 the  coarse limbs1   
the carking countenances1 and ill-humour
 of their wives1  occasioned by the     

fretful wants of a set of squalling     
children1 cannot  be supposed to prove  
so attractive to them1 as #8the symmetry
 of person1  the vivacity1 the          
voluptuous softness of temper1 the      
affectionate  kindness of feeling1 the  
imagination1 and the wit' which in ,mr4 
,malthus's opinion constitute the charm 
of the sex4 ,after all1 are the  higher 
classes a bit better than their         
inferiors8 ,are drinking and            
dissipation confined to the poor8 ,as   
,mr4 ,malthus ingenuously observes1     
#8,our ,doctors ,commons and the lives  
that many married men of the better     
sort are known to lead sufficiently     
prove the reverse of this4' ,i  believe 
it will hardly be proposed to make moral
 merit a rule for the  division of the  
good things of fortune4 ,the only       
difference in the vices  of the rich and
 the poor is1 that the rich can afford  
theirs better4  ,nevertheless they set  
up for censors and reformers of the     
morals of the  poor4 ,i remember to have

 seen a red-faced swag-bellied bishop   
7such  another as ,father ,paul in the  
,duenna7 who could drink his two bottles
 of  wine without being affected1 belch 
out a severe reprimand against a poor   
labouring man1 who was staggering home  
after drinking a quart of small  beer4  
,as to our author's plan of starving the
 poor out of their vices1  ,i must say  
7all circumstances considered7 that ,i  
think it1 in the first  place1 an       
impudent proposal1 because their        
executioners are no better  than        
themselves2 in the second place1 a silly
 proposal1 because1 if not  literally   
followed up1 it must evidently defeat   
itself2 in the third  place1 a malignant
 proposal1 because if it were strictly  
put in  practice1 it could only produce 
despair and sullen insensibility among  
the poor1 and destroy all traces of     
justice or humanity among the rich2  in 
the fourth place1 a lying proposal1     
because it is contrary to ,mr4          
,malthus's own reasonings1 who in many  

places has shewn that the only way  to  
improve the condition of the poor is not
 by urging them to extremity1  but by   
raising them above want1 by inspiring   
them with a respect for  themselves1 and
 a taste for the comforts and decencies 
of life by  sharing in them4    #8,that 
the poor 7says ,mr4 ,malthus7 employed  
in manufactures consider  parish        
assistance as a reason why they may     
spend all the wages which  they earn1   
and enjoy themselves while they can1    
appears to be evident1  from the number 
of families that upon the failure of any
 great  manufactory1 immediately fall   
upon the parish4' ,this is an assumption
 of  the question4 ,our author here     
confounds the fact and the reason       
together4 ,it appears evident that the  
manufacturer often spends his  earnings 
as he gets them1 but not that he does so
 in the hope that his  family may go to 
the parish after his death4 #8,a man who
 might not be  deterred from going to   
the alehouse from the consideration that

 on his  death or sickness he should    
leave his wife and family upon the      
parish1  might yet hesitate in thus     
dissipating his earnings if he were     
assured  that in either of these cases  
his family must starve1 or be left to   
the support of casual bounty4' ,now it  
has appeared that his conduct is        
regulated by motives and circumstances  
which have nothing to do with  what     
happens to his wife and children after  
his death4 ,it may therefore  be        
questioned whether the catastrophe      
proposed by ,mr4 ,malthus would have    
the desired effect4 ,but certainly it   
could not have this effect as long  as  
there was a dependence on casual bounty3
 and to stop up this resource  it would 
be absolutely necessary to call in the  
aid of the magistrate to  prevent the   
indiscreet and unavailing interference  
of private charity1  and execute the    
sentence of the law of nature and the   
law of ,god on his  wife and hapless    
progeny1 justly doomed to starve for the

 neglect of  their parent4 ,what effect 
this would have on the #8moral          
sensibility of  the nation' ,i leave to 
,mr4 ,malthus to determine with his     
well-known  penetration and humanity4   
#8,the suffering a poor family to perish
 of want  is bad enough3 but ,i cannot  
conceive of any thing much more         
detestable  or shocking to the feelings 
than any direct regulation of this kind1
 by  whatever name it is sanctioned4'   
,mr4 ,malthus may perhaps object that ,i
  have quoted him unfairly2 and applied 
to the organizing the starving of  a    
family what he applied to the direct    
regulation of infanticide1--a  very     
different thing6 ,unfortunately1 ,i have
 not sufficient delicacy of  verbal     
feeling to be able to find out the      
difference4--,now ,i recollect1         
however1 what shocked ,mr4 ,malthus so  
much in speaking of infanticide was  the
 supposition that the parents were to be
 forced to destroy their own  children1 
when they thought they could not        

maintain them2 according to  our        
author's mode of starving a family1 the 
society are only to stand by  and       
prevent others from affording them      
assistance4 ,here we see there is  not  
that direct violation of the parental   
affection which1 says ,mr4  ,malthus1 is
 the principal aggravation of the other 
case4 ,he explains the  grounds of this 
distinction in another part of his work4
 #8,if1' says he1  #8the parents desert 
their child1 they ought to be answerable
 for the  crime4 ,the infant is1        
comparatively speaking1 of no value to  
the  society1#ca as others will         
immediately supply its place4 ,its      
principal  value is on account of its   
being the object of one of the most     
delightful passions in human            
nature--parental affection4 ,but if this
  value be disregarded by those who are 
alone in a capacity to feel it1  the    
society cannot be called upon to put    
itself in their place and has  no       
further business in its protection1'    

than just to see that its  parents do   
not ill-use1 or kill or eat it4 ,nothing
 can be plainer than  the inference from
 these premises4 ,the society1 which is 
bound to  prevent or punish the least   
barbarity in parents towards their      
children1  because they are to them an  
object of a very delightful passion1 may
  exercise any barbarity it pleases on  
them itself1 because it is not in a     
capacity to feel this affection towards 
them4 ,it is not only not called  upon  
to put itself in their place1 but is    
bound to prevent others from  doing so1 
and thus reversing the laws of nature1  
by which #8the child is  confided       
exclusively to its parents4' ,it is     
only1 says our author1 by  extinguishing
 every spark of humanity in the breasts 
of the community  towards the children  
of others1 that the ties of parental    
affection can  ever exist in their full 
force1 or be expected #8to remain in the
 state  in which nature has left them4' 
,mr4 ,malthus may therefore in his zeal 

for the growth of parental affection1   
and the entire suppression of  common   
humanity as subversive of it1 very      
consistently brand every  attempt of the
 society to make the parents accomplices
 in starving their  children1 as the    
greatest injustice1 though we may very  
heroically  proceed to starve them      
ourselves1 repeating after this         
high-priest of  nature1 ,their blood be 
upon us and upon our children6 ,this is 
the best  account ,i can give of the    
fundamental distinction which ,mr4      
,malthus  makes between the impropriety 
and inhumanity of destroying children by
  law1 and the propriety and humanity of
 starving a family by law4 ,but ,i      
shall recur to the same subject         
presently1 when ,i come to the detail of
  his plan4    ,mr4 ,malthus devotes the
 first and second chapters of his fourth
 book to  an inquiry into our           
obligations to regulate the sexual      
passion by  considerations of prudence1 
c4 into the general capacity of human   

nature to act from rational motives1 and
 the good effects which would  result   
from such a conduct4 ,he begins his     
third chapter in the following  manner4 
#8,he who publishes a moral code1 or    
system of duties1 however firmly he  may
 be convinced of the strong obligation  
on each individual strictly to  conform 
to it1 has never the folly to imagine   
that it will be  universally or even    
generally practised4 ,but this is no    
valid objection  against the publication
 of the code4 ,if it were1 the same     
objection  would always have applied2 we
 should be totally without general      
rules2  and to the vices of mankind     
arising from temptation1 would be added 
a  much longer list1 than we have at    
present1 of vices from ignorance4'      
,this is well said1 and 'tis a kind of  
good deed to say well4 #8,judging       
merely from the light of nature1 if we  
feel convinced of the misery  arising   
from a redundant population1 on the one 
hand1 and of the evils  and unhappiness1

 particularly to the female sex1 arising
 from  promiscuous intercourse1 on the  
other1 ,i do not see how it is possible 
for any person1 who acknowledges the    
principle of utility as the great       
foundation of morals1 to escape the     
conclusion that moral restraint1  till  
we are in a condition to support a      
family1 is the strict line of  duty2 and
 when revelation is taken into the      
question1 this duty  undoubtedly        
receives very powerful confirmation4 ,at
 the same time1 ,i  believe that few of 
my readers can be less sanguine in their
  expectations of any great change in   
the general conduct of men on this      
subject than ,i am2 and the chief       
reason1 why1 in the last chapter1 ,i    
allowed myself to suppose the universal 
prevalence of this virtue1 was1  that ,i
 might endeavour to remove any          
imputation on the goodness of the       
,deity1 by shewing that the evils       
arising from the principle of           
population were exactly of the same     

nature as the generality of other  evils
 which excite fewer complaints1 that    
they were increased by human  ignorance 
and indolence1 and diminished by human  
knowledge and virtue2  and on the       
supposition1 that each individual       
strictly fulfilled his  duty1 would be  
almost totally removed2 and this1       
without any general  diminution of those
 sources of pleasure1 arising from the  
regulated  indulgence of the passions1  
which have been justly considered as the
  principal ingredients of human        
happiness4'    ,mr4 ,malthus here       
appears in the double character of a    
politician and  divine4 ,sir ,hugh      
,evans says1 #8,i like not when a 'omans
 has a great  peard4' ,i must say1 ,i do
 not like to see a philosopher in a     
cassock4 ,he  has you at an unfair      
advantage1 and it is a hundred to one   
but he will  make use of it4 ,when he is
 pressed hard1 or sees his arguments in 
danger  of being cut off1 he puts them  
into the false belly of theology4 ,it is

  like hunting an otter3 you do not know
 where to have him4--,what our  author  
says of moral systems is certainly true3
 neither the preaching of  ,st4 ,paul1  
nor probably his own has been able to   
put an end to that  pious1 courtly race 
of men1 who strive equally to serve ,god
 and mammon4  ,mr4 ,malthus in the last 
chapter took an opportunity of paying   
his court  to the former3 the leaf is no
 sooner turned1 than he begins to       
insinuate  himself into the good graces 
of the latter1 by disclaiming the       
sincerity  of his late professions4 ,in 
the passage just quoted1 ,mr4 ,malthus  
not  only tells you that he had         
endeavoured to give a more favourable   
account  of the expectations of mankind 
and their capacity for virtue and       
happiness than he believes has any      
foundation in human nature2 but he at   
the same time lets you into his motive  
for so doing1 viz4 his wish to  remove  
any imputation on the divine goodness1  
which purpose1 it seems1  would not have

 been so well answered by the real      
statement of the fact4  ,having thus    
decently paid his compliments to his    
profession1 and  justified the goodness 
of ,god from the ideal capacity of man  
for  virtue he next proceeds to prove   
the wisdom of human institutions by  his
 real incapacity for it4 ,he was        
yesterday engaged to whitewash          
,providence3 to day he is retained on   
the other side of the question1  which  
he assures his clients shall not suffer 
through any anxiety of his  about       
consistency4 ,this seems to be playing  
at fast and loose both with  religion   
and morality4 ,mr4 ,malthus has indeed  
set apart the preceding  chapter to shew
 that #8the evils arising from the      
principle of population  are exactly of 
the same nature as the generality of    
other evils which  excite fewer         
complaints1 that they were increased by 
human ignorance and  indolence1 and     
diminished by human knowledge and       
virtue4' ,but ,i do not  know what right

 he had to do this1 seeing that it is   
the express object  of his work to shew 
that the evils of population are unlike 
all other  evils1 neither generated by  
human folly1 nor to be removed or       
palliated  by human wisdom1 but by vice 
and misery alone3 that they are sui     
generis1 and not to be reasoned upon1   
like any thing else4 ,neither do ,i     
understand how the evils of population  
can be said to excite more  complaints  
than other evils1 when ,mr4 ,malthus    
tells us that till his  time nobody had 
thought of tracing them to their true   
source1 but  erroneously ascribed them  
to human institutions1 vice1 folly1 c4  
,mr4  ,malthus himself was the first who
 proved them to be irremediable and     
inherent in the constitution of nature1 
and thus brought an imputation  upon    
,providence4 ,to remove this imputation 
he supposes them to admit of  a remedy3 
then again lest any one should take him 
at his word and be for  applying this   
remedy1 he says they admit of no such   

remedy2 and that it  was all an idle    
supposition of his own without any      
foundation1 a  harmless picture drawn to
 illustrate the imaginary goodness of   
,providence4    #8,if it will answer any
 purpose of illustration1 ,i see no harm
 in drawing  the picture of a society in
 which each individual is supposed      
strictly  to fulfil his duties3 nor does
 a writer appear to be justly liable to 
the imputation of being visionary1      
unless he makes such universal or       
general obedience necessary to the      
practical utility of his system1 and  to
 that degree of moderate and partial    
improvement1 which is all that  can     
rationally be expected from the most    
complete knowledge of our  duties4      
#8,but in this respect1 there is an     
essential difference between that       
improved state of society which ,i have 
supposed in the last chapter1 and  most 
of the other speculations on this       
subject4 ,the improvement there         
supposed1 if we ever should make        

approaches towards it1 is to be         
effected in the way in which we have    
been in the habit of seeing all the     
greatest improvements effected1 by a    
direct application to the interest  and 
happiness of each individual4 ,it is not
 required of us to act from  motives1 to
 which we are unaccustomed2 to pursue a 
general good1 which  we may not         
distinctly comprehend1 or the effect of 
which may be weakened  by distance or   
diffusion4'    ,is there not such a     
virtue as patriotism8 ,to what class of 
motives would  our author refer this    
feeling8 ,the way in which ,mr4 ,malthus
 wishes to  effect his improvement in   
the virtue and happiness of mankind1 is 
one in  which no such improvement has   
hitherto been effected4 ,but ,i see ,mr4
  ,malthus's object4 ,he is only        
anxious1 lest any one should attempt to 
rear the fabric of human excellence on  
any other basis than that of vice  and  
misery4 ,so that we begin with this     
solid and necessary foundation1  he does

 not care to what height the building is
 carried4 ,so that we set  out on our   
journey of reform through the gate at   
which ,mr4 ,malthus is  sitting at the  
receipt of custom1 7whether it faces the
 road or not7 it  gives him little      
concern what direction we take1 or how  
far we go  afterwards1 or whether we    
ever reach our promised destination4    
#8,the duty of each individual is       
express and intelligible to the humblest
  capacity4 ,it is merely that he is not
 to bring beings into the world for     
whom he cannot find the means of        
support4 ,when once this subject is     
cleared from the obscurity thrown over  
it by parochial laws and private        
benevolence1 every man must feel the    
strongest conviction of such an         
obligation4 ,if he cannot support his   
children1 they must starve2 and  if he  
marry in the face of a fair probability 
that he shall not be able  to support   
his children1 he is guilty of all the   
evils which he thus  brings upon        

himself1 his wife1 and his offspring4   
,it is clearly his  interest1 and will  
tend greatly to promote his happiness to
 defer  marrying1 till1 by industry and 
economy1 he is in a capacity to support 
the children1 that he may reasonably    
expect from his marriage and as he      
cannot in the mean time1 gratify his    
passions1 without violating an  express 
command of ,god1 and running a great    
risk of injuring himself1  or some of   
his fellow creatures1 considerations of 
his own interest and  happiness will    
dictate to him the strongest obligation 
to moral  restraint4    #8,however      
powerful may be the impulses of passion 
they are generally in  some degree      
modified by reason4 ,and it does not    
seem entirely visionary  to suppose1    
that if the true and permanent cause of 
poverty were clearly  explained1' ,this 
,i take to be that the rich have more   
than the poor  #8and forcibly brought   
home to each man's bosom1 it would have 
some1 and  perhaps not an               

inconsiderable1 influence on his        
conduct2 at least1 the  experiment has  
never yet been fairly tried4'    ,it is 
astonishing1 what a propensity ,mr4     
,malthus has to try experiments1  if    
there is any mischief to be done by     
them4 ,he has a perfect horror of       
experiments that are to be tried on the 
higher qualities of our nature1  from   
which any great1 unmixed1 and general   
good is to be expected4 ,but  in        
proportion as the end is low1 and the   
means base1 he acquires  confidence1 his
 tremours forsake him1 and he approaches
 boldly to the  task with nerves of     
iron4 ,his humanity is of a singular    
cast4 ,what is  grand and elevated1     
seems to be his aversion4 ,pure benefits
 are of too  cloying a quality to please
 his taste4 ,he is willing to improve   
the  morals of the people by extirpating
 the common feelings of mankind1 and    
will submit to the introduction of a    
greater degree of plenty and  comfort1  
provided it is prefaced by famine4      

,his ardour is kindled not so much in   
proportion to the difficulty1 as to  the
 disgusting nature of the task4 ,he is a
 kind of sentimental nightman1  an      
amateur chimney-sweeper1 a patriotic    
,jack-ketch4 ,the spirit of  adventure  
is roused in him only by the prospect of
 dirty roads1 and  narrow1 crooked      
paths4 ,he never flinches where there is
 any evil to be  done1 that good may    
come of it6 ,his present plan is an     
admirable one of  the kind--,omne tulit 
punctum--it comprises both extremes of  
vice and  misery4 ,the poor are to make 
a formal surrender of their right to    
private charity or parish assistance1   
that the rich may be able to lay  out   
all their money on their vices4         
#8,till these erroneous ideas have been 
corrected1 and the language of  nature  
and reason has been generally heard on  
the subject of  population1 instead of  
the language of error and prejudice1 it 
cannot be  said that any fair experiment
 has been made with the understandings  

of  the common people2 and we cannot    
justly accuse them of improvidence and  
want of industry1 till they act as they 
do now1 after it has been  brought home 
to their comprehensions1 that they are  
themselves the cause  of their own      
poverty2 that the means of redress are  
in their own hands1  and in the hands of
 no other persons whatever2 that the    
society in  which they live1 and the    
government which presides over it1 are  
totally  without power in this respect2 
and however ardently they may desire to 
relieve them1 and whatever attempts they
 may make to do so1 they are  really and
 truly unable to execute what they      
benevolently wish1 but  unjustly        
promise2 that when the wages of labour  
will not maintain a  family1 it is an   
incontrovertible sign that their king   
and country do  not want more subjects1 
or at least that they cannot support    
them2  that if they marry in this case1 
so far from fulfilling a duty to        
society1 they are throwing a useless    

burden on it1 at the same time that     
they are plunging themselves into       
distress2 and that they are acting      
directly contrary to the will of ,god1  
and bringing down upon themselves       
various diseases1 which might all1 or in
 a great part1 have been  avoided1 if   
they had attended to the repeated       
admonitions which he  gives1 by the     
general laws of nature1 to every being  
capable of  reason4'#cb    ,the         
erroneous ideas of which ,mr4 ,malthus  
here complains as prevailing in  the    
minds of the common people1 to the      
prejudice of the language of  reason and
 nature1 are1 as he states just before1 
that their poverty and  distress are in 
part owing to their not getting more for
 their labour1  to the slowness with    
which the parish assist them1 to the    
avarice of the  rich1 and to the        
institutions of society1 or to fortune  
which has  assigned them a place so     
beset with difficulties and dependence6 
,no1  poverty is owing to none of these 

causes1 but it is owing entirely to     
itself4 ,mr4 ,burke has said1 that      
people will not be argued into  slavery4
 ,our author attempts more than this4   
,he tries to persuade them  out of their
 senses1 and to argue them into slavery 
and famine besides4  ,there is a        
distinction which it is sometimes       
dangerous to insist on in  common life2 
but which it is necessary to attend to  
in matters of  reasoning1 and that is   
the distinction between truth and       
falsehood4 ,for  instance1 ,mr4 ,malthus
 asserts1 that the means of remedying   
their  complaints are in the hands of   
the poor1 and in the hands of no other  
persons whatever4 ,now this is not true4
 ,it is not true that the society  in   
which they live and the government which
 presides over it are  totally without  
power in this respect4 ,it is not true  
that however  ardently they may wish to 
relieve them1 they are utterly unable to
  execute their benevolent intentions4  
,it is not an incontrovertible sign     

that their king and country do not want 
more subjects1 and that they  cannot    
support them1 when the common wages of  
labour will not maintain a  family4 ,as 
,mr4 ,malthus's positions exist no where
 but in the ,essay of  ,population1 they
 will hardly support those weighty      
practical conclusions  which he wishes  
to build upon them4 ,some persons may   
perhaps be at a  loss to understand what
 ,mr4 ,malthus can mean by his          
assertions4 ,the  following may be some 
clue to what in itself has very much the
  appearance of irony4    #8,among the  
other prejudices which have prevailed on
 the subject of  population1 it has been
 generally thought1 that while there is 
either  waste among the rich1 or land   
remaining uncultivated in any country1  
the  complaint for want of food cannot  
be justly founded1 or1 at least1 that   
the pressure of distress upon the poor  
is to be attributed to the  ill-conduct 
of the higher classes of society1 and   
the bad management of  the land4 ,the   

real effect1 however1 of these two      
circumstances1 is  merely to narrow the 
limit of the actual population2 but they
 have  little or no influence on what   
may be called the average pressure of   
distress on the poorer members of       
society4 ,if our ancestors had been so  
frugal and industrious1 and had         
transmitted such habits to their        
posterity1 that nothing superfluous was 
now consumed by the higher  classes1 no 
horses were used for pleasure1 and no   
land was left  uncultivated1 a striking 
difference would appear in the state of 
the  actual population2 but probably    
none whatever1 in the state of the lower
  classes of people1 with respect to the
 price of labour1 and the facility  of  
supporting a family4 ,the waste among   
the rich and the horses kept for        
pleasure1 have indeed a little the      
effect of the consumption of grain in   
distilleries1 noticed before with regard
 to ,china4 ,on the supposition  that   
the food consumed in this manner may be 

withdrawn on the occasion  of a         
scarcity1 and be applied to the relief  
of the poor1 they operate1  certainly1  
as far as they go1 like granaries which 
are only opened at  the time that they  
are most wanted1 and must therefore tend
 rather to  benefit than injure the     
lower classes of society4    #8,with    
regard to uncultivated land1 it is      
evident that its effect upon  the poor  
is neither to injure1 nor to benefit    
them4 ,the sudden  cultivation of it1   
will indeed tend to improve their       
condition for a  time1 and the neglect  
of lands before cultivated1 will        
certainly make  their situation worse   
for a certain period2 but when no       
changes of this  kind are going forward1
 the effect of uncultivated land on the 
lower  classes1 operates merely like the
 possession of a smaller territory4'    
,after what has been said in various    
parts of these observations1 ,i might   
leave these passages to the contempt of 
the reader4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus  shall   

not complain of my remissness4 ,i will  
give him heaped measure4 ,i  say then   
that the argument here employed leads to
 a direct absurdity3  for it would      
justify any degree of neglect1 or waste1
 or wanton abuse  that can be imagined4 
,if thirty-nine out of the forty        
counties in  ,england were laid waste   
to-morrow1 this would be no evil1       
according to  ,mr4 ,malthus1 because it 
would not increase the average pressure 
of  distress in the remaining one4 ,if  
half the corn that is grown every  year1
 besides what is already employed in    
supplying the waste of the  rich1 were  
regularly sent off by waggon-loads1 and 
thrown into the sea1  there would be    
still no harm done4 ,a striking         
difference would  undoubtedly appear in 
the number of poor people1 but probably 
none  whatever in the state of those who
 had not been starved4 ,if double the   
number of horses were kept for pleasure1
 and only half the number of  poor were 
kept alive1 these latter would have no  

reason to complain1  because they would 
be as well1 or better off than ever2 and
 if a limited  number are tolerably well
 provided for1 this is all that can ever
 be  expected1 because by the laws of   
nature it is impossible to provide for  
an unlimited number4 ,to say nothing of 
those immense granaries and  boundless  
resources which are thus formed in the  
uncultivated parts of  the earth1 or    
which might be created at any time of   
extraordinary  distress by employing in 
the service of man what had hitherto    
been  providently reserved for the      
beasts4    ,while there is waste among  
the rich1 or neglect of lands1 or while 
the  breed of horses is encouraged so as
 to put a stop to the breed of men1 ,i  
deny that the distresses of the poor1 or
 the restraints on population  are the  
necessary effects of the laws of nature1
 or of the unavoidable  disproportion   
between the increase of mankind and the 
capacity of the  earth to produce food  
for a greater number4 ,but ,mr4 ,malthus

 has his  usual resource4 ,though the   
distresses of the poor were actually    
relieved  as they might be1 and though  
the unnecessary checks to population    
were  taken off1 yet the time would come
 when these wants could no longer be    
supplied1 and when the restraints on    
population would become necessary1  from
 the inability of the earth to yield any
 more1 and from the whole  produce being
 applied to the best advantage4 ,this is
 undoubtedly true3  but ,i do not think 
it a reason that we are not to put off  
the evil as  long as we can1 or that we 
are not to attempt any improvement1     
because  we cannot go on for ever       
improving4 ,death is certain1 and #8will
 come  when it will come4' ,is that a   
reason why ,i should take poison8 ,there
 is  in all ,mr4 ,malthus's arguments on
 this subject the same twist that  there
 was in the ,irish servant1 who was told
 to call his master early1  and waked   
him two hours before the time to tell   
him how much longer he  had to sleep4   

,mr4 ,malthus would have insisted on his
 getting up and  dressing himself in the
 middle of the night4    ,mr4 ,malthus  
allows1 that #8the object of those who  
really wish to better  the condition of 
the poor must be to raise the relative  
proportion  between the price of labour1
 and the price of provisions4' ,almost  
in the  next paragraph1 however1 he     
adds1 that if we are really serious in  
this  object1 #8we must explain to them 
the true nature of their situation1 and 
shew them that the withholding the      
supplies of labour is the only  possible
 way of raising its real price4' ,i     
cannot help thinking1 to use  his own   
words1 that our author's #8benevolence  
to the poor must be either  childish    
play1 or hypocrisy3 that it must be     
either to amuse himself1 or  to pacify  
the minds of the common people with a   
mere shew of attention  to their wants4'
 ,he proceeds to instruct the poor in   
their true  situation in a chapter which
 requires a few comments4    #8,the     

pressure of distress on the lower       
classes of people1 with the habit  of   
attributing this distress to their      
rulers1 appears to me to be the  rock of
 defence1 the castle1 the guardian      
spirit1 of despotism4 ,it  affords to   
the tyrant the fatal and unanswerable   
plea of necessity4'  ,that is ,mr4      
,malthus's plea4 #8,while any           
dissatisfied man of talents has  power  
to persuade the lower classes of people1
 that all their poverty  and distress   
arise solely from the iniquity of the   
government1 though  perhaps the greatest
 part of what they suffer is totally    
unconnected  with this cause1 it is     
evident that the seeds of fresh         
discontents1 and  fresh revolutions1 are
 continually sowing4'    ,that is1 the  
way to prevent revolutions1 and at the  
same time to produce  lasting reforms is
 to persuade the people that all the    
evils which they  suffer1 or which the  
government may chuse to inflict upon    
them are their  own fault4 ,the way to  

put governments upon their good         
behaviour is to  give them a licence to 
do as much mischief as they please1     
without being  answerable for it4       
#8,of the tendency of mobs to produce   
tyranny1 we may not be long without  an 
example in this country4 ,as a friend to
 freedom1 and an enemy to  large        
standing armies1 it is with extreme     
reluctance that ,i am  compelled to     
acknowledge1 that1 had it not been for  
the organized force  in the country1 the
 distresses of the people during the    
late scarcities1  encouraged by the     
extreme ignorance and folly of many     
among the higher  classes1 might have   
driven them to commit the most dreadful 
outrages1  and ultimately to involve the
 country in all the horrors of famine4' 
,does ,mr4 ,malthus think that this hint
 will dispose the government to  keep up
 their large standing armies1 or to     
mitigate the distresses of  the people8 
,i wonder1 if ,blifil had happened to be
 an author1 whether he  might not have  

written such a book as this4            
#8,should such periods often recur1 a   
recurrence which we have too much       
reason to apprehend from the present    
state of the country1 the prospect      
which opens to our view is melancholy in
 the extreme4 ,the ,english             
constitution will be seen hastening with
 rapid strides to the  ,euthanasia      
foretold by ,hume2 unless its progress  
be interrupted by  some popular         
commotion2 and this alternative presents
 a picture still  more appalling to the 
imagination4 ,if political discontents  
were blended  with the cries of hunger1 
and a revolution were to take place by  
the  instrumentality of a mob1          
clamouring for want of food1 the        
consequences  would be unceasing change 
and unceasing carnage1 the bloody career
 of  which1 nothing but the             
establishment of some complete despotism
 could  arrest4'    ,the gentleman seems
 greatly alarmed at his own predictions4
 ,he points  out to government the      

dangers arising from mobs2 and shews    
that these  again arise from discontent1
 and repining against the good order of 
society4 ,the way proposed to cure them 
of this discontent1 and these  false    
notions of society is to break asunder  
at once the link of  humanity which     
binds the poor to the rich1 to reduce   
them to extremity1  to cut off all hope1
 all over-weening expectation1 all      
mutual kindness  and good offices1 by   
exploding the very idea of the rights of
 the poor1  or the duties of the rich1  
and thus to tame them so effectually and
  systematically1 that we shall be in no
 danger from mobs1 revolutions1 or      
military despotism1 but shall conclude  
with a happy ,euthanasia6    #8,to say  
that our conduct is not to be regulated 
by circumstances1 is to  betray an      
ignorance of the most solid and         
incontrovertible principles  of         
morality4' ,an odd phrase4 ,solid seems 
to imply something fixed4 ,we  should   
hardly talk of a solid bridge of boats1 

though they might  afford tolerably safe
 footing4 #8,though the admission of    
this principle  may sometimes afford a  
cloke to changes of opinion that do not 
result  from the purest motives2 yet the
 admission of a contrary principle would
  be productive of infinitely worse     
consequences4 ,the phrase of existing   
circumstances has1 ,i believe1 not      
unfrequently created a smile in the     
,english ,house of ,commons2 but the    
smile should have been reserved for  the
 application of the phrase and not have 
been excited by the phrase  itself4' ,he
 teaches us to smile by the book4 #8,a  
very frequent  repetition of it1 has    
indeed1 of itself1 rather a suspicious  
air2 and  its application should always 
be watched with the most jealous and    
anxious attention2 but no man ought to  
be judged in limine for saying1  that   
existing circumstances had obliged him  
to alter his opinions and  conduct4 ,the
 country gentlemen were perhaps too     
easily convinced that  existing         

circumstances called upon them to give  
up some of the most  valuable privileges
 of ,englishmen2 but1 as far as they    
were really  convinced of this          
obligation1 they acted consistently with
 the clearest  rule of morality4'       
,begging the learned writer's pardon1 it
 is rather  the exception than the rule4
 ,did ,junius ,brutus1 when he killed   
his son1  act in conformity to the      
clearest rule of morality8 ,mr4 ,malthus
 has  not quite got rid of the leaven of
 his old philosophy4    #8,the degree of
 power to be given to the civil         
government1 and the  measure of our     
submission to it1 must be determined by 
general  expediency4'    ,this is saying
 a good deal4 ,the rule which ,mr4      
,malthus then lays down  for #8a rising 
of the people1' seems to be that when   
they are enlightened  and well off1 that
 is1 when the government is a good one1 
they may rebel  against it3 but when    
they are kept in a state of ignorance   
and want1  then they are to blame1 if   

they are at all refractory3 they are to 
be  considered as the causes of that    
very oppression which they are          
endeavouring to resist1 and as giving a 
farther handle to that tyranny1  which  
their superiors are thus forced to      
exercise in self-defence1 not  from any 
innate love of power1 or predilection   
for violent measures4    #8,all         
improvements in government must         
necessarily originate with persons  of  
some education1 and these will of course
 be found among the people of  property4
 ,whatever may be said of a few1 it is  
impossible that the great  mass of the  
people of property should be really     
interested in the abuses  of government4
 ,they merely submit to them1 from the  
fear1 that an  endeavour to remove them1
 might be productive of greater evils4  
,could we  but take away this fear1     
reform and improvement would proceed    
with as  much facility1 as the removal  
of nuisances1 or the paving and lighting
  the streets4 ,remove all apprehension 

from the tyranny or folly of the        
people1 and the tyranny of government   
could not stand a moment4 ,it would     
then appear in its proper deformity1    
without palliation1 without  pretext1   
without protector4 ,naturally feeble in 
itself1 when it was once  stripped      
naked1 and deprived of the support of   
public opinion1 and of  the great plea  
of necessity1 it would fall without a   
struggle4'    ,this is a new view of the
 subject4 ,what then1 mankind are       
governed by  the pure love of justice6  
,the people of property and education   
have no  vices or follies of their own1 
which blind their understandings1 no    
prejudices about royalty1 or            
aristocracy1 or church or state1 no     
attachment to party1 no dependence on   
great men1 no hopes of preferment1  no  
connections1 no privileges1 no interest 
in the abuses of government1  no pride1 
none of the esprit de corps1 to hinder  
them from pronouncing  sentence on the  
laws1 institutions1 uses1 and abuses of 

society with the  same calmness1        
disinterestedness1 and wisdom1 as they  
would upon  cleaning a sewer1 or paving 
a street4    #8,the most successful     
supporters of tyranny are without doubt 
those  general declaimers1 who attribute
 the distresses of the poor1 and almost 
all the evils to which society is       
subject1 to human institutions and the  
iniquity of governments4'    ,this is   
like those highwaymen1 who attribute    
their ill treatment of  their victims to
 the resistance they make4              
#8,whatever therefore may be the        
intention of those indiscriminate and   
wholesale accusations against           
governments1 their real effect          
undoubtedly  is1 to add a weight of     
talents and principles to the prevailing
 power  which it never would have       
received otherwise4'    ,this is        
possible3 but the effect of ,mr4        
,malthus's method would be that  they   
would not want the additional weight    
either of talents or  principle1 but    

would laugh in your face4    #8,the     
inference1 therefore1 which ,mr4 ,paine 
and others have drawn against           
governments from the unhappiness of the 
people1 is palpably unfair2 and  before 
we give a sanction to such accusations1 
it is a debt we owe to  truth and       
justice1 to ascertain how much of this  
unhappiness arises from  the principle  
of population1 and how much is fairly to
 be attributed to  government4 ,when    
this distinction has been properly made1
 and all the  vague1 indefinite1 and    
false accusations removed1 government   
would  remain1 as it ought to be1       
clearly responsible for the rest4 ,a    
tenfold  weight would be immediately    
given to the cause of the people1 and   
every  man of principle would join in   
asserting and enforcing1 if necessary1  
their rights4'    ,timeo ,danaos1 et    
dona ferentes4 ,our author here wishes  
to delay the  question in order to give 
additional weight to the cause of the   
people4  ,this is something as if upon a

 stranger coming into a house almost    
fainting with hunger and cold1 we should
 advise him not to go near the  fire1   
nor take any thing to eat1 for that     
there is a great apothecary in  the     
neighbourhood who sometimes calls in    
about that time of the day1 who  will be
 able to tell him exactly how much of   
his illness proceeds from  cold1 and how
 much from hunger1 whether he should    
eat1 or warm himself  first1 and how the
 one would assist the other4 ,the man   
might naturally  answer1 ,i know that ,i
 am very cold and hungry3 ,i will       
therefore first  sit down by the fire1  
and if1 in the mean time1 you can let me
 have any  thing to eat1 ,i shall be    
heartily glad of it4 ,otherwise the     
advice of  the apothecary will come too 
late4    #8,i cannot help thinking1     
therefore1 that a knowledge generally   
circulated1 that the principal cause of 
want and unhappiness is  unconnected    
with government1 and totally beyond its 
power to remove  would1 instead of      

giving any advantage to governments1    
give a great  additional weight to the  
popular side of the question1 by        
removing the  dangers with which1 from  
ignorance1 it is at present accompanied3
 and  thus tend1 in a very powerful     
manner1 to promote the cause of rational
  freedom4'    ,the mode in which ,mr4  
,malthus strengthens the popular side is
 by  disarming it of all power or       
pretence for resistance4 ,undoubtedly   
that  must be a strange sort of strength
 which is founded on impotence4 ,the    
people are only secure against the      
encroachments of power from their       
inability to resist it4 ,this is like   
clapping a man into a dungeon to  save  
him from the pursuit of his creditors4  
,mr4 ,malthus promotes the  cause of    
rational freedom1 as the husband secured
 the virtue of his wife  in the sign of 
the ,good ,woman4    ,mr4 ,malthus's    
plan for the abolition of the poor laws 
is as follows3    #8,i should propose a 
regulation to be made1 declaring1 that  

no child born  from any marriage1 taking
 place after the expiration of a year   
from the  date of the law2 and no       
illegitimate child born two years from  
the same  date1 should ever be entitled 
to parish assistance4 ,and to give a    
more  general knowledge of this law1 and
 to enforce it more strongly on the     
minds of the lower classes of people1   
the clergyman of each parish  should    
after the publication of banns1 read a  
short address1 stating the  strong      
obligation on every man to support his  
own children2 the  impropriety1 and even
 immorality1 of marrying without a fair 
prospect of  being able to do this2 the 
evils which had resulted to the poor    
themselves1 from the attempt which had  
been made to assist by public           
institutions in a duty which ought to be
 exclusively appropriated to  parents2  
and the absolute necessity which had at 
length appeared1 of  abandoning all such
 institutions1 on account of their      
producing effects  totally opposite to  

those which were intended4    #8,this   
would operate as a fair1 distinct1 and  
precise notice1 which no  man could well
 mistake2 and without pressing hard on  
any particular  individuals1 would at   
once throw off the rising generation    
from that  miserable and helpless       
dependence upon the government and the  
rich1 the  moral as well as physical    
consequences of which are almost        
incalculable4    #8,after the public    
notice which ,i have proposed had been  
given1 and the  system of poor laws had 
ceased with regard to the rising        
generation1 if  any man chose to marry1 
without a prospect of being able to     
support a  family1 he should have the   
most perfect liberty so to do4 ,though  
to  marry1 in this case1 is in my       
opinion clearly an immoral act1 yet it  
is  not one which society can justly    
take upon itself to prevent or punish2  
because the punishment provided for it  
by the laws of nature1 falls  directly1 
and most severely upon the individual   

who commits the act1 and  through him1  
only more remotely and feebly on the    
society4 ,when nature  will govern and  
punish for us1 it is a very miserable   
ambition to wish  to snatch the rod from
 her hands1 and draw upon ourselves the 
odium of  executioner4 ,to the          
punishment therefore of nature he should
 be left1  the punishment of severe     
want4 ,he has erred in the face of a    
most clear  and precise warning1 and can
 have no just reason to complain of any 
person but himself1 when he feels the   
consequences of his error4 ,all  parish 
assistance should be most rigidly denied
 him3 and if the hand of  private       
charity be stretched forth in his       
relief1 the interests of  humanity      
imperiously require that it should be   
administered very  sparingly4 ,he should
 be taught to know that the laws of     
nature1 which  are the laws of ,god1 had
 doomed him and his family to starve for
  disobeying their repeated             
admonitions2' nay his family had no hand

 in  disobeying these admonitions #8that
 he had no claim of right on  society   
for the smallest portion of food1 beyond
 that which his labour  would fairly    
purchase2 and that if he and his family 
were saved from  suffering the          
extremities of hunger1 he would owe it  
to the pity of some  kind benefactor1 to
 whom1 therefore1 he ought to be bound  
by the  strongest ties of gratitude4    
#8,if this system were pursued1 we need 
be under no apprehensions that the      
number of persons in extreme want would 
be beyond the power and the will  of the
 benevolent to supply4 ,the sphere for  
the exercise of private  charity would1 
,i am confident1 be less than it is at  
present2 and the  only difficulty would 
be1 to restrain the hand of benevolence 
from  assisting those in distress in so 
indiscriminate a manner as to  encourage
 indolence and want of foresight in     
others4'    ,i am not sorry that ,i am  
at length come to this passage4 ,it will
 ,i hope  decide the reader's opinion of

 the benevolence1 wisdom1 piety1        
candour1  and disinterested simplicity  
of ,mr4 ,malthus's mind4 ,any comments  
that ,i  might make upon it to          
strengthen this impression must be faint
 and  feeble4 ,i give up the task of    
doing justice to the moral beauties that
  pervade every line of it1 in despair4 
,there are some instances of an         
heroical contempt for the narrow        
prejudices of the world1 of a perfect   
refinement from the vulgar feelings of  
human nature1 that must only  suffer by 
a comparison with any thing else4       
,mr4 ,malthus prefaces his plan by      
saying1    #8,i have reflected much on  
the subject of the poor laws1 and hope  
therefore that ,i shall be excused in   
venturing to suggest a mode of  their   
gradual abolition1 to which ,i confess  
that at present ,i can see no  material 
objection4 ,of this indeed ,i feel      
nearly convinced1 that should  we ever  
become sufficiently sensible of the     
wide-spreading tyranny1  dependence1    

indolence1 and unhappiness1 which they  
create1 as seriously  to make an effort 
to abolish them1 we shall be compelled  
by a sense of  justice to adopt the     
principle1 if not the plan1 which ,i    
shall mention4  ,it seems impossible to 
get rid of so extensive a system of     
support1  consistently with humanity1   
without applying ourselves directly to  
its  vital principle1 and endeavouring  
to counteract that deeply-seated  cause1
 which occasions the rapid growth of all
 such establishments1 and  invariably   
renders them inadequate to their object4
 ,as a previous step  even to any       
considerable alteration in the present  
system1 which would  contract1 or stop  
the increase of the relief to be given1 
it appears to  me that we are bound in  
justice and honour formally to disclaim 
the  right of the poor to support4'     
,now ,i shall not myself be so uncandid 
as not to confess1 that ,i think  the   
poor laws bad things2 and that it would 
be well1 if they could be  got rid of1  

consistently with humanity and justice4 
,this ,i do not think  they could in the
 present state of things and other      
circumstances  remaining as they are4   
,the reason why ,i object to ,mr4       
,malthus's plan is  that it does not go 
to the root of the evil1 or attack it in
 its  principle1 but its effects4 ,he   
confounds the cause with the effect4    
,the  wide spreading tyranny1           
dependence1 indolence1 and unhappiness  
of which  ,mr4 ,malthus is so sensible1 
are not occasioned by the increase of   
the  poor-rates1 but these are the      
natural consequence of that increasing  
tyranny1 dependence1 indolence1 and     
unhappiness occasioned by other  causes4
    ,mr4 ,malthus desires his readers to
 look at the enormous proportion in     
which the poor-rates have increased     
within the last ten years4 ,but have    
they increased in any greater proportion
 than the other taxes1 which  rendered  
them necessary1 and which ,i think were 
employed for much more  mischievous     

purposes8 ,i would ask1 what have the   
poor got by their  encroachments for the
 last ten years8 ,do they work less     
hard8 ,are they  better fed8 ,do they   
marry oftener1 and with better          
prospects8 ,are they  grown pampered and
 insolent8 ,have they changed places    
with the rich8  ,have they been cunning 
enough1 by means of the poor-laws1 to   
draw off  all their wealth and          
superfluities from the men of property8 
,have they  got so much as a quarter of 
an hour's leisure1 a farthing candle1 or
 a  cheese-paring more than they had8   
,has not the price of provisions risen  
enormously8 ,has not the price of labour
 almost stood still8 ,have not the      
government and the rich had their way in
 every thing8 ,have they not  gratified 
their ambition1 their pride1 their      
obstinacy1 their ruinous  extravagance8 
,have they not squandered the resources 
of the country as  they pleased8 ,have  
they not heaped up wealth on themselves1
 and their  dependents8 ,have they not  

multiplied sinecures1 places1 and       
pensions8  ,have they not doubled the   
salaries of those that existed before8  
,has  there been any want of new        
creations of peers1 who would thus be   
impelled to beget heirs to their titles 
and estates1 and saddle the  younger    
branches of their rising families1 by   
means of their new  influence1 on the   
country at large8 ,has there been any   
want of  contracts1 of loans1 of        
monopolies of corn1 of good             
understanding  between the rich and the 
powerful to assist one another1 and to  
fleece  the poor8 ,have the poor        
prospered8 ,have the rich declined8     
,what then  have they to complain of8   
,what ground is there for the           
apprehension1  that wealth is secretly  
changing hands1 and that the whole      
property of  the country will shortly be
 absorbed in the poor's fund8 ,do not   
the poor  create their own fund8 ,is not
 the necessity for such a fund first    
occasioned by the unequal weight with   

which the rich press upon the  poor1 and
 has not the increase of that fund in   
the last ten years been  occasioned by  
the additional exorbitant demands1 which
 have been made  upon the poor and      
industrious1 which without some         
assistance from the  public they could  
not possibly have answered8 ,whatever is
 the increase  in the nominal amount of 
the poor's fund1 will not the rich      
always be  able ultimately to throw the 
burthen of it on the poor themselves8   
,but  ,mr4 ,malthus is a man of general 
principles4 ,he cares little about these
  circumstantial details1 and petty     
objections4 ,he takes higher ground4 ,he
  deduces all his conclusions1 by an    
infallible logic1 from the laws of  ,god
 and nature4 ,when our ,essayist shall  
prove to me1 that by these paper        
bullets of the brain1 by his ratios of  
the increase of food and the  increase  
of mankind1 he has prevented one        
additional tax1 or taken off  one       
oppressive duty1 that he has made a     

single rich man retrench one  article at
 his table1 that he has made him keep a 
dog or a horse the  less1 or part with a
 single vice1 arguing from a            
mathematical  admeasurement of the size 
of the earth1 and the number of         
inhabitants it  can contain1 he shall   
have my perfect leave to disclaim the   
right of the  poor to subsistence1 and  
to tie them down by severe penalties to 
their  good behaviour on the same       
profound principles4 ,but why does ,mr4 
,malthus  practise his demonstrations on
 the poor only8 ,why are they to have a 
perfect system of rights and duties     
prescribed to them8 ,i do not see why   
they alone should be put to live on     
these metaphysical board-wages1  why    
they should be forced to submit to a    
course of abstraction2 or why  it should
 be meat and drink to them1 more than to
 others1 to do the will  of ,god4 ,mr4  
,malthus's gospel is preached only to   
the poor6--,even if ,i  approved of our 
author's plan1 ,i should object to the  

principle on which  it is founded4 ,the 
parson of the parish1 when a poor man   
comes to be  married--,no1 not so fast4 
,the author does not say1 whether the   
lecture he  proposes is to be read to   
the poor only1 or to all ranks of       
people4  ,would it not sound oddly1 if  
when the squire1 who is himself worth a 
hundred thousand pounds1 is going to be 
married to the rector's  daughter1 who  
is to have fifty1 the curate should read
 them a formal  lecture on their        
obligation to maintain their own        
children1 and not turn  them on the     
parish8 ,would it be necessary to go    
through the form of the  address1 when  
an amorous couple of eighty presented   
themselves at the  altar8 ,if the       
admonition were left to the parson's own
 discretion1 what  affronts would he not
 subject himself to1 from his neglect of
 old maids1  and superannuated widows1  
and from his applying himself familiarly
 to  the little shop-keeper1 or thriving
 mechanic8 ,well then let us suppose    

that a very poor hard-working man comes 
to be married1 and that the  clergyman  
can take the liberty with him3 he is to 
warn him first against  fornication1 and
 in the next place against matrimony4   
,these are the two  greatest sins which 
a poor man can commit1 who can neither  
be supposed  to keep his wife1 nor his  
girl4 ,mr4 ,malthus1 however1 does not  
think  them equal3 for he objects       
strongly to a country fellow's marrying 
a  girl whom he has debauched1 or1 as   
the phrase is1 making an honest woman   
of her1 as aggravating the crime1       
because by this means the parish will   
probably have three or four children to 
maintain instead of one4  ,however1 as  
it seems rather too late to recommend   
fornication or any  thing else to a man 
who is actually come to be married 7he  
must be a  strange sawney who could turn
 back at the church-door after bringing 
a  pretty rosy girl to hear a lecture on
 the principle of population7 it is     
most natural to suppose that he would   

marry the young woman in spite of  this 
principle4 ,here then he errs in the    
face of a precise warning1 and  should  
be left to the punishment of nature1 the
 punishment of severe  want4 ,when he   
begins to feel the consequences of his  
error1 all parish  assistance is to be  
rigidly denied him1 and the interests of
 humanity  imperiously require that all 
other assistance should be withheld from
  him1 or most sparingly administered4  
,in the mean time to reconcile him  to  
this treatment1 and let him see that he 
has nobody to complain of but  himself1 
the parson of the parish comes to him   
with the certificate of  his marriage1  
and a copy of the warning he had given  
him at the time1 by  which he is taught 
to know that the laws of nature1 which  
are the laws  of ,god1 had doomed him   
and his family to starve for disobeying 
their  repeated admonitions2 that he had
 no claim of right to the smallest      
portion of food beyond what his labour  
would actually purchase2 and that  he   

ought to kiss the feet and lick the dust
 off the shoes of him1 who  gave him a  
reprieve from the just sentence which   
the laws of ,god and  nature had passed 
upon him4 ,to make this clear to him1 it
 would be  necessary to put the ,essay  
on ,population into his hands1 to       
instruct him  in the nature of a        
geometrical and arithmetical series1 in 
the necessary  limits to population from
 the size of the earth1 and here would  
come in  ,mr4 ,malthus's plan of        
education for the poor1 writing1        
arithmetic1 the  use of the globes1 c4  
for the purpose of proving to them the  
necessity  of their being starved4 ,it  
cannot be supposed that the poor man    
7what  with his poverty and what with   
being priest-ridden7 should be able to  
resist this body of evidence1 he would  
open his eyes to his error1 and  #8would
 submit to the sufferings that were     
absolutely irremediable with  the       
fortitude of a man1 and the resignation 
of a ,christian4' ,he and his  family   

might then be sent round the parish in a
 starving condition1  accompanied by the
 constables and quondam overseers of the
 poor1 to  see that no person1 blind to 
#8the interests of humanity1' practised 
upon  them the abominable deception of  
attempting to relieve their remediless  
sufferings1 and by the parson of the    
parish to point out to the  spectators  
the inevitable consequences of sinning  
against the laws of  ,god and man4 ,by  
celebrating a number of these ,auto da  
fes yearly in  every parish1 the        
greatest publicity would be given to the
 principle of  population1 #8the strict 
line of duty would be pointed out to    
every man1'  enforced by the most       
powerful sanctions1 justice and humanity
 would  flourish1 they would be         
understood to signify that the poor have
 no  right to live by their labour1 and 
that the feelings of compassion and     
benevolence are best shewn by denying   
them charity1 the poor would no  longer 
be dependent on the rich1 the rich could

 no longer wish to reduce  the poor into
 a more complete subjection to their    
will1 all causes of  contention1 of     
jealousy1 and of irritation would have  
ceased between  them1 the struggle would
 be over1 each class would fulfil the   
task  assigned by heaven1 the rich would
 oppress the poor without remorse1 the  
poor would submit to oppression with a  
pious gratitude and resignation1  the   
greatest harmony would prevail between  
the government and the  people1 there   
would be no longer any seditions1       
tumults1 complaints1  petitions1        
partisans of liberty1 or tools of power1
 no grumbling1 no  repining1 no         
discontented men of talents proposing   
reforms1 and  frivolous remedies1 but we
 should all have the same gaiety and    
lightness  of heart1 and the same happy 
spirit of resignation that a man feels  
when  he is seized with the plague1 who 
thinks no more of the physician1 but    
knows that his disorder is without cure4
 ,the best laid schemes are  subject1   

however1 to unlucky reverses4 ,some such
 seem to lie in the way  of that        
pleasing ,euthanasia1 and contented     
submission to the grinding  law of      
necessity1 projected by ,mr4 ,malthus4  
,we might never reach the  philosophic  
temper of the inhabitants of modern     
,greece and ,turkey in  this respect4   
,many little things might happen to     
interrupt our progress1  if we were put 
into ever so fair a train4 ,for         
instance1 the men might  perhaps be     
talked over by the parson1 and their    
understandings being  convinced by the  
geometrical and arithmetical ratios1 or 
at least so far  puzzled1 that they     
would have nothing to say for           
themselves1 they might  prepare to      
submit to their fate with a tolerable   
grace4 ,but ,i am afraid  that the women
 might prove refractory4 ,they never    
will hearken to  reason1 and are much   
more governed by their feelings than by 
calculations4 ,while the husband was    
instructing his wife in the  principles 

of population1 she might probably answer
 that she did not see  why her children 
should starve when the squire's lady1 or
 the parson's  lady kept half a dozen   
lap-dogs1 and that it was but the other 
day that  being at the hall1 or the     
parsonage house1 she heard ,miss declare
 that  not one of the brood that were   
just littered should be drowned--,it was
  so inhuman to kill the poor little    
things--,surely the children of the     
poor are as good as puppy-dogs6 ,was it 
not a week ago that the rector  had a   
new pack of terriers sent down1 and did 
,i not hear the squire  swear a         
tremendous oath1 that he would have ,mr4
 ,such-a-one's fine  hunter1 if it cost 
him a hundred guineas8 ,half that sum   
would save us  from ruin4--,after this  
curtain-lecture1 ,i conceive that the   
husband might  begin to doubt the force 
of the demonstrations he had read and   
heard1  and the next time his clerical  
monitor came1 might pluck up courage to 
question the matter with him2 and as we 

of the male sex1 though dull of         
apprehension1 are not slow at taking a  
hint1 and can draw tough  inferences    
from it1 it is not impossible but the   
parson might be  gravelled4 ,in         
consequence of these accidents happening
 more than once1  it would be buzzed    
about that the laws of ,god and nature1 
on which so  many families had been     
doomed to starve1 were not so clear as  
had been  pretended4 ,this would soon   
get wind among the mob3 and at the next 
grand  procession of the ,penitents of  
famine1 headed by ,mr4 ,malthus in      
person1  some discontented man of       
talents1 who could not bear the         
distresses of  others with the fortitude
 of a man and the resignation of a      
,christian1  might undertake to question
 ,mr4 ,malthus1 whether the laws of     
nature or  of ,god1 to which he had     
piously sacrificed so many victims1     
signified  any thing more than the      
limited extent of the earth1 and the    
natural  impossibility of providing for 

more than a limited number of human     
beings2 and whether those laws could be 
justly put in force1 to the very        
letter1 while the actual produce of the 
earth1 by being better  husbanded1 or   
more equally distributed1 or given to   
men and not to  beasts1 might maintain  
in comfort double the number that       
actually  existed1 and who1 not daring  
to demand a fair proportion of the      
produce of their labour1 humbly crave   
charity1 and are refused out of  regard 
to the interests of justice and         
humanity4 ,our philosopher1 at  this    
critical juncture not being able to     
bring into the compass of a few  words  
all the history1 metaphysics1 morality  
and divinity1 or all the  intricacies1  
subtleties1 and callous equivocations   
contained in his  quarto volume1 might  
hesitate and be confounded--his own     
feelings and  prejudices might add to   
his perplexity--his interrogator might  
persist in  his question--the mob might 
become impatient for an answer1 and not 

finding one to their minds1 might       
proceed to extremities4 ,our            
unfortunate ,essayist 7who by that time 
would have become a bishop7 might  be   
ordered to the lamp-post1 and his book  
committed to the flames4--,i  tremble to
 think of what would follow3--the poor  
laws would be again  renewed1 and the   
poor no longer doomed to starve by the  
laws of ,god and  nature6 ,some such1 ,i
 apprehend1 might be the consequence of 
attempting  to enforce the abolition of 
the poor-laws1 the extinction of private
  charity1 and of instructing the poor  
in their metaphysical rights4 ,in a  few
 years time it is probable1 however1    
that no such consequences would  follow4
 ,in that time1 if ,mr4 ,malthus's      
systematic ardour will let him  wait so 
long1 they may be gradually crushed low 
enough in the scale of  existence to be 
ripe for the ironical benefits1 and     
sarcastic  instruction prepared for     
them4 ,mr4 ,malthus says1    #8,the     
scanty relief granted to persons in     

distress1 the capricious and  insulting 
manner in which it is sometimes         
distributed by the overseers1  and the  
natural and becoming pride not yet quite
 extinct among the  peasantry of        
,england1 have deterred the more        
thinking and virtuous part  of them1    
from venturing on marriage1 without some
 better prospect of  maintaining their  
families1 than mere parish assistance4  
,the desire of  bettering our condition 
and the fear of making it worse1 like   
the vis  medicatrix natur in physics1 is
 the vis medicatrix reipublic in        
politics1 and is continually            
counteracting the disorders arising from
  narrow human institutions4 ,in spite  
of the prejudices in favour of          
population1 and the direct              
encouragements to marriage from the poor
  laws1 it operates as a preventive     
check to increase2 and happy for this   
country is it that it does so4'    ,if  
then this natural repugnance in the poor
 to subject themselves to the  necessity

 of parish relief has ceased to operate1
 must it not be owing  to extreme       
distress1 or to the degradation of      
character1 consequent upon  it8 ,how    
does ,mr4 ,malthus propose to remedy    
this8 ,by subjecting them to  severe    
distress1 and teaching them patience    
under their sufferings4  ,but the       
rational desire of bettering our        
condition and the fear of  making it    
worse is not increased by its being made
 worse4 ,the standard  of our notions of
 decency and comfort is not raised by a 
familiarity  with unmitigated           
wretchedness1 nor is the love of        
independence  heightened by insults1 and
 contempt1 and by a formal mockery of   
the  principles of justice and humanity4
 ,on the previous habits and character  
of the people1 it is1 however1 that the 
degree of misery incurred always        
depends1 as far as relates to           
themselves4 ,the consequence of an      
effectual abolition of the poor laws    
would be all the immediate misery  that 

would be produced1 aggravated by the    
additional depression1 and  proneness to
 misery in the lower classes1 and a     
beautiful putrefaction  of all the      
common feelings of human nature in the  
higher ones4 ,finally1  ,i agree with   
,mr4 ,malthus1 that1 #8if1 as in        
,ireland and in ,spain1 and  many of the
 southern countries1 the people be in so
 degraded a state1 as  to propagate     
their species like brutes1 it matters   
little1 whether they  have poor laws or 
not4 ,misery in all its various forms   
must be the  predominant check to their 
increase3 and with1 or without poor     
laws1 no  stretch of human ingenuity and
 exertion could rescue the people from  
the  most extreme poverty and           
wretchedness4'    ,as to the            
metaphysical subtleties1 by which ,mr4  
,malthus endeavours to  prove that we   
ought systematically to visit the sins  
of the father on  the children1 and keep
 up the stock of vice and misery in the 
family  7from which it would follow1    

that the children of thieves and robbers
  ought either to be hanged outright1 or
 at least brought up in such a  manner  
as to ensure their following the fate of
 their parents7 ,i feel  and know my own
 superiority on that ground so well1    
that it would be  ungenerous to push it 
farther4 ,mr4 ,malthus has a curious    
chapter on old  maids4 ,he might have   
written one on suicides1 and another on 
prostitutes4 ,as far as the question of 
population is concerned1 they are       
certainly of more service to the        
community1 because they tempt others to 
follow their example1 whereas an old    
maid is a beacon to frighten others     
into matrimony4 ,but this1 says our     
author1 is owing to unjust prejudice4   
,i shall give the reader some of his    
arguments1 as otherwise he might not    
guess at them4    #8,it is not enough to
 abolish all the positive institutions  
which  encourage population2 but we must
 endeavour1 at the same time1 to        
correct the prevailing opinions1 which  

have the same1 or perhaps even a  more  
powerful1 effect4 ,the matron who has   
reared a family of ten or  twelve       
children1 and whose sons1 perhaps1 may  
be fighting the battles of  their       
country1 is apt to think that society   
owes her much2 and this  imaginary debt1
 society is1 in general1 fully inclined 
to acknowledge4  ,but if the subject be 
fairly considered1 and the respected    
matron  weighed in the scales of justice
 against the neglected old maid1 it is  
possible that the matron might kick the 
beam4 ,she will appear rather in  the   
character of a monopolist1 than of a    
great benefactor to the state4  ,if she 
had not married and had so many         
children1 other members of the  society 
might have enjoyed this satisfaction2   
and there is no particular  reason for  
supposing that her sons would fight     
better for their country  than the sons 
of other women4 ,she has therefore      
rather subtracted from1  than added to1 
the happiness of the other part of      

society4 ,the old maid1  on the         
contrary1 has exalted others by         
depressing herself4 ,her  self-denial   
has made room for another marriage1     
without any additional  distress2 and   
she has not1 like the generality of men1
 in avoiding one  error1 fallen into its
 opposite4 ,she has really and truly    
contributed  more to the happiness of   
the rest of the society arising from the
  pleasures of marriage1 than if she had
 entered into this union herself1  and  
had besides portioned twenty maidens    
with a hundred pounds each2  whose      
particular happiness would have been    
balanced1 either by an  increase in the 
general difficulties of rearing children
 and getting  employment1 or by the     
necessity of celibacy in twenty other   
maidens  somewhere else4 ,like the truly
 benevolent man in an irremediable      
scarcity1 she has diminished her own    
consumption1 instead of raising up  a   
few particular people1 by pressing down 
the rest4 ,on a fair  comparison1       

therefore1 she seems to have a better   
founded claim to the  gratitude of      
society than the matron4 ,whether we    
could always completely  sympathize with
 the motives of her conduct1 has not    
much to do with the  question4 ,the     
particular motive which influenced the  
matron to marry1  was certainly not the 
good of her country4 ,to refuse a proper
 tribute of  respect to the old maid1   
because she was not directly influenced 
in her  conduct by the desire of        
conferring on society a certain benefit1
 which1  though it must undoubtedly     
exist1 must necessarily be so diffused  
as to  be invisible to her1 is in the   
highest degree impolitic and unjust4 ,it
  is expecting a strain of virtue beyond
 humanity4 ,if we never reward any      
persons with our approbation1 but those 
who are exclusively influenced  by      
motives of general benevolence1 this    
powerful encouragement to do  good      
actions will not be very often called   
into exercise4'    ,mr4 ,malthus would  

make an excellent superior of a convent 
of nuns of the  ,order of               
,population4--,the better to remove what
 he considers as an unjust  stigma on   
old maids2 he has endeavoured to set one
 on married women4 ,he  would persuade  
every one to look upon his mother as a  
person of bad  character4 ,he would pass
 an act of bastardy on every mother's   
son of us2  and prove that we come into 
the world without a proper license 7from
  him7 merely to gratify the coarse1    
selfish1 immoral propensities of our    
parents4 ,till however he can do away   
the filial relation1 or the respect     
attached to it1 or so contrive it that  
all men should be #8born of a  virgin'  
contrary to all our experience1 it will 
,i believe be impossible  to get rid of 
the unjust prejudice against old maids1 
or to place them  on a level with       
married women4 ,mr4 ,malthus has gone   
the wrong way to  ingratiate himself    
with the mothers of families3 but he has
 not taken  his measures ill4 ,he knows 

that the partiality and favours of such 
persons are generally confined to run in
 their own low1 narrow1 domestic        
channels4 ,but this is not the case with
 those reverend persons1 to whom  he    
pays his court4 ,he knows that their    
bounty is not confined by any  such     
selfish limits1 it flows liberally to   
all1 and they have the best  chance of  
sharing in it1 who endeavour to         
indemnify them for their  personal      
sacrifices1 or the ridicule of the world
 by a succession of  little agreeable   
attentions1 or by offering theoretical  
incense to their  virtue and merit4     
#8,it is perfectly absurd as well as    
unjust1 that a giddy girl of sixteen    
should1 because she is married be       
considered by the forms of society as   
the protector of women of thirty1 should
 come first into the room1  should be   
assigned the highest place at table1 and
 be the prominent  figure to whom the   
attentions of the company are more      
particularly  addressed4'--,not more    

absurd than that a child or an ideot    
should be a  king1 or that a grave man  
of fifty should call a young coxcomb1   
,my lord4  ,our sophist would overturn  
all the established order of society    
with his  out-of-the-way                
principles4--,mr4 ,malthus has huddled  
into the same chapter  his attack on the
 monopoly made by the married women of  
the men1 and his  defence of the        
monopoly of corn by farmers and others4 
,it is the last  passage ,i shall quote1
 though there are many others worthy of 
rebuke4    #8,in some conversations with
 labouring men during the late          
scarcities1 ,i  confess that ,i was to  
the last degree disheartened1 at        
observing their  inveterate prejudices  
on the subject of grain3 and ,i felt    
very strongly  the almost absolute      
incompatibility of a government really  
free1 with  such a degree of ignorance4 
,the delusions are of such a nature1    
that1 if  acted upon1 they must1 at all 
events1 be repressed by force3 and it is

  extremely difficult to give such a    
power to the government as will be      
sufficient at all times for this        
purpose1 without the risk of its being  
employed improperly1 and endangering the
 liberty of the subject4 ,and  this     
reflection cannot but be disheartening  
to every friend to freedom4    #8,it is 
of the very utmost importance1 that the 
gentlemen of the country1  and          
particularly the clergy1 should not1    
from ignorance1 aggravate the  evils of 
scarcity every time that it             
unfortunately occurs4 ,during the  late 
dearths1 half of the gentlemen and      
clergymen in the kingdom richly         
deserved to have been prosecuted for    
sedition4 ,after inflaming the minds  of
 the common people against the farmers  
and corn-dealers1 by the manner  in     
which they talked of them1 or preached  
about them1 it was but a  feeble        
antidote to the poison which they had   
infused1 coldly to observe1  that       
however the poor might be oppressed or  

cheated1 it was their duty  to keep the 
peace4 ,it was little better than       
,antony's repeated  declaration1 that   
the conspirators were all honourable    
men2 which did  not save either their   
houses or their persons from the attacks
 of the  mob4 ,political economy is     
perhaps the only science of which it    
might be  said1 that the ignorance of it
 is not merely a deprivation of good1   
but  produces great positive evil4'     
,i shall accompany this passage with an 
extract from the ,author's first        
edition and leave it to the reader to   
apply the hint of ,antony's speech  to  
whom he thinks fit4    #8,it very rarely
 happens that the nominal price of      
labour universally  falls2 but we well  
know that it frequently remains the     
same1 while the  nominal price of       
provisions has been gradually           
increasing4 ,this is1 in  effect1 a real
 fall in the price of labour2 and during
 this period1 the  condition of the     
lower orders of the community must      

gradually grow worse  and worse4 ,but   
the farmers and the capitalists are     
growing rich from the  real cheapness of
 labour4 ,their increased capitals      
enable them to employ  a greater number 
of men4 ,work therefore may be          
plentiful2 and the price  of labour     
would consequently rise4 ,but the want  
of freedom in the market  of labour1    
which occurs more or less in all        
communities1 either from  parish laws1  
or the more general cause of the        
facility of combination  among the rich1
 and its difficulty among the poor1     
operates to prevent  the price of labour
 from rising at the natural period1 and 
keeps it down  some time longer2        
perhaps1 till a year of scarcity1 when  
the clamour is  too loud1 and the       
necessity too apparent to be resisted4  
#8,the true cause of the advance in the 
price of labour is thus concealed2  and 
the rich affect to grant it as an act of
 compassion and favour to  the poor1 in 
consideration of a year of scarcity2 and

 when plenty  returns1 indulge          
themselves in the most unreasonable of  
all complaints1  that the price does not
 again fall2 when a little reflection   
would shew  them1 that it must have     
risen long before1 but from an unjust   
conspiracy  of their own4'              
,,the ,,end                             
,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age         
,,bibliographical ,,note      ,published
 anonymously in one volume 7#hvo1 #dbd  
pages7 in #ahbe1 with the  following    
title-page3--#8,the ,spirit of the ,age3
 or ,contemporary ,portraits4  8,to know
 another well were to know one's self40 
,london3 ,printed for  ,henry ,colburn1 
,new ,burlington ,street4 #ahbe4' ,the  
imprint was #8,london3  ,printed by ,s4 
and ,r4 ,bentley1 ,dorset ,street4' ,a  
second edition 7here  reproduced71 with 
the same title-page 7except that the    
quotation ran3  #88,to know a man well1 
were to know himself40 ,hamlet'7 and    
imprint1 was  produced in smaller type  
7#hvo1 #djh pages7 in the same year4 ,in

 this  edition the essays were arranged 
in a different order1 an addition was   
made to the essay on ,coleridge1 and an 
essay on ,cobbett from ,table  ,talk    
7vol4 i41 #ahba7 was included4 ,in the  
same year1 #ahbe1 an edition  was       
published in ,paris 7,a4 and ,w4        
,galignani7 which included the essay on 
,cobbett and an essay on ,canning4 ,the 
third edition1 edited by the  author's  
son1 was published in #aheh 7one volume1
 #hvo1 #cif pages1 ,c4  ,templeman1     
,great ,portland ,street74 ,in this     
edition the essays on ,cobbett  and     
,canning were included1 and the essays  
were arranged in an order  different    
from that of either the first or the    
second edition4 ,the  fourth edition1   
edited by ,mr4 ,w4 ,c4 ,hazlitt for     
,bohn's ,standard  ,library 7#ahhf7     
restored the order of the second        
edition1 but included  the essay on     
,canning4 ,in this edition ,mr4 ,hazlitt
 made some alterations  in the text     
based upon 7#a7 portions of the original

 ,,mss4 then in his  possession1 and    
7#b7 autograph notes of the author's in 
a copy of the  second edition belonging 
to ,mr4 ,c4 ,w4 ,reynell4 ,a volume of  
,essays  selected from ,the ,spirit of  
the ,age1 with an introduction by ,r4   
,b4  ,johnson1 was published in #ahic   
7the ,knickerbocker ,press1 ,g4 ,p4     
,putnam's  ,sons74 ,five of the essays1 
viz43 those on ,bentham1 ,irving1 ,horne
 ,tooke1  ,scott1 and ,eldon were       
originally published in ,colburn's ,new 
,monthly  ,magazine and ,literary       
,journal 7#ahbd1 vols4 x4 and xi47 in a 
series  entitled #8,the ,spirits of the 
,age4'                                  
,,contents                              
,,page   ,jeremy ,bentham               
#ahi     ,william ,godwin               
#bjj     ,mr4 ,coleridge                
#bab     ,rev4 ,mr4 ,irving             
#bbb     ,the late ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke   
#bca     ,sir ,walter ,scott            
#bda     ,lord ,byron                   
#bec     ,mr4 ,southey                  

#bfb     ,mr4 ,wordsworth               
#bgj     ,sir ,james ,mackintosh        
#bgi     ,mr4 ,malthus                  
#bhg     ,mr4 ,gifford                  
#bih     ,mr4 ,jeffrey                  
#caj     ,mr4 ,brougham--,sir ,f4       
,burdett                                
#cah     ,lord ,eldon--,mr4 ,wilberforce
                                        
#cbe     ,mr4 ,cobbett                  
#ccd     ,mr4 ,campbell--,mr4 ,crabbe   
#cdc     ,mr4 ,t4 ,moore--,mr4 ,leigh   
,hunt                                   
#cec     ,elia--,geoffrey ,crayon       
#cfb                                    
,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age         
,,jeremy ,,bentham      ,mr4 ,bentham is
 one of those persons who verify the old
 adage1 that #8,a  prophet has most     
honour out of his own country4' ,his    
reputation lies at  the circumference2  
and the lights of his understanding are 
reflected1  with increasing lustre1 on  
the other side of the globe4 ,his name  
is  little known in ,england1 better in 

,europe1 best of all in the plains of   
,chili and the mines of ,mexico4 ,he has
 offered constitutions for the ,new     
,world1 and legislated for future times4
 ,the people of ,westminster1 where  he 
lives1 hardly dream of such a person2   
but the ,siberian savage has  received  
cold comfort from his lunar aspect1 and 
may say to him with  ,caliban--#8,i know
 thee1 and thy dog and thy bush6' ,the  
tawny ,indian may  hold out the hand of 
fellowship to him across the ,,great    
,,pacific4 ,we  believe that the        
,empress ,catherine corresponded with   
him2 and we know  that the ,emperor     
,alexander called upon him1 and         
presented him with his  miniature in a  
gold snuff-box1 which the philosopher1  
to his eternal  honour1 returned4 ,mr4  
,hobhouse is a greater man at the       
hustings1 ,lord  ,rolle at ,plymouth    
,dock2 but ,mr4 ,bentham would carry it 
hollow1 on the  score of popularity1 at 
,paris or ,pegu4 ,the reason is1 that   
our author's  influence is purely       

intellectual4 ,he has devoted his life  
to the pursuit  of abstract and general 
truths1 and to those studies--          
#8,that waft a thought from ,indus to   
the ,pole'--    and has never mixed     
himself up with personal intrigues or   
party  politics4 ,he once1 indeed1 stuck
 up a hand-bill to say that he 7,jeremy 
,bentham7 being of sound mind1 was of   
opinion that ,sir ,samuel ,romilly was  
the most proper person to represent     
,westminster2 but this was the whim  of 
the moment4 ,otherwise1 his reasonings1 
if true at all1 are true  everywhere    
alike3 his speculations concern humanity
 at large1 and are  not confined to the 
hundred or the bills of mortality4 ,it  
is in moral as  in physical magnitude4  
,the little is seen best near3 the great
 appears  in its proper dimensions1 only
 from a more commanding point of view1  
and  gains strength with time1 and      
elevation from distance6    ,mr4        
,bentham is very much among philosophers
 what ,la ,fontaine was among           

poets3--in general habits and in all but
 his professional pursuits1 he is  a    
mere child4 ,he has lived for the last  
forty years in a house in  ,westminster1
 overlooking the ,park1 like an anchoret
 in his cell1  reducing law to a system1
 and the mind of man to a machine4 ,he  
scarcely  ever goes out1 and sees very  
little company4 ,the favoured few1 who  
have  the privilege of the entre1 are   
always admitted one by one4 ,he does    
not like to have witnesses to his       
conversation4 ,he talks a great deal1   
and listens to nothing but facts4 ,when 
any one calls upon him1 he  invites them
 to take a turn round his garden with   
him 7,mr4 ,bentham is an  economist of  
his time1 and sets apart this portion of
 it to air and  exercise7--and there you
 may see the lively old man1 his mind   
still  buoyant with thought and with the
 prospect of futurity1 in eager         
conversation with some ,opposition      
,member1 some expatriated ,patriot1 or  
,transatlantic ,adventurer1 urging the  

extinction of ,close ,boroughs1 or      
planning a code of laws for some #8lone 
island in the watery waste1' his  walk  
almost amounting to a run1 his tongue   
keeping pace with it in  shrill1        
cluttering accents1 negligent of his    
person1 his dress1 and his  manner1     
intent only on his grand theme of       
,,utility--or pausing1 perhaps1  for    
want of breath and with lack-lustre eye 
to point out to the stranger  a stone in
 the wall at the end of his garden      
7overarched by two  beautiful           
cotton-trees7 ,inscribed to the ,prince 
of ,poets1 which marks  the house where 
,milton formerly lived4 ,to show how    
little the  refinements of taste or     
fancy enter into our author's system1 he
  proposed at one time to cut down these
 beautiful trees1 to convert the  garden
 where he had breathed the air of ,truth
 and ,heaven for near half a  century   
into a paltry ,chrestomathic ,school1   
and to make ,milton's house  7the cradle
 of ,paradise ,lost7 a thoroughfare1    

like a three-stalled  stable1 for the   
idle rabble of ,westminster to pass     
backwards and  forwards to it with their
 cloven hoofs4 ,let us not1 however1 be 
getting  on too fast--,milton himself   
taught school6 ,there is something not  
altogether dissimilar between ,mr4      
,bentham's appearance1 and the          
portraits of ,milton1 the same silvery  
tone1 a few dishevelled hairs1 a        
peevish1 yet puritanical expression1 an 
irritable temperament corrected  by     
habit and discipline4 ,or in modern     
times1 he is something between          
,franklin and ,charles ,fox1 with the   
comfortable double-chin and sleek       
thriving look of the one1 and the       
quivering lip1 the restless eye1 and    
animated acuteness of the other4 ,his   
eye is quick and lively2 but it  glances
 not from object to object1 but from    
thought to thought4 ,he is  evidently a 
man occupied with some train of fine and
 inward association4  ,he regards the   
people about him no more than the flies 

of a summer4 ,he  meditates the coming  
age4 ,he hears and sees only what suits 
his purpose1  or some #8foregone        
conclusion'2 and looks out for facts and
 passing  occurrences in order to put   
them into his logical machinery and     
grind  them into the dust and powder of 
some subtle theory1 as the miller looks 
out for grist to his mill6 ,add to this 
physiognomical sketch the minor  points 
of costume1 the open shirt-collar1 the  
single-breasted coat1 the  old fashioned
 half-boots and ribbed stockings2 and   
you will find in ,mr4  ,bentham's       
general appearance a singular mixture of
 boyish simplicity and  of the          
venerableness of age4 ,in a word1 our   
celebrated jurist presents a  striking  
illustration of the difference between  
the philosophical and  the regal look2  
that is1 between the merely abstracted  
and the merely  personal4 ,there is a   
lack-adaisical bonhommie about his whole
 aspect1  none of the fierceness of     
pride or power2 an unconscious neglect  

of his  own person1 instead of a stately
 assumption of superiority2 a           
good-humoured1 placid intelligence1     
instead of a lynx-eyed watchfulness1  as
 if it wished to make others its prey1  
or was afraid they might turn  and rend 
him2 he is a beneficent spirit1 prying  
into the universe1 not  lording it over 
it2 a thoughtful spectator of the scenes
 of life1 or  ruminator on the fate of  
mankind1 not a painted pageant1 a stupid
 idol  set up on its pedestal of pride  
for men to fall down and worship with   
idiot fear and wonder at the thing      
themselves have made1 and which1        
without that fear and wonder1 would in  
itself be nothing6    ,mr4 ,bentham1    
perhaps1 over-rates the importance of   
his own theories4 ,he  has been heard to
 say 7without any appearance of pride or
 affectation7  that #8he should like to 
live the remaining years of his life1 a 
year at  a time at the end of the next  
six or eight centuries1 to see the      
effect  which his writings would by that

 time have had upon the world4' ,alas6  
his name will hardly live so long6 ,nor 
do we think1 in point of fact1  that    
,mr4 ,bentham has given any new or      
decided impulse to the human mind4  ,he 
cannot be looked upon in the light of a 
discoverer in legislation or  morals4   
,he has not struck out any great leading
 principle or  parent-truth1 from which 
a number of others might be deduced2 nor
 has he  enriched the common and        
established stock of intelligence with  
original  observations1 like pearls     
thrown into wine4 ,one truth discovered 
is  immortal1 and entitles its author to
 be so3 for1 like a new substance in    
nature1 it cannot be destroyed4 ,but    
,mr4 ,bentham's forte is  arrangement2  
and the form of truth1 though not its   
essence1 varies with  time and          
circumstance4 ,he has methodised1       
collated1 and condensed all  the        
materials prepared to his hand on the   
subjects of which he treats1  in a      
masterly and scientific manner2 but we  

should find a difficulty in  adducing   
from his different works 7however       
elaborate or closely  reasoned7 any new 
element of thought1 or even a new fact  
or  illustration4 ,his writings are1    
therefore1 chiefly valuable as books of 
reference1 as bringing down the account 
of intellectual inquiry to the  present 
period1 and disposing the results in a  
compendious1 connected1  and tangible   
shape2 but books of reference are       
chiefly serviceable for  facilitating   
the acquisition of knowledge1 and are   
constantly liable to  be superseded and 
to grow out of fashion with its         
progress1 as the  scaffolding is thrown 
down as soon as the building is         
completed4 ,mr4  ,bentham is not the    
first writer 7by a great many7 who has  
assumed the  principle of ,,utility as  
the foundation of just laws1 and of all 
moral  and political reasoning3--his    
merit is1 that he has applied this      
principle more closely and literally2   
that he has brought all the  objections 

and arguments1 more distinctly labelled 
and ticketed1 under  this one head1 and 
made a more constant and explicit       
reference to it at  every step of his   
progress1 than any other writer4        
,perhaps the weak side  of his          
conclusions also is1 that he has carried
 this single view of his  subject too   
far1 and not made sufficient allowance  
for the varieties of  human nature1 and 
the caprices and irregularities of the  
human will4 #8,he  has not allowed for  
the wind4' ,it is not that you can be   
said to see  his favourite doctrine of  
,utility glittering everywhere through  
his  system1 like a vein of rich1       
shining ore 7that is not the nature of  
the  material7--but it might be         
plausibly objected that he had struck   
the  whole mass of fancy1 prejudice1    
passion1 sense1 whim1 with his petrific1
  leaden mace1 that he had #8bound      
volatile ,hermes1' and reduced the      
theory  and practice of human life to a 
caput mortuum of reason1 and dull1      

plodding1 technical calculation4 ,the   
gentleman is himself a capital          
logician2 and he has been led by this   
circumstance to consider man as a       
logical animal4 ,we fear this view of   
the matter will hardly hold water4  ,if 
we attend to the moral man1 the         
constitution of his mind will  scarcely 
be found to be built up of pure reason  
and a regard to  consequences3 if we    
consider the criminal man 7with whom the
  legislator has chiefly to do7 it will 
be found to be still less so4    ,every 
pleasure1 says ,mr4 ,bentham1 is equally
 a good1 and is to be taken  into the   
account as such in a moral estimate1    
whether it be the pleasure  of sense or 
of conscience1 whether it arise from the
 exercise of virtue  or the perpetration
 of crime4 ,we are afraid the human mind
 does not  readily come into this       
doctrine1 this ultima ratio             
philosophorum1  interpreted according to
 the letter4 ,our moral sentiments are  
made up of  sympathies and antipathies1 

of sense and imagination1 of            
understanding  and prejudice4 ,the soul1
 by reason of its weakness1 is an       
aggregating  and an exclusive principle2
 it clings obstinately to some things1  
and  violently rejects others4 ,and it  
must do so1 in a great measure1 or it   
would act contrary to its own nature4   
,it needs helps and stages in its       
progress1 and #8all appliances and means
 to boot1' which can raise it to  a     
partial conformity to truth and good    
7the utmost it is capable of7 and  bring
 it into a tolerable harmony with the   
universe4 ,by aiming at too  much1 by   
dismissing collateral aids1 by extending
 itself to the farthest  verge of the   
conceivable and possible1 it loses its  
elasticity and  vigour1 its impulse and 
its direction4 ,the moralist can no more
 do  without the intermediate use of    
rules and principles1 without the       
#8vantage ground of habit1 without the  
levers of the understanding1 than  the  
mechanist can discard the use of wheels 

and pulleys1 and perform  every thing by
 simple motion4 ,if the mind of man were
 competent to  comprehend the whole of  
truth and good1 and act upon it at once1
 and  independently of all other        
considerations1 ,mr4 ,bentham's plan    
would be a  feasible one1 and the truth1
 the whole truth1 and nothing but the   
truth1 would be the best possible ground
 to place morality upon4 ,but it  is not
 so4 ,in ascertaining the rules of moral
 conduct1 we must have  regard not      
merely to the nature of the object1 but 
to the capacity of  the agent1 and to   
his fitness for apprehending or         
attaining it4 ,pleasure  is that which  
is so in itself3 good is that which     
approves itself as  such on reflection1 
or the idea of which is a source of     
satisfaction4  ,all pleasure is not1    
therefore 7morally speaking7 equally a  
good2 for  all pleasure does not equally
 bear reflecting on4 ,there are some    
tastes  that are sweet in the mouth and 
bitter in the belly2 and there is a     

similar contradiction and anomaly in the
 mind and heart of man4    ,again1 what 
would become of the ,posthc meminisse   
juvabit of the poet1  if a principle of 
fluctuation and reaction is not inherent
 in the very  constitution of our       
nature1 or if all moral truth is a mere 
literal  truism8 ,we are not1 then1 so  
much to inquire what certain things are 
abstractedly or in themselves1 as how   
they affect the mind1 and to  approve or
 condemn them accordingly4 ,the same    
object seen near strikes  us more       
powerfully than at a distance3 things   
thrown into masses give a  greater blow 
to the imagination than when scattered  
and divided into  their component parts4
 ,a number of mole-hills do not make a  
mountain1  though a mountain is actually
 made up of atoms3 so moral truth must  
present itself under a certain aspect   
and from a certain point of view1  in   
order to produce its full and proper    
effect upon the mind4 ,the laws  of the 
affections are as necessary as those of 

optics4 ,a calculation of  consequences 
is no more equivalent to a sentiment1   
than a seriatim  enumeration of square  
yards or feet touches the fancy like the
 sight of  the ,alps or ,andes4    ,to  
give an instance or two of what we mean4
 ,those who on pure  cosmopolite        
principles1 or on the ground of abstract
 humanity1 affect an  extraordinary     
regard for the ,turks and ,tartars1 have
 been accused of  neglecting their      
duties to their friends and next-door   
neighbours4 ,well1  then1 what is the   
state of the question here8 ,one human  
being is1 no  doubt1 as much worth in   
himself1 independently of the           
circumstances of  time or place1 as     
another2 but he is not of so much value 
to us and our  affections4 ,could our   
imagination take wing 7with our         
speculative  faculties7 to the other    
side of the globe or to the ends of the 
universe1 could our eyes behold whatever
 our reason teaches us to be  possible1 
could our hands reach as far as our     

thoughts and wishes1 we  might then busy
 ourselves to advantage with the        
,hottentots1 or hold  intimate converse 
with the inhabitants of the ,moon2 but  
being as we are1  our feelings evaporate
 in so large a space--we must draw the  
circle of  our affections and duties    
somewhat closer--the heart hovers and   
fixes  nearer home4 ,it is true1 the    
bands of private1 or of local and       
natural  affection1 are often1 nay in   
general1 too tightly strained1 so as    
frequently to do harm instead of good3  
but the present question is  whether we 
can1 with safety and effect1 be wholly  
emancipated from them8  ,whether we     
should shake them off at pleasure and   
without mercy1 as the  only bar to the  
triumph of truth and justice8 ,or       
whether benevolence1  constructed upon a
 logical scale1 would not be merely     
nominal1 whether  duty1 raised to too   
lofty a pitch of refinement1 might not  
sink into  callous indifference or      
hollow selfishness8 ,again1 is it not to

 exact  too high a strain from humanity1
 to ask us to qualify the degree of     
abhorrence we feel against a murderer by
 taking into our cool  consideration the
 pleasure he may have in committing the 
deed1 and in  the prospect of gratifying
 his avarice or his revenge8 ,we are    
hardly so  formed as to sympathise at   
the same moment with the assassin and   
his  victim4 ,the degree of pleasure the
 former may feel1 instead of            
extenuating1 aggravates his guilt1 and  
shows the depth of his malignity4  ,now 
the mind revolts against this by mere   
natural antipathy1 if it is  itself     
well-disposed2 or the slow process of   
reason would afford but a  feeble       
resistance to violence and wrong4 ,the  
will1 which is necessary to  give       
consistency and promptness to our good  
intentions1 cannot extend so  much      
candour and courtesy to the antagonist  
principle of evil3 virtue1  to be       
sincere and practical1 cannot be        
divested entirely of the  blindness and 

impetuosity of passion6 ,it has been    
made a plea 7half  jest1 half earnest7  
for the horrors of war1 that they       
promote trade and  manufactures4 ,it has
 been said1 as a set-off for the        
atrocities  practised upon the negro    
slaves in the ,west ,indies1 that       
without their  blood and sweat1 so many 
millions of people could not have sugar 
to  sweeten their tea4 ,fires and       
murders have been argued to be          
beneficial1  as they serve to fill the  
newspapers1 and for a subject to talk   
of--this  is a sort of sophistry that it
 might be difficult to disprove on the  
bare scheme of contingent utility2 but  
on the ground that we have  stated1 it  
must pass for mere irony4 ,what the     
proportion between the  good and the    
evil will really be found in any of the 
supposed cases1 may  be a question to   
the understanding2 but to the           
imagination and the  heart1 that is1 to 
the natural feelings of mankind1 it     
admits of none6    ,mr4 ,bentham1 in    

adjusting the provisions of a penal     
code1 lays too  little stress on the    
co-operation of the natural prejudices  
of mankind1  and the habitual feelings  
of that class of persons for whom they  
are  more particularly designed4        
,legislators 7we mean writers on        
legislation7  are philosophers1 and     
governed by their reason3 criminals1 for
 whose  controul laws are made1 are a   
set of desperadoes1 governed only by    
their  passions4 ,what wonder that so   
little progress has been made towards a 
mutual understanding between the two    
parties6 ,they are quite a different    
species1 and speak a different language1
 and are sadly at a loss for a  common  
interpreter between them4 ,perhaps the  
,ordinary of ,newgate bids as  fair for 
this office as any one4 ,what should    
,mr4 ,bentham1 sitting at  ease in his  
arm-chair1 composing his mind before he 
begins to write by a  prelude on the    
organ1 and looking out at a beautiful   
prospect when he is  at a loss for an   

idea1 know of the principles of action  
of rogues1  outlaws1 and vagabonds8 ,no 
more than ,montaigne of the motions of  
his  cat6 ,if sanguine and              
tender-hearted philanthropists have set 
on foot an  inquiry into the barbarity  
and the defects of penal laws1 the      
practical  improvements have been mostly
 suggested by reformed cut-throats1     
turnkeys1 and thief-takers4 ,what even  
can the ,honourable ,house1 who when    
the ,speaker has pronounced the         
well-known1 wished-for sounds1 #8,that  
this  house do now adjourn1' retire1    
after voting a royal crusade or a loan  
of  millions1 to lie on down1 and feed  
on plate in spacious palaces1 know of   
what passes in the hearts of wretches in
 garrets and night-cellars1  petty      
pilferers and marauders1 who cut throats
 and pick pockets with  their own hands8
 ,the thing is impossible4 ,the laws of 
the country are1  therefore1 ineffectual
 and abortive1 because they are made by 
the rich  for the poor1 by the wise for 

the ignorant1 by the respectable and    
exalted in station for the very scum and
 refuse of the community4 ,if  ,newgate 
would resolve itself into a committee of
 the whole ,press-yard1  with ,jack     
,ketch at its head1 aided by            
confidential persons from the  county   
prisons or the ,hulks1 and would make a 
clear breast1 some data  might be found 
out to proceed upon2 but as it is1 the  
criminal mind of  the country is a book 
sealed1 no one has been able to         
penetrate to the  inside6 ,mr4 ,bentham1
 in his attempts to revise and amend our
 criminal  jurisprudence1 proceeds      
entirely on his favourite principle of  
,utility4  ,convince highwaymen and     
housebreakers that it will be for their 
interest  to reform1 and they will      
reform and lead honest lives2 according 
to ,mr4  ,bentham4 ,he says1 #8,all men 
act from calculation1 even madmen       
reason4'  ,and1 in our opinion1 he might
 as well carry this maxim to ,bedlam or 
,st4  ,luke's1 and apply it to the      

inhabitants1 as think to coerce or      
overawe  the inmates of a gaol1 or those
 whose practices make them candidates   
for  that distinction1 by the mere dry1 
detailed convictions of the             
understanding4 ,criminals are not to be 
influenced by reason2 for it is  of the 
very essence of crime to disregard      
consequences both to ourselves  and     
others4 ,you may as well preach         
philosophy to a drunken man1 or to  the 
dead1 as to those who are under the     
instigation of any mischievous  passion4
 ,a man is a drunkard1 and you tell him 
he ought to be sober2 he  is debauched1 
and you ask him to reform2 he is idle1  
and you recommend  industry to him as   
his wisest course2 he gambles1 and you  
remind him  that he may be ruined by    
this foible2 he has lost his character1 
and you  advise him to get into some    
reputable service or lucrative          
situation2  vice becomes a habit with   
him1 and you request him to rouse       
himself and  shake it off2 he is        

starving1 and you warn him if he breaks 
the law1 he  will be hanged4 ,none of   
this reasoning reaches the mark it aims 
at4 ,the  culprit1 who violates and     
suffers the vengeance of the laws1 is   
not the  dupe of ignorance1 but the     
slave of passion1 the victim of habit or
  necessity4 ,to argue with strong      
passion1 with inveterate habit1 with    
desperate circumstances1 is to talk to  
the winds4 ,clownish ignorance may      
indeed be dispelled1 and taught better2 
but it is seldom that a criminal  is not
 aware of the consequences of his act1  
or has not made up his mind  to the     
alternative4 ,they are1 in general1 too 
knowing by half4 ,you  tell a person of 
this stamp what is his interest2 he says
 he does not  care about his interest1  
or the world and he differ on that      
particular4  ,but there is one point on 
which he must agree with them1 namely1  
what  they think of his conduct1 and    
that is the only hold you have of him4  
,a man may be callous and indifferent to

 what happens to himself2 but he  is    
never indifferent to public opinion1 or 
proof against open scorn and  infamy4   
,shame1 then1 not fear1 is the          
sheet-anchor of the law4 ,he who is  not
 afraid of being pointed at as a thief1 
will not mind a month's  hard labour4   
,he who is prepared to take the life of 
another1 is already  reckless of his    
own4 ,but every one makes a sorry figure
 in the pillory2  and the being launched
 from the ,new ,drop lowers a man in his
 own  opinion4 ,the lawless and violent 
spirit1 who is hurried by headstrong    
self-will to break the laws1 does not   
like to have the ground of pride  and   
obstinacy struck from under his feet4   
,this is what gives the  swells of the  
metropolis such a dread of the          
tread-mill--it makes  them ridiculous4  
,it must be confessed1 that this very   
circumstance  renders the reform of     
criminals nearly hopeless4 ,it is the   
apprehension  of being stigmatized by   
public opinion1 the fear of what will be

 thought  and said of them1 that deters 
men from the violation of the laws1     
while  their character remains          
unimpeached2 but honour once lost1 all  
is lost4  ,the man can never be himself 
again6 ,a citizen is like a soldier1 a  
part  of a machine1 who submits to      
certain hardships1 privations1 and      
dangers1  not for his own ease1         
pleasure1 profit1 or even conscience1   
but--for  shame4 ,what is it that keeps 
the machine together in either case8    
,not  punishment or discipline1 but     
sympathy4 ,the soldier mounts the breach
 or  stands in the trenches1 the peasant
 hedges and ditches1 or the mechanic    
plies his ceaseless task1 because the   
one will not be called a coward1  the   
other a rogue3 but let the one turn     
deserter and the other  vagabond1 and   
there is an end of him4 ,the grinding   
law of necessity1  which is no other    
than a name1 a breath1 loses its force2 
he is no  longer sustained by the good  
opinion of others1 and he drops out of  

his  place in society1 a useless clog6  
,mr4 ,bentham takes a culprit1 and puts 
him into what he calls a ,panopticon1   
that is1 a sort of circular  prison1    
with open cells1 like a glass bee-hive4 
,he sits in the middle1  and sees all   
the other does4 ,he gives him work to   
do1 and lectures him  if he does not do 
it4 ,he takes liquor from him1 and      
society and liberty2  but he feeds and  
clothes him1 and keeps him out of       
mischief2 and when he  has convinced    
him1 by force and reason together1 that 
this life is for  his good1 he turns him
 out upon the world a reformed man1 and 
as  confident of the success of his     
handy-work1 as the shoemaker of that    
which he has just taken off the last1 or
 the ,parisian barber in ,sterne1  of   
the buckle of his wig4 #8,dip it in the 
ocean1' said the perruquier1  #8and it  
will stand6' ,but we doubt the          
durability of our projector's           
patchwork4 ,will our convert to the     
great principle of ,utility work when   

he is from under ,mr4 ,bentham's eye1   
because he was forced to work when      
under it8 ,will he keep sober1 because  
he has been kept from liquor so  long8  
,will he not return to loose company1   
because he has had the  pleasure of     
sitting vis--vis with a philosopher of  
late8 ,will he not  steal1 now that his 
hands are untied8 ,will he not take the 
road1 now  that it is free to him8 ,will
 he not call his benefactor all the     
names he  can set his tongue to1 the    
moment his back is turned8 ,all this is 
more  than to be feared4 ,the charm of  
criminal life1 like that of savage life1
  consists in liberty1 in hardship1 in  
danger1 and in the contempt of  death1  
in one word1 in extraordinary           
excitement2 and he who has tasted  of   
it1 will no more return to regular      
habits of life1 than a man will  take to
 water after drinking brandy1 or than a 
wild beast will give over  hunting its  
prey4 ,miracles never cease1 to be sure2
 but they are not to  be had wholesale1 

or to order4 ,mr4 ,owen1 who is another 
of those  proprietors and patentees of  
reform1 has lately got an ,american     
savage  with him1 whom he carries about 
in great triumph and complacency1 as an 
antithesis to his ,new ,view of         
,society1 and as winding up his         
reasoning  to what it mainly wanted1 an 
epigrammatic point4 ,does the benevolent
  visionary of the ,lanark cotton-mills 
really think this natural man  will act 
as a foil to his artificial man8 ,does  
he for a moment imagine  that his       
,address to the higher and middle       
classes1 with all its  advantages of    
fiction1 makes any thing like so        
interesting a romance as  ,hunter's     
,captivity among the ,north ,american   
,indians8 ,has he any thing  to show1 in
 all the apparatus of ,new ,lanark and  
its desolate monotony1  to excite the   
thrill of imagination like the blankets 
made of wreaths of  snow under which the
 wild wood-rovers bury themselves for   
weeks in  winter8 ,or the skin of a     

leopard1 which our hardy adventurer     
slew1 and  which served him for         
great-coat and bedding8 ,or the         
rattle-snake that he  found by his side 
as a bedfellow8 ,or his rolling himself 
into a ball to  escape from him8 ,or his
 suddenly placing himself against a tree
 to avoid  being trampled to death by   
the herd of wild buffaloes1 that came   
rushing  on like the sound of thunder8  
,or his account of the huge spiders that
  prey on blue-bottles and gilded flies 
in green pathless forests2 or of  the   
great ,pacific ,ocean1 that the natives 
look upon as the gulf that  parts time  
from eternity1 and that is to waft them 
to the spirits of  their fathers8 ,after
 all this1 ,mr4 ,hunter must find ,mr4  
,owen and his  parallelograms trite and 
flat1 and will1 we suspect1 take an     
opportunity  to escape from them6       
,mr4 ,bentham's method of reasoning1    
though comprehensive and exact1  labours
 under the defect of most systems--it is
 too topical4 ,it  includes every thing2

 but it includes every thing alike4 ,it 
is rather  like an inventory1 than a    
valuation of different arguments4 ,every
  possible suggestion finds a place1 so 
that the mind is distracted as  much as 
enlightened by this perplexing accuracy4
 ,the exceptions seem as  important as  
the rule4 ,by attending to the minute1  
we overlook the  great2 and in summing  
up an account1 it will not do merely to 
insist on  the number of items without  
considering their amount4 ,our author's 
page  presents a very nicely dove-tailed
 mosaic pavement of legal               
common-places4 ,we slip and slide over  
its even surface without being  arrested
 any where4 ,or his view of the human   
mind resembles a map1  rather than a    
picture3 the outline1 the disposition is
 correct1 but it  wants colouring and   
relief4 ,there is a technicality of     
manner1 which  renders his writings of  
more value to the professional inquirer 
than to  the general reader4 ,again1 his
 style is unpopular1 not to say         

unintelligible4 ,he writes a language of
 his own1 that darkens  knowledge4 ,his 
works have been translated into         
,french--they ought to be  translated   
into ,english4 ,people wonder that ,mr4 
,bentham has not been  prosecuted for   
the boldness and severity of some of his
 invectives4 ,he  might wrap up high    
treason in one of his inextricable      
periods1 and it  would never find its   
way into ,westminster-,hall4 ,he is a   
kind of  ,manuscript author--he writes a
 cypher-hand1 which the vulgar have no  
key  to4 ,the construction of his       
sentences is a curious frame-work with  
pegs  and hooks to hang his thoughts    
upon1 for his own use and guidance1 but 
almost out of the reach of every body   
else4 ,it is a barbarous  philosophical 
jargon1 with all the repetitions1       
parentheses1  formalities1 uncouth      
nomenclature and verbiage of law-,latin2
 and what  makes it worse1 it is not    
mere verbiage1 but has a great deal of  
acuteness and meaning in it1 which you  

would be glad to pick out if you  could4
 ,in short1 ,mr4 ,bentham writes as if  
he was allowed but a single  sentence to
 express his whole view of a subject in1
 and as if1 should he  omit a single    
circumstance or step of the argument1 it
 would be lost to  the world for ever1  
like an estate by a flaw in the         
title-deeds4 ,this is  over-rating the  
importance of our own discoveries1 and  
mistaking the  nature and object of     
language altogether4 ,mr4 ,bentham has  
acquired  this disability--it is not    
natural to him4 ,his admirable little   
work ,on  ,usury1 published forty years 
ago1 is clear1 easy1 and vigorous4 ,but 
,mr4  ,bentham has shut himself up since
 then #8in nook monastic1' conversing   
only with followers of his own1 or with 
#8men of ,ind1' and has  endeavoured to 
overlay his natural humour1 sense1      
spirit1 and style1  with the dust and   
cobwebs of an obscure solitude4 ,the    
best of it is1 he  thinks his present   
mode of expressing himself perfect1 and 

that whatever  may be objected to his   
law or logic1 no one can find the least 
fault  with the purity1 simplicity1 and 
perspicuity of his style4    ,mr4       
,bentham1 in private life1 is an amiable
 and exemplary character4 ,he  is a     
little romantic1 or so2 and has         
dissipated part of a handsome  fortune  
in practical speculations4 ,he lends an 
ear to plausible  projectors1 and1 if he
 cannot prove them to be wrong in their 
premises  or their conclusions1 thinks  
himself bound in reason to stake his    
money on the venture4 ,strict logicians 
are licenced visionaries4 ,mr4  ,bentham
 is half-brother to the late ,mr4       
,speaker ,abbott#cc--,proh pudor6  ,he  
was educated at ,eton1 and still takes  
our novices to task about a  passage in 
,homer1 or a metre in ,virgil4 ,he was  
afterwards at the  ,university1 and he  
has described the scruples of an        
ingenuous youthful  mind about          
subscribing the articles1 in a passage  
in his  ,church-of-,englandism1 which   

smacks of truth and honour both1 and    
does  one good to read it in an age1    
when #8to be honest' 7or not to laugh at
  the very idea of honesty7 #8is to be  
one man picked out of ten thousand6'    
,mr4 ,bentham relieves his mind         
sometimes1 after the fatigue of study1  
by  playing on a fine old organ1 and has
 a relish for ,hogarth's prints4 ,he    
turns wooden utensils in a lathe for    
exercise1 and fancies he can turn  men  
in the same manner4 ,he has no great    
fondness for poetry1 and can  hardly    
extract a moral out of ,shakespeare4    
,his house is warmed and  lighted by    
steam4 ,he is one of those who prefer   
the artificial to the  natural in most  
things1 and think the mind of man       
omnipotent4 ,he has a  great contempt   
for out-of-door prospects1 for green    
fields and trees1  and is for referring 
every thing to ,utility4 ,there is a    
little  narrowness in this2 for if all  
the sources of satisfaction are taken   
away1 what is to become of utility      

itself8 ,it is1 indeed1 the great  fault
 of this able and extraordinary man1    
that he has concentrated his  faculties 
and feelings too entirely on one subject
 and pursuit1 and has  not #8looked     
enough abroad into universality4'#cd    
,,william ,,godwin      ,the ,spirit of 
the ,age was never more fully shown than
 in its treatment  of this writer--its  
love of paradox and change1 its dastard 
submission to  prejudice and to the     
fashion of the day4 ,five-and-twenty    
years ago he  was in the very zenith of 
a sultry and unwholesome popularity2 he 
blazed  as a sun in the firmament of    
reputation2 no one was more talked of1  
more  looked up to1 more sought after1  
and wherever liberty1 truth1 justice    
was the theme1 his name was not far     
off3--now he has sunk below the         
horizon1 and enjoys the serene twilight 
of a doubtful immortality4 ,mr4         
,godwin1 during his life-time1 has      
secured to himself the triumphs and  the
 mortifications of an extreme notoriety 

and of a sort of posthumous  fame4 ,his 
bark1 after being tossed in the         
revolutionary tempest1 now  raised to   
heaven by all the fury of popular       
breath1 now almost dashed in  pieces1   
and buried in the quicksands of         
ignorance1 or scorched with the         
lightning of momentary indignation1 at  
length floats on the calm wave  that is 
to bear it down the stream of time4 ,mr4
 ,godwin's person is not  known1 he is  
not pointed out in the street1 his      
conversation is not  courted1 his       
opinions are not asked1 he is at the    
head of no cabal1 he  belongs to no     
party in the ,state1 he has no train of 
admirers1 no one  thinks it worth his   
while even to traduce and vilify him1 he
 has  scarcely friend or foe1 the world 
make a point 7as ,goldsmith used to     
say7 of taking no more notice of him    
than if such an individual had  never   
existed2 he is to all ordinary intents  
and purposes dead and  buried2 but the  
author of ,political ,justice and of    

,caleb ,williams  can never die1 his    
name is an abstraction in letters1 his  
works are  standard in the history of   
intellect4 ,he is thought of now like   
any  eminent writer a hundred-and-fifty 
years ago1 or just as he will be a      
hundred-and-fifty years hence4 ,he knows
 this1 and smiles in silent  mockery of 
himself1 reposing on the monument of his
 fame--                #8,sedet1 in     
eternumque sedebit infelix ,theseus4'   
,no work in our time gave such a blow to
 the philosophical mind of the  country 
as the celebrated ,enquiry concerning   
,political ,justice4 ,tom  ,paine was   
considered for the time as a ,tom ,fool 
to him2 ,paley an old  woman2 ,edmund   
,burke a flashy sophist4 ,truth1 moral  
truth1 it was  supposed1 had here taken 
up its abode2 and these were the oracles
 of  thought4 #8,throw aside your books 
of chemistry1' said ,wordsworth to a    
young man1 a student in the ,temple1    
#8and read ,godwin on ,necessity4' ,sad 
necessity6 ,fatal reverse6 ,is truth    

then so variable8 ,is it one thing at   
twenty1 and another at forty8 ,is it at 
a burning heat in #agic1 and below  zero
 in #ahad8 ,not so1 in the name of      
manhood and of common sense6 ,let  us   
pause here a little4--,mr4 ,godwin      
indulged in extreme opinions1 and       
carried with him all the most sanguine  
and fearless understandings of  the     
time4 ,what then8 ,because those        
opinions were overcharged1 were they    
therefore altogether groundless8 ,is the
 very ,god of our idolatry all of  a    
sudden to become an abomination and an  
anathema8 ,could so many young  men of  
talent1 of education1 and of principle  
have been hurried away by  what had     
neither truth1 nor nature1 not one      
particle of honest feeling  nor the     
least show of reason in it8 ,is the     
,modern ,philosophy 7as it  has been    
called7 at one moment a youthful bride1 
and the next a withered  beldame1 like  
the false ,duessa in ,spenser8 ,or is   
the vaunted edifice of  ,reason1 like   

his ,house of ,pride1 gorgeous in front1
 and dazzling to  approach1 while #8its 
hinder parts are ruinous1 decayed1 and  
old8' ,has  the main prop1 which        
supported the mighty fabric1 been shaken
 and given  way under the strong grasp  
of some ,samson2 or has it not rather   
been  undermined by rats and vermin8 ,at
 one time1 it almost seemed1 that #8if  
this failed1                     ,the   
pillar'd firmament was rottenness1      
,and earth's base built of stubble3'    
now scarce a shadow of it remains1 it is
 crumbled to dust1 nor is it  even      
talked of6 #8,what1 then1 went ye forth 
for to see1 a reed shaken  with the     
wind8' ,was it for this that our young  
gownsmen of the greatest  expectation   
and promise1 versed in classic lore1    
steeped in dialectics1  armed at all    
points for the foe1 well read1 well     
nurtured1 well provided  for1 left the  
,university and the prospect of lawn    
sleeves1 tearing  asunder the shackles  
of the free born spirit1 and the cobwebs

 of  school-divinity1 to throw          
themselves at the feet of the new       
,gamaliel1  and learn wisdom from him8  
,was it for this1 that students at the  
bar1  acute1 inquisitive1 sceptical     
7here only wild enthusiasts7 neglected  
for  a while the paths of preferment and
 the law as too narrow1 tortuous1 and   
unseemly to bear the pure and broad     
light of reason8 ,was it for this1  that
 students in medicine missed their way  
to ,lecturerships and the top  of their 
profession1 deeming lightly of the      
health of the body1 and  dreaming only  
of the renovation of society and the    
march of mind8 ,was it  to this that    
,mr4 ,southey's ,inscriptions pointed8  
to this that ,mr4  ,coleridge's         
,religious ,musings tended8 ,was it for 
this1 that ,mr4 ,godwin  himself sat    
with arms folded1 and1 #8like ,cato1    
gave his little senate  laws8' ,or      
rather1 like another ,prospero1 uttered 
syllables that with  their enchanted    
breath were to change the world1 and    

might almost stop  the stars in their   
courses8 ,oh6 and is all forgot8 ,is    
this sun of  intellect blotted from the 
sky8 ,or has it suffered total eclipse8 
,or is  it we who make the fancied      
gloom1 by looking at it through the     
paltry1  broken1 stained fragments of   
our own interests and prejudices8 ,were 
we  fools then1 or are we dishonest now8
 ,or was the impulse of the mind less   
likely to be true and sound when it     
arose from high thought and warm        
feeling1 than afterwards1 when it was   
warped and debased by the example1  the 
vices1 and follies of the world8    ,the
 fault1 then1 of ,mr4 ,godwin's         
philosophy1 in one word1 was too much   
ambition--#8by that sin fell the        
angels6' ,he conceived too nobly of his 
fellows 7the most unpardonable crime    
against them1 for there is nothing  that
 annoys our self-love so much as being  
complimented on imaginary  achievements1
 to which we are wholly unequal7--he    
raised the standard of  morality above  

the reach of humanity1 and by directing 
virtue to the  most airy and romantic   
heights1 made her path dangerous1       
solitary1 and  impracticable4 ,the      
author of the ,political ,justice took  
abstract  reason for the rule of        
conduct1 and abstract good for its end4 
,he places  the human mind on an        
elevation1 from which it commands a view
 of the  whole line of moral            
consequences2 and requires it to conform
 its acts to  the larger and more       
enlightened conscience which it has thus
 acquired4  ,he absolves man from the   
gross and narrow ties of sense1 custom1 
authority1 private and local attachment1
 in order that he may devote  himself to
 the boundless pursuit of universal     
benevolence4 ,mr4 ,godwin  gives no     
quarter to the amiable weaknesses of our
 nature1 nor does he  stoop to avail    
himself of the supplementary aids of an 
imperfect virtue4  ,gratitude1 promises1
 friendship1 family affection give way1 
not that  they may be merged in the     

opposite vices or in want of principle2 
but  that the void may be filled up by  
the disinterested love of good1 and  the
 dictates of inflexible justice1 which  
is #8the law of laws1 and  sovereign of 
sovereigns4' ,all minor considerations  
yield1 in his system1  to the stern     
sense of duty1 as they do1 in the       
ordinary and established  ones1 to the  
voice of necessity4 ,mr4 ,godwin's      
theory1 and that of more  approved      
reasoners1 differ only in this1 that    
what are with them the  exceptions1 the 
extreme cases1 he makes the every-day   
rule4 ,no one  denies that on great     
occasions1 in moments of fearful        
excitement1 or  when a mighty object is 
at stake1 the lesser and merely         
instrumental  points of duty are to be  
sacrificed without remorse at the shrine
 of  patriotism1 of honour1 and of      
conscience4 ,but the disciple of the    
,new  ,school 7no wonder it found so    
many impugners1 even in its own bosom67 
is to be always the hero of duty2 the   

law to which he has bound himself  never
 swerves nor relaxes2 his feeling of    
what is right is to be at all  times    
wrought up to a pitch of enthusiastic   
self-devotion2 he must  become the      
unshrinking martyr and confessor of the 
public good4 ,if it be  said that this  
scheme is chimerical and impracticable  
on ordinary  occasions1 and to the      
generality of mankind1 well and good2   
but those  who accuse the author of     
having trampled on the common feelings  
and  prejudices of mankind in wantonness
 or insult1 or without wishing to       
substitute something better 7and only   
unattainable1 because it is  better7 in 
their stead1 accuse him wrongfully4 ,we 
may not be able to  launch the bark of  
our affections on the ocean-tide of     
humanity1 we may  be forced to paddle   
along its shores1 or shelter in its     
creeks and  rivulets3 but we have no    
right to reproach the bold and          
adventurous  pilot1 who dared us to     
tempt the uncertain abyss1 with our own 

want of  courage or of skill1 or with   
the jealousies and impatience1 which    
deter  us from undertaking1 or might    
prevent us from accomplishing the       
voyage6    ,the ,enquiry concerning     
,political ,justice 7it was urged by its
  favourers and defenders at the time1  
and may still be so1 without either     
profaneness or levity7 is a metaphysical
 and logical commentary on some  of the 
most beautiful and striking texts of    
,scripture4 ,mr4 ,godwin is a  mixture  
of the ,stoic and of the ,christian     
philosopher4 ,to break the  force of the
 vulgar objections and outcry that have 
been raised against  the ,modern        
,philosophy1 as if it were a new and    
monstrous birth in  morals1 it may be   
worth noticing1 that volumes of sermons 
have been  written to excuse the founder
 of ,christianity for not including     
friendship and private affection among  
its golden rules1 but rather  excluding 
them4#ce ,moreover1 the answer to the   
question1 #8,who is thy  neighbour8'    

added to the divine precept1 #8,thou    
shalt love thy neighbour  as thyself1'  
is the same as in the exploded pages of 
our author1--#8,he to  whom we can do   
most good4' ,in determining this point1 
we were not to be  influenced by any    
extrinsic or collateral considerations1 
by our own  predilections1 or the       
expectations of others1 by our          
obligations to them  or any services    
they might be able to render us1 by the 
climate they  were born in1 by the house
 they lived in1 by rank or religion1 or 
party1  or personal ties1 but by the    
abstract merits1 the pure and unbiassed 
justice of the case4 ,the artificial    
helps and checks to moral conduct  were 
set aside as spurious and unnecessary1  
and we came at once to the  grand and   
simple question--#8,in what manner we   
could best contribute to  the greatest  
possible good8' ,this was the paramount 
obligation in all  cases whatever1 from 
which we had no right to free ourselves 
upon any  idle or formal pretext1 and of

 which each person was to judge for     
himself1 under the infallible authority 
of his own opinion and the  inviolable  
sanction of his self-approbation4       
#8,there was the rub that  made         
philosophy of so short life6' ,mr4      
,godwin's definition of morals  was the 
same as the admired one of law1 reason  
without passion2 but  with the unlimited
 scope of private opinion1 and in a     
boundless field of  speculation 7for    
nothing less would satisfy the          
pretensions of the ,new  ,school71 there
 was danger that the unseasoned novice  
might substitute  some pragmatical      
conceit of his own for the rule of right
 reason1 and  mistake a heartless       
indifference for a superiority to more  
natural and  generous feelings4 ,our    
ardent and dauntless reformer followed  
out the  moral of the parable of the    
,good ,samaritan into its most rigid and
  repulsive consequences with a pen of  
steel1 and let fall his                 
#8trenchant-blade' on every vulnerable  

point of human infirmity2 but  there is 
a want in his system of the mild and    
persuasive tone of the  ,gospel1 where  
#8all is conscience and tender heart4'  
,man was indeed  screwed up1 by mood and
 figure1 into a logical machine1 that   
was to  forward the public good with the
 utmost punctuality and effect1 and it  
might go very well on smooth ground and 
under favourable circumstances2  but    
would it work up-hill or against the    
grain8 ,it was to be feared  that the   
proud ,temple of ,reason1 which at a    
distance and in stately  supposition    
shone like the palaces of the ,new      
,jerusalem1 might 7when  placed on      
actual ground7 be broken up into the    
sordid styes of  sensuality1 and the    
petty huckster's shops of self-interest6
 ,every man  7it was proposed--#8so ran 
the tenour of the bond'7 was to be a    
,regulus1 a  ,codrus1 a ,cato1 or a     
,brutus--every woman a ,mother of the   
,gracchi4                               
#8----,it was well said1                

,and 'tis a kind of good deed to say    
well4'    ,but heroes on paper might    
degenerate into vagabonds in practice1  
,corinnas into courtezans4 ,thus a      
refined and permanent individual        
attachment is intended to supply the    
place and avoid the inconveniences  of  
marriage2 but vows of eternal constancy1
 without church security1 are  found to 
be fragile4 ,a member of the ideal and  
perfect commonwealth of  letters lends  
another a hundred pounds for immediate  
and pressing use2  and when he applies  
for it again1 the borrower has still    
more need of it  than he1 and retains it
 for his own especial1 which is         
tantamount to the  public good4 ,the    
,exchequer of pure reason1 like that of 
the ,state1 never  refunds4 ,the        
political as well as the religious      
fanatic appeals from the  over-weening  
opinion and claims of others to the     
highest and most  impartial tribunal1   
namely1 his own breast4 ,two persons    
agree to live  together in ,chambers on 

principles of pure equality and mutual  
assistance--but when it comes to the    
push1 one of them finds that the  other 
always insists on his fetching water    
from the pump in ,hare-court1  and      
cleaning his shoes for him4 ,a modest   
assurance was not the least             
indispensable virtue in the new         
perfectibility code2 and it was hence   
discovered to be a scheme1 like other   
schemes where there are all prizes  and 
no blanks1 for the accommodation of the 
enterprizing and cunning1 at  the       
expence of the credulous and honest4    
,this broke up the system1 and  left no 
good odour behind it6 ,reason has become
 a sort of bye-word1 and  philosophy    
has1 #8fallen first into a fasting1 then
 into a sadness1 then  into a decline1  
and last1 into the dissolution of which 
we all  complain6' ,this is a worse     
error than the former3 we may be said to
 have  #8lost the immortal part of      
ourselves1 and what remains is beastly6'
    ,the point of view from which this  

matter may be fairly considered1 is     
two-fold1 and may be stated thus3--,in  
the first place1 it by no means         
follows1 because reason is found not to 
be the only infallible or safe  rule of 
conduct1 that it is no rule at all2 or  
that we are to discard it  altogether   
with derision and ignominy4 ,on the     
contrary1 if not the sole1  it is the   
principal ground of action2 it is1 #8the
 guide1 the stay and  anchor of our     
purest thoughts1 and soul of all our    
moral being4' ,in  proportion as we     
strengthen and expand this principle1   
and bring our  affections and           
subordinate1 but perhaps more powerful  
motives of action  into harmony with it1
 it will not admit of a doubt that we   
advance to  the goal of perfection1 and 
answer the ends of our creation1 those  
ends  which not only morality enjoins1  
but which religion sanctions4 ,if with  
the utmost stretch of reason1 man cannot
 7as some seemed inclined to  suppose7  
soar up to the ,god1 and quit the ground

 of human frailty1 yet1  stripped wholly
 of it1 he sinks at once into the brute4
 ,if it cannot  stand alone1 in its     
naked simplicity1 but requires other    
props to  buttress it up1 or ornaments  
to set it off2 yet without it the moral 
structure would fall flat and           
dishonoured to the ground4 ,private     
reason  is that which raises the        
individual above his mere animal        
instincts1  appetites1 and passions3    
public reason in its gradual progress   
separates  the savage from the civilized
 state4 ,without the one1 men would     
resemble  wild beasts in their dens2    
without the other1 they would be        
speedily  converted into hordes of      
barbarians or banditti4 ,sir ,walter    
,scott1 in  his zeal to restore the     
spirit of loyalty1 of passive obedience 
and  non-resistance as an acknowledgment
 for his having been created a  ,baronet
 by a ,prince of the ,house of          
,brunswick1 may think it a fine thing   
to return in imagination to the good old

 times1 #8when in ,auvergne alone1      
there were three hundred nobles whose   
most ordinary actions were  robbery1    
rape1 and murder1' when the castle of   
each ,norman baron was a  strong hold   
from which the lordly proprietor issued 
to oppress and  plunder the neighbouring
 districts1 and when the ,saxon         
peasantry were  treated by their gay and
 gallant tyrants as a herd of loathsome 
swine--but for our own parts1 we beg to 
be excused2 we had rather live in  the  
same age with the author of ,waverley   
and ,blackwood's ,magazine4  ,reason is 
the meter and alnager in civil          
intercourse1 by which each  person's    
upstart and contradictory pretensions   
are weighed and approved  or found      
wanting1 and without which it could not 
subsist1 any more than  traffic or the  
exchange of commodities could be carried
 on without  weights and measures4 ,it  
is the medium of knowledge1 and the     
polisher of  manners1 by creating common
 interests and ideas4 ,or in the words  

of a  contemporary writer1 #8,reason is 
the queen of the moral world1 the soul  
of the universe1 the lamp of human life1
 the pillar of society1 the  foundation 
of law1 the beacon of nations1 the      
golden chain let down from  heaven1     
which links all accountable and all     
intelligent natures in one  common      
system--and in the vain strife between  
fanatic innovation and  fanatic         
prejudice1 we are exhorted to dethrone  
this queen of the world1  to blot out   
this light of the mind1 to deface this  
fair column1 to break  in pieces this   
golden chain6 ,we are to discard and    
throw from us with  loud taunts and     
bitter execrations that reason1 which   
has been the lofty  theme of the        
philosopher1 the poet1 the moralist1 and
 the divine1 whose  name was not first  
named to be abused by the enthusiasts of
 the ,french  ,revolution1 or to be     
blasphemed by the madder enthusiasts1   
the advocates  of ,divine ,right1 but   
which is coeval with1 and inseparable   

from the  nature and faculties of       
man--is the image of his ,maker stamped 
upon him  at his birth1 the             
understanding breathed into him with the
 breath of  life1 and in the            
participation and improvement of which  
alone he is  raised above the brute     
creation and his own physical           
nature6'--,the  overstrained and        
ridiculous pretensions of monks and     
ascetics were never  thought to justify 
a return to unbridled licence of        
manners1 or the  throwing aside of all  
decency4 ,the hypocrisy1 cruelty1 and   
fanaticism1  often attendant on peculiar
 professions of sanctity1 have not      
banished  the name of religion from the 
world4 ,neither can #8the               
unreasonableness  of the reason' of some
 modern sciolists so #8unreason our     
reason1' as to  debar us of the benefit 
of this principle in future1 or to      
disfranchise  us of the highest         
privilege of our nature4 ,in the second 
place1 if it is  admitted that ,reason  

alone is not the sole and               
self-sufficient ground of  morals1 it is
 to ,mr4 ,godwin that we are indebted   
for having settled the  point4 ,no one  
denied or distrusted this principle     
7before his time7 as  the absolute judge
 and interpreter in all questions of    
difficulty2 and  if this is no longer   
the case1 it is because he has taken    
this  principle1 and followed it into   
its remotest consequences with more     
keenness of eye and steadiness of hand  
than any other expounder of  ethics4    
,his grand work is 7at least7 an        
experimentum crucis to show  the weak   
sides and imperfections of human reason 
as the sole law of  human action4 ,by   
overshooting the mark1 or by #8flying an
 eagle flight1  forth and right on1' he 
has pointed out the limit or line of    
separation1  between what is practicable
 and what is barely conceivable--by     
imposing  impossible tasks on the naked 
strength of the will1 he has discovered 
how far it is or is not in our power to 

dispense with the illusions of  sense1  
to resist the calls of affection1 to    
emancipate ourselves from  the force of 
habit2 and thus1 though he has not said 
it himself1 has  enabled others to say  
to the towering aspirations after good1 
and to the  over-bearing pride of human 
intellect--#8,thus far shalt thou come1 
and no  farther6' ,captain ,parry would 
be thought to have rendered a service to
  navigation and his country1 no less by
 proving that there is no  ,north-,west 
,passage1 than if he had ascertained    
that there is one3 so ,mr4  ,godwin has 
rendered an essential service to moral  
science1 by attempting  7in vain7 to    
pass the ,arctic ,circle and ,frozen    
,regions1 where the  understanding is no
 longer warmed by the affections1 nor   
fanned by the  breeze of fancy6 ,this is
 the effect of all bold1 original1 and  
powerful  thinking1 that it either      
discovers the truth1 or detects where   
error  lies2 and the only crime with    
which ,mr4 ,godwin can be charged as a  

political and moral reasoner is1 that he
 has displayed a more ardent  spirit1   
and a more independent activity of      
thought than others1 in  establishing   
the fallacy 7if fallacy it be7 of an old
 popular prejudice  that the ,just and  
,true were one1 by #8championing it to  
the ,outrance1'  and in the final result
 placing the ,gothic structure of human 
virtue on  an humbler1 but a wider and  
safer foundation than it had hitherto   
occupied in the volumes and systems of  
the learned4    ,mr4 ,godwin is an      
inventor in the regions of romance1 as  
well as a  skilful and hardy explorer of
 those of moral truth4 ,caleb ,williams 
and  ,st4 ,leon are two of the most     
splendid and impressive works of the    
imagination that have appeared in our   
times4 ,it is not merely that these     
novels are very well for a philosopher  
to have produced--they are  admirable   
and complete in themselves1 and would   
not lead you to suppose  that the       
author1 who is so entirely at home in   

human character and  dramatic situation1
 had ever dabbled in logic or           
metaphysics4 ,the first  of these1      
particularly1 is a masterpiece1 both as 
to invention and  execution4 ,the       
romantic and chivalrous principle of the
 love of personal  fame is embodied in  
the finest possible manner in the       
character of  ,falkland#cf2 as in ,caleb
 ,williams 7who is not the first1 but   
the second  character in the piece7 we  
see the very demon of curiosity         
personified4  ,perhaps the art with     
which these two characters are contrived
 to relieve  and set off each other1 has
 never been surpassed in any work of    
fiction1  with the exception of the     
immortal satire of ,cervantes4 ,the     
restless and  inquisitive spirit of     
,caleb ,williams1 in search and in      
possession of his  patron's fatal       
secret1 haunts the latter like a second 
conscience1  plants stings in his       
tortured mind1 fans the flames of his   
jealous  ambition1 struggling with      

agonized remorse2 and the hapless but   
noble-minded ,falkland at length falls a
 martyr to the persecution of  that     
morbid and overpowering interest1 of    
which his mingled virtues and  vices    
have rendered him the object4 ,we       
conceive no one ever began ,caleb       
,williams that did not read it through3 
no one that ever read it could  possibly
 forget it1 or speak of it after any    
length of time but with an  impression  
as if the events and feelings had been  
personal to himself4  ,this is the case 
also with the story of ,st4 ,leon1      
which1 with less  dramatic interest and 
intensity of purpose1 is set off by a   
more  gorgeous and flowing eloquence1   
and by a crown of preternatural imagery1
  that waves over it like a palm-tree6  
,it is the beauty and the charm of  ,mr4
 ,godwin's descriptions that the reader 
identifies himself with the  author2 and
 the secret of this is1 that the author 
has identified  himself with his        
personages4 ,indeed1 he has created     

them4 ,they are the  proper issue of his
 brain1 lawfully begot1 not foundlings1 
nor the  #8bastards of his art4' ,he is 
not an indifferent1 callous spectator of
  the scenes which he himself pourtrays1
 but without seeming to feel them4      
,there is no look of patchwork and      
plagiarism1 the beggarly copiousness  of
 borrowed wealth2 no tracery-work from  
worm-eaten manuscripts1 from  forgotten 
chronicles1 nor piecing out of vague    
traditions with fragments  and snatches 
of old ballads1 so that the result      
resembles a gaudy1  staring             
transparency1 in which you cannot       
distinguish the daubing of the  painter 
from the light that shines through the  
flimsy colours and gives  them          
brilliancy4 ,here all is clearly made   
out with strokes of the  pencil1 by     
fair1 not by factitious means4 ,our     
author takes a given  subject from      
nature or from books1 and then fills it 
up with the ardent  workings of his own 
mind1 with the teeming and audible      

pulses of his own  heart4 ,the effect is
 entire and satisfactory in proportion4 
,the work 7so  to speak7 and the author 
are one4 ,we are not puzzled to decide  
upon  their respective pretensions4 ,in 
reading ,mr4 ,godwin's novels1 we know  
what share of merit the author has in   
them4 ,in reading the ,scotch  ,novels1 
we are perpetually embarrassed in asking
 ourselves this  question2 and perhaps  
it is not altogether a false modesty    
that prevents  the editor from putting  
his name in the title-page--he is 7for  
any thing  we know to the contrary7 only
 a more voluminous sort of              
,allen-a-,dale4 ,at  least1 we may claim
 this advantage for the ,english author1
 that the  chains with which he rivets  
our attention are forged out of his own 
thoughts1 link by link1 blow for blow1  
with glowing enthusiasm3 we see  the    
genuine ore melted in the furnace of    
fervid feeling1 and moulded  into       
stately and ideal forms2 and this is so 
far better than peeping  into an old    

iron shop1 or pilfering from a dealer in
 marine stores6  ,there is one drawback1
 however1 attending this mode of        
proceeding1 which  attaches generally1  
indeed1 to all originality of           
composition2 namely1  that it has a     
tendency to a certain degree of         
monotony4 ,he who draws  upon his own   
resources1 easily comes to an end of his
 wealth4 ,mr4  ,godwin1 in all his      
writings1 dwells upon one idea or       
exclusive view of a  subject1           
aggrandises a sentiment1 exaggerates a  
character1 or pushes an  argument to    
extremes1 and makes up by the force of  
style and continuity  of feeling for    
what he wants in variety of incident or 
ease of manner4  ,this necessary defect 
is observable in his best works1 and is 
still more  so in ,fleetwood and        
,mandeville2 the one of which1 compared 
with his more  admired performances1 is 
mawkish1 and the other morbid4 ,mr4     
,godwin is  also an essayist1 an        
historian--in short1 what is he not1    

that belongs to  the character of an    
indefatigable and accomplished author8  
,his ,life of  ,chaucer would have given
 celebrity to any man of letters        
possessed of  three thousand a year1    
with leisure to write quartos3 as the   
legal  acuteness displayed in his       
,remarks on ,judge ,eyre's ,charge to   
the ,jury  would have raised any        
briefless barrister to the height of his
  profession4 ,this temporary effusion  
did more--it gave a turn to the  trials 
for high treason in the year #agid1 and 
possibly saved the lives  of twelve     
innocent individuals1 marked out as     
political victims to the  ,moloch of    
,legitimacy1 which then skulked behind a
 ,british throne1 and  had not yet dared
 to stalk forth 7as it has done since7  
from its  lurking-place1 in the face of 
day1 to brave the opinion of the world4 
,if  it had then glutted its maw with   
its intended prey 7the sharpness of ,mr4
  ,godwin's pen cut the legal cords with
 which it was attempted to bind  them71 

it might have done so sooner1 and with  
more lasting effect4 ,the  world do not 
know 7and we are not sure but the       
intelligence may startle  ,mr4 ,godwin  
himself71 that he is the author of a    
volume of ,sermons1 and  of a life of   
,chatham4#cg    ,mr4 ,fawcett 7an old   
friend and fellow-student of our author1
 and who  always spoke of his writings  
with admiration1 tinctured with wonder7 
used to mention a circumstance with     
respect to the last-mentioned work1     
which may throw some light on the       
history and progress of ,mr4 ,godwin's  
mind4 ,he was anxious to make his       
biographical account as complete as he  
could1 and applied for this purpose to  
many of his acquaintance to  furnish him
 with anecdotes or to suggest           
criticisms4 ,amongst others ,mr4        
,fawcett repeated to him what he thought
 a striking passage in a speech  on     
,general ,warrants delivered by ,lord   
,chatham1 at which he 7,mr4  ,fawcett7  
had been present4 #8,every man's house' 

7said this emphatic  thinker and        
speaker7 #8has been called his castle4  
,and why is it called  his castle8 ,is  
it because it is defended by a wall1    
because it is  surrounded with a moat8  
,no1 it may be nothing more than a      
straw-built  shed4 ,it may be open to   
all the elements3 the wind may enter in1
 the  rain may enter in--but the king   
cannot enter in6' ,his friend thought   
that the point was here palpable enough3
 but when he came to read the  printed  
volume1 he found it thus transposed3    
#8,every man's house is his  castle4    
,and why is it called so8 ,is it because
 it is defended by a wall1  because it  
is surrounded with a moat8 ,no1 it may  
be nothing more than a  straw-built     
shed4 ,it may be exposed to all the     
elements3 the rain may  enter into it1  
all the winds of ,heaven may whistle    
round it1 but the  king cannot1 c4'     
,this was what ,fawcett called a defect 
of natural  imagination4 ,he at the same
 time admitted that ,mr4 ,godwin had    

improved  his native sterility in this  
respect2 or atoned for it by incessant  
activity of mind and by accumulated     
stores of thought and powers of         
language4 ,in fact1 his forte is not the
 spontaneous1 but the voluntary         
exercise of talent4 ,he fixes his       
ambition on a high point of excellence1 
and spares no pains or time in attaining
 it4 ,he has less of the  appearance of 
a man of genius1 than any one who has   
given such decided  and ample proofs of 
it4 ,he is ready only on reflection3    
dangerous only  at the rebound4 ,he     
gathers himself up1 and strains every   
nerve and  faculty with deliberate aim  
to some heroic and dazzling achievement 
of  intellect3 but he must make a career
 before he flings himself1 armed1  upon 
the enemy1 or he is sure to be unhorsed4
 ,or he resembles an  eight-day clock   
that must be wound up long before it can
 strike4  ,therefore1 his powers of     
conversation are but limited4 ,he has   
neither  acuteness of remark1 nor a flow

 of language1 both which might be       
expected from his writings1 as these are
 no less distinguished by a  sustained  
and impassioned tone of declamation than
 by novelty of opinion  or brilliant    
tracks of invention4 ,in company1 ,horne
 ,tooke used to make a  mere child of   
him--or of any man6 ,mr4 ,godwin liked  
this treatment1#ch  and indeed it is his
 foible to fawn on those who use him    
cavalierly1  and to be cavalier to those
 who express an undue or unqualified    
admiration of him4 ,he looks up with    
unfeigned respect to acknowledged       
reputation 7but then it must be very    
well ascertained before he admits       
it7--and has a favourite hypothesis that
 ,understanding and ,virtue are the     
same thing4 ,mr4 ,godwin possesses a    
high degree of philosophical candour1   
and studiously paid the homage of his   
pen and person to ,mr4 ,malthus1 ,sir   
,james ,mackintosh1 and ,dr4 ,parr1 for 
their unsparing attacks on him2 but  woe
 to any poor devil who had the hardihood

 to defend him against them6  ,in       
private1 the author of ,political       
,justice at one time reminded those  who
 knew him of the metaphysician engrafted
 on the ,dissenting ,minister4  ,there  
was a dictatorial1 captious1 quibbling  
pettiness of manner4 ,he  lost this with
 the first blush and awkwardness of     
popularity1 which  surprised him in the 
retirement of his study2 and he has     
since1 with the  wear and tear of       
society1 from being too pragmatical1    
become somewhat  too careless4 ,he is1  
at present1 as easy as an old glove4    
,perhaps there  is a little attention to
 effect in this1 and he wishes to appear
 a foil  to himself4 ,his best moments  
are with an intimate acquaintance or    
two1  when he gossips in a fine vein    
about old authors1 ,clarendon's ,history
  of the ,rebellion1 or ,burnet's       
,history of his own ,time2 and you      
perceive by your host's talk1 as by the 
taste of seasoned wine1 that he  has a  
cellarage in his understanding6 ,mr4    

,godwin also has a correct  acquired    
taste in poetry and the drama4 ,he      
relishes ,donne and ,ben  ,jonson1 and  
recites a passage from either with an   
agreeable mixture of  pedantry and      
bonhommie4 ,he is not one of those who  
do not grow wiser  with opportunity and 
reflection3 he changes his opinions1 and
 changes  them for the better4 ,the     
alteration of his taste in poetry1 from 
an  exclusive admiration of the age of  
,queen ,anne to an almost equally       
exclusive one of that of ,elizabeth1 is1
 we suspect1 owing to ,mr4  ,coleridge1 
who some twenty years ago1 threw a great
 stone into the  standing pool of       
criticism1 which splashed some persons  
with the mud1  but which gave a motion  
to the surface and a reverberation to   
the  neighbouring echoes1 which has not 
since subsided4 ,in common company1     
,mr4 ,godwin either goes to sleep       
himself1 or sets others to sleep4 ,he is
  at present engaged in a ,history of   
the ,commonwealth of ,england4--,esto   

perpetua6 ,in size ,mr4 ,godwin is below
 the common stature1 nor is his         
deportment graceful or animated4 ,his   
face is1 however1 fine1 with an         
expression of placid temper and         
recondite thought4 ,he is not unlike the
  common portraits of ,locke4 ,there is 
a very admirable likeness of him by     
,mr4 ,northcote1 which with a more      
heroic and dignified air1 only does     
justice to the profound sagacity and    
benevolent aspirations of our  author's 
mind4 ,mr4 ,godwin has kept the best    
company of his time1 but he  has        
survived most of the celebrated persons 
with whom he lived in habits  of        
intimacy4 ,he speaks of them with       
enthusiasm and with discrimination2  and
 sometimes dwells with peculiar delight 
on a day passed at ,john  ,kemble's in  
company with ,mr4 ,sheridan1 ,mr4       
,curran1 ,mrs4 ,wollstonecraft  and     
,mrs4 ,inchbald1 when the conversation  
took a most animated turn1 and  the     
subject was of ,love4 ,of all these our 

author is the only one  remaining4      
,frail tenure1 on which human life and  
genius are lent us for  a while to      
improve or to enjoy6                    
,,mr4 ,,coleridge      ,the present is  
an age of talkers1 and not of doers2 and
 the reason is1  that the world is      
growing old4 ,we are so far advanced in 
the ,arts and  ,sciences1 that we live  
in retrospect1 and doat on past         
achievements4 ,the  accumulation of     
knowledge has been so great1 that we are
 lost in wonder  at the height it has   
reached1 instead of attempting to climb 
or add to  it2 while the variety of     
objects distracts and dazzles the       
looker-on4  ,what niche remains         
unoccupied8 ,what path untried8 ,what is
 the use of  doing anything1 unless we  
could do better than all those who have 
gone  before us8 ,what hope is there of 
this8 ,we are like those who have been  
to see some noble monument of art1 who  
are content to admire without  thinking 
of rivalling it2 or like guests after a 

feast1 who praise the  hospitality of   
the donor #8and thank the bounteous     
,pan'--perhaps carrying  away some      
trifling fragments2 or like the         
spectators of a mighty battle1  who     
still hear its sound afar off1 and the  
clashing of armour and the  neighing of 
the war-horse and the shout of victory  
is in their ears1  like the rushing of  
innumerable waters6    ,mr4 ,coleridge  
has #8a mind reflecting ages past'2 his 
voice is like the  echo of the          
congregated roar of the #8dark rearward 
and abyss' of  thought4 ,he who has seen
 a mouldering tower by the side of a    
chrystal  lake1 hid by the mist1 but    
glittering in the wave below1 may       
conceive  the dim1 gleaming1 uncertain  
intelligence of his eye3 he who has     
marked  the evening clouds uprolled 7a  
world of vapours71 has seen the picture 
of his mind1 unearthly1 unsubstantial1  
with gorgeous tints and  ever-varying   
forms--                #8,that which was
 now a horse1 even with a thought       

,the rack dislimns1 and makes it        
indistinct              ,as water is in 
water4'    ,our author's mind is 7as he 
himself might express it7 tangential4   
,there is no subject on which he has not
 touched1 none on which he has  rested4 
,with an understanding fertile1 subtle1 
expansive1 #8quick1  forgetive1         
apprehensive1' beyond all living        
precedent1 few traces of it  will       
perhaps remain4 ,he lends himself to all
 impressions alike2 he gives  up his    
mind and liberty of thought to none4 ,he
 is a general lover of art  and science1
 and wedded to no one in particular4 ,he
 pursues knowledge as  a mistress1 with 
outstretched hands and winged speed2 but
 as he is about  to embrace her1 his    
,daphne turns--alas6 not to a laurel6   
,hardly a  speculation has been left on 
record from the earliest time1 but it is
  loosely folded up in ,mr4 ,coleridge's
 memory1 like a rich1 but somewhat      
tattered piece of tapestry3 we might add
 7with more seeming than real           

extravagance71 that scarce a thought can
 pass through the mind of man1  but its 
sound has at some time or other passed  
over his head with  rustling pinions4   
,on whatever question or author you     
speak1 he is  prepared to take up the   
theme with advantage--from ,peter       
,abelard down to  ,thomas ,moore1 from  
the subtlest metaphysics to the politics
 of the  ,courier4 ,there is no man of  
genius1 in whose praise he descants1 but
  the critic seems to stand above the   
author1 and #8what in him is weak1 to   
strengthen1 what is low1 to raise and   
support'3 nor is there any work of      
genius that does not come out of his    
hands like an illuminated ,missal1      
sparkling even in its defects4 ,if ,mr4 
,coleridge had not been the most        
impressive talker of his age1 he would  
probably have been the finest  writer2  
but he lays down his pen to make sure of
 an auditor1 and  mortgages the         
admiration of posterity for the stare of
 an idler4 ,if he  had not been a poet1 

he would have been a powerful logician2 
if he had  not dipped his wing in the   
,unitarian controversy1 he might have   
soared  to the very summit of fancy4    
,but in writing verse1 he is trying to  
subject the ,muse to transcendental     
theories3 in his abstract  reasoning1 he
 misses his way by strewing it with     
flowers4 ,all that he  has done of      
moment1 he had done twenty years ago3   
since then1 he may be  said to have     
lived on the sound of his own voice4    
,mr4 ,coleridge is too  rich in         
intellectual wealth1 to need to task    
himself to any drudgery3 he  has only to
 draw the sliders of his imagination1   
and a thousand subjects  expand before  
him1 startling him with their           
brilliancy1 or losing  themselves in    
endless obscurity--                     
#8,and by the force of blear illusion1  
,they draw him on to his confusion4'    
,what is the little he could add to the 
stock1 compared with the  countless     
stores that lie about him1 that he      

should stoop to pick up a  name1 or to  
polish an idle fancy8 ,he walks abroad  
in the majesty of an  universal         
understanding1 eyeing the #8rich        
strond1' or golden sky above  him1 and  
#8goes sounding on his way1' in eloquent
 accents1 uncompelled  and free6        
,persons of the greatest capacity are   
often those1 who for this reason do  the
 least2 for surveying themselves from   
the highest point of view1  amidst the  
infinite variety of the universe1 their 
own share in it seems  trifling1 and    
scarce worth a thought1 and they prefer 
the contemplation  of all that is1 or   
has been1 or can be1 to the making a    
coil about doing  what1 when done1 is no
 better than vanity4 ,it is hard to     
concentrate all  our attention and      
efforts on one pursuit1 except from     
ignorance of  others2 and without this  
concentration of our faculties1 no great
  progress can be made in any one thing4
 ,it is not merely that the mind is  not
 capable of the effort2 it does not     

think the effort worth making4  ,action 
is one2 but thought is manifold4 ,he    
whose restless eye glances  through the 
wide compass of nature and art1 will not
 consent to have  #8his own nothings    
monstered'3 but he must do this1 before 
he can give  his whole soul to them4    
,the mind1 after #8letting contemplation
 have its  fill1' or                    
#8,sailing with supreme dominion        
,through the azure deep of air1'        
sinks down on the ground1 breathless1   
exhausted1 powerless1 inactive2 or  if  
it must have some vent to its feelings1 
seeks the most easy and  obvious2 is    
soothed by friendly flattery1 lulled by 
the murmur of  immediate applause1      
thinks as it were aloud1 and babbles in 
its dreams6  ,a scholar 7so to speak7 is
 a more disinterested and abstracted    
character  than a mere author4 ,the     
first looks at the numberless volumes of
 a  library1 and says1 #8,all these are 
mine'3 the other points to a single     
volume 7perhaps it may be an immortal   

one7 and says1 #8,my name is written  on
 the back of it4' ,this is a puny and   
groveling ambition1 beneath the  lofty  
amplitude of ,mr4 ,coleridge's mind4    
,no1 he revolves in his wayward  soul1  
or utters to the passing wind1 or       
discourses to his own shadow1  things   
mightier and more various6--,let us draw
 the curtain1 and unlock  the shrine4   
,learning rocked him in his cradle1 and 
while yet a child1                 #8,he
 lisped in numbers1 for the numbers     
came4'    ,at sixteen he wrote his ,ode 
on ,chatterton1 and he still reverts to 
that period with delight1 not so much as
 it relates to himself 7for that  string
 of his own early promise of fame rather
 jars than otherwise7 but  as           
exemplifying the youth of a poet4 ,mr4  
,coleridge talks of himself1  without   
being an egotist1 for in him the        
individual is always merged in  the     
abstract and general4 ,he distinguished 
himself at school and at the            
,university by his knowledge of the     

classics1 and gained several prizes  for
 ,greek epigrams4 ,how many men are     
there 7great scholars1 celebrated  names
 in literature7 who having done the same
 thing in their youth1 have  no other   
idea all the rest of their lives but of 
this achievement1 of a  fellowship and  
dinner1 and who1 installed in academic  
honours1 would  look down on our author 
as a mere strolling bard6 ,at ,christ's 
,hospital1  where he was brought up1 he 
was the idol of those among his         
schoolfellows1 who mingled with their   
bookish studies the music of  thought   
and of humanity2 and he was usually     
attended round the cloisters  by a group
 of these 7inspiring and inspired7 whose
 hearts1 even then1  burnt within them  
as he talked1 and where the sounds yet  
linger to mock  ,,elia on his way1 still
 turning pensive to the past6 ,one of   
the finest  and rarest parts of ,mr4    
,coleridge's conversation1 is when he   
expatiates  on the ,greek tragedians    
7not that he is not well acquainted1    

when he  pleases1 with the epic poets1  
or the philosophers1 or orators1 or     
historians of antiquity7--on the subtle 
reasonings and melting pathos of        
,euripides1 on the harmonious           
gracefulness of ,sophocles1 tuning his  
love-laboured song1 like sweetest       
warblings from a sacred grove2 on the   
high-wrought trumpet-tongued eloquence  
of schylus1 whose ,prometheus1  above   
all1 is like an ,ode to ,fate1 and a    
pleading with ,providence1 his  thoughts
 being let loose as his body is chained 
on his solitary rock1  and his afflicted
 will 7the emblem of mortality7         
#8,struggling in vain with ruthless     
destiny4'    ,as the impassioned critic 
speaks and rises in his theme1 you would
 think  you heard the voice of the ,man 
hated by the ,gods1 contending with the 
wild winds as they roar1 and his eye    
glitters with the spirit of  ,antiquity6
    ,next1 he was engaged with          
,hartley's tribes of mind1 #8etherial   
braid1  thought-woven1'--and he busied  

himself for a year or two with          
vibrations  and vibratiuncles and the   
great law of association that binds all 
things  in its mystic chain1 and the    
doctrine of ,necessity 7the mild teacher
 of  ,charity7 and the ,millennium1     
anticipative of a life to come--and he  
plunged deep into the controversy on    
,matter and ,spirit1 and1 as an  escape 
from ,dr4 ,priestley's ,materialism1    
where he felt himself  imprisoned by the
 logician's spell1 like ,ariel in the   
cloven pine-tree1  he became suddenly   
enamoured of ,bishop ,berkeley's        
fairy-world1#ci and  used in all        
companies to build the universe1 like a 
brave poetical  fiction1 of fine        
words--and he was deep-read in          
,malebranche1 and in  ,cudworth's       
,intellectual ,system 7a huge pile of   
learning1 unwieldy1  enormous7 and in   
,lord ,brook's hieroglyphic theories1   
and in ,bishop  ,butler's ,sermons1 and 
in the ,duchess of ,newcastle's         
fantastic folios1  and in ,clarke and   

,south and ,tillotson1 and all the fine 
thinkers and  masculine reasoners of    
that age--and ,leibnitz's               
,pre-,established ,harmony  reared its  
arch above his head1 like the rainbow in
 the cloud1  covenanting with the hopes 
of man--and then he fell plump1 ten     
thousand  fathoms down 7but his wings   
saved him harmless7 into the hortus     
siccus  of ,dissent1 where he pared     
religion down to the standard of reason1
 and  stripped faith of mystery1 and    
preached ,christ crucified and the      
,unity  of the ,godhead1 and so dwelt   
for a while in the spirit with ,john    
,huss  and ,jerome of ,prague and       
,socinus and old ,john ,zisca1 and ran  
through  ,neal's ,history of the        
,puritans1 and ,calamy's                
,non-,conformists' ,memorial1  having   
like thoughts and passions with         
them--but then ,spinoza became his      
,god1 and he took up the vast chain of  
being in his hand1 and the round  world 
became the centre and the soul of all   

things in some shadowy  sense1 forlorn  
of meaning1 and around him he beheld the
 living traces  and the sky-pointing    
proportions of the mighty ,pan--but     
poetry redeemed  him from this spectral 
philosophy1 and he bathed his heart in  
beauty1  and gazed at the golden light  
of heaven1 and drank of the spirit of   
the  universe1 and wandered at eve by   
fairy-stream or fountain1               
#8----,when he saw nought but beauty1   
,when he heard the voice of that        
,almighty ,one             ,in every    
breeze that blew1 or wave that          
murmured'--    and wedded with truth in 
,plato's shade1 and in the writings of  
,proclus  and ,plotinus saw the ideas of
 things in the eternal mind1 and        
unfolded  all mysteries with the        
,schoolmen and fathomed the depths of   
,duns ,scotus  and ,thomas ,aquinas1 and
 entered the third heaven with ,jacob   
,behmen1 and  walked hand in hand with  
,swedenborg through the pavilions of the
 ,new  ,jerusalem1 and sung his faith in

 the promise and in the word in his     
,religious ,musings--and lowering       
himself from that dizzy height1 poised  
himself on ,milton's wings1 and spread  
out his thoughts in charity with  the   
glad prose of ,jeremy ,taylor1 and wept 
over ,bowles's ,sonnets1 and  studied   
,cowper's blank verse1 and betook       
himself to ,thomson's ,castle of        
,indolence1 and sported with the wits of
 ,charles the ,second's days and of     
,queen ,anne1 and relished ,swift's     
style and that of the ,john ,bull       
7,arbuthnot's we mean1 not ,mr4         
,croker's71 and dallied with the        
,british  ,essayists and ,novelists1 and
 knew all qualities of more modern      
writers  with a learned spirit1         
,johnson1 and ,goldsmith1 and ,junius1  
and ,burke1  and ,godwin1 and the       
,sorrows of ,werter1 and ,jean ,jacques 
,rousseau1 and  ,voltaire1 and          
,marivaux1 and ,crebillon1 and thousands
 more--now #8laughed  with ,rabelais in 
his easy chair' or pointed to ,hogarth1 

or afterwards  dwelt on ,claude's       
classic scenes1 or spoke with rapture of
 ,raphael1 and  compared the women at   
,rome to figures that had walked out of 
his  pictures1 or visited the ,oratory  
of ,pisa1 and described the works of    
,giotto and ,ghirlandaio and ,massaccio1
 and gave the moral of the picture  of  
the ,triumph of ,death1 where the       
beggars and the wretched invoke his     
dreadful dart1 but the rich and mighty  
of the earth quail and shrink  before   
it2 and in that land of siren sights and
 sounds1 saw a dance of  peasant girls1 
and was charmed with lutes and          
gondolas1--or wandered into  ,germany   
and lost himself in the labyrinths of   
the ,hartz ,forest and of  the ,kantean 
philosophy1 and amongst the cabalistic  
names of ,ficht and  ,schelling and     
,lessing1 and ,god knows who--this was  
long after1 but all  the former while1  
he had nerved his heart and filled his  
eyes with  tears1 as he hailed the      
rising orb of liberty1 since quenched in

  darkness and in blood1 and had kindled
 his affections at the blaze of  the    
,french ,revolution1 and sang for joy   
when the towers of the ,bastile  and the
 proud places of the insolent and the   
oppressor fell1 and would  have floated 
his bark1 freighted with fondest        
fancies1 across the  ,atlantic wave with
 ,southey and others to seek for peace  
and freedom--                           
#8,in ,philarmonia's undivided dale6'   
,alas6 #8,frailty1 thy name is          
,genius6'--,what is become of all this  
mighty  heap of hope1 of thought1 of    
learning1 and humanity8 ,it has ended in
  swallowing doses of oblivion and in   
writing paragraphs in the               
,courier4--,such and so little is the   
mind of man6    ,it was not to be       
supposed that ,mr4 ,coleridge could keep
 on at the rate  he set off2 he could   
not realize all he knew or thought1 and 
less could  not fix his desultory       
ambition2 other stimulants supplied the 
place1 and  kept up the intoxicating    

dream1 the fever and the madness of his 
early  impressions4 ,liberty 7the       
philosopher's and the poet's bride7 had 
fallen  a victim1 meanwhile1 to the     
murderous practices of the hag1         
,legitimacy4  ,proscribed by            
court-hirelings1 too romantic for the   
herd of vulgar  politicians1 our        
enthusiast stood at bay1 and at last    
turned on the  pivot of a subtle        
casuistry to the unclean side3 but his  
discursive  reason would not let him    
trammel himself into a poet-laureate or 
stamp-distributor1 and he stopped1 ere  
he had quite passed that  well-known    
#8bourne from whence no traveller       
returns'--and so has sunk  into torpid1 
uneasy repose1 tantalized by useless    
resources1 haunted by  vain imaginings1 
his lips idly moving1 but his heart for 
ever still1 or1  as the shattered chords
 vibrate of themselves1 making          
melancholy music  to the ear of memory6 
,such is the fate of genius in an age1  
when in the  unequal contest with       

sovereign wrong1 every man is ground to 
powder who  is not either a born slave1 
or who does not willingly and at once   
offer  up the yearnings of humanity and 
the dictates of reason as a welcome     
sacrifice to besotted prejudice and     
loathsome power4    ,of all ,mr4        
,coleridge's productions1 the ,ancient  
,mariner is the only  one that we could 
with confidence put into any person's   
hands1 on whom  we wished to impress a  
favourable idea of his extraordinary    
powers4 ,let  whatever other objections 
be made to it1 it is unquestionably a   
work of  genius--of wild1 irregular1    
overwhelming imagination1 and has that  
rich1  varied movement in the verse1    
which gives a distant idea of the lofty 
or  changeful tones of ,mr4 ,coleridge's
 voice4 ,in the ,christabel1 there is   
one splendid passage on divided         
friendship4 ,the ,translation of        
,schiller's ,wallenstein is also a      
masterly production in its kind1        
faithful and spirited4 ,among his       

smaller pieces there are occasional     
bursts of pathos and fancy1 equal to    
what we might expect from him2 but      
these form the exception1 and not the   
rule4 ,such1 for instance1 is his       
affecting ,sonnet to the author of the  
,robbers4                #8,schiller6   
that hour ,i would have wish'd to die1  
,if through the shudd'ring midnight ,i  
had sent                ,from the dark  
dungeon of the tower time-rent1         
,that fearful voice1 a famish'd father's
 cry--              ,that in no         
after-moment aught less vast            
,might stamp me mortal6 ,a triumphant   
shout                ,black horror      
scream'd1 and all her goblin rout       
,from the more with'ring scene          
diminish'd pass'd4              ,ah6    
,bard tremendous in sublimity6          
,could ,i behold thee in thy loftier    
mood1              ,wand'ring at eve1   
with finely frenzied eye1               
,beneath some vast old tempest-swinging 
wood6                ,awhile1 with mute 

awe gazing1 ,i would brood1             
,then weep aloud in a wild ecstasy4'    
,his ,tragedy1 entitled ,remorse1 is    
full of beautiful and striking          
passages1 but it does not place the     
author in the first rank of dramatic    
writers4 ,but if ,mr4 ,coleridge's works
 do not place him in that rank1  they   
injure instead of conveying a just idea 
of the man1 for he himself  is certainly
 in the first class of general          
intellect4    ,if our author's poetry is
 inferior to his conversation1 his prose
 is  utterly abortive4 ,hardly a gleam  
is to be found in it of the brilliancy  
and richness of those stores of thought 
and language that he pours out          
incessantly1 when they are lost like    
drops of water in the ground4 ,the      
principal work1 in which he has         
attempted to embody his general views of
  things1 is the ,,friend1 of which1    
though it contains some noble passages  
and fine trains of thought1 prolixity   
and obscurity are the most  frequent    

characteristics4    ,no two persons can 
be conceived more opposite in character 
or genius  than the subject of the      
present and of the preceding sketch4    
,mr4 ,godwin1  with less natural        
capacity1 and with fewer acquired       
advantages1 by  concentrating his mind  
on some given object1 and doing what he 
had to do  with all his might1 has      
accomplished much1 and will leave more  
than one  monument of a powerful        
intellect behind him2 ,mr4 ,coleridge1  
by  dissipating his1 and dallying with  
every subject by turns1 has done  little
 or nothing to justify to the world or  
to posterity1 the high  opinion which   
all who have ever heard him converse1 or
 known him  intimately1 with one accord 
entertain of him4 ,mr4 ,godwin's        
faculties  have kept at home1 and plied 
their task in the workshop of the brain1
  diligently and effectually3 ,mr4      
,coleridge's have gossiped away their   
time1 and gadded about from house to    
house1 as if life's business were  to   

melt the hours in listless talk4 ,mr4   
,godwin is intent on a subject1  only as
 it concerns himself and his reputation2
 he works it out as a  matter of duty1  
and discards from his mind whatever does
 not forward his  main object as        
impertinent and vain4 ,mr4 ,coleridge1  
on the other hand1  delights in nothing 
but episodes and digressions1 neglects  
whatever he  undertakes to perform1 and 
can act only on spontaneous impulses1   
without  object or method4 #8,he cannot 
be constrained by mastery4' ,while he   
should  be occupied with a given        
pursuit1 he is thinking of a thousand   
other  things2 a thousand tastes1 a     
thousand objects tempt him1 and distract
  his mind1 which keeps open house1 and 
entertains all comers2 and after  being 
fatigued and amused with morning calls  
from idle visitors1 finds  the day      
consumed and its business unconcluded4  
,mr4 ,godwin1 on the  contrary1 is      
somewhat exclusive and unsocial in his  
habits of mind1  entertains no company  

but what he gives his whole time and    
attention to1  and wisely writes over   
the doors of his understanding1 his     
fancy1 and  his senses--#8,no admittance
 except on business4' ,he has none of   
that  fastidious refinement and false   
delicacy1 which might lead him to       
balance between the endless variety of  
modern attainments4 ,he does not  throw 
away his life 7nor a single half-hour of
 it7 in adjusting the  claims of        
different accomplishments1 and in       
choosing between them or  making himself
 master of them all4 ,he sets about his 
task1 7whatever it  may be7 and goes    
through it with spirit and fortitude4   
,he has the  happiness to think an      
author the greatest character in the    
world1 and  himself the greatest author 
in it4 ,mr4 ,coleridge1 in writing an   
harmonious stanza1 would stop to        
consider whether there was not more     
grace and beauty in a ,pas de trois1 and
 would not proceed till he had  resolved
 this question by a chain of            

metaphysical reasoning without end4     
,not so ,mr4 ,godwin4 ,that is best to  
him1 which he can do best4 ,he does  not
 waste himself in vain aspirations and  
effeminate sympathies4 ,he is  blind1   
deaf1 insensible to all but the trump of
 ,fame4 ,plays1 operas1  painting1      
music1 ball-rooms1 wealth1 fashion1     
titles1 lords1 ladies1  touch him       
not--all these are no more to him than  
to the magician in his  cell1 and he    
writes on to the end of the chapter1    
through good report  and evil report4   
,pingo in eternitatem--is his motto4 ,he
 neither envies  nor admires what others
 are1 but is contented to be what he is1
 and  strives to do the utmost he can4  
,mr4 ,coleridge has flirted with the    
,muses as with a set of mistresses3 ,mr4
 ,godwin has been married twice1 to     
,reason and to ,fancy1 and has to boast 
no short-lived progeny by each4 ,so  to 
speak1 he has valves belonging to his   
mind1 to regulate the  quantity of gas  
admitted into it1 so that like the bare1

 unsightly1 but  well-compacted         
steam-vessel1 it cuts its liquid way1   
and arrives at its  promised end3 while 
,mr4 ,coleridge's bark1 #8taught with   
the little  nautilus to sail1' the sport
 of every breath1 dancing to every wave1
                 #8,youth at its prow1  
and ,pleasure at its helm1'    flutters 
its gaudy pennons in the air1 glitters  
in the sun1 but we wait  in vain to hear
 of its arrival in the destined harbour4
 ,mr4 ,godwin1 with  less variety and   
vividness1 with less subtlety and       
susceptibility both  of thought and     
feeling1 has had firmer nerves1 a more  
determined  purpose1 a more             
comprehensive grasp of his subject1 and 
the results are  as we find them4 ,each 
has met with his reward3 for justice    
has1 after  all1 been done to the       
pretensions of each2 and we must1 in all
 cases1  use means to ends6    ,it was a
 misfortune to any man of talent to be  
born in the latter end of  the last     
century4 ,genius stopped the way of     

,legitimacy1 and therefore it  was to be
 abated1 crushed1 or set aside as a     
nuisance4 ,the spirit of the  monarchy  
was at variance with the spirit of the  
age4 ,the flame of  liberty1 the light  
of intellect1 was to be extinguished    
with the  sword--or with slander1 whose 
edge is sharper than the sword4 ,the war
  between power and reason was carried  
on by the first of these abroad--by  the
 last at home4 ,no quarter was given    
7then or now7 by the                    
,government-critics1 the authorised     
censors of the press1 to those who      
followed the dictates of independence1  
who listened to the voice of the        
tempter1 ,fancy4 ,instead of gathering  
fruits and flowers1 immortal fruits  and
 amaranthine flowers1 they soon found   
themselves beset not only by a  host of 
prejudices1 but assailed with all the   
engines of power1 by  nicknames1 by     
lies1 by all the arts of malice1        
interest and hypocrisy1  without the    
possibility of their defending          

themselves #8from the pelting  of the   
pitiless storm1' that poured down upon  
them from the strong-holds  of          
corruption and authority4 ,the          
philosophers1 the dry abstract          
reasoners1 submitted to this reverse    
pretty well1 and armed themselves  with 
patience #8as with triple steel1' to    
bear discomfiture1 persecution1  and    
disgrace4 ,but the poets1 the creatures 
of sympathy1 could not stand  the frowns
 both of king and people4 ,they did not 
like to be shut out  when places and    
pensions1 when the critic's praises1 and
 the  laurel-wreath were about to be    
distributed4 ,they did not stomach being
  sent to ,coventry1 and ,mr4 ,coleridge
 sounded a retreat for them by the  help
 of casuistry1 and a musical            
voice4--#8,his words were hollow1 but   
they  pleased the ear' of his friends of
 the ,lake ,school1 who turned back     
disgusted and panic-struck from the dry 
desert of unpopularity1 like  ,hassan   
the camel-driver1              #8,and   

curs'd the hour1 and curs'd the luckless
 day1            ,when first from       
,shiraz' walls they bent their way4'    
,they are safely inclosed there1 but    
,mr4 ,coleridge did not enter with      
them2 pitching his tent upon the barren 
waste without1 and having no  abiding   
place nor city of refuge6               
,,rev4 ,,mr4 ,,irving      ,this        
gentleman has gained an almost          
unprecedented1 and not an altogether    
unmerited popularity as a preacher4 ,as 
he is1 perhaps1 though a burning  and a 
shining light1 not #8one of the fixed1' 
we shall take this  opportunity of      
discussing his merits1 while he is at   
his meridian  height2 and in doing so1  
shall #8nothing extenuate1 nor set down 
aught in  malice4'    ,few circumstances
 show the prevailing and preposterous   
rage for novelty  in a more striking    
point of view1 than the success of ,mr4 
,irving's  oratory4 ,people go to hear  
him in crowds1 and come away with a     
mixture  of delight and                 

astonishment--they go again to see if   
the effect will  continue1 and send     
others to try to find out the           
mystery--and in the  noisy conflict     
between extravagant encomiums and       
splenetic objections1  the true secret  
escapes observation1 which is1 that the 
whole thing is1  nearly from beginning  
to end1 a transposition of ideas4 ,if   
the subject  of these remarks had come  
out as a player1 with all his advantages
 of  figure1 voice1 and action1 we think
 he would have failed2 if1 as a         
preacher1 he had kept within the strict 
bounds of pulpit-oratory1 he  would     
scarcely have been much distinguished   
among his ,calvinistic  brethren3 as a  
mere author1 he would have excited      
attention rather by  his quaintness and 
affectation of an obsolete style and    
mode of  thinking1 than by any thing    
else4 ,but he has contrived to jumble   
these  several characters together in an
 unheard-of and unwarranted manner1 and 
the fascination is altogether           

irresistible4 ,our ,caledonian divine is
  equally an anomaly in religion1 in    
literature1 in personal appearance1  and
 in public speaking4 ,to hear a person  
spout ,shakspeare on the stage  is      
nothing--the charm is nearly worn       
out--but to hear any one spout          
,shakspeare 7and that not in a sneaking 
under-tone1 but at the top of his       
voice1 and with the full breadth of his 
chest7 from a ,calvinistic  pulpit1 is  
new and wonderful4 ,the ,fancy have     
lately lost something of  their gloss in
 public estimation1 and after the last  
fight1 few would go  far to see a ,neat 
or a ,spring set-to2--but to see a man  
who is able to  enter the ring with     
either of them1 or brandish a           
quarter-staff with  ,friar ,tuck1 or a  
broad-sword with ,shaw the ,life-guard's
 man1 stand up in  a strait-laced       
old-fashioned pulpit1 and bandy         
dialectics with modern  philosophers1 or
 give a cross-buttock to a cabinet      
minister1 there is  something in a sight

 like this also1 that is a cure for sore
 eyes4 ,it is  as if ,crib or ,molyneux 
had turned ,methodist parson1 or as if a
  ,patagonian savage were to come       
forward as the patron-saint of          
,evangelical religion4 ,again1 the      
doctrine of eternal punishment was one  
of the staple arguments with which1     
everlastingly drawled out1 the old      
school of ,presbyterian divines used to 
keep their audiences awake1 or  lull    
them to sleep2 but to which people of   
taste and fashion paid little           
attention1 as inelegant and barbarous1  
till ,mr4 ,irving1 with his  cast-iron  
features and sledge-hammer blows1       
puffing like a grim ,vulcan1  set to    
work to forge more classic thunderbolts1
 and kindle the expiring  flames anew   
with the very sweepings of sceptical and
 infidel libraries1  so as to excite a  
pleasing horror in the female part of   
his  congregation4 ,in short1 our       
popular declaimer has1 contrary to the  
,scripture-caution1 put new wine into   

old bottles1 or new cloth on old        
garments4 ,he has1 with an unlimited and
 daring licence1 mixed the sacred  and  
the profane together1 the carnal and the
 spiritual man1 the  petulance of the   
bar with the dogmatism of the pulpit1   
the theatrical  and theological1 the    
modern and the obsolete2--what wonder   
that this  splendid piece of patchwork1 
splendid by contradiction and contrast1 
has  delighted some and confounded      
others8 ,the more serious part of his   
congregation indeed complain1 though not
 bitterly1 that their pastor has        
converted their meeting-house into a    
play-house3 but when a lady of  quality1
 introducing herself and her three      
daughters to the preacher1  assures him 
that they have been to all the most     
fashionable places of  resort1 the      
opera1 the theatre1 assemblies1 ,miss   
,macauley's readings1  and              
,exeter-,change1 and have been equally  
entertained no where else1 we  apprehend
 that no remonstrances of a committee of

 ruling-elders will be  able to bring   
him to his senses again1 or make him    
forego such sweet1  but ill-assorted    
praise4 ,what we mean to insist upon is1
 that ,mr4 ,irving  owes his triumphant 
success1 not to any one quality for     
which he has  been extolled1 but to a   
combination of qualities1 the more      
striking in  their immediate effect1 in 
proportion as they are unlooked-for and 
heterogeneous1 like the violent         
opposition of light and shade in a      
picture4 ,we shall endeavour to explain 
this view of the subject more at  large4
    ,mr4 ,irving1 then1 is no common or 
mean man4 ,he has four or five          
qualities1 possessed in a moderate or in
 a paramount degree1 which1  added or   
multiplied together1 fill up the        
important space he occupies in  the     
public eye4 ,mr4 ,irving's intellect    
itself is of a superior order2 he  has  
undoubtedly both talents and            
acquirements beyond the ordinary run of 
every-day preachers4 ,these alone1      

however1 we hold1 would not account  for
 a twentieth part of the effect he has  
produced3 they would have  lifted him   
perhaps out of the mire and slough of   
sordid obscurity1 but  would never have 
launched him into the ocean-stream of   
popularity1 in  which he #8lies floating
 many a rood'2--but to these he adds    
uncommon  height1 a graceful figure and 
action1 a clear and powerful voice1 a   
striking1 if not a fine face1 a bold and
 fiery spirit1 and a most  portentous   
obliquity of vision1 which throw him to 
an immeasurable  distance beyond all    
competition1 and effectually relieve    
whatever there  might be of common-place
 or bombast in his style of composition4
 ,put the  case that ,mr4 ,irving had   
been five feet high--,would he ever have
 been  heard of1 or1 as he does now1    
have #8bestrode the world like a        
,colossus8'  ,no1 the thing speaks for  
itself4 ,he would in vain have lifted   
his  ,lilliputian arm to ,heaven1 people
 would have laughed at his              

monkey-tricks4 ,again1 had he been as   
tall as he is1 but had wanted other     
recommendations1 he would have been     
nothing4              #8,the player's   
province they but vainly try1           
,who want these powers1 deportment1     
voice1 and eye4'    ,conceive a rough1  
ugly1 shock-headed ,scotchman1 standing 
up in the  ,caledonian ,chapel1 and     
dealing #8damnation round the land' in a
 broad  northern dialect1 and with a    
harsh1 screaking voice1 what ear polite1
  what smile serene would have hailed   
the barbarous prodigy1 or not  consigned
 him to utter neglect and derision8 ,but
 the ,rev4 ,edward ,irving1  with all   
his native wildness1 #8hath a smooth    
aspect framed to make  women' saints2   
his very unusual size and height are    
carried off and  moulded into elegance  
by the most admirable symmetry of form  
and ease of  gesture2 his sable locks1  
his clear iron-grey complexion1 and     
firm-set  features1 turn the raw1       
uncouth ,scotchman into the likeness of 

a noble  ,italian picture2 and even his 
distortion of sight only redeems the    
otherwise #8faultless monster' within   
the bounds of humanity1 and1 when       
admiration is exhausted and curiosity   
ceases1 excites a new interest by       
leading to the idle question whether it 
is an advantage to the preacher  or not4
 ,farther1 give him all his actual and  
remarkable advantages of  body and mind1
 let him be as tall1 as strait1 as dark 
and clear of skin1  as much at his ease1
 as silver-tongued1 as eloquent and as  
argumentative  as he is1 yet with all   
these1 and without a little charlatanry 
to set  them off he had been nothing4   
,he might1 keeping within the rigid line
 of  his duty and professed calling1    
have preached on for ever2 he might have
  divided the old-fashioned doctrines of
 election1 grace1 reprobation1          
predestination1 into his sixteenth1     
seventeenth1 and eighteenth heads1  and 
his lastly have been looked for as a    
#8consummation devoutly to be  wished'2 

he might have defied the devil and all  
his works1 and by the  help of a loud   
voice and strong-set person--           
#8,a lusty man to ben an ,abbot able2'--
    have increased his own congregation1
 and been quoted among the godly as  a  
powerful preacher of the word2 but in   
addition to this1 he went out of  his   
way to attack ,jeremy ,bentham1 and the 
town was up in arms4 ,the thing  was    
new4 ,he thus wiped the stain of musty  
ignorance and formal bigotry  out of his
 style4 ,mr4 ,irving must have something
 superior in him1 to  look over the     
shining close-packed heads of his       
congregation to have a  hit at the      
,great ,jurisconsult in his study4 ,he  
next1 ere the report of  the former blow
 had subsided1 made a lunge at ,mr4     
,brougham1 and glanced  an eye at ,mr4  
,canning2 mystified ,mr4 ,coleridge1 and
 stultified ,lord  ,liverpool in his    
place--in the ,gallery4 ,it was rare    
sport to see him1  #8like an eagle in a 
dovecote1 flutter the ,volscians in     

,corioli4' ,he has  found out the secret
 of attracting by repelling4 ,those whom
 he is likely  to attack are curious to 
hear what he says of them3 they go      
again1 to  show that they do not mind   
it4 ,it is no less interesting to the   
bystanders1 who like to witness this    
sort of onslaught--like a charge  of    
cavalry1 the shock1 and the resistance4 
,mr4 ,irving has1 in fact1  without     
leave asked or a licence granted1       
converted the ,caledonian  ,chapel into 
a ,westminster ,forum or ,debating      
,society1 with the sanctity  of religion
 added to it4 ,our spirited polemic is  
not contented to defend  the citadel of 
orthodoxy against all impugners1 and    
shut himself up in  texts of ,scripture 
and huge volumes of the ,commentators as
 an  impregnable fortress2--he merely   
makes use of the stronghold of religion 
as a resting-place1 from which he       
sallies forth1 armed with modern  topics
 and with penal fire1 like ,achilles of 
old rushing from the  ,grecian tents1   

against the adversaries of ,god and man4
 ,peter ,aretine is  said to have laid  
the ,princes of ,europe under           
contribution by penning  satires against
 them3 so ,mr4 ,irving keeps the public 
in awe by insulting  all their favourite
 idols4 ,he does not spare their        
politicians1 their  rulers1 their       
moralists1 their poets1 their players1  
their critics1  their reviewers1 their  
magazine-writers2 he levels their       
resorts of  business1 their places of   
amusement1 at a blow--their cities1     
churches1  palaces1 ranks and           
professions1 refinements1 and           
elegances--and leaves  nothing standing 
but himself1 a mighty landmark in a     
degenerate age1  overlooking the wide   
havoc he has made6 ,he makes war upon   
all arts and  sciences1 upon the        
faculties and nature of man1 on his     
vices and his  virtues1 on all existing 
institutions1 and all possible          
improvements1  that nothing may be left 
but the ,kirk of ,scotland1 and that he 

may be  the head of it4 ,he literally   
sends a challenge to all ,london in the 
name  of the ,,king of ,,heaven1 to     
evacuate its streets1 to disperse its   
population1 to lay aside its            
employments1 to burn its wealth1 to     
renounce its vanities and pomp2 and for 
what8--that he may enter in as  the     
,king of ,glory2 or after enforcing his 
threat with the  battering-ram of logic1
 the grape-shot of rhetoric1 and the    
cross-fire  of his double vision1 reduce
 the ,british metropolis to a ,scottish 
heath1  with a few miserable hovels upon
 it1 where they may worship ,god        
according to the root of the matter1 and
 where an old man with a blue  bonnet1 a
 fair-haired girl1 and a little child   
would form the flower of  his flock6    
,such is the pretension and the boast of
 this new ,peter the  ,hermit1 who would
 get rid of all we have done in the way 
of improvement  on a state of barbarous 
ignorance1 or still more barbarous      
prejudice1 in  order to begin again on a

 tabula rasa of ,calvinism1 and have a  
world  of his own making4 ,it is not    
very surprising that when nearly the    
whole  mass and texture of civil society
 is indicted as a nuisance1 and         
threatened to be pulled down as a rotten
 building ready to fall on the  heads of
 the inhabitants1 that all classes of   
people run to hear the  crash1 and to   
see the engines and levers at work which
 are to effect  this laudable purpose4  
,what else can be the meaning of our    
preacher's  taking upon himself to      
denounce the sentiments of the most     
serious  professors in great cities1 as 
vitiated and stark-naught1 of relegating
  religion to his native glens1 and     
pretending that the hymn of praise or   
the sigh of contrition cannot ascend    
acceptably to the throne of grace  from 
the crowded street as well as from the  
barren rock or silent  valley8 ,why put 
this affront upon his hearers8 ,why     
belie his own  aspirations8             
#8,god made the country1 and man made   

the town4'    ,so says the poet2 does   
,mr4 ,irving say so8 ,if he does1 and   
finds the air  of the city death to his 
piety1 why does he not return home      
again8 ,but  if he can breathe it with  
impunity1 and still retain the fervour  
of his  early enthusiasm1 and the       
simplicity and purity of the faith that 
was  once delivered to the saints1 why  
not extend the benefit of his own       
experience to others1 instead of        
taunting them with a vapid pastoral     
theory8 ,or1 if our popular and eloquent
 divine finds a change in  himself1 that
 flattery prevents the growth of grace1 
that he is becoming  the ,god of his own
 idolatry by being that of others1 that 
the glittering  of coronet-coaches      
rolling down ,holborn-,hill to ,hatton  
,garden1 that  titled beauty1 that the  
parliamentary complexion of his         
audience1 the  compliments of poets1 and
 the stare of peers discompose his      
wandering  thoughts a little2 and yet   
that he cannot give up these strong     

temptations tugging at his heart2 why   
not extend more charity to others1  and 
show more candour in speaking of        
himself8 ,there is either a good  deal  
of bigoted intolerance with a deplorable
 want of self-knowledge in  all this2 or
 at least an equal degree of cant and   
quackery4    ,to which ever cause we are
 to attribute this hyperbolical tone1 we
 hold  it certain he could not have     
adopted it1 if he had been a little man4
  ,but his imposing figure and dignified
 manner enable him to hazard  sentiments
 or assertions that would be fatal to   
others4 ,his  controversial daring is   
backed by his bodily prowess2 and by    
bringing  his intellectual pretensions  
boldly into a line with his physical    
accomplishments1 he1 indeed1 presents a 
very formidable front to the  sceptic or
 the scoffer4 ,take a cubit from his    
stature1 and his whole  manner resolves 
itself into an impertinence4 ,but with  
that addition1 he  overcrows the town1  
browbeats their prejudices1 and bullies 

them out  of their senses1 and is not   
afraid of being contradicted by any one 
less than himself4 ,it may be said1 that
 individuals with great  personal       
defects have made a considerable figure 
as public speakers2 and  ,mr4           
,wilberforce1 among others1 may be held 
out as an instance4 ,nothing  can be    
more insignificant as to mere outward   
appearance1 and yet he is  listened to  
in the ,house of ,commons4 ,but he does 
not wield it1 he does  not insult or    
bully it4 ,he leads by following        
opinion1 he trims1 he  shifts1 he glides
 on the silvery sounds of his           
undulating1 flexible1  cautiously       
modulated voice1 winding his way betwixt
 heaven and earth1  now courting        
popularity1 now calling servility to his
 aid1 and with a  large estate1 the     
#8saints1' and the population of        
,yorkshire to swell his  influence1     
never venturing on the forlorn hope1 or 
doing any thing more  than #8hitting the
 house between wind and water4' ,yet he 

is probably a  cleverer man than ,mr4   
,irving4    ,there is a ,mr4 ,fox1 a    
,dissenting ,minister1 as fluent a      
speaker1 with a  sweeter voice and a    
more animated and beneficent countenance
 than ,mr4  ,irving1 who expresses      
himself with manly spirit at a public   
meeting1  takes a hand at whist1 and is 
the darling of his congregation2 but he 
is  no more1 because he is diminutive in
 person4 ,his head is not seen above    
the crowd the length of a street off4   
,he is the ,duke of ,sussex in          
miniature1 but the ,duke of ,sussex does
 not go to hear him preach1 as he       
attends ,mr4 ,irving1 who rises up      
against him like a martello tower1 and  
is nothing loth to confront the spirit  
of a man of genius with the             
blood-royal4 ,we allow there are1 or may
 be1 talents sufficient to  produce this
 equality without a single personal     
advantage2 but we deny  that this would 
be the effect of any that our great     
preacher possesses4  ,we conceive it not

 improbable that the consciousness of   
muscular power1  that the admiration of 
his person by strangers might first have
 inspired  ,mr4 ,irving with an ambition
 to be something1 intellectually        
speaking1  and have given him confidence
 to attempt the greatest things4 ,he has
 not  failed for want of courage4 ,the  
public1 as well as the fair1 are won by 
a show of gallantry4 ,mr4 ,irving has   
shrunk from no opinion1 however         
paradoxical4 ,he has scrupled to avow no
 sentiment1 however obnoxious4 ,he  has 
revived exploded prejudices1 he has     
scouted prevailing fashions4 ,he  has   
opposed the spirit of the age1 and not  
consulted the esprit de  corps4 ,he has 
brought back the doctrines of ,calvinism
 in all their  inveteracy1 and relaxed  
the inveteracy of his northern accents4 
,he has  turned religion and the        
,caledonian ,chapel topsy-turvy4 ,he has
 held a  play-book in one hand1 and a   
,bible in the other1 and quoted         
,shakespeare  and ,melancthon in the    

same breath4 ,the tree of the knowledge 
of good and  evil is no longer1 with his
 grafting1 a dry withered stump2 it     
shoots  its branches to the skies1 and  
hangs out its blossoms to the gale--    
#8,miraturque novos fructus1 et non sua 
poma4'    ,he has taken the thorns and  
briars of scholastic divinity1 and      
garlanded  them with the flowers of     
modern literature4 ,he has done all     
this1  relying on the strength of a     
remarkably fine person and manner1 and  
through that he has succeeded--otherwise
 he would have perished  miserably4     
,dr4 ,chalmers is not by any means so   
good a looking man1 nor so  accomplished
 a speaker as ,mr4 ,irving2 yet he at   
one time almost equalled  his oratorical
 celebrity1 and certainly paved the way 
for him4 ,he has  therefore more merit  
than his admired pupil1 as he has done  
as much with  fewer means4 ,he has more 
scope of intellect and more intensity of
  purpose4 ,both his matter and his     
manner1 setting aside his face and      

figure1 are more impressive4 ,take the  
volume of #8,sermons on ,astronomy1'  by
 ,dr4 ,chalmers1 and the #8,four        
,orations for the ,oracles of ,god'     
which  ,mr4 ,irving lately published1   
and we apprehend there can be no        
comparison  as to their success4 ,the   
first ran like wild-fire through the    
country1  were the darlings of          
watering-places1 were laid in the       
windows of  inns1#dj and were to be met 
with in all places of public resort2    
while  the #8,orations' get on but      
slowly1 on ,milton's stilts1 and are    
pompously  announced as in a ,third     
,edition4 ,we believe the fairest and   
fondest of  his admirers would rather   
see and hear ,mr4 ,irving than read him4
 ,the  reason is1 that the ground work  
of his compositions is trashy and       
hackneyed1 though set off by extravagant
 metaphors and an affected  phraseology2
 that without the turn of his head and  
wave of his hand1 his  periods have     
nothing in them2 and that he himself is 

the only idea  with which he has yet    
enriched the public mind6 ,he must play 
off his  person1 as ,orator ,henley used
 to dazzle his hearers with his         
diamond-ring4 ,the small frontispiece   
prefixed to the #8,orations' does not   
serve to convey an adequate idea of the 
magnitude of the man1 nor of the  ease  
and freedom of his motions in the       
pulpit4 ,how different is ,dr4          
,chalmers6 ,he is like #8a              
monkey-preacher' to the other4 ,he      
cannot boast  of personal appearance to 
set him off4 ,but then he is like the   
very  genius or demon of theological    
controversy personified4 ,he has neither
  airs nor graces at command2 he thinks 
nothing of himself3 he has nothing      
theatrical about him 7which cannot be   
said of his successor and rival72  but  
you see a man in mortal throes and agony
 with doubts and  difficulties1 seizing 
stubborn knotty points with his teeth1  
tearing  them with his hands1 and       
straining his eyeballs till they almost 

start  out of their sockets1 in pursuit 
of a train of visionary reasoning1 like 
a ,highland-seer with his second sight4 
,the description of ,balfour of  ,burley
 in his cave1 with his ,bible in one    
hand and his sword in the  other1       
contending with the imaginary enemy of  
mankind1 gasping for  breath1 and with  
the cold moisture running down his face1
 gives a lively  idea of ,dr4           
,chalmers's prophetic fury in the       
pulpit4 ,if we could have  looked in to 
have seen ,burley hard-beset #8by the   
coinage of his  heat-oppressed brain1'  
who would have asked whether he was a   
handsome  man or not8 ,it would be      
enough to see a man haunted by a spirit1
 under  the strong and entire dominion  
of a wilful hallucination4 ,so the      
integrity and vehemence of ,dr4         
,chalmers's manner1 the determined way  
in  which he gives himself up to his    
subject1 or lays about him and buffets  
sceptics and gain-sayers1 arrests       
attention in spite of every other       

circumstance1 and fixes it on that1 and 
that alone1 which excites such  interest
 and such eagerness in his own breast6  
,besides1 he is a  logician1 has a      
theory in support of whatever he chooses
 to advance1 and  weaves the tissue of  
his sophistry so close and intricate1   
that it is  difficult not to be         
entangled in it1 or to escape from it4  
#8,there's  magic in the web4' ,whatever
 appeals to the pride of the human      
understanding1 has a subtle charm in it4
 ,the mind is naturally  pugnacious1    
cannot refuse a challenge of strength or
 skill1 sturdily  enters the lists and  
resolves to conquer1 or to yield itself 
vanquished  in the forms4 ,this is the  
chief hold ,dr4 ,chalmers had upon his  
hearers1  and upon the readers of his   
#8,astronomical ,discourses4' ,no one   
was  satisfied with his arguments1 no   
one could answer them1 but every one    
wanted to try what he could make of     
them1 as we try to find out a  riddle4  
#8,by his so potent art1' the art of    

laying down problematical  premises1 and
 drawing from them still more doubtful1 
but not impossible1  conclusions1 #8he  
could bedim the noonday sun1 betwixt the
 green sea and  the azure vault set     
roaring war1' and almost compel the     
stars in their  courses to testify to   
his opinions4 ,the mode in which he     
undertook to  make the circuit of the   
universe1 and demand categorical        
information  #8now of the planetary and 
now of the fixed1' might put one in mind
 of  ,hecate's mode of ascending in a   
machine from the stage1 #8midst troops  
of  spirits1' in which you now admire   
the skill of the artist1 and next       
tremble for the fate of the performer1  
fearing that the audacity of the        
attempt will turn his head or break his 
neck4 ,the style of these               
#8,discourses' also1 though not elegant 
or poetical1 was1 like the  subject1    
intricate and endless4 ,it was that of a
 man pushing his way  through a         
labyrinth of difficulties1 and          

determined not to flinch4 ,the          
impression on the reader was            
proportionate2 for1 whatever were the   
merits of the style or matter1 both were
 new and striking2 and the train  of    
thought that was unfolded at such length
 and with such strenuousness1  was bold1
 well-sustained1 and consistent with    
itself4    ,mr4 ,irving wants the       
continuity of thought and manner which  
distinguishes his rival--and shines by  
patches and in bursts4 ,he does not     
warm or acquire increasing force or     
rapidity with his progress4 ,he is      
never hurried away by a deep or lofty   
enthusiasm1 nor touches the  highest    
point of genius or fanaticism1 but #8in 
the very storm and  whirlwind of his    
passion1 he acquires and begets a       
temperance that may  give it            
smoothness4' ,he has the self-possession
 and masterly execution  of an          
experienced player or fencer1 and does  
not seem to express his  natural        
convictions1 or to be engaged in a      

mortal struggle4 ,this greater  ease and
 indifference is the result of vast     
superiority of personal  appearance1    
which #8to be admired needs but to be   
seen1' and does not  require the        
possessor to work himself up into a     
passion1 or to use any  violent         
contortions to gain attention or to keep
 it4 ,these two  celebrated preachers   
are in almost all respects an antithesis
 to each  other4 ,if ,mr4 ,irving is an 
example of what can be done by the help 
of  external advantages1 ,dr4 ,chalmers 
is a proof of what can be done without  
them4 ,the one is most indebted to his  
mind1 the other to his body4 ,if  ,mr4  
,irving inclines one to suspect         
fashionable or popular religion of a    
little anthropomorphitism1 ,dr4         
,chalmers effectually redeems it from   
that scandal4                           
,,the ,,late ,,mr4 ,,horne ,,tooke      
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke was one of those who 
may be considered as connecting  links  
between a former period and the existing

 generation4 ,his education  and        
accomplishments1 nay1 his political     
opinions1 were of the last age2  his    
mind1 and the tone of his feelings were 
modern4 ,there was a hard1  dry         
materialism in the very texture of his  
understanding1 varnished over  by the   
external refinements of the old school4 
,mr4 ,tooke had great scope  of         
attainment1 and great versatility of    
pursuit2 but the same  shrewdness1      
quickness1 cool self-possession1 the    
same literalness of  perception1 and    
absence of passion and enthusiasm1      
characterised nearly  all he did1 said1 
or wrote4 ,he was without a rival       
7almost7 in private  conversation1 an   
expert public speaker1 a keen           
politician1 a first-rate  grammarian1   
and the finest gentleman 7to say the    
least7 of his own  party4 ,he had no    
imagination 7or he would not have       
scorned it67--no  delicacy of taste1 no 
rooted prejudices or strong attachments3
 his  intellect was like a bow of       

polished steel1 from which he shot      
sharp-pointed poisoned arrows at his    
friends in private1 at his enemies  in  
public4 ,his mind 7so to speak7 had no  
religion in it1 and very  little even of
 the moral qualities of genius2 but he  
was a man of the  world1 a scholar bred1
 and a most acute and powerful logician4
 ,he was  also a wit1 and a formidable  
one3 yet it may be questioned whether   
his  wit was any thing more than an     
excess of his logical faculty3 it did   
not  consist in the play of fancy1 but  
in close and cutting combinations of    
the understanding4 #8,the law is open to
 every one3 so1' said ,mr4 ,tooke1  #8is
 the ,london ,tavern6' ,it is the       
previous deduction formed in the  mind1 
and the splenetic contempt felt for a   
practical sophism1 that  beats about the
 bush for1 and at last finds the apt    
illustration2 not  the casual1 glancing 
coincidence of two objects1 that points 
out an  absurdity to the understanding4 
,so1 on another occasion1 when ,sir     

,allan  ,gardiner 7who was a candidate  
for ,westminster7 had objected to ,mr4  
,fox1  that #8he was always against the 
minister1 whether right or wrong1' and  
,mr4 ,fox1 in his reply1 had overlooked 
this slip of the tongue1 ,mr4 ,tooke    
immediately seized on it1 and said1 #8he
 thought it at least an equal  objection
 to ,sir ,allan1 that he was always with
 the minister1 whether  right or wrong4'
 ,this retort had all the effect1 and   
produced the same  surprise as the most 
brilliant display of wit or fancy3 yet  
it was only  the detecting a flaw in an 
argument1 like a flaw in an indictment1 
by a  kind of legal pertinacity1 or     
rather by a rigid and constant habit of 
attending to the exact import of every  
word and clause in a sentence4  ,mr4    
,tooke had the mind of a lawyer2 but it 
was applied to a vast variety  of topics
 and general trains of speculation4     
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke was in private       
company1 and among his friends1 the     
finished gentleman of the last age4 ,his

 manners were as fascinating as  his    
conversation was spirited and           
delightful4 ,he put one in mind of the  
burden of the song of #8,the ,king's    
,old ,courtier1 and an ,old ,courtier of
  the ,king's4' ,he was1 however1 of the
 opposite party4 ,it was curious to     
hear our modern sciolist advancing      
opinions of the most radical kind       
without any mixture of radical heat or  
violence1 in a tone of  fashionable     
nonchalance1 with elegance of gesture   
and attitude1 and  with the most perfect
 good-humour4 ,in the spirit of         
opposition1 or in  the pride of logical 
superiority1 he too often shocked the   
prejudices or  wounded the self-love of 
those about him1 while he himself       
displayed the  same unmoved indifference
 or equanimity4 ,he said the most       
provoking  things with a laughing       
gaiety1 and a polite attention1 that    
there was no  withstanding4 ,he threw   
others off their guard by thwarting     
their  favourite theories1 and then     

availed himself of the temperance of his
  own pulse to chafe them into madness4 
,he had not one particle of  deference  
for the opinion of others1 nor of       
sympathy with their  feelings2 nor had  
he any obstinate convictions of his own 
to defend--                 #8,lord of  
himself1 uncumbered with a creed6'      
,he took up any topic by chance1 and    
played with it at will1 like a  juggler 
with his cups and balls4 ,he generally  
ranged himself on the  losing side2 and 
had rather an ill-natured delight in    
contradiction1 and  in perplexing the   
understandings of others1 without       
leaving them any  clue to guide them out
 of the labyrinth into which he had led 
them4 ,he  understood1 in its           
perfection1 the great art of throwing   
the onus  probandi on his adversary2 and
 so could maintain almost any opinion1  
however absurd or fantastical1 with     
fearless impunity4 ,i have heard a      
sensible and well-informed man say1 that
 he never was in company with  ,mr4     

,tooke without being delighted and      
surprised1 or without feeling the       
conversation of every other person to be
 flat in the comparison2 but  that he   
did not recollect having ever heard him 
make a remark that  struck him as a     
sound and true one1 or that he himself  
appeared to think  so4 ,he used to      
plague ,fuseli by asking him after the  
origin of the  ,teutonic dialects1 and  
,dr4 ,parr1 by wishing to know the      
meaning of the  common copulative1 ,is4 
,once at ,g----#8s1 he defended ,pitt   
from a charge  of verbiage1 and         
endeavoured to prove him superior to    
,fox4 ,some one  imitated ,pitt's       
manner1 to show that it was monotonous1 
and he imitated  him also1 to show that 
it was not4 ,he maintained 7what would  
he not  maintain87 that young ,betty's  
acting was finer than ,john ,kemble's1  
and  recited a passage from ,douglas in 
the manner of each1 to justify the      
preference he gave to the former4 ,the  
mentioning of this will please the      

living2 it cannot hurt the dead4 ,he    
argued on the same occasion and in  the 
same breath1 that ,addison's style was  
without modulation1 and that  it was    
physically impossible for any one to    
write well1 who was  habitually silent  
in company4 ,he sat like a king at his  
own table1 and  gave law to his         
guests--and to the world6 ,no man knew  
better how to  manage his immediate     
circle1 to foil or bring them out4 ,a   
professed  orator1 beginning to address 
some observations to ,mr4 ,tooke with a 
voluminous apology for his youth and    
inexperience1 he said1 #8,speak up1     
young man6'--and by taking him at his   
word1 cut short the flower of  orations4
 ,porson was the only person of whom he 
stood in some degree of  awe1 on account
 of his prodigious memory and knowledge 
of his favourite  subject1 ,languages4  
,sheridan1 it has been remarked1 said   
more good  things1 but had not an equal 
flow of pleasantry4 ,as an instance of  
,mr4  ,horne ,tooke's extreme coolness  

and command of nerve1 it has been       
mentioned that once at a public dinner  
when he had got on the table to  return 
thanks for his health being drank with a
 glass of wine in his  hand1 and when   
there was a great clamour and opposition
 for some time1  after it had subsided1 
he pointed to the glass to show that it 
was still  full4 ,mr4 ,holcroft 7the    
author of the ,road to ,ruin7 was one of
 the  most violent and fiery-spirited of
 all that motley crew of persons1 who   
attended the ,sunday meetings at        
,wimbledon4 ,one day he was so enraged  
by  some paradox or raillery of his     
host1 that he indignantly rose from his 
chair1 and said1 #8,mr4 ,tooke1 you are 
a scoundrel6' ,his opponent without     
manifesting the least emotion1 replied1 
#8,mr4 ,holcroft1 when is it that ,i  am
 to dine with you8 shall it be next     
,thursday8'--#8,if you please1 ,mr4     
,tooke6' answered the angry philosopher1
 and sat down again4--,it was           
delightful to see him sometimes turn    

from these waspish or ludicrous         
altercations with over-weening          
antagonists to some old friend and      
veteran politician seated at his elbow2 
to hear him recal the time of  ,wilkes  
and ,liberty1 the conversation mellowing
 like the wine with the  smack of age2  
assenting to all the old man said1      
bringing out his  pleasant traits1 and  
pampering him into childish             
self-importance1 and  sending him away  
thirty years younger than he came6      
,as a public or at least as a           
parliamentary speaker1 ,mr4 ,tooke did  
not  answer the expectations that had   
been conceived of him1 or probably that 
he had conceived of himself4 ,it is     
natural for men who have felt a         
superiority over all those whom they    
happen to have encountered1 to  fancy   
that this superiority will continue1 and
 that it will extend from  individuals  
to public bodies4 ,there is no rule in  
the case2 or rather1  the probability   
lies the contrary way4 ,that which      

constitutes the  excellence of          
conversation is of little use in        
addressing large  assemblies of people2 
while other qualities are required that 
are hardly  to be looked for in one and 
the same capacity4 ,the way to move     
great  masses of men is to show that you
 yourself are moved4 ,in a private      
circle1 a ready repartee1 a shrewd      
cross-question1 ridicule and banter1  a 
caustic remark or an amusing anecdote1  
whatever sets off the  individual to    
advantage1 or gratifies the curiosity or
 piques the  self-love of the hearers1  
keeps attention alive1 and secures the  
triumph  of the speaker--it is a        
personal contest1 and depends on        
personal and  momentary advantages4 ,but
 in appealing to the public1 no one     
triumphs  but in the triumph of some    
public cause1 or by showing a sympathy  
with  the general and predominant       
feelings of mankind4 ,in a private room1
 a  satirist1 a sophist may provoke     
admiration by expressing his contempt   

for each of his adversaries in turn1 and
 by setting their opinion at            
defiance--but when men are congregated  
together on a great public  question and
 for a weighty object1 they must be     
treated with more  respect2 they are    
touched with what affects themselves or 
the general  weal1 not with what        
flatters the vanity of the speaker2 they
 must be  moved altogether1 if they are 
moved at all2 they are impressed with   
gratitude for a luminous exposition of  
their claims or for zeal in their       
cause2 and the lightning of generous    
indignation at bad men and bad  measures
 is followed by thunders of             
applause--even in the ,house of         
,commons4 ,but a man may sneer and cavil
 and puzzle and fly-blow every  question
 that comes before him--be despised and 
feared by others1 and  admired by no one
 but himself4 ,he who thinks first of   
himself1 either in  the world or in a   
popular assembly1 will be sure to turn  
attention away  from his claims1 instead

 of fixing it there4 ,he must make      
common cause  with his hearers4 ,to     
lead1 he must follow the general bias4  
,mr4 ,tooke  did not therefore succeed  
as a speaker in parliament4 ,he stood   
aloof1 he  played antics1 he exhibited  
his peculiar talent--while he was on his
  legs1 the question before the ,house  
stood still2 the only point at issue    
respected ,mr4 ,tooke himself1 his      
personal address and adroitness of      
intellect4 ,were there to be no more    
places and pensions1 because ,mr4       
,tooke's style was terse and            
epigrammatic8 ,were the ,opposition     
benches to  be inflamed to an unusual   
pitch of #8sacred vehemence1' because he
 gave  them plainly to understand there 
was not a pin to choose between         
,ministers and ,opposition8 ,would the  
,house let him remain among them1       
because1 if they turned him out on      
account of his black coat1 ,lord        
,camelford had threatened to send his   
black servant in his place8 ,this  was a

 good joke1 but not a practical one4    
,would he gain the affections  of the   
people out of doors1 by scouting the    
question of reform8 ,would  the ,king   
ever relish the old associate of        
,wilkes8 ,what interest1 then1  what    
party did he represent8 ,he represented 
nobody but himself4 ,he was  an example 
of an ingenious man1 a clever talker1   
but he was out of his  place in the     
,house of ,commons2 where people did not
 come 7as in his own  house7 to admire  
or break a lance with him1 but to get   
through the  business of the day1 and so
 adjourn6 ,he wanted effect and         
momentum4  ,each of his sentences told  
very well in itself1 but they did not   
altogether make a speech4 ,he left off  
where he began4 ,his eloquence was  a   
succession of drops1 not a stream4 ,his 
arguments1 though subtle and  new1 did  
not affect the main body of the         
question4 ,the coldness and  pettiness  
of his manner did not warm the hearts or
 expand the  understandings of his      

hearers4 ,instead of encouraging1 he    
checked the  ardour of his friends2 and 
teazed1 instead of overpowering his     
antagonists4 ,the only palpable hit he  
ever made1 while he remained  there1 was
 the comparing his own situation in     
being rejected by the  ,house1 on       
account of the supposed purity of his   
clerical character1 to  the story of the
 girl at the ,magdalen1 who was told    
#8she must turn out  and qualify4'#da   
,this met with laughter and loud        
applause4 ,it was a  home thrust1 and   
the ,house 7to do them justice7 are     
obliged to any one  who1 by a smart     
blow1 relieves them of the load of grave
 responsibility1  which sits heavy on   
their shoulders4--,at the hustings1 or  
as an  election-candidate1 ,mr4 ,tooke  
did better4 ,there was no great question
 to  move or carry--it was an affair of 
political sparring between himself  and 
the other candidates4 ,he took it in a  
very cool and leisurely  manner--watched
 his competitors with a wary1 sarcastic 

eye2 picked up the  mistakes or         
absurdities that fell from them1 and    
retorted them on their  heads2 told a   
story to the mob2 and smiled and took   
snuff with a  gentlemanly and becoming  
air1 as if he was already seated in the 
,house4  ,but a ,court of ,law was the  
place where ,mr4 ,tooke made the best   
figure in  public4 ,he might assuredly  
be said to be #8native and endued unto  
that  element4' ,he had here to stand   
merely on the defensive--not to advance 
himself1 but to block up the way--not to
 impress others1 but to be  himself     
impenetrable4 ,all he wanted was        
negative success2 and to this  no one   
was better qualified to aspire4 ,cross  
purposes1 moot-points1  pleas1          
demurrers1 flaws in the indictment1     
double meanings1 cases1                 
inconsequentialities1 these were the    
playthings1 the darlings of ,mr4        
,tooke's mind2 and with these he baffled
 the ,judge1 dumb-founded the  ,counsel1
 and outwitted the ,jury4 ,the report of

 his trial before ,lord  ,kenyon is a   
masterpiece of acuteness1 dexterity1    
modest assurance1 and  legal effect4 ,it
 is much like his examination before the
 ,commissioners  of the                 
,income-,tax--nothing could be got out  
of him in either case6    ,mr4 ,tooke1  
as a political leader1 belonged to the  
class of trimmers2  or at most1 it was  
his delight to make mischief and spoil  
sport4 ,he  would rather be against     
himself than for any body else4 ,he was 
neither a bold nor a safe leader4 ,he   
enticed others into scrapes1 and  kept  
out of them himself4 ,provided he could 
say a clever or a spiteful  thing1 he   
did not care whether it served or       
injured the cause4 ,spleen or  the      
exercise of intellectual power was the  
motive of his patriotism1  rather than  
principle4 ,he would talk treason with a
 saving clause2 and  instil sedition    
into the public mind1 through the medium
 of a third 7who  was to be the         
responsible7 party4 ,he made ,sir       

,francis ,burdett his  spokesman in the 
,house and to the country1 often venting
 his chagrin or  singularity of         
sentiment at the expense of his friend2 
but what in the  first was trick or     
reckless vanity1 was in the last plain  
downright  ,english honesty and         
singleness of heart4 ,in the case of the
 ,state  ,trials1 in #agid1 ,mr4 ,tooke 
rather compromised his friends to screen
  himself4 ,he kept repeating that      
#8others might have gone on to ,windsor1
  but he had stopped at ,hounslow1' as  
if to go farther might have been        
dangerous and unwarrantable4 ,it was not
 the question how far he or  others had 
actually gone1 but how far they had a   
right to go1 according  to the law4 ,his
 conduct was not the limit of the law1  
nor did  treasonable excess begin where 
prudence or principle taught him to stop
  short1 though this was the oblique    
inference liable to be drawn from his   
line of defence4 ,mr4 ,tooke was uneasy 
and apprehensive for the issue of  the  

,government-prosecution while in        
confinement1 and said1 in speaking  of  
it to a friend1 with a morbid feeling   
and an emphasis quite unusual  with     
him--#8,they want our                   
blood--blood--blood6' ,it was somewhat  
ridiculous  to implicate ,mr4 ,tooke in 
a charge of ,high ,treason 7and indeed  
the whole  charge was built on the      
mistaken purport of an intercepted      
letter  relating to an engagement for a 
private dinner-party7--his politics were
  not at all revolutionary4 ,in this    
respect he was a mere pettifogger1  full
 of chicane1 and captious objections1   
and unmeaning discontent2 but  he had   
none of the grand whirling movements of 
the ,french ,revolution1  nor of the    
tumultuous glow of rebellion in his head
 or in his heart4 ,his  politics were   
cast in a different mould1 or confined  
to the party  distinctions and court    
intrigues and pittances of popular      
right1 that  made a noise in the time of
 ,junius and ,wilkes--and even if his   

understanding had gone along with more  
modern and unqualified  principles1 his 
cautious temper would have prevented his
 risking them in  practice4 ,horne      
,tooke 7though not of the same side in  
politics7 had much  of the tone of mind 
and more of the spirit of moral feeling 
of the  celebrated philosopher of       
,malmesbury4 ,the narrow scale and      
fine-drawn  distinctions of his         
political creed made his conversation on
 such  subjects infinitely amusing1     
particularly when contrasted with that  
of  persons who dealt in the sounding   
common-places and sweeping clauses  of  
abstract politics4 ,he knew all the     
cabals and jealousies and               
heart-burnings in the beginning of the  
late reign1 the changes of              
administration and the springs of secret
 influence1 the characters of  the      
leading men1 ,wilkes1 ,barre1 ,dunning1 
,chatham1 ,burke1 the ,marquis of       
,rockingham1 ,north1 ,shelburne1 ,fox1  
,pitt1 and all the vacillating events   

of the ,american war3--these formed a   
curious back-ground to the more         
prominent figures that occupied the     
present time1 and ,mr4 ,tooke worked    
out the minute details and touched in   
the evanescent traits with the  pencil  
of a master4 ,his conversation resembled
 a political camera  obscura--as quaint 
as it was magical4 ,to some pompous     
pretenders he  might seem to narrate    
fabellas aniles 7old wives' fables7--but
 not to  those who study human nature1  
and wish to know the materials of which 
it  is composed4 ,mr4 ,tooke's faculties
 might appear to have ripened and       
acquired a finer flavour with age4 ,in a
 former period of his life he was       
hardly the man he was latterly2 or else 
he had greater abilities to  contend    
against4 ,he no where makes so poor a   
figure as in his  controversy with      
,junius4 ,he has evidently the best of  
the argument1 yet  he makes nothing out 
of it4 ,he tells a long story about     
himself1 without  wit or point in it2   

and whines and whimpers like a          
school-boy under the  rod of his master4
 ,junius1 after bringing a hasty charge 
against him1  has not a single fact to  
adduce in support of it2 but keeps his  
ground  and fairly beats his adversary  
out of the field by the mere force of   
style4 ,one would think that #8,parson  
,horne' knew who ,junius was1 and was   
afraid of him4 #8,under him his genius  
is' quite #8rebuked4' ,with the best    
cause to defend1 he comes off more      
shabbily from the contest than any      
other person in the ,,letters1 except   
,sir ,william ,draper1 who is the very  
hero of defeat4    ,the great thing     
which ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke has done1 and  
which he has left  behind him to        
posterity1 is his work on ,grammar1     
oddly enough entitled  ,,the            
,,diversions ,,of ,,purley4 ,many people
 have taken it up as a description  of a
 game--others supposing it to be a      
novel4 ,it is1 in truth1 one of the  few
 philosophical works on ,grammar that   

were ever written4 ,the essence  of it  
7and1 indeed1 almost all that is really 
valuable in it7 is  contained in his    
,letter to ,dunning1 published about the
 year #agge4 ,mr4  ,tooke's work is     
truly elementary4 ,dr4 ,lowth described 
,mr4 ,harris's  ,hermes as #8the finest 
specimen of analysis since the days of  
,aristotle'--a work in which there is no
 analysis at all1 for analysis  consists
 in reducing things to their principles1
 and not in endless  details and        
subdivisions4 ,mr4 ,harris multiplies   
distinctions1 and  confounds his        
readers4 ,mr4 ,tooke clears away the    
rubbish of school-boy  technicalities1  
and strikes at the root of his subject4 
,in accomplishing  his arduous task1 he 
was1 perhaps1 aided not more by the     
strength and  resources of his mind than
 by its limits and defects4 ,there is a 
web of  old associations wound round    
language1 that is a kind of veil over   
its  natural features2 and custom puts  
on the mask of ignorance4 ,but this     

veil1 this mask the author of ,the      
,diversions of ,purley threw aside and  
penetrated to the naked truth of things1
 by the literal1 matter-of-fact1        
unimaginative nature of his             
understanding1 and because he was not   
subject to prejudices or illusions of   
any kind4 ,words may be said to  #8bear 
a charmed life1 that must not yield to  
one of woman born'--with  womanish      
weaknesses and confused apprehensions4  
,but this charm was  broken in the case 
of ,mr4 ,tooke1 whose mind was the      
reverse of  effeminate--hard1 unbending1
 concrete1 physical1 half-savage--and   
who saw  language stripped of the       
clothing of habit or sentiment1 or the  
disguises of doting pedantry1 naked in  
its cradle1 and in its primitive  state4
 ,our author tells us that he found his 
discovery on ,grammar among  a number of
 papers on other subjects1 which he had 
thrown aside and  forgotten4 ,is this an
 idle boast8 ,or had he made other      
discoveries of  equal importance1 which 

he did not think it worth his while to  
communicate to the world1 but chose to  
die the churl of knowledge8 ,the  whole 
of his reasoning turns upon showing that
 the ,conjunction ,that is  the pronoun 
,that1 which is itself the participle of
 a verb1 and in  like manner that all   
the other mystical and hitherto         
unintelligible  parts of speech are     
derived from the only two intelligible  
ones1 the  ,verb and ,noun4 #8,i affirm 
that gold is yellow1' that is1 #8,i     
affirm  that fact1 or that proposition1 
viz4 gold is yellow4' ,the secret of    
the ,conjunction on which so many fine  
heads had split1 on which so many       
learned definitions were thrown away1 as
 if it was its peculiar province  and   
inborn virtue to announce oracles and   
formal propositions1 and  nothing else1 
like a ,doctor of ,laws1 is here at once
 accounted for1  inasmuch as it is      
clearly nothing but another part of     
speech1 the  pronoun1 that1 with a third
 part of speech1 the noun1 thing1       

understood4 ,this is getting at a       
solution of words into their component  
parts1 not glossing over one difficulty 
by bringing another to parallel  it1 nor
 like saying with ,mr4 ,harris1 when it 
is asked1 #8what a  ,conjunction is8'   
that there are conjunctions copulative1 
conjunctions  disjunctive1 and as many  
other frivolous varieties of the species
 as any  one chooses to hunt out #8with 
laborious foolery4' ,our author hit upon
  his parent-discovery in the course of 
a lawsuit1 while he was examining1  with
 jealous watchfulness1 the meaning of   
words to prevent being  entrapped by    
them2 or rather1 this circumstance might
 itself be traced  to the habit of      
satisfying his own mind as to the       
precise sense in which  he himself made 
use of words4 ,mr4 ,tooke1 though he had
 no objection to  puzzle others1 was    
mightily averse to being puzzled or     
mystified  himself4 ,all was1 to his    
determined mind1 either complete light  
or  complete darkness4 ,there was no    

hazy1 doubtful chiaro-scuro in his      
understanding4 ,he wanted something     
#8palpable to feeling as to sight4'     
#8,what1' he would say to himself1 #8do 
,i mean when ,i use the conjunction     
that8 ,is it an anomaly1 a class by     
itself1 a word sealed against all       
inquisitive attempts8 ,is it enough to  
call it a copula1 a bridge1 a  link1 a  
word connecting sentences8 ,that is     
undoubtedly its use1 but what  is its   
origin8' ,mr4 ,tooke thought he had     
answered this question  satisfactorily1 
and loosened the ,gordian knot of       
grammarians1 #8familiar  as his garter1'
 when he said1 #8,it is the common      
pronoun1 adjective1 or  participle1     
that1 with the noun1 thing or           
proposition1 implied1 and  the          
particular example following it4' ,so he
 thought1 and so every reader  has      
thought since1 with the exception of    
teachers and writers upon  ,grammar4    
,mr4 ,windham1 indeed1 who was a        
sophist1 but not a logician1  charged   

him with having found #8a mare's-nest'2 
but it is not to be  doubted that ,mr4  
,tooke's etymologies will stand the     
test1 and last  longer than ,mr4        
,windham's ingenious derivation of the  
practice of  bull-baiting from the      
principles of humanity6    ,having thus 
laid the corner-stone1 he proceeded to  
apply the same method  of reasoning to  
other undecyphered and impracticable    
terms4 ,thus the  word1 ,and1 he        
explained clearly enough to be the verb 
add1 or a  corruption of the old ,saxon1
 anandad4 #8,two and two make four1'    
that  is1 #8two add two make four4' ,mr4
 ,tooke1 in fact1 treated words as the  
chemists do substances2 he separated    
those which are compounded of  others   
from those which are not decompoundable4
 ,he did not explain the  obscure by the
 more obscure1 but the difficult by the 
plain1 the complex  by the simple4 ,this
 alone is proceeding upon the true      
principles of  science3 the rest is     
pedantry and petit-matreship4 ,our      

philosophical  writer distinguished all 
words into names of things1 and         
directions  added for joining them      
together1 or originally into nouns and  
verbs4  ,it is a pity that he has left  
this matter short1 by omitting to define
  the ,verb4 ,after enumerating sixteen 
different definitions 7all of which  he 
dismisses with scorn and contumely7 at  
the end of two quarto volumes1  he      
refers the reader for the true solution 
to a third volume1 which he  did not    
live to finish4 ,this extraordinary man 
was in the habit of  tantalizing his    
guests on a ,sunday afternoon with      
sundry abstruse  speculations1 and      
putting them off to the following week  
for a  satisfaction of their doubts2 but
 why should he treat posterity in the   
same scurvy manner1 or leave the world  
without quitting scores with it8  ,i    
question whether ,mr4 ,tooke was himself
 in possession of his pretended         
nostrum1 and whether1 after trying hard 
at a definition of the verb as  a       

distinct part of speech1 as a           
terrier-dog mumbles a hedge-hog1 he did 
not find it too much for him1 and leave 
it to its fate4 ,it is also a  pity that
 ,mr4 ,tooke spun out his great work    
with prolix and dogmatical              
dissertations on irrelevant matters2 and
 after denying the old  metaphysical    
theories of language1 should attempt to 
found a  metaphysical theory of his own 
on the nature and mechanism of language4
  ,the nature of words1 he contended 7it
 was the basis of his whole system7  had
 no connection with the nature of things
 or the objects of thought2  yet he     
afterwards strove to limit the nature of
 things and of the human  mind by the   
technical structure of language4 ,thus  
he endeavours to show  that there are no
 abstract ideas1 by enumerating two     
thousand instances  of words1 expressing
 abstract ideas1 that are the past      
participles of  certain verbs4 ,it is   
difficult to know what he means by this4
 ,on the  other hand1 he maintains that 

#8a complex idea is as great an         
absurdity  as a complex star1' and that 
words only are complex4 ,he also makes  
out a  triumphant list of metaphysical  
and moral non-entities1 proved to be so 
on the pure principle that the names of 
these non-entities are  participles1 not
 nouns1 or names of things4 ,that is    
strange in so close  a reasoner1 and in 
one who maintained that all language was
 a masquerade  of words1 and that the   
class to which they grammatically       
belonged had  nothing to do with the    
class of ideas they represented4    ,it 
is now above twenty years since the two 
quarto volumes of the  ,diversions of   
,purley were published1 and fifty since 
the same theory  was promulgated in the 
celebrated ,letter to ,dunning4 ,yet it 
is a  curious example of the ,spirit of 
the ,age that ,mr4 ,lindley ,murray's   
,grammar 7a work out of which ,mr4      
,c999999 helps himself to ,english1 and 
,mr4  ,m999999 to style#db7 has         
proceeded to the thirtieth edition in   

complete  defiance of all the facts and 
arguments there laid down4 ,he defines a
  noun to be the name of a thing4 ,is   
quackery a thing1 i4e4 a substance8  ,he
 defines a verb to be a word signifying 
to be1 to do1 or to suffer4  ,are being1
 action1 suffering1 verbs8 ,he defines  
an adjective to be the  name of a       
quality4 ,are not wooden1 golden1       
substantial adjectives8  ,he maintains  
that there are six cases in ,english    
nouns1 that is1 six  various            
terminations without any change of      
termination at all1#dc and  that        
,english verbs have all the moods1      
tenses1 and persons that the  ,latin    
ones have4 ,this is an extraordinary    
stretch of blindness and  obstinacy4 ,he
 very formally translates the ,latin    
,grammar into ,english1  7as so many had
 done before him7 and fancies he has    
written an ,english  ,grammar2 and      
divines applaud1 and schoolmasters usher
 him into the  polite world1 and        
,english scholars carry on the jest1    

while ,horne  ,tooke's genuine anatomy  
of our native tongue is laid on the     
shelf4 ,can  it be that our politicians 
smell a rat in the ,member for ,old     
,sarum8 ,that  our clergy do not relish 
,parson ,horne8 ,that the world at large
 are  alarmed at acuteness and          
originality greater than their own8     
,what has  all this to do with the      
formation of the ,english language or   
with the  first conditions and necessary
 foundation of speech itself8 ,is there 
nothing beyond the reach of prejudice   
and party-spirit8 ,it seems in  this1 as
 in so many other instances1 as if there
 was a patent for  absurdity in the     
natural bias of the human mind1 and that
 folly should  be stereotyped6          
,,sir ,,walter ,,scott      ,sir ,walter
 ,scott is undoubtedly the most popular 
writer of the age--the  #8lord of the   
ascendant' for the time being4 ,he is   
just half what the  human intellect is  
capable of being3 if you take the       
universe1 and  divide it into two parts1

 he knows all that it has been2 all that
 it  is to be is nothing to him4 ,his is
 a mind brooding over                   
antiquity--scorning #8the present       
ignorant time4' ,he is #8laudator       
temporis  acti'--a #8prophesier of      
things past4' ,the old world is to him a
 crowded  map2 the new one a dull1      
hateful blank4 ,he dotes on all         
well-authenticated superstitions2 he    
shudders at the shadow of  innovation4  
,his retentiveness of memory1 his       
accumulated weight of  interested       
prejudice or romantic association have  
overlaid his other  faculties4 ,the     
cells of his memory are vast1 various1  
full even to  bursting with life and    
motion2 his speculative understanding is
 empty1  flaccid1 poor1 and dead4 ,his  
mind receives and treasures up every    
thing  brought to it by tradition or    
custom--it does not project itself      
beyond  this into the world unknown1 but
 mechanically shrinks back as from the  
edge of a precipice4 ,the land of pure  

reason is to his apprehension like  ,van
 ,dieman's ,land2--barren1 miserable1   
distant1 a place of exile1 the  dreary  
abode of savages1 convicts1 and         
adventurers4 ,sir ,walter would  make a 
bad hand of a description of the        
,millennium1 unless he could  lay the   
scene in ,scotland five hundred years   
ago1 and then he would want  facts and  
worm-eaten parchments to support his    
drooping style4 ,our  historical        
novelist firmly thinks that nothing is  
but what has  been--that the moral world
 stands still1 as the material one was  
supposed to do of old--and that we can  
never get beyond the point where  we    
actually are without utter destruction1 
though every thing changes  and will    
change from what it was three hundred   
years ago to what it is  now1--from what
 it is now to all that the bigoted      
admirer of the good old  times most     
dreads and hates6    ,it is long since  
we read1 and long since we thought of   
our author's  poetry4 ,it would probably

 have gone out of date with the         
immediate  occasion1 even if he himself 
had not contrived to banish it from our 
recollection4 ,it is not to be denied   
that it had great merit1 both of an     
obvious and intrinsic kind4 ,it abounded
 in vivid descriptions1 in  spirited    
action1 in smooth and flowing           
versification4 ,but it wanted           
character4 ,it was #8poetry of no mark  
or likelihood4' ,it slid out of  the    
mind as soon as read1 like a river2 and 
would have been forgotten1  but that the
 public curiosity was fed with ever new 
supplies from the  same teeming liquid  
source4 ,it is not every man that can   
write six  quarto volumes in verse1 that
 are caught up with avidity1 even by    
fastidious judges4 ,but what a          
difference between their popularity and 
that of the ,scotch ,novels6 ,it is     
true1 the public read and admired the   
,lay of the last ,minstrel1 ,marmion1   
and so on1 and each individual  was     
contented to read and admire because the

 public did so3 but with  regard to the 
prose-works of the same 7supposed7      
author1 it is quite  another-guess sort 
of thing4 ,here every one stands forward
 to applaud  on his own ground1 would be
 thought to go before the public        
opinion1 is  eager to extol his         
favourite characters louder1 to         
understand them  better than every body 
else1 and has his own scale of          
comparative  excellence for each work1  
supported by nothing but his own        
enthusiastic  and fearless convictions4 
,it must be amusing to the ,author of   
,waverley  to hear his readers and      
admirers 7and are not these the same    
thing8#dd7  quarrelling which of his    
novels is the best1 opposing character  
to  character1 quoting passage against  
passage1 striving to surpass each  other
 in the extravagance of their encomiums1
 and yet unable to settle  the          
precedence1 or to do the author's       
writings justice--so various1 so  equal1
 so transcendant are their merits6 ,his 

volumes of poetry were  received as     
fashionable and well-dressed            
acquaintances3 we are ready to  tear the
 others in pieces as old friends4 ,there
 was something  meretricious in ,sir    
,walter's ballad-rhymes2 and like those 
who keep  opera figurantes1 we were     
willing to have our admiration shared1  
and  our taste confirmed by the town3   
but the ,novels are like the betrothed  
of our hearts1 bone of our bone1 and    
flesh of our flesh1 and we are  jealous 
that any one should be as much delighted
 or as thoroughly  acquainted with their
 beauties as ourselves4 ,for which of   
his poetical  heroines would the reader 
break a lance so soon as for ,jeanie    
,deans8  ,what ,lady of the ,lake can   
compare with the beautiful ,rebecca8 ,we
  believe the late ,mr4 ,john ,scott    
went to his death-bed 7though a painful 
and premature one7 with some degree of  
satisfaction1 inasmuch as he had  penned
 the most elaborate panegyric on the    
,scotch ,novels that had as  yet        

appeared6--,the ,epics are not poems1 so
 much as metrical romances4  ,there is a
 glittering veil of verse thrown over   
the features of nature  and of old      
romance4 ,the deep incisions into       
character are #8skinned and  filmed     
over'--the details are lost or shaped   
into flimsy and insipid  decorum2 and   
the truth of feeling and of circumstance
 is translated into  a tinkling sound1 a
 tinsel common-place4 ,it must be owned1
 there is a  power in true poetry that  
lifts the mind from the ground of       
reality to a  higher sphere1 that       
penetrates the inert1 scattered1        
incoherent  materials presented to it1  
and by a force and inspiration of its   
own1  melts and moulds them into        
sublimity and beauty4 ,but ,sir ,walter 
7we  contend1 under correction7 has not 
this creative impulse1 this plastic     
power1 this capacity of reacting on his 
first impressions4 ,he is a  learned1 a 
literal1 a matter-of-fact expounder of  
truth or fable3#de  he does not soar    

above and look down upon his subject1   
imparting his own  lofty views and      
feelings to his descriptions of         
nature--he relies upon  it1 is raised by
 it1 is one with it1 or he is nothing4  
,a poet is  essentially a maker2 that   
is1 he must atone for what he loses in  
individuality and local resemblance by  
the energies and resources of his  own  
mind4 ,the writer of whom we speak is   
deficient in these last4 ,he has  either
 not the faculty or not the will to     
impregnate his subject by an  effort of 
pure invention4 ,the execution also is  
much upon a par with the  more ephemeral
 effusions of the press4 ,it is light1  
agreeable1  effeminate1 diffuse4 ,sir   
,walter's ,muse is a ,modern ,antique4  
,the  smooth1 glossy texture of his     
verse contrasts happily with the quaint1
  uncouth1 rugged materials of which it 
is composed2 and takes away any         
appearance of heaviness or harshness    
from the body of local traditions  and  
obsolete costume4 ,we see grim knights  

and iron armour2 but then they  are     
woven in silk with a careless1 delicate 
hand1 and have the softness  of flowers4
 ,the poet's figures might be compared  
to old tapestries  copied on the finest 
velvet3--they are not like ,raphael's   
,cartoons1 but  they are very like ,mr4 
,westall's drawings1 which accompany1   
and are  intended to illustrate them4   
,this facility and grace of execution is
 the  more remarkable1 as a story goes  
that not long before the appearance of  
the ,lay of the ,last ,minstrel ,sir    
,walter 7then ,mr47 ,scott1 having1 in  
the company of a friend1 to cross the   
,frith of ,forth in a ferry-boat1  they 
proposed to beguile the time by writing 
a number of verses on a  given subject1 
and that at the end of an hour's hard   
study1 they found  they had produced    
only six lines between them4 #8,it is   
plain1' said the  unconscious author to 
his fellow-labourer1 #8that you and ,i  
need never  think of getting our living 
by writing poetry6' ,in a year or so    

after  this1 he set to work1 and poured 
out quarto upon quarto1 as if they had  
been drops of water4 ,as to the rest1   
and compared with true and great  poets1
 our ,scottish ,minstrel is but #8a     
metre ballad-monger4' ,we would  rather 
have written one song of ,burns1 or a   
single passage in ,lord  ,byron's       
,heaven and ,earth1 or one of           
,wordsworth's #8fancies and             
good-nights1' than all his epics4 ,what 
is he to ,spenser1 over whose  immortal1
 ever-amiable verse beauty hovers and   
trembles1 and who has  shed the purple  
light of ,fancy1 from his ambrosial     
wings1 over all  nature8 ,what is there 
of the might of ,milton1 whose head is  
canopied in  the blue serene1 and who   
takes us to sit with him there8 ,what is
 there  7in his ambling rhymes7 of the  
deep pathos of ,chaucer8 ,or of the     
o'er-informing power of ,shakespear1    
whose eye1 watching alike the  minutest 
traces of characters and the strongest  
movements of passion1  #8glances from   

heaven to earth1 from earth to heaven1' 
and with the  lambent flame of genius1  
playing round each object1 lights up the
  universe in a robe of its own         
radiance8 ,sir ,walter has no voluntary 
power of combination3 all his           
associations 7as we said before7 are    
those  of habit or of tradition4 ,he is 
a mere narrative and descriptive poet1  
garrulous of the old time4 ,the         
definition of his poetry is a pleasing  
superficiality4    ,not so of his       
,,novels ,,and ,,romances4 ,there we    
turn over a new  leaf--another and the  
same--the same in matter1 but in form1  
in power  how different6 ,the author of 
,waverley has got rid of the tagging of 
rhymes1 the eking out of syllables1 the 
supplying of epithets1 the  colours of  
style1 the grouping of his characters1  
and the regular  march of events1 and   
comes to the point at once1 and strikes 
at the  heart of his subject1 without   
dismay and without disguise4 ,his       
poetry was a lady's waiting-maid1       

dressed out in cast-off finery3  his    
prose is a beautiful1 rustic nymph1     
that1 like ,dorothea in ,don  ,quixote1 
when she is surprised with dishevelled  
tresses bathing her  naked feet in the  
brook1 looks round her1 abashed at the  
admiration  her charms have excited6    
,the grand secret of the author's       
success in  these latter productions is 
that he has completely got rid of the   
trammels of authorship2 and torn off at 
one rent 7as ,lord ,peter got  rid of so
 many yards of lace in the ,tale of a   
,tub7 all the  ornaments of fine writing
 and worn-out sentimentality4 ,all is   
fresh1  as from the hand of nature3 by  
going a century or two back and  laying 
the scene in a remote and uncultivated  
district1 all becomes  new and startling
 in the present advanced                
period4--,highland manners1  characters1
 scenery1 superstitions1 ,northern      
dialect and costume1  the wars1 the     
religion1 and politics of the sixteenth 
and  seventeenth centuries1 give a      

charming and wholesome relief to the    
fastidious refinement and               
#8over-laboured lassitude' of modern    
readers1 like the effect of plunging a  
nervous valetudinarian into a           
cold-bath4 ,the ,scotch ,novels1 for    
this reason1 are not so much  admired in
 ,scotland as in ,england4 ,the         
contrast1 the transition is  less       
striking4 ,from the top of the ,calton  
,hill1 the inhabitants of  #8,auld      
,reekie' can descry1 or fancy they      
descry the peaks of ,ben  ,lomond and   
the waving outline of ,rob ,roy's       
country3 we who live at  the southern   
extremity of the island can only catch a
 glimpse of the  billowy scene in the   
descriptions of the ,author of          
,waverley4 ,the  mountain air is most   
bracing to our languid nerves1 and it is
  brought us in ship-loads from the     
neighbourhood of ,abbot's ,ford4  ,there
 is another circumstance to be taken    
into the account4 ,in  ,edinburgh there 
is a little opposition and something of 

the spirit  of cabal between the        
partisans of works proceeding from ,mr4 
,constable's and ,mr4 ,blackwood's      
shops4 ,mr4 ,constable gives the        
highest prices2 but being the ,whig     
bookseller1 it is grudged that he       
should do so4 ,an attempt is therefore  
made to transfer a certain  share of    
popularity to the second-rate ,scotch   
novels1 #8the embryo  fry1 the little   
airy of ricketty children1' issuing     
through ,mr4  ,blackwood's shop-door4   
,this operates a diversion1 which does  
not  affect us here4 ,the ,author of    
,waverley wears the palm of legendary   
lore alone4 ,sir ,walter may1 indeed1   
surfeit us3 his imitators make  us sick6
 ,it may be asked1 it has been asked1   
#8,have we no materials  for romance in 
,england8 ,must we look to ,scotland for
 a supply of  whatever is original and  
striking in this kind8' ,and we         
answer--#8,yes6' ,every foot of soil is 
with us worked up3 nearly every         
movement of the social machine is       

calculable4 ,we have no room left  for  
violent catastrophes2 for grotesque     
quaintnesses2 for wizard  spells4 ,the  
last skirts of ignorance and barbarism  
are seen hovering  7in ,sir ,walter's   
pages7 over the ,border4 ,we have1 it is
 true1  gipsies in this country as well 
as at the ,cairn of ,derncleugh3 but    
they live under clipped hedges1 and     
repose in camp-beds1 and do not  perch  
on crags1 like eagles1 or take shelter1 
like sea-mews1 in  basaltic subterranean
 caverns4 ,we have heaths with rude     
heaps of  stones upon them3 but no      
existing superstition converts them into
  the ,geese of ,micklestane-,moor1 or  
sees a ,black ,dwarf groping among      
them4 ,we have sects in religion3 but   
the only thing sublime or  ridiculous in
 that way is ,mr4 ,irving1 the          
,caledonian preacher1 who  #8comes like 
a satyr staring from the woods1 and yet 
speaks like an  orator6' ,we had a      
,parson ,adams not quite a hundred years
 ago--a ,sir  ,roger de ,coverley rather

 more than a hundred6 ,even ,sir ,walter
 is  ordinarily obliged to pitch his    
angle 7strong as the hook is7 a  hundred
 miles to the ,north of the #8,modern   
,athens' or a century back4  ,his last  
work1#df indeed1 is mystical1 is        
romantic in nothing but  the title-page4
 ,instead of #8a holy-water sprinkle    
dipped in dew1' he  has given us a      
fashionable watering-place--and we see  
what he has  made of it4 ,he must not   
come down from his fastnesses in        
traditional  barbarism and native       
rusticity2 the level1 the littleness1   
the  frippery of modern civilization    
will undo him as it has undone us6      
,sir ,walter has found out 7oh1 rare    
discovery7 that facts are better than   
fiction2 that there is no romance like  
the romance of real life2 and  that if  
we can but arrive at what men feel1 do1 
and say in striking and  singular       
situations1 the result will be #8more   
lively1 audible1 and full  of vent1'    
than the fine-spun cobwebs of the brain4

 ,with reverence be it  spoken1 he is   
like the man who having to imitate the  
squeaking of a pig  upon the stage1     
brought the animal under his coat with  
him4 ,our author  has conjured up the   
actual people he has to deal with1 or as
 much as he  could get of them1 in      
#8their habits as they lived4' ,he has  
ransacked old  chronicles1 and poured   
the contents upon his page2 he has      
squeezed out  musty records2 he has     
consulted wayfaring pilgrims1 bed-rid   
sibyls2 he  has invoked the spirits of  
the air2 he has conversed with the      
living and  the dead1 and let them tell 
their story their own way2 and by       
borrowing  of others1 has enriched his  
own genius with everlasting variety1    
truth1  and freedom4 ,he has taken his  
materials from the original1 authentic  
sources1 in large concrete masses1 and  
not tampered with or too much  frittered
 them away4 ,he is only the amanuensis  
of truth and history4 ,it  is impossible
 to say how fine his writings in        

consequence are1 unless we  could       
describe how fine nature is4 ,all that  
portion of the history of  his country  
that he has touched upon 7wide as the   
scope is7 the manners1  the personages1 
the events1 the scenery1 lives over     
again in his  volumes4 ,nothing is      
wanting--the illusion is complete4      
,there is a  hurtling in the air1 a     
trampling of feet upon the ground1 as   
these  perfect representations of human 
character or fanciful belief come       
thronging back upon our imaginations4   
,we will merely recall a few of the     
subjects of his pencil to the reader's  
recollection2 for nothing we  could add1
 by way of note or commendation1 could  
make the impression  more vivid4        
,there is 7first and foremost1 because  
the earliest of our acquaintance7  the  
,baron of ,bradwardine1 stately1        
kind-hearted1 whimsical1 pedantic2  and 
,flora ,mac,ivor 7whom even we forgive  
for her ,jacobitism71 the  fierce ,vich 
,ian ,vohr1 and ,evan ,dhu1 constant in 

death1 and ,davie  ,gellatly roasting   
his eggs or turning his rhymes with     
restless  volubility1 and the two       
stag-hounds that met ,waverley1 as fine 
as ever  ,titian painted1 or ,paul      
,veronese3--then there is old ,balfour  
of ,burley1  brandishing his sword and  
his ,bible with fire-eyed fury1 trying a
 fall  with the insolent1 gigantic      
,bothwell at the #8,changehouse1 and    
vanquishing him at the noble battle of  
,loudon-hill2 there is ,bothwell        
himself1 drawn to the life1 proud1      
cruel1 selfish1 profligate1 but with    
the love-letters of the gentle ,alice   
7written thirty years before71 and  his 
verses to her memory1 found in his      
pocket after his death3 in the  same    
volume of ,old ,mortality is that lone  
figure1 like a figure in  ,scripture1 of
 the woman sitting on the stone at the  
turning to the  mountain1 to warn       
,burley that there is a lion in his     
path2 and the  fawning ,claverhouse1    
beautiful as a panther1 smooth-looking1 

blood-spotted2 and the fanatics1        
,macbriar and ,mucklewrath1 crazed with 
zeal and sufferings2 and the inflexible 
,morton1 and the faithful ,edith1  who  
refused to #8give her hand to another   
while her heart was with her  lover in  
the deep and dead sea4' ,and in ,the    
,heart of ,mid ,lothian we  have ,effie 
,deans 7that sweet1 faded flower7 and   
,jeanie1 her more than  sister1 and old 
,david ,deans1 the patriarch of ,st4    
,leonard's ,crags1 and  ,butler1 and    
,dumbiedikes1 eloquent in his silence1  
and ,mr4 ,bartoline  ,saddle-tree and   
his prudent helpmate1 and ,porteous     
swinging in the wind1  and ,madge       
,wildfire1 full of finery and madness1  
and her ghastly  mother4--,again1 there 
is ,meg ,merrilies1 standing on her     
rock1 stretched  on her bier with #8her 
head to the east1' and ,dirk ,hatterick 
7equal to  ,shakespear's ,master        
,barnardine71 and ,glossin1 the soul of 
an attorney1  and ,dandy ,dinmont1 with 
his terrier-pack and his pony ,dumple1  

and the  fiery ,colonel ,mannering1 and 
the modish old counsellor ,pleydell1 and
  ,dominie ,sampson1#dg and ,rob ,roy   
7like the eagle in his eyry71 and       
,baillie ,nicol ,jarvie1 and the        
inimitable ,major ,galbraith1 and       
,rashleigh  ,osbaldistone1 and ,die     
,vernon1 the best of secret-keepers2 and
 in the  ,antiquary1 the ingenious and  
abstruse ,mr4 ,jonathan ,oldbuck1 and   
the  old beadsman ,edie ,ochiltree1 and 
that preternatural figure of old ,edith 
,elspeith1 a living shadow1 in whom the 
lamp of life had been long              
extinguished1 had it not been fed by    
remorse and #8thick-coming'             
recollections2 and that striking picture
 of the effects of feudal  tyranny and  
fiendish pride1 the unhappy ,earl of    
,glenallan2 and the ,black  ,dwarf1 and 
his friend ,habby of the ,heughfoot 7the
 cheerful hunter71 and  his cousin      
,grace ,armstrong1 fresh and laughing   
like the morning2 and the  ,children of 
the ,mist1 and the baying of the        

blood-hound that tracks  their steps at 
a distance 7the hollow echoes are in our
 ears now71 and  ,amy and her hapless   
love1 and the villain ,varney1 and the  
deep voice of  ,george of ,douglas--and 
the immoveable ,balafre1 and ,master    
,oliver the  ,barber in ,quentin        
,durward--and the quaint humour of the  
,fortunes of  ,nigel1 and the comic     
spirit of ,peveril of the ,peak--and the
 fine old  ,english romance of ,ivanhoe4
 ,what a list of names6 ,what a host of 
associations6 ,what a thing is human    
life6 ,what a power is that of  genius6 
,what a world of thought and feeling is 
thus rescued from  oblivion6 ,how many  
hours of heartfelt satisfaction has our 
author given  to the gay and            
thoughtless6 ,how many sad hearts has he
 soothed in pain  and solitude6 ,it is  
no wonder that the public repay with    
lengthened  applause and gratitude the  
pleasure they receive4 ,he writes as    
fast as  they can read1 and he does not 
write himself down4 ,he is always in the

  public eye1 and we do not tire of him4
 ,his worst is better than any  other   
person's best4 ,his back-grounds 7and   
his later works are little  else but    
back-grounds capitally made out7 are    
more attractive than the  principal     
figures and most complicated actions of 
other writers4 ,his  works 7taken       
together7 are almost like a new edition 
of human nature4  ,this is indeed to be 
an author6    ,the political bearing of 
the ,scotch ,novels has been a          
considerable  recommendation to them4   
,they are a relief to the mind1 rarefied
 as it  has been with modern philosophy1
 and heated with ultra-radicalism4 ,at a
  time also1 when we bid fair to revive 
the principles of the ,stuarts1 it  is  
interesting to bring us acquainted with 
their persons and  misfortunes4 ,the    
candour of ,sir ,walter's historic pen  
levels our  bristling prejudices on this
 score1 and sees fair play between      
,roundheads and ,cavaliers1 between     
,protestant and ,papist4 ,he is a writer

  reconciling all the diversities of    
human nature to the reader4 ,he does    
not enter into the distinctions of      
hostile sects or parties1 but treats  of
 the strength or the infirmity of the   
human mind1 of the virtues or  vices of 
the human breast1 as they are to be     
found blended in the whole  race of     
mankind4 ,nothing can show more         
handsomely or be more gallantly         
executed4 ,there was a talk at one time 
that our author was about to take  ,guy 
,faux for the subject of one of his     
novels1 in order to put a more  liberal 
and humane construction on the          
,gunpowder ,plot than our #8,no         
,popery' prejudices have hitherto       
permitted4 ,sir ,walter is a professed  
clarifier of the age from the vulgar and
 still lurking old-,english  antipathy  
to ,popery and ,slavery4 ,through some  
odd process of servile  logic1 it should
 seem1 that in restoring the claims of  
the ,stuarts by  the courtesy of        
romance1 the ,house of ,brunswick are   

more firmly seated  in point of fact1   
and the ,bourbons1 by collateral        
reasoning1 become  legitimate6 ,in any  
other point of view1 we cannot possibly 
conceive how  ,sir ,walter imagines #8he
 has done something to revive the       
declining  spirit of loyalty' by these  
novels4 ,his loyalty is founded on      
would-be  treason3 he props the actual  
throne by the shadow of rebellion4 ,does
 he  really think of making us enamoured
 of the #8good old times' by the        
faithful and harrowing portraits he has 
drawn of them8 ,would he carry us  back 
to the early stages of barbarism1 of    
clanship1 of the feudal system  as #8a  
consummation devoutly to be wished8' ,is
 he infatuated enough1 or  does he so   
dote and drivel over his own slothful   
and self-willed  prejudices1 as to      
believe that he will make a single      
convert to the  beauty of ,legitimacy1  
that is1 of lawless power and savage    
bigotry1 when  he himself is obliged to 
apologise for the horrors he describes1 

and  even render his descriptions       
credible to the modern reader by        
referring  to the authentic history of  
these delectable times8#dh ,he is indeed
 so  besotted as to the moral of his own
 story1 that he has even the  blindness 
to go out of his way to have a fling at 
flints and dungs  7the contemptible     
ingredients1 as he would have us        
believe1 of a modern  rabble7 at the    
very time when he is describing a mob of
 the twelfth  century--a mob 7one should
 think7 after the writer's own heart1   
without  one particle of modern         
philosophy or revolutionary politics in 
their  composition1 who were to a man1  
to a hair1 just what priests1 and kings1
  and nobles let them be1 and who were  
collected to witness 7a spectacle       
proper to the times7 the burning of the 
lovely ,rebecca at a stake for a        
sorceress1 because she was a ,jewess1   
beautiful and innocent1 and the         
consequent victim of insane bigotry and 
unbridled profligacy4 ,and it is  at    

this moment 7when the heart is kindled  
and bursting with indignation  at the   
revolting abuses of self-constituted    
power7 that ,sir ,walter  stops the     
press to have a sneer at the people1 and
 to put a spoke 7as  he thinks7 in the  
wheel of upstart innovation6 ,this is   
what he #8calls  backing his            
friends'--it is thus he administers     
charms and philtres to  our love of     
,legitimacy1 makes us conceive a horror 
of all reform1 civil1  political1 or    
religious1 and would fain put down the  
,spirit of the  ,age4 ,the author of    
,waverley might just as well get up and 
make a speech  at a dinner at           
,edinburgh1 abusing ,mr4 ,mac-,adam for 
his improvements in  the roads1 on the  
ground that they were nearly impassable 
in many  places #8sixty years since'2 or
 object to ,mr4 ,peel's ,police-,bill1  
by  insisting that ,hounslow-,heath was 
formerly a scene of greater interest    
and terror to highwaymen and travellers1
 and cut a greater figure in the        

,newgate ,calendar than it does at      
present4--,oh6 ,wickliff1 ,luther1      
,hampden1  ,sidney1 ,somers1 mistaken   
,whigs1 and thoughtless ,reformers in   
religion  and politics1 and all ye1     
whether poets or philosophers1 heroes or
  sages1 inventors of arts or sciences1 
patriots1 benefactors of the human      
race1 enlighteners and civilisers of the
 world1 who have 7so far7  reduced      
opinion to reason1 and power to law1 who
 are the cause that we  no longer burn  
witches and heretics at slow fires1 that
 the thumb-screws  are no longer applied
 by ghastly1 smiling judges1 to extort  
confession  of imputed crimes from      
sufferers for conscience sake2 that men 
are no  longer strung up like acorns on 
trees without judge or jury1 or hunted  
like wild beasts through thickets and   
glens1 who have abated the cruelty  of  
priests1 the pride of nobles1 the       
divinity of kings in former times2  to  
whom we owe it1 that we no longer wear  
round our necks the collar of  ,gurth   

the swineherd1 and of ,wamba the jester2
 that the castles of great  lords are no
 longer the dens of banditti1 from      
whence they issue with  fire and sword1 
to lay waste the land2 that we no longer
 expire in  loathsome dungeons without  
knowing the cause1 or have our right    
hands  struck off for raising them in   
self-defence against wanton insult2 that
  we can sleep without fear of being    
burnt in our beds1 or travel without    
making our wills2 that no ,amy ,robsarts
 are thrown down trap-doors by  ,richard
 ,varneys with impunity2 that no ,red   
,reiver of ,westburn-,flat sets  fire to
 peaceful cottages2 that no ,claverhouse
 signs cold-blooded  death-warrants in  
sport2 that we have no ,tristan the     
,hermit1 or  ,petit-,andr1 crawling near
 us1 like spiders1 and making our flesh 
creep1  and our hearts sicken within us 
at every moment of our lives--ye who    
have  produced this change in the face  
of nature and society1 return to earth  
once more1 and beg pardon of ,sir       

,walter and his patrons1 who sigh at not
  being able to undo all that you have  
done6 ,leaving this question1 there  are
 two other remarks which we wished to   
make on the ,novels4 ,the one  was1 to  
express our admiration of the           
good-nature of the mottos1 in  which the
 author has taken occasion to remember  
and quote almost every  living author   
7whether illustrious or obscure7 but    
himself--an indirect  argument in favour
 of the general opinion as to the source
 from which  they spring--and the other 
was1 to hint our astonishment at the    
innumerable and incessant instances of  
bad and slovenly ,english in them1      
more1 we believe1 than in any other     
works now printed4 ,we should think  the
 writer could not possibly read the     
manuscript after he has once  written   
it1 or overlook the press4    ,if there 
were a writer1 who #8born for the       
universe'--                             
#8----,narrow'd his mind1               
,and to party gave up what was meant for

 mankind--'    who1 from the height of  
his genius looking abroad into nature1  
and  scanning the recesses of the human 
heart1 #8winked and shut his            
apprehension up' to every thought or    
purpose that tended to the future  good 
of mankind--who1 raised by affluence1   
the reward of successful  industry1 and 
by the voice of fame above the want of  
any but the most  honourable patronage1 
stooped to the unworthy arts of         
adulation1 and  abetted the views of the
 great with the pettifogging feelings of
 the  meanest dependant on office--who1 
having secured the admiration of the    
public 7with the probable reversion of  
immortality71 showed no respect  for    
himself1 for that genius that had raised
 him to distinction1 for  that nature   
which he trampled under foot--who1      
amiable1 frank1 friendly1  manly in     
private life1 was seized with the dotage
 of age and the fury of  a woman1 the   
instant politics were concerned--who    
reserved all his  candour and           

comprehensiveness of view for history1  
and vented his  littleness1 pique1      
resentment1 bigotry1 and intolerance on 
his  contemporaries--who took the wrong 
side1 and defended it by unfair         
means--who1 the moment his own interest 
or the prejudices of others  interfered1
 seemed to forget all that was due to   
the pride of intellect1  to the sense of
 manhood--who1 praised1 admired by men  
of all parties  alike1 repaid the public
 liberality by striking a secret and    
envenomed  blow at the reputation of    
every one who was not the ready tool of 
power--who strewed the slime of rankling
 malice and mercenary scorn over  the   
bud and promise of genius1 because it   
was not fostered in the  hot-bed of     
corruption1 or warped by the trammels of
 servility--who  supported the worst    
abuses of authority in the worst        
spirit--who joined a  gang of           
desperadoes to spread calumny1 contempt1
 infamy1 wherever they  were merited by 
honesty or talent on a different        

side--who officiously  undertook to     
decide public questions by private      
insinuations1 to prop  the throne by    
nicknames1 and the altar by lies--who   
being 7by common  consent71 the finest1 
the most humane and accomplished writer 
of his  age1 associated himself with and
 encouraged the lowest panders of a     
venal press2 deluging1 nauseating the   
public mind with the offal and  garbage 
of ,billingsgate abuse and vulgar slang2
 showing no remorse1 no  relenting or   
compassion towards the victims of this  
nefarious and  organized system of      
party-proscription1 carried on under the
 mask of  literary criticism and fair   
discussion1 insulting the misfortunes of
  some1 and trampling on the early grave
 of others--                 #8,who     
would not grieve if such a man there be8
               ,who would not weep if   
,atticus were he8'    ,but we believe   
there is no other age or country of the 
world 7but ours71  in which such genius 
could have been so degraded6            

,,lord ,,byron      ,lord ,byron and    
,sir ,walter ,scott are among writers   
now living#di the  two1 who would carry 
away a majority of suffrages as the     
greatest  geniuses of the age4 ,the     
former would1 perhaps1 obtain the       
preference  with the fine gentlemen and 
ladies 7squeamishness apart7--the latter
 with  the critics and the vulgar4 ,we  
shall treat of them in the same         
connection1 partly on account of their  
distinguished pre-eminence1 and  partly 
because they afford a complete contrast 
to each other4 ,in their  poetry1 in    
their prose1 in their politics1 and in  
their tempers1 no two  men can be more  
unlike4    ,if ,sir ,walter ,scott may  
be thought by some to have been         
#8,born universal heir to all humanity1'
    it is plain ,lord ,byron can set up 
no such pretension4 ,he is1 in a        
striking degree1 the creature of his own
 will4 ,he holds no communion  with his 
kind2 but stands alone1 without mate or 
fellow--                      #8,as if a

 man were author of himself1            
,and owned no other kin4'    ,he is like
 a solitary peak1 all access to which is
 cut off not more by  elevation than    
distance4 ,he is seated on a lofty      
eminence1 #8cloud-capt1'  or reflecting 
the last rays of setting suns2 and in   
his poetical moods1  reminds us of the  
fabled ,titans1 retired to a ridgy      
steep1 playing on  their ,pan's-pipes1  
and taking up ordinary men and things in
 their hands  with haughty indifference4
 ,he raises his subject to himself1 or  
tramples  on it2 he neither stoops to1  
nor loses himself in it4 ,he exists not 
by  sympathy1 but by antipathy4 ,he     
scorns all things1 even himself4 ,nature
  must come to him to sit for her       
picture--he does not go to her4 ,she    
must  consult his time1 his convenience1
 and his humour2 and wear a sombre  or a
 fantastic garb1 or his ,lordship turns 
his back upon her4 ,there is  no ease1  
no unaffected simplicity of manner1 no  
#8golden mean4' ,all is  strained1 or   

petulant in the extreme4 ,his thoughts  
are sphered and  crystalline2 his style 
#8prouder than when blue ,iris bends'2  
his spirit  fiery1 impatient1 wayward1  
indefatigable4 ,instead of taking his   
impressions from without1 in entire and 
almost unimpaired masses1 he  moulds    
them according to his own temperament1  
and heats the materials of  his         
imagination in the furnace of his       
passions4--,lord ,byron's verse glows   
like a flame1 consuming every thing in  
its way2 ,sir ,walter ,scott's  glides  
like a river1 clear1 gentle1 harmless4  
,the poetry of the first  scorches1 that
 of the last scarcely warms4 ,the light 
of the one proceeds  from an internal   
source1 ensanguined1 sullen1 fixed2 the 
others reflects  the hues of ,heaven1 or
 the face of nature1 glancing vivid and 
various4  ,the productions of the       
,northern ,bard have the rust and the   
freshness of  antiquity about them2     
those of the ,noble ,poet cease to      
startle from  their extreme ambition of 

novelty1 both in style and matter4 ,sir 
,walter's rhymes are #8silly sooth'--   
#8,and dally with the innocence of      
thought1                 ,like the old  
age'--    his ,lordship's ,muse spurns  
the olden time1 and affects all the     
supercilious airs of a modern fine lady 
and an upstart4 ,the object of  the one 
writer is to restore us to truth and    
nature3 the other chiefly  thinks how he
 shall display his own power1 or vent   
his spleen1 or  astonish the reader     
either by starting new subjects and     
trains of  speculation1 or by expressing
 old ones in a more striking and        
emphatic  manner than they have been    
expressed before4 ,he cares little what 
it is  he says1 so that he can say it   
differently from others4 ,this may      
account  for the charges of plagiarism  
which have been repeatedly brought      
against  the ,noble ,poet--if he can    
borrow an image or sentiment from       
another1 and  heighten it by an epithet 
or an allusion of greater force and     

beauty  than is to be found in the      
original passage1 he thinks he shows his
  superiority of execution in this in a 
more marked manner than if the  first   
suggestion had been his own4 ,it is not 
the value of the  observation itself he 
is solicitous about2 but he wishes to   
shine by  contrast--even nature only    
serves as a foil to set off his style4  
,he  therefore takes the thoughts of    
others 7whether contemporaries or not7  
out of their mouths1 and is content to  
make them his own1 to set his  stamp    
upon them1 by imparting to them a more  
meretricious gloss1 a  higher relief1 a 
greater loftiness of tone1 and a        
characteristic  inveteracy of purpose4  
,even in those collateral ornaments of  
modern  style1 slovenliness1 abruptness1
 and eccentricity 7as well as in        
terseness and significance71 ,lord      
,byron1 when he pleases1 defies         
competition and surpasses all his       
contemporaries4 ,whatever he does1 he   
must do in a more decided and daring    

manner than any one else--he lounges    
with extravagance1 and yawns so as to   
alarm the reader6 ,self-will1  passion1 
the love of singularity1 a disdain of   
himself and of others  7with a conscious
 sense that this is among the ways and  
means of  procuring admiration7 are the 
proper categories of his mind3 he is a  
lordly writer1 is above his own         
reputation1 and condescends to the      
,muses  with a scornful grace6    ,lord 
,byron1 who in his politics is a        
liberal1 in his genius is haughty  and  
aristocratic3 ,walter ,scott1 who is an 
aristocrat in principle1 is  popular in 
his writings1 and is 7as it were7       
equally servile to nature  and to       
opinion4 ,the genius of ,sir ,walter is 
essentially imitative1 or  #8denotes a  
foregone conclusion'3 that of ,lord     
,byron is self-dependent2  or at least  
requires no aid1 is governed by no law1 
but the impulses of  its own will4 ,we  
confess1 however much we may admire     
independence of  feeling and erectness  

of spirit in general or practical       
questions1 yet  in works of genius we   
prefer him who bows to the authority of 
nature1  who appeals to actual objects1 
to mouldering superstitions1 to history1
  observation1 and tradition1 before him
 who only consults the pragmatical  and 
restless workings of his own breast1 and
 gives them out as oracles  to the      
world4 ,we like a writer 7whether poet  
or prose-writer7 who takes  in 7or is   
willing to take in7 the range of half   
the universe in feeling1  character1    
description1 much better than we do one 
who obstinately and  invariably shuts   
himself up in the ,bastile of his own   
ruling passions4  ,in short1 we had     
rather be ,sir ,walter ,scott 7meaning  
thereby the ,author  of ,waverley7 than 
,lord ,byron1 a hundred times over4 ,and
 for the reason  just given1 namely1    
that he casts his descriptions in the   
mould of  nature1 ever-varying1 never   
tiresome1 always interesting and always 
instructive1 instead of casting them    

constantly in the mould of his own      
individual impressions4 ,he gives us man
 as he is1 or as he was1 in  almost     
every variety of situation1 action1 and 
feeling4 ,lord ,byron makes  man after  
his own image1 woman after his own      
heart2 the one is a  capricious tyrant1 
the other a yielding slave2 he gives us 
the  misanthrope and the voluptuary by  
turns2 and with these two characters1   
burning or melting in their own fires1  
he makes out everlasting centos  of     
himself4 ,he hangs the cloud1 the film  
of his existence over all  outward      
things--sits in the centre of his       
thoughts1 and enjoys dark  night1 bright
 day1 the glitter and the gloom #8in    
cell monastic'--we see  the mournful    
pall1 the crucifix1 the death's heads1  
the faded chaplet of  flowers1 the      
gleaming tapers1 the agonized brow of   
genius1 the wasted  form of beauty--but 
we are still imprisoned in a dungeon1 a 
curtain  intercepts our view1 we do not 
breathe freely the air of nature or of  

our own thoughts--the other admired     
author draws aside the curtain1 and  the
 veil of egotism is rent1 and he shows  
us the crowd of living men and  women1  
the endless groups1 the landscape       
back-ground1 the cloud and the  rainbow1
 and enriches our imaginations and      
relieves one passion by  another1 and   
expands and lightens reflection1 and    
takes away that  tightness at the breast
 which arises from thinking or wishing  
to think  that there is nothing in the  
world out of a man's self6--,in this    
point of  view1 the ,author of ,waverley
 is one of the greatest teachers of     
morality  that ever lived1 by           
emancipating the mind from petty1       
narrow1 and  bigotted prejudices3 ,lord 
,byron is the greatest pamperer of those
  prejudices1 by seeming to think there 
is nothing else worth encouraging  but  
the seeds or the full luxuriant growth  
of dogmatism and  self-conceit4 ,in     
reading the ,scotch ,novels1 we never   
think about the  author1 except from a  

feeling of curiosity respecting our     
unknown  benefactor3 in reading ,lord   
,byron's works1 he himself is never     
absent  from our minds4 ,the colouring  
of ,lord ,byron's style1 however rich   
and  dipped in ,tyrian dyes1 is         
nevertheless opaque1 is in itself an    
object of  delight and wonder3 ,sir     
,walter ,scott's is perfectly           
transparent4 ,in  studying the one1 you 
seem to gaze at the figures cut in      
stained glass1  which exclude the view  
beyond1 and where the pure light of     
,heaven is  only a means of setting off 
the gorgeousness of art3 in reading the 
other1 you look through a noble window  
at the clear and varied landscape       
without4 ,or to sum up the distinction  
in one word1 ,sir ,walter ,scott is  the
 most dramatic writer now living2 and   
,lord ,byron is the least so4  ,it would
 be difficult to imagine that the       
,author of ,waverley is in the  smallest
 degree a pedant2 as it would be hard to
 persuade ourselves that  the author of 

,childe ,harold and ,don ,juan is not a 
coxcomb1 though a  provoking and sublime
 one4 ,in this decided preference given 
to ,sir  ,walter ,scott over ,lord      
,byron1 we distinctly include the       
prose-works of  the former2 for we do   
not think his poetry alone1 by any means
 entitles  him to that precedence4 ,sir 
,walter in his poetry1 though pleasing  
and  natural1 is a comparative trifler3 
it is in his anonymous productions  that
 he has shown himself for what he is6-- 
,intensity is the great and prominent   
distinction of ,lord ,byron's  writings4
 ,he seldom gets beyond force of style1 
nor has he produced any  regular work or
 masterly whole4 ,he does not prepare   
any plan beforehand1  nor revise and    
retouch what he has written with        
polished accuracy4 ,his  only object    
seems to be to stimulate himself and his
 readers for the  moment--to keep both  
alive1 to drive away ennui1 to          
substitute a  feverish and irritable    
state of excitement for listless        

indolence or  even calm enjoyment4 ,for 
this purpose he pitches on any subject  
at  random without much thought or      
delicacy--he is only impatient to       
begin--and takes care to adorn and      
enrich it as he proceeds with           
#8thoughts that breathe and words that  
burn4' ,he composes 7as he himself  has 
said7 whether he is in the bath1 in his 
study1 or on horseback--he  writes as   
habitually as others talk or think--and 
whether we have the  inspiration of the 
,muse or not1 we always find the spirit 
of the man of  genius breathing from his
 verse4 ,he grapples with his subject1  
and  moves1 penetrates1 and animates it 
by the electric force of his own        
feelings4 ,he is often monotonous1      
extravagant1 offensive2 but he is  never
 dull1 or tedious1 but when he writes   
prose4 ,lord ,byron does not  exhibit a 
new view of nature1 or raise            
insignificant objects into  importance  
by the romantic associations with which 
he surrounds them2  but generally 7at   

least7 takes common-place thoughts and  
events1 and  endeavours to express them 
in stronger and statelier language than 
others4 ,his poetry stands like a       
,martello tower by the side of his      
subject4 ,he does not1 like ,mr4        
,wordsworth1 lift poetry from the       
ground1  or create a sentiment out of   
nothing4 ,he does not describe a daisy  
or a  periwinkle1 but the cedar or the  
cypress3 not #8poor men's cottages1 but 
princes' palaces4' ,his ,childe ,harold 
contains a lofty and impassioned  review
 of the great events of history1 of the 
mighty objects left as  wrecks of time1 
but he dwells chiefly on what is        
familiar to the mind of  every          
school-boy2 has brought out few new     
traits of feeling or thought2  and has  
done no more than justice to the        
reader's preconceptions by the          
sustained force and brilliancy of his   
style and imagery4    ,lord ,byron's    
earlier productions1 ,lara1 the         
,corsair1 c4 were wild  and gloomy      

romances1 put into rapid and shining    
verse4 ,they discover the  madness of   
poetry1 together with the inspiration3  
sullen1 moody1  capricious1 fierce1     
inexorable1 gloating on beauty1         
thirsting for  revenge1 hurrying from   
the extremes of pleasure to pain1 but   
with  nothing permanent1 nothing healthy
 or natural4 ,the gaudy decorations and 
the morbid sentiments remind one of     
flowers strewed over the face of  death6
 ,in his ,childe ,harold 7as has been   
just observed7 he assumes a  lofty and  
philosophic tone1 and #8reasons high of 
providence1  fore-knowledge1 will1 and  
fate4' ,he takes the highest points in  
the  history of the world1 and comments 
on them from a more commanding          
eminence3 he shows us the crumbling     
monuments of time1 he invokes the  great
 names1 the mighty spirit of antiquity4 
,the universe is changed  into a stately
 mausoleum3--in solemn measures he      
chaunts a hymn to fame4  ,lord ,byron   
has strength and elevation enough to    

fill up the moulds of  our classical and
 time-hallowed recollections1 and to    
rekindle the  earliest aspirations of   
the mind after greatness and true glory 
with a  pen of fire4 ,the names of      
,tasso1 of ,ariosto1 of ,dante1 of      
,cincinnatus1  of ,csar1 of ,scipio1    
lose nothing of their pomp or their     
lustre in his  hands1 and when he begins
 and continues a strain of panegyric on 
such  subjects1 we indeed sit down with 
him to a banquet of rich praise1        
brooding over imperishable glories1     
#8,till ,contemplation has her fill4'   
,lord ,byron seems to cast himself      
indignantly from #8this bank and shoal  
of time1' or the frail tottering bark   
that bears up modern reputation1  into  
the huge sea of ancient renown1 and to  
revel there with untired1  outspread    
plume4 ,even this in him is spleen--his 
contempt of his  contemporaries makes   
him turn back to the lustrous past1 or  
project  himself forward to the dim     
future6--,lord ,byron's tragedies1      

,faliero1#ej  ,sardanapalus1 c4 are not 
equal to his other works4 ,they want the
  essence of the drama4 ,they abound in 
speeches and descriptions1 such as  he  
himself might make either to himself or 
others1 lolling on his couch  of a      
morning1 but do not carry the reader out
 of the poet's mind to the  scenes and  
events recorded4 ,they have neither     
action1 character1 nor  interest1 but   
are a sort of gossamer tragedies1 spun  
out1 and  glittering1 and spreading a   
flimsy veil over the face of nature4    
,yet he  spins them on4 ,of all that he 
has done in this way the ,heaven and    
,earth 7the same subject as ,mr4        
,moore's ,loves of the ,angels7 is the  
best4 ,we prefer it even to ,manfred4   
,manfred is merely himself1 with  a     
fancy-drapery on3 but in the dramatic   
fragment published in the  ,liberal1 the
 space between ,heaven and ,earth1 the  
stage on which his  characters have to  
pass to and fro1 seems to fill his      
,lordship's  imagination2 and the       

,deluge1 which he has so finely         
described1 may be  said to have drowned 
all his own idle humours4    ,we must   
say we think little of our author's turn
 for satire4 ,his  #8,english ,bards and
 ,scotch ,reviewers' is dogmatical and  
insolent1 but  without refinement or    
point4 ,he calls people names1 and tries
 to  transfix a character with an       
epithet1 which does not stick1 because  
it  has no other foundation than his own
 petulance and spite2 or he  endeavours 
to degrade by alluding to some          
circumstance of external  situation4 ,he
 says of ,mr4 ,wordsworth's poetry1 that
 #8it is his  aversion4' ,that may be3  
but whose fault is it8 ,this is the     
satire of a  lord1 who is accustomed to 
have all his whims or dislikes taken for
  gospel1 and who cannot be at the pains
 to do more than signify his  contempt  
or displeasure4 ,if a great man meets   
with a rebuff which he  does not like1  
he turns on his heel1 and this passes   
for a repartee4 ,the  ,noble ,author    

says of a celebrated barrister and      
critic1 that he was  #8born in a garret 
sixteen stories high4' ,the insinuation 
is not true2 or  if it were1 it is low4 
,the allusion degrades the person who   
makes1 not  him to whom it is applied4  
,this is also the satire of a person of 
birth  and quality1 who measures all    
merit by external rank1 that is1 by his 
own standard4 ,so his ,lordship1 in a   
#8,letter to the ,editor of ,my         
,grandmother's ,review1' addresses him  
fifty times as #8my dear ,robarts#82    
nor is there any other wit in the       
article4 ,this is surely a mere         
assumption of superiority from his      
,lordship's rank1 and is the sort of    
quizzing he might use to a person who   
came to hire himself as a valet  to him 
at ,long's--the waiters might laugh1 the
 public will not4 ,in like  manner1 in  
the controversy about ,pope1 he claps   
,mr4 ,bowles on the back  with a coarse 
facetious familiarity1 as if he were his
 chaplain whom he  had invited to dine  

with him1 or was about to present to a  
benefice4 ,the  reverend divine might   
submit to the obligation1 but he has no 
occasion  to subscribe to the jest4 ,if 
it is a jest that ,mr4 ,bowles should be
 a  parson1 and ,lord ,byron a peer1 the
 world knew this before2 there was no   
need to write a pamphlet to prove it4   
,the ,don ,juan indeed has great power2 
but its power is owing to the  force of 
the serious writing1 and to the oddity  
of the contrast between  that and the   
flashy passages with which it is        
interlarded4 ,from the  sublime to the  
ridiculous there is but one step4 ,you  
laugh and are  surprised that any one   
should turn round and travestie himself3
 the  drollery is in the utter          
discontinuity of ideas and feelings4 ,he
 makes  virtue serve as a foil to vice2 
dandyism is 7for want of any other7 a   
variety of genius4 ,a classical         
intoxication is followed by the         
splashing  of soda-water1 by frothy     
effusions of ordinary bile4 ,after the  

lightning  and the hurricane1 we are    
introduced to the interior of the cabin 
and  the contents of wash-hand basins4  
,the solemn hero of tragedy plays       
,scrub in the farce4 ,this is #8very    
tolerable and not to be endured4'  ,the 
,noble ,lord is almost the only writer  
who has prostituted his talents  in this
 way4 ,he hallows in order to desecrate2
 takes a pleasure in  defacing the      
images of beauty his hands have wrought2
 and raises our  hopes and our belief in
 goodness to ,heaven only to dash them  
to the  earth again1 and break them in  
pieces the more effectually from the    
very  height they have fallen4 ,our     
enthusiasm for genius or virtue is thus 
turned into a jest by the very person   
who has kindled it1 and who thus        
fatally quenches the sparks of both4 ,it
 is not that ,lord ,byron is  sometimes 
serious and sometimes trifling1         
sometimes profligate1 and  sometimes    
moral--but when he is most serious and  
most moral1 he is only  preparing to    

mortify the unsuspecting reader by      
putting a pitiful hoax  upon him4 ,this 
is a most unaccountable anomaly4 ,it is 
as if the eagle  were to build its eyry 
in a common sewer1 or the owl were seen 
soaring  to the mid-day sun4 ,such a    
sight might make one laugh1 but one     
would not  wish or expect it to occur   
more than once4#ea    ,in fact1 ,lord   
,byron is the spoiled child of fame as  
well as fortune4 ,he  has taken a       
surfeit of popularity1 and is not       
contented to delight1  unless he can    
shock the public4 ,he would force them  
to admire in spite  of decency and      
common sense--he would have them read   
what they would read  in no one but     
himself1 or he would not give a rush for
 their applause4  ,he is to be #8a      
chartered libertine1' from whom insults 
are favours1  whose contempt is to be a 
new incentive to admiration4 ,his       
,lordship is  hard to please3 he is     
equally averse to notice or neglect1    
enraged at  censure and scorning praise4

 ,he tries the patience of the town to  
the  very utmost1 and when they show    
signs of weariness or disgust1 threatens
  to discard them4 ,he says he will     
write on1 whether he is read or not4    
,he would never write another page1 if  
it were not to court popular  applause1 
or to affect a superiority over it4 ,in 
this respect also1 ,lord  ,byron        
presents a striking contrast to ,sir    
,walter ,scott4 ,the latter takes  what 
part of the public favour falls to his  
share1 without grumbling 7to  be sure he
 has no reason to complain72 the former 
is always quarrelling  with the world   
about his modicum of applause1 the      
spolia opima of  vanity1 and            
ungraciously throwing the offerings of  
incense heaped on his  shrine back in   
the faces of his admirers4 ,again1 there
 is no taint in  the writings of the    
,author of ,waverley1 all is fair and   
natural and  above-board3 he never      
outrages the public mind4 ,he introduces
 no  anomalous character3 broaches no   

staggering opinion4 ,if he goes back to 
old prejudices and superstitions as a   
relief to the modern reader1 while      
,lord ,byron floats on swelling         
paradoxes--                             
#8,like proud seas under him'2    if the
 one defers too much to the spirit of   
antiquity1 the other panders  to the    
spirit of the age1 goes to the very edge
 of extreme and  licentious speculation1
 and breaks his neck over it4 ,grossness
 and  levity are the playthings of his  
pen4 ,it is a ludicrous circumstance    
that he should have dedicated his ,cain 
to the worthy ,baronet6 ,did the  latter
 ever acknowledge the obligation8 ,we   
are not nice1 not very nice2  but we do 
not particularly approve those subjects 
that shine chiefly  from their          
rottenness3 nor do we wish to see the   
,muses drest out in the  flounces of a  
false or questionable philosophy1 like  
,portia and  ,nerissa in the garb of    
,doctors of ,law4 ,we like metaphysics  
as well as  ,lord ,byron2 but not to see

 them making flowery speeches1 nor      
dancing a  measure in the fetters of    
verse4 ,we have as good as hinted1 that 
his  ,lordship's poetry consists mostly 
of a tissue of superb common-places2    
even his paradoxes are common-place4    
,they are familiar in the schools3  they
 are only new and striking in his dramas
 and stanzas1 by being out  of place4   
,in a word1 we think that poetry moves  
best within the circle  of nature and   
received opinion3 speculative theory and
 subtle casuistry  are forbidden ground 
to it4 ,but ,lord ,byron often wanders  
into this  ground wantonly1 wilfully1   
and unwarrantably4 ,the only apology we 
can  conceive for the spirit of some of 
,lord ,byron's writings1 is the spirit  
of some of those opposed to him4 ,they  
would provoke a man to write  anything4 
#8,farthest from them is best4' ,the    
extravagance and license of  the one    
seems a proper antidote to the bigotry  
and narrowness of the  other4 ,the first
 ,vision of ,judgment was a set-off to  

the second1  though                     
#8,none but itself could be its         
parallel4'    ,perhaps the chief cause  
of most of ,lord ,byron's errors is1    
that he is  that anomaly in letters and 
in society1 a ,noble ,poet4 ,it is a    
double  privilege1 almost too much for  
humanity4 ,he has all the pride of birth
  and genius4 ,the strength of his      
imagination leads him to indulge in     
fantastic opinions2 the elevation of his
 rank sets censure at defiance4  ,he    
becomes a pampered egotist4 ,he has a   
seat in the ,house of ,lords1 a  niche  
in the ,temple of ,fame4 ,every-day     
mortals1 opinions1 things are not  good 
enough for him to touch or think of4 ,a 
mere nobleman is1 in his  estimation1   
but #8the tenth transmitter of a foolish
 face'3 a mere man of  genius is no     
better than a worm4 ,his ,muse is also a
 lady of quality4 ,the  people are not  
polite enough for him3 the ,court not   
sufficiently  intellectual4 ,he hates   
the one and despises the other4 ,by     

hating and  despising others1 he does   
not learn to be satisfied with himself4 
,a  fastidious man soon grows querulous 
and splenetic4 ,if there is nobody  but 
ourselves to come up to our idea of     
fancied perfection1 we easily  get tired
 of our idol4 ,when a man is tired of   
what he is1 by a natural  perversity he 
sets up for what he is not4 ,if he is a 
poet1 he pretends  to be a              
metaphysician3 if he is a patrician in  
rank and feeling1 he  would fain be one 
of the people4 ,his ruling motive is not
 the love of  the people1 but of        
distinction2 not of truth1 but of       
singularity4 ,he  patronizes men of     
letters out of vanity1 and deserts them 
from caprice1  or from the advice of    
friends4 ,he embarks in an obnoxious    
publication to  provoke censure1 and    
leaves it to shift for itself for fear  
of scandal4  ,we do not like ,sir       
,walter's gratuitous servility3 we like 
,lord ,byron's  preposterous liberalism 
little better4 ,he may affect the       

principles of  equality1 but he resumes 
his privilege of peerage1 upon occasion4
 ,his  ,lordship has made great offers  
of service to the ,greeks--money and    
horses4 ,he is at present in            
,cephalonia1 waiting the event6         
99       99       99       99       99  
,we had written thus far when news came 
of the death of ,lord ,byron1 and  put  
an end at once to a strain of somewhat  
peevish invective1 which was  intended  
to meet his eye1 not to insult his      
memory4 ,had we known that we  were     
writing his epitaph1 we must have done  
it with a different feeling4  ,as it is1
 we think it better and more like       
himself1 to let what we had  written    
stand1 than to take up our leaden       
shafts1 and try to melt them  into      
#8tears of sensibility1' or mould them  
into dull praise1 and an  affected show 
of candour4 ,we were not silent during  
the author's  life-time1 either for his 
reproof or encouragement 7such as we    
could  give1 and he did not disdain to  

accept7 nor can we now turn             
undertakers' men to fix the glittering  
plate upon his coffin1 or fall  into the
 procession of popular woe4--,death     
cancels every thing but truth2  and     
strips a man of every thing but genius  
and virtue4 ,it is a sort of  natural   
canonization4 ,it makes the meanest of  
us sacred--it installs the  poet in his 
immortality1 and lifts him to the skies4
 ,death is the great  assayer of the    
sterling ore of talent4 ,at his touch   
the drossy particles  fall off1 the     
irritable1 the personal1 the gross1 and 
mingle with the  dust--the finer and    
more ethereal part mounts with the      
winged spirit to  watch over our latest 
memory1 and protect our bones from      
insult4 ,we  consign the least worthy   
qualities to oblivion1 and cherish the  
nobler  and imperishable nature with    
double pride and fondness4 ,nothing     
could  show the real superiority of     
genius in a more striking point of view 
than the idle contests and the public   

indifference about the place of  ,lord  
,byron's interment1 whether in          
,westminster ,abbey or his own          
family-vault4 ,a king must have a       
coronation--a nobleman a                
funeral-procession4--,the man is nothing
 without the pageant4 ,the poet's       
cemetery is the human mind1 in which he 
sows the seeds of never-ending          
thought--his monument is to be found in 
his works3                  #8,nothing  
can cover his high fame but ,heaven2    
,no pyramids set off his memory1        
,but the eternal substance of his       
greatness4'    ,lord ,byron is dead3 he 
also died a martyr to his zeal in the   
cause of  freedom1 for the last1 best   
hopes of man4 ,let that be his excuse   
and his  epitaph6                       
,,mr4 ,,southey      ,mr4 ,southey1 as  
we formerly remember to have seen him1  
had a hectic  flush upon his cheek1 a   
roving fire in his eye1 a falcon glance1
 a look  at once aspiring and           
dejected--it was the look that had been 

impressed  upon his face by the events  
that marked the outset of his life1 it  
was  the dawn of ,liberty that still    
tinged his cheek1 a smile betwixt hope  
and sadness that still played upon his  
quivering lip4 ,mr4 ,southey's mind  is 
essentially sanguine1 even to           
over-weeningness4 ,it is prophetic of   
good2 it cordially embraces it2 it casts
 a longing1 lingering look after  it1   
even when it is gone for ever4 ,he      
cannot bear to give up the thought  of  
happiness1 his confidence in his        
fellow-man1 when all else despair4  ,it 
is the very element1 #8where he must    
live or have no life at all4'  ,while he
 supposed it possible that a better form
 of society could be  introduced than   
any that had hitherto existed1 while the
 light of the  ,french ,revolution      
beamed into his soul 7and long after1 it
 was seen  reflected on his brow1 like  
the light of setting suns on the peak of
  some high mountain1 or lonely range of
 clouds1 floating in purer ether67      

while he had this hope1 this faith in   
man left1 he cherished it with          
child-like simplicity1 he clung to it   
with the fondness of a lover1 he  was an
 enthusiast1 a fanatic1 a leveller2 he  
stuck at nothing that he  thought would 
banish all pain and misery from the     
world--in his  impatience of the        
smallest error or injustice1 he would   
have sacrificed  himself and the        
existing generation 7a holocaust7 to his
 devotion to the  right cause4 ,but when
 he once believed after many staggering 
doubts and  painful struggles1 that this
 was no longer possible1 when his       
chimeras  and golden dreams of human    
perfectibility vanished from him1 he    
turned  suddenly round1 and maintained  
that #8whatever is1 is right4' ,mr4     
,southey has not fortitude of mind1 has 
not patience to think that evil  is     
inseparable from the nature of things4  
,his irritable sense rejects  the       
alternative altogether1 as a weak       
stomach rejects the food that is        

distasteful to it4 ,he hopes on against 
hope1 he believes in all  unbelief4 ,he 
must either repose on actual or on      
imaginary good4 ,he  missed his way in  
,utopia1 he has found it at ,old        
,sarum--                 #8,his generous
 ardour no cold medium knows3'    his   
eagerness admits of no doubt or delay4  
,he is ever in extremes1 and  ever in   
the wrong6    ,the reason is1 that not  
truth1 but self-opinion is the ruling   
principle  of ,mr4 ,southey's mind4 ,the
 charm of novelty1 the applause of the  
multitude1 the sanction of power1 the   
venerableness of antiquity1 pique1      
resentment1 the spirit of contradiction 
have a good deal to do with his         
preferences4 ,his inquiries are partial 
and hasty3 his conclusions raw  and     
unconcocted1 and with a considerable    
infusion of whim and humour and  a      
monkish spleen4 ,his opinions are like  
certain wines1 warm and generous  when  
new2 but they will not keep1 and soon   
turn flat or sour1 for want  of a       

stronger spirit of the understanding to 
give a body to them4 ,he  wooed ,liberty
 as a youthful lover1 but it was perhaps
 more as a mistress  than a bride2 and  
he has since wedded with an elderly and 
not very  reputable lady1 called        
,legitimacy4 ,a wilful man1 according to
 the  ,scotch proverb1 must have his    
way4 ,if it were the cause to which he  
was sincerely attached1 he would adhere 
to it through good report and  evil     
report2 but it is himself to whom he    
does homage1 and would have  others do  
so2 and he therefore changes sides1     
rather than submit to  apparent defeat  
or temporary mortification4 ,abstract   
principle has no  rule but the          
understood distinction between right and
 wrong2 the  indulgence of vanity1 of   
caprice1 or prejudice is regulated by   
the  convenience or bias of the moment4 
,the temperament of our politician's    
mind is poetical1 not philosophical4 ,he
 is more the creature of impulse1  than 
he is of reflection4 ,he invents the    

unreal1 he embellishes the  false with  
the glosses of fancy1 but pays little   
attention to #8the words  of truth and  
soberness4' ,his impressions are        
accidental1 immediate1  personal1       
instead of being permanent and          
universal4 ,of all mortals he is  surely
 the most impatient of contradiction1   
even when he has completely  turned the 
tables on himself4 ,is not this very    
inconsistency the reason8  ,is he not   
tenacious of his opinions1 in proportion
 as they are brittle  and hastily       
formed8 ,is he not jealous of the       
grounds of his belief1  because he fears
 they will not bear inspection1 or is   
conscious he has  shifted them8 ,does he
 not confine others to the strict line  
of  orthodoxy1 because he has himself   
taken every liberty8 ,is he not afraid  
to look to the right or the left1 lest  
he should see the ghosts of his  former 
extravagances staring him in the face8  
,does he not refuse to  tolerate the    
smallest shade of difference in others1 

because he feels  that he wants the     
utmost latitude of construction for     
differing so  widely from himself8 ,is  
he not captious1 dogmatical1 petulant in
  delivering his sentiments1 according  
as he has been inconsistent1 rash1  and 
fanciful in adopting them8 ,he maintains
 that there can be no  possible ground  
for differing from him1 because he looks
 only at his own  side of the question6 
,he sets up his own favourite notions as
 the  standard of reason and honesty1   
because he has changed from one extreme 
to another6 ,he treats his opponents    
with contempt1 because he is himself    
afraid of meeting with disrespect6 ,he  
says that #8a ,reformer is a worse      
character than a house-breaker1' in     
order to stifle the recollection  that  
he himself once was one6    ,we must say
 that #8we relish ,mr4 ,southey more in 
the ,reformer' than in  his lately      
acquired1 but by no means natural or    
becoming character of  poet-laureat and 
courtier4 ,he may rest assured that a   

garland of wild  flowers suits him      
better than the laureat-wreath3 that his
 pastoral odes  and popular inscriptions
 were far more adapted to his genius    
than his  presentation-poems4 ,he is    
nothing akin to birth-day suits and     
drawing-room fopperies4 #8,he is        
nothing1 if not fantastical4' ,in his   
figure1 in his movements1 in his        
sentiments1 he is sharp and angular1    
quaint and eccentric4 ,mr4 ,southey is  
not of the court1 courtly4 ,every  thing
 of him and about him is from the       
people4 ,he is not classical1 he  is not
 legitimate4 ,he is not a man cast in   
the mould of other men's  opinions3 he  
is not shaped on any model3 he bows to  
no authority3 he  yields only to his own
 wayward peculiarities4 ,he is wild1    
irregular1  singular1 extreme4 ,he is no
 formalist1 not he6 ,all is crude and   
chaotic1  self-opinionated1 vain4 ,he   
wants proportion1 keeping1 system1      
standard  rules4 ,he is not teres et    
rotundus4 ,mr4 ,southey walks with his  

chin  erect through the streets of      
,london1 and with an umbrella sticking  
out  under his arm1 in the finest       
weather4 ,he has not sacrificed to the  
,graces1 nor studied decorum4 ,with him 
every thing is projecting1  starting    
from its place1 an episode1 a           
digression1 a poetic license4 ,he  does 
not move in any given orbit1 but like a 
falling star1 shoots from  his sphere4  
,he is pragmatical1 restless1 unfixed1  
full of experiments1  beginning every   
thing anew1 wiser than his betters1     
judging for himself1  dictating to      
others4 ,he is decidedly revolutionary4 
,he may have given  up the reform of the
 ,state3 but depend upon it1 he has some
 other  hobby of the same kind4 ,does he
 not dedicate to his present ,majesty   
that extraordinary poem on the death of 
his father1 called ,the ,vision  of     
,judgment1 as a specimen of what might  
be done in ,english hexameters8  ,in a  
court-poem all should be trite and on an
 approved model4 ,he might  as well have

 presented himself at the levee in a    
fancy or masquerade  dress4 ,mr4        
,southey was not to try conclusions with
 ,majesty--still less  on such an       
occasion4 ,the extreme freedoms with    
departed greatness1 the  party-petulance
 carried to the ,throne of ,grace1 the  
unchecked indulgence  of private humour1
 the assumption of infallibility and    
even of the voice  of ,heaven in this   
poem1 are pointed instances of what we  
have said4 ,they  show the singular     
state of over-excitement of ,mr4        
,southey's mind1 and  the force of old  
habits of independent and unbridled     
thinking1 which  cannot be kept down    
even in addressing his ,sovereign6 ,look
 at ,mr4  ,southey's larger poems1 his  
,kehama1 his ,thalaba1 his ,madoc1 his  
,roderic4 ,who will deny the spirit1 the
 scope1 the splendid imagery1  the      
hurried and startling interest that     
pervades them8 ,who will say that  they 
are not sustained on fictions wilder    
than his own ,glendoveer1 that  they are

 not the daring creations of a mind     
curbed by no law1 tamed by  no fear1    
that they are not rather like the       
trances than the waking  dreams of      
genius1 that they are not the very      
paradoxes of poetry8 ,all  this is very 
well1 very intelligible1 and very       
harmless1 if we regard  the rank        
excrescences of ,mr4 ,southey's poetry1 
like the red and blue  flowers in corn1 
as the unweeded growth of a luxuriant   
and wandering  fancy2 or if we allow the
 yeasty workings of an ardent spirit to 
ferment  and boil over--the variety1 the
 boldness1 the lively stimulus given to 
the mind may then atone for the         
violation of rules and the offences to  
bed-rid authority2 but not if our poetic
 libertine sets up for a  law-giver and 
judge1 or an apprehender of vagrants in 
the regions either  of taste or opinion4
 ,our motley gentleman deserves the     
strait-waistcoat1  if he is for setting 
others in the stocks of servility1 or   
condemning  them to the pillory for a   

new mode of rhyme or reason4 ,or if a   
composer  of sacred ,dramas on classic  
models1 or a translator of an old ,latin
  author 7that will hardly bear         
translation7 or a vamper-up of vapid    
cantos and ,odes set to music1 were to  
turn pander to prescription and         
palliator of every dull1 incorrigible   
abuse1 it would not be much to be       
wondered at or even regretted4 ,but in  
,mr4 ,southey it was a lamentable       
falling-off4 ,it is indeed to be        
deplored1 it is a stain on genius1 a    
blow to humanity1 that the author of    
,joan of ,arc--that work in which  the  
love of ,liberty is exhaled like the    
breath of spring1 mild1 balmy1          
heavenborn1 that is full of tears and   
virgin-sighs1 and yearnings of          
affection after truth and good1 gushing 
warm and crimsoned from the             
heart--should ever after turn to folly1 
or become the advocate of a  rotten     
cause4 ,after giving up his heart to    
that subject1 he ought not  7whatever   

others might do7 ever to have set his   
foot within the  threshold of a court4  
,he might be sure that he would not gain
  forgiveness or favour by it1 nor      
obtain a single cordial smile from      
greatness4 ,all that ,mr4 ,southey is or
 that he does best1 is independent1     
spontaneous1 free as the vital air he   
draws--when he affects the courtier  or 
the sophist1 he is obliged to put a     
constraint upon himself1 to hold  in his
 breath1 he loses his genius1 and offers
 a violence to his nature4  ,his        
characteristic faults are the excess of 
a lively1 unguarded  temperament3--oh6  
let them not degenerate into            
cold-blooded1 heartless  vices6 ,if we  
speak or have ever spoken of ,mr4       
,southey with severity1 it  is with     
#8the malice of old friends1' for we    
count ourselves among his  sincerest and
 heartiest well-wishers4 ,but while he  
himself is anomalous1  incalculable1    
eccentric1 from youth to age 7the ,wat  
,tyler and the  ,vision of ,judgment are

 the ,alpha and ,omega of his disjointed
 career7  full of sallies of humour1 of 
ebullitions of spleen1 making           
jets-a'eaux1 cascades1 fountains1 and   
water-works of his idle  opinions1 he   
would shut up the wits of others in     
leaden cisterns1 to  stagnate and       
corrupt1 or bury them under ground--    
#8,far from the sun and summer gale6'   
,he would suppress the freedom of wit   
and humour1 of which he has set the     
example1 and claim a privilege for      
playing antics4 ,he would introduce an  
uniformity of intellectual weights and  
measures1 of irregular metres and       
settled opinions1 and enforce it with a 
high hand4 ,this has been judged  hard  
by some1 and has brought down a severity
 of recrimination1 perhaps              
disproportioned to the injury done4     
#8,because he is virtuous1' 7it has     
been asked17 #8are there to be no more  
cakes and ale8' ,because he is  loyal1  
are we to take all our notions from the 
,quarterly ,review8  ,because he is     

orthodox1 are we to do nothing but read 
the ,book of the  ,church8 ,we declare  
we think his former poetical scepticism 
was not only  more amiable1 but had more
 of the spirit of religion in it1       
implied a  more heartfelt trust in      
nature and providence than his present  
bigotry4  ,we are at the same time free 
to declare that we think his articles in
  the ,quarterly ,review1               
notwithstanding their virulence and the 
talent  they display1 have a tendency to
 qualify its most pernicious effects4   
,they have redeeming traits in them4    
#8,a little leaven leaveneth the whole  
lump'2 and the spirit of humanity       
7thanks to ,mr4 ,southey7 is not quite  
expelled from the ,quarterly ,review4   
,at the corner of his pen1 #8there      
hangs a vapourous drop profound' of     
independence and liberality1 which      
falls upon its pages1 and oozes out     
through the pores of the public  mind4  
,there is a fortunate difference between
 writers whose hearts are  naturally    

callous to truth1 and whose             
understandings are hermetically  sealed 
against all impressions but those of    
self-interest1 and a man  like ,mr4     
,southey4 ,once a philanthropist and    
always a philanthropist4  ,no man can   
entirely baulk his nature3 it breaks out
 in spite of him4 ,in  all those        
questions1 where the spirit of          
contradiction does not  interfere1 on   
which he is not sore from old bruises1  
or sick from the  extravagance of       
youthful intoxication1 as from a last   
night's debauch1  our #8laureate' is    
still bold1 free1 candid1 open to       
conviction1 a  reformist without knowing
 it4 ,he does not advocate the          
slave-trade1 he  does not arm ,mr4      
,malthus's revolting ratios with his    
authority1 he does  not strain hard to  
deluge ,ireland with blood4 ,on such    
points1 where  humanity has not become  
obnoxious1 where liberty has not passed 
into a  by-word1 ,mr4 ,southey is still 
liberal and humane4 ,the elasticity of  

his  spirit is unbroken3 the bow recoils
 to its old position4 ,he still stands  
convicted of his early passion for      
inquiry and improvement4 ,he was not    
regularly articled as a                 
,government-tool6--,perhaps the most    
pleasing and  striking of all ,mr4      
,southey's poems are not his triumphant 
taunts hurled  against oppression1 are  
not his glowing effusions to ,liberty1  
but those  in which1 with a mild        
melancholy1 he seems conscious of his   
own  infirmities of temper1 and to feel 
a wish to correct by thought and time   
the precocity and sharpness of his      
disposition4 ,may the quaint but        
affecting aspiration expressed in one of
 these be fulfilled1 that as he  mellows
 into maturer age1 all such asperities  
may wear off1 and he  himself become    
#8,like the high leaves upon the        
holly-tree6'    ,mr4 ,southey's         
prose-style can scarcely be too much    
praised4 ,it is plain1  clear1 pointed1 
familiar1 perfectly modern in its       

texture1 but with a  grave and sparkling
 admixture of archaisms in its ornaments
 and  occasional phraseology4 ,he is the
 best and most natural prose-writer of  
any poet of the day2 we mean that he is 
far better than ,lord ,byron1 ,mr4      
,wordsworth1 or ,mr4 ,coleridge1 for    
instance4 ,the manner is perhaps        
superior to the matter1 that is1 in his 
,essays and ,reviews4 ,there is  rather 
a want of originality and even of       
impetus3 but there is no want  of       
playful or biting satire1 of ingenuity1 
of casuistry1 of learning and  of       
information4 ,he is #8full of wise saws 
and modern' 7as well as  ancient7       
#8instances4' ,mr4 ,southey may not     
always convince his opponents2  but he  
seldom fails to stagger1 never to gall  
them4 ,in a word1 we may  describe his  
style by saying that it has not the body
 or thickness of  port wine1 but is like
 clear sherry with kernels of old       
authors thrown  into it6--,he also      
excels as an historian and              

prose-translator4 ,his  histories abound
 in information1 and exhibit proofs of  
the most  indefatigable patience and    
industry4 ,by no uncommon process of the
 mind1  ,mr4 ,southey seems willing to  
steady the extreme levity of his        
opinions  and feelings by an appeal to  
facts4 ,his translations of the ,spanish
 and  ,french romances are also executed
 con amore1 and with the literal        
fidelity and care of a mere linguist4   
,that of the ,cid1 in particular1  is a 
masterpiece4 ,not a word could be       
altered for the better1 in the old      
scriptural style which it adopts in     
conformity to the original4 ,it is no   
less interesting in itself1 or as a     
record of high and chivalrous  feelings 
and manners1 than it is worthy of       
perusal as a literary  curiosity4       
,mr4 ,southey's conversation has a      
little resemblance to a common-place    
book2 his habitual deportment to a piece
 of clock-work4 ,he is not  remarkable  
either as a reasoner or an observer3 but

 he is quick1  unaffected1 replete with 
anecdote1 various and retentive in his  
reading1  and exceedingly happy in his  
play upon words1 as most scholars are   
who  give their minds this sportive     
turn4 ,we have chiefly seen ,mr4        
,southey in  company where few people   
appear to advantage1 we mean in that of 
,mr4  ,coleridge4 ,he has not certainly 
the same range of speculation1 nor the  
same flow of sounding words1 but he     
makes up by the details of  knowledge1  
and by a scrupulous correctness of      
statement for what he  wants in         
originality of thought1 or impetuous    
declamation4 ,the tones of  ,mr4        
,coleridge's voice are eloquence3 those 
of ,mr4 ,southey are meagre1  shrill1   
and dry4 ,mr4 ,coleridge's forte is     
conversation1 and he is  conscious of   
this3 ,mr4 ,southey evidently considers 
writing as his  stronghold1 and if      
gravelled in an argument1 or at a loss  
for an  explanation1 refers to something
 he has written on the subject1 or      

brings out his port-folio1 doubled down 
in dog-ears1 in confirmation of  some   
fact4 ,he is scholastic and professional
 in his ideas4 ,he sets more  value on  
what he writes than on what he says3 he 
is perhaps prouder of  his library than 
of his own productions--themselves a    
library6 ,he is more  simple in his     
manners than his friend ,mr4 ,coleridge2
 but at the same  time less cordial or  
conciliating4 ,he is less vain1 or has  
less hope of  pleasing1 and therefore   
lays himself less out to please4 ,there 
is an air  of condescension in his      
civility4 ,with a tall1 loose figure1 a 
peaked  austerity of countenance1 and no
 inclination to embonpoint1 you would   
say he has something puritanical1       
something ascetic in his appearance4    
,he answers to ,mandeville's description
 of ,addison1 #8a parson in a  tye-wig4'
 ,he is not a boon companion1 nor does  
he indulge in the  pleasures of the     
table1 nor in any other vice2 nor are we
 aware that ,mr4  ,southey is chargeable

 with any human frailty but--want of    
charity6  ,having fewer errors to plead 
guilty to1 he is less lenient to those  
of  others4 ,he was born an age too     
late4 ,had he lived a century or two    
ago1  he would have been a happy as well
 as blameless character4 ,but the       
distraction of the time has unsettled   
him1 and the multiplicity of his        
pretensions have jostled with each      
other4 ,no man in our day 7at least no  
man of genius7 has led so uniformly and 
entirely the life of a scholar  from    
boyhood to the present hour1 devoting   
himself to learning with the  enthusiasm
 of an early love1 with the severity and
 constancy of a  religious vow--and well
 would it have been for him if he had   
confined  himself to this1 and not      
undertaken to pull down or to patch up  
the  ,state6 ,however irregular in his  
opinions1 ,mr4 ,southey is constant1    
unremitting1 mechanical in his studies1 
and the performance of his  duties4     
,there is nothing ,pindaric or ,shandean

 here4 ,in all the relations  and       
charities of private life1 he is        
correct1 exemplary1 generous1 just4  ,we
 never heard a single impropriety laid  
to his charge2 and if he has  many      
enemies1 few men can boast more numerous
 or stauncher friends4--,the  variety   
and piquancy of his writings form a     
striking contrast to the  mode in which 
they are produced4 ,he rises early1 and 
writes or reads  till breakfast-time4   
,he writes or reads after breakfast till
 dinner1  after dinner till tea1 and    
from tea till bed-time--                
#8,and follows so the ever-running year 
,with profitable labour to his grave--' 
on ,derwent's banks1 beneath the foot of
 ,skiddaw4 ,study serves him for        
business1 exercise1 recreation4 ,he     
passes from verse to prose1 from        
history to poetry1 from reading to      
writing1 by a stopwatch4 ,he writes a   
fair hand1 without blots1 sitting       
upright in his chair1 leaves off when   
he comes to the bottom of the page1 and 

changes the subject for another1  as    
opposite as the ,antipodes4 ,his mind is
 after all rather the recipient  and    
transmitter of knowledge1 than the      
originator of it4 ,he has hardly  grasp 
of thought enough to arrive at any great
 leading truth4 ,his  passions do not   
amount to more than irritability4 ,with 
some gall in his  pen1 and coldness in  
his manner1 he has a great deal of      
kindness in his  heart4 ,rash in his    
opinions1 he is steady in his           
attachments--and is a  man1 in many     
particulars admirable1 in all           
respectable--his political              
inconsistency alone excepted6           
,,mr4 ,,wordsworth      ,mr4            
,wordsworth's genius is a pure emanation
 of the ,spirit of the ,age4  ,had he   
lived in any other period of the world1 
he would never have been  heard of4 ,as 
it is1 he has some difficulty to contend
 with the hebetude  of his intellect1   
and the meanness of his subject4 ,with  
him #8lowliness  is young ambition's    

ladder'3 but he finds it a toil to climb
 in this way  the steep of ,fame4 ,his  
homely ,muse can hardly raise her wing  
from the  ground1 nor spread her hidden 
glories to the sun4 ,he has #8no figures
 nor  no fantasies1 which busy passion  
draws in the brains of men3' neither    
the gorgeous machinery of mythologic    
lore1 nor the splendid colours of       
poetic diction4 ,his style is           
vernacular3 he delivers household       
truths4  ,he sees nothing loftier than  
human hopes2 nothing deeper than the    
human  heart4 ,this he probes1 this he  
tampers with1 this he poises1 with all  
its incalculable weight of thought and  
feeling1 in his hands2 and at the  same 
time calms the throbbing pulses of his  
own heart1 by keeping his  eye ever     
fixed on the face of nature4 ,if he can 
make the lifeblood flow  from the       
wounded breast1 this is the living      
colouring with which he  paints his     
verse3 if he can assuage the pain or    
close up the wound with  the balm of    

solitary musing1 or the healing power of
 plants and herbs  and #8skyey          
influences1' this is the sole triumph of
 his art4 ,he takes  the simplest       
elements of nature and of the human     
mind1 the mere abstract  conditions     
inseparable from our being1 and tries to
 compound a new  system of poetry from  
them2 and has perhaps succeeded as well 
as any one  could4 #8,nihil humani a me 
alienum puto'--is the motto of his      
works4 ,he  thinks nothing low or       
indifferent of which this can be        
affirmed3 every  thing that professes to
 be more than this1 that is not an      
absolute  essence of truth and feeling1 
he holds to be vitiated1 false1 and     
spurious4 ,in a word1 his poetry is     
founded on setting up an opposition     
7and pushing it to the utmost length7   
between the natural and the  artificial2
 between the spirit of humanity1 and the
 spirit of fashion  and of the world6   
,it is one of the innovations of the    
time4 ,it partakes of1 and is carried   

along with1 the revolutionary movement  
of our age3 the political changes  of   
the day were the model on which he      
formed and conducted his poetical       
experiments4 ,his ,muse 7it cannot be   
denied1 and without this we cannot      
explain its character at all7 is a      
levelling one4 ,it proceeds on a        
principle of equality1 and strives to   
reduce all things to the same  standard4
 ,it is distinguished by a proud        
humility4 ,it relies upon its  own      
resources1 and disdains external show   
and relief4 ,it takes the  commonest    
events and objects1 as a test to prove  
that nature is always  interesting from 
its inherent truth and beauty1 without  
any of the  ornaments of dress or pomp  
of circumstances to set it off4 ,hence  
the  unaccountable mixture of seeming   
simplicity and real abstruseness in the 
,lyrical ,ballads4 ,fools have laughed  
at1 wise men scarcely understand  them4 
,he takes a subject or a story merely as
 pegs or loops to hang  thought and     

feeling on2 the incidents are trifling1 
in proportion to his  contempt for      
imposing appearances2 the reflections   
are profound1  according to the gravity 
and the aspiring pretensions of his     
mind4    ,his popular1 inartificial     
style gets rid 7at a blow7 of all the   
trappings of verse1 of all the high     
places of poetry3 #8the cloud-capt      
towers1 the solemn temples1 the gorgeous
 palaces1' are swept to the  ground1 and
 #8like the baseless fabric of a vision1
 leave not a wreck  behind4' ,all the   
traditions of learning1 all the         
superstitions of age1  are obliterated  
and effaced4 ,we begin de novo1 on a    
tabula rasa of  poetry4 ,the purple     
pall1 the nodding plume of tragedy are  
exploded as  mere pantomime and trick1  
to return to the simplicity of truth and
  nature4 ,kings1 queens1 priests1      
nobles1 the altar and the throne1 the   
distinctions of rank1 birth1 wealth1    
power1 #8the judge's robe1 the          
marshal's truncheon1 the ceremony that  

to great ones #8longs1' are not to  be  
found here4 ,the author tramples on the 
pride of art with greater  pride4 ,the  
,ode and ,epode1 the ,strophe and the   
,antistrophe1 he laughs to  scorn4 ,the 
harp of ,homer1 the trump of ,pindar and
 of ,alcus are still4  ,the decencies of
 costume1 the decorations of vanity are 
stripped off  without mercy as          
barbarous1 idle1 and ,gothic4 ,the      
jewels in the crisped  hair1 the diadem 
on the polished brow are thought        
meretricious1  theatrical1 vulgar2 and  
nothing contents his fastidious taste   
beyond a  simple garland of flowers4    
,neither does he avail himself of the   
advantages which nature or accident     
holds out to him4 ,he chooses to have   
his subject a foil to his invention1 to 
owe nothing but to himself4 ,he  gathers
 manna in the wilderness1 he strikes the
 barren rock for the  gushing moisture4 
,he elevates the mean by the strength of
 his own  aspirations2 he clothes the   
naked with beauty and grandeur from the 

stores of his own recollections4 ,no    
cypress grove loads his verse with      
funeral pomp3 but his imagination lends 
#8a sense of joy                        
#8,to the bare trees and mountains bare1
                   ,and grass in the    
green field4'    ,no storm1 no shipwreck
 startles us by its horrors3 but the    
rainbow lifts  its head in the cloud1   
and the breeze sighs through the        
withered fern4  ,no sad vicissitude of  
fate1 no overwhelming catastrophe in    
nature  deforms his page3 but the       
dew-drop glitters on the bending flower1
 the  tear collects in the glistening   
eye4                 #8,beneath the     
hills1 along the flowery vales1         
,the generations are prepared2 the      
pangs1               ,the internal pangs
 are ready2 the dread strife            
,of poor humanity's afflicted will1     
,struggling in vain with ruthless       
destiny4'    ,as the lark ascends from  
its low bed on fluttering wing1 and     
salutes the  morning skies2 so ,mr4     

,wordsworth's unpretending ,muse1 in    
russet guise1  scales the summits of    
reflection1 while it makes the round    
earth its  footstool1 and its home6     
,possibly a good deal of this may be    
regarded as the effect of  disappointed 
views and an inverted ambition4         
,prevented by native pride  and         
indolence from climbing the ascent of   
learning or greatness1 taught  by       
political opinions to say to the vain   
pomp and glory of the world1 #8,i  hate 
ye1' seeing the path of classical and   
artificial poetry blocked up  by the    
cumbrous ornaments of style and turgid  
common-places1 so that  nothing more    
could be achieved in that direction but 
by the most  ridiculous bombast or the  
tamest servility2 he has turned back    
partly  from the bias of his mind1      
partly perhaps from a judicious         
policy--has  struck into the sequestered
 vale of humble life1 sought out the    
,muse  among sheep-cotes and hamlets and
 the peasant's mountain-haunts1 has     

discarded all the tinsel pageantry of   
verse1 and endeavoured 7not in  vain7 to
 aggrandise the trivial and add the     
charm of novelty to the  familiar4 ,no  
one has shown the same imagination in   
raising trifles into  importance3 no one
 has displayed the same pathos in       
treating of the  simplest feelings of   
the heart4 ,reserved1 yet haughty1      
having no unruly  or violent passions1  
7or those passions having been early    
suppressed17  ,mr4 ,wordsworth has      
passed his life in solitary musing1 or  
in daily  converse with the face of     
nature4 ,he exemplifies in an eminent   
degree  the power of association2 for   
his poetry has no other source or       
character4 ,he has dwelt among pastoral 
scenes1 till each object has  become    
connected with a thousand feelings1 a   
link in the chain of  thought1 a fibre  
of his own heart4 ,every one is by habit
 and familiarity  strongly attached to  
the place of his birth1 or to objects   
that recal  the most pleasing and       

eventful circumstances of his life4 ,but
 to the  author of the ,lyrical         
,ballads1 nature is a kind of home2 and 
he may be  said to take a personal      
interest in the universe4 ,there is no  
image so  insignificant that it has not 
in some mood or other found the way into
  his heart3 no sound that does not     
awaken the memory of other years4--     
#8,to him the meanest flower that blows 
can give              ,thoughts that do 
often lie too deep for tears4'    ,the  
daisy looks up to him with sparkling eye
 as an old acquaintance3 the  cuckoo    
haunts him with sounds of early youth   
not to be expressed3 a  linnet's nest   
startles him with boyish delight3 an old
 withered thorn is  weighed down with a 
heap of recollections3 a grey cloak1    
seen on some  wild moor1 torn by the    
wind1 or drenched in the rain1          
afterwards becomes  an object of        
imagination to him3 even the lichens on 
the rock have a  life and being in his  
thoughts4 ,he has described all these   

objects in a  way and with an intensity 
of feeling that no one else had done    
before  him1 and has given a new view or
 aspect of nature4 ,he is in this sense 
the most original poet now living1 and  
the one whose writings could the  least 
be spared3 for they have no substitute  
elsewhere4 ,the vulgar do  not read     
them1 the learned1 who see all things   
through books1 do not  understand them1 
the great despise1 the fashionable may  
ridicule them3  but the author has      
created himself an interest in the heart
 of the  retired and lonely student of  
nature1 which can never die4 ,persons of
  this class will still continue to feel
 what he has felt3 he has  expressed    
what they might in vain wish to express1
 except with  glistening eye and        
faultering tongue6 ,there is a lofty    
philosophic tone1  a thoughtful         
humanity1 infused into his pastoral     
vein4 ,remote from the  passions and    
events of the great world1 he has       
communicated interest and  dignity to   

the primal movements of the heart of    
man1 and ingrafted his  own conscious   
reflections on the casual thoughts of   
hinds and shepherds4  ,nursed amidst the
 grandeur of mountain scenery1 he has   
stooped to have a  nearer view of the   
daisy under his feet1 or plucked a      
branch of  white-thorn from the spray3  
but in describing it1 his mind seems    
imbued  with the majesty and solemnity  
of the objects around him--the tall rock
  lifts its head in the erectness of his
 spirit2 the cataract roars in the      
sound of his verse2 and in its dim and  
mysterious meaning1 the mists  seem to  
gather in the hollows of ,helvellyn1 and
 the forked ,skiddaw  hovers in the     
distance4 ,there is little mention of   
mountainous scenery  in ,mr4            
,wordsworth's poetry2 but by internal   
evidence one might be almost  sure that 
it was written in a mountainous country1
 from its bareness1  its simplicity1 its
 loftiness and its depth6    ,his later 
philosophic productions have a somewhat 

different character4  ,they are a       
departure from1 a dereliction of his    
first principles4 ,they  are classical  
and courtly4 ,they are polished in      
style1 without being  gaudy2 dignified  
in subject1 without affectation4 ,they  
seem to have been  composed not in a    
cottage at ,grasmere1 but among the     
half-inspired  groves and stately       
recollections of ,cole-,orton4 ,we might
 allude in  particular1 for examples of 
what we mean1 to the lines on a ,picture
 by  ,claude ,lorraine1 and to the      
exquisite poem1 entitled ,laodamia4 ,the
  last of these breathes the pure spirit
 of the finest fragments of             
antiquity--the sweetness1 the gravity1  
the strength1 the beauty and the        
languor of death--                      
#8,calm contemplation and majestic      
pains4'    ,its glossy brilliancy arises
 from the perfection of the finishing1  
like  that of careful sculpture1 not    
from gaudy colouring--the texture of the
  thoughts has the smoothness and       

solidity of marble4 ,it is a poem that  
might be read aloud in ,elysium1 and the
 spirits of departed heroes and  sages  
would gather round to listen to it6 ,mr4
 ,wordsworth's philosophic  poetry1 with
 a less glowing aspect and less tumult  
in the veins than  ,lord ,byron's on    
similar occasions1 bends a calmer and   
keener eye on  mortality2 the           
impression1 if less vivid1 is more      
pleasing and  permanent2 and we confess 
it 7perhaps it is a want of taste and   
proper  feeling7 that there are lines   
and poems of our author's1 that we think
  of ten times for once that we recur to
 any of ,lord ,byron's4 ,or if there    
are any of the latter's writings1 that  
we can dwell upon in the same  way1 that
 is1 as lasting and heartfelt           
sentiments1 it is when laying  aside his
 usual pomp and pretension1 he descends 
with ,mr4 ,wordsworth to  the common    
ground of a disinterested humanity4 ,it 
may be considered as  characteristic of 
our poet's writings1 that they either   

make no  impression on the mind at all1 
seem mere nonsense-verses1 or that they 
leave a mark behind them that never     
wears out4 ,they either                 
#8,fall blunted from the indurated      
breast'--    without any perceptible    
result1 or they absorb it like a        
passion4 ,to one  class of readers he   
appears sublime1 to another 7and we fear
 the  largest7 ridiculous4 ,he has      
probably realised ,milton's wish1--#8and
 fit  audience found1 though few'2 but  
we suspect he is not reconciled to the  
alternative4 ,there are delightful      
passages in the ,,excursion1 both of    
natural description and of inspired     
reflection 7passages of the latter  kind
 that in the sound of the thoughts and  
of the swelling language  resemble      
heavenly symphonies1 mournful requiems  
over the grave of  human hopes72 but we 
must add1 in justice and in sincerity1  
that we  think it impossible that this  
work should ever become popular1 even in
  the same degree as the ,lyrical       

,ballads4 ,it affects a system without  
having any intelligible clue to one2 and
 instead of unfolding a  principle in   
various and striking lights1 repeats the
 same conclusions  till they become flat
 and insipid4 ,mr4 ,wordsworth's mind is
 obtuse1  except as it is the organ and 
the receptacle of accumulated feelings3 
it  is not analytic1 but synthetic2 it  
is reflecting1 rather than  theoretical4
 ,the ,,excursion1 we believe1 fell     
still-born from the press4  ,there was  
something abortive1 and clumsy1 and     
ill-judged in the attempt4  ,it was long
 and laboured4 ,the personages1 for the 
most part1 were low1  the fare rustic3  
the plan raised expectations which were 
not fulfilled1  and the effect was like 
being ushered into a stately hall and   
invited to  sit down to a splendid      
banquet in the company of clowns1 and   
with  nothing but successive courses of 
apple-dumplings served up4 ,it was not  
even toujours perdrix6    ,mr4          
,wordsworth1 in his person1 is above the

 middle size1 with marked  features1 and
 an air somewhat stately and ,quixotic4 
,he reminds one of  some of ,holbein's  
heads1 grave1 saturnine1 with a slight  
indication of  sly humour1 kept under by
 the manners of the age or by the       
pretensions  of the person4 ,he has a   
peculiar sweetness in his smile1 and    
great depth  and manliness and a rugged 
harmony1 in the tones of his voice4 ,his
  manner of reading his own poetry is   
particularly imposing2 and in his       
favourite passages his eye beams with   
preternatural lustre1 and the  meaning  
labours slowly up from his swelling     
breast4 ,no one who has seen  him at    
these moments could go away with an     
impression that he was a #8man  of no   
mark or likelihood4' ,perhaps the       
comment of his face and voice is        
necessary to convey a full idea of his  
poetry4 ,his language may not be        
intelligible1 but his manner is not to  
be mistaken4 ,it is clear that he  is   
either mad or inspired4 ,in company1    

even in a tte--tte1 ,mr4  ,wordsworth is
 often silent1 indolent1 and reserved4  
,if he is become  verbose and oracular  
of late years1 he was not so in his     
better days4 ,he  threw out a bold or an
 indifferent remark without either      
effort or  pretension1 and relapsed into
 musing again4 ,he shone most 7because  
he  seemed most roused and animated7 in 
reciting his own poetry1 or in  talking 
about it4 ,he sometimes gave striking   
views of his feelings and  trains of    
association in composing certain        
passages2 or if one did not  always     
understand his distinctions1 still there
 was no want of  interest--there was a  
latent meaning worth inquiring into1    
like a vein of  ore that one cannot     
exactly hit upon at the moment1 but of  
which there  are sure indications4 ,his 
standard of poetry is high and severe1  
almost  to exclusiveness4 ,he admits of 
nothing below1 scarcely of any thing    
above himself4 ,it is fine to hear him  
talk of the way in which certain        

subjects should have been treated by    
eminent poets1 according to his  notions
 of the art4 ,thus he finds fault with  
,dryden's description of  ,bacchus in   
the ,alexander's ,feast1 as if he were a
 mere good-looking  youth1 or boon      
companion--                             
#8,flushed with a purple grace1         
,he shows his honest face'--    instead 
of representing the ,god returning from 
the conquest of ,india1  crowned with   
vine-leaves1 and drawn by panthers1 and 
followed by troops  of satyrs1 of wild  
men and animals that he had tamed4 ,you 
would think1  in hearing him speak on   
this subject1 that you saw ,titian's    
picture of  the meeting of ,bacchus and 
,ariadne--so classic were his           
conceptions1 so  glowing his style4     
,milton is his great idol1 and he       
sometimes dares to  compare himself with
 him4 ,his ,sonnets1 indeed1 have       
something of the  same high-raised tone 
and prophetic spirit4 ,chaucer is       
another prime  favourite of his1 and he 

has been at the pains to modernize some 
of the  ,canterbury ,tales4 ,those      
persons who look upon ,mr4 ,wordsworth  
as a merely  puerile writer1 must be    
rather at a loss to account for his     
strong  predilection for such geniuses  
as ,dante and ,michael ,angelo4 ,we do  
not  think our author has any very      
cordial sympathy with ,shakespear4 ,how 
should he8 ,shakespear was the least of 
an egotist of any body in the  world4   
,he does not much relish the variety and
 scope of dramatic  composition4 #8,he  
hates those interlocutions between      
,lucius and ,caius4'  ,yet ,mr4         
,wordsworth himself wrote a tragedy when
 he was young2 and we  have heard the   
following energetic lines quoted from   
it1 as put into the  mouth of a person  
smit with remorse for some rash crime3  
----#8,action is momentary1             
,the motion of a muscle this way or     
that2                 ,suffering is     
long1 obscure1 and infinite6'           
,perhaps for want of light and shade1   

and the unshackled spirit of the  drama1
 this performance was never brought     
forward4 ,our critic has a  great       
dislike to ,gray1 and a fondness for    
,thomson and ,collins4 ,it is           
mortifying to hear him speak of ,pope   
and ,dryden1 whom1 because they have    
been supposed to have all the possible  
excellences of poetry1 he will  allow to
 have none4 ,nothing1 however1 can be   
fairer1 or more amusing1  than the way  
in which he sometimes exposes the       
unmeaning verbiage of  modern poetry4   
,thus1 in the beginning of ,dr4         
,johnson's ,vanity of ,human  ,wishes-- 
#8,let observation with extensive view  
,survey mankind from ,china to ,peru'-- 
he says there is a total want of        
imagination accompanying the words1 the 
same idea is repeated three times under 
the disguise of a different             
phraseology3 it comes to this--#8let    
observation1 with extensive             
observation1 observe mankind'2 or take  
away the first line1 and the  second1   

#8,survey mankind from ,china to ,peru1'
    literally conveys the whole4 ,mr4   
,wordsworth is1 we must say1 a perfect  
,drawcansir as to prose writers4 ,he    
complains of the dry reasoners and      
matter-of-fact people for their want of 
passion2 and he is jealous of  the      
rhetorical declaimers and rhapsodists as
 trenching on the province  of poetry4  
,he condemns all ,french writers 7as    
well of poetry as prose7  in the lump4  
,his list in this way is indeed small4  
,he approves of  ,walton's ,angler1     
,paley1 and some other writers of an    
inoffensive modesty  of pretension4 ,he 
also likes books of voyages and travels1
 and ,robinson  ,crusoe4 ,in art1 he    
greatly esteems ,bewick's woodcuts1 and 
,waterloo's  sylvan etchings4 ,but he   
sometimes takes a higher tone1 and gives
 his  mind fair play4 ,we have known him
 enlarge with a noble intelligence and  
enthusiasm on ,nicolas ,poussin's fine  
landscape-compositions1 pointing  out   
the unity of design that pervades them1 

the superintending mind1 the            
imaginative principle that brings all to
 bear on the same end2 and  declaring he
 would not give a rush for any landscape
 that did not  express the time of day1 
the climate1 the period of the world it 
was  meant to illustrate1 or had not    
this character of wholeness in it4 ,his 
eye also does justice to ,rembrandt's   
fine and masterly effects4 ,in the  way 
in which that artist works something out
 of nothing1 and transforms  the stump  
of a tree1 a common figure into an ideal
 object1 by the  gorgeous light and     
shade thrown upon it1 he perceives an   
analogy to his  own mode of investing   
the minute details of nature with an    
atmosphere of  sentiment2 and in        
pronouncing ,rembrandt to be a man of   
genius1 feels  that he strengthens his  
own claim to the title4 ,it has been    
said of ,mr4  ,wordsworth1 that #8he    
hates conchology1 that he hates the     
,venus of  ,medicis4' ,but these1 we    
hope1 are mere epigrams and             

jeux-d'esprit1 as  far from truth as    
they are free from malice2 a sort of    
running satire or  critical clenches--  
#8,where one for sense and one for rhyme
                   ,is quite sufficient 
at one time4'    ,we think1 however1    
that if ,mr4 ,wordsworth had been a more
 liberal and  candid critic1 he would   
have been a more sterling writer4 ,if a 
greater  number of sources of pleasure  
had been open to him1 he would have     
communicated pleasure to the world more 
frequently4 ,had he been less           
fastidious in pronouncing sentence on   
the works of others1 his own would  have
 been received more favourably1 and     
treated more leniently4 ,the  current of
 his feelings is deep1 but narrow2 the  
range of his  understanding is lofty and
 aspiring rather than discursive4 ,the  
force1  the originality1 the absolute   
truth and identity with which he feels  
some things1 makes him indifferent to so
 many others4 ,the simplicity and       
enthusiasm of his feelings1 with respect

 to nature1 renders him bigotted  and   
intolerant in his judgments of men and  
things4 ,but it happens to  him1 as to  
others1 that his strength lies in his   
weakness2 and perhaps  we have no right 
to complain4 ,we might get rid of the   
cynic and the  egotist1 and find in his 
stead a common-place man4 ,we should    
#8take the  good the ,gods provide us'3 
a fine and original vein of poetry is   
not one  of their most contemptible     
gifts1 and the rest is scarcely worth   
thinking of1 except as it may be a      
mortification to those who expect       
perfection from human nature2 or who    
have been idle enough at some  period of
 their lives1 to deify men of genius as 
possessing claims above  it4 ,but this  
is a chord that jars1 and we shall not  
dwell upon it4    ,lord ,byron we have  
called1 according to the old proverb1   
#8the spoiled  child of fortune'3 ,mr4  
,wordsworth might plead1 in mitigation  
of some  peculiarities1 that he is #8the
 spoiled child of disappointment4' ,we  

are  convinced1 if he had been early a  
popular poet1 he would have borne his   
honours meekly1 and would have been a   
person of great bonhommie and  frankness
 of disposition4 ,but the sense of      
injustice and of undeserved  ridicule   
sours the temper and narrows the views4 
,to have produced works  of genius1 and 
to find them neglected or treated with  
scorn1 is one of  the heaviest trials of
 human patience4 ,we exaggerate our own 
merits when  they are denied by others1 
and are apt to grudge and cavil at every
  particle of praise bestowed on those  
to whom we feel a conscious             
superiority4 ,in mere self-defence we   
turn against the world1 when it  turns  
against us2 brood over the undeserved   
slights we receive2 and thus  the genial
 current of the soul is stopped1 or     
vents itself in effusions  of petulance 
and self-conceit4 ,mr4 ,wordsworth has  
thought too much of  contemporary       
critics and criticism2 and less than he 
ought of the award  of posterity1 and of

 the opinion1 we do not say of private  
friends1 but  of those who were made so 
by their admiration of his genius4 ,he  
did not  court popularity by a          
conformity to established models1 and he
 ought not  to have been surprised that 
his originality was not understood as a 
matter of course4 ,he has gnawed too    
much on the bridle2 and has often       
thrown out crusts to the critics1 in    
mere defiance or as a point of  honour  
when he was challenged1 which otherwise 
his own good sense would  have withheld4
 ,we suspect that ,mr4 ,wordsworth's    
feelings are a little  morbid in this   
respect1 or that he resents censure more
 than he is  gratified by praise4       
,otherwise1 the tide has turned much in 
his favour  of late years--he has a     
large body of determined partisans--and 
is at  present sufficiently in request  
with the public to save or relieve him  
from the last necessity to which a man  
of genius can be reduced--that of       
becoming the ,god of his own idolatry6  

,,sir ,,james ,,mackintosh      ,the    
subject of the present article is one of
 the ablest and most  accomplished men  
of the age1 both as a writer1 a speaker1
 and a  converser4 ,he is1 in fact1     
master of almost every known topic1     
whether  of a passing or of a more      
recondite nature4 ,he has lived much in 
society1 and is deeply conversant with  
books4 ,he is a man of the world  and a 
scholar2 but the scholar gives the tone 
to all his other  acquirements and      
pursuits4 ,sir ,james is by education   
and habit1 and we  were going to add1 by
 the original turn of his mind1 a       
college-man2 and  perhaps he would have 
passed his time most happily and        
respectably1 had  he devoted himself    
entirely to that kind of life4 ,the     
strength of his  faculties would have   
been best developed1 his ambition would 
have met  its proudest reward1 in the   
accumulation and elaborate display of   
grave  and useful knowledge4 ,as it is1 
it may be said1 that in company he talks

  well1 but too much2 that in writing he
 overlays the original subject and      
spirit of the composition1 by an appeal 
to authorities and by too formal  a     
method2 that in public speaking the     
logician takes place of the  orator1 and
 that he fails to give effect to a      
particular point or to  urge an         
immediate advantage home upon his       
adversary from the enlarged  scope of   
his mind1 and the wide career he takes  
in the field of  argument4    ,to       
consider him in the last point of view1 
first4 ,as a political  partisan1 he is 
rather the lecturer than the advocate4  
,he is able to  instruct and delight an 
impartial and disinterested audience by 
the  extent of his information1 by his  
acquaintance with general principles1   
by the clearness and aptitude of his    
illustrations1 by vigour and            
copiousness of style2 but where he has a
 prejudiced or unfair antagonist  to    
contend with1 he is just as likely to   
put weapons into his enemy's  hands1 as 

to wrest them from him1 and his object  
seems to be rather to  deserve than to  
obtain success4 ,the characteristics of 
his mind are  retentiveness and         
comprehension1 with facility of         
production3 but he is  not equally      
remarkable for originality of view1 or  
warmth of feeling1 or  liveliness of    
fancy4 ,his eloquence is a little       
rhetorical2 his reasoning  chiefly      
logical3 he can bring down the account  
of knowledge on a vast  variety of      
subjects to the present moment1 he can  
embellish any cause he  undertakes by   
the most approved and graceful          
ornaments1 he can support  it by a host 
of facts and examples1 but he cannot    
advance it a step  forward by placing it
 on a new and triumphant                
#8vantage-ground1 nor can  he overwhelm 
and break down the artificial fences and
 bulwarks of  sophistry by the          
irresistible tide of manly enthusiasm4  
,sir ,james  ,mackintosh is an          
accomplished debater1 rather than a     

powerful orator3 he  is distinguished   
more as a man of wonderful and variable 
talent than as  a man of commanding     
intellect4 ,his mode of treating a      
question is  critical1 and not          
parliamentary4 ,it has been formed in   
the closet and  the schools1 and is     
hardly fitted for scenes of active life1
 or the  collisions of party-spirit4    
,sir ,james reasons on the square2 while
 the  arguments of his opponents are    
loaded with iron or gold4 ,he makes1    
indeed1 a respectable ally1 but not a   
very formidable opponent4 ,he is as     
likely1 however1 to prevail on a        
neutral1 as he is almost certain to be  
baffled on a hotly contested ground4 ,on
 any question of general policy  or     
legislative improvement1 the ,member for
 ,nairn is heard with  advantage1 and   
his speeches are attended with effect3  
and he would have  equal weight and     
influence at other times1 if it were the
 object of the  ,house to hear reason1  
as it is his aim to speak it4 ,but on   

subjects of  peace or war1 of political 
rights or foreign interference1 where   
the  waves of party run high1 and the   
liberty of nations or the fate of       
mankind hangs trembling in the scales1  
though he probably displays equal       
talent1 and does full and heaped justice
 to the question 7abstractedly          
speaking1 or if it were to be tried     
before an impartial assembly71 yet  we  
confess we have seldom heard him1 on    
such occasions1 without pain for  the   
event4 ,he did not slur his own         
character and pretensions1 but he       
compromised the argument4 ,he spoke the 
truth1 the whole truth1 and  nothing but
 the truth2 but the ,house of ,commons  
7we dare aver it7 is  not the place     
where the truth1 the whole truth1 and   
nothing but the  truth can be spoken    
with safety or with advantage4 ,the     
judgment of the  ,house is not a balance
 to weigh scruples and reasons to the   
turn of a  fraction3 another element1   
besides the love of truth enters into   

the  composition of their decisions1 the
 reaction of which must be calculated   
upon and guarded against4 ,if our       
philosophical statesman had to open the 
case before a class of tyros1 or a      
circle of grey-beards1 who wished to    
form or to strengthen their judgments   
upon fair and rational grounds1  nothing
 could be more satisfactory1 more       
luminous1 more able or more  decisive   
than the view taken of it by ,sir ,james
 ,mackintosh4 ,but the  ,house of       
,commons1 as a collective body1 have not
 the docility of youth1  the calm wisdom
 of age2 and often only want an excuse  
to do wrong1 or to  adhere to what they 
have already determined upon2 and ,sir  
,james1 in  detailing the inexhaustible 
stores of his memory and reading1 in    
unfolding the wide range of his theory  
and practice1 in laying down the  rules 
and the exceptions1 in insisting upon   
the advantages and the  objections with 
equal explicitness1 would be sure to let
 something drop  that a dexterous and   

watchful adversary would easily pick up 
and turn  against him1 if this were     
found necessary2 or if with so many pros
 and  cons1 doubts and difficulties1    
dilemmas and alternatives thrown into   
it1 the scale1 with its natural bias to 
interest and power1 did not  already fly
 up and kick the beam4 ,there wanted    
unity of purpose1  impetuosity of       
feeling to break through the phalanx of 
hostile and  inveterate prejudice       
arrayed against him4 ,he gave a handle  
to his  enemies2 threw stumbling-blocks 
in the way of his friends4 ,he raised so
  many objections for the sake of       
answering them1 proposed so many doubts 
for the sake of solving them1 and made  
so many concessions where none  were    
demanded1 that his reasoning had the    
effect of neutralizing itself2  it      
became a mere exercise of the           
understanding without zest or spirit    
left in it2 and the provident engineer  
who was to shatter in pieces the        
strong-holds of corruption and          

oppression1 by a well-directed and      
unsparing discharge of artillery1 seemed
 to have brought not only his  own      
cannon-balls1 but his own wool-packs    
along with him to ward off the          
threatened mischief4 ,this was a good   
deal the effect of his maiden  speech on
 the transfer of ,genoa1 to which ,lord 
,castlereagh did not deign  an answer1  
and which another ,honourable ,member   
called #8a finical  speech4' ,it was a  
most able1 candid1 closely argued1 and  
philosophical  exposure of that         
unprincipled transaction2 but for this  
very reason it  was a solecism in the   
place where it was delivered4 ,sir      
,james has1 since  this period1 and with
 the help of practice1 lowered himself  
to the tone  of the ,house2 and has also
 applied himself to questions more      
congenial  to his habits of mind1 and   
where the success would be more likely  
to be  proportioned to his zeal and his 
exertions4    ,there was a greater      
degree of power1 or of dashing and      

splendid effect  7we wish we could add1 
an equally humane and liberal spirit7 in
 the  ,lectures on the ,law of ,nature  
and ,nations1 formerly delivered by ,sir
  ,james 7then ,mr47 ,mackintosh1 in    
,lincoln's-,inn ,hall4 ,he showed       
greater  confidence2 was more at home   
there4 ,the effect was more electrical  
and  instantaneous1 and this elicited a 
prouder display of intellectual  riches1
 and a more animated and imposing mode  
of delivery4 ,he grew  wanton with      
success4 ,dazzling others by the        
brilliancy of his  acquirements1 dazzled
 himself by the admiration they excited1
 he lost  fear as well as prudence2     
dared every thing1 carried every thing  
before  him4 ,the ,modern ,philosophy1  
counter-scarp1 outworks1 citadel1 and   
all1  fell without a blow1 by #8the     
whiff and wind of his fell doctrine1' as
  if it had been a pack of cards4 ,the  
volcano of the ,french ,revolution was  
seen expiring in its own flames1 like a 
bonfire made of straw3 the  principles  

of ,reform were scattered in all        
directions1 like chaff before  the keen 
northern blast4 ,he laid about him like 
one inspired2 nothing  could withstand  
his envenomed tooth4 ,like some savage  
beast got into the  garden of the fabled
 ,hesperides1 he made clear work of it1 
root and  branch1 with white1 foaming   
tusks--              #8,laid waste the  
borders1 and o'erthrew the bowers4'     
,the havoc was amazing1 the desolation  
was complete4 ,as to our visionary      
sceptics and ,utopian philosophers1 they
 stood no chance with our  lecturer--he 
did not #8carve them as a dish fit for  
the ,gods1 but hewed  them as a carcase 
fit for hounds4' ,poor ,godwin1 who had 
come1 in the  bonhommie and candour of  
his nature1 to hear what new light had  
broken  in upon his old friend1 was     
obliged to quit the field1 and slunk    
away  after an exulting taunt thrown out
 at #8such fanciful chimeras as a       
golden mountain or a perfect man4' ,mr4 
,mackintosh had something of the  air1  

much of the dexterity and               
self-possession1 of a political and     
philosophical juggler2 and an eager and 
admiring audience gaped and  greedily   
swallowed the gilded bait of sophistry1 
prepared for their  credulity and       
wonder4 ,those of us who attended day   
after day1 and were  accustomed to have 
all our previous notions confounded and 
struck out of  our hands by some        
metaphysical legerdemain1 were at last  
at some loss to  know whether two and   
two made four1 till we had heard the    
lecturer's  opinion on that head4 ,he   
might have some mental reservation on   
the  subject1 some pointed ridicule to  
pour upon the common supposition1 some  
learned authority to quote against it4  
,to anticipate the line of  argument he 
might pursue1 was evidently presumptuous
 and premature4 ,one  thing only        
appeared certain1 that whatever opinion 
he chose to take up1  he was able to    
make good either by the foils or the    
cudgels1 by gross  banter or nice       

distinctions1 by a well-timed mixture of
 paradox and  common-place1 by an appeal
 to vulgar prejudices or startling      
scepticism4  ,it seemed to be equally   
his object1 or the tendency of his      
,discourses1  to unsettle every         
principle of reason or of common sense1 
and to leave  his audience at the mercy 
of the dictum of a lawyer1 the nod of a 
minister1 or the shout of a mob4 ,to    
effect this purpose1 he drew largely  on
 the learning of antiquity1 on modern   
literature1 on history1 poetry1  and the
 belles-lettres1 on the ,schoolmen and  
on writers of novels1  ,french1         
,english1 and ,italian4 ,in mixing up   
the sparkling julep1 that by  its potent
 operation was to scour away the dregs  
and feculence and  peccant humours of   
the body politic1 he seemed to stand    
with his back to  the drawers in a      
metaphysical dispensary1 and to take out
 of them  whatever ingredients suited   
his purpose4 ,in this way he had an     
antidote  for every error1 an answer to 

every folly4 ,the writings of ,burke1   
,hume1  ,berkeley1 ,paley1 ,lord ,bacon1
 ,jeremy ,taylor1 ,grotius1 ,puffendorf1
 ,cicero1  ,aristotle1 ,tacitus1 ,livy1 
,sully1 ,machiavel1 ,guicciardini1      
,thuanus1 lay  open beside him1 and he  
could instantly lay his hand upon the   
passage1  and quote them chapter and    
verse to the clearing up of all         
difficulties1  and the silencing of all 
oppugners4 ,mr4 ,mackintosh's ,lectures 
were after  all but a kind of           
philosophical centos4 ,they were        
profound1 brilliant1  new to his        
hearers2 but the profundity1 the        
brilliancy1 the novelty were  not his   
own4 ,he was like ,dr4 ,pangloss 7not   
,voltaire's1 but ,coleman's7  who speaks
 only in quotations2 and the pith1 the  
marrow of ,sir ,james's  reasoning and  
rhetoric at that memorable period might 
be put within  inverted commas4 ,it1    
however1 served its purpose and the loud
 echo died  away4 ,we remember an       
excellent man and a sound critic#eb     

going to hear  one of these elaborate   
effusions2 and on his want of enthusiasm
 being  accounted for from its not being
 one of the orator's brilliant days1 he 
replied1 #8he did not think a man of    
genius could speak for two hours        
without saying something by which he    
would have been electrified4' ,we  are  
only sorry1 at this distance of time1   
for one thing in these  ,lectures--the  
tone and spirit in which they seemed to 
have been composed  and to be delivered4
 ,if all that body of opinions and      
principles of  which the orator read his
 recantation was unfounded1 and there   
was an  end of all those views and hopes
 that pointed to future improvement1 it 
was not a matter of triumph or          
exultation to the lecturer or any body  
else1 to the young or the old1 the wise 
or the foolish2 on the contrary1  it was
 a subject of regret1 of slow1          
reluctant1 painful admission--          
#8,of lamentation loud heard through the
 rueful air4'    ,the immediate occasion

 of this sudden and violent change in   
,sir ,james's  views and opinions was   
attributed to a personal interview which
 he had  had a little before his death  
with ,mr4 ,burke1 at his house at       
,beaconsfield4 ,in the latter end of the
 year #agif1 appeared the ,regicide     
,peace1 from the pen of the great       
apostate from liberty and betrayer of   
his species into the hands of those who 
claimed it as their property by  divine 
right--a work imposing1 solid in many   
respects1 abounding in facts  and       
admirable reasoning1 and in which all   
flashy ornaments were laid  aside for a 
testamentary gravity1 7the eloquence of 
despair resembling  the throes and      
heaving and muttered threats of an      
earthquake1 rather  than the loud       
thunderbolt7--and soon after came out a 
criticism on it in  ,the ,monthly       
,review1 doing justice to the author and
 the style1 and  combating the          
inferences with force and at much       
length2 but with candour  and with      

respect1 amounting to deference4 ,it was
 new to ,mr4 ,burke not to  be called   
names by persons of the opposite party2 
it was an additional  triumph to him to 
be spoken well of1 to be loaded with    
well-earned  praise by the author of the
 ,vindici ,gallic4 ,it was a testimony  
from  an old1 a powerful1 and an admired
 antagonist4#ec ,he sent an invitation  
to the writer to come and see him2 and  
in the course of three days'  animated  
discussion of such subjects1 ,mr4       
,mackintosh became a convert  not merely
 to the graces and gravity of ,mr4      
,burke's style1 but to the  liberality  
of his views1 and the solidity of his   
opinions4--,the  ,lincoln's-,inn        
,lectures were the fruit of this        
interview3 such is the  influence       
exercised by men of genius and          
imaginative power over those  who have  
nothing to oppose to their unforeseen   
flashes of thought and  invention1 but  
the dry1 cold1 formal1 deductions of the
 understanding4  ,our politician had    

time1 during a few years of absence from
 his native  country1 and while the din 
of war and the cries of party-spirit    
#8were  lost over a wide and unhearing  
ocean1' to recover from his surprise and
  from a temporary alienation of mind2  
and to return in spirit1 and in the     
mild and mellowed maturity of age1 to   
the principles and attachments of  his  
early life4    ,the appointment of ,sir 
,james ,mackintosh to a ,judgeship in   
,india was one1  which1 however         
flattering to his vanity or favourable  
to his interests1  was entirely foreign 
to his feelings and habits4 ,it was an  
honourable  exile4 ,he was out of his   
element among black slaves and sepoys1  
and  ,nabobs and cadets1 and writers to 
,india4 ,he had no one to exchange ideas
  with4 ,the #8unbought grace of life1' 
the charm of literary conversation  was 
gone4 ,it was the habit of his mind1 his
 ruling passion to enter into  the shock
 and conflict of opinions on            
philosophical1 political1 and  critical 

questions--not to dictate to raw tyros  
or domineer over persons  in subordinate
 situations--but to obtain the guerdon  
and the laurels of  superior sense and  
information by meeting with men of equal
 standing1 to  have a fair field        
pitched1 to argue1 to distinguish1 to   
reply1 to hunt  down the game of        
intellect with eagerness and skill1 to  
push an  advantage1 to cover a retreat1 
to give and take a fall--               
#8,and gladly would he learn1 and gladly
 teach4'    ,it is no wonder that this  
sort of friendly intellectual           
gladiatorship is  ,sir ,james's greatest
 pleasure1 for it is his peculiar forte4
 ,he has  not many equals1 and scarcely 
any superior in it4 ,he is too indolent 
for  an author2 too unimpassioned for an
 orator3 but in society he is just  vain
 enough to be pleased with immediate    
attention1 good-humoured enough  to     
listen with patience to others1 with    
great coolness and  self-possession1    
fluent1 communicative1 and with a manner

 equally free  from violence and        
insipidity4 ,few subjects can be        
started1 on which he  is not qualified  
to appear to advantage as the gentleman 
and scholar4 ,if  there is some tinge of
 pedantry1 it is carried off by great   
affability  of address and variety of   
amusing and interesting topics4 ,there  
is  scarce an author that he has not    
read2 a period of history that he is    
not conversant with2 a celebrated name  
of which he has not a number of         
anecdotes to relate2 an intricate       
question that he is not prepared to     
enter upon in a popular or scientific   
manner4 ,if an opinion in an  abstruse  
metaphysical author is referred to1 he  
is probably able to  repeat the passage 
by heart1 can tell the side of the page 
on which it  is to be met with1 can     
trace it back through various descents  
to ,locke1  ,hobbes1 ,lord ,herbert of  
,cherbury1 to a place in some obscure   
folio of  the ,schoolmen or a note in   
one of the commentators on ,aristotle or

  ,plato1 and thus give you in a few    
moments' space1 and without any effort  
or previous notice1 a chronological     
table of the progress of the human  mind
 in that particular branch of inquiry4  
,there is something1 we think1          
perfectly admirable and delightful in an
 exhibition of this kind1 and  which is 
equally creditable to the speaker and   
gratifying to the hearer4  ,but this    
kind of talent was of no use in ,india3 
the intellectual wares1  of which the   
,chief ,judge delighted to make a       
display1 were in no request  there4 ,he 
languished after the friends and the    
society he had left  behind2 and wrote  
over incessantly for books from         
,england4 ,one that was  sent him at    
this time was an ,essay on the          
,principles of ,human ,action2  and the 
way in which he spoke of that dry1      
tough1 metaphysical  choke-pear1 showed 
the dearth of intellectual intercourse  
in which he  lived1 and the craving in  
his mind after those studies which had  

once  been his pride1 and to which he   
still turned for consolation in his     
remote solitude4--,perhaps to another1  
the novelty of the scene1 the           
differences of mind and manners might   
have atoned for a want of social  and   
literary agrmens3 but ,sir ,james is one
 of those who see nature  through the   
spectacles of books4 ,he might like to  
read an account of  ,india2 but ,india  
itself with its burning1 shining face   
would be a mere  blank1 an endless waste
 to him4 ,to persons of this class of   
mind things  must be translated into    
words1 visible images into abstract     
propositions  to meet their refined     
apprehensions1 and they have no more to 
say to a  matter-of-fact staring them in
 the face without a label in its mouth1 
than they would to a hippopotamus6--,we 
may add1 before we quit this  point1    
that we cannot conceive of any two      
persons more different in  colloquial   
talents1 in which they both excel1 than 
,sir ,james ,mackintosh  and ,mr4       

,coleridge4 ,they have nearly an equal  
range of reading and of  topics of      
conversation3 but in the mind of the one
 we see nothing but  fixtures1 in the   
other every thing is fluid4 ,the ideas  
of the one are  as formal and tangible1 
as those of the other are shadowy and   
evanescent4 ,sir ,james ,mackintosh     
walks over the ground1 ,mr4 ,coleridge  
is  always flying off from it4 ,the     
first knows all that has been said upon 
a  subject2 the last has something to   
say that was never said before4 ,if  the
 one deals too much in learned          
common-places1 the other teems with     
idle fancies4 ,the one has a good deal  
of the caput mortuum of genius1  the    
other is all volatile salt4 ,the        
conversation of ,sir ,james ,mackintosh 
has the effect of reading a well-written
 book1 that of his friend is  like      
hearing a bewildered dream4 ,the one is 
an ,encyclopedia of  knowledge1 the     
other is a succession of ,sybilline     
,leaves6    ,as an author1 ,sir ,james  

,mackintosh may claim the foremost rank 
among  those who pride themselves on    
artificial ornaments and acquired       
learning1 or who write what may be      
termed a composite style4 ,his  ,vindici
 ,gallic is a work of great labour1     
great ingenuity1 great  brilliancy1 and 
great vigour4 ,it is a little too       
antithetical in the  structure of its   
periods1 too dogmatical in the          
announcement of its  opinions4 ,sir     
,james has1 we believe1 rejected        
something of the false  brilliant of the
 one1 as he has retracted some of the   
abrupt  extravagance of the other4 ,we  
apprehend1 however1 that our author is  
not  one of those who draw from their   
own resources and accumulated feelings1 
or who improve with age4 ,he belongs to 
a class 7common in ,scotland and        
elsewhere7 who get up school-exercises  
on any given subject in a  masterly     
manner at twenty1 and who at forty are  
either where they  were--or retrograde1 
if they are men of sense and modesty4   

,the reason is1  their vanity is weaned1
 after the first hey-day and animal     
spirits of  youth are flown1 from making
 an affected display of knowledge1      
which1  however useful1 is not their    
own1 and may be much more simply stated2
  they are tired of repeating the same  
arguments over and over again1  after   
having exhausted and rung the changes on
 their whole stock for a  number of     
times4 ,sir ,james ,mackintosh is       
understood to be a writer in  the       
,edinburgh ,review2 and the articles    
attributed to him there are full  of    
matter of great pith and moment4 ,but   
they want the trim1 pointed  expression1
 the ambitious ornaments1 the           
ostentatious display and rapid          
volubility of his early productions4 ,we
 have heard it objected to his  later   
compositions1 that his style is good as 
far as single words and  phrases are    
concerned1 but that his sentences are   
clumsy and disjointed1  and that these  
make up still more awkward and sprawling

 paragraphs4 ,this  is a nice criticism1
 and we cannot speak to its truth2 but  
if the fact  be so1 we think we can     
account for it from the texture and     
obvious  process of the author's mind4  
,all his ideas may be said to be given  
preconceptions4 ,they do not arise1 as  
it were1 out of the subject1 or  out of 
one another at the moment1 and therefore
 do not flow naturally  and gracefully  
from one another4 ,they have been laid  
down beforehand in  a sort of formal    
division or frame-work of the           
understanding2 and the  connection      
between the premises and the conclusion1
 between one branch  of a subject and   
another1 is made out in a bungling and  
unsatisfactory  manner4 ,there is no    
principle of fusion in the work2 he     
strikes after  the iron is cold1 and    
there is a want of malleability in the  
style4 ,sir  ,james is at present said  
to be engaged in writing a ,history of  
,england  after the downfall of the     
house of ,stuart4 ,may it be worthy of  

the  talents of the author1 and of the  
principles of the period it is  intended
 to illustrate6                         
,,mr4 ,,malthus      ,mr4 ,malthus may  
be considered as one of those rare and  
fortunate writers  who have attained a  
scientific reputation in questions of   
moral and  political philosophy4 ,his   
name undoubtedly stands very high in the
  present age1 and will in all          
probability go down to posterity with   
more  or less of renown or obloquy4 ,it 
was said by a person well qualified to  
judge both from strength and candour of 
mind1 that #8it would take a  thousand  
years at least to answer his work on    
,population4' ,he has  certainly thrown 
a new light on that question1 and       
changed the aspect of  political economy
 in a decided and material point of     
view--whether he has  not also          
endeavoured to spread a gloom over the  
hopes and more sanguine  speculations of
 man1 and to cast a slur upon the face  
of nature1 is  another question4 ,there 

is this to be said for ,mr4 ,malthus1   
that in  speaking of him1 one knows what
 one is talking about4 ,he is something 
beyond a mere name--one has not to beat 
the bush about his talents1 his         
attainments1 his vast reputation1 and   
leave off without knowing what it  all  
amounts to--he is not one of those great
 men1 who set themselves off  and strut 
and fret an hour upon the stage1 during 
a day-dream of  popularity1 with the    
ornaments and jewels borrowed from the  
common  stock1 to which nothing but     
their vanity and presumption gives them 
the  least individual claim--he has dug 
into the mine of truth1 and brought up  
ore mixed with dross6 ,in weighing his  
merits we come at once to the  question 
of what he has done or failed to do4 ,it
 is a specific claim  that he sets up4  
,when we speak of ,mr4 ,malthus1 we mean
 the ,essay on  ,population2 and when we
 mention the ,essay on ,population1 we  
mean a  distinct leading proposition1   
that stands out intelligibly from all   

trashy pretence1 and is a ground on     
which to fix the levers that may  move  
the world1 backwards or forwards4 ,he   
has not left opinion where he  found it2
 he has advanced or given it a wrong    
bias1 or thrown a  stumbling-block in   
its way4 ,in a word1 his name is not    
stuck1 like so  many others1 in the     
firmament of reputation1 nobody knows   
why1 inscribed  in great letters1 and   
with a transparency of ,,talents1       
,,genius1 ,,learning  blazing round     
it--it is tantamount to an idea1 it is  
identified with a  principle1 it means  
that the population cannot go on        
perpetually  increasing without pressing
 on the limits of the means of          
subsistence1  and that a check of some  
kind or other must1 sooner or later1 be 
opposed  to it4 ,this is the essence of 
the doctrine which ,mr4 ,malthus has    
been  the first to bring into general   
notice1 and as we think1 to establish   
beyond the fear of contradiction4       
,admitting then as we do the prominence 

and the value of his claims to public   
attention1 it yet remains a  question1  
how far those claims are 7as to the     
talent displayed in them7  strictly     
original2 how far 7as to the logical    
accuracy with which he has  treated the 
subject7 he has introduced foreign and  
doubtful matter into  it2 and how far   
7as to the spirit in which he has       
conducted his  inquiries1 and applied a 
general principle to particular objects7
 he has  only drawn fair and inevitable 
conclusions from it1 or endeavoured to  
tamper with and wrest it to sinister and
 servile purposes4 ,a writer who        
shrinks from following up a well-founded
 principle into its untoward            
consequences from timidity or false     
delicacy1 is not worthy of the name  of 
a philosopher3 a writer who assumes the 
garb of candour and an  inflexible love 
of truth to garble and pervert it1 to   
crouch to power  and pander to          
prejudice1 deserves a worse title than  
that of a sophist6    ,mr4 ,malthus's   

first octavo volume on this subject     
7published in the year  #agih7 was      
intended as an answer to ,mr4 ,godwin's 
,enquiry concerning  ,political         
,justice4 ,it was well got up for the   
purpose1 and had an  immediate effect4  
,it was what in the language of the ring
 is called a  facer4 ,it made ,mr4      
,godwin and the other advocates of      
,modern ,philosophy  look about them4   
,it may be almost doubted whether ,mr4  
,malthus was in the  first instance     
serious in many things that he threw    
out1 or whether he  did not hazard the  
whole as an amusing and extreme paradox1
 which might  puzzle the reader as it   
had done himself in an idle moment1 but 
to which  no practical consequence      
whatever could attach4 ,this state of   
mind would  probably continue till the  
irritation of enemies and the           
encouragement  of friends convinced him 
that what he had at first exhibited as  
an idle  fancy was in fact a very       
valuable discovery1 or #8like the toad  

ugly and  venomous1 had yet a precious  
jewel in its head4' ,such a supposition 
would at least account for some things  
in the original ,essay1 which  scarcely 
any writer would venture upon1 except as
 professed exercises of  ingenuity1 and 
which have been since in part retracted4
 ,but a wrong bias  was thus given1 and 
the author's theory was thus rendered   
warped1  disjointed1 and sophistical    
from the very outset4    ,nothing could 
in fact be more illogical 7not to say   
absurd7 than the  whole of ,mr4         
,malthus's reasoning applied as an      
answer 7par excellence7  to ,mr4        
,godwin's book1 or to the theories of   
other ,utopian philosophers4  ,mr4      
,godwin was not singular1 but was kept  
in countenance by many  authorities1    
both ancient and modern1 in supposing a 
state of society  possible in which the 
passions and wills of individuals would 
be  conformed to the general good1 in   
which the knowledge of the best means   
of promoting human welfare and the      

desire of contributing to it would      
banish vice and misery from the world1  
and in which1 the  stumbling-blocks of  
ignorance1 of selfishness1 and the      
indulgence of  gross appetite being     
removed1 all things would move on by the
 mere  impulse of wisdom and virtue1 to 
still higher and higher degrees of      
perfection and happiness4 ,compared with
 the lamentable and gross  deficiencies 
of existing institutions1 such a view of
 futurity as barely  possible could not 
fail to allure the gaze and tempt the   
aspiring  thoughts of the philanthropist
 and the philosopher3 the hopes and the 
imaginations of speculative men could   
not but rush forward into this  ideal   
world as into a vacuum of good2 and from
 #8the mighty stream of  tendency' 7as  
,mr4 ,wordsworth in the cant of the day 
calls it17 there was  danger that the   
proud monuments of time-hallowed        
institutions1 that the  strong-holds of 
power and corruption1 that #8the        
,corinthian capitals of  polished       

society1' with the base and pediments1  
might be overthrown and  swept away as  
by a hurricane4 ,there were not wanting 
persons whose  ignorance1 whose fears1  
whose pride1 or whose prejudices        
contemplated  such an alternative with  
horror2 and who would naturally feel no 
small  obligation to the man who should 
relieve their apprehensions from the    
stunning roar of this mighty change of  
opinion that thundered at a  distance1  
and should be able1 by some logical     
apparatus or unexpected  turn of the    
argument1 to prevent the vessel of the  
state from being  hurried forward with  
the progress of improvement1 and dashed 
in pieces  down the tremendous precipice
 of human perfectibility4 ,then comes   
,mr4  ,malthus forward with the         
geometrical and arithmetical ratios in  
his  hands1 and holds them out to his   
affrighted contemporaries as the only   
means of salvation4 #8,for' 7so argued  
the author of the ,essay7 #8let the     
principles of ,mr4 ,godwin's ,enquiry   

and of other similar works be carried   
literally and completely into effect2   
let every corruption and abuse of  power
 be entirely got rid of2 let virtue1    
knowledge1 and civilization be  advanced
 to the greatest height that these      
visionary reformers would  suppose2 let 
the passions and appetites be subjected 
to the utmost  control of reason and    
influence of public opinion3 grant them1
 in a  word1 all that they ask1 and the 
more completely their views are         
realized1 the sooner will they be       
overthrown again1 and the more          
inevitable and fatal will be the        
catastrophe4 ,for the principle of      
population will still prevail1 and from 
the comfort1 ease1 and plenty  that will
 abound1 will receive an increasing     
force and impetus2 the  number of mouths
 to be fed will have no limit1 but the  
food that is to  supply them cannot keep
 pace with the demand for it2 we must   
come to a  stop somewhere1 even though  
each square yard1 by extreme            

improvements in  cultivation1 could     
maintain its man3 in this state of      
things there will  be no remedy1 the    
wholesome checks of vice and misery     
7which have  hitherto kept this         
principle within bounds7 will have been 
done away2  the voice of reason will be 
unheard2 the passions only will bear    
sway2  famine1 distress1 havoc1 and     
dismay will spread around2 hatred1      
violence1 war1 and bloodshed will be the
 infallible consequence1 and  from the  
pinnacle of happiness1 peace1           
refinement1 and social advantage1  we   
shall be hurled once more into a        
profounder abyss of misery1 want1  and  
barbarism than ever1 by the sole        
operation of the principle of           
population6'--,such is a brief abstract 
of the argument of the ,essay4 ,can  any
 thing be less conclusive1 a more       
complete fallacy and petitio  principii8
 ,mr4 ,malthus concedes1 he assumes a   
state of perfectibility1  such as his   
opponents imagined1 in which the general

 good is to obtain  the entire mastery  
of individual interests1 and reason of  
gross  appetites and passions3 and then 
he argues that such a perfect structure 
of society will fall by its own weight1 
or rather be undermined by the          
principle of population1 because in the 
highest possible state of the           
subjugation of the passions to reason1  
they will be absolutely lawless  and    
unchecked1 and because as men become    
enlightened1 quick sighted and          
public-spirited1 they will show         
themselves utterly blind to the         
consequences of their actions1 utterly  
indifferent to their own  well-being and
 that of all succeeding generations1    
whose fate is placed  in their hands4   
,this we conceive to be the boldest     
paralogism that ever  was offered to the
 world1 or palmed upon willing          
credulity4 ,against  whatever other     
scheme of reform this objection might be
 valid1 the one  it was brought         
expressly to overturn was impregnable   

against it1  invulnerable to its        
slightest graze4 ,say that the ,utopian 
reasoners are  visionaries1 unfounded2  
that the state of virtue and knowledge  
they  suppose1 in which reason shall    
have become all-in-all1 can never take  
place1 that it is inconsistent with the 
nature of man and with all  experience1 
well and good--but to say that society  
will have attained  this high and       
#8palmy state1' that reason will have   
become the master-key  to all our       
motives1 and that when arrived at its   
greatest power it will  cease to act at 
all1 but will fall down dead1 inert1 and
 senseless  before the principle of     
population1 is an opinion which one     
would think  few people would choose to 
advance or assent to1 without strong    
inducements for maintaining or believing
 it4    ,the fact1 however1 is1 that    
,mr4 ,malthus found this argument entire
 7the  principle and the application of 
it7 in an obscure and almost forgotten  
work published about the middle of the  

last century1 entitled ,various         
,prospects of ,mankind1 ,nature1 and    
,providence1 by a ,scotch gentleman of  
the name of ,wallace4 ,the chapter in   
this work on the ,principle of          
,population1 considered as a bar to all 
ultimate views of human  improvement1   
was probably written to amuse an idle   
hour1 or read as a  paper to exercise   
the wits of some literary society in the
 ,northern  capital1 and no farther     
responsibility or importance annexed to 
it4 ,mr4  ,malthus1 by adopting and     
setting his name to it1 has given it    
sufficient  currency and effect4 ,it    
sometimes happens that one writer is the
 first  to discover a certain principle 
or lay down a given observation1 and    
that another makes an application of1 or
 draws a remote or an immediate         
inference from it1 totally unforeseen by
 the first1 and from which1 in  all     
probability1 he might have widely       
dissented4 ,but this is not so in  the  
present instance4 ,mr4 ,malthus has     

borrowed 7perhaps without               
consciousness1 at any rate without      
acknowledgment7 both the preliminary    
statement1 that the increase in the     
supply of food #8from a limited earth   
and a limited fertility' must have an   
end1 while the tendency to  increase in 
the principle of population has none1   
without some external  and forcible     
restraint on it1 and the subsequent use 
made of this  statement as an           
insuperable bar to all schemes of       
,utopian or progressive                 
improvement--both these he has borrowed 
7whole7 from ,wallace1 with all  their  
imperfections on their heads1 and has   
added more and greater ones  to them out
 of his own store4 ,in order to produce 
something of a  startling and dramatic  
effect1 he has strained a point or two4 
,in order  to quell and frighten away   
the bugbear of ,modern ,philosophy1 he  
was  obliged to make a sort of monster  
of the principle of population1 which   
was brought into the field against it1  

and which was to swallow it up  quick4  
,no half-measures1 no middle course of  
reasoning would do4 ,with a  view to    
meet the highest possible power of      
reason in the new order of  things1 ,mr4
 ,malthus saw the necessity of giving   
the greatest possible  physical weight  
to the antagonist principle1 and he     
accordingly lays it  down that its      
operation is mechanical and             
irresistible4 ,he premises  these two   
propositions as the basis of all his    
reasoning1 #a4 ,that food  is necessary 
to man2 #b4 ,that the desire to         
propagate the species is an  equally    
indispensable law of our                
existence3--thus making it appear that  
these two wants or impulses are equal   
and coordinate principles of  action4   
,if this double statement had been true1
 the whole scope and  structure of his  
reasoning 7as hostile to human hopes and
 sanguine  speculations7 would have been
 irrefragable2 but as it is not true1   
the  whole 7in that view7 falls to the  

ground4 ,according to ,mr4 ,malthus's   
octavo edition1 the sexual passion is as
 necessary to be gratified as  the      
appetite of hunger1 and a man can no    
more exist without propagating  his     
species than he can live without eating4
 ,were it so1 neither of  these passions
 would admit of any excuses1 any delay1 
any restraint from  reason or foresight2
 and the only checks to the principle of
 population  must be vice and misery4   
,the argument would be triumphant and   
complete4  ,but there is no analogy1 no 
parity in the two cases1 such as our    
author  here assumes4 ,no man can live  
for any length of time without food2    
many  persons live all their lives      
without gratifying the other sense4 ,the
  longer the craving after food is      
unsatisfied1 the more violent1          
imperious1 and uncontroulable the desire
 becomes2 whereas the longer the        
gratification of the sexual passion is  
resisted1 the greater force does  habit 
and resolution acquire over it2 and1    

generally speaking1 it is a  well-known 
fact1 attested by all observation and   
history1 that this  latter passion is   
subject more or less to controul from   
personal  feelings and character1 from  
public opinions and the institutions of 
society1 so as to lead either to a      
lawful and regulated indulgence1 or  to 
partial or total abstinence1 according  
to the dictates of moral  restraint1    
which latter check to the inordinate    
excesses and unheard-of  consequences of
 the principle of population1 our       
author1 having no  longer an extreme    
case to make out1 admits and is willing 
to patronize  in addition to the two    
former and exclusive ones of vice and   
misery1  in the second and remaining    
editions of his work4 ,mr4 ,malthus has 
shown  some awkwardness or even         
reluctance in softening down the        
harshness of  his first peremptory      
decision4 ,he sometimes grants his grand
 exception  cordially1 proceeds to argue
 stoutly1 and to try conclusions upon   

it2 at  other times he seems disposed to
 cavil about or retract it3--#8the      
influence of moral restraint is very    
inconsiderable1 or none at all4' ,it  is
 indeed difficult 7more particularly for
 so formal and nice a reasoner  as ,mr4 
,malthus7 to piece such contradictions  
plausibly or gracefully  together4 ,we  
wonder how he manages it--how any one   
should attempt it6  ,the whole question1
 the gist of the argument of his early  
volume  turned upon this1 #8,whether    
vice and misery were the only actual or 
possible checks to the principle of     
population8' ,he then said they were1   
and farewell to building castles in the 
air3 he now says that moral  restraint  
is to be coupled with these1 and that   
its influence depends  greatly on the   
state of laws and manners--and ,utopia  
stands where it did1  a great way off   
indeed1 but not turned topsy-turvy by   
our magician's  wand6 ,should we ever   
arrive there1 that is1 attain to a state
 of  perfect moral restraint1 we shall  

not be driven headlong back into        
,epicurus's stye for want of the only   
possible checks to population1  vice and
 misery2 and in proportion as we advance
 that way1 that is1  as the influence of
 moral restraint is extended1 the       
necessity for vice  and misery will be  
diminished1 instead of being increased  
according to  the first alarm given by  
the ,essay4 ,again1 the advance of      
civilization  and of population in      
consequence with the same degree of     
moral restraint  7as there exists in    
,england at this present time1 for      
instance7 is a  good1 and not an        
evil--but this does not appear from the 
,essay4 ,the ,essay  shows that         
population is not 7as had been sometimes
 taken for granted7  an abstract and    
unqualified good2 but it led many       
persons to suppose  that it was an      
abstract and unqualified evil1 to be    
checked only by vice  and misery2 and   
producing1 according to its             
encouragement a greater  quantity of    

vice and misery2 and this error the     
author has not been at  sufficient pains
 to do away4 ,another thing1 in which   
,mr4 ,malthus  attempted to clench      
,wallace's argument1 was in giving to   
the  disproportionate power of increase 
in the principle of population and  the 
supply of food a mathematical form1 or  
reducing it to the  arithmetical and    
geometrical ratios1 in which we believe 
,mr4 ,malthus is  now generally         
admitted1 even by his friends and       
admirers1 to have been  wrong4 ,there is
 evidently no inherent difference in the
 principle of  increase in food or      
population2 since a grain of corn1 for  
example1 will  propagate and multiply   
itself much faster even than the human  
species4 ,a  bushel of wheat will sow a 
field2 that field will furnish seed for 
twenty others4 ,so that the limit to the
 means of subsistence is only the  want 
of room to raise it in1 or1 as ,wallace 
expresses it1 #8a limited  fertility and
 a limited earth4' ,up to the point     

where the earth or any  given country is
 fully occupied or cultivated1 the means
 of subsistence  naturally increase in a
 geometrical ratio1 and will more than  
keep pace  with the natural and         
unrestrained progress of population2 and
 beyond  that point1 they do not go on  
increasing even in ,mr4 ,malthus's      
arithmetical ratio1 but are stationary  
or nearly so4 ,so far1 then1 is  this   
proportion from being universally and   
mathematically true1 that in  no part of
 the world or state of society does it  
hold good4 ,but our  theorist1 by laying
 down this double ratio as a law of     
nature1 gains  this advantage1 that at  
all times it seems as if1 whether in new
 or  old-peopled countries1 in fertile  
or barren soils1 the population was     
pressing hard on the means of           
subsistence2 and again1 it seems as if  
the  evil increased with the progress of
 improvement and civilization2 for if   
you cast your eye at the scale which is 
supposed to be calculated upon  true and

 infallible data1 you find that when the
 population is at #h1  the means of     
subsistence are at #d2 so that here     
there is only a  deficit of one-half2   
but when it is at #cb1 they have only   
got to #f1 so  that here there is a     
difference of #bf in #cb1 and so on in  
proportion2  the farther we proceed1 the
 more enormous is the mass of vice and  
misery  we must undergo1 as a           
consequence of the natural excess of the
  population over the means of          
subsistence and as a salutary check to  
its  farther desolating progress4 ,the  
mathematical ,table1 placed at the front
  of the ,essay1 therefore leads to a   
secret suspicion or a barefaced         
assumption1 that we ought in mere       
kindness and compassion to give every   
sort of indirect and under-hand         
encouragement 7to say the least7 to the 
providential checks of vice and misery2 
as the sooner we arrest this  formidable
 and paramount evil in its course1 the  
less opportunity we  leave it of doing  

incalculable mischief4 ,accordingly1    
whenever there is  the least talk of    
colonizing new countries1 of extending  
the population1  or adding to social    
comforts and improvements1 ,mr4 ,malthus
 conjures up  his double ratios1 and    
insists on the alarming results of      
advancing them  a single step forward in
 the series4 ,by the same rule1 it would
 be  better to return at once to a state
 of barbarism2 and to take the  benefit 
of acorns and scuttle-fish1 as a        
security against the luxuries  and wants
 of civilized life4 ,but it is not our  
ingenious author's wish  to hint at or  
recommend any alterations in existing   
institutions2 and he  is therefore      
silent on that unpalatable part of the  
subject and natural  inference from his 
principles4    ,mr4 ,malthus's #8gospel 
is preached to the poor4' ,he lectures  
them on  economy1 on morality1 the      
regulation of their passions 7which1 he 
says1  at other times1 are amenable to  
no restraint7 and on the ungracious     

topic1 that #8the laws of nature1 which 
are the laws of ,god1 have doomed  them 
and their families to starve for want of
 a right to the smallest  portion of    
food beyond what their labour will      
supply1 or some charitable  hand may    
hold out in compassion4' ,this is       
illiberal1 and it is not  philosophical4
 ,the laws of nature or of ,god1 to     
which the author  appeals1 are no other 
than a limited fertility and a limited  
earth4  ,within those bounds1 the rest  
is regulated by the laws of man4 ,the   
division of the produce of the soil1 the
 price of labour1 the relief  afforded  
to the poor1 are matters of human       
arrangement3 while any  charitable hand 
can extend relief1 it is a proof that   
the means of  subsistence are not       
exhausted in themselves1 that the       
#8tables are not  full6' ,mr4 ,malthus  
says that the laws of nature1 which are 
the laws of  ,god1 have rendered that   
relief physically impossible2 and yet he
 would  abrogate the poor-laws by an act

 of the legislature1 in order to take   
away that impossible relief1 which the  
laws of ,god deny1 and which the  laws  
of man actually afford4 ,we cannot think
 that this view of his  subject1 which  
is prominent and dwelt on at great      
length and with much  pertinacity1 is   
dictated either by rigid logic or       
melting charity6 ,a  labouring man is   
not allowed to knock down a hare or a   
partridge that  spoils his garden3 a    
country-squire keeps a pack of hounds3 a
 lady of  quality rides out with a      
footman behind her1 on two sleek1       
well-fed  horses4 ,we have not a word to
 say against all this as exemplifying   
the  spirit of the ,english             
,constitution1 as a part of the law of  
the land1 or  as an artful distribution 
of light and shade in the social        
picture2 but  if any one insists at the 
same time that #8the laws of nature1    
which are  the laws of ,god1 have doomed
 the poor and their families to starve1'
  because the principle of population   

has encroached upon and swallowed up    
the means of subsistence1 so that not a 
mouthful of food is left by the         
grinding law of necessity for the poor1 
we beg leave to deny both fact  and     
inference--and we put it to ,mr4        
,malthus whether we are not1 in         
strictness1 justified in doing so8      
,we have1 perhaps1 said enough to       
explain our feeling on the subject of   
,mr4 ,malthus's merits and defects4 ,we 
think he had the opportunity and  the   
means in his hands of producing a great 
work on the principle of  population2   
but we believe he has let it slip from  
his having an eye to  other things      
besides that broad and unexplored       
question4 ,he wished not  merely to     
advance to the discovery of certain     
great and valuable truths1  but at the  
same time to overthrow certain          
unfashionable paradoxes by  exaggerated 
statements--to curry favour with        
existing prejudices and  interests by   
garbled representations4 ,he has1 in a  

word1 as it appears  to us on a candid  
retrospect and without any feelings of  
controversial  asperity rankling in our 
minds1 sunk the philosopher and the     
friend of  his species 7a character to  
which he might have aspired7 in the     
sophist  and party-writer4 ,the period  
at which ,mr4 ,malthus came forward     
teemed  with answers to ,modern         
,philosophy1 with antidotes to liberty  
and  humanity1 with abusive ,histories  
of the ,greek and ,roman republics1 with
  fulsome panegyrics on the ,roman      
,emperors 7at the very time when we were
  reviling ,buonaparte for his strides  
to universal empire7 with the slime  and
 offal of desperate servility--and we   
cannot but consider the ,essay as  one  
of the poisonous ingredients thrown into
 the cauldron of ,legitimacy  #8to make 
it thick and slab4' ,our author has1    
indeed1 so far done service  to the     
cause of truth1 that he has counteracted
 many capital errors  formerly          
prevailing as to the universal and      

indiscriminate encouragement  of        
population under all circumstances2 but 
he has countenanced opposite  errors1   
which if adopted in theory and practice 
would be even more  mischievous1 and has
 left it to future philosophers to      
follow up the  principle1 that some     
check must be provided for the          
unrestrained  progress of population1   
into a set of wiser and more humane     
consequences4 ,mr4 ,godwin has lately   
attempted an answer to the ,essay  7thus
 giving ,mr4 ,malthus a ,roland for his 
,oliver7 but we think he has  judged ill
 in endeavouring to invalidate the      
principle1 instead of  confining himself
 to point out the misapplication of it4 
,there is one  argument introduced in   
this ,reply1 which will1 perhaps1 amuse 
the reader  as a sort of metaphysical   
puzzle4    #8,it has sometimes occurred 
to me whether ,mr4 ,malthus did not     
catch the  first hint of his geometrical
 ratio from a curious passage of ,judge 
,blackstone1 on consanguinity1 which is 

as follows3--    #8,the doctrine of     
lineal consanguinity is sufficiently    
plain and obvious2  but it is at the    
first view astonishing to consider the  
number of lineal  ancestors which every 
man has within no very great number of  
degrees2  and so many different bloods  
is a man said to contain in his veins1  
as  he hath lineal ancestors4 ,of these 
he hath two in the first ascending      
degree1 his own parents2 he hath four in
 the second1 the parents of his  father 
and the parents of his mother2 he hath  
eight in the third1 the  parents of his 
two grandfathers and two grand-mothers2 
and by the same  rule of progression1 he
 hath an hundred and twenty-eight in the
 seventh2  a thousand and twenty-four in
 the tenth2 and at the twentieth degree1
 or  the distance of twenty generations1
 every man hath above a million of      
ancestors1 as common arithmetic will    
demonstrate4    #8,this will seem       
surprising to those who are unacquainted
 with the  increasing power of          

progressive numbers2 but is palpably    
evident from  the following table of a  
geometrical progression1 in which the   
first  term is #b1 and the denominator  
also #b2 or1 to speak more intelligibly1
  it is evident1 for that each of us has
 two ancestors in the first  degree2 the
 number of which is doubled at every    
remove1 because each of  our ancestors  
had also two ancestors of his own4      
,lineal ,degrees4 ,number of ,ancestors4
                                    #a  
#b                                  #b  
#d                                  #c  
#h                                  #d  
#af                                  #e 
#cb                                  #f 
#fd                                  #g 
#abh                                  #h
                    #bef                
#i                    #eab              
#aj                   #ajbd             
#aa                   #bjdh             
#ab                   #djif             
#ac                   #haib             

#ad                 #af1chd             
#ae                 #cb1gfh             
#af                 #fe1ecf             
#ag                #aca1jgb             
#ah                #bfb1add             
#ai                #ebd1bhh             
#bj              #a1jdh1egf    #8,this  
argument1 however1' 7proceeds ,mr4      
,godwin7 #8from ,judge ,blackstone  of a
 geometrical progression would much more
 naturally apply to  ,montesquieu's     
hypothesis of the depopulation of the   
world1 and prove  that the human species
 is hastening fast to extinction1 than  
to the  purpose for which ,mr4 ,malthus 
has employed it4 ,an ingenious sophism  
might be raised upon it1 to show that   
the race of mankind will  ultimately    
terminate in unity4 ,mr4 ,malthus1      
indeed1 should have  reflected1 that it 
is much more certain that every man has 
had ancestors  than that he will have   
posterity1 and that it is still more    
doubtful1  whether he will have         
posterity to twenty or to an indefinite 

number of  generations4'--,,enquiry     
,,concerning ,,population1 p4 #ajj4     
,mr4 ,malthus's style is correct and    
elegant2 his tone of controversy mild   
and gentlemanly2 and the care with which
 he has brought his facts and  documents
 together1 deserves the highest praise4 
,he has lately quitted  his favourite   
subject of population1 and broke a lance
 with ,mr4 ,ricardo  on the question of 
rent and value4 ,the partisans of ,mr4  
,ricardo1 who are  also the admirers of 
,mr4 ,malthus1 say that the usual       
sagacity of the  latter has here failed 
him1 and that he has shown himself to be
 a very  illogical writer4 ,to have said
 this of him formerly on another ground1
  was accounted a heresy and a piece of 
presumption not easily to be  forgiven4 
,indeed ,mr4 ,malthus has always been a 
sort of #8darling in the  public eye1'  
whom it was unsafe to meddle with4 ,he  
has contrived to make  himself as many  
friends by his attacks on the schemes of
 ,human  ,perfectibility and on the     

,poor-,laws1 as ,mandeville formerly    
procured  enemies by his attacks on     
,human ,perfections and on              
,charity-,schools2  and among other     
instances that we might mention1 ,plug  
,pulteney1 the  celebrated miser1 of    
whom ,mr4 ,burke said on his having a   
large estate  left him1 #8that now it   
was to be hoped he would set up a       
pocket-handkerchief1' was so enamoured  
with the saving schemes and  humane     
economy of the ,essay1 that he desired a
 friend to find out the  author and     
offer him a church living6 ,this liberal
 intention was 7by  design or accident7 
unhappily frustrated4                   
,,mr4 ,,gifford      ,mr4 ,gifford was  
originally bred to some handicraft3 he  
afterwards  contrived to learn ,latin1  
and was for some time an usher in a     
school1  till he became a tutor in a    
nobleman's family4 ,the low-bred1       
self-taught  man1 the pedant1 and the   
dependant on the great contribute to    
form the  ,editor of the ,quarterly     

,review4 ,he is admirably qualified for 
this  situation1 which he has held for  
some years1 by a happy combination of   
defects1 natural and acquired2 and in   
the event of his death1 it will be      
difficult to provide him a suitable     
successor4    ,mr4 ,gifford has no      
pretensions to be thought a man of      
genius1 of taste1  or even of general   
knowledge4 ,he merely understands the   
mechanical and  instrumental part of    
learning4 ,he is a critic of the last   
age1 when the  different editions of an 
author1 or the dates of his several     
performances were all that occupied the 
inquiries of a profound scholar1  and   
the spirit of the writer or the beauties
 of his style were left to  shift for   
themselves1 or exercise the fancy of the
 light and superficial  reader4 ,in     
studying an old author1 he has no notion
 of any thing beyond  adjusting a point1
 proposing a different reading1 or      
correcting1 by the  collation of various
 copies1 an error of the press4 ,in     

appreciating a  modern one1 if it is an 
enemy1 the first thing he thinks of is  
to charge  him with bad grammar--he     
scans his sentences instead of weighing 
his  sense2 or1 if it is a friend1 the  
highest compliment he conceives it      
possible to pay him is1 that his        
thoughts and expressions are moulded on 
some hackneyed model4 ,his standard of  
ideal perfection is what he  himself now
 is1 a person of mediocre literary      
attainments3 his utmost  contempt is    
shown by reducing any one to what he    
himself once was1 a  person without the 
ordinary advantages of education and    
learning4 ,it is  accordingly assumed1  
with much complacency in his critical   
pages1 that  ,tory writers are classical
 and courtly as a matter of course2 as  
it is a  standing jest and evident      
truism1 that ,whigs and ,reformers must 
be  persons of low birth and            
breeding--imputations from one of which 
he  himself has narrowly escaped1 and   
both of which he holds in suitable      

abhorrence4 ,he stands over a           
contemporary performance with all the   
self-conceit and self-importance of a   
country schoolmaster1 tries it by       
technical rules1 affects not to         
understand the meaning1 examines the    
hand-writing1 the spelling1 shrugs up   
his shoulders and chuckles over a  slip 
of the pen1 and keeps a sharp look-out  
for a false concord and--a  flogging4   
,there is nothing liberal1 nothing      
humane in his style of  judging3 it is  
altogether petty1 captious1 and literal4
 ,the ,editor's  political subserviency 
adds the last finishing to his          
ridiculous  pedantry and vanity4 ,he has
 all his life been a follower in the    
train of  wealth and power--strives to  
back his pretensions on ,parnassus by a 
place  at court1 and to gild his        
reputation as a man of letters by the   
smile of  greatness4 ,he thinks his     
works are stamped with additional value 
by  having his name in the ,red-,book4  
,he looks up to the distinctions of     

rank and station as he does to those of 
learning1 with the gross and            
over-weening adulation of his early     
origin4 ,all his notions are low1       
upstart1 servile4 ,he thinks it the     
highest honour to a poet to be          
patronised by a peer or by some dowager 
of quality4 ,he is prouder of a         
court-livery than of a laurel-wreath2   
and is only sure of having  established 
his claims to respectability by having  
sacrificed those of  independence4 ,he  
is a retainer to the ,muses2 a          
door-keeper to learning2  a lacquey in  
the state4 ,he believes that modern     
literature should wear  the fetters of  
classical antiquity2 that truth is to be
 weighed in the  scales of opinion and  
prejudice2 that power is equivalent to  
right2 that  genius is dependent on     
rules2 that taste and refinement of     
language  consist in word-catching4     
,many persons suppose that ,mr4 ,gifford
 knows  better than he pretends2 and    
that he is shrewd1 artful1 and          

designing4  ,but perhaps it may be      
nearer the mark to suppose that his     
dulness is  guarantee for his sincerity2
 or that before he is the tool of the   
profligacy of others1 he is the dupe of 
his own jaundiced feelings1 and  narrow1
 hood-winked perceptions4               
#8,destroy his fib or sophistry3 in     
vain--                  ,the creature's 
at his dirty work again6'    ,but this  
is less from choice or perversity1 than 
because he cannot help  it and can do   
nothing else4 ,he damns a beautiful     
expression less out of  spite than      
because he really does not understand   
it3 any novelty of  thought or sentiment
 gives him a shock from which he cannot 
recover for  some time1 and he naturally
 takes his revenge for the alarm and    
uneasiness occasioned him1 without      
referring to venal or party motives4    
,he garbles an author's meaning1 not so 
much wilfully1 as because it is a  pain 
to him to enlarge his microscopic view  
to take in the context1 when  a         

particular sentence or passage has      
struck him as quaint and out of the     
way3 he fly-blows an author's style1 and
 picks out detached words and  phrases  
for cynical reprobation1 simply because 
he feels himself at  home1 or takes a   
pride and pleasure in this sort of petty
 warfare4 ,he is  tetchy and impatient  
of contradiction2 sore with wounded     
pride2 angry at  obvious faults1 more   
angry at unforeseen beauties4 ,he has   
the  chalk-stones in his understanding1 
and from being used to long             
confinement1 cannot bear the slightest  
jostling or irregularity of  motion4 ,he
 may call out with the fellow in the    
,tempest--#8,i am not  ,stephano1 but a 
cramp6' ,he would go back to the        
standard of opinions1  style1 the faded 
ornaments1 and insipid formalities that 
came into  fashion about forty years    
ago4 ,flashes of thought1 flights of    
fancy1  idiomatic expressions1 he sets  
down among the signs of the times--the  
extraordinary occurrences of the age we 

live in4 ,they are marks of a  restless 
and revolutionary spirit3 they disturb  
his composure of mind1  and threaten 7by
 implication7 the safety of the state4  
,his slow1  snail-paced1 bed-rid habits 
of reasoning1 cannot keep up with the   
whirling1 eccentric motion1 the rapid1  
perhaps extravagant combinations  of    
modern literature4 ,he has long been    
stationary himself1 and is  determined  
that others shall remain so4 ,the       
hazarding a paradox is like  letting off
 a pistol close to his ear3 he is       
alarmed and offended4 ,the  using an    
elliptical mode of expression 7such as  
he did not use to find  in ,guides to   
the ,english ,tongue7 jars him like     
coming suddenly to a step  in a flight  
of stairs that you were not aware of4   
,he pishes and  pshaws at all this1     
exercises a sort of interjectional      
criticism on  what excites his spleen1  
his envy1 or his wonder1 and hurls his  
meagre  anathemas ex cathedr at all     
those writers who are indifferent alike 

to his precepts and his example6    ,mr4
 ,gifford1 in short1 is possessed of    
that sort of learning which is  likely  
to result from an over-anxious desire to
 supply the want of the  first rudiments
 of education2 that sort of wit1 which  
is the offspring  of ill-humour or      
bodily pain2 that sort of sense1 which  
arises from a  spirit of contradiction  
and a disposition to cavil at and       
dispute the  opinions of others2 and    
that sort of reputation1 which is the   
consequence of bowing to established    
authority and ministerial  influence4   
,he dedicates to some great man1 and    
receives his compliments  in return4 ,he
 appeals to some great name1 and the    
,under-graduates of the  two            
,universities look up to him as an      
oracle of wisdom4 ,he throws the  weight
 of his verbal criticism and puny       
discoveries in black-letter  reading    
into the gap1 that is supposed to be    
making in the ,constitution  by ,whigs  
and ,radicals1 whom he qualifies without

 mercy as dunces and  miscreants2 and so
 entitles himself to the protection of  
,church and  ,state4 ,the character of  
his mind is an utter want of            
independence and  magnanimity in all    
that he attempts4 ,he cannot go alone1  
he must have  crutches1 a go-cart and   
trammels1 or he is timid1 fretful1 and  
helpless  as a child4 ,he cannot        
conceive of any thing different from    
what he finds  it1 and hates those who  
pretend to a greater reach of intellect 
or  boldness of spirit than himself4 ,he
 inclines1 by a natural and  deliberate 
bias1 to the traditional in laws and    
government2 to the  orthodox in         
religion2 to the safe in opinion2 to the
 trite in  imagination2 to the technical
 in style2 to whatever implies a        
surrender  of individual judgment into  
the hands of authority1 and a subjection
 of  individual feeling to mechanic     
rules4 ,if he finds any one flying in   
the  face of these1 or straggling from  
the beaten path1 he thinks he has them  

at a notable disadvantage1 and falls    
foul of them without loss of time1      
partly to soothe his own sense of       
mortified self-consequence1 and as an   
edifying spectacle to his legitimate    
friends4 ,he takes none but unfair      
advantages4 ,he twits his adversaries   
7that is1 those who are not in  the     
leading-strings of his school or party7 
with some personal or  accidental       
defect4 ,if a writer has been punished  
for a political libel1  he is sure to   
hear of it in a literary criticism4 ,if 
a lady goes on  crutches and is out of  
favour at court1 she is reminded of it  
in ,mr4  ,gifford's manly satire4 ,he   
sneers at people of low birth or who    
have not  had a college education1      
partly to hide his own want of certain  
advantages1 partly as well-timed        
flattery to those who possess them4 ,he 
has a right to laugh at poor1           
unfriended1 untitled genius from wearing
  the livery of rank and letters1 as    
footmen behind a coronet-coach laugh  at

 the rabble4 ,he keeps good company1 and
 forgets himself4 ,he stands at  the    
door of ,mr4 ,murray's shop1 and will   
not let any body pass but the           
well-dressed mob1 or some followers of  
the court4 ,to edge into the  ,quarterly
 ,temple of ,fame the candidate must    
have a diploma from the  ,universities1 
a passport from the ,treasury4          
,otherwise1 it is a breach of  etiquette
 to let him pass1 an insult to the      
better sort who aspire to  the love of  
letters--and may chance to drop in to   
the ,feast of the  ,poets4 ,or1 if he   
cannot manage it thus1 or get rid of the
 claim on the  bare ground of poverty or
 want of school-learning1 he trumps up  
an  excuse for the occasion1 such as    
that #8a man was confined in ,newgate a 
short time before'--it is not a lie on  
the part of the critic1 it is  only an  
amiable subserviency to the will of his 
betters1 like that of a  menial who is  
ordered to deny his master1 a sense of  
propriety1 a  knowledge of the world1 a 

poetical and moral license4 ,such       
fellows 7such  is his cue from his      
employers7 should at any rate be kept   
out of  privileged places3 persons who  
have been convicted of prose-libels     
ought  not to be suffered to write      
poetry--if the fact was not exactly as  
it was  stated1 it was something of the 
kind1 or it ought to have been so1 the  
assertion was a pious fraud1--the       
public1 the court1 the prince himself   
might read the work1 but for this mark  
of opprobrium set upon it--it was  not  
to be endured that an insolent plebeian 
should aspire to elegance1  taste1      
fancy--it was throwing down the barriers
 which ought to separate  the higher and
 the lower classes1 the loyal and the   
disloyal--the  paraphrase of the story  
of ,dante was therefore to perform      
quarantine1 it  was to seem not yet     
recovered from the gaol infection1 there
 was to be a  taint upon it1 as there   
was none in it--and all this was        
performed by a  single slip of ,mr4     

,gifford's pen6 ,we would willingly     
believe 7if we  could7 that in this case
 there was as much weakness and         
prejudice as  there was malice and      
cunning4--,again1 we do not think it    
possible that  under any circumstances  
the writer of the ,verses to ,anna could
 enter  into the spirit or delicacy of  
,mr4 ,keats's poetry4 ,the fate of the  
latter somewhat resembled that of       
#8a bud bit by an envious worm1         
,ere it could spread its sweet leaves to
 the air1              ,or dedicate its 
beauty to the sun4'    ,mr4 ,keats's    
ostensible crime was that he had been   
praised in the  ,examiner ,newspaper3 a 
greater and more unpardonable offence   
probably  was1 that he was a true poet1 
with all the errors and beauties of     
youthful genius to answer for4 ,mr4     
,gifford was as insensible to the one   
as he was inexorable to the other4 ,let 
the reader judge from the two  subjoined
 specimens how far the one writer could 
ever1 without a  presumption equalled   

only by a want of self-knowledge1 set   
himself in  judgment on the other4      
#8,out went the taper as she hurried in2
            ,its little smoke in pallid 
moonshine died3            ,she closed  
the door1 she panted1 all akin          
,to spirits of the air and visions wide3
            ,no utter'd syllable1 or woe
 betide6            ,but to her heart1  
her heart was voluble1                  
,paining with eloquence her balmy side2 
,as though a tongueless nightingale     
should swell        ,her heart in vain1 
and die1 heart-stifled1 in her dell4    
#8,a casement high and triple-arch'd    
there was1            ,all garlanded    
with carven imag'ries            ,of    
fruits1 and flowers1 and bunches of     
knot-grass1            ,and diamonded   
with panes of quaint device1            
,innumerable of stains and splendid     
dyes1            ,as are the            
tiger-moth's deep-damask'd wings2       
,and in the midst1 'mong thousand       
heraldries1            ,and twilight    

saints and dim emblazonings1        ,a  
shielded scutcheon blush'd with blood of
 queens and kings4              #8,full 
on this casement shone the wintry moon1 
,and threw warm gules on ,madeline's    
fair breast1            ,as down she    
knelt for ,heaven's grace and boon2     
,rose-bloom fell on her hands1 together 
prest1            ,and on her silver    
cross soft amethyst1            ,and on 
her hair a glory1 like a saint3         
,she seem'd a splendid angel1 newly     
drest1            ,save wings1 for      
heaven3--,porphyro grew faint3          
,she knelt1 so pure a thing1 so free    
from mortal taint4             #8,anon  
his heart revives3 her vespers done1    
,of all its wreathed pearls her hair she
 frees2            ,unclasps her warmed 
jewels one by one2            ,loosens  
her fragrant boddice2 by degrees        
,her rich attire creeps rustling to her 
knees3            ,half-hidden1 like a  
mermaid in sea-weed1            ,pensive
 awhile she dreams awake1 and sees1     

,in fancy1 fair ,st4 ,agnes in her bed1 
,but dares not look behind1 or all the  
charm is fled4              #8,soon     
trembling in her soft and chilly nest1  
,in sort of wakeful swoon1 perplex'd she
 lay1            ,until the poppied     
warmth of sleep oppress'd               
,her soothed limbs1 and soul fatigued   
away            ,flown1 like a thought1 
until the morrow-day3                   
,blissfully haven'd both from joy and   
pain2            ,clasp'd like a missal 
where swart ,paynims pray2              
,blinded alike from sunshine and from   
rain1        ,as though a rose should   
shut1 and be a bud again4'              
,,eve ,,of ,,st4 ,,agnes4    ,with the  
rich beauties and the dim obscurities of
 lines like these1 let  us contrast the 
,verses addressed ,to a ,tuft of early  
,violets by the  fastidious author of   
the ,baviad and ,mviad4--               
#8,sweet flowers6 that from your humble 
beds                ,thus prematurely   
dare to rise1              ,and trust   

your unprotected heads                  
,to cold ,aquarius' watery skies4       
#8,retire1 retire6 ,these tepid airs    
,are not the genial brood of ,may2      
,that sun with light malignant glares1  
,and flatters only to betray4           
#8,stern ,winter's reign is not yet     
past--                ,lo6 while your   
buds prepare to blow1              ,on  
icy pinions comes the blast1            
,and nips your root1 and lays you low4  
#8,alas1 for such ungentle doom6        
,but ,i will shield you2 and supply     
,a kindlier soil on which to bloom1     
,a nobler bed on which to die4          
#8,come then--#8ere yet the morning ray 
,has drunk the dew that gems your crest1
              ,and drawn your balmiest  
sweets away2                ,o come and 
grace my ,anna's breast4                
#8,ye droop1 fond flowers6 ,but did ye  
know                ,what worth1 what   
goodness there reside1                  
,your cups with liveliest tints would   
glow2                ,and spread their  

leaves with conscious pride4            
#8,for there has liberal ,nature joined 
,her riches to the stores of ,art1      
,and added to the vigorous mind         
,the soft1 the sympathising heart4      
#8,come then--#8ere yet the morning ray 
,has drunk the dew that gems your crest1
              ,and drawn your balmiest  
sweets away2                ,o come and 
grace my ,anna's breast4                
#8,o6 ,i should think--that fragrant bed
                ,might ,i but hope with 
you to share--#ed              ,years of
 anxiety repaid                ,by one  
short hour of transport there4          
#8,more blest than me1 thus shall ye    
live                ,your little day2   
and when ye die1              ,sweet    
flowers6 the grateful ,muse shall give  
,a verse2 the sorrowing maid1 a sigh4   
#8,while ,i alas6 no distant date1      
,mix with the dust from whence ,i came1 
,without a friend to weep my fate1      
,without a stone to tell my name4'      
,we subjoin one more specimen of these  

#8wild strains'#ee said to be           
#8,written two years after the          
preceding4' ,,ecce ,,iterum ,,crispinus4
                 #8,i wish ,i was where 
,anna lies2                 ,for ,i am  
sick of lingering here1                 
,and every hour ,affection cries1       
,go1 and partake her humble bier4       
#8,i wish ,i could6 for when she died   
,i lost my all2 and life has prov'd     
,since that sad hour a dreary void1     
,a waste unlovely and unlov'd4          
#8,but who1 when ,i am turned to clay1  
,shall duly to her grave repair1        
,and pluck the ragged moss away1        
,and weeds that have 8no business       
there80                 #8,and who1 with
 pious hand1 shall bring                
,the flowers she cherish'd1 snow-drops  
cold1               ,and violets that   
unheeded spring1                 ,to    
scatter o'er her hallowed mould8        
#8,and who1 while ,memory loves to dwell
                 ,upon her name for ever
 dear1               ,shall feel his    

heart with passions swell1              
,and pour the bitter1 bitter tear8      
#8,i ,,did ,,it2 and would fate allow1  
,should visit still1 should still       
deplore--               ,but health and 
strength have left me now1              
,but ,i1 alas6 can weep no more4        
#8,take then1 sweet maid6 this simple   
strain1                 ,the last ,i    
offer at thy shrine2               ,thy 
grave must then undeck'd remain1        
,and all thy memory fade with mine4     
#8,and can thy soft persuasive look1    
,that voice that might with music vie1  
,thy air that every gazer took1         
,thy matchless eloquence of eye1        
#8,thy spirits1 frolicsome as good1     
,thy courage1 by no ills dismay'd1      
,thy patience1 by no wrongs subdued1    
,thy gay good-humour--can they 8fade80  
#8,perhaps--but sorrow dims my eye3     
,cold turf1 which ,i no more must view1 
,dear name1 which ,i no more must sigh1 
,a long1 a last1 a sad adieu6'    ,it   
may be said in extenuation of the low1  

mechanic vein of these  impoverished    
lines1 that they were written at an     
early age--they were the  inspired      
production of a youthful lover6 ,mr4    
,gifford was thirty when he  wrote them1
 ,mr4 ,keats died when he was scarce    
twenty6 ,farther it may be  said1 that  
,mr4 ,gifford hazarded his first        
poetical attempts under all  the        
disadvantages of a neglected education3 
but the same circumstance1  together    
with a few unpruned redundancies of     
fancy and quaintnesses of  expression1  
was made the plea on which ,mr4 ,keats  
was hooted out of the  world1 and his   
fine talents and wounded sensibilities  
consigned to an  early grave4 ,in short1
 the treatment of this heedless         
candidate for  poetical fame might serve
 as a warning1 and was intended to serve
 as a  warning to all unfledged tyros1  
how they venture upon any such doubtful 
experiments1 except under the auspices  
of some lord of the bedchamber or       
,government ,aristarchus1 and how they  

imprudently associate themselves  with  
men of mere popular talent or           
independence of feeling6--,it is the    
same in prose works4 ,the ,editor scorns
 to enter the lists of argument  with   
any proscribed writer of the opposite   
party4 ,he does not refute1  but        
denounces him4 ,he makes no concessions 
to an adversary1 lest they  should in   
some way be turned against him4 ,he only
 feels himself safe in  the fancied     
insignificance of others3 he only feels 
himself superior to  those whom he      
stigmatizes as the lowest of mankind4   
,all persons are  without common-sense  
and honesty who do not believe          
implicitly 7with  him7 in the           
immaculateness of ,ministers and the    
divine origin of ,kings4  ,thus he      
informed the world that the author of   
,,table-,,talk was a person  who could  
not write a sentence of common ,english 
and could hardly spell  his own name1   
because he was not a friend to the      
restoration of the  ,bourbons1 and had  

the assurance to write ,characters of   
,shakespear's  ,plays in a style of     
criticism somewhat different from ,mr4  
,gifford's4 ,he  charged this writer    
with imposing on the public by a flowery
 style2 and  when the latter ventured to
 refer to a work of his1 called ,an     
,essay on  the ,principles of ,human    
,action1 which has not a single ornament
 in it1  as a specimen of his original  
studies and the proper bias of his mind1
  the learned critic1 with a shrug of   
great self-satisfaction1 said1 #8,it    
was amusing to see this person1 sitting 
like one of ,brouwer's ,dutch  boors    
over his gin and tobacco-pipes1 and     
fancying himself a ,leibnitz6'  ,the    
question was1 whether the subject of    
,mr4 ,gifford's censure had ever        
written such a work or not2 for if he   
had1 he had amused himself with         
something besides gin and tobacco-pipes4
 ,but our ,editor1 by virtue of  the    
situation he holds1 is superior to facts
 or arguments3 he is  accountable       

neither to the public nor to authors for
 what he says of  them1 but owes it to  
his employers to prejudice the work and 
vilify the  writer1 if the latter is not
 avowedly ready to range himself on the 
stronger side4--,the ,quarterly ,review1
 besides the political tirades  and     
denunciations of suspected writers1     
intended for the guidance of the  heads 
of families1 is filled up with accounts 
of books of ,voyages and  ,travels for  
the amusement of the younger branches4  
,the poetical  department is almost a   
sinecure1 consisting of mere summary    
decisions  and a list of quotations4    
,mr4 ,croker is understood to contribute
 the ,st4  ,helena articles and the     
liberality1 ,mr4 ,canning the practical 
good  sense1 ,mr4 ,d',israeli the       
good-nature1 ,mr4 ,jacob the modesty1   
,mr4 ,southey  the consistency1 and the 
,editor himself the chivalrous spirit   
and the  attacks on ,lady ,morgan4 ,it  
is a double crime1 and excites a double 
portion of spleen in the ,editor1 when  

female writers are not advocates  of    
passive obedience and non-resistance4   
,this ,journal1 then1 is a  depository  
for every species of political sophistry
 and personal  calumny4 ,there is no    
abuse or corruption that does not there 
find a  jesuitical palliation or a      
barefaced vindication4 ,there we meet   
the  slime of hypocrisy1 the varnish of 
courts1 the cant of pedantry1 the       
cobwebs of the law1 the iron hand of    
power4 ,its object is as mischievous  as
 the means by which it is pursued are   
odious4 ,the intention is to  poison the
 sources of public opinion and of       
individual fame--to pervert  literature1
 from being the natural ally of freedom 
and humanity1 into an  engine of        
priestcraft and despotism1 and to       
undermine the spirit of the  ,english   
constitution and the independence of the
 ,english character4 ,the  ,editor and  
his friends systematically explode every
 principle of  liberty1 laugh patriotism
 and public spirit to scorn1 resent     

every  pretence to integrity as a piece 
of singularity or insolence1 and strike 
at the root of all free inquiry or      
discussion1 by running down every       
writer as a vile scribbler and a bad    
member of society1 who is not a         
hireling and a slave4 ,no means are     
stuck at in accomplishing this  laudable
 end4 ,strong in patronage1 they trample
 on truth1 justice1 and  decency4 ,they 
claim the privilege of court-favourites4
 ,they keep as  little faith with the   
public1 as with their opponents4 ,no    
statement in  the ,quarterly ,review is 
to be trusted3 there is no fact that is 
not  misrepresented in it1 no quotation 
that is not garbled1 no character  that 
is not slandered1 if it can answer the  
purposes of a party to do  so4 ,the     
weight of power1 of wealth1 of rank is  
thrown into the scale1  gives its       
impulse to the machine2 and the whole is
 under the guidance of  ,mr4 ,gifford's 
instinctive genius--of the inborn hatred
 of servility for  independence1 of     

dulness for talent1 of cunning and      
impudence for truth  and honesty4 ,it   
costs him no effort to execute his      
disreputable task--in  being the tool of
 a crooked policy1 he but labours in his
 natural  vocation4 ,he patches up a    
rotten system as he would supply the    
chasms in  a worm-eaten manuscript1 from
 a grovelling incapacity to do any thing
  better2 thinks that if a single iota  
in the claims of prerogative and  power 
were lost1 the whole fabric of society  
would fall upon his head  and crush him2
 and calculates that his best chance for
 literary  reputation is by             
black-balling one half of the           
competitors as ,jacobins  and levellers1
 and securing the suffrages of the other
 half in his  favour as a loyal subject 
and trusty partisan6    ,mr4 ,gifford1  
as a satirist1 is violent and abrupt4   
,he takes obvious or  physical defects1 
and dwells upon them with much labour   
and harshness of  invective1 but with   
very little wit or spirit4 ,he expresses

 a great deal  of anger and contempt1   
but you cannot tell very well           
why--except that he  seems to be sore   
and out of humour4 ,his satire is mere  
peevishness and  spleen1 or something   
worse--personal antipathy and rancour4  
,we are in  quite as much pain for the  
writer1 as for the object of his        
resentment4  ,his address to ,peter     
,pindar is laughable from its           
outrageousness4 ,he  denounces him as a 
wretch hateful to ,god and man1 for some
 of the most  harmless and amusing      
trifles that ever were written--and the 
very  good-humour and pleasantry of     
which1 we suspect1 constituted their    
offence in the eyes of this             
,drawcansir4--,his attacks on ,mrs4     
,robinson  were unmanly1 and even those 
on ,mr4 ,merry and the ,della-,cruscan  
,school  were much more ferocious than  
the occasion warranted4 ,a little       
affectation and quaintness of style did 
not merit such severity of              
castigation4#ef ,as a translator1 ,mr4  

,gifford's version of the ,roman        
satirist is the baldest1 and1 in parts1 
the most offensive of all  others4 ,we  
do not know why he attempted it1 unless 
he had got it in his  head that he      
should thus follow in the steps of      
,dryden1 as he had  already done in     
those of ,pope in the ,baviad and       
,mviad4 ,as an editor of  old authors1  
,mr4 ,gifford is entitled to            
considerable praise for the  pains he   
has taken in revising the text1 and for 
some improvements he  has introduced    
into it4 ,he had better have spared the 
notes1 in which1  though he has detected
 the blunders of previous commentators1 
he has  exposed his own ill-temper and  
narrowness of feeling more4 ,as a       
critic1  he has thrown no light on the  
character and spirit of his authors4 ,he
  has shown no striking power of        
analysis nor of original illustration1  
though he has chosen to exercise his pen
 on writers most congenial to  his own  
turn of mind1 from their dry and caustic

 vein2 ,massinger1 and  ,ben ,jonson4   
,what he will make of ,marlowe1 it is   
difficult to guess4 ,he  has none of    
#8the fiery quality' of the poet4 ,mr4  
,gifford does not take  for his motto on
 these occasions--,spiritus             
precipitandus est6--,his most           
successful efforts in this way are      
barely respectable4 ,in general1 his    
observations are petty1 ill-concocted1  
and discover as little tact1 as  they do
 a habit of connected reasoning4 ,thus1 
for instance1 in  attempting to add the 
name of ,massinger to the list of       
,catholic poets1  our minute critic     
insists on the profusion of crucifixes1 
glories1  angelic visions1 garlands of  
roses1 and clouds of incense scattered  
through the ,virgin-,martyr1 as evidence
 of the theological sentiments  meant to
 be inculcated by the play1 when the    
least reflection might have  taught him1
 that they proved nothing but the       
author's poetical  conception of the    
character and costume of his subject4 ,a

 writer  might1 with the same sinister1 
short-sighted shrewdness1 be accused of 
,heathenism for talking of ,flora and   
,ceres in a poem on the ,seasons6 ,what 
are produced as the exclusive badges and
 occult proofs of ,catholic  bigotry1   
are nothing but the adventitious        
ornaments and external  symbols1 the    
gross and sensible language1 in a word1 
the poetry of  ,christianity in general4
 ,what indeed shows the frivolousness of
 the  whole inference is that ,deckar1  
who is asserted by our critic to have   
contributed some of the most passionate 
and fantastic of these  devotional      
scenes1 is not even suspected of a      
leaning to ,popery4 ,in like  manner1 he
 excuses ,massinger for the grossness of
 one of his plots 7that  of the         
,unnatural ,combat7 by saying that it   
was supposed to take place  before the  
,christian era2 by this shallow         
common-place persuading  himself1 or    
fancying he could persuade others1 that 
the crime in  question 7which yet on the

 very face of the story is made the     
ground of  a tragic catastrophe7 was    
first made statutory by the ,christian  
religion4    ,the foregoing is a harsh  
criticism1 and may be thought illiberal4
 ,but as  ,mr4 ,gifford assumes a right 
to say what he pleases of others--they  
may be  allowed to speak the truth of   
him6                                    
,,mr4 ,,jeffrey      ,the ,quarterly    
,review arose out of the ,edinburgh1 not
 as a corollary1  but in contradiction  
to it4 ,an article had appeared in the  
latter on ,don  ,pedro ,cevallos1 which 
stung the ,tories to the quick by the   
free way in  which it spoke of men and  
things1 and something must be done to   
check  these escapades of the           
,edinburgh4 ,it was not to be endured   
that the  truth should out in this      
manner1 even occasionally and half in   
jest4 ,a  startling shock was thus given
 to established prejudices1 the mask was
  taken off from grave hypocrisy1 and   
the most serious consequences were  to  

be apprehended4 ,the persons who wrote  
in this ,review seemed #8to have  their 
hands full of truths1' and now and then1
 in a fit of spleen or  gaiety1 let some
 of them fly2 and while this practice   
continued1 it was  impossible to say    
that the ,monarchy or the ,hierarchy was
 safe4 ,some of  the arrows glanced1    
others might stick1 and in the end prove
 fatal4 ,it  was not the principles of  
the ,edinburgh ,review1 but the spirit  
that  was looked at with jealousy and   
alarm4 ,the principles were by no means 
decidedly hostile to existing           
institutions3 but the spirit was that of
  fair and free discussion2 a field was 
open to argument and wit2 every         
question was tried upon its own         
ostensible merits1 and there was no foul
  play4 ,the tone was that of a studied 
impartiality 7which many called         
trimming7 or of a sceptical             
indifference4 ,this tone of impartiality
  and indifference1 however1 did not at 
all suit those who profited or  existed 

by abuses1 who breathed the very air of 
corruption4 ,they know  well enough that
 #8those who are not for them are       
against them4' ,they  wanted a          
publication impervious alike to truth   
and candour2 that1  hood-winked itself1 
should lead public opinion blindfold2   
that should  stick at nothing to serve  
the turn of a party2 that should be the 
exclusive organ of prejudice1 the sordid
 tool of power2 that should go  the     
whole length of want of principle in    
palliating every dishonest  measure1 of 
want of decency in defaming every honest
 man2 that should  prejudge every       
question1 traduce every opponent2 that  
should give no  quarter to fair inquiry 
or liberal sentiment2 that should be    
#8ugly all  over with hypocrisy1' and   
present one foul blotch of servility1   
intolerance1 falsehood1 spite1 and ill  
manners4 ,the ,quarterly ,review  was   
accordingly set up4                     
#8,sithence no fairy lights1 no         
quickning ray1                ,nor stir 

of pulse1 nor object to entice          
,abroad the spirits2 but the cloister'd 
heart                ,sits squat at     
home1 like ,pagod in a niche            
,obscure6'    ,this event was           
accordingly hailed 7and the omen has    
been fulfilled67 as  a great relief to  
all those of his ,majesty's subjects who
 are firmly  convinced that the only way
 to have things remain exactly as they  
are is  to put a stop to all inquiries  
whether they are right or wrong1 and    
that  if you cannot answer a man's      
arguments1 you may at least try to take 
away his character4    ,we do not       
implicitly bow to the political         
opinions1 nor to the critical  decisions
 of the ,edinburgh ,review2 but we must 
do justice to the  talent with which    
they are supported1 and to the tone of  
manly  explicitness in which they are   
delivered4#eg ,they are eminently       
characteristic of the ,spirit of the    
,age2 as it is the express object of    
the ,quarterly ,review to discountenance

 and extinguish that spirit1  both in   
theory and practice4 ,the ,edinburgh    
,review stands upon the  ground of      
opinion2 it asserts the supremacy of    
intellect3 the  pre-eminence it claims  
is from an acknowledged superiority of  
talent and  information and literary    
attainment1 and it does not build one   
tittle of  its influence on ignorance1  
or prejudice1 or authority1 or personal 
malevolence4 ,it takes up a question1   
and argues it pro and con with  great   
knowledge and boldness and skill2 it    
points out an absurdity1 and  runs it   
down1 fairly1 and according to the      
evidence adduced4 ,in the  former case1 
its conclusions may be wrong1 there may 
be a bias in the  mind of the writer1   
but he states the arguments and         
circumstances on  both sides1 from which
 a judgment is to be formed--it is not  
his cue1 he  has neither the effrontery 
nor the meanness to falsify facts or to 
suppress objections4 ,in the latter     
case1 or where a vein of sarcasm or     

irony is resorted to1 the ridicule is   
not barbed by some allusion 7false  or  
true7 to private history2 the object of 
it has brought the infliction  on       
himself by some literary folly or       
political delinquency which is  referred
 to as the understood and justifiable   
provocation1 instead of  being held up  
to scorn as a knave for not being a     
tool1 or as a  blockhead for thinking   
for himself4 ,in the ,edinburgh ,review 
the  talents of those on the opposite   
side are always extolled pleno ore--in  
the ,quarterly ,review they are denied  
altogether1 and the justice that  is in 
this way withheld from them is          
compensated by a proportionable  supply 
of personal abuse4 ,a man of genius who 
is a lord1 and who  publishes with ,mr4 
,murray1 may now and then stand as good 
a chance as a  lord who is not a man of 
genius and who publishes with ,messrs4  
,longman3  but that it the utmost extent
 of the impartiality of the ,quarterly4 
,from its account you would take ,lord  

,byron and ,mr4 ,stuart ,rose for two   
very pretty poets2 but ,mr4 ,moore's    
,magdalen ,muse is sent to ,bridewell   
without mercy1 to beat hemp in          
silk-stockings4 ,in the ,quarterly      
nothing is regarded but the political   
creed or external circumstances of  a   
writer2 in the ,edinburgh nothing is    
ever adverted to but his  literary      
merits4 ,or if there is a bias of any   
kind1 it arises from an  affectation of 
magnanimity and candour in giving heaped
 measure to those  on the aristocratic  
side in politics1 and in being          
critically severe on  others4 ,thus ,sir
 ,walter ,scott is lauded to the skies  
for his romantic  powers1 without any   
allusion to his political demerits 7as  
if this would  be compromising the      
dignity of genius and of criticism by   
the  introduction of                    
party-spirit7--while ,lord ,byron is    
called to a grave  moral reckoning4     
,there is1 however1 little of the cant  
of morality in  the ,edinburgh          

,review--and it is quite free from that 
of religion4 ,it  keeps to its province1
 which is that of criticism--or to the  
discussion  of debateable topics1 and   
acquits itself in both with force and   
spirit4  ,this is the natural           
consequence of the composition of the   
two ,reviews4  ,the one appeals with    
confidence to its own intellectual      
resources1 to  the variety of its       
topics1 to its very character and       
existence as a  literary journal1 which 
depend on its setting up no pretensions 
but  those which it can make good by the
 talent and ingenuity it can bring to   
bear upon them--it therefore meets every
 question1 whether of a lighter  or a   
graver cast1 on its own grounds2 the    
other blinks every question1  for it has
 no confidence but in the powers that   
be--shuts itself up in  the impregnable 
fastnesses of authority1 or makes some  
paltry cowardly  attack 7under cover of 
anonymous criticism7 on individuals1 or 
dispenses  its award of merit entirely  

according to the rank or party of the   
writer4 ,the faults of the ,edinburgh   
,review arise out of the very           
consciousness of critical and logical   
power4 ,in political questions it       
relies too little on the broad basis of 
liberty and humanity1 enters too  much  
into mere dry formalities1 deals too    
often in moot-points1 and  descends too 
readily to a sort of special-pleading in
 defence of home  truths and natural    
feelings3 in matters of taste and       
criticism1 its tone  is sometimes apt to
 be supercilious and cavalier from its  
habitual  faculty of analysing defects  
and beauties according to given         
principles1  from its quickness in      
deciding1 from its facility in          
illustrating its  views4 ,in this latter
 department it has been guilty of some  
capital  oversights4 ,the chief was in  
its treatment of the ,lyrical ,ballads  
at  their first appearance--not in its  
ridicule of their puerilities1 but in   
its denial of their beauties1 because   

they were included in no school1        
because they were reducible to no       
previous standard or theory of  poetical
 excellence4 ,for this1 however1        
considerable reparation has been  made  
by the prompt and liberal spirit that   
has been shown in bringing  forward     
other examples of poetical genius4 ,its 
capital sin1 in a  doctrinal point of   
view1 has been 7we shrewdly suspect7 in 
the uniform  and unqualified            
encouragement it has bestowed on ,mr4   
,malthus's system4  ,we do not mean that
 the ,edinburgh ,review was to join in  
the general  hue and cry that was raised
 against this writer2 but while it      
asserted  the soundness of many of his  
arguments1 and yielded its assent to the
  truths he has divulged1 it need not   
have screened his errors4 ,on this      
subject alone we think the ,quarterly   
has the advantage of it4 ,but as  the   
,quarterly ,review is a mere mass and   
tissue of prejudices on all  subjects1  
it is the foible of the ,edinburgh      

,review to affect a  somewhat fastidious
 air of superiority over prejudices of  
all kinds1 and  a determination not to  
indulge in any of the amiable weaknesses
 of our  nature1 except as it can give a
 reason for the faith that is in it4    
,luckily1 it is seldom reduced to this  
alternative3 #8reasons' are with it     
#8as plenty as blackberries6'    ,mr4   
,jeffrey is the ,editor of the          
,edinburgh ,review1 and is understood   
to have contributed nearly a fourth part
 of the articles from its  commencement4
 ,no man is better qualified for this   
situation2 nor indeed  so much so4 ,he  
is certainly a person in advance of the 
age1 and yet  perfectly fitted both from
 knowledge and habits of mind to put a  
curb  upon its rash and headlong spirit4
 ,he is thoroughly acquainted with the  
progress and pretensions of modern      
literature and philosophy2 and to  this 
he adds the natural acuteness and       
discrimination of the logician  with the
 habitual caution and coolness of his   

profession4 ,if the  ,edinburgh ,review 
may be considered as the organ of or at 
all pledged  to a party1 that party is  
at least a respectable one1 and is      
placed in  the middle between two       
extremes4 ,the ,editor is bound to lend 
a patient  hearing to the most          
paradoxical opinions and extravagant    
theories which  have resulted in our    
times from the #8infinite agitation of  
wit1' but he  is disposed to qualify    
them by a number of practical           
objections1 of  speculative doubts1 of  
checks and drawbacks1 arising out of    
actual  circumstances and prevailing    
opinions1 or the frailties of human     
nature4  ,he has a great range of       
knowledge1 an incessant activity of     
mind2 but  the suspension of his        
judgment1 the well-balanced moderation  
of his  sentiments1 is the consequence  
of the very discursiveness of his       
reason4  ,what may be considered as a   
common-place conclusion is often the    
result of a comprehensive view of all   

the circumstances of a case4  ,paradox1 
violence1 nay even originality of       
conception is not seldom  owing to our  
dwelling long and pertinaciously on some
 one part of a  subject1 instead of     
attending to the whole4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey is
 neither a  bigot nor an enthusiast4 ,he
 is not the dupe of the prejudices of   
others1  nor of his own4 ,he is not     
wedded to any dogma1 he is not long the 
sport  of any whim2 before he can settle
 in any fond or fantastic opinion1      
another starts up to match it1 like     
beads on sparkling wine4 ,a too         
restless display of talent1 a too       
undisguised statement of all that can   
be said for and against a question1 is  
perhaps the great fault that is  to be  
attributed to him4 ,where there is so   
much power and prejudice to  contend    
with in the opposite scale1 it may be   
thought that the balance  of truth can  
hardly be held with a slack or an even  
hand2 and that the  infusion of a little
 more visionary speculation1 of a little

 more  popular indignation into the     
great ,whig ,review would be an         
advantage  both to itself and to the    
cause of freedom4 ,much of this effect  
is  chargeable less on an ,epicurean    
levity of feeling or on party-trammels1 
than on real sanguineness of            
disposition1 and a certain fineness of  
professional tact4 ,our sprightly       
,scotchman is not of a desponding and   
gloomy turn of mind4 ,he argues well for
 the future hopes of mankind from  the  
smallest beginnings1 watches the slow1  
gradual1 reluctant growth of  liberal   
views1 and smiling sees the aloe of     
,reform blossom at the end of  a hundred
 years2 while the habitual subtlety of  
his mind makes him  perceive decided    
advantages where vulgar ignorance or    
passion sees only  doubts and           
difficulty2 and a flaw in an adversary's
 argument stands him  instead of the    
shout of a mob1 the votes of a majority1
 or the fate of a  pitched battle4 ,the 
,editor is satisfied with his own       

conclusions1 and  does not make himself 
uneasy about the fate of mankind4 ,the  
issue1 he  thinks1 will verify his      
moderate and well-founded               
expectations4--,we  believe also that   
late events have given a more decided   
turn to ,mr4  ,jeffrey's mind1 and that 
he feels that as in the struggle between
  liberty and slavery1 the views of the 
one party have been laid bare with      
their success1 so the exertions on the  
other side should become more           
strenuous1 and a more positive stand be 
made against the avowed and  appalling  
encroachments of priestcraft and        
arbitrary power4    ,the characteristics
 of ,mr4 ,jeffrey's general style as a  
writer  correspond1 we think1 with what 
we have here stated as the              
characteristics of his mind4 ,he is a   
master of the foils2 he makes an        
exulting display of the dazzling fence  
of wit and argument4 ,his strength      
consists in great range of knowledge1 an
 equal familiarity with the  principles 

and the details of a subject1 and in a  
glancing brilliancy  and rapidity of    
style4 ,indeed1 we doubt whether the    
brilliancy of his  manner does not      
resolve itself into the rapidity1 the   
variety and  aptness of his             
illustrations4 ,his pen is never at a   
loss1 never stands  still2 and would    
dazzle for this reason alone1 like an   
eye that is ever  in motion4 ,mr4       
,jeffrey is far from a flowery or       
affected writer2 he has  few tropes or  
figures1 still less any odd startling   
thoughts or quaint  innovations in      
expression3--but he has a constant      
supply of ingenious  solutions and      
pertinent examples2 he never proses1    
never grows dull1  never wears an       
argument to tatters2 and by the number1 
the liveliness  and facility of his     
transitions1 keeps up that appearance of
 vivacity1  of novel and sparkling      
effect1 for which others are too often  
indebted  to singularity of combination 
or tinsel ornaments4    ,it may be      

discovered1 by a nice observer1 that    
,mr4 ,jeffrey's style of  composition is
 that of a person accustomed to public  
speaking4 ,there is  no pause1 no       
meagreness1 no inanimateness1 but a     
flow1 a redundance and  volubility like 
that of a stream or of a rolling-stone4 
,the language is  more copious than     
select1 and sometimes two or three words
 perform the  office of one4 ,this      
copiousness and facility is perhaps an  
advantage in  extempore speaking1 where 
no stop or break is allowed in the      
discourse1 and where any word or any    
number of words almost is better  than  
coming to a dead stand2 but in written  
compositions it gives an air  of either 
too much carelessness or too much       
labour4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey's  excellence1 as 
a public speaker1 has betrayed him into 
this peculiarity4  ,he makes fewer blots
 in addressing an audience than any one 
we  remember to have heard4 ,there is   
not a hair's-breadth space between any  
two of his words1 nor is there a single 

expression either ill-chosen or  out of 
its place4 ,he speaks without stopping  
to take breath1 with ease1  with point1 
with elegance1 and without #8spinning   
the thread of his  verbosity finer than 
the staple of his argument4' ,he may be 
said to  weave words into any shapes he 
pleases for use or ornament1 as the     
glass-blower moulds the vitreous fluid  
with his breath2 and his  sentences     
shine like glass from their polished    
smoothness1 and are  equally            
transparent4 ,his style of eloquence1   
indeed1 is remarkable for  neatness1 for
 correctness1 and epigrammatic point2   
and he has applied  this as a standard  
to his written compositions1 where the  
very same  degree of correctness and    
precision produces1 from the contrast   
between  writing and speaking1 an       
agreeable diffuseness1 freedom and      
animation4  ,whenever the ,scotch       
advocate has appeared at the bar of the 
,english  ,house of ,lords1 he has been 
admired by those who were in the habit  

of  attending to speeches there1 as     
having the greatest fluency of language 
and the greatest subtlety of distinction
 of any one of the profession4  ,the    
law-reporters were as little able to    
follow him from the extreme  rapidity of
 his utterance as from the tenuity and  
evanescent nature of  his reasoning4    
,mr4 ,jeffrey's conversation is equally 
lively1 various1 and instructive4       
,there is no subject on which he is not 
au fait3 no company in which he  is not 
ready to scatter his pearls for sport4  
,whether it be politics1 or  poetry1 or 
science1 or anecdote1 or wit1 or        
raillery1 he takes up his  cue without  
effort1 without preparation1 and appears
 equally incapable  of tiring himself or
 his hearers4 ,his only difficulty seems
 to be1 not  to speak1 but to be silent4
 ,there is a constitutional buoyancy and
  elasticity of mind about him that     
cannot subside into repose1 much less   
sink into dulness4 ,there may be more   
original talkers1 persons who           

occasionally surprise or interest you   
more2 few1 if any1 with a more          
uninterrupted flow of cheerfulness and  
animal spirits1 with a greater  fund of 
information1 and with fewer specimens of
 the bathos in their  conversation4 ,he 
is never absurd1 nor has he any         
favourite points which  he is always    
bringing forward4 ,it cannot be denied  
that there is  something bordering on   
petulance of manner1 but it is of that  
least  offensive kind which may be      
accounted for from merit and from       
success1  and implies no exclusive      
pretensions nor the least particle of   
ill-will  to others4 ,on the contrary1  
,mr4 ,jeffrey is profuse of his         
encomiums and  admiration of others1 but
 still with a certain reservation of a  
right to  differ or to blame4 ,he cannot
 rest on one side of a question3 he is  
obliged by a mercurial habit and        
disposition to vary his point of view4  
,if he is ever tedious1 it is from an   
excess of liveliness3 he oppresses  from

 a sense of airy lightness4 ,he is      
always setting out on a fresh  scent3   
there are always relays of topics2 the  
harness is put to1 and  he rattles away 
as delightfully and as briskly as ever4 
,new causes are  called2 he holds a     
brief in his hand for every possible    
question4 ,this  is a fault4 ,mr4       
,jeffrey is not obtrusive1 is not       
impatient of  opposition1 is not        
unwilling to be interrupted2 but what is
 said by  another1 seems to make no     
impression on him2 he is bound to       
dispute1 to  answer it1 as if he was in 
,court1 or as if it were in a paltry    
,debating  ,society1 where young        
beginners were trying their hands4 ,this
 is not to  maintain a character1 or for
 want of good-nature--it is a           
thoughtless  habit4 ,he cannot help     
cross-examining a witness1 or stating   
the adverse  view of the question4 ,he  
listens not to judge1 but to reply4 ,in 
consequence of this1 you can as little  
tell the impression your  observations  

make on him as what weight to assign to 
his4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey  shines in mixed     
company2 he is not good in a tte--tte4  
,you can only  show your wisdom or your 
wit in general society3 but in private  
your  follies or your weaknesses are not
 the least interesting topics2 and our  
critic has neither any of his own to    
confess1 nor does he take delight  in   
hearing those of others4 ,indeed in     
,scotland generally1 the display of     
personal character1 the indulging your  
whims and humours in the presence  of a 
friend1 is not much encouraged--every   
one there is looked upon in  the light  
of a machine or a collection of topics4 
,they turn you round  like a cylinder to
 see what use they can make of you1 and 
drag you into  a dispute with as little 
ceremony as they would drag out an      
article from  an ,encyclopedia4 ,they   
criticise every thing1 analyse every    
thing1 argue  upon every thing1         
dogmatise upon every thing2 and the     
bundle of your  habits1 feelings1       

humours1 follies and pursuits is        
regarded by them no  more than a bundle 
of old clothes4 ,they stop you in a     
sentiment by a  question or a stare1 and
 cut you short in a narrative by the    
time of  night4 ,the accomplished and   
ingenious person of whom we speak1 has  
been  a little infected by the tone of  
his countrymen--he is too didactic1 too 
pugnacious1 too full of electrical      
shocks1 too much like a voltaic         
battery1 and reposes too little on his  
own excellent good sense1 his own  love 
of ease1 his cordial frankness of temper
 and unaffected candour4 ,he  ought to  
have belonged to us6    ,the severest of
 critics 7as he has been sometimes      
termed7 is the  best-natured of men4    
,whatever there may be of wavering or   
indecision in  ,mr4 ,jeffrey's          
reasoning1 or of harshness in his       
critical decisions1 in  his disposition 
there is nothing but simplicity and     
kindness4 ,he is a  person that no one  
knows without esteeming1 and who both in

 his public  connections and private    
friendships1 shows the same manly       
uprightness  and unbiassed independence 
of spirit4 ,at a distance1 in his       
writings1 or  even in his manner1 there 
may be something to excite a little     
uneasiness  and apprehension3 in his    
conduct there is nothing to except      
against4 ,he  is a person of strict     
integrity himself1 without pretence or  
affectation2 and knows how to respect   
this quality in others1 without  prudery
 or intolerance4 ,he can censure a      
friend or a stranger1 and serve  him    
effectually at the same time4 ,he       
expresses his disapprobation1 but  not  
as an excuse for closing up the avenues 
of his liberality4 ,he is a  ,scotchman 
without one particle of hypocrisy1 of   
cant1 of servility1 or  selfishness in  
his composition4 ,he has not been       
spoiled by fortune--has  not been       
tempted by power--is firm without       
violence1 friendly without  weakness--a 
critic and even-tempered1 a casuist and 

an honest man--and  amidst the toils of 
his profession and the distractions of  
the world1  retains the gaiety1 the     
unpretending carelessness and simplicity
 of  youth4 ,mr4 ,jeffrey in his person 
is slight1 with a countenance of much   
expression1 and a voice of great        
flexibility and acuteness of tone4      
,,mr4 ,,brougham--,,sir ,f4 ,,burdett   
,there is a class of eloquence which has
 been described and particularly        
insisted on1 under the style and title  
of ,irish ,eloquence3 there is  another 
class which it is not absolutely unfair 
to oppose to this1 and  that is the     
,scotch4 ,the first of these is entirely
 the offspring of  impulse3 the last of 
mechanism4 ,the one is as full of fancy 
as it is  bare of facts3 the other      
excludes all fancy1 and is weighed down 
with  facts4 ,the one is all fire1 the  
other all ice3 the one nothing but      
enthusiasm1 extravagance1 eccentricity2 
the other nothing but logical           
deductions1 and the most approved       

postulates4 ,the one without scruple1   
nay1 with reckless zeal1 throws the     
reins loose on the neck of the          
imagination3 the other pulls up with a  
curb-bridle1 and starts at every  casual
 object it meets in the way as a        
bugbear4 ,the genius of ,irish  oratory 
stands forth in the naked majesty of    
untutored nature1 its eye  glancing     
wildly round on all objects1 its tongue 
darting forked fire3  the genius of     
,scottish eloquence is armed in all the 
panoply of the  schools2 its drawling1  
ambiguous dialect seconds its           
circumspect  dialectics2 from behind the
 vizor that guards its mouth and shadows
 its  pent-up brows1 it sees no visions 
but its own set purpose1 its own  data1 
and its own dogmas4 ,it #8has no        
figures1 nor no fantasies1' but  #8those
 which busy care draws in the brains of 
men1' or which set off its  own superior
 acquirements and wisdom4 ,it scorns to 
#8tread the primrose  path of           
dalliance'--it shrinks back from it as  

from a precipice1 and  keeps in the iron
 rail-way of the understanding4 ,irish  
oratory1 on the  contrary1 is a sort of 
aronaut3 it is always going up in a     
balloon1 and  breaking its neck1 or     
coming down in the parachute4 ,it is    
filled full  with gaseous matter1 with  
whim and fancy1 with alliteration and   
antithesis1 with heated passion and     
bloated metaphors1 that burst the       
slender silken covering of sense2 and   
the airy pageant1 that glittered  in    
empty space and rose in all the bliss of
 ignorance1 flutters and  sinks down to 
its native bogs6 ,if the ,irish orator  
riots in a studied  neglect of his      
subject and a natural confusion of      
ideas1 playing with  words1 ranging them
 into all sorts of fantastic            
combinations1 because in  the unlettered
 void or chaos of his mind there is no  
obstacle to their  coalescing into any  
shapes they please1 it must be confessed
 that the  eloquence of the ,scotch is  
encumbered with an excess of knowledge1 

that  it cannot get on for a crowd of   
difficulties1 that it staggers under a  
load of topics1 that it is so environed 
in the forms of logic and  rhetoric as  
to be equally precluded from originality
 or absurdity1 from  beauty or          
deformity3--the plea of humanity is lost
 by going through the  process of law1  
the firm and manly tone of principle is 
exchanged for  the wavering and pitiful 
cant of policy1 the living bursts of    
passion  are reduced to a defunct       
common-place1 and all true imagination  
is  buried under the dust and rubbish of
 learned models and imposing            
authorities4 ,if the one is a bodiless  
phantom1 the other is a lifeless        
skeleton3 if the one in its feverish and
 hectic extravagance resembles a  sick  
man's dream1 the other is akin to the   
sleep of death--cold1 stiff1  unfeeling1
 monumental6 ,upon the whole1 we despair
 less of the first than  of the last1   
for the principle of life and motion is1
 after all1 the  primary condition of   

all genius4 ,the luxuriant wildness of  
the one may  be disciplined1 and its    
excesses sobered down into reason2 but  
the dry  and rigid formality of the     
other can never burst the shell or husk 
of  oratory4 ,it is true that the one is
 disfigured by the puerilities and      
affectation of a ,phillips2 but then it 
is redeemed by the manly sense  and     
fervour of a ,plunket1 the impassioned  
appeals and flashes of wit of  a        
,curran1 and by the golden tide of      
wisdom1 eloquence1 and fancy1 that      
flowed from the lips of a ,burke4 ,in   
the other1 we do not sink so low in  the
 negative series2 but we get no higher  
in the ascending scale than a           
,mackintosh or a ,brougham4#eh ,it may  
be suggested that the late ,lord        
,erskine enjoyed a higher reputation as 
an orator than either of these3  but he 
owed it to a dashing and graceful       
manner1 to presence of mind1  and to    
great animation in delivering his       
sentiments4 ,stripped of these  outward 

and personal advantages1 the matter of  
his speeches1 like that  of his         
writings1 is nothing1 or perfectly inert
 and dead4    ,mr4 ,brougham is from the
 ,north of ,england1 but he was educated
 in  ,edinburgh1 and represents that    
school of politics and political economy
  in the ,house4 ,he differs from ,sir  
,james ,mackintosh in this1 that he     
deals less in abstract principles1 and  
more in individual details4 ,he  makes  
less use of general topics1 and more of 
immediate facts4 ,sir ,james  is better 
acquainted with the balance of an       
argument in old authors2 ,mr4  ,brougham
 with the balance of power in ,europe4  
,if the first is better  versed in the  
progress of history1 no man excels the  
last in a knowledge  of the course of   
exchange4 ,he is apprised of the exact  
state of our  exports and imports1 and  
scarce a ship clears out its cargo at   
,liverpool  or ,hull1 but he has notice 
of the bill of lading4 ,our colonial    
policy1  prison-discipline1 the state of

 the ,hulks1 agricultural distress1     
commerce and manufactures1 the ,bullion 
question1 the ,catholic question1  the  
,bourbons or the ,inquisition1          
#8domestic treason1 foreign levy1'      
nothing can come amiss to him--he is at 
home in the crooked mazes of  rotten    
boroughs1 is not baffled by ,scotch law1
 and can follow the  meaning of one of  
,mr4 ,canning's speeches4 ,with so many 
resources1 with  such variety and       
solidity of information1 ,mr4 ,brougham 
is rather a  powerful and alarming1 than
 an effectual debater4 ,in so many      
details  7which he himself goes through 
with unwearied and unshrinking          
resolution7 the spirit of the question  
is lost to others who have not  the same
 voluntary power of attention or the    
same interest in hearing  that he has in
 speaking2 the original impulse that    
urged him forward is  forgotten in so   
wide a field1 in so interminable a      
career4 ,if he can1  others cannot carry
 all he knows in their heads at the same

 time2 a  rope of circumstantial        
evidence does not hold well together1   
nor drag  the unwilling mind along with 
it 7the willing mind hurries on before  
it1  and grows impatient and absent7--he
 moves in an unmanageable procession  of
 facts and proofs1 instead of coming to 
the point at once--and his  premises 7so
 anxious is he to proceed on sure and   
ample grounds7 overlay  and block up his
 conclusion1 so that you cannot arrive  
at it1 or not  till the first fury and  
shock of the onset is over4 ,the ball1  
from the  too great width of the calibre
 from which it is sent1 and from        
striking against such a number of hard1 
projecting points1 is almost  spent     
before it reaches its destination4 ,he  
keeps a ledger or a  debtor-and-creditor
 account between the ,government and the
 ,country1  posts so much actual crime1 
corruption1 and injustice against so    
much  contingent advantage or sluggish  
prejudice1 and at the bottom of the     
page brings in the balance of           

indignation and contempt1 where it is   
due4  ,but people are not to be         
calculated into contempt or indignation 
on  abstract grounds2 for however they  
may submit to this process where  their 
own interests are concerned1 in what    
regards the public good we  believe they
 must see and feel instinctively1 or not
 at all4 ,there is  7it is to be        
lamented7 a good deal of froth as well  
as strength in the  popular spirit1     
which will not admit of being decanted  
or served out  in formal driblets2 nor  
will spleen 7the soul of ,opposition7   
bear to be  corked up in square patent  
bottles1 and kept for future use6 ,in a 
word1  ,mr4 ,brougham's is ticketed and 
labelled eloquence1 registered and in   
numeros 7like the successive parts of a 
,scotch ,encyclopedia7--it is  clever1  
knowing1 imposing1 masterly1 an         
extraordinary display of  clearness of  
head1 of quickness and energy of        
thought1 of application  and industry2  
but it is not the eloquence of the      

imagination or the  heart1 and will     
never save a nation or an individual    
from perdition4    ,mr4 ,brougham has   
one considerable advantage in debate3 he
 is overcome by  no false modesty1 no   
deference to others4 ,but then1 by a    
natural  consequence or parity of       
reasoning1 he has little sympathy with  
other  people1 and is liable to be      
mistaken in the effect his arguments    
will  have upon them4 ,he relies too    
much1 among other things1 on the        
patience  of his hearers1 and on his    
ability to turn every thing to his own  
advantage4 ,he accordingly goes to the  
full length of his tether 7in  vulgar   
phrase7 and often overshoots the mark4  
,c'est dommage4 ,he has no  reserve of  
discretion1 no retentiveness of mind or 
check upon himself4  ,he needs1 with so 
much wit1                         #8,as 
much again to govern it4'    ,he cannot 
keep a good thing or a shrewd piece of  
information in his  possession1 though  
the letting it out should mar a cause4  

,it is not that  he thinks too much of  
himself1 too little of his cause3 but he
 is  absorbed in the pursuit of truth as
 an abstract inquiry1 he is led away  by
 the headstrong and overmastering       
activity of his own mind4 ,he is  borne 
along1 almost involuntarily1 and not    
impossibly against his better  judgment1
 by the throng and restlessness of his  
ideas as by a crowd of  people in       
motion4 ,his perceptions are literal1   
tenacious1  epileptic--his understanding
 voracious of facts1 and equally        
communicative of them--and he proceeds  
to                   #8----,pour out all
 as plain                 ,as downright 
,shippen or as old ,montaigne'--        
without either the virulence of the one 
or the bonhommie of the other4  ,the    
repeated1 smart1 unforeseen discharges  
of the truth jar those that  are next   
him4 ,he does not dislike this state of 
irritation and  collision1 indulges his 
curiosity or his triumph1 till by       
calling for  more facts or hazarding    

some extreme inference1 he urges a      
question to  the verge of a precipice1  
his adversaries urge it over1 and he    
himself  shrinks back from the          
consequence--                           
#8,scared at the sound himself has      
made6'    ,mr4 ,brougham has great      
fearlessness1 but not equal firmness2   
and after  going too far on the forlorn 
hope1 turns short round without due     
warning to others or respect for        
himself4 ,he is adventurous1 but easily 
panic-struck2 and sacrifices the vanity 
of self-opinion to the necessity  of    
self-preservation4 ,he is too           
improvident for a leader1 too petulant  
for a partisan2 and does not            
sufficiently consult those with whom he 
is  supposed to act in concert4 ,he     
sometimes leaves them in the lurch1 and 
is sometimes left in the lurch by them4 
,he wants the principle of              
co-operation4 ,he frequently1 in a fit  
of thoughtless levity1 gives an         
unexpected turn to the political        

machine1 which alarms older and more    
experienced heads3 if he was not himself
 the first to get out of harm's  way and
 escape from the danger1 it would be    
well6--,we hold1 indeed1 as a  general  
rule1 that no man born or bred in       
,scotland can be a great  orator1 unless
 he is a mere quack2 or a great         
statesman1 unless he turns  plain knave4
 ,the national gravity is against the   
first3 the national  caution is against 
the last4 ,to a ,scotchman if a thing   
is1 it is2  there is an end of the      
question with his opinion about it4 ,he 
is  positive and abrupt1 and is not in  
the habit of conciliating the  feelings 
or soothing the follies of others4 ,his 
only way therefore to  produce a popular
 effect is to sail with the stream of   
prejudice1 and to  vent common dogmas1  
#8the total grist1 unsifted1 husks and  
all1' from  some evangelical pulpit4    
,this may answer1 and it has answered4  
,on the  other hand1 if a ,scotchman1   
born or bred1 comes to think at all of  

the  feelings of others1 it is not as   
they regard them1 but as their opinion  
reacts on his own interest and safety4  
,he is therefore either  pragmatical and
 offensive1 or if he tries to please1 he
 becomes cowardly  and fawning4 ,his    
public spirit wants pliancy2 his selfish
 compliances go  all lengths4 ,he is as 
impracticable as a popular partisan1 as 
he is  mischievous as a tool of         
,government4 ,we do not wish to press   
this  argument farther1 and must leave  
it involved in some degree of           
obscurity1 rather than bring the armed  
intellect of a whole nation on  our     
heads4    ,mr4 ,brougham speaks in a    
loud and unmitigated tone of voice1     
sometimes  almost approaching to a      
scream4 ,he is fluent1 rapid1 vehement1 
full of  his subject1 with evidently a  
great deal to say1 and very regardless  
of  the manner of saying it4 ,as a      
lawyer1 he has not hitherto been        
remarkably successful4 ,he is not       
profound in cases and reports1 nor does 

he take much interest in the peculiar   
features of a particular cause1 or  show
 much adroitness in the management of   
it4 ,he carries too much weight  of     
metal for ordinary and petty occasions3 
he must have a pretty large  question to
 discuss1 and must make thorough-stitch 
work of it4 ,he1  however1 had an       
encounter with ,mr4 ,phillips the other 
day1 and shook all  his tender blossoms1
 so that they fell to the ground1 and   
withered in an  hour2 but they soon     
bloomed again6 ,mr4 ,brougham writes    
almost1 if not  quite1 as well as he    
speaks4 ,in the midst of an ,election   
contest he  comes out to address the    
populace1 and goes back to his study to 
finish  an article for the ,edinburgh   
,review2 sometimes indeed wedging three 
or  four articles 7in the shape of      
refaccimentos of his own pamphlets or   
speeches in parliament7 into a single   
number4 ,such indeed is the  activity of
 his mind that it appears to require    
neither repose1 nor any  other stimulus 

than a delight in its own exercise4 ,he 
can turn his hand  to any thing1 but he 
cannot be idle4 ,there are few          
intellectual  accomplishments which he  
does not possess1 and possess in a very 
high  degree4 ,he speaks ,french 7and1  
we believe1 several other modern        
languages7 fluently3 is a capital       
mathematician1 and obtained an          
introduction to the celebrated ,carnot  
in this latter character1 when the      
conversation turned on squaring the     
circle1 and not on the propriety of     
confining ,france within the natural    
boundary of the ,rhine4 ,mr4 ,brougham  
is1 in fact1 a striking instance of the 
versatility and strength of the  human  
mind1 and also in one sense of the      
length of human life1 if we  make a good
 use of our time4 ,there is room enough 
to crowd almost every  art and science  
into it4 ,if we pass #8no day without a 
line1' visit no  place without the      
company of a book1 we may with ease fill
 libraries or  empty them of their      

contents4 ,those who complain of the    
shortness of  life1 let it slide by them
 without wishing to seize and make the  
most of  its golden minutes4 ,the more  
we do1 the more we can do2 the more busy
 we  are1 the more leisure we have4 ,if 
any one possesses any advantage in a    
considerable degree1 he may make himself
 master of nearly as many more  as he   
pleases1 by employing his spare time and
 cultivating the waste  faculties of his
 mind4 ,while one person is determining 
on the choice of  a profession or study1
 another shall have made a fortune or   
gained a  merited reputation4 ,while one
 person is dreaming over the meaning of 
a  word1 another will have learnt       
several languages4 ,it is not           
incapacity1  but indolence1 indecision1 
want of imagination1 and a proneness to 
a  sort of mental tautology1 to repeat  
the same images and tread the same      
circle1 that leaves us so poor1 so dull1
 and inert as we are1 so naked  of      
acquirement1 so barren of resources6    

,while we are walking backwards  and    
forwards between ,charing-,cross and    
,temple-,bar1 and sitting in the  same  
coffee-house every day1 we might make   
the grand tour of ,europe1 and  visit   
the ,vatican and the ,louvre4 ,mr4      
,brougham1 among other means of         
strengthening and enlarging his views1  
has visited1 we believe1 most of  the   
courts1 and turned his attention to most
 of the ,constitutions of the           
continent4 ,he is1 no doubt1 a very     
accomplished1 active-minded1 and        
admirable person4    ,sir ,francis      
,burdett1 in many respects1 affords a   
contrast to the  foregoing character4   
,he is a plain1 unaffected1             
unsophisticated ,english  gentleman4 ,he
 is a person of great reading too and   
considerable  information1 but he makes 
very little display of these1 unless it 
be to  quote ,shakespear1 which he does 
often with extreme aptness and felicity4
  ,sir ,francis is one of the most      
pleasing speakers in the ,house1 and is 

a  prodigious favourite of the ,english 
people4 ,so he ought to be3 for he is   
one of the few remaining examples of the
 old ,english understanding and  old    
,english character4 ,all that he        
pretends to is common sense and  common 
honesty2 and a greater compliment cannot
 be paid to these than  the attention   
with which he is listened to in the     
,house of ,commons4 ,we  cannot conceive
 a higher proof of courage than the     
saying things which  he has been known  
to say there2 and we have seen him blush
 and appear  ashamed of the truths he   
has been obliged to utter1 like a       
bashful  novice4 ,he could not have     
uttered what he often did there1 if1    
besides  his general respectability1 he 
had not been a very honest1 a very      
good-tempered1 and a very good-looking  
man4 ,but there was evidently no  wish  
to shine1 nor any desire to offend3 it  
was painful to him to hurt  the feelings
 of those who heard him1 but it was a   
higher duty in him not  to suppress his 

sincere and earnest convictions4 ,it is 
wonderful how  much virtue and          
plain-dealing a man may be guilty of    
with impunity1 if  he has no vanity1 or 
ill-nature1 or duplicity to provoke the 
contempt or  resentment of others1 and  
to make them impatient of the           
superiority he  sets up over them4 ,we  
do not recollect that ,sir ,francis ever
 endeavoured  to atone for any          
occasional indiscretions or intemperance
 by giving the  ,duke of ,york credit   
for the battle of ,waterloo1 or         
congratulating  ,ministers on the       
confinement of ,buonaparte at ,st4      
,helena4 ,there is no  honest cause     
which he dares not avow3 no oppressed   
individual that he is  not forward to   
succour4 ,he has the firmness of manhood
 with the  unimpaired enthusiasm of     
youthful feeling about him4 ,his        
principles are  mellowed and improved1  
without having become less sound with   
time3 for  at one period he sometimes   
appeared to come charged to the ,house  

with  the petulance and caustic         
sententiousness he had imbibed at       
,wimbledon  ,common4 ,he is never       
violent or in extremes1 except when the 
people or  the parliament happen to be  
out of their senses2 and then he seems  
to  regret the necessity of plainly     
telling them he thinks so1 instead of   
pluming himself upon it or exulting over
 impending calamities4 ,there is  only  
one error he seems to labour under      
7which1 we believe1 he also  borrowed   
from ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke or ,major       
,cartwright71 the wanting to go  back to
 the early times of our ,constitution   
and history in search of the  principles
 of law and liberty4 ,he might as well  
#8,hunt half a day for a forgotten      
dream4'    ,liberty1 in our opinion1 is 
but a modern invention 7the growth of   
books  and printing7--and whether new or
 old1 is not the less desirable4 ,a man 
may be a patriot1 without being an      
antiquary4 ,this is the only point on   
which ,sir ,francis is at all inclined  

to a tincture of pedantry4 ,in  general1
 his love of liberty is pure1 as it is  
warm and steady3 his  humanity is       
unconstrained and free4 ,his heart does 
not ask leave of his  head to feel2 nor 
does prudence always keep a guard upon  
his tongue or  his pen4 ,no man writes a
 better letter to his ,constituents than
 the  ,member for ,westminster2 and his 
compositions of that kind ought to be   
good1 for they have occasionally cost   
him dear4 ,he is the idol of the  people
 of ,westminster3 few persons have a    
greater number of friends and           
well-wishers2 and he has still greater  
reason to be proud of his  enemies1 for 
his integrity and independence have made
 them so4 ,sir  ,francis ,burdett has   
often been left in a ,minority in the   
,house of  ,commons1 with only one or   
two on his side4 ,we suspect1           
unfortunately for  his country1 that    
,history will be found to enter its     
protest on the same  side of the        
question6                               

,,lord ,,eldon ,,and ,,mr4 ,,wilberforce
      ,lord ,eldon is an exceedingly    
good-natured man2 but this does not     
prevent  him1 like other good-natured   
people1 from consulting his own ease or 
interest4 ,the character of good-nature1
 as it is called1 has been a  good deal 
mistaken2 and the present ,chancellor is
 not a bad illustration  of the grounds 
of the prevailing error4 ,when we happen
 to see an  individual whose countenance
 is #8all tranquillity and smiles2' who 
is  full of good-humour and pleasantry2 
whose manners are gentle and            
conciliating2 who is uniformly temperate
 in his expressions1 and  punctual and  
just in his every-day dealings2 we are  
apt to conclude from  so fair an        
outside1 that                           
#8,all is conscience and tender heart'  
within also1 and that such a one would  
not hurt a fly4 ,and neither would  he  
without a motive4 ,but mere good-nature 
7or what passes in the world  for such7 
is often no better than indolent        

selfishness4 ,a person  distinguished   
and praised for this quality will not   
needlessly offend  others1 because they 
may retaliate2 and besides1 it ruffles  
his own  temper4 ,he likes to enjoy a   
perfect calm1 and to live in an         
interchange  of kind offices4 ,he       
suffers few things to irritate or annoy 
him4 ,he has  a fine oiliness in his    
disposition1 which smooths the waves of 
passion  as they rise4 ,he does not     
enter into the quarrels or enmities of  
others2  bears their calamities with    
patience2 he listens to the din and     
clang of  war1 the earthquake and the   
hurricane of the political and moral    
world  with the temper and spirit of a  
philosopher2 no act of injustice puts   
him beside himself1 the follies and     
absurdities of mankind never give  him a
 moment's uneasiness1 he has none of the
 ordinary causes of  fretfulness or     
chagrin that torment others from the    
undue interest they  take in the conduct
 of their neighbours or in the public   

good4 ,none of  these idle or frivolous 
sources of discontent1 that make such   
havoc with  the peace of human life1    
ever discompose his features or alter   
the  serenity of his pulse4 ,if a nation
 is robbed of its rights1               
#8,if wretches hang that ,ministers may 
dine1'--    the laughing jest still     
collects in his eye1 the cordial squeeze
 of the  hand is still the same4 ,but   
tread on the toe of one of these amiable
 and  imperturbable mortals1 or let a   
lump of soot fall down the chimney and  
spoil their dinners1 and see how they   
will bear it4 ,all their patience  is   
confined to the accidents that befal    
others3 all their good-humour is  to be 
resolved into giving themselves no      
concern about any thing but  their own  
ease and self-indulgence4 ,their charity
 begins and ends at  home4 ,their being 
free from the common infirmities of     
temper is owing to  their indifference  
to the common feelings of humanity2 and 
if you touch  the sore place1 they      

betray more resentment1 and break out   
7like spoiled  children7 into greater   
fractiousness than others1 partly from a
 greater  degree of selfishness1 and    
partly because they are taken by        
surprise1  and mad to think they have   
not guarded every point against         
annoyance or  attack1 by a habit of     
callous insensibility and pampered      
indolence4    ,an instance of what we   
mean occurred but the other day4 ,an    
allusion was  made in the ,house of     
,commons to something in the proceedings
 in the  ,court of ,chancery1 and the   
,lord ,chancellor comes to his place in 
the  ,court1 with the statement in his  
hand1 fire in his eyes1 and a direct    
charge of falsehood in his mouth1       
without knowing any thing certain of    
the matter1 without making any inquiry  
into it1 without using any  precaution  
or putting the least restraint upon     
himself1 and all on no  better authority
 than a common newspaper report4 ,the   
thing was 7not that  we are imputing any

 strong blame in this case1 we merely   
bring it as an  illustration7 it touched
 himself1 his office1 the inviolability 
of his  jurisdiction1 the               
unexceptionableness of his proceedings1 
and the wet  blanket of the             
,chancellor's temper instantly took fire
 like tinder6 ,all  the fine balancing  
was at an end2 all the doubts1 all the  
delicacy1 all  the candour real or      
affected1 all the chances that there    
might be a  mistake in the report1 all  
the decencies to be observed towards a  
,member  of the ,house1 are overlooked  
by the blindness of passion1 and the    
wary  ,judge pounces upon the paragraph 
without mercy1 without a moment's       
delay1 or the smallest attention to     
forms6 ,this was indeed serious         
business1 there was to be no trifling   
here2 every instant was an age  till the
 ,chancellor had discharged his sense of
 indignation on the head  of the        
indiscreet interloper on his authority4 
,had it been another  person's case1    

another person's dignity that had been  
compromised1  another person's conduct  
that had been called in question1 who   
doubts  but that the matter might have  
stood over till the next term1 that the 
,noble ,lord would have taken the       
,newspaper home in his pocket1 that he  
would have compared it carefully with   
other newspapers1 that he would  have   
written in the most mild and gentlemanly
 terms to the ,honourable  ,member to   
inquire into the truth of the statement1
 that he would have  watched a          
convenient opportunity good-humouredly  
to ask other ,honourable  ,members what 
all this was about1 that the greatest   
caution and fairness  would have been   
observed1 and that to this hour the     
lawyers' clerks and  the junior counsel 
would have been in the greatest         
admiration of the  ,chancellor's nicety 
of discrimination1 and the utter        
inefficacy of the  heats1 importunities1
 haste1 and passions of others to       
influence his  judgment8 ,this would    

have been true2 yet his readiness to    
decide and to  condemn where he himself 
is concerned1 shows that passion is not 
dead in  him1 nor subject to the control
 of reason2 but that self-love is the   
mainspring that moves it1 though on all 
beyond that limit he looks with  the    
most perfect calmness and philosophic   
indifference4                           
#8,resistless passion sways us to the   
mood                  ,of what it likes 
or loaths4'    ,all people are          
passionate in what concerns themselves1 
or in what they  take an interest in4   
,the range of this last is different in 
different  persons2 but the want of     
passion is but another name for the want
 of  sympathy and imagination4    ,the  
,lord ,chancellor's impartiality and    
conscientious exactness are  proverbial2
 and is1 we believe1 as inflexible as it
 is delicate in all  cases that occur in
 the stated routine of legal practice4  
,the  impatience1 the irritation1 the   
hopes1 the fears1 the confident tone of 

the applicants move him not a jot from  
his intended course1 he looks at  their 
claims with the #8lack lustre eye' of   
professional indifference4  ,power and  
influence apart1 his next strongest     
passion is to indulge in  the exercise  
of professional learning and skill1 to  
amuse himself with  the dry details and 
intricate windings of the law of equity4
 ,he delights  to balance a straw1 to   
see a feather turn the scale1 or make it
 even  again2 and divides and subdivides
 a scruple to the smallest fraction4 ,he
  unravels the web of argument and      
pieces it together again2 folds it up   
and lays it aside1 that he may examine  
it more at his leisure4 ,he hugs        
indecision to his breast1 and takes home
 a modest doubt or a nice point  to     
solace himself with it in protracted1   
luxurious dalliance4 ,delay  seems1 in  
his mind1 to be of the very essence of  
justice4 ,he no more  hurries through a 
question than if no one was waiting for 
the result1  and he was merely a        

dilettanti1 fanciful judge1 who played  
at my ,lord  ,chancellor1 and busied    
himself with quibbles and punctilios as 
an idle  hobby and harmless illusion4   
,the phlegm of the ,chancellor's        
disposition  gives one almost a surfeit 
of impartiality and candour3 we are sick
 of  the eternal poise of childish      
dilatoriness2 and would wish law and    
justice to be decided at once by a cast 
of the dice 7as they were in  ,rabelais7
 rather than be kept in frivolous and   
tormenting suspense4 ,but  there is a   
limit even to this extreme refinement   
and scrupulousness of  the ,chancellor4 
,the understanding acts only in the     
absence of the  passions4 ,at the       
approach of the loadstone1 the needle   
trembles1 and  points to it4 ,the air of
 a political question has a wonderful   
tendency  to brace and quicken the      
learned ,lord's faculties4 ,the breath  
of a court  speedily oversets a thousand
 objections1 and scatters the cobwebs of
 his  brain4 ,the secret wish of power  

is a thumping make-weight1 where all  is
 so nicely balanced beforehand4 ,in the 
case of a celebrated beauty and         
heiress1 and the brother of a ,noble    
,lord1 the ,chancellor hesitated long1  
and went through the forms1 as usual3   
but who ever doubted1 where all  this   
indecision would end8 ,no man in his    
senses1 for a single instant6  ,we shall
 not press this point1 which is rather a
 ticklish one4 ,some  persons thought   
that from entertaining a fellow-feeling 
on the subject1  the ,chancellor would  
have been ready to favour the           
,poet-,laureate's  application to the   
,court of ,chancery for an injunction   
against ,wat  ,tyler4 ,his ,lordship's  
sentiments on such points are not so    
variable1 he  has too much at stake4 ,he
 recollected the year #agid1 though ,mr4
 ,southey  had forgotten it6--    ,the  
personal always prevails over the       
intellectual1 where the latter is  not  
backed by strong feeling and principle4 
,where remote and speculative  objects  

do not excite a predominant interest and
 passion1 gross and  immediate ones are 
sure to carry the day1 even in ingenuous
 and  well-disposed minds4 ,the will    
yields necessarily to some motive or    
other2 and where the public good or     
distant consequences excite no  sympathy
 in the breast1 either from             
shortsightedness or an easiness of      
temperament that shrinks from any       
violent effort or painful emotion1      
self-interest1 indolence1 the opinion of
 others1 a desire to please1 the  sense 
of personal obligation1 come in and fill
 up the void of public  spirit1         
patriotism1 and humanity4 ,the best men 
in the world in their own  natural      
dispositions or in private life 7for    
this reason7 often become  the most     
dangerous public characters1 from their 
pliancy to the unruly  passions of      
others1 and from their having no set-off
 in strong moral  stamina to the        
temptations that are held out to them1  
if1 as is  frequently the case1 they are

 men of versatile talent or patient     
industry4--,lord ,eldon has one of the  
best-natured faces in the world2 it  is 
pleasant to meet him in the street1     
plodding along with an umbrella  under  
his arm1 without one trace of pride1 of 
spleen1 or discontent in  his whole     
demeanour1 void of offence1 with almost 
rustic simplicity and  honesty of       
appearance--a man that makes friends at 
first sight1 and could  hardly make     
enemies1 if he would2 and whose only    
fault is that he cannot  say ,nay to    
power1 or subject himself to an unkind  
word or look from a  ,king or a         
,minister4 ,he is a thorough-bred ,tory4
 ,others boggle or are at  fault in     
their career1 or give back at a pinch1  
they split into  different factions1    
have various objects to distract them1  
their private  friendships or           
antipathies stand in their way2 but he  
has never  flinched1 never gone back1   
never missed his way1 he is an          
out-and-outer in this respect1 his      

allegiance has been without flaw1  like 
#8one entire and perfect chrysolite1'   
his implicit understanding is  a kind of
 taffeta-lining to the ,crown1 his      
servility has assumed an air  of the    
most determined independence1 and he has
                    #8,read his history 
in a ,prince's eyes6'--    ,there has   
been no stretch of power attempted in   
his time that he has not  seconded3 no  
existing abuse1 so odious or so absurd1 
that he has not  sanctioned it4 ,he has 
gone the whole length of the most       
unpopular  designs of ,ministers4 ,when 
the heavy artillery of interest1 power1 
and  prejudice is brought into the      
field1 the paper pellets of the brain go
  for nothing3 his labyrinth of nice1   
lady-like doubts explodes like a  mine  
of gunpowder4 ,the ,chancellor may weigh
 and palter--the courtier is  decided1  
the politician is firm1 and rivetted to 
his place in the  ,cabinet6 ,on all the 
great questions that have divided party 
opinion or  agitated the public mind1   

the ,chancellor has been found uniformly
 and  without a single exception on the 
side of prerogative and power1 and      
against every proposal for the          
advancement of freedom4 ,he was a       
strenuous supporter of the wars and     
coalitions against the principles of    
liberty abroad2 he has been equally     
zealous in urging or defending every    
act and infringement of the             
,constitution1 for abridging it at home3
 he  at the same time opposes every     
amelioration of the penal laws1 on the  
alleged ground of his abhorrence of even
 the shadow of innovation3 he  has      
studiously set his face against         
,catholic emancipation2 he laboured     
hard in his vocation to prevent the     
abolition of the ,slave ,trade2 he was  
,attorney-,general in the trials for    
,high ,treason in #agid2 and the other  
day in giving his opinion on the        
,queen's ,trial1 shed tears and         
protested  his innocence before ,god6   
,this was natural and to be expected2   

but on  all occasions he is to be found 
at his post1 true to the call of        
prejudice1 of power1 to the will of     
others and to his own interest4 ,in  the
 whole of his public career1 and with   
all the goodness of his  disposition1 he
 has not shown #8so small a drop of pity
 as a wren's eye4'  ,he seems to be on  
his guard against every thing liberal   
and humane as  his weak side4 ,others   
relax in their obsequiousness either    
from satiety  or disgust1 or a hankering
 after popularity1 or a wish to be      
thought  above narrow prejudices4 ,the  
,lord ,chancellor alone is fixed and    
immovable4 ,is it want of understanding 
or of principle8 ,no--it is want of     
imagination1 a phlegmatic habit1 an     
excess of false complaisance and        
good-nature4 ,he signs a warrant in     
,council1 devoting ten thousand men to  
an untimely death1 with steady          
nerves--,is it that he is cruel and     
unfeeling8 ,no6--but he thinks neither  
of their sufferings nor their  cries2 he

 sees only the gracious smile1 the ready
 hand stretched out to  thank him for   
his compliance with the dictates of     
rooted hate4 ,he dooms  a ,continent to 
slavery4 ,is it that he is a tyrant1 or 
an enemy to the  human race8 ,no6--but  
he cannot find in his heart to resist   
the commands  or to give pain to a kind 
and generous benefactor4 ,common sense  
and  justice are little better than     
vague terms to him3 he acts upon his    
immediate feelings and least irksome    
impulses4 ,the ,king's hand is velvet   
to the touch--the ,woolsack is a seat of
 honour and profit6 ,that is all he     
knows about the matter4 ,as to abstract 
metaphysical calculations1 the ox  that 
stands staring at the corner of the     
street troubles his head as  much about 
them as he does3 yet this last is a very
 good sort of animal  with no harm or   
malice in him1 unless he is goaded on to
 mischief1 and  then it is necessary to 
keep out of his way1 or warn others     
against him6    ,mr4 ,wilberforce is a  

less perfect character in his way4 ,he  
acts from  mixed motives4 ,he would     
willingly serve two masters1 ,god and   
,mammon4 ,he  is a person of many       
excellent and admirable qualifications1 
but he has  made a mistake in wishing to
 reconcile those that are incompatible4 
,he  has a most winning eloquence1      
specious1 persuasive1 familiar1         
silver-tongued1 is amiable1 charitable1 
conscientious1 pious1 loyal1  humane1   
tractable to power1 accessible to       
popularity1 honouring the  king1 and no 
less charmed with the homage of his     
fellow-citizens4 #8,what  lacks he      
then8' ,nothing but an economy of good  
parts4 ,by aiming at too  much1 he has  
spoiled all1 and neutralised what might 
have been an  estimable character1      
distinguished by signal services to     
mankind4 ,a man  must take his choice   
not only between virtue and vice1 but   
between  different virtues4 ,otherwise1 
he will not gain his own approbation1 or
  secure the respect of others4 ,the    

graces and accomplishments of private   
life mar the man of business and the    
statesman4 ,there is a severity1 a      
sternness1 a self-denial1 and a painful 
sense of duty required in the  one1     
which ill-befits the softness and       
sweetness which should  characterise the
 other4 ,loyalty1 patriotism1           
friendship1 humanity1 are  all virtues2 
but may they not sometimes clash8 ,by   
being unwilling to  forego the praise   
due to any1 we may forfeit the          
reputation of all2 and1  instead of     
uniting the suffrages of the whole world
 in our favour1 we  may end in becoming 
a sort of by-word for affectation1 cant1
 hollow  professions1 trimming1         
fickleness1 and effeminate imbecility4  
,it is best  to choose and act up to    
some one leading character1 as it is    
best to  have some settled profession or
 regular pursuit in life4    ,we can    
readily believe that ,mr4 ,wilberforce's
 first object and principle  of action  
is to do what he thinks right3 his next 

7and that we fear is  of almost equal   
weight with the first7 is to do what    
will be thought so  by other people4 ,he
 is always at a game of hawk and buzzard
 between  these two3 his #8conscience   
will not budge1' unless the world goes  
with  it4 ,he does not seem greatly to  
dread the denunciation in ,scripture1   
but  rather to court it--#8,woe unto    
you1 when all men shall speak well of   
you6'  ,we suspect he is not quite easy 
in his mind1 because ,west-,india       
planters  and ,guinea traders do not    
join in his praise4 ,his ears are not   
strongly  enough tuned to drink in the  
execrations of the spoiler and the      
oppressor as the sweetest music4 ,it is 
not enough that one-half of the  human  
species 7the images of ,god carved in   
ebony1 as old ,fuller calls  them7 shout
 his name as a champion and a saviour   
through vast burning  zones1 and moisten
 their parched lips with the gush of    
gratitude for  deliverance from         
chains--he must have a ,prime-,minister 

drink his health  at a ,cabinet-dinner  
for aiding to rivet on those of his     
country and of  ,europe6 ,he goes hand  
and heart along with ,government in all 
their  notions of legitimacy and        
political aggrandizement1 in the hope   
that  they will leave him a sort of     
no-man's ground of humanity in the      
,great  ,desert1 where his reputation   
for benevolence and public spirit may   
spring up and flourish1 till its head   
touches the clouds1 and it  stretches   
out its branches to the farthest part of
 the earth4 ,he has no  mercy on those  
who claim a property in negro-slaves as 
so much  live-stock on their estates2   
the country rings with the applause of  
his  wit1 his eloquence1 and his        
indignant appeals to common sense and   
humanity on this subject--but not a word
 has he to say1 not a whisper  does he  
breathe against the claim set up by the 
,despots of the ,earth  over their      
,continental subjects1 but does every   
thing in his power to  confirm and      

sanction it6 ,he must give no offence4  
,mr4 ,wilberforce's  humanity will go   
all lengths that it can with safety and 
discretion3 but  it is not to be        
supposed that it should lose him his    
seat for ,yorkshire1  the smile of      
,majesty1 or the countenance of the     
loyal and pious4 ,he is  anxious to do  
all the good he can without hurting     
himself or his fair  fame4 ,his         
conscience and his character compound   
matters very amicably4  ,he rather      
patronises honesty than is a martyr to  
it4 ,his patriotism1 his  philanthropy  
are not so ill-bred1 as to quarrel with 
his loyalty or to  banish him from the  
first circles4 ,he preaches vital       
,christianity to  untutored savages2 and
 tolerates its worst abuses in civilized
 states4  ,he thus shows his respect for
 religion without offending the clergy1 
or  circumscribing the sphere of his    
usefulness4 ,there is in all this an    
appearance of a good deal of cant and   
tricking4 ,his patriotism may be        

accused of being servile2 his humanity  
ostentatious2 his loyalty  conditional2 
his religion a mixture of fashion and   
fanaticism4 #8,out upon  such half-faced
 fellowship6' ,mr4 ,wilberforce has the 
pride of being  familiar with the great2
 the vanity of being popular2 the       
conceit of an  approving conscience4 ,he
 is coy in his approaches to power3 his 
public  spirit is1 in a manner1 under   
the rose4 ,he thus reaps the credit of  
independence1 without the obloquy2 and  
secures the advantages of  servility1   
without incurring any obligations4 ,he  
has two strings to his  bow3--he by no  
means neglects his worldly interests1   
while he expects a  bright reversion in 
the skies4 ,mr4 ,wilberforce is far from
 being a  hypocrite2 but he is1 we      
think1 as fine a specimen of moral      
equivocation as can well be conceived4  
,a hypocrite is one who is the  very    
reverse of1 or who despises the         
character he pretends to be3 ,mr4       
,wilberforce would be all that he       

pretends to be1 and he is it in fact1   
as far as words1 plausible theories1    
good inclinations1 and easy  services   
go1 but not in heart and soul1 or so as 
to give up the  appearance of any one of
 his pretensions to preserve the reality
 of any  other4 ,he carefully chooses   
his ground to fight the battles of      
loyalty1  religion1 and humanity1 and it
 is such as is always safe and          
advantageous to himself6 ,this is       
perhaps hardly fair1 and it is of       
dangerous or doubtful tendency4 ,lord   
,eldon1 for instance1 is known to be  a 
thorough-paced ministerialist3 his      
opinion is only that of his party4  ,but
 ,mr4 ,wilberforce is not a party-man4  
,he is the more looked up to on  this   
account1 but not with sufficient reason4
 ,by tampering with  different          
temptations and personal projects1 he   
has all the air of the  most perfect    
independence1 and gains a character for 
impartiality and  candour1 when he is   
only striking a balance in his mind     

between the  clat of differing from a   
,minister on some #8vantage ground1 and 
the  risk or odium that may attend it4  
,he carries all the weight of his       
artificial popularity over to the       
,government on vital points and hardrun 
questions2 while they1 in return1 lend  
him a little of the gilding of          
court-favour to set off his             
disinterested philanthropy and          
tramontane  enthusiasm4 ,as a leader or 
a follower1 he makes an odd jumble of   
interests4 ,by virtue of religious      
sympathy1 he has brought the ,saints    
over to the side of the abolition of    
,negro slavery4 ,this his adversaries   
think hard and stealing a march upon    
them4 ,what have the ,,saints to do     
with freedom or reform of any           
kind8--,mr4 ,wilberforce's style of     
speaking  is not quite parliamentary1 it
 is halfway between that and            
evangelical4 ,he is altogether a        
double-entendre3 the very tone of  his  
voice is a double-entendre4 ,it winds1  

and undulates1 and glides up  and down  
on texts of ,scriptures1 and scraps from
 ,paley1 and trite  sophistry1 and      
pathetic appeals to his hearers in a    
faltering1  in-progressive1 side-long   
way1 like those birds of weak wing1 that
 are  borne from their strait-forward   
course              #8,by every little  
breath that under heaven is blown4'     
,something of this fluctuating1         
time-serving principle was visible even 
in the great question of the ,abolition 
of the ,slave ,trade4 ,he was1 at  one  
time1 half inclined to surrender it into
 ,mr4 ,pitt's dilatory hands1  and      
seemed to think the gloss of novelty was
 gone from it1 and the gaudy  colouring 
of popularity sunk into the sable ground
 from which it rose6  ,it was1 however1 
persisted in and carried to a triumphant
 conclusion4  ,mr4 ,wilberforce said too
 little on this occasion of one1        
compared with  whom he was but the      
frontispiece to that great chapter in   
the history of  the world--the mask1 the

 varnishing1 and painting--the man that 
effected  it by ,herculean labours of   
body1 and equally gigantic labours of   
mind1  was ,clarkson1 the true ,apostle 
of human ,redemption on that occasion1  
and  who1 it is remarkable1 resembles in
 his person and lineaments more than    
one of the ,apostles in the ,cartoons of
 ,raphael4 ,he deserves to be  added to 
the ,twelve6#ei                         
,,mr4 ,,cobbett4      ,people have about
 as substantial an idea of ,cobbett as  
they have of  ,cribb4 ,his blows are as 
hard1 and he himself is as impenetrable4
 ,one has  no notion of him as making   
use of a fine pen1 but a great          
mutton-fist2  his style stuns his       
readers1 and he #8fillips the ear of the
 public with  a three-man beetle4' ,he  
is too much for any single newspaper    
antagonist2  #8lays waste' a city orator
 or ,member of ,parliament1 and bears   
hard upon  the ,government itself4 ,he  
is a kind of fourth estate in the       
politics  of the country4 ,he is not    

only unquestionably the most powerful   
political writer of the present day1 but
 one of the best writers in the         
language4 ,he speaks and thinks plain1  
broad1 downright ,english4 ,he might  be
 said to have the clearness of ,swift1  
the naturalness of ,defoe1 and  the     
picturesque satirical description of    
,mandeville2 if all such  comparisons   
were not impertinent4 ,a really great   
and original writer is  like nobody but 
himself4 ,in one sense1 ,sterne was not 
a wit1 nor  ,shakespear a poet4 ,it is  
easy to describe second-rate talents1   
because  they fall into a class and     
enlist under a standard3 but first-rate 
powers defy calculation or comparison1  
and can be defined only by  themselves4 
,they are sui generis1 and make the     
class to which they  belong4 ,i have    
tried half-a-dozen times to describe    
,burke's style  without ever            
succeeding2--its severe extravagance2   
its literal boldness2  its              
matter-of-fact hyperboles2 its running  

away with a subject1 and from  it at the
 same time--but there is no making it   
out1 for there is no  example of the    
same thing any where else4 ,we have no  
common measure to  refer to2 and his    
qualities contradict even themselves4   
,cobbett is not so difficult4 ,he has   
been compared to ,paine2 and so far  it 
is true there are no two writers who    
come more into juxtaposition  from the  
nature of their subjects1 from the      
internal resources on which  they draw1 
and from the popular effect of their    
writings and their  adaptation 7though  
that is a bad word in the present case7 
to the  capacity of every reader4 ,but  
still if we turn to a volume of ,paine's
  7his ,common ,sense or ,rights of     
,man7 we are struck 7not to say somewhat
  refreshed7 by the difference4 ,paine  
is a much more sententious writer  than 
,cobbett4 ,you cannot open a page in any
 of his best and earlier  works without 
meeting with some maxim1 some           
antithetical and memorable  saying1     

which is a sort of starting-place for   
the argument1 and the goal  to which it 
returns4 ,there is not a single bon-mot1
 a single sentence  in ,cobbett that has
 ever been quoted again4 ,if any thing  
is ever quoted  from him1 it is an      
epithet of abuse or a nickname4 ,he is  
an excellent  hand at invention in that 
way1 and has #8damnable iteration in    
him4' ,what  could be better than his   
pestering ,erskine year after year with 
his  second title of ,baron             
,clackmannan8 ,he is rather too fond of 
such phrases  as the ,sons and          
,daughters of ,corruption4 ,paine       
affected to reduce  things to first     
principles1 to announce self-evident    
truths4 ,cobbett  troubles himself about
 little but the details and local       
circumstances4  ,the first appeared to  
have made up his mind beforehand to     
certain  opinions1 and to try to find   
the most compendious and pointed        
expressions for them3 his successor     
appears to have no clue1 no fixed or    

leading principles1 nor ever to have    
thought on a question till he sits  down
 to write about it3 but then there seems
 no end of his matters of  fact and raw 
materials1 which are brought out in all 
their strength and  sharpness from not  
having been squared or frittered down or
 vamped up to  suit a theory--he goes on
 with his descriptions and illustrations
 as if  he would never come to a stop2  
they have all the force of novelty with 
all the familiarity of old acquaintance2
 his knowledge grows out of the         
subject1 and his style is that of a man 
who has an absolute intuition of  what  
he is talking about1 and never thinks of
 any thing else4 ,he deals  in premises 
and speaks to evidence--the coming to a 
conclusion and  summing up 7which was   
,paine's forte7 lies in a smaller       
compass4 ,the  one could not compose an 
elementary treatise on politics to      
become a  manual for the popular reader2
 nor could the other in all probability 
have kept up a weekly journal for the   

same number of years with the same      
spirit1 interest1 and untired           
perseverance4 ,paine's writings are a   
sort  of introduction to political      
arithmetic on a new plan3 ,cobbett keeps
 a  day-book1 and makes an entry at full
 of all the occurrences and  troublesome
 questions that start up throughout the 
year4 ,cobbett1 with  vast industry1    
vast information1 and the utmost power  
of making what he  says intelligible1   
never seems to get at the beginning or  
come to the  end of any question3 ,paine
 in a few short sentences seems by his  
peremptory manner #8to clear it from all
 controversy1 past1 present1 and  to    
come4' ,paine takes a bird's-eye view of
 things4--,cobbett sticks close  to     
them1 inspects the component parts1 and 
keeps fast hold of the  smallest        
advantages they afford him4 ,or if ,i   
might here be indulged in a  pastoral   
allusion1 ,paine tries to enclose his   
ideas in a fold for  security and       
repose2 ,cobbett lets his pour out upon 

the plain like a  flock of sheep to feed
 and batten4 ,cobbett is a pleasanter   
writer for  those to read who do not    
agree with him2 for he is less          
dogmatical1 goes  more into the common  
grounds of fact and argument to which   
all appeal1  is more desultory and      
various1 and appears less to be driving 
at a  previous conclusion than urged on 
by the force of present conviction4 ,he 
is therefore tolerated by all parties1  
though he has made himself by  turns    
obnoxious to all2 and even those he     
abuses read him4 ,the ,reformers  read  
him when he was a ,tory1 and the ,tories
 read him now that he is a  ,reformer4  
,he must1 ,i think1 however1 be caviare 
to the ,whigs4#fj    ,if he is less     
metaphysical and poetical than his      
celebrated prototype1  he is more       
picturesque and dramatic4 ,his episodes1
 which are numerous as  they are        
pertinent1 are striking1 interesting1   
full of life and  navet1 minute1 double 
measure running over1 but never         

tedious--nunquam sufflaminandus erat4   
,he is one of those writers who  can    
never tire us--not even of himself2 and 
the reason is1 he is always  #8full of  
matter4' ,he never runs to lees1 never  
gives us the vapid  leavings of himself1
 is never #8weary1 stale1 and           
unprofitable1' but  always setting out  
afresh on his journey1 clearing away    
some old  nuisance1 and turning up new  
mould4 ,his egotism is delightful1 for  
there  is no affectation in it4 ,he does
 not talk of himself for lack of        
something to write about1 but because   
some circumstance that has  happened to 
himself is the best possible            
illustration of the subject1  and he is 
not the man to shrink from giving the   
best possible  illustration of the      
subject from a squeamish delicacy4 ,he  
likes both  himself and his subject too 
well4 ,he does not put himself before   
it1 and  say #8admire me first'2 but    
places us in the same situation with    
himself1  and makes us see all that he  

does4 ,there is no blindman's buff1 no  
conscious hints1 no awkward             
ventriloquism1 no testimonies of        
applause1  no abstract1 senseless       
self-complacency1 no smuggled admiration
 of his  own person by proxy2 it is all 
plain and above-board4 ,he writes       
himself  plain ,william ,cobbett1 strips
 himself quite as naked as any body     
could  wish--in a word1 his egotism is  
full of individuality1 and has room for 
very little vanity in it4 ,we feel      
delighted1 rub our hands1 and draw our  
chair to the fire1 when we come to a    
passage of this sort3 we know it  will  
be something new and good1 manly and    
simple1 not the same insipid  story of  
self over again4 ,we sit down at table  
with the writer1 but it  is of a course 
of rich viands--flesh1 fish1 and wild   
fowl--and not to a  nominal             
entertainment1 like that given to       
,barmecide in the ,arabian  ,nights1 who
 put off his visitors with calling for a
 number of exquisite  things that never 

appeared1 and with the honour of his    
company4 ,mr4  ,cobbett is not a        
make-believe writer4 ,his worst enemy   
cannot say that  of him4 ,still less is 
he a vulgar one4 ,he must be a puny     
common-place  critic indeed1 who thinks 
him so4 ,how fine were the graphical    
descriptions he sent us from ,america3  
what a transatlantic flavour1 what  a   
native gusto1 what a fine sauce piquante
 of contempt they were  seasoned with6  
,if he had sat down to look at himself  
in the glass1  instead of looking about 
him like ,adam in ,paradise1 he would   
not have  got up these articles in so   
capital a style4 ,what a noble account  
of his  first breakfast after his       
arrival in ,america6 ,it might serve for
 a  month4 ,there is no scene on the    
stage more amusing4 ,how well he paints 
the gold and scarlet plumage of the     
,american birds1 only to lament more    
pathetically the want of the wild       
wood-notes of his native land6 ,the     
groves of the ,ohio that had just fallen

 beneath the axe's stroke1 #8live  in   
his description1' and the turnips that  
he transplanted from ,botley  #8look    
green' in prose6 ,how well at another   
time he describes the poor  sheep that  
had got the tick1 and had tumbled down  
in the agonies of  death6 ,it is a      
portrait in the manner of ,bewick1 with 
the strength1 the  simplicity1 and      
feeling of that great naturalist4 ,what 
havoc he makes1  when he pleases1 of the
 curls of ,dr4 ,parr's wig and of the   
,whig  consistency of ,mr4 ----6 ,his   
,grammar1 too1 is as entertaining as a  
storybook4 ,he is too hard1 however1    
upon the style of others1 and not       
enough 7sometimes7 on his own4    ,as a 
political partisan1 no one can stand    
against him4 ,with his  brandished club1
 like ,giant ,despair in the ,pilgrim's 
,progress1 he knocks  out their brains3 
and not only no individual1 but no      
corrupt system1  could hold out against 
his powerful and repeated attacks2 but  
with the  same weapon1 swung round like 

a flail1 with which he levels his       
antagonists1 he lays his friends low1   
and puts his own party hors de  combat4 
,this is a bad propensity1 and a worse  
principle in political  tactics1 though 
a common one4 ,if his blows were        
straight forward and  steadily directed 
to the same object1 no unpopular        
minister could live  before him2 instead
 of which he lays about right and left1 
impartially  and remorselessly1 makes a 
clear stage1 has all the ring to        
himself1 and  then runs out of it1 just 
when he should stand his ground4 ,he    
throws his  head into his adversary's   
stomach1 and takes away from him all    
inclination for the fight1 hits fair or 
foul1 strikes at every thing1  and as   
you come up to his aid or stand ready to
 pursue his advantage1  trips up your   
heels or lays you sprawling1 and pummels
 you when down as  much to his heart's  
content as ever the ,yanguesian carriers
 belaboured  ,rosinante with their      
packstaves4 #8,he has the back-trick    

simply the best  of any man in          
,illyria4' ,he pays off both scores of  
old friendship and  new-acquired enmity 
in a breath1 in one perpetual volley1   
one raking  fire of #8arrowy sleet' shot
 from his pen4 ,however his own         
reputation or  the cause may suffer in  
consequence1 he cares not one pin about 
that1 so  that he disables all who      
oppose or who pretend to help him4 ,in  
fact1 he  cannot bear success of any    
kind1 not even of his own views or      
party2 and  if any principle were likely
 to become popular1 would turn round    
against  it1 to show his power1 in      
shouldering it on one side4 ,in short1  
wherever  power is1 there is he against 
it2 he naturally butts at all obstacles1
  as unicorns are attracted to          
oak-trees1 and feels his own strength   
only  by resistance to the opinions and 
wishes of the rest of the world4 ,to    
sail with the stream1 to agree with the 
company1 is not his humour4 ,if  he     
could bring about a ,reform in          

,parliament1 the odds are that he would 
instantly fall foul of and try to mar   
his own handy-work2 and he  quarrels    
with his own creatures as soon as he has
 written them into a  little vogue--and 
a prison4 ,i do not think this is vanity
 or fickleness  so much as a pugnacious 
disposition1 that must have an          
antagonist power  to contend with1 and  
only finds itself at ease in systematic 
opposition4  ,if it were not for this1  
the high towers and rotten places of the
 world  would fall before the           
battering-ram of his hard-headed        
reasoning3 but if  he once found them   
tottering1 he would apply his strength  
to prop them  up1 and disappoint the    
expectations of his followers4 ,he      
cannot agree to  any thing established1 
nor to set up any thing else in its     
stead4 ,while  it is established1 he    
presses hard against it1 because it     
presses upon  him1 at least in          
imagination4 ,let it crumble under his  
grasp1 and the  motive to resistance is 

gone4 ,he then requires some other      
grievance to  set his face against4 ,his
 principle is repulsion1 his nature     
contradiction3 he is made up of mere    
antipathies2 an ,ishmaelite indeed1     
without a fellow4 ,he is always playing 
at hunt-the-slipper in  politics4 ,he   
turns round upon whoever is next to him4
 ,the way to wean  him from any opinion1
 and make him conceive an intolerable   
hatred  against it1 would be to place   
somebody near him who was perpetually   
dinning it in his ears4 ,when he is in  
,england1 he does nothing but abuse  the
 ,boroughmongers1 and laugh at the whole
 system3 when he is in  ,america1 he    
grows impatient of freedom and a        
republic4 ,if he had staid  there a     
little longer1 he would have become a   
loyal and a loving subject  of his      
,majesty ,king ,george ,,iv4 ,he        
lampooned the ,french ,revolution when  
it was hailed as the dawn of liberty by 
millions3 by the time it was  brought   
into almost universal ill-odour by some 

means or other 7partly  no doubt by     
himself7 he had turned1 with one or two 
or three others1  staunch ,bonapartist4 
,he is always of the militant1 not of   
the triumphant  party3 so far he bears a
 gallant show of magnanimity2 but his   
gallantry  is hardly of the right stamp3
 it wants principle4 ,for though he is  
not  servile or mercenary1 he is the    
victim of self-will4 ,he must pull down 
and pull in pieces3 it is not in his    
disposition to do otherwise4 ,it is  a  
pity2 for with his great talents he     
might do great things1 if he would  go  
right forward to any useful object1 make
 thorough-stitch work of any  question1 
or join hand and heart with any         
principle4 ,he changes his  opinions as 
he does his friends1 and much on the    
same account4 ,he has no  comfort in    
fixed principles3 as soon as any thing  
is settled in his own  mind1 he quarrels
 with it4 ,he has no satisfaction but in
 the chase after  truth1 runs a question
 down1 worries and kills it1 then quits 

it like  vermin1 and starts some new    
game1 to lead him a new dance1 and give 
him  a fresh breathing through bog and  
brake1 with the rabble yelping at his   
heels and the leaders perpetually at    
fault4 ,this he calls sport-royal4  ,he 
thinks it as good as cudgel-playing or  
single-stick1 or any thing  else that   
has life in it4 ,he likes the cut and   
thrust1 the falls1  bruises1 and dry    
blows of an argument3 as to any good or 
useful results  that may come of the    
amicable settling of it1 any one is     
welcome to them  for him4 ,the amusement
 is over1 when the matter is once fairly
 decided4    ,there is another point of 
view in which this may be put4 ,i might 
say  that ,mr4 ,cobbett is a very honest
 man1 with a total want of principle2   
and ,i might explain this paradox thus1 
,i mean that he is1 ,i think1 in        
downright earnest in what he says1 in   
the part he takes at the time2 but  in  
taking that part1 he is led entirely by 
headstrong obstinacy1  caprice1 novelty1

 pique or personal motive of some sort1 
and not by a  steadfast regard for truth
 or habitual anxiety for what is right  
uppermost in his mind4 ,he is not a     
feed1 time-serving1 shuffling  advocate 
7no man could write as he does who did  
not believe himself  sincere7--but his  
understanding is the dupe and slave of  
his momentary1  violent1 and irritable  
humours4 ,he does not adopt an opinion  
#8deliberately or for money'2 yet his   
conscience is at the mercy of the  first
 provocation he receives1 of the first  
whim he takes in his head2  he sees     
things through the medium of heat and   
passion1 not with  reference to any     
general principles1 and his whole system
 of thinking is  deranged by the first  
object that strikes his fancy or sours  
his  temper4--,one cause of this        
phenomenon is perhaps his want of a     
regular  education4 ,he is a self-taught
 man1 and has the faults as well as     
excellences of that class of persons in 
their most striking and glaring  excess4

 ,it must be acknowledged that the      
,editor of the ,political  ,register    
7the two-penny trash1 as it was called1 
till a ,bill passed  the ,house to raise
 the price to sixpence7 is not #8the    
gentleman and  scholar3' though he has  
qualities that1 with a little better    
management1  would be worth 7to the     
public7 both those titles4 ,for want of 
knowing  what has been discovered before
 him1 he has not certain general        
landmarks to refer to1 or a general     
standard of thought to apply to         
individual cases4 ,he relies on his own 
acuteness and the immediate  evidence1  
without being acquainted with the       
comparative anatomy or  philosophical   
structure of opinion4 ,he does not view 
things on a large  scale or at the      
horizon 7dim and airy enough perhaps72  
but as they  affect himself1--close1    
palpable1 tangible4 ,whatever he finds  
out is his  own1 and he only knows what 
he finds out4 ,he is in the constant    
hurry  and fever of gestation3 his brain

 teems incessantly with some fresh      
project4 ,every new light is the birth  
of a new system1 the dawn of a new      
world to him4 ,he is continually        
outstripping and overreaching himself4  
,the last opinion is the only true one4 
,he is wiser to-day than he was         
yesterday4 ,why should he not be wiser  
to-morrow than he was to-day8--,men  of 
a learned education are not so          
sharp-witted as clever men without it2  
but they know the balance of the human  
intellect better3 if they are  more     
stupid1 they are more steady2 and are   
less liable to be led astray  by their  
own sagacity and the over-weening       
petulance of hard-earned and            
late-acquired wisdom4 ,they do not fall 
in love with every meretricious         
extravagance at first sight1 or mistake 
an old battered hypothesis for a        
vestal1 because they are new to the ways
 of this old world4 ,they do not  seize 
upon it as a prize1 but are safe from   
gross imposition by being as  wise and  

no wiser than those who went before     
them4    ,paine said on some occasion1  
#8,what ,i have written1 ,i have        
written'--as  rendering any farther     
declaration of his principles           
unnecessary4 ,not so  ,mr4 ,cobbett4    
,what he has written is no rule to him  
what he is to write4  ,he learns        
something every day1 and every week he  
takes the field to  maintain the        
opinions of the last six days against   
friend or foe4 ,i  doubt whether this   
outrageous inconsistency1 this          
headstrong fickleness1  this understood 
want of all rule and method1 does not   
enable him to go  on with the spirit1   
vigour1 and variety that he does4 ,he is
 not pledged  to repeat himself4 ,every 
new ,register is a kind of new          
,prospectus4 ,he  blesses himself from  
all ties and shackles on his            
understanding2 he has  no mortgages on  
his brain2 his notions are free and     
unincumbered4 ,if he  was put in        
trammels1 he might become a vile hack   

like so many more4 ,but  he gives       
himself #8ample scope and verge enough4'
 ,he takes both sides of  a question1   
and maintains one as sturdily as the    
other4 ,if nobody else  can argue       
against him1 he is a very good match for
 himself4 ,he writes  better in favour  
of reform than any body else2 he used to
 write better  against it4 ,wherever he 
is1 there is the tug of war1 the weight 
of the  argument1 the strength of abuse4
 ,he is not like a man in danger of     
being  bed-rid in his faculties--he     
tosses and tumbles about his unwieldy   
bulk1 and when he is tired of lying on  
one side1 relieves himself by  turning  
on the other4 ,his shifting his point of
 view from time to time  not merely adds
 variety and greater comforts to his    
topics 7so that the  ,political         
,register is an armoury and magazine for
 all the materials and  weapons of      
political warfare71 but it gives a      
greater zest and  liveliness to his     
manner of treating them4 ,mr4 ,cobbett  

takes nothing for  granted1 as what he  
has proved before2 he does not write a  
book of  reference4 ,we see his ideas in
 their first concoction1 fermenting and 
overflowing with the ebullitions of a   
lively conception4 ,we look on at  the  
actual process1 and are put in immediate
 possession of the grounds  and         
materials on which he forms his         
sanguine1 unsettled conclusions4 ,he    
does not give us samples of reasoning1  
but the whole solid mass1 refuse  and   
all4                   ----#8,he pours  
out all as plain                 ,as    
downright ,shippen or as old            
,montaigne4'    ,this is one cause of   
the clearness and force of his writings4
 ,an  argument does not stop to stagnate
 and muddle in his brain1 but passes  at
 once to his paper4 ,his ideas are      
served up1 like pancakes1 hot and  hot4 
,fresh theories give him fresh courage4 
,he is like a young and lusty           
bridegroom1 that divorces a favourite   
speculation every morning1 and  marries 

a new one every night4 ,he is not wedded
 to his notions1 not he4  ,he has not   
one ,mrs4 ,cobbett among all his        
opinions4 ,he makes the most of  the    
last thought that has come in his way1  
seizes fast hold of it1  rumples it     
about in all directions with rough      
strong hands1 has his  wicked will of   
it1 takes a surfeit1 and throws it      
away4--,our author's  changing his      
opinions for new ones is not so         
wonderful2 what is more  remarkable is  
his felicity in forgetting his old ones4
 ,he does not  pretend to consistency   
7like ,mr4 ,coleridge72 he frankly      
disavows all  connexion with himself4   
,he feels no personal responsibility in 
this way1  and cuts a friend or         
principle with the same decided         
indifference that  ,antipholis of       
,ephesus cuts geon of ,syracuse4 ,it is 
a hollow thing4 ,the  only time he ever 
grew romantic was in bringing over the  
relics of ,mr4  ,thomas ,paine with him 
from ,america1 to go a progress with    

them through  the disaffected districts4
 ,scarce had he landed in ,liverpool1   
when he  left the bones of a great man  
to shift for themselves2 and no sooner  
did  he arrive in ,london1 than he made 
a speech to disclaim all participation  
in the political and theological        
sentiments of his late idol1 and to     
place the whole stock of his admiration 
and enthusiasm towards him to  the      
account of his financial speculations1  
and of his having predicted  the fate of
 paper-money4 ,if he had erected a      
little gold statue to him1  it might    
have proved the sincerity of this       
assertion3 but to make a  martyr and a  
patron-saint of a man1 and to dig up    
#8his canonized bones'  in order to     
expose them as objects of devotion to   
the rabble's gaze1  asks something that 
has more life and spirit in it1 more    
mind and  vivifying soul1 than has to do
 with any calculation of pounds1        
shillings1 and pence6 ,the fact is1 he  
ratted from his own project4 ,he  found 

the thing not so ripe as he had         
expected4 ,his heart failed him3  his   
enthusiasm fled1 and he made his        
retraction4 ,his admiration is          
short-lived3 his contempt only is       
rooted1 and his resentment              
lasting4--,the above was only one       
instance of his building too much on    
practical data4 ,he has an ill habit of 
prophesying1 and goes on1  though still 
deceived4 ,the art of prophesying does  
not suit ,mr4  ,cobbett's style4 ,he has
 a knack of fixing names and times and  
places4  ,according to him1 the         
,reformed ,parliament was to meet in    
,march1 #ahah3 it  did not1 and we heard
 no more of the matter4 ,when his       
predictions fail1  he takes no farther  
notice of them1 but applies himself to  
new ones--like  the country-people1 who 
turn to see what weather there is in the
 almanac  for the next week1 though it  
has been out in its reckoning every day 
of  the last4    ,mr4 ,cobbett is great 
in attack1 not in defence3 he cannot    

fight an  up-hill battle4 ,he will not  
bear the least punishing4 ,if any one   
turns  upon him 7which few people like  
to do71 he immediately turns tail4 ,like
  an overgrown school-boy1 he is so used
 to have it all his own way1 that  he   
cannot submit to any thing like         
competition1 or a struggle for the      
mastery3 he must lay on all the blows1  
and take none4 ,he is bullying and      
cowardly2 a ,big ,ben in politics1 who  
will fall upon others and crush  them by
 his weight1 but is not prepared for    
resistance1 and is soon  staggered by a 
few smart blows4 ,whenever he has been  
set upon1 he has  slunk out of the      
controversy4 ,the ,edinburgh ,review    
made 7what is called7  a dead set at him
 some years ago1 to which he only       
retorted by an eulogy  on the superior  
neatness of an ,english kitchen-garden  
to a ,scotch one4 ,i  remember going one
 day into a bookseller's shop in        
,fleet-street to ask  for the ,review2  
and on my expressing my opinion to a    

young ,scotchman1  who stood behind the 
counter1 that ,mr4 ,cobbett might hit as
 hard in his  reply1 the ,north ,briton 
said with some alarm--#8,but you don't  
think1 ,sir1  ,mr4 ,cobbett will be able
 to injure the ,scottish nation8' ,i    
said ,i could  not speak to that point1 
but ,i thought he was very well able to 
defend  himself4 ,he however did not1   
but has born a grudge to the ,edinburgh 
,review ever since1 which he hates worse
 than the ,quarterly4 ,i cannot say  ,i 
do4#fa                                  
,,mr4 ,,campbell ,,and ,,mr4 ,,crabbe4  
,mr4 ,campbell may be said to hold a    
place 7among modern poets7 between      
,lord ,byron and ,mr4 ,rogers4 ,with    
much of the glossy splendour1 the       
pointed vigour1 and romantic interest of
 the one1 he possesses the  fastidious  
refinement1 the classic elegance of the 
other4 ,mr4 ,rogers1 as  a writer1 is   
too effeminate1 ,lord ,byron too        
extravagant3 ,mr4 ,campbell is  neither4
 ,the author of the ,pleasures of       

,memory polishes his lines till  they   
sparkle with the most exquisite finish2 
he attenuates them into the  utmost     
degree of trembling softness3 but we may
 complain1 in spite of  the delicacy and
 brilliancy of the execution1 of a want 
of strength and  solidity4 ,the author  
of the ,pleasures of ,hope1 with a      
richer and  deeper vein of thought and  
imagination1 works it out into figures  
of  equal grace and dazzling beauty1    
avoiding on the one hand the tinsel of  
flimsy affectation1 and on the other the
 vices of a rude and barbarous          
negligence4 ,his ,pegasus is not a      
rough1 skittish colt1 running wild      
among the mountains1 covered with       
bur-docks and thistles1 nor a tame1     
sleek pad1 unable to get out of the same
 ambling pace2 but a beautiful  mange   
horse1 full of life and spirit in       
itself1 and subject to the  complete    
controul of the rider4 ,mr4 ,campbell   
gives scope to his feelings  and his    
fancy1 and embodies them in a noble and 

naturally interesting  subject2 and he  
at the same time conceives himself      
called upon 7in these  days of critical 
nicety7 to pay the exact attention to   
the expression of  each thought1 and to 
modulate each line into the most        
faultless harmony4  ,the character of   
his mind is a lofty and                 
self-scrutinising ambition1  that       
strives to reconcile the integrity of   
general design with the  perfect        
elaboration of each component part1 that
 aims at striking  effect1 but is       
jealous of the means by which this is to
 be produced4 ,our  poet is not averse  
to popularity 7nay1 he is tremblingly   
alive to  it7--but self-respect is the  
primary law1 the indispensable condition
 on  which it must be obtained4 ,we     
should dread to point out 7even if we   
could7 a false concord1 a mixed         
metaphor1 an imperfect rhyme1 in any of 
,mr4 ,campbell's productions2 for we    
think that all his fame would hardly    
compensate to him for the discovery4 ,he

 seeks for perfection1 and  nothing     
evidently short of it can satisfy his   
mind4 ,he is a high  finisher in poetry1
 whose every work must bear inspection1 
whose  slightest touch is precious--not 
a coarse dauber1 who is contented to    
impose on public wonder and credulity by
 some huge1 ill-executed design1  or who
 endeavours to wear out patience and    
opposition together by a load  of       
lumbering1 feeble1 awkward1             
improgressive lines--on the contrary1   
,mr4  ,campbell labours to lend every   
grace of execution to his subject1 while
  he borrows his ardour and inspiration 
from it1 and to deserve the  laurels he 
has earned1 by true genius and by true  
pains4 ,there is an  apparent           
consciousness of this in most of his    
writings4 ,he has attained  to great    
excellence by aiming at the greatest1 by
 a cautious and yet  daring selection of
 topics1 and by studiously 7and with a  
religious  horror7 avoiding all those   
faults which arise from grossness1      

vulgarity1  haste1 and disregard of     
public opinion4 ,he seizes on the       
highest point  of eminence1 and strives 
to keep it to himself--he #8snatches a  
grace  beyond the reach of art1' and    
will not let it go--he steeps a single  
thought or image so deep in the ,tyrian 
dyes of a gorgeous imagination1  that it
 throws its lustre over a whole         
page--every where vivid ideal  forms    
hover 7in intense conception7 over the  
poet's verse1 which  ascends1 like the  
aloe1 to the clouds1 with pure flowers  
at its top4 ,or1  to take an humbler    
comparison 7the pride of genius must    
sometimes stoop  to the lowliness of    
criticism71 ,mr4 ,campbell's poetry     
often reminds us  of the purple         
gilliflower1 both for its colour and its
 scent1 its  glowing warmth1 its rich1  
languid1 sullen hue1                    
#8,yet sweeter than the lids of ,juno's 
eyes1                 ,or ,cytherea's   
breath6'    ,there are those who        
complain of the little that ,mr4        

,campbell has done in  poetry1 and who  
seem to insinuate that he is deterred by
 his own  reputation from making any    
farther or higher attempts4 ,but after  
having  produced two poems that have    
gone to the heart of a nation1 and are  
gifts to a world1 he may surely linger  
out the rest of his life in a  dream of 
immortality4 ,there are moments in our  
lives so exquisite that  all that       
remains of them afterwards seems useless
 and barren2 and there  are lines and   
stanzas in our author's early writings  
in which he may be  thought to have     
exhausted all the sweetness and all the 
essence of  poetry1 so that nothing     
farther was left to his efforts or his  
ambition4  ,happy is it for those few   
and fortunate worshippers of the ,muse  
7not a  subject of grudging or envy to  
others7 who already enjoy in their      
life-time a foretaste of their future   
fame1 who see their names  accompanying 
them1 like a cloud of glory1 from youth 
to age1                          #8,and 

by the vision splendid1                 
,are on their way attended'--    and who
 know that they have built a shrine for 
the thoughts and feelings  that were    
most dear to them1 in the minds and     
memories of other men1  till the        
language which they lisped in childhood 
is forgotten1 or the  human heart shall 
beat no more6    ,the ,pleasures of     
,hope alone would not have called forth 
these remarks  from us2 but there are   
passages in the ,gertrude of ,wyoming of
 so rare  and ripe a beauty1 that they  
challenge1 as they exceed all praise4   
,such1  for instance1 is the following  
peerless description of ,gertrude's     
childhood3-            #8,a loved       
bequest1--and ,i may half impart        
,to those that feel the strong paternal 
tie1          ,how like a new existence 
to his heart          ,that living      
flow'r uprose beneath his eye1          
,dear as she was from cherub infancy1   
,from hours when she would round his    
garden play1          ,to time when as  

the rip'ning years went by1             
,her lovely mind could culture well     
repay1        ,and more engaging grew1  
from pleasing day to day4               
#8,i may not paint those thousand infant
 charms2          7,unconscious         
fascination1 undesign'd67          ,the 
orison repeated in his arms1            
,for ,god to bless her sire and all     
mankind2          ,the book1 the bosom  
on his knee reclined1          ,or how  
sweet fairy-lore he heard her con1      
7,the playmate ere the teacher of her   
mind73          ,all uncompanion'd else 
her heart had gone        ,till now1 in 
,gertrude's eyes1 their ninth blue      
summer shone4            #8,and summer  
was the tide1 and sweet the hour1       
,when sire and daughter saw1 with fleet 
descent1          ,an ,indian from his  
bark approach their bow'r1          ,of 
buskin'd limb and swarthy lineament2    
,the red wild feathers on his brow were 
blent1          ,and bracelets bound the
 arm that help'd to light          ,a   

boy1 who seem'd1 as he beside him went1 
,of ,christian vesture and complexion   
bright1        ,led by his dusky guide1 
like morning brought by night4'    ,in  
the foregoing stanzas we particularly   
admire the line--         #8,till now1  
in ,gertrude's eyes1 their ninth blue   
summer shone4'    ,it appears to us like
 the ecstatic union of natural beauty   
and poetic  fancy1 and in its playful   
sublimity resembles the azure canopy    
mirrored  in the smiling waters1 bright1
 liquid1 serene1 heavenly6 ,a great     
outcry1  we know1 has prevailed for some
 time past against poetic diction and   
affected conceits1 and1 to a certain    
degree1 we go along with it2 but  this  
must not prevent us from feeling the    
thrill of pleasure when we see  beauty  
linked to beauty1 like kindred flame to 
flame1 or from applauding  the          
voluptuous fancy that raises and adorns 
the fairy fabric of thought1  that      
nature has begun6 ,pleasure is          
#8scattered in stray-gifts o'er the     

earth'--beauty streaks the #8famous     
poet's page' in occasional lines of     
inconceivable brightness2 and wherever  
this is the case1 no splenetic  censures
 or #8jealous leer malign1' no idle     
theories or cold indifference  should   
hinder us from greeting it with rapture4
 ,there are other parts of  this poem   
equally delightful1 in which there is a 
light startling as the  red-bird's wing2
 a perfume like that of the magnolia2 a 
music like the  murmuring of pathless   
woods or of the everlasting ocean4 ,we  
conceive1  however1 that ,mr4 ,campbell 
excels chiefly in sentiment and imagery4
 ,the  story moves slow1 and is         
mechanically conducted1 and rather      
resembles a  ,scotch canal carried over 
lengthened aqueducts and with a number  
of  locks in it1 than one of those      
rivers that sweep in their majestic     
course1 broad and full1 over            
,transatlantic plains and lose          
themselves in  rolling gulfs1 or thunder
 down lofty precipices4 ,but in the     

centre1 the  inmost recesses of our     
poet's heart1 the pearly dew of         
sensibility is  distilled and collects1 
like the diamond in the mine1 and the   
structure  of his fame rests on the     
crystal columns of a polished           
imagination4 ,we  prefer the ,gertrude  
to the ,pleasures of ,hope1 because with
 perhaps  less brilliancy1 there is more
 of tenderness and natural imagery in   
the  former4 ,in the ,pleasures of ,hope
 ,mr4 ,campbell had not completely      
emancipated himself from the trammels of
 the more artificial style of           
poetry--from epigram1 and antithesis1   
and hyperbole4 ,the best line in it1  in
 which earthly joys are said to be--    
#8,like angels' visits1 few and far     
between'--    is a borrowed one4#fb ,but
 in the ,gertrude of ,wyoming #8we      
perceive a  softness coming over the    
heart of the author1 and the scales and 
crust  of formality1 that fence in his  
couplets and give them a somewhat       
glittering and rigid appearance1 fall   

off1' and he has succeeded in           
engrafting the wild and more expansive  
interest of the romantic school  of     
poetry on classic elegance and          
precision4 ,after the poem we have just 
named1 ,mr4 ,campbell's ,songs are the  
happiest efforts of his                 
,muse3--breathing freshness1 blushing   
like the morn1 they seem1 like          
clustering roses1 to weave a chaplet for
 love and liberty2 or their  bleeding   
words gush out in mournful and hurried  
succession1 like #8ruddy  drops that    
visit the sad heart' of thoughtful      
,humanity4 ,the ,battle of  ,hohenlinden
 is of all modern compositions the most 
lyrical in spirit  and in sound4 ,to    
justify this encomium1 we need only     
recall the lines to  the reader's       
memory4                  #8,on ,linden1 
when the sun was low1                   
,all bloodless lay th' untrodden snow1  
,and dark as winter was the flow        
,of ,iser1 rolling rapidly4             
#8,but ,linden saw another sight1       

,when the drum beat at dead of night1   
,commanding fires of death to light     
,the darkness of her scenery4           
#8,by torch and trumpet fast array'd1   
,each horseman drew his battle blade1   
,and furious every charger neigh'd1     
,to join the dreadful revelry4          
#8,then shook the hills with thunder    
riv'n1                ,then rush'd the  
steed to battle driv'n1                 
,and louder than the bolts of heav'n    
,far flash'd the red artillery4         
#8,but redder yet that light shall glow 
,on ,linden's hills of stained snow1    
,and bloodier yet the torrent flow      
,of ,iser1 rolling rapidly4             
#8',tis morn1 but scarce yon level sun  
,can pierce the war-clouds1 rolling#fc  
dun1                ,where furious      
,frank and fiery ,hun                   
,shout in their sulph'rous canopy4      
#8,the combat deepens4 ,on1 ye brave1   
,who rush to glory1 or the grave6       
,wave1 ,munich6 all thy banners wave6   
,and charge with all thy chivalry6      

#8,few1 few shall part where many meet6 
,the snow shall be their winding-sheet1 
,and every turf beneath their feet      
,shall be a soldier's sepulchre4'       
,mr4 ,campbell's prose-criticisms on    
contemporary and other poets 7which     
have appeared in the ,new ,monthly      
,magazine7 are in a style at once       
chaste1 temperate1 guarded1 and just4   
,mr4 ,crabbe presents an entire contrast
 to ,mr4 ,campbell3--,the one is the    
most ambitious and aspiring of living   
poets1 the other the most humble  and   
prosaic4 ,if the poetry of the one is   
like the arch of the rainbow1  spanning 
and adorning the earth1 that of the     
other is like a dull1  leaden cloud     
hanging over it4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's style   
might be cited as an  answer to         
,audrey's question--#8,is poetry a true 
thing8' ,there are here no  ornaments1  
no flights of fancy1 no illusions of    
sentiment1 no tinsel of  words4 ,his    
song is one sad reality1 one unraised1  
unvaried note of  unavailing woe4       

,literal fidelity serves him in the     
place of invention2  he assumes         
importance by a number of petty details2
 he rivets attention  by being tedious4 
,he not only deals in incessant matters 
of fact1 but in  matters of fact of the 
most familiar1 the least animating1 and 
the most  unpleasant kind2 but he relies
 for the effect of novelty on the       
microscopic minuteness with which he    
dissects the most trivial  objects--and 
for the interest he excites1 on the     
unshrinking  determination with which he
 handles the most painful4 ,his poetry  
has an  official and professional air4  
,he is called in to cases of difficult  
births1 of fractured limbs1 or breaches 
of the peace2 and makes out a  parochial
 list of accidents and offences4 ,he    
takes the most trite1 the  most gross   
and obvious and revolting part of       
nature1 for the subject of  his         
elaborate descriptions2 but it is       
,nature still1 and ,nature is a  great  
and mighty ,goddess6 ,it is well for the

 ,reverend ,author that it is  so4      
,individuality is1 in his theory1 the   
only definition of poetry4  ,whatever   
is1 he hitches into rhyme4 ,whoever     
makes an exact image of  any thing on   
the earth1 however deformed or          
insignificant1 according to  him1 must  
succeed--and he himself has succeeded4  
,mr4 ,crabbe is one of the  most popular
 and admired of our living authors4     
,that he is so1 can be  accounted for on
 no other principle than the strong ties
 that bind us to  the world about us1   
and our involuntary yearnings after     
whatever in any  manner powerfully and  
directly reminds us of it4 ,his ,muse is
 not one of  the ,daughters of ,memory1 
but the old toothless1 mumbling1 dame   
herself1 doling out the gossip and      
scandal of the neighbourhood1           
recounting totidem verbis et literis1   
what happens in every place of  the     
kingdom every hour in the year1 and     
fastening always on the worst as  the   
most palatable morsels4 ,but she is a   

circumstantial old lady1  communicative1
 scrupulous1 leaving nothing to the     
imagination1 harping  on the smallest   
grievances1 a village oracle and critic1
 most veritable1  most identical1       
bringing us acquainted with persons and 
things just as  they chanced to exist1  
and giving us a local interest in all   
she knows  and tells4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's    
,helicon is choked up with weeds and    
corruption2  it reflects no light from  
heaven1 it emits no cheerful sound3 no  
flowers  of love1 of hope1 or joy spring
 up near it1 or they bloom only to      
wither  in a moment4 ,our poet's verse  
does not put a spirit of youth in every 
thing1 but a spirit of fear1            
despondency1 and decay3 it is not an    
electric spark to kindle or expand1 but 
acts like the torpedo's touch to  deaden
 or contract4 ,it lends no dazzling     
tints to fancy1 it aids no  soothing    
feelings in the heart1 it gladdens no   
prospect1 it stirs no  wish2 in its view
 the current of life runs slow1 dull1   

cold1 dispirited1  half under ground1   
muddy1 and clogged with all creeping    
things4 ,the  world is one vast         
infirmary2 the hill of ,parnassus is a  
penitentiary1 of  which our author is   
the overseer3 to read him is a penance1 
yet we read  on6 ,mr4 ,crabbe1 it must  
be confessed1 is a repulsive writer4 ,he
  contrives to #8turn diseases to       
commodities1' and makes a virtue of     
necessity4 ,he puts us out of conceit   
with this world1 which perhaps a  severe
 divine should do2 yet does not1 as a   
charitable divine ought1  point to      
another4 ,his morbid feelings droop and 
cling to the earth1  grovel where they  
should soar2 and throw a dead weight on 
every  aspiration of the soul after the 
good or beautiful4 ,by degrees we       
submit1 and are reconciled to our fate1 
like patients to the physician1  or     
prisoners in the condemned cell4 ,we can
 only explain this by saying1  as we    
said before1 that ,mr4 ,crabbe gives us 
one part of nature1 the  mean1 the      

little1 the disgusting1 the distressing2
 that he does this  thoroughly and like 
a master1 and we forgive all the rest4  
,mr4 ,crabbe's first poems were         
published so long ago as the year #aghb1
  and received the approbation of ,dr4  
,johnson only a little before he  died4 
,this was a testimony from an enemy2 for
 ,dr4 ,johnson was not an  admirer of   
the simple in style or minute in        
description4 ,still he was an  acute1   
strong-minded man1 and could see truth  
when it was presented to  him1 even     
through the mist of his prejudices and  
his foibles4 ,there was  something in   
,mr4 ,crabbe's intricate points that did
 not1 after all1 so  ill accord with the
 ,doctor's purblind vision2 and he knew 
quite enough  of the petty ills of life 
to judge of the merit of our poet's     
descriptions1 though he himself chose to
 slur them over in high-sounding  dogmas
 or general invectives4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's  
earliest poem of the  ,village was      
recommended to the notice of ,dr4       

,johnson by ,sir ,joshua  ,reynolds2 and
 we cannot help thinking that a taste   
for that sort of  poetry1 which leans   
for support on the truth and fidelity of
 its  imitations of nature1 began to    
display itself much about that time1    
and1  in a good measure1 in consequence 
of the direction of the public taste  to
 the subject of painting4               
,book-learning1 the accumulation of     
wordy  common-places1 the gaudy         
pretensions of poetical fiction1 had    
enfeebled  and perverted our eye for    
nature4 ,the study of the fine arts1    
which came  into fashion about forty    
years ago1 and was then first considered
 as a  polite accomplishment1 would tend
 imperceptibly to restore it4 ,painting 
is essentially an imitative art2 it     
cannot subsist for a moment on empty    
generalities3 the critic1 therefore1 who
 had been used to this sort of          
substantial entertainment1 would be     
disposed to read poetry with the eye  of
 a connoisseur1 would be little         

captivated with smooth1 polished1       
unmeaning periods1 and would turn with  
double eagerness and relish to  the     
force and precision of individual       
details1 transferred1 as it were1  to   
the page from the canvas4 ,thus an      
admirer of ,teniers or ,hobbima might   
think little of the pastoral sketches of
 ,pope or ,goldsmith2 even ,thomson     
describes not so much the naked object  
as what he sees in his mind's  eye1     
surrounded and glowing with the mild1   
bland1 genial vapours of his            
brain3--but the adept in ,dutch         
interiors1 hovels1 and pig-styes must   
find  in ,mr4 ,crabbe a man after his   
own heart4 ,he is the very thing itself2
 he  paints in words1 instead of        
colours3 there is no other difference4  
,as  ,mr4 ,crabbe is not a painter1 only
 because he does not use a brush and    
colours1 so he is for the most part a   
poet1 only because he writes in  lines  
of ten syllables4 ,all the rest might be
 found in a newspaper1 an  old magazine1

 or a county-register4 ,our author is   
himself a little  jealous of the prudish
 fidelity of his homely ,muse1 and tries
 to justify  himself by precedents4 ,he 
brings as a parallel instance of merely 
literal description1 ,pope's lines on   
the gay ,duke of ,buckingham1  beginning
 #8,in the worst inn's worst room see   
,villiers lies6' ,but surely  nothing   
can be more dissimilar4 ,pope describes 
what is striking1 ,crabbe  would have   
described merely what was there4 ,the   
objects in ,pope stand  out to the fancy
 from the mixture of the mean with the  
gaudy1 from the  contrast of the scene  
and the character4 ,there is an appeal  
to the  imagination2 you see what is    
passing in a poetical point of view4 ,in
  ,crabbe there is no foil1 no contrast1
 no impulse given to the mind4 ,it  is  
all on a level and of a piece4 ,in fact1
 there is so little connection  between 
the subject-matter of ,mr4 ,crabbe's    
lines and the ornament of  rhyme which  
is tacked to them1 that many of his     

verses read like serious  burlesque1 and
 the parodies which have been made upon 
them are hardly so  quaint as the       
originals4    ,mr4 ,crabbe's great fault
 is certainly that he is a sickly1 a    
querulous1  a uniformly dissatisfied    
poet4 ,he sings the country2 and he     
sings it in  a pitiful tone4 ,he chooses
 this subject only to take the charm out
 of  it1 and to dispel the illusion1 the
 glory1 and the dream1 which had        
hovered over it in golden verse from    
,theocritus to ,cowper4 ,he sets out    
with professing to overturn the theory  
which had hallowed a shepherd's  life1  
and made the names of grove and valley  
music to our ears1 in order  to give us 
truth in its stead2 but why not lay     
aside the fool's cap and  bells at once8
 ,why not insist on the unwelcome       
reality in plain prose8  ,if our author 
is a poet1 why trouble himself with     
statistics8 ,if he is a  statistic      
writer1 why set his ill news to harsh   
and grating verse8 ,the  philosopher in 

painting the dark side of human nature  
may have reason on  his side1 and a     
moral lesson or remedy in view4 ,the    
tragic poet1 who  shows the sad         
vicissitudes of things and the          
disappointments of the  passions1 at    
least strengthens our yearnings after   
imaginary good1 and  lends wings to our 
desires1 by which we1 #8at one bound1   
high overleap  all bound' of actual     
suffering4 ,but ,mr4 ,crabbe does       
neither4 ,he gives us  discoloured      
paintings of life2 helpless1 repining1  
unprofitable1  unedifying distress4 ,he 
is not a philosopher1 but a sophist1 a  
misanthrope in verse2 a namby-pamby     
,mandeville1 a ,malthus turned  metrical
 romancer4 ,he professes historical     
fidelity2 but his vein is not  dramatic2
 nor does he give us the pros and cons  
of that versatile  gipsey1 ,nature4 ,he 
does not indulge his fancy or sympathise
 with us1 or  tell us how the poor feel2
 but how he should feel in their        
situation1  which we do not want to     

know4 ,he does not weave the web of     
their lives  of a mingled yarn1 good and
 ill together1 but clothes them all in  
the  same dingy linsey-woolsey1 or      
tinges them with a green and yellow     
melancholy4 ,he blocks out all          
possibility of good1 cancels the hope1  
or  even the wish for it as a weakness2 
checkmates ,tityrus and ,virgil at the  
game of pastoral cross-purposes1        
disables all his adversary's white      
pieces1 and leaves none but black ones  
on the board4 ,the situation of a       
country clergyman is not necessarily    
favourable to the cultivation of  the   
,muse4 ,he is set down1 perhaps1 as he  
thinks1 in a small curacy for  life1 and
 he takes his revenge by imprisoning the
 reader's imagination  in luckless      
verse4 ,shut out from social converse1  
from learned colleges  and halls1 where 
he passed his youth1 he has no cordial  
fellow-feeling  with the unlettered     
manners of the ,village or the ,borough2
 and he  describes his neighbours as    

more uncomfortable and discontented than
  himself4 ,all this while he dedicates 
successive volumes to rising            
generations of noble patrons2 and while 
he desolates a line of coast  with      
sterile1 blighting lines1 the only leaf 
of his books where honour1  beauty1     
worth1 or pleasure bloom1 is that       
inscribed to the ,rutland  family6 ,we  
might adduce instances of what we have  
said from every page  of his works3 let 
one suffice--              #8,thus by   
himself compelled to live each day1     
,to wait for certain hours the tide's   
delay2            ,at the same times the
 same dull views to see1            ,the
 bounding marsh-bank and the blighted   
tree2            ,the water only when   
the tides were high1            ,when   
low1 the mud half-covered and half-dry2 
,the sun-burnt tar that blisters on the 
planks1            ,and bank-side stakes
 in their uneven ranks2                 
,heaps of entangled weeds that slowly   
float1            ,as the tide rolls by 

the impeded boat4            ,when tides
 were neap1 and in the sultry day1      
,through the tall bounding mud-banks    
made their way1            ,which on    
each side rose swelling1 and below      
,the dark warm flood ran silently and   
slow2            ,there anchoring1      
,peter chose from man to hide1          
,there hang his head1 and view the lazy 
tide            ,in its hot slimy       
channel slowly glide2            ,where 
the small eels1 that left the deeper way
            ,for the warm shore1 within 
the shallows play2            ,where    
gaping muscles1 left upon the mud1      
,slope their slow passage to the fall'n 
flood3            ,here dull and        
hopeless he'd lie down and trace        
,how side-long crabs had crawled their  
crooked race2            ,or sadly      
listen to the tuneless cry              
,of fishing gull or clanging golden-eye2
            ,what time the sea-birds to 
the marsh would come1            ,and   
the loud bittern1 from the bull-rush    

home1            ,gave from the         
salt-ditch-side the bellowing boom3     
,he nursed the feelings these dull      
scenes produce            ,and loved to 
stop beside the opening sluice2         
,where the small stream1 confined in    
narrow bound1            ,ran with a    
dull1 unvaried1 saddening sound2        
,where all1 presented to the eye or ear1
            ,oppressed the soul with    
misery1 grief1 and fear4'    ,this is an
 exact fac-simile of some of the most   
unlovely parts of the  creation4 ,indeed
 the whole of ,mr4 ,crabbe's ,borough1  
from which the  above passage is taken1 
is done so to the life1 that it seems   
almost  like some sea-monster1 crawled  
out of the neighbouring slime1 and      
harbouring a breed of strange vermin1   
with a strong local scent of tar  and   
bulge-water4 ,mr4 ,crabbe's ,tales are  
more readable than his  ,poems2 but in  
proportion as the interest increases1   
they become more  oppressive4 ,they     
turn1 one and all1 upon the same sort of

 teazing1  helpless1 mechanical1        
unimaginative distress2--and though it  
is not easy  to lay them down1 you never
 wish to take them up again4 ,still in  
this  way1 they are highly finished1    
striking1 and original portraits1 worked
  out with an eye to nature1 and an     
intimate knowledge of the small and     
intricate folds of the human heart4     
,some of the best are the  ,confidant1  
the story of ,silly ,shore1 the ,young  
,poet1 the  ,painter4 ,the episode of   
,phbe ,dawson in the ,village1 is one of
 the  most tender and pensive2 and the  
character of the methodist parson who   
persecutes the sailor's widow with his  
godly1 selfish love is one of the  most 
profound4 ,in a word1 if ,mr4 ,crabbe's 
writings do not add greatly to  the     
store of entertaining and delightful    
fiction1 yet they will remain1  #8as a  
thorn in the side of poetry1' perhaps   
for a century to come6                  
,,mr4 ,t4 ,,moore--,,mr4 ,,leigh ,,hunt 
#8,or winglet of the fairy humming-bird1

        ,like atoms of the rainbow      
fluttering round4'                      
,,campbell4      ,the lines placed at   
the head of this sketch1 from a         
contemporary writer1  appear to us very 
descriptive of ,mr4 ,moore's poetry4    
,his verse is like a  shower of beauty2 
a dance of images2 a stream of music2 or
 like the  spray of the water-fall1     
tinged by the morning-beam with rosy    
light4 ,the  characteristic distinction 
of our author's style is this continuous
 and  incessant flow of voluptuous      
thoughts and shining allusions4 ,he     
ought to  write with a crystal pen on   
silver paper4 ,his subject is set off by
 a  dazzling veil of poetic diction1    
like a wreath of flowers gemmed with    
innumerous dew-drops1 that weep1        
tremble1 and glitter in liquid softness 
and pearly light1 while the song of     
birds ravishes the ear1 and languid     
odours breathe around1 and ,aurora opens
 ,heaven's smiling portals1 ,peris  and 
nymphs peep through the golden glades1  

and an ,angel's wing glances  over the  
glossy scene4            #8,no dainty   
flower or herb that grows on ground1    
,no arboret with painted blossoms drest1
          ,and smelling sweet1 but there
 it might be found          ,to bud out 
fair1 and its sweet smells throw all    
around4            #8,no tree1 whose    
branches did not bravely spring2        
,no branch1 whereon a fine bird did not 
sit2          ,no bird1 but did her     
shrill notes sweetly sing2          ,no 
song1 but did contain a lovely dit3     
,trees1 branches1 birds1 and songs were 
framed fit          ,for to allure frail
 minds to careless ease4'    ,mr4       
,campbell's imagination is fastidious   
and select2 and hence1 though  we meet  
with more exquisite beauties in his     
writings1 we meet with them  more       
rarely3 there is comparatively a dearth 
of ornament4 ,but ,mr4  ,moore's        
strictest economy is #8wasteful and     
superfluous excess'3 he is  always      
liberal1 and never at a loss2 for sooner

 than not stimulate and  delight the    
reader1 he is willing to be tawdry1 or  
superficial1 or  common-place4 ,his     
,muse must be fine at any rate1 though  
she should  paint1 and wear cast-off    
decorations4 ,rather than have any lack 
of  excitement1 he repeats himself2 and 
#8,eden1 and ,eblis1 and cherub-smiles' 
fill up the pauses of the sentiment with
 a sickly monotony4--,it has been  too  
much our author's object to pander to   
the artificial taste of the  age2 and   
his productions1 however brilliant and  
agreeable1 are in  consequence somewhat 
meretricious and effeminate4 ,it was    
thought  formerly enough to have an     
occasionally fine passage in the        
progress of  a story or a poem1 and an  
occasionally striking image or          
expression in a  fine passage or        
description4 ,but this style1 it seems1 
was to be  exploded as rude1 ,gothic1   
meagre1 and dry4 ,now all must be raised
 to the  same tantalising and           
preposterous level4 ,there must be no   

pause1 no  interval1 no repose1 no      
gradation4 ,simplicity and truth yield  
up the  palm to affectation and grimace4
 ,the craving of the public mind after  
novelty and effect is a false and uneasy
 appetite that must be pampered  with   
fine words at every step--we must be    
tickled with sound1 startled  with show1
 and relieved by the importunate1       
uninterrupted display of  fancy and     
verbal tinsel as much as possible from  
the fatigue of thought  or shock of     
feeling4 ,a poem is to resemble an      
exhibition of fire-works1  with a       
continual explosion of quaint figures   
and devices1 flash after  flash1 that   
surprise for the moment1 and leave no   
trace of light or  warmth behind them4  
,or modern poetry in its retrograde     
progress comes at  last to be           
constructed on the principles of the    
modern ,,opera1 where an  attempt is    
made to gratify every sense at every    
instant1 and where the  understanding   
alone is insulted and the heart mocked4 

,it is in this view  only that we can   
discover that ,mr4 ,moore's poetry is   
vitiated or  immoral1--it seduces the   
taste and enervates the imagination4 ,it
 creates  a false standard of reference1
 and inverts or decompounds the natural 
order of association1 in which objects  
strike the thoughts and feelings4  ,his 
is the poetry of the bath1 of the       
toilette1 of the saloon1 of the         
fashionable world2 not the poetry of    
nature1 of the heart1 or of human  life4
 ,he stunts and enfeebles equally the   
growth of the imagination and  the      
affections1 by not taking the seed of   
poetry and sowing it in the  ground of  
truth1 and letting it expand in the dew 
and rain1 and shoot up  to heaven1      
#8,and spread its sweet leaves to the   
air1                  ,or dedicate its  
beauty to the sun1'    instead of which 
he anticipates and defeats his own      
object1 by plucking  flowers and        
blossoms from the stem1 and setting them
 in the ground of  idleness and         

folly--or in the cap of his own vanity1 
where they soon  wither and disappear1  
#8dying or ere they sicken6' ,this is   
but a sort of  child's play1 a          
short-sighted ambition4 ,in ,milton we  
meet with many  prosaic lines1 either   
because the subject does not require    
raising or  because they are necessary  
to connect the story1 or serve as a     
relief to  other passages--there is not 
such a thing to be found in all ,mr4    
,moore's  writings4 ,his volumes present
 us with #8a perpetual feast of nectar'd
  sweets'--but we cannot add--#8where no
 crude surfeit reigns4' ,he indeed      
cloys with sweetness2 he obscures with  
splendour2 he fatigues with  gaiety4 ,we
 are stifled on beds of roses--we       
literally lie #8on the rack of  restless
 ecstacy4' ,his flowery fancy #8looks so
 fair and smells so sweet1  that the    
sense aches at it4' ,his verse droops   
and languishes under a  load of beauty1 
like a bough laden with fruit4 ,his     
gorgeous style is  like #8another morn  

risen on mid-noon4' ,there is no passage
 that is not  made up of blushing lines1
 no line that is not enriched with a    
sparkling  metaphor1 no image that is   
left unadorned with a double            
epithet--all his  verbs1 nouns1         
adjectives1 are equally glossy1 smooth1 
and beautiful4  ,every stanza is        
transparent with light1 perfumed with   
odours1 floating  in liquid harmony1    
melting in luxurious1 evanescent        
delights4 ,his ,muse  is never contented
 with an offering from one sense alone1 
but brings  another rifled charm to     
match it1 and revels in a fairy round of
  pleasure4 ,the interest is not        
dramatic1 but melodramatic--it is a     
mixture  of painting1 poetry1 and music1
 of the natural and preternatural1 of   
obvious sentiment and romantic costume4 
,a rose is a ,gul1 a nightingale  a     
,bulbul4 ,we might fancy ourselves in an
 eastern harem1 amidst  ,ottomans1 and  
otto of roses1 and veils and spangles1  
and marble pillars1  and cool fountains1

 and ,arab maids and ,genii1 and        
magicians1 and ,peris1  and cherubs1 and
 what not8 ,mr4 ,moore has a little     
mistaken the art of  poetry for the     
cosmetic art4 ,he does not compose an   
historic group1 or  work out a single   
figure2 but throws a variety of         
elementary sensations1  of vivid        
impressions together1 and calls it a    
description4 ,he makes out  an inventory
 of beauty--the smile on the lips1 the  
dimple on the cheeks1  item1 golden     
locks1 item1 a pair of blue wings1 item1
 a silver  sound1 with breathing        
fragrance and radiant light1 and thinks 
it a  character or a story4 ,he gets    
together a number of fine things and    
fine  names1 and thinks that1 flung on  
heaps1 they make up a fine poem4 ,this  
dissipated1 fulsome1 painted1 patchwork 
style may succeed in the levity  and    
languor of the boudoir1 or might have   
been adapted to the  ,pavilions of      
royalty1 but it is not the style of     
,parnassus1 nor a  passport to          

,immortality4 ,it is not the taste of   
the ancients1 #8'tis not  classical     
lore'--nor the fashion of ,tibullus1 or 
,theocritus1 or ,anacreon1  or ,virgil1 
or ,ariosto1 or ,pope1 or ,byron1 or any
 great writer among the  living or the  
dead1 but it is the style of our        
,english ,anacreon1 and it  is 7or was7 
the fashion of the day6 ,let one example
 7and that an admired  one71 taken from 
,lalla ,rookh1 suffice to explain the   
mystery and  soften the harshness of the
 foregoing criticism4                   
#8,now1 upon ,syria's land of roses     
,softly the light of eve reposes1       
,and1 like a glory1 the broad sun       
,hangs over sainted ,lebanon2           
,whose head in wintry grandeur towers1  
,and whitens with eternal sleet1        
,while summer1 in a vale of flowers1    
,is sleeping rosy at his feet4          
#8,to one who look'd from upper air     
,o'er all the enchanted regions there1  
,how beauteous must have been the glow1 
,the life1 the sparkling from below6    

,fair gardens1 shining streams1 with    
ranks                 ,of golden melons 
on their banks1                 ,more   
golden where the sun-light falls2--     
,gay lizards1 glittering on the walls   
,of ruin'd shrines1 busy and bright     
,as they were all alive with light2--   
,and1 yet more splendid1 numerous flocks
                 ,of pigeons1 settling  
on the rocks1                 ,with     
their rich restless wings1 that gleam   
,variously in the crimson beam          
,of the warm west1--as if inlaid        
,with brilliants from the mine1 or made 
,of tearless rainbows1 such as span     
,the unclouded skies of ,peristan6      
,and then1 the mingling sounds that     
come1                 ,of shepherd's    
ancient reed1 with hum                  
,of the wild bees of ,palestine1        
,banquetting through the flowery        
vales2--                 ,and1 ,jordan1 
those sweet banks of thine1             
,and woods1 so full of nightingales6'   
,the following lines are the very       

perfection of ,della ,cruscan sentiment1
  and affected orientalism of style4    
,the ,peri exclaims on finding that old 
talisman and hackneyed poetical machine1
 #8a penitent tear'--                   
#8,joy1 joy for ever6 my task is done-- 
,the gates are pass'd1 and ,heaven is   
won6                  ,oh6 am ,i not    
happy8 ,i am1 ,i am--                   
,to thee1 sweet ,eden6 how dark and sad 
,are the diamond turrets of ,shadukiam1 
,and the fragrant bowers of ,amberabad4'
    ,there is in all this a play of     
fancy1 a glitter of words1 a shallowness
  of thought1 and a want of truth and   
solidity that is wonderful1 and that    
nothing but the heedless1 rapid glide of
 the verse could render                 
tolerable3----it seems that the poet1 as
 well as the lover1                     
#8,may bestride the ,gossamer1          
,that wantons in the idle1 summer air1  
,and yet not fall1 so light is vanity6' 
,mr4 ,moore ought not to contend with   
serious difficulties or with entire     

subjects4 ,he can write verses1 not a   
poem4 ,there is no principle of  massing
 or of continuity in his                
productions--neither height nor breadth 
nor depth of capacity4 ,there is no     
truth of representation1 no strong      
internal feeling--but a continual       
flutter and display of affected airs    
and graces1 like a finished coquette1   
who hides the want of symmetry by       
extravagance of dress1 and the want of  
passion by flippant forwardness  and    
unmeaning sentimentality4 ,all is       
flimsy1 all is florid to excess4  ,his  
imagination may dally with insect       
beauties1 with ,rosicrucian spells2  may
 describe a butterfly's wing1 a         
flower-pot1 a fan3 but it should not    
attempt to span the great outlines of   
nature1 or keep pace with the  sounding 
march of events1 or grapple with the    
strong fibres of the human  heart4 ,the 
great becomes turgid in his hands1 the  
pathetic insipid4 ,if  ,mr4 ,moore were 
to describe the heights of ,chimboraco1 

instead of the  loneliness1 the vastness
 and the shadowy might1 he would only   
think of  adorning it with roseate      
tints1 like a strawberry-ice1 and would 
transform a magician's fortress in the  
,himmalaya 7stripped of its  mysterious 
gloom and frowning horrors7 into a      
jeweller's toy1 to be set  upon a lady's
 toilette4 ,in proof of this1 see above 
#8the diamond turrets  of ,shadukiam1'  
c4 ,the description of ,mokanna in the  
fight1 though it  has spirit and        
grandeur of effect1 has still a great   
alloy of the  mock-heroic in it4 ,the   
route of blood and death1 which is      
otherwise well  marked1 is infested with
 a swarm of #8fire-fly' fancies4        
#8,in vain ,mokanna1 #8midst the general
 flight1              ,stands1 like the 
red moon1 in some stormy night1         
,among the fugitive clouds1 that        
hurrying by1              ,leave only   
her unshaken in the sky4'    ,this      
simile is fine1 and would have been     
perfect1 but that the moon is  not red1 

and that she seems to hurry by the      
clouds1 not they by her4    ,the        
description of the warrior's youthful   
adversary1                              
----#8,whose coming seems               
,a light1 a glory1 such as breaks in    
dreams----'    is fantastic and         
enervated--a field of battle has nothing
 to do with  dreams3--and again1 the two
 lines immediately after1               
#8,and every sword1 true as o'er billows
 dim              ,the needle tracks the
 load-star1 following him'--    are a   
mere piece of enigmatical ingenuity and 
scientific  mimminee-pimminee4    ,we   
cannot except the ,irish ,melodies from 
the same censure4 ,if these  national   
airs do indeed express the soul of      
impassioned feeling in his  countrymen1 
the case of ,ireland is hopeless4 ,if   
these prettinesses pass  for patriotism1
 if a country can heave from its heart's
 core only these  vapid1 varnished      
sentiments1 lip-deep1 and let its tears 
of blood  evaporate in an empty conceit1

 let it be governed as it has been4     
,there  are here no tones to waken      
,liberty1 to console ,humanity4 ,mr4    
,moore  converts the wild harp of ,erin 
into a musical snuff-box6#fd--,we do    
except from this censure the author's   
political squibs1 and the  #8,twopenny  
,post-bag4' ,these are essences1 are    
#8nests of spicery1' bitter  and sweet1 
honey and gall together4 ,no one can so 
well describe the set  speech of a dull 
formalist1#fe or the flowing locks of a 
,dowager1                #8,in the      
manner of ,ackermann's dresses for      
,may4'    ,his light1 agreeable1        
polished style pierces through the body 
of the  court--hits off the faded graces
 of #8an ,adonis of fifty1' weighs the  
vanity of fashion in tremulous scales1  
mimics the grimace of affectation  and  
folly1 shows up the littleness of the   
great1 and spears a phalanx of          
statesmen with its glittering point as  
with a diamond broach4                  
#8,in choosing songs the ,regent named1 

8,had ,i a heart for falsehood fram'd30 
,while gentle ,hertford begg'd and      
pray'd                  ,for 8,young ,i 
am1 and sore afraid4'0    ,nothing in   
,pope or ,prior ever surpassed the      
delicate insinuation and  adroit satire 
of these lines1 and hundreds more of our
 author's  composition4 ,we wish he     
would not take pains to make us think of
 them  with less pleasure than          
formerly4--,the #8,fudge ,family' is in 
the same  spirit1 but with a little     
falling-off4 ,there is too great a      
mixture of  undisguised ,jacobinism and 
fashionable slang4 ,the #8divine ,fanny 
,bias'  and #8the mountains  la ,russe' 
figure in somewhat quaintly with        
,buonaparte and the ,bourbons4 ,the poet
 also launches the lightning of         
political indignation2 but it rather    
plays round and illumines his own  pen  
than reaches the devoted heads at which 
it is aimed6    ,mr4 ,moore is in       
private life an amiable and estimable   
man4 ,the  embellished and voluptuous   

style of his poetry1 his unpretending   
origin1  and his mignon figure1 soon    
introduced him to the notice of the     
great1  and his gaiety1 his wit1 his    
good-humour1 and many agreeable         
accomplishments fixed him there1 the    
darling of his friends and the idol  of 
fashion4 ,if he is no longer familiar   
with ,royalty as with his garter1  the  
fault is not his--his adherence to his  
principles caused the  separation--his  
love of his country was the cloud that  
intercepted the  sunshine of            
court-favour4 ,this is so far well4 ,mr4
 ,moore vindicates his  own dignity2 but
 the sense of intrinsic worth1 of       
wide-spread fame1 and  of the intimacy  
of the great makes him perhaps a little 
too fastidious  and exigeant as to the  
pretensions of others4 ,he has been so  
long  accustomed to the society of ,whig
 ,lords1 and so enchanted with the smile
  of beauty and fashion1 that he really 
fancies himself one of the set1  to     
which he is admitted on sufferance1 and 

tries very unnecessarily to  keep others
 out of it4 ,he talks familiarly of     
works that are or are not  read #8in our
 circle'2 and seated smiling and at his 
ease in a  coronet-coach1 enlivening the
 owner by his brisk sallies and ,attic  
conceits1 is shocked1 as he passes1 to  
see a ,peer of the realm shake  hands   
with a poet4 ,there is a little         
indulgence of spleen and envy1 a  little
 servility and pandering to aristocratic
 pride in this proceeding4  ,is ,mr4    
,moore bound to advise a ,noble ,poet to
 get as fast as possible out  of a      
certain publication1 lest he should not 
be able to give an account  at ,holland 
or at ,lansdown ,house1 how his friend  
,lord ,b---- had associated  himself    
with his friend ,l4 ,h----8 ,is he      
afraid that the #8,spirit of  ,monarchy'
 will eclipse the #8,fables for the     
,holy ,alliance' in virulence  and plain
 speaking8 ,or are the members of the   
#8,fudge ,family' to secure a  monopoly 
for the abuse of the ,bourbons and the  

doctrine of ,divine ,right8  ,because he
 is genteel and sarcastic1 may not      
others be paradoxical and               
argumentative8 ,or must no one bark at a
 ,minister or ,general1 unless they     
have been first dandled1 like a little  
,french pug-dog1 in the lap of a  lady  
of quality8 ,does ,mr4 ,moore insist on 
the double claim of birth and  genius as
 a title to respectability in all       
advocates of the popular  side--but     
himself8 ,or is he anxious to keep the  
pretensions of his  patrician and       
plebeian friends quite separate1 so as  
to be himself the  only point of union1 
a sort of double meaning1 between the   
two8 ,it is  idle to think of setting   
bounds to the weakness and illusions of 
self-love as long as it is confined to a
 man's own breast2 but it ought  not to 
be made a plea for holding back the     
powerful hand that is  stretched out to 
save another struggling with the tide of
 popular  prejudice1 who has suffered   
shipwreck of health1 fame1 and fortune  

in a  common cause1 and who has deserved
 the aid and the good wishes of all  who
 are 7on principle7 embarked in the same
 cause by equal zeal and  honesty1 if   
not by equal talents to support and to  
adorn it6    ,we shall conclude the     
present article with a short notice of  
an  individual who1 in the cast of his  
mind and in political principle1  bears 
no very remote resemblance to the       
patriot and wit just spoken of1  and on 
whose merits we should descant at       
greater length1 but that  personal      
intimacy might be supposed to render us 
partial4 ,it is well  when personal     
intimacy produces this effect2 and when 
the light1 that  dazzled us at a        
distance1 does not on a closer          
inspection turn out an  opaque          
substance4 ,this is a charge that none  
of his friends will bring  against ,mr4 
,leigh ,hunt4 ,he improves upon         
acquaintance4 ,the author  translates   
admirably into the man4 ,indeed the very
 faults of his style  are virtues in the

 individual4 ,his natural gaiety and    
sprightliness of  manner1 his high      
animal spirits1 and the vinous quality  
of his mind1  produce an immediate      
fascination and intoxication in those   
who come in  contact with him1 and carry
 off in society whatever in his writings
 may  to some seem flat and impertinent4
 ,from great sanguineness of temper1    
from great quickness and unsuspecting   
simplicity1 he runs on to the  public as
 he does at his own fireside1 and talks 
about himself1  forgetting that he is   
not always among friends4 ,his look1 his
 tone are  required to point many things
 that he says3 his frank1 cordial manner
  reconciles you instantly to a little  
over-bearing1 over-weening              
self-complacency4 #8,to be admired1 he  
needs but to be seen'3 but perhaps  he  
ought to be seen to be fully            
appreciated4 ,no one ever sought his    
society who did not come away with a    
more favourable opinion of him3 no  one 
was ever disappointed1 except those who 

had entertained idle  prejudices against
 him4 ,he sometimes trifles with his    
readers1 or tires  of a subject 7from   
not being urged on by the stimulus of   
immediate  sympathy7--but in            
conversation he is all life and         
animation1 combining  the vivacity of   
the school-boy with the resources of the
 wit and the  taste of the scholar4 ,the
 personal character1 the spontaneous    
impulses1  do not appear to excuse the  
author1 unless you are acquainted with  
his  situation and habits--like some    
proud beauty who gives herself what we  
think strange airs and graces under a   
mask1 but who is instantly  forgiven    
when she shews her face4 ,we have said  
that ,lord ,byron is a  sublime coxcomb3
 why should we not say that ,mr4 ,hunt  
is a delightful  one8 ,there is         
certainly an exuberance of satisfaction 
in his manner  which is more than the   
strict logical premises warrant1 and    
which dull  and phlegmatic constitutions
 know nothing of1 and cannot understand 

till  they see it4 ,he is the only poet 
or literary man we ever knew who puts   
us in mind of ,sir ,john ,suckling or   
,killigrew or ,carew2 or who united     
rare intellectual acquirements with     
outward grace and natural gentility4    
,mr4 ,hunt ought to have been a         
gentleman born1 and to have patronised  
men  of letters4 ,he might then have    
played1 and sung1 and laughed1 and      
talked  his life away2 have written     
manly prose1 elegant verse2 and his     
,story  of ,rimini would have been      
praised by ,mr4 ,blackwood4 ,as it is1  
there is  no man now living who at the  
same time writes prose and verse so     
well1  with the exception of ,mr4       
,southey 7an exception1 we fear1 that   
will be  little palatable to either of  
these gentlemen74 ,his prose writings1  
however1 display more consistency of    
principle than the laureate's2 his      
verses more taste4 ,we will venture to  
oppose his ,third ,canto of the  ,story 
of ,rimini for classic elegance and     

natural feeling to any equal  number of 
lines from ,mr4 ,southey's ,epics or    
from ,mr4 ,moore's ,lalla  ,rookh4 ,in a
 more gay and conversational style of   
writing1 we think his  ,epistle to ,lord
 ,byron on his going abroad1 is a       
masterpiece2--and the  ,feast of the    
,poets has run through several editions4
 ,a light1 familiar  grace1 and mild    
unpretending pathos are the             
characteristics of his more  sportive or
 serious writings1 whether in poetry or 
prose4 ,a smile plays  round the        
sparkling features of the one2 a tear is
 ready to start from  the thoughtful    
gaze of the other4 ,he perhaps takes too
 little pains1 and  indulges in too much
 wayward caprice in both4 ,a wit and a  
poet1 ,mr4 ,hunt  is also distinguished 
by fineness of tact and sterling sense3 
he has  only been a visionary in        
humanity1 the fool of virtue4 ,what then
 is the  drawback to so many shining    
qualities1 that has made them useless1  
or  even hurtful to their owner8 ,his   

crime is1 to have been ,editor of the   
,examiner ten years ago1 when some      
allusion was made in it to the age  of  
the present ,king1 and though his       
,majesty has grown older1 our  luckless 
politician is no wiser than he was then6
                                 ,,elia1
 ,,and ,,geoffrey ,,crayon      ,so ,mr4
 ,charles ,lamb and ,mr4 ,washington    
,irvine choose to designate  themselves2
 and as their lucubrations under one or 
other of these noms  de guerre have     
gained considerable notice from the     
public1 we shall  here attempt to       
discriminate their several styles and   
manner1 and to  point out the beauties  
and defects of each in treating of      
somewhat  similar subjects4    ,mr4     
,irvine is1 we take it1 the more popular
 writer of the two1 or a more  general  
favourite3 ,mr4 ,lamb has more devoted1 
and perhaps more judicious  partisans4  
,mr4 ,irvine is by birth an ,american1  
and has1 as it were1  skimmed the cream1
 and taken off patterns with great skill

 and  cleverness1 from our best known   
and happiest writers1 so that their     
thoughts and almost their reputation are
 indirectly transferred to his  page1   
and smile upon us from another          
hemisphere1 like #8the pale reflex  of  
,cynthia's brow'3 he succeeds to our    
admiration and our sympathy by a  sort  
of prescriptive title and traditional   
privilege4 ,mr4 ,lamb1 on the  contrary1
 being #8native to the manner here1'    
though he too has borrowed  from        
previous sources1 instead of availing   
himself of the most popular  and        
admired1 has groped out his way1 and    
made his most successful  researches    
among the more obscure and intricate1   
though certainly not  the least pithy or
 pleasant of our writers4 ,mr4          
,washington ,irvine has  culled and     
transplanted the flowers of modern      
literature1 for the  amusement of the   
general reader3 ,mr4 ,lamb has raked    
among the dust and  cobwebs of a more   
remote period1 has exhibited specimens  

of curious  relics1 and pored over      
moth-eaten1 decayed manuscripts1 for the
 benefit  of the more inquisitive and   
discerning part of the public4          
,antiquity  after time has the grace of 
novelty1 as old fashions revived are    
mistaken for new ones2 and a certain    
quaintness and singularity of style  is 
an agreeable relief to the smooth and   
insipid monotony of modern  composition4
 ,mr4 ,lamb has succeeded not by        
conforming to the ,spirit of  the ,age1 
but in opposition to it4 ,he does not   
march boldly along with  the crowd1 but 
steals off the pavement to pick his way 
in the contrary  direction4 ,he prefers 
bye-ways to highways4 ,when the full    
tide of  human life pours along to some 
festive show1 to some pageant of a day1 
,elia would stand on one side to look   
over an old book-stall1 or stroll  down 
some deserted pathway in search of a    
pensive inscription over a  tottering   
doorway1 or some quaint device in       
architecture1 illustrative  of embryo   

art and ancient manners4 ,mr4 ,lamb has 
the very soul of an  antiquarian1 as    
this implies a reflecting humanity2 the 
film of the past  hovers forever before 
him4 ,he is shy1 sensitive1 the reverse 
of every  thing coarse1 vulgar1         
obtrusive1 and common-place4 ,he would  
fain  #8shuffle off this mortal coil1'  
and his spirit clothes itself in the    
garb of elder time1 homelier1 but more  
durable4 ,he is borne along with  no    
pompous paradoxes1 shines in no         
glittering tinsel of a fashionable      
phraseology2 is neither fop nor sophist4
 ,he has none of the turbulence  or     
froth of new-fangled opinions4 ,his     
style runs pure and clear1 though  it   
may often take an underground course1 or
 be conveyed through  old-fashioned     
conduit-pipes4 ,mr4 ,lamb does not court
 popularity1 nor  strut in gaudy plumes1
 but shrinks from every kind of         
ostentatious and  obvious pretension    
into the retirement of his own mind4    
#8,the self-applauding bird1 the peacock

 see3--              ,mark what a       
sumptuous pharisee is he6               
,meridian sun-beams tempt him to unfold 
,his radiant glories1 azure1 green1 and 
gold3              ,he treads as if1    
some solemn music near1                 
,his measured step were governed by his 
ear3              ,and seems to         
say--#8,ye meaner fowl1 give place1     
,i am all splendour1 dignity1 and       
grace6'              ,not so the        
pheasant on his charms presumes1        
,though he too has a glory in his       
plumes4              ,he1               
,christian-like1 retreats with modest   
mien               ,to the close copse  
or far sequestered green1               
and shines without desiring to be seen4'
          ,these lines well describe the
 modest and delicate beauties of ,mr4   
,lamb's  writings1 contrasted with the  
lofty and vain-glorious pretensions of  
some of his contemporaries4 ,this       
gentleman is not one of those who pay   
all their homage to the prevailing idol3

 he thinks that             #8,new-born 
gauds are made and moulded of things    
past1'    nor does he                   
#8,give to dust that is a little gilt   
,more laud than gilt o'er-dusted4'      
,his convictions #8do not in broad      
rumour lie1' nor are they #8set off to  
the world in the glistering foil' of    
fashion2 but #8live and breathe  aloft  
in those pure eyes1 and perfect judgment
 of all-seeing time4'  ,mr4 ,lamb rather
 affects and is tenacious of the obscure
 and remote3 of  that which rests on its
 own intrinsic and silent merit2 which  
scorns all  alliance1 or even the       
suspicion of owing any thing to noisy   
clamour1 to  the glare of circumstances4
 ,there is a fine tone of chiaro-scuro1 
a  moral perspective in his writings4   
,he delights to dwell on that which is  
fresh to the eye of memory2 he yearns   
after and covets what soothes the       
frailty of human nature4 ,that touches  
him most nearly which is withdrawn  to a
 certain distance1 which verges on the  

borders of oblivion3--that  piques and  
provokes his fancy most1 which is hid   
from a superficial  glance4 ,that which1
 though gone by1 is still remembered1 is
 in his view  more genuine1 and has     
given more #8vital signs that it will   
live1' than a  thing of yesterday1 that 
may be forgotten to-morrow4 ,death has  
in this  sense the spirit of life in it2
 and the shadowy has to our author      
something substantial in it4 ,ideas     
savour most of reality in his mind2  or 
rather his imagination loiters on the   
edge of each1 and a page of his         
writings recals to our fancy the        
stranger on the grate1 fluttering in    
its dusky tenuity1 with its idle        
superstition and hospitable welcome6    
,mr4 ,lamb has a distaste to new faces1 
to new books1 to new buildings1 to  new 
customs4 ,he is shy of all imposing     
appearances1 of all assumptions  of     
self-importance1 of all adventitious    
ornaments1 of all mechanical            
advantages1 even to a nervous excess4   

,it is not merely that he does not  rely
 upon1 or ordinarily avail himself of   
them2 he holds them in  abhorrence1 he  
utterly abjures and discards them1 and  
places a great  gulph between him and   
them4 ,he disdains all the vulgar       
artifices of  authorship1 all the cant  
of criticism1 and helps to notoriety4   
,he has no  grand swelling theories to  
attract the visionary and the           
enthusiast1 no  passing topics to allure
 the thoughtless and the vain4 ,he      
evades the  present1 he mocks the       
future4 ,his affections revert to1 and  
settle on  the past1 but then1 even this
 must have something personal and local 
in  it to interest him deeply and       
thoroughly2 he pitches his tent in the  
suburbs of existing manners2 brings down
 the account of character to the  few   
straggling remains of the last          
generation2 seldom ventures beyond  the 
bills of mortality1 and occupies that   
nice point between egotism and          
disinterested humanity4 ,no one makes   

the tour of our southern  metropolis1 or
 describes the manners of the last age1 
so well as ,mr4  ,lamb--with so fine1   
and yet so formal an air--with such     
vivid obscurity1  with such arch        
piquancy1 such picturesque quaintness1  
such smiling  pathos4 ,how admirably he 
has sketched the former inmates of the  
,south-,sea ,house2 what #8fine fretwork
 he makes of their double and single    
entries6' ,with what a firm1 yet subtle 
pencil he has embodied ,mrs4  ,battle's 
,opinions on ,whist6 ,how notably he    
embalms a battered beau2  how           
delightfully an amour1 that was cold    
forty years ago1 revives in his  pages6 
,with what well-disguised humour1 he    
introduces us to his  relations1 and how
 freely he serves up his friends6       
,certainly1 some of  his portraits are  
fixtures1 and will do to hang up as     
lasting and  lively emblems of human    
infirmity4 ,then there is no one who has
 so sure  an ear for #8the chimes at    
midnight1' not even excepting ,mr4      

,justice  ,shallow2 nor could ,master   
,silence himself take his #8cheese and  
pippins'  with a more significant and   
satisfactory air4 ,with what a gusto    
,mr4 ,lamb  describes the inns and      
courts of law1 the ,temple and          
,gray's-,inn1 as if  he had been a      
student there for the last two hundred  
years1 and had been  as well acquainted 
with the person of ,sir ,francis ,bacon 
as he is with  his portrait or writings6
 ,it is hard to say whether ,st4 ,john's
 ,gate is  connected with more intense  
and authentic associations in his mind1 
as a  part of old ,london ,wall1 or as  
the frontispiece 7time out of mind7 of  
the ,gentleman's ,magazine4 ,he haunts  
,watling-street like a gentle spirit2   
the avenues to the play-houses are thick
 with panting recollections1 and        
,christ's-,hospital still breathes the  
balmy breath of infancy in his          
description of it6 ,whittington and his 
,cat are a fine hallucination for  ,mr4 
,lamb's historic ,muse1 and we believe  

he never heartily forgave a  certain    
writer who took the subject of ,guy     
,faux out of his hands4 ,the  streets of
 ,london are his fairy-land1 teeming    
with wonder1 with life and  interest to 
his retrospective glance1 as it did to  
the eager eye of  childhood2 he has     
contrived to weave its tritest          
traditions into a  bright and endless   
romance6    ,mr4 ,lamb's taste in books 
is also fine1 and it is peculiar4 ,it is
 not  the worse for a little            
idiosyncrasy4 ,he does not go deep into 
the  ,scotch novels1 but he is at home  
in ,smollet or ,fielding4 ,he is little 
read in ,junius or ,gibbon1 but no man  
can give a better account of  ,burton's 
,anatomy of ,melancholy1 or ,sir ,thomas
 ,brown's ,urn-,burial1 or  ,fuller's   
,worthies1 or ,john ,bunyan's ,holy     
,war4 ,no one is more  unimpressible to 
a specious declamation2 no one relishes 
a recondite  beauty more4 ,his          
admiration of ,shakespear and ,milton   
does not make him  despise ,pope2 and he

 can read ,parnell with patience1 and   
,gay with  delight4 ,his taste in       
,french and ,german literature is       
somewhat  defective2 nor has he made    
much progress in the science of         
,political  ,economy or other abstruse  
studies1 though he has read vast folios 
of  controversial divinity1 merely for  
the sake of the intricacy of style1  and
 to save himself the pain of thinking4  
,mr4 ,lamb is a good judge of  prints   
and pictures4 ,his admiration of        
,hogarth does credit to both1           
particularly when it is considered that 
,leonardo da ,vinci is his next         
greatest favourite1 and that his love of
 the actual does not proceed  from a    
want of taste for the ideal4 ,his worst 
fault is an  over-eagerness of          
enthusiasm1 which occasionally makes him
 take a  surfeit of his highest         
favourites4--,mr4 ,lamb excels in       
familiar  conversation almost as much as
 in writing1 when his modesty does not  
overpower his self-possession4 ,he is as

 little of a proser as possible2  but he
 blurts out the finest wit and sense in 
the world4 ,he keeps a  good deal in the
 back-ground at first1 till some        
excellent conceit  pushes him forward1  
and then he abounds in whim and         
pleasantry4 ,there is  a primitive      
simplicity and self-denial about his    
manners2 and a  ,quakerism in his       
personal appearance1 which is1 however1 
relieved by a  fine ,titian head1 full  
of dumb eloquence6 ,mr4 ,lamb is a      
general  favourite with those who know  
him4 ,his character is equally singular 
and  amiable4 ,he is endeared to his    
friends not less by his foibles than his
  virtues2 he insures their esteem by   
the one1 and does not wound their       
self-love by the other4 ,he gains ground
 in the opinion of others1 by  making no
 advances in his own4 ,we easily admire 
genius where the  diffidence of the     
possessor makes our acknowledgment of   
merit seem like  a sort of patronage1 or
 act of condescension1 as we willingly  

extend our  good offices where they are 
not exacted as obligations1 or repaid   
with  sullen indifference4--,the style  
of the ,essays of ,elia is liable to the
  charge of a certain mannerism4 ,his   
sentences are cast in the mould of  old 
authors2 his expressions are borrowed   
from them2 but his feelings  and        
observations are genuine and original1  
taken from actual life1 or  from his own
 breast2 and he may be said 7if any one 
can7 #8to have coined  his heart for    
jests1' and to have split his brain for 
fine  distinctions6 ,mr4 ,lamb1 from the
 peculiarity of his exterior and address
  as an author1 would probably never    
have made his way by detached and       
independent efforts2 but1 fortunately   
for himself and others1 he has  taken   
advantage of the ,periodical ,press1    
where he has been stuck into  notice1   
and the texture of his compositions is  
assuredly fine enough to  bear the      
broadest glare of popularity that has   
hitherto shone upon them4  ,mr4 ,lamb's 

literary efforts have procured him civic
 honours 7a thing  unheard of in our    
times71 and he has been invited1 in his 
character of  ,,elia1 to dine at a      
select party with the ,lord ,mayor4 ,we 
should prefer  this distinction to that 
of being poet-laureat4 ,we would        
recommend to  ,mr4 ,waithman's perusal  
7if ,mr4 ,lamb has not anticipated us7  
the  ,rosamond ,gray and the ,john      
,woodvil of the same author1 as an      
agreeable relief to the noise of a ,city
 feast1 and the heat of ,city           
elections4 ,a friend1 a short time ago1 
quoted some lines#ff from the           
last-mentioned of these works1 which    
meeting ,mr4 ,godwin's eye1 he was so   
struck with the beauty of the passage1  
and with a consciousness of  having seen
 it before1 that he was uneasy till he  
could recollect where1  and after       
hunting in vain for it in ,ben ,jonson1 
,beaumont and ,fletcher1  and other not 
unlikely places1 sent to ,mr4 ,lamb to  
know if he could help  him to the       

author6    ,mr4 ,washington ,irvine's   
acquaintance with ,english literature   
begins  almost where ,mr4 ,lamb's       
ends1--with the ,spectator1 ,tom        
,brown's works and  the wits of ,queen  
,anne4 ,he is not bottomed in our elder 
writers1 nor do  we think that he has   
tasked his own faculties much1 at least 
on ,english  ground4 ,of the merit of   
his ,knicker-bocker1 and ,new ,york     
stories1 we  cannot pretend to judge4   
,but in his ,sketch-book and            
,bracebridge-,hall  he gives us very    
good ,american copies of our ,british   
,essayists and  ,novelists1 which may be
 very well on the other side of the     
water1 or as  proofs of the capabilities
 of the national genius1 but which might
 be  dispensed with here1 where we have 
to boast of the originals4 ,not only    
,mr4 ,irvine's language is with great   
taste and felicity modelled on that  of 
,addison1 ,goldsmith1 ,sterne1 or       
,mackenzie2 but the thoughts and        
sentiments are taken at the rebound1 and

 as they are brought forward at  the    
present period1 want both freshness and 
probability4 ,mr4 ,irvine's  writings   
are literary anachronisms4 ,he comes to 
,england for the first  time2 and being 
on the spot1 fancies himself in the     
midst of those  characters and manners  
which he had read of in the ,spectator  
and other  approved authors1 and which  
were the only idea he had hitherto      
formed of  the parent country4 ,instead 
of looking round to see what we are1 he 
sets to work to describe us as we       
were--at second hand4 ,he has ,parson   
,adams1 or ,sir ,roger de ,coverley in  
his #8mind's eye#82 and he makes a      
village curate or a country #8squire in 
,yorkshire or ,hampshire sit to  these  
admired models for their portraits in   
the beginning of the  nineteenth        
century4 ,whatever the ingenious author 
has been most  delighted with in the    
representations of books1 he transfers  
to his  port-folio1 and swears that he  
has found it actually existing in the   

course of his observation and travels   
through ,great ,britain4 ,instead of    
tracing the changes that have taken     
place in society since ,addison or      
,fielding wrote1 he transcribes their   
account in a different  hand-writing1   
and thus keeps us stationary1 at least  
in our most  attractive and             
praise-worthy qualities of simplicity1  
honesty1 modesty1  hospitality1 and     
good-nature4 ,this is a very flattering 
mode of turning  fiction into history1  
or history into fiction2 and we should  
scarcely  know ourselves again in the   
softened and altered likeness1 but that 
it  bears the date of #ahbj1 and issues 
from the press in ,albemarle-street4    
,this is one way of complimenting our   
national and ,tory prejudices2 and      
coupled with literal or exaggerated     
portraits of ,yankee peculiarities1     
could hardly fail to please4 ,the first 
,essay in the ,sketch-book1 that  on    
national ,antipathies1 is the best2 but 
after that1 the sterling ore  of wit or 

feeling is gradually spun thinner and   
thinner1 till it fades  to the shadow of
 a shade4 ,mr4 ,irvine is himself1 we   
believe1 a most  agreeable and deserving
 man1 and has been led into the natural 
and  pardonable error we speak of1 by   
the tempting bait of ,european          
popularity1 in which he thought there   
was no more likely method of  succeeding
 than by imitating the style of our     
standard authors1 and  giving us credit 
for the virtues of our forefathers4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,we should not feel that we had         
discharged our obligations to truth or  
friendship1 if we were to let this      
volume go without introducing into it   
the name of the author of ,virginius4   
,this is the more proper1 inasmuch  as  
he is a character by himself1 and the   
only poet now living that is a  mere    
poet4 ,if we were asked what sort of man
 ,mr4 ,knowles is1 we could  only say1  
#8he is the writer of ,virginius4' ,his 
most intimate friends see  nothing in   

him1 by which they could trace the work 
to the author4 ,the  seeds of dramatic  
genius are contained and fostered in the
 warmth of the  blood that flows in his 
veins2 his heart dictates to his head4  
,the most  unconscious1 the most        
unpretending1 the most artless of       
mortals1 he  instinctively obeys the    
impulses of natural feeling1 and        
produces a  perfect work of art4 ,he has
 hardly read a poem or a play or seen   
any  thing of the world1 but he hears   
the anxious beatings of his own heart1  
and makes others feel them by the force 
of sympathy4 ,ignorant alike of  rules1 
regardless of models1 he follows the    
steps of truth and  simplicity2 and     
strength1 proportion1 and delicacy are  
the infallible  results4 ,by thinking of
 nothing but his subject1 he rivets the 
attention  of the audience to it4 ,all  
his dialogue tends to action1 all his   
situations form classic groups4 ,there  
is no doubt that ,virginius is the  best
 acting tragedy that has been produced  

on the modern stage4 ,mr4  ,knowles     
himself was a player at one time1 and   
this circumstance has  probably enabled 
him to judge of the picturesque and     
dramatic effect of  his lines1 as we    
think it might have assisted            
,shakespear4 ,there is no  impertinent  
display1 no flaunting poetry2 the writer
 immediately  conceives how a thought   
would tell if he had to speak it        
himself4 ,mr4  ,knowles is the first    
tragic writer of the age2 in other      
respects he is a  common man2 and       
divides his time and his affections     
between his plots  and his              
fishing-tackle1 between the ,muses'     
spring1 and those  mountain-streams     
which sparkle like his own eye1 that    
gush out like his  own voice at the     
sight of an old friend4 ,we have known  
him almost from a  child1 and we must   
say he appears to us the same boy-poet  
that he ever  was4 ,he has been cradled 
in song1 and rocked in it as in a dream1
  forgetful of himself and of the world6

                         ,the ,end of   
,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age4        
,,preface ,,to ,,an ,,abridgment ,,of   
,,abraham ,,tucker',s ,,light ,,of      
,,nature ,,pursued                      
,,bibliographical ,,note      ,published
 in #ahjg in an #hvo volume 7xlvii  #ebi
 pp47 with the following                
title-page3--#8,an ,abridgment of the   
,light of ,nature ,pursued1 by ,abraham 
,tucker1 ,esq4 originally published1 in 
seven volumes1 under the name of        
,edward ,search1 ,esq4 ,london3 ,printed
 for ,j4 ,johnson1 ,st4 ,paul's         
,churchyard2 ,by ,t4 ,bensley1 ,bolt    
,court4 #ahjg4'                         
,,preface ,,to ,,an ,,abridgment ,,of   
,,the ,,light ,,of ,,nature ,,pursued   
,there are two considerations which seem
 necessary to be attended to in         
abridging any author2 the size of the   
work1 rendering it inaccessible to  the 
generality of readers1 and the merit of 
the work1 rendering it  desirable that  
it should be within every one's reach4  

,it is easy to  perceive1 that these two
 conditions are not always united3 there
 are  some works whose only merit seems 
to be1 that they are so large that      
nobody can read them2 whose ponderous   
bulk1 and formidable appearance1        
happily serve as a barrier to keep out  
the infection of their dulness4    ,the 
work1 of which the following is an      
abridgment1 notwithstanding its         
excellence1 has been little read4 ,a    
philosophical work in seven large       
volumes presents no very great          
attractions to the indolent curiosity of
  most readers4 ,even the seven volumes 
of ,clarissa1 and ,sir ,charles         
,grandison1 are at present viewed with  
doubtful looks by the eye of  taste1 and
 reluctantly engaged in3 and our modern 
novelists1 that  happily privileged race
 of authors1 whose works #8not sicklied 
o'er with  the pale cast of thought1'   
are exempt from the charge of dulness or
  ennui1 have been obliged to contract  
the boundless scenes of their           

imagination within four slender volumes1
 where the diminutive page vies  in vain
 with the luxuriant margin4 ,as to the  
studious and recluse  reader1 there is  
generally another obstacle which        
prevents him from  gratifying his       
curiosity with respect to works of this 
extent1 however  valuable or important4 
,again1 there are works of great length1
 which cannot1 however1 be  reduced into
 a less compass1 #8without suffering    
loss and diminution4'  ,though vast1    
there is nothing useless1 nothing       
superfluous in them2 and  nothing can be
 taken away or displaced1 without       
destroying the symmetry  and connection 
of the whole4 ,this is certainly not the
 case with the  writings of ,abraham    
,tucker3 they are encumbered and weighed
 down with a  load of unnecessary       
matter4 ,not that there are any great   
inequalities in  them1 nor any parts    
which1 taken separately1 are not        
entertaining and  valuable2 but the work
 is swelled out with endless repetitions

 of  itself4 ,the same thing is said    
over and over again2 the same subjects  
discussed in a different shape1 till the
 reader is tired1 and his  attention    
quite distracted4 ,this radical defect1 
which is certainly a  drawback on the   
usefulness of the work1 appears         
evidently to have arisen  from the      
manner of composing it4 ,the author was 
a private gentleman1 who  wrote at his  
ease1 and for his own amusement3 he had 
nothing to do but  to take his time1 and
 follow the whim of the moment4 ,he     
wrote without  any regular plan1 and    
without foreseeing or being concerned   
about the  deviations1 the shiftings and
 windings1 and the intricate            
cross-movements in which he should be   
entangled4 ,he had leisure on his       
hands2 and provided he got out of the   
labyrinth at last1 he was  satisfied--no
 matter how often he had lost his way in
 it4 ,when a subject  presented itself  
to him1 he exhausted all he had to say  
upon it1 and  then dismissed it for     

another4 ,the chapter was thrown aside1 
and  forgotten4 ,if the same subject    
recurred again in a different           
connection1  he turned it over in his   
thoughts afresh2 as his ideas arose in  
his  mind1 he committed them to paper2  
he repeated the same things over  again1
 or inserted any new observation or     
example that suggested itself  to him in
 confirmation of his argument2 and thus 
by the help of a new  title1 and by     
giving a different application to the   
whole1 a new chapter  was completed4 ,by
 this means1 as he himself remarks1 his 
writings are  rather a tissue of loose  
essays than a regular work2 and indeed  
the  leaves of the ,sybils could not be 
more loose and unconnected4 ,it is so   
far then from being an injury1 that it  
must be rather an advantage to  the     
original work to expunge its            
repetitions1 and confine its            
digressions1 if this could be done      
properly4    ,this is1 in fact1 what ,i 
have attempted to do3 whenever ,i came  

to a  passage that was merely a         
repetition of a former one1 ,i struck it
 out3  and at the same time1 ,i         
endeavoured to abridge those detailed   
parts of  the work which were the       
longest1 and the least interesting1 and 
to  correct the general redundance of   
the style4 ,i have not1 however 7that ,i
  know of71 omitted any thing essential 
to the merit of the work4 ,all the      
singular observations1 all the fine     
illustrations1 ,i have given nearly  in 
an entire state to the reader3 ,i was   
afraid to touch them1 lest ,i  should   
spoil them4 ,the rule that ,i went by   
was1 to give every thing that  ,i       
thought would strike the attention in   
reading the work itself1 and to  leave  
out every thing 7except what was        
absolutely necessary to the             
understanding of the subject71 that     
would be likely to make no lasting      
impression on the mind4 ,a good         
abridgment ought to contain just as much
  as we should wish to recollect of a   

book2 it should give back 7only in a    
more perfect manner7 to a reader well   
acquainted with the original1 #8the     
image of his mind1' so that he would    
miss no favourite passage1 none of  the 
prominent parts1 or distinguishing      
features of the work4 ,how far ,i  have 
succeeded1 must be left to the decision 
of others3 and perhaps in  some respects
 one is less a judge of the execution of
 a work like this1  than of an original 
performance4 ,the same deception takes  
place here1  as1 ,i have been told by   
painters1 sometimes happens in copying a
 fine  picture4 ,your mind is full of   
the original1 and you see the imitation 
through this borrowed medium2 you       
transfuse its grace and spirit into  the
 copy2 you connect its glowing tints and
 delicate touches with a  meagre        
outline1 and a warm fancy sheds its     
lustre over that which is  little better
 than a blank3 but when the original    
impression is faded1  and you have      
nothing left but the copy for the       

imagination to feed on1  you find the   
spirit evaporated1 the expression gone1 
and you wonder at  your own mistake4 ,i 
can only say1 that ,i have done my best 
to prevent my  copy of the ,light of    
,nature from degenerating into a mere   
caput  mortuum4 ,as to the pains and    
labour it has cost me1 or the time ,i   
have  devoted to it1 ,i shall say       
nothing4 ,however1 if any one should be 
scrupulous on that head1 ,i might       
answer1 as ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds is    
said  to have done to some person who   
cavilled at the price of a picture1 and 
desired to know how long he had been    
doing it1 #8,all my life4'    ,of the   
work itself1 ,i can speak with more     
confidence4 ,i do not know of  any work 
in the shape of a philosophical treatise
 that contains so much  good sense so   
agreeably expressed4 ,the character of  
the work is1 in this  respect1          
altogether singular4 ,amidst all the    
abstruseness of the most  subtle        
disquisitions1 it is as familiar as     

,montaigne1 and as wild and             
entertaining as ,john ,buncle4 ,to the  
ingenuity and closeness of the          
metaphysician1 he unites the principal  
knowledge of the man of the  world1 and 
the utmost sprightliness1 and even      
levity of imagination4 ,he  is the only 
philosopher who appears to have had his 
senses always about  him1 or to have    
possessed the enviable faculty of       
attending at the same  time to what was 
passing in his own mind1 and what was   
going on without  him4 ,he applied every
 thing to the purposes of philosophy2 he
 could not  see any thing1 the most     
familiar objects or the commonest       
events1  without connecting them with   
the illustration of some difficult      
problem4  ,the tricks of a young kitten1
 or a little child at play1 were sure to
  suggest to him some useful            
observation1 or nice distinction4 ,to   
this  habit1 he was1 no doubt1 indebted 
for what ,paley justly calls #8his      
unrivalled power of illustration4' ,to  

be convinced that he possessed  this    
power in the highest degree1 it is only 
necessary to look into  almost any page 
of his writings3 at least1 ,i think it  
impossible for any  one not to perceive 
the beauty1 the naivet1 the force1 the  
clearness1  and propriety of his        
illustrations1 who has not previously   
had his  understanding strangely        
overlaid with logic and                 
criticism4#fg--;,if he was  surpassed by
 one or two writers in logical precision
 and systematic  profundity1 there is no
 metaphysical writer who is equal to him
 in  clearness of apprehension1 and a   
various insight into human nature4      
,though he excelled greatly in both1    
yet1 he excelled more in what is  called
 the method of induction1 than that of  
analysis3 he convinces the  reader      
oftener by shewing him the thing in     
dispute1 than by defining its  abstract 
qualities2 as the philosopher is said to
 have proved the  existence of motion by
 getting up and walking4 ,i do not1 for 

my own  part1 look up with all that awe 
and admiration to the grave professors  
of abstract reasoning that it is usual  
to do4 ,they are so far from being  men 
of great comprehension of mind1 7if by  
this we are to understand  comprehending
 the whole of every subject7 that the   
contrary is generally  the case4 ,they  
are persons of few ideas1 of slow       
perceptions1 of narrow  capacities1 of  
dull but retentive feelings1 who cannot 
seize or enter  into the infinite       
variety and rapid succession of natural 
objects1 and  are only susceptible of   
those impressions of things1 which being
 common  to all objects1 and constantly 
repeated1 come at length to fix those   
lasting traces in the mind1 which       
nothing can ever alter or wear out4 ,by 
attending only to one aspect of things1 
and that the same1 and by  leaving out  
always those minute differences and     
perplexing  irregularities which disturb
 the sluggish uniformity of our ideas1  
and  give life and motion to our being1 

men of formal understandings are        
sometimes able to pursue their inquiries
 with a steadiness and certainty  that  
are incompatible with a more extensive  
range of thought4  ,abstraction is a    
trick to supply the defect of           
comprehension4 ,the moulds  of the      
understanding may be said not to be     
large enough to contain the  gross      
concrete objects of nature1 but will    
still admit of their names1  and        
descriptions1 and general forms1 which  
lie flatter and closer in the  brain1   
and are more easily managed4 ,the most  
perfect abstraction is  nothing more    
than the art of making use of only one  
half of the  understanding1 and never   
seeing more than one half of a subject1 
in the  same manner as we find that     
those persons have the acutest          
perceptions1  who have lost some one of 
their senses4 ,a man1 therefore1 who    
disdains  the use of common sense1 and  
thinks to arrive at the highest point of
  philosophy1 by thus denaturalizing his

 understanding1 is like a person  who   
should deprive himself of the use of his
 eye-sight1 in order that he  might be  
able to grope his way better in the     
dark6    ,a man may set up for a        
system-maker1 upon a single idea3 he    
cannot write  a sensible book without a 
great many4 ,i do not deny that one idea
 may  often involve1 and be the parent  
of many others3 but ,i do not see how   
knowledge is at all the worse1 because  
it brings us immediately  acquainted    
with the very form of truth1 instead of 
serving merely as an  index1 or clue to 
direct us in the search of it4 ,if the  
one method tends  more effectually to   
sharpen the understanding1 the other    
enriches it  more4 ,the one method puts 
you upon exerting your own faculties2   
the  other1 meeting you half way1 wisely
 saves you from the necessity of  taking
 all that pains and trouble in the      
search after truth1 which few  persons  
are disposed to take1 and is therefore  
more generally useful4  ,the great merit

 of our author's writings is undoubtedly
 that sound1  practical1 comprehensive  
good sense1 which is to be found in     
every part  of them4 ,what is ,i believe
 the truest test of fine sense1 is that 
affecting simplicity in his             
observations1 which proceeds from their 
extreme truth and liveliness4 ,whatever 
recalls strongly to our  remembrance the
 common feelings of human nature1 and   
marks distinctly  the changes that take 
place in the human breast1 must always  
be  accompanied with some sense of      
emotion2 for our own nature can never be
  indifferent to us4    ,if there is any
 fault in his practical reasonings1 it  
is that they are  too discursive1 and   
without a determinate object4 ,no       
difficulty ever  escapes his            
penetration2 every view of his subject1 
every consequence of  his principles is 
stated and examined with scrupulous     
exactness1 and the  weak sides and      
inconveniences of every rule are pointed
 out1 till a sort  of sceptical         

uncertainty is introduced1 and the mind 
sinks into a  passive indifference4     
,this kind of reasoning is certainly not
 calculated  to rouse the energy of our 
active powers2 but ,i believe it is that
 which  generally accompanies much      
dispassionate inquiry4 ,i am afraid the 
most  patient thinkers are those who    
have the most doubts and the fewest     
violent prejudices2 and perhaps1 after  
all1 we shall be forced to  acknowledge 
with ,sterne1 as the truest philosophy1 
#8that there is not so  much difference 
between good and evil as the world are  
apt to imagine4'  ,a writer1 indeed1 who
 has a system to support1 is not likely 
to fall  into this error2 but then1 if  
it is only because he has a system to   
support1 what is the value of that      
confidence in his opinions1 which is    
the result of wilful blindness8 ,a man's
 living much in retirement 7as  was the 
case with our author7 where his thoughts
 have a calm and even  course to flow   
in1 may also contribute much to this    

indecision of mind4  ,there is many a   
champion who would soon sink into silent
 scepticism1 if  he was not urged on by 
the necessity of maintaining opinions   
which he  has once avowed1 and had      
nobody to dispute against but himself4  
,the  spirit of contradiction is the    
great source of dogmatism and           
pertinacity  of opinion4 ,i am aware1   
that a habit of much disputing also     
produces the  contrary effect4 ,but even
 where it renders men sceptical1 it does
 not  render them candid4 ,it is        
therefore in great cities1 in literary  
clubs1  that you meet with the fewest   
sincere opinions1 and the most          
extravagant  assertions4    ,as to his  
system of belief on the subject of      
religion1 ,i am unable to  say what it  
was3 and perhaps he did not know        
himself4 ,i have however no  doubt1 that
 he was sincere in his professions of   
attachment to the  established          
doctrines1 or that he was habitually    
accustomed to look upon  them as true4  

,still there is a distinction1 which is 
not always attended  to1 between that   
kind of assent which is merely habitual1
 or the effect  of choice1 which depends
 upon a disposition to regard any object
 in a  certain point of view1 and that  
internal conviction1 in which the will  
has no concern1 which is the result of a
 free and unbiassed judgment1  and which
 a man retains in spite of himself4     
,subtle distinctions are not  always the
 most palpable2 and therefore sometimes 
require the aid of  violent suppositions
 to render them intelligible4 ,i can    
conceive1 that a  person may all his    
life live in the belief of a certain    
notion1 without  once suspecting the    
contrary2 yet1 that if the case could be
 put to him1  to declare his opinion    
freely to the best of his judgment1 for 
that1 if  he were mistaken1 his life    
must answer for it1 he would instantly  
find  by what slender threads his former
 opinion hung4 ,the sense of            
convenience1 humour1 or vanity1 are     

sufficient to blind the  understanding1 
and determine our opinions in           
speculative points1 and  matters of     
indifference4 ,common compliance1 or    
good-nature1 or personal  regard1 may   
lead them to give credit to1 and defend 
the truth of a story  told by a friend1 
which yet1 if ,i were put to my oath1 ,i
 could not do4  ,so that we1 in fact1   
very often believe that to be true1     
which we know  to be false4#fh ,the     
atheist is no longer an atheist on a    
sickbed2 and a  violent thunderstorm has
 been known not only to clear the air1  
but to  cure the freethinker of his     
affected scruples with respect to the   
proofs  of a superintending ,providence4
 ,but the difference of our conclusions 
in  such cases does not arise from any  
new evidence1 or farther  investigation 
of the subject1 but from the greater    
interest we have to  examine carefully  
into the real state of our opinions1 and
 to throw off  all disguises that       
conceal them from ourselves4 ,now this  

ultimate test  cannot very well be      
applied to a man's religious            
professions1 because  the power of      
denouncing #8pains and penalties' is    
already lodged in other  hands2 but ,i  
cannot help suspecting1 that if this    
test could have been  applied to some of
 our author's notions1 his external and 
internal1 or1  to use his own           
expressions1 his exoteric and esoteric  
creed1 would not  have been found to    
coalesce perfectly together4 ,it is     
amusing to observe  with what gravity he
 sets himself to inveigh against        
freethinkers and  free-thinking2 when he
 himself1 as to his mode of reasoning1  
is one of  the greatest of freethinkers4
 ,he seems to have been willing to keep 
the  game entirely in his own hands2 or 
else to have supposed that the  liberal 
exercise of reason was only proper for  
gentlemen of independent  fortune2 and  
that none but those who were in the     
commission of the  peace1 should be     
allowed to censure vulgar errors4 ,this 

was certainly a  weakness4    ,with     
respect to his metaphysical system1 he  
must be considered as the  founder of   
his own school2 or at least1 the        
opinions of different sects  are so     
mingled up in him1 that he cannot be    
considered as belonging to  any party4  
,he professes himself indeed1 and seems 
anxious to be thought1  a disciple of   
,locke1 but this is evidently very much 
against the  grain2 and he is           
perpetually put to it to reconcile the  
differences  between them on the most   
essential points4--,i know but of two   
sorts of  philosophy2 that of those who 
believe what they feel1 and endeavour to
  account for it1 and that of those who 
only believe what they understand1  and 
have already accounted for4 ,the one is 
the philosophy of  consciousness1 the   
other that of experiment2 the one may be
 called the  intellectual1 the other the
 material philosophy4 ,the one rests    
chiefly  on the general notions and     
conscious perceptions of mankind1 and   

endeavours to discover what the mind is1
 by looking into the mind  itself2 the  
other denies the existence of every     
thing in the mind1 of  which it cannot  
find some rubbishly archetype1 and      
visible image in its  crucibles and     
furnaces1 or in the distinct forms of   
verbal analysis4 ,the  first of these is
 the only philosophy that is fit for men
 of sense1 the  other should be left to 
chymists and logicians4 ,of this last   
kind is the  philosophy of ,locke2      
though ,i would be understood to speak  
of him rather  as having laid the       
foundation1 on which others have built  
absurd  conclusions1 than of what he was
 in himself4 ,he was a man of much      
studious thought and reflection2 and if 
everything by being carried to          
extremes1 were not converted into abuse1
 his writings might have been of        
lasting service to his country and      
mankind4 ,he staggered under the        
#8petrific mace' of ,hobbes's           
philosophy1 which he had not strength to

  resist1 but yet he attempted to make  
some stand2 and was not quite           
overpowered by the gripe of that demon  
of the understanding4 ,he took for  his 
basis a bad simile1 that the mind is    
like a blank sheet of paper1  equally   
adapted to receive every kind of        
external impression4 ,or at  least1 if  
this illustration was proper for the    
purpose to which he  applied it 7which  
was to overturn the doctrine of innate  
ideas71 a very  bad use has been made of
 it since2 as if it was meant to prove1 
that the  mind is nothing in itself1 nor
 the cause of any thing1 never acting1  
but  always acted upon1 the mere        
receiver and passive instrument of      
whatever  impressions are made upon it2 
so that being fairly gutted of itself1  
and of all positive qualities1 it in    
fact resembles the bare walls and  empty
 rooms of an unfurnished lodging1 into  
which you bring whatever  furniture you 
please2 and which never contains any    
thing more than what  is brought into it

 through the doors of the senses4 ,hence
 all those  superadded feelings and     
ideas1 all those operations and         
modifications  which our impressions    
undergo from the active powers and      
independent  nature of the mind itself1 
are treated as chimerical and visionary 
notions by the profound adepts in this  
clear-sighted philosophy4#fi ,the       
object of the ,german philosophy1 or the
 system of professor ,kant1 as far  as  
,i can understand it1 is to explode this
 mechanical ignorance1 to take  the     
subject out of the hands of its present 
possessors1 and to admit our  own       
immediate perceptions to be some        
evidence of what passes in the  human   
mind4 ,it takes for granted the common  
notions prevalent among  mankind1 and   
then endeavours to explain them2 or to  
shew their  foundation in nature1 and   
the universal relations of things4      
,this1 at  least1 is a modest proposal1 
and worthy of a philosopher4 ,the       
understanding here pays a proper        

deference to the other parts of our     
being1 and knows its own place3 whereas 
our modern sophists1 meddling1  noisy1  
and self-sufficient1 think that truth is
 only made to be disputed  about2 that  
it exists no where but in their         
experiments1 demonstrations1  and       
syllogisms2 and leaving nothing to the  
silent operations of nature  and common 
sense1 believe that all our opinions1   
thoughts1 and feelings1  are of no      
value1 till the understanding1 like a   
pert commentator1 comes  forward to     
enforce and explain them2 as if a book  
could be nothing  without notes1 or as  
if a picture had no meaning in it till  
it was  pointed out by the connoisseur6 
,tucker was certainly an arrant truant  
from the system he pretends to adopt1   
and one of the common sense  school4    
,thus he believed with professor ,kant  
in the unity of  consciousness1 or      
#8that the mind alone is formative1'    
that fundamental  article of the        
transcendental creed2 in the            

immateriality of the soul1  etc4 ,his   
chapter on consciousness is one of the  
best in the whole work2  and is perhaps 
as close an example of reasoning as is  
any where to be  met with4 ,i would     
recommend it to the serious perusal of  
all our  professed reasoners1 but that  
they are so thoroughly satisfied with   
the profession of the thing1 so         
fortified and wrapped up in the mere    
name1 that it is impossible to make any 
impression upon them with the  thing    
itself4 ,on some other questions1 which 
form the great leading  outlines of the 
two creeds1 as that of self-love1 for   
instance1 his  opinions seem to have    
been more unsettled and wavering4 ,i    
have already  offered what ,i have to   
say on this subject in a little work    
published by  ,mr4 ,johnson2 and ,i     
shall therefore say the less about it   
here4#ga  ,however1 as ,i may not soon  
have an opportunity of recurring to the 
same  subject1 and as there is a part of
 that work with which ,i am not very    

well satisfied1 the subject of which is 
also treated of in the following  pages1
 it may not perhaps be altogether       
impertinent to add a few  observations  
for the further clearing of it up4      
,we are told1 that sympathy is only     
self-love disguised in another form1    
that it is a mere mechanical impulse or 
tendency to our own  gratification4 ,it 
is asked1 ,do we not attach ourselves to
 the idea of  another's welfare1 because
 it is pleasing to us1 and do we not    
feel an  aversion or dislike to certain 
objects1 whether relating to ourselves  
or  others1 merely because they are     
disagreeable to us2 and is not this     
self-love8 ,i answer no4 ,because1 in   
this logical way of speaking1 it is  a  
misnomer to call my attachment to any   
particular object or idea by a  name    
that implies my attachment to a general 
principle1 or to any thing  beyond      
itself4 ,numerically and absolutely     
speaking1 the particular idea  or       
modification which produces any given   

action1 is as much a distinct1          
individual1 independent thing in nature1
 and has no more to do with  myself1    
that is1 with other objects1 and ideas  
which have no immediate  concern in     
producing it1 than one individual has to
 do with another4 ,the  notion that our 
motives are blind mechanical impulses1  
if it proves  anything1 proves1 that    
instead of being always governed by     
self-love1  there is in reality no such 
thing4 ,so that1 as far as this argument
  goes1 it is no less absurd to trace   
our love of others to self-love1  than  
it would be to account for a man's love 
of reading from his  fondness for bread 
and butter1 or to say that his having an
 ear for  music arose from his relish   
for port wine4 ,it is therefore         
necessary to  suppose1 that when we     
attempt to resolve all our motives into 
self-love1  we only mean to refer them  
to a certain class1 and to say1 that    
they all  agree in having some          
circumstance in common which brings them

 under the  same general denomination4  
,now1 there is one way in which this has
 been  attempted1 by proving that they  
are all ours1 that they all belong to   
the same being1 and are therefore all   
equally selfish4 ,this is as bad as     
,soame ,jenyns's argument1 that all men 
may be said to be born equal1  because  
they are equally born4 ,so1 if it is    
contended1 that sympathy is  a part of  
our nature1 and therefore selfish2 that 
the imagination and  understanding are  
real efficient causes of action1 and    
therefore operate  mechanically2 that   
our ideas of all external existences1 of
 other  persons1 their names1 qualities 
and feelings1 are only impressions      
existing in our own minds1 and are      
therefore properly selfish1 and ought   
to be called so2 ,i shall have nothing  
to object to this kind of  reasoning1   
but that it is taking a great deal of   
perverse pains to no  purpose4 ,the     
question stands just where it did1 it is
 not moved a jot  further4 ,for what    

difference can be made in the question1 
by our calling  benevolence selfishness1
 or sympathy self-love1 ,i cannot       
discover1  except that we should lose   
the advantage of having a distinct word 
to  express those affections and        
feelings which confessedly have nothing 
to  do with sympathy4 ,the question     
therefore is1 whether all our affections
  are of this latter class1 or whether  
the two words do not express a          
distinction which has no real foundation
 in nature4 ,this is in fact what  must 
be meant by saying that sympathy is     
self-love in disguise2 for this  must   
imply that sympathy does not operate as 
such1 that it is only the  ostensible   
motive1 the accidental circumstance1 the
 form or vehicle that  serves to        
transmit the efficacy of another        
principle lying hid beneath  it1 and    
that has no power but what it derives   
from its connection with  something     
else4 ,but1 in order to establish this  
mechanical theory of  self-love1 it     

appears to me necessary to exhibit      
sympathy as it were  abstracted from    
itself1 to resolve it into another      
principle1 and to  shew that it would   
still produce exactly the same effects  
as it does at  present4 ,now there are  
two ways in which ,i can conceive that  
this might  be satisfactorily made out1 
viz4 if it could be shewn1 first1 that  
our  concern for others only affects the
 mind as connected with physical or     
bodily uneasiness2 or1 #bndly1 as       
abstract uneasiness4 ,suppose1 for      
instance1 that the imaginary feeling of 
what other persons suffer1 as  far as it
 is confined to the mind only1 does not 
affect me at all1 or  produce the least 
disposition in my mind or wish to       
relieve them1 but  that the idea of what
 they suffer gives me a pain in the     
head1 or  produces an uneasiness at my  
stomach1 and that then1 for the first   
time1  ,i begin to feel some concern for
 them1 and try to relieve them1 in order
  to get rid of my own uneasiness1      

because ,i do not like the head-ach or  
the stomach-ach2 this1 ,i grant1 would  
not entitle me to the character of  much
 disinterestedness1 but however ,i might
 attempt to gloss the matter  over by an
 affectation of sensibility1 and make a 
virtue of necessity1  would be          
downright1 unequivocal selfishness4     
,this first supposition1  however1 is   
not true4 ,to prove this1 ,i need only  
appeal to every one's  own breast1 or at
 least to our observation of human      
nature2 for it must  be clear to every  
person1 in one or other of these ways1  
that our  interest in the pleasures and 
pains of others is not excited in the   
manner here described4 ,besides1 how    
should the mind communicate an          
uneasiness to the body1 which it does   
not feel itself8 ,we must therefore     
have recourse to the second supposition 
for resolving benevolence into a  mere  
mechanical principle1 or shewing that it
 is at bottom the same  with1 and       
governed by the same laws as our most   

selfish impulses4 ,there  is no         
contradiction in supposing1 that however
 great a disposition there  might be in 
the mind to be immediately affected by  
the pleasures and  pains of others1 yet 
the impression made upon us by them     
might be  nothing more than a mere      
abstract sensation of pleasure or pain1 
a  simple detached or insulated feeling1
 existing by itself1 and operating  as a
 motive to action no further than the   
individual was concerned1 or  than he   
was affected by it as a positive1       
momentary thing4 ,this would  still be a
 mechanical and selfish feeling4        
,compassion would in this case  be an   
immediate repugnance or aversion of the 
mind to an actual  impression1 and a    
disposition to take the shortest way to 
escape from  it1 every thing else being 
a matter of perfect indifference4 ,this 
account supposes the particles of       
individual feeling to be as it were     
drawn off by some metaphysical process1 
and thus disengaged from the  lifeless  

unsubstantial forms1 to which they were 
attached1 to bend their  whole force to 
remove every thing that may cause the   
least disturbance  or detriment to the  
mind to which they belong4 ,you must    
believe1 on this  hypothesis1 that our  
gross material desires setting          
themselves free from  the airy yoke of  
fancy1 tend directly to the centre of   
self-interest1 as  the lead and iron    
work1 when once disengaged from the body
 of the ship1  no longer float on the   
surface of the water1 borne about by the
 winds1  but sink at once to the bottom4
 ,but ,i have already shewn at large1   
and  the reader may easily perceive1    
that this description of the manner in  
which our motives operate1 has not the  
least foundation in nature4 ,our  ideas 
and feelings act in concert4 ,the will  
cannot act without ideas1  nor otherwise
 than as it is directed by them4 ,the   
mind is not so loosely  constructed1 as 
that the different parts can disengage  
themselves at  will from the rest of the

 system1 and follow their own separate  
impulses4 ,it is governed by many       
different springs united together1 and  
acting in subordination to the same     
conscious power4 ,it is formed1 that  if
 it could only wish to get rid of its   
own immediate uneasiness1 it  could     
never get rid of it at all1 because it  
could not will the  necessary means for 
that purpose1 and would be perpetually  
tormented by  ideal causes of pain1     
without being able to exert itself to   
remove them4  ,the sore part might      
shrink1 but the hand would not be       
stretched out to  remove the object that
 irritated it4 ,without allowing an     
elastic power  to the understanding2 a  
power of collecting and concentrating   
its forces  in any direction that seems 
necessary2 and without supposing that   
our  ideas have a power to act as       
relative representative things1         
connected  together in a certain regular
 order1 and not as mere simple pleasure 
and  pain2 the will would be entirely   

useless3 indeed1 there could be no such 
thing as volition1 either with respect  
to our own affairs or those of  others4 
,but the fact is1 that our ideas of     
certain things are interwoven  into the 
finer texture of the mind1 in a certain 
order and connection1  as closely as the
 things themselves are joined in nature2
 and if1 as  they exist and are         
perceived there1 they are true and      
efficient causes  of action1 ,i see no  
reason for asserting that they act      
mechanically1  when1 by this expression1
 if we affix any distinct idea to it1 we
 must  mean something entirely          
different2 nor for ascribing those      
actions and  motives to self-love1 which
 neither take their rise from1 nor are  
directed by1 nor end in securing the    
exclusive interest of the  individual as
 a numerical unit1 a mere solitary      
existence4 ,as the idea  which          
influences the mind is not a detached   
idea starting up of its own  accord1 but
 an idea connected with other ideas and 

circumstances1  presented involuntarily 
to the mind1 and which cannot be        
separated from  one another1 or the     
whole of them banished from our         
thoughts1 without  overturning the      
foundation of all our habits of judging 
and reasoning1  and deranging the       
understanding itself2 it follows that   
the object of  the mind1 as an          
intelligent and rational agent1 must be1
 not to remove  the idea itself         
immediately as it is impressed on       
itself1 but to remove  those associated 
feelings and ideas which connect it with
 the world of  external nature2 that is1
 to make such an alteration in the      
relation of  external objects1 as1      
according to the necessary connection   
between  certain objects and certain    
ideas1 can alone produce the desired    
effect  upon the mind4 ,our mechanical1 
and voluntary motives are not therefore 
the same1 and it is absurd to attempt to
 reduce them under the same law4  ,they 
do not move in concentric spheres1 but  

are like the opposite  currents of a    
river running many different ways at the
 same time4 ,the  springs that give     
birth to our social affections are1 by  
means of the  understanding1 as much    
regulated by the feelings of others1 as 
if they  had a real communication and   
sympathy with them1 and are swayed by an
  impulse that is altogether foreign to 
self-love4    ,but to return to my      
author3 it may be expected that ,i      
should point out  some of those parts of
 the work which ,i think the most       
excellent4 ,i have  already mentioned   
the chapter on the nature of            
consciousness4 ,that on  the necessary  
connection of our motives is equally    
admirable for the  clearness and        
closeness of the reasoning1 though he   
afterwards1 somehow  or other1          
unaccountably deserts his own doctrine4 
,among the chapters on  subjects of     
morality1 some of those1 which ,i have  
entitled  miscellaneous1 are perhaps the
 best1 as those on vanity1 education1   

death1 etc4 ,the last of these1 ,i have 
sometimes conceived1 has a  resemblance1
 in a certain peculiar style of         
reasoning1 in which truth  and sophistry
 are artfully blended together1 to      
,cicero's beautiful  little treatise on 
,old ,age2 and1 setting aside the       
exquisite polish of  style1 and         
gracefulness of the manner1 in which it 
would be ridiculous  to make any        
comparison with that elegant writer1 ,i 
think the advantage  is clearly on the  
side of our author1 in ingenuity and    
richness of  illustration4#gb ,but he   
has taken his boldest and most          
successful  flight1 in what he calls the
 ,vision2 this is the most singular part
 of  the work1 and that by which our    
author's reputation as a man of genius  
must stand or fall4 ,i have given it    
with care1 and more at large than  any  
other part4 ,the best things in it are  
his meeting with his wife1 and  the     
lecture delivered by ,pythagoras4       
,had our author been a vain man1 his    

situation would not have been an        
enviable one4 ,even the sternest stoic  
of us all wishes at least for some      
person to enter into his views and      
feelings1 and confirm him in the        
opinion he entertains of himself4 ,but  
he does not seem to have had his        
spirits once cheered by the animating   
cordial of friendly sympathy4           
,discouraged by his friends1 neglected  
by the public1 and ridiculed by  the    
reviewers1 he still drew sufficient     
encouragement from the testimony  of his
 own mind1 and the inward consciousness 
of truth4 ,he still pursued  his        
inquiries with the same calmness and    
industry1 and entered into the  little  
round of his amusements with the same   
cheerfulness as ever4 ,he  rested       
satisfied with the enjoyment of himself1
 and of his own  faculties2 and was not 
disgusted with his simple employments1  
because  this made no noise in the      
world4 ,he did not seek for truth as the
 echo  of loud folly2 and he did not    

desist from the exercise of his own     
reason1 because he could make no        
impression on ignorance and vulgarity4  
,he could contemplate the truth by its  
own clear light1 without the aid  of the
 false lustre and glittering appearance 
which it assumes in the  admiring eyes  
of the beholders4 ,he sought for his    
reward1 where only the  philosopher will
 find it1 in the secret approbation of  
his own heart1  and the clear           
convictions of an enlightened           
understanding4 ,the man of  deep        
reflection is not likely to gain much   
popular applause2 and he does  not stand
 in need of it4 ,he has learned to live 
upon his own stock1 and  can build his  
self-esteem on a better foundation than 
that of vanity4 ,i  cannot help         
mentioning1 that though ,mr4 ,tucker was
 blind when he wrote  the last volumes  
of his work1 which he did with a machine
 contrived by  himself1 he has not said 
a word of this circumstance3 this would 
be with  me a sufficient trait of his   

character4             ,,the ,,author   
,,of ,an ,essay on ,the ,principles of  
,human ,action4                ,,preface
 ,,to ,a ,,new ,,and ,,improved         
,,grammar ,,of ,,the ,,english ,,tongue 
,,bibliographical ,,note      ,published
 in one volume #abmo in #ahaj 7xvii4    
#bje pp47 with the  following           
title-page3 #8,a new and improved       
,grammar of the ,english ,tongue3  for  
the use of ,schools ,in which the       
,genius of our ,speech is especially    
attended to ,and the ,discoveries of    
,mr4 ,horne ,tooke and other ,modern    
,writers on the ,formation of ,language 
are1 for the first time  incorporated   
,by ,william ,hazlitt4 ,author of an    
,essay on the ,principles of  ,human    
,action etc4 etc4 etc4 ,to which is     
added ,a new ,guide to the ,english     
,tongue ,in a letter to ,mr4 ,w4 ,f4    
,mylius1 ,author of the ,school         
,dictionary1  ,by ,edward ,baldwin1     
,esq4 ,london3 ,printed for ,m4 ,j4     
,godwin1 at the  ,juvenile ,library1    

,no4 #da1 ,skinner ,street2 ,and to be  
had of all  ,booksellers4 #ahaj4' ,the  
volume was printed by ,richard ,taylor  
and ,co41  ,shoe-,lane1 ,london4        
,,preface ,,to ,a ,,new ,,and ,,improved
 ,,grammar ,,of ,,the ,,english ,,tongue
      ,it is a circumstance which may at
 first excite some surprise1 that1      
amidst the various improvements in books
 of modern education1 there has         
hitherto been no such thing as a real   
,english ,grammar4 ,those which we  have
 are little else than translations of   
the ,latin ,grammar into  ,english4 ,we 
shall1 however1 no longer wonder at this
 circumstance1 when  we recollect that  
the ,latin ,grammar was regularly taught
 in our schools  several centuries      
before any attempt was made to introduce
 the study of  the mother-tongue2 and   
that even since some attention has been 
paid to  the latter1 the study of the   
learned languages still having the      
precedence1 our first notions of grammar
 are necessarily derived from  them4    

,those who have written on the subject  
have not been exempt from  the influence
 of early prejudice1 and instead of     
correcting the error1  have strengthened
 it4    ,the following is an attempt to 
explain the principles of the ,english  
language1 such as it really is4 ,we have
 endeavoured to admit no  distinctions1 
which1 but for our acquaintance with    
other languages1 we  should never have  
suspected to exist4 ,the common method  
of teaching  ,english grammar by        
transferring the artificial rules of    
other languages  to our own1 not only   
occasions much unnecessary trouble and  
perplexity2  but by loading the memory  
with mere technical formalities1        
accustoms the  mind to one of the worst 
habits that can be1--that of mistaking  
words for  things1 and of admitting a   
distinction without a difference4 ,we   
might  here refer particularly to the   
accounts given1 in the most approved and
  popular grammars1 of the genders1 and 
the objective case of ,english  nouns1  

that is1 of a case without any          
difference of termination1 and of       
genders without any mark denoting sex1  
c4 c4 ,in this respect the  ,french seem
 to have much the advantage of us2 as   
their grammars are1  generally speaking1
 real descriptions of their language1   
not a fanciful  and laboured account of 
what has no where any existence4    ,it 
is now above twenty years since ,mr4    
,horne ,tooke published his  celebrated 
work on grammar1 called the ,diversions 
of ,purley4 ,though this  has produced a
 very important change in the theory of 
language1 no  notice has been taken of  
it by grammarians in their definitions  
of the  ,parts of ,speech1 or in that   
branch of grammar which usurps the name 
of  ,etymology--an almost inexcusable   
neglect in those whose professed        
business it was to instruct others in   
the nature and origin of language4  ,it 
is the object of the following          
compilation to take advantage of the    
discoveries contained in that work1     

without adopting its errors4#gc    ,the 
soundest and most useful parts of ,mr4  
,t4's system1 are his  researches into  
the origin of indeclinable words1 and we
 have engrafted  the result of most of  
these into our little work1 so far at   
least as to  make the subject           
intelligible to the learner1 though if  
we have merely  excited his curiosity1  
we shall not have entirely failed in our
 object4    ,the practical rules and    
observations in the following work are  
almost  entirely selected from other    
works of the same kind3 if it should be 
thought to have any advantage over them1
 it must be chiefly in the  theoretical 
and logical part4 ,we shall here        
therefore present the reader  with a    
short general view of the subject1 to   
enable him to judge in what  we differ  
from others1 and whether it is for the  
better or worse4    ,it is common to    
suppose that the parts of speech1 or    
different sorts of  words1 relate to    
different sorts of things or ideas2 and 

that it was to  express this difference 
in the subject-matter of discourse1 that
 one  class of words was originally     
appropriated to one class of things1 and
  another to another4 ,we have          
endeavoured to show on the contrary1    
that  the grammatical distinctions of   
words do not relate to the nature of the
  things or ideas spoken of1 but to our 
manner of speaking of them1 i4e4  to the
 particular point of view in which we   
have occasion to consider  them1 or     
combine them with others in the same    
discourse4 ,the difference  between a   
substantive and an adjective for        
instance1 does not depend on  the       
intrinsical nature of the object we     
think or speak of1 but on its  being    
that concerning which we affirm         
something1 or that which we affirm  of  
it4 ,so if we say that snow is white1   
snow1 the name of the subject of        
discourse1 is a substantive1 and white1 
the name of the quality we  attribute to
 it1 is an adjective1 not because snow  

is a substance1 and  white a quality1   
for we may speak of a snowy mountain1 or
 say that  whiteness is hurtful to the  
eyes1 when these words will change their
  character1 though the things          
themselves cannot4 ,the things          
themselves do  not change1 but it is we 
who view them in a different connection 
with  other things1 and who accordingly 
use different sorts of words to show    
the difference of the situation which   
they occupy in our thoughts and         
discourse4    ,the article is generally 
left quite unexplained1 a mere anomaly  
in  language4 ,we have endeavoured to   
show that it is either the numeral      
adjective 7un1 one7 or that it belongs  
to the same class with the              
demonstrative pronouns1 this1 that1 c4  
,a substantive had been generally       
supposed to be a word expressing a real 
thing or substance1 as ,a man1 a tree1 a
 house1 c4 ,it was however found  that  
this definition would exclude many words
 from being substantives1  which are    

universally allowed to be so2 for       
example1 all words  expressing          
qualities1 actions1 abstract ideas1 c4  
c4 such as1  ,whiteness1 conquest1      
kingdom1 virtue4 ,the only definition   
which in  common grammars has been      
substituted for this circumscribed one  
is as  much too loose and general3 for a
 substantive is defined by ,lowth1      
,murray1 c41 to be the name of any thing
 that exists1 or of which we can  form  
any notion4 ,so that all words1 i4e4 all
 signs of our ideas1 must  be           
substantives4 ,we believe that a        
substantive is neither the name of a    
thing1 nor the name of a substance1 but 
the name of a substance or of  any other
 thing or idea1 considered as it is in  
itself1 or as a distinct  individual4   
,that is1 it is not the name of a thing 
really subsisting by  itself 7according 
to the old definition71 but of a thing  
considered as  subsisting by itself4 ,so
 if we speak of white as a circumstance 
or  quality of snow1 it is an adjective2

 but if we abstract the idea of  white  
from the substance to which it belongs1 
and consider this colour  as it really  
is in itself1 or as a distinct subject  
of discourse1 it  then becomes a        
substantive1 as in the sentence1 ,white 
or whiteness is  hurtful to the sight4  
,adjectives are constantly defined as if
 they were the names of certain         
qualities1 and of no other class of     
ideas4 ,it is evident from what has     
been said that this definition is       
fallacious4 ,we speak of a stony  road1 
a golden mountain1 a leather girdle1    
where the words marked in  italics1 and 
which refer to the substance of which a 
thing is made1 not  to its qualities1   
are confessedly adjectives4 ,any idea or
 thing1  considered as a circumstance   
belonging to or connected with another1 
may  be an adjective4 ,an adjective     
therefore differs from a substantive1   
not  from its expressing some quality of
 a substance1 but from its  expressing  
any thing that is affirmed of or        

connected with another1 to  wit1 its    
quality1 number1 form1 size1 substance1 
situation1 c4 c41 as  may be seen in the
 instances1 ,a white horse1 ,a tenth    
part1 ,a round  table1 ,a small book1   
,an iron crown1 ,a sea port4 ,on the    
other hand1  the characteristic         
difference between the adjective and the
 verb is1  that the former expresses    
something that is usually known to      
belong to a  thing1 or which is taken   
for granted as a circumstance belonging 
to it2  whereas the latter or the verb  
expresses something not usually         
belonging  to a thing1 or known to make 
a part of it1 and which therefore forms 
the  subject of a distinct proposition4 
,the use of the adjective is to         
describe or define the subject of       
discourse1 that of the verb to mark  any
 addition which the speaker wishes to   
make to it1 or any circumstance         
respecting it which it is his immediate 
object to enforce upon the  hearer4 ,so 
if we speak of a #8poisonous plant1' we 

take for granted the  connection between
 the subject and the attribute as a     
thing of course1  or as already         
understood2 but if we say1 #8hemlock    
poisons1 or is  poisonous1' we then     
distinguish this connection of ideas as 
one which  we suppose the hearer to be  
ignorant of1 or which we particularly   
wish  to recal to his attention4    ,we 
have been led unintentionally in        
speaking of the adjectives to           
anticipate our account of the verb4     
,nothing can be more vague1             
unsatisfactory and confused than the    
definition commonly given of the  last1 
namely1 that it is a word signifying ,to
 be1 ,to do1 or ,to suffer4  ,from this 
definition the student may be tempted to
 suppose that ,being1  ,doing1 and      
,suffering are three particular classes 
of ideas1 which are  always expressed by
 the verb1 and by no other part of      
speech4 ,let us  examine how far this is
 the case4 ,to love1 then1 is a verb1   
because it  expresses ,being1 ,doing1 or

 ,suffering4 ,love 7the substantive7 is 
not a  verb1 and yet it surely expresses
 either ,being1 ,doing1 or ,suffering4  
,battle1 ,conquest1 c41 are the names of
 actions1 yet they are not verbs1  but  
substantives4 ,active1 ,hasty1          
,cowardly1 are adjectives1 all of them  
expressing ,action1 ,suffering1 ,being1 
or a state of being4 ,in fact1 those    
who have made and adopted this          
definition1 have sheltered its weakness 
under an ambiguous form of expression4  
,if they had said that a verb is a  word
 signifying ,being1 ,doing1 or          
,suffering1 their account would not have
  been admitted4 ,the prefix of the     
infinitive mood 7,to be1 ,to do1 c47 is 
the only resemblance which the          
definition has to the subject4 ,instead 
of  defining the verb1 they make use of 
one4 ,it remains however to show in     
what respect ,to ,be1 ,to ,do1 and ,to  
,suffer differ from ,being1 ,doing1 and 
,suffering4 ,it cannot be in the        
subject-matter1 or the ideas themselves1

  for these are the same4    ,some      
persons have confined the signification 
of the verb to action4 ,see             
,introduction to an ,analytical         
,dictionary by ,david ,booth4 ,but this 
hypothesis1 which is more determinate   
than the other1 and at least aims  at a 
meaning1 is hardly tenable4 ,the verb   
,to ,be does not express action4  ,to   
belong to1 ,to possess1 ,to contain1 ,to
 extend over1 c41 do not  express       
action1 i4e4 motion or change4 ,not to  
say that other classes  of words1 as    
nouns and adjectives1 express action as 
well as verbs1 as  we have shown above4 
,it would be better to say that a verb  
expresses  some fact or event1 that is  
to say1 ,being1 ,doing1 or ,suffering1  
as  distinguished from a state of       
,being1 ,doing1 or ,suffering4 ,but     
neither do  all verbs express a single  
act or instance of a thing4 ,when we say
 ,two  and two make four1 we do not mean
 they do so in a single instance1 but   
always4 ,it is true1 however1 that verbs

 oftener express what happens to  a     
thing1 than what belongs to it1 and that
 they do not express any  proposition   
more generally than the nature of the   
subject requires4 ,they  make any thing 
known in a more marked and pointed1 and 
therefore in a  more limited manner4    
,this secondary quality in the verb1    
however1 seems  to form the chief       
distinction between the participle and  
the adjective4  ,those indeed who make  
the participle an essential part of the 
verb1 must  adopt the definition here   
referred to1 viz4 that a verb is a word 
signifying a single1 not a general      
attribution of one thing to another1  or
 the actually being1 doing1 or suffering
 any thing1 as distinct from a  state of
 being1 doing1 or suffering4 ,if we were
 to adopt any other  definition of the  
verb than the one we have inserted1 it  
would certainly  be this4 ,but we think 
it more consistent both with the        
particular  meaning of words1 and with  
the logic of grammar1 to divide         

adjectives  and verbs into words        
intended to express a given1 or known   
connection  between our ideas1 and words
 intended to communicate a new or       
unknown  one1 than into words           
representing a continued connection     
between the  subject and the attribute1 
and an accidental or momentary one4     
,we shall here just notice by the way   
the very unsatisfactory account of      
active and passive verbs given by       
grammarians4 ,a verb is active1 they    
say1 when it denotes the doing of an    
action1 passive when it denotes the     
receiving one4 ,the words ,to receive a 
blow will upon this principle  signify  
the doing of an action1 and to say that 
an action is performed  will signify the
 receiving one4 ,in fact the notion of  
agency or  passiveness has no necessary 
connection with the active and passive  
forms of verbs4 ,for an attempt to      
explain this subject1 we refer to the   
grammar itself4    ,a pronoun is a      
general term to express an individual4  

,thus by the words  ,he1 she1 it1 ,i1   
you1 c41 we mean that particular person 
or thing1 which  occupies a certain     
situation in the discourse1 the person  
speaking1 or  the person spoken to1 c4  
,a pronoun is literally a word used     
instead of1  or which supplies the place
 of a noun1 because instead of          
mentioning the  name of the individual1 
we only refer to it by some known       
circumstance  of situation which        
ascertains the object we mean4 ,pronouns
 are therefore  adjectives defining some
 circumstance of a thing1 and put       
absolutely4    ,adverbs are for the most
 part words expressing the circumstance1
 manner1  degree1 c41 of an action1 or  
attribute4 ,some of them1 however1 as   
the  words ,no1 ,yes1 are properly      
abbreviations of whole sentences1 that  
is1  convey assent to or dissent from an
 entire proposition4 ,the last of  these
 words is in fact the ,french verb1     
,ouis1 ,i hear1 used as an  indeclinable
 term1 that is1 a term having a definite

 sense and meaning  like declinable     
words1 but not varied to adapt it to    
different  situations1 because it is    
restricted by custom to a particular    
application4 ,the same account may be   
given of the other indeclinable  words4 
,prepositions and conjunctions are      
either nouns or verbs  expressing       
certain ideas like other nouns and      
verbs1 but which are now  used only for 
a particular purpose1 and in a          
particular manner2 that is  to say1 they
 are abruptly inserted between other    
words or sentences to  join them        
together1 and point out some such       
abstract relation between  them as is   
implied in the original words           
themselves4 ,so when we say ,all  except
 ,john1 we do not mean to address       
ourselves formally to any person  who is
 to except or leave out ,john1 though   
the preposition ,except is  undoubtedly 
the imperative mood of the same verb4   
,we merely mean to  convey the abstract 
idea1 that ,john is to be excepted from 

the  observation we have made1 or that  
what is true of the others is not true  
of him4 ,so the word ,from is a noun    
originally signifying ,beginning1 and   
now inserted before another noun to     
point it out as the source1 cause1  or  
first instance of any thing3 as ,he     
speaks from 7source7  inspiration1 or   
inspiration being the cause of his      
speaking4  ,interjections are the last  
class of indeclinable words1 and they   
admit  of a similar explanation4 ,for   
they are merely words1 conveying some   
sudden burst of passion1 and left       
standing by themselves without any      
regular connection with the rest of the 
discourse4 ,we also give an             
interjectional form to half sentences1  
when we are hurried on by passion  into 
the middle of what we mean to express   
without making any  preparation1 as     
#8,oh virtue6 how amiable thou art6 i4e4
 ,i cannot  express how amiable thou    
art4'    ,we have thus gone through the 
different parts of the subject1 in order

  to enable those who are conversant in 
such questions1 to judge at one  view of
 the merits or demerits of our plan4 ,it
 is1 we confess1 a little  different    
from others4 ,but those1 whose time is  
chiefly occupied in  learning grammar1  
whether ,latin or ,english1 are not very
 strongly  prejudiced in favour of      
established systems4 ,the imperfections 
of those  systems are obvious and       
unquestionable2 and therefore an        
assiduous  endeavour to improve upon    
them1 and to place the fundamental      
articles of  grammatical knowledge on a 
clearer and more intelligible footing   
without  implicitly subscribing to error
 and absurdity merely because they are  
old1 can scarcely fail to be received   
with favour1 and examined with          
fairness1 by competent judges4          
,,notes                             ,a  
,,reply ,,to ,,the ,,essay ,,on         
,,population      ,thomas ,robert       
,malthus's 7#agff-ahcd7 ,essay on the   
,principle of  ,population as it affects

 the ,future ,improvement of ,society   
was  published anonymously in #agih4    
,the second edition #8very much         
enlarged'  appeared with the author's   
name in a large #dto volume in #ahjc4   
,for a  sketch of ,malthus's life and   
doctrine and of the ,malthusian         
controversy1  see ,sir ,leslie          
,stephen's ,the ,english ,utilitarians1 
,,ii4 #acg-ahe and  #bch-bei4 ,the      
references in the following notes are to
 the second 7#ahjc7  edition of the     
,essay4 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's essay on        
,malthus in ,the ,spirit of  the ,age1  
ante1 pp4 #bhg-bih1 and the last five   
essays in ,political  ,essays1 vol4     
,,iii4 pp4 #cef-che4 ,a paper by ,de    
,quincey1 entitled  #8,malthus1' in the 
,london ,magazine for ,oct4 #ahbc1 led  
to a brief  controversy between ,de     
,quincey and ,hazlitt1 the particulars  
of which  will be found in ,de          
,quincey's ,works 7ed4 ,masson71 ,,ix4  
pp4 #c1 #bj-ca4  ,hazlitt's ,reply to   
,malthus was reviewed in the ,edinburgh 

,review for  ,august #ahaj 7vol4 xvi4 p4
 #dfd71 or rather1 as ,hazlitt          
complains1 the  title of his ,reply was 
prefixed to an article in the ,edinburgh
 #8as a  pretence for making a formal   
eulogy' on ,malthus's work4 ,hazlitt    
thereupon wrote the following letter to 
,cobbett's ,political ,register  7,nov4 
#bd1 #ahaj1 vol4 xviii4 p4 #ajad7 under 
the heading #8,mr4 ,malthus and  the    
,edinburgh ,reviewers'3--               
#8,,sir1--,the title-page of a pamphlet 
which ,i published some time ago1 and   
part of which appeared in the ,political
 ,register in answer to the ,essay  on  
,population1 having been lately prefixed
 to an article in the  ,edinburgh       
,review as a pretence for making a      
formal eulogy on that work1  ,i take the
 liberty to request your insertion of a 
few queries1 which may  perhaps bring   
the dispute between ,mr4 ,malthus's     
admirers and his  opponents1 to some    
sort of issue4 ,it will1 however1 first 
of all be  proper to say something of   

the article in the ,review4 ,the writer 
of the  article accuses the #8anonymous'
 writer of the reply to the ,essay1 of  
misrepresenting and misunderstanding his
 author1 and undertakes to give  a      
statement of the real principles of ,mr4
 ,malthus's work4 ,he at the same  time 
informs us for whom this statement is   
intended1 namely1 for those  who are not
 likely even to read the work itself1   
and who take their  opinions on all     
subjects moral1 political1 and          
religious1 from the  periodical reports 
of the ,edinburgh ,review4 ,for my own  
part1 what ,i have  to say will be      
addressed to those who have read ,mr4   
,malthus's work1 and  who may be        
disposed to form some opinion of their  
own on the  subject4--,the most         
remarkable circumstance in the ,review  
is1 that it is a  complete confession of
 the force of the arguments which have  
been  brought against the ,essay4 ,the  
defence here set up of it may indeed be 
regarded as the euthanasia of that      

performance4 ,for in what does this     
defence consist but in an adoption1     
point by point1 of the principal        
objections and limitation1 which have   
been offered to ,mr4 ,malthus's  system2
 and which being thus ingeniously       
applied to gloss its defects1  the      
,reviewer charges those who had pointed 
them out with misrepresenting  and      
vilifying the author8 ,in fact1 the     
advocates of this celebrated work  do   
not at present defend its doctrines1 but
 deny them4 ,the only resource  left    
them is that of screening its fallacies 
from the notice of the  public by       
raising a cry of misrepresentation      
against those who attempt  to expose    
them1 and by holding a mask of flimsy   
affectation over the  real and          
distinguishing features of the work4    
,scarcely a glimpse remains  of the     
striking peculiarities of ,mr4          
,malthus's reasoning1 his bold          
paradoxes dwindle by refined gradations 
into mere harmless  common-places1 and  

what is still more extraordinary1 an    
almost entire  coincidence of sentiment 
is found to subsist between the author  
of the  essay and his most zealous      
opponents1 if the ignorance and         
prejudices of  the latter would but     
allow them to see it4 ,indeed the       
,edinburgh ,reviewer  gives pretty broad
 hints that neither friends nor foes    
have ever  understood much of the       
matter1 and kindly presents his readers 
for the  first time1 with the true key  
to this much admired production4 ,he    
accordingly proceeds with considerable  
self-complacency to translate the       
language of the essay into the dialect  
of the ,scotch school of economy1  to   
put quite on one side the author's      
geometrical and arithmetical  ratios1   
which had wrought such wonders1 to state
 that ,mr4 ,malthus never  pretended to 
make any new discovery1 and to quote a  
passage from ,adam  ,smith1 which       
suggested the plan of his work2 to shew 
that this far-famed  work which has been

 so idly magnified1 and so unjustly     
decried as  overturning all the commonly
 received axioms of political           
philosophy1  proves absolutely nothing  
with respect to the prospects of mankind
 or  the means of social improvement1   
that the sole hopes either of the       
present or of future generations do not 
centre 7strange to tell67 in the        
continuance of vice and misery1 but in  
the gradual removal of these1 by        
diffusing rational views of things and  
motives of action1 and  particularly by 
ameliorating the condition1 securing the
 independence1  and raising the spirit1 
of the lower classes of society2 and    
finally  that both the extent of        
population1 and the degree of happiness 
enjoyed  by the people of any country   
depend very much upon1 and1 as far as   
there  is any difference observable     
between one country or state of society 
and  another1 are wholly regulated by   
political institutions1 a good or bad   
government1 moral habits1 the state of  

civilization1 commerce1 or  agriculture1
 the improvements in art or science1 and
 a variety of other  causes quite       
distinct from the sole mechanical       
principle of population4  ,and1 this    
,sir1 is what the ,reviewer imposes on  
his unsuspecting readers  as the sum and
 substance1 the true scope and effect of
 ,mr4 ,malthus's  reasoning4 ,it is in  
truth an almost literal recapitulation  
of the chief  topics insisted on in the 
,reply to the ,essay1 which the         
,reviewer seems  silently to regard as a
 kind of necessary supplement to that   
work4--,in  this account it is evident1 
both that ,mr4 ,malthus's pretentions as
 an  original discoverer are given up by
 the ,reviewer1 and that his obnoxious  
and extravagant conclusions are         
carefully suppressed4 ,now with regard  
to  the general principle of the        
disproportion between the power of      
increase  in population1 and in the     
means of subsistence1 and the necessity 
of  providing some checks1 moral or     

physical1 to the former1 in order to    
keep it on a level with the means of    
subsistence1 ,i have never in any       
instance called in question either of   
8these important and radical  facts10   
which it is the business of ,mr4 ,m4's  
work to illustrate4 ,all  that ,i       
undertook in the ,reply to the ,essay   
was to disprove ,mr4 ,malthus's  claim  
to the discovery of these facts1 and to 
shew that he had drawn  some very false 
and sophistical conclusions from them1  
which do not  appear in the article in  
the ,review4 ,as far therefore as       
relates to the  ,edinburgh ,reviewers1  
and their readers1 ,i might consider my 
aim as  accomplished1 and leave ,mr4    
,malthus's system and pretensions in the
  hands of these friendly critics1 who  
will hardly set the seal of their       
authority--on either one or the other1  
till they have reduced both to          
something like their own ordinary       
standard4 ,but against this ,i have     
several reasons4 ,first1 as ,i never    

looked upon ,mr4 ,malthus as 8a man of  
no mark or likelihood10#gd ,i should be 
sorry to see him dandled into           
insignificance1 and made a mere puppet  
in the hands of the ,reviewers4         
,secondly1 ,i in some measure owe it to 
myself to prove that the  objections ,i 
have brought against his system are not 
the phantoms of my  own imagination4    
,thirdly1 ,mr4 ,malthus's work cannot be
 considered as  entirely superseded by  
the account of it in the ,review1 as    
there are1 no  doubt1 many persons who  
will still take their opinion of ,mr4   
,malthus's  doctrines from his own      
writings1 and abide by what they find in
 the text  as good authority and sound  
argument1 though not sanctioned in the  
,commentary4--,i will therefore proceed 
to put the questions ,i at first        
proposed as the best means ,i can devise
 for determining1 both what the         
contents of ,mr4 ,malthus's work really 
are1 and to what degree of credit  they 
are entitled1 or how far they are true  

or false1 original or  borrowed4'       
,the queries which follow were with a   
few alterations republished by  ,hazlitt
 in ,the ,examiner 7,oct4 #bi1          
#ahae--,the ,round ,table1 ,no4 #bc7 and
  in ,political ,essays 7vol4 ,,iii4 pp4
 #cha-e74 ,the alterations are almost   
entirely confined to the omission of all
 reference to the ,edinburgh  ,review1  
for which ,hazlitt himself had begun to 
write in #ahad4 ,the  letter concludes  
as follows3 #8,the drift of these       
questions1 is1 ,i  believe1 sufficiently
 obvious and direct2 but if they should 
not be  thought clear enough in         
themselves1 ,i am ready to add a        
suitable  commentary to them1 by        
collating a convenient number of        
passages from  the ,essay1 the ,reply1  
and the ,review4'     ,,page       #a4  
,,letter ,i4 ,first published in        
,cobbett's ,political ,register1 ,march 
#ad1 #ahjg3 xi4 #cih4          ,the     
proposed alteration4 ,hazlitt alludes to
 the poor-law bill of          ,samuel  

,whitbread 7#ageh-ahae71 introduced on  
,february #ai1 #ahjg4          ,one of  
the main features of the scheme was the 
establishment of          a system of   
free education4 ,the bill was attacked  
not only by          ,cobbett           
7,political ,register1 ,august1         
,september1 and ,october1               
#ahjg71 and ,hazlitt1 but also by       
,malthus4 ,portions of the scheme       
passed their second readings as separate
 bills1 but were          abandoned4    
,see ,martineau1 ,history of the ,peace1
 ,i4 #aaf4       #b4 #8,who have none to
 help them4' ,job1 xxix4 #ab4           
#8,pride and covetousness4' ,st4 ,mark1 
vii4 #bb4          #8,the compunctious  
visitings of nature4' ,macbeth1 ,act ,i4
 ,scene          #e4          #8,laying 
the flattering unction4' ,hamlet1 ,act  
,,iii4 ,scene #d4          #8,grinding  
the faces of the poor4' ,isaiah1 iii4   
#ae4          ,mandeville4 ,he refers to
 ,bernard ,mandeville 7#afgj8-agcc71    
whose          ,fable of the ,bees1 or  

,private ,vices ,public ,benefits1      
appeared          in #agad4             
#8,will but skin and film1' etc4        
,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #d4         
,note4 ,the late ,sir ,w4 ,pulteney4    
,sir ,william ,johnstone ,pulteney1     
#eth bart4 of ,westerhall 7#agba-ahje71 
,m4,p4 for ,shrewsbury in          seven
 successive parliaments4 ,his name was  
originally ,johnstone1          but he  
took the name of ,pulteney on marrying  
the youngest          daughter and      
heiress of ,daniel ,pulteney1 ,lord of  
the ,admiralty          in ,sir ,r4     
,walpole's ,ministry4 #8,in private life
 he was remarked          principally   
for his frugal habits1 which were       
perhaps the more          striking1 as  
he was supposed to be the richest       
,commoner in the          kingdom4444   
,in the latter part of his life he was  
remarkable for          his abstemious  
manner of living1 his food being        
composed of the          most simple    
nourishment1 principally bread and      

milk4'          ,gentleman's ,magazine1 
,june1 #ahje1 ,vol4 ,,lxxv41 p4 #ehg4   
,in #ahjd          he married the widow 
of ,andrew ,stuart1 who fought a duel   
with          ,thurlow in connection    
with the ,douglas cause4 ,cf4 ante1 p4  
#bih4       #c4 ,in corpore vili4 ,this 
well known saying was quoted by ,burke  
in          his great speech on         
conciliation with ,america4 ,see ,select
          ,works1 ed4 ,payne1 ,i4 #bbd4 
,the editor in a note 7p4 #cbe7 quotes  
from ,menagiana 7#crd ed41 p4 #abi7 an  
anecdote of ,muretus which is           
said to be the origin of the saying4    
#d4 #8,baser matter4' ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4 
,scene #e4       #e4 ,leurre de dupe4   
,an expression of ,rousseau's           
7,confessions1 ,liv4          ,,iv474   
,unsuccessful endeavours1 etc4 ,hazlitt 
refers to ,whitbread's                  
management of the impeachment of ,lord  
,melville for malversation          as  
,treasurer of the ,navy4 ,melville was  
acquitted on ,june #ab1          #ahjf4 

#f4 ,the celebrated ,howard4 ,john      
,howard died of camp fever at ,kerson   
on ,january #bj1 #agij1 while           
investigating the condition of          
,russian military hospitals4            
,the #8champion1' etc4 ,a reference to  
,pitt's description of                  
,buonaparte as #8the child and champion 
of ,jacobinism4 ,see ,vol4              
,,iii41 note to page #ii4       #g4     
#8,the latter end1' etc4 ,tempest1 ,act 
,,ii4 ,scene #a4          ,,letter ,,ii4
 ,political ,register1 ,may #af1 #ahjg3 
,,xi4 #hhc4          ,the ,english have 
been called1 etc4 ,diderot said this in 
his          ,lettre sur les aveugles1  
ed4 ,tourneux1 ,i4 #cab1 but the opinion
          was expressed more than once  
in ,france during the period of         
,anglomania which prevailed in the      
middle of the eighteenth                
century4 ,cf4 ,texte1 ,jean-,jacques    
,rousseau 7trans4 ,matthews7            
pp4 #if et4 seq4       #h4 #8,worthless 
importunity in rags4'                   

#8----,lib'ral of their aid          ,to
 clam'rous ,importunity in rags4'       
,cowper1 ,the ,task1 ,,iv4 #dac-d4      
#i4 #8,its bane and antidote4'          
,addison's ,cato1 ,act ,v4 ,scene #a4   
,multum abludit imago4 ,horace1         
,satires1 ,,ii4 #c1 #cbj4               
,wallace is the chief4 ,robert ,wallace 
7#afig-agga71 a minister of          the
 ,scottish ,church1 published his       
,various ,prospects of                  
,mankind1 ,nature1 and ,providence1 in  
#agfa4 ,the ,british ,museum            
copy of ,hazlitt's ,reply contains the  
following ,,ms4 note3 #8,the            
writer of this note put into the hands  
of ,mr4 ,hazlitt in the          year   
#ahbh a small volume entitled 8a        
philosophical survey of the             
animal creation1 which is a translation 
7by the author7 of the          ,thorie 
du ,systme ,animal10 which the ,rev4    
,john ,bruckner had          published  
some time before3 after a perusal of the
 ,english          edition of this work1

 ,mr4 ,hazlitt admitted that the        
principles          of the ,essay on    
,population had been anticipated to a   
greater          extent by the ,flemish 
,divine1 who settled in ,england1 than  
they          had been by ,mr4          
,wallace4' ,the ,rev4 ,john ,bruckner   
7#agbf-ahjd71          ,minister of the 
,dutch ,church at ,norwich1 published   
his ,thorie          du ,systme ,animal 
in #agfg1 and ,criticisms on the        
,diversions of          ,purley in      
#agij4      #ad4 #8,present             
circumstances of the earth4' ,in the    
,political          ,register ,hazlitt  
has the following note3 #8,a different  
spirit          breathes through this   
chapter from that of the ,essay2 the    
spirit          of a gentleman1 a       
philosopher1 and a philanthropist4 ,mr4 
,malthus1 indeed1 sometimes limps after 
his model1 and cants          liberality
 in the true whine of hypocrisy4'       
#ae4 #8,so will his anticipation1' etc4 
#8,so shall my anticipation             

prevent your discovery4' ,hamlet1 ,act  
,,ii4 ,scene #b4          ,arithmetical 
series4 ,in the ,political ,register the
 following          note is appended3   
#8,as far as ,i understand the nature of
 an          arithmetical and           
geometrical series1 ,i do not apprehend 
that ,mr4          ,m4 could make good  
their strict application to the subject4
 ,an          arithmetical series is    
where any number or quantity is         
increased          by the perpetual     
addition of the same given sum or       
quantity4 ,but          how does ,mr4   
,m4 know that this is true of the       
cultivation of the          land1 or    
that much more rapid strides may not be 
made at one          time than at       
another8'      #ae4 ,mr4 ,shandy was of 
opinion1 etc4 ,tristram ,shandy1 ,book  
,i4 chap4          xix4      #ah4       
,,letter ,,iii4 ,political ,register1   
,may #bc1 #ahjg3 xi4 #ice4 ,hazlitt     
published part of this letter in his    
,political ,essays4 ,see          vol4  

,,iii4 pp4 #cfg-cgd4          #8,a      
swaggering paradox1' etc4 ,cf4 #8,the   
paradoxes of one age          become the
 common-places of the next4' ,jowett1   
,plato1 ,,iii4          #aee4      #ai4 
,the reply of the author of the         
,political ,justice4 ,in ,thoughts      
on ,dr4 ,parr's ,spital ,sermon 7#ahja7 
,godwin replied to ,parr1               
,mackintosh1 and ,malthus4 ,many years  
later1 in #ahbj1 he wrote ,of           
,population4 ,an ,enquiry concerning the
 ,power of ,increase in the             
,numbers of ,mankind1 in ,answer to ,mr4
 ,malthus on that ,subject4      #ba4   
#8,the exuberant strength of my         
argument4' ,a phrase of ,malthus's4     
,essay on ,population1 p4 #cgb4         
#bb4 #8,what conjuration1' etc4         
,othello1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #c4      #bc4 
,and as ,trim4 ,tristram ,shandy1 ,book 
,,vi4 chap4 xxiii4      #bd4 #8,these   
three bear record1' etc4 ,cf4 #a ,john1 
v4 #g4      #be4 #8,tis as easy as      
lying1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene

 #b4          ,to sum up the whole of   
the argument4 ,the conclusion of ,letter
          ,,iii4 from this point is not 
in the ,political ,register4            
#8,and less than smallest dwarfs1' etc4 
,paradise ,lost1 ,i4          #ggi-gha4 
#bh4 #8,it cannot but be1' etc4         
,malthus1 ,essay on ,population1 pp4    
#cec-d4      #bi4 #8,who am no great    
clerk4' ,cf4 ,burke1 ,a ,letter to a    
,noble ,lord          7,works1 ,bohn1   
,v4 #aej74 #8,he ,lord ,keppel was no   
great clerk4'      #ce4 #8,it may be    
safely affirmed1' etc4 ,malthus1 pp4    
#g-h4      #cf4 ,sancho ,panza4 ,don    
,quixote1 ,part ,,ii41 ,book ,,iii41    
chap4 xlix4      #ch4 #8,fast by1' etc4 
,paradise ,lost1 ,,ii4 #ajea-b4         
#8,to nature's furthest verge1' etc4    
#8,shoots far into the bosom of dim     
night           ,a glimmering dawn4     
,here ,nature first begins              
,her farthest verge1 and ,chaos to      
retire1' etc4                           
,paradise ,lost1 ,,ii4 #ajcf-h4         

#8,come on1 sir1' etc4 ,king ,lear1 ,act
 ,,iv4 ,scene #f4      #da4 ,a new      
,iliad of woes4 ,see note to vol4 ,,iii4
 p4 #aj4      #db4 #8,it keeps on its   
way1' etc4 ,cf4           #8----,i do   
know but one         ,that unassailable 
holds on his rank1         ,unshaked of 
motion4'                                
,julius ,caesar1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4 
#dd4 #8,squalid poverty4' ,malthus1 p4  
#eaf4          ,note4 #8,i am not as    
this poor ,hottentot4' ,cf4 #8,god1 ,i  
thank thee1          that ,i am not as  
other men are1 etc4' ,st4 ,luke1 xviii4 
,,ii4          ,note4 #8,chill and      
comfortless4' ,cf4 #8,all dark and      
comfortless4'          ,king ,lear1 ,act
 ,,iii4 ,scene #g4      #de4 #8,palaces1
 her ladies and her pomp4'       #8,our 
palaces1 our ladies1 and our pomp of    
equipage4'                              
,cowper1 ,the ,task1 ,i4 #fdc-d4        
#df4 #8,upland swells1' etc4            
#8,the grassy uplands' gentle swells    
,echo to the bleat of flocks4'          

,coleridge1 ,ode on the ,departing      
,year1 ll4 #abe-f4      #ec4 ,when ,don 
,quixote had to encounter1 etc4 ,see    
,don ,quixote1          ,part ,,ii41    
,book ,i4 ,chap4 xiv4      #ee4 #8,their
 greatest merit1' etc4 ,othello1 ,act   
,,iii4 ,scene #c4          ,no maid     
could live near such a man4 ,see note to
 vol4 ,i4 p4 #cje4      #ef4 #8,were    
they as prime1' etc4 ,othello1 ,act     
,,iii4 ,scene #c4          ,note4 ,even 
,miss ,howe1 etc4 ,in ,clarissa         
,harlowe4      #fb4 #8,the sin that most
 easily besets him4' ,hebrews1 xii4 ,i4 
#8,the rich golden shaft1' etc4 ,twelfth
 ,night1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #a4            
#8,all for love1 or the world well      
lost4' ,dryden's version of             
,antony and ,cleopatra 7#afgh74         
#fc4 #8,but as the dust in the balance4'
 ,isaiah1 xl4 #ae4          ,aaron's    
rod4 ,exodus1 vii4 #ab4          #8,sits
 umpire1' etc4 ,paradise ,lost1 ,,ii4   
#ijg-i4          #8,our greatest good1' 
etc4              #8,its former strength

 was but plethoric ill4'                
,goldsmith1 ,the ,traveller1 #add4      
#ff4 ,described by ,hogarth4 ,in what   
,lamb calls the #8sublime print1'       
entitled #8,gin ,lane4'      #gj4       
,hume's assertion4 ,dialogues on        
,natural ,religion1 ,part ,,xi4 p4      
#bab4 ,the assertion is denied by       
,malthus in his ,essay1 p4 #ehg4        
#ga4 ,note4 ,a late publication4        
,letters to ,samuel ,whitbread1 ,m4,p41 
on          his proposed ,bill for the  
,amendment of the ,poor ,laws 7#ahjg74  
,note4 ,jactet1 etc4 #8,illa se jactet  
in aula ,aeolus4' ,virgil1              
,aeneid1 ,i4 #adj-a4      #ha4 ,algernon
 ,sydney4 ,sidney's ,discourses         
concerning ,government1          written
 about #afhj1 in reply to ,sir ,robert  
,filmer's          ,patriarcha1 were    
first published in #afih4      #hb4     
#8,the face of the clearest warning1'   
etc4 ,quoted inaccurately          from 
,malthus4 ,see ante1 pp4 #agc-d4        
#hc4 ,note4 #8,monks1 eremites1' etc4   

#8,embryos and idiots1 eremites and     
friars1      ,white1 black1 and grey1   
with all their trumpery4'               
,paradise ,lost1 ,,iii4 #dgd-e4         
#hd4 ,lord ,kaims's account1 etc4 ,see  
,lord ,kaims's ,sketches of the         
,history of ,man1 vol4 ,,ii4 pp4 #bdj-a 
7edit4 #aghh74      #he4 ,a common-place
 book4 ,hazlitt refers to ,james        
,burgh's 7#agad-agge7                   
,political ,disquisitions3 or1 an       
,enquiry into public ,errors1           
,defects1 and ,abuses4 ,illustrated by1 
and established upon ,facts          and
 ,remarks extracted from a ,variety of  
,authors1 ancient and          modern4  
,calculated to draw the timely attention
 of ,government          and ,people to 
a due ,consideration of the ,necessity1 
and the          ,means1 of reforming   
those ,errors1 ,defects1 and ,abuses2 of
          restoring the ,constitution1  
and saving the ,state4 7#c vols4        
#aggd-e74          #8,that honest       
,chronicler4' #8,but such an honest     

chronicler as          ,griffith4'      
,henry ,,viii41 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #b4   
#8,the excellent ,montague4'            
,reflections on the ,rise and ,fall of  
the ,ancient ,republics4 ,adapted to the
 ,present ,state of ,great              
,britain1 by ,edward ,wortley ,montagu  
7#agac-aggf71 son of ,lady              
,mary ,wortley ,montagu1 was published  
in #agei4 ,see ,burgh's                 
,political ,disquisitions1 ,,iii4 #fh et
 seq4      #ij4 ,the descendants of the 
heroes1 etc4 ,this passage to the end of
          the quotation is from         
,bolingbroke's ,political ,tracts1 #bgj4
 ,see          ,burgh1 ,,iii4 #dad4     
#ia4 ,the account which ,voltaire gives4
 ,burgh 7,,iii4 #daj7 quotes this       
passage from ,essais sur l',histoire1   
,,ii4 #fj4          ,since that time it 
has fallen1 etc4 ,it is difficult to    
understand what such a worshipper of    
,napoleon as ,hazlitt means          by 
this sentence4 ,the ,vienna ,congress   
7#ahae7 ultimately declared          the

 perpetual neutrality of ,switzerland4  
#ib4 #8,i see1' he says1 etc4 ,burgh1   
,,iii4 #daf4          #8,a              
consummation1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4
 ,scene #a4      #ic4 ,lord ,molesworth4
 ,robert ,molesworth1 first ,viscount   
,molesworth          7#afef-agbe71 was  
appointed envoy extraordinary at the    
,danish          ,court in #afib1 but   
left abruptly in #afid1 and in the same 
year          published ,an ,account of 
,denmark as it was in the year #afib4   
,see ,burgh1 ,,iii4 #dab4      #ie4     
#8,it must indeed be an answer1' etc4   
,all's ,well that ,ends          ,well1 
,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4          #8,a     
thing may serve1' etc4 ,ibid4           
,burnet's ,travels4 ,gilbert ,burnet's  
,some ,letters containing an            
,account of what seemed most remarkable 
in ,switzerland1 ,italy1          etc4  
7#afhf74 ,see ,burgh1 ,,iii4 #cih-i4    
#8,italy shews1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4     
#cii4          #8,in ,england1' etc4    
,ibid4 ,,iii4 #djj4      #if4 #8,the    

title of freemen1' etc4 ,from ,spelman's
 ,glossary1 quoted          in ,burgh1  
,,iii4 #djj4          #8,it is          
constantly1' etc4 ,quoted by ,burgh     
7,,iii4 #djj7 from          ,hume's     
,history of the ,tudors1 ,,ii4 #fdj4    
#8,nations have often1' etc4 ,burgh1    
,,iii4 #cd4          #8,a single        
genius1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4 #bbj4       
#8,commerce1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4 #hc-d4 
#8,the extreme poverty1' etc4 ,ibid4    
,,iii4 #hd4      #ig4 #8,government1    
according to ,plato1' etc4 ,cf4 ,burgh1 
,,iii4 #age-h4          #8,the great    
difference we see1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4  
#bbj4          #8,among the             
,lacedemonians1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4     
#aej4      #ih4 #8,aristotle lays down1'
 etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4 #aef4               
#8,lycurgus did not allow1' etc4 ,ibid4 
#8,at ,sparta1' etc4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4 #aha4
          #8,a very wise man1' etc4     
,ibid4 ,,iii4 #ajj4      #ii4 #8,the    
grave ,romans1' etc4 ,cf4 ,ibid4 ,,iii4 
#ajj4 ,the saying          alluded to is

 ,cicero's4 #8,nemo enim fere saltat    
sobrius1 nisi          forte insanit4'  
,pro ,murena4 ,cap4 #f4          #8,in  
the old ,english laws1' etc4 ,quoted by 
,burgh 7,,iii4 #aci7          from      
,spelman's ,concilia4          #8,who   
elbow us aside1' etc4           #8,till 
prostitution elbow us aside         ,in 
all our crowded streets4'               
,cowper1 ,the ,task1 ,,iii4 #fj-a4      
#ajj4 #8,insenss qui vous plaignez1'    
etc4 ,hazlitt seems to be               
recalling imperfectly a passage in      
,rousseau's mile 7,liv4                 
,i473--#8,nous plaignons le sort de     
l'enfance1 et c'est le ntre             
qu'il faudroit plaindre4 ,nos plus      
grands maux nous viennent de            
nous4' ,see also a letter to ,voltaire1 
#ahth ,august #agef4                    
,correspondance 7#ahbb71 ,i4 #baf et    
seq4     #aja4 ,zaleucus4 ,see ,burgh1  
,,iii4 #ahj4          ,the greedy eye1  
etc4 ,cf4 ,the ,english ,comic ,writers4
 7#8,comic          ,writers of the last

 ,century'71 and ,the ,round ,table     
7#8,on ,modern          ,comedy'71 vol4 
,i41 p4 #ac4     #ajb4 ,narcissus and   
the ,graces4 ,a ballet by ,sir ,henry   
,rowley ,bishop          7#aghf-ahee71  
produced at the ,king's ,theatre1 ,june1
 #ahjf4          ,note4 ,the ,memoirs of
 ,fanny ,hill4 ,fanny ,hill1 or the     
,memoirs of          a ,woman of        
,pleasure1 by ,john ,cleland            
7#agji-aghi71 was          published1   
,part ,i4 in #agdh1 ,part ,,ii4 in      
#agdi4 ,in #agej the work          was  
republished in a milder form by ,ralph  
,griffiths1 who is said          to have
 paid twenty guineas for the copyright1 
and made a profit          of #aj1jjj4  
,cleland was summoned before the ,privy 
,council1 and          received a       
pension of #ajj from ,lord ,granville   
that he might          devote himself to
 worthier forms of literature4     #ajd4
 #8,in which the wicked1' etc4 ,job1    
iii4 #ag4          #8,happy are they1'  
etc4 ,hazlitt repeated this paragraph in

 a          paper in ,the ,yellow       
,dwarf4 ,see ,political ,essays1 vol4   
,,iii41          note to p4 #bff4       
#8,hurt by the archers4' ,cowper1 ,the  
,task1 ,,iii4 #aac4     #aje4 #8,m4     
,condorcet's 8,esquisse10' etc4         
,malthus1 p4 #ced4 ,condorcet's         
work appeared in #agid4     #ajf4       
#8,this posthumous publication1' etc4   
,ibid4     #ajg4 #8,this would indeed1' 
etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #cfh4     #ajh4 ,white   
,conduit-,house4 ,a #8popular place of  
entertainment and          tea-gardens' 
at ,pentonville4 ,see ,wheatley and     
,cunningham's          ,london ,past and
 ,present1 ,,iii4 #dif1 and ibid41 ,i4  
#hf1 for an          account of         
,bagnigge-,wells1 a #8noted place of    
entertainment1 much          resorted to
 the lower sort of tradesman1' in the   
neighbourhood          of ,king's       
,cross4          #8,there exists1' etc4 
,malthus1 p4 #cee4     #aji4 #8,such    
establishments1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #cef4   
#aaj4 #8,killing frost4' ,henry ,,viii41

 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4 ,see ,malthus1  
p4 #cef4     #aaa4 #8,variations' etc4  
,malthus1 p1 #cei4     #aab4 #8,it will 
be said1 perhaps4' ,ibid4 p4 #cfb4      
#aac4 #8,what can we reason1' etc4      
,pope's ,essay on ,man1 ,i4 #ah4        
#aaf4 ,note4 ,dr4 ,paley4 ,see his      
,evidences of ,christianity4            
,preparatory          ,considerations4  
,of the antecedent credibility of       
miracles4     #aag4 ,the old argument of
 the ,heap4 ,hazlitt alludes to a       
favourite          logical impasse of   
the ,stoics3 #8,what constitutes a heap8
 ,is it          two1 three1 or four    
atoms1 and on taking them away1 when    
does a          heap cease to exist8'   
,cf4 ,horace1 ,ep4 ,,ii4 #a-dg2 and     
,cicero1          ,de ,div4 ,,ii4 #d4   
#8,it does not1 however1' etc4 ,malthus1
 p4 #cfc4          ,quotes ,bickerstaff4
 ,see ,the ,tatler1 ,no4 #ge4           
#8,mr4 ,godwin1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4 #cfg4
     #aah4 #8,it is not1 therefore1'    
etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #dc4     #abj4 #8,they   

neither marry1' etc4 ,st4 ,matthew1     
xxii4 #cj4     #abb4 #8,it may be       
curious1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4 #cgd4       
#abh4 ,the charge which he brings       
against ,paine4 ,ibid4 p4 #ecj4         
#acj4 #8,those who were born1' etc4     
,ibid4 p4 #cgg4     #acb4 #8#8,a man' he
 says1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #eca4     #acd4  
#8,in most countries1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4   
#ecg4     #ace4 #8,there is one right1' 
etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #eca4     #ach4          
#8,sharpens his understanding1' etc4    
#8,thy flinty heart1' occurs          in
 ,henry ,,vi41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act ,,iii4 
,scene #b4     #aci4 #8,metaphysical    
aid4' ,macbeth1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #e4     
#adj4 #8,the quantity of food1' etc4    
,malthus1 p4 #cge4     #adb4 #8,as ,mr4 
,godwin1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #cha4     #adc4
 #8,he is himself again4' #8,richard's  
himself again4' ,colley                 
,cibber's version of ,richard ,,iii41   
,act ,v4 ,scene #c4     #ade4 #8,which  
after1' etc4 ,butler1 ,hudibras1 ,part  
,,ii41 ,canto ,i1          #cgg-h4      

#8,suppose1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4 #cif4    
#8,the question is1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4     
#dbb4     #adf4 #8,it may at fist1' etc4
 ,ibid4 p4 #cih4     #aej4 #8,they lay  
heavy burthens1' etc4 ,st4 ,matthew1    
xxiii4 #d4          #8,fared            
sumptuously1' etc4 ,st4 ,luke1 xvi4 #ai4
     #aea4 #8,if instead1' etc4         
,malthus1 p4 #dje4     #aec4 #8,whose   
solid virtue1' etc4 ,othello1 ,act ,,iv4
 ,scene #a4     #aef4 #8,independently  
of any considerations1' etc4 ,malthus1  
p4 #dji4     #aeg4 #8,alas from what    
height fallen4' ,cf4                    
#8----into what pit thou seest          
,from what highth fallen4'              
,paradise ,lost1 ,i4 #ia-b4             
,and            #8,alas1 from what high 
hope to what relapse          ,unlooked 
for are we fallen6'                     
,paradise ,regained1 ,,ii4 #cj-a4       
#aeh4 #8,comes to him1' etc4 ,romeo and 
,juliet1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #d4            
#8,shall no more impart1' etc4          
,goldsmith1 ,the ,deserted              

,village1 #bci-dj4          #8,their    
drunkenness and dissipation4' ,malthus1 
p4 #daa4          #8,their squalid      
appearance4' ,see ,ibid4 p4 #eaf4       
#aei4 #8,the symmetry of person1' etc4  
,this is a quotation of                 
,malthus's 7p4 #dhh7 from ,godwin       
7,political ,justice1 ,vol4 ,i41        
,book ,i41 ,chap4 v74          #8,our   
,doctors ,commons1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4   
#egf4          #8,father ,paul4' ,in    
,sheridan's ,duenna1 first performed in 
#agge          at ,covent ,garden4      
#8,that the poor1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4    
#daa4          #8,a man who1' etc4      
,ibid4     #afj4 #88,if10 says he1' etc4
 ,ibid4 p4 #edj4     #afa4 #8,this is   
well said1' etc4 ,henry ,,viii41 ,act   
,,iii4 ,scene #b4     #afb4 #8,i like   
not1' etc4 ,merry ,wives of ,windsor1   
,act4 ,,iv4 ,scene #b4     #afe4 ,omne  
tulit punctum4 ,horace1 ,ars ,poetica1  
#cdc4     #aff4 ,mr4 ,burke has said4   
#8,nobody will be argued into slavery4' 
,speech on ,american ,taxation 7,april  

#ai1 #aggd1 ,select ,works1          ed4
 ,payne1 ,i4 #aee74     #aff4 #8,among  
the prejudices1' etc4 ,malthus1 p4 #dgg4
          ,note4 ,tucker4 ,abraham      
,tucker 7#agje-aggd71 whose chief work  
,the          ,light of ,nature ,pursued
 7#g vols41 #agfh-aggh7 was abridged by 
,hazlitt 7#ahjg74 ,see ante1 pp4        
#cga-che4 ,paley admitted his           
obligations to ,tucker4     #afh4       
#8,will come when it will come4' ,julius
 ,caesar1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4         
#8,the object of those1' etc4 ,malthus1 
p4 #ejh4     #afi4 #8,the pressure of   
distress1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #ebe4         
,blifil4 ,in ,tom ,jones4          ,the 
euthanasia foretold by ,hume4 ,see his  
,essay #8,on the ,british               
,government4' #8,they talk1' said       
,burke1 #8of ,mr4 ,hume's ,euthanasia   
of the ,british ,constitution gently    
expiring without a groan in          the
 paternal arms of a mere ,monarchy4 ,in 
a monarchy6 ,fine          trifling     
indeed6 ,there is no such ,euthanasia   

for the ,british                        
,constitution4' ,regicide ,peace 7ed4   
,payne71 p4 #ceb4     #agb4 ,timeo      
,danaos1 et dona ferentes4 ,virgil1     
,aeneid1 ,,ii4 #di4          ,as the    
husband secured the virtue of his wife1 
etc4 ,that is1          presumably1 by  
cutting off her head1 #8the ,sign of the
 ,good          ,woman1' representing a 
headless woman carrying her head in her 
hand4     #agc4 #8,i should propose1'   
etc4 ,malthus1 p4 #ech4 ,a great part of
 the          rest of ,hazlitt's ,reply 
was repeated in the ,political          
,essays4 ,see vol4 ,,iii4 pp4 #cgd-cha4 
#agf4 #8,these paper bullets of the     
brain4' ,much ,ado about ,nothing1      
,act ,,ii4 ,scene #c4     #agg4 #8,would
 submit to the sufferings#81 etc4       
,malthus1 p4 #eci4     #ahj4 #8,the     
scanty relief1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #dae4    
#8,if1 as in ,ireland1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4  
#edh4     #aha4 #8,it is not enough1'   
etc4 ,ibid4 p4 #edi4     #ahc4 #8,in    
some conversations1' etc4 ,ibid4 p4     

#eec4          ,anthony's repeated      
declaration4 ,julius ,caesar1 ,act      
,,iii4 ,scene          #b4     #ahd4    
#8,it very rarely1' etc4 ,malthus's     
,essay 7#ast edition1 #agih71           
p4 #cd4                                 
,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age         
#ahi4 ,,jeremy ,,bentham4 ,this essay   
appeared originally in the ,new ,monthly
          ,magazine 7#ahbd1 vol4 ,x4 p4 
#fh71 of which ,thomas ,campbell was    
editor from #ahbj to #ahcj4 ,for an     
account of ,bentham's life and          
work1 see ,sir ,leslie ,stephen's ,the  
,english ,utilitarians1 vol4            
,i4 pp4 #afi-cbf4          ,the old     
adage4 #8,a prophet is not without      
honour1 save in his own                 
country1 and in his own house4' ,st4    
,matthew1 xiii4 #eg4          ,in the   
plains of ,chili1 etc4 ,bentham had many
 disciples among          the patriots  
of ,south ,america1 and in #ahjh thought
 seriously of          going to ,mexico4
          ,westminster1 where he lives4 

,in ,queen ,square ,place1 now ,queen   
,anne's ,gate4 ,hazlitt himself was from
 #ahab to #ahai a tenant of             
,bentham's in ,milton's old house in    
,petty ,france1 the garden of           
which ,bentham had added to his house in
 ,queen ,square4 ,see                   
frontispiece to vol4 ,,iii41 and ante1  
p4 #aij4          #8,i know thee1' etc4 
#8,i have seen thee in her1 and ,i do   
adore          thee3 my mistress show'd 
me thee1 and thy dog1 and thy bush4'    
,the ,tempest1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4    
,mr4 ,hobhouse4 ,john ,cam ,hobhouse    
7#aghf-ahfi7 was defeated at            
,westminster in ,february #ahai1 but was
 returned in the following              
year4          ,lord ,rolle4 ,john      
,rolle 7#agie-ahdb7 was the hero of ,the
          ,rolliad1 and sat for the     
great maritime county of ,devonshire4   
,he was raised to the peerage in #agif4 
,see ,wraxall's ,historical          and
 ,posthumous ,memoirs 7ed4 ,wheatley1   
,,iv4 #aaf-aai74          #8,that waft a

 thought1' etc4 #8,and waft a sigh from 
,indus to the          ,pole4' ,pope1   
,eloisa to ,abelard1 #eh4          ,sir 
,samuel ,romilly4 ,romilly was returned 
for ,westminster in ,july               
#ahah4 ,he had already taken an active  
part in ,parliament as a                
law-reformer4     #aij4 #8,lone island1'
 etc4 #8,some happier island in the     
watery waste4'          ,pope1 ,essay on
 ,man1 ,i4 #ajf4          ,chrestomathic
 ,school4 ,the object of this was to    
apply          ,lancasterian principles 
to the education of the middle classes4 
,an association1 of which ,mackintosh1  
,brougham1 ,james ,mill1 and            
others were trustees1 was formed in     
#ahad1 and ,bentham offered          his
 garden as a site1 but the scheme came  
to nothing4 ,see ,sir          ,leslie  
,stephen's ,the ,english ,utilitarians1 
vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #bb4          ,franklin4  
,bentham seems to have had a strong     
personal          resemblance to        
,benjamin ,franklin4     #aia4 ,foregone

 conclusion4 ,othello1 ,act ,,iii4      
,scene #c4     #aib4 ,mr4 ,bentham is   
not the first writer1 etc4 ,the         
principle of          utility had been  
expressed by 7among others7 ,priestley  
7,essay          on ,government1 #agfh71
 ,hutcheson 7,enquiry concerning ,moral 
,good          and ,evil1 #agbe71 and   
,beccaria 7,on ,crimes and ,punishments1
          #agfd74 ,see ,the ,english    
,utilitarians1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #agh4        
#8,he has not allowed for the wind4' ,a 
familiar expression which               
,hazlitt may have seen in ,ivanhoe1     
,chap4 xiii4          #8,bound volatile 
,hermes4' ,paradise ,lost1 ,,iii4       
#fjb-c4     #aic4 #8,all appliances1'   
etc4 ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act    
,,iii4 ,scene          #a4              
,posthc1 etc4 #8,forsan et haec olim    
meminisse juvabit4' ,virgil1            
,aeneid1 ,i4 #bjc4     #aie4 ,no more   
than ,montaigne1 etc4 ,essays1 ,booke   
,,ii41 ,chap4 xii4 ,an                  
,apologie of ,raymond ,sebond4 ,florio's

 translation1 ,temple                   
,classics1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #bji4        
#aif4 #8,all men act1' etc4 #8,men      
calculate1 some with less exactness1    
indeed1 some with more3 but all men     
calculate4 ,i would not say1            
that even a madman does not calculate4' 
,principles of ,morals          and     
,legislation1 ,chap4 ,,xiv4  xxviii4    
#aif4 ,too knowing by half4 #8,that's   
too civil by half4' ,sheridan1 ,the     
,rivals1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #d4         
#aig4 ,a ,panopticon4 #8,a mill for     
grinding rogues honest1 and idle men    
industrious' 7,bentham1 ,works1 ,x4     
#bbf74 ,bentham published an            
account of the scheme in #agia under the
 title of #8,the          ,panopticon1  
or the ,inspection ,house1' and spent a 
great deal of          money in         
connection with it4 ,ultimately a       
committee reported          against the 
scheme and proceeded to found the       
,millbank          ,penitentiary1 which 
was opened in #ahaf4 ,see ,the ,english 

,utilitarians1 ,i4 #aic-bjf4     #aig4  
#8,dip it in the ocean1' etc4 #8,but ,i 
fear1 friend1 said ,i1 this             
buckle won't stand 444 you may immerse  
it1 replied he1 into the          ocean1
 and it will stand4' ,a ,sentimental    
,journey1 ,the ,wig1          ,paris4   
#aih4 ,mr4 ,owen4 ,cf4 ,political       
,essays 7vol4 ,,iii4 pp4 #aba-g7 and    
,table-,talk 7#8,on ,people with one    
,idea'74          ,his address to the   
higher and middle classes4 ,the second  
of          ,coleridge's ,lay ,sermons  
7#ahag7 was #8addressed to the higher   
and          middle classes4'           
,hunter's captivity among the ,north    
,american ,indians4 ,j4 ,dunn           
,hunter's ,memoirs of a ,captivity      
amongst the ,indians of ,north          
,america1 from ,childhood to the ,age of
 ,nineteen1 etc41 #ahbd4     #aii4 ,in  
nook monastic4 #8,to forswear the full  
stream of the world and          to live
 in a nook merely monastic4' ,as ,you   
,like ,it1 ,act ,,iii4          ,scene  

#b4          #8,men of ,ind4' ,the      
,tempest1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4         
,mr4 ,speaker ,abbott4 ,charles ,abbot  
7#ageg-ahbi7 was ,speaker from          
#ahjb to #ahag1 when he retired and     
became ,lord ,colchester4 ,his          
mother was the second wife of ,bentham's
 father4 ,his unique ,diary          and
 ,correspondence1 extending from #agie  
to #ahbi1 were published          in #c 
vols4 in #ahfa4          ,he was        
educated at ,eton4 ,bentham was a       
,westminster boy4     #bjj4 ,at the     
,university4 ,bentham went to ,queen's  
,college1 ,oxford1 in          #agfj1   
and took his ,m4,a4 degree in #agff4    
,church-of-,englandism4 ,church of      
,englandism and its ,catechism          
examined1 published in #ahah4           
#8,to be honest1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act    
,,ii4 ,scene #b4          #8,looked     
enough abroad1' etc4 #8,the corrupter   
sort of          politicians1 who are   
not by learning established in a love of
          duty1 nor ever look abroad    

into universality4' ,advancement of     
,learning1 ,book ,i4          ,mr4      
,godwin4 ,for ,godwin see ,c4 ,kegan    
,paul's ,william ,godwin3 his           
,friends and ,contemporaries1 #b vols4  
#ahgf4     #bja4 ,political ,justice4   
,godwin's ,enquiry concerning ,political
          ,justice and its ,influence on
 ,morals and ,happiness was published   
in #agic1 ,things as they are2 or the   
,adventures of ,caleb          ,williams
 in #agid4          ,as ,goldsmith used 
to say4 #8,whenever ,i write any thing1 
the          public make a point to know
 nothing about it4' ,boswell1 ,life     
of ,johnson 7ed4 ,g4 ,b4 ,hill71 ,,iii4 
#beb4          ,sedet1 in eternumque1   
etc4                   #8,sedet1        
aeternumque sedebit1                    
,infelix ,theseus4'                     
,virgil1 ,aeneid1 ,,vi4 #fag-ah4        
,the false ,duessa4 ,the ,faerie        
,queene1 ,book ,,ii41 ,canto ii41 and   
,canto viii4 ,stanzas #df-h4     #bja4  
,his ,house of ,pride4        #8,and all

 the hinder partes1 that few could spie1
      ,were ruinous and old1 but painted
 cunningly4'                            
,ibid4 ,book ,i41 ,canto iv4 ,stanza #e4
          #8,the pillar'd firmament1'   
etc4 ,comus1 #eih-i4     #bjb4 #8,what1 
then1' etc4 ,st4 ,matthew1 xi4 #g4      
,mr4 ,southey's ,inscriptions4          
,southey's early #8,inscriptions'       
7#agif-i71 some of which he reprinted in
 the collected edition of          his  
poems 7#ahcg-h71 are1 like his ,joan of 
,arc and ,wat ,tyler1          strongly 
radical in sentiment4 ,see ,hazlitt's   
,political ,essays          7vol4 ,,iii4
 p4 #bje74          ,mr4 ,coleridge's   
,religious ,musings4 ,published in      
,poems on          ,various ,subjects1  
#agif4          #8,like ,cato1' etc4    
,pope1 ,prologue to the ,satires1 #bjh4 
,the          line is taken from ,pope's
 own ,prologue to ,addison's ,cato4     
#8,by that sin fell the angels4' ,henry 
,,viii41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4         
#bjd4 #8,there was the rub1' etc4       

#8,there's the respect         ,that    
makes calamity of so long life4'        
,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4         
#bjd4 #8,trenchant blade4'              
#8,let not the virgin's cheek           
,make soft thy trenchant sword4'        
,timon of ,athens1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #c4
          #8,all is conscience and      
tender heart4' ,chaucer1 ,prologue1     
#aej4          ,note4 ,see ,john        
,leland's ,a ,view of the ,deistical    
,writers1 etc41          ,letter vii4   
#bje4 #8,so ran the tenour of the bond4'
 ,cf4 ,the ,merchant of ,venice1        
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #a4          #8,it was
 well said1' etc4 ,see ante1 note to p4 
#afa4          #8,fallen first1' etc4   
,hamlet1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4          
#8,lost the immortal part1' etc4        
,othello1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #c4         
#8,the guide1' etc4        #8,the anchor
 of my purest thoughts1 the nurse1      
,the guide1 the guardian of my heart1   
and soul      ,of all my moral being4'  
,wordsworth1 ,lines composed a few miles

 above ,tintern ,abbey4     #bjf4 ,sir  
,walter ,scott4 #8,scott's baronetcy1'  
says ,lockhart1 #8was          conferred
 on him1 not in consequence of any      
,ministerial          suggestion1 but by
 the ,king personally1 and of his own   
unsolicited motion2 and when the ,poet  
kissed his hand he said to          him3
 8,i shall always reflect with pleasure 
on ,sir ,walter ,scott's          having
 been the first creation of my reign40' 
,the baronetcy was          ,gazetted on
 ,march #cj1 #ahbj4          #8,when in 
,auvergne1' etc4 ,quoted inaccurately   
from ,quentin          ,durward1 ,chap4 
i4          #8,reason is the queen1'    
etc4 ,hazlitt quotes a passage of his   
own4 ,see ,political ,essays1 ,vol4     
,,iii41 pp4 #ij-a4     #bjg4 #8,the     
unreasonableness of the reason1' etc4   
,see ,don ,quixote1          ,book ,i41 
,chap4 i4          #8,flying an eagle   
flight1' etc4 ,timon of ,athens1 ,act   
,i4 ,scene          #a4          #8,thus
 far1' etc4 ,job1 xxxviii4 #aa4         

,captain ,parry4 ,captain1 afterwards   
,sir ,william ,edward ,parry            
7#agij-ahee7 had recently returned from 
the second of his voyages          for  
the discovery of a north-west passage4  
#bjh4 #8,championing it to the          
,outrance4' #8,and champion me to the   
utterance6' ,macbeth1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene
 #a4     #bjh4 ,caleb ,williams4        
,published in #agid4 ,st4 ,leon3 ,a     
,tale of the          ,sixteenth        
,century1 appeared in #agii4            
,note4 ,mr4 ,fuseli4 ,henry ,fuseli     
7#agda-ahbe71 the painter1 for          
whom1 according to his biographer1 ,mary
 ,wollstonecraft          7afterwards   
,godwin's wife7 formed her first        
attachment4     #bji4 #8,bastards of his
 art4' ,cf4       #8,thought characters 
and words merely but art     ,and       
bastards of his foul adulterate heart4' 
,shakespeare1 ,a ,lover's ,complaint1   
ll4 #agd-e4          ,allen-a-,dale4    
,this #8northern minstrel' figures in   
,scott's own          ,ivanhoe4         

,fleetwood4 ,fleetwood2 or1 the ,new    
,man of ,feeling1 was          published
 in #ahje1 ,mandeville3 a ,tale of the  
,seventeenth          ,century1 in      
#ahag4     #baj4 ,his ,life of ,chaucer4
 ,published in #ahjc4 ,his ,remarks on  
,judge          ,eyre's ,charge to the  
,jury4 ,cursory ,strictures on the      
,charge of          ,chief-,justice     
,eyre appeared in the ,morning          
,chronicle on          ,october #bj1    
#agid4 ,godwin's own note and the notes 
of his          daughter1 ,mrs4         
,shelley1 on the political trials of    
that year1          will be found in ,c4
 ,kegan ,paul's ,william ,godwin3 ,his  
,friends          and ,contemporaries   
7,i4 #aag-acg74 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's ,life of
 ,thomas          ,holcroft1 ,vol4      
,,ii41 pp4 #aci et seq4                 
,skulked behind a ,british throne4 ,see 
,vol4 ,i41 p4 #cgh1 note4          ,a   
,volume of ,sermons4 ,sketches of       
,history1 in ,six ,sermons              
7#aghd74          ,a life of ,chatham4  

,published anonymously in #aghc4        
,note4 ,antonio1 a tragedy in verse1 was
 produced on ,december          #ac1    
#ahjj1 and #8damned finally and         
hopelessly4' ,see ,kegan ,paul          
7,,ii4 #cf-ee71 where ,lamb's account of
 the tragedy and its                    
representation 7not reprinted in the    
,essays of ,elia7 is          quoted    
from a paper in the ,london ,magazine   
7,april #a1 #ahbb74          ,faulkener 
7not ,ferdinand71 a tragedy in prose1   
was          produced with more success 
on ,december #af1 #ahjg4 ,lamb wrote    
prologues to both plays4 ,this play1    
which was sent to ,holcroft          to 
be touched up for the stage1 led to a   
quarrel between the          friends4   
,see ,kegan ,paul1 ,,ii4 #abb et seq4   
,mr4 ,fawcett4 ,for ,hazlitt's account  
of ,joseph ,fawcett see ,table          
,talk 7,on ,criticism74          ,a     
,speech on ,general ,warrants4 ,hazlitt 
refers to a speech of                   
,chatham's1 not on ,general ,warrants1  

but on the ,cyder ,tax in the           
,budget of #agfc4 ,the ,parliamentary   
,history gives only a few               
lines1 but the passage quoted by        
,hazlitt will be found in ,lord         
,brougham's ,historical ,studies of     
,statesmen during ,george ,,iii4's      
reign4     #bab4 ,mr4 ,coleridge1 who1  
etc4 ,hazlitt seems to refer to         
,coleridge's          ,lectures on      
,poetry1 delivered at the ,royal        
,institution in #ahjh4          ,a      
,history of the ,commonwealth of        
,england4 ,published in #d              
volumes1 #ahbd-h4          ,a very      
admirable likeness4 ,reproduced as      
frontispiece to ,vol4 ,i4          of   
,kegan ,paul's ,william ,godwin1 etc4   
,mrs4 ,wollstonecraft4 ,godwin married  
,mary ,wollstonecraft on ,march         
#bi1 #agig4 ,mrs4 ,inchbald1 according  
to ,mrs4 ,shelley 7,kegan ,paul1        
,i4 #bci7 shed tears when the           
announcement was made to her4     #bac4 
,and thank the bounteous ,pan4 #8,in    

wanton dance they praise the            
bounteous ,pan4' ,comus1 #agf4          
#8,a mind reflecting ages past4' ,these 
words occur in the first          line  
of a laudatory poem on ,shakespeare     
printed in the second          folio    
7#afcb74 ,the poem is signed #8,j4 ,m4  
,s4' and was attributed          by     
,coleridge to #8,john ,milton1          
,student4' ,see his ,lectures on        
,shakspere 7ed4 ,t4 ,ashe71 pp4 #abi-cj4
     #bac4 #8,dark rearward and abyss4' 
,cf4 #8,in the dark backward and abysm  
of time4' ,the ,tempest1 ,act ,i41      
,scene #b4          #8,that which was   
now a horse1' etc4 ,antony and          
,cleopatra1 ,act          ,,iv4 ,scene  
#ad4          #8,quick1 forgetive1      
apprehensive4' #8,makes it apprehensive1
 quick1          forgetive4' ,henry     
,,iv41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene   
#c4     #bad4 #8,what in him is weak1'  
etc4 ,cf4          #8----what in me is  
dark1        ,illumine1 what is low     
raise and support4'                     

,paradise ,lost1 ,i4 #bb-c4             
#8,and by the force1' etc4              
#8,as by the strength of their illusion 
,shall draw him on to his confusion4'   
,macbeth1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #e4        
#8,blear illusion' is a phrase of       
,milton's 7,comus1 #aee74               
#8,rich strond4' ,see ,the ,faerie      
,queene1 ,book ,,iii41 ,canto iv41      
,stanzas #ah41 #bi41 and #cd4           
#8,goes sounding on his way4' ,hazlitt  
seems to have had a hazy                
recollection of two passages in         
,chaucer's ,prologue4 ,in his           
essay on #8,my ,first ,acquaintance with
 ,poets1' he says1 #8the                
scholar in ,chaucer is described as     
going 8sounding on his way10'           
and in his ,lectures on the ,english    
,poets 7see ,vol4 ,v41 p4 #ac7          
he says #8the merchant1 as described in 
,chaucer1 went on his way               
8sounding always the increase of his    
winning4'0 ,the scholar is          not 
described as #8sounding on his way1' but

 ,chaucer says of him1                  
#8,souninge in moral vertu was his      
speche1' while the merchant1            
though #8souninge alway th' encrees of  
his winning1' is          not described 
as going on his way4 ,wordsworth has a  
line          7,excursion1 ,book        
,,iii471 #8,went sounding on a dim and  
perilous          way1' but it seems    
clear that ,hazlitt thought he was      
quoting          ,chaucer4              
#8,his own nothings monstered4'         
,coriolanus1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4      
#bae4 #8,letting contemplation1' etc4   
,cf4 #8,till ,contemplation had her     
fill4' ,dyer1 ,grongar ,hill1 l4 #bf4   
#8,sailing with supreme dominion1' etc4 
,gray1 ,the ,progress of                
,poesy1 #aae-f4          #8,he lisped in
 numbers1' etc4 ,pope1 ,prologue to the 
,satires1          #abh4          ,ode  
on ,chatterton4 ,monody on the ,death of
 ,chatterton1 written          in #agij 
when ,coleridge was eighteen4           
,gained several prizes4 ,at ,cambridge  

,coleridge won the ,browne              
,gold ,medal for a ,greek ,ode in #agib4
     #baf4 #8,struggling in vain1' etc4 
,wordsworth1 ,the ,excursion1 ,book     
,,vi4          #8,etherial braid1' etc4 
,hazlitt perhaps recalled two passages  
from ,collins1 #8with brede etherial    
wove' 7,ode to ,evening71 and           
#8the shadowy tribes of mind1 in braided
 dance their murmurs          joined'   
7,ode on the ,poetical ,character74     
,next he was engaged1 etc4 ,some        
foundation for this account of          
,coleridge will be found in his         
published writings1 especially in       
,the ,friend and ,biographia ,literaria1
 but ,hazlitt seems to          have    
drawn largely upon his recollections of 
,coleridge's          conversation4 ,see
 his essay1 #8,my ,first ,acquaintance  
with the          ,poets4'              
,like ,ariel4 ,the ,tempest1 ,act ,i4   
,scene #b4          ,note4 #8,and so by 
many winding nooks1' etc4 ,two          
,gentlemen of          ,verona1 ,act    

,,ii4 ,scene #g4          ,malebranche4 
,the ,de la ,recherche de la ,vrit of   
,nicolas          ,malebranche          
7#afch-agae7 was published in #afgd4    
,cudworth's ,intellectual ,system4      
,ralph ,cudworth's 7#afag-afhh7         
,true ,intellectual ,system of the      
,universe 7#afgh74     #baf4 ,lord      
,brook's hieroglyphic theories4 ,for    
,fulke ,greville1 ,lord          ,brooke
 7#aeed-afbh71 the friend of ,sir       
,philip ,sidney1 see          ,hazlitt's
 essay #8,on persons one would wish to  
have seen'          7,literary          
,remains71 where ,lamb speaks of        
,greville's          #8apocalyptical1   
cabalistical' style4          ,the      
,duchess of ,newcastle's fantastic      
folios4 ,margaret ,cavendish1           
,duchess of ,newcastle 7#afbd-afgd71    
published between #afec          and    
#affh a number of folio volumes of      
poems1 plays1 and          philosophical
 treatises4 ,lamb speaks of her 7,essays
 of ,elia1          #8,mackery ,end in  

,hertfordshire'7 as #8the thrice noble1 
chaste1 and virtuous1 but again somewhat
 fantastical1 and                       
original-brained1 generous ,margaret    
,newcastle1' and in another             
essay 7,the ,two ,races of ,men7 charges
 ,kenney with having carried            
off0 with him #8the letters of that     
princely woman1 the thrice              
noble ,margaret ,newcastle4'            
,the hortus siccus of ,dissent4 ,burke1 
,reflections on the          ,revolution
 in ,france 7,select ,works1 ed4 ,payne1
 ,,ii4 #ad74     #bag4 ,john ,huss1 etc4
 ,cf4 a passage in the ,political       
,essays1 vol1          ,,iii4 p4 #bfe1  
and notes thereon4          ,his        
,religious ,musings4 ,first published in
 ,poems on various          subjects    
7#agif74          ,the ,john ,bull4 ,the
 first number of #8,john ,bull1'        
,theodore ,hook's          rascally     
paper founded to oppose the agitation in
 favour of          ,queen ,caroline1   
appeared on ,dec4 #ag1 #ahbj4           

,arbuthnot's ,history          of ,john 
,bull appeared in #agab4                
#8,laughed with ,rabelais1' etc4        
#8,or laugh and shake in ,rab'lais easy 
chair4'                                 
,pope1 ,the ,dunciad1 ,i4 #bb4          
#8,spoke with rapture of ,raphael1' etc4
 ,coleridge visited ,rome          in   
#ahjf on his way from ,malta to         
,england4     #bah4 ,sang for joy1 etc4 
,coleridge's ,stanzas entitled          
,destruction          of the ,bastile   
7of which the second and third are lost7
 were          first published in #ahcd4
 ,they were written about #aghi1 and    
,hazlitt may have seen them4            
#8,in ,philarmonia's undivided dale4'   
,coleridge in his lines ,to          the
 ,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,hort1 plainly refers to 
the ,pantisocracy scheme4               
,stanza #c1 begins           #8,in      
,freedom's ,,undivided dell1            
,where ,toil and ,health with mellowed  
,love shall dwell1         ,far from    
folly1 far from men1' etc4              

#8,frailty1' etc4 #8,frailty1 thy name  
is woman6' ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4            
,scene #b4          ,paragraphs in the  
,courier4 ,many of ,coleridge's         
contributions to          ,the ,courier1
 chiefly from #ahji to #ahaa1 are       
published in          ,essays on his own
 ,times 7#ahej74          ,a            
poet-laureate or stamp-distributor4 ,the
 reference is of course          to     
,southey and ,wordsworth4               
#8,bourne from whence1' etc4 ,hamlet1   
,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4     #bai4 ,one   
splendid passage4 #8,alas6 they had been
 friends in youth1'          etc41 lines
 #djh-dbf4 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's ,lectures on 
the ,english          ,poets 7on the    
,living ,poets74          ,the ,friend4 
,see note to vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #aci4       
#bbj4 #8,he cannot be constrained by    
mastery4' ,wordsworth1 ,the             
,excursion1 ,book ,,vi4 ,see note to    
vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #aff4     #bba4 #8,taught
 with the little nautilus to sail4'     
,pope1 ,essay on ,man1          ,,iii4  

#agg4          #8,youth at its prow1'   
etc4 ,gray1 ,the ,bard1 ,,ii4 #b4       
,it was a misfortune1 etc4 ,this        
concluding paragraph was added          
in the second edition4          ,instead
 of gathering1 etc4 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's     
essay #8,on ,poetical                   
,versatility' in ,the ,round ,table     
7vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #aea74          #8,from 
the pelting of the pitiless storm4'     
,king ,lear1 ,act ,,iii4          ,scene
 #d4          #8,as with triple steel4' 
,paradise ,lost1 ,,ii4 #efi4            
#8,his words were hollow' etc4 ,cf4     
#8,but all was false and          hollow
 444 yet he pleased the ear4' ,paradise 
,lost1 ,,ii4 #aab-g4     #bbb4 #8,and   
curs'd the hour1' etc4       #8,sad was 
the hour1 and luckless was the day1     
,when first from ,schiraz' walls ,i bent
 my way6'                               
,collins1 ,oriental ,eclogues1 ,,ii4    
,,mr4 ,,irving4 ,this essay is from the 
,new ,monthly ,magazine 7#ahbd1         
vol4 ,x4 p4 #ahg74 ,edward ,irving      

7#agib-ahcd71 after having been         
for a time ,dr4 ,chalmers's assistant at
 ,glasgow1 came to ,london          in  
,july #ahbb1 as minister of the         
,caledonian ,asylum ,chapel in          
,cross ,street1 ,hatton ,garden4 ,in    
#ahbi he removed into the new           
church1 built for him in ,regent        
,square1 where the #8unknown            
tongues' began to be heard4 ,hazlitt    
wrote a paper for ,the          ,liberal
 7#ahbc7 entitled #8,pulpit ,oratory1   
,dr4 ,chalmers and ,mr4                 
,irving1' reprinted in the present      
edition4          ,a burning and a      
shining light4 ,st4 ,john1 ,v4 #ce4     
#8,nothing extenuate1' etc4 ,othello1   
,act ,v4 ,scene #b4     #bbc4 ,after the
 last fight4 ,between the ,gas-man and  
,bill ,neate          described by      
,hazlitt himself in the ,essay entitled 
#8,the ,fight1'          republished in 
,literary ,remains4          ,shaw the  
,life-guardsman4 ,apostrophised by      
,moore in his ,epistle          from    

,tom ,crib to ,big ,ben4 ,in a note     
,moore describes him as #8a             
,life ,guardsman1 one of the ,fancy1 who
 distinguished himself1 and          was
 killed in the memorable set-to at      
,waterloo4'          ,crib or ,molyneux4
 ,tom ,cribb 7#agha-ahdh7 the champion  
pugilist          defeated ,tom         
,molineaux1 an ,american black1 in two  
fights 7#ahaj          and #ahaa74 ,at  
the time of ,hazlitt's essay1 ,cribb had
 retired1          and was proprietor of
 a public house1 the ,king's ,arms1 at  
the          corner of ,duke ,street and
 ,king ,street1 ,st4 ,james's4          
,miss ,macauley's readings4 ,elizabeth  
,wright ,macauley 7#aghe-ahcg71         
poetess1 actress1 public reader1        
pamphleteer and preacher1               
appeared at ,covent ,garden in #ahai in 
the rles of ,mary ,stuart          and  
,jane ,shore1 but did not satisfy the   
managers1 and was          dismissed4   
,after that she gave public readings and
 became a          woman with a         

grievance4 ,see her pamphlets1 ,theatric
 ,revolution          7#ahai7 and ,facts
 against ,falsehood 7#ahbd74 ,in #ahcc  
she          published a fragment of    
,autobiographical ,memoirs4             
,exeter-,change4 ,the upper rooms of    
,exeter #8,change in the ,strand        
were let for various purposes1 among    
others for the purposes of          a   
menagerie4 ,byron writes in his ,journal
 7,nov4 #ahac1 ed4          ,prothero1  
,,ii4 #cai73 #8,two nights ago ,i saw   
the tigers sup at          ,exeter      
#8,change4'     #bbd4 #8,lies floating  
many a rood4' ,paradise ,lost1 ,i4 #aif4
          #8,bestrode the world1' etc4  
,julius ,caesar1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #b4    
#8,the player's province1' etc4 ,robert 
,lloyd1 ,the ,actor          7#agfj71   
ll4 #fg-h4          #8,damnation round  
the land4' ,pope1 ,the ,universal       
,prayer1 ,st4 #g4          #8,hath a    
smooth aspect1' etc4         #8,he hath 
a person and a smooth dispose       ,to 
be suspected2 framed to make women      

false4'                                 
,othello1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #c4           
#8,faultless monster4' ,from the ,essay 
on ,poetry of ,john          ,sheffield1
 ,duke of ,buckingham4     #bbe4        
#8,consummation1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act    
,,iii4 ,scene #a4          #8,a lusty   
man'1 etc4             #8,a manly man1  
to been an abbot able4'                 
,chaucer1 ,prologue1 #afg4     #bbe4    
,glanced an eye at ,mr4 ,canning4 ,the  
immediate cause of ,irving's            
popularity is said to have been a       
flattering reference to him by          
,canning in the ,house of ,commons4     
#8,like an eagle1' etc4 ,coriolanus1    
,act ,v4 ,scene #f4          ,peter     
,aretine4 ,pietro ,aretino 7#adib-aeeg7 
#8the scourge of          princes4'     
#bbf4 #8,god made the country1' etc4    
,cowper1 ,the ,task1 i4 #gdi4     #bbg4 
,the #8,saints1' etc4 ,wilberforce was a
 prominent member of the                
#8,clapham ,sect1' and represented      
,yorkshire from #aghd to #ahab4         

#8,hilting the house1' etc4 ,this       
expression is used by ,burke in         
his speech on ,american taxation 7,ap4  
#ai1 #aggd74 ,see ,select               
,works 7ed4 ,payne71 i4 #adg and note4  
,a ,mr4 ,fox4 ,william ,johnson ,fox    
7#aghf-ahfd71 the anti-corn law         
orator1 was at this time ,unitarian     
preacher at the ,chapel in              
,south ,place1 ,finsbury1 which was     
built for him1 and opened in            
#ahbd4     #bbh4 ,the ,duke of ,sussex4 
,the sixth son of ,george ,,iii41       
created ,duke          of ,sussex in    
#ahja4          ,miraturque1 etc4       
#8,miraturque novas frondes et non sua  
poma4'                                  
,virgil1 ,georgics1 ,,ii4 #hb4          
,dr4 ,chalmers4 ,chalmers's             
,astronomical ,discourses 7week-day     
sermons delivered at the ,tron ,church1 
,glasgow7 were published in             
#ahag1 and in the same year he visited  
,london where his sermons1          at  
the ,surrey ,chapel1 and at the ,scotch 

,churches in ,london ,wall          and 
,swallow ,street1 created extraordinary 
enthusiasm4 ,hazlitt          had heard 
him in ,glasgow4 ,see ,memoirs of ,w4   
,hazlitt1 ,,ii4 #db4          #8,four   
,orations1' etc4 ,irving's ,for the     
,oracles of ,god1 four                  
,orations2 for ,judgment to ,come1 an   
,argument in nine ,parts was            
published in #ahbc4 ,lowndes mentions a 
third edition in #ahbd4     #bbi4       
,orator ,henley4 ,john ,henley          
7#afib-agef71 who preached at ,newport  
,market1 and1 later1 in what ,pope calls
 #8,henley's gilt tub1' at              
,clare ,market1 is one of the heroes of 
the ,dunciad--        #8,embrowned with 
native bronze1 lo6 ,henley stands1      
,tuning his voice1 and balancing his    
hands4'                                 
,act ,,iii4 #aii1 et seq4          ,pope
 gives a long note upon him4            
#8,a monkey preacher4' ,hazlitt probably
 refers to the passage from          the
 ,dunciad referred to in the last note--

               #8,oh worthy thou of     
,aegypt's wise abodes1             ,a   
decent priest1 where monkeys were the   
gods6'                                  
,,iii4 #bjg-h4          #8,by the       
coinage1' etc4 ,a composite quotation4  
,cf4 #8,this is the          very       
coinage of your brain' 7,hamlet1 ,act   
,,iii4 ,scene #d71 and #8,a             
false creation1 proceeding from the     
heat-oppressed brain'                   
7,macbeth1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #a74       
#bcj4 #8,there's magic in the web4'     
,othello1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #d4        
#8,by his so potent art1' etc4 ,the     
,tempest1 ,act ,v4 ,scene #a4           
#8,now of the planetary1' etc4 ,cf4     
#8,and tell us whence the stars2 why    
some are fix'd1      ,and planetary     
some4'                                  
,cowper1 ,the ,task1 ,book ,,iii4 #aeh4 
#8,in the very storm1' etc4 ,hamlet1    
,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4     #bcj4 #8,to  
be admired1' etc4 ,cf4                  
#8,religion1 if in heavenly truths      

attired1          ,needs only to be seen
 to be admired4'                        
,cowper1 ,expostulation1 #dib-c4        
#bca4 ,the late ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke4     
,published originally in the ,new       
,monthly ,magazine 7#ahbd1 ,vol4 ,x4 p4 
#bdf74 ,cf4 ante1 pp4 #cgh          note
 and #chi-cij1 and an essay #8,on the   
,diversions of ,purley'                 
7,literary ,remains74          #8,so is 
the ,london ,tavern6' ,according to the 
usual version ,horne          ,tooke    
said3 #8,so is the ,london ,tavern--to  
those who can pay6'          ,sir ,allan
 ,gardiner4 ,alan ,gardner 7#agdb-ahji7 
the admiral1          created a baronet 
in #agid1 represented ,westminster from 
#agif          till #ahjf1 when he was  
raised to the peerage as ,lord ,gardner 
of          ,uttoxeter4 ,hazlitt refers 
to the general election of #agif when   
,horne ,tooke unsuccessfully stood for  
,westminster against ,fox and           
,gardner4     #bcb4 #8,the ,king's ,old 
,courtier' etc4                         

#8,like an old courtier of the queen's1 
,and the queen's old courtier1'         
is the burden of #8,the ,old and ,young 
,courtier4' 7,see ,percy's              
,reliques1 ed4 ,wheatley1 ,,ii4 #cae47  
#8,lord of himself1' etc4 #8,lord of    
yourself1 uncumbered with a             
wife4' ,dryden1 ,epistle to ,john       
,driden1 #ah4     #bcc4 ,he used to     
plague ,fuseli1 etc4 #8,he made strange 
havoc of          ,fuseli's fantastic   
hieroglyphics1 violent humours1 and     
oddity of          dialect4' ,hazlitt1  
#8,on the ,conversation of ,authors4'   
,at ,g----#8s4 ,godwin's presumably4    
,young ,betty's acting4 ,william ,henry 
,west ,betty 7#agia-ahgd71 the          
young ,roscius1 made his first          
appearance in #ahjc at the age of       
eleven1 and finally retired from the    
stage in #ahbd4 ,many critics           
declared that his acting was finer than 
,kemble's1 and ,home said          that 
he had not seen his own creation of     
,douglas adequately          realised   

until he had seen ,betty in the part4   
,cf4 ,hazlitt's          essay on #8,on 
,patronage and ,puffing' in             
,table-,talk4          ,a professed     
orator4 ,this was ,coleridge4 ,see      
,hazlitt's ,essay #8,on          the    
,conversation of ,authors' in ,the      
,plain ,speaker1 where ,horne           
,tooke's conversational powers are      
described again4     #bce4 #8,sacred    
vehemence4' ,comus1 #gie4          ,lord
 ,camelford4 ,thomas ,pitt 7#agge-ahjd71
 second ,lord ,camelford1               
duellist and naval commander4           
,the only palpable hit1 etc4 ,hazlitt   
included in his ,eloquence          of  
the ,british ,senate ,horne ,tooke's    
speech 7on the eligibility          of  
clergymen to sit in ,parliament71 in    
which this hit was made4          ,the  
reference in the note is to ,letter     
,,lxviii41 to ,lord                     
,chief-,justice ,mansfield4     #bcf4   
#8,native and endued1' etc4 ,hamlet1    
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #g4          ,his     

trial before ,lord ,kenyon4 ,in #agij   
,horne ,tooke unsuccessfully            
contested ,westminster against ,fox and 
presented a petition to          the    
,house of ,commons complaining of the   
riotous conduct of the                  
electors4 ,the ,house voted the petition
 #8frivolous and          vexatious1'   
and ,fox brought an action against      
,horne ,tooke to          recover the   
costs4 ,an account of this action1 which
 was tried by          ,lord ,kenyon1   
was published in #agib4          ,his   
examination before the ,commissioners of
 the ,income-,tax4 ,see                 
,stephens's ,life of ,john ,horne ,tooke
 7,,ii4 #aeg74          ,the ,state     
,trials in #agid4 ,see ante1 p4 #baa    
note1 and ,hazlitt's          ,memoirs  
of ,thomas ,holcroft 7,vol4 ,,ii4 pp4   
#aci et seq474 ,home          ,tooke was
 acquitted on ,nov4 #bb1 #agid4         
#bcf4 ,an intercepted letter4 ,see      
,stephens's ,life of ,john ,horne ,tooke
          7,,ii4 #aai74 ,the letter     

related1 not to a social invitation1 but
          to the preparation of a list  
of sinecures held by the                
,grenvilles4 ,the letter closed with    
these words3 #8,query1 is it            
possible to get ready by ,thursday8'    
#bcg4 ,the celebrated philosopher of    
,malmesbury4 ,thomas ,hobbes            
7#aehh-afgi71 born at ,malmesbury4      
,fabellas aniles4 ,horace1 ,satires1    
,,ii4 #f1 #gg-h4          ,a hasty      
charge4 ,junius accused ,horne ,tooke of
 having deserted          ,wilkes in    
connection with the election of         
,sheriffs for the city          in      
#agga4 ,see the ,letters of ,junius     
7#ahje1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 pp4 #ajd et         
seq474          #8,under him1' etc4     
,macbeth1 ,act4 ,,iii4 ,scene #a4       
,he comes off more shabbily1 etc4 ,sir  
,leslie ,stephen takes a                
different view and speaks of ,horne     
,tooke as #8the most successful         
antagonist of his formidable enemy4'    
#bch4 ,sir ,william ,draper             

7#agba-aghg71 who had commanded the     
expedition          against ,manilla1   
involved himself in a controversy with  
,junius          by his defence of ,lord
 ,granby who was one of the persons     
attacked in ,junius's first letter      
7#bast ,jan4 #agfi74          ,his work 
on ,grammar4 ,part ,i4 of ,horne        
,tooke's #8,diversions of               
,purley1' appeared in #aghf1 another    
edition containing ,part ,,ii4          
in #agih-ahje4          ,the essence of 
it1 etc4 ,the ,letter to ,dunning was   
written          and published in #aggh 
when ,horne ,tooke was undergoing a term
          of imprisonment in consequence
 of a resolution of the                 
,constitutional ,society in favour of   
#8our beloved ,american                 
fellow-subjects4' ,the letter contained 
his reasoning on the          word      
,that4 ,coleridge 7,table-,talk1 ,may   
#g1 #ahcj7 said3 #8,all          that is
 worth anything 7and that is but little7
 in the          ,diversions of ,purley 

is contained in a short pamphlet-letter 
which he addressed to ,mr4 ,dunning4'   
,mr4 ,harris's ,hermes4 ,the ,hermes1 or
 a ,philosophical ,inquiry              
concerning ,universal ,grammar of ,james
 ,harris 7#agji-aghj71          father  
of the first ,earl of ,malmesbury1 was  
published in #agea4          ,johnson   
said1 #8,harris1 however1 is a prig1 and
 a bad prig4 ,i          looked into his
 book1 and thought he did not understand
 his own          system4' 7,boswell1   
,life of ,johnson1 ed4 ,g4 ,b4 ,hill1   
,,iii4 #bde47     #bci4 #8,bear a       
charmed life1' etc4 ,macbeth1 ,act ,v4  
,scene #h4          #8,palpable to      
feeling as to sight4' ,cf4 #8,if 'tis   
not gross in          sense 444 'tis    
probable and palpable to thinking4'     
,othello1          ,act ,i4 ,scene #b4  
#8,familiar as his garter4'             
#8,the ,gordian knot of it he will      
unloose1           ,familiar as his     
garter4'                                
,henry ,v41 ,act ,i4 ,scene #a4         

,mr4 ,windham4 ,horne ,tooke in the #dto
 edition of his ,diversions1            
speaking of ,bruckner's ,criticisms on  
the ,diversions of ,purley              
7#agij7 says that the substance of that 
work #8was1 with singular               
industry and a characteristical         
affectation1 gossiped by the            
present precious ,secretary at ,war1 in 
,payne the bookseller's          shop2  
the cannibal commencing with this modest
 observation1          that--8,i had    
found a mare's nest40' ,see the         
,diversions 7ed4 ,r4          ,taylor1  
#ahfj ed471 p4 #abb4                    
,bull-baiting4 ,windham spoke twice in  
defence of bull-baiting1 on             
,april #ah1 #ahjj1 and ,may #bd1 #ahjb4 
,see his ,speeches1 i4                  
#cca-cef4     #bdj4 #8,a complex idea1' 
etc4 ,see ,horne ,tooke's ,diversions   
7ed4 ,r4          ,taylor1 #ahfj71 p4   
#ai4     #bdj4 ,mr4 ,lindley ,murray's  
,grammar4 ,published in #agie at ,york1 
where          ,lindley ,murray         

7#agde-ahbf7 settled on coming to       
,england from          ,america in      
#aghd4 ,de ,quincey refers to ,murray as
 #8an imbecile          stranger'       
7,works1 ed4 ,masson1 x4 #abg71 and     
speaks 7ib4 ,,xi4          #ceb7 of     
,hazlitt's ,new and ,improved ,grammar  
of the ,english          ,tongue1 etc4  
7see ante1 p4 #chi7 as an #8examination'
 of          ,lindley ,murray's ,english
 ,grammar4     #bda4 ,mr4 ,c999999 444  
,mr4 ,m9999994 ,probably ,croker and    
,malthus4          ,,sir ,,walter       
,,scott4 ,published originally in the   
,new ,monthly          ,magazine 7#ahbd1
 ,vol4 ,x4 p4 #big74 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's    
,essay on ,scott1          ,racine1 and 
,shakespeare in ,the ,plain ,speaker4   
#8,the present ignorant time4' ,macbeth1
 ,act ,i4 ,scene #e4                    
#8,laudator temporis acti4' ,horace1    
,ars ,poetica1 #agc4     #bdb4 #8,poetry
 of no mark1' etc4 #8,a fellow of no    
mark nor          likelihood4' ,henry   
,,iv41 ,part ,i41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4

          ,in the ,new ,monthly         
,magazine there is the following        
editorial          note on this passage3
 #8,the writer of this paper1 and not   
the          ,editor1 must be considered
 as here presuming to be the critical   
arbiter of ,sir ,walter's poetry4 ,a    
journal such as this cannot be          
supported without the aid of writers of 
a certain degree of          talent1 and
 it is not possible to modify all their 
opinions so          as to suit         
everybody's taste4'     #bdc4 ,note4    
,agnes4 ,agnes1 or the ,triumph of      
,principle1 #ahbb4          ,the late   
,mr4 ,john ,scott4 ,john ,scott         
7#aghc-ahba71 editor of the             
,london ,magazine1 died in ,feb4 #ahba1 
from a wound received in a          duel
 with ,lockhart's friend ,christie1     
arising out of a quarrel                
between ,blackwood's ,magazine and the  
,london ,magazine4 ,the                 
#8elaborate panegyric' of the ,scotch   
,novels had appeared in the             

latter magazine early in #ahbj4         
#8,skinned and filmed over4' #8,it will 
but skin and film the          ulcerous 
place4' ,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #d4 
#bdd4 ,mr4 ,westall's drawings4 ,richard
 ,westall illustrated ,marmion          
7#ahji7 and ,the ,lord of the ,isles    
7#ahac74          ,a story goes1 etc4 ,a
 very unlikely story4 ,long before the  
publication of ,the ,lay of the ,last   
,minstrel 7#ahje71 ,scott had           
written not only the translations from  
the ,german1 but a good          deal of
 original work in ,the ,minstrelsy of   
the ,scottish ,border                   
7#ahjb-c74          #8,a metre          
ballad-monger4' ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,i41
 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4                 
#8,fancies and good-nights4' ,henry     
,,iv41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene  
#b4          #8,glances from heaven to  
earth' etc4 ,midsummer ,night's ,dream1 
,act ,v4 ,scene #a4     #bde4 ,like     
,dorothea4 ,don ,quixote1 ,part ,i41    
,book ,,iv41 ,chap4 xxviii4          ,as

 ,lord ,peter1 etc4 ,it was ,martin who 
#8at one twitch brought          off a  
large handful of points2 and1 with a    
second pull1 stripped          away ten 
dozen yards of fringe1' and ,jack1 who1 
#8stripping down          a parcel of   
gold lace a little too hastily1' #8rent 
the main body          of his coat from 
top to bottom4' ,a ,tale of a ,tub1     
,sect4 ,,vi4          #8,over-laboured  
lassitude4' ,burke1 ,reflections on the 
,revolution          in ,france 7,select
 ,works1 ed4 ,payne1 ,,ii4 #abj74       
,mr4 ,constable4 ,archibald ,constable  
7#aggd-ahbg7 was publisher of           
the ,edinburgh ,review1 of ,marmion1 and
 of ,waverley1 and the          greater 
number of the novels4     #bdf4 #8,the  
embryo fry1' etc4 ,cf4 #8,an eyrie of   
children1 little          eyases1 that  
cry out on the top of question1' etc4   
,hamlet1 ,act          ,,ii4 ,scene #b4 
#8,comes like a satyr1' etc4            
#8,a satyr that comes staring from the  
woods1                 ,must not at     

first speak like an orator4'            
,earl of ,roscommon1 ,translation of    
,horace's ,ars ,poetica1 ll4            
#bha-b4 ,cf4 ,ars ,poetica1 ll4 #bdd et 
seq4     #bdf4 #8,a holy water          
sprinkle1' etc4 ,the ,faerie ,queene1   
,book ,,iii41          ,canto xii4      
,stanza #ac4          #8,more lively1'  
etc4 #8,it's spritely1 waking1 audible1 
and full          of vent4' ,coriolanus1
 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #e4          #8,their
 habits as they lived4' ,hamlet1 ,act   
,,iii4 ,scene #d4          #8,give her  
hand to another1' etc4 ,old ,mortality1 
,chap4          xxxviii4     #bdh4      
#8,her head to the east4' #8,na1 na6    
,not that way1 the feet to the          
east4' ,guy ,mannering1 ,chap4 ,,xv4    
#8,thick-coming4' #8,thick-coming       
fancies4' ,macbeth1 ,act ,v4 ,scene     
#c4          ,note4 ,perhaps the finest 
scene4 ,guy ,mannering1 ,chap4 li4      
#bdi4 #8,consummation1' etc4 ,hamlet1   
,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4          ,note4  
,ivanhoe1 ,chap4 xxiii4     #bej4       

,flints and dungs4 ,hazlitt refers to a 
passage at the beginning          of    
,chap4 xliii4 of ,ivanhoe4              
#8,calls backing his friends4' #8,call  
you that backing of your                
friends8' ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,i41 ,act 
,,ii4 ,scene #d4          ,mr4          
,mac-,adam4 ,john ,loudon ,mc,adam      
7#agef-ahcf71 whose services in         
the improvement of highways had been    
recognised and rewarded by              
,parliament in #ahbc4          #8,sixty 
years since4' #8',tis sixty years       
since1' the second title          of    
,waverley4          ,mr4 ,peel's        
,police-,bill4 ,peel succeeded in       
establishing the          ,metropolitan 
,police in #ahbi4     #bea4 ,every      
living author 444 but himself4 ,many of 
the mottoes were of          course     
written by ,scott himself1 though that  
does not affect          ,hazlitt's     
argument4          #8,if there were a   
writer1' etc4 ,this concluding paragraph
 did          not appear in the ,new    

,monthly ,magazine4          #8,born for
 the universe1' etc4 ,goldsmith1        
,retaliation1 #ca-b4     #8,winked and  
shut his apprehension up4'              
,prologue to ,antonio's ,revenge        
7,history of ,antonio and               
,mellida1 ,part ,,ii474 ,by ,john       
,marston4     #beb4 ,a gang of          
desperadoes4 ,hazlitt seems to refer to 
the founders of          ,the ,quarterly
 ,review4          ,the lowest panders  
of a venal press4 ,the writers in       
,blackwood's          ,magazine1        
presumably4          #8,who would not   
grieve1' etc4         #8,who but must   
laugh1 if such a man there be8          
,who would not weep1 if ,atticus were   
he8'                                    
,pope1 ,prologue to the ,satires1       
#bac-d4     #bec4 #8,as if a man1' etc4 
,coriolanus1 ,act ,v4 ,scene #c4        
#8,cloud-capt4' ,the ,tempest4 ,act     
,,iv4 ,scene #a4          #8,golden     
mean4' ,the ,english form of ,horace's  
#8auream          mediocritatem4' ,odes1

 ,,ii4 #aj-e4          #8,prouder than1'
 etc4                       #8and make  
him fall     ,his crest that prouder    
than blue ,iris bends4'                 
,troilus and ,cressida1 ,act ,i4 ,scene 
#c4          ,note4 ,byron died at      
,mesolonghi on ,april #ai1 #ahbd4       
#bed4 #8,silly sooth1' etc4 ,twelfth    
,night1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #d4     #bee4 
#8,denotes a foregone conclusion4'      
,othello1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #c4        
#bee4 #8,in cell monastic4' #8,to live  
in a nook merely monastic4' ,as ,you    
,like ,it1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4       
#bef4 #8,thoughts that breathe1' etc4   
,gray1 ,the ,progress of ,poesy1        
l4 #aaj4     #beg4 #8,poor men's        
cottages1' etc4 ,the ,merchant of       
,venice1 ,act ,i4          ,scene #b4   
#8,reasons high1' etc4 ,paradise ,lost1 
,,ii4 #eeh-i4          #8,till          
contemplation1' etc4 ,dyer1 ,grongar    
,hill1 l4 #bf4          #8,this bank and
 shoal of time4' ,macbeth1 ,act ,i4     
,scene #g4     #beh4 ,published in the  

,liberal4 ,byron's fragment ,heaven and 
,earth3 ,a          ,mystery1 was       
published in the second number of ,the  
,liberal3          ,verse and ,prose    
from the ,south1 the ill-fated quarterly
 review          established by         
,shelley1 ,byron1 and ,leigh ,hunt in   
,italy4 ,byron          and ,hunt found 
themselves unable to work together1     
especially          after ,shelley's    
death in ,july1 #ahbb1 and the review   
only lived          through four numbers
 7#ahbb-c74          #8,it is his       
aversion4'          #8,a drowsy frowzy  
poem1 call'd the 8,excursion10          
,writ in a manner which is my aversion4'
                                    ,don
 ,juan1 ,canto ,,iii4 ,stanza #id4      
#8,born in a garret1' etc4       #8,the 
,tolbooth felt defrauded of his charms1 
,if ,jeffrey died1 except within her    
arms3     ,nay last not least1 on that  
portentous morn1     ,the sixteenth     
story1 where himself was born1     ,his 
patrimonial garret1 fell to ground4'    

,english ,bards and ,scotch ,reviewers4 
#8,letter to the ,editor1' etc4 ,byron's
 letter to ,william          ,roberts1  
,editor of the ,british ,review1 was    
published in ,no4 #a          of ,the   
,liberal4 ,see ,byron's ,letters and    
,journals 7ed4          ,prothero71     
,vol4 ,,iv41 ,appendix vii4     #bei4   
,long's4 #8,i saw ,byron for the last   
time in #ahae1 after ,i returned        
from ,france4 ,he dined1 or lunched1    
with me at ,long's1 in ,bond            
,street4' ,lockhart's ,life of ,scott1  
,,iii4 #ccf4          ,the controversy  
about ,pope4 ,see ,byron's ,letters and 
,journals          7ed4 ,prothero71     
,vol4 ,v4 ,appendix iii4 ,byron wrote   
two letters to          ,john ,murray   
#8on the ,rev4 ,w4 ,l4 ,bowles's        
,strictures on the ,life          and   
,writings of ,pope1' the first of which 
was published in #ahba1          the    
second not till #ahce4 ,hazlitt himself 
wrote a paper in the          ,new      
,scots ,magazine 7,feb4 #ahah7 #8on the 

question whether ,pope          was a   
poet4'          ,from the sublime1 etc4 
#8,du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un
          pas1' was a saying of         
,napoleon's4 ,paine1 in ,the ,age of    
,reason1          7,part ,,ii47 had     
already expressed the same thought less 
concisely4          ,scrub in the       
,farce4 ,scrub1 in ,farquhar's ,beaux'  
,stratagem1 is          quoted for the  
variety of his occupations in the       
household of          ,squire ,sullen4  
,see ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #c4             
#8,very tolerable1' etc4 ,much ,ado     
,about ,nothing1 ,act ,,iii4            
,scene #c4     #bfj4 #8,a chartered     
libertine4' ,henry ,v41 ,act ,i4 ,scene 
#a4          #8,like proud seas under   
him4' ,two ,noble ,kinsmen1 ,act ,,ii4  
,scene          #a4          ,it is a   
ludicrous circumstance1 etc4 ,scott     
acknowledged the          obligation in 
a letter to ,john ,murray 7,dec4 #ag1   
#ahba71 in which          he says3 #8,i 
accept with feelings of great           

obligation1 the          flattering     
proposal of ,lord ,byron to prefix my   
name to the very          grand and     
tremendous drama of 8,cain40 ,i may be  
partial to it1          and you will    
allow ,i have cause2 but ,i do not think
 that his          ,muse has ever taken 
so lofty a flight amid her former       
soarings1'          etc41 ,lockhart1 v4 
#aej4 ,in a letter to ,rose 7,dec4 #ah1 
#ahba71          after comparing        
,byron's devil with ,milton's he says3  
#8,i think1          however1 the work  
will not escape censure1 for it is      
scarce          possible to make the    
devil speak as the devil without giving 
offence1' and adds1 #8,i question       
whether our noble friend has            
brought up his friend sufficiently      
cleanly4' ,familiar ,letters          of
 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 ,,ii4 #abg4       
#bfa4 #8,furthest from them is best4'   
,paradise ,lost1 ,i4 #bdg4          ,the
 first ,vision of ,judgment4 ,southey's1
 published in #ahba1 and                

dedicated to the ,king4          #8,none
 but itself1' etc4 ,from ,the ,double   
,falsehood1 produced          in #agbg1 
and written or adapted by ,lewis        
,theobald4 ,the line is          quoted 
by ,burke 7,regicide ,peace1 ed4 ,payne1
 p4 #dj74          #8,the tenth         
transmitter1' etc4 ,richard ,savage's   
,the ,bastard1          l4 #h4          
,lord ,byron's preposterous liberalism4 
,hazlitt probably refers                
specially to ,byron's relations with    
,leigh ,hunt and ,the          ,liberal4
 ,see ante1 note to p4 #beh4     #bfb4  
#8,nothing can cover1' etc4 ,beaumont   
and ,fletcher1 or ,fletcher          and
 ,massinger1 ,the ,false ,one1 ,act     
,,ii4 ,scene #a4          ,,mr4         
,,southey4 ,cf4 ,political ,essays1     
,vol4 ,,iii4 pp4 #dh-ea1 #aib-bcb4      
#bfc4 #8,where he must live1' etc44     
,othello1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #b4         
#8,whatever is1 is right4' ,pope1 ,essay
 on ,man1 ,,iv4 #cid4          ,old     
,sarum4 ,the allusion is to ,southey's  

early radical          inscription for  
,old ,sarum4          #8,his generous   
ardour1' etc4 #8,a generous friendship  
no cold          medium knows4'         
,pope1 ,homer's ,iliad1 ,,ix4 #gbe4     
#bfd4 #8,the words of truth and         
soberness4' ,acts1 xxvi4 #be4           
#8,we relish ,mr4 ,southey1' etc4 #8,you
 may relish him more in the             
soldier than in the scholar4' ,othello1 
,act ,,ii4 ,scene #a4          #8,he is 
nothing1' etc4 ,cf4 #8,for ,i am        
nothing1 if not critical4'              
,ibid4     #bfe4 ,teres et rotundus4    
#8,fortis1 et in se ipso totus1 teres   
atque          rotundus4'               
,horace1 ,sat4 ,,ii4 #g1 #hf4           
#8,does he not dedicate1' etc4 ,see     
ante1 note to p4 #bfa4          ,his own
 ,glendoveer4 ,curse of ,kehama1 vi4 #b4
     #bff4 #8,or if a composer1' etc4   
,perhaps ,hazlitt refers to ,william    
,sotheby 7#ageg-ahcc71 author of        
,orestes 7#ahjb7 and ,saul              
7#ahjg71 or to ,henry ,hart ,milman     

7#agia-ahfh71 afterwards ,dean of       
,st4 ,paul's1 who had published ,samor  
7#ahah71 ,the ,fall of                  
,jerusalem 7#ahbj71 and ,the ,martyr of 
,antioch 7#ahbb71 and was a             
constant contributor to ,the ,quarterly 
,review4 #8,a translator of          an 
old ,latin author' is presumably        
,gifford4          #8,far from the sun1'
 etc4 ,gray1 ,the ,progress of ,poesy1  
l4 #hc4     #bfg4 #8,because he is      
virtuous1' etc4 ,twelfth ,night1 ,act   
,,ii4 ,scene          #c4          ,the 
,book of the ,church4 ,southey's ,the   
,book of the ,church1          published
 in #b vols4 #ahbd4          #8,a little
 leaven1' etc4 ,galatians1 ,v4 #i4      
#8,there hangs1' etc4 ,macbeth1 ,act    
,,iii4 ,scene #e4          ,once a      
philanthropist1 etc4 ,cf4 #8,once a     
,jacobin1 always a          ,jacobin4'  
,see vol4 ,,iii4 pp4 #aaj1 #aei4        
#bfh4 #8,like the high leaves1' etc4    
,southey's ,the ,holly ,tree1           
,stanza #e4          #8,full of wise    

saws1' etc4 ,as ,you ,like ,it1 ,act    
,,ii4 ,scene #g4     #bfi4 ,mandeville's
 description of ,addison4 ,cf4 ,the     
,round ,table1 vol4          ,i4 p4 #i4 
#8,and follows so1' etc4 ,henry ,v41    
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #a4     #bgj4 ,,mr4   
,,wordsworth4 ,hazlitt had met          
,wordsworth at ,alfoxden in #agih       
7see the essay #8,my ,first             
,acquaintance with ,poets'71 and in the 
,lake ,district in #ahjc1 when he       
painted a portrait of the poet          
which proved unsatisfactory and was     
destroyed4 ,in a letter to              
,hazlitt's son 7,may #bc1 #ahca71       
,wordsworth says that he does not       
recollect having met ,hazlitt on more   
than one occasion after          their  
meeting at the ,lakes4 ,some of the     
opinions which ,hazlitt                 
attributes to ,wordsworth appear to be  
recollections of the          poet's    
conversation4 ,hazlitt reviewed ,the    
,excursion in ,the          ,examiner   
7see ,the ,round ,table1 vol4 ,i4 pp4   

#aaa-abe71 and          spoke of him in 
his ,lecture #8,on the ,living ,poets'  
7see ,english          ,poets1 vol4 ,v4 
#afa-d74     #bgj4 #8,lowliness1' etc4  
,julius ,caesar1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #a4  
#8,no figures1' etc4                    
#8,thou hast no figures nor no          
fantasies1            ,which busy care  
draws in the brains of men4'--,ibid4    
#8,skyey influences4' ,measure for      
,measure1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4        
#8,nihil humani1' etc4 ,terence1        
,heautontimorumenos1 ,act ,i4           
,scene #a4     #bga4 ,the ,lyrical      
,ballads4 ,lyrical ,ballads1 with a few 
other ,poems1          published in     
#agih4          #8,the cloud-capt       
towers1' etc4 ,the ,tempest1 ,act ,,iv4 
,scene #a4          #8,the judge's      
robe1' etc4 ,quoted inaccurately from   
,measure for          ,measure1 ,act    
,,ii4 ,scene #b4     #bgb4 #8,a sense of
 joy1' etc4 ,wordsworth1 ,to my ,sister4
          #8,beneath the hills1' etc4   
,the ,excursion1 ,book ,,vi4            

,vain pomp and glory1 etc4 ,henry       
,,viii41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4         
#bgc4 #8,to him1' etc4 ,ode on the      
,intimations of ,immortality4     #bgd4 
,cole-,orton4 ,the seat of ,wordsworth's
 friend1 ,sir ,george ,howland          
,beaumont1 to whom he dedicated the     
#ahae edition of his ,poems4            
#8,some of the best pieces were composed
 under the shade of your          own   
groves1 upon the classic ground of      
,coleorton4'          #8,calm           
contemplation1' etc4                    
#8,calm pleasures there abide--majestic 
pains4'                                 
,laodamia1 l4 #gb4          #8,fall     
blunted1' etc4             #8,fall      
blunted from each indurated heart4'     
,goldsmith1 ,the ,traveller4     #bge4  
,milton's wish4 ,wordsworth1 in that    
part of ,the ,recluse which          he 
published at the beginning of ,the      
,excursion1 quotes          ,milton's   
words 7,paradise ,lost1 ,,vii4 #ca7     
#8----8fit audience let me find though  

few60              ,so prayed1 more     
gaining than he asked1 the ,bard--      
,in holiest mood4'          ,toujours   
perdrix4 ,attributed to the confessor of
 ,henry ,,iv4 of          ,france1 when 
the ,king illustrated the advantage of  
variety by          ordering every      
course to consist of partridge4 ,see    
,notes and          ,queries1 #dth ,ser4
 ,,iv4 #ccf-g4          #8,a man of no  
mark1' etc4 #8,a fellow of no mark nor  
likelihood4'          ,henry ,,iv4 ,part
 ,i41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4     #bgf4  
#8,flushed with a purple grace1' etc4   
,alexander's ,feast1 ,,iii4             
#ea-b4 ,byron1 in his #8,reply to       
,blackwood's ,magazine' 7,letters       
and ,journals1 ed4 ,prothero1 ,,iv41    
,appendix ,,ix4 p4 #dhd7 says of        
,southey and ,wordsworth1 #8,are they   
not of those who called                 
,dryden's ,ode 8a drunken song08'       
,dares to compare himself1 etc4 ,byron  
in the same essay refers          to    
,wordsworth's postscripts to ,lyrical   

,ballads1 #8where the two          great
 instances of the sublime are taken from
 himself and          ,milton4'         
,wordsworth's #8,selections from        
,chaucer ,modernised1' written in       
#ahja1 were published1 ,the ,prioress'  
,tale in #ahbj1 ,the ,cuckoo            
and the ,nightingale1 and ,troilus and  
,cressida in #ahda4          #8,action  
is momentary1' etc4 ,quoted inaccurately
 from ,the          ,borderers 7written 
#agie-f1 published #ahdb71 ,act ,,iii4  
,in a note          to ,the ,white ,doe 
of ,rylstone1 to which these lines were 
added          as a kind of motto in    
#ahcg1 ,wordsworth writes3 #8,this1 and 
the          five lines that follow1    
were either read or recited by me1 more 
than thirty years since1 to the late    
,mr4 ,hazlitt1 who quoted          some 
expressions in them 7imperfectly        
remembered7 in a work of          his   
published several years ago4'     #bgg4 
,a great dislike to ,gray4 ,coleridge   
was induced #8by ,mr4                   

,wordsworth's conversation 444 to       
re-examine with impartial               
strictness ,gray's celebrated ,elegy4'  
7,biographia ,literaria1          ,chap4
 ,,ii47          #8,let observation1'   
etc4 ,de ,quincey 7,works ed4 ,masson1  
,x4          #abh7 attributes this      
criticism to the author of #8a little   
biographic sketch of ,dr4 ,johnson1     
published immediately after          his
 death4' ,coleridge makes the same      
criticism4 ,lectures on                 
,shakspere and ,milton1 #ahaa-ab 7ed4   
,ashe1 p4 #gb74          ,drawcansir4   
,in the ,duke of ,buckingham's play1    
,the ,rehearsal          7#afga74       
#8,let petty ,kings the names of parties
 know3         ,where'er ,i come1 ,i    
slay both friend and foe4'              
,act ,v4 ,scene #a4          ,bewick's  
woodcuts4 ,thomas ,bewick 7#agec-ahbh71 
the famous          wood-engraver4      
,waterloo's ,sylvan etchings4 ,antoine  
,waterloo 7#afji8-afgf871 a             
native of ,lille1 painter1 engraver1 and

 etcher4          #8,he hates           
conchology1' etc4 ,hazlitt quotes from  
himself4 ,see          his ,lecture on  
the ,living ,poets 7,english ,poets1    
,vol4 ,v4 pp4          #afc-d74         
#bgh4 #8,where one for sense1' etc4     
,hudibras1 ,,ii4 l4 #bi-cj4             
#8,take the good1' etc4 ,plautus1       
,rudens1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #g4     #bgi4
 ,,sir ,,james ,,mackintosh4 ,sir ,james
 ,mackintosh 7#agfe-ahcb71 born in      
,inverness-shire1 and educated at       
,aberdeen and ,edinburgh                
,universities1 with a view to the       
medical profession1 came to             
,london in #aghh1 and soon turned to    
politics4 ,his ,vindici                 
,gallic1 in reply to ,burke's           
,reflections on the ,revolution in      
,france1 appeared in #agia4 ,called to  
the bar in #agie1 he soon               
gained a considerable practice4 ,in     
#ahjc he was appointed to a             
,judgeship in ,india1 where he remained 
till #ahaa4 ,soon after his             

return he was elected 7in #ahac7 for    
,nairn4 ,from #ahai till his            
death1 he sat for ,knaresborough4 ,in   
#ahah he was appointed to the           
professorship of law and general        
politics at ,haileybury1 a post         
which he held till #ahbd4 ,he was made a
 privy councillor in #ahbg1          and
 a ,commissioner of the ,board of       
,control in #ahcj4 ,his                 
,dissertation on the ,progress of       
,ethical ,philosophy1 chiefly           
during the ,seventeenth and ,eighteenth 
,centuries1 contributed to          the 
seventh edition of the ,encyclopdia     
,britannica1 was          republished in
 #ahcf with a preface by ,whewell4 ,see 
,macaulay's          ,essay on          
,mackintosh's ,history of the           
,revolution4     #bha4 ,his maiden      
speech4 ,the speech referred to was     
delivered on ,dec4          #bj1 #ahac4 
,colonel ,st4 ,paul said3 #8,a more     
finical opposition to          any      
measure he had never heard in that      

,house4' ,parl4 ,hist41                 
,,xxvii4 pp4 #cja et seq4 ,mackintosh   
had spoken before on ,dec4          #ad4
     #bhb4 ,lectures on the ,law of     
,nature and ,nations4 ,a course of      
thirty-nine lectures1 delivered between 
,february and ,june #agii4          ,an 
#8,introductory ,discourse1' published  
in #agih1 contains a                    
recantation of the revolutionary        
doctrines of the ,vindici               
,gallic1 and an attack on ,godwin4 ,the 
lectures do not appear to          have 
been published1 but some ms4 notes1     
taken by ,sir ,john          ,stoddart  
at the time1 are still preserved4       
#8,the whiff and wind1' etc4 #8,the     
whiff and wind of his fell              
sword4' ,hamlet1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4  
#bhb4 #8,laid waste the borders1' etc4  
,cf4 #8,lay waste thy woods1            
destroy thy blissful bower4' ,dryden1   
,the ,hind and the ,panther1            
,part #a4 l4 #aeh4          #8,carve    
them as a dish1' etc4 ,julius ,caesar1  

,act ,,ii4 ,scene #a4     #bhc4         
,guicciardini4 ,francesco ,guicciardini 
7#adhc-aedj71 author of a               
,history of ,italy from #adid to #aecb4 
,thuanus4 ,jacques ,auguste de ,thou    
7#aeec-afag71 whose ,historia           
sui ,temporis ,johnson #8seriously      
entertained the thought of              
translating4'          ,dr4 ,pangloss4  
,in ,george ,colman1 the younger's      
7#agfb-ahcf71 ,the                      
,heir-at-law1 produced in #agig4        
#bhd4 #8,of lamentation1' etc4          
#8,cocytus1 named of lamentation loud   
,heard on the rueful stream4'           
,paradise ,lost1 ,,ii4 #egi-hj4         
#bhe4 #8,unbought grace of life4'       
,burke1 ,reflections on the ,revolution 
in ,france 7,select ,works1 ed4 ,payne1 
,,ii4 #hi74          #8,and gladly1'    
etc4 ,chaucer1 ,the ,canterbury ,tales1 
the          ,prologue1 l4 #cjh4        
#bhf4 ,an ,essay on the ,principles of  
,human ,action4 ,by ,hazlitt1           
published in #ahje4     #bhg4 ,a        

,history of ,england4 ,mackintosh       
collected materials for a               
history of ,england from #afhh to the   
,french ,revolution1 but left           
only a fragment posthumously published  
in #ahcd under the title          of    
#8,a ,history of the ,revolution in     
,england in #afhh4'          ,,mr4      
,,malthus4 ,cf4 ante1 pp4 #a-ahd and    
,vol4 ,,iii4 pp4 #cef-che4     #bhi4    
#8,like the toad1' etc4 ,as ,you ,like  
,it1 ,act4 ,,ii4 ,scene #a4     #bij4   
#8,the mighty stream of tendency4'      
,wordsworth1 ,the ,excursion1           
,book ,,ix4          #8,the ,corinthian 
capitals of polished society4' ,burke1  
,reflections on the ,revolution in      
,france 7,select ,works1 ed4            
,payne1 ,,ii4 #afd74     #bia4 #8,palmy 
state4' #8,in the most high and palmy   
state of ,rome4'          ,hamlet1 ,act 
,i4 ,scene #a4          ,an obscure and 
almost forgotten work4 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's  
essay #8,on          the ,originality of
 ,mr4 ,malthus's ,essay' 7,political    

,essays1          ,vol4 ,,iii4 pp4      
#cfa-g71 where long passages are quoted 
from          ,wallace's book4     #bie4
 #8,gospel is preached to the poor4'    
#8,the ,spirit of the ,lord is          
upon me1 because he hath anointed me to 
preach the gospel to the          poor4'
 ,luke1 iv4 #ah4          #8,the laws of
 nature1' etc4 ,malthus1 ,essay on      
,population1 #dto          ed41 #ahjc1  
,book ,,iv41 ,chap4 vii4 p4 #edj4       
,the #8tables are not full4' ,hazlitt   
refers to ,malthus's figure of          
#8nature's mighty feast4' ,ibid4 ,book  
,,iv41 ,chap4 vi4 pp4 #eca-b4     #bif4 
#8,to make it thick and slab4' ,macbeth1
 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #a4          ,mr4    
,godwin has lately attempted an answer4 
#8,of ,population4 ,an          ,enquiry
 concerning the ,power of ,increase in  
the ,numbers of          ,mankind1 in   
,answer to ,mr4 ,malthus on that        
,subject1' #ahbj4          ,a curious   
passage of ,judge ,blackstone4          
,commentaries on the ,laws          of  

,england1 ,book ,,ii4 ,chap4 xiv4       
#bih4 ,broke a lance with ,mr4 ,ricardo4
 ,in #ahad and #ahae ,malthus           
published two pamphlets on the corn     
laws1 to which ,ricardo          replied
 in an ,essay on the ,influence of a low
 price of ,corn on          the ,profits
 of ,stock 7#ahae74 ,hazlitt probably   
refers to          ,malthus's ,political
 ,economy 7#ahbj71 in which his         
differences          with ,ricardo are  
explained4 ,see ,sir ,leslie ,stephen's 
,the          ,english ,utilitarians1   
,,ii4 #ahi et seq4          ,mandeville4
 ,the second edition 7#agbc7 of ,bernard
 ,mandeville's          ,the ,fable of  
the ,bees1 or ,private ,vices ,public   
,benefits1          contained ,an ,essay
 on ,charity and ,charity ,schools4     
#bih4 ,plug ,pulteney4 ,see ante1 note  
to p4 #b1 note4          ,,mr4          
,,gifford4 ,cf4 ,a ,letter to ,william  
,gifford1 ,vol4 ,i4 pp4                 
#cfe-daa4          #8,in the event of   
his death1' etc4 ,gifford resigned the  

editorship of ,the ,quarterly ,review in
 #ahbd1 and after a short               
interval1 during which ,john ,taylor    
,coleridge was editor1 was              
succeeded by ,j4 ,g4 ,lockhart4         
#bii4 ,in his critical pages4 ,gifford1 
though he used his editorial pen        
very freely1 does not seem to have      
written so many articles in          the
 ,quarterly as his contemporaries       
imagined4 #8,the only entire            
article ever contributed to the ,review 
by ,gifford himself was          that   
which he wrote1 in conjunction with     
,barron ,field1 on ,ford's              
8,dramatic works40' ,see ,smiles1       
,memoirs of ,john ,murray1 ,i4 #ahj1    
#bjj2 ,,ii4 #dd1 #di4 ,sometimes he     
appears to have inserted what ,dr4      
,smiles calls #8the pungent wit1 the    
,attic salt' into the articles          
of his contributors4     #cjj4          
#8,destroy his fib1' etc4 ,pope1        
,prologue to the ,satires1 #ia-b4       
#8,i am not ,stephano1' etc4 ,the       

,tempest1 ,act ,v4 ,scene #a4     #cja4 
,if a lady goes on crutches1 etc4 ,the  
allusion is to ,gifford's          lines
 on ,mrs4 ,robinson4 ,see ,a ,letter to 
,william ,gifford1 ,vol4          ,i4   
note to p4 #cgh4     #cjb4 ,the ,feast  
of the ,poets4 ,by ,leigh ,hunt1        
published in #ahad4 ,see          ,vol4 
,i4 p4 #cgg4          #8,a man was      
confined in ,newgate1' etc4 ,see ,vol4  
,i4 p4 #cgh for          an account of  
the ,quarterly review of ,leigh ,hunt's 
,rimini4          ,verses to ,anna4     
,ibid4 p4 #cge4          #8,a bud1' etc4
 ,romeo and ,juliet1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #a4
          ,mr4 ,keats's ostensible      
crime1 etc4 ,the famous ,quarterly      
,review article on ,endymion appeared in
 ,september #ahah1 and          was     
written by ,croker4     #cjc4 #8,out    
went the taper1' etc4 ,stanzas ,,xxiii4 
to ,,xxvii4 of ,the          ,eve of    
,st4 ,agnes1 published in #ahbj4        
#cjd4 ,ecce iterum ,crispinus4 ,juvenal1
 ,sat4 ,,iv4 #a4     #cje4 #8,i wish ,i 

was1' etc4 ,see ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #cge4      
,note4 #8,he6 jam satis est4' #8,ohe jam
 satis est4' ,horace1 ,sat41          l4
 #e1 #ab-c4          ,note4 #8,why rack 
a grub1' etc4     #8,satire or sense1   
alas6 can ,sporus feel1   ,who breaks a 
butterfly upon a wheel8   ,yet let me   
flap this bug with gilded wings1   ,this
 painted child of dirt1 that stinks and 
stings1' etc4                           
,pope1 ,prologue to the ,satires1 #cjg  
et                                      
seq4     #cjf4 ,keats died when he was  
scarce twenty6 ,keats died in his #bfth 
year4     #cjg4 ,thus he informed the   
world1 etc4 ,see a review of ,hazlitt's 
,characters of ,shakespear's ,plays in  
the ,quarterly ,review          7,vol4  
,,xviii41 p4 #deh74          #8,it was  
amusing1' etc4 ,see a review of         
,political ,essays in          the      
,quarterly ,review 7,vol4 ,,xxii4 p4    
#afb71 and ,a ,letter to                
,william ,gifford1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #daj4   
,in the ,quarterly review of            

,table ,talk ,hazlitt is described as a 
#8slang-whanger4'     #cjh4 ,the ,st4   
,helena articles4 ,two articles1 in     
which ,hudson ,lowe's          treatment
 of ,buonaparte is defended1 appeared in
 the ,quarterly          ,review shortly
 after ,buonaparte's death4 ,see ,vol4  
,,xxviii4 p4          #bai1 and ,vol4   
,,xxxiii4 #agg4          ,lady ,morgan4 
,sydney ,owenson1 ,lady ,morgan         
7#aghc8-ahei71 authoress          of    
,the ,wild ,irish ,girl 7#ahjf7 was a   
favourite subject for the               
vulgar personal abuse of the ,quarterly 
,review4     #cji4 ,peter ,pindar4 ,john
 ,wolcot1 #8,peter ,pindar1' assaulted  
,gifford1          mistaking him for his
 namesake ,john ,gifford1 editor of the 
,anti-,jacobin ,review and ,magazine4   
,the result was ,gifford's              
,epistle to ,peter ,pindar 7#ahjj74     
,this ,drawcansir4 ,see ante1 note to p4
 #bgg4     #cji4 ,his attacks on ,mrs4  
,robinson1 etc4 ,see ,a ,letter to      
,william          ,gifford4 7,vol4 ,i41 

p4 #cgh note74          ,what he will   
make of ,marlowe4 ,gifford did not      
publish an edition          of ,marlowe4
          #8,the fiery quality4' ,king  
,lear1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #d4            
,spiritus1 etc4 ,petronius ,arbiter     
7,satirae1 #aah1 #crd ed4               
,bcheler1 p4 #hd71 quoted by ,coleridge 
in ,biographia ,literaria1              
,chap4 xiv4 #8,praecipitandus est liber 
spiritus' in the original4          ,in 
attempting to add the name1 etc4 ,see   
,gifford's edition of                   
,massinger 7#bnd ed4 #ahac1 ,vol4 ,i41  
p4 #ad74     #caj4 ,an article had      
appeared1 etc4 ,john ,murray had        
conceived the          scheme of        
establishing a ,tory review1 and had    
obtained many          promises of      
support before the appearance of        
,jeffrey's article          in the      
,edinburgh 7,oct4 #ahjh1 ,vol4 ,,xiii41 
p4 #bae71 on ,cevallos          and the 
affairs of ,spain4 7,see ,smiles1       
,memoirs of ,john ,murray1          ,i4 

#ig74 ,the first number of the          
,quarterly ,review appeared in          
,feb4 #ahji4     #caa4 #8,those who are 
not for them1' etc4 ,st4 ,matthew1 xii4 
#cj4          #8,ugly all over with     
hypocrisy4' ,see nowowte to ,vol4 ,i41  
p4 #baa4          ,note4 ,william       
,taylor 7#agfe-ahcf71 whose version of  
,brger's          ,lenore so fired the  
imagination of ,scott1 was a regular    
contributor to ,the ,monthly ,review    
from #agic to #ahjj1 and from           
#ahji to #ahbd4     #cab4 ,mr4 ,stuart  
,rose4 ,william ,stewart ,rose          
7#agge-ahdc71 the friend of             
,scott1 and translator of ,ariosto      
7#ahbc-ahca74     #cac4 ,the ,lyrical   
,ballads4 ,hazlitt presumably refers to 
some          introductory remarks on a 
new #8sect of poets' in a review by     
,jeffrey of ,southey's ,thalaba4        
7,edinburgh ,review1 ,oct4 #ahjb1       
,vol4 ,i41 p4 #fc74                     
,unqualified encouragement1 etc4 ,for   
favourable references to                

,malthus see ,edinburgh ,review1 ,oct4  
#ahjg 7,vol4 ,,xi41 p4 #ajj71           
,august #ahaj 7,vol4 ,,xvi41 p4 #dfd71  
and ,march #ahag 7,vol4 ,,xxviii41      
p4 #a74 ,southey attacked ,malthus in   
the ,quarterly ,review 7,dec4           
#ahab71 but the ,essay on ,population   
was defended five years          later  
7,july #ahag7 by ,sumner4               
#8,reasons1' etc4 ,henry ,,iv41 ,part   
,i41 ,act ,,ii41 ,scene #d4             
,mr4 ,jeffrey is the ,editor of the     
,edinburgh ,review4 ,sydney ,smith      
claimed to have been editor of the first
 number 7,oct4 #ahjb71          ,jeffrey
 was editor from that time till #ahbi1  
when he retired on          being       
appointed ,dean of the ,faculty of      
,advocates4     #cad4 ,nearly a fourth  
part of the articles4 ,lord ,cockburn in
 his ,life          of ,lord ,jeffrey   
7#ahgd ed41 p4 #djd et seq47 gives a    
total list          of #bjj             
contributions4 ,a selection was         
published in four volumes          in   

#ahdd4          #8,infinite agitation of
 wit4' ,bacon1 ,advancement of          
,learning1          ,book ,i41 ,,iv4 #e4
     #caf4 #8,spinning the thread1' etc4
 ,love's ,labour's ,lost1 ,act ,v4      
,scene #a4     #cag4 ,but in private    
your follies1 etc4 ,hazlitt very likely 
put          ,jeffrey to this test when 
he was in ,edinburgh in #ahbc on his    
divorce business4 ,see ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4  
#cad and note4     #cai4 #8,has no      
figures1' etc4 ,julius ,caesar1 ,act    
,,ii4 ,scene #a4          #8,tread the  
primrose path1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4  
,scene #c4          ,a ,phillips4       
,charles ,phillips 7#aghg8-ahei71 a     
native of ,sligo1          who enjoyed a
 great reputation1 both at the ,irish   
bar1 and at          the ,english bar1  
to which he was called in #ahba4        
,brougham          himself described his
 speeches as #8horticultural4'          
,a ,plunket4 ,william ,conyngham        
,plunket 7#agfd-ahed71 the advocate     
of ,catholic ,emancipation1 famous for  

his eloquence both at the          bar  
and in ,parliament1 created ,baron      
,plunket in #ahbg1                      
chief-justice of the ,irish common pleas
 7#ahbg-cj71 and ,lord                  
,chancellor of ,ireland 7#ahcj-ahda74   
#cai4 ,note4 ,brougham was born in      
,edinburgh1 where he was educated4 ,his 
mother was ,scotch 7a niece of          
,robertson the historian71 and his      
father belonged to an old ,westmoreland 
family4          ,the late ,lord        
,erskine4 ,erskine died in ,november1   
#ahbc4     #cbj4 #8,domestic treason1'  
etc4              #8,malice domestic1   
foreign levy1 nothing1            ,can  
touch him further4'                     
,macbeth1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4        
#cba4 #8,as much again to govern it4'   
,in ,table ,talk ,hazlitt quotes        
this line as ,butler's4          #8,pour
 out all as plain1' etc4 ,pope1         
,imitations of ,horace1          ,sat4  
,i4 #ea-b4     #cbb4 #8,scared at the   
sound1' etc4 ,cf4         #8,and back   

recoiled1 he knew not why1       ,even  
at the sound himself had made4'         
,collins1 ,the ,passions1 ll4 #ai-bj4   
#8,the total grist1' etc4 ,cowper1 ,the 
,task1 ,book ,,vi41 #ajh4     #cbc4     
,there are few intellectual             
accomplishments1 etc4 ,it was said      
of ,brougham that if he had known a     
little law1 he would have          known
 a little of everything4          ,the  
celebrated ,carnot4 ,lazare ,nicolas    
,marguerite ,carnot                     
7#agec-ahbc71 the first organiser of the
 armies of the          ,revolution4 ,he
 left ,napoleon in #ahjj1 but returned  
to him in          #ahad1 and was       
,minister of the ,interior during the   
,hundred ,days4          ,he wrote many 
works on mathematical subjects4         
#8,no day without a line4' #8,nulla dies
 sine linea1' a phrase based          on
 a saying of ,apelles reported by       
,pliny4 7,nat4 ,hist4 ,,xxxv41          
#cf1 #aj74     #cbe4 ,imbibed at        
,wimbledon ,common4 ,where ,horne ,tooke

 lived4          #8,hunt half a day1'   
etc4 ,wordsworth1 ,hart-,leap ,well1    
,part ,,ii4          ,,lord ,,eldon     
,,and ,,mr4 ,,wilberforce4 ,the paper on
 ,lord ,eldon appeared          in the  
,new ,monthly ,magazine 7#ahbd1 ,vol4   
,,xi41 p4 #ag74          #8,all         
tranquillity and smiles4' ,cowper1 ,the 
,task1 ,book ,,iv41 #di4     #cbf4      
#8,all is conscience1' etc4 ,chaucer1   
,prologue1 #aej4          #8,if wretches
 hang1' etc4         #8,and wretches    
hang that jurymen may dine4'            
,pope1 ,rape of the ,lock1 ,,iii4 #bb4  
,an instance1 etc4 ,for ,john           
,williams's attack on the ,court of     
,chancery1 see ,parl4 ,hist4 7,june #d1 
#ahbc1 and ,feb4 #bd1 #ahbd71           
and ,walpole's ,history of ,england1    
,,iii4 #bha4 ,an inaccurate             
report of a speech of ,abercromby's on  
the second of ,john          ,williams's
 motions led the ,chancellor to make    
some angry          observations from   
the bench4 ,the incident created a      

considerable          sensation and led 
to a debate in ,parliament4 7,see       
,twiss's ,life          of ,lord ,eldon1
 ,,ii4 #dij-ejb74     #cbg4             
#8,resistless passion1' etc4            
#8---- for affection1       ,mistress of
 passion1 sways it to the mood       ,of
 what it likes or loathes4'             
,merchant of ,venice1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene 
#a4     #cbh4 #8,lack lustre eye4' ,as  
,you ,like ,it1 ,act ,,ii4 #g4          
#8,as they were in ,rabelais4' ,see     
,pantagruel1 ,liv4 ,,ii41 ,chap4        
xxxix et seq4          ,an injunction   
against ,wat ,tyler4 ,see ,vol4 ,,iii41 
note to p4 #aib4     #cbi4 ,the ,year   
#agid4 ,the ,year of unsuccessful       
prosecutions of ,horne          ,tooke1 
,hardy1 ,thelwall1 ,holcroft1 and       
others1 and the year in          which  
,wat ,tyler was written4          #8,one
 entire and perfect chrysolite4'        
,othello1 ,act ,v4 ,scene #b4           
#8,read his history1' etc4        #8,and
 read their history in a nation's eyes4'

                      ,gray1 ,elegy in a
 ,country ,churchyard1 ,stanza #af4     
#ccj4 #8,so small a drop1' etc4         
,cymbeline1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene #b4       
#cca4 ,mr4 ,wilberforce4 ,william       
,wilberforce 7#agei-ahcc71 member for   
,hull #aghj-d1 for ,yorkshire           
#aghd-ahab1 and for ,bramber #ahab-ahbe1
          was early converted to the    
evangelical party known as the          
#8,clapham ,sect' or the #8,saints1' and
 became the parliamentary               
leader of the anti-slavery cause4 ,the  
slave trade was abolished          by   
the coalition government in #ahjg1 and  
emancipation was          carried in    
#ahcc1 the year of ,wilberforce's death4
 ,apart from his          efforts in    
this cause and on behalf of missionary  
work in ,india1          he gave a      
general support to the ,tory ministries 
of ,pitt 7his          intimate friend71
 and of the ,duke of ,portland1         
,perceval1 and          ,lord           
,liverpool4 ,in particular he approved  

the coercive measures          of #agie 
and #ahag4 ,this partly accounts for the
 bitter attack not          only of     
,hazlitt1 but of ,cobbett 7,political   
,register1 ,aug4          #ahbc74       
#8,what lacks he then4' ,king ,john1    
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #a4                   
#8,conscience will not budge4' #8,well1 
my conscience says1                     
8,launcelot1 budge not40 8,budge10 says 
the fiend4 8,budge not10          says  
my conscience4 8,conscience10 say ,i1   
8,you counsel well40'          ,merchant
 of ,venice1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #b4      
#8,woe unto you1' etc4 ,st4 ,luke1 vi4  
#bf4          ,as old ,fuller calls     
them4 ,holy and ,profane ,state4 ,the   
,good          ,sea ,captain1 ,maxim #e4
     #ccb4 #8,out upon such half-faced  
fellowship4' ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,i41   
,act          ,i4 ,scene #c4     #ccc4  
#8,by every little breath1' etc4 ,the   
,faerie ,queene1 ,book ,i41             
,canto vii4 ,stanza #cb4                
,clarkson4 ,thomas ,clarkson            

7#agfj-ahdf74 ,the most indefatigable of
          the extra-parliamentary       
agitators against slavery4 ,coleridge   
referred to him as #8the moral steam    
engine1 or ,giant with one              
idea4'     #ccd4 ,note4 ,byron in his   
,detached ,notes 7see ,letters and      
,journals1          ed4 ,prothero1 ,,ii4
 #bda note7 relates this well-known     
story as          having been told to   
him by ,sheridan himself4          ,,mr4
 ,,cobbett4 ,this essay appeared in     
,table ,talk 7,vol4 ,i41 #ahba7         
and was republished in a small volume in
 #ahce1 the year of          ,cobbett's 
death4 ,cf4 a passage on ,cobbett in the
 ,examiner          printed in notes to 
the ,round ,table1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #dbd4   
,cribb4 ,see ante1 note to p4 #bbc4     
#8,fillips the ear1' etc4 ,henry ,,iv41 
,part ,,ii41 ,act ,i4 ,scene #b4        
#8,lays waste' a city orator1 etc4 ,the 
reference is probably to          an    
attack on ,robert ,waithman in the      
,political ,register4 7,see             

,political ,works1 ,,iv4 #cai and ,v4   
#bih47 ,waithman was member for         
the ,city of ,london from #ahaf till    
#ahbj1 and from #ahbf till his          
death in #ahcc4 ,see ante1 p4 #bhb1 and 
post1 note to p4 #cff4     #cce4        
#8,damnable iteration4' ,henry ,,iv41   
,part ,i41 ,act ,i4 ,scene #b4     #ccf4
 ,nunquam sufflaminandus erat4 #8,itaque
 ,d4 ,augustus optime dixit1            
,aterius noster sufflaminandus est4' ,m4
 ,annaeus ,seneca1                      
,controversiae1 #d1 praef4  #g4 ,the    
saying is quoted by ,ben                
,jonson 7,timber1 ,,lxiv474             
#8,weary1 stale1' etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4
 ,scene #b4     #ccg4 ,barmecide4       
,arabian ,nights1 ,the ,barber's ,story 
of his ,sixth          ,brother4        
#8,live in his description4' ,a         
reminiscence1 perhaps of the line       
in ,pope's ,dunciad 7,i4 #fi71 #8,but   
liv'd in ,settle's numbers one          
day more4'          ,mr4 ----4 ,probably
 ,brougham4 ,see ,political ,works1 ,v4 

#ade et          seq4          ,his     
,grammar4 #8,a ,grammar of the ,english 
,language1 in a ,series of              
,letters' 7#ahah74          ,like ,giant
 ,despair4 #8,so1 when he arose1 he     
getteth him a          grievous         
crab-tree cudgel4444 ,then he falls upon
 them1 and beats          them          
fearfully1 in such sort1 that they were 
not able to help          themselves1 or
 to turn them upon the floor4'          
,pilgrim's          ,progress1 ,part ,i4
     #cch4 ,the ,yanguesian carriers4   
,don ,quixote1 ,part ,i41 ,book ,,iii4  
,chap4          xv4          #8,he has  
the back-trick1' etc4 ,twelfth ,night1  
,act ,i4 ,scene #c4          #8,arrowy  
sleet4'          #8----and flying behind
 them shot        ,sharp sleet of arrowy
 showers against the face        ,of    
their pursuers4'                        
,paradise ,regained1 ,,iii4 #cbc-e4     
,an ,ishmaelite indeed4 ,cf4 #8,behold  
an ,israelite indeed1' etc4             
,st4 ,john1 i4 #dg4 ,hazlitt has in mind

 the description          7,genesis1    
xvi4 #ab7 of ,ishmael3 #8,and he will be
 a wild man2 his          hand will be  
against every man1 and every man's hand 
against          him2 and he shall dwell
 in the presence of all his brethren4'  
#cdj4 ,the two-penny trash4 ,set        
,political ,register1 ,august #ahag     
7,political ,works1 ,v4 #bcf74          
#8,till a ,bill passed the ,house1' etc4
 ,cobbett's ,political                  
,register had evaded the stamp duty     
until #ahai1 when it was                
rendered liable to duty by the fifth of 
the famous ,six ,acts          passed in
 that year4          #8,ample scope1'   
etc4 #8,give ample room1 and verge      
enough4' ,gray1          ,the ,bard1    
,,ii4 #a4     #cda4 #8,he pours out1'   
etc4 ,pope1 ,imitations of ,horace1     
,sat4 ,i4          #ea-b4               
,antipholis of ,ephesus1 etc4 ,see ,the 
,comedy of ,errors1 ,act ,v4            
,scene #a4          ,the relics of ,mr4 
,thomas ,paine1 etc4 ,when ,cobbett     

returned to          ,england from      
,america in #ahai he brought ,paine's   
bones to          ,liverpool and left   
them there4 ,after ,cobbett's death they
 were          seized as part of the    
property of ,paine's son who became a   
bankrupt4          #8,his canonized     
bones4' ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #d4    
#cdb4 ,the ,edinburgh ,review1 etc4 ,in 
an article by ,jeffrey1 ,july           
#ahjg1 ,vol4 ,x4 #chf4 ,the reply of    
,cobbett referred to by ,hazlitt        
appeared in the ,political ,register1   
,august #ahjg4 ,political               
,works1 ,,ii4 #bid4     #cdc4 ,the      
,pleasures of ,memory4 ,by ,rogers1     
published in #agib4          ,the       
,pleasures of ,hope4 ,by ,campbell1     
published in #agii4     #cdd4 ,we should
 dread to point out1 etc4 ,scott said to
 ,washington          ,irving           
7,lockhart1 ,,iv4 #ic73 #8,the fact is1 
,campbell is1 in a          manner1 a   
bugbear to himself4 ,the brightness of  
his early          success is a         

detriment to all his further efforts4   
,he is afraid          of the shadow    
that his own fame casts before him4'    
#8,snatches a grace1' etc4 ,pope1 ,essay
 on ,criticism1 #aee4          #8,yet   
sweeter1' etc4 ,winter's ,tale1 ,act4   
,,iv4 ,scene #d4     #cde4 #8,and by the
 vision1' etc4 ,wordsworth's ,ode1      
,intimations of          ,immortality1  
#gc-d4          ,gertrude of ,wyoming4  
,published in #ahji4          #8,a loved
 bequest1' etc4 ,part ,i4 ,stanzas      
#aa-ac4     #cdf4 #8,famous poet's      
page4' ,cf4 #8,a most famous ,poet's    
witt4' ,spenser1          ,verses       
addressed by the ,author of the ,faerie 
,queene 7to the          ,earl of       
,essex74          #8,jealous leer       
malign4' ,paradise ,lost1 ,,iv4 #ejc4   
#cdf4 #8,scattered in stray-gifts1' etc4
 ,wordsworth1 ,stray                    
,pleasures4          #8,like angel's    
visits1' etc4 ,pleasures of ,hope1 ,part
 ,,ii4 l4          #cgh4 ,cf4 ,lectures 
on the ,english ,poets 7,vol4 ,v4 p4    

#aej71 where          ,hazlitt adds3    
#8,mr4 ,campbell in altering the        
expression has          spoiled it4     
8,few10 and 8far between0 are the same  
thing4'          #8,we perceive a       
softness1' etc4 ,cf4 ,vol4 ,v4 p4 #ahd4 
#cdg4 #8,ruddy drops1' etc4 ,julius     
,caesar1 ,act ,,ii4 ,scene #a4          
,hohenlinden4 ,published anonymously    
with ,lochiel in #ahjb1 and             
included in the #dto 7#ahjc7 edition of 
,the ,pleasures of ,hope4     #cdh4 ,mr4
 ,campbell's prose-criticisms4          
,campbell's #8,lectures on ,poetry      
,re-written' appeared in the ,new       
,monthly ,magazine of which he          
was editor from #ahbj to #ahcj4 ,hazlitt
 does not refer to his                  
,specimens of the ,british ,poets1 with 
biographical and critical               
notices1 and an ,essay on ,english      
,poetry 7#g vols4 #ahai74          ,mr4 
,crabbe4 ,the ,poems of ,george ,crabbe 
7#aged-ahcb71 with a ,life          by  
his son ,george1 were published in #h   

vols4 #ahcd1 and in one          volume 
#ahdg4 ,the one volume edition has      
recently been re-issued1          as a  
result of the praises bestowed on       
,crabbe by ,edward          ,fitzgerald1
 who himself made a ,selection from the 
,tales of the          ,hall4           
,audrey's question4 ,as ,you ,like ,it4 
,act ,,iii4 ,scene #c4     #cdi4        
#8,turns diseases1' etc4 ,henry ,,iv41  
,part ,,ii41 ,act ,i4 ,scene #b4        
,mr4 ,crabbe's first poems1 etc4        
,crabbe's first poems were              
,inebriety 7published anonymously in    
#agge71 ,the ,candidate                 
7#aghj71 and ,the ,library 7#agha74 ,it 
was ,the ,village 7#aghc7          that 
,johnson read and approved4 7,see       
,boswell's ,life1 ed4 ,g4 ,b4           
,hill1 ,,iv4 #age47 ,crabbe's patron was
 ,burke1 by whom he was no              
doubt introduced to ,reynolds1 and later
 to ,johnson4     #cej4 ,he brings as a 
parallel instance1 etc4 ,in the ,preface
 to the          ,tales 7#ahab74 ,see   

,works 7#ahcd1 ,,iv4 #add74             
#8,in the worst inn's worst room1' etc4 
,pope1 ,moral ,essays1          ,,iii4  
#bii4     #cea4 ,he sets out with       
professing1 etc4 ,hazlitt refers to the 
opening lines of ,the ,village4         
,the sad vicissitudes of things4 ,this  
phrase occurs in a poem1                
,contemplation1 by the ,rev4 ,richard   
,gifford1 which was quoted          by  
,johnson4 ,see ,tour to the ,hebrides   
7,boswell's ,life1 ed4 ,g4          ,b4 
,hill1 ,v4 #aag-h74 ,the phrase also    
occurs in ,sterne's ,sermons            
7,no4 ,,xvi474          #8,at one       
bound1' etc4 ,paradise ,lost1 ,,iv4     
#aha4          ,he does not weave the   
web1 etc4 ,an unacknowledged quotation  
from ,all's ,well that ,ends ,well1 ,act
 ,,iv4 ,scene #c4          ,the only    
leaf1 etc4 ,crabbe resided for some time
 at ,belvoir          ,castle as        
chaplain to the fourth ,duke of         
,rutland4 ,he dedicated          ,the   
,borough to the fifth ,duke1 and ,tales 

of the ,hall to the          ,duchess4  
#ceb4 #8,thus by himself1' etc4 ,the    
,borough1 ,letter xxii41 ,peter         
,grimes4     #cec4 ,the episode of ,phbe
 ,dawson4 ,in ,the ,parish ,register    
7,part          ,,ii474 ,the tale       
interested ,fox on his death-bed4 7,see 
,works1          #ahcd1 ,,ii4 #af1      
#ahj47          ,the character of the   
,methodist parson1 etc4 ,hazlitt        
probably          refers to the story of
 ,ruth 7,tales of the ,hall1 ,book ,v41 
,works1 #ahcd1 ,,vi4 #ic74          ,mr4
 ,t4 ,moore4 ,cf4 ,political ,essays    
7,vol4 ,,iii41 pp4 #caa-cba74           
#8,or winglet1' etc4 ,campbell1         
,gertrude of ,wyoming1 ,part ,,ii41     
,stanza #ab4          #8,no dainty      
flower1' etc4 ,spenser1 ,the ,faerie    
,queene1 ,book          ,,ii41 ,canto   
vi41 ,stanzas #ab and #ac4     #ced4    
#8,wasteful and superfluous excess4'    
#8,wasteful and ridiculous              
excess4' ,king ,john1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene 
#b4     #cee4 #8,and spread1' etc4      

,romeo and ,juliet1 ,act ,i4 ,scene #a4 
#8,dying or ere they sicken4' ,macbeth1 
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #c4     #cee4 #8,a    
perpetual feast1' etc4 ,milton1 ,comus1 
#dgh-i4          #8,on the rack1' etc4  
,cf4 #8,that on the torture of the mind 
to          lie in restless ecstasy4'   
,macbeth1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4        
#8,looks so fair1' etc4 ,othello1 ,act  
,,iv4 ,scene #b4          #8,another    
morn1' etc4 ,paradise ,lost1 ,v4 #caj-a4
     #cef4 #8,now1 upon ,syria's1' etc4 
,lalla ,rookh1 #8,paradise and the      
,peri4'          ,della ,cruscan        
sentiment4 ,see the essay on ,gifford1  
ante1 p4          #cji4     #ceg4 #8,a  
penitent tear4'            #8----the    
tear that1 warm and meek1               
,dew'd that repentant sinner's cheek4'  
#8,paradise and the ,peri4'             
#8,joy1 joy for ever1' etc4 ,ibid4      
#8,may bestride the ,gossamer1' etc4    
,romeo and ,juliet1 ,act ,,ii4          
,scene #f4          #8,in vain          
,mokanna1' etc4 ,lalla ,rookh1 #8,the   

,veiled ,prophet of                     
,khorassan4'     #ceh4 #8,whose coming1'
 etc4 ,ibid4          ,the #8,twopenny  
,post-bag4' ,published in #ahab4        
#8,nests of spicery4' ,richard ,,iii41  
,act ,,iv4 ,scene #d4          #8,in the
 manner1' etc4 ,moore1 ,horace1 ,ode    
,,xi4 ,lib4 ,,ii4 ,freely               
translated by the ,pr--ce ,r--g--t4     
#8,an ,adonis of fifty4' #8,this ,adonis
 in loveliness was a corpulent          
man of fifty4' ,these words occur in a  
paper in ,the ,examiner          7,march
 #bb1 #ahab71 for which ,leigh ,hunt and
 his brother ,john were          sent to
 prison4          ,note #b4 ,moore's    
,little ,man and ,little ,soul was      
dedicated to          ,charles ,abbot   
7#ageg-ahbi7 the ,speaker1 afterwards   
,lord          ,colchester4 ,abbot1 in  
his address to the ,regent in ,july     
#ahac1 referred to a ,bill for the      
removal of ,roman ,catholic             
disabilities which had been defeated4   
#cei4 #8,in choosing songs1' etc4       

,moore1 ,satirical and ,humorous        
,poems4 ,extracts from the ,diary of a  
,politician4          ,the #8,fudge     
,family4' ,see ,hazlitt's ,political    
,essays1 ,vol4 ,,iii41          pp4     
#caa-cba4          ,the #8divine ,fanny 
,bias4' ,the #8,fudge ,family in        
,paris4' ,letter          ,v4           
,the #8mountains  la ,russe4' ,ibid4    
,letter ,,viii4          ,is ,mr4 ,moore
 bound1 etc4 ,moore had urged ,byron not
 to become          associated with     
,leigh ,hunt in ,the ,liberal4 ,see     
,byron's          ,letters and          
,journals1 ed4 ,prothero1 ,,vi4 #bb4    
,hazlitt himself          deals with    
this matter at some length in an essay  
in the ,plain          ,speaker1        
entitled1 #8,on the ,jealousy and       
,spleen of ,party4' ,see          also  
,memoirs of ,william ,hazlitt1 ,,ii41   
#fi-gc4 #8,the ,spirit of               
,monarchy' was a paper contributed by   
,hazlitt to ,the ,liberal2              
#8,fables for the ,holy ,alliance1' a   

skit of ,moore's1 published in          
#ahbc4     #cfj4 #8,to be admired1' etc4
 #8,needs only to be seen to be         
admired4'          ,cowper1             
,expostulation1 #dic4     #cfa4 ,his    
,story of ,rimini4 ,published in #ahaf4 
,a savage review appeared          in   
,blackwood's ,magazine for ,may #ahah4  
,his ,epistle to ,lord ,byron4 ,included
 in ,foliage2 or1 ,poems1               
,original and ,translated 7#ahah74      
,the ,feast of the ,poets4 ,published in
 #ahad4 ,see ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #cgg4        
#cfb4 ,some allusion was made1 etc4 ,see
 ante1 note to p4 #ceh4          ,elia1 
and ,geoffrey ,crayon4 ,cf4 ,hazlitt's  
essay #8,on ,persons one          would 
wish to have seen' 7,literary ,remains71
 for another          account of ,lamb4 
,in a letter to ,bernard ,barton 7,feb4 
#aj1 #ahbe7          ,lamb says3 #8,the 
8,spirit of the ,age0 is by ,hazlitt4   
,the          characters of ,coleridge1 
etc41 he had done better in former      
publications1 the praise and abuse much 

stronger1 etc41 but the          new    
ones are capitally done4 ,horne ,tooke  
is a matchless          portrait4 ,my   
advice is to borrow it rather than buy  
it4 ,i have          it4 ,he has laid   
too many colours on my likeness2 but ,i 
have had          so much injustice done
 me in my own name1 that ,i make a rule 
of          accepting as much           
over-measure to 8,elia0 as gentlemen    
think          proper to bestow4' ,in a 
letter to ,j4 ,taylor 7,letters1 ed4    
,ainger1 ,,ii41 #ce7 he explains how he 
came to take the name of                
#8,elia4'     #cfb4 #8,the pale reflex1'
 etc4 ,romeo and ,juliet1 ,act ,,iii4   
,scene #e4          #8,native to1' etc4 
#8,though ,i am native here1 and to the 
manner          born4' ,hamlet ,act ,i4 
,scene #d4     #cfc4 #8,shuffle off1'   
etc4 ,ibid41 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4     
#8,the self-applauding bird1' etc4      
,cowper1 ,truth1 l4 #eh et          seq4
          #8,new-born gauds1' etc4      
,troilus and ,cressida1 ,act ,,iii4     

,scene          #c4          #8,give to 
dust1' etc4 ,ibid4          #8,do not in
 broad1' etc4          #8,fame is no    
plant that grows on mortal soil1        
,nor in the glistering foil        ,set 
off to the world1 nor in the broad      
rumour lies1        ,but lives and      
spreads aloft by those pure eyes        
,and perfect witness of all-judging     
love4'                                  
,lycidas1 #gh-hb4     #cfd4 #8,fine     
fretwork1' etc4 ,essays of ,elia4 ,the  
,south-,sea ,house4     #cfe4 #8,the    
chimes at midnight4' #8,we have heard   
the chimes at midnight1          ,master
 ,shallow4' ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,,ii41  
,act ,,iii4 ,scene #b4                  
#8,cheese and pippins4' ,cf4 ,merry     
,wives of ,windsor4 ,act ,i4 ,scene     
#b1 and ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act 
,v4 ,scene #c4          ,a certain      
writer4 ,hazlitt himself1 who           
contributed three papers          on    
,guy ,faux to ,the ,examiner in #ahba1  
reprinted for the first          time in

 the present edition4 ,lamb wrote a     
paper on the same          subject in   
,the ,london ,magazine for ,november    
#ahbc1 ,works1 ed4          ,r4 ,h4     
,shepherd1 vol4 ,i4 p4 #cde4 ,see       
,hazlitt's essay #8,on ,persons         
one would wish to have seen' 7,literary 
,remains74     #cff4 #8,to have coined1'
 etc4 ,julius ,caesar1 ,act ,,iv4 ,scene
 #c4          #8,civic honours4' ,see   
,letters of ,charles ,lamb1 ed4 ,w4 ,c4 
,hazlitt1 ,,ii4 #aei1 where1 in a letter
 to ,mrs4 ,hazlitt1 ,lamb               
describes his dinner at the ,mansion    
,house4          ,mr4 ,waithman's       
perusal4 ,robert ,waithman 7#agfd-ahcc71
 the          political reformer1 was   
,lord ,mayor in #ahbc4 ,see ante1 note  
to          p4 #ccd4          ,note4    
,john ,woodvil was published in #ahjb4  
,the lines quoted are          in ,act  
,,ii4     #cfg4 ,mr4 ,washington        
,irvine's acquaintance1 etc4 ,washington
 ,irving          7#aghc-ahei71         
published in ,new ,york ,the ,history of

 ,new ,york1 ,by          ,diedrich     
,knickerbocker 7#ahji71 and came in     
#ahae to ,europe1          where he     
stayed for seventeen years4 ,his ,sketch
 ,book of          ,geoffrey ,crayon1   
,gent1 was published in ,america in     
#ahai1 and in          ,london first in 
part by ,miller1 then by ,murray in     
#ahbj2 his          ,bracebridge ,hall  
by ,murray in #ahbb4 ,these and his     
later books1          ,tales of a       
,traveller 7#ahbd71 ,tales of the       
,alhambra 7#ahcb71          ,life of    
,oliver ,goldsmith 7#ahdi71 ,life of    
,mahomet 7#ahej71          ,life of     
,washington 7#ahee71 and others are now 
included in          fifteen volumes of 
,bohn's ,standard ,library4 ,for an     
account of          their publication   
and of ,murray's lawsuit against ,bohn1 
see          ,smiles's ,memoirs of ,john
 ,murray1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 passim4           
,in his #8mind's eye4' ,hamlet1 ,act ,i4
 ,scene #b4     #cfh4 ,mr4 ,knowles4    
,james ,sheridan ,knowles 7#aghd-ahfb7  

whose          ,virginius was produced  
at ,covent ,garden in ,may #ahbj1 had   
recently been a confidant of ,hazlitt's 
in the matter of ,sarah                 
,walker4 ,see ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #cbh       
7,liber ,amoris74     #cfh4 ,mr4        
,knowles himself1 etc4 ,knowles who had 
acted in the          provinces as early
 as #ahjb1 returned to the stage in     
#ahcb1 when          he played ,master  
,walter in his own comedy of ,the       
,hunchback4 ,he          continued to   
act till #ahdc4     #cga4 ,preface to   
,an ,abridgment1 etc4 ,the first four   
volumes of          ,abraham ,tucker's  
7#agje-aggd7 ,the ,light of ,nature     
,pursued were          published under  
the name of #8,edward ,search' in #agfh1
 the          remaining three1 edited by
 his daughter1 appearing posthumously   
in #aggh4          ,clarissa4 ,the eight
 volumes of ,clarissa ,harlowe were     
abridged by ,e4 ,s4 ,dallas in #ahfh1   
the six volumes of ,sir                 
,charles ,grandison by ,mary ,howitt in 

#ahgc4          ,without suffering1 etc4
 ,apparently a kind of legal formula1 as
          in ,hall's ,chronicles 7,henry
 ,v4 #gj b473 #8that we suffre harm or  
diminucion in person estate worship or  
goods4'          #8,not sicklied o'er1' 
etc4 ,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii4 ,scene #a4    
#cgc4 ,john ,buncle4 ,see ,vol4 ,i4 pp4 
#ea-g 7,the ,round ,table74             
#8,his unrivalled power of              
illustration4' ,see the ,preface to     
,paley's ,moral ,philosophy4     #cgg4  
#8,petrific mace4' #8,death with his    
mace petrific4' ,paradise               
,lost1 ,x4 #bid4     #cgh4 ,note4       
#8,just such shard-born beetle things4' 
,macbeth1 ,act ,,iii4          ,scene   
#b4          ,note4 ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke4 
,cf4 ante1 #bca-bda4          ,note4    
,promontory of noses4 ,tristram ,shandy1
 ,slaukenbergius's          ,tale4      
,note4 ,andrew ,paraeus's4 ,ambrose     
,paraeus's #8,solution of noses' is     
in ,tristram ,shandy1 ,book ,,iii4      
,chap1 xxviii4          ,note4 #8,it is 

as absurd1' etc4 ,cf4 ante1 p4 #bdj4    
#cha4 ,soame ,jenyns's argument4 ,see   
,disquisition ,,vii4 7,works1 #agij1    
,,iii4 #beh et seq474 ,the argument is  
controverted by ,jenyns4     #chd4      
,note4 ,there is one argument1 etc4     
#8,at sperat adolescens diu se          
victurum3 quod sperare idem senex non   
potest4 ,insipienter          sperat4   
,quid enim stultius1 quam incerta pro   
certis habere1          falsa pro veris6
 ,senex1 ne quod speret quidem1 habet3  
at est eo          meliore conditione1  
quam adolescens1 quum id1 quod ille     
sperat1          his jam consecutus est4
 ,ille vult diu vivere3 his diu vixit4' 
,de ,senectute1 ,cap4 xix4     #chh4    
,edward ,baldwin4 ,the name under which 
,godwin wrote various works             
published by his wife4     #cic4 ,david 
,booth4 ,david ,booth 7#agff-ahdf7      
published an ,introduction          to  
an ,analytical ,dictionary of the       
,english ,language in #ahjf4            
,only one volume of the ,dictionary     

itself was published 7#ahce74           
,printed by ,t4 and ,a4 ,,constable1    
7late7 ,printers to ,her ,majesty at the
                         ,edinburgh     
,university ,press    -----    ,footnote
 #a3      ,the late ,sir ,w4 ,pulteney1 
whose character for liberality is well  
known1 was firmly persuaded that the    
author of the ,essay on ,population     
was the greatest man that ever lived1   
and really wished to have    bestowed   
some personal remuneration on ,mr4 ,m4  
as his political    confessor1 for      
having absolved him from all doubts and 
scruples in the    exercise of his      
favourite virtue4    ,footnote #b3      
,among the former are ,hume1 ,wallace1  
,smith1 and ,price2 among the latter    
are the ,economists1 ,montesquieu1      
,franklin1 ,sir ,james ,steuart1 ,arthur
    ,young1 ,mr4 ,townshend1 ,plato1 and
 ,aristotle4    ,footnote #c3      ,i   
beg leave to refer the reader to some   
letters which appeared on this          
subject1 in the ,monthly ,magazine1     

written by a well informed and          
ingenious man1 who had too much good    
sense and firmness to be carried    away
 by the tide of vulgar prejudice4       
,footnote #d3      ,yet it is           
extraordinary that with all their wisdom
 and virtue they    would not be able to
 take any steps to prevent this         
distress4 ,this is    a species of      
fascination1 of which it is difficult to
 form any    conception4    ,footnote   
#e3      ,the prevalence of this check  
may be estimated by the general         
proportion of virtue and happiness in   
the world1 for if there had    been no  
such check there could have been nothing
 but vice and misery4    ,footnote #f3  
,in the second edition1 it says1 moral  
restraint1 vice or misery4    ,what are 
we to think of a man who writes a book  
to prove that vice and    misery are the
 only security for the happiness of the 
human race1 and    then writes another  
to say1 that vice and folly are not the 
only    security1 but that our only     

resource must be either in vice and     
folly1    or in wisdom and virtue8 ,this
 is like making a white skin part of the
    definition of a man1 and defending  
it by saying that they are all    white1
 except those who are black or tawny4   
,footnote #g3      ,i here follow the   
text of ,mr4 ,malthus1 who takes great  
pains to give a    striking description 
of the savage tribes1 as a pleasing     
contrast1 no    doubt1 to the elegancies
 and comforts of polished life4 ,mr4    
,malthus's    extreme sensibility to the
 grossness and inconveniences of the    
savage    state1 may be construed into  
refinement and delicacy4 ,but it does   
not    strike me so4 ,there is something
 in this mis-placed and selfish         
fastidiousness1 that shocks me more than
 the objects of it4 ,it does    not lead
 to compassion but to hatred4 ,we strive
 to get rid of our    uneasiness1 by    
hardening ourselves towards the objects 
which occasion    it1 and lose the      
passive feelings of disgust excited in  

us by others    in the active desire to 
inflict pain upon them4 ,aversion too   
easily    changes into malice4 ,mr4     
,malthus seems fond of indulging this   
feeling    against all those who have   
not the same advantages as himself4     
,with a    pious gratitude he seems fond
 of repeating to himself1 #8,i am not as
    this poor ,hottentot4' ,he then     
gives you his bill of fare1 which is    
none of the most delicate1 without      
omitting a single article1 and by       
shrugging up his shoulders1 making wry  
mouths at him1 and fairly    turning    
your stomach1 excites in you the same   
loathing and abhorrence    of this poor 
creature that he takes delight in       
feeling himself4 #8,your    very nice   
people have the nastiest imaginations4' 
,he triumphs over the    calamities and 
degradation of his fellow-creatures4 ,he
 lays open all    the sores and blotches
 of humanity with the same calmness and 
alacrity    as a hospital surgeon does  
those of a diseased body4 ,he turns the 

world into a charnel-house4 ,through a  
dreary space of #cjj #8chill and        
comfortless' pages1 he ransacks all     
quarters of the globe only #8to         
present a speaking picture of hunger and
 nakedness1 in quest of    objects best 
suited to his feelings1 in anxious      
search of calamities    most akin to his
 invalid imagination1' and eagerly      
gropes into every    hole and corner of 
wretchedness to collect evidence in     
support of his    grand misery-scheme1  
as at the time of an election1 you see  
the    city-candidates sneaking into the
 dirty alleys1 and putrid cellars of    
,shoreditch or ,whitechapel1 and the    
candidates for ,westminster into        
those of ,st4 ,giles's1 canvassing for  
votes1 their patriotic zeal             
prevailing over their sense of dignity1 
and sense of smell4    ,footnote #h3    
,i mention these names because it is    
always customary to mention them    in  
speaking on this subject3 and there are 
some readers who are more    impressed  

with a thing1 the oftener it is         
repeated4    ,footnote #i3      ,i here 
leave out of the question1 as not       
essential to it1 the effect    of sudden
 rises or falls1 and other accidental   
variations in the    produce of a       
country which cannot be foreseen or     
provided against1 on    the state of    
population4    ,footnote #aj3      ,i   
find there is here some transposition of
 names and circumstances1    but it does
 not much matter4    ,footnote #aa3     
,i am happy to find that a philosophical
 work1 like ,mr4 ,malthus's1 has    got 
a good deal into the hands of young     
ladies of a liberal education    and an 
inquisitive turn of mind4 ,the question 
is no doubt highly    interesting2 and  
the author has thrown over it a warmth  
of colouring1    that can hardly fail to
 please4 ,even ,miss ,howe was fond of  
ardours4    ,footnote #ab3      ,i have 
here purposely left an opening for ,mr4 
,malthus's ingenuity4 ,he    will ,i    
hope take the hint and write another    

quarto volume to prove by    anatomical 
and medical inquiries into the state of 
all countries1    beginning at the north
 and ending at the south pole1 that     
there is the    same variation in the   
quantity and kind of food required by   
the human    stomach in different       
climates and countries1 as there is in  
the    quantity of sexual indulgence4   
,footnote #ac3      ,such a change would
 not require the perfect subjugation1 or
 rather    annihilation of these        
passions1 or perfect virtue1 in the     
literal    sense1 as ,mr4 ,malthus seems
 to imply in a late publication--which  
,i    have not read4 ,it might as well  
be pretended that no man could ever     
keep his fingers off bank-notes1 or pay 
his debts1 who was not    perfectly     
honest4 ,in neither case is there       
required any thing more    than such a  
superiority in one set for motives over 
another1 from    pride1 habit1 example1 
opinion1 c4 as just to incline the      
balance4    ,the gentlemen of the       

society of ,lloyd's fund would no doubt 
scorn to    touch a shilling of the     
money entrusted to their care3 yet we   
should    hardly conclude from hence    
that they are all of them persons of    
perfectly disinterested characters1 and 
altogether indifferent to               
money-matters4 ,the ,turks1 it is said1 
who are very far from the    character  
of perfection1 leave their goods for    
sale on an open stall1    and the buyer 
comes and takes what he wants1 and      
leaves the money on    the stall4 ,men  
are not governed by extreme motives4 ,if
 perfect virtue    were necessary to    
common honesty1 fair dealing1 and       
propriety of    conduct1 there would be 
nothing but swindlers and black-guards  
in the    world4 ,men steer clear of the
 law not so much through fear1 as       
because    it stamps the public opinion4
 ,it is a positive thing4 ,if men could 
make up their minds as decidedly about  
the general characters and    conduct of
 individuals without1 as they do with1  

the rough rebuke of    the law to       
sharpen their moral sense 7to which by  
the bye ,mr4 ,godwin's    plan of plain 
speaking would contribute not a little7 
this would go a    great way towards    
rendering a system of equality          
practicable4 ,but ,i    meddle with     
these questions only as things of idle  
speculation4    ,jactet se in aulis1 c4 
,footnote #ad3      ,see also other     
passages giving an account of the state 
of population    in ,africa1 c4 which   
will be found at the end4    ,footnote  
#ae3      ,this is a work which ,i would
 recommend to every reader of whatever  
party1 not only for the knowledge it    
contains1 but for the purity1           
simplicity1 and noble dignity of the    
style4 ,it smacks of the old ,roman     
elevation4    ,footnote #af3      ,i    
should like to know whether ,mr4        
,malthus would go so far as to say      
that all the wars and rebellions        
occasioned by religion1 that all the    
plots1 assassinations1 burnings1        

massacres1 the persecutions1 feuds1     
animosities1 hatreds and jealousy of    
different sects1 that the    cruelty1   
bigotry1 the pernicious customs1 and    
abominable practices of    the ,pagan   
and other superstitions1 such as human  
sacrifices1 c4    whether all those     
mischiefs and enormities of which       
religion has been    made a tool1       
whether the martyrdom of the first      
christians1 the    massacre of ,st4     
,bartholomew1 the fires of ,smithfield1 
the expeditions    to the holy land1 the
 ,gunpowder ,plot1 the ,inquisition1 the
 long    ,parliament1 the ,reformation  
and the ,revolution1--,popery1          
,protestantism1    monks1 eremites1 and 
friars1 with all their trumpery' were   
the    offspring of the principle of    
population4    ,footnote #ag3      ,see 
the extracts from ,davenant1 ,montague1 
and ,bolingbroke4    ,footnote #ah3     
,see the ingenious and elegant defence  
of the ,slave-,trade1 attributed    in  
the newspapers to his ,royal ,highness  

the ,duke of ,clarence4 ,there is    a  
magnanimity and noble ingenuousness in  
the avowal of such a    sentiment1 which
 can only be expected from those1 who   
from the    elevated superiority of     
their situation can look down with      
contempt on    the opinion of mankind1  
and the vulgar notions of decency and   
order4    ,footnote #ai3      ,mr4      
,malthus1 for what reason ,i know not1  
in his account of the state    of       
population in the different countries of
 modern ,europe1 has    declined giving 
any account of the state of population  
in ,italy4    ,footnote #bj3      ,among
 other instances it is mentioned1 that  
every vassal was obliged    to give the 
first night of his bride to the lord of 
the manor1 if he    demanded it4 ,it is 
hard to be sure for a man to be         
cuckolded the very    first night of his
 marriage4 ,but even at present1 though 
the formality    of the thing is        
abolished1 there are very few husbands  
who are not    tolerably certain of     

being cuckolded by the first lord1 or   
duke1 who    thinks it worth his while  
to attempt it4 ,it is some consolation  
to us    poor devils of authors1 that we
 have no chance of getting a wife who   
is at all likely to meet with any such  
distinction4 ,but if ,i were a    snug  
tradesman or city-merchant1 and had     
bargained for a sweet girl    whose     
smile was ,elysium1 whose air was       
enchantment1 and her looks all          
love1--,i should be terribly afraid of  
the cocked hats at the opera4 ,i        
should tremble at every coronet coach   
that passed the door1 and should    run 
mad at the sight of a prince's feather4 
,footnote #ba3      ,even this is making
 a very large concession to ,mr4        
,malthus4 ,the real    points to be     
given are the possible power of         
productiveness in the    earth and the  
necessary tendency of population to     
increase4    ,footnote #bb3             
,fletcher of ,saltoun4    ,footnote #bc3
      ,spelman's ,glossary4    ,footnote

 #bd3      ,have ,dryden's ,fables1 the 
,new ,eloise1 or the ,memoirs of ,fanny 
,hill    never added any thing to the   
pressure of the principle of population1
    without any reference to the parish 
registers of deaths and marriages8      
,footnote #be3      ,mr4 ,m4 always     
translates the word misere or want      
misery1 and has    adopted it as the    
burthen of his song4 ,he has made a very
 significant    use of this equivoque in
 many parts of his work4    ,footnote   
#bf3      ,the engrafting of trees might
 be mentioned as an instance in point4  
,footnote #bg3      ,dr4 ,paley1 of     
whose depth or originality ,i have in   
general but a    slender opinion1 has   
made one very shrewd and effectual      
observation in    reply to ,hume's      
argument upon miracles2 which is1 that  
according to    ,hume's reasoning1      
miracles must be equally inadmissible   
and    improbable1 whether we believe in
 a superintending ,providence or not4   
,there must therefore be some fallacy in

 an argument1 which completely    sets  
aside so material a consideration4 ,i   
would recommend this answer1    which ,i
 think a true and philosophical one1 to 
,mr4 ,malthus's    attention1 as it may 
perhaps lead him #8to new-model some of 
his    arguments' about experience4     
,footnote #bh3      ,it is to no purpose
 to object1 that they would hinder the  
poor from    increasing in proportion4  
,this would be merely a negative        
check1--preventing the increase on one  
side1 but setting no bounds to    it on 
the other4 ,besides1 not having the poor
 to work for them1 they    must work for
 themselves4 ,neither can it be said    
that property is a    fluctuating thing1
 that changes hands1 and passes from the
 rich to the    poor and from the poor  
back again to the rich1 still keeping up
 the    same inequality2 for the        
greatest wealth would soon be melted    
down by    the principle of population1 
and it is only by the accumulation and  
transmission of property in regular     

descents that any great inequality      
can subsist4 ,mr4 ,malthus wishes to    
preserve the balance of society by      
hindering the poor from marrying2       
perhaps it would be preserved as        
effectually by forcing the rich to      
marry4    ,footnote #bi3      ,thus the 
shop-keeper cannot in general be        
supposed to be actuated by    any fear  
of want4 ,his exertions are animated    
entirely by the prospect    of gain1 or 
advantage4 ,yet how trifling are his    
profits compared with    those of the   
merchant4 ,this however does not abate  
his diligence4 ,it    may be said that  
the advantage is as great to him4 ,that 
is1 it is the    greatest in his power  
to make2 which is the very thing ,i mean
 to say4    ,in fact we are wound up to 
a certain pitch of resolution and       
activity    almost as mechanically as we
 wind up a clock4    ,footnote #cj3     
,the immediate rise in the price of     
manufactured articles upon any rise     
in the price of labour is either a      

foolish impatience of loss1 or a        
trick to make the labourer refund his   
own earnings by paying more for    what 
he wants himself1 and by being pigeoned 
by others that they may    be able to   
pay the additional price4 ,it has       
nothing to do with a fair    and liberal
 determination to raise the price of    
labour1 which of    itself1 and if not  
immediately counteracted by the power   
and artifices    of the rich must always
 tend to the benefit of the labouring   
part of    the community4    ,footnote  
#ca3      ,this is something like ,mr4  
,godwin's saying1 he does not regard a  
new-born infant with any peculiar       
complacency4 ,they both differ from     
the founder of the ,christian religion1 
who has said1 ,bring unto me    little  
children4 ,but modern philosophers scorn
 to pin their faith on    musty sayings4
    ,footnote #cb3      ,but a moment   
ago the subject was involved in the most
 profound    obscurity1 and great       
advantages were expected from the manner

 in which    ,mr4 ,malthus was to bring 
it home to each man's comprehension4 ,in
 the    passage immediately following   
the above1 our author quotes ,dr4       
,paley's    ,moral ,philosophy1 and as  
he often refers to this work1 ,i shall  
here    take the liberty of entering my 
protest against it4 ,it is a school in  
which a man learns to tamper with his   
own mind1 and will become any    thing  
sooner than an honest man4 ,it is a     
directory1 shewing him how to           
disguise and palliate his real motives  
7however unworthy7 by    metaphysical   
subterfuges1 and where to look for every
 infirmity which    can beset him1 with 
its appropriate apology1 taken from the 
common    topics of religion and        
morality4 ,all that is good in ,paley is
 taken    from ,tucker2 and even his    
morality is not the most bracing that   
can    be imagined4    ,footnote #cc3   
,now ,lord ,colchester4    ,footnote    
#cd3      ,lord ,bacon's ,advancement of
 ,learning4    ,footnote #ce3           

,shaftesbury made this an objection to  
,christianity1 which was answered    by 
,foster1 ,leland1 and other eminent     
divines1 on the ground that             
,christianity had a higher object in    
view1 namely1 general    philanthropy4  
,footnote #cf3      ,mr4 ,fuseli used to
 object to this striking delineation a  
want of    historical correctness1      
inasmuch as the animating principle of  
the    true chivalrous character was the
 sense of honour1 not the mere regard   
to1 or saving of1 appearances4 ,this1 we
 think1 must be an    hypercriticism1   
from all we remember of books of        
chivalry and heroes    of romance4      
,footnote #cg3      ,we had forgotten   
the tragedies of ,antonio and           
,ferdinand4 ,peace be with    their     
manes6    ,footnote #ch3      ,to be    
sure1 it was redeemed by a high respect 
and by some magnificent    compliments4 
,once in particular1 at his own table1  
after a good deal    of badinage and    
cross-questioning about his being the   

author of the    ,reply to ,judge       
,eyre's ,charge1 on ,mr4 ,godwin's      
acknowledging that he    was1 ,mr4      
,tooke said1 #8,come here then1'--and   
when his guest went round    to his     
chair1 he took his hand1 and pressed it 
to his lips1 saying--#8,i    can do no  
less for the hand that saved my life6#8 
,footnote #ci3      ,mr4 ,coleridge     
named his eldest son 7the writer of some
 beautiful    ,sonnets7 after ,hartley1 
and the second after ,berkeley4 ,the    
third was    called ,derwent1 after the 
river of that name4 ,nothing can be more
    characteristic of his mind than this
 circumstance4 ,all his ideas    indeed 
are like a river1 flowing on for ever1  
and still murmuring as    it flows1     
discharging its waters and still        
replenished--                     #8,and
 so by many winding nooks it strays1    
,with willing sport to the wild ocean6' 
,footnote #dj3      ,we remember finding
 the volume in the orchard at           
,burford-bridge near    ,boxhill1 and   

passing a whole and very delightful     
morning in reading    it1 without       
quitting the shade of an apple-tree4 ,we
 have not been able    to pay ,mr4      
,irving's book the same compliment of   
reading it at a    sitting4    ,footnote
 #da3      #8,they receive him like a   
virgin at the ,magdalen1 ,go thou and do
    likewise'--,,junius4    ,footnote   
#db3      ,this work is not without     
merit in the details and examples of    
,english    construction4 ,but its fault
 even in that part is that he confounds 
the    genius of the ,english language1 
making it periphrastic and literal1     
instead of elliptical and idiomatic4    
,according to ,mr4 ,murray1 hardly      
any of our best writers ever wrote a    
word of ,english4    ,footnote #dc3     
,at least1 with only one change in the  
genitive case4    ,footnote #dd3        
,no6 ,for we met with a young lady who  
kept a circulating library and a        
milliner's shop1 in a watering-place in 
the country1 who1 when we    inquired   

for the ,scotch ,novels1 spoke          
indifferently about them1 said    they  
were #8so dry she could hardly get      
through them1' and recommended    us to 
read ,agnes4 ,we never thought of it    
before2 but we would    venture to lay a
 wager that there are many other young  
ladies in the    same situation1 and who
 think #8,old ,mortality' #8dry4'       
,footnote #de3      ,just as ,cobbett is
 a matter-of-fact reasoner4    ,footnote
 #df3      ,st4 ,ronan's ,well4         
,footnote #dg3      ,perhaps the finest 
scene in all these novels1 is that where
 the    ,dominie meets his pupil1 ,miss 
,lucy1 the morning after her brother's  
arrival4    ,footnote #dh3      #8,and  
here we cannot but think it necessary to
 offer some better proof    than the    
incidents of an idle tale1 to vindicate 
the melancholy    representation of     
manners which has been just laid before 
the reader4    ,it is grievous to think 
that those valiant ,barons1 to whose    
stand    against the crown the liberties

 of ,england were indebted for their    
existence1 should themselves have been  
such dreadful oppressors1 and    capable
 of excesses1 contrary not only to the  
laws of ,england1 but to    those of    
nature and humanity4 ,but alas6 we have 
only to extract from    the industrious 
,henry one of those numerous passages   
which he has    collected from          
contemporary historians1 to prove that  
fiction itself    can hardly reach the  
dark reality of the horrors of the      
period4      #8,the description given by
 the author of the ,saxon ,chronicle of 
the    cruelties exercised in the reign 
of ,king ,stephen by the great barons   
and lords of castles1 who were all      
,normans1 affords a strong proof of     
the excesses of which they were capable 
when their passions were    inflamed4   
8,they grievously oppressed the poor    
people by building    castles2 and when 
they were built1 they filled them with  
wicked men or    rather devils1 who     
seized both men and women who they      

imagined had any    money1 threw them   
into prison1 and put them to more cruel 
tortures    than the martyrs ever       
endured4 ,they suffocated some in mud1  
and    suspended others by the feet1 or 
the head1 or the thumbs1 kindling       
fires below them4 ,they squeezed the    
heads of some with knotted cords    till
 they pierced their brains1 while they  
threw others into dungeons    swarming  
with serpents1 snakes1 and toads40 ,but 
it would be cruel to    put the reader  
to the pain of perusing the remainder of
 the    description4'--,henry's ,hist4  
edit4 #ahje1 vol4 vii4 p4 #cdf4         
,footnote #di3      ,this ,essay was    
written just before ,lord ,byron's      
death4    ,footnote #ej3                
#8,don ,juan was my ,moscow1 and        
,faliero          ,my ,leipsic1 and my  
,mont ,st4 ,jean seems ,cain4'          
,don ,juan1 ,canto xi4    ,footnote #ea3
      ,this censure applies to the first
 ,cantos of ,,don ,,juan much more than 
to    the last4 ,it has been called a   

,,tristram ,,shandy in rhyme3 it is     
rather    a poem written about itself4  
,footnote #eb3      ,the late ,rev4     
,joseph ,fawcett1 of ,walthamstow4      
,footnote #ec3      ,at the time when   
the ,vindici ,gallic first made its     
appearance1 as    a reply to the        
,reflections on the ,french ,revolution1
 it was cried up    by the partisans of 
the new school1 as a work superior in   
the charms    of composition to its     
redoubted rival3 in acuteness1 depth1   
and    soundness of reasoning1 of course
 there was supposed to be no            
comparison4    ,footnote #ed3      ,what
 an awkward bedfellow for a tuft of     
violets6    ,footnote #ee3              
#8,how oft1 ,o ,dart6 what time the     
faithful pair        ,walk'd forth1 the 
fragrant hour of eve to share1          
,on thy romantic banks1 have my wild    
strains        7,not yet forgot amidst  
my native plains7        ,while thou    
hast sweetly gurgled down the vale1     
,filled up the pause of love's          

delightful tale6        ,while1 ever as 
she read1 the conscious maid1        ,by
 faultering voice and downcast looks    
betray'd1        ,would blushing on her 
lover's neck recline1        ,and with  
her finger--point the tenderest line6'  
,mviad1 pp4 #aid1 #bjb4      ,yet the   
author assures us just before1 that in  
these #8wild strains'    #8all was      
plain4'        #8,even then 7admire1    
,john ,bell6 my simple ways7      ,no   
heaven and hell danced madly through my 
lays1      ,no oaths1 no execrations2   
all was plain2      ,yet trust me1 while
 thy ever jingling train      ,chime    
their sonorous woes with frigid art1    
,and shock the reason and revolt the    
heart2      ,my hopes and fears1 in     
nature's language drest1      ,awakened 
love in many a gentle breast4'          
,ibid41 v4 #ahe-ib4      ,if any one    
else had composed these #8wild strains1'
 in which #8all is    plain1' ,mr4      
,gifford would have accused them of     
three things4 #8#a4    ,downright       

nonsense4 #b4 ,downright frigidity4 #c4 
,downright doggrel2' and    proceeded to
 anatomise them very cordially in his   
way4 ,as it is1 he is    thrilled with a
 very pleasing horror at his former     
scenes of    tenderness1 and #8gasps at 
the recollection' #8of watery           
,aquarius6'    he6 jam satis est6 #8,why
 rack a grub--a butterfly upon a        
wheel8#8    ,footnote #ef3      ,mr4    
,merry was even with our author in      
personality of abuse4 ,see his    ,lines
 on the ,story of the ,ape that was     
given in charge to the    ex-tutor4     
,footnote #eg3      ,the style of       
philosophical criticism1 which has been 
the boast of the    ,edinburgh ,review1 
was first introduced into the ,monthly  
,review about    the year #agif1 in a   
series of articles by ,mr4 ,william     
,taylor1 of    ,norwich4    ,footnote   
#eh3      ,mr4 ,brougham is not a       
,scotchman literally1 but by adoption4  
,footnote #ei3      ,after all1 the best
 as well as most amusing comment on the 

character    just described was that    
made by ,sheridan1 who being picked up  
in no    very creditable plight by the  
watch1 and asked rather roughly who he  
was1 made answer--#8,i am ,mr4          
,wilberforce6' ,the guardians of the    
night    conducted him home with all the
 honours due to ,grace and ,nature4     
,footnote #fj3      ,the late ,lord     
,chancellor ,thurlow used to say that   
,cobbett was the only    writer that    
deserved the name of a political        
reasoner4    ,footnote #fa3      ,mr4   
,cobbett speaks almost as well as he    
writes4 ,the only time ,i ever    saw   
him he seemed to me a very pleasant     
man--easy of access1 affable1           
clear-headed1 simple and mild in his    
manner1 deliberate and unruffled    in  
his speech1 though some of his          
expressions were not very qualified4    
,his figure is tall and portly3 he has a
 good sensible face--rather    full1    
with little grey eyes1 a hard1 square   
forehead1 a ruddy    complexion1 with   

hair grey or powdered2 and had on a     
scarlet    broad-cloth waistcoat1 with  
the flaps of the pockets hanging down1  
as    was the custom for                
gentlemen-farmers in the last century1  
or as we see    it in the pictures of   
,members of ,parliament in the reign of 
,george ,i4    ,i certainly did not     
think less favourably of him for seeing 
him4    ,footnote #fb3          ,like   
angels' visits1 short and far between'--
                                        
,blair's ,grave4    ,footnote #fc3      
,is not this word1 which occurs in the  
last line but one1 7as well as          
before7 an instance of that repetition1 
which we so often meet with in    the   
most correct and elegant writers8       
,footnote #fd3      ,compare his songs  
with ,burns's4    ,footnote #fe3        
#8,there was a little man1 and he had a 
little soul1              ,and he said1 
,little soul1 let us try1' c4           
,parody on                #8,there was a
 little man1 and he had a little gun4-- 

,one should think this exquisite        
ridicule of a pedantic effusion might   
have silenced for ever the automaton    
that delivered it3 but the    official  
personage in question at the close of   
the ,session addressed    an            
extra-official congratulation to the    
,prince ,regent on a bill that    had   
not passed--as if to repeat and insist  
upon our errors were to    justify them4
    ,footnote #ff3      ,the description
 of sports in the forest3               
#8,to see the sun to bed and to arise1  
,like some hot amourist with glowing    
eyes1' c4    ,footnote #fg3      ,these 
persons who have been so long on the    
rack of incomprehensible    theories and
 captious disputes1 whose minds have    
been stretched on the    ,procrustes'   
bed of metaphysical systems1 till they  
have acquired a    horror of any thing  
like common sense or familiar           
expression1 put me    in mind of what is
 said of those who have been really put 
to the rack3    they can bear their     

unnatural distorted state tolerably     
well2 it is    the return of sense and  
motion which is death to them4          
,footnote #fh3      ,how difficult do we
 find it1 to believe that a person is   
telling us a    falsehood1 while we are 
with him1 though we may at the same time
 be    thoroughly convinced that this is
 the case4    ,footnote #fi3      ,in   
this age of solid reason1 it is always  
necessary to refer to    particular     
examples1 as it was formerly necessary  
to explain all hard    words to the     
ladies4 ,condillac1 in his ,logic1 that 
favourite manual of    the modern       
sciolist1 with admirable clearness      
proves1 that our idea of    virtue is a 
sensible image2 because virtue implies a
 law1 and that law    must be written in
 a book1 which must consist of letters1 
or figures    of a certain shape1       
colour1 and dimensions1 which are real  
things1 the    objects of sense3 that we
 are therefore right in asserting virtue
 to    have a real existence1 namely on 

paper1 and in supposing that we have    
some idea of it1 that is1 as consisting 
of the letters of the    alphabet4 ,mr4 
,horne ,tooke1 a man of wonderful wit1  
knowledge1 and    acuteness1 but who1   
with my consent1 shall not be empanelled
 as a    juror to decide upon any       
question of abstruse reasoning1 has     
endeavoured to explain away the whole   
meaning of language1 by doing    away   
its habitual or customary meaning1 by   
denying that words have any    meaning  
but what is derived to them from the    
umbilical root which    first unites    
them to matter2 and by making it out1   
that our thoughts    having no life or  
motion in them1 but as they are dragged 
about    mechanically by words1 are     
#8just such shard-born beetle things'   
#8,as only buz to heav'n on ev'ning     
wings2                ,strike in the    
dark1 offending but by chance2          
,they know not beings1 and but bear a   
name4'      ,mr4 ,tooke's description of
 the formation of language#gj is a sort 

of    pantomime or masquerade1 where you
 see the trunks of our abstract    ideas
 going about in search of their heads1  
or clumsily setting on    their own     
noses1 and afterwards pointing to them  
in answer to all    questions3 it       
reminds you of the island of ,pantagruel
 7or some such    place71 where the men 
carry their heads before them           
,footnote #gj3      ,see his account of 
the terminations head and ness1 or nez4 
in their    hands1 or you would fancy   
that our author had lately been at the  
,promontory of noses4 ,andrew ,paraeus1 
on the solution of noses1 was a         
novice to him4 ,i am a little uneasy at 
this scheme of reducing all our    ideas
 to points and solid substances4 ,it is 
like the project to the    philosopher1 
who contended that all the solid matter 
in the universe    might be contained in
 a nutshell4 ,this is ticklish ground to
 tread    upon4 ,at this rate1 and if   
the proportion holds1 each man will     
hardly    have a single particle of     

understanding left to his share2 and in 
two    large quarto volumes1 there may  
not perhaps be three grains of solid    
sense4 ,mr4 ,tooke1 as a man of wit1 may
 naturally wish to turn every    thing  
to point4 ,but this method will not hold
 in metaphysics3 it is    necessary to  
spin the thread of our ideas a little   
finer1 and to take    up with the flimsy
 texture of mental appearances4 ,it is  
not easy to    philosophize in solid    
epigrams1 or explain abstruse questions 
by the    tagging of points4 ,i do not1 
however1 mean to object to ,mr4 ,tooke's
    etymological system as an actual    
history of language1 but to that        
superficial gloss of philosophy which is
 spread over it1 and to the    whole of 
his logic3 ,i might instance in the     
axiom1 on which the whole    turns1 that
 #8it is as absurd to talk of a complex 
idea as of a complex    star4' ,now this
 and such like phrases had better have  
been left out3    it is a good          
antithesis1 but it is nothing more4 ,or 

if it had been put    into the mouth of 
,sir ,francis1 who is a young man of    
lively parts1 and    then gravely       
answered by ,mr4 ,tooke1 it would have  
been all very well4    ,but as it       
stands1 it is injurious to the interests
 of philosophy1 and    an affront to    
common sense4 ,hartley proceeded a good 
way in making a    dissected map of the 
brain2 and did all he could to prove the
 human    soul to consist of a white    
curd4 ,after all1 he was forced to      
confess1    that it was impossible to   
get at the mind itself2 and he was      
obliged    to rest satisfied with having
 spent many years1 and wasted immense   
ingenuity1 in #8vicariously torturing   
and defacing' its nearest               
representative in matter4 ,he was too   
great a man not to perceive the         
impossibility of ever reconciling matter
 and motion with the nature of          
thought2 and he therefore left his      
system imperfect4 ,but it fell into     
good hands1 and soon had all its        

deficiencies supplied1 and its doubts   
cleared up1 to the entire satisfaction  
and admiration of all the dull1    the  
superficial1 and the ignorant4          
,footnote #ga3      ,essay on ,human    
,action4    ,footnote #gb3      ,there  
is one argument in defence of ,old ,age1
 in ,cicero1 which is so    exquisitely 
put1 that nothing can surpass it3 it is 
a perfect bon    bouche for a           
metaphysician4 ,it is where some one    
objects to old age1    that the old man1
 whatever comforts he may enjoy1 cannot 
hope to live    long1 which the young   
man at least expects to do4 ,to which is
    answered3 ,so much the better2 the  
one has already done what the other     
only hopes to do3 the old man has       
already lived long3 the young man       
only hopes that he may4 ,a man would be 
happy a whole day after having    such a
 thought as this4    ,footnote #gc3     
,mr4 ,tooke has fallen into the same    
mistake with which he reproaches        
preceding writers1 that of supposing the

 different sorts of words to    be the  
measure of the different sorts of       
things4 ,he has only reversed    their  
inference3 for as the old grammarians1  
who admitted more    different sorts of 
words1 contended for more differences of
 things1 so    ,mr4 ,tooke1 who admits  
of fewer sorts of words1 argues that    
there can    be only as many different  
ideas or things1 as are expressed by the
    different parts of speech4 ,thus1 if
 substantives and adjectives do not     
represent substance and quality1 there  
can be no such difference in    nature1 
or in the human understanding4 ,this we 
conceive to be a piece    of as false   
philosophy1 as if we were to affirm that
 there can be no    difference between  
blue or yellow1 because they are both   
adjectives1    or between light and     
sound1 because they are both            
substantives4 ,mr4    ,tooke's whole    
object is to show that the different    
parts of speech do    not relate to the 
differences in ideas or things1 and yet 

he would    make the difference in the  
one1 the test of the difference in the  
other4 ,as to all that he has said of   
abstraction1 and the real or    physical
 meaning of words1 we believe that we do
 not understand him2    for1 as far as  
we do1 his facts and cases seem to us to
 prove the very    reverse of his       
conclusions4 ,so he has brought #bjjj   
instances of the    meaning of words to 
demonstrate that we have no abstract    
ideas1 not    one of which #bjjj        
meanings is any thing else but an       
abstract idea4    ,logic and metaphysics
 are the weak sides of his reasoning4   
,but he has    rendered essential       
services to grammar1 which cannot be    
overlooked or    forgotten4    ,footnote
 #gd3      #8,a fellow of no mark nor   
likelihood1' ,henry ,,iv41 ,part ,i41   
,act ,,iii4    ,scene #b4               
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,,transcriber',s ,,notes       #a4      
,silently corrected typographical errors

 and variations in spelling4   #b4      
,archaic1 non-standard1 and uncertain   
spellings retained as printed4   #c4    
,footnotes have been re-indexed using   
numbers and collected together        at
 the end of the last chapter4   #d4     
,enclosed italics font in underscores4