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7 ' ^0 The Saturday Analyst and Leader. ...
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MORAL GRAVITATION. T HEEE is a profound ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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'. < Italy And Hungary. Some Politicians...
but the main effect will be , to relieve him of a load of rae-Barrassment . and leave him in a favourable position -to deal with that disgraceful renegade -who ' .-commands the legions of the Pope . Without a strong force in Naples , it -would be difficult to keep its ignorant and demoralised population in order ; and any disturbance -would operate injuriously , upon'the national cause . It is . fortunate that Naples is ' likely to escape the bombardment and plunder so amiably designed for her by her paternal Sovxbeign , and the spectacle of a Government thoroughly . Austrian in its character , quietly tumbling to pieces from its own . rottenness , -will afford a useful subject of contemplation to the young despot at Vienna , who may before long find himself " in the same predicament , and equally puzzled where to place his head .
In 1848 Lord Palmekstox advised the Hungarians to teep their quarrel quire distinct from that , of any other ^ nationality . They were foolish enough to do so . and failure ¦ vvas the * result . * jNVw every effort should be made to promote a union among the peoples , aipo-n the basis of aiding and respecting each other " * national ideas . The German . who longs for a united Fatherland , must see that the success of the Italians and Hungaii ? ms helps him forward .. and that if lie is persuaded to aid his Princes in thecoercion of Italy or Hungary , he will have given thum power to obstruct his own favourite idea . At home—if he had a political . . home—tlie German statesman would render hono \ iia-ble service to his own race , and
to humanity ; but in helping the Czar to Germanise . Eussia . or the LLvrSBiRG to Germaiiise his multifarious dominions he is engaged in pure mischief and deserves to be overthrown . . ¦ ^ ¦ A nationality is something dirlerent from , and more than the organisatio ' n of a race . It is rather the union of various races , animated bv common ideas , interested in the defence ot
the same boundaries , and having associated interests . In this view Italy has advanced in nationality far more than any one would have imagined possible . If the ' "North and the South continue to fight the Austrians for a common idea , a great step in unity -will be gained . Of course difficulties will arise , but if the . various races of Italians are so fortunate as to set through a successful campaign , 'for the liberation oi their country , they will be rimuy linked together in ' some wav . although the ' future musi determine whether as federal
states or a single kingdom . In like manner the Hungarians have made their progress towards a positive nationality . The Magyar , the Selavonian . and the Roumanian will diner . a > Yorkshire does from Kent . or Ireland from Scotland : but they have by this time lc-arnt mutual forbearance , and a campaign for liberty in which all will light side by side , will have the happiest , result . It is : ilso of ~ importanee that the movements in Italy and Hungary should partake of a joint character : for- not only will their success be therebv promoted , but a commercial connection
between the two countries will be established . Uniting : togc-tLer in Avar will lead to common action in peace , and when Austrian oppression is removed , the port > of the Adriatic will oiler a fine field for the industry of Italian seamen : \ nd the transport of Hungarian produce , ' it' evil advisers can separate the action of Italy and Hungary ,, both may fail . If they are veriiy united , the continuance of that great nuisance to humanity , the Austrian Empire , will be impossible ; and its German adherent * , instead of upholding a hideous , tyranny over other nationalities , will seek the development oi their own national idea .
Count PeBsio ^ y ' s speech has roused the- German ? to further action , and their efforts for unity will be materially stroncrtheiu > f nationality in Eui ^ po will form two great powers out ot' the German and luilian
raves . It will also form an important power of Hungary -with alliances of the Daiiubian provinces . But it will not stop here . It will change the character of Russia , where it is now the * fashion to attribute , all evils to the ( Germanising tendencies of Peter find his successors , and to associate liberal ideas -with , n purely national mowruont . Thi > movement is not Fan-Slavic , tvit uiuls to the rccoiwituuon of Pohuu ^ uiuicr u-Kus ^ ian prince . The trvnties oi lt > lo arc silly xtigs to make ?\ baxiacr of war . 'Jhe allusion to them in cur Queen " . « mkvc . 1 i w b an indier . licr . <> f nntiilurtwa imbecility in the CuWer .
The bonds of despotism are manifestly breaking , and England ought to be the first to promote the operation of natural affinities in reconstructing the map of Europe .
7 ' ^0 The Saturday Analyst And Leader. ...
7 ' ^ 0 The Saturday Analyst and Leader . [ Sept . 8 , 1860
Moral Gravitation. T Heee Is A Profound ...
MORAL GRAVITATION . T HEEE is a profound truth in the remark made the other day by a popular orator , that Progress is only Moral Gravitation . " There is in every movement of the popular mind a tendency to a central , truth ; ' and these movements , it is important to ' know , are as well and harmoniously regulated , as the motions of the planets . The exercise of free-will in the social or political arena has no more influence on the certainty of events in the moral world than it has in the natural . Persuasion in the one is equal to coercion in the other—the first has simply relation to a law of Liberty ; the latter to a law of Necessity . ' The result , indicated by the tendency of progress , is quite as sure to follow in the one case as in the other .
The usual error is in confounding the two spheres of action , and substituting the one mode for the other . It is as absurd to endeavour to compel the human will and conscience in a particular direction , as it would be to aim at peisuadvig the planets to alter their courses , Yet this is precisely what States and monarch * have been trying to do for ages , undeterred by the folly of the design arid the fatality of the issue . The Bomba ? of every clime and time would govern by force , and pride themselves on thw-arting popular inclination , and crushing the national volition . The result is , the most horrible
oppression and insecurity , as well , for' the throne and altar , as for individual relations " , It . is written that no government can be safe , which does not respect civil and religious liberty . But the tyrant has no perception of the central truth , and how towards that all the bearings of governmental and national action must . , naturally gravitate . He would , like Joshua , command the sun and ' moon to stand still , in order to favour his private ends ; and expects to prosper in the world by a
perpetual series of miracles . He claims , indeed , supernatural power , and right divine . And such is the audacity of the claim , that for a period , the ^ astonished world acquiesces , and looks on with stupified wonder . But reason at length resumes it ? sway —the : world awakens from its sleep—already the broad day has shed illumination on the earth—the light has penetrated t , he low valleys as well as brightened the hill-tops , and the date of despotism is fixed . In a moment , lo ! it was—and is not . but blindWant
Brute force , however , is not only irrational , . of . intelligence , includes all other wants , and cannot be substituted bv anything else . The Southern planter in the United States cannot educate his own children , and has to confide them to the teachers of the North , who returns them to their parents ' , hands instructed in principles that are fatal lo their own position . Nor can this necessity be avoided ; for without some modicum of intellig ence , brute force itself would be totally inoperative . But its short-sighted . policy has been . ever to do " with the smallest amount of knowledge . Its great , dread is lest the common people should know too much ; and petty
tyrants , in a domestic sphere , are to be found who talk oi the over-education of the masses . There are too many of the middle class who find themselves inferior to the artisanwbo frequents' the Mechanics' Institute , and stand in awe c ! the man whom they would command . The shopkeeper likes not to feel himself " lower in the scale than the workman . I he remedy is obvious , but it implies labour . Do as he has done . Read books . Listen to lectures . Mediate and debate on man . nature , art , and literature . Give the mind leave to expand
Become his equal , his superior , by the proper use oi means at your dispesa ! . end occupy your leisure with profitable stuues . What ' . do you shrink fro ' ' the labour of all this : Then yie . d , without envy , to him who has won . by the labour of the brains us well £ . s ' cf the hands , a superiority unattainable by the indolent and unthinking . But do not attempt bv force , or what is equivalent to force , to prevent him from receiving ircm all available sources the information as open to you a & to him . but in which , from vour own negligence and npathy , you ore
not accustomed to participate . , , There is , however , as we have snid . n moral . aw to which these things are subject . However siv . all the amount ct knowledge with which despotism may wish to content itscif . it cannot keep it at so much and no more . Motion cnee > ir . par : « . M to the licht , it will ir . crer . ie with aectlerated e ^ cod ,. -unti . s . pervades " the hemisphere . With each step cr yrcgrca , i . accumulates powfr . until , ire in Veing the dcsp * ed sem .:... it becomes the irresistible i . ^ stcr cf the : yranr . y t . -. > t I * a accepted its ten . ti niry nid . The mag ician h : n se . t niust yu . a to the spirit whew help he had unwillingly evoked , snenhved ij the iriunu h tbut intelligence lends to I rate torec .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 8, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08091860/page/4/
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