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mind , there may be a better chance for peasant proprietors . 1 Tit if foreign luxuries and superfine cloth are thought necessaries , and rye bread and loose shapeless garments are disdained , the trial is a harder
one . The object , however , in my view , ought not to be artificially to encourage peasant freeholders , or any special tenure of land ; but , to secure that the land shall maintain those who are born on it , and that they shall not flow over into the towns ; nay , if possible , to bring about a steady flowing back of the tide from the towns into the country . "We want a trumpet tongue to proclaim that , unless the growth of the towns be checked by developing rural industry , there is no hope , no possibility , of hindering the towns from containing heaps of misery which it is shocking to contemplate .
I have much more to say , but fear I have said too much for the present . I am , Sir , yours respectfully , Than cis William Newman .
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ROBERT OWEN'S FIRST PRINCIPLE . September 24 , 1850 . Sir , —In the Leader of last week three gentlemen have each written a letter on this subject . Two of these correspondents were called into the field of controversy in consequence of some remarks of mine in a previous number of your paper , and I conclude you will permit me to say a word or so in reply to their strictures . Mr . Charles Kingsley and Mr . E . "V . Neale are the two who have honoured me with a direct opposition , and it is with their epistles only I shall deal at present . I will be as brief as I can . To maintain in the columns of the Leader a
long debate upon the interminable questions of the free ¦ will and free agency of man is not very desirable , except insofar as they relate to the practical working out of the vast social problem of the age . Mr . Kingsley will , I am sure , agree with me iri this . He is , however , one of those who believe and teach that man is a free agent and in possession of a free will , and he accordingly ridicules my late humble attempt to show the impropriety and absurdity of that doctrine , as illogical and as " a most complicated form of confusion . " Now , I confess , after an attentive repeiusal of my offending article , I have not been
able to discover in what part of the argument the ' ? confusion" exists ; and I strongly suspect it lurks quite in another quarter . Nor can I discover that my reasoning has in the least outraged legitimate logic . I argued hypothetically—if such and such premises be admitted , then such and such conclusions will necessarily follow—and there is no breach of logic in that . My object was to point out by means of this hypothetical process the weakness of the assertion , that " all men are free agents , " and I here repeat the argument , and am prepared to stand by its validity , that if it be granted that certain
circumstances over which , man has no control have at any time the power of compelling the course of conduct any individual shall take , and if , in no single instance , we can positively affirm that a man ' s conduct was not determined , compelled by circumstances beyond his control , such as education , physical organization , and social position , then , I say , it is inconsistent , it is a piece of unjustifiable dogmatism , to broadly proclaim the universal free agency of man . With all proper respect for Mr . Kingsley ' s logical acumen , I must deny that there is any similarity between this ratiocination and that which would prove
" all horses are green because one may be so . ' But Mr . K . is somewhat pleasant with me for asserting a mere " truism , " as he calls it ; the fact is , however , that I am . guilty in his eyes , not of having given out a " truism " as a philosophical discovery , but of having applied a " truism "in a manner adverse to his own theories . Utterly unable to refute the reasoning , he tries to render it ridiculous ; how far he has succeeded in this others will judge as well as myself . Few , I fancy , who read his letter will obtain from it much enlightenment as to the definiteness of the author ' s views on the questions he writes about . He admits " that men are formed and compelled by circumstances , warped and stunted by them , " though he does not tell us what those compulsory
circumstances are . But , then , he thinks roan ought not to be formed and compelled by them . Why so , I would ask ? If men can be made vicious by bad circumstances—and that they can " is a fact which needs no further proof than a walk through St . Giles ' s "why mny they not be made virtuous by good circumstances ? Why is Mr . Kingsley advocating so warmly , and with so much noble enthusiasm , the cause of cooperative labour ? and why does he indignantly denounce as " degrading" the prevailing system of competition ? Is he not using means to substitute " brotherly help" for " wolfish competition ? " and is not " brotherly help " to promote brotherly kindness ? and is not brotherly kindness the holiest of all social virtues ? and are not the means which he is
employing to realize these glorious ideal circumstances antecedents to consequences ? Mr . Kingsley himself is one , and not perhaps the least influential , of the circumstances by . which the world is to be improved ; so that , according to his own logic , he is " a practical
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A FREE PRESS AND A FREE EXPRESSION OF OPINIONS . John-street , Shelton , Staffordshire Potterien , Sept . 15 , 1850 . Siu , —I ennnot conceive any subject to be more deserving of public attention than this ; nor any more likely to secure the permanent elevation of a nation
Robert Owen's First Principle
falsehood " — " the utter bane of Socialism ! " I wonder if he ever considered himself as a
Circumstance . Again , he admits that " education , social reforms , and all other outward appliances" can prevent a man ' s character being " warped , stunted , degraded ;" and yet he denies that man ought to be formed by external circumstances . How can this apparent contradiction be reconciled ? The object of education , he says , is to put men into favourablecircumstances , in order to educe something already in them . Granted ; education is designed to draw out and properly direct all the human faculties ; and , when that design is fulfilled , man will be "delivered from evilinward evil , " as Mr . K . terms it— " from inward selfishness , pride , laziness , meanness , and ferocity ; . " and I hold that the " outward circumstances" of education—education in its widest acceptation—can do this . But Mr . Kingsley believes 'in the inherent corruption of human nature , and never hopes to eradicate our " primaeval lusts . " I should feel much obliged if Mr . K . would inform me of what these " lusts " consists , and how they found their way into our nature . For my own part , I reject the doctrine of the necessary wickedness of man , and with it the legend of Eve and the Serpent .
There are two more points in Mr . Kingsley s letter I must notice before I dismiss it ; one is what he remarks of Luther , Bacon , Elizabeth Fry , and other great reforming spirits by whose exertions the world has been driven onwards in religious freedom , philosophy , and philanthropy . These individuals have become great , saith Mr . K ., by keeping up a constant battle with their passions . Quite the reverse is the truth . These Reformers became great by an assiduous development of their predominant powers or passions . Luther had a passion for opposing the Pope , Bacon had a passion for philosophy , and Mrs .
Fry for improving our criminal law ; and by cultivating these powers , as far as circumstances would permit , have enrolled themselves among the heroes of humanity . The other point on which I wish to remark is where Mr . K . says , if my theory of nonfree-agency were true I should be now " grubbing up pignuts in a state of primaeval breechlessness , for those were the circumstances of our forefathers . " This is a fallacy ; and any school history of England will prove it so . Such might have been some of the circumstances of our forefathers , but assuredly were not the only ones . Had certain invasions never
happened , with a lew other trivial events , pernaps tnings might have remained as they were 1850 years ago . But , my dear Mr . Kingsley , fear not , society will progress , and Socialism will be triumphant at last , although you ignore " Robert Owen ' s first principle , " a principle you have not succeeded in overthrowing . Sir , I am afraid your limits will not suffer me to devote many words to Mr . Neale , whose alarm at being told he has no free will is prodigious . Let me ask if Mr . N . has ever read the work of Jonathan Edwards on the Will , or the opinions and arguments of the late Dr . Chalmers on that subject . I am inclined to think he has not done so , or he would hardly have written the letter to which I am now referring . ..
. . . _ In spite of the metaphysical differences between Socialists of the present day , I hope they will all work together hand in hand to advance the common cause , and not allow errors of the head to sever the sympathies of the heart . I am , yours obediently , F . G .
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seen a book—never been taught to read or write —been placed from his birth among savages , for instance ? Consider this , and the effects which might have been produced by a ^ thousand othez modifications in the circumstances in which he waa placed from his birth , and then say if the statement that " man is to a very great extent the creature ol circumstances " is too strong . But do not imagine that it is asserted that after the child has been born he ia
THE SAME . London , Sept . 23 , 1850 . Sir , — -It is evident that Mr . Kingsley imagines Mr . Owen's first principle to be something which it is not ; for his arguments are directed against a very different idea . That some men are " the puppets of the circumstances around them , " like the " masses" whom Mr . Kingsley refers to , and that others are not the puppets of the circumstances around them , like the distinguished individuals whom he name ? , is very true ; but this has reference only to some of the circumstances
which have been concerned in the formation of their character and conduct . This is not what is meant by those who understandingly assert that " man is the creature of circumstances . " All the circumstances of parentage and education—that is to say , all the circumstances which have had any part in producing and developing them , are included in the insertion . Take away these , and what have we ?—Nothing . If , for instance , St . Bennett ' s father , or his grandfather , or any of his forefathers , had not been caused to did St
marry tho individual whom he marry , . Bennett would never have been born . And , allowing all these circumstances to have been as they were , many changes in the circumstances of his parents or ancestors may bo supposed which would have materially altered the infant organization of which St . Bennett , the man , was made . But , let all the circumstances which preceded and produced the birth of St . Bennett be exactly as they were , and let the infnnt bo born with the organization with which ho was born —what would he have become if he had never
entirely the creature of subsequent circumstances" the mere recipient of external impressions , " as Mr , Kingsley says . Here , again , Mr . Kingsley mistakes the principle , and objects to something which is no part of it . It is not denied , as he imagines , that the effect of education is " to educe something which ia already in the individual . " But it is affirmed that this something , or these somethings , may he educed in such an endless variety of ways by the influence of varied circumstances , that the effect of those circumstances may truly be called " overwhelming . ' Circumstances would not make a Napoleon of the
infant of whom Bacon was made , nor a Bacon of the infant of whom Napoleon was made , nor a Shakespeare of the infant of whom Mozart was made , Sec . ; but circumstances might have made an endless diversity in the adults " manufactured " out of those ' materials , " might have made far better and wiser , or far less good or less wise men of them . Does not society , do not external circumstances , continually take , say , two children , with nearly equal powers and tendencies , and make one a man of much scientific
knowledge , the other totally ignorant of science ; one a man of sense , the other a fool ; one a man of honour and honesty , the other a hypocrite , a liar , a thief ; one a man of intelligence and moral courage , the other an ignorant superstitious coward ? In short , do not circumstances produce an endless variety of characters from organizations having nearly equal natural capacities , the worst result being often produced from the superior natural organization ? The facts which , demonstrate all this are continually occurring around
us and before our eyes . Considering all this , does not common sense suggest that we should endeavour to ascertain what are the circumstances or the external deficiencies which produce or allow the growth of the inferior results , and what circumstances will produce the superior results in all—will cause the natural " somethings " in every sound organization to be the most beneficially " educed " ; and that we should remove the former , and combine the latter in the most beneficial manner , and make them operative upon all ? The rational system is merely this common-sense proceeding . circumstances
Mr . Kingsley asks— ' Can external deliver us from internal selfishness , pride , laziness , meanness , ferocity ? " Facts answer— " Yes , if you take the right circumstances , and take them in time . " Mr . Kingsley says the monks tried ten thousand " dodges " to effect this , and failed . True . But why ? Because their dodges were not the right dodges . They were a mixture of good and bad circumstances , in which the power of the latter produced the bad effects which resulted . The results were the natural consequences of such a mixture of good and bad circumstances . How shall we judge them but by their fruits ?
Mr . Kingsley says Mr . Owen failed . Facts sny he succeeded to the full extent of the circumstances he was allowed to apply—quite sufficiently to prove the truth of the rational principle , if such proof wcro needed . Mr . Kingsley says , if circumstances had formed Mr . Owen ' s character , he would have been at this time an idle , self-indulgent country gentleman . Facts say that some of the circumstances of his youth might have made him so ; but others intervened and made him what he is . Mr . Kingsley asks , why he and F . G-. are not grubbing up pig nuts ? Surely , the circumstances which account for this are not very difficult to
discover . In short , Mr . Kingsley has not yet sufficiently studied the facts of the subject- —has not taken a sufficiently comprehensive view of them , or he would not object as ho docs to the principle in question ; nor would he imagine that men and women could " rot into hogs and savnges" when placed within " a scientific combination of good and superior circumstances ; " or that anything but good , and that of the most exalted kind , could be produced by the right application of a doctrine which facts prove to be a practical truth pregnant with the most important and immediate beneficial practical results , and without the reception of which by society no permanent substantial reform of tho present old , worn-out , irrational , and most vicious system can bo effected . Hbnky Travis .
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Sept . 28 , 1850 . ] &ftl & £ && £ ! % 639
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 28, 1850, page 639, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1854/page/15/
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