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be omnipotent {§ 4 ) , uncontrolled by the moral sense ; and the irresistible arguments in favour of universal suffrage . He answers the vulgar fear that democracy would give rise to a code ot laws favouring poverty at . the expense of weal h . and says : — " Even weTe there no answer to this , the evidence ¦ would still preponderate in favour of popular enfranchisement . For what at the utmost does the argument amount to ? Just this : —that the few roust continue to trespass against the many , lest the many should trespass against the few . The well fed , the luxuriously housed
and clothed , the placemen and pensioners , may perhaps think it better that the masses should suffer for their bene * fit ( as they do ) than that they should suffer for the benefit of the masses ( as they might ) . But would a just arbitrator say this ? Would he not say , on the contrary , that even if their respective members were blessed with equal advantages , the minority ought to be sacrificed rather than the maj > rity ; bat that as the most numerous are at the s-tme time the least favoured , their claim becomes still more imperative . Surely , if one of the two parties must submit to injustice , it ought to be the rich hundreds , and not the poor thousands .
" The foregoing objection , however , is not so sound as it looks . It is one thing for a comparatively small class to unite in the pursuit of a common advantage , and it is another thing for a dispersed multitude to do so . Some thousands of individuals having i ( lenticalinterests , moving together in the same circle , brought up with like preju dices , educated in one creed , bound together by family ties , and meeting annually in the same city , may easily enough combine for the obtainment of a desired object . But for half a d <>* en millions of working men , distributed over a vast area , engaged in various occupations , belonging to different leligious sects , and divided into two totally distinct bodies , the one imbued with the feelings
and theories of town life , the other retaining all those prejudices of the past which yet linger in the countryfor these to act with unanimity is scarcely possible . Their mass is too great , too incongruous , too scattered , for effective combination . We have current proof of this . The Chartist agitation shows us men , who , during the last twenty . years , have gradually imbibed ideas of political freedom—men who have been irritated by a 6 ense of injustice—men who have been slighted by their fellow-citizens—men who have been suffering daily privations—men , therefore , who have had an accumulated
stimulus to unite in obtaining what they feel themselves entitled to , and what they see reason to believe would greatly benefit them . And how have they prospered in the attempt to carry their point ? Disputes , divisions , apathy , adverse influences of every kind , have joined to produce repeated failures . Now if , with the aid of that enthusiasm which a righteous cause always inspires , the masses have not attained to that unity of action needful for the accomplishment of their object , much less would they be ablp successfully to unite were that object a dishonest one . "
But a more conclusive answer is delivered by Fact . How comes it that men with the Fact before their eyes will continue to theorize upon what " would be ! '" America tells them as plainly as pbssible that democracy really does perpetrate no such injustice as the one they dread , yet they continue to prophecy what , " would be'' the result if universal suffrage , were granted ! Mr . Spencer is a stanch advocate for the Voluntary Principle in Religion and Education ; we join issue with him upon the latter ground . The State has no right to enforce doctrines upon me , nor to make me pay for its doctrines ; but if the Slate has any power of coercion at all , if it can make me pay for prisons and policemen as forming portions of its indispensable machinery , it can with equal
justice make ine , pay for that , which , by diminishing crime , will diminish the necessities for prisons and policemen . Mr . Spencer asks how can those who argue for the non-interference of the Slate in matters of Religion , support tlie interference in matters of Education ? We will tell him . Religion as Religion is a matter between ( iod and the iridivividual soul . The State can have nothing to do with it , except when evert ) individual soul < u / rces with every other individual soul in , I he . / rriuci />/ es and formulas of its faith ; then indeed the State , niH the expression of all 1 . 1 k ; members , may direct Religious Affairs , but , , not otherwise . Education , however , is asocial niatter--it is between man and flociety , and the State is hound to nee Ihut , its members are fitted for society , are made social .
We touch upon this subject , we cannot hen dwell upon it , having , an we said , no . space foi discussion . Let us rather bear Mr . Spencer on A KTATI ! ( -11 U lt ( 3 II . " But there has been gnuiually dawning upon those who think the conviction that , a ntuic church in not . so much a religious hh n political institution . 'Who docs not hoc , ' imjuin-H Locke , Hpeiikiufj « f the clergy , ' thut . them ; men are more iniiiiMerH of the government than miniatem of the KOHpcl ? ' J'robably in Locke ' s time there wire few who did see this ; but there are now many . Nor , indeed , in the fact altogether denied , n » you shall hear fioin Home politic supporter of religious < 'Htal ) lisliineiitu during : m after-dinner confidence . ' Between ourselves , ' will whiripoi Mich nil one , ' tlieito churches ami pnihoiiH , uml all ilic re t , of it , air not , for Htll . il !>!* ' men , Mich as you and I , we know lict . tei ; \\ v can do without .
all that ; but there must be something of the kind to keep the people in order . ' And then he will go on to show what influential restraints religious services are ; how they encourage subordination and contentment ; and how the power which the clergy obtain over their parishioners strengthens the hands of the civil ruler . That some such vi « w widely prevails may be gathered from the acts and proposals of our statesmen . How otherwise can we understand that avowed willingness in the political leaders of all parties to endow the Unman Catholic Church in Ireland if the religious public of Eagland would let them ? Or what but a political motive can that states' lieutenant —the East India Company—have for giving an annual subsidy of 23 , 000 rupees to the temple of Juggernaut , reimbursing itself by a tax upon the pilgrims ? Or vrhy else should the Ceylon Government take upon itself to be curator of Buddha ' s tooth , and to commission the Buddhist priests ?
" Of the clergy who , on the other hand , commonly advocate a state church as being needful for the upholding of reliffion , it may be said that by doing this they condemn their own case , pass sentence upon their creed as worthless , and bring themselves in guilty of hypocrisy . What ! will they allow this faith , which they value so highly , to die a natural death if they are not paid for propagating it ? Must all these people , about whose salvation they profess such anxiety , be left to go to perdition if livings , and eanonries , and bishoprics , are abolished ? Has that apostol c inspiration , of which they claim to be the inheritors , brought with it so little apostolic zeal that there would be no preaching were it not for parsonages and tithes ? Do they who , on ordination ,
declared themselves ' inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost , now find that they are inwardly moved-only by the chink of gold ? This would be called slander coming from any but themselves . And then their flocks—what say they of these ? Do these care so little for the faith they have been taught , that its maintenance cannot be entrusted to them ? After centuries of church culture , has Christianity got so little root in men ' s hearts that but for government watering-pots it must wither away ? Are we to understand that these perpetual prayers and sacrameats , these homilies and exhortations , these visitings and Scripture readings , have not even generated as much
enthusiasm as can keep itself alive ? Have ten thousand sermons a week done so little that the hearers will not contribute a sum sufficient for the sustentation of a ministry ? Why , if this be true , what is the system good for ? These advocates do but open their briefs , and then straightway argue themselves out of court . They labour to prove either how powerless is the faith they teach , or how miserably they teach it ! The sum and substance of their plea for the state propagation of this creed is , that it has failed in animating its ministers with its own spirit of self-sacrifice , and failed to arouse in its devotees a spark of its own generosity !" The chapter on the Poor Laws should be carefully studied . How true this observation , and howneglected ! CHARITY " . " Charity is in its nature essentially civilizing . The emotion accompanying every generous act adds an atom to the fabric of the ideal man . As no cruel thing can be done without character being thrust a degree back towards barbarism , so no kind thing can be done without character being moved a degree forward towards perfection . Doubly efficacious , therefore , are all assuagings of distress instigated by sympathy ; Cor not only do they remedy the particular evils to be met , but they help to mould humanity into a form by which such evils will one day be precluded . " With this he contrasts the effect of l'OOR LAWS .
" Note again how thin act-of-Piwliament charity perpetually supersedes men ' s better sentiments . Here is a respectable citizen with enough and to spare ; a man of some feeling ; liberal , if therein need ; generous even , if bin pity is excited . A beggur knocks at his door ; or he i « accosted in his walk by Home way-worn tramp . What does Ik : do ? Does he listen , investigate , and , if proper , assist ? No ; lie commonly cuts short the tale with— - ' I have notliiiiu ; for you , my good man ; you must f |() to your pariHh . ' And then he shuts the door , or walks on , an the case may be , with evident unconcern . Should it strike him the next moment thut there wan something very wo-begone in the petitioner ' s look , thin uncomfortable thought in met by the reflection that ho lonuraH there
is a poor-law he cannot starve , and that it will be time enough to consider his claims when he applies lor relief . Thua does the consciousness that there exits U a le ^ ai provision for the indigent act an an opiuto to the yearnings of sympathy . Had there been no ready-made excuse , the behaviour would probably have been different . CoinniiHeiation , pleading for at leant an enquiry into the cane , would most likely have prevailed ; and , in place of nit application to the hoard of guardians , ending in a pittance coldly handed across the pay-table to lie thanklt Hsl y received , might , have commenced a relationshi p good for both purlieu—a generosity humanizing to the one , and a NiKscour made doubly valuable to the other by a few wonlNof consolation mid encouragement , followed , it . may be , by a lilt into Home . Ht'lf-Hupportiiifj ; position . "
We close our imperfect notices of this profound and HiiggCHtivo work with a puHNiig ^ Iroin Inn concluding - rcmarkK , a serinou all should lav to heart : 41 The oandid reader may now net ; his way out of the dilominu in which he levin placed , bo . twttcn a conviction , on ille one hand , Unit the perfect , law in the only wife nuide . and a consciousness , on the other , that the perfeot law cannot be fnlfillod by imperfect men . I , ft him but duly ri'ftlize tho fact thut opinion in the , agency through which character adupts external urruiigemcntii to itselfthat , hi . s opinion rightly forms part , of this agency—in a
unit of force , constituting , with other such units , the general power which works out social changes—and h « will then perceive that he may properly give full utterance to his innermost conviction ; leaving it to produce what effect it may . It i * not for nothing that he has in him these sympathies with some principles , and repugnance to others . He , with all his capacities , and desires and beliefs , is not an accident , but a product of the time ! Influences that have acted upon preceding generations influences that have been brought to bear upon him ; the education that disciplined his childhood ; together with
the circumstances in which he has since lived ; have conspired , to make him what he is . And the result thus wrought out in him has a purpose . He must remember that whilst ; he is ft child of the past , he is parent of the future . The moral sentiment developed in him , was intended to be instrumental in producing further progress ; and to gag it , ' or to conceal the thoughts it generates , is to balk creative design . He , like every other man , may properly consider himself as an agent tnrough whom nature works ; and when nature gives birth in him to a certain belief , she thereby authorizes him to profess and to act out that belief .
For" ' . nature is made better by no mean , But nature makes that mean : over that art Which you say adds to nature , is an art That nature makes . ' Not as adventitious , therefore , will the wise man regard the faith that is in him—not as something which may be slighted , and made subordinate to calculation ^ of polioy ; but as the supreme authority to which all his actions should bend The highest truth conceivable by him he will fearlessly utter ; and will endeavour to get embodied in fact his purest idealisms : knowing that , let what may come of it , he is thus playing his appointed part in the world—knowing that , if he can get done the thing he aims at—well : if not—well also ; though not go well . "
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Flovoert and Iheir Poetry . ByJ . Stevenson Bushnan , M . D . W . S . Orr and Co . An elegant volume of verse , with fanciful borders and binding to suit the drawing-room-table . Delta has contributed some nine poems ; the rest are by Dr . Stevenson Bushnan , and 6 how " the accomplishment of verse . " Since it has lain on our table it has excited considerable admiration ; but like most of these " pretty books , " it is rather looked at than read . Life at the Water Cure , or a Month at Maltiern . A Diary by K . J . Lane . With the Sequel and the Confessions of a Water Patient . By Sir E . Bulwer Lytton , Bart . H . G . Bohn . A reprint of Mr . Lane ' s rattling , flippant , yet amusing little work on the Water Cure , with some queer wood cuts , useful as indications , b . ut certainly not ornamental . To it is added Sir E . B . Lytton ' s very agreeable " Confessions , " which originally appeared in the New Monthly Magazine . Any person going or contemplating a trip to a water-cure establishment will be glad of this cheap . little volume . Industrial Investment and Emigration ; being a Treatise on Benefit Building Societies and on the ( General Principles of Associations for Land Investment and Colonization , with an Appendix on Compound Interest , Tontines , and Life Assurance . By Arthur Scratchley , M . A . J . W . Parker . The title of this book is so explanatory as to constitute an exposition of itself . Mr . Scratchley is well known as an able actuary , and in this , which is the second edition of his work on Industrial Investment and Emigration , he has much enlarged the important topics on which it treats . Too large , perhaps , to be called a hand-book , it may yet be held as a manual of reference indispensable to conductors and members of building , emigration , and assurance societies . In the national progress ( for national it may be termed ) of association , a work of this kind is of the highest utility in which mathematical demonstration , calculation , and practical detail aro classified for executive guidance . This is not a volumo the value of which can be exemplified by quotation , but this much may be said , that it is a work which all concerned , either as directors or members of such societies ae are above named , will find it to their interest to be acquainted with .
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Niijhl and Mummy . Hy Hlr E IJ . l . ytton , Bart . In ono vol . With a Proiitinjmxo hy II . K . Itrpwti . Chapman and Hall . The Pilgrims of the Ithine . Hy Hir K . II . Lytton , Bart . In ono vol . With a I'Vontinpiucc by llnkct Pouter . Chuprnan and Hull La llonne Arenlure . Pur Kuge . im Sue . Tome * HI . and IV . W . Jvffa . Dieu Dispute . Par Alcxumlro Duinaa . Tomo III . W . Jeffs . Historical and Descriptive Jccount of the Caricatures < ' James ( . 'illruy ; comprising a Political and Humorou * History oj the latter part of the Ueign ij George III . lly TIioh . Wr ' ifcht and K . II . KvutiH , Kh < j 8 . H . O . Bohn . Thoughts on Electricity , with Notes of Experiments , lly CharleH C ; iii . lm « : ra . Hiinpkin , Marshall , and ()<> . I'lie Convent ; a JSitrralirc founded on Fact . Hy 11 . M'Orlnilell . Aylott and Juiich .
A First Herman Heading Hook , containing Dan Taubchen , ot the hove ; a Vale Jor the I ' oting . Uy <; . H . Hufunid : with an lntroduiitory ( Jiiuumiir , mill » Vocabulary containing every word occurring in tho Tout . I ) y Palck LoIimIiii .
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348 &ftC ? LeaIrft \ fc [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1851, page 348, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1878/page/16/
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