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    1172 THE LEADER. [Satuhdat,

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    RAUNTKIMNfiR IN LONDON. Haunterim/a in a...

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    Miss Martineau's Translation Oe Comte. T...

    adrift . With pain and fear , we see that a multitude , who might and should be . among the wisest and best of our citizens , are alienated for ever from the kind of faith which sufficed for all in an organic period which has passed away , while no one has presented to them , and they cannot obtain for themselves , any ground of conviction as firm and clear as that which sufficed for our fathers in their day . The moral dangers of such a state of fluctuation as has thus arisen are fearful in the extreme , whether the transition stage from one order , of convictions to another , he long or short . The work of M . Comte is unquestionably the greatest single effort that has been made to obvia te this kind of danger ; and my deep persuasion is , that it will be found to retrieve a vast amount of wanderingf of unsound speculation , of listless or reckless doubt , and of moral uncertainty and depression . Whatever else may be thought of the work , it will not be denied that it ascertains

    with singular sagacity and soundness the foundations of human knowledge , and its true object and scope ; and that it establishes the true filiation of the sciences within the boundaries of its own principle . Some may wish to interpolate this or that ; some to amplify , and perhaps , here and there , in the most obscure recesses of the great edifice , to transpose , more or less : but any who question the general soundness of the exposition , or of the relations of its parts , are of another school , and will simply neglect the book , and occupy themselves as if it had never existed . It is not for such that I have been working , but for students wlio are not schoolmen ; who need conviction , and must best know when their need is satisfied . When" this exposition of Positive Philosophy unfolds itself in order before their eyes , they will , I am persuaded , find there at least a resting-place for their thought , - -a rallying-point of their scattered speculations , —and possibly an immovable basis for their intellectual and moral convictions . "

    In the second she speaks of the work itself : — " During the whole course of my long task , it has appeared to me that Comte ' s work is the strongest embodied rebuke ever given to that form of theological intolerance which censures Positiv e Philosophy for pride of reason and lowness of morals . The imputation will not be dropped , and the enmity of the religious world to the book will not slacken for its appearing among us in an English version . It cannot be otherwise . The theological world cannot but hate a book which treats of theological belief as a transient state of the human mind . And again , the preachers and teachers , of all sects and schools , who keep to the ancient practice , once inevitable , of contemplating and judging of the universe from the point of view of their own minds , instead of having learned to take their stand out of themselves , investigating from the universe inwards , and not from within outwards , must necessarily think ill of a work which exposes the futility of their method , and the worthlessness of the results to which it leads . As M . Comte

    treats of theology and metaphysics as destined to pass away , theologians and metaphysicians must necessarily abhor , dread , and despise his work . They merely express their own natural feelings on behalf of the objects of 4 heir reverence and the purpose of their lives , when they charge Positive Philosophy with irreverence , lack of aspiration , hardness , deficiency of grace and beauty , and so on . They are no judges of the case . Those who are—those who have passed through theology and metaphysics , and , finding what they are now worth , have risen above them—will pronounce a very different judgment on the contents of this book , though no appeal for such a judgment is made in it , and this kind of discussion is nowhere expressly provided for . To those who have learned the difficult task of postponing dreams to realities till the beauty of reality is seen in its full disclosure , while that of dreams melts into darkness , the moral charm of this work will be as

    impressive as its intellectual satisfactions . The aspect in which it presents Man is as favourable to his moral discipline , as it is fresh and stimulating to his intellectual state . We find ourselves suddenly living and moving in the midst of the universe , —as a part of it , and not as its aim and object . We find ourselves living , not under capricious and arbitrary conditions , unconnected with the constitution and movements of the whole , but under great , general , invariable laws , which operate on us as a part of the whole . Certainly , I can conceive of no instruction so favourable to aspiration as that which shows UK how great are our faculties , how small our knowledge , how sublime the heights which we may hope to attain , and how boundless an infinity may be assumed to spread out beyond . Wo find here indications , in passing of the evils we suffer from our low aims , our selfish passions , and our proud ignorance ; and in contrast with them , animating displays of the beauty and glory of the everlasting laws , and of the sweet serenity , lofty courage , and noble resignation that are the natural consequence of pursuits so pure , and aims ho true , as those of Positive Philosophy .

    i ' ride of intellect surely abides with those who insist on belief without evidence and on a philosophy derived from their own intellectual action , without material and corroboration from without , and not with those who are too scrupulous and too humble to tnuiscend evidence , and to add , out of their own imaginations to that which in , and may be , referred to other judgments . If it be desired to extinguish presumption , to draw away from low aims , to fill life with worthy occupations and elevating pleasures , and to raise human hope and human effort to the highest attainable point , it . seems to mo that tho bust resource is the pursuit of Positive Philosophy , with its train of noble truths and irresistible inducements . The prospects it opens are boundless ; _ for among the laws it establishes that of human progress is conspicuous . Tlie virtues it fonters are all those of which Man ih capable ; and the noblest are thorns which : i , ro more eminently fostered . Tlie habit , of truth-socking and truth-speaking , and of true dealing with self and with all tilings , is ovidently a primary requisite ; and this habit oneo perfected , the natural conscience , thus disciplined , will train up all other moral attributes to some liquidity with it . "

    "Wo must clone Micro . OP Combo himself if ; in needless to apeak in these eolumiiH . May Huh work iiiul Hh way to every nincoro student of philosophy !

    1172 The Leader. [Satuhdat,

    1172 THE LEADER . [ Satuhdat ,

    Rauntkimnfir In London. Haunterim/A In A...

    RAUNTKIMNfiR IN LONDON . Haunterim / a in and rihoni London . My Max . Srlilcsiiiger . Tlio T'WHhIi Edition by Otto We . K'lvstoru . Price 2 s . ( W . . NnUmiiiel Oooke . "To kco ourselves , as others . we rm" in tlie- \ vis . li often expressed . The fr nitilM'Mtion of thai wish would not be gratify ing , were it completely realized ; but as we have all an uneasy curiosity to hear wliat others say abexit us , the books on IOii ^ ImikI by foreigners always secure attention . Mostly the books are so preposterous thai , \ ro are onl y interested iii seeing how fur caricature can ^ o ; sometimes they are ho accurate hh to be instructive ; thin , however , is rare , and its rarity will , make tlio Haunter ! tins in i / onilon welcome .

    When tlio original Mm I ; appeared , we # ave a , slight account of Huh excellent ( 1 en nun ' s " impressions of Un ^ land , " arid have only now to add ¦ that it is transluled by Ol to WeiickHtern in a , style one seldom meets with amontf our native translaioi-H ; and . it in illustrated by several amiiflintf sketches on wood . Max KScldesinger in a . lively , observant man , who haw had . good opportuniticH for observing , us—to cito ouo example- *

    Ms chapter on the Times Office abundantly proves . It will enlighten the majority of our countrymen ; a fact the reader will appreciate after going through tlie following extracts from that chapter : — - " The care and the responsibility of conducting the business of the Times has devolved on a manager , Mr . M . M . This gentleman is neither what we in Germany call a redacteur , nor is he what we would call an expeditor or accountant . He is just all in all , being the sovereign lord and master within the precincts of Printing-house Square . "A heap of papers lies on his desk . At his side sits the editor chi jour . What his functions are will be seen in the following lines : —

    " The editorial functions of the Times axe in the hands of several individuals , exactly as in the case of the great German journals . But , in Germany , each editor has his own separate department , for instance , home politics and foreign politics , or the literary and critical departments . They come to an understanding on the most important points , and then act altogether independentl y of one another . Besides , they meet frequently , and have plenty of opportunities to exchange their views and defend then ? opinions . Hence they very often quarrel , and their quarrels lead to frequent editorial crises . Far different is the case with the Times , where , besides the manager , there are two editors—Mr . John D——and Mr . George D , with a third gentleman as sub-editor . The two editors take the service by turns , but they do not confine themselves to separate departments . Ea-h of them has , at the time he conducts the paper , to see that it has that tone which has been decided upon in council . However , we will not anticipate . Having here hinted at the many merits of the editorial department , we continue to act as invisible spectators in the Times office .

    " We mentioned before , that a large heap of papers was lying on the desk of Mr . M . M .., and that the editor dujowr was sitting by his side . What are these two gentlemen doing ? They read the most important journals of the day , take notes of their leading features , they talk over the topics of the leading articles for the next day's paper ; but this is not enough . The material for the leaders having been selected , they are discussed in detail ; notes are taken of some of the more leading features of the subject , and , if need be , the tendency is marked out . In many cases there is no need of this , but on some occasions the last measure is indispensable . The extraordinary and quick transitions of the Times are sufficiently known in Germany . . The politics of the Times are an inscrutable mystery to most men , even to the majority of Englishmen ; but the simple solution of the

    mystery is , that the Times either follows the lead of public opinion , or that it contradicts public opinion only when—more far-sighted than its contemporaries—it foresees a change ; that under all circumstances , and at all times , it aims at a special critical interest ; and with an iron consistency , and in an astonishing sobriety , it advocates this critical interest unsparingly , to the sacrifice of every other interest . That is the whole enigma of its seemingly changeable politics . It seizes with an unerring grasp that which is profitable for England , no matter how pernicious it may be for the outside barbarians . It is humane , constitutional , liberal , and even sentimental in its views of foreign countries , if England finds heradvait tage thereby ; but it is also capable of imagining an eternal spring in the icy plains of Siberia , if an alliance with Russia should happen to advance English interests . It would even defend the slave trade , if it could be convinced that the cessation

    of that traffic would ruin the Lancashire cotton manufacturers . "In England , the Times is the champion of gradual and reasonable progress ; while , in its foreign policy , it clings to old allies and time-honoured systems of government ; and the very Titties which the English justly consider as a moderately Liberal paper , is abused among the Liberals of the Continent as a moderately reactionary organ . While Protectionist papers have , for years past , accused the Times of having given itself up to the evil genius of democracy and the demons of Manchester : the Radicals of all countries , are fully persuaded that the same Times is in the pay of AustriaRussiaand of all the devils generally . But the

    , , _ fact is , that the Times is as little democratic as it is Russian ; it is as little paid by Willich as by Rothschild ; and , under all circumstances , and for very good reasons , it will always be found to be rather Russian than Austrian ; and rather Austrian than French ; and always , above all things , it will be found to tlio English , egotistical ; that is to say , political . To ask the Times ^ or any other reasonable political paper , to take a general purely humanistic standing point , : i »< 1 to ground its verdicts on the politics of the day , on the eternal laws of the history of civilization , and of moral philosophy ; to ank it , in short , to write morals instead of politics , is absurd ; and ho who can make such a demand , knows nothing

    whatever of the position or the duties of a political journal . " Wo ask the reader's pardon for this monstrous digression ; the temptation was too great , and we naturally thought of the tendencies of the Times while tlio manager and editor consulted about to-morrow morning ' s leaders . " Tbo consultation is over . A few short notes have been taken of its results , and a sort of programme boon made for every leader . . Documents , letters lroiu correspondentH , and other papers are added'fto each programme , which is put into an envelope , and sent by messenger to a certain loading article writer , who , a U )\ hours afterwards , sends ' in bis articlo ready written . Those loading article writers nevvM

    of tbo Times arc altogether in an exceptional position . At tho Gorman - papern , the loader-writing is generally done , by tho editor ; now at tlio 7 V / m \ f , principle is generally acted upon , that the editor should rather edit the l l ^' than write it . The ' arrangement is thoroughly rwisonablo in theory , as well an practice . Every one is naturally partial to his own productions . Wlu > w ° " quarrel with an editor if ho prefers his own article to other essays , when lit !> ' ^ tho selection among various papers on tlio samo subject . To nave tlio editorsi In " tliiH temptation , and to give them full leisure to odifc attentively and impartial y , they havo boon mostly relieved from writing . Thorn are , howovor , oxwp tion , ^ thi « wilutary rulo ; and wo understand that tho witty and humouristio Jejaele ! i . ^ local allairs , which vio with tho best of tbo LYoneh fc . uiUeloint , are ) from tlio j >» 'i

    Mr . M . M . , | 1 )> ir " Tho loading article * writors havo tlio programme ? of thoir nrtiolofi nont to ' ^ rewpeiotivo elomicile ; H . Nono but the ) oditorh know who theme ) genilemoii a » o , what thoir position in life is . Tilery noveir , exempt em extraordinary «> e : e :: isi ^ eemiw to tho 7 'imc . i oHioe ) . They have ) pleidgeel thoir weueln to lay no ol . iim }*> ' authorship of their own artie / les , e > r to rewoal thoir esonnoxion with U >« - '' V . They havo roimunooel all hopes e > f liteirary faino ; wliatovor oroelil . is dm > ' () ^ pre > dut : tie > ns beilongs te > tho Times , whie ; h monopolises a | l tho honour , iiuel "" ¦ ^ tlio responsibility . Hue ; h an author ban nothing but hifl "pay ; ho h : iH * 0 J £ . work te > thu journal ; and with it , he ) han se > ld the right to eihiuigei it , " ' ! ( , ;(! ' lo preiHsions , te > reunoelel parts of it , e > r to < : e > nele ) inu the ) nrbietlei M , ltogether . '" ^ . ' qU ) in apiece } of niorejhandizo with which tbo pur < : hase ! i- may do what ; ho nlc ( •; ]]( , i broak off the ) connexion ; but so long an that connexion continue' *) , ho w c > I to Hubinit tho form of his articleis to the e ; ritie ; al vemltot ; of tho oeUfce » rH . . ^ Wo daro not extract more from a work ho chonj ) and ho well , vvor cost .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 3, 1853, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03121853/page/20/