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Oct. 11, 1851.] Cflg *.t&T)tX. 969
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Critics are not the legislators , but th...
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There is certainly nothing more capricio...
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Our Age has had many epithets ; — Age of...
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In our nummary of the 27th ultimo, w« me...
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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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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What Is Socialism? To Tuoknton Hunt, Esq...
~ u- « t , t iiare eiren casts upon many obscurities Ihfeh may perplex the student of Socialist theories . I few woJdf in conclusion upon the practical apph-^ No ^ mrappe ^ to ' -e more important , in the t , resent ^ fsi ? ion of Socialism , than , on the one hand , ? o keep constantly in view , and constantly to msis Son the intimate connection between the efforts of Jhe Socialists and the idea of duty ; and , on the other Id rest our Socialism upon this simple idea as a fact of our own consciousness , without drawing ra the conceptions which we may form of the origin and foundation of this idea to constitute part of our Socialist creed . If the Socialist , s to have a true feeling of the nobleness of his aims , if the band of Social Reformers is not to be split into hostile sects by the diversity of the practical measures which they mav advocate , they must keep continually before them
the recollection that Socialism is essentially an earnest effort to realize the highest conception of which man is capable , the conception of right and of duty , in the most important subjects to which it can be applied by man , the conditions under which the body of mankind are to live and work upon the earth . Again , if the Social Reformers are to avoid splitting into a number of philosophical , or theological sections , they must remember that they have to deal with matters of positive regulation of law , which requires as its foundation only the sense of duty as it exists in the human conscience , and that , important as it is for each individual to attain correct views of the origin ot the sense of duty , and incumbent as it may often be upon him to promulgate the views he has attained , insist these
it is only foolish to upon introducing convictions into a sphere to which they do not properly belong , and to make compulsory as a-bond ot union , that which is valuable only as the free result of independent investigation . Religion , as the utterance of the affections towards that Being on whom our individual existences depend , and philosophy , as the expression of speculative thought—its ever renewed effort to connect the facts of our individul consciousness with the laws of universal being revealed to us by the phenomena around us , necessarily embrace the practical principles on which Socialism rests , and as necessarily go beyond them . But in the loftier regions to which they aspire , we are very apt to lose the firm footing which the stable earth supplies . In the words of the clear-sighted Goethe we may say : —
"Will man raise himself upwards And lift his head amid the stars ? No certain resting-place " His wavering foot can find , But with him sport The winds and clouds . " The Catholic Church , in the assumption of her infallibility , can indeed consistently transfer the basis of union from the solid ground of practice to the
airy regions of speculation . But if , abandoning this assumption as untenable , we seek in these inquiries , ns in other branches of human knowledge , for that degree of certainty which our own investigations can supply , we must comply with the conditions under which investigation has in other matters passed graduall y from doubt to science , and , conceding perfect liberty of inquiry , give up the notion of establishing our own particular systems as the foundation for a general union .
If these positions be admitted , they seem to afford n basis for the religion of a plan which has been already mooted in the Leader , a plan of a general union among all bodies of Socialists , for receiving and diffusing information , and thus forming a centre which shall further the social cause . To make such a union practicable some conception of Socialism seems to be required , which all can accept , which shall leave to each free liberty to tench and act on their own principles , and yet shall not be subject to the reproach with which Schelling stigmatizes the union of the Lutherans and Calvinists , that they united " upon a basis of nullity . " It seems to me that in defining Socialism to bo " the recognition of the imperative dut y of establishing , in all those relations of life which grow out of or concern property ,
such laws and customs as accord with reason and conscience , " in firm faith that the fulfilment of this duty is possible , a baais of union , at once full of significance and free from sectarianism , is afforded . Many , I believe , may be found in the present day ready to unite in a society formed upon the acknowledgment of such a principle , for the purpose of promoting all earnest efforts to solve , theoretically and practically , the problems it involves ; to consider what are the laws and customs which ought to prevail in relation to property , and how they may be moot eauily and safely introduced , to collect and diffuse information in relation to these subjects , and in all other practicable ways to assist the attempts at the practical introduction of such lawn , whatever wight be the particular theories of those who made the attempt .
In the hope that by bringing this subject to the attention of your readers I may do something to forward Much a union , 1 remain , Dear Sir , yours faithfully , E . Vanbittaht Nkaxb .
Oct. 11, 1851.] Cflg *.T&T)Tx. 969
Oct . , 1851 . ] Cflg * . t & T ) tX . 969
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Critics Are Not The Legislators , But Th...
Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them— Edinburgh Review .
There Is Certainly Nothing More Capricio...
There is certainly nothing more capricious than the judgment of men on books : it defies all rule , escapes all calculation . In Blackwood there is this month an article on the Essays of Mr . Helps , written with a loving admiration , such as to make its two points of objection all the more surprising ; Had the critic been blind to the peculiar characteristics of Mr . Helps , and detected nothing in those essays but g rave commonplaces ( a tour de force which has been accomplished by one
journal !) , we could have understood his sweeping depreciation of the historical talent of Mr . Helps , and of the Essays written during the Intervals of Business ; but from one who . sees and appreciates the delicate and subtle wisdom set forth in exqui-Bite language , which constitutes the charm ot Friends in Council and Companions of my Solitude , we were astonished to hear a summary dismissal of the
Essays , as containing nothing of practical application . The volume is not at hand , or we could marshal quotations rank and file to rout this notion . What does the critic say , for example , to this felicitous and practical bit of advice to thinkers : — " Use the pen :. there is no magic in it , but it prevents the mind from staggering about . * Advice which we have acted on ever since we met with it . Then ,
again , the caution against allowing yourself to be carried away by the current sayings about men ' s conduct and characters , "By so doing you are helping to form a mob " / How well said ! how well worth saying ! There is another passage about the rarity of men ' s exercising their imagination in service of charity , which we remember as peculiarly suggestive . Indeed , the volume abounds with true and thoughtful aphorisms , although we agree with the critic that it is far inferior to the works which succeeded ife .
In Fraser there is a curious paper on Dr . Wichcot and Bishop Butler , wherein the writer undertakes to show that Butler , in his Analogy , did but appropriate arrd methodi ze the published opinions of Wichcot . A little while ago Paley was detected plagiarizing the substance of his Natural Theology , and now the other " great gun" of Orthodoxy is to be stripped of his feathers ! In v , ain : all the criticisms in the world will not shake Butler and Paley : all the cases
of appropriation that can be brought forward will fail to rob the one of his power , the other of his charm . Original ? Who is Original ? GoktBe shall tell us : ein Narr aufs eigne Hand ! 44 Vain Crassus boasting said , * I follow none : I owe my learning to myself alone ; To neither ancient nor to modern sage Am I indebted for a single page . ' To place this boasting in its proper light : Friend Crassus is—a Fool in his own riqht ! "
Of Dr . Wichcot we are glad to hear what Fraser tells us , and are interested in the extracts ; his name has a pleasant sound with us as the author of that definition of Heaven which Leigh Hunt is fond of quoting : — " Heaven is first a temper and then a place . " In Tait , the paper on Heine is well worth
reading ; and in Brother Jonathan ( the new American Magazine ) , there is Edgar Fob ' s weird poem The Raven , which will be more attractive than all the other papers . Albert Smith keeps up his Month with amazing joviality , admirably ( seconded by Lkech , who also revels in the comicalities of the Comic History of Rome .
While touching on these serials , let us not forget Ciiarleh Knight's new publication The Companion Library for Student and Traveller , which is announced as a series of cheap and portable volumes , fit for a day ' s journey , or for the library . Travelling flours ( a collection of bhort tracts ) , the Companion Shakspere ( for pocket or portinuntouu ) , and Comjtanion Dictionary of Universal H ^ rence , are the three periet announced ,,
The Revue de Paris is revived : or rather a new review has revived the old familiar name . It is to be monthly . The first number is before us , and contains articles by Lamartine , Balzac , Theophile Gautikr , Chasles , Arsene Houssatebut none of them worthy of their authors , if we except the sketch of Murat , which is extracted from the forthcoming volumes of Lamaktine ' s History of the Restoration ( announced for this month ); and unless a very decided improvement takes place , the Revue will stand no chance of
success . GAUTiER , in the introduction , announces that the Revue will admit perfect liberty of opinion , every writer to utter whatever he thinks true , to seek the Beautiful in his own way ; the only condition affixed is , that the article be well written . " People who have no style , " he says , " pretend to great depth of thought , as plain women affect cleverness : it is sheer pretension . " The epigram will pass as an epigram j but doe 3 Gautier deny the Germans thought , although scarcely one in a thousand can write a decent page ?
Our Age Has Had Many Epithets ; — Age Of...
Our Age has had many epithets ; — Age of Humbug , Age of Iron , Age of Brass—why not Age of Confidences ( perhaps not so remote from that of Brass ); seeing how eager men are to whisper their secret histories " to the Universe . " Lamartine has lately been striving to equal the Briareus of Literature , Alexandre Dumas . That indomitable inimitable , Creole now turns round upon Lamartine ; and as he , the poet , thinks fit to publish his Confidences , he , Dumas , will astound
the world with his Memoirs—in eight volumes No sooner said than done ; the eight volumes are paid for—written . La Presse announces them as food for its feuilleton . " L ' auteur se raconte , " are told ; " avec une verve que lui meme n ' avait jamais egale ' e . " Imagine Dumas writing of himself ! What gaiety ! what invention ! what pyramidal conceit ! The men he has seen—the places he has visited—the deeds he has done—the ups and
downs of his adventurous life , more varied than one of his own novels ! He has been a clerk , he has been a theatrical manager , he has been an editor , and the " friend of princes , " he has earned vast sums and squandered them , lived with wits , politicians , actors , demireps , and bill discountershe has had lawsuits and duels ( it least as a second )—he has had intrigues and successesand all this he will tell with his immense talent for narrative , and his immense capacity for fiction ! It will be one of the most amusing bouks in the
language . Who can ever forget his " attitude , " as the French say , after the Revolution of 1 B 48 ? For a few weeks his pose was that of an immense politician ; probably the Presidentship loomed through the mist of his vanity . If La . martinfs was a great man , the idol of the nation , the hope of the public , what might not Alkxandhe become ! He started a
paper : the prospectus of which , placarded on the walla , ought to be preserved among the deliciai liter aria : as a specimen . We only remember the close . After setting forth how his pea will chronicle every phase of the Revolution , every step in the march of Society , he winds up with this magnificent ( and " so French" ) passage : — " Du reste notre thche est facile : Dieu dicte , et nous ecrivons" — " As to the rest , my task will be light : God will dictate , and I shall merely hold the pen ! "
In Our Nummary Of The 27th Ultimo, W« Me...
In our nummary of the 27 th ultimo , w « mentioned a new treatise , by M . A . Cochut , on the Working-me . u ' H Associations in Paris , and on the attempts at indum rial reorganization in France since the Revolution of ' 48 . In sneaking of the work wo ventured on a presumption , that M . Cochut would be unfriendly to the principle of association . It is needlcns now to explain how it was that we had confounded the writer with literary names distinguished in Political Koonomr , ainuugst which his own had appeared . Hut th <> presumption w «« wrong ; and wo hasten t « , correct it , tho in ore earnestly , since we understand that th « friends of M Cochut hare felt grieved at the mode in which we classed
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 11, 1851, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11101851/page/13/
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