Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 22nd February 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 20

Page 20
Page 20
20 of 24

On this page

  • Text (3)
  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      The Edinburgh Review On Socialism. La-Ml...

      plus labour , so ably advocated in the Leader , the reviewer seems not to have the smallest notion . It meets some of his strongest objections ^ gelations , and yet he appears entirely unconscious that ever any such proposal has been made : ¦ work or not . " And what says Socialism ? Socialism proclaims that if a man is willing to work he ought to eat . and in so saying completes the doctrine of the economist and removis the defect of the English Poor-law Would the reviewer abolish the poor-law altogether ? Is he prepared to throw the whole pauperism of the countrythe able-bodied and the infirm , on " their

      , own resources ? " If so , I admire his courage , and his logic . Such a proposal would be rejected at once as chimerical , as calculated , if adopted , to involve an intolerable amount of mendicancy and robbery , and probably a war of classes . What , then , is the other alternative ? It is for society { i . e . the state ) , to provide an outlet for the exertions of the unemployed , to enable the willing and compel the unwilling to earn their maintenance . The new Poor Law so far enforced the laissez-faire dogma of the Economists as to omit this , the only rational basis of a poor law . The old Poor Law it is true demanded work , but then , as now , there existed no adequate knowledge on the part of those having the charge of the poor as to the way in which pauper labour might mitigate pauperism , nor was the law framed with a view to any such objects : —

      " Political Economy , repealing the simple teaching of morality , announced that , if a man married without means or prospects , and brought children into the world ¦ whom he was unable to support , he acted unjustly and selfishly , as well as imprudently , and that the correction of his fault should be left to its natural results : the law stepped in between the cause and its consequences , between the folly and its cure , and declared that if he could not support his own children , the prudent , the industrious and the self-denying should do it for him . Political Economy , reiterating the dictates of Nature , proclaimed that the larger the family a man had to

      support by his labour , the scantier must be the allowance of each member of it ; the common custom till 1831 was to increase the peasant ' s wages or allowance with every additional child that was born to him . Political Economy said to the labourer , If population increases faster than the field of employment enlarges , or the demand for labour augments , your position will inevitably deteriorate : divines and county magistrates scouted such philosophy , and inculcated upon their hearers , ' Increase and multiply , ' —the strength of a country lies in its numbers , — ' Dwell in the land , and verily thou shalt be fed . ' "

      And , again : — " The fact you have to meet is this ; there are 23 , 000 sailors in existence , with full and constant work only for 15 , 000 . As you continue your benevolent organizations , you will in the end have associated these 15 , 000 , and secured to them a comfortable and continuous subsistence . What will , then , have become of the residual 8000 ? Will you cast them out to starve ? Will you support them by a charitable contribution from the earnings of the employed ? " To the first of these three questions the Socialist has an answer , the Economist has none . To the second question , we reply No ; let-alone-ism says Yes . To tho third we answer No , we will give them wages , not alms . Socialism would say , So long a » there are millions of acres uncultivated , and thousands of

      willing arms to cultivate them , it is an . absurdity to talk of over-population ; that it is the want of wise guidance and leadership that ronders it needful for any man to want the means of supporting himself and family by his toil ; that the true way of rendering men frugal , industrious , and persevering , is to offer the conditions needful to form and foster these qualities ; that it is vain to expect to see them manifested in those whoso training has been upon a pur with that of beasts of burden and with as little interest in their toil- And if one of the weaker brethren has failed from want of will or want of knowledge , we dare not leave the cure of his fault to its nutural results , if by that ho meant to take no note of it—to " let it alone . "

      We cannot do this , because , apart from motives of benevolence ( all mere sentiinentalisrn , of course ) , wo aro held responsible by a higher law than any framed by political economists . It would be unwise , because the moral miasin spreads from the wretched to his neighbour as effectually us the physical miasin from his undrained and iiltliy dwelling to tin ; abodes of wealth and comfort . It would be unjust , because , for the most part , the causes that have made iho pauper have been faults of society as much us errors of his own . " If population increases faster than the field of employment enlarges , " as wo cannot kill off the supernumeraries , and dure not lemvo them ulone , we will expend our surplus lubour upon the surplus raw material now lying waste .

      The reviewer next falls foul of association-concert In the division of employments , lie grants that : — " Labour would be both more productive and better rewarded were the labourers in each department exactly proportioned to the need which tho world has of the

      produce of that department , were there just the right number of tailors , shoemakers , blacksmiths , carpenters , graziers , and corn growers ; and were this'just right number ' ascertained beforehand . " When the re viewer says that the only way to find this just right number is to find out " which kind of labour does not pay , " he only reaffirms the evil for ¦ which Socialism or " Concert " offers the remedy . When he asserts that the guilds and corporations of old adopted this concert in the division of employments in any sense in which such language is now used by Socialists , he betrays the grossest ignorance of the subject on which he writes . It is true that the ancient

      guilds limited the number of masters , and modern trade societies the number of apprentices , and that this prevented , to some extent , that rapid diminution of profits and wages witnessed in those departments of industry where such restrictions do not exist ; but that there either was or is any attempt to ascertain the actual amount of any kind of labour required by the wants of the community we utterly and entirely deny . It would be just as true to affirm that the corn laws were framed with regard to the quantity of corn required by the inhabitants of Great Britain . All such restrictions were selfish , having reference merely to the interests of a particular class , mere monopolies ( a very different thing from association ) , and destitute of the slightest relevance to the actual wants

      of society , even if there had been any method of measuring them , which notoriously was not the case . " Concert is either a chimera or a tyranny . " Does the reviewer mean to assert that the intellect which arranges our railway system and our vast manufacturing establishments , whi-. h has ransacked every department of nature , and weighs and measures the stars of the farthest galaxy , cannot tell the number of coats , shoes , and loaves of bread required by a few hundred people ? And if of these , why not of any multiples of these ? Equally erroneous is it to apply the term tyranny to the government of a society in which the governors are responsible to the governed . It is not only to confound the meaning of language , but when used to those who are now suffering the extremes of oppression , seems almost a mockery .

      As you justly observed in your letter to the reviewer , it is a great mistake to imagine that Socialists believe that " Political Economy has hitherto had it all its own way . " When did the reviewer hear any respectable exponent of the Socialist view assert any such thing ? On the contrary , we say that that dogma which would conduct the affairs of society on the principle of individual selfishness conflicting with individual selfishness , never has had a full and unrestrained trial , and never will , because human interests are so bound up with each other as to prevent its full realization . We say that society , badly constituted as it is , yet such as it is , exists by virtue of association and concord in spite of the isolation

      and conflict which still to a far too great extent prevail . I may probably trouble you with another letter on some other points touched on in the Edinburgh Review I remain , Sir , yours respectively , James Hole .

      184 3ff> * Ult&Iltt. [Saturday,

      184 3 ff > * ULt & iltt . [ Saturday ,

      Tracts For The Millennium. Feb. 21, 5011...

      TRACTS FOR THE MILLENNIUM . Feb . 21 , 5011 . Snt , —The prize forwarded to you , with my lette 1 " published in the Leader of Jan . 25 , having been awarded to the writer of the successful essay upon " Prayer , being the worship of one true God , " it now becomes my pleasing duty to remit the enclosed £ 5 Bank of England note as a prize for you to award to the author of the best essay upon the following subject : —" Innocence , being Abstinence from Vice ; as the second of the « ix personal or individual duties , the practice of whieh is religion . " The competitive essays to be sent to C . C , No . 8 , King William-street , West Strand , not later than tho middle of the ensuing month . —I remain , dear Sir , yours truly , A Constant Rkadku .

      The Apostle Paul Thk Angel Spoken Of In ...

      THE APOSTLE PAUL THK ANGEL SPOKEN OF IN UEV . XIV . 0 . J ; m . i 28 , 1851 . Sir , —Freedom of opinion on theological subjects , an well as others , being ullowed to be expressed in the Leader , I am induced to offer a few observations on tho above important passage : — "I saw another angel ily in tho midst of Heaven , having the everlusting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth ( land ) , and to every nation , and kindred , and tongue , and people" ! This revelation of Jesus Christ has been greatly misapprehended by professing Christians , more so than most , other parts of tho sacred volume , which haw been rniiHed lor want of attention to those important parts of it . which show that the things therein revealed were , at the time of John ' s writing the book , near at hand to be fulfilled . It commences as follows : —" The revelation of Jesus Christ , whieh God gave unto him to hIiow unto bis aervants things which must shortly come to pass "; and , at verse . ' { , "Blessed is ho that readeth , and they thut read the words of this prophecy , and keep those things which are written therein ; lor the time is at hand . " Now John was ut this time in tho Isle of

      Patmos ( but not banished there ) . No mention i » made in the Scripture that John was banished to the Isle of Patmos ; whereas Paul , when a prisoner at Rome , speaks of his being a prisoner of Jesus Christ . But how important are the words—" The things must shortly come to pass , " and " the time is at hand" ! — that is , clearly , from the time of the writing of the book by John . I have just alluded to this circumstance for the purpose of exciting the attention of the readers of the remarks now to be made , that they may consider the importance of the times and the seasons set forth in this book ; for it is a revelation of the things connected with the Redeemer ' s kingdom , as set up at

      the time of Christ s ascension , as David ' s Lord on the heavenly throne ; and of its advance to the final and triumphant state thereof at the sounding of the seventh and "last trumpet ! In this vision John saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven , having the everlasting Gospel to preach . Here I would call the reader ' s attention that this messenger of God had the Gospel to preach or proclaim . But no one could preach , except he was sent . Rom . x . 15 ; and those messengers of God who were sent to preach the Gospel , preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven , 1 Peter , i . 12 . The Apostles as the messengers of God had the Holy Ghost to guide them into all truth , John xvi . 13 , to teach them all things , and to bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever Christ had said to them .

      John xiv . 26 . No man since the Apostles of Christ has been sent to preach the Gospel ; but many good and excellent men have delivered lectures on Bible truth , and on the Gospel preached by the Apostles of Christ , whose mission was fully to preach the Word of God and to declare all his divine and eternal counsels . But the angel here represented is only one , and he has a special commission to preach the Gospel to them that dwell on the land ( that is the land o { Judea ) , and to every nation , and kindred , and tongue , and people . Now , then , it is clear and evident that this messenger was the Apostle Paul . We shall prove this by the commission to which Christ appointed him , and we shall easily discover ,

      from a comparison of scripture testimony , how the great Apostle of the Gentiles executed the high commission ( with which his divine Master was pleased to honour him ) by his arduous and unceasing labours , and wjlo could , in the midst of it , with truth say , I have coveted no man ' s silver , or gold , or apparel . When the Lord of Life and Glory was pleased to call the Apostle to his high office , who had previously been a violent opposer of the Gospel of Christ , and to which Ananias bears witness also , for Ananias was charging him before the Lord as being a bitter persecutor ; but the Lord said to Ananias , " Go thy way ; for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles , and kings , and the p . hildrfm of Israel . " Acts ix . 15 . So wnenPaul was

      brought before Agrippa , he related the circumstances connected with his conversion unto Christ , and that the Lord Jesus said to him , " I have appeared to thee for this purpose , to make thee a minister and a witness , both of these things which thou hast seen , and of the things in which I will appear unto thee , delivering thee from the people ( the Jews ) and from the Gentiles , unto whom now I send thee . " Acts xxvi . 16 , 17 . Then , at verse 20 , Paul said to Agrippa , " I shewed first to them at Damascus , and at Jerusalem , and throughout all the coast of Judea . "

      Here it is evident that Paul preached the Gospel first to the Jews , throughout all Judea , and after thus preaching to the Jews , he adds , " and then to the Gentiles , " which fully answers to the vision of John , " I saw an angel Ily in the midst of Heaven , having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the land , and to every nation , kindred , people , and tongue , " which comprises the Gentile nations . The Gospel was to be preached by the Apostles , " as a witness to all nations , " before the end should come . Matt . xxiv . 14 . The word witness hero is

      very important . The Apostles were to bear witness because they hnd been with Christ from the beginning . John xv . 27 . And in order to constitute Paul n witness of Christ ' s resnrrection , Jie was caught up to the third heaven , and received tho Revelation from Christ himself . 2 Cor . xii . 2 to 4 . So saith tho Apostle . 1 Cor . ix . 1 . "Am I not an Apostle ? Am T not free ? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord" ? How important are these words . Paul had seen Jesus Chrint the Lord , when taken to the third heaven ; and lie whs , therefore , a witness of the resurrection . The Lord Jesus also suid to Paul when a conspiracy hud been formed to take his life . Acts

      xxiii . 11 . " Be of good cheer , Paul , for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem , ho must thou bear witness also nt Rome . " The Apostles then are the witiu'HHeH to tho truth of the New Testament Revelation , and when Christ offered hia prayer to the Father for his ApoHtle . % he prayed nlno for ull that nHould believe in him through their word . John xvii . 20 . Christians of all denominations are culled on to believe that them : witnesses declared the truth , and the whole truth , of the new covenant blessings in Christ ; and all parties would do well to examine what tho ApoHtles have witnessed concerning Jesus and the resurrection , from tho Acts of the Apostles and the YiuriouB Epistles to the churches ; and while investi-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 22, 1851, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22021851/page/20/