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Leader (1850-1860), 5th October 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 660, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      There is no learned man but -mil confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Milton .

      Untitled Article

      HUNGARIAN REFUGEES IN TURKEY . Oct . 1 , 1850 . Sih , —In the last number of the Leader it is intimated that the surveillance over Kossuth is coining to an end , and that measures have already been taken to secure the refugees a passage to America or to England . I do not like that or : make it and , and I am content . If it cannot be and , blot America out of the sentence . Cannot something be done at once to secure the coming of Kosauth to England ? Can ¦ we give him a requisition ? Hospitality he will never lack here . The reception he would have would be the second lesson in English given to Austria , &c , the " Haynau hunt" being the first . I am , Sir , yours right truly , George Dawson .

      Untitled Article

      THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND . Oct . 3 , 1850 . Sin , —The remarks you have so judiciously made on the neglect of the rulers of the Church of England to establish their hold upon the people , reminds me of observations on the subject by a talented writer a few years since , whioh may not , perhaps , be unworthy of a place in your Open Council . Nothing . ( says he ) has alienated the affections of the people from the existing Establishment so silently and irreparably as the pertinacity with which they have been denied a voice in the preferment of their ministers , and the sturdiness with which any representation on their part in behalf of a valued curate has been silenced or set at nought .

      I will here mention a fact which fell under my own personal observation . It shows how the system worked , and of what bitter fruits it was productive . A living became vacant on which a curate of the most blameless life and benevolent habits had been stationed for eleven years . It was a " peculiar , " and formed part of the patronage of the dean of the diocese . A memorial was drawn up addressed to that dignitary , and signed by all the principal landowners and landholders in the parish , praying that he would take the services of the curate into consideration in disposing of the vacant vicarage . It

      was deemed most respectful that a deputation should wait upon him , and three of the wealthiest nnd most respectable landed proprietors were fixed upon . The dean was apprized of their intention , a day was named , and an interview granted . He contented himself with putting two questions . •? Are these signatures genuine ? " Ho was assured they were . 44 Is the wish this petition expresses the unanimous wish of the whole parish ? " Unquestionably so . " " Then I must tell you that I consider this a most improper interference . It is an attempt to wrest from me my right of presentation , and I shall treat it accordingly . Mr . has no chance of success . " He bowed and retired .

      What became of the parish ? That parish in which , during the curate ' s ministry , not a dissenting chapel of any denomination was to be found , became a hotbed oi Sectarianism . In a few years it was deluged with dissent . And if at this moment I wished to name a place more renowned than another for bitter tooling against the Church , a dcop-rooted dislike to her institutions , and a thorough contempt for her clergy , I should point to that hamlet . "Who is to blame for this ? Tho patron , the people , or the Pastor ? Chhysostom ,

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      ritIZE ESSAY . October 8 , 1850 . Sin , —It has been my fate to be somewhat of an Antichrist , nnd a prize essay upon tho verse quoted from the First Epistle- of John would bo purchased by mo ihructly it is published . Enclosed is my mite towards u prize fund , and it is my hope thut you will

      succeed in selecting a thorough explanation of that verse . If it is not contrary to any fixed regulation , permit me to suggest the following arrangement respecting the mode of rendering the proposal conspicuous ; it is that you will insert in your forthcoming paper these lines in italics between the phrase " Open Council" and the formidable crest of the Winged Xiion : —

      A PROPOSED PRIZE ESSAY . We have been requested by a correspondent to publish on the last day of this year an Essay in elucidation of the 18 th verse from the 2 nd Chapter of the First Epistle General of John ; and toe beg to announce that all competitive Essays can be sent to our office , addressed to the «• Editor of the Leader , " on or before the 1 st of December , with the names of the writers in separate envelopes , and the Prize will be awarded to the author of the Essay which is selected by competent judges as possessing most merit , I am , Sir , your obedient servant , Anothek Constant Header .

      Untitled Article

      ROBERT OWEN'S FIRST PRINCIPLE . Bosehill , near Coventry , Sept . 24 , 1850 . Sib , —We must all agree with the Reverend Charles Kingsley , in his letter of last week , that the subject of the formation of character is very important—too important to be special-pleaded . The enunciation of the dogma that" a man ' s character it formed for him , and not by him , " is an ambiguous mode of expression , and is , as I see by the frequent controversy on the subject , calculated to deceive . It would be better to say that a man ' s character is formed by his constitution , organization , or nature , and by the

      circumstances in which he is placed . The question is argued from opposite sides of the same shield , one person saying that it is himself—that is , his own organization or nature—that forms his character ; another , that it is external circumstances . Now , the nature cannot strictly be said to be the character , and a child at birth cannot be said to have any character ; it has only certain internal forces , tendencies , or dispositions , the action of which upon the world ¦ without — that is , upon circumstances , and the reaction of circumstances upon such forces , form the character .

      The character is the result of the joint action . The question corresponds to that of objection and subjection , and is argued in precisely the same way ; one party affirming that the world is formed within , as by the action of our own innate faculties ; the other , that the world actually exists , as we conceive of it , without us : whereas , our idea of the world results from the joint action of our own definite innate faculties and external forces . All things are maintained by action and reaction ; in the physical world ** action and reaction are equal and contrary " and a similar law pervades the mental and moral world .

      In the formation of character there are two forces to take into consideration—the internal and external . Sometimes the internal is weak , and then a man is said to be the creature of circumstances ; sometimes it is strong , and then , as in Luther , Mahomet , Bacon , Newton , and the other instances mentioned by Mr . Kingsley , he is said to form his own character . Mr . Owen , both in speech and writing , has , doubtless , attributed too much influence to external circumstances—that is , as considered in their operation upon one , two , or even three generations , and his opponents have , doubtless , erred on the opposite side ; nevertheless , our object should certainly be to encrease the internal forces , so as to make a man what is called independent of circumstances , or at least to give him the power to control them .

      And now , a few words with reference to the free will part of the question ; for I agree with Mr . Kingsley that "it is not a question for philosophasters to palaver over , but a practical ( truth or ) falsehood fraught with the most important and immediate social results . " All our power over the physical world has resulted from the application of the inductive philosophy , of which Bacon was the ablest and principal exponent . Now , if we would acquire the same influence over the formation of character as we have over external nature , it can only be by the introduction of the same inductive method ; a thing manifestly impossible if man have any real freedom of will , or , what is the same thing , if he have the power of acting contrary to known and determinate laws .

      I look , therefore , upon the doctrine of philosophical necessity as of the highest possible importance , for I believe that , when it is properly understood and acted upon , it will be found to bear the same relation to mind as the principle of induction does to matter . This is what I understand Robert Owen to mean when he says that ' a man ' s character is formed for him and not by him ; " and when he insists so strenuously upon the importance of that dogma , he means that we are no longer to act upon the supposition that a man can bo what he pleases ; but that we must study and obey tho laws of mind as of matter , so as to encrease the internal force of character to enable us either to conquer circumstances or to make us superior to them , and so to adjust one to the other as to produce the utmost amount of happiness

      possible . All reasoning is based upon a calculation of consequences ; and how can we calculate consequences in the most important department of mind , unless the laws of mind be fixed , if a man has the power to be moved or not by causes which in all similar circumstances have always been sufficient to move him , that is , if he has any freedom of will in the case ? To help to illustrate this subject , let us go back to Mr . Kingsley . He says , " Those who choose may hold that the egg-shell causes the chicken inside , that

      the organs of a man s brain and nerves cause his character . " The shell here , if we please , may represent external circumstances , but it is the internal vital force that developes the chicken . Here are two eggs , in appearance very much alike , but one comes out a chicken , the other a duck , and no force of external circumstances or of will on the part of the chicken could make it a duck , or the duck a chicken . Their nature is fixed and determinate , and we have to study the laws of duck nature and of chicken nature in rearing them .

      So of two men that are born , in appearance they may differ no more than the eggs , and yet one shall develope into a Bacon or Newton , a Shakspeare or Milton , the other shall continue a most ordinary mortal , and no force of external circumstance or will shall much narrow the difference . Mr . Kingsley writes as if it "were in the power of will to overcome these differences ; but we may safely predicate that circumstances -would prove too strong for them—the difference in their nature , in the temper of their internal spring or force , is a circumstance which they could no more control than anything external . We

      may never succeed in making ducks into chickens , but the difference between men are dependent , thank Heaven , upon nothing so capricious as free-will , but upon laws which , if we study , in the course of ages may be used to produce such characters as may be thought most desirable . Mr . Kingsley does not appear to me to be quite consistent throughout . He says , * ' We must be delivered from evil—inward evil—from inward selfishness , pride , laziness , meanness , ferocity . Can mere outward circumstances do that ? " " We , " he says , " know something stronger than these sins , and Mr . Owen does not . " Surely ,

      this something stronger must be a circumstance . May we not correctly call a cause of whatever kind a circumstance ? " Why , " he says , " are we not at this moment grubbing up pig-nuts in a state of primaeval breechlessness ? For these were the circumstances of our forefathers , which God taught them to conquer , as he will teach us to conquer ours , and be what he intends us to be , &c . " Surely , God ' s teaching is an external circumstance , just as much as Robert Owen ' s would be . Again , once more and lastly , he says , " We are taught that a man has a will and spirit . " Granted . What then ? This will and spirit has a definite nature of its own , and acts in accordance with the laws of that nature ; and we are not the less bound to study those laws , whether that

      will and spirit depend upon organization or is independent of it . We hear much of organization of industry and of the benefits of association , and whether we can avail ourselves of them must depend upon *• the formation of character ; " and yet the best friends of Association are here at variance upon the very first principle . Little is said or known about the nature of man , upon which all other knowledge must be based ; and Mr . Kingsley is doubtful even if the mind acts through the organs of the brain and nervous system . The laws of the material world we admit to be fixed , and all the comforts , conveniences , and ornaments of life have been produced by acting in accordance with them . If we act in contravention of these laws , failure is known to be

      inevitable . The laws of the moral world are not less fixed than those that govern the material world , and if sought after and adapted to the wants of society , the results will be equally good ; if disobeyed , or if we act in opposition , equally disastrous . I shall resume this subject , if you will allow me , another week . I am , Sir , faithfully yours , Charles Bray .

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      REPLY TO MR . BARTON AND MR . NEALE . London , Sept . 30 . 1850 . Sin , —Will you admit me again into your Open Council to reply as briefly as possible to Mr . Barton and Mr . Edward Vansittart Neale ? . . , Mr . Barton is entirely mistaken in imagining that the necessity for human agency as an essential circumstance in the arrangements for well forming the human character is overlooked in the rational system . But , Mr . Barton says , " How are sane individuals to be obtained where all are insane ? " Simply by

      removing the insanity which an irrational iundjimental idea has produced , by the influence of a rational fundamental idea . Surely , Mr . Barton can understand how a man who has been made to reason falsely by the reception of a fundamental error , will be enabled to reason correctly when that error is superseded by a fundamental truth . Mr . Barton says , "The offspring of badly-organized individuals cannot be made wise and good . " What has been done by education for the children of such persons even -with very imperfect means is a practical

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      flN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVER EXTREME , ARE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ]

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 5, 1850, page 660, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1855/page/12/