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the breast of their venerable mother , whose udders all drawn dry " are unable any longer to give them nourishment . Here and there , indeed , a few of the *« weaker brethren , " the Bathursts , the Wilberforces , and the Feildings , are dropping off like insects from a blighted bough , but the great body of the established clergy still believe or affect to believe that their craft is not endangered . I think , my dear Hunt , that you and I shall draw a different moral from the state of things I have been discussing . We shall find strong reasons for hope and for renewed exertion in the good cause . Old things are passing away , and all things will become new . Believe me , ever faithfully , yours , Frederick . J . Foxton .
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EMPLOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE . 5 , Park-row , Knightsbridge , Oct . 9 , 1850 . Sib , —The space in your Journal devoted to a consideration of the condition and wants of the people , shows clearly that your great object is to have a full discussion of the condition of England question . All information on the employment of the people in the various branches of industry must therefore be conducive to the main object you have in view .
Every careful observer must have reflected on the crowded masses of workpeople congregated together in the chief cities and towns of the empire , and no one who has travelled throughout the agricultural districts can have failed to notice the rapid decay of many rural villages and small country towns . Manufacturing towns and cities swelling to inordinate proportions , villages falling to decay , and cottages crumbling to dust is one of the many signs of " progress " which make thoughtful men pause " and ask whither
are we going ? The following figures , quoted from the enumeration tables , throw some light on the subject . They represent the numbers of persons employed in agriculture and in all other pursuits at the various periods : — Agriculture . Other pursuits . 1811 .. 35 per cent . .. 65 per cent . 1821 .. 33 „ .. 67 1831 .. 28 „ .. 72 „ 1811 22 „ 78 „
In 1811 , the population of Great Britain amounted to 12 , 596 , 803 , of which 4 , 408 , 880 were dependant upon agriculture * and 8 , 187 , 923 upon other sources of income . In 1841 , the population of Great Britain amounted to 18 , 844 , 434 , of which 4 , 145 , 775 were dependant upon agriculture , and 14 , 698 , 659 on other sources of income ; showing a decrease of the number employed in agriculture in 1841 as compared with 1811 , of 263 , 105 persons . The estimated encrease of population between the years 1811 and 1841 , is not less than 49 * per cent . ; and had the land of
Great Britain found employment for the people proportionate to the encrease of population , the numbers employed in agricultural pursuits would have been 6 , 591 , 276 , or 2 , 445 , 501 more than weie so employed in 1841 . It is but fair to suppose that the agricultural districts have contributed a fair proportion of tho encrease of population as a whole . The population born in the agricultural districts have , of necessity , found their way to our over-crowded towns and cities . When to such a migration of labourers from the agricultural to the manufacturing districts is added the annual and endless influx of Irish to our
shores , it can , I think , be no matter of wonder that every now and again we hear of what is cunningly called a " surplus population , " and an overcrowding of the labour market , strikes , riots , and such like outward and visible signs of growing discontent . In close connection with this subject is tho extension of manufactures and the rapid improvements in machinery . Hitherto now markets have been found for the encrease of manufactures , and even foreigners have come ! to England to perfect their inventions , and lind a profitable iicld for the exercise of their ingenuitv . It is , however , irrational to suppose that
in the present advanced state of the physical sciences , and foremost among which may be ranked the means of international communication , that England can for ov « . r maintain her manufacturing superiority . It is not to be expected that a now India or China will bo discovered every five or ten yours . It is still less to bu expected that , if fresh markets be discovered tliat Knglatul can monopolize the lion ' s share of tho advantages arising therefrom . If the extension of old , and the discovery of m \ v , markets do not keep pace with the encrease of population , decrease of employment on the land , and the improvements of machinery , it require * not tho gift of prophecy to
foretell the results . The object of all improvements in machinery is to facilitate the means and lessen the cost of production . So perfect has machinery in Nome brandies become that the employment of male adults is almost totally dispensed with , and women and children used instead . To examine a table , showing the numbi is of persons employed in a factory , say a cotton mill , will at once explain this point clearly . From n document of tho kind referred to , showing at one view the wngoa of operatives in some of the principal cotton factories in Lancashire , and specifying their diilercnt ages , I observe that there are 11 ( 19 males employed between the ages of 11
and 15 . From . 26 to 30 the numbers employed are 355 . Females , from 11 to 15 , 1123 . From 26 to 30 , 195 . The numbers employed at the various ages are supposed to be fixed , because they are fitted for the work at which they are employed . What becomes of those who are ' * cast off" because they are no longer required , and must make way for their younger brothers and sisters , it is not difficult to discover . A careful examination of the bills of mortality , the gaols , and penal settlements will
enlighten any one who is ignorant on that part of the subject . A person connected with the iron trades writes to me , «* That so perfect has machinery been made of late years , that in some cases the improvements have rendered the further employment of the inventor unnecessary . " Supposing , Sir , that the figures I have used be not strictly correct , but , like all statistics , only indicative of the general condition of the people , are they not such as must induce all thoughtful men to reflect on the future ? At this moment trade
is what is called prosperous ; but those who rest contented in the hopes that such prosperity will continue , because the corn-laws have been repealed , will at no distant day discover their error . The evils of modern civilization are of long and strong growth , and will not be easily overcome . No merely sectional movement can materially affect them . It will avail but little that working men ' s associations be established in a few towns , with a view to the lessening of the evils of unrestricted , unregulated , and stimulated competition , provided the latent
sources from which these evils flow be riot dried up , and , if possible , eradicated . If the wall raised on the beach , to protect the shore be not stronger than the sea it is expected to repel , it will be undermined and washed away . It was , therefore , with pleasure that I read in your Journal of Saturday last , that you considered associated labour , freehold land , and tenant-right , societies , as parts of the same whole ; and that these separate minor movements are training the public mind for a more comprehensive and eventful movement than may even now be generally conceived .
It is generally seen and admitted that the governing principle and power of the country are at this moment unstable and unsatisfactory . There is everywhere a restlessness manifest , indicative of important changes ; and the mind of the nati-in seems not to have settled down in statu quo , though some of her rulers have declared themselves in favour of " finality . " The predominating influence and power of aristocratic government , which , for so many ages , created , and swayed our institutions , has passed away , and has been succeeded by the rule and authority of the commercial and middle classes ,
who now hope to sway the destinies of man by the meanest possible incentives to human action that can possibly animate the human mind , namely , an unenlightened self-interest and an unintelligent love of wealth . So narrow and purely mercantile a philosophy will assuredly work out its own destruction . It wants the true principle of cohesion , and will fall to wreck and ruin . Should the mind of the nation be matured for the change , the physical strength of the labourer and the material resources of the country remain undiminished , the rule of merely mercantile selfishness will bo followed by the government of the intellect and heart of all for the good of all . I am , your obedient servant , Samuel 31 . Kydd .
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OTEN SPEAKING . Birmingham , October 5 , 1850 . Sin , —In the Leader , No . 27 , you have a paper on " Open Speaking . " You say " Candour is not only beneficial but sale . ' * You overlook one very important point . Suppose a man has a conscientious objection to take an oath—whether from religious scruples like those of the Quakers , or because he believes not in future punishments . Let such a man have the candour to let it be known that he cannot
take an oath , and ho is outlawed . Suppose he is a friend of your own , and you wish him to give very irnx > ortant evidence in a case of murder of your wife , or robbery , etc ., &c ., evidence that would convict , or procure restitution of property . He would have the mortifieation of being unable to assist you , merely because he ( was candid ) could not take an oath . Your ruin might bo tho consequence . What a grief to him , and suffering to you , and all because he has been candid . For he might have concealed his opinions , and have served you .
Allow me to thank you for the very excellent paper you have established , every number of which I have bought and carefully perused from its commencement . A Reader
A man who cannot take an oath cannot qualify for member of Parliament , magistrate , &c , &c . I believe oath-taking is at the bottom of the want of" outspeaking candour . " Get , therefore , oath-taking abolished , nnd declaration allowed instead . False declaration could bo punished the same as perjury . I believe the declaration would beget more truthful speaking in ordinary intercourse , for many people seem to think lying is wrong only when it is sworn to , and lie therefore in business , &c ., just as interest or convenience dictate . I am quite convinced that oath-taking is one great cause of lying .
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ON THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER . THE MIND IN CONNECTION WITH ORGANIZATION . Letter II . Kosehill , October 7 , 1850 . Sir , t—In taking the above title I do not mean to assume that the mind exists independentl y of organization ; as to the question whether the mind results from organization or has an existence independent of it , every one may keep his own opinion without at all affecting the inferences I wish to draw . Electricity exists throughout all nature—the electrifying machine merely makes it evident ; so mind may have a universal existence , organization only making it manifest in the condition in which it is known to us .
The difference on the freedom of the will is much more one of mere words than is usually supposed . The advocate of freedom generally means only that the will is not necessarily influenced by external circumstances , but acts freely and spontaneously , according to its own nature . The advocate of necessity grants all this , but also says that that nature is definite , and obeys laws as fixed and determinate as those of matter ; that is , that the state of mind being the same , and the circumstances the same , the result will be the same in all cases . The higher the nature the less the freedom of the will . A swallow on the
wing appears to have the most freedom of will , for it is impossible to calculate the course it may take in its windings ; and God may be said to have the least , for , according to our conception , the laws of His nature make itimpossible that He should do otherthan that which is right and benevolent and just , or that His course can be other than that which in His prescience He has foreseen it will be . Mr . E . V . Neale says that the will " cannot be classed in the same category with powers whose action is strictly necessary ; that is to say , as under the same circumstances always
the same ; " but it is evident that he here means external circumstances , not that the mind being in the same state and the circumstances the same , the action would not necessarily be the same . For he says that the action of the will depends upon its nature ; that is , that it must act in one definite way , necessarily in accordance with its nature , so that , knowing its nature , we might predicate with certainty how it would act . This is all the admission we require , for to be free the will must be able to act contrary to its nature , and then God himself could not foresee what course it would take .
Again , Mr . Neale says ' that the well-being of man is as capable of being assured by arrangements formed in conformity with the laws of his nature , as is the increase of his flocks and herds and the productiveness of his crops . " I do not think ltobert Owen could have meant much more than this . A man is said to be free when he can do as he pleases , and this is all that is meant by most of the advocates of freedom of will ; but what he will please to do will always depend upon his nature or organization . The space in which he may act freely in this sense is almost infinite , would it were less , but it narrows itself as civilization advances—would that he could
always be depended upon for doing what was right , and acting only reasonably . In the material world some fifty or sixty elements form all the variety around us ; in the mental world some thirty or forty primitive impulses and faculties form all the equally varied results of mind—all the characters and actions of men and of the whole sentient creation . One of your correspondents has asked , what is a motive ? A motive is an impulse to act , from whatever propensity , sentiment , or intellectual faculty derived . The will is the last result or aggregate of all these impulses or forces—in fact it is the strongest motive , and immediately precedes action . The impulses of which it is composed are numerous ; and so varied is
its field of action , so infinite are the combinations resulting from a comparatively few simple elements , so changeable and incalculable are our emotions , that wo can hardly wonder at the tenacity with which men cleave to the notion that the will is free . Tho will has been defined as the last dictate of the understanding ; it is rather the last dictate of all the faculties and feelings , the understanding frequently not entering into the matter at all . There are not , therefore , motives ruling the will—there is , in fact , no such thing as will , what we call will being merely the strongest motive . I have now done with the metaphysical part of the subject , and shall proceed to the practical and more important .
In ray previous letter I said that the character was the result of the action and reaction of external circumstances and the internal force , by whatever name we may have been accustomed to designate that force , whether spirit , soul , mind , organization , or will . Hitherto the discussion has almost wholly turned upon external circumstances ; the consideration of the nature of tho being acted upon has been deemed of too little importance , although it must be of at least equal importance with external circum-
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686 Iff ft t QLt&tttt . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 12, 1850, page 686, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1856/page/14/
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