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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd February 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 184

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      plus labour , so ably advocated in the Leader , ike reviewer seems not to have the smallest notion . It meets some of his strongest objections to associations , and yet he appears entirely unconscious that ever any such proposal has been made : — " Political Economy , " says he , " reechoing Christianity and Common sense , long since proclaimed that if any man would not work , neither should he eat : —our law has enacted that a man shall eat whether he 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 removes 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 country , the 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 . of

      the state ) , to provide an outlet for the exertions 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 m itigate 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 Btepped 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 supthe scantier must be the allowance of

      port by his labour , each member of it ; the common custom till 1834 was to increase the peasant ' s wages or allowance with every additional chiM 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 6 ecured 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 Bupport them by a charitable contribution from the earnings of the employed ? "

      To the first of these throe questions the Socialist has an answer , the Economist has none . To the second question , we reply No ; let-alone-ism says Yes . To the third we answer No , we will give them wagefi , not alms . Socialism would say , So long as there are millions of acres uncultivated , and thousands ot willing arms to cultivate them , it is an absurdity to tulk ot over-population ; that it is the want of wise guidance and leadership that renders it needful for any man to want the means of supporting himself and fumily 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 nee them manifested in those whose 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 | uh fault to its natural results , if by that he meant to take no note of it- —to " let it alone . " We cannot do this , because , apart from motives of benevolence ( all mere sentimentalisin , of course ) , we are 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 hia neighbour an effectually as the physical iniasm from } r is undrained and filthy dwelling to the abodes of wealth and comfort . It would be unjust , because , for the most part , the causes that have made ihe pauper have Leon faults of society us much us errors of his own . " If population increases faster tlmn the field of employment enlarge " , " as we cannot kill off the . supernumeraries , and dare not leave them alone , we will expend our surplus labour upon the surplus raw material now lying waute .

      The reviewer next , falls foul of association-concert . in the division of employments . He grants that : — " Lubour would be both more productive und bettor rewarded were the labourers in each department exactly nrpnorfioiic'd to the need which \ . hu wprlU uoh of the .

      prothis prevented , to some extent , that rapid 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

      diminution duce 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 reviewer says that the only way to find this just right number is to find out " which kind ot 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 ot 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

      the reviewer mean to assert that the intellect which arranges our railway system and our vast manufacturing establishments , which 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 . letter to the

      As you justly observed in your 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 prevail . I may probably trouble you with another letter on some other points touched on in the Edinburgh Review I remain , Sir , yours respectfully , James Hole .

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      TRACTS FOR THE MILLENNIUM . Feb . 21 , r > 611 . Sut , —The prize forwarded to you , with my lette published in the Leader of Jan . 2 / 3 , 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 Viee ; as the second of the nix personal or individual duties , the practice of which is religion . " The competitive essays to be sent to C . C , No . 8 , King William-street , Went Strand , not later than the middle of the ensuing month . —I remain , dear Sir , yours truly , A Constant Rkadkh .

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      164 « CU « K « M « . [ SATimPAy ,

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      THE APOSTLE PAUL TIIK ANC 1 RL SPOKEN OF IN 11 KV . XIV . (> . J ; m . i » 8 , 1851 . Silt , — Freedom of opinion on theological subjects , as well as othern , being allowed to be expressed in the Leader , 1 am induced to oiler a few observations on the above important passage : — " I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven , having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth ( land ) , and to every nation , and kindred , and tongue , and people" ! Thin revelation of Jesus Christ has been greatly misapprehended by professing Christians , more so than most other parts of" the sacred volume , which has been enused lor want of attention to those ; important parts of il , 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 ,, which God gave unto him to t , liow unto his servants things which must shortly come to pans " ; and , at verse ;! , "Blessed in he ( hat readel . h , and they that read the words of this prophecy , and keep ( hose thingM which me written therein ; for the time is al , hand . " JNow John was ut this time in the Isle of

      Patmos ( but not Vjanished there ) , Mo m ention & made in the Scripture that John was banished to tftfi 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 xyi . 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 of 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 who 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 children of Israel . " Acts ix . 15 . So wnen Paul 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 Aprippa , " 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 af ter thus preaching to the Jews , he adds , " and then to the Gentiles , " which fully answers to the vision of John , " I saw an angel fly in the midst of Heayen , 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 here very important . The Apostles were to bear witness because they had been with Christ from the beginning . John xv . 27 . And in order to constitute Paul a witness of Christ ' b resurrection , he was caught up to the third heaven , and received the Revelation from Christ himself . 2 Cor . xii . 2 to 4 . So saith the Apostle . 1 Cor . ix . 1 . "Am I not an Apostle ? Am I not free ? Have I not seen JesuH Christ our Lord" ? How important are these words . Paul had H ( nm Jesus Christ the Ixml , when taken to th « third heaven ; and he was , therefore , a witness of the resurrection . The Lord Jesus also said to Paul when

      a conspiracy had been formed to take his life . xxiii . 11 . " Be of good cheer , Paul , for m thou hunt testified of me in Jerusalem , ho must thou bear witness also at Rome . " The Apostles tifpn arc the witnesses to the truth of the New Testament Revelation , and when Christ offered his prayer to tho lather for his Apostles , lie prayed also for oil tljut Bhojiija believe in him through their word . John xvn . MChristians of all denominations are called on to * Mlievc ( hat these ; witnesses declared the truth , n jju . w "; whole truth , of the new covenant blowing * mtliriij i . and all parties would do > vell to exainiiiu what tne Apostles have witnessed concerning Jesus and tn resurrection , from the Acts of tho Apostle * a » rt u »« various Epistle * to tho churches ; and while mvesu-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 22, 1851, page 184, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1871/page/20/