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Leader (1850-1860), 24th April 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 399, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      stars receives the natne of a particular divinity endowed with earthly attributes . The incalfculable inittitence of the sun upon the earth , as well as that of the moon , Which is by no ! means iticbnsidernble , easily gives xise to the thought , that by their light as by their periodical variations , the other lights of heaven are also not without their , influence on human events ; arid this idea must have been still more firmly grounded , because 119 one ever imagined that the influence of the heavens extended beyond the earth * Though the gods had a higher existence , they were gfcillgods of the eartjij and this earth was the central point of the whole . People then began to ascribe to the lesser planets an influence on the fate of individual men ; thus arose Astrology , which among other human follies has been so warmly supported . It is easy to perceive how the worship of the sun , or all the heavenly bodies , suited these views ; but , on the other hand , much of the old fabulous lore , the reniains of earlier times , could only have existed simultaneously with it , because no one ventured to open the eyes of the multitude . "

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      MELIOEA . Meliora or Better Times to Come . Being the Contributions of ' many' Men touching ¦ the ' present State and Prospects of Society . Edited by Viscount Ingestre . J * W . Parker and Son . One of the hopeful indications of this age in ^ England is the heartiness with which the upper classes examine the condition of the lower classes , with a view to amelioration . Half the injustice and evil in the world is caused by thoughtlessness ; and if the real grounds of complaint which the people have , were once forcibly yet calmly stated to the governing classes so as to win their thoughtful consideration , without rousing their fears or their insulted self-love , an active endeavour to alleviate the causes of laint would assuredly be seen . Here , before us , is a strange

      comp volume , written by noblemen , clergymen , authors , and working men , in earnest confraternit y * setting forth thieir views on the prospects and conditions of society : and the volume is edited by a young guardsman Stich a volume was never seen before , and if * only as a " sign of the times" it deserves respectful attention . W , - ¦ - ¦ The opening paper is by the Ilev . Sidney Godolphin Osbornej a name endeared to the public by many a service , who , after depicting the ^ Beershbp Evil , proposes a new kind of Social Club-room for the artisans and villagers * The Rev . C . Girdlestone writes about Rich and Poor ; the Rev . Dr . Hook , of Leeds , about Institutions for Adult Education , a

      subject also collaterally treated by the Rev . T . Beanies , in his PUa for the Education of the Million . Dr . Nicolay speaks , from per 0 O 9 al-: ob 9 erva ^ % \ on , 6 ti \ xe Bwe ^ tagrie Grore has acapital paper on Sailors' Somes ; arid Lord Goderich takes advantage of theAdulterations of Food to suggest the only true Teme _ dy—association—as seen in the working of the Cooperative Stores . Passing over the Policy of Prevention , by Dr . Guy ; WbrditfortheWorking Classesiby Robert Baker ; Popular Investments , by Rev . J . B . Owen ; and Prison Discipline , by Captain Fulfofd ; we come to the , to us , most interesting section of this work , viz ., Lord Ingestre ' s Letters to a Friend . Learn from this how a young guardsman may earn his right to speak of

      the lower classes : — I was induced , not long ago , to commence my inquiries into the state of the world around me . I had often heard , as well as read , of the miseries which existed in London , and other large towns ; but , ' not troubling myself much about the matter , was content to believe that many of the evils that were said to exist were fabulous , and that real distress was mitigated by the numerous societies instituted for the purposes of relief . ' I also comforted myself generally with the maxim , that rich and poor must exist in this world , and that it would be useless to attempt to alter what was ordained . With such opinions as these , I lived . But now and then there cam © across me a suspicion , that , whilst I was enjoying the goods of this world , others might suffer , and that I never made an effort on my part to remedy it ; occasionally soothing my conscience by a small donation to a ttention

      charity sermon , or giving a beggar a mite . Providentially for me , my a was called to the condition of the poor by the potato famine—thus : I was living in a small village , where I saw the poor losing their little all , whilst I was not only comfortable , but supplied with all the necessaries , and many of tho luxuries , of life . I need not say that I was moved to pity , but , am thankful to add , to exertion in their behalf . In the district that I then resided in , there was not a gentleman ' s scat for many miles , and the parish was , like others in the neighbourhood , divided amongst several small proprietors , who lived in London , or other counties , and all absentees . I state this to show that almost all the responsibility fell on my own Bhoulders , and that I had nobody to assist me but the clergyman , who most kindly approved and aided mo in my scheme , though anxious that I should carry out the working of my plan alono . It was thus : —First , I called on the farmers and land

      occupiers of tho parish , and asked them to assist mo with subscriptions to provide food for the poor ; they complied with my request . They contributed according to the quantity of land they occupied . Letters were written to tho owners of tho property , mentioning what their tenants had given , and they responded well and handsomely to the call by proportionate donations . A soup-kitchen was then erected , and a coal and poa-storo obtained ; and on certain days in the week ( three ) , these necessaries were sold at a reduced price . The charity lasted from November till March , and , in spite of the prevailing distress , tho farmers had tho satisfaction of feeling that their rates were loss , and that tho money spent had been willingly given , and not forced from their pockets by a rate . Tho poor also did not feel

      themsalvos lowered by accepting charity ( a great object ) , but that they had boon Wisted in their distress , and wore thankful . Am I egotistical P Perhaps so ; hut I leave what I have written for your perusal , and trust it will prove where there % ft will ( so long as tho motivo . is right ) there is a way . In evidence of this fact , 3 Will mention , I was eighteen years old , and my allowanco at my private tutor ' s » 0 / . por annum . * But , you will ask , what sot mo at workP First , an idea constantly running in * my mind , how does steam power , applied to manufactures , or Jven locomotion , affect tho demand for labour P Ariothor—Is emigration bonoflcial p " Why are our gaols so comfortable—workhouses disagreeable ? What rosult arises flfoni committocH and commissions on education , sanitary reform , &e . P How doea

      the poor-law workP Do existing Bocloties eradicate much ovilP Tho effect of tho Exhibition , &c . &c . This is a bit of political economy , is it notP Yes . Is that theoretical or practical P Again , half my acquaintances who read this may say , * Poor follow ! ho intends to reform tho world—wants to bo an orator , a politician . Why not flh ' ool ) hunt , m wo do , and enjoy himwelf ? Ho thinks ho is going to act

      the world to rights / Questions arising from ideas of what acquanitances say : —• First : Why are questions of interest pooh-poohed ! by young menP Why is it weakness to have an interest in anything ? What are the duties of property ?—4 o we perform them ? Do young men of family exert themselves in any way ? These sort of ideas , my dear A ., come into my head when reading newspapers , or a book , or occur in conversation . Do they never occur to you ? I think we owe a great deal to Messrs . Thackeray , Dickens , Douglas Jerrold ^ Mayhew , and others , who , in their works , have ttfught us to call things by their right names— -who are not ashamed of showing us our inconsistencies , and in their pleasant style inducing us to laugh at them and be ashamed of them /' If such an occupation be thought romantically absurd by his companions in straw-coloured moustaches , let this emphatic avowal be sufficient

      answer : — - " For my part , I am much happier since I have attempted to do a little in this line ; and I doubt whether ( but of that you must judge ) I am much contaminated by my visiting what our class used to call the lower orders /' Model lodging Souses are treated in five different papers from different points of view by Messrs , Denison , Horace Mayhew , Nutt , Byng , and Tupper . It is , as we said , a curious volume , and we heartily commend it to your notice .

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      COMTE'S POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY . * By G . H . Lewes . Part IV . — The Fundamental Law of Evolution . In the attempts made by man to explain the varied phenomena of the universe , history reveals to us three distinct and characteristic stages , by Gomte named the Theological ( Supernatural ) , the Metaphysical , and the Positive . In the first man explains phenomena by some fanciful conception suggested in tne analogies of his own consciousness ; in the second , he explains phenomena by some a priori conception of inherent or superadded entities , suggested in the constancy observable in phenomena , which con ^ taScy leads him to suspect that they are not produced by any intervention on the part of an external being , but are owing to .-the nature of the things themselves ; in the third , he explains phenomena by adhering solely to these constancies of succession and eo-existence ascertained inductively , and recognised as the laws of nature . It -will be seen that the theological stage is the primitive spontaneous exercise of the speculative faculty , proceeding from the known ( i . e . consciousness ) to the unknown . The metaphysical stage is the more matured effort of reason to explain things , and is an important modification of the former stage ; but its defect is , that it reasons without proofs , and reasons upon subjects which transcend our capacity . The positive stage explains phenomena by ascertained laws , laws based on distinct and indisputable certitude gathered in " the long and toilsome investigations of centuries ; and these laws are not only shown to be demonstrable to reason , but accordant with fact , for the distinguishing characteristic of science is that it sees and foresees . Science is prevision . Certainty is its basis and its glory .

      In the theological stage , Nature is regarded as the theatre whereon the arbitrary wills and momentary caprices of Superior Powers play their varying and variable parts . Men are startled at unusual occurrences , and explain them by fanciful conceptions . A solar eclipse is understood , and unerringly predicted to a moment , by Positive Science ; but in the theological epoch it appeared that some dragon had swallowed the sun ! In the metaphysical stage the notion of capricious divinities is replaced by that of abstract entities , whose modes of action are , however , invariable ; and in this recognition of invariableness lies- the germ of science . In this epoch , Nature has a " horror of a vacuum , " organized beings have a " vital principle , " and matter has a vis inertia :.

      In the positive stage , the invariableness of phenomena under similar conditions is recognised as the sum total of human investigation , and beyond the laws which regulate phenomena , it is considered idle to penetrate .

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      We should do our -utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself . —Goethe .

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      • Somo of my correspondents wish mo to state what are tlio best editions of Comtek works . Thoro is but ono of each . I will , however , subjoin a list of all tho works : — Cours do Philosophic Positive , in six volumes , price 50 francs . ( In every respect his most important work . ) , . „ . Pftr # ^ -M . TraitS JiUmcntairo do Geomttrie Anali / tique , m ono volumo , price 7 francs . Pans , 1843 . TmitS Philosophupio d'Astronomic Popvlaire , in ono volumo , pvico 0 francs . ( A popular treatise ; requiring , however , somo preliminary knowledge of mathematics . ) 1 l Pans , 1846 , Discours stir VJSnsomhlo dn Positivismo , in ono volumo , price 0 franca ( which is

      reprinted in tho volume following ) . ¦ * ij "" ' ' iSj ?" ' Systbmo do Politiqwe Positive . The first ol four volumes , price 8 francs . Paris , 1851 . To thoso I must add tho admirable volumo of Comto ' H truoBt and most efficient diBciplo Littro" who , under tho title of Conservation , JtevoMion , et Positivisme , haw united his three expositions of tho positive ) philosophy , which tho etudont is udviaed to . road before commencing tho works of Com to . I havo to acknowledge the receipt of 10 / . from II . P . aa his contribution to tho Comtasubscription ; U . from Joseph Livorsoy , of Preston ; 10 s . from I ) r . F . li . Loos , of Leeds p 2 « M from Ortis ( a young working man , whoso lottor made my face llusli with admirationT ; « 3 li L O . *\ N . W . H . will 8 oo that his proffered " post-officeorder" will not lio unacceptable . . *

      _ ... . . __• _ Lot mo once for all announce that I cannot undortako any controversy on points in thoso articles ; necessities of space forbid it ; and many differences will , 1 hopo , disappear as tho system unfolds itnolf . I shall bo flattered at roomviri ff tho oxproflsion of antagonistic or ovon morely oritioul opinions ; and may eventually answer thorn m some eummary shape ; but correspondents must not attribute it to want of courtoey if I pro , servo wlonco during tho opposition of Oomto's system .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1852, page 399, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1932/page/19/