On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
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.
Untitled Article
his doctrine accords with the general conduct of all wise parents , tutors and governors , inasmuch as all such will prefer the prevention to the correction of evil , and will studiously endeavour to place those under their authority in circu mstances the most favourable to the formation of virtuous habits and dispositions ; and will strive to remove , as far as possible , all temptations to vice . On this ground the Necessitarian and the Libertarian can and do daily meet . Nor will any
difference arise between them as to the expediency of gaining their object by kind rather than by coercive measures , if it can be clearly proved that , whenever they have been fairly tried , the former are far more efficient than the latter . No Christian can dispute the obligation of that precept which commands us to " overcome evil with
good . " Having thus endeavoured to remove a stumbling-block , which has prevented the great mass of serious Christians from advancing even to the threshold of Mr . Owen ' s fabric , permit me to advert to another principle of his plan , which has proved a rock of offence to men of the world . I
allude to the community of interests which it proposes to establish among the associated members of his villages of unity and mutual co-operation . This proposal is prima facie opposed to a prejudice almost indelibly imprinted on the minds of Englishmen .
" But foster'd even by Freedom , ills annoy : That independence Britons prize too high , iveeps man from man , and breaks the social tie , The self-dependent lordlings stand alone , All kindred claims that soften life unknown . "
Although few persons of reflection would be hardy enough to deny , that it can only be by a progressive union ot interests that any great advance can t > e made in the career of civilization 5 yet the generality of philanthropic writers , their schemes for ameliorating the condition of the working passes , always assume the necessity oj preservin g sacred the present division of mankind into separate fami"es , trom a persuasion ( no doubt )
Untitled Article
that to break down these walls of separation would be to destroy that love of independence which is supposed to lie at the root of our dignity , and of
some of our best qualities . I can readily conceive that the association of the ideas of conventual or eoenobitic life , with the austerities and absurdities of Monachism , tended , after the
Reformation , to excite strong prejudices in this country against institutions having any resemblance to a state of society , in which men were bound by rigid laws not only to do many things that ran counter to their natural inclinations , but even to perform duties
accordant with their tastes and dispositions . As compared with such a system of discipline , the right of disposing of one ' s time and property according to one ' s own pleasure , must have appeared far preferable , though
at the sacrifice of much of the security and freedom from worldly care which belong to eoenobitic life . But besides the limitation of liberty , which is supposed to be involved in that state of society , there is a strong repugnance on the part of enterprising , skilful
and careful individuals , to share the produce of their industry with the indolent and imbecile ; and to overcome this feeling , the enforcement of Christian precepts has hitherto proved ineffectual , with few exceptions . Unless , therefore , the scheme of union projected by Mr . Owen can be relieved
from these grand objections ; that is to say , unless it can be proved to be consistent with the enjoyment both of individual liberty and of private property , I cannot indulge a sanguine expectation that it will be generally adopted by a people so tenacious of freedom , and of the fruits of their
personal industry and skill , as are the inhabitants of this island . Happily , however , it appears , ( in my humble apprehension , ) that these highly-cherishea privileges may be not only preserved , but enlarged b y the proposed change in our mode of life . For , in the first place , each society
must consist of voluntary associates ; and the parties thus associated will be competent to establish such rules for their own government , as do not interfere with the general laws of the country * A member of one of these communities would , of course , reserve the right of withdrawing from it at
Untitled Article
Mr . Owen ' s Plan . 451
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 451, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/19/
-