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Leader (1850-1860), 19th May 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, * Tlio Poetical Works of Jons Edmund Hea...

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      Robert Owen And His Social Philosophy* M...

      His business brought him into contact with a man who had seen and thought he could imitate a spinning-machine , and as he found the money for the effort , it was made , and by nineteen he was in possession of a small establishment bringing j n a profit of £ 6 a week . At this time an opening occurred in . tlie mill of a Mr . Drinkwater , who required a manager , and after some' demur , occasioned by Owen's juvenile appearance , engaged him at £ 300 a-year , arid left the whole concern , with five hundred operatives , entirely under his control . We must refer to Mr . Sargant ' s book or to Mr . Owen ' s autobiography—which is , in many respects , more intei-esting—for the details of his career as a spinner , merely observing that it led fo his purchase on behalf of certain partners and himself of the New Lanark Mills , where his benevolent plans were first put in force . This was a time of brilliant and honourable success ; large pvofits

      were made under his administration , his goods stood high in the market , and he could exhibit to admiring visitors the spectacle of a happy , well-ordered community , ruled by a truly benevolent will . He found New Lanark with a wretched population , addicted to drunkenness and thieving , and he soon made it as remarkable for good morals and prosperity . No force was used , no law invoked to punish the guilty , but they were reformed by example and the introduction of new conditions , which stimulated them to desire a better mode of life . Infant schools and schools for older children , all with new apparatus and tlie best modes of teaching , means of mental cultivation for adults , and constant encouragement to act well , certainly produced a wonderfuland beneficial change , and filled Owen with the conviction that his notion was right , that people ' s characters were formed for them by circumstances , and not by them

      at all . When the sufferings of the poor children who were being worked to death in cotton mills became known , Owen was their champion ; and it was no small gain for the side of humanity that he could vo ' mt to a factory which poured wealth into the pockets of its proprietors unstained by tyranny , and not tarnished by a ; single tear . We cannot wonder that Owen was looked up to by all classes , and stimulated to offer nostrums for the genei-al reformation of the world at large . The long struggles of the war against France left a terrible harvest of distress and demoralization for the peace to deal with . The ruling classes were alarmed , and almost as ignorant as the starving mobs they endeavoured to coerce . Owen then , with the help of church dignitaries , members of the Royal family , and het of the

      the leading public men , came forward as the Prop New Moral World , and . for a little while wielded an extraordinary power . But his schemes wore imperfect and unsound , and when he denounced all the religions in the world , although he was not torn to pieces as ho expected ,. his chief followers began to stand aloof . He was , however , convinced that by one speech he had , / o ) - cyerdestroyed all superstition , and set the world free from its most serious evils . So full was he of his " mission" that he gave up New Lanark , and nil hopes of personal advancement , and set himself exclusively to work- to reform mankind . From this time , whether in America or in England , his schemes had little success ; but he did undoubtedly scatter far and wide among the working-classes a thirst for knowledge , a taste fi > r civilized amusements , ' and a desire for that wellordered home life which is essential to human progress .

      —Hffli ^ wrn ~ l 7 P { rn" -nrTTTOTG—c ^ — greatest benefactor of his age . But he was a very onesided man , without capacity to enter into the views or feelings of , others , and his ideal of society and humariily was wanting in some of the highest and most important attributes . Ho wanted to ¦ make men according to his pattern , nnd sundry potentates were delighted at the idea of growing a population according to their taste , and on this account gave a ready audience to his plans . He was a model Of-perseverance , a noble instance of unselfish benevolence , but never a sound thinker nor a full sympathizer with the wants and tendencies of his race . IIis life is worth preserving in a popular form , and Mr . Sargant ' s labours have been well spent . Such a man ought ; not to be allowed to pass out of remembrance , and now that his philosophy is no longer a rnnttor of controversy , and will troublo the wprld no move , his " good deeds may live in remembrance and form the best monument of a worthy , but eccentric and imperfect man .

      Mat 19, I860.] The Leader And Safoirday ...

      Mat 19 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Safoirday Analyst . 477

      Mr. Iieade's Poems.* It Is Not Every Aut...

      MR . IIEADE'S POEMS . * IT is not every author who can do snch justice to himself ns Mr . - John Edmund Kendo has dono by the magnificent octavo edition of his works , just issued from tho press ; nnd lie is perfectly right in thus asserting his claim to a plnco in the poet ' s corner of every Englishman ' s library . Mr . Bon tie has boon before the public for thirty years us ono of tho most , aspirins * of her poets , aiming 1 , indeed , at " tlio highest heaven of invention , " nnd boasting a strength of

      wing permitted but to few . Mr . Bendo niny tnko rank with such of our poets as Gniy in regard to his lyrical nnd dramatic ambition , nnd tho enro and polish that ho bestows on his productions ; while ho has surpassed him in point of multiplicity nnd :-complo . tonosp . Ho has the same Virj * ilian taste , tho Riimo emulation to excel in ele & nnoo nnd correctness , tho savno classical colouring of stylo , nnd sometimes tho flnmo obscurity , both touching tho subject ami tho treatment . He merits much respect for the conscientious exorcise of his faculties from the considerate nnd roflcctivo reader .

      to time the double of other poets , particularly of Byron . A Spenserian poem on " Italy , " a dramatic poem on the First Murderer , and a semi-lyrical drama on " The Deluge , " looked like so many imitations of " Childe Harold , " " Cain , ; ' and * ¦ * Heaven and Earth . " They were the same in topics and 'in tlie mode of treatment . A closer investigation led to the suspicion that the . author had undertaken to rewrite those contemporary poems , and to deal with their matter and form in a more correct spirit . There seemed in this presumption as well as imitation , and for a whHe Mr . Beade suffered from the impression thus created . As time wore on , and Mr . Beade still continued to appeal to public opinion , a revision of the current critical judgment supervened , and a more intimate acquaintance still was made with these poems . It was then discovered that they were , however apparently , not really imitations or rewritings at all , but thoroughly original productions . The author had been in Italy , had seen what he described with his own eyes , had remarked perfectly

      novel traits , and had indulged in his own reflections . His enthusiasm , too , was specific—had its origin in his own predisposition , and his intellect , though reflective , was spontaneously operative . Thus , too , in his religious poems the vein of thought was distinctive , and the spirit of a very different spirit from the Byronic : it was rather inclined to adore than to question , and to acquiesce in the mystery than to rebel against it . We then began to understand what had so puzzled us in the genius of Mr . Beade . We sawin him a man , who had grown up among poetic influences , of an eminently sympathetic mind , who breathed the same atmosphere with others , was acted upon by and re-acted on them , and showed in all respects as a true brother of the Poetic Guild , whose soul was social , and little disposed , like a star , to dwell apart , but rather desirous of shining in company , giving and receiving light ; Truly , he was not an independent prophet in his own right , but he . was a pupil in the School of the Prophets , and bore about with him the marks of his

      special training . The present is by far the best edition of Mr . Beade ' s poems yet extant . The first merit it presents is that of an excellent arrangement . The poet 'first introduces himself and his early life , in that series of beautiful poeriis which he had entitled ¦ " Youth , and How it passed . " Then there follows a number of lyrics , more or less egoistic ~ and descriptive , preluding his great poem on . " Italy . " " The Deluge , " -with" " Hebrew poems , " and the " Vision of Ancient Kings , " and " Memnon , " all grand poems both in conception and execution , then continue and conclude the first volume . The second apparently aims at a like chronological disposition ; and presents " Man in Paradise , " " Cain the Wanderer , " " Catiline , " " Life's Episode , " and " Bevelations of Life , " interspersed with 1

      lyrical poems , —all ofgreat excellence , and some of unquestionable originality in thought ,, in feeling , in their framework , their metrical peculiaritiesT and in rhythm and rhyme . All have been polished to the highest point of perfection attainable by the author ; and some of them have been re-written to an extent that has excited our astonishment . We have compared this edition with a former , and therefore can speak with confidence on the point . Some poems have been omitted—among them that on " Sebnstopol , " for which , in a patriotic point of view , we are thankful . Its place has been substituted by an ¦ " Ode to the Patriot Volunteers , " in which a feeling is-pvosenUn-rega * 4 J ; o-J ^ — will live to outgrow—at least , we hope so , for the sake both of the French . Emperor and of the author . Mr . Beade should recollect that the former has at least liberated Italy , and that there is some truth in Mrs , Browning ' s estimate of that great transaction .

      Them wns a considerable interval when tho poetic powers of Mr . Reade wcro regarded with critical suspicion . Ho'seemed from tii ^ o

      * Tlio Poetical Works Of Jons Edmund Hea...

      * Tlio Poetical Works of Jons Edmund Heade . Now Edition . Two vols . 8 vo . Longman , Grcon , Longman & ltoborts .

      Miscellaneous Books.* Npi-Ie Second Seri...

      MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS . * npi-IE second series of " Discpurses" by Dr . Anderson js , as to the - " ¦ ¦ quality and tendency of views and sentiments contained in them remarkably pure and elevating . In the discourses on " The Perpetuity of tho Church , " Christ , the Saint ' s Life , " " The Oracle Near , " there is a holiness of feeling and a Christian beauty of sentiment that make this edition particularly attractive and valuable . Indeed , the great charm of these discourses consists in the spiritof love which they breathe , combined with tho strong desire which the author evinces in every page that the pure doctrines of the Gospel should be more nnd more tho subject of our earnest meditation , and the practice of our lives . We liearlily recommend tho volume to tho attention of all Christian denominations . The work entitled " Theology in Science" is , as an educational worlr , the best wo have soen upon tho subject . Tho importance of the subject upon which it treats , the remarkable clearness of its style , and tho sound and valuable information which it contains , will , wo arc sure , render it a most popular schoolbook . Dr . Browor is nn eminent writer of educational works , and ho thoroughly understands what properly and truly constitutes ri ,.: ! , l education , for bo deals in a masterly stylo with ' subjocts that arc essentially calculated to instruct , enlighten , and enlarge tho niin 1 of tho learner . Tho present work is divided into the following interesting parts : " The

      * Discourses, By Wli.Uam Anderson, I-L.P...

      * discourses , By Wli . UAM Anderson , I-L . p . KdinburgU : Adaiu and Charles Black . T / iaoIoffi / in Science For tho uso of Schools and of Privnto Rendera . By tho Key . JDr . Huewku , Trinity Hall , Ouinbridgc . London : Jurrold ami Sdns . View of the Salmon Fisher // of Scotland . By the lute Munno Mackenzie . ' William lUuokwood and Sons . Glycerine and Cod Liror Oil ; thvlr TTteloty , r » f ™' ' ' { °% tf ™ P , fj £ Value , and claims upon professionaland public attention . Uy W . " "f \ "f ™ Willmott , author of' A Few Words about I ' oisons , " & o . London . 11 . Uailliorc .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 19, 1860, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19051860/page/17/