On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    JTo.492. Arm. 27. 1859-T THB. ITiABKB. 9...

  • 

    this life ^ full of years and full of ri...

  • 

    POLITICS AND NATURAL HISTORY. A great de...

• 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.

    Routine Routed. One Striking Consequence...

    though tiiere is a pretence , by exan ^ ation ^ emes and ^ therwise , to make way for merit- Ttoisa palpable sham because it makes &* £ ** £ *** £ Sate to examiners , who are themselves poor ; creatures of old routine . Already it is found this . wDl ££ answer ; it will not and does , andLeu ** supply us with men to cope with the Emperor m hL own walk ; and the nation , keepings eye on Ins glthSng power , his immense material resourpes , Ind his Rowing ascendancy over his wmftrmja is continiially farmed for its present and itsrfuture safety . Old routine still stands in our way , and though routed successively , he impedes our march by ifie . vivid love which the great ^ and increasing multitude of office-holders bears him .

    As the rule Ministers have no other thought than to imitate the energetic man who has fought his way to power in France . But their imitation is confined to the form , not the substance , of his conduct . He adapts himself , and bases his power on adapting himself , to the French nation , lie grows in strength because he grows in popularity . The bulk of the French is with him . The few republicans who are still opposed to him , and the partizans of the Bourbons , are dwindling into lormer

    insignificance . There is not one or the who has any influence over his countrymen Lamartine does not oppose the Emperor , victor Hugo , perhaps the most distinguished of his opponents— a partizan of the elder Bourbons , a Royalist poet—was never , like Beranger , the poet of the people . From his Breton motfcer he derived at once his genius and his incapacity to "be a popular leader . He can have no influence . The Emperor , then , increases in power by uniting all France to himself .

    Our Government cannot and will not imitate him in this respect . It persists in governing by party . It maintains old coercion and old exclusions . It does not imitate him in adapting itself to the people . It is still composed of the _ old exclusive aristocracy . Even when it admits a lower class man it is only to maintain the sysjtem which was good a century ago . Chatham was as much superior to the courtiers of the Bourbons as Louis Napoleon is to bur . ministers . It is not good now , but our ministers persist in chaining ? by aristocratic routine , the life which can only expand with freedom . More freedom is what the nation wants . Ministers will only give it more regulations . Routine routed abroad must be effectually routed at home , or we shall miss the energy and need the talents which are given only by freedom .

    Jto.492. Arm. 27. 1859-T Thb. Itiabkb. 9...

    JTo . 492 . Arm . 27 . 1859-T THB . ITiABKB . 987

    This Life ^ Full Of Years And Full Of Ri...

    this life ^ full of years and full of riches , the family compact was complete . One nephew , Mr . Joseph Dawson , succeeded to his uncle ' s berth ; . a second occupied the humbler , but useful post , of assistant manager . A third was agent at Glasgow . A cousin looked after the interests of the family at Liverpool , and a brother ' . pf the late manager was the London representative of the Stainton and Dawson brotherhood . The Carron Company , it is heedless to say , was an eminently profitable concern , Neither rats ^ -nor Dawsons—stick to a sinking ship . As the value of the business became more and more apparent , and the family ^ int erest

    became more and more compact , the grand conception seems to have entered Mr . Joseph Dawson ' s mind -of-ousting all the other partners out of the business , and turning the ^ Carron Company , not only in name , but , in fact * into the family firm of Dawson , Stainton and Co . According to unfriendly statements , this conception was worked out continuously and successfully for a quarter of a century . Every means was resorted to to depreciate the value of the property in the eyes of those shareholders who were not within the charmed circle . The debts were overstated , and the assets under valued ; the partnership was debited with breakages and losses that never

    occurred , and credited with only portions of the monies received . False balance sheets were prepared by one member of the family , cashed by another , and audited by a third . Wo stranger was allowed to purchase shares in the . Company , but on the other hand the manager was always ready to buy up the interests of any existing shareholder for a consideration . No . investigation of" the accounts was allowed , and the monies which ought to have been divided among the Company were directed into the private accounts of the family . So things went on , till at last Mr . Joseph Dawson was gathered to his fathers , and Mr . William

    Dawson reigned in his stead . This gentleman may have " known Joseph and his works , " but he certainly did not apjireciate them * His virtuous indignation against his ' . ' enemies " and " greedy partners , " as he designated the non-family shareholders in the Company , was so strong , that he forgot the dictates of prudence . The fact that " union is strength" was lost sight of . Jealousies arose between the Staintons and Dawsons . Mr . William Dawson accused Mr . Henry Stainton of defrauding the company . The accusation appeal's to have been just . During Mr . Stainton ' s lifetime he handed over 9 ( 5 , 000 ? . to the company , and on his death shortlv afterwards his executors compromised

    THE HAPPY FAMILY . It is a blessed thing for brethren to dwell together in unity . There is no rule without an exception . If the united brethren are leagued together to defraud the public , it may be questioned whether the continuance of this , fraternal unity is a cause for thankfulness . Thore is a somewhat worldlier saying , in which , for our part , we ore disposed to place some implicit confidence . When thieves fall out , honest men come by their rights . Mr . William Dawson quarrelled with Mr . Henry Stainton , and the shareholders of the Carron Iron Company came by their dividends . We note the coincidence * but do not pretend to quote the instance as an illustration of our theory . At

    present we only know one side of the case . It is possible that the clan of Dawson ' s and Staintons may prove to have been modern Reohabites , in their uprightness as well in their family affection —in fact , a sort of plebeian " Greys" andpresbyterian "Elliotts . " It is equally possible , and some * what more probable , that the other shareholders in the Carron Company may prove to be—what shall we say P—well , very like the managers . It seems that some eighty-six years ago the Carron Iron Company made its appearanoe in the commercial work ! , Scotland was the land of its

    birth . Falkirk was its dwelling-place , and the Stainton family were its sponsors , parents and guardians . The company was virtually a partnership , and one of the partners , a Mr . Joseph Stainton , was the manager of the"concern . It is one consolation , at any rate , to learn that there con be no question about Mr . Stainton ' s spiritual orthodoxy . So amply did he provide for those of his own household , that not even the faintest suspicion of scepticism can attach to his revered memory . Every post connected with the management of the company was filled up by some sown of the Stainton race , so that when at last , after forty years of management , Mr . Stainton departed

    the claim from the company on his estate by a payment of 220 , 000 ? . Alas , the triumph of the Dawsons was shortlived and suicidal ! If Peter robs Paul , and Paul robs Peter , there is a strong antecedent probability that Peter and Paul together rob the rest of the Apostles . Acting on this assump tion , the exoteric shareholders of the Carron Company have impeached the integrity of the whole esoteric management of the Staintons and Dawsons . What the truth of thpse statements may be we cannot , tell , but believing , as we ore bound , that the principle of the family is the basis of our social system , we trust that the Dawson and Stainton may , fike the directors of the Western Bank of Scotland , come off scatheless and stainless

    Politics And Natural History. A Great De...

    POLITICS AND NATURAL HISTORY . A great deal has of late been written about the utility of natural history , and a great deal done to render it popular . In doing this some of our periodicals have disparaged our ordinary political literature to hold up observations on the length of life , on the fossil structure of the earth , on . tadpoles , echini , & c , as more expressly worthy of the attention of the young and the reflecting . We have not the least intention , politicians though we be , of discouraging in turn such special studies ; we know they all tend to dignify man , but we can see as much to study and admire in the farm-yard , or the locomotive workshop , as on the eea shore or in the region of glaciers , or in the strata of the earth Every part of nature whioh the eye can scan , or the ear learn its musio , is full of wonders . The life , however , whioh reveals itself to us only in a change of form , like the growing tree , is not bo interesting as that whioh both changes its form and changes its place , and reveals to us the oxietonce of a double activity . We must say , therefore , that man , having this double activity , growing

    from youth to age , moving about and forming part of a society which also grows , is as well worthy of the attention of minute philosophers as entpzoa or mollusca . Writers on politics , so far as they observe and chronicle the actions of mankind and their consequences , are in truth natural historians , and as much worthy of public honour as writers on the simia and the ooleoptera . Natural historians

    cannot impale an individual of the species and examine him by the microscope , and may therefore not find that certainty in the study of man which they find in the study of insects . In that branch of politics , however , called political economy , regular laws are supposed to prevail . Adam Smith is by no means the first writer who treated politics as a part of natural history ; it was so treated before Aristotle , and it might surprise us that so little has yet been done to render it accurate and acceptable to the multitude , were it not for two circumstances to which we shall advert .

    The first is , that the very attempt to treat man and society as natural objects , seems to strike at the root of all organised political power—which , being founded on the supposition that society is naturally chaotic , and not regulated , like communities of bees and ants , by natural laws or unerring instincts —« ny person who pretends to detect such laws and-natural orderly government , is regarded as the opponent of civic and religious authority , and of those who believe in it and are dependent on it ? he is therefore , as the rule , cried down . This circumstance has prevented men of talent from engaging in the study of the natural history of society with the same ardour and freedom as they have engaged in the study of mathematics and geology . ¦ '¦ ...

    _; , . ,. .. _ The second is , that society being always in a state of developement , it required to be a considerable degree advanced before the natural laws which govern it could be the subject of observation like the perfectly formed and fully comprehended communities of ants and bees . Of a single individual , or a single family , there could be no social science , and it was therefore only as society was much developed in modern times that a

    science of society beeame possible . Now it is possible , and now inquiries into society should have an interest , for scientific men at least , equal to that of zoology or entomology . As an illustration , let us advert to the great principle of division of labour , and then the reader can judge whether politics and politicians , in the enlarged and best sense , be not as worthy ^ of honour as comparative anatomy and comparative

    anatomists . Labour , the activity set in motion by the necessity to provide subsistence or preserve life , is the parent of all wealth . Without it , life would not continue , and society would not be possible . We have learned , from experience , that as society enlarges , the labour of each and every individual is not required to procure subsistence for all . An increasing proportion of the activity which this necessity sets in motion , becomes , in the progress of societysuperfluous , and can be advantageously

    , directed to other objects . One of the circumstances which bring about this change , and create this superfluity , is known by the name of division of labour . In fact , it is two or more individuals agreeing or combining , instinctively , tacitly , or otherwise , to help one another , or do different parts of the same necessary work . Division of labour , then , is clearly born , of Booiety . It is an impossibility for one sole t individual . At once , then , this croat principle is recommended to us

    as extremely worthy of investigation . oy ""> ' « £ that it is a social necessity . It extends as society increasS , and is a beautiful provision for easUy supplying all the wants of man as population uicreascs-a matter of inttnito importance in relation to that theory which , seeing muejr misery resultfrom an increase of . people under our present imporibot political orgaimation , hub ? ° f" * ° * ** f an increase of population comes with it no oompSnsSon , and 4 . a perpetual source of degradation ftU I ) WiS ' of labour , necessary to its success , and a source of continual improvement in productive power , has an obvious natural origin . The man innnj B « okle the child , but he can provide for the

    mother when she cannot provide , for herself . Xo the sexes , then , nature dictates different task *; and in the difference of sex—the human race being oroatcd , male ana female , in about equal propor-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 27, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27081859/page/15/