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    Critics are not the legislate**, but th«...

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    Wntetf an Englishman reads inCiCfino (fo...

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    Among the new works let us notice a sele...

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  • 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.

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    Social Reform. "Notes Of A Social Cecono...

    df an abbot was infectious , and the prior , in his turn , appropriated the surplus revenue of the estate although it was held in trust . Thus , towards the end of the thirteenth century , the obediences were gradually converted into benefices , despite the protests of the Councils . The absolute community of goods lasted until the sixth century ; but the jurist Denizart asserts that the difficulty of adjusting contending claims rendered it imperative to divide the revenues of the Church into portions ; one for the bishop , one for the clerk , one for the

    Church , and the fourth for the poor : for the right of the poor to support , and the right of the rich to engross , were reciprocal privileges , the former being the condition on which the latter was enjoyed . And this was so universally acknowledged , that the Parliament of Toulouse , on the 18 th of April , 1651 , passed an edict , by which the bishops were commanded to provide food for the poor , within three days , otherwise " seizure shall be made of a sixth of the fruits , taken by the

    bishops , in the said parishes . " Notwithstanding the negation of the principle of Communism , the fight of the poor to support was thus formally acknowledged , and the abolition of tithe in France is only a proof that it had been perverted from its legitimate channel ; but the right of the poor to support , and the right of the rich to appropriate , are still reciprocal privileges . Let the French proprietors , therefore , look to it , or their property will nut be worth five years' purchase !

    The philosophical reformers of the eighteenth century repudiated the principles of fraternity and community , which Were inseparably connected with ecclesiastical and aristocratic feudalism ; and they consequently rushed into the opposite excess of absol ute and universal selfishness . Fraternity was associated in their minds with monkish greediness and corruption , and Community with a miserable peasantry , over-worked and half-starved , and condemned by the corvee to thrash the frog-ponds into silence . * The philosophers overlooked the enormous results obtained by means of the

    monastic institutions , in a former age , as we now undervalue the prodigious accumulation of capital and increase of productive power , under the system of free competition as opposed to monopoly . That great reforms are imminent , in this country , in the laws relating to property , especially to real property , is beyond a doubt ; and the whole question , of the natural rights and limits to the absolute possession of property , is , with the selforganization of labour , among the most important problems to be solved by human reason . The struggle between the contending principles of individualism—and Communism—ihe natural laws

    of social attraction and repulsion—will never terminate . It is for us to find a practical and equitable solution of the difficulty . Permit me , in a few brief words , to touch upon the collateral development of similar principles in civil society . According to the strict principles of Roman law , the master possessed the right to sell , punish , and put to death the slave ; the slave could not contract a marriage , and no legal relation between him and his children was recognized . The slave had no right to the possession of property .

    When the principles of universal brotherhood and individual liberty were first proclaimed , the slave in theory became free , but in practice the change was slowly and imperfectly carried out . Nevertheless the formal acknowledgment of the principle of universal freedom was in itself a social revolution . Suddenly the passive human machine , or instrument , in the hands of its owner , became a Man , possessing certain rights , and with social duties to fulfil—a wife and children—n

    family to support . He is only a serf , perhaps , but is no longer the absolute property of another . He now belongs to the soil , adscriptus gleben , which he cultivates , ff death or sickness , however , chance to overtake him , his tenure nnd employment pass into other hands ; for the feudal lord is proprietor of everything upon the earth , and under the « ky , " of the beast that flees , of the

    bird that ( lies , of the animal that strays , of the lost traveller ; even of the wind that blows , of the water that flows , of the . sun that shines—all th ^ se belong to the Seigneur . " But the children of i he ser have no other inheritance than the uncertainty and misery of a life of hardship nnd toil . Gradually , from a wens *; of their helplessness and dc-* SON a OF TJIK SHKJTH . Pa , i > h , ronote , pA ! Vedi monuieur 1 ' abb * que Dieu flh ! JPaix , paias , gr « notoilk > , pai * t Voioi lnonuieu * PfcbH < lu « X > i « u gwrdo I

    pendence ( a powerful bond of union )* the serfs group themselves into communities as into a family , the most ancient o f all societies , and the only natural one , and obtain possession of the soil ; the feudal lord willingly giving his consent , for the greater economy , security , increased production , and , consequently , larger revenue . On the other hand the serf , by this jointstock partnership for mutual help and protection , obtains permanent possession of the land— " taisiblement

    tacitly —by the " demeurance commune d un an et jour "—the dwelling in community for a year and a day . In these primitive societies , the neWborn child , unable to work , is prized and nurtured , and receives his allotted share of the " commun pot , sel , et depense" ( of the common store ) , in consideration of his future promise . Those who are in the prime of life are valued for their worth and ability , and the aged for their superior wisdom and counsel , and in reward for their past labours .

    Throughout England , as well as Germany , these agricultural communities spread themselves like a network ; settled upon arable land , surrounded with forest pastures , and having some kind of property in both ; the principle of their organization was separation as regarded each other , the most intimate union as regarded the individual members of each . The smallest and simplest of these divisions was a Mark or March , and the union of two , three , or more marks in federal bond , for purposes of a religious , judicial , and political character , formed the Ga or Shire .

    The original principles of settlement in England , and among all the nations of Germanic blood , rest upon these two main foundations—the possession of land , and the distinction of rank ; and the public law of every Teutonic tribe implied the dependence of the one , upon the other , principle . As the un ' ree can at first hold no land within the limits of the community , so neither is he fully free who holds no land therein , whatever be his personal rank .

    Having thus endeavoured to trace the mighty struggle of contending principles in the Church , and the gradual emancipation of the slave—a modification of absolute property—from a state of bondage to one of comparative comfort and independence—I shall reserve for a future communication the history of modern communism , from the Utopia of Sir Thomas More to that of the founder of

    the infant and factory school system , and the originator , I believe , of the short-time ( factory ) movement : and although I differ in toto from many of the opinions to which he lias given public expression—especially tho--e advanced at a later period of his career—yet , at the same time , I feel bound to express my sincere respect for the benevolence , disinterestedness , and unflagging zeal which he has displayed as a practical social reformer .

    William Coninoiiam . Tiiub Pkoorebs . —The civilization of antiquity was the advancement of the few aud the slavery of the many—in Greece 30 , 000 freeman and 300 , 000 slaves ; and it passed away . True civilization must bo measured by the progreps , not of a class or nation , but of all men . Gol admits none to advance alone . Individuals in advance become martyrs—nations in advance , the prey of the barbarian . Only as one fumilyof man can we progrcHs . But man must exist as an animal before he can exist as a man ; his physical requirements must ha satisfied before those of mind ;

    and hitherto it hus taken the whole time aud energies of the many to provide for their physical wants . Such wants have spread mankind over the whole globe—the brute aud the savage have disappeared before the superior race—the black blood of the torrid zone hus bi'cn mixed with the white of the temperate ; and a superior race , capable of living and lubouring Under a zenith sun , has been formed ; and we seem to be preparing for a united movement onward . The elements havo been pressed into our fiefvice , the powers of steam and electricity woulJ appear boundless , and science has given man an almost unlimited control over nature . The trammels which despotism havo hitherto imposed upon bodv and mind , hrtve

    been thrown otf , and constitutional liberty han rapidly and widely spread . The steam-ship nnd railway , and mutual interests in trade and commerce , have united tuition to nation ; and the press has given ono mind and HimultancouH thought to the whole community , l ' ower there it * in plenty for the emancipation of the whole race ; bince the steam-engine and machinery may be to the work ing-classes wliat they have hitherto been to tho .-e elnhscH above them . All that is wanted is to kfiow how to uso these forces for the general good . The powers of production are inexhaustible : we havo but to otganitm them , and justly to distribution the frroduct .+ ^ -ISduMtten of th » tteiingi . by Charles Brdy .

    922 C!>E %$&*Et. [Saturbav , "I, ¦¦¦ , ....

    922 C !> e %$ &* et . [ SAtURBAV , I , ¦¦¦ , . ,. M ,- ¦ ' ¦¦ mi — .. I—I . I !¦¦ III .

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    Critics Are Not The Legislate**, But Th«...

    Critics are not the legislate ** , but th « jttdgfts k & A «« n * k of literature . They do not make laWs—they interpretT « £ try to enforce them—Edinburgh Review . v " »« aa

    Wntetf An Englishman Reads Incicfino (Fo...

    Wntetf an Englishman reads inCiCfino ( for whoa , as a " gentlemanly" author , he has the highest respect !) that ' * Eloquence is among the most exalted of virtues— 'ttnaqtu & datn de Summit virtutibu *"—he must pause in gentle amazement at the exaggeration . His notions of Virtue tttid Eloquence admit of no such accessary relationship . He thinks of the eloquent Disreputables moving across the field of ^ History , or known to him in his own lifetime , and fancies that he sees ah obvious distinction be .

    tween oratory and morality . Not so the Roman Eloquence was the god of his idolatry . Quinctil-LlAtt , alluding to the death of his only ton—in a passage which brings to mind the mournful pathos of Edmund Burke on a similar occasion—dwells especially on the capacity for eloquence indicated by bis boy , and with a sigh declares that he would have revived the ancient glory of the Roman tribune : the father seems to mourn , the lost orator

    almost as much as the lost child ! For indeed to be an orator was to reach the summit of Roman greatness . What higher praise can Sallust give to Cato the Censor than to call him the most eloquent of Romans ? And if we would fairly understand this idea of an Orator , we must look into CicSro and QcjiNcriLLiiAft , who insist upon the necessity of an orator being a virtuous man , " only the virtuous are eloquent" ( Which , If we distinguish Oratory from Rhetoric , is perhaps strictly true ) . The influence of Greek thought is visible here .

    And it is this lofty conception of the Art which justifies the great variety and importance of their Treatises on it . They left no point untouched .: minutiae grew into respect ; veneration generated pedantry . Even grammar , by us considered so arid and perhaps Irivolous a study , was to them a charming inquiry : the delight of aged men , the sweet companion of their solitudes—juounda senibus , dulcis secretorum comes I So little is this true of moderns , that our readers will learn with surprise the fact of Archbishop Whateley ' s little book on English Synonyms

    ( a propos to which arose the discussion on talented" recently varying our matter ) has gone through a large edition in three or four Weeks . But this rapid sale is owing to the neglect of the Art . Even practised writers have studied their own language so little that they feel the need of distinct information given with something like authority .

    Among The New Works Let Us Notice A Sele...

    Among the new works let us notice a selection from Cahlyle ' s various writings , s ystematically arranged , and rendered into German by J . Nbubkiig , under ihe title Beitrfrje rum Bvangehum tier Arbeit;—also an important work by A . CocttVT , called Associations OuvrUres .- Histoire et Theone des Tentatives de Reorganization Industrielk operes depuis 1848 . The author is one of the political osconomista who write in the Revue des DeM > Mondes , which is enough to show that his syinpathies are not greatly in favour of the Associations but he in a good writer , and we anticipate a tolerably fair account from him . _ _ . - « . _ . v 11 . _ * AMnnM 0 * his pAtap blet ° i

    Louis Blanc has followed up Plus des Girondins by another assault upon tn errors of hie democratic friends who arc in favour o direct legislation , and this pamphlet , La Rfyubhqu Une et Indivisible , is pounced upon by the D * ba « as rare sport , because it speaks of LkokU Wouvi ^ ^ views with scorn . By the way , Louis Blan « na found a biographer and expounder in M . *' . IABIj , Robin , who has lightened his prison weariness » y writing a little work , Louis Blanc , m I »< « ( Euvren . The fashion of cheap reprints i . s becoming universal . We have our Dickknh , and H « i . w « > and Jkkkold , in three-halfpenny numbers , ana now th « Literary Gn * ett « informs us that the mos illurtttottt Ot Fw * l « h wfrwrs—O * 0 R 0 * Sai * d ~~ i

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 27, 1851, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27091851/page/14/