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    made to the admitted truth , that acquisitiveness is an unreasoning impulse quite distinct from the desires whose gratifications property secures—an impulse that is often obeyed at the expense of those desires . And if a propensity to personal acquisition be really a component of man ' s constitution , then that cannot be a right form of society which affords it no scope . .... It may be quite true that its dictates have been , and still are , followed to an absurd excess ; but it is also true that no change in the state of society will alter its nature and its office . To whatever extent moderated , it must still be a desire for personal acquisition . "Whence it follows that a system affording opportunity for its exercise must ever be retained ; which means , that the system of private property must be retained ; and this presupposes a right of private property , for by right we mean that which harmonizes with the human constitution as divinely ordained . "

    In the next chapter he expounds the right to property in ideas . If man has a right to produce of his hands it is quite clear that he has an equal right to the produce of his brain . Mr . Spencer ' s chapter is worth consulting by all who agitate questions of patent and copyright . Right of property in character is then shown to be referrible to the same principles ; as also the right of exchange and the right of free speech ; but when he touches upon the right of women and children—as he does in the two succeeding chapters—his stern logic leads him to conclusions which will be all the

    more exasperating because they are overwhelming next to the " anarchical" tendency of his chapter on Property in Land , the " shocking notions" set forth in these chapters will most excite the wrath of ' * ' common sense . " Imagine the reception to be given to the doctrine that equity knows no difference of sex ! Mr . Spencer says that the notion of women ' s rights not being equal to those of men , is an evanescent form of the theory that women have no souls;—he says , moreover , that the action of " obedience" as necessary on the part of women , is only a remnant of the belief in the necessity of slavery : —

    " All the barbarisms of the past have their types in the present . All the barbarisms of the past grew out of certain dispositions : those dispositions may be weakened , but they are not extinct ; and so long as they exist there must be manifestations of them . What -we * commonly understand by command and obedience , are the modern forms of bygone despotism and slavery . Philosophically considered they are identical with these . Despotism may lie defined as the making of another's will bend to the fulfilment of our own ; and its counterpart—slavery—as the having our own will subordinated to the will of another . True , we apply the terms only when the rule of one will over another is extreme—when the one wholly ,

    or almost wholly extinguishes the other . But if the subjection of man to man is bad when carried to its full extent , it is bid in any degree . If every man has freedom to exercise his faculties within specified limits ; and if , as we have seen ( Chap . "VIII . ) , slavery is wrong because it transgresses that freedom , and makes one man use his powers to satisfy not his own wants , but the ¦ wants of another ; then , whatsoever involves command , or whatsoever implies obedience , is wrong also ; seeing that it , too , necessitates the subserviency of one man ' s

    notions to the gratifications of another . ' lr ou must do not as you will , hut . as I will , ' is the basis of every man-< l ; ttp , whether used by a planter to his negro , or by a liusband to his wife . Not satisfied with being Bole ruler over his own doings , the petty autocrat oversteps the boundary dividing ins sphere of action from his neighbour ' s , and takes upon himself to direct his or her doings also . It matters not , in point of principle , whether such diminution is entire or partial To whatever extent the vill of the one is overborne by the will of the other , to that extent the parties are tyrant and slave .

    ' 1 here arc , without doubt ., many who will rebel against this doctrine . There are many who hold that the obedience ; of one hunitin being to another is proper , virtuous , praiseworthy . There are many to whose moral sense ( 'oinin / ind is not repugnant . There are many who think tile subjection of the weaker sex to the stronger legitimate : iud beneficial . Let them not be deceived . Let them remember that a nation's institutioiiH and beliefs are determined by itn character . Let them remember that men ' s perceptions are warped by their passions . Let

    them remember that our social state proves our superior feelings to be very imperfectly developed . . And lei them remember that , as many customs deemed light by our ancestors appear detestable to us , so , many customs which we think proper , our more civilized descendnntH may regard with uversion—even as we loathe those barhiirian manners which forbid a woman to sit ut table with her lord and muster , so may mankind one day loathe that subserviency of wile to husband which existing laws enjoin . "

    Mr . Spencer demolish ™ parental despotism as completely as marital despotism ; ho not only < -ondcmiks it on grounds of equity , but hIiows how ' lu ; progreHN of eivilizution has tended to abolish it : — " Thoso commonly obfierved facts , that the enslavement , of woman is iuvariubly associated with n low type of Hociul life , and that coi vcrMely , her elevation towards an equality with nun uniformly accompanies progress , were cited in part proof that , the subjection of female to mule is essentially wrong . 11 now , instead of women we M'od childicn , i-imilnr f < ictti m » y be ci'cd . imil " similar dnhietion innv h dr . nvn . If if . bu true th . it the dominion

    of man over woman has been oppressive in proportion to the badness of the age or the people , it is also true that parental authority has been stringent and unlimited in a like proportion . If it be a fact that the emancipation of women has kept pace viith the emancipation of society , it is likewise a fact that the once despotic rule of the old over the young has been ameliorated at the same rate . And if , in our own day , we find the fast-spreading recognition of popular rights accompanied by a silently-growing perception of the rights of women , we also find it accompanied by a tendency towards systems of non-coercive education—that is , towards a practical admission of the rights of children . " The following telling remarks should be treasured up in families and nurseries : —

    " Education has for its object the formation of character . To curb restive propensities , to awaken dormant sentiments , to strengthen the perceptions , and cultivate the tastes , to encourage this feeling and repress that , so as finally to develope the child into a man of well proportioned and harmonious nature—this is alike the aim of parent and teacher . Those , therefore , who advocate the use of authority , and , if need be—force in the management of children , must do so because they think these the best means of compassing the desired object—formation of character . Paternity has to devise some kind of rule for the nursery . Impelled partly by creed , partly by custom , partly by inclination , paternity decides in favour of a pure despotism , proclaims its word the supreme law ,

    anathematizes disobedience , and exhibits the rod as the final arbiter in all disputes . And of course this system of discipline is defended as the one best calculated to curb relative propensities , awaken dormant sentiments , &c . &c , as aforesaid . Suppose , now , we inquire how the plan works . An unarniable little urchin is pursuing his own gratification , regardless of the comfort of others —is perhaps ahnoyingly vociferous in his play : or is amusing himself by teasing a companion ; or is trying to monopolize the toys intended for others in common with himself . Well ; some kind of interposition is manifestly

    called for . Paternity with knit brows , and in a severe tone , commands desistance—visits anything like reluctant submission with a sharp ' Do as I bid you '—if need be , hints at a whipping or the black hole—in short , carries coercion , or the threats of coercion , far enough to produce obedience . Aftex sundry exhibitions of perverse feeling , the child gives in , showing , however , by its sullenness the animosity it entertains . Meanwhile paternity pokes the fire and complacently resumes the newspaper , under the impression that all is as it should be most unfortunate mistake !

    " If the thing wanted had been the mere repression of noise , or the mechanical transfer of a plaything , perhaps no better course could have been pursued . Had it been of no consequence under what impulse the child acted , so long as it fulfilled a given mandate , nothing would remain to be said . But something else was needed . Character was the thing to be changed rather than conduct . It was not the deeds , but the feeling from which the deeds sprang that required dealing with . Here were palpable manifestations of selfishness—an indifference to the wishes of others , a marked drsire to tyrannize , an endeavour to engross benefits intended for all—in short ,

    here were exhibitions on a small scale of that unsympathetic nature to which our social evils are mainly attributable . What , then , was the thing wanted ? Evidently an alteration in the child's disposition . AVhat was the problem to be solved ? Clearly to generate a atate of mind which , had it previously existed , would have prevented the offending actions . What was the final end to be achieved ? Unquestionably the formation of a character which should spontaneously produce greater generosity of conduct . Or , speaking definitely , it was necessary to strengthen that syinp .-ithy to the weakness of which this behaviourVas traceable . "

    Mr . Spencer pertinently refers to the change which has taken place in the treatment of lunatics , whom it was formerly thought necessary to coerce , and he asks , if madmen are hotter managed by suasion than by violence , why cannot ; children be so ? But the fact is , coercion is the easier plan , or

    seems so , and best suits the imperfect , moral nature of the parents : — NOISY JlltATH AND Tl ' . NDKK I'ARKNiH . " It would astonish them to assert that they bohave as improperly to their children as their children do to them . Yet a little candid sHf-imalysis would show them that , half their comnmiula arc issued more for their own convenience or gratification than for corrective purposes . ' 1 won ' t have that noise ! ' exclaims a disturbed f . nber to some group of vociferous juveniles : and the noise ceasing he cliiiniH to have done something towards makiiiK his family orderly . Perhaps he ha * ; but . how ? Uy exhibiting that same evil disposition which he ne » -kn determination to sacrifice to

    to check in his children—a his own happiness the happiness of others . Observe , too , the impulse under which a refractory child iu punished . Instead of anxiety for the delinquent ' s welfare , that severe eye and compress * d lip d < note rather the ire of an offended ruler—express Home Hiich inward thought ub ' You little wretch , we'll soon me who ia to be rtiiiHter . ' Uncover its rootH , and the theory of parental authority will be found to grow not out of mini's love for bia offspring but out of bin love of dominion . Let any one who doubts this listen to that common reprimand , How darn you disobey me ? ' and then consider what the cinphaHiH means . No , no , inorul-forcc education in widely practicable even now , if purentu were civilizwd enough to use it . "

    This subject of education is ho important mid is treated in ho masterly a manner by our author tint , we are loath to leave it , and must , | iu <) :: |> : uo for t . hc following profound remarks : —

    WHY IS EDUCATION NECESSARY ? " But why is education needed at all ? Why does not the child grow spontaneously into a normal human being ? Whyshould it be requisite to curb this propensity , to stimulate the other sentiment , and thus by artificial aids to mould the mind into something different from what it would of itself become ? Is not there here an anomaly in nature ? Throughout the rest of creation we find the seed and the embryo attaining to perfect maturity without external aid . Drop an acorn into the ground , and it will in time become a healthy oak without either pruning or training . The insect passes through ita several transform

    formations unhelped , and arrives at its final possessed of every needful capacity and instinct . No coercion is needed to make the young bird or quadruped adopt the habits proper to its future life . Its character like its body , spontaneously assumes complete fitness for the part it has to play in the world . How happens it , then , that the human mind alone tends to develope itself wrongly ? Must there not be some exceptional cause for this ? Manifestly : and if so , a true theory of education must recognize this cause . " It is an indisputable fact that the moral constitution which fitted man for his original predatory state , differs from the one needed to fit him for this social state to

    which mul iplication of the race has led him . In a foregoing part of our inquiry , it was shown that the liw of adaptation is effecting a transition from the one constitution to the other . Living then , as we do , in the midst of this transition , we must expect to find sundry phenomena which are applicable only upon the hypothesis that humanity is at present partially adapted to both these states , and not completely to either—has only in a degree lost the dispositions needed for savage life , and has but imperfectly acquired those needed for social life . The anomaly just specified is one of these . The tendency of

    each new generation to develope itself wrongly , indicates the degree of modification that has yet to take place . Those respects in which a child requires restraint , are just the respects iu which he is taking after the aboriginal man . The selfish squabbles of the nursery , the persecution of the play-ground , the lyings and petty thefts , the rough treatment of inferior creatures , the propensity to destroy—all these imply that tendency to pursue gratification at the expense of other beings , which qualified man fir the wilderness , and which disqualifies him for civilized , life .

    " We have seen , however , that this incongruity between man ' s attributes and his conditions is in course of being remedied . We have seen that the instincts of the savage must die of inanition—that the sentiments called forth by the social state must grow by exercise , and th * £ if the laws of life remain constant , this modification * ill continue until our desires are brought into perfect conformity with our circumstances . When now tb <* t ultimate state in which morality shall have become organic is arrived at , this ano naly in the development of the child ' s character will have disappeared . The young human being will no longer be an exception in nature—will not as now tend to grow into unfitnesp for the requirements of after-life ; but will spontaneously unfold itself into that ideal manhood whose every impulse coincides with the dictatesof the moral law . " . V We shall return to this volume .

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    BOOKS ON OUR TAIJL 13 . Reasons for Coo / icntlUm . A Lecture delivered at tlu : Oflice for rronn > l . in > r Working M < : » ' « Assor . kiUin . s . To which U addnd . O ' otl and Mammon ; % Si-rnion to Young- . Men . 15 y V . I ) . Maurice , M . A ., CJhiipl . iin nf Lini : i ) lii' . s-iiin . The Reverend . Frederick Maurice is one of t' . ie original promoters of the Working Men ' s Assi cations iind . bunders of t , ) u > sect call , tl " Christian . Socialists , " to which we and : > U other Socialists ; owe a d . iubie <) ebt . of gratilude-firstly , because they aid us powerfully in the elevation of Socialism into a question of seiious discussion , by raising it out of the region of tenor , and giving it . that " respectability " which questions must assume in Kn ^ laud hi fore they can be brought before influential men ( we all remember the time wln-n to be a " Radical " was as bad as to be a . Socialist in 18 I !)!) —and , although we protest against the sii [> crfa ; i . atiun ol Church of Kngliindism upon the natural growth of Socialism , which iu the aim of the Christian Socialists , we niUHt . all admit that tlu ; union gives respectability , while the open avowal of Socialism , on the part of men like Maurice , Kinsley , Ludlow , Xc ., is an accession of . strength to the cause . Secondly , tluy have not . contented themselves with mere theories : they have to their utmost , reduced theory to fact ! They have their journal ( Tha Christian Socialist ) and their Tracts for pi ojia ^ anila—they have the Associations for experiments . l . Yrhups no sect now in . England better deHerves a patient , study . l ' i rhaps no set of men should d-tiim from odicial writers u more deliberate

    and impartial inquiry . Yet . the V . UhiburuIi Review , in an article devoted to them and their theories , putH forth statements tlu ; reverse of the truth , accusing them of holding the very opinions t . liey assuil ! It , is for the purpose of furnishing the , public with real data on this « ubject that , the present brochure is published . The Literature of Working Men , be inn Sui > i > le . iw > itary Numbers of the irorkinn Man ' * Friend . < :.,:.. H , II . Htiund . Several opinions upon this work arc prefixed to it , but they are partly from persons who . j . mnol i >< - regard * d us literary authorities and partly f «« " « P ' Thoiis who avoid

    pronouncing . i literary j .. d K « "cnt .. ' < ' ™ ( : ntlC 8 " public men , whose op inions appear to have boen Jtouaht , and we , sec no reason to disturb tho negative kind of testimony tiny bear . The volume is composed of nume rous essay * written by working men under the atimulu . of utizvH and publicity . Many are up . ni theological H , il > Uih , but tlu ne a ,.- all upon one wide . A few paper . ,. ( lll , ai . i k . ^ KiK . wlf . lg .-, and Hick « « . ro worth looking : , . | , , , | ,,. ( , i :, r - indi . M ' e r . nli . r ilie \ v ; mt than the in , ,, ) lllr ,, i w , i Km ! -, iiK-i .. Tln .-. ti who w . ite hittoiy

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    March 22 , 1851 . ] & # * UtiXbtX . 275

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 22, 1851, page 275, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1875/page/15/