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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd May 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 484, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      merely their frailty , and their imperfection , that make our suffering * the worm that gnaws at their heart , gnaws at our own ; we suffer because we are ourselves too wretchedly imperfect ; because all in ourselves too changes and dies , like steeds which suddenly break down under their riders ,-the waves of our passions that bear us Up , are continually sinking under our feet , and , after haying raised us on high , ebbing away , to leave us shattered upon a barren strand . The happiness we have most ardently desired , when once possessed , appals the soul by its unsatisryingness . Our heart is Mke the Danaids' tub which nothing could fill . Within us , then , and around us , all is a combat , all a struggle . If we consider the universe , we behold all things at war ; every species devouring each other ; the elements in strife ; human society is in many respects a continual struggle and a war . How many philosophers have discovered that man ' s worst enemy is—man . I The world that we inhabit is formed out of ruins , and we cannot advance a step without destroying . "Whether we take this world in time or in space , under these two grand natural dimensions it is a net of evil , of destruction , and of carnage , so well knit and so full , that it resembles that picture by Salvjitor , in which all is death and murder at once ; in which men , horses , even a bird that flits across the battle-field ; all are struck , all are dying , under a pale sky , in a horrible ravine , while the sun is sinking gloomily beneath the horizon ' s edge . Admirable p icture , a sublime expression of the melancholy into which the moral and physical evil spread abroad in the world can plunge the soul of man . " What are we to conclude from this gloomy catalogue of the inevitable sorrows to which Man is condemned here below ? That the search after happiness is an unworthy and fruitless object for the soul ? But this would be to deny the most invincible of all our aspirations ; it would be to break the mainspring of our activity ; it would be to reject the philosophy of which this great question of happiness has always been the

      chief purpose , as Cicero well said , " Qui de summo bono dissentit i de totd JPhilosop fcite -ratione disputat ; " * it would be , in a word , to deny Socrates , who was declared by the oracle the wisest of men for haying proposed the problem of happiness to mankind . The whole matter , then , reduces itself to the question whether we ought not to strive , without ceasing , after happiness , even without hope of absolutely attaining it ; and where we ought to seek it .

      Now , of these two points , the former was never disputed by philosophers ; and the latter gave rise to the three sects which divide the thought of antiquity . To be concerned with the present , without a thought for the past that preceded , or the future that may follow , this life ,- —to behave in conformity with that wliich is , —to liberate oneself from corporal ills and from the troubles of the soul , —to procure oneself by these means , so far as we may > a condition exempt from pain , by the regulated satisfaction of the wants , appetites , and desires , which nature has implanted in us , —such is the philosophy of Epicurus .

      To despise life wholly , —absorbed in an inner life , to let the outer life flow away , —to regard oneself , in relation to life , as a mere spectator , or , at most , as an actor in a comedy , —to leave to destiny the responsibility of its work , —not to think of tempering the passions , but to root them out , —to get rid , so to speak , of the passions altogether , and to hold life in such absolute disgust that the wise man has the right to cast it off as a consequence of his liberty , and as a recompense of his virtue , —such is the stoic philosophy of Zeno .

      To accept Nature as wo find her , but constantly seeking in her imago the reflection of the Divine beauty , —to accept life such as it is , but studying to clovnto it ever to a higher perfection , according to the ideal which God has implanted in our minds as an imperishable archetype , —such is the philosophy of Plato . It is from Epicureanism that , after a lapse of centuries , sprung the deism of Bolingbroko and of Vok tairo , the systematic egoism of La Rochefoucauld , the sensualism of Condillac , the atomistic materialism of our savants , the exclusivo utilitarianism of Bcntham .

      It was Hatonism mingled with tho doctrino of the stoics thnt had humanly anticipated our divinor Christian philosophy which admits with Zeno that men wore thrown into tho world to practise endurance and self-denial ; and , with Plato , that they ought to seek in nature tho scattered rays of tho Divine Word . After having traced the history of human thought in its search after lnunuii happiness , in a work of which I can only present tho barest outline hero , Pierre Loroux unhesitatingly pronounces himself , in favour of tho Platonist and Christian doctrino of

      moral perfectibility . Only ho is careful not to adopt , in its exaggerated uiul dangerous sense , tho anathema launched by tho Christian mystics against this world and against life ; and ho concludes in these terms : — - " If happiness be understood to imply some undefined condition of agreeable sensations nnd feelings , independently of a philosophical conception of our nature and of our destiny , then has philosophy no concern therewith . Go , follow your caprices , pursue your sensations ,

      abandon yourselves to your passions , give yourselves over to fatality ; conduct yourselves after the fashion of animals and of children ! You will live after a certain fashion —you will obtain a certain happiness ; if , forgetting that you are reason , you make yourself a body , you will have corporeal enjoyment : if you transform yourselves into swine under the wand of Circe , you will have the joy of swine : if , forgetting that you are linked to humanity , you choose to be selfish , you will have the solitary pleasures of a lonely man , that is to say , of a man horribly incomplete and devoid of a

      sphere / requisite for a true existence ; you will be an imperfect being—a sort of monster . In a word , you will have pleasure and grief analogous to the passions which you will develope , and to which you will deliver up your nature . But , at the same time , the law of the world , which is one of incessant change , will ever condemn you to find nothingness and emptiness in all things , and sooner or later the moment will come for you , when you will awake from that confused intoxication , and when , however degraded you may be , you will become conscious of the reasonable nature of your

      being . Do you understand by happiness a state of selfconsciousness , then it is given to philosophy alone to procure it for us ? The question is changed : we are no longer concerned with the search after happiness in the vulgar sense of the word happiness ; we do but aspire after a life in conformity with our human nature . " See , then , how this question of happiness is treated ( and in the name of Socialism ) by one of those systemmakers whom certain false mystics have not been ashamed to represent as apostles of a gross materialism ! After such citations > all commentary is useless .

      Socialism has two powerful enemies to combat——ignorance , and bad faith . But these two adversaries have always been encountered , in history , on the route of progress , and humanity has not the less persisted in its constant march towards the light , towards truth , towards justice . The banners of Constantine , the armed champion of the religion of Christ , bore this motto : In hoc signo vinces . And he conquered , —because he believed . Louis Bi < Airc .

      Untitled Article

      ELECTION MATTERS . THE " VAIN" LONDONDERRY SCANDAL . " Vane Londondebrt , " lord of County Down , has fallen upon evil days . Upon the assumption of power by the Earl of Derby , finding that Lord Castlereagh had pledged himself to Tenant-right , the Marquis of Londonderry , his father , wrote to Mr . David S . Ker , making the following eligible offer of a little human property in County Down . Be it premised that Mr . Ker is nephew to Lord Londonderry , and that the correspondence begins " My Dear Nephew / ' The date of tho letter is February 7 th . " After the immense trcasuro expended by the family on this county seat , I cannot reconcile it to myself , my position , and my political name , to abandon it during at least my tenancy , nor resign the nomination to oven Castlcreagh , paying his own means , as ho must oven then bo dependent on my votes , which I could not offer for tenant league aid . You are my oldest nophew , and I willingl y offer thefirst refusal of my interest and means to you , if you will take CastlereaqW s position with me in the county seat ; more especially as I believe you oro as equally inclined to support Lord Derby ' s public views and future government as I am . It may , however , vory naturally occur to you , from your largo interest , you would stand on your own bottom , independent of any ono , and that you would

      contest tho county on your own just pretensions . If this be your object , I can of course say nothing , and can only sincerely lament if I am forcod to tako ditforont views . I ask myself if , after all my forofathcrB have spent , I ought to yield , this prize . I grant I may bo defeated , but I ought not to succumb . If your affection loads your coalescing now in our political viows—as I boliovo I am as good a Protestant as any man in our county—to accept tho oflbr I make , I consider , with Lords Dowrishiro , Annosloy , and landlords generally approving , wo could defy Sharman Crawford , his subscriptions , and tho Jjeayuo : of course all oxponso in a con test would ho mine" '

      On tho other hand , if Mr . Ker determined to " stand on his own hook / ' tho Marquis would not shrink from opposing him . Mr . Kor replied to " My Denr Undo " on tho 10 th of February , by accepting his oiler . " Fronti tho handsorno manner in which you make that proposal to « io > and from tho cireumntanco of our coalescing in our political vjotyB , uh to supporting Lord Derby ana sound conservative and 'Protestant principles , I havo no hesitation in saying umccroly , that I . am vory muoh under obligation to you , and that I fool no dUIiculty in accepting your offer . "

      Mr , Kor ' s next proceeding was to write to Mr . Alexander Stewart , informing him of Lord Londonderry ' s offer , picturosquoly described m having boon mado " lit a time when most of tho gentry wore anxious to put tho stopper upon Shannon und tho League ;" stating further , that " ho accepted tho oflbr , upon an understanding that his principles « ntiroly coalesced with Jjord Loadpnderrv ' fs , aad that Cwttqreagh / B woro

      opposed to Lord Londonderry ' s , Mr . Ker * s , and th majority of the landlords of the county , " and askin for Mr . Stewart ' s support . ^ This letter was a puzzle to Lord Londonderry to whom " Alick Stewart" sent it , and he emp loyed his son " Ernest Yane" to write to " Dear David , " from Torquay , on the 27 th of February , « ' as it would seem that Mr . Ker did not entirely understand" the c 6 mmunications which had passed between Lord Londonderry and Mr . Ker , as the expressions of the latter to " Aliek Stewart seemed vague . "

      " He" [ Lord Londonderry ] , continued Ernest , the son " feels it therefore necessary , explicitly and distinctly to understand from you whether you accept the offer ' he made , bond fide , as coming in for the count y of Down as his member , and by his money ; or whether . you decline this , whiclrwaS the distinct proposition he made to you The definition of his member is well unders tood ,-where not alone interest , but money is given . Of course , if you have changed your mind , and have now other views , my father stands quite clear as to the course lie shall pursue at the next general election . My father hopes you will kindly give him an explicit , candid , and immediate answer .

      " Dear David" replied on the 3 rd of March . He couldnot admit that there was any " misunderstanding " as to his position . He then re-stated it explicitl y to his " dear uncle , " "I perfectly understand that I am to be your member . i . e ., in consideration of the terms of your proposal , I am to represent your political views ; but I understand , at the same time , that we agree in politics , and particularl y in two points , which now alone are visible in the horizon 1 st . We agree that the Tenant League attack upon landlords should be opposed ; and that , while it would bo desirable to give encouragement to farm , improvements , it would be dangerous to interfere in the management of v \^ tAv-kA ^« 4- * vt onn mtnof n lifiiTofirtri §\ n ~ trwrCkiYtr % IdYiHlAWn oyiv 4 4- « t'wm «* 4 ' OUU

      . MJX UUCl V Jf 9 ** J- * -V * VX&U ' . l ' C ? UUICUUXVU HFtsU » ¥ V-rOJ-L -ICfeUVUVJ ^ lt , ft 7 JJ . CUi . ta This view is the principal ground upon which it is necessary to take steps to secure a due representation at the next election . 2 nd . We agree as to recognising Lord Derby as the statesman who is most able and willing to defend the constitutional rights of this country . As Lord Derby ' s views , upon every question , are not yet fully declared , it does not appear necessary for his followers ( of which or of whom lam one ) to declare theirs upon every question , but rather to wait for his decision , and to be prepared to support what we believe to be an honest and upright government and party . Upon this understanding , ' that we perfectly agree in our political views and inclinations / I accepted your proposal as it was made , and decided to come forward at the election . " ,

      Again : — " It is very well known the terms upon which I come forward . It has been made known to all persons who aro anxious to maintain the influence of your family and property in the county ; but it did not appear to me ne « cessary or advisable to make our arrangements known to each individual , and publicly ; because , as regards our opponents , and The Northern Whig , it would confirm their to

      insinuation , ' that the county was to be handed over a political' crab' ; ' and because there are many landlords , and I beliove tenants , who would bo much offended by assuming that they could be influenced by anything except thoir own conscience and opinions ; particularly as it so happens that those of the largest property and influence aro united in supporting Lord Derby , arid opposing Sharman Crawford . { Subauditum est . Wo agree in tho same objects . )" And consequently , he signed , ' -your aflbctionato

      nephew , D . S . Ker . " Three days after , on the 6 th of March , the " Dear Uncle" wrote to " Dear Ker , " to the effect that tho letter of the 3 rd had " given him much disappointment , under deep affliction , " and was by " no means satisfactory . " "Tho letters already passed between us will show my understanding without any qualifications . You say now — 'I perfectly understand I am to be your member {*) , that is ' to Bay , under consideration of the terms I propose' Wo agreeing on general conservative principles but further than that , thoro were no points whatever

      propounded in my oflbr , and I must dochno them an . " «» Btatod . Your lirHt acceptance was absolute—unconditional —as if you woro heir to my estato and political influences . I hardl y think you would wish to blind mo ; but as everything bo rapidly changes in those days , I must not ; wo a dupo to my own affectionate credulity . It is not too ia «> yet . I may bo defeated ; but my political position ana namo demand I should uphold tho family Boat in tho » " »* manner in my power . Of courso by your letter I ' } j ' r free ; und neither in exponHos nor support can you loon . ¦ mo , our improfisions tin a bonafldc understanding on \< known principles of tho patron and nominee are eo w «

      asunder . " . ,. Being " now free , " ho expressed his determiijatu n to do his lioHt for tho " family interest , " lay « tl » o wl > mo correspondence before Lord D . " [ Downshiro ] , anil « llU t u candidate of his own [ Mr . Vnndulour StewartJ . On tho 10 th of March , Mr . Kor considered tlijii wJJ » J ongagomont at nn end ; and ho subsequ ently wrote t " ; ho would not retire in favour of" J . ViuidolourStowuV who was " neither u reaidont nor u proprietor—»»

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      484 T ^ ; C | 8 i ^ iPBJ ^ .

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      • DoJiMbm boni ot maU , o , 6 .

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      nominee . " ______ —— ¦" Tir .. nominee . _ — - ——# Notjo [ by Mr . Kor ] . —This ifl a iriis ( lu o I l ! ^ : olS Kor never mado any proposals whatovor- ** ' ... H ^ horn to bo convoyed , that ho proposed now <; f ) I 1 ( UI ' ( \ - () lU Lord Londonderry , but no huoIi fact can l » o gf tUl ° Vn ' atary a perusal of letter flo . 6 , which is merely cxi > w »*™ j throughout .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 484, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1936/page/8/