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    MISSIONAHY AND OTHER TALES.*

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    ROBERT OWEN AND HIS SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY*

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    W ] E are always" glad to welcome-the talented authoress of " Mary VV Powell ; " there is , through all her productions , a simple truthfulness , an earnest endeavour to inculcate true moral and religious principles , and afford , for even the most depraved , an outlet from the paths of vice and degradation , into the sacred walks of virtue and social happiness , that cannot fail to enlist the sympathies of her readers . This popular writer ' s new work , upon which we are now called to give an opinion , is a tale of missionary labours , entitled " Town and Forest . " The hero , Mr . Bolter , a man of an enthusiastic temperament , who is ready to sacrifice his pleasures , his prospects , and even his life itself , in the furtherance of the great work , is appointed by the heads of the " society" to imdertake the spiritual regeneration of one of the most squalid ,, vicious , and

    infectious neighbourhoods of London . In the accomplishment of this task , he encounters obstacles which might weir have damped the ardour of the most stoical and resolute of men ; he , however , does not flinch even at the prospect of personal danger , which only too surely presents itself before him . He is , in fact , made of that impenetrable stuff which , in days gone by , urged onwards our greatest and noblest of martyrs to seek the promulgation of their divinely-conceived doctrines even at the faggot ' s blaze , lhe different phases of this poor missionary preacher ' s character are well portrayed . The true Christian philanthropy with which he enters , heart and soul , into the sufferings of others , offering consolation but receiving none , ever ready to relieve his neighbour ' s burdenbutworthy disciple of hi % Divine Master , requiring no

    , , assistance in the sustainment of his own ; his conscientious fulfilment -of his mission , in spite of the reiterated threats of ruffians , degraded to the very dregs of infamy and crime , Ms willingness upon all occasions to put his shoulder to the wheel when almost superhuman effort is necessary for the attainment of a special good , his expedition to the Hama ' ult and Epping forests , having for its object the conversion of the gipsies * his return to his old haunts , and subsequent death from typhus fever > brought on by over-exertion in a crowded and contaminated atmosphere ^ all this is power fully wrought Up , and brought vividly to the imagination of the readeiv and is well calculated

    to leave an impression favourable to the utility of those extensive missionary societies for which England is so deservedly celebrated . The other characters are purposely made subservient , to the principal , but they are all drawn with the utmost delicacy and skill , as was indeed to be expected , from the known reputation of the authoress . There is not , moreover , the slightest tediousness in - the progress of the story , —no dragging out of speeches to iinjusr tifiable lengths merely to display the author ' s rhetorical powers ; neither is there the slightest deviation from rule in the construction of the language ; not a sentence or syllable is to be found out of its appropriate place , the whole being arranged in the neatest possible manner . We have no doubt , that this work will receive as much attention as any of the authoress ' s former productions . A . series of tales by the author of " Mary Barton , " originally published in " Household Words " and " All the Year Round , " but j avK ^ eprodncfidJn-a _ inDre- £ xpjensive . an d imposing form , next claiim our attention . These tales consist of " Right at Last , > TTr Lois the Witch , " and several others . We particularly give the names of the two above-mentioned stories , because they are decidedly the most interesting in the volume . The first , " Right at Last , " is the history of a professional man of some eminence , but whose parentage is involved in considerable mystery , even his wife bning no more enlightened on the subject than society in general . Circumstances , however , compel the publicity of family matters , which our hero has for so many vaars kept carefully concealed , and the riddle is

    Bolved—his father is a felon . Many vexations and annoyances necessarily follow upon this discovery ; but , in the end , everything assumes its proper footing , and , in this instance , at least , the world does not prove itself so hard upon other people ' s misfortunes as is generally supposed . " Lois the Witch" is a more ambitious and elaborate production . The scene is laid in New England , two hundred years ago , and the plot is founded upon the mania against supposed witchcraft and diabolical agency , which at that time paralyzed the infant colony . Lois , the heroine , ultimately foils a victim to the popular frenzy , and the story winds up with a most affecting and unusual tragic denouement . The popularity of these stories has already been tested , and wo have no doubt that they will command an extensive circulation .

    " Stories of Rainbow and Lucky" are , judging from the present and two preceding numbers , likely to prove a luclcy speculation for the publishers . They ore not , ns might bo inferred from the title , a series of tales told by two individuals eccentrically named—or rather nicknamed—' " Rainbow and Luclcy , " but a continued narrative of the life and adventures of one man , lenown by the name of Hnndie ; Rainbow , a negro , occupying a prominent position in the story . Lucky is the epmiewhat inappropriate appellation given to a little unrul y colt , of whose pai'ticular doings and disasters we shall know more in a future volume . This tale is simply but elegantly written , and if the forthcoming number is only equal to thoso already in circulation , the author need entertain no doubt of its suceess .

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    • Town and Forest . ' By the Author of " Mary Powell , " IUohard Bentley . Might at Last , and other Tales . By ihe Author of " Mary Barton , " &o . Bamaon Low , Son , & Co . Stories of Rainbow and Lucky ( The Three Rides ) . By Jacob Adottd . Bamson Low , Son , & Co .

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    rpHE name . of Owen is associated , in most minds , simply ¦ ne A crotchets and errors-of his least practical times . Many re / member the tall figure and the singular yellow countenance that every now and then came up at public meetings , and in accents extremely positive , but equally benevolent , declared the world to be entirely wrong , without any truth or health in its religion , morals , politics , or social life , and then offered the means by which , at once , the whole scene was to be changed and an entirely new set of principles and practices introduced . The audience generally grew impatient , the' chairman anxious to preserve his authority , and the old man all the more obstinate from opposition , until at last with a

    bland and sunny smile he gave up the contest , attributing the unpleasantness of his reception to the circumstances under which those who would not listen to him had been brought up , and nothing doubting that in a very short time his principles would triumph , and all mankind , dwell in peace in the corpperative parallelograms he loved to devise . Those futile efforts to gam attention for schemes unsuited to the wants of humanity and the character of the age , together with idle stories of spirit-rapping and messages pretending to come from the inhabitants of the unseen world , constitute all that is usually known or remembered of one of ihe most remarkable characters of modern times , and of a man

    who played a conspicuous part in social regeneration , ancHiad kings ministers , church dignitaries , and philosophers for his friends , * admirers , and ^ supporters . The man who for the last twenty years could scarcely get any sane person to listen to him except from feelings of benevolence , once had all the civilized world for his audience , loaded"the mails , with his writings , so that their starting was delayed for twenty minutes , was the foremost spirit of committees on national distress , and set every newspaper working to report the oracular messages he was pleased to pour forth . Without knowing something of the times in which these things oc-¦ for

    curred ,-the history of them appears inconceivable , Owen never had any philosophy to unfold that would stand a moment ' s criticism from any one who was acquainted with the elements of political economy , or who entertained rational notions of the character of man . But the statesmen _ of George the Third ' s days illustrated the " maxim that little wisdom is required to "govern the world , and public opinion was in the rudest and crudest state-Law was brutal and barbarous ; -punishments sanguinary and . vin-. dictive ; manners coarse , drunken ., and licentious ; polities corrupt and despotic ; religion without vitality , philanthropy ignorant : ¦ , and ¦

    the people in distress . . _'_ This was a fine time for a reformer . 'There-was- a conviction latent or patent , that everything- was wrong , and very few had mastered the elements of any social science likely to assist in putting it right . The judges clung , to the gallows as if it was the only way of civilization , and Eldon ' s conscientious love of \ yickedness harmonized with the propensities of an obstinate and narrowminded King . Still humanity had some friends . . The Divine in . man was not without a witness , and many names will occur to the reader more ' prominently than that of Owen , as shining brightly through the social and political fogs and miasma , of the reigns of ~ tlre ~ twiais 1 rof ^ more hopeful days .

    Owen was born in the year 1771—the twelfth of George TIL , when our House of Commons attempted by violence to prcvnnt the publication of its debates ; when Louis XV . \ yas busy preparing the French Revolution by suppressing the Parliament of Paris , and by similar , acts of tyranny , and Poland was in those difficulties and intestine dissensions that rendered her partition possible . The active part of Owen ' s life comprised the period of two French Revolutions , the wars of the first Empire , the terrorism of Sidmouth and Castlereagh , the Reform Bill , Catholic Emancipation , the Anti-slavery movement , and Corn-lawHepeal . From all these agitations and changes Owen stood aloof , wrapped and absorbed in his own mission . We suppose he knew that such things were going on , but his biography is almost silent concerning them , and in the intensity of his egotistical

    benevolence he nover realized the importance of any event , however prodigious , that did not directly affect his own plans . When four or five years old Owen went to the village school in . Newtown , rushing backwards and forwards , so as not to lose i \ crumb of learning ; for the determination to be something way thus early developed in his mind . Swallowing hot flummery too quickly , in order to be back to his lessons , ho burnt his stomach , and was thus , as he fancied , obliged for the remainder of his life to bo prudent in eating and drinking , according to a theory of dietetics which ho formed in his childhood's days , when ho tells us lie reflected seriously on the nature of food . By sevou he became an usher in the school , read all manner of books , and entertained doubts as to

    the truth of all the religions in the world . Ho was not , however , an ordinary studious boy , but fond of games and distinguished for physical activity . At ten ho went out to seek his fortune in the world , and under a Mr . M'Giiffog 1 , a draper , of Stamford , learhfc to be A proficient in various business niluirs , still , however , keeping * up his habits of reading and pondering over tho miseries and errors of the world . From Stamford ho came to London as shopman to Flint and Palmer , sharn-denling 1 folks in the Borough , and begun tho day by getting himself curled , powdered , and pig-tailed before he nerved out the bobbins and tapes . From London ho wont to Manchester , rising in the world of wealth up to £ 10 a year , and gradually becoming acquainted with the most intelligent people in tho place .

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    * Robert Owonaud his Social Philosophy . By WlMiiAM Luoas Sauqant . Smith , Eu > Ea , nrnl Co .

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    476 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ May 19 , 1860 /

    Missionahy And Other Tales.*

    MISSIONARY AND OTHER TALES . *

    Robert Owen And His Social Philosophy*

    ROBERT OWEN AND HIS SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 19, 1860, page 476, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2348/page/16/