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diff --git a/40315-0.txt b/40315-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2df9dd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/40315-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9122 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40315 *** + +[Transcriber's Note: + +The first part of this volume (September 1879) was produced as Project +Gutenberg Ebook #30048. The relevant part of the table of contents has +been extracted from that document. + +The rest of the Transcriber Notes are at the end of the Book.] + + * * * * * + +_The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, Issue 4_ + +Published December 1879. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + DECEMBER, 1879. + PAGE + The Lord's Prayer and the Church: Letters Addressed to the Clergy. + By John Ruskin, D.C.L. 539 + + India under Lord Lytton. By Lieut.-Colonel R. D. Osborn 553 + + On the Utility to Flowers of their Beauty. By the Hon. Justice 574 + + Where are we in Art? By Lady Verney 588 + + Life in Constantinople Fifty Years Ago. By an Eastern Statesman 601 + + Miracles, Prayer, and Law. By J. Boyd Kinnear 617 + + What is Rent? By Professor Bonamy Price 630 + + Buddhism and Jainism. By Professor Monier Williams 644 + + Lord Beaconsfield:-- 665 + + I. Why we Follow Him. By a Tory. + II. Why we Disbelieve in Him. By a Whig. + + Contemporary Life and Thought in France. By Gabriel Monod 697 + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE CHURCH. + +LETTERS ADDRESSED BY JOHN RUSKIN, D.C.L., + + + + +TO THE CLERGY. + + +The following letters, which are still receiving the careful +consideration of many of my brother clergy, are, at the suggestion of +the Editor, now printed in the CONTEMPORARY REVIEW, with the object +of eliciting a further and wider expression of opinion. In addition +to the subjoined brief Introductory Address, I desire here to say that +every reader of these remarkable letters should remember that they +have proceeded from the pen of a very eminent layman, who has not had +the advantage, or disadvantage, of any special theological training; +but yet whose extensive studies in Art have not prevented him from +fully recognizing, and boldly avowing, his belief that religion is +everybody's business, and _his_ not less than another's. The draught +may be a bitter one for some of us; but it is a salutary medicine, and +we ought not to shrink from swallowing it. + +I shall be glad to receive such expressions of opinion as I may be +favoured with from the thoughtful readers of the CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. +Those comments or replies, along with the original letters, and +an essay or commentary from myself as editor, will be published by +Messrs. Strahan & Co., and appear early in the spring; the volume +being closed by a reply, or Epilogue, from Mr. Ruskin himself. + + F. A. MALLESON, M.A. + + The Vicarage, Broughton-in-Furness. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +The first reading of the Letters to the Furness Clerical Society was +prefaced with the following remarks:-- + +A few words by way of introduction will be absolutely necessary before +I proceed to read Mr. Ruskin's letters. They originated simply in a +proposal of mine, which met with so ready and willing a response, +that it almost seemed like a simultaneous thought. They are addressed +nominally to myself, as representing the body of clergy whose +secretary I have the honour to be; they are, in fact, therefore +addressed to this Society primarily. But in the course of the +next month or two they will also be read to two other Clerical +Societies,--the Ormskirk and the Brighton (junior),--who have acceded +to my proposals with much kindness, and in the first case have invited +me of their own accord. I have undertaken, to the best of my ability, +to arrange and set down the various expressions of opinion, which will +be freely uttered. In so limited a time, many who may have much to say +that would be really valuable will find no time to-day to deliver it. +Of these brethren, I beg that they will do me the favour to express +their views at their leisure, in writing. The original letters, the +discussions, the letters which may be suggested, and a few comments +of the Editor's, will be published in a volume which will appear, I +trust, in the beginning of the next year. + +I will now, if you please, undertake the somewhat dangerous +responsibility of avowing my own impressions of the letters I am +about to read to you. I own that I believe I see in these papers +the development of a principle of the deepest interest and +importance,--namely, the application of the highest and loftiest +standard in the interpretation of the Gospel message _to_ ourselves as +clergymen, and _from_ ourselves to our congregations. We have plenty +elsewhere of doctrine and dogma, and undefinable shades of theological +opinion. Let us turn at last to practical questions presented for our +consideration by an eminent layman whose field of work lies quite as +much in religion and ethics, as it does, reaching to so splendid an +eminence, in Art. A man is wanted to show to both clergy and laity +something of the full force and meaning of Gospel teaching. Many there +are, and I am of this number, whose cry is "_Exoriare aliquis_." + +I ask you, if possible, to do in an hour what I have been for the last +two months trying to do, to divest myself of old forms of thought, to +cast off self-indulgent views of our duty as ministers of religion, +to lift ourselves out of those grooves in which we are apt to run so +smoothly and so complacently, persuading ourselves that all is well +just as it is, and to endeavour to strike into a sterner, harder path, +beset with difficulties, but still the path of duty. These papers will +demand a close, a patient, and in some places, a few will think, an +indulgent consideration; but as a whole, the standard taken is, as I +firmly believe, speaking only for myself, lofty and Christian, to the +extent of an almost ideal perfection. If we do go forward straight +in the direction which Mr. Ruskin points out, I know we shall come, +sooner or later, to a chasm right across our path. Some of us, I hope, +will undauntedly cross it. Let each judge for himself, [Greek: tô +telei pistin pherôn]. + + + + +LETTERS. + + +I. + + BRANTWOOD, CONISTON, + LANCASHIRE, _20th June, 1879_. + +DEAR MR. MALLESON,--I could not at once answer your important letter: +for, though I felt at once the impossibility of my venturing to +address such an audience as you proposed, I am unwilling to fail in +answering to any call relating to matters respecting which my feelings +have been long in earnest, if in any wise it may be possible for me to +be of service therein. My health--or want of it--now utterly forbids +my engagement in any duty involving excitement or acute intellectual +effort; but I think, before the first Tuesday in August, I might be +able to write one or two letters to yourself, referring to, and +more or less completing, some passages already printed in _Fors_ +and elsewhere, which might, on your reading any portions you thought +available, become matter of discussion during the meeting at some +leisure time, after its own main purposes had been answered. + +At all events, I will think over what I should like, and be able, +to represent to such a meeting, and only beg you not to think me +insensible of the honour done me by your wish, and of the gravity of +the trust reposed in me. + + Ever most faithfully yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + THE REV. F. A. MALLESON. + + +II. + + BRANTWOOD, CONISTON, + _23rd June, 1879_. + +DEAR MR. MALLESON,--Walking, and talking, are now alike impossible to +me;[1] my strength is gone for both; nor do I believe talking on such +matters to be of the least use except to promote, between sensible +people, kindly feeling and knowledge of each other's personal +characters. I have every trust in _your_ kindness and truth; nor do I +fear being myself misunderstood by you; what I may be able to put +into written form, so as to admit of being laid before your friends in +council, must be set down without any question of personal feeling--as +simply as a mathematical question or demonstration. + +The first exact question which it seems to me such an assembly may +he earnestly called upon by laymen to solve, is surely axiomatic: the +definition of themselves as a body, and of their business as such. + +Namely: as clergymen of the Church of England, do they consider +themselves to be so called merely as the attached servants of a +particular state? Do they, in their quality of guides, hold a position +similar to that of the guides of Chamouni or Grindelwald, who, being +a numbered body of examined and trustworthy persons belonging to those +several villages, have nevertheless no Chamounist or Grindelwaldist +opinions on the subject of Alpine geography or glacier walking: but +are prepared to put into practice a common and universal science +of Locality and Athletics, founded on sure survey and successful +practice? Are the clergymen of the Ecclesia of England thus simply the +attached and salaried guides of England and the English, in the way, +known of all good men, that leadeth unto life?--or are they, on the +contrary, a body of men holding, or in any legal manner required, or +compelled to hold, opinions on the subject--say, of the height of the +Celestial Mountains, the crevasses which go down quickest to the pit, +and other cognate points of science--differing from, or even contrary +to, the tenets of the guides of the Church of France, the Church of +Italy, and other Christian countries? + +Is not this the first of all questions which a Clerical Council has to +answer in open terms? + + Ever affectionately yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + [Footnote 1: In answer to the proposal of discussing the + subject during a mountain walk.] + + +III. + + BRANTWOOD, _6th July_. + +My first letter contained a Layman's plea for a clear answer to the +question, "What is a clergyman of the Church of England?" Supposing +the answer to this first to be, that the clergy of the Church of +England are teachers, not of the Gospel to England, but of the Gospel +to all nations; and not of the Gospel of Luther, nor of the Gospel +of Augustine, but of the Gospel of Christ,--then the Layman's second +question would be: + +Can this Gospel of Christ be put into such plain words and short terms +as that a plain man may understand it?--and, if so, would it not be, +in a quite primal sense, desirable that it should be so, rather than +left to be gathered out of Thirty-nine Articles, written by no means +in clear English, and referring, for further explanation of exactly +the most important point in the whole tenour of their teaching,[1] +to a "Homily of Justification,"[2] which is not generally in the +possession, or even probably within the comprehension, of simple +persons? + + Ever faithfully yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + [Footnote 1: Art xi.] + + [Footnote 2: Homily xi. of the Second Table.] + + +IV. + + BRANTWOOD, _8th July_. + +I am so very glad that you approve of the letter plan, as it enables +me to build up what I would fain try to say, of little stones, without +lifting too much for my strength at once; and the sense of addressing +a friend who understands me and sympathizes with me prevents my being +brought to a stand by continual need for apology, or fear of giving +offence. + +But yet I do not quite see why you should feel my asking for a simple +and comprehensible statement of the Christian Gospel at starting. +Are you not bid to go into _all_ the world and preach it to every +creature? (I should myself think the clergyman, most likely to do good +who accepted the [Greek: pasê tê ktisei] so literally as at least to +sympathize with St. Francis' sermon to the birds, and to feel that +feeding either sheep or fowls, or unmuzzling the ox, or keeping the +wrens alive in the snow, would be received by their Heavenly Feeder as +the _perfect_ fulfilment of His "Feed my sheep" in the higher sense.) + +That's all a parenthesis; for although I should think that your +good company would all agree that kindness to animals was a kind of +preaching to them, and that hunting and vivisection were a kind of +blasphemy to them, I want only to put the sterner question before +your council, _how_ this Gospel is to be preached either "[Greek: +pantachou]" or to "[Greek: panta ta ethnê]," if first its preachers +have not determined quite clearly what it _is_? And might not such +definition, acceptable to the entire body of the Church of Christ, be +arrived at by merely explaining, in their completeness and life, the +terms of the Lord's Prayer--the first words taught to children all +over the Christian world? + +I will try to explain what I mean of its several articles, in +following letters; and in answer to the question with which you close +your last, I can only say that you are at perfect liberty to use any, +or all, or any parts of them, as you think good. Usually, when I am +asked if letters of mine may be printed, I say; "Assuredly, provided +only that you print them entire." But in your hands, I withdraw even +this condition, and trust gladly to your judgment, remaining always + + Faithfully and affectionately yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + THE REV. F. A. MALLESON. + + +V. + + BRANTWOOD, _10th July_. + +My meaning, in saying that the Lord's Prayer might be made a +foundation of Gospel-teaching, was not that it contained all that +Christian ministers have to teach; but that it contains what all +Christians are agreed upon as first to be taught; and that no good +parish-working pastor in any district of the world but would be glad +to take his part in making it clear and living to his congregation. + +And the first clause of it, of course rightly explained, gives us the +ground of what is surely a mighty part of the Gospel--its "first and +great commandment," namely, that we have a Father whom we _can_ love, +and are required to love, and to desire to be with Him in Heaven, +wherever that may be. + +And to declare that we have such a loving Father, whose mercy is over +_all_ His works, and whose will and law is so lovely and lovable that +it is sweeter than honey, and more precious than gold, to those who +can "taste" and "see" that the Lord is Good--this, surely, is a most +pleasant and glorious good message and _spell_ to bring to men--as +distinguished from the evil message and accursed spell that Satan has +brought to the nations of the world instead of it, that they have no +Father, but only "a consuming fire" ready to devour them, unless they +are delivered from its raging flame by some scheme of pardon for all, +for which they are to be thankful, not to the Father, but to the Son. + +Supposing this first article of the true Gospel agreed to, how +would the blessing that closes the epistles of that Gospel become +intelligible and living, instead of dark and dead: "The grace +of Christ, and the _love_ of God, and the fellowship of the Holy +Ghost,"--the most _tender_ word being that used of the Father? + + +VI. + + BRANTWOOD, _12th July, 1879_. + +I wonder how many, even of those who honestly and attentively join in +our Church services, attach any distinct idea to the second clause of +the Lord's Prayer, the _first petition_ of it, the first thing that +they are ordered by Christ to seek of their Father? + +Am I unjust in thinking that most of them have little more notion on +the matter than that God has forbidden "bad language," and wishes them +to pray that everybody may be respectful to Him? + +Is it any otherwise with the Third Commandment? Do not most look on +it merely in the light of the Statute of Swearing? and read the words +"will not hold him guiltless" merely as a passionless intimation that +however carelessly a man may let out a round oath, there really is +something wrong in it? + +On the other hand, can anything be more tremendous than the words +themselves--double-negatived: + + "[Greek: ou gar mê katharisêi ... kyrios]"? + +For _other_ sins there is washing;--for this, none! the seventh verse, +Ex. xx., in the Septuagint, marking the real power rather than the +English, which (I suppose) is literal to the Hebrew. + +To my layman's mind, of practical needs in the present state of +the Church, nothing is so immediate as that of explaining to the +congregation the meaning of being gathered in His name, and having +Him in the midst of them; as, on the other hand, of being gathered +in blasphemy of His name, and having the devil in the midst of +them--presiding over the prayers which have become an abomination. + +For the entire body of the texts in the Gospel against hypocrisy are +one and all nothing but the expansion of the threatening that closes +the Third Commandment. For as "the name whereby He shall be called is +the Lord our Righteousness,"--so the taking that name in vain is the +sum of "the deceivableness of _un_righteousness in them that perish." + +Without dwelling on the possibility--which I do not myself, however, +for a moment doubt--of an honest clergyman's being able actually to +prevent the entrance among his congregation of persons leading openly +wicked lives, could any subject be more vital to the purposes of your +meetings than the difference between the present and the probable +state of the Christian Church which would result, were it more the +effort of zealous parish priests, instead of getting wicked _poor_ +people to _come_ to church, to get wicked rich ones to stay out of it? + +Lest, in any discussion of such question, it might be, as it too often +is, alleged that "the Lord looketh upon the heart," &c., let me be +permitted to say--with as much positiveness as may express my deepest +conviction--that, while indeed it is the Lord's business to look upon +the heart, it is the pastor's to look upon the hands and the lips; and +that the foulest oaths of the thief and the street-walker are, in the +ears of God, sinless as the hawk's cry, or the gnat's murmur, compared +to the responses, in the Church service, on the lips of the usurer and +the adulterer, who have destroyed, not their own souls only, but those +of the outcast ones whom they have made their victims. + +It is for the meeting of clergymen themselves--not for a layman +addressing them--to ask further, how much the name of God may be taken +in vain, and profaned instead of hallowed--_in_ the pulpit, as well as +under it. + + Ever affectionately yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + +VII. + + BRANTWOOD, _14th July, 1879_. + +DEAR MR. MALLESON,--Sincere thanks for both your letters and the +proofs sent. Your comment and conducting link, when needed, will be +of the greatest help and value, I am well assured, suggesting what you +know will be the probable feeling of your hearers, and the point that +will come into question. + +Yes, certainly, that "His" in the fourth line[1] was meant to imply +that eternal presence of Christ; as in another passage,[2] referring +to the Creation, "when His right hand strewed the snow on Lebanon, +and smoothed the slopes of Calvary," but in so far as we dwell on that +truth, "Hast thou seen _Me_, Philip, and not the Father?" we are not +teaching the people what is specially the Gospel of _Christ_ as +having a distinct function--namely, to _serve_ the Father, and do the +Father's will. And in all His human relations to us, and commands to +us, it is as the Son of Man, not as the "power of God and wisdom of +God," that He acts and speaks. Not as the Power; for _He_ must pray, +like one of us. Not as the Wisdom; for He must not know "if it be +possible" His prayer should be heard. + +And in what I want to say of the third clause of His prayer (_His_, +not merely as His ordering, but His using), it is especially this +comparison between _His_ kingdom, and His Father's, that I want to see +the disciples guarded against. I believe very few, even of the most +earnest, using that petition, realize that it is the Father's--not the +Son's--kingdom, that they pray may come,--although the whole prayer is +foundational on that fact: "_For_ THINE is the kingdom, the power, and +the glory." And I fancy that the mind of the most faithful Christians +is quite led away from its proper hope, by dwelling on the reign--or +the coming again--of Christ; which, indeed, they are to look for, +and _watch_ for, but not to pray for. Their prayer is to be for the +greater kingdom to which He, risen and having all His enemies under +His feet, is to surrender _His_, "that God may be All in All." + +And, though the greatest, it is that everlasting kingdom which the +poorest of us can advance. We cannot hasten Christ's coming. "Of the +day and the hour, knoweth none." But the kingdom of God is as a +grain of mustard-seed:--we can sow of it; it is as a foam-globe of +leaven:--we can mingle it; and its glory and its joy are that even the +birds of the air can lodge in the branches thereof. + +Forgive me for getting back to my sparrows; but truly, in the present +state of England, the fowls of the air are the only creatures, +tormented and murdered as they are, that yet have here and there +nests, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And it would be well if +many of us, in reading that text, "The kingdom of God is NOT meat and +drink," had even got so far as to the understanding that it was at +least _as much_, and that until we had fed the hungry, there was no +power in us to inspire the unhappy. + + Ever affectionately yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + +I will write my feeling about the pieces of the Life of Christ you +have sent me, in a private letter. I may say at once that I am sure it +will do much good, and will be upright and intelligible, which how few +religious writings are! + + [Footnote 1: "Modern Painters."] + + [Footnote 2: Referring to the closing sentence of the third + paragraph of the fifth letter, which _seemed_ to express what + I felt could not be Mr. Ruskin's full meaning, I pointed out + to him the following sentence in "Modern Painters:"-- + + "When, in the desert, Jesus was girding Himself for the work + of life, angels of life came and ministered unto Him; now, + in the fair world, when He is girding Himself for the work of + death, the ministrants come to Him from the grave; but from + the grave conquered. One from the tomb under Abarim, which + _His_ own hand had sealed long ago; the other from the rest + which He had entered without seeing corruption." + + On this I made a remark somewhat to the following effect: that + I felt sure Mr. Ruskin regarded the loving work of the Father + and of the Son to be _equal_ in the forgiveness of sins and + redemption of mankind; that what is done by the Father is + in reality done also by the Son; and that it is by a mere + accommodation to human infirmity of understanding that + the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed to us in language, + inadequate indeed to convey divine truths, but still the only + language possible; and I asked whether some such feeling was + not present in his mind when he used the pronoun "His," in + the above passage from "Modern Painters" of the Son, where it + would be usually understood of the Father; and as a corollary, + whether, in the letter, he does not himself fully recognize + the fact of the redemption of the world by the loving + self-sacrifice of the Son in entire concurrence with the + equally loving will of the Father. This, as well as I + can recollect, is the origin of the passage in the second + paragraph in the seventh letter.--_Editor of Letters._] + + +VIII. + + BRANTWOOD, _9th August, 1879_. + +I was reading the second chapter of Malachi this morning by chance, +and wondering how many clergymen ever read it, and took to heart the +"commandment for _them_." + +For they are always ready enough to call themselves priests (though +they know themselves to be nothing of the sort) whenever there is any +dignity to be got out of the title; but, whenever there is any good, +hot scolding or unpleasant advice given them by the prophets, in that +self-assumed character of theirs, they are as ready to quit it as +ever Dionysus his lion-skin, when he finds the character of Herakles +inconvenient. + +"Ye have wearied the Lord with your words," (yes, and some of His +people, too, in your time): "yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him? +When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the +Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" + +How many, again and again I wonder, of the lively young ecclesiastics +supplied to the increasing demand of our west-ends of flourishing +Cities of the Plain, ever consider what sort of sin it is for which +God (unless they lay it to heart) will "curse their blessings, and +spread dung upon their faces," or have understood, even in the dimmest +manner, what part _they_ had taken, and were taking, in "corrupting +the covenant of the Lord with Levi, and causing many to stumble at the +Law." + +Perhaps the most subtle and unconscious way in which the religious +teachers upon whom the ends of the world are come, have done this, is +in never telling their people the meaning of the clause in the Lord's +Prayer, which, of all others, their most earnest hearers have oftenest +on their lips: "Thy will be done." They allow their people to use +it as if their Father's will were always to kill their babies, or do +something unpleasant to them, instead of explaining to them that +the first and intensest article of their Father's will was their own +sanctification, and following comfort and wealth; and that the +one only path to national prosperity and to domestic peace was to +understand what the will of the Lord was, and to do all they could +to get it done. Whereas one would think, by the tone of the eagerest +preachers nowadays, that they held their blessed office to be that, +not of showing men how to do their Father's will on earth, but how to +get to heaven without doing any of it either here or there! + +I say, especially, the most eager preachers; for nearly the whole +Missionary body (with the hottest Evangelistic sect of the English +Church) is at this moment composed of men who think the Gospel they +are to carry to mend the world with, forsooth, is that, "If any man +sin, he hath an Advocate with the Father;" while I have never yet, in +my own experience, met either with a Missionary or a Town Bishop who +so much as professed himself "to understand what the will of the Lord" +was, far less to teach anybody else to do it; and for fifty preachers, +yes, and fifty hundreds whom I have heard proclaiming the Mediator +of the New Testament, that "they which were called might receive the +promise of eternal inheritance," I have never yet heard so much as +_one_ heartily proclaiming against all those "deceivers with vain +words" (Eph. v. 6), that "no covetous person which is an idolator hath +_any_ inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, or of God;" and on myself +personally and publicly challenging the Bishops of England generally, +and by name the Bishop of Manchester, to say whether usury was, or was +not, according to the will of God, I have received no answer from any +one of them.[1] + + _13th August._ + +I have allowed myself, in the beginning of this letter, to dwell on +the equivocal use of the word "Priest" in the English Church (see +Christopher Harvey, Grosart's edition, p. 38), because the assumption +of the mediatorial, in defect of the pastoral, office by the clergy +fulfils itself, naturally and always, in their pretending to absolve +the sinner from his punishment, instead of purging him from his sin; +and practically, in their general patronage and encouragement of all +the iniquity of the world, by steadily preaching away the penalties +of it. So that the great cities of the earth, which ought to be the +places set on its hills, with the Temple of the Lord in the midst of +them, to which the tribes should go up,--centres to the Kingdoms +and Provinces of Honour, Virtue, and the Knowledge of the law of +God,--have become, instead, loathsome centres of fornication and +covetousness--the smoke of their sin going up into the face of Heaven +like the furnace of Sodom, and the pollution of it rotting and raging +through the bones and the souls of the peasant people round them, as +if they were each a volcano whose ashes broke out in blains upon man +and upon beast. + +And in the midst of them, their freshly-set-up steeples ring the crowd +to a weekly prayer that the rest of their lives may be pure and holy, +while they have not the slightest intention of purifying, sanctifying, +or changing their lives in any the smallest particular; and their +clergy gather, each into himself, the curious dual power, and +Janus-faced majesty in mischief, of the prophet that prophesies +falsely, and the priest that bears rule by his means. + +And the people love to have it so. + + BRANTWOOD, _12th August_. + +I am very glad of your little note from Brighton. I thought it +needless to send the two letters there, which you will find at home; +and they pretty nearly end all _I_ want to say; for the remaining +clauses of the prayer touch on things too high for me. But I will send +you one concluding letter about them. + + [Footnote 1: Fors Clavigera, Letter lxxxii., p. 323.] + + +IX. + + BRANTWOOD, _19th August_. + +I retained the foregoing letter by me till now, lest you should think +it written in any haste or petulance; but it is every word of it +deliberate, though expressing the bitterness of twenty years of vain +sorrow and pleading concerning these things. Nor am I able to write, +otherwise, anything of the next following clause of the prayer;--for +no words could be burning enough to tell the evils which have come on +the world from men's using it thoughtlessly and blasphemously, praying +God to give them what they are deliberately resolved to steal. For all +true Christianity is known--as its Master was--in breaking of bread, +and all false Christianity in stealing it. + +Let the clergyman only apply--with impartial and level sweep--to his +congregation, the great pastoral order: "The man that will not work, +neither should he eat;" and be resolute in requiring each member +of his flock to tell him _what_--day by day--they do to earn their +dinners;--and he will find an entirely new view of life and its +sacraments open upon him and them. + +For the man who is not--day by day--doing work which will earn his +dinner, must be stealing his dinner; and the actual fact is that the +great mass of men, calling themselves Christians, do actually live by +robbing the poor of their bread, and by no other trade whatsoever: and +the simple examination of the mode of the produce and consumption of +European food--who digs for it, and who eats it--will prove that to +any honest human soul. + +Nor is it possible for any Christian Church to exist but in pollutions +and hypocrisies beyond all words, until the virtues of a life moderate +in its self-indulgence, and wide in its offices of temporal ministry +to the poor, are insisted on as the normal conditions in which, +only, the prayer to God for the harvest of the earth is other than +blasphemy. + +In the second place. Since in the parable in Luke, the bread asked for +is shown to be also, and chiefly, the Holy Spirit (Luke xi. 13), and +the prayer, "Give us each day our daily bread," is, in its fulness, +the disciples', "Lord, evermore give us _this_ bread,"--the +clergyman's question to his whole flock, primarily literal: "Children, +have ye here any meat?" must ultimately be always the greater +spiritual one: "Children, have ye here any Holy Spirit?" or, "Have ye +not heard yet whether there _be_ any? and, instead of a Holy Ghost the +Lord and Giver of Life, do you only believe in an unholy mammon, Lord +and Giver of Death?" + +The opposition between the two Lords has been, and will be as long +as the world lasts, absolute, irreconcileable, mortal; and the +clergyman's first message to his people of this day is--if he be +faithful--"Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." + + Ever faithfully yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + +X. + + BRANTWOOD, _3rd September_. + +DEAR MR. MALLESON,--I have been very long before trying to say so much +as a word about the sixth clause of the Pater; for whenever I began +thinking of it, I was stopped by the sorrowful sense of the hopeless +task you poor clergymen had, nowadays, in recommending and teaching +people to love their enemies, when their whole energies were already +devoted to swindling their friends. + +But, in any days, past or now, the clause is one of such difficulty, +that, to understand it, means almost to know the love of God which +passeth knowledge. + +But, at all events, it is surely the pastor's duty to prevent his +flock from _mis_understanding it; and above all things to keep them +from supposing that God's forgiveness is to be had simply for the +asking, by those who "wilfully sin after they have received the +knowledge of the truth." + +There is one very simple lesson also, needed especially by people in +circumstances of happy life, which I have never heard fully enforced +from the pulpit, and which is usually the more lost sight of, because +the fine and inaccurate word "trespasses" is so often used instead of +the simple and accurate one "debts." Among people well educated and +happily circumstanced it may easily chance that long periods of their +lives pass without any such conscious sin as could, on any discovery +or memory of it, make them cry out, in truth and in pain,--"I have +sinned against the Lord." But scarcely an hour of their happy days can +pass over them without leaving--were their hearts open--some evidence +written there that they have "left undone the things that they ought +to have done," and giving them bitterer and heavier cause to cry, +and cry again--for ever, in the pure words of their Master's prayer, +"Dimitte nobis _debita_ nostra." + +In connection with the more accurate translation of "debts" rather +than "trespasses," it would surely be well to keep constantly in the +mind of complacent and inoffensive congregations that in Christ's +own prophecy of the manner of the last judgment, the condemnation is +pronounced only on the sins of omission: "I was hungry, and ye gave me +no meat." + +But, whatever the manner of sin, by offence or defect, which the +preacher fears in his people, surely he has of late been wholly remiss +in compelling their definite recognition of it, in its several and +personal particulars. Nothing in the various inconsistency of human +nature is more grotesque than its willingness to be taxed with any +quantity of sins in the gross, and its resentment at the insinuation +of having committed the smallest parcel of them in detail. And the +English Liturgy, evidently drawn up with the amiable intention of +making religion as pleasant as possible, to a people desirous of +saving their souls with no great degree of personal inconvenience, is +perhaps in no point more unwholesomely lenient than in its concession +to the popular conviction that we may obtain the present advantage, +and escape the future punishment, of any sort of iniquity, by +dexterously concealing the manner of it from man, and triumphantly +confessing the quantity of it to God. + +Finally, whatever the advantages and decencies of a form of prayer, +and how wide soever the scope given to its collected passages, it +cannot be at one and the same time fitted for the use of a body +of well-taught and experienced Christians, such as should join the +services of a Church nineteen centuries old,--and adapted to the needs +of the timid sinner who has that day first entered its porch, or of +the remorseful publican who has only recently become sensible of his +call to a pew. + +And surely our clergy need not be surprised at the daily increasing +distrust in the public mind of the efficacy of Prayer, after having so +long insisted on their offering supplication, _at least_ every Sunday +morning at eleven o'clock, that the rest of their lives hereafter +might be pure and holy, leaving them conscious all the while that they +would be similarly required to inform the Lord next week, at the same +hour, that "there was no health in them!" + +Among the much rebuked follies and abuses of so-called "Ritualism," +none that I have heard of are indeed so dangerously and darkly +"Ritual" as this piece of authorized mockery of the most solemn act of +human life, and only entrance of eternal life--Repentance. + + Believe me, dear Mr. Malleson, + + Ever faithfully and respectfully yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + +XI. + + BRANTWOOD, _14th September, 1879_. + +DEAR MR. MALLESON,--The gentle words in your last letter referring +to the difference between yourself and me in the degree of hope with +which you could regard what could not but appear to the general mind +Utopian in designs for the action of the Christian Church, surely +might best be answered by appeal to the consistent tone of the prayer +we have been examining. + +Is not every one of its petitions for a perfect state? and is not +this last clause of it, of which we are to think to-day--if fully +understood--a petition not only for the restoration of Paradise, but +of Paradise in which there shall be no deadly fruit, or, at least, no +tempter to praise it? And may we not admit that it is probably only +for want of the earnest use of this last petition that not only the +preceding ones have become formal with us, but that the private and +simply restricted prayer for the little things we each severally +desire, has become by some Christians dreaded and unused, and by +others used faithlessly, and therefore with disappointment? + +And is it not for want of this special directness and simplicity of +petition, and of the sense of its acceptance, that the whole nature of +prayer has been doubted in our hearts, and disgraced by our lips; that +we are afraid to ask God's blessing on the earth, when the scientific +people tell us He has made previous arrangements to curse it; and +that, instead of obeying, without fear or debate, the plain order, +"Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full," we sorrowfully +sink back into the apology for prayer, that "it is a wholesome +exercise, even when fruitless," and that we ought piously always to +suppose that the text really means no more than "Ask, and ye shall +_not_ receive, that your joy may be _empty_?" + +Supposing we were first all of us quite sure that we _had_ prayed, +honestly, the prayer against temptation, and that we would thankfully +be refused anything we had set our hearts upon, if indeed God saw that +it would lead us into evil, might we not have confidence afterwards +that He in whose hand the King's heart is, as the rivers of water, +would turn our tiny little hearts also in the way that they should go, +and that _then_ the special prayer for the joys He taught them to seek +would be answered to the last syllable, and to overflowing? + +It is surely scarcely necessary to say, farther, what the holy +teachers of all nations have invariably concurred in showing,--that +faithful prayer implies always correlative exertion; and that no man +can ask honestly or hopefully to be delivered from temptation, unless +he has himself honestly and firmly determined to do the best he can +to keep out of it. But, in modern days, the first aim of all Christian +parents is to place their children in circumstances where the +temptations (which they are apt to call "opportunities") may be as +great and as many as possible; where the sight and promise of "all +these things" in Satan's gift may be brilliantly near; and where the +act of "falling down to worship me" may be partly concealed by the +shelter, and partly excused, as involuntary, by the pressure, of the +concurrent crowd. + +In what respect the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of _them_, +differ from the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, which are God's for +ever, is seldom, as far as I have heard, intelligibly explained from +the pulpit; and still less the irreconcileable hostility between the +two royalties and realms asserted in its sternness of decision. + +Whether it be, indeed, Utopian to believe that the kingdom we are +taught to pray for _may_ come--verily come--for the asking, it is +surely not for man to judge; but it is at least at his choice to +resolve that he will no longer render obedience, nor ascribe glory and +power, to the Devil. If he cannot find strength in himself to advance +towards Heaven, he may at least say to the power of Hell, "Get thee +behind me;" and staying himself on the testimony of Him who saith, +"Surely I come quickly," ratify his happy prayer with the faithful +"Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus." + + Ever, my dear friend, + + Believe me affectionately and gratefully yours, + + J. RUSKIN. + + + + +INDIA UNDER LORD LYTTON. + + +Lord Lytton is fond of public speaking, and his more solemn speeches +are remarkable for the stream of abundant piety which runs through +them. Not unfrequently they have taken the form of addresses to some +unknown power, rather than discourses delivered to a mundane audience. +He signalized his accession to office by one of these semi-theological +orations to the members of Council assembled to meet him at Government +House, Calcutta. He said:-- + + "Gentlemen, it is my fervent prayer, that a Power higher + than that of any earthly Government may inspire and bless + the progress of our counsels; granting me, with your valued + assistance, to direct them to such issues as may prove + conducive to the honour of our country, to the authority + and prestige of its august Sovereign, to the progressive + well-being of the millions committed to our fostering care, + and to the security of the chiefs and princes of India, as + well as of our allies beyond the frontier, in the undisturbed + enjoyment of their just rights and hereditary possessions." + +The sequel renders it probable that by a "power higher than any +earthly Government," Lord Lytton understood nothing more remote from +human ken than the will of Lord Beaconsfield. At any rate, the prayer +was rejected; and under the influence of a perverse destiny, the +Viceroy has been singled out to accomplish precisely those acts from +which he entreated to be delivered. The "valued assistance" of +his colleagues in council he has systematically set at nought and +rejected; the "millions committed to his fostering care" he has (as +I shall show) permitted to perish of hunger under circumstances of +peculiar cruelty; and I need not say that he has entirely failed in +his endeavours to preserve "our allies beyond the frontier in +the undisturbed enjoyment of their just rights and hereditary +possessions." + +It is the story of these inconsistencies which I propose to tell in +the following pages. In the reading they can hardly fail to awaken +a smile; but in the acting they have brought suffering, poverty, and +death upon thousands of innocent people. Throughout India they have +shaken the confidence of the people in the humanity, justice, and +truthfulness of the British character; and have, as I believe, brought +our Indian Empire to the verge of a catastrophe, from which nothing +but a complete and immediate reversal of policy will avail to save it. + +The rule that we have set up in India is so hard and mechanical in its +character--it has so entirely failed to strike root in the affections +of the natives--that a very brief period of misgovernment suffices to +provoke an insurrection. This is occasioned mainly by two causes--the +exclusive system on which India is administered, and the absence of +all intercommunion (in any true sense of the word) between the ruling +and the subject races. It is not too much to say that under the +present system every native of ambition, ability, or education, is of +necessity a centre of disaffection towards British rule. For within +the area of British rule the ascendency of strangers makes him an +alien in his native land without scope for his power or hopes for his +ambition; and beyond that area the possession of ability awakens the +distrust and unconcealed dislike of English officialism. On the other +hand, to the great mass of the people, the English official is simply +an enigma. Their relations with him are almost exclusively official. +The magistrate of a district is little more to them than a piece of +machinery possessing powers to kill and tax and imprison. Such pieces +of machinery they behold, as Carlyle would say, in endless succession +"emerging from the inane," killing and taxing for a time, and then +"vanishing again into the inane." But the people know not whence they +come, or whither they go; their voices go for nothing in the selection +of this human machinery which hold their fortunes in its power. The +great administrative mill goes grinding on, impelled by forces of +which they have no knowledge; and the people are merely the passive, +unresisting grist which is ground up year after year. A truly +frightful and unnatural state of things! + +It is impossible that a dominion thus constituted should be otherwise +than transitory. But even for a brief space its peaceful continuance +is possible only under certain conditions. The absence of either +loyalty or thorough understanding in those who are ruled, must be +made good by the plainest rectitude of purpose on the part of the +Government, and thoroughly genuine and successful administration. If +such a Government as we have set up in India does not adhere strictly +to the letter and the spirit of its engagements--if it cannot insure +the physical well-being of its subjects--it is simply good for +nothing; because, from its very nature, it cannot achieve anything +more than this. It was the first of these conditions that Lord +Dalhousie thought he might safely set at nought; and in five years +he brought down upon us the terrible retribution of 1857. But Lord +Dalhousie was, at least, sincerely anxious to secure the "physical +well-being" of the people. He struck at the chiefs and princes +of India because he believed that they stood in the way of that +well-being. He was entirely mistaken; but nevertheless he threw down +only one of the pillars on which our rule is sustained, and when +the Mutiny came upon us, the bulk of the people remained loyal. Lord +Lytton has undermined the foundations of both pillars, and a very +brief continuance of his policy will bring them down with a crash. +How this has been accomplished I have now to relate. I begin with his +policy on the Frontier, because all the other transactions of which +I shall have to speak are connected with that policy, as effects with +their cause. + + +The Negotiations with Shere Ali. + +Despite of all that has been written and said on the subject, to most +people the origin of the war in Afghanistan appears involved in as +great obscurity as ever. Leading Liberal politicians are in this +benighted condition not less than the rank and file of the Tories. +More people than formerly are willing to admit that the Government was +rash and mistaken in its calculations--that the Treaty of Gundamuck +has not fulfilled the expectations it awakened; but a war of some +kind, they believe, was forced upon the Government by the attitude +of Russia and the disposition of the Ameer. This belief is entirely +erroneous. The war was a war of deliberately planned aggression, +entirely unjustified either by the attitude of Russia or the +disposition of the Ameer. Unless we perceive this we are not in a +position to form a sound estimate of the effect wrought in the minds +of the princes and people of India. The wanton character of the war +is, therefore, the first thing I must demonstrate. + +When Lord Lytton reached India, the situation in Afghanistan was as +follows:--The late Ameer Shere Ali had succeeded in establishing a +degree of order throughout Afghanistan, to which the country had +been a stranger for many years. His officers were loyal and devoted; +intrigue and rebellion had everywhere failed to make headway; and +he was on terms of sincere friendship with the Governor-General +at Calcutta. There was, at this time, no fear that the Russians +in Central Asia desired to exercise any unwarrantable influence in +Afghanistan; on the contrary, in the despatch to Lord Northbrook's +Government, in which Lord Salisbury propounded his new policy of +establishing a permanent Embassy at Kabul, he said-- + + "I do not desire, by the observations which I have made, to + convey to your Excellency the impression that, in the opinion + of her Majesty's Government, the Russian Government have any + intention of violating the frontier of Afghanistan.... It is + undoubtedly true that the recent advances in Central Asia have + been rather forced upon the Government of St. Petersburg than + originated by them, and that _their efforts, at present, are + sincerely directed to the prevention of any movement which may + give just umbrage to the British Government_." + +The political horizon was, therefore, cloudless at the moment selected +by Lord Salisbury for a radical change of policy in Afghanistan. This +very fact would have sufficed to arouse the suspicions of the Ameer. +Lord Salisbury has since expressed his conviction that if Lord +Northbrook had made the proposal, the Ameer would have accepted the +permanent Embassy, and both he and we should have been spared the +calamities which resulted from delay. But at the time Lord Salisbury +sent his instructions to the Government of India he thought otherwise. +He had then no doubt that if the Ameer was asked in so many words to +receive a permanent Mission in Afghanistan, the Ameer would refuse. +But he thought it was possible to fasten a Mission on him by means of +a deception. + + "The first step" Lord Salisbury wrote to the Government of + India, "in establishing our relations with the Ameer on a + more satisfactory footing will be to induce him to receive + a temporary Embassy in his capital. It need not be publicly + connected with the establishment of a permanent Mission within + his dominions. There would be many advantages in ostensibly + directing it to some object of smaller political interest, + which it will not be difficult for your Excellency to find, or + if need be, to create. I have, therefore, to instruct you ... + without any delay that you can reasonably avoid, to find some + occasion for sending a Mission to Kabul." + +Lord Northbrook, as is well known, declined to carry out this +ingenious plan for overreaching the Ameer, and breaking the pledge +that we had given not to force English officers upon him. He resigned +almost immediately after the receipt of the despatch setting forth the +new policy, and was succeeded by Lord Lytton. It is generally assumed +that Lord Lytton came to India charged with the execution of no other +policy than that to which Lord Northbrook had declined to assent. But +this assumption is incompatible with the line of action pursued by +Lord Lytton. This much, however, is clear already. The new policy, +whatever it was, was not forced upon the British Government, either by +the alienation of the Ameer or the intrigues of Russia. They entered +upon it at a time when, by their own confession, the sky was clear. +Afghanistan was in the enjoyment of an unprecedented quiet and +prosperity; the Ameer was conducting his foreign policy in accordance +with our wishes; and the efforts of the Government of St. Petersburg +were "sincerely directed to the prevention of any movement which might +give just umbrage to the British Government." So far as India was +concerned, the condition of the country called aloud for a policy +devoted to internal reform and retrenchment. The limit of endurable +taxation had been reached; the army imperatively needed thorough +reorganization; and the people and the land were still being scourged +by famine upon famine of the most appalling character. + +Now, if the English Cabinet had no designs in their frontier policy +except to establish British agents in Afghanistan, without breach of +pre-existing arrangements, and with the free concurrence of the Ameer, +it is plain that for such a policy concealment was unnecessary. Yet, +until the actual outbreak of hostilities, the negotiations with the +Ameer were kept hidden from the English Parliament and the nation. +The fact is, that in the instructions given to Lord Lytton before his +departure from England, Lord Salisbury anticipates the refusal of the +Ameer to agree to the new policy, and points out what, in that case, +is to be done:-- + + "11. If the language and demeanour of the Ameer be such as + to promise no satisfactory result of the negotiations thus + opened, his Highness should be distinctly reminded that he + is isolating himself at his own peril from the friendship and + protection it is his interest to seek and deserve...." + + "28. The conduct of Shere Ali has more than once been + characterized by so significant a disregard of the wishes and + interests of the Government of India, that the irretrievable + alienation of his confidence in the sincerity and power of + that Government is a contingency which cannot be dismissed as + impossible. _Should such a fear be confirmed by the result + of the proposed negotiation, no time must be lost in + reconsidering, from a new point of view, the policy to be + pursued in reference to Afghanistan._" + +These instructions clearly establish the following points:--They show +that the new policy, whatever it was, was expected "irretrievably" +to destroy the confidence of the Ameer "in the sincerity of the +Government;" and that, in that case, the Ameer was to be informed that +he had forfeited our friendship and protection, and a new policy was +immediately to be adopted towards Afghanistan. Here, then, we have +the first note of war. All this time there was no pressure upon the +British Government occasioned by the attitude of Russia. Our relations +with Russia were excellent. On the 5th May, 1876, Mr. Disraeli said in +the House of Commons, "_I believe, indeed, that at no time has there +been a better understanding between the Courts of St. James and St. +Petersburg than at this present moment_, and there is this good +understanding because our policy is a clear and frank policy." So +here we have the proof, that in a season of perfect calm, the Ministry +commenced a policy for the "irretrievable alienation" of the Ameer, +and sent Lord Lytton to India in order to execute it. + +Lord Lytton entered with zest into the spirit of these singular +instructions, and set to work to "alienate" the Ameer with the utmost +vigour. He politely caused him to be informed that he (the Ameer) was +an earthen pipkin between two iron pots; that if he did not come to +a "speedy understanding" with us, the two iron pots would combine +to crush him out of existence altogether. "As matters now stand, +the British Government is able to pour an overwhelming force into +Afghanistan, which could be spread round him as a ring of iron, but if +he became our enemy, it could break him as a reed." "Our only interest +in maintaining the independence of Afghanistan is to provide for +the security of our own frontier." "If we ceased to regard it as +a friendly State, there was nothing to prevent us coming to an +understanding with Russia which would wipe Afghanistan out of the map +for ever." Would any man, I ask, address these insults and menaces to +one whose friendship and confidence he was desirous to gain? It must +be plain to every reasonable person that British officers could only +then be established in Afghanistan with safety to themselves, and +utility to the British Government, when they were admitted with the +free concurrence of the Ameer and his people. A concession of this +nature, if extorted by means of menaces and insults, would be, by +that very circumstance, deprived of all value. And the fact is (as the +reader will perceive immediately) Lord Lytton was not sincere in +the propositions he made to the Ameer. He had no wish that the Ameer +should come to a "speedy understanding" with him; and as soon as he +saw that such a result was impending, he broke off all intercourse +with him. Lord Lytton charged the British Vakeel, Atta Mohammed Khan, +to convey to the Ameer Shere Ali the amenities I have just quoted +about the pipkin, the iron pots, and the rest of it. At the same time, +the Vakeel was instructed to propose a meeting at Peshawur between Sir +Lewis Pelly, as the representative of the Indian Government, and Noor +Mohammed Shah, the Minister of the Ameer. The basis of negotiations +between them was to be the admission of British officers to certain +places in the territories of the Ameer. Unless the Ameer was prepared +to concede this, as a preliminary condition, there was no good in his +sending a representative to confer with Sir Lewis Pelly. Great was the +consternation at the Court of the Ameer when our Vakeel unfolded the +message with which he was charged. They bowed before the storm; and +on December 21, 1876, Atta Mohammed Khan wrote to the Government +of India, that the Ameer, though still disliking to receive +English officers, would on account of the insistence of the British +Government, yield the point; but only after his Minister had, at +the conference, made representations of his views and stated all his +difficulties. + +Behold, then, the Government of India arrived at the goal of its +desires. The Ameer consents to receive English officers if, after +hearing all his reasons, Lord Lytton remains convinced of the +expediency of that policy. But what follows? The conference is begun; +but while the discussions were still unfinished, Noor Mohammed Shah +fell sick, and died; and then what was the action of Lord Lytton? I +quote his own words:-- + + "At the moment when Sir Lewis Pelly was closing the + conference, his Highness was sending to the Mir Akhir + instructions to prolong it by every means in his power; a + fresh Envoy was already on his way from Kabul to Peshawur; + and it was reported that this Envoy had authority to accept + eventually all the conditions of the British Government. _The + Viceroy was aware of these facts when he instructed our Envoy + to close the conference._" + +The closing of the conference was followed by the withdrawal from +Kabul of the British agency which had been established there for more +than twenty years, and the suspension of all intercourse between us +and the Ameer. + +There is but one conclusion possible from these strange proceedings. +The demands made upon the Ameer were made in the hope that he would +refuse to concede them, and so furnish the Indian Government with a +pretext for attacking him. The last thing which Lord Lytton desired +was that the Ameer should accept his demands. And, therefore, as soon +as it became apparent that Shere Ali was prepared to do this rather +than forfeit the protection and friendship of the British Government, +Lord Lytton broke up the conference, which (be it remembered) he had +himself proposed. Lord Lytton, not Shere Ali, without provocation +or ostensible cause, assumes towards Afghanistan "an attitude of +isolation and scarcely veiled hostility;" and Lord Salisbury thus +comments upon the situation (October 4, 1877):-- + + "In the event of the Ameer ... spontaneously manifesting + a desire to come to a friendly understanding with your + Excellency, _on the basis of the terms lately offered to, but + declined by him_, his advances should not be rejected. If, + on the other hand, he continues to maintain an attitude + of isolation and scarcely veiled hostility, the British + Government ... _will be at liberty to adopt such measures for + the protection and permanent tranquillity of the North-West + frontier of her Majesty's Indian dominions as the + circumstances may render expedient, without regard to + the wishes of the Ameer Shere Ali or the interests of his + dynasty_." + +Here, at last, we get at the veritable purpose of this tortuous +policy. As we suspected, the "terms offered to the Ameer, and +unhappily _not_ declined by him," were a mere pretence. The real +object was the "protection of the North-West frontier"--in other +words, the acquisition of a "scientific frontier"--without regard to +the wishes of the Ameer, or the interests of his dynasty. The Ameer +was to be "irretrievably alienated" by menacing his independence; and +then the "irretrievable alienation" was to be made the pretext for +carrying the menace into execution. What the "scientific frontier" +was the reader will find, if he refers to my article on "India and +Afghanistan," in the October number of this REVIEW. + +The threat, however, for reasons I shall state presently, could not +be carried into execution at once. The negotiations at Peshawur were +carefully concealed from the knowledge of the public. Neither in India +nor in England was it known that the British agency was withdrawn from +Kabul. The _Pioneer_--the official journal in India--was instructed +to inform its readers that the Ameer was animated with feelings of +the utmost cordiality towards us; and Lord Lytton made a speech in the +Council Chamber expounding his frontier policy. He glanced first at +the policy of his predecessors. His sensitive spirit was much +grieved by its apathetic character. It seemed to him "atheistic," and +"inhuman," and "inconsistent with our high duties to God and man as +the greatest civilizing Power." Then, warming with his subject, he set +forth his own idea of a frontier policy in the following grandiloquent +fashion:-- + + "I consider that the safest and strongest frontier India + can possibly possess would be a belt of independent frontier + States, throughout which the British name is honoured and + trusted; within which British subjects are welcomed and + respected, because they are subjects of a Government known to + be unselfish as it is powerful, and resolute as it is humane; + by which our advice is followed without suspicion, and _our + word relied on without misgiving_, because the first has been + justified by good results, and _the second never quibbled away + by timorous sub-intents or tricky saving clauses_--a belt of + States, in short, whose chiefs and populations should have + every interest, and every desire, to co-operate with our own + officers in preserving the peace of the frontier, developing + the resources of their own territories, augmenting the wealth + of their own treasuries, and vindicating in the eyes of the + Eastern and Western world their title to an independence, of + which we are ourselves the chief well-wishers and supporters." + +It is hardly credible that the same man who gave expression to these +magnificent sentiments had just caused the Ameer to be informed that +he did not regard the promises made to Shere Ali, by Lords Northbrook +and Mayo, as binding upon the Government of India, because they were +"verbal." "His Excellency the Viceroy," said Sir Lewis Pelly to the +Ameer's Envoy, "instructs me to inform your Excellency plainly, that +the British Government neither recognizes, nor has recognized, the +obligation of these promises." And the official journal called upon +India to rejoice, because one result of the conference had been the +cancelling of these "verbal promises and engagements," which the +Government had found "very embarrassing." + +It is plain from the foregoing that Shere Ali was a doomed man long +before the appearance of a Russian Mission in his capital. We did not +declare war at once, simply because we were then in danger of a war +with Russia in Bulgaria. And the Government were still possessed +of sufficient prudence not to attempt an invasion of Afghanistan +simultaneously with a campaign on the Balkans. But the sore was +carefully kept open by "our attitude of isolation and scarcely veiled +hostility;" and if the Russian Embassy had not appeared in Kabul, +some other pretext for war would indubitably have been found. The +Government of India--or rather Lord Lytton--affected to be greatly +alarmed at the advent of this Russian Mission, but his subsequent +proceedings show that he seized upon the incident with greediness +as enabling him to carry out his long-meditated project for the +destruction of an old and faithful ally. A single fact will suffice to +prove this. What I have already related shows that, up to this time, +the Ameer Shere Ali had given us no cause of quarrel whatever. He had +been desirous, against the dictates of his own judgment, to agree +to what was asked of him rather than forfeit the friendship of the +English Government. The estrangement between him and ourselves was +the result of our policy--not his. Lord Lytton was solely and wholly +responsible for it. The Russian Embassy, as Lord Lytton knew perfectly +well, was due to no overtures made by Shere Ali to the Russians in +Central Asia, but to the silly exhibition of seven thousand Sepoys +at Malta, by means of which we had recently earned the ridicule of +Europe. Moreover, as the Treaty of Berlin was an accomplished fact +before the Russians had appeared in Kabul, their arrival there was +a matter of comparatively trifling significance. How, then, did Lord +Lytton act? He organized a Mission under the command of Sir Neville +Chamberlain to proceed to Kabul; and at the same time directed our +Vakeel, Gulam Hussein Khan, to go before it to Kabul, and obtain the +permission of the Ameer for its entrance to his territories. So far +there is nothing to object to, but mark what follows. + +While yet Sir Neville Chamberlain with his Mission was at Peshawur, +Gulam Hussein Khan, from Kabul, reported to Sir Neville as +follows:--"If Mission will await Ameer's permission, everything will +be arranged, God willing, in the best manner, and no room will be left +for complaint in the future.... Further, that if Mission starts on +18th, without waiting for the Ameer's permission, there would be no +hope left for the renewal of friendship or communication." + +These reports were received by Sir Neville Chamberlain on 19th +September, and on the same day the Viceroy ordered the Mission to +attempt to force its way through the Khyber Pass. All Europe knows +the sequel. The Afghan officer in charge of the fort at Ali Musjid +declined to let the Mission pass; but, while obeying his orders +firmly, behaved, as Major Cavagnari reported, "in a most courteous +manner, and very favourably impressed both Colonel Jenkins and +myself." And then was telegraphed home the shameless fiction that he +had threatened to fire on Major Cavagnari, and that the majesty of the +Empire had been insulted. + +It is hard to write with calmness when one has to speak of actions +like these. It is, I trust, impossible for any Englishman to read of +them without the keenest shame and remorse. What, however, we have +to consider at present is their effect upon the native mind. There is +not, we may be certain, a single native Court throughout India where +they have not been discussed again and again; and there is but one +conclusion which could be drawn from them. It is, that despite of all +we may say, we allow neither pledges, promises, nor treaties to stand +in our way, if we imagine that they are in opposition to the material +interests of the moment. There is not a native prince in India but +will have seen the fate of his descendants in the doom which has +fallen upon the unhappy Shere Ali. It is a fate which no loyalty can +avert--which no treaties are powerful enough to ward off. Shere Ali +was loyal; Shere Ali was fenced about by treaty upon treaty: he and +his father had been our friends and faithful allies for more than +forty years; but none the less, the English Government no sooner +coveted his territory than they determined upon his destruction. For +eighteen months was that Government engaged in secretly weaving the +toils around its victim, and when at last it struck, it struck with a +calumny upon its lips. + +Think, again, of the anger and the bitterness awakened by this war +in the hearts of our Moslem subjects. A few months previously, the +English Government had made appeal to their sympathies on the ground +that it was upholding the integrity and independence of the Sultan's +dominions. They now saw this very Government engaged in the unprovoked +invasion of an independent Muhammadan State. They made no concealment +of their feelings; and when Major Cavagnari and his companions were +murdered at Kabul, the Moslems of Upper India openly expressed their +satisfaction. It is not too much to say, that if Sir Salar Jung had +not been ruling in Hyderabad, the outbreak at Kabul would have been +instantly followed by a similar outbreak in the Deccan. Sir Richard +Temple, writing from Hyderabad in 1867, thus describes the state of +feeling existing there:-- + + "This hostility" (_i.e._, to the English Government) "is even + stronger in the Muhammadan priesthood; with them it literally + burns with an undying flame; from what I know of Delhi in + 1857-58, from what I am authentically informed of in respect + to Hyderabad at that time, I believe that not more fiercely + does the tiger hunger for his prey, than does the Mussulman + fanatìc throughout India thirst for the blood of the white + infidel." + +Lord Lytton's treatment of Shere Ali has been, as it were, the pouring +of oil upon this "undying flame." Henceforth, it will burn more +fiercely than ever. + + +The Famine in the North-West Provinces. + +I shall next proceed to show the manner in which Lord Lytton's +internal administration of India was affected by his policy beyond the +frontier. As every one knows, there have been, of late years, a +series of terrible famines in different parts of India. The desolating +effects of these famines last for many years after the actual dearth +has terminated. Not only has the cattle been swept away, together with +millions of the agricultural population, but those who survive are +without capital and without physical strength. The consequence is that +large tracts of naturally productive land fall out of cultivation, and +remain so for considerable periods of time. There are, moreover, no +poor-laws in India for the relief of the starving and the destitute. +The administration of State relief, therefore, during such seasons +of calamity, is a matter of imperative necessity. In keeping its +agriculturists alive, the State is simply providing for its own +solvency. It sacrifices for this purpose a portion of the wealth it +derives from the land, in order to save the remainder. A combat with +famine is to the State in India an act as much demanded by obvious +expediency, as in the interests of humanity. This relief is afforded +partly by remissions of revenue throughout the stricken districts, and +partly by the opening of public works where the starving and destitute +may find food and employment. In the winter of 1877-78 a terrible +famine fell upon the North-West Provinces. The cultivated land in +these provinces is mainly under two descriptions of crops--the rain +crops, and the cold weather crops. The rain crops are sown towards the +end of June, or shortly after the rains have set in, and are reaped in +October and November. From these crops the people obtain the food +on which they are to subsist during the winter. In 1877 there was +an almost total failure of rain in the North-West Provinces, and the +Lieutenant-Governor--Sir George Couper--reported that the "greater +part of the crops was irretrievably ruined by a scorching west +wind that blew for three weeks." The long and severe winter of the +North-West had to be faced by a population destitute of food. Sir +George Couper reports as follows to the Government of India on the +11th October, 1877:-- + + "The Lieutenant-Governor is well aware of the straits to which + the Government of India is put at the present time for money, + and it is with the utmost reluctance that he makes a report + which must temporarily add to their burdens. _But he sees no + other course to adopt._ If the village communities which form + the great mass of our revenue payers be pressed now, they will + _simply be ruined_.... Cattle are reported to be dying or sold + to the butchers in hundreds, in consequence of the want of + fodder, and this will add very materially to the agricultural + distress and difficulties if they are called on at once to + meet their State obligations." + +In making this appeal for a remission of revenue, Sir George Couper +was asking for no more than what had been granted by every English +Government since British rule was planted in India. But then former +Governments had not adopted a spirited frontier policy to which +reason, justice, and humanity had to be subordinated. This was what +Lord Lytton had done. The hunting to death of an old and faithful +ally was certain to prove a costly operation; and he would need for it +every farthing which could be wrung from the population of India. Sir +George Couper's appeal was therefore rejected, and he was instructed +that these destitute creatures were to be compelled to meet their +State obligations at once, precisely as if there was no dearth in +the land. To this order Sir George Couper returned a long reply, from +which we quote the following remarkable paragraphs:-- + + "If the demand on the zemindars (_landlords_) is not + suspended, the cultivators can neither claim nor expect any + relaxation of the demand for rent; if pressure is put on the + former, they in turn must and will put the screw on their + tenants. All through the dark months of August and September, + zemindars were urged by district officers to deal leniently + with their tenants, and aid them by all means in their power. + Many nobly responded to the call, and it would be rather + inconsistent to subject them now to a pressure which may + compel them to deal harshly with their tenants. These remarks + are offered in no captious spirit.... His Honour trusts that + the realizations will equal the expectations of the Government + of India, but if they are disappointed, his Excellency the + Viceroy ... may rest assured _that it will not be for want of + effort or inclination to put the necessary pressure on those + who are liable for the demand_." + +Is not this passing strange? Sir George knows that these people are +in a state of the direst distress; their cattle dying by hundreds, +themselves penniless and foodless; if this demand is made upon +them, he has reported that they will "simply be ruined;" but at +the exhortations of Lord Lytton he sets to work cheerfully. Neither +inclination nor effort shall be wanting in him to make the people +experience to the full the agony and the bitterness of famine. Thus +it is that a prayerful Viceroy, with the "valued assistance" of his +colleagues, provides for the "well-being of the millions committed to +his fostering care." + +"I have tried," writes one despairing district officer, "to stave off +collecting, but have received peremptory orders to begin. This will +be the last straw on the back of the unfortunate zemindars.... A more +suicidal policy I cannot conceive. I have done what I could to open +the eyes of the Commissioners and the Lieutenant-Governor as to the +state of the place, but without avail. I have nothing to do but to +carry out the orders of Government, which means simply ruin." "The +exaction of the land revenue in Budaon," writes another, "and, I +believe, in other districts as well, involved a direct breach of faith +with the zemindars, which has had the very worst effect on the minds +of the native community.... The people are loud in their complaints of +the faithlessness of Government, and, to my mind, with ample reason." + +But the Government of India having decreed the collection of the land +revenue, were now compelled to justify their rapacity, by pretending +that there was no famine calling for a remission. The dearth and the +frightful mortality throughout the North-West Provinces were to be +preserved as a State secret like the negotiations with Shere Ali. By +this means it was hoped that the famine would work itself out, the +dead be decently interred out of human sight, and Lord Lytton obtain +the funds for his hunting expedition without an unpatriotic opposition +becoming cognizant of the facts either in India or in England. It is a +striking illustration of the enormous space which divides us from +the people of India, that such a scheme should have been thought +practicable, but stranger still--it was very near to success. An +accident may be said to have defeated it. During all that dreary +winter famine was busy devouring its victims by thousands. At the +lowest computation more than a quarter of a million perished of actual +starvation. The number would have to be doubled if it included all +those who perished of disease, the consequence of insufficient food +and exposure to cold; for, in the desperate endeavour to keep their +cattle alive, the wretched peasantry fed them on the straw which +thatched their huts, and which provided them with bedding. The winter +was abnormally severe, and without a roof above them or bedding +beneath them, scantily clad and poorly fed, multitudes perished of +cold. The dying and the dead were strewn along the cross-country +roads. Scores of corpses were tumbled into old wells, because the +deaths were too numerous for the miserable relatives to perform the +usual funeral rites. Mothers sold their children for a single scanty +meal. Husbands flung their wives into ponds, to escape the torment +of seeing them perish by the lingering agonies of hunger. Amid +these scenes of death the Government of India kept its serenity and +cheerfulness unimpaired. The journals of the North-West were persuaded +into silence. Strict orders were given to civilians, under no +circumstances to countenance the pretence of the natives that they +were dying of hunger. One civilian, a Mr. MacMinn, unable to endure +the misery around him, opened a relief work at his own expense. He +was severely reprimanded, threatened with degradation, and ordered to +close the work immediately. + +All this time, not a whisper of the tragedy that was being enacted in +the North-West Provinces had reached Calcutta. The district officials +dared not communicate to the press what they knew, and in India there +are hardly any other means of obtaining information. But in the month +of February Mr. Knight, the proprietor of the Calcutta _Statesman_, +had occasion to visit Agra. He was astonished to find all around him +the indications of an appalling misery. He began to investigate +the matter, and gradually the truth revealed itself. A quarter of a +million of British subjects had perished of hunger, pursued even to +their graves by the pitiless exactions of the Government. + +Mr. Knight made known in the columns of the _Statesman_ what he +had seen, and what he had learned from others in the course of his +inquiries. The guilty consciences of those who were responsible for +this vast suffering smote them. Lord Lytton and Sir George Couper felt +that it was necessary to extinguish Mr. Knight--and that speedily. Sir +George Couper accordingly drew up a long Minute, vindicating himself +from the attacks of Mr. Knight; and this Minute was duly acknowledged +in laudatory terms by the Government of India. The Viceroy in Council +characterized the Minute as "a convincing statement of facts," and +then added that the Government of India needed no such statement to +convince it that the "Lieutenant-Governor had exercised forethought in +his arrangements, and had shown humanity in his orders throughout the +recent crisis." The mortality which Lord Lytton "deplored" with "a +deep and painful regret," in so far "as it was directly the result of +famine, was caused rather by the unwillingness of the people to leave +their homes than by any want of forethought on the part of the local +government in providing works where they might be relieved." Lord +Lytton "unhesitatingly accepted the statement of the local government +that no one who was willing to go to a relief work need have died of +famine, and it is satisfactorily shown in his Honour's Minute that the +relief wage was ample." + +This eulogy on Sir George Couper and all his doings was published on +May 2, 1878, after Mr. Knight had begun publishing his revelations in +the _Statesman_. It is to be noted that neither Sir George Couper nor +the Government of India denies that the famine has been sore in the +land and the mortality excessive. But on February 28--two months +previously, and before Mr. Knight had commenced his inconvenient +disclosures--Sir George Couper reported to the Government of India +that "it may be questioned whether it will not be found hereafter +that the comparative immunity from cholera and fever which, owing +apparently to the drought, the Provinces have enjoyed during the past +year, will not compensate for the losses caused by insufficient food +and clothing, and _make the mortality generally little, if at all, +higher than in ordinary years_." At the time when this letter was +written, the official mortuary returns showed that the mortality in +the North-West was seven and eight times in excess of what it was +in ordinary years. There can, therefore, be no question that the +confession of that "terrible mortality" which Lord Lytton so deeply +"deplored," was wrung from Sir George Couper by the publication of Mr. +Knight's letters. But for them, the official record would have stated +that the "mortality was little, if at all, higher than in ordinary +years." This record is sufficient proof that no adequate arrangements +were made to meet a calamity which, according to Sir George Couper, +did not exist--at least, not until Mr. Knight insisted that it did. At +the same time, it will be as well to give the proof of this in detail, +in order to show what the Government of India is capable of saying. + +In one of his letters to the _Statesman_, Mr. Knight averred that +there were "no relief works worthy of the name till about January +20, and no works sufficient for the people's need till the middle of +February." Sir George Couper replies to this charge as follows:--"The +reports already submitted to the Government are, I think, amply +sufficient to acquit me of this charge.... In October, Colonel Fraser +was again deputed to visit the head-quarters of each division, and, in +consultation with the district officers, settle what works should be +undertaken to give employment to the poor when the inevitable pressure +began." Here Sir George Couper affirms that so far back as October +he had foreseen the "inevitable pressure," and made all the necessary +arrangements. Nevertheless we find him, so late as November 23, +reporting as follows to the Government of India:-- + + "_Although the danger of widespread famine ... has happily + passed away_, it is a matter of extreme importance that + well-considered projects for great public works should be + ready in case of future necessity.... _Very few projects of + this character have been completed for these provinces_, + and the Lieutenant-Governor thinks no time should be lost in + preparing them.... There can be no doubt that the want of such + projects would have been felt as a most serious difficulty + by this Government if relief works on a large scale had been + necessary in the present season." + +Thus, we find that up to the close of November no large relief works +had been sanctioned, because the "danger of widespread famine had +happily passed away." Allowing for official delays, this would make +the date when "relief works worthy of the name" were opened tally with +the time stated by Mr. Knight--namely, January 20. What, again, Sir +George Couper could mean by reporting on November 23, that "danger +of widespread famine has happily passed away," is perplexing, for on +November 26, or just three days subsequently, he writes as follows:-- + + "It appears to his Honour that the Government of India fail to + realize the extent of the damage caused _by the unparalleled + failure of the rain this year_.... The rain did not come until + 6th October, by which time _the greater part of the crops was + irretrievably ruined_.... It is a mistake to suppose that the + autumn crop has escaped in the greater part of the Benares + and Allahabad divisions, and in the south-eastern districts of + Oudh.... _The rice crops_, which are largely grown in most + of the districts in these divisions, _have almost entirely + perished_, and of other crops, the area sown is much less than + usual." + +On October 11 Sir George Couper reported that if the land revenues +was exacted the village communities would be ruined. On November 26 he +reported that the crops had been "irretrievably ruined." Nevertheless, +on November 23, he reported that no large relief works had been +sanctioned because "the danger of widespread famine had passed away." +It follows, from this last report, that for whatever other purpose +Colonel Fraser may have been deputed to visit the head-quarters +of each division, it was not to make satisfactory provision for a +widespread famine. No. As Sir George Couper was well aware at the time +he penned his reply to Mr. Knight, the object of Colonel Fraser's tour +was precisely the opposite of this. These were the instructions he was +charged to enjoin upon civil officers and executive engineers:-- + + "_Please discourage relief works in every possible way._ It + may be, however, that when agricultural operations are over, + some of the people may want work. This, however, except on + works for which there is budget provision, should only be + given if the collector is satisfied that without it the people + would actually starve. _Mere distress is not a sufficient + reason for opening a relief work._ And if a relief work be + started, task-work should be rigorously exacted, _and the + people put on the barest subsistence wage_; so that we may + be satisfied that if any other kind of work were procurable + elsewhere, they would resort to it." + +In accordance with the letter and spirit of these instructions the +famine-stricken multitudes were literally starved off such scanty +works as were open. The "barest subsistence wage" was fined down, +smaller and smaller, until the people abandoned the works in despair, +and returned to their villages to die. Nay, in some places, the +public works which had been duly sanctioned in the yearly budget were +transformed into relief works; and the labourers upon them, instead of +being paid at the ordinary market rates, were reduced to the "barest +subsistence wage, task-work being rigorously exacted." A beneficent +but economical Government took advantage of the dire extremity to +which its subjects were reduced to reap this unexpected profit out of +their miseries. None the less, "the Viceroy in Council unhesitatingly +accepts the statement of the local government, that no one who was +willing to go to a relief work need have died of famine." + + +The License Tax. + +The foregoing is an illustration of the manner in which an Imperial +Viceroy secures "the progressive well-being of the multitudes +committed to his fostering care." I purpose now to illustrate the +manner in which the same Imperial functionary deals with the finances +"committed to his fostering care." The position of "isolation and +scarcely veiled hostility" which, without any provocation, Lord Lytton +had assumed towards the Ameer of Afghanistan rendered a war against +that sovereign a mere question of time and opportunity. Meanwhile, +funds were necessary for its prosecution in addition to those which +had been obtained from the starving population of the North-West. +Accordingly, in his Budget statement for 1878-79, Sir John Strachey +announced that the Indian Government had arrived at the conclusion +that they ought to regard famines as normal occurrences for which +provision should be made in the budgets of each year. Famine +expenditure could not be estimated at a smaller sum than a million +and a half annually. This sum he now proposed to raise by means of a +License Tax on trades and dealings, to be levied throughout India, and +which, it was estimated, would yield £700,000. The remainder of the +sum required was to be obtained by a tax on the agricultural classes +in Northern India and Bengal alone. The peculiar incidence of these +taxes was justified on the ground that the classes taxed were the same +classes which, in periods of famine, had to be supported by the State. +It was therefore only just that they should provide the fund which was +to insure them against famine. This money was in fact a sum raised +for a special purpose, at the expense of certain classes, for whose +benefit it was to be exclusively applied. This was acknowledged by +Lord Lytton with his usual superabundance of emphasis:-- + + "_The sole justification_ for the increased taxation which has + just been imposed upon the people of India, for the purpose + of insuring this Empire against the worst calamities of future + famine ... is the pledge we have given that a sum not less + than a million and a half sterling, which exceeds the amount + of the additional contributions obtained from the people + for this purpose, shall be annually applied to it. We have + explained to the people of this country that the additional + revenue raised by the new taxes is required, not for luxuries, + but the necessities of the State; not for general purposes, + but for the construction of a particular class of public + works; and we have pledged ourselves not to spend one rupee of + the special resources, thus created, upon works of a different + character.... The pledges which my financial colleague was + authorized to give, on behalf of the Government, were explicit + and full as regards these points.... _For these reasons, it is + all the more binding on the honour of the Government to redeem + to the uttermost, without evasion or delay, those pledges, for + the adequate redemption of which the people of India have, + and can have, no other guarantee than the good faith of their + rulers._" + +The ink which recorded this solemn pledge was hardly dry before it had +been broken. The predetermined war with Shere Ali began in the wanton +manner I have told, and the question of cost was mentioned in the +Houses of Parliament. The British Imperialist glories in war when the +chances are all in his favour, but he has an invincible objection to +paying the costs of such transactions. And they are costly. It was +therefore very necessary so to arrange matters, that while the +glory of hunting an ally to death should be appropriated by British +Imperialism, the expenses of the chase should be defrayed by India. +Accordingly, towards the end of November, Lord Cranbrook informed the +House of Lords that India was in possession of a surplus more than +sufficient to defray the costs of the war:-- + + "I am bound to say, that _after looking very carefully into + the financial condition of India_, I believe it will not + be necessary, at least in the initial steps, to call on the + revenues of England. I am in possession of facts which, I + think, would convince your Lordships that, _without unduly + pressing on the resources of India_, there will be no + necessity to call on the English revenues--at least during the + present financial year. It was announced by my noble friend in + another place the other night that, _including the £1,500,000 + of new taxes_, the surplus of Indian revenue will amount to + £2,136,000." + +A fortnight later the "facts" of which Lord Cranbrook professed to +be in possession were discovered not to be facts, and the surplus was +reduced by Mr. Stanhope to a million and a half--in other words, to +exactly the sum which Lord Lytton had solemnly pledged his honour to +apply to no purpose except that of insuring India against the +ravages of famine. On the most elastic system of interpretation, the +acquisition of a fictitious "scientific frontier" cannot be made to +appear as a fulfilment of this pledge. However, on the faith of the +surplus thus created by Lord Cranbrook and Mr. Stanhope, Parliament +voted that the expenses of the Afghan war should be charged upon +India. Mr. Stanhope said,--" The surplus being of the amount he had +mentioned, it must be perfectly obvious that the Indian Government +could pay the whole cost of the war during the present year, without +adding a shilling to the taxation or the debt of the country." + +The intention here is sufficiently obvious. Lord Cranbrook and Mr. +Stanhope were quite prepared to disregard the pledges given to +the people of India, and apply the Famine Insurance Fund to an +illegitimate purpose. They had all the will to do this, but their +desires were frustrated by the fact that there was no such fund in +existence. It had already been spent and disappeared. Lord Lytton thus +calmly announces its extinction in the Budget resolution of March, +1879:-- + + "The insurance provided against future famines has virtually + ceased to exist, and the difficulties in the way of fiscal + and commercial and administrative reform have been greatly + aggravated. Nor can it be in any way assumed that the + evil will not continue and go on increasing. Under such + circumstances, it is extremely difficult to follow any settled + financial policy; for the Government cannot even approximately + tell what income will be required to meet the necessary + expenditure of the State.... For the present the + Governor-General in Council thinks it wise to abstain from + imposing any fresh burdens on the country, and to accept the + temporary loss of the surplus by which it was hoped that an + insurance against famine had been provided." + +That is, that the Government of India having "pledged itself not +to spend one rupee of these special resources," except "for the +construction of a particular class of public works"--having declared +that "the sole justification for the increased taxation" is that it +should be devoted to a particular end--no sooner gets the money into +its possession than it expends the entire sum on something else, +and then "thinks it wise" not to discuss the matter any further. The +Government is very sorry; it really wanted to make an Insurance Fund +against famine; but it finds that it "cannot even approximately tell +what income will be required to meet the necessary expenditure of the +State." Under such circumstances the Government finds it extremely +difficult to follow "any settled financial policy," except that of +spending every shilling which it can get possession of. Thus it is +that an Imperial Government "redeems to the uttermost" the honour of +the British nation, and strengthens the confidence of India in "the +good faith of her rulers." + + +The Cotton Duties. + +I come, lastly, to the action of the Indian Government in respect to +the Cotton Duties. It is, I fancy, generally supposed in England that +the duty on imported cotton was designedly protective--_i.e._, that +it had from the beginning been imposed with the intention of favouring +the Indian manufacturer at the expense of Manchester. This is a +mistake. The duty was imposed at a time when there were no Indian +manufactures to compete with those from England, simply as a source +of revenue. In India there is a great difficulty in so arranging the +incidence of taxation that the well-to-do classes shall contribute +their proper share to the necessities of the State. A light duty +on imported cotton--as being the universally used material for +dress--enabled the Government to reach these classes in a manner that +was effective without being burdensome. Even now that mills are at +work in India, by far the larger part of these duties had nothing +protective in their character, because there is in India no +manufacture of the finer sorts of cotton. Whether, however, the duty +was or was not protective in its character, both the Indian Government +and the House of Commons had repeatedly given pledges that the duty +should not be repealed until the Indian finances were in a position +to justify the loss of revenue thereby occasioned. Lord Lytton, who +throughout his viceroyalty has made a point in all important matters +of making a confession of political faith exactly the opposite of his +subsequent political action, expressed himself on the subject of the +Cotton Duties with his usual copiousness. In reply to an address from +the Calcutta Trades' Association, shortly after his arrival in India, +he said:-- + + "I think that no one responsible for the financial + administration of this Empire would at present venture to + make the smallest reduction in any of its limited sources of + income. Let me, however, take this opportunity of assuring you + that, so far as I am aware, the abolition or reduction of + the Cotton Duties, at the cost of adding one sixpence to the + taxation of this country, has never been advocated, or even + contemplated by her Majesty's Secretary of State for India.... + It is due to myself, and the confidence you express in my + character, that I should also assure you, on my own behalf, + that nothing will ever induce me to tax the people of India + for any exclusive benefit to their English fellow-subjects." + +A short time previously he had told the Bombay Chamber of Commerce +that "he was of opinion that, with the exception of about forty +thousand pounds sterling, the duties were not protective, because +Manchester had no Indian competitors in finer manufactures. He thought +the £800,000 collected yearly as duty, on finer fabrics, a fair item +of revenue. With regard to the duty on coarse goods, he thought it +protective, because Bombay mills competed with Manchester; but he +did not see how it could be abolished, because it would lead to +irregularities in order to evade duty." + +These assurances were given in 1876. In 1879, when the finances of +India were in a state of almost hopeless embarrassment--when the +Famine Insurance Fund had been misappropriated in the way I have +related--when the Indian Government frankly acknowledged that it +was beyond their power to estimate their future expenditure, even +approximately, the Indian Government deliberately sacrificed revenue +to the amount of £200,000 derived from this source. The motives which +persuaded them to this sacrifice may have been as pure as driven snow; +but with Lord Lytton's assurances fresh in their memories, I need +not say that their motives were not so interpreted by those in India. +There the explanation given was this:--The war in Afghanistan, from +which so much had been expected, had resulted, not in success, but +ignominious failure. The Government had been compelled to patch up +a peace without a single element of permanence in it. Despite of the +choral odes which Ministers sang together on the occasion of this +peace, it was impossible that they could have been wholly blind to the +real character of the Treaty of Gundamuck. They felt that discovery +could not be long delayed, and, like the steward who had wasted his +master's goods, they hastened to make themselves friends of the mammon +of unrighteousness. While, therefore, the war was still nominally +unfinished, they sought to propitiate Manchester by throwing its +merchants this sop of £200,000. Like Canning's famous policy of +calling on the New World to redress the balance of the Old, the +prestige of Imperialism, damaged by the failure in Afghanistan, was to +be re-established in Manchester at the expense of the Indian taxpayer. + +If the Indian Government had any better reason than this for their +partial repeal of the Cotton Duties, it is a pity that they did not +communicate it to the world. The reason which they did condescend to +give was simply this--that the finances of the Empire were so heavily +embarrassed, and in such confusion, that it was a matter of no +consequence if they become still further involved to the extent of +£200,000. I give the actual words, that I may not be suspected of +caricaturing the Government:-- + + "The difficulties caused by the increased loss by exchange + are great, but they will not practically be aggravated to an + appreciable extent by the loss of £200,000. If the fresh fall + in the exchange should prove to be temporary, such a loss will + possess slight importance. If, on the other hand, the loss + by exchange does not diminish ... it will become necessary to + take measures of a most serious nature for the improvement of + the financial position; but the retention of the import duties + on cotton goods will not thereby be rendered possible. On + the contrary, such retention will become more difficult than + ever." + +According to the Government of India, it was the peculiarity of +these £200,000 to be simply an incumbrance, happen what might. If the +exchange did _not_ fall, they were reduced to insignificance; if it +did fall, their retention became more difficult than ever. The reader +will not be surprised to learn that these enigmatic propositions were +not accepted in India as a sufficient justification of the act they +were supposed to explain. + +Despotic as an Indian Viceroy is, there are even in India certain +Constitutional checks on his authority, as, for instance, the Members +of Council, the Vernacular and the English press. How was it, the +reader may ask, that these constitutional checks were evaded; for it +cannot be that they all concurred in such a policy as I have described +in the foregoing pages? The principal means of evasion was secrecy. +The negotiations with Shere Ali were kept sedulously hidden from the +public knowledge, and their nature was only to be dimly inferred from +the devout and philanthropic orations of the Viceroy himself. The same +course was adopted with respect to the North-West famine; and but +for the accident of Mr. Knight's visit to Agra, the truth would have +remained hidden to this day. But Lord Lytton did not trust to secrecy +alone. The vernacular press was gagged by a Press Act, which was +hurried through Council, and made a law in the course of a few hours. +The English press could not be gagged precisely in this fashion, +but it was very ingeniously drugged through the agency of a curious +functionary, styled the Press Commissioner. When Mr. Stanhope +was questioned in the House regarding the special duties of this +nondescript official, he replied that he had been appointed to +superintend the working of the Vernacular Press Act. Actually, he +was in operation for several months before that Act had come into +existence, and never has had any duties in connection with it. The +Press Commissioner is attached to the personal staff of the Viceroy, +and may be regarded as a kind of official bard, whose duty it is to +chant the praises of his master, and advertise his political wares. +The description of Lord Lytton as a "specially-gifted Viceroy" is +believed in India to have proceeded from the affectionate imagination +of the Press Commissioner. But, besides this, he is a channel of +communication between the Government of India and the Indian press. +When he was first called into existence, India was informed that a +new era was about to begin, in the relations between the press and the +Government. The Government, anxious that its policy should be fully +discussed by an intelligent press, had appointed a Press Commissioner, +whose duty it would be to keep editors supplied with accurate +information, from the very fountain-head, of all that Government was +doing, or intended to do. It is unnecessary to say that the Press +Commissioner has done nothing of the kind. The greater part of the +matter he communicates to the press is simply worthless, and wholly +devoid of interest to any sane person. If anything of importance +occurs which the Government desires to keep secret, but which it fears +will leak out, the Press Commissioner communicates the matter to the +editors "confidentially," and then it is understood that they are in +honour bound not to allude to the subject in their papers. At distant +intervals, however, the Press Commissioner, of necessity, allows some +interesting scraps of information to escape from him; and it is by +means of these that the English press is drugged. Any newspaper which +offends the Government by criticism of too harsh a character is liable +to have the supply of such morsels suspended until it gives evidence +of amendment. And as there is in India, among the readers of +newspapers, quite an insatiable craving for these morsels of official +gossip, it would be extremely prejudicial to the circulation of a +newspaper if they no longer appeared in its columns. The vengeance +of Lord Lytton and the Press Commissioner has already fallen upon +one journal. The Calcutta _Statesman_, having poured ridicule on this +Press Commissioner, has been deprived of his ministrations. In brief, +the Press Commissionership is simply an agency for bribing the English +Press, which costs the Indian taxpayer the sum annually of £5000. +But the most effective check on the arbitrary authority of the +Governor-General is furnished by his Council. These are selected as +men of long Indian experience, in order to aid the Governor-General +with their advice and special knowledge. The last Governor-General +who set at nought the advice and remonstrances of his Council was Lord +Auckland, when he plunged into the disastrous war in Afghanistan. Lord +Lytton, who in other respects has so carefully trod in the footsteps +of his predecessor, did not fail to imitate him in this. His frontier +policy was carried out in spite of the opposition of the three most +experienced members of his Council; his repeal of the Cotton Duties in +the face of their unanimous opposition, with the single exception of +Sir John Strachey. Thus it is that, under Lord Lytton, British rule +in India has become a tawdry and fantastic system of personal rule. It +might perhaps do well enough if an Empire could be governed by means +of ceremonies, speeches, and elegantly written despatches--"fables in +prose," they might very fitly be called. But an Empire cannot be so +governed, and the result of the experiment has been an amount of +human suffering appalling to contemplate. The Indian air is "full of +farewells for the dying and mournings for the dead," and the path of +the Government can be traced in broken pledges and dead men's bones. +These bones are as dragon's teeth, which Lord Lytton is sowing +broadcast all over India and Afghanistan, and they will assuredly +be changed into armed men if the hand of the sower be not promptly +stayed. + + "Nothing," writes Sir Alexander Arbuthnot, one of the Indian + Members of Council, "would have induced me to have been a + party to the imposition of restrictions on the press, if I + could have foreseen that within a year of the passing of the + Vernacular Press Act the Government of India would be embarked + on a course which, in my opinion, is as unwise and ill-timed + as it is destructive of the reputation for justice upon which + the prestige and political supremacy of the British Government + in India so greatly depend. And here I must remark that + the slight value which in some influential quarters is + now attached to the popularity of our rule with our native + subjects, has for some time past struck me as a source of + grave political danger. _The British Empire in India was not + established by a policy of ignoring popular sentiment, and + of stigmatizing all views and opinions which are opposed + to certain favourite theories, as the views and opinions of + foolish people. Nor will our rule be long maintained if such a + policy is persisted in._" + + ROBERT D. OSBORN. + + + + +ON THE UTILITY TO FLOWERS OF THEIR BEAUTY. + + +The question which I propose to consider in this paper is how far the +beauty of blossoms can be accounted for by the utility of this beauty +to the plant producing them. It is manifestly only one particular case +of a larger inquiry whether the beauty which Nature exhibits can be +accounted for by its utility. + +These questions connect themselves with some of the highest points +of the philosophy of the universe. Is the system of the universe +intellectual, or is it purely material? Is there an ordering mind, or +is there merely blind and struggling matter? Are there final causes as +well as material causes, or are there material causes only? + +These questions have been asked and answered in opposite senses, from +the first dawn of philosophy to the present hour; and during all that +period of time the battle has been raging--and has spread, too, over +the whole realm of Nature. Scarcely any branch of natural science +exists which has not furnished materials for at least a skirmish; so +that it requires an experienced and impartial eye to be able rightly +to understand the true fortunes of the contest over the whole field +of battle. True it is, that for every man the question between the two +theories has to be decided by somewhat simpler considerations than any +such survey. Something in every man seems inevitably to determine him +towards either the intellectual or the material theory of things. + +The existence of beauty in the world is a very remarkable fact. On +the theory of a Divine and beneficent Creator, this fact has seemed +no difficulty; but the theory of a mere blind fermentation of matter +gives no account of it, except as a mere accident, which, on the +doctrine of chances, should be perhaps a very rare and unusual +accident. Hence the existence of beauty has from of old been a +favourite theme of the theistic believers. "Let them know how much +better the Lord of them is," says the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, +speaking of the works of Nature, "for the first Author of beauty hath +created them ... for by the greatness and beauty of the creatures +proportionably the Maker of them is seen."[1] The same familiar view +has lately been presented by the Duke of Argyll in his "Reign of +Law":[2]-- + + "It would be to doubt the evidence of our senses and of our + reason, or else to assume hypotheses of which there is no + proof whatever, if we were to doubt that mere ornament, mere + variety, are as much an end and aim in the workshop of Nature + as they are known to be in the workshop of the goldsmith and + the jeweller. Why should they not? The love and desire of + these is universal in the mind of man. It is seen not more + distinctly in the highest forms of civilized art than in the + habits of the rudest savage, who covers with elaborate carving + the handle of his war-club or the prow of his canoe. Is it + likely that this universal aim and purpose of the mind of man + should be wholly without relation to the aims and purposes of + his Creator? He that formed the eye to see beauty, shall He + not see it? He that gave the human hand its cunning to work + for beauty, shall His hand never work for it? How, then, shall + we account for all the beauty of the world--for the careful + provision made for it where it is only the secondary object, + not the first?" + +But even if beauty be always associated with utility and have in fact +been brought about by its utility, it may nevertheless have been an +object in the mind of a Divine artificer, who may have been minded +to use the one as a means and end to the other. We may therefore, +I think, approach the subject with a perfect freedom from any +theological bias. + +The whole subject will, I believe, be felt by some persons to be a +piece of moonshine,--the whole discussion fit for cloudland, not for +this practical solid world of ours. + +Beauty, such persons would say, is not a real thing, an objective +fact: it is a part of man, not of the world--it is in him who sees, +not in the thing seen: it is seen by one man in one thing--by another +man in another. + +To this it seems a sufficient answer to say that the relation of +any one external thing to any one mind which produces the peculiar +condition which we call the perception of beauty, is _a_ fact, and, +like every other single fact, must have an adequate cause. But when we +find that there are forms of beauty, such as the beauty of sunlight, +which operate alike on all men, and, it would seem, on all sensitive +beings--when we find that the brilliant flowers which attract the +child in the field or the lady in the drawing-room, attract the +insect tribes--we feel ourselves in the presence of a great body of +persistent relations, which it is impossible to pass over as unreal or +as unimportant. + +But, again, there is ugliness in the world; and one ugly thing, it is +suggested, destroys all your deductions from beauty. This, no doubt, +is a very important fact for any one to grapple with who proposes +to give any theoretical explanation of the presence of beauty in the +universe; but for me, who am only inquiring whether and how far beauty +is useful, it is not really material, because there can be no doubt +that beauty, as well as ugliness, exists in the world. This much I +will say in passing, that, to my mind, the balance of things is in +favour of beauty and against ugliness--the tendency is in favour of +beauty, not ugliness, and that tendency may be a very important thing +to think of. + +Furthermore, the fact that we recognize ugliness seems to make our +recognition of beauty more important; for it shows that the +perception of beauty is not mere habit, and that we have an inward +and independent judgment on the matter--we are able to approve the one +thing on the score of beauty, and to reject the other as ugly. + +Even allowing fully for the existence of ugliness, it must be conceded +that the world around us presents a vast mass of beauty--complex, +diverse, commingled, and not easily admitting of analysis. It is +common alike to the organic and the inorganic realms of Nature. The +pageants of the sky at morning, noon, and night, the forms of the +trees, the beauty of the flowers, the glory of the hills, the awful +sublimity of the stars--these, and a thousand things in Nature, fill +the soul with a sense of beauty, which the art neither of the poet, +nor of the philosopher, nor of the painter can come near to depict. We +are moved and overcome, sometimes by this object of beauty, sometimes +by that, but yet more by the complex mass of glory of the universe. + + "For Nature beats in perfect tune, + And rounds with rhyme her every rune; + Whether she work on land or sea, + Or hide underground her alchemy. + Thou canst not wave thy staff in air, + Or dip thy paddle in the lake, + But it carves the bow of beauty there, + And ripples in rhyme the oar forsake." + +As yet no attempt has been made to show the utility of this +promiscuous and multitudinous crowd of beauties--and it seems not +likely that such an attempt can yet be made with success: and the +phenomena of Nature are therefore likely for a long time to come to +impress most men with the sense of beauty for beauty's sake. But in +respect of certain particular and separable instances, the attempt has +recently been made to show that the beauty exhibited is useful to the +structure exhibiting it, and consequently that it may be accounted +for by the strictly utilitarian principle of the survival of the +fittest,--one instance in which this has been most notably attempted +being in respect of the beauty of flowers. Let us consider how far +beauty can thus be accounted for in this particular case. + +There will be a great advantage in this course; for beauty is a +thing about which it is not very easy to argue: it is too subtle, too +evanescent, too disputable, to afford an easy material for the logical +or scientific crucible; and these difficulties we shall best surmount +by in the first place isolating certain beautiful things for our +consideration, and limiting to them our inquiry into how far each of +the rival theories is sufficient to explain their existence. We shall +thus try to narrow the great controversy to very definite and distinct +issues. + + "Flowers," says Mr. Darwin,[3] "rank amongst the most + beautiful productions of Nature, and they have become, + through natural selection, beautiful, or rather conspicuous in + contrast with the greenness of the leaves, that they might + be easily observed and visited by insects, so that their + fertilization might be favoured. I have come to this + conclusion, from finding it an invariable rule that when a + flower is fertilized by the wind it never has a gaily-coloured + corolla. Again, several plants habitually produce two kinds of + flowers: one kind open and coloured, so as to attract insects; + the other closed and not coloured, destitute of nectar, and + never visited by insects. We may safely conclude that, if + insects had never existed on the face of the earth, the + vegetation would not have been decked with beautiful flowers, + but would have produced only such poor flowers as are now + borne by our firs, oaks, nut and ash trees, by the grasses, by + spinach, docks, and nettles." + +No one can doubt who watches a meadow on a summer's day that insects +are attracted by the scent and the colours of the flowers. The whole +field is busy with their jubilant hum. These little creatures have the +same sense of beauty that we have. What room there is for thought in +that fact! There is a subtle bond of mental union between ourselves +and the creatures whom we so often despise. There is a joy widespread +and multiplied beyond our highest calculation. What a deadly blow to +that egotism of man which thinks of all beauty as made for him alone! + +But I return to the argument. We have presented to our notice three +kinds of attraction which operate upon insects--the conspicuousness +of colour and form, the beauty of the smell, and the pleasant taste of +the honey. No one, as I have said, who watches a meadow or a garden on +a summer's day can for a moment doubt the operation of these +causes, or question the direct action of insects in producing the +fertilization of flowers. In that sense the beauty of a flower is +clearly of direct use to the flower which exhibits it. It is better +for it that it should be fertilized by insects than not fertilized at +all; but is it better for it to be fertilized by insects than by the +wind, or by some other agency, if such exist? + +This shall be the subject of inquiry. But before we can answer it, +we must go a little afield and collect some other of the facts of the +case. + +The conclusion that beauty is useful for the fertilization of the +flower does not rest merely on the general phenomena of a summer +meadow. It is confirmed by many other observations. Flowers are +not merely attractive in themselves; they are frequently rendered +attractive by their grouping. Sometimes flowers individually small are +gathered into heads, or spikes, or bunches, or umbels, and so +produce a more conspicuous effect than would result from a more equal +distribution of the flowers; sometimes yet more minute flowers or +florets are gathered together into what appears a single flower, and +often have the outer florets so modified both in shape and colour as +to produce the general effect of one very brilliant blossom, as in the +daisy or the marigold. + +Sometimes the same result is produced by "the massing of small flowers +into dense cushions of bright colour."[4] This, as is well known, is +of common occurrence with Alpine flowers; and this mode of growth, as +well as the great size of many Alpine blossoms as compared with that +of the whole plant, and the great brilliance of Alpine plants as +compared with their congeners of the lowlands, have all been explained +by reference to the comparative rarity of insects in the Alpine +heights, and the consequent necessity, if the plants are to survive, +that they should offer strong attractions to their needful friends.[5] +A similar explanation has been offered for the brilliant colours of +Arctic flowers.[6] + +Furthermore, this curious fact exists, that of flowering plants a +large number do not ripen or put forward their pistils and stamens at +the same periods of their growth: in some cases the pistil is ready +to receive the pollen whilst the anthers are immature and not ready to +supply it: such are called proterogynous. In other cases the anthers +are ripe before the pistil is ready to receive the pollen: these are +proterandrous. In either case the same event happens--that the ovules +can never be fertilized by the pollen of the same blossom, nor without +some foreign agency, generally that of insects. + +Lastly, there is a large number of plants, including a great +proportion of those with unsymmetrical blossoms, of which the +flowers have been shown to be specially adapted by various mechanical +contrivances for insect agency. Nothing, as is well known, is more +marvellous than the variety and subtlety of the arrangements for +the purpose which exist in orchidaceous plants, as explained by the +patience and genius of Mr. Darwin. + +In view of these facts it would be impossible to deny that +conspicuousness is one of the agencies in force for the fertilization +of flowers; that, to use the recent language of Mr. Darwin, "flowers +are not only delightful for their beauty and fragrance, but display +most wonderful adaptations for various purposes."[7] + +So far we have considered the evidence which is affirmative, and in +favour of the explanation of the existence of beauty in flowers; we +have found clearly that beauty, or rather conspicuousness, is in many +cases useful to the plant. But beauty is by no means the only agency +in this necessary process. On the contrary, the agencies actually in +operation are very numerous. + +As Mr. Darwin points out in the passage I have cited, and still more +at large in his work "On the Different Forms of Flowers," a large +proportion of existing plants are fertilized by the action of the +wind; and again, many plants bear two kinds of flowers, the one +conspicuous and attractive to insects, the other inconspicuous and +which never open to admit the activity either of insects or of the +wind. Moreover, there are various other agencies called into play. +Some plants, such as the _Hypericum perforatum_, one of the +commonest of the St. John's Worts, and probably the bindweed, are, +it seems, fertilized by the withering of the corolla, which naturally +brings the stamens into contact with the style, and so transfers the +pollen grains from the one to the other.[8] Other plants, again, +such as the common centaury (_Erythræa centaurium_) and the _Chlora +perfoliata_, are fertilized by the closing of the corolla over the +anthers and stigma, not in the death but in the sleep of the plant.[9] +In the brilliant autumnal _Colchicum_, and in the _Sternbergia_, +again, according to Dr. Kerner, Nature has recourse to a more complex +machinery: the corolla first closes over the anthers, which are at +a lower level than the stigma, and takes off some of the pollen; a +growth of the corolla carries the pollen dust to the level of the +stigma, and a second closing of the corolla transfers the pollen +to the stigmatic surface. The pollen has been made to ascend to its +proper place by an arrangement which reminds one of the man-engine of +a Cornish mine.[10] A similar arrangement is described as occurring in +the bright-flowered _Pedicularis_.[11] + +Let us take another group of beautiful flowers which adorn our +greenhouses and our tables: I mean the _Asclepiadæ_, to which the +_Stephanotis_ and the _Hoya_ belong. The former is distinguished +by the beauty of its scent as well as of its flowers. Both present +flowers not merely conspicuous in themselves from their size, form, +and colour, but conspicuous also by reason of their grouping. Here, +if anywhere, we should expect that beauty should justify itself by its +utility. But the facts appear to be just the other way. The pollen +is collected together into waxy masses, which are arranged in a very +peculiar manner on the pistil; and the pollen tubes pass from the +pollen grains whilst still enclosed within the anthers, and so bring +about fertilization without the intervention of insect agency. It is +difficult to suppose the _Asclepiadæ_ can have become beautiful for +the sake of an agency of which they never avail themselves. + +Our common Fumitory has not very conspicuous flowers, but still they +have considerable attractiveness of form and still more of colour, due +both to the individual blossom and to their grouping together; and yet +_Fumaria_ is said to be self-fertile.[12] + +A much more brilliantly coloured member of the same family is the +_Dicentra (Diclytra) spectabilis_, so familiar in our gardens. Any +one who examines the flowers of this species will continually find the +pollen grains transferred to the stigma without the slightest trace +of the flower ever having opened so as to allow of insect agency. +Dr. Lindley[13] has given an account of the mechanism for +self-fertilization; and this flower has recently been the subject +of an elaborate study by the German botanist, Hildebrand,[14] and +he concurs in the view that the anthers inevitably communicate their +pollen to the pistil, and that as the result of a very complicated and +subtle arrangement of the parts, which it would be useless to attempt +to describe without diagrams. But he believes that in addition to the +arrangements for self-fertilization, another arrangement exists for +producing cross-fertilization by insects; but as the plant has never +produced seed under his observation, he is unable to tell whether +one mode of fertilization is more useful than the other. I think the +evidence of the self-fertilization is far clearer than that of the +cross-fertilization. + +Now, if the _Dicentra_ has become beautiful in order to attract +insects, it must have done so through a long series of developments, +for its adaptation to their agency is of the most complex kind. It is +difficult to suppose either that, side by side with this development +for cross-fertilization, there has been also developed another +complex arrangement for self-fertilization, or that an earlier complex +arrangement for self-fertilization should have survived through the +changes necessary to render the flower fit for insect fertilization. +The co-existence in one organism of two complex schemes for different +objects, and the interlacing of those two schemes in one beautiful +flower (which, if Hildebrand be right, occurs in the _Dicentra_), seem +to be things very improbable if the beautiful flower has become what +it is in the pursuit of one only of those objects. These speculations +may be premature as regards the particular flower; but the +co-existence of two modes of fertilization is not peculiar to +_Dicentra_ and seems to furnish material for important reflection. + +Yet one more plant must be considered. The _Loasa aurantiaca_ is +a creeper which grows freely in our gardens, and has large and +brilliantly coloured scarlet flowers turned up with yellow. Its +seeds set freely in cultivation. The means by which fertilization is +effected are--unless my observations have misled me--very peculiar. +When the flower first unfolds, the numerous stamens are found +collected together in bundles in depressions or folds of the petals; +after a while the anthers begin to move, and one after the other the +stamens pass upwards from their nests in the petals, and gather in +a thick group round the style; subsequently a downward and backward +movement begins, which brings the anthers against the pistils, and +restores the stamens nearly to their old position, but with exhausted +and faded anthers. I have never seen any insects at work on the +flowers, and yet I find the plant to be a free seeder. + +So long ago as 1840 M. Fromond enumerated several conspicuous flowers +in which, according to his observations, fertilization was effected +without the agency of either the wind or insects.[15] And much more +recently an American writer, Mr. Meehan, has given a list of eleven +genera, amongst others, in which he has observed the pistils covered +with the pollen of the plant before the flower has opened, and in the +one case which he submitted to the microscope, it was found that +the pollen tubes were descending through the pistil towards the +ovarium.[16] Amongst the genera he names were _Westaria_, _Lathyras_, +_Ballota_, _Circes Genista_, _Pisum_, and _Linaria_. + +The instances which I have given are mostly from plants familiar +in our fields, our gardens, or our greenhouses. They are, I think, +sufficient to make us pause before we conclude that all conspicuous +flowers are fertilized by insect agency. It may be that Bacon's +warning to attend as carefully to negative as to affirmative instances +has been a little forgotten. Moreover, these instances seem to +show that it would be a great error to suppose that all flowers are +fertilized either by insects or by the wind; and it is probable +that the more the subject is considered the more complex will the +arrangements for fertilization be found to be. + +The agencies to which I have last referred exist, it will be observed, +in beautiful and conspicuous flowers; and yet act independently of +that beauty and that conspicuousness: so that in each instance +these facts are, on the utilitarian theory, unexplained and residual +phenomena. They, therefore, demand earnest inquiry. For the existence +of a single residual phenomenon is notice to the inquirer that he has +not got to the bottom of his subject; that his theory is either not +the truth or not the whole truth. + +Do the facts justify us in concluding that insect fertilization is +more beneficial to the plant than fertilization by the wind or any +other agency? Do they afford any sufficient cause for that change from +the one mode of fertilization to the other which has been suggested? +The facts bearing on these questions are very remarkable; for, as we +have already seen, many plants produce two kinds of blossom, the one +conspicuous and the other inconspicuous; the one visited by insects, +the other self-fertilizing. Recent observation shows that these +cleistogamous flowers, as they are called, are present in a great +variety of plants.[17] In the violet they are found to exist, being +seen in the summer and autumn, when all the more brilliant flowers +have gone. The one flower has everything in its favour--honey and a +beauty of colour and of smell that has passed into a proverb--and it +opens its blue wings to the visits of the insect tribe in the season +of their utmost jollity and life. The other has everything against +it: it is inconspicuous, scentless, ugly, and closed. And yet, which +succeeds the better? which produces the more seed? The cleistogamous, +and not the brilliant flowers: the victory is with ugliness, and not +with beauty. + +The same is true of the _Impatiens fulva_. This is an American plant, +closely akin to the balsam of our gardens, which has now thoroughly +established itself on the banks of some of our rivers, as the Wey, +and the tributary stream that runs through Abinger and Shere. It has +attractive flowers hung on the daintiest flower-stalks. It has also +little green flowers that never open and almost escape attention; +and yet they, and not the large flowers, are the great source of seed +vessels to the plant--the great security that the life of the race +will be continued.[18] Again, ugliness has borne away the palm of +utility from beauty. + +So, too, in America the same happens with the _Specularia perfoliata_: +in shady situations all its flowers are said to be cleistogamous, and +to be wonderfully productive and strong.[19] + +The conditions of the problem in these cases are such as to make them +of the last importance in our inquiry into the utility of beauty; +for in each case we are comparing a conspicuous and an inconspicuous +flower in the very same plant. The conditions seem to exclude the +possibility of error in the result. + +Two explanations have been suggested of the origin of these +cleistogamous flowers: according to the one, they are the earliest +form of the flowers; according to the other view, they are degraded +forms of the more beautiful flowers.[20] For our purpose, it is +immaterial whether of the two explanations is correct; for either the +development of beauty has diminished the utility of the flower, or the +loss of beauty has increased the utility: in either event, utility and +beauty are dissociated the one from the other. + +Another experiment Nature presents us with, in which the conditions +are nearly, if not quite, as rigorously exclusive of error. The vast +majority of orchidaceous plants are, as already mentioned, dependent +on insect agency, for fertilization, and present a marvellous variety +of contrivances for effecting cross-fertilization through their +activity. But one of our orchids (the Bee orchis) is self-fertilized. +I hardly know anything in vegetable life more striking or beautiful +than to see its delicate pollinaria at a certain stage of its +inflorescence descending on to the stigmatic surface and so yielding +their pollen grains to the fertilization of their own blossom; and yet +the Bee orchis has been found by observers to be as free a seeder as +any of its tribe. Here the beauty and conspicuousness of the blossom, +which are very great, are, as far as can be seen, useless; the plant +gains nothing by the attractiveness which it offers, and the colouring +and ornamentation of the blossom are, on the theory of utility, +residual phenomena. + +It is difficult to imagine that the change from wind or +self-fertilization can, so to speak, commend itself to the flower on +the score either of economy or success. If the anemophilous blossom +must produce somewhat more pollen than the entomophilous, it saves +the great expenditure of material and vital force requisite for the +production of the large and conspicuous corolla. The one is fertilized +by every wind that blows; the other, especially in the case of +highly-specialized flowers like the orchids, may be incapable of +fertilization except by a very few insects. The celebrated Madagascar +orchid _Angræcum_ can be fertilized, it is said, only by a moth with +a proboscis from ten to fourteen inches long--a moth so rare or +local that it is as yet known to naturalists only by prophecy. It +is difficult to suppose that it would be beneficial for the plant's +chance of survival to exchange as the fertilizing agent the universal +wind for this most localized insect. + +And here another line of evidence comes in and demands consideration. +The face of Nature, as we now see it, has not been always exhibited +by the world. The flora, like the fauna, of the world has changed: how +has it changed as regards the beauty of the flowers? Does it give any +testimony to that _becoming_ beautiful of the flowers of plants to +which Mr. Darwin refers? The answer is not a very certain one, +by reason of the imperfection of the geological record, of the +probability that beautiful plants, if they had existed, and had been +of a delicate structure, would have perished and left no trace behind. +But so far as an answer can be given, it is in favour of the increase +of floral beauty in the vegetable world. The earliest flower known +(the _Pothocites Grantonii_) occurs in the coal measures; its flowers +cannot have been other than inconspicuous in themselves, though it is +possible that by grouping they were made more attractive to the eye; +in the period of the growth of the coal, when this plant lived, the +vast forests seem principally to have been composed of trees without +conspicuous blossoms, huge club mosses and marestails, and many +conifers; in the earlier periods of this earth we have no trace of +conspicuous blossom, and it is not till the upper chalk that the oaks +and myrtles and _Proteaceæ_ appear as denizens of the forests. In like +manner, if we refer to the appearance of insects on the earth, we have +no clear trace in very early strata of those classes of insects +which now do the principal work of fertilization for our conspicuous +flowers. In the coal measures there have been found insects of the +scorpion, beetle, cockroach, grasshopper, ant, and neuropterous +families; but of a butterfly or moth there is only evidence of great +doubt. It seems probable, then, and one cannot say more, that with +the progress of the ages, flowers, as a whole, have become more +conspicuous and attractive. But if we inquire whether the dull flowers +of one era have grown into the conspicuous flowers of another, the +answer is negative. The conifers of the coal age were anemophilous +then, and are anemophilous still; they show no symptom of becoming +more conspicuous; the same is true of the oaks of the chalk period, +and of all other inconspicuous plants. The difference between +conspicuous and inconspicuous flowers appears a permanent one; and the +page of geology gives no evidence in favour of the supposed change. + +Another observation must yet be made. Comparing flowers fertilized +by insects and by the wind, it has never, so far as I can learn, +been observed that the former are more certain of being set or more +prolific than the latter; and, as already shown, the inconspicuous +flowers are often more fertile than the conspicuous ones. What motive +would there be, then, for the inconspicuous flowers of the early +geologic periods to convert themselves into the brilliant corollas of +our day? + +Carefully considered, the passage which I have cited from Mr. Darwin +does not account for the beauty of the flowers of plants at all; it +accounts only for their conspicuousness, as the writer himself points +out; and the two things are so different, that to account for the one +is not even to tend to account for the other. If any one will consider +the beauty of every inflorescence, whether conspicuous or not--a +beauty which the microscope always makes apparent where the unaided +eye fails to perceive it; or, again, the easily perceived beauty of +many inconspicuous plants; or, lastly, the beauty of many conspicuous +plants which does not tend to their conspicuousness--he will see how +true this is. + +For in many conspicuous flowers there are delicate pencillings and +markings which certainly do not tend to make them such, but which +nevertheless add greatly to their beauty, as we perceive it. In the +regularly shaped flowers these markings often start from the centre +of the blossom like radii, and they may be conceived as guiding the +insects to the central store of honey. Such guidance can hardly be +needful, as the shape of the flower itself generally does all, and +more than all, that the markings can do in the way of guidance. But +it is by no means true that all the markings lead to the centre of +the flower: many are transverse; many are marginal; some are by way of +spot. + +Again, take the irregularly shaped flowers, which are supposed to be +the exclusive subjects of insect fertilization; how infinite are the +beauties of the flower over and above those which make it conspicuous, +or can assist to guide the insect. Take the orchids, for example: the +labellum is generally the landing-place of the insect visitors; but +the other flower-leaves are almost always the subjects of a vast +display of delicate beauty which cannot be accounted for by the +necessity of conspicuousness or guidance. All this beauty is, on the +theory in question, an unexplained fact. + +But, again, take the grasses, which depend for fertilization +exclusively on the wind, and have no need to woo the visits of the +insects. The beauty of the markings of the inflorescence of many +of the grasses is very great, though far from conspicuous: take +the delicately banded flowers of our quaking grasses; take the rich +crimson of the foxtails; take the brilliant yellow of the Canary +_Phaleris_; and it is impossible to refuse the attribute of beauty in +colour to the wind-loving grasses. And all this beauty is unexplained +on the theory in question. + +It is impossible to speak of the grasses and not to have the mind +recalled to the beauty that resides in form as contrasted with colour. +Elegance, grace of form, characterizes most (but not all) plants, +whether fertilized by the wind or by insects; and yet this grace, in +many cases, perhaps in most, adds nothing to their conspicuousness. It +is, on the theory in question, a piece of idle beauty; and yet it is +all-pervading--a persistent, though not universal, characteristic of +the vegetable world. + +But to revert to conspicuousness. It is not true to say that all +self-fertilized plants have inconspicuous flowers. I have adduced the +_Stephanotis_ and _Hoya_ on this point. Nor is it true to say that all +anemophilous flowers are inconspicuous as compared with the green of +their leaves. The large but delicate yellow groups of the male flowers +of the Scotch pine (not to travel beyond very familiar plants) are +very conspicuous in the early summer--much more so, to my eye at +least, than many flowers which are supposed to stake their lives on +attraction by being conspicuous. Hermann Müller has observed on this +same fact, and considers it to be clear that the display of colour can +be of no use to the plant, and must therefore be regarded as "a merely +accidental phenomenon,"[21]--_i.e._, a phenomenon not accounted for by +utility. + +The crimson flowers of the larch, again, are certainly very +conspicuous as well as beautiful on the yet leafless boughs; and yet +they owe nothing to insects. + +One other remark must be made on this passage from Mr. Darwin which +has formed my text. It does not pretend to account for the production +of beauty or even of conspicuousness. It only seeks to account for the +accumulation of that quality in certain plants, and its comparative +absence in others. The tendency in Nature to produce beauty is a +postulate in Mr. Darwin's theory. + +The beauty of mountain blossoms has been referred to as supporting +the utility of beauty: it is not perfectly clear that even this can be +accounted for merely by the need of attracting insects. It is said by +the American writer to whom I have already referred, Mr. Meehan, that +the flowers of the Rocky Mountains are beautifully coloured, produce +as much seed as similar ones elsewhere, and yet that there is a +remarkable scarcity of insect life--so great, I understand him to +mean, as to render it highly improbable that the races of the flowers +can be perpetuated by insect agency. + +We have hitherto, according to promise, been considering the beauty of +flowers as detached from all surrounding facts, and isolated from +all other parts of the plant. But, in fact, this beauty of the +inflorescence of plants is only one phenomenon of a much larger class. +The petals and sepals are only leaves; and it is difficult to argue +about the character of the flower-leaves and omit from thought the +stalk and root-leaves; and these leaves continually possess a wealth +of beauty both of form and colour for which no intelligible utility +has ever been suggested. The use made of conspicuous leaves in the +modern style of bedding-out and the cultivation in hot-houses of what +are called foliage plants, will recall this to every one. In many +cases the stems of plants, often the veins of the leaves, and often +the backs of the leaves, are the homes of distinct and beautiful +colouring, for which, so far as I know, no account can be given on +the score of use. To enlarge our view yet a little more, the brilliant +colours of the fungi and of the lichens, mosses, and sea-weeds, and, +lastly, the outburst of varied colours in the autumn--the crimson of +the bramble, the browns of the oaks, the red of the maple, the gold +of the elm, "the sunshine of the withering fern"--all these present +themselves to us as so closely akin to the painted beauty of flowers +that we cannot think of the one without the other; and we may well +hesitate to accept as satisfactory a theory which can offer no +explanation of phenomena so closely akin to those of flowers, except, +forsooth, that they are merely accidental. Once again, to widen the +range of our mental vision, the beauty of the vegetable world is but a +part of that great and complex mass of beauty from which we agreed +to segregate it; and viewed as part of that, it must have the same +explanation applied to it as the other beautiful phenomena of the +world. + +It is worth while to remember that Beauty is no outcome of a long +period of evolution; it is no late event in the geologic history of +the world. The lowest forms of organic life no less than the highest +are clad in beauty. Many beings that are "simple structureless +protoplasm"--to use the language of Professor Allman as President of +the British Association this year--"fashion for themselves an +outer membraneous or calcareous case, often of symmetrical form +and elaborate ornamentation, or construct a silicious skeleton of +radiating spicula or crystal-clear concentric spheres of exquisite +symmetry and beauty."[22] + +So, too, in the Silurian period, the corals and other marine +structures were, no doubt, endowed with every grace which could +please the eye of man, if he had been there. Beauty is the invariable +companion of Nature. It is difficult, therefore, to account for it +as a result of evolution; and, as for the theory that it was made +for man's delectation only, a single diatom or a single fossil from a +Silurian bed is enough to put the whole vain egotism to flight. + +What are the results fairly deducible from these observations? They +seem to be the following:-- + + 1. That conspicuousness is _a_ step towards fertilization in one + mode, and might, therefore, well be used by an artist loving at + once beauty and fertility. + + 2. That there is no such preponderating advantage in beauty as + should convert the ugly anemophilous flowers into the brilliant + entomophilous flowers. + + 3. That in an infinite number of cases beauty exists, but without + any relation to the mode of fertilization. + + 4. That it is maintained in many cases where the uglier and less + beautiful plant is more useful, as in the case of the violet. + + 5. That even where conspicuousness is useful, it furnishes no + complete account of the whole beauty of the flower. + +Let us apply these facts to the two rival theories. If, on the one +hand, nothing has become beautiful but through the utility of beauty, +beauty will be found where it is useful and nowhere else. But we have +found beauty without finding utility; so that theory, on our present +knowledge, is inadmissible. + +If, on the other hand, there be an artificer in Nature who loves at +once utility and beauty, he may use the one sometimes as a mean to +the other, or he may use beauty without utility; and the presence of +beauty without utility is intelligible. + +And here I conclude. I see in Nature both utility and beauty; but I am +not convinced that the one is solely dependent on the other. I find +a grace and a glory (even in the flowers of plants) which, on the +utilitarian theory, is not accounted for, is a residual phenomenon; +and that in such enormous proportions that the phenomenon explained +bears no perceptible proportion to the phenomenon left unexplained. +Whether this be so or not, it appears to me, for the reasons I have +already given, that we may still entertain the same notions about the +beauty of the world as before. Our souls may still rejoice in beauty +as of old. To some of us this glorious frame has not appeared a dead +mechanic mass, but a living whole, instinct with spiritual life; and +in the beauty which we see around us in Nature's face, we have felt +the smile of a spiritual Being, as we feel the smile of our friend +adding light and lustre to his countenance. I still indulge this +fancy, or, if you will, this superstition. Still, as of old, I feel +(to use the familiar language of our great poet of Nature)-- + + "A presence that disturbs me with the joy + Of elevated thoughts: a sense sublime + Of something far more deeply interfused, + Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, + And the round ocean, and the living air, + And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; + A motion and a spirit, that impels + All thinking things, all objects of all thought, + And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still + A lover of the meadows and the woods + And mountains; and of all that we behold + From this green earth: of all the mighty world, + Of eye, and ear." + + EDW. FRY. + + [Footnote 1: Wisdom, xiii. 3-5.] + + [Footnote 2: P. 200.] + + [Footnote 3: "Origin of Species" (4th Ed.), p. 239.] + + [Footnote 4: Wallace, "Tropical Nature," p. 232.] + + [Footnote 5: _Ibid._ p. 232.] + + [Footnote 6: _Ibid._ p. 237.] + + [Footnote 7: "Flowers and their Unbidden Guests," by Kerner, + translated by Ogle. Prefatory Letter.] + + [Footnote 8: Henslow, "On Self-Fertilization." Trans. Linn. + Society, 2nd series, "Botany," i. p. 325. _Query_: Is not this + the case with the _Tacsonia_ of our greenhouses?] + + [Footnote 9: Henslow, _ubi sup._ 329.] + + [Footnote 10: Kerner, p. 11. These statements appear to + me, though made by a very accomplished observer, to require + verification. My own observations on the _Colchicum_ (which + have been only very imperfect) would have led me to incline to + a different conclusion.] + + [Footnote 11: Kerner, p. 12.] + + [Footnote 12: Lubbock's "Wild Flowers in Relation to Insects," + p. 56.] + + [Footnote 13: Lindley, "Veg. King." 436.] + + [Footnote 14: "Ueber die Bestaubungsvorrichtungen bei den + Fumariaceen," in Pringsheim's "Jahrbuch," vol. vii. part iv. + p. 423. 1870.] + + [Footnote 15: Link, "Report on Progress of Botany during + 1841," translated by Lankester (Ray Society, 1845), p. 65.] + + [Footnote 16: Meehan, "On Fertilization by Insect Agency." + _Gardeners' Chronicle_, 11 Sept. 1875.] + + [Footnote 17: For the whole subject of these most curious + flowers, see Mr. Darwin's book "On the Different Forms of + Flowers;" Rev. G. Henslow, Tr. Linn. Society, "Botany," 2nd + series, vol. i. p. 317; Mr. Bennett, Journal of Linn. Society, + "Botany," xiii. p. 147, xvii. p. 269.] + + [Footnote 18: Bennett, Journal of Linn. Society, "Botany," + xiii. p. 147.] + + [Footnote 19: Meehan, "On Fertilization," _ubi supra_.] + + [Footnote 20: Mr. Bennett, "On Cleistogamous Flowers," Linn. + Society's Journal, "Botany," xvii. p. 278, has shown that the + latter is probably the correct view.] + + [Footnote 21: _Nature_, ix. 461.] + + [Footnote 22: _Nature_, xx. p. 386.] + + + + +WHERE ARE WE IN ART? + + +"No doubt education is a fine thing!" said I, meditatively, laying +down my thirteenth newspaper. It was a rainy November day, and the +reading-room was nearly empty. I had been told the great fact over and +over again in some form or other in all the "Dailies" and "Weeklies." +It had been repeated in every variety of tone in the little pile of +"Monthlies" at my elbow, of which I had skimmed the cream (no one +in these days can be expected to go through the labour of a whole +article)! The "Quarterlies," in more ponderous fashion, had reiterated +the sentiment. We had got hold of the right thing; all that was wanted +was more and more of the same. Let everybody be served alike; what is +meat for the gander is meat also for the goose, repeated the advocates +of women's education, magniloquently (though not exactly in those +words). Let everybody learn the same thing that I am learning! How +much better and wiser we are than our forefathers! How beautiful for +us to be able to say, as in the old story of the French Minister of +Instruction when he pulls out his watch, "It is ten o'clock; all +the children in the schools in England are doing their sums. It is +half-past eleven, they are all writing their copies!" + +"What everybody says must be true," thought I; "the schoolmaster has +got the better of the world, and rules the roast despotically; but +then how great is the result!" I repeated, with pride. + +Such perfection was rather oppressive, and I could not help yawning a +little as I went upstairs, looking round as I went. The decorations +of the club were wonderfully fine, no doubt, but perhaps an Italian +of the "Cinque-cento" would not have thought them quite successful. +Probably, however, he would have been wrong. He was certainly much +less "instructed" in art than we are. I strolled to the window, and +looked out at a stucco palace on either hand and over the way, with +pillars and pilasters added _ad libitum_, and a glimpse of a long wall +with oblong openings cut in it, stretching the whole length of +the street. One of the abominable regiments of black statues which +disfigure London stood near the corner, the nicely-finished buttons of +whose paletôt, and the creases of whose boots (the originals of +which must have been made by Hoby), had often been my wonder, if not +admiration. + +"Yes, there certainly is a lost art or two, which have somehow made +their escape from this best of all worlds, in spite of our drilling +and double-distilled training," I sighed. + +There was a portfolio of photographs lying on the table, which I +turned over abstractedly. The Venus de Milo, and the Theseus of the +Parthenon; the Raphael frescoes of the great council of the gods in +the Farnesina Palace at Rome; a street in Venice; Durham Cathedral; +the decorations of the Certosa at Pavia; some specimens of old +Japanese porcelain; some coloured patterns of Persian shawls and +prayer-rugs and of Indian inlaid work. Each of them was good and +appropriate of its kind, expressing a national or individual taste and +feeling, or, best of all, a belief. And none of them were the results +of education, but of a kind of instinct of art which no instruction +hitherto has been able to give, of which it seems even sometimes to +deprive a race, as a savage generally loses his accurate perception +of details and his power of memory and artistic perceptions, with +his delicacy of hearing and smell, as a consequence of so-called +civilization. + +The Hindoo arranges colours for a fabric with the same certainty of +intuition that a bird weaves his nest, or a spider its web. His blues +and greens are as harmonious in their combinations as those of Nature +herself; while the "educated" Englishman is now introducing every +species of atrocity in form and colour wherever he goes, ruining +the beautiful native manufactures by instructions from his superior +"standpoint;" forcing the workers to commit every blunder which +he does himself at home, in order to adapt their fabrics to +the abominable taste of the middle classes in England. Even the +missionaries, male and female, cannot hold their hands, and teach the +children in schools and hareems crochet and cross-stitch of the worst +designs and colours, instead of the exquisite native embroidery of +the past. Arsenic greens, magenta and gas-tar dyes, are introduced by +order of the merchants into carpets and cashmere shawls; vile colours +and forms in pottery and bad lacquer-work are growing up, by command, +in China and Japan. There seems to be no check or stay to the +irruption of bad taste which is swamping the whole world by our +influence. The Japanese have even been recommended to make a Museum +of their own beautiful old productions quickly, or the very memory of +their existence, and of the manner in which they were made, would be +lost. + +It is commonly supposed that the taste of the French is better than +our own, and the pretty, the bizarre, the becoming, may indeed be +said to belong to their domain; but high art is not their vocation. +A certain harmony is obtained by quenching colour, as in the "Soupir +étouffé," the "Bismarck malade," the "rose dégradée," the "Celadon" of +the Sèvres china, all eighth and tenth degrees of dilution; but pure +colour, like that of Persia and of the East generally, they never now +dare to dip their hands into. The gorgeous effects of their own old +painted glass, the "rose windows" of the churches at Rouen and in many +other towns of Normandy, are far beyond their present reach. + +The stained glass of all countries in Europe, indeed, belonging to +the good times, is a feast of colour which none of the modern work +can approach. There is a "Last Judgment," said to be from designs by +Albert Dürer, which was taken in a sea-fight on its road to Spain, +and put up in a little church at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, which +dazzles us with its splendour; and the scraps which are still to be +found all over England in village churches (many of which are now +believed to be of home manufacture) are as beautiful as the great +Flemish windows thirty feet high. At the present day the pigments +used, we are told, are finer; the glass is infinitely better rolled, +all the manufacturing processes have made wonderful progress, as +we proudly declare; only the results of it are utterly and simply +detestable--the colours of the great modern windows in Cologne +Cathedral and Westminster Abbey set one's very teeth on edge--the +temptation to use a stone (if it had come under one's hand) would be +frightfully great in front of that at the east end of Ripon. + +There lies before me an old Persian rug, all out of shape and twisted +in the weaving, but full of subtle quantities in colour, perfect in +the proportions of its vivid brilliancy, and a grand new Axminster +carpet alongside, of faultless construction, with a design as hideous +as its colours are harsh. + +It is not only now with productions destined for the English market, +but the degradation of art is beginning to spread all over the +world--the standards of "instructed" European taste are vitiating the +very well-springs of beautiful old work. The "mantilla" of Seville, +and the "tovaglia" of the Roman peasant, are supplanted by frightful +bonnets; the striking old costumes are disappearing alike in Brittany +and in Algiers; in Athens and in Turkey they are giving way to +the abominations of Parisian toilettes for the women, while the +chimney-pot hat is taking the place of the turban and the kalpac for +the men. + +The picturesque quaintness of the narrow Egyptian streets dies away, +as under a frost, under the hand of Western architects; the delicate +pierced woodwork of their projecting balconies is changed for flat +windows with red and green "jalousies;" and the Khedive builds +minarets, it is true, but like enlarged Mordan pencil-cases. The +harmony of the lines in an ancient Arabian fountain or mosque at +Cairo, the interlacing patterns of fretwork in the Saracenic buildings +at Grenada, are marvellous in their exquisite variety; yet the secret +of their construction in their own land is nearly gone, the very +tradition of the old work seems to have perished in the race--they +cannot even imitate their own old creations. "Oh for a touch of a +vanished hand!" we say over the ruined tombs of the Memlook Sultans +in their desolate beauty, standing lonely in the desert near Cairo, or +the wonderful mosques of the deserted city of Beejapore in the Bombay +Presidency, whose photographs have lately been printed. + +Each nation in the old time had an expression of its thoughts in +the buildings in which it housed its gods, its government, and its +individuals, which was as distinctive as its language: a tongue, +indeed, in stone, in colour and in form, as plain as, indeed plainer +than, ever words could frame. + +The Egyptian, with the flat square lines of the gigantic slabs placed +across the forests of enormous rounded pillars closely packed, the +avenues of sphinxes and obelisks leading up (never at right angles, +curiously to our sense of conformity) to the temples--solemn, heavy, +magnificent, mysterious--with a sentiment of dignified repose, though +little of beauty or proportion, but full of symbolism and suggestion +and grandeur. + +The exquisite Greek buildings, where proportion was almost like music +in its scientific harmony of parts, so exact, so modulated, so severe, +so lovely--with sculpture forming an almost necessary portion of the +architectural design when at its highest point of excellence. + +The Saracenic, with its simple grace of construction and delicate +detail of ornament, with holy words and combinations of lines in place +of natural forms, and soaring beauty of domes, and pierced marble +work. + +The Middle Age Italian, with its inlaid and decorated façades and +wealth of columns, and traceries of gay-coloured stones, and contrasts +of brilliant light and dark shadows in the deep-set windows and +doors,--bright and lovely like Giotto's Campanile at Florence, rising +like a flower over the city, or great churches like those of Orvieto +and St. Mark's,[1] with their rich profusion of mosaic and carved +stone and quaint modifications of brickwork. + +Or the buildings of the Gothic nations (our own included), which +often, like those at Mont St. Michel, seem to have so grown out of +the situation--where the Art is so interwoven with Nature, that it is +hardly possible to discover where one begins and the other ends. There +is something also of the manner in which Nature works, in the feeling +with which the curves interlace, seeming almost to grow into each +other, in a Gothic cathedral. In the perspectives of heavy round +arches of Winchester and Durham, in the upward soaring of the +Salisbury spire, there is the same impression--they seem to have +"come" so. It is like a living organism, the parts of which are as +natural and necessary to the whole as is the growth of a tree: like +the recipe of old for a poet, they seem to have been "born, not made." + +All these different races invented for themselves what is called a +"style;" that is to say, an original manner, peculiar and adapted to +their special idiosyncrasies, of fulfilling those wants which every +nation, as soon as it emerges from the savage state, must feel and +provide for in some fashion. + +Even to descend to very inferior work--there is character and +expression in the old King William houses on the river-bank at +Chelsea, in the pretty little Queen Anne Square in Westminster; it +is too neat and pretty to be high art, with its unobtrusive moulded +brick, its shallow projections, and the carved shells over the +doorways; but it is not unlike the poetry of Pope in the delicate +finish and adaptation of its parts, while no one can deny that it has +an individuality which the smart new houses in Grosvenor Place are +totally without, where costly granite and excellent stone seem to have +been employed to show the moral lesson that the best materials are of +little service unless mixed "with brains, sir," as Opie advised. Every +capital of the columns is carved by hand, but of the poorest design +and all alike--it is hardly possible to conceive the poverty of +invention involved in making every house and every ornament an exact +copy of its neighbour, in a situation which invited picturesque +treatment--after too, it had been shown at the Oxford Museum that +carving was done both quicker and better when the workers exerted +their minds in such inventions as they possessed (and some of their +renderings of natural forms were beautiful) than when they merely +followed a stereotyped pattern. + +At present we can as soon invent a new style for ourselves as a new +animal; we copy, we combine--that is, under the Georgian era we added +a Mahometan cupola to Roman columns in the Regent's Park; or, still +later, we made one pediment serve for the whole side of a Belgravian +square--_i.e._, a form intended for a nicely-calculated angle over the +front of a temple with a particular number of columns, is stretched as +on a rack over the roofs of an acre of houses; or we build a portico +designed as a shelter against the cloudless sunshine of the Greek +climate to darken a sunless English dwelling-house. Our last +achievement has been to make a "pasticcio" of the high "mansarde" +Parisian roofs, with hideous little debased Italian porticoes, a +quarter of a mile of which may be seen in the Grosvenor Gardens +district. + +Also we can patch and imitate--that is, rebuild a sham antique--from +which, however ingeniously done, the ineffable charm of the original +has escaped like a gas. Why the portico of the capital at Washington, +or the monument on the Calton Hill at Edinburgh, whose columns +are said to be "an exact copy of those at Athens," are so utterly +uninteresting, it would take too long to explain; but no one will deny +that they are mere lumps of dead stone, while the Parthenon itself, +ruined and defaced, wrecked and ill-used, still stands like a glorious +poem in marble, which no evil treatment can deprive of its charm. +There is mind and soul worked into the material, and somehow +inextricably entangled into it, which no copy, however exact, can in +the least reproduce. + +No doubt we have improved in our street architecture; there are +isolated specimens of red brick, a shop-front in South Audley Street, +and one in New Bond Street, several excellent buildings in the city, +&c, &c, legitimate adaptations of gables, dormers, and windows, +exceedingly good of their kind; but these are not original creations, +only developments of what already exists. + +There is one point in which our present shallow, unintelligent +education has wrought irreparable mischief. We have learnt so much of +respect for art as to desire to preserve the works of our forefathers, +but not so far as to find out how this is to be done. We set to work +to "restore" them. Every inch of the surface of an old church is +historical as to the manner of the handiwork of the men of the +twelfth, thirteenth, or whatever may be the century, and we proceed +to put a new face on it, which, at the best, must certainly be that +of the nineteenth century; we find a defaced portrait statue on an +altar-tomb (as in a church in Devonshire), and we insert a smooth +mask out of our own heads; we find an Early English tower with walls +fourteen feet thick, and think a vestry would be "nicer" in its place, +and the tower is therefore pulled down and rebuilt at the other end of +the nave (as in a church in Bucks); or a curious monument to the fifth +son of Edward III., or a couple of kneeling figures, clad in ruffs and +farthingales, of an old rector and his wife, are within the communion +rails (as in two other churches in Bucks); the incumbents do not +approve of tombs in such "sacred places," and, regardless of +the curious historical fact shown by the very position itself in +pre-Reformation days, they are ruthlessly rooted up, and in the latter +case a flaming brass to the rector's own family substituted. + +Even a little art education would show us that this is not +"restoration;" it may be a much finer and smarter kind of work, as +many people seem to consider it; but the cutting down an inch of the +splendid carved stone porches at Chartres to a new surface is +not "restoring" that which was there before--the face of the +fifteenth-century lady cannot be "restored" without a portrait which +no longer exists--the new tower may be very "pretty," but it is +certainly no longer a specimen of rare old Early English work. Like +the monks of old carefully scratching their invaluable parchment +manuscripts, to put in their own words and notes, we have at one fell +swoop scratched the history of English ecclesiastical art off +the land, and archæologists are inquiring sadly for instances of +unrestored churches, which, alas! now are scarcely to be found. + +What may be the reason why architecture, sculpture, painting, and +even poetry--_i.e._, the combination of stone, brick, marble, metal, +colours, and, lastly, of metrical forms of words--should all suffer by +the advance of our (so-called) civilization and education, is still +a mystery; but few will be found to doubt the fact in detail, though +they may deny the general formula. + +Perhaps our self-consciousness as to our great virtues, our +"progress," our knowledge, the learning of the reason of our work, the +introversion of our present moods of thought, check the development +of an idea, even if we may be fortunate enough to get hold of one. +Self-consciousness is fatal to art; there is a certain spontaneity +of utterance--singing, as the birds sing, because they cannot help +it--"composing," almost as the mountains and clouds "compose," by +reason of their existence itself, not because they want to make a +picture,--which produces natural work, grown out of the man and +the requirements of his nature, to which it seems, with very rare +exceptions, that we cannot now attain. + +In sculpture, a modern R.A. has acquired ten times as much anatomy +as Phidias: dissection was unknown, and not permitted, by the Greeks. +Chemistry has produced for the painter colours which Raphael (luckily +for us) never dreamed of. Yet one cannot help wondering at the strange +daring which permits the honourable society at Burlington House to +hang yearly the works of the ancient masters of the craft on the same +walls where their own productions are to figure a few weeks later, as +if to inform the world most impressively and depressingly from how far +we have fallen in pictorial art; to string up our taste, as it were, +to concert pitch--to give the key-note of true excellence, in order to +mark the depth to which we have sunk. + +We now teach drawing diligently in all European countries, and are +surprised that we get no Michelangelos. Did Masaccio go to a school of +design, or Giotto learn "free-hand" manipulation? Education, as it is +generally defined--meaning thereby a knowledge of the accumulation of +facts discovered by other people--is good for the general public, for +ordinary humanity, but not for original minds, except so far as it +saves them time and trouble by preventing them from reinventing +what has been already done by others. True, there can be but few +"inventors" (in the old Italian sense of creators) in the world at any +one moment, and training must, it will be said, be carried on for the +use of the many; but one might still plead for a certain elasticity in +our teaching, a margin left for free-will among the few who will ever +be able to use it. And, meantime, it is allowable to lament over the +number of arts we have lost, or are in danger of losing, which +can only be practised by the few--whose number seems ever to be +diminishing, under our generalizing processes of turning out as many +minds of the same pattern as if we wanted nail-heads or patent screws +by the million. + +This is not education in its true and highest sense--_i.e._, the +bringing forth the best that is in a man; not simply putting knowledge +into him, but using the variety of gifts, which even the poorest in +endowment possess, to the best possible end. And this seems more and +more difficult as the stereotyped pattern is more and more enforced in +board-schools, endowed schools, public schools, universities; and each +bit of plastic material, while young, is forced as much as possible +into the same shape, the only contention being who shall have the +construction of the die which all alike are eager to apply to every +individual of the nation. + +Of all races which have yet existed there can be no doubt that the +Greek was the one most highly endowed with artistic powers of all +kinds; yet the Greek was certainly not, in our sense of the term, +an educated man at all; his powers of every kind, however, were +cultivated indirectly by the very atmosphere he lived in. His +sensitive artistic nature found food in the forms and colours of +the mountains and the islands, the sea and the sky, by which he +was surrounded; by the human nature about him in its most perfect +development; by every building--his temples, his tombs, his +theatres--every pot and pan he used, every seat he sat upon; whereas +no man's eye can be other than degraded by the unspeakable ugliness of +an English manufacturing town, or, what is almost worse, by the sham +art where decoration of any kind is invented or attempted by the +richer middle class. + +The theory that soil and climate and food produce instincts of beauty, +as well as varieties of beasts and plants, is, however, evidently at +fault in these questions; for if this were the case at one time in the +world's history, why not at another? and the present inhabitants of +Greece are as inapt as their neighbours in sculpture, painting, and +architecture. Nothing, even out of the workshops of Birmingham, can +exceed the ugliness of their present productions--_e.g._, a Minerva's +head without a forehead, done in bead-work on canvas, fastened on to a +piece of white marble, which was given as a precious parting gift from +the goddess's own city to a valued friend. There seems now a headlong +competition in every country after bad art. If we ask for lace and +embroidery in the Greek islands, or silver fillagree in Norway,--if +we inquire for wood-carving from Burmah, or the old shawls and pottery +from Persia and the East,--the answer is always the same: we are told +that there is "none such made at present." It is only what remains of +the old handmade work that is to be obtained; the present inhabitants +"care for none of these things." Sham jewellery from the "Palais +Royal," Manchester goods, stamped leather, and the like, are what the +natives are seeking for themselves, while they get rid of "all those +ugly old things" to the first possible buyer for any price which they +can fetch. + +Manufacturing an article, (whatever be the real derivation of the +word, but) meaning the use of machinery for the multiplication of the +greatest number of articles at the least cost, however admirable for +the comfort of the million, is evidently fatal to art. When each bit +of ironwork, every hinge, every lock scutcheon, was hammered out with +care and consideration by the individual blacksmith, even if he were +but an indifferent performer, it bore the stamp of the thought of +a man's mind directing his hand; now there is only the stamp of a +machine running the metal into a mould. When every bit of decorative +wood-work was "all made out of the carver's brain,"--when the +embroidery of the holiday shirt of a boatman of "Chios' rocky isle" +took half a lifetime to devise and stitch, and was intended to last +for generations of wearers, art found a way, however humble, through +nimble fingers interpreting the fancies of the individual brain. +"Fancy work," as an old Hampshire woman called her stitching of the +fronts and backs of the old-fashioned smock-frocks, each one differing +from the one she made before, as her "fancy" led. It was always +interesting, and almost always beautiful. + +Now the hinges are cast by the ton, all of one pattern; fortunate, +indeed, if the original be a good one (a very hopeful supposition!). +The sewing-machine repeats its monotonous curves of embroidery; the +wood-carving is the result of skilfully-arranged knives and wheels +worked by steam, which only execute forms adapted for them. The +initial thought of their designer must be, not what is in itself +desirable, but that which the machine can best produce. What is right +in a particular place, is the natural object of the workman artist; +how to use what has been already cast or stamped, is the object of +the present ordinary builder; and what he calls "symmetry"--_i.e._, +monotony, every line repeated _ad nauseam_--is the result his +education aims at. Symmetry, in the sense of the repetition of the +infinite variety of exquisitely modulated curves in the two outlines +of the human body, is beautiful and harmonious; but there is neither +beauty nor harmony in the repetition of the self-same horizontal and +perpendicular lines of windows and doors in a London street. A feeling +of what in music are called "contrary motion," "oblique motion," is +all required in the impression produced by really fine architecture. +Yet, if the ordinary builder is asked to vary his hideous row of +houses by an additional window or a higher chimney, he exclaims with +horror at such a violation of "symmetry," his sole rule of beauty +being that all should look alike. + +The effect, indeed, of machine-made work is to impress upon the +tradesman mind the belief that perfection consists wholly in exact and +correct repetition of a pattern, which may be said to be true in +his craft; whereas constant variation and development is the law +of healthy art, the need being expressed by the design. To save the +expense and trouble of fresh drawings, also, as soon as a pattern +becomes popular in one material, it is immediately repeated _ad +nauseam_ in every other, however incongruous. A bunch of fuchsias has +been supposed to look well in a lace curtain; it is then cast in +brass for the end of a curtain-rod; is used for wall-papers and +stone-carving alike. Whereas if a Japanese artist has designed a +flight of cranes on his screen or his paper, it is impossible to +get another exactly the same; to reproduce a sketch exactly being, +generally, as every artist can tell, more laborious than to make a new +one, where the brain assists the fingers in their work. + +There is another result of our present shallow "general" education +which has a most depressing effect upon art. Every one now can read +and write, and it would be considered an infringement of the right +of private judgment to doubt the ability of every writer or reader to +criticize any work of art whatsoever. In the case of buying a kitchen +range or a carriage we should not trust to our own knowledge, but +should apply to the experienced expert; but "every one can tell +whether he likes a picture or not!" + +Now, good criticism in art demands at least as long and severe an +apprenticeship as that in ironmongery--the training of the eye by long +experience, reading, historical, scientific, mechanical--real study of +all the various subjects connected with it; and this can be acquired +only by few. It has been said, with perfect truth, that it will not +do to depend on the fiat of artists themselves for the value of +a picture, statue, or building. With some, the admiration of the +technical part of art is too great; the passionate likes and dislikes +for particular styles or particular men warp the judgments of others; +and this is, perhaps, inherent in the artist nature. But this is only +saying that we must not go to the ironfounder for the character of +his kitchen range; there are other skilled opinions to be had besides +those of the authors of a work. + +At the present time, the art of criticism has got so far beyond our +powers of creation that it becomes more and more difficult to bring +forth a great work of art. The hatching of eggs requires a certain +genial warmth to bring them to perfection; creation is a vital act, +but the reception which any new-fledged production is likely to meet +with is either the scorching fire of fault-finding or the freezing +cold of indifference. + +It was not thus that great works of old were produced; Cimabue's +picture of the Virgin was carried in a triumphal procession through +Florence, from the artist's studio to the church which was to be +honoured by its possession. It was a worthy religious offering to +the goddess Mary, a subject of rejoicing to the whole city, and the +quarter of the town where it was first seen, amid cries of delight, +was called the "Borgo Allegri," a name which it has kept six hundred +years. And the sympathy of the people reacted on the artist, and +helped him to carry out his great conceptions. They were proud of +him, and he worked at his picture as a labour of love to do his nation +honour. + +Now, when a man has spent perhaps years over a religious picture, +working with all his heart and soul and strength, instead of its being +taken into a church, and seen only with the associations for which it +is adapted, it is hung up between a smirking lady, clad in the last +abominations of the fashion, on one side, and a "horse and dog, the +property of Blank, Esq.," on the other; while the artist is fortunate +if the best of the critics, who has just glanced at it as he passes +by, does not entirely ignore his meaning and mistake the expression +of his idea, only discovering that "the drawing of the toe of the +left foot is decidedly awkward." So it may be, and there are probably +faults in it still more considerable; yet the picture, with all these +faults, may be one of great merit. + +Is it possible to conceive the Madonna di San Sisto painted under +such conditions? The cold chill of the indifferent public would have +reacted on the artist, and quenched the fire of his inspiration. The +picture was intended to be the incarnation of the religious feeling +of the whole Christian world, in the divine expression of the infant +Christ gazing into futurity, with those rapt, far-seeing eyes,--in the +holy mother, who carries him so reverently, yet with such power and +purity in her look and bearing. It was honoured sympathetically by all +who had the joy of seeing it borne as a banner through a great city as +an act of the highest worship; not cut up into little morsels and set +on a fork by every man who can write smart articles for a penny paper, +bestowing a little supercilious praise and much wholesome advice on +Holman Hunt and Tennyson, on Stevens[2] and Street alike. + +But the result is that the world is poorer by the want of the work +which only a sense of sympathy between the artist and his public +inspires. "Action and reaction are equal," we are told, in science, +and the artist cannot produce the best that is in him alone, any +more than the most finished musician can play on a dumb piano. The +receivers must do their share in the partnership. Mrs. Siddons once +said that she lost all her power when annihilated by the coldness of +the cream of the cream society of a _salon_, and preferred any marks +of emotion of an unsophisticated if intelligent audience, to the chill +of fashionable indifference; and when we complain of the poorness +of our art, we must remember for how large a share of this we, the +present public, are responsible. It may be all very well for the +skylark to "pour his strains of unpremeditated art" for his own +pleasure and that of the little skylarks; but Shelley must have had +the hope that "the world will listen then, as I am listening now." + +The poet and the painter require intelligent cordial belief and +sympathy, which is just what we have not to give, and therefore +the reign of the highest art is probably at an end: no Phidias or +Michelangelo, no Homer or Shakspeare, are likely again to arise. +This is pre-eminently a scientific age--a time for the collection and +co-ordination of facts; and what imagination we possess we use in the +discovery of the laws by which Nature works, and in the application of +our knowledge to the ordinary wants and comforts and pleasures of +the human race. Electric telegraphs, phonographs, photographs abound; +every possible adaptation of steam in majestic engines (almost, it +seems, as intelligent as man), to promote our means of communication +and locomotion over the surface of the earth, and of production in +every conceivable form; great ships and engines of destruction in war, +and (curious antithesis) ingenious contrivances for the saving of pain +in disease--everything, in short, connected with the comprehension +and subjugation of the material world, is more and more carried to +perfection. Yet in spite of these marvellous achievements, unless we +can manage to secure a supply of good art, there can be no doubt that +there will "have passed away a glory from the earth" which we can ill +afford to lose. + +There is no use in preaching what is called the common sense of the +matter, and telling Keats (though he may have died of consumption, +and not of the _Edinburgh Review_) that the critique on his poems +was flippant and unintelligent; or one artist that the account of his +picture was written by a man who did not understand painting, and the +next by a writer who had no notion of the requisites of true +poetry. The artist is by necessity of his nature a thin-skinned, +impressionable being, with sensitive nerves and perceptions, without +which the power of creation does not exist. He writes and paints and +acts and sculpts--in short, composes, invents, creates--to make the +world feel as he is feeling. Fame is a vulgar word for the sentiment +which inspires him; the longing after sympathy is a much truer +expression of what the true artist desires. That of his own family +and friends is not sufficient; he wants the world at large to hear and +understand and join in what he has to say, whether it be in marble or +on canvas, in music or in words. To grow such a creature to perfection +is very rare in the history of mankind, and when our aloe does flower, +we should make the most of it, and feed it with food convenient. Our +blame depresses him, even stupid,[3] unintelligent blame, more +than our praise elevates him; "he is absurdly sensitive," says the +hard-headed man of the world; but that is the very condition of the +problem with which we have to deal; if he were not so, we should not +have great works of art from him. He is an idealist by nature. If we +declare that it is very absurd of our vines to require so much care +and kindness, and that a little roughing and neglect will do them a +great deal of good, we shall not get many grapes; and, after all, what +we want is grapes--results, great artistic works. + +It is almost pathetic to see the nation doing the best it knows, +offering its patronage and its public buildings, its monuments of +great men and its money, and then to mark the results. It is fortunate +that most of the frescoes are scaling off the walls of the Houses +of Parliament. It is fortunate that Nelson and the Duke of York are +hoisted up so high that they cannot be scrutinized at all; it is +fortunate that most of the public statues are generally so begrimed +with dirt and soot that few can make out their intention. But it is we +who are responsible for half at least of their failures.[4] We have, +as a nation, neither the artistic feeling which delights in the +beautiful with a sort of worship, nor the sensuous religious instincts +which require an outward and visible sign of our inward faith. +Therefore our best chance of great work seems to be when the +common-sense necessity is so large in its demands, that carrying it +out even on merely utilitarian principles may give a grand result +by the force of circumstances, almost without our will,--the very +fulfilment of the working conditions on an enormous scale forcing +a certain grandeur on the work. As, for instance, when a viaduct is +carried over a deep valley and river, upon a lofty series of arches, +as in many Welsh railways and at Newcastle, there are elements of +strength, durability, might, and therefore majesty, which the barest +execution of the requirements cannot take away. The Suspension Bridge +hung high in the air above the ships in the Menai Straits, and that +over the narrow hollow of the Avon, have a beauty of lightness and +grace all their own--Waterloo Bridge, which Canova declared to be +worth coming to England to see--are all specimens of a kind of work +which we may hope to see multiplied, and even improved upon, as +the adaptation of art to the common necessities of our civilization +becomes more common, and is taken in hand by a higher and more +educated class of men. + +Nothing, however, can well be more depressing than the experience of +the United States in respect to this question of art and education. +Here is a country (in their own magniloquent hyperbole) "bounded on +the north by the Aurora Borealis, and on the west by the setting sun," +&c., &c., whose proud boast it is that every man, woman, and child +(born on its soil) can read, write, and something more,--which has +just celebrated its centenary of independent existence, and is in the +very spring-time of its national life when the "sap is rising,"--a +season which among other nations is that of their greatest artistic +vigour, yet which has never produced a poet, painter, sculptor,[5] or +architect above mediocrity. Strangely as it would seem at first sight, +it is originality which is chiefly wanting in their art; it is all an +echo of European models; they have no independent action of thought +or interpretation of Nature. Here, again, it is probably the want +of culture of the public which is to blame. Evidence is difficult +to obtain on such a vast subject as the use made of the reading and +writing so freely imparted at the schools in the United States, but +there is very good testimony showing that, with the exception of great +centres of civilization, like Boston, the nation, as a nation, reads +little but newspapers and story-books; and these clearly would produce +a soil utterly unfit for the growth of real art. + +Lastly, let us not forget Mr. Mill's warning how much the nation, +as well as the individual, must suffer by the stifling of original +thought in the rigid conformity to system which our present mechanism +of Government regulations, of centralized hard-and-fast rules, is +bringing about in education. + +The State has a right to exact a certain amount of training in the +individuals who compose it, but has no right whatever to interfere as +to how that result is obtained. Every encouragement should be held +out to original action of all kinds, tending to develop the +faculties--artistic, scientific, as well as practical--which remain to +be utilized among the millions who are now coming under an influence +hitherto painfully narrow, rigid, and shallow in its operations, +in spite of its magnificent promises and high-sounding notes of +self-satisfaction. + + F. P. VERNEY. + + [Footnote 1: Now, alas! under sentence of "restoration;" + the age of creation in Italy appears to be over, and that of + destruction to have begun.] + + [Footnote 2: The monument to the Duke of Wellington has never + received its due meed of praise. With all his faults, poor + Stevens was a man of true genius.] + + [Footnote 3: "Quoique les applaudissemens que j'ai reçus + m'aient beaucoup flatté, la moindre critique, quelque mauvaise + qu'elle eût été, m'a toujours causé plus de chagrin que toutes + les louanges ne m'aient fait de plaisir," writes Racine to + his son. He was silent for twelve years after the "insuccès + de Phêdre." "Quoique le 'Mercure Gallant' était au dessous de + rien, les blessures qu'il fait n'en sont pas moins cruelles à + la sensibilité d'un poëte," adds the _Revue des Deux Mondes_.] + + [Footnote 4: The group of "Asia," by Foley, in Prince Albert's + Memorial, is one of the few exceptions to the indifferent + character of out-door statues in London.] + + [Footnote 5: Mr. Story may perhaps be considered an exception; + but even the "Cleopatra," and "Sibyl" were produced under the + influence of Rome.] + + + + +LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE FIFTY YEARS AGO. + + +It has often been said that the Turk never changes, that he is now +just what he was when he first appeared in Asia Minor. There is very +little truth in this observation, for in fact he is like other men, +and his character has been modified by the circumstances in which +he has been placed, as well as by constant intermarriage with other +races. He has changed in some respects for the better, and in others +for the worse. There is probably no important city in the world, +unless it be Cairo, which has been so radically changed during the +last fifty years as the capital of the Turkish Empire. The dress, the +customs, the people, the Government, have all been transformed under +the influence of European civilization; and these changes have exerted +more or less influence in all parts of the Empire. + +In this impatient age, when men will hardly give a moment to the +consideration of anything but the future, and are always anxiously +waiting for to-morrow's telegrams, it is easy to forget that we cannot +understand either the present or the future without constant reference +to the past. No one can fairly judge the Turks or the Christians of +this Empire, or form any idea of their probable destiny, who is not +acquainted with their condition fifty years ago, in the time of the +last of the Ottoman Sultans; and a brief sketch of Constantinople +as it was at that time cannot fail to suggest some interesting +considerations to those who are watching the course of events in the +East. As contemporary records are even more valuable than personal +reminiscences, I shall quote freely from the private journal of a late +English resident, who was a member of the Levant Company, and, +after its dissolution, for many years the leading English banker in +Constantinople, with a world-wide reputation for integrity, and +in every way a perfect specimen of an English gentleman of the +old school. He came to Constantinople in 1823, and his journal was +continued till 1827. It has never been published. + +The reigning Sultan was Mahmoud II., the Reformer, who came to the +throne in 1808, after the murder of Sultan Selim and the execution of +his brother Moustapha, and after narrowly escaping death himself. The +insurrection in Moldavia and Wallachia had been put down in 1821, and +Ali Pacha, the famous Albanian chief of Janina, had been treacherously +put to death in 1822; but the war of the Greek Revolution was still +in progress, and the battle of Navarino was not fought until 1827. +War was declared against Russia the same year. Halet Pacha had been +strangled in 1822, and Mohammed Selim Pacha was Grand Vizier. Lord +Strangford and Mr. Stratford Canning (Lord Stratford) represented +England at the Sublime Porte during this period. The relation of +the European Powers to the Sultan at this time cannot be better +illustrated than by the following account of the reception of Mr. +Stratford Canning in April, 1826. The ceremony was not so humiliating +as it was in 1621, when Sir Thomas Rowe made such vigorous but +unavailing attempts to have it modified; when the Ambassador was +forced down upon his knees, and compelled to kiss the earth at the +feet of the Sultan; when he was often beaten by the Janissaries on +leaving the palace; or, as in the case of the Ambassador of Louis +XIV., struck in the face by a soldier in the presence of the Grand +Vizier; but although there had been some ameliorations in the +ceremony, its significance was exactly the same in 1826 as in 1621, +and the same religious scruples were advanced as a reason why they +could not be modified in favour of Giaours by the Caliph of Islam. +They were all the more humiliating for those who submitted to them, +from the fact that there was one Power in Europe which had never +recognized them. Even as early as 1499 the Russian Ambassador refused +to submit to any such degradation. In 1514 a new Ambassador was +specially instructed "on no account to compromise his dignity, or +prostrate himself before the Sultan; to deliver his letters and +presents with his own hands, and not to inquire after his health +unless he first inquired after that of the Czar." The Turks seem to +have had an instinctive fear of Russia even at that early day, when +they were strong and Russia was weak. But could Sultan Mahmoud have +looked forward twenty-five years, he would no doubt have treated Lord +Stratford with more respect and consideration. In 1826, however, the +haughty pride of the Caliph was unbroken, and he little thought that +his descendants would reign only by the favour of Europe. + +"After having an audience of the Grand Vizier, the 10th was fixed for +the Ambassador's audience of the Sultan, when he, accompanied by +all the English residents at Constantinople, left the Embassy in +the morning at a quarter before six, in procession, on horseback. At +Topkhana, about five minutes' ride from the Embassy, we embarked in +boats and crossed the harbour to Stamboul. We found horses waiting for +us, but stopped to take coffee, pipes, sherbet, and sweetmeats, with +the _Tchaoush-bachi_ (a Marshal of the Palace), who preceded us to the +entrance of the Porte, where it is usual for Ambassadors to wait under +some large spreading trees until the Grand Vizier passes and precedes +them to the seraglio. Having entered the first gate, we passed +through a large open space, enclosed by low buildings, in which the +Janissaries were drawn up to the number of three thousand. We stopped +on the farther side of the second gate, in a large square chamber +between the second and third gates, within which is the cell where +Grand Viziers and other State prisoners under sentence of death +are confined and beheaded. After waiting here a quarter of an hour, +permission was sent for our entrance. We passed through the third gate +into a large garden, in which stood the divan chamber, and the +front of the seraglio, both very richly painted and gilt, with roofs +projecting four or five feet beyond the walls. As soon as we entered +the garden, the Janissaries all uttered a loud shout and began running +as quick as they could. This was for their _pilaf_, the distribution +of which was a complete scramble. This is a farce always played off +on these occasions to impress foreigners with a respect for this +contemptible soldiery. We then walked forward, for we had left our +horses outside the second gate, to the divan chamber, where the Grand +Vizier was sitting in state, immediately opposite the entrance, on +the centre of a sofa, which extended along the side of the chamber, +covered with the richest silks, at the further ends of which, on each +side of him, sat the judges of Anatolia and Roumelia. The chamber was +small but richly decorated, the ceiling being splendidly painted and +gilt. We walked to one side of the room without making any salutation, +_as no notice was taken of us_. After a time, a number of Turks +entered and ranged themselves in two rows before the judges, who went +through the form of examining them and deciding their suits. This was +intended to impress us with a high sense of their administration of +justice. The payment of the Janissaries is also generally appointed +to take place at the audience of an Ambassador, in whose presence are +piled great bags of money, which are delivered to the troops, in order +to impress foreigners with an exalted idea of Turkish opulence. This +tedious ceremony lasted more than three hours, but it was the last +payment before the destruction of that body. The Grand Vizier had in +the meantime sent a letter to the Sultan, stating in the usual form +that a Giaour Ambassador had come to prostrate himself at the feet of +his sacred Majesty. The royal answer came at length, enclosed in an +envelope. When this was taken off there appeared a quantity of muslin, +in which the letter was wrapped. The Grand Vizier, taking the letter, +kissed it and applied it to his forehead before he read it. The +tenor of this letter was a command to _feed_, _wash_, _and clothe the +Giaours_, and bring them to him. After the Grand Vizier had read this, +two tables were laid (_i.e._, two large tin plates were laid upon +reversed stools), one for the Vizier and the Ambassador, the other +for the rest of us. Washing materials were provided, and a collation +served. All this time the Sultan was looking at us through a latticed +window. After this we went into the garden, and pelisses were +distributed. I was lucky enough to receive one. The Ambassador, with +those who had pelisses, amounting to twenty in all, then followed the +Grand Vizier and entered the palace. At the door each of us was seized +by two _Capoudji-bachis_, who held us by the arms and half-carried us +through an outer hall, in which was drawn up a line, three deep, of +white eunuchs. When we entered the throne-room, we advanced bowing. +The Sultan was sitting on a throne superbly decorated. His turban was +surmounted by a splendid diamond aigrette and feather. His pelisse +was of the finest silk, lined with the most costly sable fur, and his +girdle was one mass of diamonds. The Ambassador recited his speech +in English, which the interpreter translated, and the Grand Vizier +replied to it. This ceremony lasted ten minutes, and we retired." + +This same Mr. Stratford Canning, who waited under a tree for the +Grand Vizier to pass, who had to sit three hours unnoticed while the +Janissaries were paid, who was a Giaour unfit to enter the sacred +presence of the Sultan until he had been fed by his bounty, washed, +and clothed, is still alive, and he remained in Constantinople long +enough to become the _Great Elchi_ who practically governed the Empire +and kept the Sultan under his tutelage. It was an unhappy day for +Turkey when he was removed to please the Emperor of the French. + +Only two months after this audience the Sultan accomplished his +long-cherished plan of destroying the Janissaries, as his Viceroy in +Egypt had fifteen years before destroyed the Mamelukes. It is not easy +at this day to realize how large a place this body filled in the life +of the people of Constantinople. We are accustomed to think of them as +soldiers, as they were in the early history of the Ottoman Turks, the +sad tribute of Christian children exacted by the Mohammedan conqueror +to extend the influence of Islam. But this terrible blood-tax ceased +in 1675, and the Janissaries became a caste or a guild, entrance into +which was eagerly sought by the wealthiest Mohammedan families, and +the majority of them seldom did any military service. In the time of +Mahmoud II. they were at once a source of terror to the Sultan and to +the people of the country. They were above all law, and the lives and +property of the Christians especially were at their mercy. Those who +still remember those days can hardly speak of the Janissaries without +a shudder. They lived in constant fear of them; night and day, at +any hour, they might enter the house, strip it of its furniture, and +torture the family until every place of concealment was revealed and +every valuable given up. They were universally feared and hated, and +it was this fact which made it possible for the Sultan to destroy +them. He proceeded with caution, for he could not hope to destroy them +by the cruel and treacherous means adopted by the Pacha of Egypt. He +obtained a _Fetva_ from the Sheik-ul-Islam approving of the drafting +of a certain number of Janissaries into a new military force which +was organized on the principle of European armies. These men +rebelled against the strict discipline, and some of them were +quietly strangled. Finally, on the 14th of June, 1826, the whole body +revolted, murdered their officers, plundered the palace of the Grand +Vizier, and prepared to attack the Sultan next day if he did not yield +to their demands. + +"They displayed a spirit of determination which they never manifested +but in extreme cases. All their soup-kettles were solemnly brought to +the Atmeidan (Hippodrome) and inverted in the centre of the area. +Soon 20,000 men were assembled around them. The crisis had now arrived +which the Sultan both feared and wished for, and he immediately +availed himself of all those resources which he had previously +prepared for such an event. He first ordered the small military +force which he had organized to hold itself in readiness to act at +a moment's notice. He then summoned a council, explained to them the +mutinous spirit and insubordination of the Janissaries, and declared +his intention of either ruling without their control, or passing over +into Asia, and leaving Constantinople and European Turkey to their +mercy. He proposed to them to raise the sacred standard of Mahomet, +and summon all good Mussulmans to rally around it. This proposal +met with unanimous applause. The sacred relic had not been seen in +Constantinople for fifty years before. It was now taken from the +Imperial Treasury to the Mosque of Sultan Achmet. The Ulema and the +Softas walked before, and the Sultan with all his Court followed it. +Public criers spread the solemn news all over the city. No sooner was +it announced than thousands rushed from their homes and joined the +procession with fiercest enthusiasm. When they entered the mosque, the +Mufti planted the standard on the pulpit, and the Sultan, as Caliph, +pronounced an anathema against all who should refuse to range +themselves under it. Just at this time the artillery arrived under +the walls of the seraglio. The marines and gardeners joined it. Four +officers of rank were then sent to offer a pardon to the Janissaries +if they would desist from their demands and disperse. The experience +of centuries had taught them that they had only to persist in their +demands to have them conceded. In this conviction, they at once +murdered the four officers who had proposed submission to them. This +was done in sight of the mosque. They then peremptorily demanded that +the Sultan should for ever renounce his plan of innovation, and that +the heads of the principal officers of Government should be sent to +them. The Sultan then demanded and received from the Sheik-ul-Islam a +_Fetva_ authorizing him to put down the rebellion. It was now twelve +o'clock, and a large force of the new troops had been collected who +could be relied upon. Orders were given to attack the Janissaries. +The Agha Pacha surrounded the Atmeidan, where they were tumultuously +assembled with no apprehension of such a measure, and the first +intimation that many of them had of their situation was a murderous +discharge of grape-shot from the cannon of the Topdjis. This continued +some time, and vast numbers were killed on the spot. The survivors +retired to their barracks on one side of the square. Here they +barricaded themselves, and to dislodge them the building was set on +fire. The flames were soon seen from Pera, bursting out in different +places. The discharge of artillery continued without intermission; as +it was determined to exterminate them utterly, no quarter was given, +and the conflagration and fire of the cannon continued until night. +The Janissaries, notwithstanding the surprise and their comparatively +unprepared state, defended themselves with desperate fierceness and +intrepidity. The troops suffered severely, and the Agha Pacha was +wounded. Opposition ceased only when no one was left alive to make it. +The firing ceased, the flames died out, and the next morning presented +a frightful scene of burning ruins slaked in blood, a huge mass of +mangled flesh and smoking ashes. + +"During the next two days the gates continued closed, with the +exception of one to admit faithful Mussulmans from the country to pay +their devotion to the sacred standard. The Janissaries who had escaped +the slaughter of the Atmeidan were thus shut in, and unremittingly +hunted down and destroyed, so that the streets and barracks were full +of dead bodies. During these two days no Christian was allowed, under +any pretence, to pass over to Stamboul; but, though the two places +are separated only by a narrow channel, the most perfect tranquillity +reigned in Pera. The people would have known nothing of the tremendous +convulsion on the other side if it had not been for the blaze of +the fire and the report of cannon. On the fourth day I went, from +curiosity, under the charge of a high Turk, to see how matters were +going on, and was pleased at the appearance of the splendid encampment +of the Grand Vizier, which was found at the Porte, and was at the same +time the chief tribunal for the condemnation of the Janissaries, who +were constantly being brought in, and, after undergoing a nominal +trial of a few seconds, were taken to the front of the gate and +beheaded; but the numbers so taken off, though amounting in this one +place from 300 to 500 daily, were but few in comparison with those who +were strangled privately at night on the Bosphorus. The Agha Pacha had +his camp at the old palace, and was employed there in the same work. +Carts and other machines were constantly employed in conveying the +bodies to the sea. These executions continued for several months. +The whole number destroyed at this time was 25,000: 40,000 more were +banished to the interior of Asia, many of whom never reached their +destination." + +This account differs materially from that given by Creasy, on the +authority of Ranke; but the author was a resident in Constantinople at +the time, and in a position to know the facts as well as any Christian +in the city. There are also inherent improbabilities in Creasy's +account. The Sultan no doubt avoided, in appearance, the treachery +of the Pacha of Egypt, but in substance the destruction of the +Janissaries was accomplished in much the same way as the massacre +of the Mamelukes. But whatever may be thought of the wisdom or the +morality of this wholesale slaughter, it was as great a relief to the +Christian population as it was to the Sultan himself, and it changed +the whole spirit of life in Constantinople. The destruction of the +Janissaries was followed by a violent persecution of the sect of +Bektachi dervishes, whose founder, Hadji Bektach, had consecrated the +first recruits. This was a powerful order, and possessed of immense +wealth and influence; but its members were killed or exiled, and its +_tékés_ demolished. It is not easy, however, to destroy a religious +sect, with a secret organization; and the Bektachis are almost as +numerous and powerful to-day as they were fifty years ago, especially +in Albania. They are not true Mussulmans, but are generally liberal, +enlightened, and inclined to cultivate friendly relations with the +Christians. They are frequently attacked by the Turkish newspapers as +heretics, but they occupy many important positions in the Government. +The famous Mahmoud Neddim Pacha belongs to this sect. Sultan Mahmoud +probably attacked these dervishes, not so much because he feared +them, as to prove himself a devoted Mohammedan, and to conciliate +the fanatics who were indignant at the slaughter of so many true +believers. He soon afterwards issued a _Hatt_ proclaiming his devotion +to Islam, and ordering the authorities to inflict the severest +punishment upon any Mussulman who should neglect his religious duties. + +The discussion on the Greek question which has been going on since the +war adds new interest to those scenes of the Greek Revolution which +fifty years ago aroused the sympathy of the world for a long-forgotten +nation, and resulted in the creation of the little kingdom of Greece +which now seeks an extension of her territory. The condition of the +Greeks in Constantinople during the war was melancholy enough. It was +all in vain that the Patriarch proclaimed their entire and absolute +devotion to the Sultan, just as the Fanariote Greeks are doing to-day. +It was in vain that he solemnly excommunicated and anathematized +all who took part in the revolution. He was hung at the door of his +church, and his body given to the Jews to be dragged about the streets +of the city. All the prominent Greeks here were put to death, and all +Mohammedans, even children, were ordered to arm themselves and destroy +the Greeks whenever they could be found. All who could escape from the +capital did so, and many were conveyed in foreign ships to Russia. + +"Many of those who remained were protected and concealed in European +houses. The property and the lives of the others were entirely at the +mercy of the Government and the populace, and the distressing scenes +which in consequence daily occurred in the streets are not easily +described. Notwithstanding this disagreeable state of things, the +Europeans enjoyed perfect security. The escapes from death which some +of the rich Greeks had during this period were very extraordinary, and +none more so than that of Signor Stephano Ralli, a rich merchant +of Scio, who, with nine others, was sent at the commencement of the +revolution to Constantinople, as a hostage for the peaceable conduct +of the inhabitants of that island, when the Samiotes, soon after +landing and butchering the few Turks on the island, so exasperated +the Turkish Government that they immediately beheaded all the hostages +except Signor Ralli, who found sufficient interest with one of the +Ministers to escape. He was, however, immediately made a hostage for +the tranquillity of Smyrna, and was again, by his acquaintance with +and large bribes to the executioner, the only one who escaped death. +When the disturbances commenced at the capital, in order to strike +terror into the minds of the Greeks, twenty-four of the richest +merchants were destined to be seized and executed, and the presence of +Signor Ralli was demanded with the rest at the Porte. But, suspecting +the consequence of such attendance, he cunningly informed the guard +who found him that his master was at the next house, and that he would +immediately send him in. Signor Ralli, then leaving the room, sent in +his own servant, who was at once seized, conveyed to the Porte, and +without further question executed in place of his master. Signor Ralli +was then concealed in the house of an Englishman. He was found and +arrested again in 1827, and again escaped with the loss of half his +property; but this had such an effect upon his constitution that he +died soon after." + +The Bulgarian massacres which excited the indignation of the world +a few years ago were insignificant in comparison with the terrible +slaughter of the Greeks which went on for years in all parts of the +Empire. Their effect upon public opinion in Europe was greater +and more immediate, chiefly because Turkey was no longer a really +independent Power, but was committing these atrocities under the +protection of Europe, and especially of England. Fifty years ago the +Sultan was responsible for his acts only to his own people; but +even then Christian Europe was finally roused to put an end to these +barbarities, and the battle of Navarino, October 20th, 1827, was the +result. In justice to Sultan Mahmoud, however, it should be said +that some of his most ferocious acts were not committed without great +provocation on the part of the Greeks, who manifested equal ferocity +when the opportunity offered. The news of the battle of Navarino +roused the Sultan to proclaim a holy war. + +"The design of the Giaours," he said in his proclamation, "is to +destroy Islamism, and tread under foot the Mussulman nation. Let all +the faithful, rich and poor, great and small, know that war is a duty +for all. Let no one dream of receiving any pay. Far from this, we +ought to sacrifice our persons and our property, and fulfil with zeal +the duty which is imposed upon us by the honour of Islam. We must +unite our efforts, give ourselves, body and soul, to defend our +faith, even to the day of judgment. Mussulmans have no other means of +obtaining safety in this world or the next." + +This holy war resulted in nothing better than the independence of +Greece and the treaty of Adrianople. It was just at this period that +Lord Beaconsfield spent a winter at Constantinople; but, as far as is +known, his visit had no political object or influence. + +The Greeks were not the only Christians who suffered at this time. +The Catholic Armenians were persecuted with almost equal ferocity, +although their only offence was that a number of them had left Turkey +and settled in Russia under Russian protection. Irritated by this +demonstration of attachment to the Czar, the Sultan expelled the whole +sect from Constantinople, to the number of 27,000. They were allowed +only ten days for preparation, and were then driven off _en masse_ +into Asia Minor. They were mostly wealthy families, living in luxury, +and their sufferings were so great that but few lived to reach the +place of exile. They perished at sea, died of hunger on the roads, +and froze to death in the snow on the mountains. It was not a pleasant +thing in those days to be a Christian subject of the Sultan, even when +that Sultan was Mahmoud, the great Reformer. + +Next to the Janissaries, the thing best remembered by the people +of Constantinople is the plague. It seems to have been regularly +domiciled here, and people made provision for it in all their domestic +arrangements. It was only at certain times, when it raged with +terrible severity, that it excited general alarm. It of course +occupies a large place in the private journal from which I have +already quoted; and all Europe has so recently been frightened out of +its good sense by a rumour of its existence in Russia, that it is well +to see how coolly a man can write about it who lived in the midst of +it, and who is devoutly thankful that it is the plague, and not the +cholera or the yellow fever, to which he is exposed. + +"The plague is a disease communicating itself chiefly, if not solely, +by contact. Hence, though it encircle the house, it will not affect +the persons within if all are uniformly discreet and provident. Iron, +it is observed, and like substances of a close, hard nature, do not +retain and are not susceptible of the contagion. In bodies soft or +porous, and especially in paper, it lurks often undiscovered but +by its seizing some victim. The preservatives are fumigations, and +washing with water and vinegar. Meat and vegetables are washed in +water, and all paper is fumigated. The disease is usually observed +to break out after times of famine, and it is a well-known fact that +those are most subject to it who live badly and whose blood is in +a low and impoverished state, for which reason it may be considered +rather a disease of the poor than the rich. The Turks are the greatest +victims, on account of their religious tenets and their abstinence +from wine, although it is very rare to hear of a rich Turk who dies +of it, for many of these drink wine and spirit secretly, and live upon +substantial and nutritious food. The Greeks are more cautious than +the Turks, but die in great numbers, which may be attributed to their +numerous fasts, which they observe for at least half of the year, and +during these they live on bad and unwholesome food. The first symptoms +are debility, sickness at the stomach, shivering, followed by great +heat, violent pains in the head, giddiness, and delirium. In a more +advanced stage, the disease shows itself in dark-coloured spots, and +sometimes in tumours on the glandular parts, which often suppurate and +break, and then the patient escapes. A few days brings this dreadful +malady to a crisis after the spots have appeared. + +"There is a contradiction in this disorder, difficult to account for; +so easy to catch that a bit of wood or cotton can retain it for years, +and convey it with all its horrible symptoms. On the contrary, some +are proof against the most violent contagion. The wife of Mr. W. was a +lady born in the country, and notwithstanding she took more than usual +precaution, she caught the infection, without being able to assign any +cause. Most of her family and servants immediately left the house, but +her husband and her father attended her until she died, having had +her infant at the breast to the last moment. No one of them caught +the disease. My predecessor, Mr. B., having been forty-one years at +Constantinople, had not the least fear of the plague. A few years +since, as he was returning from Cyprus, his fellow-passenger fell ill +and was put ashore at the Dardanelles. Mr. B. occupied his friend's +bed, as it was better than his own, and wore his friend's nightcap. +The next morning he went ashore to see him, and found that he had died +during the night of the plague. Another time, two of his servants died +of the disease in his house; but in neither case did he experience any +inconvenience. The Europeans, and more particularly the English, take +the usual precautions at the first appearance of the disease, but have +little apprehension from it, living in the country in the summer, +and in a very different manner from the natives, both as to food and +cleanliness. It is a great satisfaction to know that not one English +gentleman has died of the plague during the last thirty years. How +inferior it is in its ravages to the cholera and the yellow fever, +which are not known in this country!" + +Unhappily, the cholera has become very well known here since, and has +proved quite as fatal as the plague. In 1865 the city was decimated by +it, some 75,000 dying in two months, a loss of life almost as great as +in the great plague seasons of 1812 and 1837. These great epidemics of +plague were, however, in some respects more terrible than the cholera, +for they continued many months. Life became a burden. The wealthiest +often suffered for want of food and clothing, as they remained shut +up in their houses for fear of contagion. Those who were forced to go +out, dressed in long oil-cloth cloaks, and carefully avoided touching +anything. Every one entering a house was fumigated with sulphur, in +a sort of sentry-box kept for the purpose at the door. All ties of +family and society were broken. But even in these great epidemics very +few Europeans died, while in the cholera epidemics there has been no +exemption. It is now forty years since the last appearance of plague +at Constantinople, and, whatever theorists may say, no one here who +remembers the old times has any doubt that its disappearance was due +to the strict enforcement of quarantine regulations, which before that +time the Turks would not accept. + +There was another source of constant anxiety for the people of +Constantinople fifty years ago, in regard to which there has +unfortunately been but little change. The city was often visited by +terrible conflagrations. In those days they were generally attributed +to the Janissaries, who always improved such opportunities to enrich +themselves by wholesale plunder. To this day it is often suspected +that the Government itself is responsible for these fires, especially +as they frequently occur in quarters where it is proposed to widen +the streets. Sometimes, on the other hand, they are supposed to have a +political significance, as a manifestation of popular discontent; but +probably, then as now, they generally resulted from carelessness, +and when once they had commenced there were no adequate means for +extinguishing them. Only two months after the destruction of the +Janissaries, at the moment when the sacred standard of the Prophet was +being taken back from the mosque, a fire broke out in Stamboul which +raged for thirty-six hours, destroying the bazaars and about an eighth +part of the city, including the richest Turkish quarters. The people +universally attributed this to the friends of the Janissaries, and the +discontent with the Sultan was general; but he acted with the greatest +vigour. He opened his palaces for the reception of those who had no +shelter, distributed food and clothing, and undertook to rebuild the +bazaars. At the same time, he sent his spies into every public place, +and every one who was heard complaining of the Government was at once +arrested and decapitated. Even the women were not spared, but many +were strangled and thrown into the Bosphorus, without any form of +trial. These vigorous measures soon put an end to all complaints, but +unhappily did not prevent the burning of Pera in 1831, when 10,000 +houses were destroyed, a calamity which the Mussulmans attributed +to the wrath of God against the Europeans for the destruction of +the Turkish fleet at Navarino, but which the Christians naturally +attributed to the wrath of the Mohammedans themselves. It is probable +that both these fires were accidental, as were those which burned over +almost the same ground in 1865 and 1870; but the alarm and suffering +of the people were as real and as great as they would have been if +these fires had resulted from the cause to which they were attributed. +It is a very curious fact that, in both cases, just five years +intervened between the destruction of Stamboul and of Pera. + +Another characteristic of the time of which we write was the +insecurity of property. There were no regular taxes at that time +in Constantinople, for all the residents of the Imperial city were +considered to be the guests of the Sultan. It is only within ten +years that this pleasant fiction has been altogether abandoned. But +in Constantinople, as well as in other parts of the Empire, the people +were liable to be called upon to contribute "voluntarily" to meet the +wants of the Government. This system of voluntary contributions has +not yet been altogether abandoned, but was enforced during the late +war all through the Empire, in addition to the regular taxes. Even +foreigners were made very uncomfortable if they refused to contribute. +The financial system of Mahmoud II. was like that of his ancestors. +There was no national debt, there were no budgets, and yet there was +no lack of money even for such long and expensive wars as were carried +on all through the reign of this Sultan. With what envy Abd-ul-Hamid +must look back upon those happy days! The system was a simple one. +Whatever money the Sultan needed he took from the people. Orders were +sent to the governor of such a town to send so much to Constantinople, +or to such a Pacha. He summoned the principal men, informed them that +the Sultan needed so much money as a free gift from each of them. The +unhappy contributors entered into private negotiations with him, and +bribed him to reduce their quota and increase that of some one else. +He took the bribes and rapidly accumulated wealth, but he did not fail +to secure and forward the money demanded by the Sultan. What is more, +the Sultan looked upon the governor himself as nothing better than a +sponge. As soon as it was known that he had absorbed a large amount of +wealth, he was squeezed for the benefit of the Imperial Treasury. He +was disgraced, and his property confiscated. It was very seldom that +a Pacha bequeathed much of his ill-gotten wealth to his children. +Unfortunately, this custom has been abandoned of late years, and the +Treasury no longer derives any benefit from the plunder of the people. +But this system of confiscation was not confined to the Pachas who had +robbed the people. The wealthy men of Constantinople, especially the +Christians, were never safe. Their property might be seized any day, +and they might consider themselves happy if by giving it up without +reserve they escaped the bow-string. They feared the Sultan as much +as they feared the Janissaries. The Armenians suffered less than any +other nationality from these extortions, because they acted as the +bankers of the Government and of individual Pachas who found it for +their interest to protect them. They understood the Turkish character, +and had acquired infinite skill in managing them; but even they lived +in constant fear. When a man heard a knock at his door in the night, +he at once took it for granted that his last hour had come, bade +farewell to his family, and, if possible, escaped from his house with +what jewels he could carry. I have heard many very amusing stories of +this kind resulting from evening visits of belated friends as well as +many very sad ones, where the end was the bow-string for the father +and a life of poverty for the family. The change in the financial +system of the Empire, which led to regular taxation and foreign loans, +destroyed the influence of the Armenians, and threw the Turks into the +hands of the Greeks and Europeans. It is hardly probable that they can +ever recover their former importance under Turkish rule. Another means +adopted by the Government to raise money was the old expedient of +debasing the coinage, which was perhaps quite as honest as the modern +plan of issuing paper-money and then repudiating it. The Turkish +piastre is said to have been originally the same as the Spanish, worth +four shillings and sixpence. In the time of Mahmoud II. it was worth +fourpence, and the silver piastre is now worth twopence, while the +copper piastre is worth only a farthing and a half. + +The comparative cost of living in Constantinople in 1827 and 1879 may +be seen from the following Table, the prices being reduced to English +money:-- + + 1827. 1879. + Mutton, the oke (2-3/10 lbs.) 4_d._ 1_s._ 6_d._ + Bread " 4_d._ 4_d._ + Fish " 4_d._ 1_s._ 4_d._ + Grapes " 1/2_d._ 4_d._ + Figs " 1/2_d._ 4_d._ + Geese, each 6_d._ 5_s._ 0_d._ + Turkeys " 6_d._ 5_s._ 0_d._ + Wine, the oke 2_d._ 6_d._ + + Game was also very abundant and very cheap in 1827. + +This Table tends to prove that, so far as Constantinople is concerned, +the old system of "voluntary contributions" and confiscations was much +more favourable to production than the present ill-conceived system +of taxation. My impression is that the same was true in other parts of +the Empire. Prices were unusually high in 1827, on account of the war +and the general confusion in the Empire, and the increase in fifty +years can only be explained by the destructive system of taxation +adopted by the Government, which falls almost exclusively upon the +agriculturist. The price of bread is the same, but Constantinople +now depends upon Russia for its wheat, and the price depends upon the +harvests in other countries. Everything produced here has increased in +price enormously, and the result is that bread is now almost the sole +food of the poor. Fifty years ago for one oke of bread a man might +have one oke of meat, or eight okes of fruit or two okes of wine. Now +he can obtain only about one-fifth of an oke of meat, or one oke +of fruit, or two-thirds of an oke of wine, and this in spite of the +improved communications by steamer and railway with other parts of +the Empire. Then the Bosphorus was lined with vineyards, and it was +profitable to cultivate them, to exchange eight okes of grapes or two +okes of wine for one of bread. Now it is unprofitable to raise grapes +at eight times the former price, and the vineyards have almost +all disappeared. They have been destroyed by unwise and vexatious +taxation. The condition of the rich, especially of the rich Turkish +Pachas, has greatly improved; but it may well be doubted whether the +poor, those who had nothing to fear from the jealousy of the Turks or +the confiscations of the Sultan, can live as well now as they could +fifty years ago. The poor Mussulmans have certainly gained nothing, +and the Turkish population of Constantinople was probably never in +so wretched a condition as it is now. With the Christian poor it is +different. In many respects their condition has greatly improved. +Then they had no rights which a Turk was bound to respect. They +were sometimes shot down in their vineyards, like dogs, by passing +Mussulmans who wished to try their guns. Their children were kidnapped +with impunity. They were forced to wear a peculiar dress, which marked +them everywhere as an inferior race. They were insulted and abused in +the streets, and trembled at the sight of a Turk. They find it harder +now to get food, but they can eat it in peace. The poor Turks have +gained no such advantages. They are no freer than they were then, and +have not the satisfaction which they then had of domineering over a +subject race. The Christians are still treated as inferiors and suffer +under many disabilities, but in Constantinople their lives, their +families, and their property are comparatively secure, and they are +seldom maltreated because they are Christians. They no longer fear to +look a Turk in the face. The change for them is certainly a happy one, +and it is not strange that the Turks who remember the old times feel +that the power of Islam is waning, and that reform has gone quite +far enough. It is this old Turkish spirit which inspires the present +Government to choose the most inopportune moment to proclaim to the +world its determination to repress all free thought among Mohammedans. +A Turkish Khodja has just been condemned to death for assisting an +English missionary to translate the English Prayer Book and some +Tracts into Turkish. This is not done secretly. The Turkish papers +have discussed the case, and one of the most liberal of them speaks of +his offence as follows:--"The abject author of this act of profanation +has been drawn into his sin by Satan and by his own evil heart, and +has thus dared to commit a sacrilege, by which he is condemned to +the curse of God and to eternal torture. We demand that the miserable +creature may receive an overwhelming punishment, so that he may, +by his example, deter others from selling their religion for a few +pence." This is an act of intolerance and barbarity worthy of the +bloody days of Mahmoud II., and is far less excusable than it would +have been then. It remains to be seen whether it will be approved by +those Powers who maintain the Turkish Empire. + +In one respect Constantinople has undoubtedly suffered by the changes +of the last fifty years. It is no longer the picturesque Oriental city +that it was then. Its natural beauties remain, but in everything else +it has become less interesting as it has become more European. The +steamers, whose smoke clouds the clear air of the Bosphorus and +blackens the white palaces, are no doubt very convenient; but they are +a sad contrast to the tens of thousands of gay caiques which used to +give life to the transparent waters of the strait. Ugly north-country +colliers are no doubt profitable to their owners, but there is very +little interest in watching their passage in comparison with the +wonderful displays which were formerly seen when, after a long north +wind, a southerly gale would take hundreds of vessels, under full +sail, through the Bosphorus in a single day. I have counted over three +hundred in sight at once. The square walls and narrow eaves of +modern Turkish houses may be more European, but they do not compare +favourably with the light Moorish architecture and gilded arabesques +of the olden time. German ready-made clothing may be very cheap, and +the European style of dress may be adapted to active pursuits; but it +is not likely to rouse the enthusiasm of a lover of the picturesque +who remembers the gorgeous costumes of fifty years ago, when the +streets of Constantinople were crowded with gay and fantastic dresses, +as in a perpetual carnival, and each rank, profession, and creed +had its own peculiar costume. Even the Sultan is now no longer worth +looking at, with his little red fez in place of the magnificent turban +with plume and diamonds, and his tight black coat in place of his +flowing sable robe, his attendants covered with tawdry brass in place +of the gorgeous robes of the olden time. The pachas are pachas no +longer in appearance: you may see them running for steamers, or +sitting on crowded benches on the deck reading their daily papers. +What a contrast to the stately pacha of seven tails, who lived fifty +years ago, whose very title was picturesque, who could not read at +all, and if he had ever heard of a newspaper looked upon it as a +device of Satan; but who never ran for anything, and who never wore a +red cap or a black coat. A graceful caique, with many oarsmen, awaited +his convenience; richly caparisoned Arab horses stood at his door; +when he appeared--with slow and dignified step--with turban, robes of +silk, and Cashmere or diamond girdle--his slaves kissing the ground at +his feet, his pipe-bearers and guards behind him--he was an ornament +to the city, and perhaps quite as great an ornament to the State as +his successor, without any tails to his title, who reads newspapers +and wears black clothes, but who has no fear of being bow-strung and +thrown into the Bosphorus if he betrays the interests of the State for +a consideration, or plunders the people for his own profit. Even the +bazaars are no longer Oriental, although the buildings remain. They +are little more than storehouses for the Manchester goods which have +destroyed native manufactures. The only relics of the olden time are +the Turkish women; but even they have become less picturesque. They +are not so attractive, when crowded like sheep into the stern of a +Bosphorus steamer, as they were when they rode in lofty arabas drawn +by white oxen; and their dress is gradually changing in spite of the +frequent decrees of the Sheik-ul-Islam, who declared two years ago +in one of these that the disasters of the war were due, among other +things specified, to the fact that the women wore French boots in +place of heelless yellow slippers. Constantinople has lost all the +peculiar charm of an Oriental city without having as yet attained the +regularity, cleanliness, and elegance of a European capital; just as +the Government has ceased to be an Oriental despotism, careless of +human life and individual rights, without having as yet learned the +principles of European civilization; just as the individual Turk has +ceased to be a fanatical Mussulman, with the peculiar virtues which +once belonged to his religion, without having as yet acquired anything +but the vices of European society. + +If we seek the cause of these changes which fifty years have wrought +in life in Constantinople, they may be summed up as the result of +the constantly increasing influence of the European Powers at +Constantinople and the corresponding decay of the Ottoman Empire. +Sultan Mahmoud II. was one of the greatest as well as one of the most +unfortunate of the sovereigns of Turkey; but he was a Sultan of the +old school, whose many attempts at reform had no other object than to +revive the power of Islam and restore his Empire to its former rank. +He did not wish to Europeanize his people, as Peter the Great did, but +simply to adopt such improvements, especially in the organization of +his army, as would enable him the better to maintain himself against +his European enemies. But, unhappily, he had to contend against Moslem +as well as Christian foes, and to save himself from the former he +had to call in the aid of the latter. His dynasty was saved by the +intervention of Europe; but when Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid ascended the +throne at the death of his father it was by the favour and under the +protection of Europe, and from that day Turkey ceased to be the old +Empire of the Ottoman Turks. Mahmoud was the last of the Sultans. +Nothing remained to his successors but the shadow of a great name. +Europe is undoubtedly responsible for the evils which have befallen +the Empire since that day. She has neither allowed the Turks to rule +in their own way, with fire and sword, as their ancestors did, +nor forced them to emancipate the Christians and establish a civil +government in place of their religious despotism. She has sought to +maintain the Empire, but to maintain it as a weak and decaying Empire. +Austria and Russia, and at times other Powers, have sought to hasten +the process of disintegration, and the limits of the Empire have been +gradually narrowed until they now approach the capital itself. The +Turks are abused for their stupidity, as if it were all their fault; +and no doubt they have done and are doing many unwise things; but +after all they are not to be too harshly condemned. They have probably +done what seemed to them wise and politic, and they have often +outwitted the keenest statesmen; but they have been doomed by Europe +to struggle against the inevitable. Turkey can never again be what +she was fifty years ago, and as a Mohammedan despotism, ruled by Turks +alone, she can never become a great or even a civilized Power and +command the respect of Europe. She must soon disappear. But with the +full emancipation of the Christians, the abolition of the present +system of religious government, and the support of Western Europe, she +might settle the Eastern Question for herself, win the loyal support +of her own subjects and the respect of the world. + + AN EASTERN STATESMAN. + + + + +MIRACLES, PRAYER, AND LAW. + + +In the following remarks I assume the existence of God, All-knowing +and All-powerful; and of a spirit in men which is not matter. I do not +say that either is demonstrated or can be demonstrated, still less +do I presume to define either, but I address only those who already +assent to both. + +Many, however, of those who give such assent are troubled about the +ways of God and the nature of man's relation to Him. On the one hand +is the Bible, which declares that all things on earth as well as in +heaven are regulated by Divine will at every moment, which records +frequent miracles, and which bids men ask from Him whatsoever they +would, in absolute confidence that they shall have their desires. +On the other hand stands the Book of Nature, as Divine as that of +Revelation, being in fact another revelation of God, which tells of +an unchanging sequence of events, of laws incapable of modification +by isolated acts of will, laws which, indeed, if subject to such +modification, would fall into disorder. Which of these revelations +shall they believe? Or can they be reconciled so that both are +credible? + +The tendency of recent belief in those who have studied the Book of +Nature, and perhaps most decidedly in those who have only turned some +of its pages, is that the two revelations are irreconcilable. The +immutability of Nature's laws is to them a gospel taught by every +stone, by every plant, by every animated being. All that they have +learnt to know of matter rests on the assurance that its properties +are absolutely fixed. The progress of science, of art, of +civilization, of the human race, depends on the fact that what has +been found to be true will be always true, that there is an ordered +sequence of events which may be trusted to be invariable, to which we +must conform our lives if we would be happy, and which, if we cross +it in ignorance or defiance, will revenge the outrage by inevitable +penalties. Those laws, which some call of matter, may by others be +called laws of God, and the most devout minds find in their fixity +only a confirmation of their faith in His unchanging promises. But if +thus fixed, it seems to many who are devout as well as to many who +are sceptical, that it becomes impossible to believe that their Author +should ever set them aside by what are called miracles; still less +that He should bid men pray for events which are, in fact, not +regulated by wish or will, but by what has gone before up to the +beginning of time. To meet this dilemma there seem to such minds only +two courses, either to believe that Scripture is not the word of a God +at all, or to give to its language an interpretation which is not +the natural sense of the words, and which was certainly not meant or +understood by those who first wrote or first heard it. + +Yet it is not possible to abandon the conviction that the words and +the acts of God cannot really be at variance. Before surrendering His +words contained in the Scripture, as either spurious or misunderstood, +no effort can be too often reiterated to show them to be compatible +with what we have learned of His works. I propose to make one more +such effort, based on the closest examination of what both really +tell, or imply. + +Let us first understand accurately what it is we are to deal with, +both as facts and as expressed in language. The inquiry is to be +limited (with exceptions which will be noted as they occur) to the +laws of matter. It will be assumed that matter exists as our ordinary +perceptions inform us, but if it shall hereafter be proved to be only +a form of motion, or of force, the arguments will still be applicable. +By laws, we shall understand what in a different expression we call +the properties of matter. The advantage of thus explaining law is that +it excludes some other senses of a vague and misleading character, +while it includes the sense in which alone law can properly be applied +to physical nature. Thus, the law of gravity is the same thing as the +property of matter which we call weight, and if there be any matter or +ether which is imponderable, then the law of gravity does not apply +to it. So the law of attraction, in its different forms, expresses the +property of cohesion, and of capillary ascent, and so on; the law of +chemical affinities expresses the property of the combination of one +species of matter with another in definite proportions; the laws of +sound, light, or electricity express the properties of vibrations, +either of air or of subtler forms of matter, as they affect our +senses. In thus limiting the meaning of law, it is therefore obvious +that we embrace all which the materialist can desire to include when +he insists that law is permanent and unchangeable. + +This, in fact, is the first proposition which we must all accept. No +human being can add to or subtract a single property of any species of +matter. To do so were, indeed, to create. For matter is an aggregate +of properties; each species of matter is differentiated only by its +properties, and could we alter one of these we should really turn it +into different matter. It is true there are what are called allotropic +forms, such as oxygen and ozone, the yellow and red phosphorus, the +forms of sulphur as modified by heat, and a considerable number of +organic compounds, and we can by certain arrangements turn the one +into the other. But when we ask what allotropism is, we find that it +is itself one of the properties (however obscure to us) of the matter +we deal with. Oxygen would not be oxygen, but something else, if +it had not the inherent property of becoming ozone under certain +conditions. Given these conditions, and there is nothing we can do +which will prevent the change occurring. If, as chemists believe, +allotropism depends on the different arrangement of the ultimate atoms +of matter, then the capacity of assuming two arrangements in its atoms +is clearly one of the ultimate properties of that species of matter. + +It follows, then, that if a miracle were really a suspension of a +physical law, or a change, temporary or permanent, of any property +of matter, it would really be an act of creation--the creation of +something having different properties from any matter that before +existed. If iron were to float on water by suspension of the law of +gravity, it would be in fact the creation of something having (at +least for the time required) the physical and chemical properties +of iron, but with a specific gravity less than water--and therefore +something not iron. + +But, without creation, man has enormous power over Nature. He can, +and daily does, overpower her laws, or seemingly make them work as +he pleases. Despite the law of gravity, he ascends to the sky in a +balloon; he makes water spring up in fountains; he makes vessels, +weighing thousands of tons, float on the seas. Despite cohesion, he +grinds rocks to powder; despite chemical affinity, he transmutes +into myriads of different forms the few elements of which all matter +consists; despite the resistless power of the thunderbolt, he tames +electricity to be his servant or his harmless toy. With water and fire +he moulds into shape mighty masses of metal; he shoots, at a sustained +speed beyond that of birds, across valleys and through mountain +ranges; he unites seas which continents had separated; there is +nothing in the whole earth which he has not subdued, or does not hope +to subdue, to his use. There is hardly a physical miracle which he +does not feel he can, or may yet, perform. + +But all this wonderful, this boundless, power over material laws is +gained by these laws. He alters no property of matter, but he uses one +property or another as he needs, and he uses one property to overpower +another. It is by knowing that gravity is more powerful in the case of +air than in the case of hydrogen gas, that he makes air sustain him +as he floats, beneath a bag of hydrogen, above the earth; it is by +knowing that it is more powerful in water than in air that he sails +in iron ships; it is by knowing chemical affinity or repulsion that he +makes the compounds or extracts the simple elements he desires; it is +by knowing that affinity is force, and that force is transmutable +into electricity, that he makes a messenger of the obedient lightning +shock; it is by knowing that heat, itself unknown, causes gases +to expand, that he makes machines of senseless iron do the work of +intelligent giants. He subdues Nature by understanding Nature. He +creates no property; he therefore performs no miracle, though he does +marvels. + +By what means, then, does man bring one property, or law, into play +instead of, or against, another? By one means only, that of changing +the position of matter. + +This is Bacon's aphorism (Nov. Org. Book i. 4): "Man contributes +nothing to operations except the applying or withdrawing of natural +bodies: Nature, internally, performs the rest." + +In order to trace and recognize the truth of this fact, let us follow +in rough and rapid outline the operations by which man effects his +purposes. We will begin at the beginning, and suppose him to have only +reached the stage when a knowledge of the effects of fire enables +him to work with metals. He produces fire by friction--that is, by +bringing one piece of wood to another, and rapidly moving the one on +the other; or else by striking two flints on each other, which also +is merely rapid motion and shock. He carries the wood to a hearth, he +brings to it the lump of crude metal or the ore; he urges the fire +by a blast of air--still his acts are only those of imparting motion. +Then the fire acts on the metal, it excites some affinities and +enfeebles other affinities, which result in removing impurities; it +softens the purified metal. Then the workman lifts it on a stone, and +by beating it with another stone--still motion--he moves its particles +so that it assumes the form of a hammer, an axe, a chisel, or a file. +Then by rubbing with a rough stone--still motion--he moves away some +particles from the edge, and makes it sharp and fit for cutting. By +plunging it in water when hot--still only motion--he tempers it to +hardness. With the edge thus obtained he cuts wood into the forms he +requires for various purposes, and by degrees he learns how to fashion +other pieces of metal into other and more elaborate tools. Yet all +this is done by no other means than giving motion to the material on +which, or by which, he works. From tools he advances to machines, by +which his power of giving motion is increased, and as he learns more +of the properties of matter he constructs engines, by which these +properties work for him in the directions in which he guides them. +Meantime he has learned that clay, when heated, becomes hard as stone, +and the arts of pottery take their rise; while glass-making follows on +the discovery that ashes and sand fuse into a transparent mass. Yet, +whether in their rude beginning or finished elegance, man in these +arts does no more than bring together the rough materials and apply +to them heat, then their own inherent properties effect the result. +Science--that is, knowledge of natural laws of matter--guides his +hand, but his hand only moves matter; it gives no property and takes +away none; it does not even enable one property to work; it does +absolutely nothing except to place matter where its own laws work, to +bring or to remove matter which is needed, or to remove matter which +is superfluous. Let us analyze every complicated triumph of human +knowledge and skill, and we shall find it all reduced to the knowledge +of what the properties of matter are, and the skill which imparts to +it motion just sufficient to permit these properties to operate. Man's +power over Nature is therefore limited to the power of giving motion +to matter, or of stopping or resisting motion in matter. + +Now, to give motion or to resist motion is itself either a breach or +a use of a law of Nature, according as we express that law. The law is +(as usually expressed), that matter at rest remains at rest till moved +by a force, and that matter in motion continues in motion till stayed +by a force. This is the law of inertia. If we consider that rest or +motion when once established is the normal state of matter, then the +force which causes a change causes a breach of the law of inertia. +But if we consider that the liability to be moved, or to have motion +stopped by force, is itself a property of matter, then the application +of force with such result is merely calling into operation the law of +inertia. It really does not signify which view we take, so long as we +recognize that such are the facts. But since it is more familiar to +associate rest with inertia, it will perhaps be most convenient and +simple to consider rest and motion as the laws of matter, till the law +is interfered with. Therefore in what follows we shall say, that when +matter at rest is moved, or when matter in motion is stayed, or its +movement by a natural force is prevented, a breach of the law of +inertia is committed. + +We come, then, to these propositions:--1st, That human power is +utterly unable to break any law of matter except the law of inertia. +2nd, That when, by breaking only the law of inertia--_i.e._, by moving +or by resisting the motion of matter--any operation is accomplished, +no other law of matter is broken. 3rd, That to break the law of +inertia by Force, directed by Will, is no interference with the +properties of matter. 4th, That by breaking the law of inertia +only, man has power to call into play properties which make matter +subservient to his objects. + +Nor is this man's power only. Inferior animals can also move matter, +and by moving it can cause prodigious results. A minute insect, by +secreting lime from sea waters, makes a coral reef, or aids in forming +a cliff of chalk. A beaver cuts down a tree, and forms a swamp that +changes the climate of a district; a bird carries a seed, and makes +a forest on an island. Inanimate life has the same power. The plant +opens its leaves to the sun, and abstracts the carbon that forms +fruitful soils and beds of coal. Matter itself can by motion work on +matter. The great physical powers, heat and electricity, are modes of +motion. Radiation of heat causes freezing, and freezing crumbles rocks +into soil, or it forms the clouds in the air, whose deluges hollow +valleys; while electricity cleaves and splinters the summits of the +mountain peaks. Everywhere motion, sharp or slow, works with matter; +everywhere the law of inertia is broken; and everywhere the miracles +of Nature are wrought out by Nature's unbroken laws, set in action or +withheld by only the movement which matter has received, be it from +Will in man or beast, or be it from forces which themselves are part +of matter's properties. + +Now, since we have started from the assumption that God does exist, it +is impossible to make Him an exception to the rule which holds of +the spirits of inferior creatures, and even of inanimate matter. If, +therefore, He can cause or stop movement, He can, without further +breach of any law of Nature, bring into play the laws of Nature. Or, +to state the same proposition conversely, we must admit that whatever +wonders God may cause by bringing into operation a law of Nature +through the means of affecting motion in matter, cannot be called a +breach of the laws of Nature. It is, of course, understood that this +proposition is limited to the results of motion; it does not affirm +that the cause of the motion may not be a breach of a law of Nature. +This question will remain for future examination; at present it is +neither affirmed nor denied. + +Let us in the meantime, however, consider what we have reached by the +proposition above stated. What are called miracles may be divided into +three classes. The first are purely spiritual, affecting mind without +the intervention of matter, such as visions (though these _may_ +originate in the brain, and therefore belong to the next class), gifts +of tongues, inspirations, mental resolutions. The second affect mind +in connection with matter, such as, perhaps, the healing of paralytic +or epileptic affections, and certainly the restoration of life to +the dead. The third affect matter solely; they include the healing +of wounds, or of corporeal disease, such as blindness, or fever; the +dividing of waters; the walking on water, or raising an iron axe-head +from the bottom of water; the falling of walls or trees; the opening +of prison-doors, and such like. + +The first two classes we may, in any discussion limited to the laws of +Nature, leave out of view, because it cannot be said that we know any +laws of Nature affecting mind by itself, or even mind in relation to +matter. Metaphysicians have interested themselves in trying to trace +the origin or sequence of intellectual processes, but I hardly think +any would assert they had discovered or defined what can properly be +called a law; and certainly, if any do assert it, the accuracy of the +assertion is controverted by as many philosophers on the other side. +Any direct influence of God on mind cannot, therefore, be charged with +being in violation of natural law. Nor can it even be declared to +be contrary to universal experience, since in this case the negative +evidence of those who have not experienced it would only be set +against the positive evidence of innumerable persons who affirm that +they have experienced it. + +The influence of mind on matter, and matter on mind, are also so +obscure, that it cannot be affirmed that anything which mental +operation can effect on one's own body is contrary to natural law. +No physiologist will assert that mental resolution, or conviction, +tending towards recovery from sickness, is without some power to bring +that result to pass. They will admit also that this is peculiarly the +case in regard to those disorders which, in pure ignorance of their +actual source, they are fain to call hysterical, neuralgic, or +generally nervous. They are all acquainted with many cases in their +own experience of recovery from such disorders in which no physical +cause for recovery can be imagined. If, then, God should convey to +the mind of a patient an impression which brings about recovery, +there would clearly be no violation of natural law. With regard to the +restoration of life, it is quite true that this is beyond the ordinary +power of man's volition. Nevertheless, at each moment of our lives +there is a communication of life to the dead matter which has formed +our food, but which, after digestion, becomes a part of our living +organs; and this is true even in the nutrition of plants. How or +at what moment the mind enters or becomes capable of affecting our +frames, we do not know. But this happens at some moment before or +during birth; its doing so at a subsequent period is, therefore, not +a breach of natural law, but is only an instance of natural law coming +into operation, by the same cause, at a period differing from that +which is customary. The _act_, whatever it is, is not exceptional, but +ordinary. The _time_ is alone exceptional. + +We have now to consider the strictly physical phenomena to which the +name of miracles is in this discussion confined, and to which the +objection that they are contrary to natural laws is commonly stated. + +A very large number of these are at first glance seen to be only +instances of inertia being affected. To walk on water, to make water +stand in a heap, to raise a body from the ground, to cast down walls, +or move bolts and doors, are obviously exertions of simple mechanical +force such as we ourselves daily employ. Their effective cause is +neither more nor less than an interference with the law of inertia, +and by the previous demonstration they are therefore not to be +reckoned as breaches of any law of Nature. + +Let us try if this can be made clearer by an example. It has been +stated before that if iron were made to swim on water by modification +of the law of gravity it would be creation of a new substance +differing from iron in being of less specific gravity. At the +same time, the original iron of normal specific gravity would have +disappeared. These processes of creation and destruction would be +so unprecedented that we should justly call them violations of the +ordinary laws of nature. But at least we should then expect that the +light iron thus created would be permanently light, and we should +call it another breach of the laws of nature if on lifting it from the +water we found it heavy. But if we were to hold a magnet of suitable +power over the original heavy iron, when at the bottom of the water, +we might see it rise and float, although not touched or upheld by +any visible substance, and although its specific gravity remained +constant. In this case it would be moved by a power which overcomes +gravity, but there would be no creation nor destruction of any +property, and no natural law would be broken. But if now we substitute +for "magnetic" "Divine" power, there is still no breach of a natural +law, for no property is created or destroyed. In both cases the acting +agent is a power outside the iron, invisible and unknown, except by +the effects. The effect of both is the same: it is to give motion to +matter, and nothing more. Hence, neither violate any law of nature +except that of inertia. + +Proceeding to another class of miracles, which seem at first to +be creative, we shall find that they also come within the range of +familiar human potentiality. The making of bread, or meal, or oil, +or wine, are instances of chemical synthesis. These substances are +composed of three or four elements, all gaseous except carbon (to +be absolutely accurate, we must add minute quantities of eight other +elements), which no chemist has yet succeeded in uniting in such +forms. But chemists have succeeded in forming certain substances by +bringing together their elements, of which water is the simplest type, +and others of greater complexity are every year being attained. These +are formed by moving into proximity, or admixture, the elementary +ingredients, under circumstances favourable to their union in +the desired combination, and the combination then proceeds by the +operation of natural laws. No one would be surprised to hear that +some chemist had thus attained to form starch or gluten, the main +ingredients of bread; or oil, or spirit, or essences; for if it were +announced we should all know that he had only discovered some new +method of manipulation by which circumstances were arranged so as +to favour the natural laws which effect the union of the necessary +elements. Therefore, if these substances are formed by Divine power, +it is not creation--it is only the chemist's work, adopting natural +laws for its methods, and bringing them into play by transposition of +material substances. + +Meteorological processes--such as lightning, rain, drought, winds--are +sometimes made the immediate cause of "miracles," as when the wind +caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow back, or brought the flights +of quails, or locusts. These are effects which we know wind is quite +capable of producing, and does produce naturally. Was there then any +breach of natural laws (beyond that of inertia) in causing such winds +to blow? or in bringing up thunder-clouds? or in causing an arid +season? We cannot, indeed, say that there was not; but as little can +we say that there was. For since we ourselves have acquired such +power over lightning, the most inscrutable and irresistible of all +meteorological agencies, as to be able to lead it where we will, how +shall we say that God's infinite knowledge has not the same power over +the winds and the clouds, by employing only natural agencies for His +work, and employing these only by the operation of motion given to +matter. + +With regard to the healing of diseased matter, conjectures also can +only be offered, because of the source of diseases we know so little. +Sight is restored in cataract by simple removal of an abnormal +membrane. Many fevers, if the germ theory or the poison theory be +correct, are cured when the germs die, or the poison is eliminated. A +power that could kill the germs, or remove them or the poison from the +system, would then effect immediate cure in accordance with natural +laws. It does not seem necessarily beyond man's reach to effect +this when he shall understand natural laws more fully; it cannot, +therefore, be a breach of natural laws if God should effect it by laws +as yet unknown to man, provided they are brought into play with no +other agency than the motion of matter. + +It would be folly as well as impiety to assert that it is in such ways +only that miracles are performed. No such assertion is made. But +when, on the other side, it is asserted that the miracles narrated +in Scripture cannot be true because they must involve a breach of the +immutable laws of Nature, the answer is justifiable and is sufficient, +that they do not necessarily involve any breach of any law, save of +that one law of inertia which at every instant is broken by created +things, without any disturbances being introduced into the serene +march of Nature's laws. The scientific revelation is reconciled with +the written revelation when it is shown that neither necessarily +implies the falsity of the other. + +But supposing the argument thus far to be conceded, it will be urged +that the real "miracle" remains yet behind. When man moves matter, +his hand is visible: when an animal gnaws a tree, its teeth are seen +working; when a river flows down a valley, its force is heard and +felt. How different, it will be said, is God's working, where there is +no arm of flesh, no sound of power, no sign of presence. + +Unquestionably it is a deep marvel and a mystery, that impalpable +spirit should act upon gross matter; but it is a mystery of humanity +as well as of Godhead. What moves the hand? Contraction of the +muscles. But what causes contraction of the muscles? The influence +transmitted from the brain by the nerves. But what sends that +influence? It is mind, which somewhere, somehow, moves animal +tissues--tissues consisting of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, +phosphorus, and sulphur. At some point of our frames, we know not yet +where, mind does act directly on matter. It is a law of Nature that it +should so act _there_. But if God exists, His mind must, by the same +law, act on matter _somewhere_. Can we call it an offence against law +if it acts on matter elsewhere than in that mass of organized pulp +which we call brains? If no possibility of communication between +mind and matter could anywhere be found in Nature, we might call such +communication contrary to natural law. In other words, if it were one +of the properties of matter that it could not receive motion from +that which is not matter, its motion without a material cause would +be supernatural. But since it is of the very essence of existence that +matter in certain combinations should be capable of being endowed with +life, and by such endowment become capable of being affected in motion +by mind, it is indisputable that such capability is one of matter's +properties, and that its being so affected falls within and not +without Nature's laws. + +It may be objected that, since it is only living substance which can +be acted on by the human mind, it is contrary to law that dead matter +should be acted on by Divine mind. But this is a simple begging of +the question at issue. It is constructing a law for the purpose of +charging God with breaking it. Where do we find evidence in Nature +that matter cannot be moved by the Divine mind? Science reveals no +such law. Science is simply silent on the subject; it admits its utter +ignorance, and declares the question beyond its scope. Undoubtedly it +does not pronounce that God does move matter, but it equally abstains +from asserting that God does not. For when it traces back material +effects from cause to cause, it comes at last to something for which +it has no explanation. When we say that an acid and an alkali combine +by the law of affinity, that a stone falls by the law of gravity, we +merely generalize facts under a name, we do not account for them. What +causes affinity, what causes gravity? Suppose we say the one is polar +electricity, the other is the impact of particles in vibration (both +of which statements are unproved guesses), what do we gain? The next +question is only, what causes electricity and what causes vibration? +Suppose, again, we answer that both are modes of motion, we only come +to the further question, what causes motion? And since motion is a +breach of the law of inertia, what is it that first excited motion in +this dead matter? Carry back our analysis as far as we will or can, +at last we reach a point where matter must be acted upon by something +that is not matter. This something is Mind; and God also is Mind. + +Again, when any one affirms that only living matter can be acted on by +mind, whether human or Divine, we may fairly ask him, not indeed +what is life, which is a problem as yet beyond science; but how life +changes matter, which is a question strictly within the range of +science dealing with matter. But to this inquiry we shall get no +answer. The cells in an organism, the protoplasm in the cells, are +living when the organism is living, dead when the organism is dead, +and, as matter, no difference is discoverable between them in +the state of living and dead. The cells consist of cellulose, the +protoplasm of some "protein" compounds; no element is added or +subtracted, no compound is altered, when it lives or when it dies. Nor +can science even tell us when an organic compound becomes alive, or +dead. Every instant crude sap is becoming living plants, every instant +crude chyle is becoming living blood, every instant living organisms +die and are expelled from plants by the leaves, from animals by the +lungs, the skin, and the kidneys. Yet no physician can say at _what_ +moment any of these carbon compounds become living, or when they cease +to have life. Since of this perpetual birth and death in all nature +we know absolutely nothing, it is manifestly unreasonable to lay +down laws respecting them. If life and death make (as far as we can +discover) absolutely no immediate physical change in the matter which +they affect, how can we propound as a dogma of physical science that +God cannot move "dead" matter, when our own experience tells us that +our spirits can move "living" matter? + +It is clear that if we are not warranted in making a law, we are not +warranted in saying that it is broken. Our concern with laws is to see +that such as we do know are uniform, for this is the basis of science. +But true science repudiates dogmas on subjects of which it avows its +ignorance. + +Let us sum up the argument as it has now been stated. The propositions +are the following:-- + + 1. Matter is subject to unalterable laws, which express its + properties. No created being can originate, alter, or destroy any of + these properties. + + 2. It is possible, however, for one property to overpower the action + of another property, either in the same matter or in other matter. + + 3. By placing matter in a position in which one or other property + has its natural action, man, as well as animals and inanimate + matter, can overpower a law of Nature with almost boundless power. + + 4. The sole means by which such results are effected, are by + affecting the law of inertia. Therefore, whatever is effected by + natural laws, without other interference than by affecting inertia, + is consistent with the uniformity of natural law. + + 5. All strictly physical "miracles" recorded in the Bible are + capable of being effected by natural law, without other interference + than by affecting inertia, and therefore are consistent with the + uniformity of natural law. + + 6. It is consistent with natural law that created minds should + affect the inertia of certain forms of matter directly. + + 7. It is not inconsistent with natural law that Divine mind should + affect the inertia of other forms of matter directly. + + * * * * * + +The bearing of these conclusions upon prayer, in so far as it affects +physical conditions, may now be briefly shown. It has been argued +that, in the light of modern discovery, prayer ought to be restricted +to spiritual objects, and that at all events it can have none but +spiritual effects. It has for example been asserted that to pray +for fine weather, for bodily health, for removal of any plague, for +averting of any corporeal danger is asking God to change the laws of +Nature for our benefit, that this is what He never does, what would +produce endless confusion if He should, and consequently what He +certainly will not do. + +But if in point of fact God can confer on us all these gifts which we +ask from Him without breaking a single law by which Nature is bound, +we are restored to the older confidence that He will, provided that +such gifts are at the same time consonant with our spiritual good. + +Now as it has been shown that God can affect matter to the full extent +for which we ever petition by means of Nature's own laws, set in +operation by no other agency than the mere communication of motion to +matter, it has been shown that He will break no law in giving what we +ask. + +For example, what is fine weather? It is the result of the due motion +of the winds, which bear the clouds on their bosom, and carry the +warmth of equatorial sunshine to the colder north. It is still as true +as eighteen hundred years ago, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and +ye hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither +it goeth." But if it be no breach of law to give motion to the air, it +is in God's power to bring us favourable winds. But the winds we wish +are not necessarily moved immediately by God's breath. They depend +probably on certain electric repulsions, which make the colder or +the warmer current come closer to the surface of the earth. And +electricity is motion. It may be directly, it may be indirectly, +through electricity; it may be by some cause still further back, that +God sends forth the winds; but, if He can give motion, He can direct +their currents, and by such agency give to His creatures the weather +best suited for their wants. + +Or what is disease? Probably, in many cases, germs; let us then +suppose germs, because it is what the latest science tells us. But +germs need a suitable nidus, and we know that merely what we call +"change of air" is one of the most potent means of defending or +restoring our bodies from the assault of germs to which it is exposed. +We change our air, by moving to another place; what violation of law +would there be if God, to our prayer, were to change our air by moving +a different air to us? That is but a rude illustration; the marvellous +economy of the body suggests a thousand others, none of which may be +true, but which yet all agree in this, that they would work our cure +by strictly natural laws, set in action merely by motion given to +matter. + +That even an impending rock should not fall upon us would be a +petition involving no further disturbance of natural law. Had we +appliances to enhance our force we could uphold it, without breaking +natural law. God has superhuman force, and if He upholds it by an arm +we cannot see, He will break no law. + +It were needless to pursue examples; but the subject must not be +dismissed without reference to the spiritual laws, which we are bound +to regard in praying for aught we may desire. + +These are expressed and summed in the command, "Ask in my name." There +is a prevalent misunderstanding of these words, arising out of the +theological dogma which interprets them as if they were written, "for +my sake." It is unnecessary here to enter into the inquiry how far any +prayer is granted because of the merits or for the sake of Christ. It +is sufficient that the words here used mean something else. When we +desire another person to ask anything from a superior in our name, we +mean to ask as if we asked. It must be something then which we should +ask for personally. Therefore, Christ desiring us to ask in His name, +limits us to ask those things which we can presume He would ask for +us. + +It is obvious how this interpretation defines the range of petition. +It must be confined to what He, all-knowing, knows to be for our good. +It must be, in our ignorance, subject to the condition that He should +see it best for us. It utterly excludes all seeking for worldly +advantage, for which He would never bid us pray. It equally excludes +all spiritual benefits which are not those of a godly, humble spirit. +Above all, it excludes all things which would be suggested by Satan as +a tempting of the Lord our God. To ask, as some scientific men would +have us do, for something in order to see if God would grant it, would +be an experiment which, applied to an earthly superior, would be +an insult--to God is impiety. To such prayers as these there is no +promise made, for they cannot be in Christ's name. + +Neither can those prayers be in His name which come from men +regardless of His precepts. These are contained in the Book of Nature +as well as in the Bible, and to both alike we owe reverence. We are +bound to learn His will as far as our powers extend, we are bound to +inform ourselves as fully as we can of the physical as well as of the +moral laws set for our guidance, and having learned we are bound to +obey. It were vain to pray for help in an act of wrong-doing, and +equally vain to pray for relief from consequences of our own neglect +or defiance of such rules of the government of nature as we have +learned, or as with due diligence we might have learned. No man so +acting can presume to think that he may ask in Christ's name for +succour. Christ could not ask it for such as he. + +But to what we can truly ask in His name there is no limit set. We may +ask for all worldly and all spiritual good, which we can conceive +Him to ask for us, in assurance that it will be given, if He sees it +really to be for our good. How it may be reconciled with good to other +men is not for us to inquire. The Omnipotent rules all, and He who can +do all is able to do what is best for us as well as for every other +creature He has made, without breach of one of these laws which He has +set as guides for all. + + J. BOYD KINNEAR. + + + + +WHAT IS RENT? + + +The public mind of the country is at the present hour largely occupied +with thinking about rent. The severe agricultural depression has +generated painful effects on the feelings and the fortunes of the +people of England. The various classes who are connected with the +cultivation of land are visited with much suffering, and we cannot be +surprised if they are found discussing whether their relations towards +each other, as well as the system of agriculture prevailing in these +islands, are precisely what they ought to be. The various methods of +dealing with the land and the population that devote themselves to +its tillage, have been the subjects of keen debate for ages: failing +harvests, low prices, and heavy losses, are well suited to impart +energy and even violence to such discussions. In some portions of the +kingdom, even agricultural revolution has made its appearance on the +scene. The law itself is openly and avowedly defied. The debtor, it is +decreed, shall determine at his own pleasure how much he shall pay of +the debt to which he is pledged. If the owner of the property let on +hire repels such an adjudication of his rights, he is plainly warned +that they shall be swept away altogether, and the insolvent debtor +be made the owner of what he borrowed. The very structure of society +itself is imperilled. "To refuse to pay debt violently," it has +been well said, "is to steal, and to permit stealing, is not only to +dissolve, but to demoralize society: accumulation of property, and +civilization itself would become impossible." + +Amidst such agitated passions it was inevitable that rent should +speedily come to the front. Those who had contracted to pay rent, in +the expectation that the produce of their labour would enable them +to redeem their pledge, had been plunged into losses, more or less +severe, by the badness of the seasons; their means were reduced; to +pay was inconvenient; and it was a simpler method to take the matter +into their own hands, and rather than appeal to the feelings of their +landlords for a considerate diminution of their rents, to call rent +itself into judgment, and to suppress it altogether. When, then, +matters have reached the pass that an anti-rent agitation, based on +the confiscation of property and the repudiation of contracts, has +sprung up, and is swiftly spreading among an excitable people, it +becomes important, in the highest degree, that the true nature of rent +should be clearly understood by the whole country. Whatever may be +ultimately decided about rent, let every man first know accurately +what it is. To advocate a system of agriculture which shall abolish +the possession of land by a class who are owners and not cultivators +of the soil, and thus extinguish the charge for the loan of it to +farmers, is perfectly legitimate. Let the merits and demerits of +such a tenure be freely investigated; let peasant-proprietorship be +counter-examined over against it; but let the conviction be brought +home to every mind that no just or intelligent conclusion can be +reached, unless every element of the problem has been fully and +honestly weighed. A reduction of rents may very possibly be called +for by necessity and by reason; but to place the position itself of +landlord in an invidious light, as that of a man who exacts from the +labour of others that for which he has neither toiled nor spun, is +a most unwarrantable process of argumentation, and can lead to no +trustworthy result in a matter of such transcendant importance to the +nation. + +What then is rent? The true answer to this very natural question, +obvious and easy though it may seem to be, has been grasped by few +only. Let the question be put to a mixed company, and the incapacity +to explain the real nature of rent will be found most surprising. +One's first impulse is to appeal to Political Economy for an answer, +for indisputably rent belongs to its domain; but unhappily Political +Economists, for the most part, instead of enlightening have obscured +this inquiry for the public mind. Some few amongst them have perceived +the true character of rent; but most other economical writers have +been led astray into a wrong path by Ricardo. Ricardo's theory of rent +was accepted as the orthodox doctrine; but it was a theory from +which the common world, landlords and farmers alike, turned away +as unworkable. Ricardo was dominated by the passion of giving to +Political Economy a strictly scientific treatment, and the explanation +of rent he hailed as an excellent instrument for accomplishing his +purpose. He built the amount of rent payable by different lands, +on the varying fertilities of the soil. Land A paid no rent; its +productive powers were unequal to such an effort; it must content +itself with rewarding the cultivator alone. Land B presented itself as +something better; a feeble rent it could supply. C, D, and E +continued the ascending scale; the rents they yielded assumed grander +dimensions, till the maximum of fertility and remunerating power +was reached. The array wore a splendidly scientific air; it almost +rivalled the great law of the inverse square of the distances. But, +alas, as Ricardo himself dimly saw, rent bowed to other forces besides +mere fertility. Varying distances from manures and markets, dissimilar +demands for horsepower for the attainment of the same crops, unequal +pressure of rates and taxes, and other like causes compelled rent to +sway upwards and downwards in contradiction of the law of fertility; +and that was not scientific. But it was true in fact, and Ricardo, +under the pressure of necessity, summed up these disturbing causes +under the general word situation. Like Mill, he had to recognise +that Political Economy, as he and Mill posed it, was "an hypothetical +science," and that the stern world of material realities was under the +dominion of influences which were not hypothetical nor scientific.[1] + +If Ricardo and Mill had contented themselves with laying down what the +amount of rent was, governed by the quality of the soil's fertility +and by the forces which they feebly recognised by the word situation, +no harm would have been done. They would have given a tolerably fair +description of the causes on which the magnitude of rent depends. +It would not indeed have explained what rent is, but it would have +expressed truths with which the common agricultural mind was familiar, +and they might have retained the command of agricultural ears. +But scientific ambition would not be satisfied with so simple and +unpretending a statement. It was resolved that the explanation of rent +should take the shape of a scientific doctrine; and with this object +it invented an addition to it of whose scientific character there +could be no doubt. "It converted the land," in the words of Mr. Mill, +"which yields least return to the labour and capital employed on +it, and gives only the ordinary profit of capital, without leaving +anything for rent, into a standard for estimating the amount of rent +which will be yielded by all other land. Any land yields as much more +than the ordinary profits of stock, as it yields more than what is +returned by the worst land in cultivation." This worst land, which +had no rent to give, was erected into a standard which should +measure rents as accurately as a yard measures distances, and a pound +avoirdupois weights. Most useful indeed is the yard which tells us how +far it is to Dover, and the lb. weight which informs us how heavy the +load of coals is which has reached our door; and delightful truly, +would be an instrument which should tell a disputing landlord and +tenants, with unerring precision, how much rent exactly each farm was +bound to pay. But this "margin of calculation," this land which pays +no rent--what landlord or what farmer has ever inquired for it in the +calculation of their rents? Has it ever occurred to the thoughts, or +passed the lips, of a single practical agriculturist, in these days +of excitement, and anger, and unceasing declamations in the press and +tribune on rent? And if it had been found, what possible help could it +have brought to a single agriculturist? Such land could be no measure +to measure by. A measure must either be a given portion of the thing +measured, as a yard of length, or else be an effect of a given force, +as the height of the barometer of the pressure of the atmosphere. +A piece of land which yields no rent cannot measure one that does, +because the non-payment of rent is not the effect of a single force +but of many diverse ones. A particular farm may pay no rent because +it is isolated by want of roads, or is in a lonely spot, or is far +off from manures, or is burdened with excess of taxation, as a +whole parish in Buckinghamshire which was said to have gone out of +cultivation because no man would face the burden of its poor-rates. +What facility for calculation could such a parish furnish to a farmer +in Middlesex or Lancashire? The selection of such a standard was a +purely illogical process; it confounded effect with cause. The forces +which determine rent decree that such a farm cannot pay rent, that is +an effect; but its paying no rent could be no cause, by the mere fact +alone that it did not yield sufficient net profit, why other lands +should pay no rent. The margin of calculation was framed at a +particular locality, under its own circumstances, but it could say +nothing about the circumstances of another farm and their effects. + +The moral to be derived from the examination of Ricardo and +Mill's theories of rent is clear. The sooner that their margin of +cultivation, their standard of the amount of rent, disappears, the +better will it be for the interests of society and of Political +Economy. It has driven away all agricultural audience from the talk of +Political Economy about rent; it is felt to lie altogether outside of +the practical world. Let the land which is cultivated without being +able to pay rent be inquired into by all means, whenever there is a +call for so doing. Let the impeding causes and all their circumstances +be explored, but let the inquiry and its results be kept apart from +all rent-paying land. The forces which determine that one farm can pay +rent and another none are the same for both, either by their presence +or their absence; but the two farms have no connection with each +other, except as suffering effects from common causes. When this great +truth is seen and acknowledged, and when Political Economy has ceased +to talk of the non rent-paying land regulating the amount of all rent, +the world which it addresses, and for whom it exists, will be won over +to listen to its teaching on rent and to think it real. + +And now let us face the question, simply, What is rent? It is +necessary to distinguish here between two different meanings of the +word rent. It is a legal word, connected with the hire of land or +forms of real property connected with land, as houses, rooms, and the +like. Agricultural rent is different in nature from the rent of +rooms. The rents paid for a house or rooms in a large building such as +Gresham House have no relation to any particular business carried on +in them, much less do they depend on the success of that business. +Agricultural rent, on the contrary, is given for the very purpose of +engaging in a distinct business, agriculture; and the profits of +that business enter largely, in the settlement of rent, into the +calculations of the lender and the hirer of the land. It is of +agricultural rent exclusively that we are speaking on the present +occasion. + +In order to make a correct analysis of the subject, let us place +ourselves in the position of a farmer who is offered the tenancy of a +particular farm. It is necessary, further, to form a clear conception +of the fact, and to bear it constantly in mind, that in all acts of +selling or hiring, it is the purchaser or hirer, not the seller or the +lender, who ultimately decides whether an exchange shall take place. +Whatever be the price asked, be it high or be it low, the buyer by +giving or refusing it decrees whether a commercial transaction shall +be carried out. It is not the landlord but the tenant who will in the +last resort determine what the rent shall be. The landlord may select +amongst competing farmers the man who will pay the highest rent; still +it will be the judgment of that tenant that will decide at last, not +only what the amount of the rent shall be, but even whether the farm +shall be let at all. The inquiry thus becomes, What are the thoughts, +and what the feelings consequent on those thoughts, which traverse the +mind of the farmer? He is seeking to borrow the use of land in order +to engage in the agricultural business; his motive is profit, such an +amount of profit as will, after repaying all his outlay of every kind, +yield him the fitting reward for his efforts and his skill. His object +is to gain a living out of his farm; and his calculations turn on the +inquiry, on what terms of borrowing the use of the land he shall be +able to obtain the ordinary profits of trade. Let us accompany him in +these calculations. + +The landlord opens the debate by naming the rent which he requires +for the farm. The question for the tenant becomes, Can the farm afford +such a rent? Here, obviously, the productive power of the soil will +present itself as the first and most momentous subject of inquiry. +It is a productive machine that the farmer is seeking to hire. The +strength of that machine, its capacity to turn out much and good work, +is the great point to ascertain. The quality of the soil itself is +clearly a most important element of the problem; but it is far from +being the only force which constitutes the productive power of a farm. +What the climate is at the particular locality is a consideration of +great weight. Good land in a rainy district will yield an inferior +rent to land of the same quality under a more genial sun and a drier +atmosphere. Then the water connected with the farm will come under +examination. Will it be capable of creating water-meadows, which have +such a lifting power for rent in many parts of England? The fertility, +too, of the several fields of the farm will differ. The intelligent +tenant will feel himself called upon to estimate what amount of crop, +what quantity of food for cattle, with his skill and capital, he +may reasonably expect to produce. This is the basis of the whole +computation--the quantity and quality of the produce that he can +fairly reckon on obtaining. And he will not be governed solely by the +then existing state of the land. If he is an able agriculturist, he +will form a shrewd guess of what he will be able to make it yield by +proper treatment. And it is very probable that he will prefer to pay +a high rent for good land rather than a lower rent for inferior soil, +because he may feel a well-founded confidence in his own resources +to work up the greater power of a strong, if even obstinate, farm to +larger results. + +Having completed the first stage, and formed his estimate of the crops +and cattle which the land will yield, the tenant will now address +himself to the very grave question of the cost which his manufacturing +industry will entail. Here he will encounter forces which pay small +respect to the beautiful symmetry of hypothetical economic science, +and often influence the amount of rent far more powerfully than the +fertility of the land. Will his farm be amongst the light and sunny +hills of Surrey; or will it be embedded in the stubborn clay of the +Sussex weald? Will he need four horses or two only for each of his +ploughs? The crop may be the same for both, but the cost will be +widely different, and may create much resistance to the landlord's +rent. If he appeals to steam-power for help, he must ask himself how +far off he will be from the coal-field, how near to him will be the +station at which he will buy his coals. So, again, with his manure. +Will the lime and the marl be close to his borders, or must he send +his carts long distances to the pit or the railway? Then comes the +serious question of the place where his buyers dwell; how far he is +from his market; what expense of carriage he will be put to. It may be +his good fortune to be offered a farm in the neighbourhood of London, +or some great manufacturing town. A weighty rent, it is true, may be +demanded of him, even some ten or fifteen pounds an acre; but this +will not extinguish the attractiveness of such a farm. Better markets, +abundant supplies of manure, cultivation by the spade, and high +prices, may possess higher claims in his eyes than a small rent in a +rural region. + +But the computing farmer's arithmetic is not yet over; he has very +formidable figures still to face. His land may be burdened with heavy +charges of an exceptional kind. His tithe may be unusually large; his +poor-rate peculiarly severe; and the school-rate may acutely try his +temper and his purse. Worse still, agricultural wages in his locality +may be inordinately high, for wide are the discrepancies between wages +in different parts of England, and the worth of the wage may not be +repaid by labourers demoralized by trade unions. The long arithmetical +array of heavy burdens will be duly noted by the incoming tenant, and +carefully placed to the debit of the debated rent; but one thing he +will not do--he will not search out the position of the farm offered +in the brilliant series of ascending fertility, and comfort himself +with the reflection that economical science furnishes him with the +assurance that a farm standing so high above the margin of cultivation +must necessarily be able to pay the rent attached to that position, +all these exceptional charges of cost of production notwithstanding. + +One item of cost still remains, which the intelligent tenant will +investigate before he contracts to take the farm. He will inquire into +the condition of the farm--into the outfit, so to speak, which it will +require for the full performance of the work which it is fitted to +perform. He will endeavour to ascertain the amount of draining which +has been effected, the number and state of the farm-buildings, as +well as the amount of unexhausted improvements of various kinds which +either the landlord or the previous tenant has laid out upon the land. +These constitute no real part of the land's fertility, though they +increase its power to produce: they are fixed capital in the carrying +out of the agricultural business. And here it is important to note +that the tenant will not inquire into the amount of money, as such, +which the landlord has spent upon his land. He will not pay an +additional pound of rent because the landlord can appeal to large +figures denoting the capital he has laid out on his fields. This, by +itself alone, does not concern the tenant; but it does concern him +greatly to learn the actual condition of the farm; and beyond doubt +the landlord will be able to demand increased rent, and the tenant +will be perfectly willing to pay it, to the extent that the outlay on +draining and other improvements has augmented the actual produce +of the farm. The tenant looks solely to the working power of the +agricultural machine and the results which he may obtain from it; +outside of this consideration he takes no account of what outlay the +landlord has incurred, any more than of the price which he has given +for the property. The tenant will be well aware that if that machinery +does not exist, it must be provided by means of an understanding with +the landlord, necessarily involving some cost for himself: if he finds +it on the ground and at work, he will set down in his calculation an +increased estimate of produce without any debit against rent for +cost of construction--he will feel that he is hiring a more powerful +machine. + +The calculating tenant has now formed an estimate of what he may +assume as the amount of produce which he can procure from the farm, +as also of the cost which the obtaining of that produce in the +given locality will entail. He thus reaches the third stage of his +investigation--the price which he may reckon on realizing for the +products he has raised. Here the peculiar nature of the agricultural +business reveals itself. A man who enters upon a new industry, or +erects a new mill, or opens a fresh mine, will not inquire for a +particular price which he may adopt as the basis of his computations. +He will think only of the extent of the demand which exists for +the articles that he intends to manufacture. If it is strong and +increasing, he will feel sure that the consumers will repay the whole +cost of production, interest and capital included, and in addition +the legitimate profit attached to the business. If he hires or buys +machinery, he will pay the price belonging to it in its own market as +a manufactured article, precisely as if he were making purchases in +shops; the seller of a steam-engine will not ask how much profit the +engine will create for the factory. No doubt, if a site must be bought +or hired for the erection of the mill, a higher price for the land +will be encountered, in consequence of the prosperity of trade in the +particular town or district; but the rate of profit will not rise in +the discussion between the landowner and the trader. The price of the +land will be regulated by the force of the existing demand for land, +a demand which, of course, will gather strength from the swelling +profits realized in the trade. + +The position of the farmer who is seeking to discover what is the +proper consideration for the hire of a farm is radically different +from that of an ordinary manufacturer. As all land in England can be +said to pay rent, it is clear that its products are sold at such a +profit as enables the tenant to reward his landlord for his loan. The +sale of what he makes is therefore certain, but the price which +it will fetch is anything but certain. His business is subject to +influences which very materially affect the quantity of his products, +and still more the prices which they will command. He is dominated +by the seasons; but it may be argued that their fluctuations may be +guarded against by basing the calculation on their average character. +The statement is well founded, and every sensible farmer will take the +average season as his rule in computing; yet even the average season, +as recent experience has too sadly shown, may sweep over a large cycle +of years with very disturbing results. But there are other and very +formidable difficulties which the farmer is called upon to face. The +price which his produce will command depends on forces of great and +varying power which are entirely beyond his own control, and often +are incapable of being estimated beforehand. He is necessarily met by +foreign competition; and that competition itself is stronger or weaker +according to the commercial position of the countries which bring +it to bear. Further, the state of the home market itself cannot be +prejudged. The produce of English land will certainly be demanded +and sold; but its price is vastly influenced by the prosperity or +adversity of English trade. The rate, for instance, at which meat will +be sold will vary prodigiously according as the multitudes of British +workmen are earning high or low wages. The fortunes of foreign nations +will weigh on the cultivating farmer; they are buyers of English +wares, and their financial condition will act on British manufactures +and recoil, for good or evil, on British agriculture. + +The combined action of these manifold and diverse forces generates a +special and very important effect. It imprints on the hire of land +a distinct and unique feature of its own; it imparts its peculiar +characteristic to rent. The position of the farmer is not that of a +man engaged in a business, and buying or hiring a machine which is +required for carrying it on; it is rather the situation of one who is +examining whether he can reasonably enter upon the business at all. +One feeling governs that situation; the tenant must be able to live by +it by means of a natural profit after all expenses have been repaid. +Thus, the payment for the use of the land takes the form of handing +over to the landowner all excess of profit above the fitting reward +for the farmer. This seems manifestly the best method for giving the +required security to the tenant, whilst it provides the lender of +the use of the land a reward just in itself and compatible with the +continuous cultivation of the soil. Such a system is not unacceptable +to the landlord; he cannot hope to maintain a fixed rent which the +returns yielded by the agricultural business do not furnish. To insist +upon such a condition would be simply to compel the farmer to renounce +the farm. And he will not obtain such a rent from any other tenant; +for the one he dismisses has no other motive for leaving except the +fact that the farm will not provide such a rent. On the other hand, if +he is dissatisfied with the rent offered by the tenant, he has in the +competition of tenants desirous of hiring the farm a sure test for +ascertaining whether the offer is just or deficient. + +It follows, from the preceding analysis, that rent depends on the +prices realized by agricultural produce compared with the cost of +their production, the farming profits included. A high price does +not in every case imply a correspondingly high rent, for the cost of +raising agricultural produce varies immensely in different localities; +still, as a rule, elevated prices will raise up rents with them. The +same truth holds good of every business: it must yield repayment +of all cost of manufacturing, and reward the manufacturer with the +necessary profit, or it will cease to exist. But agricultural price +encounters two serious embarrassments not to be found to an equal +degree in other trades. It is, in the first place, powerfully acted +upon by the vicissitudes of the weather: a bountiful harvest, coming +in contact with great commercial profits, brings a full and often an +augmented price, to the great advantage of the farmer; a poor +harvest, falling on a depressed trade, often fails to reap a price +corresponding with the diminution of the supply. There is but one +remedy wherewith to meet the fluctuations of such a market--a remedy, +unfortunately, too little heeded by most farmers. The great law of the +average harvest must be ever borne in mind, ought ever to govern the +conduct of the intelligent farmer: he is bound, by the very nature +of his business, to reserve the excess of profits of the good year to +balance the deficient return of the failing crop. His rent ought +to be, probably is, founded on this principle; his practice often +exhibits profuse self-indulgence under the temptations of the +prosperous time, in utter thoughtlessness about the future. + +We have now reached the full explanation of rent. It is surplus +profit--that is, excess of profit after the repayment of the whole +cost of production, beyond the legitimate profit which belongs to the +tenant as a manufacturer of agricultural produce. The interest which +he would have reaped from placing capital which he has devoted to the +farm in some safe investment, such as consols or railway debentures, +forms necessarily a portion of the cost of production. He would have +realized some 4 per cent. on the investment without risk or effort +of any kind. This interest constitutes no reward for engaging in +agriculture. + +It remains now to consider certain important consequences which flow +from this explanation of rent. In the first place, it is evident that +three separate incomes are derived from agriculture, whilst two only +make their appearance in all other industries. In common with +them agriculture furnishes reward or income for two classes of +persons--wages for labourers and profit for the employer. There the +similarity ends. A third income makes its appearance for a third +person--rent for the landlord. This rent is not an ordinary +consideration for hiring some useful machine; if it were a +compensation of this nature, it would necessarily take its place +amongst the items composing the cost of production. It is a part of +the profit won, dependent in no way on the value of the property nor +on the price at which it was bought, but purely and simply on the +degree of the profit realized. It is a part of that profit, estimated +and paid as what remains over--a surplus. + +But how comes it to pass that an ordinary manufacture does not yield +or pay any such third income? For a simple and decisive reason. A +Manchester manufacturer cannot permanently earn a higher profit than +belongs to his trade. If we suppose 10 per cent. to be the natural +profit of that trade, and he persistently realizes 18, other mills +will be opened by new men entering into the business, and this process +will be continued till his profits are reduced to their legitimate +level. It is otherwise with farming. If a tenant reaps 10 per cent. +continuously from his farm, when competitors are willing to be content +with 8, the landlord will quickly make the discovery, and will add the +surplus 2 to the rent he requires. He will obtain the income, because +8 per cent. is judged by the farming world to be an adequate reward +for engaging in agriculture, and because no additional land is to be +found for the agricultural business. + +2. It is clear that tithes, poor-rates, and other permanent charges, +fall upon the landlord's rent, and not on the farmer's profit. +They diminish rent. This is a point on which much misunderstanding +prevails. A loud outcry is raised amongst tenants at this time of +agricultural suffering against the heavy payments demanded of them +for special taxes imposed upon land; a strong agitation is rising to +obtain their repeal, as being unjustifiable wrongs inflicted on the +most meritorious of industries. It is not perceived that these +charges figured as items in the cost of production when the farmer +was calculating what rent the farm would warrant him to pay: they +diminished the rent at the cost of the landlord. Tithes and rates took +their places in the estimate of the debit side quite as really as +the number of horses, or the quantity of manure, which the farm would +require. We have seen that rent makes its appearance only after every +expense has been provided for, and a legitimate profit secured; then, +and not till then, the calculation of the rent begins. If the farming +world succeeds in removing these burdens, wholly or in part, from +the shoulders of the tenants, there can be no doubt that rents will +proportionately rise. The landlords would argue, with entire justice, +that all other circumstances remaining the same, the collective +farming profit had become larger by the disappearance of these taxes, +and as the tenant was entitled only to his natural rate of profit, the +increase of surplus would legitimately belong to him. If the tenant +repelled such a claim, the landlord would be easily able to obtain the +rent he claimed from competing farmers who would be satisfied with the +natural profit of the business. + +One exception, however, must be allowed to this conclusion--the case, +namely, of a tenant who, upon a long lease, had contracted to pay a +definite rent for many years. Such a tenant has taken upon himself the +chances of the cost of production during a lengthened period, it +may be nineteen or twenty-one years, being larger or smaller. If it +diminishes during the interval, he gains: if it increases, he loses. +Practically he has insured the landlord's rent, during the continuance +of the lease, against diminution. For all increase or diminution of +rates he fares as if he were the landlord. + +3. A third very important deduction follows from the nature of the +process which determines rent. Rent does not increase the price of +agricultural produce; it does not make bread dearer. Rent is the +consequence, not the creator, of price. Here the difference between +agriculture and manufacturing trades is vital. The hire or purchase +of machinery forms necessarily a part of the cost of manufacturing the +goods: it must be paid for by the price realized, or the goods will +not be made. On the other hand, the consideration to be given for the +use of the land does not enter into the tenant's estimate of his cost +of production. He does not direct his inquiry to the right rent till +after he has ascertained what the farm will produce, the cost of +obtaining it, and the price it will fetch. He then discovers what the +profit will be: from it he takes his own necessary share; what is over +he hands to the landlord as rent. He does not, like the manufacturer, +insist upon a price which must be obtained, for otherwise he would not +be able to pay for the use of the machine he borrows; he simply takes +the price which he finds in the market, makes himself reasonably sure +of the profit which rewards him, and the landlord must take the chance +of what rent will remain over, whether large or small. Rent exists +because a selling price is found which yields a surplus, an excess +of profit beyond what the tenant requires. If price gives no surplus +profit, the landlord will get no rent, and he must farm the land +himself, or sell it to a farmer. + +But there is a peculiarity in the agricultural market which exercises +a very powerful influence in raising rents. Most manufactured articles +can be dispensed with, or their consumption greatly lessened, if +their cost of production is largely increased, or the means of buying +diminished. It is otherwise with food: it must be had, must be bought, +if any means of purchasing it exist. The effect of this force on a +country situated like England is very marked. England cannot supply +food for more than half of her population; the other half must be +procured from abroad. Now, the principle which governs the price of +indispensable food is the law, that the price paid for the dearest +article--say, a loaf of bread--which must and will be bought, will +impose itself on all like articles which are actually purchased. When +the loaf made in England was cheaper than any imported from abroad, +then the price of the English loaf rose to the price of the dearest +foreign loaves which were sold and purchased in the English markets. +This extra-addition of price was a pure surplus of profit received by +the English grower of wheat; the cost of production was not changed, +nor his requirement of profit for himself augmented. The gain he thus +realized, being absolutely surplus profit, passed to the landowner. +The need of foreign corn raised his rent. But the picture has a +reverse side. It may well happen that the foreign corn landed in +England will be saleable at a lower price than the English. If the +supply can be furnished in sufficient quantity to provide bread enough +for all England, the English corn in that case must inevitably sink to +the level of the foreign--its price will fall, the profit realized +on its sale may indefinitely sink, and a great reduction of rents +throughout England may well be the inevitable consequence. The +only weapon wherewith to fight off the disaster would be such a +modification of British agriculture as would lead to the cultivation +of other crops than wheat. + +Here it seems desirable to notice briefly some remarks addressed by +Professor Thorold Rogers to the _Daily News_, of October 30th, 1879; +for though they are in the main true, they might easily give rise to +mischievous misconception. He writes--"There is no doubt that rent is +wealth to the recipient, and a means of profit to those who trade with +the recipient; but except in so far as it represents the advantageous +outlay of capital, it is no more national wealth than the public funds +are." Surely this is to ignore the fact that the sources from +which rent and the dividends on the public funds are derived differ +radically in nature. The dividends on consols are the fruit of taxes +levied on the whole people of England, and distributed as such to +national creditors, which they may consume as they please. Rent is +part of a profit earned by an industry useful to the country. A tax +and a profit are not necessarily the same thing. No doubt a profit +swollen by a monopoly price is equivalent to a tax: and a rent derived +from "the price of the produce of land, raised by excessive demand and +stinted supply," would be a forced contribution from consumers. But +is all rent the child of monopoly? May it not well happen, does it +not constantly happen, that rents are high by the side of cheap +corn, because the agricultural business is largely productive through +efforts made by landlords in improving the powers of the soil? Are +they to be limited down in their reward to the pure interest which +they could have obtained for their capital from investments in bonds +and debentures? Is not part of the profit realized legitimately due +to them, as profit accomplished by a commercial enterprise? If the +returns on improvements made by landowners on their estates were +limited to the interest which they could have obtained from consols, +would not the motive for making such improvements be sadly wanting? +It would sound strange in great manufacturing towns to be told that +flowing profits are no increase of the public wealth, that they are +taxes resembling the public funds, and must be swept away down to the +lowest sum compatible with the existence of the industry. + +And what must be said of the ugly word, monopoly, which is so freely +flung against the owners of rent? There is a sound of unfairness in +it; of unearned gains won without effort from the fortunes of others. +How is such a reproach to be repelled? To parry the blow does not +seem to be so difficult. There is, indeed, a kind of monopoly which +is susceptible of no defence, a monopoly of manufacture conferred on +a favoured few, by the arbitrary decree of the law, founded on no +superior claim of merit or capacity, and resulting in inflated prices +and inferiority of service rendered. Such were the monopolies whose +abolition an indignant public opinion extorted from Queen Elizabeth. +But a superior advantage of production or sale attached by nature +to particular individuals or societies belongs to a wholly different +class. Life is full of such monopolies. They are inherent and +indestructible. The vineyards of France possess a monopoly of +incomparable wine which will for all time earn amazing profits paid by +voluntary buyers. England enjoys a like monopoly in the juxtaposition +of her coal and iron, which have created a trade that no other nation +can rival. The eloquent barrister, the acute physician, the brilliant +artist, the quick-eyed inventor of machines, the soul-stirring singer, +all are endowed with a personal monopoly resulting in great wealth. +Are the men and nations who reap the splendid fruit of such a +superiority to be stigmatized as despoilers of their fellow-citizens? +Is rent, the offspring of a like advantage, to be painted as a tribute +exacted from fellow-countrymen compelled to buy food? + +But it will be said, change the tenure of the land, and the wrong +will disappear. But what system will clear away superior produce and +increased price? Certainly not a universal peasant-proprietor class. +Such peasants would still possess the command of higher prices +conferred by fertility and situation, and by means of such prices they +would gather up swollen profits which would in reality be rent. Then +let the land be owned by the whole community in common possession, +exclaim French Socialists, and let its fruits be distributed in equal +shares to every inhabitant. But even in such an extreme case it would +be impossible to efface monopoly. The able-bodied man who received the +same share of produce as the weak dwarf, the clever artisan who was +unable to earn a special reward for his fructifying intelligence, +would inevitably reap a diminution of labour and time. His higher +faculties would earn a monopoly benefit in leisure. + +The conclusion to be drawn is evident. Nature has scattered monopolies +broadcast, higher profits, over the world. She has ordained that they +shall ever exist. It is futile to stigmatize rent as an exceptional +offender against equality. + +4. Finally, one more truth comes forth from this explanation, which +has a most important bearing on the efficient cultivation of land. The +landowner and the tenant are joint partners in a common business. They +share a common profit--the first portion belongs to the farmer, the +remainder to the landlord. They are both interested in promoting the +success of the agriculturist. If the cultivation of the soil thrives +even under the shortest leases, the rent is not quickly raised in +consequence of the rising profit--whilst under a long lease very +considerable gains may be won before a new settlement of the rent can +come up for discussion. This partnership brings a powerful motive to +act on the landlord to give help in developing the efficiency of the +farming. He knows that if he invests capital in draining and other +improvements, he increases the productive power of his land, he is +laying the foundation of enlarged results, and he cannot fail to +perceive that land thus improved must yield a bigger profit, of which +the surplus part, the rents, must necessarily be greater. Thus, an +important benefit is acquired, not only for the joint partners, but +also for the whole population of the country. Such processes generate +more abundant and cheaper food. The landlord who never visits his +farms, never thinks of them except on rent day, is blind to his own +interest, is forgetting that ownership of land is a partnership in a +business. He neglects his own enrichment, and leaves needed resources +for the nation unused. The active and intelligent landlord, on the +contrary, watches the march of agriculture. He observes where the +machine, the soil, requires improvement, he notices the farming +qualities of the tenant, he lives on friendly relations with him, and +deliberates with him on expanding the productive power of the farm. +His rent becomes larger--not only by obtaining interest on the capital +laid out, but also by sharing in the additional profit which that +capital is sure to engender; and that addition will not be grudged by +the tenant. He, too, will have prospered by the help of more powerful +machinery in his trade, for he is certain of getting an augmented +profit from the capital laid out by the landlord. Whatever may be said +of the system of land-revenue which prevails in England, one merit +it certainly possesses: it tends to bring the capital of a wealthy +landowner to take part in enlarging the power of the land and the +amount of its produce. + + BONAMY PRICE. + + [Footnote 1: It is much to be regretted that Professor Jevons + in his "Primer of Political Economy" should have omitted in + his explanation of rent the action of the forces which Ricardo + and Mill sum up in the word situation. He affirms "that rent + arises from the fact that different pieces of land are not + equally fertile," and that "the rent of better land consists + of the surplus of its produce over that of the poorest + cultivated land." How is it then that inferior land near great + towns pays a much higher rent than very good land in the + heart of a rural district, far away from railways or canals, + burdened with high poor-rates, and sorely in want of lime or + other distant manures? Ricardo himself admits, and so does + Mill, that if all lands were equally fertile, and, it may be + added, equally well situated as to other forces, they would + still pay rent to their owners.] + + + + +BUDDHISM AND JAINISM. + + +In previous papers I have traced the progress of Indian religious +thought through the various stages of Vedism, Br[=a]hmanism, +Vaishnavism, S´aivism, and S´[=a]ktism, and have pointed out that +all these systems more or less run into, and in a manner overlap, one +another. We have seen that among the primitive [=A]ryans the air, +the fire, and the sun, were believed to contain within themselves +mysterious and irresistible forces, capable of effecting tremendous +results either for good or evil. They were therefore personified, +deified, and worshipped. Some regarded them as manifestations of +one Supreme Controller of the Universe; others as separate cosmical +divinities with separate powers and attributes. + +If the religion of the ancient Indo-[=A]ryans was a form of Theism, +it was a Theism of a very uncertain and unsettled character. It was a +religious creed based on a vague belief in the sovereignty of unseen +natural forces. Such a creed might fairly be called monotheism, +henotheism, polytheism, or pantheism, according to the particular +standpoint from which it is regarded. But it was not, in its earliest +origin, idolatry. Its simple ritual was the natural outcome of each +man's earnest effort to express devotional feelings in his own way. +Unhappily it did not long retain its simplicity. The Br[=a]hmans +soon took advantage of the growth of religious ideas among a people +naturally pious and superstitious. They gradually cumbered the +simplicity of worship with elaborate ceremonial. They persuaded the +people that propitiatory offerings of all kinds were needed to secure +the favour of the beings they worshipped, and that such sacrifices +could not be performed without the repetition of prayers by a +regularly ordained and trained priesthood. But this was not all. +They developed and formulated a pantheistic philosophy, based on the +physiolatry of the Veda, and overlaid it with subtle metaphysical and +ontological speculations. They identified the Supreme Being with +all the phenomena of Nature, and maintained that the Br[=a]hmans +themselves were his principal human manifestation, the sole +repositories and exponents of all religious and philosophical truth, +the sole mediators between earth and heaven, the sole link between men +and gods. This combination of ritualism and philosophy, which +together constituted what is commonly called Br[=a]hmanism, gradually +superseded the simple forms of Vedic religion. In process of time, +however, the extravagance of Br[=a]hmanical ceremonial, and the +tyranny of priestcraft, led to repeated reactions. Efforts after +simplicity of worship and freedom of thought were made by various +energetic religious leaders at various periods. More than one reformer +arose, who attempted to deliver the people from the bondage of +a complex ceremonial, and the intolerable incubus of an arrogant +sacerdotalism. + +It was natural that the most successful opposition to priestcraft +should have originated in the caste next in rank to the Br[=a]hmans. +Gautama (afterwards called "the Buddha") was a man of the military +class (Kshatriya). He was the son of a petty chief who ruled over a +small principality called Kapila-vastu, north of the Ganges; but he +was not the sole originator of the reactionary movement. He had, +in all probability, been preceded by other less conspicuous social +reformers, and other leaders of sceptical inquiry. Or other such +leaders may have been contemporaneous with himself. We have already +pointed out that the philosophy he enunciated was not in its general +scope and bearing very different from that of Br[=a]hmanism. The +Br[=a]hmans called their system of doctrines "Dharma,"[1] and the +Buddha called his by the same name. He recognised no distinguishing +term like Buddhism. His simple aim was to remove every merely +sacerdotal doctrine from the national religion--to cut away every +useless excrescence, and to sweep away every corrupting incrustation. +His own doctrines of liberty, equality, and general benevolence +towards all creatures, ensured the popularity of his teaching; while +the example he himself set of asceticism and self-mortification, +secured him a large number of devoted personal adherents. For it is +remarkable that just as the Founder of Christianity was Himself a Jew, +and required none of His followers to give up their true Jewish creed, +or Jewish usages, so the founder of Buddhism was himself a Hind[=u], +and did not require his adherents to give up every essential principle +of ordinary Hind[=u]ism, or renounce all the religious observances of +their ancestors.[2] + +Yet it cannot be denied that Buddhism was very different from +Br[=a]hmanism, and it is a remarkable fact that, with all his personal +popularity, the atheistic philosophy of Gautama was unsuited to the +masses of the people. His negations, abstractions, and theories of +the non-eternity and ultimate extinction of soul, never commended +themselves to the popular mind. + +It seemed, indeed, probable that Buddhism was destined to become +extinct with its founder. The Buddha died, like other men, and, +according to his own doctrine, became absolutely extinct. Nothing +remained but the relics of his burnt body, which were distributed +in all directions. No successor was ready to step into his place. No +living representative was competent to fill up the void caused by his +death. Nothing seemed more unlikely than that the mere recollection +of his teaching and example, though perpetuated by the rapid +multiplication of shrines, symbols, and images of his person,[3] +should have power to secure the continuance of his system in his own +native country for more than ten centuries, and to disseminate his +doctrines over the greater part of Asia. What, then, was the secret +of its permanence and diffusion? It really had no true permanence. +Buddhism never lived on in its first form, and never spread anywhere +without taking from other systems quite as much as it imparted. The +tolerant spirit which was its chief distinguishing characteristic +permitted its adherents to please themselves in adopting extraneous +doctrines. Hence it happened that the Buddhists were always ready +to acquiesce in, and even conform to, the religious practices of the +countries to which they migrated, and to clothe their own simple +creed in, so to speak, a many-coloured vesture of popular legends and +superstitious ideas. + +Even in India, where the Buddha's memory continued to be perpetuated +by strong personal recollections and local associations, as well as +by relics, symbols, and images, his doctrines rapidly lost their +distinctive character, and ultimately, as we have already shown, +merged in the Br[=a]hmanism whence they originally sprang. + +Nor is there any historical evidence to prove that the Buddhists were +finally driven out of India by violent means. Doubtless, occasional +persecutions occurred in particular places at various times, and it +is well ascertained that fanatical, enthusiastic Br[=a]hmans, such as +Kum[=a]rila and S´ankara, occasionally instigated deeds of blood and +violence. But the final disappearance of Buddhism is probably due +to the fact that the two systems, instead of engaging in constant +conflict, were gradually drawn towards each other by mutual sympathy +and attraction; and that, originally related like father and child, +they ended by consorting together in unnatural union and intercourse. +The result of this union was the production of the hybrid systems of +Vaishnavism and S´aivism, both of which in their lineaments bear +a strong family resemblance to Buddhism. The distinctive names of +Buddhism were dropped, but the distinctive features of the system +survived. The Vaishnavas were Buddhists in their doctrines of liberty +and equality, in their abstinence from injury (_a-hins[=a]_), in +their desire for the preservation of life, in their hero-worship, +deification of humanity, and fondness for images; while the S´aivas +were Buddhists in their love for self-mortification and austerity, +as well as in their superstitious dread of the power of demoniacal +agencies. What, then, became of the atheistical philosophy and +agnostic materialism of the Buddhistic creed? Those doctrines were no +more expelled from India than were other Buddhistic ideas. They found +a home, under changed names, among various sects, but especially in +a kindred system which has survived to the present day, and may be +conveniently called Jainism.[4] Here, then, we are brought face to +face with the special subject of our present paper: What are the +peculiar characteristics of the Jaina creed? + +To give an exhaustive reply to such a question will scarcely be +possible until the sacred books of Buddhists and Jainas (or, as they +are commonly called, Jains) have been more thoroughly investigated. +All that I can do at present is to give a general outline of Jaina +doctrines, and to indicate the principal points in which they either +agree with or differ from those of Buddhists and Br[=a]hmans.[4] +Perhaps the first point to which attention may be directed is that +recent investigations have tended to show that Buddhism and Jainism +were not related to each other as parent and child, but rather as +children of a common parent, born at different intervals, though at +about the same period of time, and marked by distinct characteristics, +though possessing a strong family resemblance. Both these systems, in +fact, were the product of Br[=a]hmanical rationalistic thought, which +was itself a child of Br[=a]hmanism. Both were forms of materialistic +philosophy engendered from separate kindred germs. + +For there can be no doubt that different lines of philosophical +speculation were developed by the Br[=a]hmans at a very early period. +All such speculations were regarded by them as legitimate phases of +their own religious system. In some localities where Br[=a]hmanism +was strong and dominant, rationalism was restrained within orthodox +limits. In other places it diverged into unorthodox sceptical +inquiries. In others into rank heresy and schism. Buddhism and Jainism +represented different schools of heretical philosophical speculation +which were in all likelihood nearly synchronous in their origin. That +is to say, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and P[=a]rs´van[=a]tha, +the probable founder of Jainism, may have lived about the same time +in different parts of India. Nor is it unreasonable to conjecture +that both these freethinkers may have followed closely on Kapila, the +reputed founder of the S[=a]nkhya system and typical representative of +rationalistic Br[=a]hmanism.[5] By far the most popular of the three +was Gautama, commonly called the Buddha. The influence of his personal +character, combined with the extraordinary persuasiveness of his +teaching, was irresistible. His system spread with his followers and +admirers in every direction, and threw all kindred systems into the +shade. Very soon Buddhistic doctrines leavened the religions of the +whole Indian peninsula, from Afgh[=a]nist[=a]n to Ceylon. They found +their way into every home. They became domesticated in the cottages of +peasants and palaces of kings. As to Jainism, centuries elapsed before +it emerged from the obscurity to which the greater popularity of +Buddhism had consigned it. Nor, even when its rival was extinguished, +did it ever rise above the rank of an insignificant sect. At present +the total number of Jainas in all India does not exceed 400,000, at +least half of whom are found in the Bombay Presidency. + +Yet it is not impossible that the first opposition to sacerdotalism +may have been due to Jaina influences, and that Indian rationalistic +speculation may have been inaugurated by early Jaina leaders. We know +that the Buddhist king As´oka, in his inscriptions--which are referred +to the third century B.C.--mentions the Jainas under the name of +Nirgrantha, as if well established and well known in his time. We +know, too, what has happened in our own country. Not long ago there +was a reaction from extreme Evangelical religious thought in England. +But because that reactionary movement is called by the name of a +particular leader, it by no means follows that he was chronologically +the first to set it in action. In the same way it may possibly turn +out to be a fact that the Jaina P[=a]rs´van[=a]tha, rather than the +Buddha Gautama, was the first excogitator of the heretical ideas and +theories common to both. It seems to me, indeed, not improbable that +Jainism, which is now at length assimilating itself to Hind[=u]ism, +maintained its ground more persistently in India, not only because, +unlike Buddhism, it sullenly refused to fraternize with Br[=a]hmanism, +and to court converts from other creeds, but because the lines of +demarcation which separated it from the orthodox system were in some +essential points more sharp and decided than those which separated +Buddhism. It is, at any rate, a fact that the Jainas claim for their +system a prior origin to that of Buddhism, and even affirm that +Gautama Buddha was a pupil of their chief Jina, Mah[=a]v[=i]ra. Nor +will it surprise us that the legendary history of Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, who +succeeded Pars´van[=a]tha, and was the first real propagator of +the Jaina creed, favours the theory of such a priority. True, +Mah[=a]v[=i]ra is described as the son of Siddh[=a]rtha, which is an +epithet given to the Buddha. But he is also said to have had a pupil +named Gautama, and his death is fixed by the concurrent testimony of +both parties of Jainas, who follow different reckonings, at a date +corresponding to about B.C. 526 or 527, the usual date assigned by +modern research to the Nirv[=a]na or death of Buddha being 477 or 478. + +But it must not be supposed that P[=a]rs´van[=a]tha and his successor +Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, are regarded by the Jainas as their first supreme +Jinas. They were preceded by twenty-two other mythical leaders +and patriarchs, beginning with Rishabha,[6] whose fabulous lives +protracted to millions of years, and whose fabulous statures, +proportionally extended, were probably invented in recent times, that +the Jaina system might not be outdone by that of either Br[=a]hmans or +Buddhists. + +It is well known that the code of Manu--which is the best exponent +of Br[=a]hmanism--supposes a constant succession of religious guides +through an infinite succession of cycles. These cycles are called +Kalpas. Every Kalpa or Æon of time begins with a new creation, and +ends with a universal dissolution of all existing things--including +Brahm[=a], Vishnu, S´iva, gods, demons, men, and animals--into +Brahm[)a], or the One sole impersonal self-existent Soul of the +Universe. In the interval between each creation and dissolution there +are fourteen periods, presided over by fourteen successive patriarchs +or progenitors of the human race called Manus, who, as their name +implies, are the authors of all human wisdom, and who create a +succession of Sages and Saints (Rishis and Munis), for mankind's +guidance and instruction. + +The Buddhists, also, have their cycles of time, presided over by +twenty-four Buddhas, or 'perfectly enlightened men,' Gautama being +(according to the Northern reckoning) the seventh of the series. +Similarly the Jainas have their vast periods superintended by +twenty-four Jinas, or 'self-conquering sages.' The notion is that +alternate periods of degeneracy and amelioration succeed each other +with symmetrical regularity. Each cycle embraces vast terms of years; +for in the determination of the world's epochs Indian arithmeticians +anticipated centuries ago the wildest hypotheses of modern European +science. A single Kalpa, or Æon, of the Br[=a]hmans consists of +4,320,000,000 years. It is divided into a thousand periods of four +ages (called Satya, Treta, Dv[=a]para, and Kali), under which there is +gradual degeneration until the depths of degeneracy are reached in the +Kali age. The Buddhist Kalpas are similar, but the Jaina cycles have +a distinctive character of their own. They proceed in pairs, one +of which is called 'descending,' (_Avasarpin[=i]_), and the other +'ascending,' (_Utsarpin[=i]_). Of these the descending cycle has six +stages, or periods, each comprising one hundred million years, and +called 'good-good,' 'good,' 'good-bad,' 'bad-good,' 'bad,' 'bad-bad,' +during which mankind gradually deteriorates; while the ascending cycle +has also six similar periods called 'bad-bad,' 'bad,' 'bad-good,' +'good-bad,' 'good,' 'good-good,' during which the human race gradually +improves till it reaches the culminating pinnacle of absolute +perfection. In illustration we are told to imagine a vast serpent, +whose body, coiled round in infinite space in an endless circle, +supports and guides the movement of the earth in its eternal progress. +The head and tail of the serpent meet, and the notion is that the +earth's movement alternates after the manner of the oscillating motion +of a balance-wheel acted on by the coiling and uncoiling of a steel +spring. First the earth moves from the head towards the tail in a +downward course, and then reversing the direction moves upwards +from the tail to the head. At present we are supposed to be in the +descending cycle. Twenty-four Jinas have already appeared in this +cycle, while twenty-four were manifested in the past ascending cycle, +and twenty-four will be manifested in the future. + +In Br[=a]hmanism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the idea seems to be that the +tendency to deterioration would very soon land mankind in a condition +of hopeless degeneracy unless counteracted by the remedial influences +of great teachers, prophets, and deliverers. In the legendary +history of the Buddha Gautama, he is described in terms which almost +assimilate his character to the Christian conception of a Redeemer: +he is even reported to have said--"Let all the evils (or sins) flowing +from the corruption of the fourth or degenerate age (called _Kali_) +fall upon me, but let the world be redeemed." + +And what are the precise character and functions of a Jina? This +inquiry must, of course, form an important part of our present +subject, and the reply is really involved in the answer to another +question: What is the great end and object of Jainism? Briefly, it +may be stated that Jainism, like Br[=a]hmanism and Buddhism, aims at +getting rid of the burden of repeated existences. Three root-ideas may +be said to lie at the foundation of all three systems:--first, that +personal existence is protracted through an innumerable succession of +bodies by the almighty power of man's own acts; secondly, that mundane +life is an evil, and that man finds his perfection in the cessation +of all acts, and the consequent extinction of all personal +existence; thirdly, that such perfection is alone attained through +self-mortification, abstract meditation, and true knowledge. In these +crucial doctrines, the theory of Br[=a]hmanism is superior to that of +Buddhism and Jainism. According to the Br[=a]hmans, the living soul of +man has an eternal existence both retrospectively and prospectively, +and only exists separately from the One Supreme Eternal Soul because +that Supreme Soul wills the temporary separate personality of +countless individual spirits, dissevering them from his own essence +and causing them to pass through a succession of bodies, till, after a +long course of discipline, they are permitted to blend once more with +their great Eternal Source. With the Br[=a]hmans existence in the +abstract is not an evil. It is only an evil when it involves the +continued separation of the personal soul from the impersonal Eternal +Soul of the Universe. + +Very different is the doctrine of Buddhists and Jains. With them there +is no Supreme Being, no Supreme Divine Eternal Soul, no separate +human eternal soul. Nor can there be any true soul-transmigration. A +Buddhist and a Jaina believe that the only eternal thing is matter. +The universe consists of eternal atoms which by their own inherent +creative force are perpetually developing countless forms of being +in ever-recurring cycles of creation and dissolution, re-creation and +re-dissolution. This is symbolized by a wheel revolving for ever in +perpetual progression and retrogression.[7] + +What then becomes of the doctrine of transmigration of souls, which +is said to be held even more strongly by Buddhists and Jains than +by Hind[=u]s? It is thus explained. Every human being is composed of +certain constituents (called by Buddhists the five Skandhas). These +comprehend body, soul, and mind, with all the organs of feeling and +sensation. They are all dissolved at death, and absolute extinction +would follow, were it not for the inextinguishable, imperishable, +omnipotent force of _Karman_ or Act. No sooner are the constituents +of one stage of existence dissolved than a new set is created by +the force of acts done and character formed in the previous stage. +Soul-transmigration with Buddhists is simply a concatenation of +separate existences connected by the iron chain of act. A man's own +acts generate a force which may be compared to those of chemistry, +magnetism, or electricity--a force which periodically re-creates the +whole man, and perpetuates his personal identity (notwithstanding the +loss of memory) through the whole series of his separate existences, +whether it obliges him to ascend or descend in the scale of being. +It may safely be affirmed that Br[=a]hmans, Buddhists, and Jains all +agree in repudiating the idea of vicarious suffering. All concur in +rejecting the notion of a representative man--whether he be a Manu, a +Rishi, a Buddha, or a Jina--suffering as a substituted victim for the +rest of mankind. Every being brought into the world must suffer in +his own person the consequences of his own deeds committed either in +present or former states of being. It is not sufficient that he be +rewarded in a temporary heaven, or punished in a temporary hell. +Neither heaven nor hell has power to extinguish the accumulated +efficacy of good or bad acts committed by the same person during a +long succession of existences. Such accumulated acts must inevitably +and irresistibly drag him down into other mundane forms, until +at length their potency is destroyed by his attainment of perfect +self-discipline and self-knowledge in some final culminating condition +of being, terminated by complete self-annihilation. + +And thus we are brought to a clear understanding of the true character +of a Jina or self-conquering Saint (from the Sanskrit root _ji_, to +conquer). A Jina is with the Jains very nearly what a Buddha is with +the Buddhists. + +He represents the perfection of humanity, the typical man, who has +conquered self and attained a condition so perfect that he not only +ceases to act, but is able to extinguish the power of former acts; +a human being who is released from the obligation of further +transmigration, and looks forward to death as the absolute extinction +of personal existence. But he is also more than this. He is a being +who by virtue of the perfection of his self-mortification (_tapas_) +has acquired the perfection of knowledge, and therefore the right +to be a supreme leader and teacher of mankind. He claims far more +complete authority and infallibility than the most arrogant Roman +Pontiff. He is in his own solitary person an absolutely independent +and infallible guide to salvation. Hence he is commonly called a +_T[=i]rthan-kara_, or one who constitutes a T[=i]rtha[8]--that is +to say, a kind of passage or medium through which bliss may be +attained--a kind of ford or bridge leading over the river of life to +the elysium of final emancipation. Other names for him are _Arhat_, +"venerable;" _Sarva-jna_, "omniscient;" _Bhagavat_, "lord." + +A Buddha with the Buddhists is a very similar personage. He is a +self-conqueror and self-mortifier (_tapasv[=i]_), like the Jina, +and is besides a supreme guide to salvation; but he has achieved +his position of Buddhahood more by the perfection of his meditation +(_yoga, sam[=a]dhi_) than by the completeness of his self-restraint +and austerities. + +Both Jainas and Buddhists--but especially Jainas--believe in the +existence of gods and demons, and spiritual beings of all kinds, whom +they often designate by names similar to those used by the Hind[=u]s. +These may possess vast supernatural and extra-mundane powers in +different degrees and kinds, which they are capable of exerting for +the benefit or injury of mankind; but they are inferior in position to +the Jina or Buddha. They are merely powerful beings--temporary rulers +in temporary heavens and hells. + +They may be very formidable and worthy of propitiation, but they are +imperfect. They are liable to pass through other stages of existence, +or even to be born again in mundane forms, until they are finally +extinguished by the same law of dissolution as the rest of the +universe. + +Very different is the condition of the perfect saint. He is in a far +higher position, for he has but one step to take before plunging +into the ocean of non-existence. He is on the verge of the bliss of +extinction, and can guide others to it. He can never be dragged down +again to earthly imperfection and sin. He alone is a worthy object of +adoration. All other beings--divine and demoniacal--are to be dreaded, +not worshipped. "There is no god superior to the Arhat," says the +Kalpa-s[=u]tra (Stevenson, p. 10). True worship, indeed, is not +possible with Jainas any more than with Buddhists. They have no +supreme Eternal Being, omniscient and omnipresent, ever at hand to +answer prayer, ever living to be an object of meditation, devotion, +and love to his creatures. + +Yet a Jaina who acts up to the principles of his faith is a slave to a +ceaseless round of religious duties. + +The late Bishop of Calcutta told me that he once asked a pious Jaina, +whom he happened to meet in the act of leaving a temple after a long +course of devotion, what he had been asking for in prayer, and to whom +he had been praying? He replied, "I have been asking for nothing, +and praying to nobody." The fact was he had been meditating on the +perfections of some extinct Jina, doing homage to his memory, and +using prayer as a mere mechanical act, not directed towards any higher +Power capable of granting requests, but believed to have an efficacy +of its own in determining the character of his subsequent forms of +existence. + +It may be said that the Br[=a]hmanical idea of a saint is much the +same as that of Buddhists and Jainas. But with Br[=a]hmans the +perfect saint is not so solitary and independent in his spiritual +pre-eminence. He is one of a numerous band of similar sainted +personages. He has endless names and epithets (such as Rishi, Muni, +Yog[=i], Tapasv[=i], Jitendriya, Yatendriya, Sanny[=a]s[=i]), all of +which indicate that he, like the Buddha and Jina, has attained +the perfection of knowledge and impassiveness, either by abstract +meditation (_yoga_), or self-mortification (_tapas_), or mastery over +his sensual organs (_yama_). He may also combine the functions of a +true teacher and guide to salvation (_T[=i]rtha_). He may even, +like the Buddha and Jina, have acquired such powers that any of the +secondary gods, including Brahm[=a], Vishnu, and S´iva, may be subject +to him. Finally, he may be himself worshipped as a kind of deity. Yet +radically there is an important distinction between the Br[=a]hman +and the Jaina saint, for the Br[=a]hman saint makes no pretence to +absolute finality and supremacy. However lofty his position, he +can never be exalted above the One Supreme Being (Brahma), in whose +existence his own personal existence is destined to become absorbed, +and union with whose essence constitutes the object of all his hopes, +and the aim of all his aspirations. + +Nothing, perhaps, better illustrates the difference between +Br[=a]hmanism, Buddhism, and Jainism than the daily prayer used in all +three systems. That of the Br[=a]hmans is in Sanskrit (from Rig-veda +iii. 62. 10), and is addressed to the Supreme Being as giver of +life and illumination. It is a prayer for greater knowledge and +enlightenment: thus, "Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the +divine Vivifier. May He stimulate our understandings." That of +the Jainas, also called by them G[=a]yatr[=i], is in M[=a]gadh[=i] +Pr[=a]krit, and is in five short clauses to the following effect:--"I +venerate the sages who are worthy of honour (_arhat_). I venerate the +saints who have achieved perfection. I venerate those who direct our +religious worship. I venerate spiritual instructors. I venerate holy +men (_s[=a]dhus_) in all parts of the world." This is obviously no +real prayer, but a mere formula, expressive of veneration for human +excellence, like that used by the Buddhists, which is perhaps the +simplest of all,--"Reverence to the incomparable Buddha;" or (as in +Thibet), "Reverence to the jewel in the lotus."[9] + +Br[=a]hmans, Jains, and Buddhists all alike aim at the attainment of +perfect knowledge; but the Br[=a]hman, by his G[=a]yatr[=i] prayer, +acknowledges his dependence on a Supreme Being as the source of all +enlightenment; while the formulas of Jains and Buddhists are simply +expressive of their belief in the divinity of humanity--the efficacy +of human example, and the power of unassisted human effort. + +It will be evident from the foregoing outline of the first principles +of Jainism, that the whole system hinges on the efficacy of +self-mortification (_tapas_), self-restraint (_yama_), and asceticism. +Only twenty-four supreme saints and T[=i]rthan-karas can appear in +any one cycle of time, but every mortal man may be a self-restrainer +(_yati_). Every one born into the world may be a striver after +sanctity (_s[=a]dhu_), and a practiser of austerities (_tapasv[=i]_). +Doubtless, at first there was no distinction between monks, ascetics, +and ordinary men, just as in the earliest days of Christianity there +was no division into bishops, priests, and laity. All Jainas in +ancient times practised austerities, but among such ascetics an +important difference arose. One party advocated an entire abandonment +of clothing, in token of complete indifference to all worldly ideas +and associations. The other party were in favour of wearing white +garments. The former were called Dig-ambara, sky-clothed, the latter +S´vet[=a]mbara (or, in ancient works, S´veta-pata), white-clothed.[10] +Of these the Dig-ambaras were chronologically the earliest. They were +probably the first to form themselves into a regular society. The +first Jina, Rishaba, as well as the last Jina, Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, are +said to have been Dig-ambaras, and to have gone about absolutely +naked. Their images represent two entirely nude ascetics, whereas the +images of other Jinas, like the Buddhist images, are representations +of a sage, generally seated in a contemplative posture, with a robe +thrown gracefully over one shoulder. + +It is not improbable that the S´vet[=a]mbara division of the Jainas +were merely a sect which separated itself from the parent stock in +later times, and became in the end numerically the most important, at +least in Western India. The Dig-ambaras, however, are still the most +numerous faction in Southern India, and at Jaipur in the North.[11] + +And, indeed, it need scarcely be pointed out that ascetics, +both wholly naked and partially clothed, are as common under the +Br[=a]hmanical system as among Jainas and Buddhists. The god S´iva +himself is represented as a Dig-ambara, or naked ascetic, whenever he +assumes the character of a Mah[=a]-yog[=i]--that is to say, whenever +he enters on a long course of austerity, with an absolutely nude +body, covered only with a thick coating of dust and ashes, sitting +motionless and wrapped in meditation for thousands of years, that +he may teach men by his own example the power attainable through +self-mortification and abstract contemplation. + +It is true that absolute nudity in public is now prohibited by +law, but the Dig-ambara Jainas who take their meals, like orthodox +Hind[=u]s, in strict seclusion, are said to remove their clothes +in the act of eating. Even in the most crowded thoroughfares the +requirements of legal decency are easily satisfied. Any one who +travels in India must accustom himself to the sight of plenty of +unblushing, self-asserting human flesh. Thousands content themselves +with the minimum of clothing represented by a narrow strip of cloth, +three or four inches wide, twisted round their loins. Nor ought it +to excite any feeling of prudish disgust to find poor, hard-working +labourers tilling the ground with a greater area of sun-tanned skin +courting the cooling action of air and wind on the burning plains +of Asia than would be considered decorous in Europe. As to mendicant +devotees, they may still occasionally be seen at great religious +gatherings absolutely innocent of even a rag. Nevertheless, they are +careful to avoid magisterial penalties. In a secluded part of the city +of Patna, I came suddenly on an old female ascetic, who usually sits +quite naked in a large barrel, which constitutes her only abode. When +I passed her, in company with the collector and magistrate of the +district, she rapidly drew a dirty sheet round her body. + +In the present day both Dig-ambara and S´vet[=a]mbara Jainas are +divided into two classes, corresponding to clergy and laity. When the +two sects increased in numbers, all, of course, could not be ascetics. +Some were compelled to engage in secular pursuits, and many developed +industrious and business-like habits. Hence it happened that a large +number became prosperous merchants and traders. + +All laymen[12] among the Jainas are called S´r[=a]vakas, "hearers or +disciples," while the Yatis,[13] or "self-restraining ascetics," +who constitute the only other division of both Jaina sects, are the +supposed teachers (_Gurus_). Many of them, of course, never teach at +all. They were formerly called Nirgrantha, "free from worldly ties," +and are often known by the general name of S[=a]dhu, "holy men." +All are celibates, and most of them are cenobites, not anchorites. +Sometimes four or five hundred live together in one monastery, +which they call an Up[=a]s´raya,[14] "place of retirement," under +a presiding abbot. They dress, like other Hind[=u] ascetics, in +yellowish-pink or salmon-coloured garments.[15] There are also female +ascetics (_S[=a]dhvin[=i]_, or, anciently, _Nirgranth[=i]_), who may +be seen occasionally in public places clothed in dresses of a similar +colour. When these good women draw the ends of their robes over their +heads to conceal their features, and cover the lower part of their +faces with pieces of muslin to prevent animalculæ from entering their +mouths, they look very like hooded Roman Catholic nuns. I saw +several threading their way through the crowded streets of Ahmedabad, +apparently bent, like sisters of mercy, on charitable errands. + +Of course, in Jainism anything like a Br[=a]hmanical priesthood would +be an impossibility. Jainas reject the whole body of the Veda, Vedic +sacrifices and ritual, and hold it to be a heinous sin to kill an +animal of any kind, even for religious purposes. They have, however, +a Veda of their own, consisting of a series of forty-five sacred +writings, collectively called [=A]gamas. They are all in the Jaina +form of the M[=a]gadh[=i] dialect (differing from, yet related to, +the P[=a]l[=i] of the Buddhists, the M[=a]gadh[=i] Pr[=a]krit of +Vararuchi, and the Pr[=a]krit of the plays), and are classed under +the different heads of Anga, Up[=a]nga, P[=a]inna (Sanskrit, +_Prak[=i]rnaka_), M[=u]la, Chheda, Anuyoga, and Nandi. Of these the +eleven Angas are the most esteemed, but the whole series is equally +regarded as S´ruti, or divine revelation. The M[=a]gadh[=i] text +is sometimes explained by Sanskrit commentaries, and sometimes by +commentaries in the M[=a]rw[=a]r[=i] dialect, very common among +merchants in the West of India. Some of the best known Angas and +Up[=a]ngas were procured by me when I was last at Bombay, through the +kind assistance of Dr. Bühler; but it appears doubtful whether +they would repay the trouble which a complete perusal and thorough +examination of such voluminous writings would entail. It may safely be +affirmed that their teaching, like that of the Pur[=a]nas, is anything +but consistent or uniform, and that they deal with subjects--such as +the formation of the universe, history, geography, and chronology--of +which their authors are profoundly ignorant. + +The Indian commentator, M[=a]dhav[=a]ch[=a]rya, in his well-known +summary of Hind[=u] sects (called Sarva-dars´ana-sangraha) has given +an interesting sketch of the Jainas from his own investigation +of their sacred writings. Their philosophers are sometimes called +Sy[=a]d-v[=a]dins, "asserters of possibility," because their +system propounds seven modes of reconciling opposite views +(_sapta-bhanga-naya_) as to the possibility of anything existing +or not existing. All visible objects--all the phenomena of the +universe--are distributed under the two principles (_tattva_) or +categories of animate (_j[=i]va_), and inanimate (_a-j[=i]va_). Again, +all living beings comprised under the former are divided into three +classes: (1) eternally perfect, as the Jina; (2) emancipated from the +power of acts; (3) bound by acts and worldly associations. Or, again, +nine principles are enumerated--namely, life, absence of life, merit +(_punya_), demerit, passion, helps to restraint, helps to freedom +from worldly attachments, bondage, emancipation. Inanimate matter is +sometimes referred to a principle (_tattva_) called Pudgala, which it +is easier for Jaina philosophers to talk about than to explain. + +When we come to the Jaina moral code, we find ourselves transported +from the mists of fanciful ideas and arbitrary speculation to a +clearer atmosphere and firmer ground. The three gems which every Jaina +is required to seek after with earnestness and diligence, are right +intuition, right knowledge, and right conduct. The nature of the first +two may be inferred from the explanations already given. Right +conduct consists in the observance of five duties (_vratas_), and the +avoidance of five sins implied in five prohibitions. The five duties +are:--Be merciful to all living things; practise almsgiving and +liberality; venerate the perfect sages while living, and worship their +images after their decease; confess your sins annually, and mutually +forgive each other; observe fasting. The five prohibitions are:--Kill +not; lie not; steal not; commit not adultery or impurity; love not the +world or worldly honour. + +If equal practical importance were attached to these ten precepts, +the Jaina system could not fail to conduce in a high degree to the +happiness and well-being of its adherents, however perverted their +religious sense may be. Unfortunately, undue stress is laid on the +first duty and first prohibition, to the comparative neglect of +some of the others. In former days, when Buddhism and Jainism were +prevalent everywhere, "Kill not" was required to be proclaimed by +sound of trumpet in every city daily.[16] + +And, indeed, with all Hind[=u]s respect for life has always been +regarded as a supreme obligation. Ahins[=a], or avoidance of injury +to others in thought, word, and deed, is declared by Manu to be the +highest virtue, and its opposite the greatest crime. Not the smallest +insect ought to be killed, lest the soul of some relation should be +there embodied. Yet all Hind[=u]s admit that life may be taken for +religious or sacrificial purposes. Not so Buddhists and Jainas. With +them the sacrifice of any kind of life, even for the most sacred +purpose, is a heinous crime. In fact, the belief in transmission +of personal identity at death through an infinite series of animal +existences is so intense that they live in perpetual dread of +destroying some beloved relative or friend. The most deadly serpents +or venomous scorpions may enshrine the spirits of their fathers or +mothers, and are therefore left unharmed. The Jainas far outdo every +other Indian sect in carrying the prohibition, "not to kill," to the +most preposterous extremes. They strain water before drinking, sweep +the ground with a silken brush before sitting down, never eat or drink +in the dark, and often wear muslin before their mouths to prevent the +risk of swallowing minute insects. They even object to eating figs, +or any fruit containing seed, and would consider themselves eternally +defiled by simply touching flesh-meat with their hands. + +One of the most curious sights in Bombay is the Panjara-pol, or +hospital for diseased, crippled, and worn-out animals, established by +rich Jaina merchants and benevolent Vaishnava Hind[=u]s in a street +outside the Fort. The institution covers several acres of ground, and +is richly endowed. Both Jainas and Vaishnavas think it a work of the +highest religious merit to contribute liberally towards its support. +The animals are well fed and well tended, though it certainly seemed +to me, when I visited the place, that the great majority would be more +mercifully provided for by the application of a loaded pistol to their +heads. I found, as might have been expected, that a large proportion +of space was allotted to stalls for sick and infirm oxen, some with +bandaged eyes, some with crippled legs, some wrapped up in blankets +and lying on straw beds. One huge, bloated, broken-down old bull in +the last stage of decrepitude and disease was a pitiable object +to behold. Then I noticed in other parts of the building singular +specimens of emaciated buffaloes, limping horses, mangy dogs, +apoplectic pigs, paralytic donkeys, featherless vultures, melancholy +monkeys, comatose tortoises, besides a strange medley of cats, rats +and mice, small birds, reptiles, and even insects, in every stage of +suffering and disease. In one corner a crane, with a kind of wooden +leg, appeared to have spirit enough left to strut in a stately manner +amongst a number of dolorous-looking ducks and depressed fowls. The +most spiteful animals seemed to be tamed by their sufferings and the +care they received. All were being tended, nursed, physicked, and fed, +as if it were a sacred duty to prolong the existence of every living +creature to the utmost possible limit. It is even said that men are +paid to sleep on dirty wooden beds in different parts of the building, +that the loathsome vermin with which they are infested may be supplied +with their nightly meal of human blood. + +Yet I observed on other occasions that both Jainas and Hind[=u]s are +sometimes very cruel to animals used for domestic purposes, believing +that the harshest treatment involves no sin provided it stops short of +destroying life. The following story, which I have paraphrased freely, +from the Jaina Kalpa-s[=u]tra (Stevenson, p. 11) may be taken as an +illustration:[17]-- + + "There was a certain Br[=a]hman in the city of Pushpavat[=i] + whose father and mother died. In process of time both parents + were born again in their own son's house, the father as + a bullock, the mother as a female dog. By-and-by the + S´r[=a]ddha, or festive-day for the worship of deceased + parents and forefathers, came round. In the morning the son + set the bullock to labour hard, that a supply of rice and milk + might be ready for the priests invited to the festival. When + they were about to begin eating, the female dog, in which was + the mother's soul, seeing something poisonous fall into the + milk, snatched it away with her mouth. Upon that her son, not + understanding the dog's action, flew into a passion and almost + broke her back with a stick. In the evening the bullock was + tied up in a cowhouse, but no food given to him after his + day's toil. Both animals had become conscious of their + previous state of existence, and the bullock, looking at the + female dog, exclaimed, 'Alas! what have we both suffered this + day through the cruelty of our wicked son!'" + +As to the other precepts of the Jaina moral code, it is noteworthy +that the practice of confessing sins to a priestly order of men +probably existed in full force among the Jainas long before its +introduction into the Christian system. A pious Jaina ought to confess +at least once a year, or if his conscience happens to be burdened by +the weight of any recent crime--such, for example, as the accidental +killing of a noxious insect--he is bound to betake himself to the +confessional without delay. The stated observance of this duty is +called Pratikramana, because on a particular day the penitent repairs +solemnly to a priestly Yati, who hears his confession, pronounces +absolution, and imposes a penance. + +The penances inflicted generally consist of various kinds of fasting; +but it must be observed that fasting is with Jainas a duty incumbent +on all. It is a duty only second to that of not killing. Fasting +(_upav[=a]sa_) is also practised by Hind[=u]s and Buddhists, and held +to be a most effective means of accumulating religious merit. Orthodox +Hind[=u]s fast twice a month, on the eleventh day of each fortnight, +as well as on the birthday of Krishna (_Janm[=a]shtam[=i]_), and the +night sacred to S´iva (_S´iva-r[=a]tri_). On some fast days fruits may +be eaten, but no cooked food of any kind. + +With Buddhists and Jainas the season of fasting, religious meditation, +and recitation of sacred texts, far outdoes our Lenten period. The +Buddhists in some parts of the world call their fasting season Wasso +(corrupted from the Sanskrit _Upav[=a]sa_). That of the Jainas is +called Pajj[=u]san or Pachch[=u]san (for Sanskrit _Paryushana_). The +S´vet[=a]mbara Jainas fast for the fifty days preceding the fifth of +the month Bh[=a]dra, the Dig-ambaras for the seventy following days. +In both cases the Pajj[=u]san corresponds generally to the rainy +season or its close. Possibly the practice of fasting during that +period may be intended as an expiation for the supposed guilt incurred +by the unintentional destruction of damp-engendered insects. + +In regard to the duty of worshipping images, this also, like the last +duty, is incumbent on all. But it is worthy of remark that images were +at first only used as memorials or as simple decorations, in places +consecrated to pure forms of worship. Idolatry has always been a later +innovation. It has never belonged to the original constitution of any +religious system. One or two differences between Hind[=u], Buddha, and +Jaina images should be noted. Hind[=u] images (excepting that of the +ascetic form of S´iva) are often profusely decorated, while Buddha and +Jaina idols are always left unadorned, though sometimes cut out of +the finest marble, and often having a nimbus[18] round their heads. +Twenty-two of the Jina images, as well as the seven Buddhas, are +represented with a coarse garment thrown over the left shoulder, the +other shoulder being bare. Those of the first and last Jinas (Rishabha +and Mah[=a]v[=i]ra) are completely nude; and Jina images, like some +of those of the Buddha, are often erect. Moreover, the idols of the +Buddha Gautama represent him in four principal attitudes. He is +(1) seated in deep contemplation; or (2) is seated while engaged in +teaching, with the tip of the forefinger of one hand applied to the +fingers of the other hand; or (3) he is a mendicant ascetic in a +standing posture; or (4) he is recumbent just before his decease. In +the first or contemplative attitude, he is indifferent to everything +except intense concentration of thought on the problem of perfect +knowledge. According to others, he is supposed to be thinking of +nothing, or, if that is impossible, his thoughts are concentrated on +the tip of his nose, till he does not even think of that. Or there may +be a modification of this meditative attitude, in which his mind is +apparently engaged in ecstatic contemplation of the short distance +which still separates him from the goal of annihilation. The first +contemplative attitude is by far the commonest. The sage is seen +seated (generally on a full-blown lotus) with his legs folded under +him, the left palm supinate on his lap, and the right hand extended +over the right leg. He has pendulous ears, curly hair, and a top-knot +on the crown of his head. His garment is thrown gracefully over +the left shoulder, leaving the right bare. The modification of this +attitude, representing the sage in ecstatic contemplation, has both +the palms resting one above the other on the lap, and occasionally +holding a circular object, the meaning of which is not well +ascertained. In the second or teaching attitude, the great teacher is +supposed to be marking off the points of his discourse, or emphasizing +them on his fingers. This attitude expresses an important peculiarity, +already pointed out, as distinguishing Buddhism from Jainism--namely, +that it lays more stress than Jainism on the acquisition and imparting +of knowledge. I have never seen a Jina image in a teaching attitude. +The recumbent attitude of Buddha is supposed to represent him in the +act of dying, and attaining Nirv[=a]na. Pious Buddhists regard +this supreme moment in the life of their great leader with as much +reverence as Christians regard the death of Christ on the cross. +Through the kindness of Sir William Gregory, I was taken to see +a colossal recumbent statue of the Buddha, at least thirty feet +long,[19] in the celebrated temple of Kelani, not far from Columbo, +in Ceylon. The image appeared to be highly venerated by numerous +worshippers, who presented offerings at the shrine. On each side were +colossal images of attendants and doorkeepers (_dv[=a]ra-p[=a]la_), +and in other parts of the temple figures of Buddha's demon enemies, +besides idols of the Hind[=u] deities, Vishnu, S´iva, and Ganes´a. +All around the walls of the temple were fresco representations +of incidents in the life of the Buddha. A huge bell-shaped Dagoba +(_Dh[=a]tu-garbha_), of massive masonry, covered with chunam, was in +the garden, on the right side of the temple. It doubtless enshrined +ashes or relics of great sanctity. But in all these Dagobas there is +no passage to any interior chamber: whatever relics they contain have +been bricked up for centuries, and no record is preserved of their +history or nature. On the left of the temple were the residences of +the high priests and monks, in a well-kept garden overshadowed by +an immense P[=i]pal tree, supposed to represent the sacred tree of +knowledge. Both Buddha and Jina images have always certain objects +or symbols (_chihna_) connected with them. Those of the Buddha are +generally associated with the tree of knowledge, or a hooded serpent, +or a wheel, or a deer.[20] The seventh T[=i]rthan-kara of the Jainas +is specially associated with the Svastika cross--an auspicious symbol +common to Hind[=u]ism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Worshippers in Buddhist +and Jaina temples may be seen arranging their offerings in the form of +this symbol, which is shaped like a Greek cross, with the end of each +of the four arms bent round in the same direction. The question as to +the origin of the emblem has called forth many learned dissertations +from various scholars and archæologists. For my own part, I am +inclined to regard it as a mere rude representation of the four arms +of Lakshm[=i], goddess of good fortune, the bent extremities of the +arms denoting her four hands. + +With regard to the adoration of relics, one or two points of +difference between the systems may be pointed out. The Hind[=u]s +wholly object to the Buddhist practice of preserving and worshipping +the ashes, hair, or teeth of their departed saints. I remarked in +the course of my travels that articles of clothing, especially wooden +shoes and cloth slippers, used by holy men during life, are sometimes +preserved by the Hind[=u]s in sacred shrines, and held in veneration. +They must, of course, be removed from the person before actual death +has supervened; for it is well known that in the minds of Hind[=u]s +an idea of impurity is always inseparable from death. Contamination is +supposed to result from contact with the corpses of even their dearest +relatives. The mortal frame is not held in veneration as it was by +the ancient Egyptians, and as it generally is in Christian countries. +Every part of a dead body ought to be got rid of as soon as possible. +Hence, it is burnt very soon after death, and the ashes scattered on +the surface of sacred rivers or on the sea. Nevertheless, the bodies +of great ascetics are exempted from this rule. They are generally +buried, not burnt; not, however, because the mere corporeal frame is +held in greater veneration, but because the most eminent saints are +supposed to lie undecomposed in a kind of trance, resulting from the +intense ecstatic meditation (_sam[=a]dhi_) to which during life they +were devoted. In former days great ascetics were not unfrequently +buried alive, and that, too, with their own consent. A crowd of +admiring disciples was always ready to assist at the entombment, and +it might be said in excuse that the holy men really appeared to be +dead, though they were merely speechless, motionless, and senseless, +in a kind of meditative catalepsy. + +The Jainas hold views similar to those of the Hind[=u]s in regard to +the treatment of dead bodies. They never preserve the ashes of their +saints in St[=u]pas, Chaityas, or Dagobas, or worship them, as the +Buddhists do. + +In connection with this subject I may remark, that what may be called +"foot-worship" (_p[=a]duk[=a]-p[=u]j[=a]_), or the veneration of +footprints, seems to be common to Hind[=u]s, Buddhists, and Jainas. +Even during life, when a Hind[=u] wishes to show great respect for +a person of higher rank or position than himself, he reverentially +touches his feet. The idea seems to rest on a kind of _a fortiori_ +argument. If the feet, as the lowest members of the body, are treated +with honour, how much more is homage rendered to the whole man. +Children honour their parents in this manner. They never kiss the +faces of either father or mother. In some families, sons prostrate +themselves at their fathers' feet. The arms are crossed just above the +wrist, both feet are touched, and the hands raised to the forehead. + +The notion of honouring the feet as the highest possible act of homage +runs through the whole Hind[=u] system. Small shrines may often be +observed in different parts of India, sometimes dedicated to holy men, +sometimes to Sat[=i]s, or faithful wives who have burnt themselves +with their husbands. They appear to be quite empty. On closer +inspection two footprints may be detected on a little raised altar +made of stone. These are called P[=a]duk[=a], "shoes," but are really +the supposed impression of the soles of the feet. In the same way, the +wooden clog of the god Brahm[=a] is worshipped at a particular shrine +somewhere in Central India, and we know that the footprint of both +Buddha and Vishnu at Gay[=a], and that of Buddha at Adam's Peak, are +objects of adoration to millions. + +Analogous ideas and practices prevail in Roman Catholic countries. +There is a wooden image of Christ on the cross in a church at Vienna, +which is so venerated that, although it is a little elevated, some +worshippers stand on tiptoe to kiss its feet, while others touch its +feet with their fingers, and then raise their fingers to their mouths. +Similarly, at Munich, in Bavaria, numbers of worshippers may be seen +kissing the feet of an image of the Virgin Mary, and most travellers +can testify that images of St. Peter, not to mention the living +representative of St. Peter, are treated in a similar manner. + +Nothing, however, comes up to the veneration of footprints among +Jainas. I visited the magnificent temple erected by H[=a]thi-Singh at +Ahmedabad, as well as the underground shrine dedicated to [=A]dinath, +and another great Jaina temple at Kaira. The first consists of a large +quadrangle, approached by a beautifully carved marble gateway. The +principal shrine is in the centre. All around the quadrangle is a +kind of cloister, in which are about thirty subordinate shrines, each +containing the image of a particular Jina or T[=i]rthan-kara. All the +images appeared to me to be of one type, and to resemble those of +the contemplative (Dhy[=a]n[=i]) Buddha. All are carved out of fine +marble, generally of a light colour, and all represent the ascetic, +in his sitting posture, wrapped in profound meditation, indifferent +to all external phenomena--calm, serene, and imperturbable. The +attendants of the temple were either very ignorant or very unwilling +to impart information. No one could tell me whether all the +twenty-four Jinas had a place in the shrines. One image of perfectly +black marble was described to me as that of P[=a]rs´van[=a]th. + +The other temples were not very remarkable, except as affording good +illustrations of "foot-worship." In one shrine I saw 1880 footprints +of Nemi-n[=a]th's disciples. In another, 1452 footsteps of the +disciples of Rishabha. They were covered with offerings of grain and +money. All the names of these holy disciples are given in the Jaina +sacred works, and it may be remarked that the disciples of Jinas, +however celebrated, are never represented by images. That privilege is +reserved for the twenty-four supreme Jinas themselves. I noticed that +many Hind[=u] idols were placed outside the shrines. + +Certainly Jainism, when regarded from the stand-point of a Christian +observer, is the coldest of all religions, if, indeed, it deserves +to be called a religion at all. Yet the number of temples in certain +centres of Jainism far exceeds the number of churches and chapels in +the most religious Christian districts. Every Jaina who lays claim to +an excess of piety or zeal builds a temple of his own. It never enters +into his head to repair the temples of other religious people. At +P[=a]lit[=a]na, in K[=a]thi[=a]w[=a]r, there is a whole city of Jaina +temples, some new, others decaying, and others quite dilapidated. It +is by no means necessary or usual that every temple should possess +either priests or worshippers. I can certify that I saw fewer +worshippers even in the most celebrated Jaina temples than in any of +the Buddhist temples at Columbo or Kandy. Those who came contented +themselves with bowing down before the idols, and placing flowers or +grains of rice and corn on the footprints of the saints. + +The Yatis have a kind of liturgy, partly in Sanskrit, partly in the +Jaina form of M[=a]gadh[=i] Pr[=a]krit, partly in a kind of archaic +Gujar[=a]t[=i]. No real prayers are offered, but stories of the +twenty-four Jinas and their disciples are recited, with singing and +an accompaniment of noisy instrumental music and beating of cymbals. +Religious festivals and processions are also common. I witnessed one +in the town of Kaira, on the anniversary of the death of a celebrated +Yati. An immense multitude of men and women paraded the streets, +preceded by a very demonstrative band of musicians. In the centre +was an apparently empty palanquin, borne by six men. It contained the +supposed footprints of the deceased Yati in whose honour the festival +was held. + +A few short extracts from the Kalpa-s[=u]tra (Stevenson, p. 103) will +give some idea of the rules of discipline by which the lives of the +Yatis are required to be regulated, as follow:-- + + "Self-restraint is to be exercised by each man individually. + Self-control is the chief of all religious exercises. If a + quarrel arise, mutual forgiveness is to be asked. Three daily + cleansings are enjoined, morning, mid-day, and evening. A + period of rest and fasting is to be observed yearly in the + four months of the rainy season. During this period, male + and female ascetics should by no means partake of rice, + milk, curds, fresh butter, melted butter, oil, sugar, honey, + spirits, and flesh. They must never use any angry or provoking + language, on pain of being expelled from the community. + Ascetics must carefully avoid contact with minute insects, + small animals, small seeds, small flowers, small vegetables, + &c. No ascetic must do anything whatever, or go out for any + purpose whatever, without first asking permission of the + Superior of the Convent. The head must be shaved, or the hair + constantly clipped. No ascetic must wear hair longer than that + which covers a cow." + +With regard to the last injunction, it may be mentioned that the +ceremony of initiation (_d[=i]ksh[=a]_) usually takes place at the +age of twelve or thirteen, and that part of the rite once consisted in +forcibly pulling out every hair of the head (_kes´a-lunchana_). In the +present day ashes are applied, and a few hairs torn out by the roots +before the scissors are used. + +It remains to state that the Jainas of the present period are leaning +more and more towards Hind[=u] ideas and practices. They have their +purificatory rites (_sansk[=a]ras_), and a modified caste system. +Not unfrequently Br[=a]hman priests are invited to take part in +their marriage ceremonies. Indeed, it is by no means uncommon for +intermarriages to take place between lay Jainas (_s´r[=a]vakas_) and +lay Vaishnavas, especially in cases when both belong to the Baniya or +merchant caste. + +In short, Jainism, like Buddhism, is gradually drifting into the +current of Hind[=u]ism which everywhere surrounds it, and, like +every other offshoot from that system, is destined in the end to be +reabsorbed into its source. + +I must reserve the subject of the Indo-Zoroastrian creed, and modern +P[=a]rs[=i] religious usages, for treatment in my next paper. + + MONIER WILLIAMS. + + [Footnote 1: If an orthodox Br[=a]hman is asked to describe + his religion, he calls it [=A]rya-dharma, that is, the system + of doctrines and duties held and practised by the [=A]ryas. He + never thinks of calling it by the name of any special founder + or leader. Be it noted, however, that Dharma implies more than + a mere religious creed. It is a far more comprehensive term + than our word "religion."] + + [Footnote 2: In many images of the Buddha he is represented + with the sacred thread over the left shoulder and under the + right arm, according to orthodox Br[=a]hmanical usage.] + + [Footnote 3: Since the Buddha became absolutely extinct, and + since his system recognised no Supreme Soul of the Universe, + there remained nothing for his followers to venerate except + his memory. The mass of his converts, however, did not long + rest satisfied with enshrining him in their minds. First they + made pilgrimages to the Bodhi-tree, or "Tree of Knowledge," + at Gay[=a], under which their great teacher obtained supreme + wisdom. There they erected tumuli, or graves (variously + called dagobas, chaityas, and st[=u]pas), over his relics, and + worshipped, these. Then adoration was paid to his foot-prints, + and to the wheel or symbol of the Buddhist law. Finally, + images of his person in different attitudes (to be described + subsequently) were multiplied everywhere. Temples, at first, + were unknown. There were rooms, or places of meeting, for + Buddhist congregations to hear preaching; but it was not till + a later period that these were used to enshrine images and + relics. A vast period of development separates the original + Sangha-griha from such a temple as that erected over the + eye-tooth of Buddha, at Kandy, in Ceylon, which is a costly + edifice, containing images and a library, as well as the + far-famed relic shrine behind thick iron bars.] + + [Footnote 3: The expression, Jainism, corresponds to + Vaishnavism and S´aivism just as the term Jaina does to + Vaishnava or S´aiva. Of course consistency would require + the substitution of Bauddhism and Bauddha for Buddhism and + Buddhist, but I fear the latter expressions are too firmly + established to admit of alteration.] + + [Footnote 4: There is one place in India where the growth of + Vaishnavism out of Buddhism, and their near relationship, are + conspicuously demonstrated. I mean Buddha-gay[=a], with the + neighbouring Vishnu temple of the city of Gay[=a].] + + [Footnote 5: In the Caves of Ellora, Br[=a]hmanism, Buddhism, + and Jainism, may be seen in juxtaposition, proving that at + one period, at least, they existed together, and were mutually + tolerant of each other.] + + [Footnote 6: Their names at full are:--1. Rishabha; 2. Ajita; + 3. Sambhava; 4. Abhinandana; 5. Sumati; 6. Padma-prabha; + 7. Sup[=a]rs´va; 8. Chandra-prabha; 9. Pushpa-danta; 10. + S´[=i]tala; 11. S´reyas; 12. V[=a]sup[=u]jya; 13. Vimala; 14. + Ananta; 15. Dharma; 16. S´[=a]nti; 17. Kunthu; 18. Ara; + 19. Malli; 20. Suivrata; 21. Nimi; 22. Nemi; 23. + P[=a]rs´van[=a]tha; 24. Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, or Vardham[=a]na. The + first of these lived 8,400,000 years, and attained a stature + equal to 500 bows' length. The age and stature of the second + was something less. The twenty-third lived a hundred years, + and was little taller than an ordinary man. The twenty-fourth + lived only forty years, and was formed like a man of the + present day. The Buddhists hold that their Buddha Gautama was + much above the usual height.] + + [Footnote 7: When Buddhism merged in Vaishnavism, its symbol + of a wheel (_chakra_) was adopted by the worshippers of + Vishnu.] + + [Footnote 8: The word T[=i]rtha may mean a sacred ford or + crossing-place on the bank of a river, or it may mean a holy + man or teacher.] + + [Footnote 9: This is by some interpreted to mean--Reverence to + the creative energy inherent in the universe.] + + [Footnote 10: The actual colour of an ascetic's dress is a + kind of yellowish-pink, or salmon colour. Pure white is not + much used by the Hind[=u]s, except as a mark of mourning, when + it takes the place of black with us.] + + [Footnote 11: There is also a very low, insignificant, and + intensely atheistical sect of Jainas called Dhundhias. They + are much despised by the Hind[=u]s, and even by the more + orthodox Jainas]. + + [Footnote 12: This term, as well as Up[=a]saka, is also used + to designate the Buddhist laity.] + + [Footnote 13: From the Sanskrit root, _yam_, to restrain. The + Buddhists call their monks S´ramanas; from the root _S´ram_, + "men who work hard at austerities," or Bhikshus, "mendicant + friars." Their laymen are S´r[=a]vakas, like the Jaina laymen, + but are also called Up[=a]sakas.] + + [Footnote 14: Also written Ap[=a]s´raya.] + + [Footnote 15: When so attired they may be called + P[=i]t[=a]mbaras, or Kash[=a]y[=a]mbaras, though they belong + to the S´vet[=a]mbara, or white-clothed party.] + + [Footnote 16: Dr. Stevenson conjectures that As´oka's famous + edicts were similar proclamations, embodying all the commands + and prohibitions of Buddhism and Jainism, engraved on stone to + secure their permanence.] + + [Footnote 17: It is doubtless intended as a Jaina satire on + the worship of deceased parents and ancestors enjoined by + the Br[=a]hmanical system, and commonly practised by true + Hind[=u]s.] + + [Footnote 18: The idea of encircling the heads of saints + with a disc of light probably existed in India long before + Christianity.] + + [Footnote 19: Buddhists believe that the stature of the + Buddha far exceeded that of ordinary men. Muslims have similar + legends about the stature of Moses.] + + [Footnote 20: There is a legend that the Buddha taught first + in a deer-park near Benares.] + + + + +LORD BEACONSFIELD. + +I.--WHY WE FOLLOW HIM. + + +A writer in the last number of this REVIEW, when giving a portraiture +of Mr. Gladstone, pointed out that that right honourable gentleman was +a bundle of persons rather than one. It will not, I hope, be thought +a very gross plagiarism if I say that Lord Beaconsfield's fame may be +divided into four or five distinct reputations, any one of which, +in the case of a smaller man, would be thought enough for enduring +celebrity. If Mr. Disraeli had never succeeded in making his way into +Parliament, he would still, without needing to add another volume to +the books he has written, have had to be taken account of as one of +our foremost men of letters. Supposing that, having entered the House +of Commons, he had not attained office, he would yet have always been +remembered as the keenest Parliamentary debater of his time. If his +public life had ended in 1852--that is, more than a quarter of a +century ago--without his having become a Minister, he would have stood +recorded as the most skilful leader of an Opposition which our history +has known. Had he never passed a measure through Parliament, he +must have been referred to by all political thinkers as a strikingly +original critic of our Constitution. Such trifles as that, being +born in the days of dandyism, he ranked among the leaders of fashion +directly after he was out of his teens, and that he has been a leading +social wit his whole life through, may be thrown in without counting. +But add the above items together, and fill in the necessary details, +and what a startling result we have! + +It is very obvious that I cannot here trace Lord Beaconsfield's career +in detail. The chronicle is much too rich for that. The better plan +will be to make the subject group itself around three or four chief +topics--say these: His public consistency; his personal relations with +Peel and other leaders; his political and social views regarded as a +system; and his recent foreign policy. + +A single paragraph may, however, be interposed, just to bring the +principal dates together in a way of prospective summary. Within four +years' time from his entering the House of Commons, which, after vain +attempts at High Wycombe, Marylebone, and Taunton, he did in 1837 +for the borough of Maidstone, Mr. Disraeli was at the head of a +party--"The New England Party." The group, if not very numerous, drew +as much public attention as if it had been of any size we like to +name. Lord John Manners and Mr. G. S. Smythe had the generosity of +heart and the keenness of insight to be the first won over by him, and +that against the prejudices of their families. Who has not heard of +their courageous pilgrimage to the Manchester Athenæum to explain to +Cottonopolis how they proposed to re-make the nation? Then came +the "Young England" novels, with which all Europe was shortly +ringing--"Coningsby" in 1844, "Sybil" in 1845, "Tancred" in 1847. In +the meantime Mr. Disraeli had associated himself heart and soul with +Lord George Bentinck, attacked Peel, and done far more than any other +in reorganizing the shattered Conservative party within the House as +well as outside it. By the last-named year, too, Mr. Disraeli had, +after a voluntary exchanging of Maidstone for Shrewsbury, become +member for Buckinghamshire, a seat which he was to keep so long as he +remained in the House of Commons. Suddenly Lord George Bentinck died +(much too early for his country), and very soon after that event, +owing to the generous standing aside of Lord Granby and Mr. Herries, +Mr. Disraeli, within a dozen years of his first entry into Parliament, +stood forth as the recognized leader of the Conservatives. The +publication of the famous Biography of Lord George Bentinck was at +once his noble tribute to the memory of his friend and a valuable help +to the party. Five years later, when Lord Russell fell and the first +Derby Administration was formed, Mr. Disraeli--never having held an +inferior post--became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Shortly followed +Lord Palmerston's triumphant reign, to be succeeded, after a further +resignation of Lord Russell, by the second Derby Ministry, in which +Mr. Disraeli, once more Chancellor of the Exchequer, found time, in +addition to his Budget-making, to dish the Whigs by a final Reform +Bill. By-and-by the nation lost the Earl of Derby, and the last +promotion of official dignity fell naturally to Mr. Disraeli, +who became Prime Minister of England. Mr. Gladstone succeeded in +preventing the Cabinet from having a very long life, and Mr. Disraeli +kept mental self-composure enough, after losing office, to sit down +and write "Lothair." By-and-by his political turn again came: 1874 saw +him Premier for the second time, and this present year of grace still +beholds him in the post, only in the Upper House, instead of the +Lower, as Lord Beaconsfield, and with a Parliamentary majority +scarcely diminished by five years of an imperial rule which brings +back memories of England's most majestic days. He has visited Berlin, +and more than held his own in a Council of the greatest modern +diplomatists; has received a welcome back in London city such as no +living Minister can boast; and has had the high honour of entertaining +his Queen as a guest under his own roof. + +Now I may go back to the first of the texts I have chosen. + +It is certain that Lord Beaconsfield has always most tenaciously +insisted that he has from first to last been politically consistent. +His opponents, for very good reasons of their own, have unceasingly +affirmed that this assertion is his chiefest, in fact his culminating +audacity. But all the facts favour Lord Beaconsfield's view. In the +first place, he has never held office but on one side, and he is the +only Prime Minister during the last half century who could plead that +circumstance. Earl Russell could not say it; certainly Lord Palmerston +could not; it is quite out of Mr. Gladstone's power to urge it; even +the late Earl of Derby could not make the claim. Next, it is now about +thirty-two years since Mr. Disraeli was formally recognized as the +leader of the Tory party, and he is still at the head of them, without +their confidence having been for a moment shaken or withdrawn. Men, +in fact, have been born and have grown up to middle life with Mr. +Disraeli all the time remaining at the head of the Conservatives. His +inconsistency during at least this somewhat lengthened period must +have been of a strange kind, since it has always coincided with the +wishes and the interests of his party, for he has never split them, +and he has thrice led them into power, But we may go ten years further +back than the dates we have named. From first to last, he never sat +in Parliament but as an avowedly Tory member for a Tory constituency; +during nearly thirty years he sat for one and the same county. If you +sift what his enemies, have to say, you will find that it refers to +something which took place about forty-five years ago, and is to the +effect that he was for five minutes a member of the Westminster +Reform Club, and was willing in his first candidatures to accept +the assistance of Mr. Hume or of any other of the Radicals. Lord +Beaconsfield has the plainest and, as I think, the most sufficient +explanation to give of it all. + +He says that he came forward at High Wycombe and afterwards offered +himself to Marylebone as an opponent of the Whigs, determining to do +all he could to bring the Tories into better accord with the masses +of the people by re-establishing the natural social bonds between the +latter and the aristocracy. Certainly, this is exactly what he has +done; it is what he openly said that he aimed at doing from the +very beginning. Moreover, the Tories so understood it from the first +moment. They gave him their support at High Wycombe before he went to +Taunton, and political support cannot be kept very secret. His name +was a popular toast at agricultural banquets, and he was sure of +a welcome at any muster of the Conservatives. Supposing that the +Radicals had not had penetration enough to comprehend the position he +took up, who would have been to blame for that? But the fact is that +it has suited them to pretend in this case to be more stupid than +they were. No Radical constituency ever elected Mr. Disraeli. The +newspapers of the party never spoke of him as one of their sort; and +Messrs. Hume and O'Connell were in a great hurry to withdraw their +letters of recommendation, which had reached the candidate unsought. +It is not denied by Lord Beaconsfield's most rabid defamer that he +presented himself as an Anti-Whig, and it is admitted that long before +he was in the House he was a supporter in public of Lord Chandos, +and a eulogist of Sir Robert Peel. In his address to the Marylebone +electors he described himself as an Independent. But it is really +hardly worth while to discuss Mr. Disraeli's politics on this narrow +basis. + +The case may be put into a nutshell thus: if he had postponed seeking +a seat till he went to Taunton, which was in 1835--that is to say +forty-four years ago--no one would have been able to say, even in +a way of cavil, that he had been ever any other than a most openly +understood Tory. It is true that the Radicals would still have been +able to complain that he had been bold enough to pass a Reform Bill +giving household suffrage in the towns, and so spoiled once for all +their party tactics. But that is an allegation of inconsistency which +his Conservative supporters whom it has placed in office need not +be very anxious to defend him against. The other side had made the +question of Reform cease to be one of fair politics; Parliament after +Parliament they were trading upon it in the most huckstering spirit. +Mr. Disraeli's own first narrower proposals were scoffed at by them. +The Bill that was finally passed was avowedly a piece of party tactic, +and admirably it answered its end. Of course, since it succeeded so +well, Lord Beaconsfield's rivals will never forgive him for it. + +However, a more rational use of my space will be to ask at what stage +of his career Mr. Disraeli developed the leading political principles +which came to be recognized as characteristically his? That is the +only mode in which it is worth while to discuss a man's consistency. +Lord Beaconsfield has himself done it all in the preface to "Lothair," +but I may recall a few details. In the very first election address +he ever issued, he styled the Whigs "a rapacious, tyrannical, and +incapable faction." That may be taken, one would suppose, as pretty +clearly marking his point of political departure. At his second +candidature for Wycombe, he quoted Bolingbroke and Windham as his +models; and it was as far back as 1835, in his "Vindication of the +English Constitution," that he first applied the term "Venetian" +to our Constitution, as the Whigs had transformed it. The very +peculiarities of theoretical opinion which are most individually his, +can be traced back into what in respect of a living man's career might +almost be termed antiquity--it is something like two-thirds of half +a century ago since he first spoke of the "Asian Mystery." Nobody's +sayings live as Mr. Disraeli's have done. The truth is, that so far +from his political system having been hatched piecemeal in a way of +after-thought to serve exigencies of personal ambition, he started +with it ready made. His critics themselves unknowingly admit this in +one part of their clumsy strictures, since they can find events so +very recent as his naming of the Queen Empress of India, and his +appropriation of Cyprus, sketched in his early novels. But let me take +the very latest arraignment to which he has been summoned to plead +guilty--that of having invented "Imperialism" just to bolster himself +in office. As far back as 1849, which now is exactly thirty years ago, +in one of his greatest speeches after having fairly settled down as +the leader of his party, he used these words:--"I would sooner my +tongue should palsy than counsel the people of England to lower their +tone. I would sooner leave this House for ever than I would say to the +nation that it has overrated its position.... I believe in the people +of England and in their destiny." In his last Premiership he has +simply put those thirty-year-old utterances into practice. If he +had not done all he has done, he would have been false to the heroic +spirit of that far-back hour. On the hustings at Maidstone Mr. +Disraeli said, "If there is one thing on which I pique myself, it is +my consistency." Lord Beaconsfield in advancing age may repeat the +statement without varying it a syllable, though more than forty years +have elapsed between the times. + +The Peel-Disraeli episode has been for a long time now the chief +standard illustration of the political casuistry of our modern +Parliamentary history. Mr. Disraeli, those opposed to him will have +it, acted most cruelly in that matter. It is rather a curious thing +for a young member of Parliament to succeed in being cruel to the +most powerful Minister the House of Commons had seen for more than a +generation. If a giant is overthrown it must be rather the fault +of the colossus somehow, unless, that is, it be a bigger giant who +attacks him; and at that time of day, though Mr. Disraeli was growing +fast, he really was not yet of the same towering height as Peel. How +was it, then, that he succeeded in toppling over the great Minister? +Let me first of all say that the truth seems to be that Sir Robert +Peel's unlooked-for tragic death has given to his memory a pathetic +interest which has caused an unfair heightening of emotion in the +case. Neither all England, nor even the bulk of Parliament, was in +tears, busy with pocket-handkerchiefs, during the delivery of those +famous philippics. If pocket-handkerchiefs were used it was to wipe +away drops caused by laughter, for everybody was roaring from moment +to moment as each stroke told. Peel had taken up a position in +reference to his old supporters which was certain to entail attack; +the only thing special that Mr. Disraeli contributed to the assault +was the splendour of the wit which barbed it. Everything that he said +of Peel, allowing fairly for controversial exigencies, was strictly +true. Nobody wishes to revive those necessarily hard sayings now, +but it must be insisted upon for a second, in passing, that Peel had +treated his party as no Minister before him had ever done. It was the +exactest verity, as well as the keenest sarcasm, when Mr. Disraeli +charged him with having tried to steer his party right into the +harbour of the enemy. Mr. Disraeli was the man to feel this most of +any, for it is one of his leading principles that as this nation now +exists party in our constitution is an apparatus absolutely necessary +to be preserved. He has for a third of a century since then himself +unfailingly worked by that rule. But I scarcely need urge this part +of the matter further here, as another word bearing upon it will come +later. If Peel had lived on, he and his attacker would before the end +have come to terms amicably enough, as Mr. Disraeli has since done +with everybody else whom he has, from obligations of political duty, +had publicly to oppose. That is, unless they were stupid enough not +to remember his known determination that Parliamentary life should be +raised above the level of vestry proceedings, by being dignified by +a play of wit; or else were ill-conditioned enough, as some who have +held high place have been, not to meet his offered open palm when the +weapon was put back into the sheath. Peel himself would have had more +sense; so, too, the present bearer of his name has shown himself +to have. The rather idle statement that the Disraelian assault was +prompted out of spite at not being made an Under-Secretary may at +this time of day be, perhaps, passed over. Mr. Disraeli spoke with and +voted for Peel long after that supposed neglect, and though it may be +said that a spiteful man could nurse his revenge, it is just as true +that the most generous could have done nothing more than go on showing +respect and giving support just as Mr. Disraeli did. Further, no one +was prompter than he was with words of praise so soon as there +was opportunity for them. Indeed, the finest eulogy of Peel stands +recorded in the printed pages of the person who is charged with +pursuing him with unheard-of bitterness. The man who waited for office +till the day when he vaulted at once into the Chancellorship of the +Exchequer, was scarcely the one to be mightily offended, because, when +a first batch of appointments was distributed, an Under-Secretaryship +went by him. It was the leadership of his party for wise ends that Mr. +Disraeli was looking out for. + +Here again, however, it is unnecessarily restricting the consideration +of the point to speak of Mr. Disraeli's invective only in reference to +Peel. Acting on his maxim that it is the very ornament of debate, he +at one time or other has let the lightning of his tongue play around +everybody in Parliament who offered fit mark for it. Lord Russell was +scorched by it; so was Lord Palmerston. Mr. Roebuck, who in those +days was thought to have a bitter lip, got singed from it; and Mr. +Gladstone has felt its blaze wrapping around him often. He is, at this +moment, in fact, supposed to be showing some not very ancient scars +from it. But, occasionally even Mr. Disraeli's friends felt a more +lambent play of this glorious irony. It was he who told the late Earl +Derby that he was only "a Prince Rupert of debate," always finding +his camp in the hands of the enemy on returning from his irresistible +charges. He never objected to receive as good as he gave, if only any +one could be found to give it him. Only once in all his career did he +lose his temper--in the challenge arising out of the O'Connell affair; +and that was before he was in Parliament. While in the House, who was +there with steel of any temper that he did not try its edge? Sharp +blows were aimed back, and he always admitted when it was a palpable +hit; but who came up so often as he did--who was there that did not go +down before him at the last? Take Mr. Disraeli and Lord Beaconsfield +out of the record of the Parliamentary debating of the last forty +years, and what a darkening it would give--what a gap it would make! + +Something must now be said as to Lord Beaconsfield's systematic +political and social views. It is very certain that he has a system, +and it is also sure that he has never hidden what it is. Nobody has +been at such pains to make his views clear. He has written books in +explanation, as well as made speeches; he has illustrated the system +by fiction, besides backing it up by historical disquisition. Anybody +who chooses may learn what it is, and--as a great modification of +political feeling in this country shows--a vast number have done so, +by reading "Coningsby," "Sybil," and the preface to "Lothair." Indeed, +from this latter exposition itself, all that is vital may be inferred. +But the doctrine has of necessity some elaborateness, and asks +a trifle of thought. It cannot be hit off in as easy a way as +"Radicalism" can, where, when you have uttered the half-platitude, +half-sophism, "equality of man," you are supposed to have said +nearly everything. Lord Beaconsfield has always kept before him the +conception of a _community_, which he distinguishes from a mob, and +if he could get his own way in the matter he would have the society +highly organized; the keeping it real in every part, and strictly and +broadly popular in its entirety, being the only working limit that he +would prescribe to its institutional intricacy. + +This system, though on its being gradually promulgated it was held to +be Mr. Disraeli's very own, expressly denies for itself that it is in +any sense Disraelian at all. Lord Beaconsfield avows that he has found +it in history--in our own history. He is content to be regarded as +its discoverer, not its inventor. In a word, Lord Beaconsfield's great +claim upon his countrymen, as he himself puts it, is that he has again +brought to light and forced under the eyes of Englishmen their own +national chronicle. + +To begin with, it is his Lordship's firmly avowed belief that there +has been what may be called a break or rift in our great social +traditions. It is not difficult to see that he traces the causes of it +back to the violent subversal of the Church, which, he will have +it, was never in this country at any time in real danger of becoming +Papal. But I may take up the narrative somewhat later. With his own +inimitable terseness, he has thus described the three great evils +which afterwards made a social wreck of modern England: they were, he +says, Venetian politics, Dutch finance, and French wars. All these he +attributes to the Whig nobles. What is called the great Revolution, +which they so hugely turned to their glory and their profit, he, in +"Sybil," ascribes to the fear of those whom he calls "the great lay +impropriators" that King James intended to insist on the Church lands +being restored to their original purposes,--to wit, the education of +the people and the maintenance of the poor. They brought over William +of Orange, along with whom, he ironically says, England had the +happiness of receiving a Corn Law and the National Debt. But the Crown +itself was enslaved in the hands of the Whig families, who converted +themselves into a Venetian oligarchy; and, throwing off the natural +obligations of property, they borrowed money to defray the foreign +wars in which William was entangled before he left his own country. + +These are the historical premises from which Lord Beaconsfield's +views are all fundamentally derived. It is open to anybody to try to +disprove them; what they have got to do is simply to show that the +above alleged facts were not the true ones. But no one has done this +as yet. Coming down still later in his history, Mr. Disraeli, in +"Sybil," gave the following condensed description of the social +condition which had resulted,--"a mortgaged aristocracy, a gambling +foreign commerce, a home trade founded on a morbid competition, and a +degraded people." Here, again, the whole case is open to debate, but I +venture to think that he will be a bold man who denies that this was +a vivid picture of England at the moment Mr. Disraeli penned it. The +bold man, at any rate, did not present himself at the time. It was the +last item in that shocking list which fastened most on Mr. Disraeli's +imagination--"a degraded people." When writing "Sybil" he converted +himself into a Commissioner of Inquiry, and visiting the homes of +his humbler countrymen, painted them from sight on the spot. The +descriptions in those pages can never be forgotten of dwellings where +lived fever and consumption and ague as well as human beings; the +three first-named inhabitants being in fact the only tenants who +remained under the roofs long. With agitation unusual for him, but +most consistent in an upholder of the doctrine of race, he affirmed +that "the physical quality" of our people was endangered. But he +further found that in the manufacturing districts there was, to use +his own words, "no society, but only aggregation:" or, again to quote +him, "the moral condition of the people was entirely lost sight of." +Much of this, he believed, was due to the Church having failed in its +obligations. "The Church," he makes one of the characters in his story +say to another in it, "has deserted the people, and from that moment +the Church has been in danger, and the people degraded." + +At this point I may very rightly interpolate a remark which has not a +little explanatory value. Just in proportion to the importance +given in Lord Beaconsfield's system to the Church was his natural +disappointment at the failure, regarded from one side, of the +awakening going on within its borders at the time of the "Young +England" movement. A great part of his hopes rested on that stir. He +was expecting from those most prominent in it a grand resuscitation of +the Anglican Church, but in place of that he says Dr. (now +Cardinal) Newman and the other seceders "sought refuge in mediæval +superstitions, which are generally only the embodiment of pagan +ceremonies and creeds." Bearing this in mind, there ought not to be +much difficulty in understanding either Lord Beaconsfield's position +towards the Ritualists, or the course he took as to the Public Worship +Regulation Act. + +What was the remedy for this state of society into which England had +fallen? The cure which seemed natural to Mr. Disraeli was to revert to +the principles of our history. Practically, the first thing to be done +was to break up the political monopoly of the Whigs, and it was +this very task that he set himself to do. I have already extracted a +passage denouncing that party in the first election address he issued. +But here, too, he had no new course to strike out. He affirmed that +both Lord Shelburne and Mr. Pitt had attempted the same work long +before. Shelburne, he said, saw in the growing middle-class a bulwark +for the throne against the Revolution families; and Pitt, still +more determined to curb the power of the patrician party, created a +plebeian aristocracy, when they baffled his first endeavours, blending +it with the old oligarchy. It has not unlikely begun to dawn upon the +reader that Mr. Disraeli, holding these views, was himself a Reformer, +of a much more comprehensive kind even than the Radicals. True, Reform +as it actually had come about in 1832, most craftily manipulated as +it then was by the Whigs to their own advantage, skilfully snatching +profit out of what ought to have been a danger to them, was not his +notion. For part of what happened then he, indeed, with his usual +courage, blamed the Duke of Wellington and his colleagues. His own +party have had from no quarter criticism so severe as that he has +given them. If Lord Beaconsfield is in favour of an aristocracy, it +is because he is for making it actually "lead." He affirms that the +Tories, by their conduct in office, precipitated a revolution which +might have been delayed for half a century, and which need never have +occurred at all in so aggravated a form. All that he could do, all +that he has ever claimed to do, by his own partial Reform measure, was +to do away with part of the ill effects of that partisan move of the +other side, and to prevent fresh ill ones from being worked in just +the same way. But there ought to be given a still broader statement +of Lord Beaconsfield's political and social doctrines, and, perhaps, I +cannot do better than make with that view the following quotation from +the preface to "Lothair." He there explains that his general aims were +these:-- + + "To change back the oligarchy into a generous aristocracy + round a real throne; to infuse life and vigour into the Church + as the trainer of the nation, by the revival of Convocation, + then dumb, on a wide basis, and not, as has since been done, + in the shape of a priestly faction; to establish a commercial + code on the principles successfully negotiated by Lord + Bolingbroke at Utrecht, and which, though baffled at the + time by a Whig Parliament, were subsequently and triumphantly + vindicated by his political pupil and heir, Mr. Pitt; to + govern Ireland according to the policy of Charles I., and not + of Oliver Cromwell; to emancipate the political constituencies + of 1832 from sectarian bondage and contracted sympathies; to + elevate the physical as well the moral condition of the people + by establishing that labour required regulation as much as + property; and all this rather by the use of ancient forms + and the restoration of the past than by political revolution + founded on abstract ideas." + +This, he goes on to say, appeared to him at the beginning of his +career to be the course which the country required, and, he adds, that +it was one "which, practically speaking, could only with all +their faults and backslidings be undertaken and accomplished by a +reconstructed Tory party." + +If I were able to find room for bringing together from Lord +Beaconsfield's books and speeches detailed passages to illustrate this +summary, it would be seen what a coherent social scheme he has always +had present to his mind. The above hints, however, must serve. Any +one who, after reading them, thinks that there is any ground for the +electioneering cry the Liberals are trying to raise, that this is a +Minister who has no domestic policy, will show more stolidity than we +hope the bulk of the electors possess. Further on I will return for a +moment to this point. + +Let me go at once to the fourth topic I have allotted to myself--Lord +Beaconsfield's foreign policy. This policy, I need not say, is that, +of the Cabinet as well, but I am not in this paper writing of the +other members of the Government. It is not my purpose to trace the +history of the Eastern Question, that of the Afghan War, and the Zulu +embroglio. But there is one general aspect of these matters as to +which I must offer two or three comments in addition to what has been +before said about "Imperialism." A set attempt has been made, and is +pretty certain to go on being made all the time between now and the +elections--whether they come earlier or later--and to be then finally +repeated on the hustings, to give to Lord Beaconsfield the air of a +most belligerent, not to say a bloodthirsty, Minister, who, the moment +he got into office, began to peep about the world to see where he +could pick a quarrel, and who has especially acted defiantly towards +Russia. By way of preliminary, I may ask whether his past antecedents +show him to be a statesman of this hobgoblin type? Lord Palmerston +found no more unyielding opponent of his turbulent foreign policy than +Mr. Disraeli, who always contended that the effect of it was to draw +the national attention away from home reforms. When the question of +coast fortifications was before Parliament, Mr. Disraeli was among +the first to protest against panic; he it was who spoke of "bloated +armaments;" and on countless occasions he has raised his voice for +peace and retrenchment. In 1865 he publicly declared that since he +had had to do with politics he had known only one war which was +justifiable--that waged in the Crimea. But it may be said that it is +a common artifice for men in Opposition to preach peace. Let us, then, +turn specially to the Eastern Question, and see what grounds there are +for insinuating that Lord Beaconsfield has in that case concocted a +war policy for the purpose of exciting and dazzling the country, and +keeping himself in power. In 1843--which is now some time ago--in a +debate as to the production of papers on Servia, in which Sir Robert +Peel and Lord Palmerston were the chief orators, he made a speech +which contained this passage:--"What, then, ought to be the +Ministerial policy? To maintain Turkey by diplomatic action in such a +state that she might be able to hold independently the Dardanelles." +Why, this is the literal description of what he has done now. And we +have already seen that in 1865, twenty-two years after, the one only +war he approved was that which had been fought against Russia for this +very purpose. In the early stage of the negotiations which led to that +war, his complaint was that the Government was not vigorous enough +in defending Turkey. But, in 1857, there arose another occasion for +testing whether Mr. Disraeli's feelings naturally were for peace +or war. He opposed the war with China, and in the Persian affair he +denounced the Russophobia of Lord Palmerston--the very complaint from +which, we infer, the Liberals wish him to be understood to be himself +suffering now. Or take India as a test. According to the Duke of +Argyll and others, Lord Beaconsfield has an insatiable thirst for more +territory in that part of the world. Very strangely, it was he who +most condemned the annexation of Oude, going so far as to make a +motion for a Royal Commission to be sent out to India to inquire into +the condition of the people. When the contest between the Northern and +Southern States of America broke out, no public man regretted it more +than he did, and he was unfalteringly on the side of the North. + +In fact, only in one single case has Lord Beaconsfield ever shown the +slightest disposition for sacrificing peace, if need be--namely, for +the checking of Russia's portentous advance; and this has necessarily +implied the maintenance of Turkey in some degree of power. Twice in +his lifetime has the need arisen, and he has acted the second time +in just the same way that he did the first, the only difference +being that he happens now, fortunately, to be in office instead of in +Opposition. + +In his first speech in the Upper House, Lord Beaconsfield said--"The +Eastern Question involves some of the elements of the distribution of +power in the world, and involves the existence of empires. I plead +for a calm statesmanlike consideration of the question." In his second +great speech in that House, he made this remark,--"The independence +and integrity of Turkey is the traditional policy not only of England +but of Europe." This is the absolute truth. It is not he who has +invented any brand-new tactics in this matter; he has simply +stood upon the old paths, and carried on the settled habits of our +statesmanship. The innovators are Mr. Gladstone and the self-styled +humanitarians, who were for substituting hysterics for national +diplomacy, and thought to solve the Eastern Question by presenting the +Turk with a carpet-bag and begging him to retire with it into Asia. +But it is stated that Lord Beaconsfield has defied Russia. Well, turn +to the famous Guildhall speech, which is the great article in the +indictment. It suits his critics to pick words out of it to please +them; but it also contains sentences like the following, which they +somehow overlook,--"We have nothing to gain by war. We are essentially +a non-aggressive Power." In that same speech, too, he alluded to the +Emperor of Russia's "lofty character," addressing to him words of the +highest compliment. If he added a solemn warning to that monarch as to +the extent of England's resources if she was forced into war for +the cause of public right, he still was speaking in the interests of +peace, not war. It was his bounden duty to prevent the present Czar +from falling into the mistake his father was so fatally guided into by +the Manchester school--that of thinking England would in no case draw +the sword. Construe his words how you will, they amount to no more +than this. Mr. Gladstone and his friends, by their factitious public +demonstrations, partly did away with the natural effects of that grave +intimation, and made it necessary for the Government to prove its +seriousness by bringing troops from India, and actually risking the +very war which Lord Beaconsfield had wished to avoid. But the Premier +had the courage not only of his opinions but of a true policy, and he +has had his reward. He successfully checked the sinister progress of +Russia, restored the reign of public law in Europe, and while exalting +the renown of his own country, he has pointed another empire--that +of Austria--to a new career which will benefit the world as well as +strengthen and ennoble herself. After the alliance between Germany +and Austria-Hungary was proclaimed, only one thing was left for his +Lordship's opponents to go on repeating,--namely, that he had, in +upholding Turkey, spared no thought or feeling to the victims of her +rule. In the very face of this there was the fact that he had made +England the formal protector of the inhabitants of Asia Minor, and had +demanded Cyprus as a nearer point of observation of the Turk; but +the plain obvious meaning of those arrangements has been tried to be +muddled away by misrepresenting the protectorate of Asia Minor as a +new insult to Russia. These brave humanitarians got sorely entangled +in their logic on all sides. They pleaded in one breath that England +had rashly undertaken too much responsibility for these oppressed +peoples, and in the next breath said that nothing would ever come of +it. Lord Beaconsfield has made it all clear, and in the simplest way. +It is not fully explained at the moment of our writing what is the +actual extent of the pressure put upon the Porte, nor what precise +orders were sent to our admiral, but when the recent news was first +published here the opponents of the Ministry must have felt that Lord +Beaconsfield had ordered the British Fleet to sail against them when +they heard it was instructed to steam back for the Turkish waters. +Kindly meant as it might be for those in Asia Minor, it was a very +cruel step on the part of Lord Beaconsfield towards some of his +own countrymen, for it will necessitate the altering of a good many +already prepared electioneering speeches. In the end, as we venture to +predict, it will be seen that his Lordship and his colleagues are the +true humanitarians. + +But let me not lose sight of the fact that this, though a very real +plea on the part of the Government, is not the one on which they +mainly rely. They have never pretended to be knights-errant for the +righting of wrongs throughout the world. What contents them is the +humbler _rôle_ of old-fashioned English statesmanship, which seeks +first to make sure of the safety of our own empire and the promotion +of our proper interests, doing what further good it can to other +peoples incidentally in discharging the fair reasonable obligations +which may in that way arise, nor disdaining any glory that so falls +to it. But an enormous obligation of this sort was already on our +shoulders--the preservation of India. We have a strict duty to two +hundred millions of human beings in the East, and Lord Beaconsfield +and his colleagues, who appeared to be the only public men in England +who remembered this, were determined to discharge it. Anything and +everything in their policy which may at first sight seem risky +or belligerent is explained fully to every one who will keep that +pressing need before his mind. It was this which made them purchase +the Suez Canal shares, and strengthen their interference in Egypt; +it was this that made them wish for a clearer understanding with the +Ameer of Afghanistan. But so little did they go about matters with a +high hand, that they most carefully humoured France with respect to +Egypt, and at the very earliest moment that they could, they made a +treaty with a new Afghan ruler. To try to make them appear responsible +for what afterwards occurred at Cabul is the most shameless abuse of +license on the part of an Opposition which parliamentary records can +show. A Russian embassy had been installed in Cabul with no other +guarantee for its safety than the word of a friendly Ameer, and our +Envoy and his suite were sent thither under the very same guarantee. +If we were not to be most dangerously overshadowed by the Russian +example, an English embassy had to show its face in Cabul; and to say +that our rulers either in Calcutta or in London should have foreseen +the pusillanimous break-down of the Ameer and the consequent massacre +of our brave countrymen is--well, it may be better not further to try +to say what it is. + +Our own interests, I repeat, were jeopardized in every quarter where +the present Government has stirred hand or foot. That is its broad +justification. But I must certainly go a step farther than this. The +present Ministry assuredly would not be satisfied with an acquittal on +the Liberal arraignment; nor is that the verdict which the public has +given. The British people find this Government guilty of having won +for it and for themselves much honour. When Lord Beaconsfield saw that +in any event he was committed to a contest with Russia for the defence +of English interests, he had the courage and the wit to determine that +the issue of it should be the better for the world. It is for this +noble superfluity of skilful statesmanship, this Imperial scope given +to England's ruling, that Europe has thanked him, and the bulk of this +nation applauded him. By-and-by, he will reap still further credit, +for besides checking Russia he will eventually coerce the Turk. That +further obligation naturally arose out of the course he took, and he +added it to his proper task of safeguarding our own interests, just +as impartially as he did the other aim of arresting the Muscovite. +I shall not push this reasoning further: it seems to me sufficiently +triumphant as it stands. If Lord Beaconsfield has upheld the Turk, it +was because it was necessary, not because he admired him. But there +is another remark, coming much nearer home, that I wish to make before +concluding this section. + +The foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield has brought to him and to his +party much renown; but it has brought them nothing else. That +there has been the need for it is for the Conservatives a positive +misfortune. It has nearly entirely put aside the domestic legislation +on which they reckoned for at once redressing some grievances of their +own, and for satisfying the town populations who their true friends +were. Let it not be forgotten that it was on this very claim of having +a domestic policy that the Conservatives appealed to the people at the +last election. Their opponents, who now make a pretence of measures of +this kind being lacking, then denounced it loudly enough as a "policy +of sewage." But Lord Beaconsfield's rivals have tried hard to make +it seem that he sought out, or even invented, these hazardous events +abroad which put aside his home policy. The very attempt impugns the +common sense of the general public. A sort of pretext might have been +found for insinuating such a notion if Lord Beaconsfield had been +nearing the end of expending his Parliamentary majority by carrying +party measures. But to suppose that a Minister attaining power in +the triumphant way he did would wish to be plunged straightway into +foreign entanglements, is to imagine him stricken with idiocy. +Lord Beaconsfield had had far too much experience to make such a +preposterous mistake. He knew at the beginning, as he knows now, that +neither Minister nor party has much to gain in any way of permanent +power or confirmed home advantage from foreign policies, however +successful they may turn out to be. Foreign dangers are half-forgotten +as soon as they are past. Directly, these occurrences abroad will be +but memories; splendid ones they must ever remain: but they will have +against them, in the eyes of the unthinking, the drawback of +having necessarily, to some extent, disordered the finances. Lord +Beaconsfield's rivals are sure to make the most of that fact on the +hustings, as he well knew beforehand they would do; and, to balance +its effect, he will have nothing on which to rely but the patriotic +recollection of his country. Should everything go for the best, no +_prestige_ which these foreign successes can give him and his party +will place him more solidly in power than he found himself at the +beginning of this Parliament; yet it will only be at the opening of +the next that he will be able to push forward the home policy intended +for the present Parliament. Apart from a heightening of fortunate +reputation, won through much risk, his own party will scarcely have +gained a shred of fair legislative or administrative advantage from +six years' splendid possession of overwhelming power. + +It does not seem needful to waste space in speaking of the Zulu war. +Even the Liberals are beginning to be silent on the subject. The +affair was forced upon the Government, not sought for by them, and it +has ended successfully. + +If I now ask what have been the causes of Lord Beaconsfield's +unexampled individual success, the remarks must at first seem to +narrow to mere personal ones. There has, in truth, been more than one +reason for the present Premier's triumphs. First of all, I might +state the matter so generally as to say that for half a century he has +managed to keep himself the most thoroughly interesting personage +in England. Neither Mr. Disraeli nor Lord Beaconsfield has ever been +dull, which is the one only sufficient explanation of failure +wherever it happens. But such a statement of the matter as this is too +comprehensive and wants particularizing. I may add, then, that no one +has shown so much pluck as he has, and that is a quality which in the +end tells with the British public beyond all others. For one starting +with his disadvantage of race to dream in those days of a political +career was most courageous, but so soon as it began to be seen that he +would triumph over all obstacles, his very difficulties turned to his +advantage. He soon commanded everybody's sympathies except those +of injured partisans on the other side. Not that it was sympathy he +begged for; it was admiration he extorted. Especially has he by means +of his writings had the generous feeling of youth in his favour, +generation after generation. They can never remain untouched by +the spectacle of a successful fight against circumstances. But Lord +Beaconsfield has not owed all to dash and daring. His industry has +been equal to his pluck. If he had only been a politician that would +have had to be said; and so it again would if he had only been known +as the writer of his works. Put both the careers together and nobody +else has shown such fertility of brain. His marvellous intellect has +never tired. The versatility, too, has been marvellous: a novelist and +a diplomatist, a poet and a Chancellor of the Exchequer, a satirist +and a successful leader of Opposition. For fifty years, in one or +other of these characters, and often in several of them at once, his +wit has never ceased blazing, save when he himself, the only one who +ever tired of its play--except, indeed, those hit by it--has chosen +to smother it in silence; but it was always ready to flash forth upon +occasion, and is as bright to-day as ever. + +But, to come yet closer to the heart of the secret of Lord +Beaconsfield's success, his faithful devotion to the great historic +party he allied himself with has been equal to his courage, to his +industry, and to his abilities. No politician can make an individual +career; he has to find his success in the prosperity of his followers. +The loyalty which Lord Beaconsfield has shown to his party and the +ungrudging recognition they have paid to him has half-redeemed the +hardness of our coarse partisan politics. Some Liberals have had the +want of wit, without our going so far as to say the lack of capability +of feeling, to express surprise at the faithful respect shown to Lord +Beaconsfield by his present colleagues. That Lord Beaconsfield has a +personal charm must be admitted, for he has turned every one who was +ever brought into any degree of nearness with him into a friend, as +well as a colleague. Those who like may believe that he has done it +by the use of magic philtres; less credulous people will, perhaps, +content themselves with thinking that his spell has been simply that +of strength of character, superior experience, and a non-despotic +manner. One thing is very patent. This chief of a Cabinet who is said +to have imprinted everywhere his own individuality on the Ministerial +policy, has never practised the slightest interference with his +subordinates. It is not he who has been charged with an uncontrollable +wish to be the representative of all the Ministry in his own person. +Just as he could show patience when a leader of Opposition, he has +been able to be silent when a Minister. However, it has been rather +insinuated that he became preternaturally active in the Cabinet +Councils--there standing forth a wizard, and cast all his colleagues +into a clairvoyant slumber. Strange to say, they remained in the same +comatose condition afterwards in both Houses, never waking up though +speaking and passing measures. Two members of his Government, however, +have broken away--Lords Derby and Carnarvon have escaped from the +magician's cell; but they have divulged nothing as to any necromantic +violence worked on them. No, Lord Beaconsfield's fair and reasonable +ascendency has been more honestly won. But his marvellous friendships +have not been the only softening touches in his career. All England +felt a strange thrilling about the heart on the morning when it +heard that Mr. Disraeli's wife was henceforth to be the Viscountess +Beaconsfield. It was a domestic idyll suddenly disclosed in the centre +of British politics. A man who can make his own hearth the scene of +romance, convert all who know him well into true friends, and win +all the young people of a nation, must be something more than a +self-seeker. + +Still, though these things might explain Lord Beaconsfield being so +interesting, something else has yet to be added to account for the +overwhelming importance which he has attained in the last period of +his career. Not even the success of his party could have given him +that unless the policy which secured this prosperity had obtained, +also, the exalting of the nation. + +It is this which is his final boast; he has uplifted higher the fame +of England, and by doing that has made his own renown the greater. +Once more, it was achieved in the simplest way. He invented nothing, +strained at nothing, but only boldly carried on the traditionary +English policy, at a moment when his opponents were willing to forget +it; and in merely proving equal to the opportunity, and daring to make +Britain act worthily of her history, he has changed by her means the +destiny of the Western World. Not only his own countrymen, but Europe +and nations more distant still, to-day hail him as the greatest of +modern English statesmen. That is a title and dignity somewhat higher +than an Earldom, and it is under that larger style that those who +wish to do Lord Beaconsfield full honour will have to allude to him +hereafter in the national annals. + +These are some of the reasons why we honour and follow him. + + A TORY. + + +II.--WHY WE DISBELIEVE IN HIM. + +If a Whig had been asked ten or a dozen years ago, or indeed six years +back, to write his impressions of Mr. Disraeli, he would have set +about it in a strikingly different spirit from that which the task +awakens now. Lord Beaconsfield has recently become much too serious +a joke in the national history, but for a very long time the jocosity +was light enough. In the eyes of all Liberals who had not fully +acquired the gravity of their own fundamental principles, there was, +down to a very late period, always something diverting about Mr. +Disraeli. He might and did vex them, but shortly they were again +smiling at him. The explanation was this, that for a long time his +presence in Parliament hardly at all hindered the progress of Liberal +measures. Whenever a legislative reform was proposed, he invariably +spoke against it, and at some stage afterwards the Conservatives +voted in a body the same way. From the voting being subsequent to +the speaking, there was an illusive appearance of Mr. Disraeli's +speechifying being the cause of the Tory division list. But, in +reality, there was no such connection, and the Liberals were aware +of it. They all knew that the Conservatives would have voted just +the same without a word being spoken. If, during all the years Lord +Palmerston was in power, almost the whole of Lord Russell's +earlier and later official terms, and down to nearly the end of Mr. +Gladstone's Ministry, Mr. Disraeli, instead of making speeches, had +amused his audience by pirouetting on one leg night after night, the +practical result would have been exactly the same. It could not have +been so entertaining to the Liberals, because, looking at some members +of the Conservative party, it would have exceeded the bounds of +belief to suppose that Mr. Disraeli was really twirling for the whole, +whereas it did somehow come to be accepted that he was speaking for +all of them. The unlooked-for thoughts he pretended to put into their +minds, and the preposterous words he did put upon their lips, kept +all Englishmen who were not Conservatives shaking their sides with +laughter. It was as if a foreign Will-o'-the-Wisp had strayed into the +British Parliament, always, however, keeping himself and his antics on +the Conservative side, as being, we suppose, the worst-drained part of +the House, where the morasses lay. Even when, to the amazement of +the country generally, Mr. Disraeli found his way into office, the +merriment did not stop. Nobody who has reached mature years can forget +what an astounding drollery it was thought to be when Mr. Disraeli was +made Chancellor of the Exchequer by Lord Derby. For the time it seemed +to convert English politics into pantomime. Will-o'-the-Wisp had been +asked by the country party to undertake the post of chief financier. +Everybody on the other side was prepared beforehand to laugh at his +Budgets; and, when they were propounded, the Liberals did laugh a +little more even than they had expected to do. When he brought in +his India Bill, the merriment grew perfectly uproarious,--Manchester, +Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast, and the other large commercial towns +exploding one after the other. It was the same when he proposed to +give sixteen millions for Irish railways; it was the same with the +first sketches of his Reform Bill. Surely nobody can have forgotten +the "fancy franchises?" In a word, every domestic measure that +Mr. Disraeli ever proposed was, in the first shape in which it was +presented, received with mirth from nearly every quarter excepting +his immediate rear. There sat his supporters, usually in those years +wearing rather long faces during the earlier period of the statements, +and apparently wondering if their ears could possibly be telling them +rightly. + +But all this, as there is not a single Liberal in the country but will +admit, is a good deal altered. Lord Beaconsfield has recently signed +foreign treaties on England's behalf, insisting most successfully, he +tells us, on what kind of treaties they should be; he has undoubtedly +put our armies and fleets into motion; and, while risking war in +Europe, has actually waged it in Asia and Africa. The bustle of these +events, and a certain dazzle and glitter attending them, cause people +in general, at this moment, to forget all that prior long period of +non-success on his part in everything else but making successive +steps of personal advancement. What has happened lately in Lord +Beaconsfield's career has certainly worn a look of importance, and +it has undoubtedly embodied political power. If, as the Liberals will +have it, he is still really Will-o'-the-Wisp as much as ever, he has +managed to get hold of the sword of England, and has for some time +been playing with it to the great wonder of foreign nations. But how +has this change in his position been worked? This is the question I +want now to consider. + +A Hebrew by descent, a Christian by profession, and in politics a +Tory--such is Lord Beaconsfield. This description, on the very face +of it, is a rather mixed one, and implies a singular career. It +is, however, the last item which specially fixes my attention. Mr. +Disraeli, sparse though the instances are, was not the first of his +race who changed his faith. Also, there have been, and indeed still +are, other Hebrews who have entered public life in England, and +attained conspicuousness in it. But those, while remaining nearly +invariably Jews in religion, became Liberals in politics. In fact, +Lord Beaconsfield is the only Hebrew of importance known who turned +Tory. It was--and at first sight it gives a highly religious air to +the Conservative party--indispensable to his doing this that he should +first be a Christian. Not being that he would indeed have had to +wait till the Liberals carried their Bill for the Removal of Jewish +Disabilities before he could have joined the Conservatives inside +Parliament. That circumstance, again, seems to give to his career a +curious aspect. In fact, the reflection is forced upon one so early as +this,--what an utter failure Mr. Disraeli must have been if he had +not so amazingly succeeded! To be a Hebrew-Tory left just two issues, +either to become the leader of the party or the very humblest member +of it. All the circumstances would seem to point to the latter +alternative as being the natural one, but it is the other which +has somehow come about. Mr. Disraeli has flowered into the Earl of +Beaconsfield, and has now twice been, and will remain for a little +time longer, the Prime Minister of Great Britain. + +Mr. Disraeli did not wait for his celebrity until he entered the House +of Commons; he gathered the renown of authorship, and I might add, +remembering the number of constituencies he tried before he was +elected, the notoriety of out-door political life, before he plucked +the fame of statesmanship. At the early age of twenty-two he was a +literary lion in London society; his only claim to this premature +publicity, though it was held to be quite sufficient, being that he +was the writer of "Vivian Grey." It is quite impossible to begin to +speak of Lord Beaconsfield in any other way than in connection with +"Vivian Grey," although he is understood not altogether to approve of +one's doing so. + +All the world knows, or is supposed to know, this work. Mr. Disraeli's +own description of its object was that it was meant to paint the +career of a youth of talent in modern society, ambitious of political +celebrity. Nearly everybody has persisted in regarding it as a kind +of prospective autobiography, which the writer has ever since been +occupied in realizing. Certainly Mr. Disraeli was at that time a +youth, and a youth of talent; he must have been in society or he could +not have known a great many people who are sketched in the pages; and +it is impossible for him to deny that he was ambitious of political +celebrity. The means Vivian Grey adopted for attaining that aim +were, also, wonderfully like some of those which Mr. Disraeli himself +afterwards, by some mistake, appeared to use. On the title-page of the +book was the well-known quotation from "Ancient Pistol," to whom, in +the eyes of some people, Lord Beaconsfield at certain moments of his +career has ever had an indistinct resemblance. "The world is mine +oyster," the motto stated, either on behalf of the writer or the hero; +going on to add the rest, to the effect that either the one or the +other meant to open it. Lord Beaconsfield has assuredly done so. The +profound reflection which prompts the youthful hero of the book to his +course of action was this:--"How many a powerful noble wants only wit +to be a Minister; and what wants Vivian Grey to attain the same end? +That noble's influence." Not many years after this Mr. Disraeli was +seen in public very close to Lord Chandos. But it was not that Lord +but Lord Carabas that Vivian Grey chose for his patron, which is, no +doubt, a difference. The story most frankly relates how Vivian wins +the marquis by teaching him how to make tomahawk punch, how he wins +the marchioness by complimenting her poodle, and how during the task +he consoles himself by such thoughts as this:--"Oh, politics, thou +splendid juggle!" His settled purpose he thus sums up: "Mankind, then, +is my great game." He expressly states that he is to win this game +by the use of his "tongue," on which he states he is "able to perform +right skilfully;" but it will, he recognises, be requisite "to mix +with the herd" and to "humour their weaknesses." The chief guiding +rule which he lays down for himself in the midst of it all is, "that +he must be reckless of all consequences save his own prosperity." + +There are people who still believe that in all this they see sketched +the very determinations, maxims, and rules which are to be found +deliberately carried out in Mr. Disraeli's actual career. It +is perplexing. The parallel, they assert, runs into the closest +correspondence of detail. Vivian Grey's model author is Bolingbroke; +and everybody knows that he, also, was Mr. Disraeli's. The young +man in the book shows his reverential admiration for Bolingbroke by +inventing a few passages and putting them into that personage's mouth +for the better bamboozling of Lord Carabas; and it is known that Mr. +Disraeli, at different periods of his life, has taken passages from +other people and put them into his own mouth. But I cannot pursue this +comparison or contrast, or whatever it is, farther: it will be better +seen as I go on, what grounds people have had for beholding Mr. +Disraeli in Vivian Grey. For the present it is enough to say, that it +was Mr. Disraeli, and not Vivian Grey, who wrote this book. So much as +that is quite certain. A fiction of the kind above briefly hinted at +was the first fruit of Mr. Disraeli's intellect; it was in penning +those pages of caricature of everybody who was notable in London +society that he expended the first fresh enthusiasm of his mind, and +displayed the earlier untainted innocence of his disposition. Lord +Beaconsfield has spoken of it as a book written by a boy. It was that +which made it so marvellous. This boy began with satire, and it +might have been predicted that the juvenile would develop into an +exceptional man. + +It was not until 1837, when Mr. Disraeli was about thirty-three years +old, that he entered Parliament. Maidstone had the honour of finding +him his first seat, though he had been willing to represent three +other boroughs previously, if there had not been reluctance on the +part of the constituencies. High Wycombe saw his earliest appearance +on the hustings, and, indeed, it beheld him as a candidate more than +once, but never as a member. He also offered himself to Marylebone. By +some mistake it was supposed that in these instances he came forward +as a Radical. Certainly his addresses spoke of short Parliaments, the +ballot, and other measures commonly held to be Liberal. Mr. Joseph +Hume, Mr. O'Connell, and Sir F. Burdett fell under the delusion, and +wrote letters recommending him, though they afterwards withdrew them. +But when, a little later, Mr. Disraeli contested Taunton as a Tory he +explained it all. It seems that it arose out of a mystification. +From the first he really stood as an "Anti-Whig," which the Liberals +thought meant a Radical; and Mr. Disraeli, not wishing unnecessarily +to disturb their minds, had let them go on thinking so. However, there +was no doubt whatever as to his politics long before he was finally +successful at Maidstone. He had become intimate with Lord Chandos, +and had had his name toasted at banquets by the Aylesbury farmers as +a friend of the agricultural interest. The whole question is one +scarcely worth debating. I myself believe that the proper description +of Mr. Disraeli at this time was not strictly either that of Radical +or Tory; his accurate designation would have run,--"An intending +politician determined somehow to get into Parliament, and looking +eagerly for the first opening." Let me also add that, from a review +of all his tastes, I further believe that he would have preferred the +opening to offer on the Tory side, if only it had come soon enough. + +The early part of Lord Beaconsfield's Parliamentary life will have +to be compressed into a very brief space. Where would be the good of +re-opening in any detail the closed story of those stale politics, +all as dead as Queen Anne herself; or where the use of treating Mr. +Disraeli's doings as very seriously forming part of those politics? +He simply availed himself of his opportunities. For all practical +purposes I might nearly skip--strange as that at first sight seems--to +his second term of office in the post of Premier. It is only during a +comparatively very few of these later years that Lord Beaconsfield has +been of real importance in our politics. Of course, he had always +much significance for his party, but it is of the nation I am speaking +here. These individual tactics have only any general interest now +through their making him successively Conservative leader, Chancellor +of the Exchequer, and Prime Minister. Nothing in this world, I should +say, would be more tedious than tracing, for example, how Mr. Disraeli +trimmed and tacked between Protection, Reciprocity, Revision of +Taxation in the interests of the farmers, and a recognition of Free +Trade. It all resulted in nothing; at least, the one single result +it has brought forth has been--Lord Beaconsfield. But if a detailed +retrospect of his lordship's earlier career would now have this dreary +aspect, it was at the time lively enough, from moment to moment, not +only on account of his debating smartness, but owing to a certain +drollery which it for a long time wore. + +A Minister, plainly, must get both his glory and his power from either +domestic measures or from foreign policy. Very curiously, considering +all the facts of Lord Beaconsfield's history down to the beginning of +this last term of office, it was only to home matters that he should +have looked for any distinction. An impression seems oddly to have +popularized itself that he has a special genius for foreign affairs, +and an enormous acquaintance with diplomacy. I can only say, that five +years ago nobody knew it. The real truth is, that he had never any +opportunities before of meddling with events abroad, and that we have +been represented in these recent foreign complications by a Minister +who, to that very moment, had had less to do with diplomacy than any +English Premier for fully three-quarters of a century. + +Lord Beaconsfield's mind has always been occupied with home affairs, +and his characteristic views on these come from the quarter whence it +is supposed all truth has been derived--the East. He somehow picked +them up during two years of travel in those parts, from 1829 to 1831. +About the former date, Mr. Disraeli's first brilliant but very brief +literary success was over. He had published a second part of "Vivian +Grey," which the public somehow was too busy to read; and had issued +a further work of satire, "Popanilla," which it also neglected to +buy. Mr. Disraeli immediately vanished into the Orient. When, after +visiting Jerusalem, and lingering, as he tells us, on the plains of +Troy, he returned to these shores, he brought back with him the Asian +Mystery and a whole apparatus of political and social principles. He +had also some manuscripts, which did not turn out to be of so much +importance--"Contarini Fleming" and "The Young Duke." It was the most +surprisingly fruitful voyage of discovery that any traveller ever +made. Years elapsed before all the principles were given to the world, +but Mr. Disraeli had them by him. Some of them are, indeed, hinted +at as early as 1835, when he issued his "Vindication of the English +Constitution," before he was in Parliament. Still, the system was not +divulged in its entirety until he was in the House, and had founded +what became known as the "Young England School." It is to the series +of political novels which he then wrote that we must turn for the +complete exposition of his fundamental ideas. Somehow, it has always +seemed to everybody the most natural and fitting thing in the world +that Mr. Disraeli should have corrected the inaccuracies of our +national history, and shown our social fallacies, by writing works of +fiction. The instruction with which he began the new training of the +public was this--that our history is, in all the latter part of it, +entirely wrong. In "Sybil," he thus gives his general opinion of the +way in which it has been written:--"All the great events have been +distorted, most of the important causes concealed, some of the +principal characters never appear, and all who figure are so +misunderstood and misrepresented that the result is a complete +mystification." + +Assuredly if this, or anything like it, was the state of things, Mr. +Disraeli had not discovered it one moment too soon, and he was more +than justified in making it known. On all the points named in the +above summary he supplies most important rectifications. It seems that +the people of this country, in so far, that is, as they were not the +merest tools of their rulers, were under an entire mistake as to Rome +wanting any domination in England in Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth's +time; and that, strange to say, they also again fell into exactly +the same delusion at the expulsion of James I. Mr. Disraeli puts the +people who lived at those times right on these matters. But it was +a section of nobles who at the latter juncture were to blame; those, +namely, who had been enriched by the spoliation of the Church. +Mr. Disraeli, indeed, gives the very simplest explanation of the +Revolution of 1688. He states that the great Whig families were afraid +that King James meant to reapply the Church lands to the education +of the people and the support of the poor, and, in their alarm, they +brought over Prince William, who gladly came, since it was only in +England that he could reckon on being able to borrow money enough +to carry on his failing war against France. In and from that hour +happened the catastrophe which overwhelmed the English people--the +Crown became enslaved by a Whig oligarchy. What Mr. Disraeli styles +Venetian politics rushed in upon us, and these, by the aid of what +he further calls Dutch finance--that is, the incurring of a National +Debt--made foreign commerce necessary, and increased the obligation of +home industry; nearly, as might be expected, ruining everything. + +All the more modern period of our history had been, he in the most +wonderful way explains, a fight to the death between these fearful +Whig nobles on the one hand, and, on the other, a struggling heroic +Crown and some enlightened patriotic Tory peers. The true incidents of +this dark and stupendous conflict had never been clearly observed +by the people in general at the time, nor had the real events been +recorded in any of the common chronicles. But, as any one will be +ready to allow, Mr. Disraeli could not be blamed for this. What was +especially to his credit was that he had himself found out that the +real ruler of England, in the era immediately preceding his own, was a +certain Major Wildman, whom nobody before Mr. Disraeli had ever in the +least suspected of wielding supreme power. I cannot stay to give the +details of this portentous disclosure, but anybody may find them +in Lord Beaconsfield's surprising pages. But in spite of superhuman +exertions in the cause of the people by Lord Shelburne, and after +him Mr. Pitt, the wicked Whigs always triumphed; the crowning act of +duplicity on their part being, in fact, the passing of the Reform Bill +of 1832. + +The above is a highly condensed, but strictly accurate summary of +Lord Beaconsfield's version of our national history. Any reader by +the slightest rummaging in his own mind will know how far his own +impressions agree with it. But this is only his Lordship's instruction +of us as to facts: I must proceed to state the principles of action he +founds upon them. Here, however, I find myself brought up a little. +If the whole truth is to be spoken, this further task is more easily +announced than performed. Mr. Disraeli, in those early days, assuredly +made a great appearance of stating his political opinions; but it +almost seems as if a novel, after all, is not the best means of +expounding political doctrine. The more you attempt to lay hold of +these principles the more they somehow show a lack of exactness. But +let me try. + +He again and again affirms that he is for our having a "real throne," +which he asserts should be surrounded by "a generous aristocracy;" +and he wishes, moreover, for a people who shall be "loyal and +reverentially religious." All this certainly sounds as if it meant +something very satisfactory. It is only when you try to penetrate into +it that your over-curiosity leads to perplexity. Neither Mr. Disraeli +nor Lord Beaconsfield has ever definitely explained, for example, how +far a throne being "real" means that he or she sitting upon it shall +have a personal veto. All that you can quite clearly make out as to +securing "generousness" in the aristocracy is that they shall not be +Whigs; you may suppose that they ought to be, and, in fact, no doubt +would be, Tories. Pushed strictly home, it would seem to be implied +that every peer who holds property which once belonged to the Church +should be stripped of it, and it might be construed to mean that they +should become commoners. Then, as to the people at large, how are they +to be made loyal and religious, since it seems that they are +neither of these now? From not the least important parts of Lord +Beaconsfield's teaching, the first step logically to be taken with +this view would be to ask the vote back from all of them who now have +it. His own Household Franchise Bill will have given more work to +do in this way. But the passing of that mysterious measure has been +explained,--it was, at the moment, a necessary piece of party tactics. +Strictly regarded, the explanation points to the conclusion that, if +it could be done safely, the Act ought to be revoked to-morrow. But, +certainly, it was no such measure as that he relied upon for elevating +the condition of the people. What he did depend upon for doing it he +has specified, and it is this,--the revival of Church Convocation on +a particular basis, of which he knows the exact measurement. Possibly +the reader, if he is not a political partisan, is growing puzzled. +"Was nothing else," he may ask, "proposed in the Disraelian system for +the cure of popular evils?" This, certainly, was not the whole of what +it included some mention of. For example, the preface to "Lothair" +states that one of Lord Beaconsfield's aims always was the +establishment of what he terms "a commercial code on the principles +successfully negotiated by----" No, it was not by Cobden and Bright, +for it will be remembered Lord Beaconsfield did not adhere to +that: but the full sentence runs,--"successfully negotiated by Lord +Bolingbroke at Utrecht." He farther states that it is a principle with +him that labour requires regulating no less than property. I myself +cannot assert that I ever met with any one who professed to understand +what this means; but "labour," and "regulating," and "property" are +very good words, and if there has not been a great waste of language, +the remark must signify a good deal. His system, also, does really +make allusion to the electorate, for it specifies as another of his +cherished purposes, "the emancipation of the constituencies of 1832." +Other people used, in an old-fashioned way, to talk of enfranchising +non-electors; but it is the voters that Lord Beaconsfield is for +emancipating. The two most definite statements of his political +theory are to be found in "Sybil," where he makes Gerard say that +"the natural leaders of the people, and their only ones, are the +aristocracy;" and adds, through the mouth of somebody else, that "the +Church has deserted the people," to which he attributes their having +become "degraded." + +One of Lord Beaconsfield's very strongest points has always been this +physical and moral degradation of the people. He has talked about it +so much that it has nearly seemed that he had got some plan for doing +something for it. In the sketches he gives in "Sybil" of the homes in +Marner, the dens in which the working classes dwell, and the squalor +of their condition, he nearly touches the heart. It somehow has +an effect almost identical with the sentiment of the most advanced +Liberal politics until you come to the remedies proposed. The use +which Lord Beaconsfield makes of the towns in his teaching is worth +noting. Any one who scrutinizes it closely will see that his ideal +social system is the rustic one of the country parish, taking always +for granted that it is perfect; and he kindly goes for examples of +social failure to the towns,--the origin and condition of which, +according to all strict reasoning, he must be supposed to attribute to +the Whig nobility. How accurately this fits in with what is known of +the development of modern manufactures every reader will know. + +If anybody should say that he cannot see any accuracy in the +above version of the national history, and that there is no real +applicability to our affairs in such a system, or, as such an one +would perhaps style it, pretended system of politics, I can only +reply that if he is under the impression that he is an admirer of +Lord Beaconsfield, then this is very sad. For these are certainly Lord +Beaconsfield's views of our history and the scheme of his politics. +Neither of them, I will venture to add, surprises me. It seems to me +that if a political Will-o'-the-Wisp, such as the Liberals for so long +a time would make out Lord Beaconsfield to be, got into the top-boots +and heavy coat of an English squire, these are just the historical +conclusions and political generalizations which he would make, when +he began trying to think like a country gentleman; and, for anything +I can say, he would make them with a certain sincerity, that kind of +ratiocinative working being natural to the Will-o'-the-Wisp intellect, +when smitten with a passion for Parliamentary life and an aspiration +for counterfeiting philosophy. Moreover, both the home politics and +the foreign policy seem to me exactly to fit; they really each display +like qualities of mind, and I can see no reason for any one who can +accept the latter stickling at the former. If what is really at the +bottom of the objection is, as I suspect it is, a feeling that there +is something flimsy, artificial, flashy about either, or both, the +politics and the policy, is not that asking too much from the light +glittering source I have described? The Liberals have always done Lord +Beaconsfield the justice of never expecting more than this from him, +and he, on his side, has never disappointed their expectations. If +they had not previously thought much of him in connection with foreign +policy, never in fact believing that he would actually preside at a +critical juncture long enough for that question much to signify, there +is not a person in our party who would not have known beforehand that +any foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield, if the occasion for one +ever came, would be one of dazzle--Jack-o'-Lantern diplomacy and +Will-o'-the-Wisp home politics rightly belonging to one another. +The bright and bewildering flashes have now for a long time been +ceaselessly playing here and there all over Europe from the direction +of London; now hitting St. Petersburg; now gilding Berlin; then +flickering over Constantinople; flaming terribly at Cabul; quivering +at the Cape; striking Egypt at short intervals; and shimmering their +mildest at Paris. The activity, as was likely in such a case, has been +unprecedented. My own conviction is that Lord Beaconsfield has amazed, +perplexed, it may be astounded, foreign diplomatists throughout Europe +quite as much as he has done any of his opponents at home. + +What fitness, I should like to ask, has Lord Beaconsfield ever shown +for appreciating the great events which, during his time, have +gone forward in the world. During this generation, two stupendous +rearrangements of States, completely recasting all the international +relationships of Western Europe, have taken place--the unification +of Italy and the transformation of Prussia into a German Empire. +Political earthquakes like those do not come about all in a moment; +these two were, in fact, long in preparation; there were throes, there +were signs, there were symptoms. Some English statesmen--we could name +several on the Liberal side--read the intimations rightly. But +what subtle diplomatic sensitiveness did they challenge in Lord +Beaconsfield--what preternaturally quick prognostications had he +of the foreign marvels that were about to happen? Look first to the +Prussian transformation. He severely blamed Chevalier Bunsen for +indulging what he styled "the dreamy and dangerous nonsense called +German nationality." Turn to Italy. Lord Beaconsfield characterized +the earliest attempts of those patriots determined to win back +national life or die as "mere brigandage." He spoke of the "phantom +of a United Italy." All the world knows that so late even as the +publication of his novel, "Lothair," he was under the impression that +everything that had happened in the Italian peninsula and in Sicily +was the work of a few secret societies, of whom Garibaldi was the +figure-head. Take another example. He glossed over the former policy +of the Austrian rulers towards Hungary, as innocent as the youngest +baby in any cradle in any of our embassies, of discerning that in a +few years it would be Hungary that would dominate the empire. In fact, +Lord Beaconsfield has never shown the slightest true prevision of +anything that was to happen abroad. But I must not be so unfair as +to forget that Lord Beaconsfield took the side of the North in the +American Civil War. Accidents will happen at times in the play of any +kind of intellect; and this, at the very moment, had something of the +appearance of being an abnormality of the Disraelian mind. When you +look into the instance more closely, it proves not fully to contradict +the other cases. Mr. Disraeli uttered a prophecy as to the future +of America, and it was this: "It will be a mart of arms, a scene of +diplomacies, of rival States, and probably of frequent wars." +The result has vindicated his Lordship--nothing of the sort has +happened.[1] Come, however, still nearer home. The French Commercial +Treaty, which was the first practical attempt to bring the peoples +on each side of the Channel into real intercourse, sure to make +them permanent friends in the end, was urgently opposed by Lord +Beaconsfield. It was towards him that Mr. Cobden had to turn at +every stage of his nearly superhuman labours to see what was the next +obstacle he would have to set himself to try and overcome. + +I venture to say that the foreign policy of such a Minister is certain +to end in being one of isolation. Jack-o'-Lantern is always so busy +in converting all he does into some private business of his own, that, +by-and-by, he is sure to be alone in the transaction. Let us test the +diplomatic situation as it now stands, by this rule, and, if it turns +out that the English diplomacy has really established concert on our +part with anybody, it will have of necessity to be admitted by me that +I have been quite wrong in all that is said above. The position I take +up is that a Will-o'-the-Wisp could not in his movements bring himself +to coincide long enough with anybody else's activity to give any such +result. + +France is nearer to us than any other Continental Power, not only +geographically but politically. How has the recent foreign policy +turned out with respect to her? Our very first diplomatic move, +that of hastily snatching at the Suez Canal shares, risked our +understanding with France entirely. We do not hear much about Egypt +now from the supporters of the Government. There are good reasons for +it. Nothing could possibly have resulted worse than everything we did +in that quarter. France did not allow a march to be stolen upon her; +and the next moment we had Italy on our hands as well as France. +But come to the Berlin Conference. France there, in pursuance of a +traditional policy, backed up Greece. Lord Beaconsfield stood quite +aloof from France. Come down to the very latest moment. The alliance +between Germany and Austria is the one recent occurrence which is +of all others most distasteful to Frenchmen, and Lord Salisbury, on +behalf of his chief, not merely goes into slightly profane raptures +over it, but works hard to create the impression that they two, +indirectly though not directly, brought it about. This is how matters +have been made to stand between us and France. With respect to Germany +and Austria-Hungary, our Government is, of course, not within their +arrangements, but, practically there seems to be an outside relation +implied. Those two Powers are understood to reckon upon England as in +some way restraining France if Russia made any move. At any rate, if +France joined Russia, it is whispered, we should have to do something +which would somehow aid Austria and Germany. Why, Chancellor +Bismarck's chuckling at this position of things can distinctly be +heard all the way from Varzin. Prince Gortschakoff is by no means the +one at whom he is laughing hardest. Nothing need be said, I suppose, +as to our relations with Russia: it is the special boast of our +Government that in the case of the greatest Asiatic Power next to +ourselves they have prevented any understanding at all. Just so, too, +we have alienated Greece and the newly-formed Principalities. But +there is Turkey. All that we have done has told in her favour,--surely +we are at one with her? Lord Beaconsfield has just countermanded the +orders to our fleet to get up steam and direct the muzzles of its +guns towards Turkey. But a wonderful success, we are told, has already +resulted from this. What does the recent flourish of telegrams really +amount to? That the Porte has added one more sheet to the plentiful +waste-paper heap of its proclamations. What our people were known to +desire was a change of Minister: and Turkey, in place of that, offers +to name Baker Pasha to look after the moral and social improvement of +Asia Minor. The test of whether it is Will-o'-the-Wisp, or an ordinary +statesman, who is at the head of our affairs gives the result I +anticipated. England stands absolutely alone, and the last touch of +preposterousness is added to the situation by the statement that it +was at the advice of Russia that the Porte pretended to yield to our +demands, and that though the Northern Powers are getting into motion +again for some ends of their own, they do not in the least intend to +meddle with us in Asia Minor. Indeed, I should think not. A splendid +morass lies in that part of the world, with Turkey on one side and +Russia on the other, and Jack-o'-Lantern has led us right into the +middle of it. That is the present issue of the Beaconsfield foreign +policy which was to have produced European concert,--we have Asia +Minor on our hands, solitarily; and are going to set about immediately +reforming it, before the next elections, against the willingness of +Turkey, but with the sanction of Russia, and by the means of Baker +Pasha. In the meantime, or at any time, Russia may use the situation +against us just as best suits her. + +I think it will now be admitted that Lord Beaconsfield's foreign +policy is every whit as wonderful as the measures of home politics he +ought to be urging, if he was only at liberty for that; and further, +that they both bespeak exactly the same order of mind. + + * * * * * + +I must now try to bring together the personal impressions his Lordship +makes on the mind of a Liberal. The noble Earl is very brilliant. +That, of course, is accepted on all sides: there never was a member +of the Wisp family who was not. Not to be brilliant would be against +their nature; in fact, shine is their peculiarity. Moreover, standing +now behind the event, we seem to see Lord Beaconsfield in Mr. Disraeli +from the very beginning. Those who had the privilege of beholding him +on his very first appearances in London high society, in, say, the +Countess of Blessington's _salon_, where he would be grouped with +Count D'Orsay, Prince Napoleon, and Count Morny, give a gorgeous +description of him. It seems that he did not depend for celebrity +solely upon his witticisms, either printed or spoken, but relied, +also, in some measure, on the splendour of his walking canes. The +jewels on his hands are said to have rivalled, and at times excelled, +the pearls upon his lips; the display in both respects bearing witness +that his native tastes were Oriental. His ringlets, in particular, are +said to have been the admiration, if not the envy, of the ladies. It +seemed almost necessary to give up a line or two to these personal +particulars, for the younger people of this generation never saw Mr. +Disraeli in his full splendour. As he developed his later powers, +he moderated his earlier waistcoats. But he never was an ordinary +commoner; he always moved in our public life like a superior being +in disguise. He was with us but not of us. Since he is an Earl, the +impression he makes has become more natural. The promotion to +our peerage gives to some personages an artificial aspect; in Mr. +Disraeli's case, the effect was simplifying; and though, after all, +it is not quite gorgeous enough, it is befitting. There is a +little something not quite in the English style,--a slight foreign +incongruity; still, that was always there, and it is, in fact, less +noticeable now under the coronet and beneath the ermine. + +But--and this is the point sought to be brought out in the above +remarks--it was evident from the earliest moment that this splendid +person meant to achieve social success. And he has certainly done +it. There would be injustice in pretending that he has not had other +motives; but celebrity was his leading passion. He has himself made +a frank confession on this point. In the days when it was not yet +certain that there was a political career before him, the likelihood +rather being that he might have wholly to depend upon literature as +his means of distinction, he rushed into poetry, having just failed in +prose. But he warned the public in the preface of his "Revolutionary +Epick," that if they did not purchase and admire it, he had done with +song. "I am not," so ran the naïvely self-disclosing sentence, "one of +those who find consolation for the neglect of my contemporaries in the +imaginary plaudits of posterity." No, nothing in this world, we are +quite certain, would ever have consoled Mr. Disraeli for the neglect +of his contemporaries. But he took sure measures not to undergo it. He +positively raged to get into Parliament; trying one constituency +after another, and only succeeding with the fourth. To judge from the +fierceness of Mr. Disraeli's struggles, there was in his eyes nothing +worth living for, if he were not inside the House of Commons. But he +had got into the newspapers before he got into Parliament. The town +was kept ringing with Mr. Disraeli's name. In London he was just as +much talked of forty-seven years ago as he is to-day. + +If the rudeness of a little terseness is passed over, I may fairly say +that publicity was Mr. Disraeli's passion; in the circumstances of +his position, audacity was his only means; and, with his style of +character and intellect, inaccuracy was his necessity. A very few +words will establish each point. Was he not studiously audacious? The +first book he wrote was a skit on the whole of the higher circle of +London society; the candidate he sought to set aside at his first +Parliamentary contest was the son of the then Premier; before he was +in Parliament he threatened O'Connell; he had not been in the House +long before he attacked Sir Robert Peel. It was a glorious audacity on +his part, considering the disadvantage of his race, to throw into the +face of the British public the supremacy of "Semitic" blood, and to +confound us all with the Asian Mystery. But, in turning next to his +inaccuracies, we are positively awed by the number and the enormity +of the blunders Mr. Disraeli and Lord Beaconsfield between them have +committed, in, as it would seem, the most natural way. It was a mere +trifle that, when propounding his second Budget, Mr. Disraeli should +have thought that he had a surplus to the _bagatelle_ amount of +£400,000, until Mr. Gladstone kindly explained to him and to the +country that it was a deficiency of that small sum. Some people would +be touched deeper to find that in his "Life of Lord George Bentinck" +he is of opinion that the crucifixion of the Saviour took place in the +reign of Augustus Cæsar. In the course of the debates on one of the +early Reform measures, he thought, when Lord Dunkellin made a +proposal relating to the "rental valuation" in connection with voting +qualification, that it was payment of rates that was in question. In +his oration on the death of the Duke of Wellington, he, as all Europe +soon knew, mistook long passages from an article written by M. Thiers +as being his own composition. He fell into just the same error as to +some splendid sentences of Lord Macaulay and also, as to a fine burst +of eloquence belonging really to the late Mr. David Urquhart. Very +early in his career, when acknowledging his health proposed by +mistake in the guise of an old scholar of the famous public school +of Winchester, he became momentarily under the impression that he was +really educated on that noble foundation, though he had never stood +under its roof. Very late in his career, so late as the affair known +as the Pigott appointment, he believed that the Rev. Mr. Pigott, the +rector of his own parish, had voted against him at the poll in his own +county some time after that reverend gentleman's death. But there +is really no end to these instances of Lord Beaconsfield having +innocently said the thing that is not. With respect to a number of +examples of another kind, it would be puzzling to know whether to put +them in the category of audacities or inaccuracies; the only way of +quite getting over the difficulty would, perhaps, be to consider them +as belonging to both. For instance, in 1847, he quoted Mr. J. S. Mill +as a friend of Protection, and said Mr. Pitt was the author of Free +Trade. On a not very far back occasion, he remarked: "I never attacked +any one in my life." Perhaps, with that quotation, it is right to +stop. + +One of the peculiarities of Lord Beaconsfield's mind has seemed to +some people an affectation, that, namely, by which, in reference +to any case of much importance, he is sure to miss what seems to +everybody else the significant feature of the business, and to fasten +on some detail which arrests nobody else. Hardly any one will have yet +forgotten the instance of the "Straits of Malacca," and only just the +other day a new example was furnished. The revival of trade being the +topic, while everybody else's thoughts went to cotton and iron and +pottery, Lord Beaconsfield's lighted upon--chemicals. It is all +explained on the footing I earlier hinted, that in Lord Beaconsfield's +mind the imagination is in just the place the reason occupies in the +minds of ordinary people. This makes it obligatory that he shall avoid +the common facts, and make some opportunity for exaggerating the value +of some detail overlooked by everybody else. It is only in this way +that Lord Beaconsfield conclusively certifies to himself that his +intellect has really acted. + +I am myself quite sincere in saying that I believe there is in all +this a certain kind of sincerity in Lord Beaconsfield. Where most +people remember, his Lordship fancies; and in his case what is most +convenient, naturally offers itself. This has very much increased his +brilliancy, for the process leaves its practiser utterly unhampered. +But nobody should ask for both strict accuracy and Lord Beaconsfield's +quick, free wit. It is demanding an unreasonable combination. If other +people had only _not_ remembered, his career would have been even +still finer than it is. That is what has partially spoiled things for +him. It is even possible that this amazing foreign policy of his may +be in a measure explainable on certain suggestions of what we may call +pictorial working rules, if we were only inside his mind. Certainly +his home politics give some hints that they were framed on a principle +of picturesqueness,--a very sophisticated canon of rustic taste can +be detected dimly lying at the bottom of them. By only leaving out the +towns, and repressing the growth of modern manufactures, and subduing +foreign commerce, something might possibly--I cannot say--be made of +them. In this foreign diplomacy, there is a certain imaginativeness in +bringing dark-skinned soldiers from Asia into Europe, in turning our +homely English Queen into an Oriental Empress, in becoming possessor +of a fresh island in the Mediterranean, in shifting a frontier line +in India, in adding a new province in Africa. All this has meant +massacre, and fire, and bloodshed, with the imminent risk of very much +more of all of them; and Sir Stafford Northcote, as Chancellor of the +Exchequer, has been kept working as hard as a sprite in a pantomime +pouring out millions of our taxation. But if it be Will-o'-the-Wisp we +have at the head of affairs, nothing of this is likely very greatly to +affect him. Assuredly, nothing of it has affected Lord Beaconsfield, +and we may be sure he is ready to go over it all again to-morrow. + +If it was worth while, very large deductions would have to be made +from Lord Beaconsfield's seeming success if we look rationally at his +whole career. No man who is supposed to have been anything like so +successful as he is popularly held to be, ever had so many and such +striking failures to look back upon. Looking at him as connected with +letters, he is the author of works which have failed more completely +than any written by any one who himself became known. Judged by their +ambitious aims, these literary non-successes of Lord Beaconsfield are +gigantic. The epic poem ("The Revolutionary Epick") which Mr. Disraeli +supposed was to place him--he himself tells us so--by the side of, +or else between, Homer and Milton, nobody would read; the play +("Alarcos") which he states he wrote to "revive the British stage," +is never acted. Not one of his novels, when his political position has +ceased to advertize them, will remain in the hands of the public. If +you look back on his Parliamentary career, the dazzle came late, and +after a dreary distance had been travelled. The political party he +founded, "The Young England School," has for twenty-five years been +as dead as the door-nail which typified the death of Marley. Nothing +whatever came of it. The one only notable legislative measure that +stands in his name,--the Reform Bill,--really belongs to the other +side. Scrutinize his career how you will, and some abatements of this +kind have to be made. He is supposed to have had a charm over men,--it +has failed with the strong ones. Peel he tried very hard to win, but +had to take up with Lord George Bentinck instead. At this moment he is +supposed to be in favour with the Court: the impression he made upon +the Prince Consort was far from satisfactory. He has quite recently +lost Lord Derby and Lord Carnarvon; and there was a time when the +Marquis of Salisbury and he stood in a very different relationship. + +Lord Beaconsfield's social system is that of a novelist; his +finance was ever that of a Will-o'-the-Wisp; and he has now added a +Jack-o'-Lantern diplomacy. Surely nothing more is needed to justify +disbelief in him. + + A WHIG. + + [Footnote 1: Since writing the above I have met with an + article in the October No. of _The North American Review_, on + "Louis Napoleon and the Southern Confederacy," which puts this + alleged friendship for the North in a very doubtful light. + Among some State Papers found in Richmond, a despatch from + Mr. Slidell says,--"Lindsay saw Disraeli, who expressed great + interest in our affairs, and fully concurred in the views of + the Emperor." Louis Napoleon was then intriguing hard to get + the South recognised.] + + + + +CONTEMPORARY LIFE AND THOUGHT IN FRANCE. + + SUMMARY.--_Politics_: Agitations during the Parliamentary + Recess--Unjust Accusations levelled at the + Ministry--Reforms carried out or projected in the Public + Instruction--Justice--Public Works--Activity and Liberalism of + the Ministry--Its want of Cohesion and Unity--Renewal of the + Socialist Agitation--Return of the Amnestied--Election of M. + Humbert in Paris--M. Blanqui's and M. Louis Blanc's Addresses + in the Provinces--Socialist Congress at Marseilles--Reaction + against these exaggerations--Dangers caused by the attitude + of the Conservative Party inspired by the Clerical + spirit--Efforts to create a Republican Conservative Party--"Le + Parlement"--Unfortunate effect of the Ministry's Anti-clerical + Campaign--Legitimist Banquets--The Bonapartist Party and + its hopes--M. Naquet's Campaign in favour of Divorce. + _Literature_: Novels--Mme. Greville, Mme. Bentzon, M. + Lemonnier, M. Gualdi, M. Daudet, M. Zola, Flaubert, M. + Theuriet--"L'Eglise Chrétienne," by M. Renan--"Rodrigue + de Villandrando," by M. Quicherat--"Mémoires de Mme. + de Rémusat"--"Nouvelle Revues". _Science_: Geographical + Studies--"Géographie Universelle"--"La Terre et les Hommes," + by Elisée Reclus--Map of France on scale of 1/100000--Lectures + on Historical Geography, by M. A. Longnon. _Fine Arts_: + Subjects opened to Competition--Death of MM. Viollet Le Duc, + Cham, Taylor. _Theatres_: Le Grand Opera, l'Opéra Populaire, + Pasdeloup and Colonne Concerts--Professor Hermann--The + Hanlon-Lees--"Jonathan," by M. Gondinet--"Les Mirabeau," by M. + Claretie--Le Théâtre des Nations. + + +The Parliamentary recess is generally a time of political tranquillity +for the country, and leisure or peaceful occupation for the Ministers; +not so, however, in France this year. M. Blanqui's candidature at +Bordeaux; M. Humbert's election in Paris; the return of the amnestied +from New Caledonia; the Workmen's Congress in Marseilles; the +Legitimist banquets of September 29; MM. J. Ferry's, Louis +Blanc's, and Blanqui's tours in the provinces; the inauguration of +Denfert-Rochereau's, Arago's, and Lamoricière's monuments, have kept +France in a state of perpetual agitation, if not disturbance. And +even the business world, which generally slumbers quietly through the +summer months, has been stung with a craze for speculation. A number +of financial companies have sprung up, based chiefly on most unsound +and absurd combinations, some of which threaten to collapse before +they have even begun to work. The great jobber, M. Philippart, who +so upset the Bourse some years ago, reappeared in greater force than +ever, only to get another ducking at the end of a couple of months. +Even the Republican party, which hitherto seemed to have kept out of +the way of dangerous speculations, has been drawn into the current, +and names of Republican deputies, senators, and municipal councillors +have appeared on the lists of the administrative councils by way of an +advertisement to subscribers. Nor, with so many causes of disturbance +at home, was the country free from anxieties abroad: the settlement of +the financial supervision to be exercised conjointly with England in +Egypt; the difficulties raised with regard to the same by Italy, who +would have wished to form a third in this new order of syndicate; and +Turkey's opposition to the decisions of the Berlin Congress concerning +Greece, must have caused M. Waddington more than one sleepless night. + +Has the Ministry been weakened or strengthened by the toils of the +Parliamentary recess? The attitude of the Chambers when they meet +(Nov. 27) for the first time in their new, or rather old, quarters +will show. According to the enemies it has, both in the Republican +and Monarchical camp, it is in a state of complete dislocation; and +M. Waddington, in particular, is unable to exercise any authority over +his colleagues. This is the favourite theme, nightly recurred to, +of M. E. de Girardin, who, under colour of Radicalism, seems to be +entering on a campaign against the Republic of 1879, in favour of +Prince Jerome Napoleon, similar to his former one against the Republic +of 1848, in favour of Prince Louis Napoleon. The injustice of most +of his attacks, it must be acknowledged, borders on dishonesty. +Complaints are made of the Ministry's weakness and inaction. But on +what grounds? By the one side, because it leaves the Socialists +free to put forward their views; by the other, because it lets the +Royalists banquet in peace, and expels neither the Orleans princes +nor the Bonapartes. People in France always regard Government as a +gendarme whose business it is to imprison or escort to the frontier +those whose opinions are displeasing to them; if not, they declare +there is no Government. Or else it is still looked upon as a +Providence, whose duty it is to make the people happy from morning +till night. If trade be dull and the crops bad, as they are this year, +the Government is pronounced incapable, and the change to have been +not worth the cost. People cannot understand that a Government's sole +mission is to give a general direction to politics, to attend to the +wise administration of the country, to protect the liberty and the +rights of all, even of those who do not like it, and see to the +carrying out of existing laws and the making of new ones. The present +Ministry has not seriously failed in any one of these duties, and to +charge it with inaction would be most unjust. The new appointments +have almost all been excellent; particularly in the administration +of public instruction, where considerable changes have been made, the +most competent men have in every instance been chosen without regard +to political party. The remodelling of the Council of State was an +absolute necessity, as the Ministry could not work with men radically +hostile to its views. This remodelling was carried out with extreme +moderation; if the voluntary retirement of MM. Aucoc, Groualle, +Goussard, &c., gave it a more radical character, the retiring members, +not the Ministry, are to blame. Of the activity of the Minister of +Public Instruction there can be no doubt; he has even been laughed at +for his zeal in propagating his views, as shown in his southern tour, +during which he found time to make a series of speeches in favour of +the famous Clause 7, that deprives unauthorized religious bodies of +the right of teaching, and to plan important material improvements in +the constitution of the Faculties of Letters, Science, Medicine, and +Law. The inspection of the infant-schools, of the drawing-instruction, +have at length been properly organized, and a project for the reform +of secondary instruction has been elaborated. With regard to the +administration of justice, M. Le Royer has drawn up a very important +scheme, whereby the courts of justice will be reduced to one-half the +present number, important economies effected, the administration +of justice accelerated, and the number of unemployed magistrates, +barristers, and lawyers, which constitutes one of the evils of the +country and of the Parliamentary assemblies, diminished. + +Can M. de Freycinet be accused of inaction, seeing that every day he +is told he will sink under the load of vast undertakings he has on +hand for the improvement of the harbours and the completion of the +railway and canal system? What accusations can be brought against +General Gresley, seeing that our military organization is making daily +progress, and that the autumn man[oe]uvres have been more satisfactory +this year than ever? The very criticisms addressed to the Ministry +with regard to its weakness towards its enemies prove how it has +respected the common liberty. It is, however, the habit in France, +when a Government allows the attacks of party free play to laugh at +its timidity, and when it puts them down to accuse it of persecution. +The thing to do, therefore, is to apply the principle said to have +been formulated by the President of the Republic himself--"To let +everything be said, and nothing done." + +The only point whereon the criticisms of the Cabinet's adversaries +seem in some sense well-founded, is the charging it with having no +definite political line, and being consequently incapable of any +homogeneous influence either upon the Chambers or public opinion. +It is quite certain that the Cabinet is wanting in unity; that +MM. Waddington, Léon Say, and Gresley represent a less strongly +accentuated political shade than MM. Le Royer, Jauréguiberry, Tirard, +and Cochery, and these again a less strongly marked shade than MM. +J. Ferry, De Freycinet, and Lepère. Each Minister has his particular +plans, and occasionally the question suggests itself how far his +colleagues approve and support him. In any case, the Cabinet's most +important projects, M. Le Royer's judicial reform, M. de Freycinet's +plans, the Ferry laws, were accepted rather than desired by M. +Waddington, who cannot in consequence be considered to exercise +any paramount sway over his colleagues. This subdivision of the +Ministerial responsibility is unquestionably to be deplored, and +impairs the strength of the Government; but is it not the fault of +the Ministers, or rather the result and the faithful image of the +Republican majority, whose unity proceeds solely from the necessity +of fighting against Monarchical parties, and which represents very +different tendencies? A homogeneous Ministry representing one of these +tendencies only would command no majority. The Republic is still in +the period of struggle and formation. It cannot observe the rules +of the Parliamentary system quite regularly yet. Every Ministry is +fatally a coalition Ministry, and consequently without unity. When it +is, like the present one, agreed as to its general lines of policy, +at once liberal and moderate, and sufficiently sympathetic to both +Chambers, it would be hard, we must acknowledge, to find a better, and +to wish for a change would be madness. + +Not the constitution of the Ministry, but rather the political +condition of the country, may, indeed, be productive of difficulties +and dangers to the Republic. Were we to believe the reactionary papers +and the anxious spirits, the greatest danger France is exposed to +arises from the revival of Socialistic ideas occasioned by the +return of the insurgents of the Commune. That disquieting signs and +tendencies show themselves in that direction is true. The amnestied, +who should have been received as penitent and pardoned culprits, +have, by many--by M. Talandier, M. L. Blanc, and others of the Extreme +Left--been welcomed as reinstated martyrs. People even went so far on +their arrival as to dare to raise a cry of "Vive la Commune." One of +the most criminal, M. Alphonse Humbert, who edited in 1871 a filthy +and bloodthirsty paper, _Le Père Duchesne_, and in it directly +provoked the murder of Gustave Chaudey, has been elected municipal +councillor of Paris by the Javel Ward. Though the Comité Socialiste +d'aide aux Amnistiés had rudely repudiated all community of +action with the Republican committee presided over by V. Hugo, and +contemptuously alluded to it as _le comité bourgeois_, the _Rappel_ +did not hesitate to support this candidature, stained as it was +with blood. Hardly is old Blanqui released from his imprisonment at +Clairvaux when he starts for a tour in the south to propagate his +revolutionary doctrines, and finds people credulous enough to applaud +the senile declamations in which he accuses M. Grévy and M. Gambetta +of having sold themselves to the Jesuits and the Orleanists. M. Louis +Blanc, whilst issuing in book form, under the title of "Dix ans de +l'Histoire d'Angleterre" (Lévy), the wise and impartial letters +he addressed to _Le Temps_ from London between 1860 and 1870, has +reverted to his dreams of 1848, and, more intent on winning a vain +popularity than on consolidating the Republican _régime_, has aroused +the passions and desires of an ignorant multitude by unfolding to them +the chimerical and deceptive picture of a complete remodelling of the +French Constitution, and the prosperity which, according to him, might +be secured to all if they would lay down their liberties and their +rights for the benefit of a Socialist State. Finally, the Workmen's +Congress in Marseilles revealed with the utmost naïveté the false +notions, the gross ignorance, and the bad instincts that M. Blanqui +draws out from a fanatic monomania, and M. Louis Blanc encourages +from desire for noisy popularity. The majority of the Congress +plainly declared that they preferred the revolutionary course of an +insurrection to the peaceful course of voting and legal action, that +gradual progress was a chimera, that individual property must be +converted into collective property, and that such conversion could +only be effected by force. What was, perhaps, even more disquieting at +the Marseilles Congress than these brutal declarations, was the almost +fabulous ignorance, stupidity, and credulity displayed by most of the +delegates, who must, nevertheless, be among the most intelligent and +educated members of the Syndical Chambers. Neither in England nor in +Germany would an assembly of workmen put up with such silly and empty +discussions in which not a single practical question was treated +seriously, and the general reform of society was accomplished in three +or four high-sounding and pretentious phrases. The ignorance of the +multitude is an immense danger, leaving it a prey to every illusion +and dream and to the brutal impulse of its instincts. + +Without being blind to the gravity of these symptoms, or denying that +much of the leaven that produced the Commune is still to be found +amongst the inhabitants of the great towns, I do not think the fact +presents any immediate danger, or that there is any chance of a rising +in Paris, or a revival of the Commune. The late manifestations have +done exactly the reverse of furthering the end in view. At Bordeaux, +Blanqui, who was elected in the first instance, failed in the second. +His journey, triumphant at the outset, ended amidst murmurs on the +one hand and indifference on the other. Humbert's election excited +the disgust of the most advanced Republicans, and has insured the +rejection of every new proposal of pardon for the members of the +Commune. The folly talked at the Marseilles Congress provoked the +protests of a strong minority in the very heart of the Congress, which +energetically defended the principles of good sense and public order. +If the revival of Socialism threaten the existence of the Republic, it +is not so much on account of the possibility of its bringing back the +Commune as that it may serve to provoke an anti-Republican reaction. + +This is much more to be dreaded at present than any demagogical +excesses. The attitude of the Conservative party presents much +greater dangers to the Republic than that of the Socialist party. The +Republic's only chance is its free acceptance by the _bourgeoisie_ +and the formation of a large Conservative but not reactionary party +to counteract the impatience of the progressive element. Until now no +such party exists. Many Conservatives have undoubtedly stuck to the +Republic, but they are absorbed by the progressive Republican mass; +the others have preserved a hostile attitude, and cherish visions of a +Monarchical or Imperialist restoration. Clerical ideas confirm them +in this attitude, and render them the irreconcilable enemies of the +present order of things; they follow the inspirations of the clergy, +who are convinced that no Republic can give them the liberty of +action they desire, and who, moreover, consider themselves persecuted +wherever they are not masters. The thing is to convince this +Conservative mass, now enrolled under the banner of clericalism, that +it is possible to give the clergy the honours and the liberty they +deserve, whilst confining them strictly within the religious domain, +and that the public _régime_ can be a secular one without recourse to +persecution. This is what the few members of the old Left Centre who +refused to join the ranks of the Ministerial Left, and are headed by +MM. Dufaure, De Montalivet, Ribot, Lamy, &c., are trying to convince +the Conservatives of. They have started a new paper, _Le Parlement_, +to vent their ideas, conducted with talent and earnestness, which if +it succeed in its object will have done the Republic good service by +calling a Republican Right into existence, whereas at present only a +Republican Left exists, without any counterweight, and bounded by two +abysses, the Commune on the one hand and Bonapartism on the other. + +Certain members of the Republican party and even of the present +Ministry thought that the deplorable influence Catholicism exercises +on public affairs might be counteracted by open contest, and this +was the origin of Clause 7, and the war at present waged everywhere +against the Catholic bodies and the action of the clergy. +Unfortunately there is a fatal solidarity between the Catholic +religion itself and its most compromising representatives; the regular +and secular clergy are united by the closest ties; it is impossible to +deal a blow at the clergy on one point without in appearance attacking +religion itself. Moreover it loves strife, and above all persecution; +it feeds upon it; it wins the sympathy of the simple-minded by +resisting, in the name of conscience, all even the most legitimate +attacks against the authority it has usurped. The duty of a wise +Government, therefore, is as far as possible to let all religious +questions lie dormant, to cultivate towards them a salutary +indifference, to avoid the possibility of being accused either of +favouring or persecuting the clergy, so as to secure the countenance +of all those who, without being hostile to the Church, have no wish +to be its blind servants. One must be content to resist the Church's +encroachments without attacking it in its own precincts. The present +Ministry has stirred up, we think with unfortunate precipitancy, +questions which might still have remained awhile untouched, and thus +needlessly lessened the number of its partisans. But to be fair, it is +certainly very difficult to be impartial and indifferent in face of +a body in open revolt against the Government, whose bishops, +like Monseigneur Freppel at the inauguration of the monument to +Lamoricière, preach contempt for the Constitution and the law. The +behaviour of the Belgian episcopate, on the occasion of the new school +law, has proved that neither justice nor moderation is to be expected +from the Catholic Church. Whence violent minds are too disposed to +conclude that reconciliation being impossible, intolerance must be met +by violence, and fanaticism by persecution. + +Were it not for this unfortunate clerical question, the opposition to +the Republican form of Government would be reduced to a minimum. The +Legitimist banquets organized throughout the country in commemoration +of the Comte de Chambord's birthday, September 29th, testified to the +ridiculous weakness of a number of aged children who indulge in the +phrases and fables of a bygone time. This flourish of forks was met +by all parties with ironical compassion. The Bonapartist party has +but imperfectly recovered from the blow dealt it in the death of the +Prince Imperial. Prince Jerome Napoleon may alter his outward line, +become as reserved as formerly he was unguarded in his language, +organize his house on a princely footing, have his organs amongst the +press, rally round him a great number of those who but now overwhelmed +him with the most ribald insults; he will never either wipe out a too +well-known past, or with all his intelligence make up for the total +absence of military prestige or personal regard. Nevertheless, +Bonapartism is so decidedly the fatal incline towards which France +will always be impelled if she become disgusted with the Republic, +that he appears to some the only issue in case of a new revolution, +and more than one of those who had of late reattached themselves to +the Republic were seen to turn their eyes to Prince Napoleon when +Humbert's election or the Socialist speeches at Marseilles renewed +their old terrors. Universal suffrage is always threatening France +with sudden surprises. If, as some politicians wish, the _scrutin de +liste_ be substituted for the _scrutin d'arrondissement_, it might +yet be that the name of Napoleon would find a formidable echo in the +popular mass, and eclipse all the new names which want its legendary +and historical prestige. This might happen, especially if the +depression of trade and the clerical contest were by degrees to weary +and disgust the mass of the electors with political questions, as +would appear to have been the case at the legislative elections of +Bordeaux and the Paris municipal elections, when more than two-fifths +of the electors abstained from voting. It might, above all, happen if +the Chambers continue to postpone all the reform laws, those relating +to the army, to education, and to the magistracy, which await +discussion and passing from session to session. + +Many look forward to a time when these everlasting political questions +will cease to burn so fiercely, when the suppression of State or +Church will no longer be a daily question, and more modest and +practical measures of reform can be taken in hand. A committee of +lawyers has elaborated an important scheme for the reform of our +criminal procedure, long known to be seriously defective. Will there +be an opportunity of bringing it before the Chambers? Even more +interesting is the divorce question, which has found an able, +persevering, and eloquent advocate in M. Naquet. Of all others, this +reform is the most urgent. Those acquainted with family life in France +know the fatal moral consequences arising from judicial separation, +the only resource of ill-assorted couples. Not to speak of the +flagrant injustice which allows the man to separate from his wife on +account of offences she is obliged to tolerate in him, the two, though +separated, remain jointly and severally liable. The woman is obliged, +in a number of instances, such as the marriage of a child confided to +her care, to obtain the husband's authorization, whilst she, on her +part, can drag in the mire the name of her husband which she continues +to bear, or pass off children upon him which are not his. Separation +has all the drawbacks of divorce, besides others peculiar to it, which +divorce remedies. M. Naquet has treated the question from the tribune, +as also in a series of articles published in the _Voltaire_, wherein +he cites a number of heartrending cases in which divorce would be +the only possible remedy, and, finally, in the lectures he has been +holding in all the large towns. His campaign has been crowned with +success, and the law will, it is believed, be passed by the Chambers. +No small credit is due to M. Naquet, for he had to contend with +prejudices of several kinds--the religious prejudices of Catholicism, +which does not admit the power of the civil law to cancel a sacrament +of the Church; the political prejudices of Republican theorists, who +affect to attach a more sacred and indelible character to the civil +consecration of the magistrate than to the religious one of the +priest; the prejudices of immoral and unprincipled men, who form a +numerous class everywhere, who never having felt the restraints of +moral law are not troubled by the misfortunes springing from unhappy +marriages, but, on the contrary, are glad to take advantage of them; +finally, with the prejudices of some serious-minded persons, who are +afraid that in sanctioning divorce the Republic may appear to violate +the respect due to marriage. The last aspect of the question has +been ably supported by a deputy, M. Louis Legrand, in his interesting +study, "Le Mariage;" but M. Naquet finds no difficulty in proving +that marriage is more respected where divorce is possible than where +judicial separation only can be obtained, nor in showing religious men +that the Church has always recognised fourteen cases in which marriage +becomes void, whilst the French law only recognises one, mistaken +identity, which practically never occurs. + +We have but to open a French novel, or visit the theatre, to convince +ourselves of the necessity of divorce. Mme. Gréville, in "Lucie Rodey" +(Plon), depicts a young woman reduced by her husband to the most +wretched condition, with no resource but resignation and a pardon +all but dishonourable to her; Mme. Bentzon, in "Georgette" (Lévy), +describes with exquisite delicacy the painful position of a woman who, +separated from her husband, and living on terms the world condemns +with a man of elevated character, is driven in the presence of her +innocent daughter to blush for a position the disgrace of which her +own elevation of sentiment had hitherto veiled from her. Half +the novels in France turn on the domestic misery arising from the +indissolubility of the marriage tie. Hackneyed as the subject is, it +presents so many aspects that new effects can always be derived +from it. Such dramas will ever remain the most touching source the +imagination of the novelist has to draw upon. From the princess to the +peasant, humanity is the same in its affections and sufferings. If you +want to know how the peasant suffers read "Un Coin de Village," by M. +Camille Lemonnier (Lemerre), a picturesque and piquant young writer, +who combines the touching grace of Erckmann-Chatrian with a power of +realistic observation quite his own. If you wish for something more +_recherché_, dealing with the richer and higher classes of society, +M. Gualdi, a young naturalized Italian, French in talent, provides +you with a drama of the most brilliant originality in his "Mariage +Extraordinaire" (Lemerre). A charming but poor girl, Elise, is on the +point of marrying a man she does not love to save her parents from +ruin. She is attached to a young man, Giulio, worthy of her, but poor +also; he has been obliged to expatriate himself, and Elise's mother +makes her believe that her _fiancé_ has forgotten and betrayed her. +The Comte d'Astorre, an elegant and magnificent _viveur_, with a +generous soul under his frivolous exterior, is touched by Elise's +fate; to enable her to escape a hateful marriage he offers her the +shelter of his name and house, promising that he will consider himself +as a friend, not a husband. For a time the compact is kept, but the +Comte d'Astorre ends by falling in love with his wife; the quondam +_viveur_ becomes the timid, trembling, and naïf suitor. Elise ends +by allowing herself to be moved, and when poor Giulio comes back from +India, true to the faith he had sworn, she repulses him, first in +the name of duty, and soon, one is made to feel, in the name of a new +nascent love. This singular and delicate theme is treated by M. Gualdi +with a refinement of touch that indicates the acute psychologist, and +the passionate scene between Giulio and Elise on their meeting again +is really beautiful. + +To ascend a step higher in the social hierarchy and learn what a +queen, wounded in her feelings as a woman and a mother, can suffer, +read M. A. Daudet's last novel, "Les Rois en Exil" (Dentu), in which +he continues to work the vein he opened so successfully in "Le Nabab," +the portraiture of Parisian life, viewed from its most brilliant side +as from that most flecked with impurity, disorder, and adventure. In +the "Nabab," M. Daudet had the advantage of describing the world he +had been most familiar with, since his two chief personages were M. de +Morny, whose secretary he had been for several years, and M. Bravay, +his former friend. But this advantage was also a defect, for no true +novel is possible with very well-known contemporary personages for +the characters; and the "Nabab," marvellous as regards truth and vivid +detail, was poor as regards composition. In "Les Rois en Exil" +we again meet with a number of well-known personages: the King of +Hanover, the Queen of Spain, the Prince of Orange, the Queen of +Naples, Don Carlos. Elysée Méraut, the little prince's tutor, is +said to be the portrait of an excellent youth, by name Thérion, also +entrusted with a prince's education, and who was horrified to find +that he believed more firmly in the principles of legitimacy and +divine right than his pupil's parents. The father of Elysée Méraut, +the old Legitimist peasant who sees his son's future insured because +the Comte de Chambord promises to bear him in mind, is no other than +A. Daudet's own father. But all the real portraits are secondary +characters that form the background of the picture. The leading +personages of the drama, Christian II., the dethroned king of Illyria, +who takes his exile very lightly, and forgets it by wallowing in the +mire of Parisian dissipations; his wife, the noble Fréderique, who +lives but for one thing, the recovery of the throne of her husband and +son, and in that hope endures every affront; their trusty attendants, +the two Rosens; and finally John Lévis, the unscrupulous man of +business, who knows the tariff of all the vices, and with his wife +Séphora, takes advantage of the dissolute weakness of Christian +II.,--all these leading figures, though compounded of traits, if not +real at least profoundly true, are the author's own creation. They +are artistically superior, moreover, to those of the "Nabab," more +complete, more lifelike even, for they are stripped of such traits as +are too personal, secondary, fleeting, contrary to actual reality, and +wear rather the character of types. Types they truly are, this king +and queen, representative of all the grandeur and vileness, the +heroism and cowardice, the noble pride and foolish prejudice, dwelling +in the exiled sovereigns who came to Paris, some to weep for monarchy, +others to hold its carnival, some as to the centre of pleasure, +others to that of political intrigue; and is there not a philosophy, +historical and political, in M. Daudet's novel, in his picture +of Christian II. forced to abdicate his royal pretensions after +sacrificing them to the love of an unworthy woman who has fooled him, +and Fréderique bidding farewell to all the hopes that centred in +her little Zara, forgetting everything besides being a mother, and +devoting all her powers towards rescuing her child from the sickness +that is killing him? It is unfair to M. Daudet to say that he only +possesses the art of painting the _chatoyant_ lights, the picturesque +outside of Parisian life, the dresses, the furniture, and the scenery; +to represent him as merely a skilful manufacturer of _bimbeloterie_. +We may tax him with abuse of description, and that habit of +_reportage_ peculiar to the daily press; and it would be vain to look +in him for the sobriety that enhances the beauty of some immortal +works of art; but such sobriety is incompatible with an art which aims +at painting human life in all its aspects, all its details, all its +colours. Neither Shakspeare, Dickens, nor Balzac is sober. To be +sure M. Daudet is neither a Dickens nor a Balzac, but his delicate +sensibility makes him penetrate far below the outer crust, to the +human ground of the characters, and the life they live is a real one. +On account of this, the first quality of a novelist, one forgives the +brutality and the pretentious passages, an imitation, the one of M. +Zola, the other of M. de Goncourt, and the inequalities of a style +which is, nevertheless, in wonderful harmony with the world he paints. + +That which constitutes M. Daudet's great superiority over other +novelists of the realistic school, is that he has no contempt for +humanity, that he always loves it, often pities, and sometimes admires +it. Nothing can be more false, more unpleasant, or, we may venture +to say, more tiresome, than the view taken by a certain would-be +scientific pessimism of humanity, as being nothing but a compound of +vileness, vapidness, and folly. M. Zola is learning it to his cost. +After the immense success of "L'Assommoir," due to the great power of +the painter, as also to the horror inspired by scenes of unparalleled +crudeness, he wished to outdo himself and depict in "Nana" the +lowest depths of Parisian corruption. To make the impression the more +complete, he has not let in a single breath of pure air; or introduced +a single character which was not insipidly stupid and sensual, +enslaved by the lowest appetites, incapable of a single noble thought +or generous sentiment. The effect on the public was weariness rather +than disgust. _Le Voltaire_, which had expected to make its fortune by +bringing out the book in _feuilletons_, was greatly surprised to see +its circulation rapidly fail, actually on account of M. Zola's novel. +We are afraid the same thing will happen with regard to the work +announced by M. Flaubert. This great writer and conscientious +artist is unfortunately persuaded, in spite of his admiration for I. +Tourguéneff (that true painter of humanity, of its virtues as of its +vices), that the novel should confine itself to the portrayal of the +mediocre and uniform mass which makes up the majority of men. Already +in "L'Education Sentimentale" he sought to show the vulgarity and +coarseness that generally conceal themselves under what is called +love; in the novel he is now engaged on he shows us two men brutalized +by the mechanical routine of a bureaucratic career, studying every +human science, and finding in the study merely an occasion for the +better display of their incurable folly. Such mistakes committed +by men of genius cause us the better to appreciate less powerful +certainly, but more human, works, by writers who seek to render life +attractive to us, such as A. Theuriet, for instance, who has just +produced a new novel, "Le Fils Mangars" (Charpentier). M. Theuriet is +one of the few French writers of fiction who, instead of dealing +with the tragedies of guilty passion succeed in shedding a dramatic +interest over the affections and sufferings of pure young hearts. +In this he resembles the English novelists. Innocent love forms the +groundwork of his books, and constitutes their poetry and their charm. +"Le Fils Mangars" is the first of a series of studies entitled "Nos +Enfants," dealing with the various complications arising out of the +disagreement of parents and children. In "Le Fils Mangars" we are +introduced to a father, who has devoted all his efforts towards +amassing a fortune for his son, has to that end made use of dishonest +means, and finds his punishment in the loyalty of the one for whom +he committed the wrong. His son refuses to benefit by the wealth +dishonestly acquired, and falls in love with the daughter of one of +the men his father has ruined. This poignant theme is handled with the +airy and attractive delicacy that characterizes Theuriet's touch. + +Were the surly critics to be trusted, we should not be leaving the +domain of fiction in turning to the new volume M. Renan has devoted +to the history of the sources of Christianity, entitled "L'Eglise +Chrétienne" (Lévy). It deals with the definitive constitution of the +Church, at the moment when dogma forms itself by contact with, and +in opposition to, the various heresies, and the organization of +the hierarchy takes place. It is true that M. Renan could, if he so +wished, be a wonderful writer of fiction. With what art he brings on +his personages, how admirably he infuses life into the thousand dry +and scattered fragments collected by erudition, and forms them into a +co-ordinate and complete whole! With what psychological penetration +he enters into the minds of his personages, and makes us familiarly +acquainted with the Roman Cæsars or the Church Fathers! What wealth +of imagination! what witchery of style! At times he is, no doubt, led +away by his imagination; too often the desire to invest old facts with +life and reality leads him to compare, or even assimilate, the present +with the past, and, in his exposition of ancient ideas, to mix them up +with his own, ideas so peculiar to our time and to M. Renan himself, +that the intermixture produces a false impression. It is daring to +ascribe the Fourth Gospel to Cerinthus, and still more so to regard +the letter of the Lyons Church on the martyrdom of Pothin and his +companions as a proof of the Lyonnese being false-minded, and to +connect the fact with the Socialist tendencies of modern Lyons. From +his comparing Hadrian in some respects to Nero, we gather that M. +Renan has yielded to the indulgence he had already testified towards +Nero in his volume on "L'Antechrist," an indulgence grounded on the +artistic tastes, or rather pretensions, of the royal stage-player. But +these blemishes, and occasional breaches of historical truth or good +taste, ought not to blind us to the historical value of a work which, +if it be the work of a great artist, is likewise that of a scholar of +the first order. Numbers of men can pore over texts and critics, but +to revive the past, and introduce into the domain of history, and +make the general public familiar with subjects reserved hitherto to +theologians and critics by profession, is the work of a genius only. +Scholars find much to censure in Michelet's "Histoire de Franceau +moyen Age;" but whatever its inexactitudes, he is the only man who has +succeeded in restoring to life the France of bygone days. And is not +life one of the most important elements of reality? Even an imperfect +acquaintance with a living man enables one to form a truer notion +of the man than the most minute autopsy of a dead body. Moreover, +as regards the past we have not the whole body, but only +scattered fragments; the breath of genius must pass over these dry +bones--restore to them flesh, blood, colour, movement, and voice. + +But genius can only do her magic work when the materials that are +to serve for this wonderful transformation have been collected +by erudition. M. Renan would not have been able to construct his +historical monument had not German criticism prepared the way for +him. Erudition occasionally arrives at astonishing results by digging, +either in the earth which has swallowed up the ancient buildings or +in the dust of the archives. Here is an individual who played a very +important part in the fifteenth century in the struggle between France +and England, who, though a stranger and fighting more especially as an +adventurer greedy of spoil, helped to restore France to independence, +who was almost unknown, whose name was not mentioned in any of our +histories. M. I. Quicherat has brought him to life, and "Rodrigue de +Villandrando" (Hachette) will see his name cited in all the histories +of the reign of Charles VII. The book is a model of historical +reconstruction. It is wonderful to see how, with a series of scattered +indications, most of them the very driest of documents, not only the +incidents of a life, but the features of a character, can be pieced +together again. + +Such a character as Rodrigue's is not very complicated, it is true. +There are historical personages to penetrate the depths of whose +nature an accumulation of documents and testimony would be necessary. +Such is Napoleon, whom each day throws some new light upon, and on +whom, after his having been magnified beyond all measure, posterity +will, no doubt, be called to pass severe judgment. Never was such +overwhelming testimony pronounced against him as in the "Mémoires de +Madame de Rémusat," the first volume of which is just out. Mme. de +Rémusat was so placed as to be more thoroughly acquainted than any one +with the character of Napoleon. Lady-in-waiting to Josephine, and wife +of one of Napoleon's "Maîtres du palais," she bowed for a long while +to the ascendancy of Napoleon's genius, and the liking he testified +for her was sufficiently strong to awaken, though unjustly, the +momentary jealousy of Josephine. The speaker is not an enemy, +therefore, but an old friend who tries to explain at once her +adherence to the imperial régime and the motives that caused her to +alter her political creed. She is thus in the best state of mind, +according to M. Renan, for judging a great man or a doctrine, that of +having believed and believing no longer. Add to this the sweetness of +mind natural to a woman, and the kind of indulgence peculiar to times +when sudden political changes lead to frequent changes of opinion. All +these considerations only render Mme. de Rémusat's testimony the more +overwhelming for Napoleon, and its value is singularly increased on +its being seen to agree with that which all the sincere witnesses of +the time, Ph. de Ségur, Miot de Mélito, as well as Sismondi, lead us +to infer. The genius of Napoleon is not diminished, and nothing is +more remarkable than the conversations related by Mme. de Rémusat, +wherein he judges everything, literature, politics, and history, with +a haughty originality from the point of view of his own interests and +passions. Some of his sayings relative to the government of men +are worthy of Machiavelli. The reasonings whereby he explains and +justifies the assassination of the Duc d'Enghien would form a splendid +chapter to the "Prince." But from the moral point of view Napoleon +strikes us as the most perfect type of a tyrant. No moral law exists +for him; he does not admit the obligation of any duty; he does not +even recognise those duties of a sovereign, that subordination of +the individual to the interests of the State, which constitute the +greatness of a Cromwell or a Frederick II.; he recognises but one law, +that of his nature, which insists on dominating and being superior to +everything that surrounds him. _Quia nominor Leo_, is his only +rule. Morals always have their revenge on those whose encroaching +personality refuses to recognise laws. Writers or sovereigns, whatever +their genius, relapse into falsehood and extravagance. This was +Napoleon's fate. You are always conscious in him of the _parvenu_ +acting a part--the _commediante tragediante_, as Pius VII. put it. +He had fits of goodness, of weakness even, but his human and generous +sides had been crushed by his frightful egoism. He liked to make those +he loved best suffer. He treated his wife and his mistresses with +brutal contempt; he could no longer lament the death of those who +seemed dearest to him. "Je n'ai pas le temps de m'occuper des morts," +he said to Talleyrand. By the side of this great figure Mme. de +Rémusat has, in her Memoirs, sketched many others--the frivolous, +good, touching, and unfortunate Josephine; the amiable Hortense +Beauharnais, the dry, cold Louis, Napoleon's sisters, jealous, proud, +and immoral; and others--but all pale before the imperial colossus. + +Besides M. Daudet's novel, M. Renan's new volume, and the Memoirs of +Mme. de Rémusat, the last three months have witnessed another literary +event of some consequence--the birth of an important Review, which +aims at the position occupied for thirty years past by the _Revue +des Deux Mondes_. The _Nouvelle Revue_ was started and is edited by a +woman, Mme. Edmond Adam, known as a writer under the name of Juliette +Lamber. A new phenomenon this in the literary world, the strangest +feature of it being that Mme. Adam has taken exclusively upon herself +the bulletin of foreign politics. If the task of editing a Review be +arduous for a man, who in the interest of his undertaking must brave +every enmity and quench his individual sympathies, how much more +so for a woman whose staff of contributors is recruited from the +_habitués_ of her _salon_, and who must be constantly tempted to carry +into her official transactions the habits of gracious hospitality +which have made her house one of the most courted political and +literary centres of Paris? + +The aim of the _Nouvelle Revue_ also is to be up with the times; it is +inclined to judge an article rather by the fame of the name at the end +of it than by its own intrinsic merit; it will insert the superficial +lucubrations of General Turr or M. Castelar, which but for the +signature are worthless. It gives political questions an importance +hardly appreciated by those who find all their political needs +supplied by the daily press, and look to a Review for literary or +scientific interests. Finally, the chief obstacle in the way of the +_Nouvelle Revue_ is that our best essayists are bound not only by +chains of gratitude and habit, but also by chains of gold, to the +_Revue des Deux Mondes_. Nevertheless there is plenty of room in +our literary world for a new review, so far at least as writers +are concerned. If she makes talent her aim, and not merely opinions +agreeing with her own, Mme. Adam will not want for contributors. To +get readers will be more difficult in a country of routine, where +the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ has become an indispensable item of every +respectable family's household furniture. Until now the _Nouvelle +Revue_ has been successful; the sale has reached from 6000 to 8000 +copies per number, and, without having yet published anything very +first-rate, it has been fairly well supplied with pleasant articles. +The recollections of the singer Duprez have hitherto been its greatest +attraction. A novel by Mme. Gréville, and articles by MM. de Bornier, +Bigot, and de Gubernatis also deserve mention. + +Perhaps, after all, our judgment is partial, and the success of the +_Nouvelle Revue_ is due to its attention to the immediate interests of +the present, and the space allotted to politics. The number of those +who take an interest in literature daily grows smaller in France. +Of those not absorbed by politics some forsake pure literature for +erudition, and the greater number give themselves up to science. It is +owing to the scholars that the _Revue Philosophique_ is succeeding +so brilliantly; all the scientific societies are flourishing, and +L'Association pour l'Encouragement des Sciences again verified +its growing advancement at its late meeting at Montpellier. The +geographical section, recently founded, promises to become one of the +most active, for geographical studies, so long neglected in France, +have suddenly made an extraordinary start. The Geographical Society +now has 1700 members, and has built itself a magnificent _hôtel_; +the Alpine Club, a geographical rather than a climbing society, is +increasing so rapidly in numbers that it is impossible to give +the exact figure. It amounts to several thousand. If unscrupulous +speculators have taken advantage of this reawakening zeal for +geographical study to publish a swarm of superficial and hastily +compiled handbooks, and carelessly engraved maps, some works of real +merit have appeared that do credit to our French editors. And here +the firm of Hachette holds the first rank. "La Tour du Monde" is an +illustrated journal of travels, admirably arranged and printed; the +great Historical Atlas and Universal Dictionary of Geography of M. +Vivien de Saint Martin have but one fault, the excessive tardiness of +their publication. M. Elisée Reclus's handsome work, "La Terre et les +Hommes," on the contrary, is issued with unexceptionable regularity. +The fifth volume, now approaching completion, comprises the countries +of Northern Europe, principally Russia, which is now attracting the +attention of historians and politicians generally. M. Reclus's point +of view is especially calculated to answer to the nature of the +present interest, for he enters more particularly into the relations +of the people to the soil; to the administrative geography, details +concerning which are to be found everywhere, he pays only secondary +attention, devoting himself more especially to the physical geography, +customs, and institutions. His book is more particularly a work on +geology, ethnography, and sociology; and therein lies its originality +and usefulness. Hachette is also engaged in publishing a map of France +that exceeds in beauty and precision everything that has ever been +produced of the kind until now. It is drawn by the Service des Chemins +Vicinaux at the expense of the Ministry of Interior, and will consist +of 467 sheets. The scale is 1/100000. The admirable engraver, M. +Erhard, has been entrusted with the execution, which is beyond +criticism alike as regards fulness of detail, clearness, and +colouring. Each sheet costs only 75c., a moderate sum, considering the +exceptional merit of the work, the most considerable of its kind since +the Staff map. A proof of the importance attached in these days to the +study of geography is the foundation of Chairs of Geography in several +of our Faculties of Letters--Bordeaux, Lyons, Nancy--and a course of +lectures on historical geography at the École des Hautes Études. This +course will be given by M. A. Longnon, whose works on "Les Pagi de la +Gaule" and "La Géographie de la Gaule au sixième siècle," have made +him a European authority. By the combined use of the philological +laws of the transmutation of sounds, historical documents, and +archæological data, he has reached a precision it seemed impossible to +attain in these matters. He may be said to have founded a new science, +and the happiest results are to be expected from his teaching. + +There is always a lull in the artistic as in the literary and +scientific world during the summer and autumn, so that there is little +of importance to be noted. The designs sent in for the monument to +Rabelais, for the statue of the Republic, for a decorative curtain to +be executed by the Gobelins, all public works opened to competition, +have been exhibited. The question of such competitions was much +discussed on the occasion. It seems at first sight the best way of +securing the highest work, but practically it is not so. Artists of +acknowledged merit do not generally care to enter into competition +with brother artists; they shrink from the expense, often +considerable, which, in case of failure, is thrown away. That +incurred, for instance, by the competitors for the statue of the +Republic, amounted to about 4000 francs, and the premium awarded to +the three best designs to just that sum. It would evidently always be +better, when a really fine work is required, to choose the artist most +capable of executing it well, and leave him free to follow his own +inspiration. This method seems too little democratic for the days in +which we live, so under colour of democracy a number of poor devils +are made to involve themselves in enormous expenses for nothing. + +The most notable events of the last three months in the artistic world +have been the deaths of men variously famous. M. Viollet Le Duc leaves +behind him the twofold reputation of a learned archæologist of the +first order and an archæological architect still more remarkable. He +had fame, indeed, of a third kind--as a stirring and noisy politician, +who, from having been one of Napoleon III.'s familiar associates, and +a constant guest at Compiègne, became one of the most advanced members +of the Municipal Council of Paris, a _courtisan_ of the multitude. +But one is glad to forget him under these unfavourable aspects and +to think of him only as the author of the two great historical +dictionaries of "L'Architecture" and "Le Mobilier," and the clever and +learned restorer of our mediæval monuments. Thanks to him, Notre Dame +has been completed and finished, and reconstituted in the very spirit +of the thirteenth century; thanks to him, we have at Pierrefonds +the perfect model of a feudal castle. An indefatigable worker, +this Radical has allied his name in a manner as glorious as it is +indissoluble to the visible memorials of Catholic and Monarchical +France. + +Of a slighter, but perhaps more universal kind still was the +reputation of the caricaturist Cham, or, to speak more correctly, +the Viscomte de Noé. Son of a French peer known for his retrograde +opinions, Cham worked all his life for the Republican papers, though +people say he adhered to his Legitimist opinions. But he enjoyed +an independence in the Republican papers which would not have been +allowed him by the reactionary press; and a caricaturist's first +condition is to have plenty of elbow-room to be able to give free +play to his humour. The spring of Cham's humour was inexhaustible. +An indifferent and monotonous draughtsman, his mind was wholly and +entirely in the story of his drawings. The war of ridicule he waged +in 1848 against the Socialistic theories of Proudhon, Pierre Leroux, +Cabet, and Considérant exercised an undoubted influence on the public +mind. His comic reviews of the annual Salon contained, amongst many +amusing follies, some just and stinging criticisms. Cham leaves no +successor, Bertall, who is a cleverer draughtsman, has none of his +wit; Grévin can only sketch with exquisite grace the ladies of the +demi-monde and the young fops of the boulevard; Gill's political +caricatures are either bitter or violent. The lively and good-natured +raillery of Cham has no doubt vanished for ever. + +In conjunction with these two artists the name of a man should be +mentioned, who, himself an indifferent artist, was the unfailing +patron, the providence of artists, Baron Taylor, who died almost at +the same time as Cham. He it was who taught artists to form themselves +into associations against want. He was in particular the soul of the +Société des Artistes Dramatiques, and amongst the immense crowd that +attended his funeral were, no doubt, hundreds indebted to him for an +easy career and a sure means of existence. + +We are a long way removed from the time when the life of an artist was +one long struggle with misery, when men of the first class continued +obscure or barely maintained themselves by their works. Many +difficulties still remain no doubt, but how much smoother the road +has become! Musicians, more especially, found themselves in those +days condemned to obscurity and oblivion. Now, thanks to concerts and +theatres, they can almost always have the public for their judges. The +Opera is at present in the hands of an enterprising and intelligent +director, M. Vaucorbeil, who is anxious to rescue it from the groove +it has been dragging on in for so long, with its current repertory of +two or three antiquated works, barely bringing out a new one in four +or five years. True, we have not got beyond good intentions until +now, M. Gounod still intending to retouch the "Tribu de Zamora," M. A. +Thomas to finish his "Françoise de Rimini," and M. Saint-Saens still +unsuccessful in getting his "Etienne Marcel" accepted. Besides the +Grand Opéra there is L'Opéra Populaire located in the Gaîté's old +quarters, which intends, it is said, to revive the lost traditions of +the lyric theatre, and to be the theatre of the young generation and +of reform. But at present it is to the Pasdeloup and Colonne Concerts +that the rising musical school owes the opportunity of making itself +heard, and the Parisian public its familiar acquaintance with foreign +works. The great reputation M. Saint-Saens now enjoys was made at +Colonne's Concerts at the Châtelet. Lately Schumann's "Manfred" was +given there. At the Cirque the "Symphonie Fantastique," by Berlioz, +was played with immense success, also for the first time a pianoforte +concerto by the Russian composer, Tschaikovsky, and M. Pasdeloup +shortly intends to give a performance of the whole of the music of +"Lohengrin." + +Considered apart from music, the theatre is far from improving, and +has, moreover, become the scene of performances that bear no relation +to dramatic art. At the Nouveautés, Professor Hermann, of Vienna, is +performing sleight-of-hand feats bordering on the miraculous; at the +Variétés the Hanlon-Lees have transformed the stage into a gymnasium, +where they defy every law of equilibrium and gravity. Holden's +Marionettes, also one of the great attractions of the day, are not +more dislocated or agile than these wonderful mountebanks. In the way +of new plays the great rage at present is "Jonathan," M. Gondinet's +latest work, which is being played at the Gymnase. Neither its wit +nor its cleverness, any more than the talent of the actors, are to +be denied; but what are we to think of a dramatic art whose sole end +would seem to be to get accepted on the stage a story so scandalous +that a brief account of it would be intolerable? By dint of shifts, +doubtful insinuations, fun, and spirit, the sight of it is just +rendered endurable. No heed is paid to truth, nor to either character +or manners. It is the last utterance of the literary decadence. We +thought that with "Bébé" we had reached the utmost limits of this kind +of piece. To "Jonathan" is due the honour of having extended those +limits. + +One feels grateful to those who, like M. Claretie, dare to shed a +purer atmosphere over the stage. "Les Mirabeau" is far from being +a masterpiece. It exhibits, like all M. Claretie's works, rather a +careless facility, but at the same time a true understanding of the +Revolutionary period; the tone is strong and healthy, and some +scenes, in which Mdlle. Rousseil shows herself a great actress, are +exceedingly dramatic. It is given at an enterprising theatre, the +Théâtre des Nations, which is devoting itself to historical +drama, and, in a double series of dramatic matinées held on Sunday +afternoons, is giving, on the one hand, a set of plays relating to +every epoch of French history, on the other, a set of foreign plays +translated into French, and intended to promote the knowledge of +the dramatic works of other countries, ancient as well as modern; an +ingenious and happy undertaking, to which we cannot but wish every +success. + + G. MONOD. + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: + +Some of the words from the Article, "Hinduisn and Jainism" contain +vowels with macron accents (line above the letter). These are +depicted as [=A], [=a], [=i], [=u]. Some words in the article +contain stand-alone acute accents, which have been retained. + +e.g., As´oka; Pars´van[=a]tha; Pajj[=u]san; S[=a]dhvin[=i]; +S´iva-r[=a]tri; Up[=a]s´raya; + + +Errata: + +Page 555: 'Governmeut' corrected to 'Government' + +"... was forced upon the Government by the attitude of Russia...." + +Page 580: 'botantist' corrected to 'botanist'. + +"... by the German botantist, Hildebrand,..." + +Page 642: 'is' corrected to 'Is' + +"... in bonds and debentures? Is not part of the profit realized...." + +Page 714: Extraneous 'the' removed. +"Besides the Grand Opéra there is L'Opéra Populaire [the] located...." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, +December 1879, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40315 *** |