首页 >出版文学> James Mill>第5章

第5章

  Thereforeallsentimentwasobjectionable,forsentimentmeansneglectofrulesandcalculations。HeshrankfromshowingfeelingwithmorethantheusualEnglishreserve;andshowedhisdevotiontohischildrenbydrillingthemintoknowledgewithuncompromisingstrictness,Hehadnofeelingforthepoeticalorliterarysideofthings;andregardedlife,itwouldseem,asaseriesofarguments,inwhichpeopleweretobeconstrainedbylogic,notpersuadedbysympathy。HeseemstohavedespisedpoorMrs。Mill,andtohavebeenunsuccessfulinconcealinghiscontempt,thoughinhislettershereferstoherrespectfully。Millthereforewasamanlittlelikelytowintheheartsofhisfollowers,thoughhisremarkablevigourofminddominatedtheirunderstandings。
  Theamiableandkindly,whosesympathiesarequicklymoved,gainanunfairshareofourregardbothinlifeandafterwards。Wearemorepleasedbyanineffectualattempttobekindly,thanbyrealkindnessbestowedungraciously。Mill’sgreatqualitiesshouldnotbeoverlookedbecausetheywerehiddenbyamannerwhichseemsalmostdeliberatelyrepellent。Hedevotedhimselfthroughlifetopromotethetruthashesawit;toincreasethescantyamountsofpleasuresenjoyedbymankind;andtodischargeallthedutieswhichheowedtohisneighbours。
  Hesucceededbeyondalldisputeinforciblypresentingonesetofviewswhichprofoundlyinfluencedhiscountrymen;andtheverynarrownessofhisintellectenabledhimtoplanthisblowsmoreeffectively。
  NOTES:
  1。ThechiefauthorityforJamesMillisJamesMill:aBiography,byAlexanderBain,EmeritusProfessorofLogicintheUniversityofAberdeen,London,1882。Thebookcontainsveryfullmaterials,and,ifratherdry,dealswithadrysubject。
  2。Wallas’sFrancisPlace,p。70n。
  3。Bain’sJamesMill,p。166。
  4。Gifford’srealnamewasJohnRichardsGreen。TheidentityofhisassumednamewiththatofthemorefamousWilliamGiffordhasledtocommonconfusionbetweenthetwoperiodicals。’PeterPindar’assaultedWilliamGiffordundertheerroneousimpressionththewaseditorofthesecond。
  5。LetterinBain’sJamesMill,pp。136-40。
  6。Autobiography,p。39。
  7。Bain’sJamesMill,pp。97-106。Millappearstohavesaidsomething’extravagant’aboutBenthaminanarticleuponMirandaintheEdinburghReviewforJanuary,1809。HealsogotsomepraisesofBenthamintotheAnnualReviewof1809Bain,92-96。
  8。SeetheveryinterestingLifeofFrancisPlace,byMrGrahamWallas,1898。
  9。Bain’sJamesMill,p。78,andWallas’sFrancisPlace,p。66。
  10。Wallas’sFrancisPlace,p。68。
  11。He’puttogether’theNotPaulbutJesusatFordAbbeyin1817,andhelpedtoprefacetheReformCatechism。Wallas’sFrancisPlace,p。84。
  12。Thearticleof1811wasalsopublishedseparately。
  13。Hewroteonlythefirstvolume。TwootherswereaddedbyCuthbertSouthey。
  14。LecturesAshe,1885,pp。32,61。
  15。JamesMill,accordingtoPlace,wrotea’memorableandadmirableessay,”Schoolsforall,notschoolsforChurchmenonly。”’——Wallas’sFrancisPlace,99n。
  16。ThisabsurdsuspicionwasarousedbyaquarrelaboutBurdett’sarrest。SeeWallas’Place,p。56。
  17。MrWallasgivesanaccountoftheseschemesinchap。iv,ofhisLifeofPlace。IhavealsoconsultedPlace’scollectionsinAdditionalMSS。,27,823。
  18。Bain’sJamesMill,p。162。
  19。H。H。Wilsoninhisprefacetotheeditionof1840。
  20。Wallas’sFrancisPlace,p。78。
  21。Bain’sJamesMill,p。435。
  22。Ibid。,p。433。
  23。Bentham’sWorks,p。498。
  24。SeeCannaninEconomicReview,1894。
  25。SeeunderBlackinDictionaryofNationalBiography。
  26。Autobiography,p。101。
  27。SeePlace’saccountinAdditionalMSS。27,823。
  28。G。C。Robertson,PhilosophicalRemains,p。166;andunderGeorgeGroteinDictionaryofNationalBiography。
  29。LetterscommunicatedbyMrGrahamWallas。SeeMrWallas’sFrancisPlace,p。91。
  30。SoPlaceobservedthatMill’couldhelpthemass,butcouldnothelptheindividual,notevenhimselforhisown。’——Wallas’sFrancisPlace,p。79。
  31。Autobiography,p。48。Chapter2:ReformMovementsI。PoliticalChangeThelastyearsofMill’slifecorrespondtotheperiodinwhichUtilitarianismreached,incertainrespects,itshighestpitchofinfluence。Thelittlebandwhoacknowledgedhimastheirchiefleader,andastheauthorisedlieutenantofBentham,consideredthemselvestobeinthevanofprogress。Thoughdifferingonmanypointsfromeachother,andregardedwithaversionordistrustbytherecognisedpartyleaders,theywereintheirmostmilitantandconfidentstateofmind。Theyweresystematicallyreticentastotheirreligiousviews:theylefttopopularoratorsthepublicadvocacyoftheirfavouritepoliticalmeasures;andthecreditoffinallypassingsuchofthosemeasuresaswereadoptedfellchieflytothehandsofthegreatpoliticalleaders。
  TheUtilitariansareignoredintheorthodoxWhiglegend。Intheprefacetohiscollectedworks,SydneySmithrunsovertheusuallistofchangeswhichhadfollowed,and,asheseemstothink,hadingreatpartresultedfrom,theestablishmentoftheEdinburghReview。Smithhimself,andJeffreyandHornerand,aboveall,’thegiganticBrougham,’hadblowntheblastwhichbroughtdownthetowersofJericho。SirG。O。Trevelyan,inhisLifeofMacaulay,describestheadventoftheWhigstoofficeinasimilarsense。’Agitatorsandincendiaries,’hesays,’retiredintothebackground,aswillalwaysbethecasewhenthecountryisinearnest:
  andstatesmenwhohadmuchtolose,andwerenotafraidtoriskit,steppedquietlyandfirmlytothefront。Themenandthesonsofthemenwhohadsolongenduredexclusionfromoffice,embitteredbyunpopularity,atlengthreapedtheirreward。’1TheRadicalversionofthehistoryisdifferent。Thegreatmen,itsaid,whohadleftthecausetobesupportedbyagitatorssolongasthedefencewasdangerousandprofitless,steppedforwardnowthatitwasclearlywinning,andreceivedboththerewardandthecredit。MillandPlacecouldnotfindwordstoexpresstheircontemptforthetrimming,shufflingWhigs。Theywereprobablyunjustenoughindetail;buttheyhadastrongcaseinsomerespects。TheUtilitariansrepresentedthatpartofthereformingpartywhichhadadefiniteandareasonedcreed。
  Theytriedtogivelogicwherethepopularagitatorswerecontentwithdeclamation,andrepresentedabsoluteconvictionswhentheWhigreformerswerecontentwithtentativeandhesitatingcompromises。Theyhadsomegroundsforconsideringthemselvestobethe’steelofthelance’;Themenwhoformulatedanddeliberatelydefendedtheprincipleswhichwerebeginningtoconquertheworld。
  TheUtilitarians,Ihavesaid,becameapoliticalforceintheconcludingyearsofthegreatwarstruggle。Thecatastropheoftherevolutionhadunchainedawholewhirlwindofantagonisms。Theoriginalissueshadpassedoutofsight;andgreatsocial,industrial,andpoliticalchangeswereinprogresswhichmadethenationthatemergedfromthewaraverydifferentbodyfromthenationthathadentereditnearlyagenerationbefore,itisnotsurprisingthatatfirstveryerroneousestimatesweremadeofthenewpositionwhenpeaceatlastreturned。
  TheRadicals,whohadwatchedononesidethegrowthofdebtandpauperism,and,ontheotherhand,theprofitsmadebystockjobbers,landlords,andmanufacturers,ascribedalltheterriblesufferingstotheselfishdesignsoftheupperclasses。Whenthewarendedtheyhopedthattheevilswoulddiminish,whilethepretextformisgovernmentwouldberemoved。Abitterdisappointmentfollowed。Thewarwasfollowedbywidespreadmisery。Plentymeantruintoagriculturists,andcommercial’gluts’resultinginmanufacturers’warehousescrammedwithunsaleablegoods。Thediscontentcausedbymiseryhadbeenencounteredduringthewarbypatrioticfervour。Itwasnotatimeforredressingevils,whentheexistenceofthenationwasatstake。Nowthatthemiserycontinued,andtheexcusefordelayingredresshadbeenremoved,ademandaroseforparliamentaryreform。Unfortunatelydiscontentledalsotosporadicriotings,tobreakingofmachineryandburningofricks。TheTorygovernmentsawinthesedisturbancesarenewaloftheoldJacobinspirit,andhadvisions——apparentlyquitegroundless——ofwidespreadconspiraciesandsecretsocietiesreadytoproducearuinofallsocialorder。Ithadrecoursetotheoldrepressivemeasures,thesuspensionoftheHabeasCorpusAct,thepassageofthe’SixActs,’andtheprosecutionofpopularagitators。
  Manyobserversfanciedthatthechoicelaybetweenaservileinsurrectionandtheestablishmentofarbitrarypower。
  Bydegrees,however,peacebroughtbackprosperity。Thingssettleddown;commercerevived;andtheacutedistresspassedaway。ThewholenationwentmadoverthewrongsofQueenCaroline;andthedemandforpoliticalreformbecameforthetimelessintense。Butitsoonappearedthat,althoughthiscrisishadbeensurmounted,thetemperofthenationhadprofoundlychanged。Thesupremepowerstillbelongedconstitutionallytothelandedinterest。Butithadaprofoundlymodifiedsocialorderbehindit。Thewarhadatleastmadeitnecessarytotakeintoaccounttheopinionsoflargerclasses。Anappealtopatriotismmeansthatsomeregardmustbepaidtotheprejudicesandpassionsofpeopleatlarge。Whenenormoussumsweretoberaised,themoneyedclasseswouldhavetheirsayastomodesoftaxation。Commerceandmanufactureswentthroughcrisesofterribledifficultyduetothevariouschangesofthewar;but,onthewhole,theindustrialclassesweresteadilyandrapidlydevelopinginwealth,andbecomingrelativelymoreimportant。Thewaritselfwas,inoneaspectatleast,awarforthemaintenanceoftheBritishsupremacyintrade。Thestrugglemarkedbythepolicyofthe’OrdersinCouncil’ononeside,andNapoleon’sdecreesontheother,involvedaconstantreferencetoManchesterandLiverpoolandtherapidlygrowingmanufacturingandcommercialinterests。Thegrowth,again,ofthepress,atatimewheneveryonewhocouldreadwaskeenlyinterestedinnewsofmostexcitingandimportantevents,impliedtherapiddevelopmentofagreatorganofpublicopinion。
  Theeffectsofthesechangessoonbecamepalpable。Thepoliticalatmospherewasaltogetherdifferent;
  andanentirelynewsetofinfluenceswasgoverningthepolicyofstatesmen。
  ThechangeaffectedtheToryasmuchastheWhig。Howeverstronglyhemightbelievethathewascarryingontheoldmethods,hewasaffectedbythenewideaswhichhadbeenalmostunconsciouslyincorporatedinhiscreed。
  Howgreatwasthechange,andhowmuchittooktheshapeofacceptingUtilitariantheories,maybebrieflyshownbyconsideringafewcharacteristicfacts。
  TheablestmenwhoheldofficeatthetimewereCanning,Huskisson,andPeel。Theyrepresentedtheconservatismwhichsoughttodistinguishitselffrommereobstructiveness。Theirinfluencewasfeltinmanydirections。TheHolyAlliancehadthesympathyofmenwhocouldbelievethatthewarhadbroughtbackthepre-revolutionaryorder,andthatitsmainresulthadbeentoputtheJacobinspiritinchains。
  Canning’saccessiontoofficein1822meantthattheforeignpolicyofEnglandwastobedefinitelyopposedtothepolicyofthe’HolyAlliance。’