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Nations, Fragments illustrative of the Manners and Customs of.

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6

41

186

I. On Metaphysical Inquiries, and the Spirit in which
they should be conducted.

II. On Philosophical Necessity versus Philosophical Free-

dom

III. On the True Standard of Morals.

IV. On the Causes and Effects of a Belief in

natural Agents

Physiology of the Bones, Extracts illustrative of the.

49

.73, 97
121, 145

Super-.

169, 193
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S.

Socialism

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Socialism considered as the Moral Regenerator of Modern
Society
19, 64, 116, 128, 156
Supreme Being, The Unity of the, was acknowledged by the
Ancient Philosophers....

U.

Universe, The Magnificence of the....

25

217

Albert, a Tale..

POETRY.

134

THE

MONTHLY MESSENGER.

SOCIALISM.

Εαν ταις γλωσσαις των ανθρωπων λαλω και των αγγελων, αγαπην δε τη εχω, γεγονα χαλκος ήχων η κύμβαλον αλαλαζον.

For though I should speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, and not have social affection, I should be like a sounding brass or a noisy cymbal.*

SOCIALISM is the name of a system of opinions which has sprung into notice during the last thirty years, principally through the exertions and influence of the celebrated and philanthropic Robert Owen. It is called socialism, because its disciples profess to be animated by the purest principles of charity and good will to their fellow-men,† and because it embraces plans. which, if adopted by society, would ameliorate the condition of mankind by lessening the amount of their physical sufferings, giving tone to their morals, and diffusing amongst them valuable knowledge.‡

The word socialism is derived from the Latin socialis or sociabilis, signifying friendly, apt to be joined, of or belonging to allies, confederates, or friends. Sociable, in French, according to Chambaud, signifies conversible, and the same meaning is expressed in Italian by

*Vide the New Testament by Daniel Mace, &c.

+ Outline of Rational System, p. 8.

Six Lectures by Robert Owen, p. 81.

B

the word sociabile. All these are probably derived from the Greek okios oikios or oikeios oikeios, a friend, domestic; or perhaps from Kov@vikoç koinonikos, pertaining to, or qualified for, participation, partaking, social. The word sociable and its derivatives are thus used by some of our best English writers.

"God, having designed man for a sociable creature, made him not only with an inclination, and under a necessity, to have fellowship with those of his own kind, but furnished him also with language, which was to be the greater instrument or common tie of society." -Locke on Human Understanding, b. iii., c. 1.

"We have, implanted in our original constitutions, inclinations to love, pity, gratitude, sociableness, quiet, joy, reputation."-Barrow, vol. i., sermon 9.

"Such then was the root and foundation of the sociability of religion in the ancient world, so much envied by modern pagans."-Warburton's Divine Legation, b. ii., s. 1.

Now when we take into account the peculiar genius of Robert Owen's system, when we consider that it is calculated to facilitate the intercourse of thought, and establish universal peace, it is not improper to designate it by the word "socialism.”

The socialists view man as the creature of the circumstances which surround him throughout life, and affirm that his character invariably partakes of the quality of those associations among which he may be placed: "in other phrase," that man comes into existence organized in a peculiar manner, susceptible either of moral degradation or improvement, and that circumstances, operating on his organized structure, produce certain effects or changes in it, which are what they usually allude to when they use the word "character."* The great and universal law of causation, or philosophical necessity is embraced by them to the full extent, and the promotion of human improvement is in their estimation of paramount importance.† They consider society to be at present in a state of moral degradation, owing to the

*Murphy's Essay on Consciousness.

+ Owen's Six Lectures, p. 21.

prevalency of commercial competition, the system of private property, and the debasing influence of false religions. They look with commiseration upon men, regarding them as wanderers from the paths of nature and truth, and they ardently wish "to reclaim them from the error of their ways." Believing that no religion can be true but that which is in accordance with nature, or founded on demonstrable facts, they reject all those systems of spurious theology which originated in an age of ignorance and barbarism, when monkish darkness triumphed over the prostrate energies of man, and when mind was shorn of its noblest honours, by the malignant influence of superstition. They consider all such systems hurtful instead of being advantageous. They believe that instead of enlightening the human intellect and stimulating it to investigate its most important interests, they do little more than bewilder it in a chaos of vapid and baseless speculation.§ Whatever appears to them to be good in any doctrinal or preceptive system they embrace, and whatever appears to be false they reject. Their fundamental doctrine is the formation of character as before described, and their religion consists in the unrestricted exercise of their benevolent feelings.

But socialism is not merely a speculative system, it also assumes a practical form. Its founder proposes plans for the renovation of degraded humanity, and the more enlarged production and equalized distribution of wealth. Society, by acting on these plans-by abolishing the narrow principle of individualism, and adopting the opposite one of mutual co-operation, would vastly increase its productive power, and the new arrangements proposed by Mr. Owen would secure to each individual a portion of the wealth thus created adequate to his maintenance in health and comfort.

The advantages which would accrue to the population from such a system are incalculably great. The

*Owen's Six Lectures, pp. 14, 32. + Ibid. p. 41.

Vid Taylor's Diegeses. Higgins' Celtic Druids and Anacalypsis.

§ Owen's Six Lectures, p. 110.

causes of vice and suffering would be removed, and as a consequence their effects would proportionably cease. Society would no longer exhibit those glaring inequalities of condition observable at present. There would not be a proud and pampered class of aristocrats, bloated with the most fantastic ideas of their dignity and grandeur, to trample on the rights and liberties of their fellows; nor would there be any poor to repine at their own lot, or envy the condition of their more fortunate brethren. Each would labour to produce his due proportion of wealth, and all would enjoy the advantages of co-operative measures. Thus, kindness and affection would thrill through every bosom, and waves of delighted sensibility undulate from heart to heart.

This system is in accordance with nature, because it is capable of affording man a degree of felicity commensurate with his power of enjoyment. The whole constitution of nature declares that man was intended to be happy. The ear is fitted to receive sound, and there is the chorus of the universe to regale it. The eye is adapted to receive light, and the human being so organized as to be capable of experiencing pleasure upon beholding a beauteous prospect; and many bright and lovely landscapes are pencilled on the ample bosom of nature, on which the "poet's eye delights to linger," and which, when seen, excite the most pleasing emotions. The organs of touch, taste, and smell, possess susceptibilities to action, and there are agencies in nature capable of exciting them so as to enlarge the sum of human happiness. In short, nature is a mighty storehouse, from whence our intellectual, moral, and corporeal wants may be supplied.

To whatever department of inanimate nature we turn our attention, we behold little but scenes of loveliness and grandeur. This terraqueous globe, which, (to use the language of a French poet,) "human vanity hath divided into climates and regions," appears to be stocked with a diversity of wonders. The river rolls along in silent pomp, pouring its majestic volume of waters through a world of forests, forming at once the emblem of human life, the talisman of poetry, the dispenser of happiness, and the parent of vegetation. The

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