1857
270.
TO ASA GRAY
January 19, 1857
Dear Sir
I have received your letter dated the 22nd of December, informing me that I have been elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: and I beg that you will express to the Academy my high sense of the honour conferred on me, which is enhanced by their having selected me as the fittest person to fill the place left vacant by Sir William Hamilton.
The writings which the Academy has thought worthy of this distinction have been nowhere more intelligently read, or more conscientiously examined, than in America; judging from the reviews which I have seen, some of them by writers who differ widely from me in opinion. And all means of information lead me to believe that there is in America a public for such speculations, at least as thoughtful and more earnest than that of England. It is gratifying to me to have my name associated with so important a portion of that public as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I have the honour to be, Sir
Your very obedient Servant
J. S. Mill
271.
TO PASQUALE VILLARI
le 3 février 1857
Mon cher Monsieur Villari
Je prends la liberté de recommander à votre obligeance mon beau-fils M. Algernon Taylor, qui voyage en Italie pour se distraire d’une maladie chronique dont il souffre depuis longtemps, et qui compte voir en passant, avant la fin du printemps la belle ville que vous habitez.
Je me rappelle toujours avec plaisir la soirée si agréable que j’ai passée avec vous, et le projet dont vous me fîtes part alors de venir en Angleterre dans le courant de cette année. Si ce projet se réalise, comme je l’espère, ma femme et moi comptons que vous viendrez nous voir, et que nous reprendrons alors à trois notre bonne causerie.
Votre Dévoué
J. S. Mill
272.
TO HARRIET MILL
Saturday evg
[Feb. 14, 1857]
My dearest love, if I do not write tonight you will not hear from me till Tuesday, so I write though it is but to say that I have got here comfortably. I had a pleasant hour & a half’s ramble in that beautiful town, & the journey was very pleasant as long as there was light, though I could not succeed in getting a foot warmer till Newcastle. There was a stoppage of twenty minutes at Berwick which I availed myself of for a sort of dinner which disagreed with me. However I have done very well, and have just time to write this scrawl before it will be too late for the post. I enjoy excessively the feeling of those three days and shall enjoy the remembrance of them & be very happy till you come & a great deal happier afterwards, so be cheerful darling & keep loving me as you so sweetly do. Bless you my own only darling love.
I am at the George, alone in the coffee room by a flaming fire.
273.
TO HARRIET MILL
Monday
[Feb. 16. 1857]
Darling of mine, I write directly to say that I have arrived here all right. It was not without some drawbacks. I could not get inside York Cathedral. Any day but Sunday it is open at nine, (& till five) but on Sunday not till ten. I was there at ¼ to 8, & went to the only verger that lives near, & his people told me that no one has the key but the verger whose turn it is, & that he was sure to be there about nine—but he had not arrived at ¼ to ten when I had to leave. I saw a very beautiful ruin (St Mary’s Abbey) & a nice public garden & the outside of the Minster quite equalled my expectation. But the journey; never travel by a Sunday train when you can help it, for it stops at every station. It took longer getting to Peterborough than we took the whole way, add to which that it was an east wind & very cold, & they had no footwarmer ready, nor could I get one the whole journey. I therefore arrived cold & with a head ache, but (a sign it had done me no harm) I instantly scampered off to the cathedral, heard part of the service & saw the building which is one of the finest I know (in England). The inn was an old-fashioned red brick place with very moderate charges, & there were two really gentlemanly & well informed & decidedly liberal men in the coffee-room all the evening with whom I had a good deal of pleasant talk. This morning it was cold & foggy but became fine afterwards & there was a foot warmer. The cold made me go in the first class both days & I got here very prosperously, by the ten oclock train, (having to wait to get a rent in my great coat mended). So here is my history. I long to hear from my beloved one & to know both how she is & how she manages at that place. I have hardly known which way to turn since I arrived here between one & two, & therefore must content myself with this bare recital of particulars—but she will be glad to have it because it says that all is right. I hope she got mine from York. With the utmost love
your own
J.S.M.
274.
TO HARRIET MILL
Tuesday
[Feb. 17. 1857]
My dearest love, what a pleasure it was to see her precious writing, but it was vexatious that she had such a bother the first day, how tired she must have been, no wonder her fingers were stiff. It is a good thing on every account that L[ily] is pleased & in good spirits. I am glad she will not be so busy after today & will be able to be with you, though it is provoking to think that you might so easily have been with her in some more agreeable place than that one seems to be.
I do not find my eyes any better for the trip—but I suppose they will come right by degrees, as they did seven years ago. I have seldom any defect of sight, but occasional aching, which however I think is nervous only. Sykes, though I did not see him till today, seemed almost surprised to see me so soon—I might have taken two days more, you see. He said they had had a “fright” because Mrs Sykes thought she saw your death in the papers, it was the wife of a Mr Mills of the India House. I found two letters from Haji which I send in another cover together with a bill of Bagnall. Lapworth’s which has also come I need not send. It comes to £57. 6. not more I should think than we expected. It was the strangest feeling yesterday & this morning to be there & at the same time fresh from all those places. I have hardly anything running in my mind’s eye but innumerable large railway stations. On Saturday night at York I slept little & dreamt much—among the rest a long dream of some speculation on animal nature, ending with my either reading or writing, just before I awoke, this Richterish sentence: “With what prospect then, until a cow is fed on broth, we can expect the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth to be unfolded concerning this part of nature, I leave to” &c &c. I had a still droller dream the same night. I was seated at a table like a table d’hôte, with a woman at my left hand & a young man opposite—the young man said, quoting somebody for the saying, “there are two excellent & rare things to find in a woman, a sincere friend & a sincere Magdalen.” I answered “the best would be to find both in one”—on which the woman said “no, that would be too vain”—whereupon I broke out “do you suppose when one speaks of what is good in itself, one must be thinking of one’s own paltry self interest? no, I spoke of what is abstractedly good & admirable.” How queer to dream stupid mock mots, & of a kind totally unlike one’s own ways or character. According to the usual oddity of dreams—when the man made the quotation I recognised it & thought he had quoted it wrong & the right words were “an innocent magdalen” not perceiving the contradiction. I wonder if reading that Frenchman’s book suggested the dream. These are ridiculous things to put in a letter, but perhaps they may amuse my darling. I intend to come here early & go away late during her absence in order more quickly to get through my heap of work. I should have liked to go to Paddington to vote against the directors of the G. Western, but I could not. The opponents cannot expect to succeed when they do not ask for proxies. The directors asked me for one which I refused. I think them more & more wrong the more I look into the management, & they must be made to give way sooner or later. I wrote to my darling from York & again yesterday. I sent the paper yesterday & shall send today’s as those of the three days of absence are enough at home for the present. The Govt is bringing in a bill to make the savings banks a Govt responsibility. Adieu darling. your
J.S.M.
275.
TO HARRIET MILL
Wedy
[Feb. 18. 1857]
I do, dear, wonder very much that she should have urged you to come to such a place as it seems to be, & herself so occupied that she could not be with you. It has turned out better than there was reason to expect in her having a respite from all that bustle & occupation, & being able to be more with you. She is very fortunate in having come to this man—she will evidently have the best chances with him that the case admits of—so it is well for her, & everything shews more & more that it is best for us also. I hope my precious that I shall hear tomorrow that a lodging has been found fit for you to be in & that she being more with you it is more endurable. I will not forget the Bidd letter darling. That will be for Friday—& tomorrow is the voting for Martin which is at Lewisham. I have done exactly what she says darling about dinner, that is I have only spoken to Henry & to Mary. The only difficulty I shall have in ordering relates to the servant’s dinners, as I do not know the quantities to order: but I must do the best I can. I get on quickly with the Pol Econ. as there is but little to add or alter. Adieu my darling
your
J.S.M.
276.
TO HARRIET MILL
Thursday
[Feb. 19. 1857]
My most precious one, I do not get on well with the idea of your time being passed in a dirty gloomy inn in that detestable place—& so much of it, as it seems, still alone. Surely that decousu irregular character of the planche life is not inseparable from it, but pretty nearly so in practice I suppose as these comparatively regular people have so much of it. I detest equally your returning all that way alone—but for that there does not seem, as things now look, any alternative.
I pass the evening always at the Pol. Economy, with now & then a little playing to rest my eyes & mind. There will be no great quantity to alter, but now & then a little thing is of importance. One page I keep for consideration when I can shew it to you. It is about the qualities of English workpeople & of the English generally. It is not at all as I would write it now, but I do not, in reality, know how to write it.
I gave my vote at Lewisham this morning about nine, & found Martin himself there. He reckons himself sure of success, on the number of positive promises, after taking off the usual percentage (10 per cent) for failures. I will not forget to post that letter tomorrow. On Saty I shall take back the books to Rolandi & get others. Can I do any other useful thing?
your
J.S.M.
277.
TO HARRIET MILL
Tuesday
[Feb. 24. 1857]
It was less of a shock the first moment than I should have thought it would have been—no doubt because the same letter said you were better & because the sight of your beloved handwriting gave me confidence—but I have been growing more anxious every hour since. Thank Heaven however we know by experience that this is not necessarily dangerous—though a warning of the danger there always is. It must have been much less bad than the former time, or you could not have written immediately. But it would be very imprudent to attempt travelling for I do not know how many days, & then it can only be by very short journeys. L[ily]’s being ill at the same time is an additional misfortune. But why should I not come. I am ready to come any day & stay any time—& I do not see that your being there is inaverrable—you are really on a visit, & it is nobody’s concern to whom. You will judge best of everthing & either you or L. will let me know—but all my wish is to be with you & to be doing my little little to help. The blessing & comfort it was & is to me to have been with you on that former occasion no words will ever express.
I will do about the letters as you say & will send today’s paper as usual—I shall hear again tomorrow—
278.
TO HARRIET MILL
Wednesday
[Feb. 25. 1857]
Do not torment herself dearest dearest love about this having happened when & how it has. There is nothing, in comparison, worth thinking of, except to do the best that can be done now & especially not to be too impatient to come home, at the great risk it would be to travel either too soon or by too long journeys. It seems to me quite impossible that you should come in a Saturday & Sunday, or even with a Friday superadded—& therefore quite necessary that I should come for longer, though that will make it necessary to say something to Sykes. You will judge best what I had better say, & will tell me when my coming will be of most service. One time of the week or another will be indifferent if I ask for leave—But it is quite impossible you should do these long journies which we did in going. I should think you ought not to take less than four days, if you set out anything like as soon as you hope to do—& in that case I shall require a week. Have you seen any medical man?
Since L[ily] returns with you at any rate, I shall not send any more newspapers to G[lasgow] but shall keep them here, & send them if you say so, or if there is any change of plan.
There are many things I wished to say, but I can write about nothing but the one subject.
your own my precious darling
279.
TO HARRIET MILL
Thursday
[Feb. 26. 1857]
Dearest—
I expect to be with you before this note & therefore only write it in case of any (impossible) stoppage on the way. I shall go by tonight’s mail & consequently arrive in Edinburgh a little after eleven. adieu
your
J.S.M.
280.
TO EDWIN CHADWICK
March 13 [1857]
Dear Chadwick
Neither have I made myself conversant with the details. What disgusted me was the stupidity (if it was no worse) of supposing that people here could judge of the effect that would be produced on the minds of barbarians who put to death several thousands per year by the more or less of reparation demanded where some was evidently due; the ridiculous appeals to humanity and Christianity in favour of ruffians, & to international law in favour of people who recognize no laws of war at all (witness the poisonings & stabbings in the back) & the attempt to make out Bowring a “flagitious” liar because he said the obvious truth that if the Chinese thought they were insulting a vessel entitled to our protection, it was immaterial whether it had really ceased to be entitled or not.
I think you cannot make too much of the poisonings & of Yeh’s cutting off heads. Coulson told me at the club (I do not know if you heard it) that a friend of his told him that his brother (or some near relation) at Canton had himself seen 3000 put to death in one day—they were told off in 30 parties of 100 each. If you like to come & talk over the points, pray do. I am too busy to write more, having all Thornton’s work to do in addition to my own.
yrs ever truly
J. S. Mill
281.
TO FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL
March 13. 1857
Dear Sir
I am very much obliged for the trouble you are taking to procure a copy of the reprint, and for your kind offer of information on the present state of Cooperation in England. The information of that kind which would be of most use for my present purpose (a new edition of the Pol. Economy) would be some approximate estimate of the number of establishments now in operation, distinguishing those which are for production from those which are only stores—and a general notion of whether they are increasing in number and prosperity, or falling off. I am Dear Sir
yrs very faithfully
J. S. Mill
282.
TO LORD OVERSTONE
March 25
1857
Dear Lord Overstone
I have just heard from my friend Mr Alexander Bain that he is a candidate for the Examinership in Logic and Mental Philosophy, and that he thinks an expression of my opinion on his qualifications for the post may be of service to him. I think him in all probability the fittest person for it in the three kingdoms, having on the whole a greater knowledge of the entire subject than any other person I could mention and having also been a very successful teacher of it for some years at an University (Marischal College Aberdeen) How much mental philosophy owes to him as an original, profound, and at the same time sober and judicious thinker, may be seen in his principal work “The Senses and the Intellect”, in my opinion the best book yet written on the Philosophy of Mind. I cannot imagine that any other person of this generation has made good equally strong claims to such a post as he applies for.
I am dear Lord Overstone
yours very truly
J. S. Mill
283.
TO HARRIET MILL
Monday
[April 13. 1857]
Darling—
I have got here quite comfortably, & am on the point of setting out for Bond St. &c. It was worth much more than the extra 2/3 to hear her say in such a nice strong voice that she was well.
The three days were very pleasant, and in looking back, seem very long. I can hardly fancy it is so short a time since I was here last. That is always the case in pleasant absences.
I always now forget something—I either left my India House clothes brush behind this morning, or it has dropped out of my pocket.
Fare well & be well my own love for the sake of your
J.S.M.
284.
TO FREDERICK J. FURNIVALL
June 10. 1857
My dear Sir
I am extremely sorry to hear such bad news of the Central Cooperative Agency. But if the supporters of cooperative establishments will not have common sense and reasonable confidence, they never can succeed. The vulgar seem to reserve all their distrust for those who desire to befriend them.
You may perhaps like to see the inclosed, containing information which reached me too late to be inserted in the text of my new edition. Much of it is very encouraging.
very truly yours
J. S. Mill
I will send another copy to Mr Shorter in returning the book he was kind enough to send me.
285.
TO LOUIS BLANC
June 14 [1857]
My dear Monsieur Louis Blanc
If you are disengaged next Wednesday (17th) we should be very glad if you would come and take a quiet dinner with us at half past six—I am
yours very truly
J. S. Mill
286.
TO PASQUALE VILLARI
le 30 juin 1857
J’ai tardé trop longtemps, mon cher Monsieur Villari, à répondre à votre lettre du 15 avril. Aujourd’hui j’ai encore des remerciements à vous faire de l’aimable accueil que vous avez donné à mon beau-fils Algernon Taylor, et du service que vous lui avez rendu en lui donnant une lettre de recommandation à Monsieur votre père. Si, comme je le désire, votre projet de visite en Angleterre se réalise, ma femme et moi pourrons vous témoigner personnellement notre reconnaissance, et nous serions charmés d’avoir avec vous des causeries pareilles à celle qui a rempli si agréablement pour moi cette longue soirée à Florence. Nous pourrons alors vous donner plus pleinement l’explication de la conduite louche que le gouvernement anglais a tenue envers l’Italie, et qui vous a justement indigné, mais qui est à mes yeux très conforme à la nature de ce gouvernement. En général les étrangers, même les plus éclairés, prêtent au gouvernement anglais une profondeur de politique et une suite dans les idées et dans les projets qui ne lui appartiennent nullement. Je ne crois pas que Palmerston ni aucun ministre anglais ait songé, ni à soulever les patriotes Italiens ni encore moins à les trahir. Sauf l’infâme conduite de Sir James Graham dans l’affaire des infortunés Bandiera, dont encore probablement lui-même n’a pas prévu le résultat tragique, je ne pense pas qu’aucun homme d’état anglais ait commis aucun crime d’intention contre la liberté Italienne. Mais le gouvernement anglais, comme tous les gouvernements, craint les révolutions et les soulèvements, et lors même qu’il désapprouve réellement les oppresseurs des peuples, il ne veut ni n’ose faire pour les opprimés autre chose que de provoquer bien timidement quelques concessions très graduelles de la part de leurs tyrans. Je crois que Palmerston a réellement espéré qu’en mettant pour ainsi dire le roi de Naples moralement au ban de l’Europe, il le forcerait à changer un peu de conduite. Il ne connaissait pas son homme: mais, règle générale, les hommes d’état anglais ne connaissent pas le monde ni la vie. Même nos plus grands roués politiques sont parfois d’une innocence qu’un étranger a beaucoup de peine à comprendre et à croire. Quant à la garantie donnée au statu quo en Italie, n’en croyez rien. Nos ministres n’ont fait que ce qu’ils ont avoué. Malheureusement ils avaient besoin de l’Autriche contre la Russie. C’était le plus grand mal de la situation. Alors, afin que l’Autriche fût libre de les aider, les gouvernements de France et d’Angleterre lui ont dit “Si vous envoyez votre armée en Crimée, nous ne permettons pas que pendant ce temps seulement on vous attaque par derrière.” Heureusement l’Autriche n’y a pas mordu, et on n’a pas donné suite à ce pacte, qui en tout cas eût cessé avec la guerre. Mais tout en atténuant la culpabilité de notre gouvernement envers la cause de l’Italie, je ne puis que dire avec douleur: Ne batissez jamais d’espoir sur ce governement. Il vous donnera des mots et des sentiments, jamais des actes. Je crois que son appui moral vaut quelque chose, momentanément au moins, pour la Sardaigne. Mais c’était là justement ce qu’il fallait à l’opinion aristocratique d’ici—une révolution royale. Le gouvernement anglais n’aidera jamais un peuple à renverser son gouvernement, quelque odieux qu’il puisse être, même à ses propres yeux. Vous avez bien vu qu’il ne s’est pas opposé à l’intervention française à Rome, à l’intervention russe en Hongrie. Même en temps de guerre contre la Russie, il n’a pas voulu soulever la Pologne. Cela ne dit-il pas tout?
J’ai appris avec beaucoup d’intérêt ce que vous m’écrivez sur les oeuvres inédites de Machiavelli et Guicciardini. Des publications aussi importantes sous le rapport historique ne sauraient manquer de faire sensation en Europe. Je conviens avec vous qu’une revue qui a la prétention de rendre compte de tout, ne devrait pas negliger le mouvement intellectuel de l’Italie. Mais je n’écris pas dans le Westminster Review, et n’y ai pas d’influence. Quand j’écrivais, il y a vingt ans, j’y ai fait imprimer quelques bons articles de Mazzini sur les auteurs Italiens. Je ne sais pas qui a pu vous dire que j’ai écrit quelque chose sur le Socialisme. Je n’ai écrit là dessus que ce qui a paru dans mes Principes d’Écon. Politique. J’ai fait dernièrement un petit livre qui paraîtra l’hiver prochain et dont je me ferai un plaisir de vous offrir un exemplaire, si toutefois son titre “De la Liberté” comporte son entrée en Toscane. Il ne s’agit pas cependant de liberté politique dans ce livre, autant que de liberté sociale, morale, et religieuse.
Vous avez vu par les elections de Paris qu’il y a encore de la vie en France. C’est ce qui est arrivé de mieux en Europe, à mon avis, depuis 1851.
Vous me feriez grand plaisir en m’écrivant quelquefois. Notre entrevue d’il y a deux ans m’a donné un souvenir si agréable, que je regretterais beaucoup de laisser tomber ce commencement de relation entre nous.
Tout à vous
J. S. Mill
287.
TO NICOLAS VILLIAUMÉ
le 26 août 1857
Monsieur
Des occupations multipliées m’ont empêché jusqu’ici de répondre, autrement que par l’envoi réciproque de ma nouvelle édition, au don que vous avez bien voulu me faire de votre important Traité d’Economie Politique. Je ne connais pas d’autre écrivain français qui me paraisse avoir aussi bien approfondi les lois abstraites de l’Economie Politique, et votre livre est d’autant plus précieux qu’il se recommande par la conformité de principes à ceux qui professent en France des opinions démocratiques avancées, opinions que je partage à beaucoup d’égards, mais qui, il faut l’avouer, se sont rarement trouvées jusqu’ici réunis comme chez vous, à des opinions économiques éclairées. Vous avez puisé si heureusement dans ce qui offrent de meilleur les économistes anglais, que je suis tout surpris d’apprendre que vous ne les lisez que dans les traductions. Je me sens très honoré en retrouvant tant de fois chez vous mes propres opinions, et je crois qu’en économie politique nous sommes rarement en désaccord sérieux. Notre plus grande divergence porte peut-être sur la liberté du taux de l’intérêt; encore ne suis-je pas éloigné de penser que cette liberté puisse admettre des modifications là où comme dans les républiques anciennes, et même en France, la classe de débiteurs se compose surtout de ceux qui travaillent la terre de leurs mains.
Vous avez probablement deviné que l’impression de ma nouvelle édition se trouvait trop avancée pour que j’eusse pu la faire profiter de votre ouvrage autrement qu’en y ajoutant, en forme d’appendice, les renseignements importants que vous avez donnés sur l’état actuel des associations ouvrières.
Je suis, Monsieur, avec les sentiments les plus respectueux
Votre dévoué serviteur
J. S. Mill
288.
TO HARRIET MILL
- Salutation [Hotel], Ambleside
Sept. 13. [1857]
Dearest—
I have been very fortunate in having had a most beautiful day for Helvellyn. I ascended it from Patterdale having gone there by an early coach from here, & I returned here in the same way in the evening, walking up the pass so you see I was not tired. The view though there were a few clouds was splendid. It was a disappointment as to plants, as on those sunny heights everything was still more gone by than in the valleys—of all the rare plants which grow there I could only distinguish two, and those were only in leaf. But the day before I was unexpectedly successful in plants between Windermere & this place. I made a circuit & saw Mr Crosfield’s cottages which I will describe to you when I have the happiness of being with you again; they are not what we want; besides other objections they are in a real village or rather hamlet. I have planned a very nice round for today, and shall go to Broughton tomorrow down the Duddon, and to Lancaster, & I hope to Settle on Tuesday. I talked yesterday with people from Fleetwood & others from Blackpool & I am afraid they are but ugly places—I so hope to hear that you have not inflicted purgatory on yourself to give me this walk. I feel however that it will do me great good. Today the sky is gloomy—but not very threatening. Yesterday everything looked its very best. I shall write again as soon as I receive yours. Adieu my own wife from your
J.S.M.
289.
TO HARRIET MILL
Wedy morning
[Sept. 16. 1857]
I got her two darling letters both together this morning—the train I came by to Lancaster yesterday being an hour behind time I was too late for the train I ought to have come here by, and I arrived here too late for letters. So you see my experience of these northern trains is like yours, & so is my observation of the dirty, mean, horrid looking people who go by them & frequent the stations. I am not at all surprised my own dearest one that neither of the two places turned out fit to stay at, and I shall be quite happy in rejoining her at Leamington instead of that Manchester: it is much pleasanter thinking of her in a place we know & which looks & feels clean & civilized, unlike anything in Lancashire I should think. I have been lucky in weather & it greatly increased the pleasure that I knew what pleasure it would give my darling. On Sunday I was about all day & in the evening had from the mountains overlooking Grasmere on the east, the most glorious mountain view I have yet had—four fine ranges of dark mountain one behind another with the sun behind all. On Monday morning there was a Scotch mist but I made out my walk over Wrynose & down the Duddon to Broughton & though I could not see much of the mountains in Little Langdale it was still very fine & I found a rare fern & a rare mint, peppermint to wit, which I had never found before. The weather cleared afterwards & I saw the Duddon very well & to increase the luck, the valley proved to be much finer descending than it would have been ascending. The absence of a lake made more space for other varieties & there is about half way a sort of Vallée de Cluses, of a type not met with elsewhere in the lake district. Yesterday I saw Furness Abbey which in its way was fine too. But the weather is now both couvert & hazy though not looking like rainy. This place is a prettier country town than any in the lakes & the country about looks very pretty though the mountains have not the fine forms & beautiful arrangement of the Lakes. Please darling continue to write here, as I find it is the best centre for all I want to see—within a day’s walk of everything. I have time to explore Craven between this & Sunday & I shall certainly go to Manchester on Monday & to darling on Tuesday. I saw the last Times yesterday at Lancaster. The Indian news seems to me more bad than good, but not, I think, of any bad omen. I saw in a Liverpool paper an announcement from a French paper of the death of Comte. It seems as if there would be no thinkers left in the world. I shall know by her answer to this how long a letter takes—I should think it will not be safe for her to write after Saturday as I suppose letters northward obey the London post & therefore are not sent on Sunday. I shall enquire at the post office here on Monday before leaving.
I fancy it much pleasanter for her at Leamington & even prettier than that Lancashire coast, & now adieu from her own
J.S.M.
I wrote to Fleetwood on Sunday —I hope they sent it on.
290.
TO HARRIET MILL
Friday morng
[Sept. 18. 1857]
Dearest,
I have spent the last two days in walking about this neighbourhood, & have seen the famous Malham Cove & Gordale Scar. It is much prettier country than I expected, & bears the same relation to the Lakes that the Jura does to the Alps, being greener, & with the green not of fern but of rich & abundant turf, but the mountains not of the fine shape of those of the Lakes, but round, or with long inclining ridges & immense bases, now & then however a peaked top jutting out, as it does in the Jura not much higher than the rest. If it had but the fir woods (but what an if that is) it would want little of being equal to the Jura; & Gordale Scar is a minor Creux du Vent. The mountains as in the Jura continually break into wall-like cliffs—this is characteristic of limestone to which also these mountains & those of the Jura owe their fine turf & their comparative absence of bog & likewise their abundance of plants—I have done very well botanically considering the lateness of the season. The weather has remained fine, the south west wind spending itself in bringing something between clouds & haze which entirely shrouded the higher mountains till towards evening; but today it is brighter, the wind having changed to north. It shews how cheap the country must be to live in that at the inn at the station where I staid the night I arrived (as there were no means of getting my portmanteau a mile & a half to the town) I had tea with bread, breakfast with eggs & cold meat, & a bed, for all which including attendance the charge was two shillings & two pence. I shall probably see Ingleborough & its caves tomorrow. There are no more letters yet dear at the post office. When she writes will she tell me by what railway she got to Leamington: is there a branch direct from Birmingham, & how do the trains suit? but only write what you happen to know, & I will find out the rest for myself. It is a real pleasure thinking of her at a pleasant place & one I know & have seen with her. I am glad too that she will have seen those pictures. I shall see them either on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning & will certainly be with my beloved one on Tuesday evening. I do not generally find that Art & Nature mix well together in my case—but Furness Abbey while it exemplified this, shewed that I can get into the Art state quickly & I will if Manchester ugliness will let me. Adieu darling—your own
J.S.M.
291.
TO HARRIET MILL
Saty morng
[Sept. 19. 1857]
I have just got your darling letter you angel which would make me set off directly to rejoin you if I did not know that you would much rather I did not on account of the good this excursion does me. I too was feeling very sad all yesterday but for an opposite reason (partly) to yours, namely perfect beauty. It was the first splendid day since I have been here, & I was all day wandering over the edge of the hills having such a sun & sky as made the views both near & distant perfectly beautiful & I think that always makes one melancholy, at least when one is alone, which to me means not with you. I am now going to climb Ingleborough & see the caves, at least the principal of them, for there are multitudes all about here. I fancied Leamington would be pleasant because it has a civilized air, though very ugly—the frequented parts of the N. of E. are generally hideous as to the human part of them, but this Settle is a nice quiet, really pretty, very little country place, not tourified, the people of the place are civil & the few strangers one sees in the coffee room are really gentlemanly. I shall enquire at the post office Manchester my own love. I will certainly look particularly at the pictures my darling liked. Adieu till Tuesday evening & blessing from her own
J.S.M.
I wrote yesterday to Post Off. Leamington. Excuse the Ambleside envelopes.
292.
TO THEODOR GOMPERZ
Oct. 5, 1857
I have nearly finished an Essay on “Liberty” which I hope to publish next winter. As the Liberty it treats of is moral and intellectual rather than political, it is not so much needed in Germany as it is here.
293.
TO HENRY CARLETON
E[ast] I[ndia] H[ouse] Oct. 12. 1857.
Dear Sir—
The little volume which you did me the honor to send me, arrived safely, but not until several months after the date of your letter announcing its despatch. I read it as soon as I received it, which was about a fortnight ago, & I not only agree with you throughout on the main question (of Liberty & Necessity) but also have to thank you for a very useful exposition & illustration, in small compass, of the Law of Association as applied to the analysis of the principal mental phenomena. I could mention points on which I differ from you; but on several of these the difference is possibly more verbal than real. For instance, when you say on page 130 that truth is to every man what it appears to him to be, I cannot suppose you to mean that if I think poison to be wholesome food, it really is so to me, but only that I cannot help viewing as truth what presents itself to my perceptions or judgment as such. So when you say that “sin and crime exist of necessity,” I do not understand you to mean that it is necessary they should always exist; but only that when they exist, they are the necessary consequences of the causes which have produced them. I do not think you successful in the faint attempt you make to reconcile your doctrine with the received notions of Divine perfection; but your theory is quite as consistent with those notions as the opposite theory. In truth nothing can reconcile the order of nature as we know it with perfect wisdom & goodness, combined with infinite power. To make any consistent scheme, at least one of the three must be given up.
There is something doing in this country also for the “Ass[ociatio]n Philosophy.” Mr. Bain has published under the name of “The Senses and the Intellect,” the first part of a treatise on the mind, which I think you would be much pleased with. He has not yet got to your special subject, but he will soon arrive at it. Mr. Herbert Spencer’s “Principles of Psychology,” though not so sound as a whole, contains many searching analyses of complex mental phenomena, and happy applications of the principle of association. He has unfortunately put at the head of it a dissertation under the title of the “Universal Postulate,” which seems to me not only erroneous, but quite inconsistent with the philosophy of the work it is prefixed to.
I hope that like myself you have been successful in warding off your chest complaint, and that your eyesight, to which your preface alludes, is at least not getting worse.
294.
TO FREDERICK SINNETT
Oct. 22. 1857.
Dear Sir—
It is now some weeks since I received your letter but I have not until now had time to answer your question.
In principle I am quite in favour of considering all land as the property of the State, and its rent as a fund for defraying the public expenses. But there are two objections to the application of this maxim to a country in the circumstances of Australia. One of these you have mentioned, viz. that a large immigration is most effectually attracted by granting the land in absolute property, at a price to be only once paid. I agree with you that a time comes when a colony is so far advanced in population & importance that immigration ceases to be the first object so far as the colony itself is concerned, & that when this time comes, the advantage of the colony should take precedence over the interest which the mother country may have in getting rid of a surplus population. But I doubt if that time has yet come in the case of Australia. A great temporary immigration has been brought about by the gold discoveries, but I should think that for retaining the immigrants, the colony depends very much on the facilities allowed of acquiring land; & Englishmen do not like to settle where they cannot get land in fee. In India we have the system you desire, but that is one great reason why few English settle there; & the English who do go, & the greater number who would like to go, are always clamouring to have the system changed to one of grants in fee: & so I should think would a large part of the resident population of Australia who have not yet got land.
There is a second objection which weighs with me as much as the first; the very great difficulty of levying a land tax, or any annual payment, from settlers scattered widely apart over a great wilderness. It is difficult enough, as the Americans find, to prevent squatting even when only one payment is demanded, as a condition preliminary to occupancy. But if a payment has to be made annually I cannot but think that to collect & enforce it, if practicable at all, would require so costly an establishment as would absorb the chief part of the receipts, & be quite unsuitable to the finances of a country like Australia. In India the revenue establishments are one of the heaviest items of the public expenditure, although India in general is thickly peopled. I believe that attempts have been made formerly to collect taxes from outlying lands in the older Australian colonies but that their failure was so complete that they were abandoned.
The newly introduced parliamentary government of the provinces seems to have some difficulty in getting into regular play, but this will be got over in time. We are glad to hear your favorable account of your own prospects. My wife sends very kind remembrance to you which is joined by Haji & his sister—the former I think is very unlikely to become either a Catholic or a monk, although he passed some months in visiting convents in Italy, among his various peregrinations in search of relief for his constant bad health. I am yrs truly
295.
TO WILLIAM HENRY SMITH
[After October 31, 1857]
I had already read the book with great interest. As is the case with everything of yours that I have read, it seemed to me full of true thought aptly expressed and, though not resolving many questions, a valuable contribution to the floating elements out of which the future moral and intellectual synthesis will have to shape itself. I have been much pleased, both on your account and that of the book itself, at the decided success it has met with.
296.
TO AN UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT
Dec. 11, 1857
Dear Sir—
I am unable to put my name to the Memorial which I have just received from you, because I am, to say the least, very doubtful as to the desirableness of the measure proposed in it.
I quite agree in the opinion that educated persons should count in a greater ratio than that of their mere numbers in the constituency of the country. But I have not seen any method proposed by which persons of educated minds can be sifted from the rest of the community. All that could well be done is to give votes to a limited number of what are called liberal professions, on the presumption (often a very false one) that every member of these professions must be an educated person. But nearly all the recognized professions have as such, interests & partialities opposed to the public good, & the members of Parliament whom they would elect if organized apart would, I apprehend, be much more likely to represent their sentiments & objects as professional, than as educated men.
The only provisions for increasing the influence of the more educated class of voters, to which I see my way, are 1st, an educational test for all electors, such as would exclude the wholly uneducated. The amount of expurgation of even the present constituencies, which this would effect, would be found I believe much greater than is supposed. 2dy, I regard it as an indispensable part of a just representative constitution, that minorities be not swamped but that every considerable minority be represented in a fair proportion to its numbers. This would be secured by the simple plan proposed some years ago by Mr. Marshall, of allowing a voter if he pleases to give all his votes to the same candidate. Other modes of effecting the same object have been proposed, but they would necessarily be unpopular as they propose to operate by abridging the rights of the individual voter, while the plan in question would extend them, & it would besides, allow weight to degree of preference as well as to number, a distinction highly favorable to the more eminent candidate.
I may add that I should be glad to see a representation given to the graduates of the Univ. of London, such as is already possessed by Oxford, Cambridge, & Dublin.
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