in the state of society will most improve its condition, unawed by the powerful evil of constituted things, and I shall find him the happy and the useful man, uniting benevolence with philosophy. One such man is Robert Owen. I know many. William Cobbett is a man much excited about political trifles, who touches on no other principle of government than that of the funding system and its consequent paper currency: his proposed reform in the House of Commons counting as nothing in its exclusive sense, as standing alone, or as an unmixed reform, a wild and impracticable proposition. He has credit for meaning more, but this is all he puts forth as a political writer. The fear of dealing with the necessary principles of reform is a fear which, through cowardice, interest or ignorance, pervades a large portion of the community, and thus, as a writer, he finds sympathy for his cautions or misunderstandings among a multitude of readers, and an encouragement to indulge in personal politics, or in an attack on the administration rather than on the bad principle of things, and in the recommendation of other men, himself first, and self must be exclusive, for no other man can work in office with him, rather than in the recommendation of other principles. This constant dwelling of the mind upon the persons who work, rather than on the principles which are worked, produces in him and his sympathising readers an excitement which generates more anger than instruction, and creates, instead of preparing the means to remove, disorder. Thus, he is described by those who are more intimately acquainted with his private manners than I am, for I have never exchanged words with him other than in print; as writing not with great energy on principles, but with great anger toward persons, and as their names dwell upon his mind, and his pen moves in the detailing of their acts, he utters the most horrid imprecations. When the reader of the Register is going through the ten thousandth repetition of the way in which the men work the THING, he may picture to himself the writer of his reading, with his pen running across the page, in a movement quickening with the excitation, and his author exclaiming furiously:-" Damn and blast them! Damn and blast them! Oh! damn their eyes and limbs, I'll work them. Oh! the villains, damn and blast them!" and so on, if the reader's imagination be more vivid than mine, in the pourtraying of all the imprecations which the worst of human passions can pour forth. The same sort of excitement, which makes William Cobbett rage over his paper, when working upon the persons who work the THING, leads him into error, when he is speculating as to time, and beating up for the game of, to him most profitable, panics. He wants them, and therefore he always sees them coming. Months, days, and hours are predicted, and predicted, like most other prophecies, to be protracted. The failure of a bank is owing to his working of the THINGS that work the THING, and he sees them all breaking up as fast as he can count. A solitary bank broke last year, and immediately there was to be another panic! "O glorious panic! how it comes to my shop! how it brings grist to my mill! how it sells my Register, which registers the cause, progress and effects of panics!" Father O'Callaghan, William Cobbett's confessor, the wily politician means to be ready for whichever party may suit him. best, has been confessed into an equal excitement upon the death of the THING. The Father Confessor and his political penitent were in company with a country gentleman, about fifteen months ago, and the topic of conversation was a new panic. "It will come on immediately," cried Mr. Cobbett," it has begun again, and nothing can stop it." Father O'Callaghan confirmed the prediction by his divine sanction, and added: "I have sure and certain information, by which I learn, that the whole system will be broken up within a month: within a month, Sir, I am sure of it; cannot last another month!" Thomas Paine, the more cool politician, never fell into errors of this kind; he examined principles, and made his calculations upon them, and has been found very correct in his predicting views. He never aliowed himself to be hurried into error by a passion against persons; but he examined the materials and the tools upon and with which the men who work the THING had to work, and failed not as to time or in judgment. Mr. Cobbett attempts to add something to what Mr. Paine has done; but he fails, and is driven back upon his master's teachings. In Thomas Paine and William Cobbett, as politicians, we see the great distinction between treating of principles and making political attacks upon persons. The former is the road to reform, the latter to mischief and disorder. The first carries with him, throughout his writings, the dignity of republicanism that developes principles, and teacheth something new in every page; the last makes a bad womanhood of politics, and keeps up a furious brawl and squall about this minister being no better than he should be, and about that one being guilty of a trespass upon good manners, in coveting his neighbour's wife and servant, his ox and ass, &c. &c. The celebrated Junius, who, in a book lately put forth in New York, by a Dr. Graham, formerly a close acquaintance, is pretty well proved to be Horne Tooke, in all his political tirades, dealt with nothing but personal politics, has taught mankind nothing more than a contempt, in his concealment, for official characters. Indeed, the true science of politics was but ill understood before Thomas Paine wrote; and, in like manner, he was the first English writer who made a clear, open, and manly attack upon that bad system of politics called the Christian religion. We have in Thomas Paine a guide, whom to follow, can never lead us into error. His delineation of political not principles is founded in the nature of man and in the just rights and equality of every member of a society. They, who write nothing but political attacks upon persons, are like the Irishman who fights for love, or" meets his friend, and for love knocks him down." They quarrel, because they are quarrelsome; because there are bad principles to be dealt with. They fight, because animal nature is pugnacious; not to improve its condition in the human race. Thomas Paine sought revolutions, because he saw that they were essential to the improvement of the condition of his fellow men. William Cobbett seeks a revolution; because he hates all men who are in office, or who have more, or as much influence as himself. His excitement is not good. Another such a character as William Cobbett is George Augustus Baker, in this city of Bath. Mr. Baker has advanced from Trinitarianism, with Free Will or Liberty, to Unitarianism, with Predestination, Fatalism or Necessity. He is excited almost to cracking on his favourite subjects, prints circulars, pamphlets, and advertisements, and while no one scarcely thinks enough of him, other than for a joke, to turn an eye or an ear toward him, he imagines that he is an object of terror to the priests, and of first rate importance in the country as a reformer. To any acquaintance whom he may meet, he will say, "have you seen my pamphlet, or circular, or advertisement, have you seen it? All the country is in uproar about it. It will knock down the system. It must come down. The bishops are frightened to death. Bristol is in arms and even Liverpool feels what I have done." When the reality of the case is, that a Bishop would treat his tracts as I treat the religious tracts that are showered upon me. They are absurdities. And though the gentleman is known to a few people in Bath and Bristol, he excites none beyond the printers and folders of his tracts, whom he will hasten as if for life or death, and say that the public is waiting and must not be disappointed! The criterion of public excitement is always in the number of a pamphlet sold, making allowances for the few friends and others, who buy from acquaintance sake, &c. and are not politically excited. Let Mr. Baker test the power of his productions by this criterion, and he will find that they are the dead-born if not the abortions, of the press. He must reach more important subjects, before he can agitate any one but himself. Such is the impression of his own influence, that he dreads assassination, and feels and moves, as we have reports of kings and ministers of state feeling and moving, when under similar fear. Be composed, Mr. Baker, you alarm no one but yourself. Your Christian necessity, your objection to the Athanasian Creed, your dislike of the established church, and your attempted restoration of primitive christianity, are such very stale tricks, that the bishops themselves must make a jest of them, if even your name have reached their ears. As I court the company of all the oddities and pretended Reformers of the country, I felt a desire to see Mr. Baker, and the more particularly, as I had been told that he had expressed a desire to see me. A mutual friend called on him with the proposition, at which the gentleman became alarmed, and exclaimed with remulous agitation-" I cannot see Mr. Carlile. I have no objection to see him as a man; but I cannot enter into controversy with him. I have a particular game to play, and if I were to enter into controversy with Mr. Carlile, it would be frustrated." I and my friend left the inn to visit another, not so soon alarmed; but I learnt the next morning from the waiter of the Greyhound Inn, that Mr. Baker had cooled and taken courage so far as to seek and enquire for me. My desire was to reduce the gentleman's excitement with a few cooling philosophical draughts. I proposed to explain to him the length to which his favourite doctrine of necessity would carry him, and that it would carry him out of the christian religion. I like zealous and enthusiastic men, even if they do pass for being a little cracked; but it is very desirable to set them to work usefully on a ground that will produce some good. Similarly ill-founded excitements often pervade a nation, and do much mischief, creating much terror and bad feeling. The principle of the thing is fear, and has its source in bad education and bad political government. Theological government I set down as bad without an exception. To work out a proper reform, we must cure the people of this fear, and remove the sources of such panics and excitements. They do more mischief than any revolution would do in this country, and are the worst part of any change that can possibly take place. The fear of phantoms, the realities of which are known not to exist, produce the same kind of panics and agitations, and past rulers have encouraged the cheat. Let the timid mind be comforted and assured, that, in all projects for reform, in all propositions for forms of government, in all revolutions, in all the enquiry that the human mind can make, or in all the changes to which it can be subjected, there is no just ground for fear: that to be much excited and alarmed, to be exposed to panics, is a disorder of the mind, which may be cured by the acquisition of a better knowledge of realities, and of the state of things that does really exist amongst us. Let that knowledge be sought, and all will be well. Greyhound Inn, Bath, RICHARD CARLILE. London, July 24, 1828. P. S.-I have brought from Bristol some beautiful wax medallions, or three-quarter faces in basso relievo, of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon and his first wife Josephine. Others will speedily be procured. These figures will be found to be rare specimens of the art of modelling in wax. The price is half a guinea each. I also find, on my return toward Oakham, a New Political Dictionary, sent from Liverpool, to be sold at 2s. 6d. I saw the manuscript last year, and conversed with the author, whom I can introduce to the public as a young man of great promise as a politician. Being young, of course, he has, in writing his New Political Dictionary, depended more upon his genius for wit, satire, and sense, than upon his experience. In another number I will make some extracts, as I like to encourage young authors, remembering how much I have myself wanted similar encouragement. R. C. TO A BRISTOL CORRESPONDENT. "CHRISTIAN" finds fault with what I said last week of the family in which I was there entertained. His objection is, that it was not infidelity, but christianity, that educated that family, so as to produce its present approved moral condition; and he wishes the inference to be drawn, that the sweet affections which make a harmony of human nature can only be derived from a christian education. His perceptions and his reasonings are alike shallow. Were he an infidel, he would see with better eyes, and make a better and a true estimate of principles. Suppose we grant him, that a christian education has produced the moral state of mind which is found in that family, It is a granting for argument's sake, for I can show the contrary. Let us grant it him, and what is the true inference? Is it not, that a christian may throw up his religion and still retain all the best passions of the human and the educated being? My statement was, that this was a family living in the highest state of morality without religion. He answers, that family has been religiously educated, or it would not have had that moral character. But how dangerous to his craft or his creed, is his admission? Does he not admit, that the morality may be retained, when the superstition is put aside. This is the all of my principles, the every thing for which I contend, the end which I desire to accomplish. I care not how morality is inculcated, so as it be inculcated, and so as nothing superstitious be inculcated with it. As far as this is christianity, I am a christian: and in this sense too, all the good men among the Pagans, more proportionately good than those called christians, were christians. But this is a christianity without superstition, which admits no god, no priest, no idolatry, no prayers, no idol-psalm-singing, and very unlike that which is called Christianity in Bristol. If I do not print the letter of "Christian," he will conclude that I have bad motives and shrink from it. I shrink from its ab |