The Works of John Stuart Mill - Tomo 16
The Works of John Stuart Mill - Tomo 16
The Works of John Stuart Mill - Tomo 16
VOLUME XVI
The Later Letters
of
John Stuart Mill
I849-I873
Edited by
FRANCIS E. MINEKA
Corn¢ll University
AND
DWIGHT N. LINDLEY
Hamilton College
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-5261-4
Microfiche ISBN 0-8020-0091-6
LC 75-163833
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
ISBN 0-7100-7294-5
INDEXES
Am.: American
Arsenal: Biblioth_que de l'Arsenal, Paris
A utobiog.: John Stuart Mill, Autobiography, ed. with an Introduction and Notes
by Jack Stillinger (Boston, 1969)
Bain, JSM: Alexander Bain, John Stuart Mill: A Criticism: With Personal Recol-
lections, London, 1882
Bernard: Mountague Bernard, A Historical Account of the Neutrality of Great
Britain during the American Civil War, London, 1870
Biblioth_que Nationale: Biblioth_que National, Paris
Bodleian: Bodleian Library, Oxford
Brit. Mus.: British Museum, London
Canberra: National Library of Australia, Canberra
Columbia: Columbia University Library
Cornell: Olin Library, Cornell University
Cosmopolis: "Letters of John Stuart Mill to Gustave d'Eichthal," ed. Eugene
d'Eichthal, in Cosmopolis, IX (March, 1898), 781-89
Dilke: Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, "John Stuart Mill, 1869-1873," Cosmopolis,
V (March, 1897), 429-41
Dissertations: John Stuart Mill, Dissertations and Discussions: Political, Philo-
sophical, and Historical, 4 vols., London, 1859-75; 5 vols., Boston, 1864-68
Duncan: David Duncan, Life and Letters o[ Herbert Spencer, 2 vols., New York,
1908
ER: The Edinburgh Review, 1802-1929
Earlier Letters: The Earlier Letters of John Stuart Mill, 1812-1848, ed. Francis
E. Mineka, vols. XII and XIII of Collected Works of John Stuart Mill,
Toronto, 1963
Early Draft: The Early Draft of John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, ed. Jack
Stillinger, Urbana, 1961
D'Eichthal Corresp.: John Stuart Mill, Correspondance in#dite avec Gustave
d'Eichthal, 1828-1842, 1864-1871, ed. Eugene d'Eichthal, Pads, 1898
Elliot: The Letters of John Stuart Mill, ed. Hugh S. R. Elliot, 2 vols., London,
1910
FR: The Fortnightly Review, 1865-1954
Fraser's: Fraser' s Magazine, 1830-82
Gomperz: Heinrich Gomperz, Theodor Gomperz, Briefe und Aufzeichnungen,
ausgewiihlt, erliiutert und zu einer Darstellung seines Lebens verkniipft,
Vol. I (all published), Vienna, 1936
Hamilton: John Stuart Mill, An Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philo-
sophy, London, 1865
viii Abbreviations and Short Titles
VOLUME XVII
• • • 1865 • • •
I have been too long in acknowledging the receipt of the very interesting
things you last sent; but I was working against time on another subject, and
had unwillingly to put by your last notes unread until this morning. I thank
you most heartily for them. They are a complete Essay on the state and
prospects of Ireland, _ and are so entirely satisfactory that they leave me
nothing to think of except how to make the most use of them. For my new
edition I must confine myself chiefly to the general results; but if I find it
advantageous to transcribe certain paragraphs entire, will you allow me to
name their real anthor? s The article is a valuable supplement to the notes.
The letter in the Gardener's Chronicle 41 was already acquainted with, having
read it in I forget what newspaper. I beg you to offer my sincere thanks to
Mr Pim 5 for the books he so kindly sent, which I shall immediately read. His
letter, inclosed in yours, is full of good sense.
Respecting the rate of profits in the United States, we must hope to learn
something through the kind of_ces of Mr Moran. e But it is, I imagine,very
difficult to ascertain the real average rate of profit, or expectation of profit,
in any country. It would, however, be something to have an answer to the
I take Macmillan, and was much interested by your article, 9 which makes
more distinct the idea I already had of the contract system in the mining
districts. Laing, in his Prize Essay, I° brought it forward many years ago as an
example of the cooperative principle.
I was glad to see Mr Brace's letter in the Daily News. n I have had a visit
here from a rather remarkable American, Mr Hazard, a2of Peaeetown, Rhode
Island. Do you know him, or his writings? If not, I shall have a good deal to
tell you about him that will interest you.
Ever, Dear Sir, yours truly
J. S. M.ILL
Avignon
Jan. 18. 1865
SIR
Your letter and its inclosures have been forwarded to me here. I am glad of
the appointment of a Commission to enquire into the effects of capital pun-
ishment. 2 I confess, however, that I have a very strong opinion agMnst its
total abolition, being persuaded that the liability to it (whatever may be the
- case with the sight of it) has a greater deterring effect, at a less expense of
real suffering, than any other penalty which would be adequate to the worst
kind of offences. If examined, therefore, I should not be a witness on the
"right side." I am Sir
yours very faithfully
J. S. MmL
William Tallack Esq.
9. "Co-operation in the Slate Quarries of North Wales," Macmillan's, XI (Jan.,
1865), 181-90, reprinted in Cairnes's Essays in Political Economy, pp. 166--86.
10. Samuel Laing (1812--1897), author of, among other works, Atlas Prize Essay,
National Distress, its causes and remedies (London, 1844), which JSM quotes in
Principles,pp. 769-70.
11. Presumably the letter headed "America," Daily News, Dee. 28, 1864, p. 5. JSM
had earlier sent to Calrnes the letter from Brace. See Letter 739.
12. Rowland G. Hazard.
41' 41' 41' 41.
I have been so much occupied with pressing work, that I have only quite
recently had time to go through the "Double Algebra. "2 I have found it
everything that from what I already knew of your speculations I expected it
to be. Either you are the first (not excepting Peacock) 8 who has pointed out
the true rationale of algebra as an universal calculus, or I was not capable
formerly of understanding the true theory when I had it before me, and have
become capable now. Which of these suppositions is the true one, you best
know. The fact in regard to myself is, that everything which I had a glim-
mering of, I now seem to myself to see as clear as day, while you have also
led me into regions of which I had not even a glimmering, and have shewn
me how I may have an equally clear comprehension of the whole of these by
taking sufficient pains to follow you through the details.
Why is what you have done, not known and recognized as the great con-
tribution to philosophy which it is? I suppose because so few mathematicians
are psychologists, and so few psychologists are mathematicians. I take blame
to myself for not having known your speculations two years ago, as I might
have been helping to spread the knowledge of them. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MZLL
A. De Morgan Esq.
I have received your note, and the slips of part of your intended address, e
which I have read with great edification, though I do not think the practical
1. MS at UCL. 2. See Letter724, n. 2.
3. George Peacock (1791-1858), mathematician;Lowndeanprofessor of astronomy
and geometry, Cambridge, 1839-58; Dean of Ely, 1839-58; author of Treatise on
Algebra (2 vols., Cambridge,1842-45), referred to by JSM in his Logic (Sth ed.), II,
156 (HI, xxxiv, 6), in conjunctionwith De Morgan'swork.
4t 4t 4t 4t
1. MS at UCL.
2. Address on Railway Reform (London, 1865), read at the first meeting of the
Department of Economy and Trade, of which Chadwickwas president, of the NAPSS,
Letter 745 To John Elliot Cairnes 989
Blackheath
Feb. 4. 1865
DEAR SIR
I have delayed answering your last letter, unto I could at the same time
inform you of my return here.
The Political Economy 2 has gone to press, considerably improved as I
think, and indebted to you for much of the improvement. I have availed
myself of your permission to acknowledge this in the preface, s and also in
the chapter on the Irish question, 4 a good deal of which I have given in in-
verted commas as a communication from you. I have endeavoured to correct
the effect of the passage which has been used by Australian protectionists, not
by omitting it, but by giving a fuller expression of my meaning. 5 The subject
of an Index I had thought of, but most Indexes of philosophical treatises are
so badly and stupidly done, that unless I could have made it myself or got it
made by a political economist, I thought it better let alone. An index is less
wanted for a systematic treatise than for a book of a miscellaneous character,
as the general arrangement of topics, aided by the analytical table of contents,
shews where to find the things most likely to be wanted.
on Jan. 31, 1865. Chadwick was critical of competition in the railway system, and
"argued in favour of consolidation and unity of administration, to be attained through
part purchase or compensation to the shareholders.... " (Daily News, Feb. 1, 1865,
p. 2).
3. The meeting of the Political Economy Club, held Feb. 3, 1865, for which Chad-
wick presented the question: "What are the leading principles of Political Economy
applicable in this Country to the initiation, construction, and working of Railways for
public use?"
I hope that the Reader is not tied to its present editor or sub editor, e and
that all its arrangements are at present only provisional. He goes out of his
way to say the most abominable things about America, and in other respects
he seems to me to do his business carelessly and ill.
I look forward to the pleasure of seeing you soon in England, and, as I am
glad to think; permanently established there.
Ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Feb. 4. 1865
DEAR SIR
I have this morning left at Mr Trubner's, directed to you, the first article
on Comte. I am well advanced with the second, which will, as I expected, be
considerably shorter than the first. 2
I should feel obliged if you would kindly have twenty separate copies made
up for me, as there are a considerable number of persons to whom I should
like to send the articles.
I thank you much for your pamphlet on Seasickness) You seem to have
made a great discovery.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
I. S. MILL
I_ Chapman
Blackheath
Feb. 4. 1865
DEAR SIR
I am glad that my first note to you after our return here is to say that you
were, yesterday evening, elected a member of the Political Economy Club.
6. William Frederick (later Sir Frederick) Pollock (1815-1888), barrister and
author, served for a time as literary editor of the Reader. For his account of his con-
nection with the paper, see his Personal Remembrances (2 vols., London, 1887), II,
128-33.
•It • • •
You will be glad to read the inclosed, which please return, as I have not
answered it. When is your new edition likely to be ready? 2
I have been struck, though not disappointed, by the extreme narrowness
of mind shewn by the Radical members of parliament in all their recent
addresses. There would be more chance, I think, of being listened to, on such
subjects as representation of minorities, by the working classes themselves,
than by their well dressed friends, who are afraid to concede anything, or
admit any fault or danger on the democratic side. But it is a real disappoint-
ment to find the Daily News as bad on these subjects as if the editor a were
looking out for a seat in parliament.
Lord Amberley's speech 4 is the only one of any promise. He has brains,
and is in earnest, and as he is sure of influence, good is likely to come of him.
With our kind regards to all your family I am
ever yours truly
J. S. MXLL
As you are still in London I should be glad if we could see each other once
more before you leave. Would it suit you to come down and take dinner with
us on Friday at six?
I have been so busy with other subjects that I have not yet been able to
read your book on the Will. 2 I preferred not to touch it until I could give
consecutive attention to it. I have read the greater part of your Essay on
Language 8 of which the purely metaphysical part pleased me much. The
2. The Election of Representatives (1865), 3rd ed.
3. Thomas Walker (1822-1898), sub-editor, 1851, editor, 1858-69, of the Daily
News.
4. John Russell, Viscount Amberley (1842-1876), son of Lord John Russell, Ist
Earl Russell; Liberal MP for Nottingham, 1866-68; father of Bertrand Russell.
The speech referred to, in favour of parliamentary reform, was addressed to the
electors of Leeds, Jan. 31, 1865. For an account of its reception, by both politicians
and press, see The Amberley Papers, eds. Bertrand and Patricia Russell (2 vols., Lon-
don, 1937), I, pp. 358-63. See also The Times, Feb. 2, p. 5. The Times carried full
reports of this speech and later ones: March 17,p. 10; March 18,p. 10; March 20, 1865,
p. 6.
4g 'It 41" 41.
Blacldaeath
Feb. 9. 1865
DEAR SIR
As you supposed, your letter of Jan. 24 had not reached me when I last
wrote to you, but it has been sent from Avignon since. I am much obliged
to you for the trouble you have taken to get information respecting the rate of
profit in the U. States, but I fear it is next to impossible to obtain any conclu-
sive evidence on the subject. There is no more difficult point to ascertain in
the whole field of statistics. The scientific question remains as great a puzzle
to me as ever. Hitherto I have left the passage of my Pol. Economy exactly
as it was; but I shall have to alter it more or less in the proof sheet. 2
I may perhaps get some light on the subject from Mr Hazard, (himself a
New England manufacturer of great experience) whom I shall see tomorrow.
I wish you had been already here, that I might have asked you to meet him.
He leaves for America on the 25 th.
Respecting the cost of transferring land in France I can speak from my
own experience. The mere law expenses are very trifling. The only important
expense is the tax, i.e. the duty on registration, which is at present somewhere
about 7½ per cent, but this includes a d_cime-de-guerre, and the whole or
half of another which do not profess to be permanent, though there is con-
siderable danger that one of them at least will become so. The second d6cime
is that which Louis Napoleon made a demonstration of taking off on the
3. The decree removing the second ddcime (_o of a franc, a war surtax) from the
registrationfee was announcedin the legislative assembly on April 16, 1864. (The first
dJcime-de-guerre had been adopted in 1799.) See The Times, April 19, 1864, p. 12.
The French forces were conductinga successful campaignof pacificationof Mexico at
this time.
4. Charles Edward Brown-S6quaxd(1817-1894), eminent physiologist and physi-
cian; head of the national hospital for the paralysed and epileptic, London, 1859-63;
professor of physiology and pathology at HarvardUniversity, 1863-67; of pathology
at Paris, 1869-72; of physiology at Geneva, 1877; and of experimentalmedicine at the
College of France, 1878-94. Cairnes had reportedin his letter of Feb. 5 that he had
met Brown-S6quard,"who had just returned from America full of enthusiasm for the
[Northern] cause, and represents the state of opinion there as highly satisfactory and
still progressive." In his Logic, 6th ed. (1865), JSM introduced a section (HI, xm, 3;
8th ed., I, 555-56) drawing on Brown-S6quard'sLectures on the Physiology and
Pathology of the Central Nervous System (Philadelphia, 1860).
5. Cairnes had written (Feb. 5): "Goldwin Smith... is advocating peace on the
basis.., of reconstruction with an admission of the right of secession, which seems
much like as if one were to rebuild a house whose foundation had given way, having
just given the architect directions that on no account were the foundations to be
restored." These remarks referred to two letters by Goldwin Smith, "The Prospects of
Peace in America,_ Daffy News, Jan. 28, 1865,p. 4, and Feb. 4, 1865, p. 4.
6. Cairnes reported in his letter that he had sent the Reader a review of R. H.
Patterson's The Economy of Capital; or, Gold and Trade (Edinburgh and London,
1864); the review appeared in the number for Feb. 18,pp. 189-90.
Letter 751 To 1ohn Chapman 995
Blackheath
Feb. 9. 1865
DEAR SIR
I return the Lancet s with many thanks. This additional instance of the
value of your discovery must be highly gratifying to you.
I have put into the first page of the second article on Comte a sentence
respecting Mr Bridges' translation, but without including it in the list at the
head of the article, which is confined to original works: I see no reason
against its being noticed in the small print at the end of the Review: You
will have my second article by that time, and will be able to avoid as far as
necessary any inconsistency between that and the notice. The Discours Prr-
liminaire which Mr Bridges has translated, gives the pith of Comte's later
speculations free from some of their grosser absurdities, and in a form better
adapted than any other of his later works for the information and edification
of English readers.
Many thanks for your kind offer of a greater number of separate copies, but
twenty will be ample. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blacldaeath
Feb. 9. 1865
DEAR SIR
1. MS at Melbourne.
996 To Henry Fawcett Letter 753
to communicate, I put off writing till I could tell you that we have returned,
and shall be happy to see you here at any time when you are in London.
I saw "Charlie in Australia ''2 and thought it extremely good. I always take
the greatest interest in all you do, and shall hope to hear more from you,
when I see you, about the controversy in the Daily Telegraph a of which I
heard something but which my absence prevented me from seeing. I am Dear
Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Mr Hazard, of Rhode Island, with whom I believe you have already cor-
responded, is very desirous to make your personal acquaintance and from
what I have seen of him and read of his writings I feel certain that you will
have as much pleasure in conversing with him as I have in giving him this
introduction.
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Henry Fawcett Esq.
B[lackheath]
Feb. 14. 1865
2. Not located.
3. On Jan. 5, 1865, a Mrs. M'Dermott appeared before a Westminster magistrate to
complain that her daughter Eliza, age 16, had been improperly induced to enter a
Catholic nunnery by Father Bowden of the Brompton Oratory. The Daily Telegraph
reported the case on Jan. 6, p. 6; on Jan. 9, pp. 4-5, in its second leader it attacked the
Brompton Oratory, summarized the case, and called for governmental visitation and
inspection of conventual establishments for both males and females. The resultant
controversy brought forth many letters both pro and con and several more leaders in
the Telegraph in January.
1. MS atLSE.
'1" @ O •
that a period was to be fixed after which the plates would revert to me.
Nothing was said about destroying them; & were I to agree to that part of
your proposal I sh a be no longer a free agent, unless under the condition of
making new plates, the cost & risk of which it would require another 8000
copies to remunerate. I would suggest in preference, that if after the first
8000 are sold the demand should still continue, we should for a further period
(to be now fixed) 3 go on at half profit & that on the expiration of this further
term (whether determined by years or by number of copies) the plates sh a
be at my disposal.
I thank you for your note just received. I am anxious to get on with the
new book.
B[lackheath]
Feb. 15. 1865
DEAR SIR--It is pleasant to hear from you again. Your letters, besides
being interesting on your own account, almost always contain some valuable
piece of intelligence. What you tell me of the progress of Mr Hare's system
among the working classes of Manchester is preeminently so. I know very
well to whose indefatigable exertions it is owing. But it confirms me in the
opinion that the working classes will see the true character & the importance
of Mr Hate's principle much sooner than their Parliamentary allies. The
speeches made by these to their constituents lately have very much disgusted
me. The proverb "il vaut mieux avoir affaire h Dieu qu'h ses saints" is true
of the demagogues & the Demos. The demagogues never dare admit anything
which implies a doubt of the infallibility of the majority. The Demos itself
makes no such pretensions & can see the utility of taking precautions against
its own mistakes. I shall make use of your letter to convince some of the
dress-coated democrats that there is no need to be "plus royalistes que le
roi."
With regard to the other subject of your letter; I quite agree with you that
no Reform Bill which we are likely to see for some time to come, will be
worth moving hand or foot for. But with respect to the manhood suffrage
of three books until 8000 copies of each were sold, and if further agreementcould not
be reached at thattime the stereotypeplates should be destroyed.
3. Longman next proposed a five-yearterm, which JSM accepted (see Letter 756).
41" 41" 4_ 4t
movement, & the question of my taking part in it, I have long since deter-
mined that I would on no account whatever aid any attempt to make the
suffrage universal to men, unless the inclusion of women were distinctly &
openly proclaimed as a substantive part of the design. There are only two
things worth working forwa practical result or a principle: if a practical
result it sha be one which is attainable; if a principle, not to go the whole
length of it is to sacrifice it. I look upon agitation for manhood as distin-
guished from universal suffrage as decidedly mischievous. The exceptionally
enlightened leaders, mentioned in your letter may not intend, in claiming
half, to deny the whole; but such is the power of words, that every time the
phrase manhood suffrage is publicly pronounced, save in contempt or execra-
tion, an additional rivet is added to the chain of half the human species. It is
to be remembered, too, that universal suffrage was the expression formerly
used by all radicals, & that it was withdrawn & manhood suffrage substituted
precisely because the wider expression had been criticised as including
women. To adopt a phrase which has no other reason of existence than that
it excludes them, would be, in my opinion, to betray the principle & at the
same time, to make a retrograde step.
When any portion or body of the working classes chooses as its programme
a reading & writing (or rather writing and cyphering) qualification, adult
instead of manhood suffrage & Hare's system, I will gladly give to such a
noble scheme all the help I possibly can. Do not suppose that my opinion
about plural voting 2 would be any obstacle. I put that in abeyance, first be-
cause I would accept universal suffrage, & gladly too, without it (though not
without Hare's system) & next because Buxton has smashed plural voting for
years to come by associating it with property, s a thing I have always protested
against & would on no account consent to. Plural voting by right of educa-
tion I sh d not mind defending to any assemblage of working men in the ldng-
dom. But though I would always speak my mind on it, it would be no bar to
my cooperating. But on adult suffrage I can make no compromise.
I must therefore defer the pleasure of an introduction to Mrs Kyllmann
till she & you happen to be in London when it will increase the pleasure I am
sure of having from seeing yourself.
The Baden minister whom I referred to must be well known to you--Prof.
Mohl of Heidelberg, 4 who advocated Hare's plan by articles in the Zeit of
Frankfort. Mr Hare has the papers.
The two French authorities whom I mentioned are Louis Blanc _ (of
course) & LaboulayeY
P.S. I have the greatest regard & respect for Louis Blanc but I think it
would be fatal to the success of any political movement in this country to put
him forward in it, as his name is associated in the vulgar English mind with
everything that can be made a bugbear of.
B[lackheath]
Feb. 18 [1865]
DEAR SIR I accept your proposal of five years 2 & shall be glad to receive a
draft of the agreement.
I saw Mr. Buckle yesterday & he will send me the MSS. immediately. 8
Blackheath
Feb. 22. 1865
DEAR CHADWICK
I am glad that you were enabled to hear through Mr Hare of the cause of
my not having sent you the immediate answer you asked for. It is very hon-
ourable to Mr Beal 2 and his friends to have proposed so good a mode of
selecting a candidate, s and to be willing to take upon themselves in the man-
5. For an abstract of one article by Louis Blanc, see Hate's The Election of Repre-
sentatives, App. I, 3rded., pp. 340-43.
6. Edouard Ren6 Lefebvre de Laboulaye (1811-1883), poHticlan,editor, historian,
and legal expert, professor of comparative law at the College of France. See his "De
La Constitution des Etats Unis. Le Droit Electoral," Revue Nationale, XVIII (Oct. 10,
1864), 500-515; reprinted in Histoire des Etats-unis (3 vols., Paris, 1855-66), HI,
315-42.
4t 4t. 41. 41"
I. MS at UCL.
2. James Beal (1829-1891), auctioneer and land agent, radical politician and re-
former, particularly interested in municipal reform. See his obituary in The Times,
June 12, 1891, p. 9, and also J. M. Davidson, Eminent Radicals in and out of Parlia-
ment (London, 1880), pp. 191-99.
3. A circular letter was to be sent on each candidate to each of the electors of
Westminster and back to an umpire. (Letter from James Beal, March 4, 1865, MS at
Johns Hopkins.)
1000 To Harriet Grote Letter 758
her you describe, all the trouble of his election. As regards myself, my only
course, for the present, is to do exactly what you intend doing, namely to wait
and see if anything further comes of the proposal.
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath
Feb. 22. 1865
DEAR MRS GROTE
Our boxes are not to be heard of, either yesterday or today, at London
Bridge or Chafing Cross. I have therefore sent down our servant in hopes that
you will let him know when they were sent, that he may be able to trace their
course.
We arrived at home well, and much the better for our three days with
you_mand Helen sends her love and thanks for the pleasant visit.
With kind regards to Mr Grote
Ever dear Mrs Grote
Yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Feb. 28. 1865
DEAR SIR
I inclose a note which I have received from Lord Amberley. His articles in
the North British Review, on Tests, 2 and on the Report of the (Public
Schools) Education Commissioners, s have shewn real capacity both of think-
ing and writing, and I am very glad that he wishes to write for the West-
minster. He has talent and earnestness, and there is no young man coming
forward in public life on whom I build so much hope.
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
2. At the Ridgeway, at Shere, Guildford, Surrey, the country home of the Grotes
from 1863.
41- 41- 4_ .It
1. MS at LSE.
2. "Clerical Subscription in the Church of England," North British Rev., XXXIX
(Nov., 1863), 399--428.
3. "Education at Public Schools," North British Rev., XLI (June, 1864), 105-33.
Letter 760 To Herbert Spencer 1001
I have returned the proof of the article on Comte, and have asked the
printer for a revise. The second article is finished. I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
DEAg SIRmI will certainly attend the meeting on Tuesday 2 & will gladly
cooperate with you in attempting to effect a radical reform in the conduct of
the Reader. It has hitherto been an entire disappointment to me, nothing
whatever having been done to fulfil the expectations held out--& had I not
supposed that the existing arrangements must be only temporary & that the
final ones were not yet installed, I should not have allowed so much time to
elapse without a strenuous remonstrance. The idea is ridiculous that such a
set of men as had been got together shd have given their money to establish
such a wretched thing as, with the exception of the scientific department, this
has hitherto been. The only chance evidently is that Mr Pollock shd be in-
duced to resign all concern in the editorship. I shd think there could be no
difficulty in finding a successor. I dare say Professor Cairnes would under-
take it if asked, though he is very unlikely to put himself forward if he
would, I know no one who would be better qualified & I know him to be
most desirous that the Reader shd be made what we thought it was meant to
be, a real organ of advanced opinions, political & social as well as philo-
sophical.
sequently let loose their tongues in the certainty, as they thought, of com-
plete impunity, and now having come to perceive that their precious prot6g_s
are beaten, and anxious to buy off war with the North by war with Europe,
they are frightened, and cry "What is to become of us." If all they axe in the
habit of saying of democracy were true, they might be fight. But those who
hate democracy most do not at all understand its characteristic weaknesses:
one of which is that the outward signs of public opinion are at the absolute
command of professional excitement-makers, to which category most of the
journalists and nearly all the politicians in the U. S. belong. Accordingly all
the politicians, even the President's own cabinet, are in the daily habit of
bidding high for the good word of these people, who are lords and masters of
their momentary estimation; but when things grow serious, the President
with his responsibility, and the Northern and Western farmers with their
simple honesty, come forth and trample out the nonsense, which therefore
never tells on serious public transactions, though making a very formidable
appearance in spoken and written words.
I much regret to hear that you have been obliged to suspend what you were
writing on the land question.raThe affairs of the Reader s seem to have
reached a crisis. I am going to a meeting of the proprietors on Tuesday to
help Spencer in attempting to upset the present arrangements. I will write to
you immediately afterwards.
Ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I have just received notice that the Reader meeting 2 is put off till Tuesday
the 21 _t, to accommodate "many of the shareholders who are anxious to
attend." This is of good augury.
Many thanks for the Belfast paper. The article s is so good that I should
have supposed it to be yours but for the words you wrote across the conclud-
ing paragraph. Was that paragraph an editorial addition? Or was the article
not yours at all?
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
8. See Letter 760.
• ' • • 'It
Blackheath
March 6, 1865
DEAR SIR
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 6. 1865
DEAR SIR Many thanks for your note. The desire of "many of the share-
holders" to attend is of good augury. I need hardly say I shall be present.
The notice of the first adjournment reached me this morning Jrom Avi-
gnon--as will probably the one that followed it. It will be best that all notices
be sent here in future, as they are forwarded to me at short intervals where-
ever I am.
1. MS at Canberra. 2. See Letter 814.
3. The translation into French was by Georges C16mencean (1841-1929), later the
famous political leader of the Third Republic: A uguste Comte et le positivisme, par 1.
Stuart Mill, traduit par M. le Dr G. C16menceau (Paris, 1868). The translation went
through six editions. Emile Littr_ apparently did not arrange for the translation, which
C16menceau undertook after meeting JSM in the spring of 1865. See J. Hampden
Jackson, Cldmenceau and the Third Republic (London, 1946), pp. 12-13. Littr6 re-
viewed the work on Comte, "Auguste Comte et Stuart Mill," Revue des Deux Mondes,
LXIV (Aug. 15, 1866), 829-66. See also D. R. Watson, "Clemenceau and Mill," Mill
News Letter, VI (Fall, 1970), 13-19.
4. See Letter 767. 5. See Letter 759.
4t It- 4[. 4t.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 7, 1865
DEAR SIR Your note, I am sorry to say, did not reach me till yesterday eve-
ning owing to a mistake at the postoitice.
To be the representative of West _ is an honour to which no one can be
insensible, & to have been selected as worthy of that honour by a body like
that in whose name you write not only without solicitation but without my
being personally known to them either in a public or private capacity is a
very signal one indeed. _ While it must ever command my sincere gratitude, it
is a proceeding which nothing but the truest public spirit could have dictated.
And the mode in which you propose to ascertain the sense of the electors
cannot be too highly applauded) It is an example deserving to be imitated
by all popular constituencies & worthy of the rank which belongs historically
to Westminster as the head & front of the Reform party.
In answer, therefore, to your question, I assent to having my name sub-
mitted to the electors in the proposed manner, if, after the explanations which
it is now my duty to give, the Committee should still adhere to their intention.
I have no personal object to be promoted by a seat in Parlt. All private
considerations are against my accepting it. The only motive that could make
me desire it would be the hope of being useful: and being untried in any
similar position, it is as yet quite uncertain whether I am as capable of ren-
dering public service in the H[ouse] of C[ommons] as I may be in the more
tranquil occupation of a writer. It is, however, certain, that if I can be of any
use in Parl t it could only be by devoting myself there to the same subjects
which have employed my habitual thoughts out of Parl t. I therefore could not
undertake the charge of any of your local business: & as this, in so important
a constituency, must necessarily be heavy, it is not impossible that my in-
ability to undertake it may in itself amount to a disqualification for being your
representative.
Again, my only object in Parliament would be to promote my opinions.
What these are, on nearly all the political questions in which the public feel
any interest, is before the world: & until I am convinced that they are wrong,
these & no others are the opinions that I must act on. I am ready to give any
further explanation of them that might be wished for, & sha I be elected I
would freely state to my constituents whenever desired, the votes I intend to
give, & my reasons for them. But I could give no other pledge. If the electors
are sufficiently satisfied with my opinions as they are, to be willing to give
me a trial, I would do my best to serve those opinions & would in no case
disguise my intentions or my motives from those to whom I should be in-
debted for the opportunity.
Lastly, it is neither suitable to my circumstances nor consistent with my
principles to spend money for my election. Without necessarily condemning
those who do, when it is not expended in corruption, I am deeply convinced
that there can be no Parliamentary Reform worthy of the name, so long as
a seat in Parliament is only attainable by rich men, or by those who have rich
men at their back. It is the interest of the constituencies to be served by men
who are not aiming at personal objects, either pecuniary, official, or social,
but consenting to undertake gratuitously an onerous duty to the public. That
such persons should be made to pay for permission to do hard & difficult
work for the general advantage, is neither worthy of a free people, nor is it
the way to induce the best men to come forward. In my own case, I must
even decline to offer myself to the electors in any manner; because, proud as
I should be of their suffrages, &though I would endeavour to fulfil to the best
of my ability the duty to which they might think fit to elect me, yet I have no
wish to quit my present occupations for the H. of C. unless called upon to do
so by my fellow-citizens. That the electors of West r have even thought of my
name in this conjuncture is a source of deep gratification to me, & if I were to
be elected I sh a wish to owe every step in my election, as I sh a already owe
my nomination, to their spontaneous & flattering judgment of the labours of
my life.
Whatever be the result as regards myself, allow me to express the hope
that your recommendation to the electors will not be limited to two names.
To obtain the best representative & even, if only to ensure success against the
powerful local influence which is already in the field, 4 it seems plainly desk-
able to give the electors the widest possible choice among all persons, willing
to serve, who would worthily represent the advanced liberal & reforming
party. Several eminent persons have been mentioned, whom it would be
highly desirable to give the electors an opportunity of selecting if they please.
Sir J. Romilly 5 is in the number of these, & would, in every way, do honour
to your choice. Mr Chadwick would be one of the most valuable members
who could be chosen by any constituency; & besides the many important
public questions on which he is one of the first authorities, he is peculiarly
qualified to render those services in connexion with your local business which
it would not, in general, be possible for me to perform. The admirable mode
of selection which you have adopted will not have fair play unless you bring
before the consideration of the electors the whole range of choice, among
really good candidates, which lies within their reach. It will not be inferred
from your placing any particular person on the list, that you consider him the
best. Some will prefer one & some another; & those who are preferred by the
greatest number of electors would alone be nominated.
In requesting you to lay this matter before the Corn ee,I beg to assure your-
self & them that whatever may be their decision, I shall never cease to feel the
proposal they have made to me as one of the greatest compliments I have
ever received.
I am Dear Sir very sincerely & respectfully yours
J. S. MILL
James Beal Esq
Blacldaeath Park
March 8, 1865
DEARLORDAMBERLEY
5. John Romilly, later first Baron Romilly, an acquaintance of JSM for many years
(see Earlier Letters, p. 72). Ok Ok Ok Ok
Monsieur Littr6, membre de l'Institut, 48, Rue de l'Ouest, Paris (four copies)
Monsieur Auguste Picard, 8 Place Coste Belle, Avignon, France.
Herr Theodor Gomperz, Deutsches Haus, Singerstrasse, Wien (Austria)
George Grote Esq. 12 Savile Row
Professor Bain, Aberdeen
Herbert Spencer Esq. 88 Kensington Gardens Square
Professor De Morgan, 91, Adelaide Road. N.W.
W. T. Thornton Esq. 23 Queen's Gardens, Hyde Park
Professor Caimes, 74 Lower Mount Street, Dublin
Max Kyllmann Esq. Greenbank Fallowfield, Manchester
Viscount Amberley, 40 Dover Street
in all 14, leaving 6 copies for the author.
3. Amberley's "Political Economy" appeared in WR, n.s. XXVIII (July, 1865), 106--
33, as a review article on the People's ed. of JSM's Pol. Econ.
45 4t _l, 45
Blackheath Park
March 11.1865
DEAR SIR
Blackheath Park
March 11, 1865
MYDEARGROTE
I have finished the first volume of the Plato, 2not so quickly as I expected,
having been very much taken off by an unusual press of occupations, espe-
dally that of correcting several sets of proofs at once. As far as this volume
reaches, the book so completely f-nlfil_my hopes--the things said seem so
exactly those which it was good to say, and which required saying--that I
see little else for me to do in reviewing it,8 than to try to condense into a few
pages the general results. I look forward with the greatest pleasure to your
account of the longer andmore important dialogues; more important, I mean,
in point of doctrine. The character, scope, and value of the purely dialectic
or peirastic dialogues are already as completely brought out as can be done
even by yourself in the subsequent volumes. Your general conception of
P!at_o,and your view of the Platonic Canon, seems to me completely inex-
pugnable.
You will receive in a day or two a separate copy of the firstof my articles
on Comte, though the Review containing it will not be published till the first
of next month. Littr6 is going to get the article translated and published in
France.4
With ourkind regards to Mrs Grote, believe me
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
March 11. 1865.
DEAR SIR
with some of your opinions2---a thing for which I should never think of
apologising to you or any other advanced thinker: but it has so happened
that though our points of agreement very greatlyexceed in number and im-
portance those of difference, the latter are those respecting which, accident-
ally, most has been said to the public, on my side at least. What I have now
written, however, will give a very false impression of my feelings, if it raises
any idea but that of minor differences of opinion between allies and fellow-
combatants. In a larger volume 3 which I shall soon have the pleasure of offer-
ing to you, there will be little or nothing to qualify the expression of the very
high value I attach to your philosophical labours.
I am Dear Sir
verytruly
yours
J. S. MILL
Blackheath
March 15. 1865
DEAR SIR
1. MS at LSE. In reply to Caimes's of March 13, MS copy also at LSE, and published
in part in Principles, p. 1094.
2. See Letters 741,745, 760, and 762.
1012 To Thomas Bayley Potter Letter 772
who would be equally fit, and I am not aware if any other is inclined, as you
have told me that you are, to give a considerable part of his time to the
Reader. You may rely on me for not letting it appear as if you had sought
the position, knowing as I do that you have not: I will take the whole respon-
sibility of the proposal on myself. But I should like to be able to say that I
have reason to think that you would not refuse.
I am sorry to find that I have no chance of seeing you before I go abroad,
as I shall go before Easter. The question on the rate of interest is luckily
Postponed, and will, I suppose, come on in July)
All other subjects must wait until I next write to you.
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I. MS not located. Published in the Morning Advertiser, April 19, 1865,p. 3, and in
the Daily News of the same date, p. 6.
The newspaper article is entitled "'Mr. Cobden's Last Letter." Potter had asked
Cobden for his opinion of JSM's statements on representation in his letter of March 16.
Cobden in his reply, dated March 22, the last letter he wrote before his death on April
2, stated his objections to proportional representation and said, "Instead of the 50,000
returning five in a lump, I would have five constituencies of 10,000, each returning one
member." Potter received JSM's permission to print his letter with Cobden's reply. See
Letter 794.
2. At least three meetings of working-class and middle-class leaders interested in
the reform of Parliament were held in London, on Feb. 23, March 11, and March 16.
These were reported in The Times: Feb. 24, p. 9; March 13, p. 9; March 17, p. 8. At
the meeting of March 16 at St. Martin's Hall, agreement was reached between the
workers and the middle-class reformers in arranging a joint union for a new Reform
League upon a platform of manhood suffrage and the ballot.
3. Potter had founded the Union and Emancipation Society of Manchester, 1861--66.
Letter 772 To Thomas Barley Potter 1013
duced in favour of them and their cause, by such a proof that they do not aim
at merely substituting one class ascendency for another, but demand for
every class a hearing, and such influence as it is entitled to.
Neither would I support equal electoral districts, because I do not think
that any one class, even though the most numerous, should be able to return
a decided majority of the whole Legislature. But I would support any read-
justment of the constituencies that would enable the working classes to com-
mand half the votes in Parliament. The most important questions in practical
politics are coming to be those in which the working classes as a body are
arrayed on one side, and the employers as a body on the other; as in all ques-
tions of wages, hours of labour, and so on. If those whose partialities are on
the side of the operatives had half the representation, and those who lean to
the side of the employers had the other half, the side which was in the fight
would be almost sure to prevail, by the aid of an enlightened and disinterested
minority of the other. But there would not be the same assurance of this if
either the working classes, or a combination of all other classes could com-
mand a decided majority in Parliament.
Lastly, I could not support the ballot.
It is extremely probable that these opinions may prevent me from being
able to co-operate with any organised movement for reform that we may
have any chance of seeing at present. If, as is not unlikely, your opinions are
different, you have not the same reason for abstaining. But it would, I think,
be a good thing if the movers could be induced to leave some of these points,
and particularly the ballot, in the position of open questions. By doing so,
they would enable many earnest reformers to join them, who would never
consent to support the ballot, but who would not refuse to connect them-
selves with those who do.
I thank you very sincerely for your kind invitation; but I do not feel called
on to attend the conference. 5 1 think that I can probably do more good as an
isolated thinker, forming and expressing my opinions independently, than by
associating myself with any coUective movement, which, in my case, would
almost always imply putting some of my opinions in abeyance. Your position
is different, and you seem to me to be, in a manner, called (if you will allow
me the expression) to take part in such movements, and endeavour to direct
them to fight objects.
I have stated my opinions very imperfectly, but they are all expressed as
well as I am able to express them in my volume on Representative Govern-
ment.
I am, dear Sir, very sincerely and respectfully yours,
J. S. MILL
B['lackheath]
P[ark]
March 16.1865.
If yOU are in town on Sunday, will you come down here for a walk and
dine with me. There is a train from Chafing Cross at 2.50 P.M. on Sundays
and if you will let me know that you are coming, I will meet you at the
Blackbeath station. In any case I shall like much to come up to talk with you
when you are settled in town. Helen and myself beg to be particularly re-
membered to Mrs Grote.
Ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I have taken the liberty of sending you a copy of the new edition of Mr
Hare's treatise, 2 as, even if you have read the book, I think you will be
1. MS draft at Northwestern. In reply to Speneer's of March 13, MS also at North-
western, published in Duncan, I, 156.
2. See Letter 770. 3. See Letter 771.
• • • 41'
1. MS at Brit. Mus. • It 41. 41.
1. MS in 1944 in the possession of the Hon. Isaac Foot. Bears note in another hand:
"23 / 3 / 65 sends Hare" and "23 / 3 Invite to Rodborough."
2. The 3rd ed. (London, 1865).
1016 To Henry Pitman Letter 776
interested by the excellent new preface, and perhaps also by the documents
in the Appendix, shewing the progress of his idea on the Continent, in the
United States, and in our colonies.
I congratulate you warmly on your last speech at Leeds 3 (in this morning's
Daily News). It deserved to make, as it seems to have made, a great impres-
sion and must be wormwood to those who congratulated themselves on the
check which they thought you had received.
With our kind regards to Lady Amberley, I am
Dear Lord Amberley
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
776. TO [HENRY PITMAN] 1
Blackheath Park, March 18. [1865]
J. S. MILL
Blackheath
March 22. 1865
DEAR SIR
The Reader meeting took place yesterday afternoon, _ and after a three
hours debate, it was adjourned to Wednesday April 5th, when the question
will be decided, whether to wind up the concern, or to conduct it in a totally
3. Apparently d'Eichthal did not complete this work. See Letter 628, n. 2.
•It It It 41"
different manner. Mr Pollock, who has edited it up to the present time, and
some others of the Directors were for selling the paper, since as it had, in
their opinion, deserved success, they thought the experiment had been well
tried and had failed. But the opinion that it had not been well tried, was that
of a large majority, including Spencer, Huxley, Tyndal[1], and the better
part of the subscribers generally; and the manifestation of this opinion on
their part, induced Mr Pollock to resign the editorship. There is a fortnight
in which to determine whether and how the paper can be carried on. Spencer
is full of hope and confidence, saying that the obstacle is removed, that we
shall now be unanimous, and that it will be carried on in our own way. He
and his supporters certainly have the right notion of how to carry it on; that
it should have decided opinions, that they should be those of advanced
liberalism, political, scientific, and theological, and that one of the objects
should be (as Huxley said) to carry the scientific spirit into politics. The
financial affairs seem to have been as much mismanaged as everything else,
but they are not, in the opinion of those present, irretrievable: when all
retrenchments are made, the concern will not be losing more than £ 6 a week,
and the opinion is, that if the eight shares which have not been assigned, are
taken up as it is thought that they may be, on the footing of preference shares,
this and the £ 10 still due on the old shares will enable the experiment to be
tried long enough to give it a chance of success. A good deal has been lost
in money, and I should think, in reputation by what Huxley called our false
start; but he and the rest think it is not too late to retrieve it. If they succeed
between this and April 5 in organizing the management, both in the business
and in the writing department, as well as they think they can, I shall be dis-
posed to give them all the little help which is consistent with my occupations.
I need hardly say of how great importance your cooperation would be, even
if only as a writer, and much more if you would still be willing to take charge
of a department.
I have again gone through your exposition of profits in the papers you so
kindly took the trouble of writing for me; and I think, as before, that your
mode of putting the doctrine is very good as one among others, and that
there is no difference of opinion between us. s I still, however, prefer my own
mode of statement, for reasons which it would be long to state, and which I
have not time at present to reconsider from the foundations. I am inclined to
think that the real solution of the ditficulty, and the only one it admits of,
3. In his letter of March 13, Caimes said: "I see my observations on American
wages and profits in their connexion with the theory of profit did not hit the mark; and
I fear I must now relinquish the hope---I might say the ambition---of doing this, as on
the assumption that the exposition I gave was eorrcetmwhieh you eoneedo to me---I am
unable to perceive where the difficultylies: in short the scientificproblem seems to me
to be solved."
Letter 780 To Henry Fawcett 1019
has been given by myself in a subsequent place, Book III, ch. xix, 2 (vol. ii.
p. 156 of the fifth edition.) _
Your anxieties about the mischief makers on the subject of America must
have been a good deal relieved by the debate in which Disraeli and the other
Tories vied with the Liberals in disclaiming all idea of the probability of war, 5
and of any conduct on the part of the United States which could produce or
justify it. Both the Times and the Saturday Review have backed out of what
they said on the probability of war. 61 am Dear Sir
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 22. 1865
Blackheath
March 23.1865
DEAR SIR
I was very glad to see your Appeal in the Daily News. 2 It will, no doubt,
have been read by some persons with profit. But the editor has not afforded
the opportunity I hoped for, of a "rejoinder" to comments of his own on your
paper. Without something like controversy to give interest and attract
readers, an attempt to press the subject further by more letters in the paper
at the present time would, I think, be lost labour. You no doubt feel with me,
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 21-22, in the Beehive, April
15, 1865, p. 5; Co-operator, May 1, 1865; in part in the Sp., April 8, 1865, p. 373; and
in Benjamin Jones, Co-operative Production, p. 438. Jones's reply of March 24 is at
Johns Hopkins.
Thomas Jones was the secretary of the Co-operative Plate Lock Manufactory.
2. See Letter 776, n. 2.
• • 41' •
Blackheath
March 24, 1865
DEAR SIR
I am very #ad tohear that you have made an arrangement which improves
your position, as well as gives you easier access to sources of information. It
will always give us pleasure to see you, and Mrs Plummer also. I always find
time to read what you send me, though I have often to wait some days first.
In haste
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
3. The meeting took place on April 10, 1865, at the offices of the Social Science
Association,Adam Street,Adelphi. Lord Stanleypresided, and JSM participatedin the
discussion of Hate's paper, "Such an organization of the Metropolitan Elections as
would call into exercise the greatest amount of the knowledge and judgement of the
constituencies,and as far as possible discourage all corrupt and pernicious influences."
See The Times, April 11, p. 10, and National Reformer, April 16, 1865, pp. 250-51.
4. John, Earl Russell, An Essay on the History of the English Government and
Constitution from the Reign of Henry VII to the Present Time (new ed., London,
1865). In the "Introduction,"pp. xxxii-xxxiii, and p. li, Russell attackedJSM and Hare
for advocatingpluralvoting.
1. MS at Melbourne.
1022 To Louis Blanc Letter 784
J. S. MILL
Many thanks for the copies, 2 which arrived safely this morning. I regret to
hear of your friend's illness, and hope I may understand from your letter that
it is proceeding favourably.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Your note, received today, would have reminded me, if I had forgotten,
that I have another communication of yours still to acknowledge. I have just
read it again for the fourth or fifth time, and find a great deal of meaning in it.
To understand it entirely I must wait for your promised paper, a But I have
little doubt that you will find out, and make intelligible at all events to psy-
chologists, whatever there is to be found out in that direction.
I hope you have good accounts from your son. s The Mediterranean, with
the exception perhaps of Rome, is certainly ill suited for irritable respiratory
organs. It is bad for the bronchitis which usually accompanies consumption.
When, as sometimes happens, the pulmonary disorder is unaccompanied
with bronchial irritability, then, I believe, the dry sharp air of such places as
Nice, Naples, &c. is beneficial, by its bracing effect on the system generally.
But that is not the common case.
Your conjecture about the original meaning of the word Compliment 4
reminds me of the way in which it occurs in the English translations of the
letters of Indian princes and nobles to the Governor General of India. These
translations always begin with the words "After Compliments" which are the
equivalent of a long string of high sounding ceremonial phrases in the origi-
nal, which, as being matters of course in formal Asiatic correspondence, may
well be dismissed under the general denomination of "fillings up."
Yours very truly
J. S. M/LL
Blackheath
March 27, 1865
DEARHARRIET
1. MS in 1943 in the possession of Mr. S. M. Colman. See Letters 542, 645, and 792.
1024 To Lord Amberley Letter 788
on the1Ith.The interpretation
you putupon thereservationofcertain lands
isprobablythetrueone.
I enclosestampsforls 4d which ifI remember fightwas theamount of
surpluspostageoneofmy letters
costyou.
J.S.M.
Blackheath Park
April 2, 1865
DEARLORDAMBERLEY
Blackhcath
April 2. 1865
DEAR SIR
1. MS at LSE.
Letter 790 To Edwin Chadwick 1025
be anything said about the Comte article, either in praise or dispraise, that
is worth my seeing, I should feel obliged by your keeping it for me, as it may
be useful hereafter in revising the article for separate publication.
I am Dear Sir
yoursverytruly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath
April 4.1865
DEAR CHADWICK
Westminster and elsewhere, not simply for me, but for the opinion respecting
the proper position of a candidate, which I expressed in my letter, e You would
be surprised at some of the people who have come forward unasked to offer
subscriptions merely from reading the letter. What do you think of Howell
and James 7 offering £50, Fortnum and Mason of Piccadilly, s I believe the
same sum, Debenhams 9 the auctioneers £ 100, two brothers, wine merchants
in Bond Street another £ 100? The greatest pleasure which public life could
give me would be if it enabled me to shew that more can be accomplished by
supposing that there is reason and good feeling in the mass of mankind than
by proceeding on the ordinary assumption that they are fools and rogues.
My printing is nearly fini_qhed, and we start for Avignon on the 1lth. To
what address should books, or parcels be sent for you before you arrive in
London.
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I have signed the document, and sent it to the Solicitors, and will sign
whatever else is necessary when I receive it. Meanwhile I return the letters.
J.S.M.
I have had great pleasure in hearing from Mr Hughes, this morning, that
you are disposed to help the Wolverhampton Plate Lock workers, 2 and that
6. Letter 765.
7. Howell, James & Co., silk mercers and jewellers, of Regent St.
8. The well-known grocery firm.
9. The firm founded in 1837 by Robert Debenham (1786--1854).
,It. ,It • •
1. MS at LSE.
Richard Holt Hutton (1826--1897), miscellaneous writer who had become joint-
proprietor and editor of Sp. in 1861.
2. See Letters 776 and 780.
1028 To Thomas Bayley Potter Letter 794
you wish to be able to state that I am among their supporters. I sent them a
subscription some days ago, with a letter, a copy of which I inclose, as it will
shew on what principle my desire that pecuniary help should be given them,
is grounded. I should mention that Mr Pitman intends to publish this letter in
the next number of the Cooperator. 8
Your paper is, so far as I know, the only one which has treated the ques-
tions involved in the present struggle in the iron manufacture as they ought
to be treated; and it is to you one naturally turns when right principles need
to be asserted, or a good cause to be aided, in connexion with those questions.
The subscriptions I have as yet collected are
W. T. Thornton Esq. £2
Miss Helen Taylor £ 2
and myself £ 10
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
R. H. Hutton Esq.
1. MS not located. Published in the Morning Advertiser, April 19, 1865, p. 3, and
in the Daily News of the same date, p. 6.
2. Potter succeeded Cobden as MP for Rochdale.
3. Letter 772.
Letter 795 To Herbert Spencer 1029
Blackheath Park
April9, 1865
DEAR SIR
Blaekheath
April 10. 1865
DEAR SIR
You are in the way of seeing many newspapers and periodicals, and it is
probable that during my absence in France articles, connected with the
Westminster election or with myself personally, may come under your
notice, which I should be glad to see. If such should be the case, would it be
very troublesome to you to cut out the articles and send them to me by post?
Of course it is a condition that you will allow me to pay all expenses, whether
of buying, posting, or anything else. Reviews of my books are not included,
as I shall receive them through my publisher.
If you would kindly undertake this for me, I should be greatly obliged.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. ]_.ILL
1. MS at LSE.
2. John Lubbock, 4th baronet and later 1st Baron Avebury (1834-1913), banker,
man of science, and author. Lubbock was defeated in his attempt to gain the seat for
West Kent, but was returned for Maidstone in 1870.
4{" 41. 41' 41"
1. MS at Melbourne.
1030 To Iohn Chapman Letter 797
Black.heath
April 11.1865
DEAR SIR
I thank you very much for having enabled me to correct a proof of the
second article on Comte before leaving. I have asked the printers to send a
revise to Avignon. I should be much obliged if you would kindly let me have
the same number of copies (20) as of the former article, and cause them
to be sent to the same persons, with the difference of sending five instead of
four to M. Littr6, and one to M. Dupont-White, 11 Rue d'Angoul_me Saint-
Honor6, Paris; leaving only four copies for myself, to be sent here, and not
to Avignon. The earlier the separate copies could be got ready, the better
I should like it, as some of those who have had copies of the first would be
glad to have the second as soon after it as possible. But this, of course, must
be entirely subordinate to your arrangements.
M. Littr6 will take care that the translation is not published till after the
second article has appeared in the Westminster. 2
I leave for Avignon this evening.
yours very truly
J. S./Vlxi.L
Pads
April 12. 1865
DEARMR FAWCETT
which I have seen give no idea at all of what was said, but I was glad to see
that the Times reporter stated well and clearly the plan itself. Altogether it
will have had a lift upwards by the meeting.
I am Dear Mr Fawcett
yours verytruly
J. S. MILL
[Avignon]
[April 17, 1865]
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 22-26, in Daily News, April
21, 1865, p. 4, Morning Advertiser, April 21, p. 3, and The Times, April 21, p. 7. In
reply to Bears of April 12, 1865, MS also at Johns Hopkins. Elliot dates as of April 19,
but see Letter 800. The MS copy in the Chadwick collection at UCL is in Helen
Taylor's hand; the last page of the MS copy contains JSM's letter to Chadwick of
April17.
A statement purporting to be by JSM, in response to the request that he be a candi-
date, in W. D. Christie's article "Mr. John Stuart Mill for Westminster" (Macmillan's,
XII [May, 1865], 92-96), is apparently Christie's paraphrase based upon JSM's letter
of March 7 and this one.
2. The meeting of Liberal electors was held in St. James's Hall on Thursday, April
6. JSM was not present, and was represented by Chadwick. Others who spoke included
John Roebuck, W. D. Christie, and Henry Fawcett. See the Daily News, April 8,
1865, p. 6. JSM must have known the results of the meeting before he left for France
on Tuesday, April 11.
1032 To James Beal Letter 799
that the electors of this country were in such a state of hopeless & slavish
dependence on particular landlords, employers, or customers, that the bad
influences are more than a match for the good ones, & that there is no other
means of removing them, I should be, as I once was, a supporter of the ballot.
But the voters are not now in this degraded condition: they need nothing to
protect them against electoral intimidation but the spirit &courage to defy it.
In an age when the most dependent class of all, the labouring class, is proving
itself capable of maintaining by combination an equal struggle with the com-
bined power of the masters, I cannot admit that farmers or shopkeepers, if
they stand by one another, need despair of protecting themselves against any
abuse now possible of the power of landed or other wealth.
6. As regards retrenchment, it is certain that chiefly through unskilful
management great sums of public money are now squandered, for which the
country receives no equivalent in the efficiency of its establishments, & that
we might have a more useful army & navy than we possess, at a considerably
less expense. I expect little improvement in this respect until the increased
influence of the smaller taxpayers on the government, through a large exten-
sion of the suffrage, shall have produced a stricter control over the details of
public expenditure. But I cannot think that it would be right for us to disarm
in the presence of the great military despotisms of Europe, which regard our
freedom through its influence on the minds of their own subjects, as the
greatest danger as well as reproach to themselves, &might be tempted to pick
a quarrel with us, even without any prospect of ultimate success, in the mere
hope of reviving the national antipathies which so long kept apart the best
minds of England & of the Continent.
7. I am decidedly of opinion that landed property sha be subject to the Pro-
bate Duty, & that property in settlement should pay succession duty on its
full value ¬, as at present, only on the value of the life interest.
8. Purchase is the very worst way but one, in which Commissions in the
army could possibly be appropriated. The one, which is still worse, is jobbing
& favoritism. I would support any mode in which the one evil can be got rid
of without replacing it by the other. That there is such a mode I am fully
satisfied, & that it would put an end to what is justly called in your letter, the
monopoly by certain classes of the posts of emolument.
9. I am entirely opposed to flogging, either in the army or out of it, except
for crimes of brutality. In some of those it seems to me a very appropriate
punishment.
10. The differences between employers & workpeople which give rise to
strikes, are, it appears to me, a subject which wholly escapes the control of
legislation. I see nothing which law can do in the matter except to protect
from violation the equal liberty of all to combine or to refrain from combin-
Letter 800 To Edwin Chadwick 1035
hag. After a sufficient trial of each other's strength, both sides will probably
be willing to refer their disputes to arbitration, but even then I do not think
that the arbitrators should have power to enforce their decisions by law; be-
cause, ha such cases as they would usually have to decide, it is impossible to
lay down rules of justice & equity which would suit all cases, or would obtain
universal assent: & the adjustments must generally be of the nature of com-
promises, not acting on fixed principles, but each side giving up something
for the sake of peace. I do not presume to say that a better rule may not be
arrived at ha time, but it would be quite premature to act as if it had already
been arrived at.
I am, Dear Sir,
very sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
James Beal Esq.
I have received your note dated the 1 lth. and Mr Bears official announce-
ment of the decision of the Meeting. _ The same post which takes this carries
my reply to him_ of which I inclose a copy.
When I saw them advertising for subscriptions for my election singly, I
was alarmed lest they should have abandoned the intention of proposing any
other names. Should this unfortunately happen, and should you, thereupon,
go forward independently, I beg that you will at once put down my name for
a subscription of £50, for which I will send a cheque as soon as your
Committee is constituted.
I have suggested to Longman (as you recommended) that he should ad-
vertise ha the penny papers) weekly as well as daily, and have now written
again to recommend his not omitting the Morning Advertiser4--
yrs ever truly,
J. S. I_ILL
SaintVdran,Avignon
April20.1865
DEAR SIR
Avignon
April 24, 1865
DEAR SIR
Owing to my absence from England, I have only this morning received your
note, and the same cause makes it impossible for me to comply with the re-
quest which the Society 2 has done me the honour of making.
I regret the delay which will take place in your receiving my answer, but
I hope that my letter, 8 published in Friday's papers, may have made you
aware of my absence soon enough to prevent any inconvenience. I am
yoursvery faithfully
J. S. MILL
Jos. Fayle Esq.
1. MS at LSE.
2. "Mr. Mill on the Philosophy of Comte," SR, April 15, 1865, pp. 431-33, a review
of JSM's first article on Comte.
3. Triibner published JSM's two WR articles with the title Auguste Comte and
Positivism in November.
41' ,It" It. 41'
1. MS at LSE.
Joshua Fayle (1834?-1888), B.A., Cambridge, 1869; schoolmaster; author of a
biography of the Quaker philanthropist, William Allen, The Spitalsfields Genius
(London, 1884).
2. Possibly the annual meeting of the Peace Society on May 23, 1865, in Finsbury
Chapel, Darlington.
3. l.,tter 799.
Letter 803 To William E. Hickson 1037
Saint V6ran
Avignon
April 24, 1865
DEAR HICKSON
Your letter, as you are probably by this time aware, did not find me in
England.
I did not, I believe, reserve the right of translationas regards the book on
Liberty. But I have had two applications from intending translatorsof it. The
first was from my friendProfessor ViUariof Pisa, author of the Life of Savon-
arola, and of an enlightenedand thoughtfulReport on Education in Engiand.2
The second was from Alberto Mario,s Garibaldi's Secretaryand fellow-com-
batant, the husband of Madame White Mario. Him I referred to Professor
ViHari,and as the latter has his time very fully occupied, it is not improbable
that he may have given up his project, in favour of Mario. In what state the
matter is, I do not know, and I can only suggest, that the gentleman who does
me the honour to make a third proposal, should ascertain what are the pres-
ent intentions of his two predecessors. If they have abandonedtheir purpose,
or desist from it in his favour, I give him the full consent which his politeness
induces him to ask, but which he does not, for any legal purpose, require.
Death has indeed been busy lately, and one is continually reminded, if at
ourage we needed reminding, of our mortality. Cobden4was perhaps the most
perfectly honest man among all English politicians of his time and of anything
like his celebrity, for he meant every word that he said. Is the Lucas who has
just died,5the same who wrote so many literary articlesin the Times, and who
had just started a new Magazine'?.
I hope you are well, and Mrs. Hickson at least no worse.
ever yours truly
J. S. Mn.L
W. E. Hickson Esq.
DEAR CaADWmK
Dr Lankester _ and the others whom you mention, fancy, I suppose, that
they would diminish their chance of carrying one candidate by attempting
two; in which opinion they might be right if they were proceeding in the old
beaten track, and bringing forward a candidate in the commonplace, stupid
way. But on the plan which was proposed, of going to the electors with a list
of names, it would not be they, but the electors, who would determine to have
two new candidates, and would decide who they should be. The Committee
would be taking nothing upon themselves but to carry out the declared wishes
of a body of electors requiring only organization. I fear from the apparent
hanging back from executing this plan, that they have grown cold on the sub-
ject, and finding that they are getting praised for proposing me, and for the
other honourable features of the case, the exemption from canvassing,
pledges, and expense, they are content with that, and do not seek for more.
If it is so, it is a great mistake, and an opportunity lost, independently of the
great value to public objects, and even specially to Westminster of making you
one of its members. But I still hope for better things. As to your own conduct
in exerting yourself for my election exactly as if you had no claims of your
own, I cannot praise it more highly than by saying that it is like everything
else I have seen of your public conduct.
As to my last letter) I expected that it would damage my chance. If it does
no worse than you seem to think, I shall reckon it wholly a success. I do not
see how I could have refused to answer questions about my opinions, put in
the very letter which announced the acceptance of me as a candidate. It can
only be a small proportion of the electors who have ever looked into my
books. But I do not think my answers to questions will admit of being con-
founded with pledges, especially as several of them are opposed to the general
opinion of those who support me. I hope there are many more Tories who will
take your Tory friend's view of women's votes.
The glorious news from America is dreadfully dashed by the terrible report
about Lincoln.4 The idea of its being true is scarcely endurable--but the
cause will not suffer--may even benefit by it, now.
Ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
April 28 1865
DEAR SIR--
I have received your two notes & your pamphlet, _ which I think is one of
the best of your writings, & well calculated to stir up the thinking minds
among the working classes to largerviews of political questions. So far as I
am myself concerned, I cannot but be pleased to find you in sympathy with
some of the most generally unpopular of my political notions. For my own
part, I attach for the present more importance to representationof minorities,
and especially to Mr Mare's plan, combined with opening the suffrage to
women, than to the plural voting which, in the form proposed by Mr Buxton,
of attaching the plurality of votes directly to property) I have always strongly
repudiated. But I think what you say of it likely to be very useful by impress-
ing on the working people that it is no degradation to them to consider some
people's votes of more value than others. I would always (as you do) couple
with the plurality the condition of it being accessible to any one, however
poor, who proves that he can come up to a certain standard of knowledge.
Iam
yours very truly
J', S. MILL
G. J. Holyoake Esq.
4. The Times of April 24, p. 9, carried the letters exchanged between Grant and Lee
arranging for the surrender of Lee's army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox on
April 9, 1865. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.
SaintV_ran,Avignon,April30 1865
S[aint]V[_ran]
April 30, 1865
DEAR SIR I noticed the discrepancy between the price mentioned in the
agreement & those advertised, 2but supposed that it was intentional & that you
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in Gomperz, pp. 405-406.
2. Theodor Gomperz, Herkulanische Studien, Erstes Heft." Philodem iiber lnduk-
tionsschliisse, nach der Oxlorder und Neapolitaner A bschrilt (Leipzig, 1865).
The second section in the series Herkulanische Studien (April, 1866) is dedicated to
JSM: "Herrn John Smart Mill zum sechzigsten Geburtstag 20. Mai in Ehrfurcht und
Liebe zugeeignet." Gomperz, p. 418.
thought it advantageous to begin at once with the lower price. I would make
any sacrifice rather than consent to fixing the price of the Pol. Ec. higher than
the one announced, as it would look like breaking faith with the public. But
I feel the same objection as before to binding myself by a permanent engage-
ment which would prevent the plates from ever returning to me. I am most
willing that you should retain as many copies beyond the 8000 as will indem-
nify you for what you would otherwise lose by your mistake. The loss being
2/6 on each of 4000 copies, 2000 copies additional at 5/- would compensate
you for this, but would leave you losers by the paper & press work of the
2000 & for that I am ready to add as many more copies as you think sufficient
to indemnify you, leaving the stipulation about the subsequent sale as it al-
ready stands, viz, that you should continue to publish the editions at half
profit for five years after the sale of the whole number of copies agreed on.
I am glad to hear so good an account of the sale. 81 suppose the 400 copies
sold of Hamilton are chiefly the trade subscription. 4The Logic will require an
unusual amount of revision for the new edition, 5 & I will take it in hand as
soon as I can, but as this can hardly be before my next return to England, I
will ask you to send the sheets to Blackheath Park rather than here.
I was not aware that you had been asked to allow your name to appear as
one of my supporters for Westminster, and I beg that you will not consent
unless, on public grounds, you prefer me to any other candidate likely to be
proposed. I should be much honoured by your doing so, but if you do not I
hope you do not think that it can have any influence on my personal senti-
ments towards yourself.
[May? 1865]
It is very unlikely that anything you write, however much I may disagree
with it, could appear to me either "detestable" or "simply mischievous, ''2 I
have never read anything of yours in which I have not found much more to
3. Longman reported that he had been too cautious in printing the cheap editions.
After printing only 1000 each of Liberty and Rep. Govt., he found it necessary to order
2000 more of each, and before these were received, to order another 2000 of each.
4. I.e., those sold to the booksellers in advance. The original printing was 1000
copies.
5. Longman reported that only 137 copies remained on hand. The 6th ed. was
published later this year.
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in Wilfrid Ward, William George Ward and
the Catholic Revival (London, 1893), p. 279. In reply to Ward's letter of April 28,
1865, ibid., pp. 278-79.
2. Ward had written: "I fear that since we last corresponded our divergence is even
greater than it was before. I am now editor of the Dublin Review, and if you ever
happen to cast your eye on it I cannot doubt that you will think it as simply mis-
1042 To lohn Plummer Letter 809
sympathise with than to dislike .... [again] the only opposition which I
deem injurious to truth is uncandid opposition, and that I have never found
yours to be, nor do I believe I ever shall.
Avignon
May I.1865
DEAR SIR
Avignon
May 1. 1865
DEAR SIR
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. This letter, dated April 22, is in the Daily News, April 24, 1865, p. 2. In it
Francis Henry F. Berkeley (1794--1870), MP for Bristol, 1837, 1841-70, and a tireless
advocate of the secret ballot, wrote in support of his contention that a secret ballot was
necessary to protect electors from coercion. Berkeley's letter is a commentary on Letter
799. Hare replied to Berkeley's letter in the Daily News, May 2, 1865, p. 6.
4 It • •
act which has mingled such deep grief with the very hour of triumph. I should
think that the initiative would be taken by friends of the cause who are in a
position to act more effectually than I could. I should like an address to the
American people to be signed by millions. 2
Iam Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
May 2. 1865
DEAR Sm--I have just received your letter, dated 25th FeW.
It is a great compliment to me that my supposed opinions should have had
the influence you ascribe to them in Australia. 2 But there seems to have been
a considerable degree of misunderstanding about what they are. The fault
probably lies with myself, in not having explained them sufficiently. I have
entered rather more fully into the subject in the new editions published this
spring. But, not to give you the trouble of referring to them, I can have no
difficulty in saying that I never for a moment thought of recommending or
countenancing, in a new colony more than elsewhere, a general protective
policy, or a system of duties on imported commodities such as that which
has recently passed the representative assembly of your colony. What I had
in view was this. If there is some particular branch of industry, not hitherto
carded on in the country, but which individuals or associations, possessed of
the necessary capital, are ready & desirous to naturalize: & if these persons
can satisfy the legislature that after their workpeople are fully trained, & the
difficulties of the first introduction surmounted they shall probably be able
to produce the article as cheap or cheaper than the price at which it can be
2. Probably the address of condolence to Andrew Johnson adopted May 13, 1865,by
the Central Council of the International Workingmen's Association, London. The text
of the address is in the Beehive (May 20, 1865), the New York Daily Tribune, June 1,
1865, p. 4, and the Liberator, XXXV (June 16, 1865), 93. The Beehive lists 37 signa-
tories, headed by George Odger, president, and W. R. Cremer, hon. secretary, of the
Central Council.
imported, but that they cannot do so without the temporary aid either of a
subsidy from the Gov t or of a protecting duty: Then it may sometimes be a
good calculation for the future interests of the country to make a temporary
sacrifice, by granting a moderate protecting duty for a certain limited number
of years, say ten, or at the very most twenty, during the latter part of which
the duty should be on a gradually diminishing scale, & at the end of which
it should expire. You see how far this doctrine is from supporting the fabric
of Protectionist doctrine, in behalf of which its aid has been invoked.
Your wish respectg a cheap edition of the little book on Liberty has already
been fulfilled. It is now on sale at 1/4 & my Pol. Econ. & Rep. Govt at prices
proportionally even lower 5/& 2/.
You are at full liberty to make any use you please of this letter.
We shall remain here probably until about May 30, when we leave for a
time in Auvergne. We expect to return about June 30, and to leave for
England about July 3. If you should be passing while we are here, we shall
be very glad to see you.
ever yours truly
J. S. M]LL
Avignon
le 5 mai 1865
J. S. MILL
S[t] V[dran]
May 11. 1865
9. Sir George Ferguson Bowen, who, at the time of JSM's trip to Greece in 1855
was chief secretary to the government of the Ionian Islands. See Letter 231.
10. "St. John's Gospel," WR, n.s. XXV/I (April, 1865), 406--45. Among books
under review were some by the following German theologians: Ferdinand Christian
Baur (1792-1860); Adolf Hilgenfeld (1823-1907); and Albert Schwegler (1819-1857).
S[qV[dran]
May 1I.1865
I sympathize with the feeling of (if I may so call it) mental loneliness which
shews itself in your letter & sometimes in your published writings. In our age
& country, every person with any mental power at all, who both thinks for
himself & has a conscience, must feel himself, to a very great degree, alone.
I sh a think you have decidedly more people who are in real communion of
thoughts, feelings & purposes with you than I have. I am in this supremely
happy, that I have had, & even now have, that communion in the fullest de-
gree where it is most valuable of all, in my own home. But I have it nowhere
else; & if people did but know how much more precious to me is the faintest
approach to it, than all the noisy eulogiums in the world! The sole value to
me of these is that they dispose a greater number of people to listen to what
I am able to say to them; & they are an admonition to me to make as much of
that kind of hay as I can before the sun gives over shining. What is happening
just now is the coming to the surface of a good deal of influence which I had
been insensibly acquiring without knowing it; & there are to me many signs
that you are exercising a very considerable influence of the same kind, though
you yourself seem to think the contrary.
I have to thank you for a great many more cuttings, which were extremely
interesting to me, and on the whole very satisfactory, for those of my opinions
which are thought to be most out of the common way seemed to obtain fair
consideration, and to be found not so bad as they look. I was amused with
your friend's letter, especially with his idea that the male voters need the
ballot to protect them against their wives. I think, myself, that the privilege of
the vote gives an advantage not only to a bad husband over the wife, but to the
wife over a kind husband, for he thinks he ought to defer more or less to her,
on account of his voting as the representative of both. If she had a vote of her
own, she would not have so much power of interfering with his.
Your friend should reconsider his opinion on representation of minorities.
Cobden's answer 2 is no answer at all; for in his plan, of having as many con-
stituencies as there are members, a minority of each would still be unrepre-
sented. On Mr Hare's plan, no one need be unrepresented, since the electoral
body would divide of itself into unanimous constituencies.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at Melbourne. 2. See Letter 772, n. 1.
Letter 817 To Henry Bowie 1049
Avignon
May 13.1865
SIR
I have been so very busy, and have had, besides, so many letters to write,
that I am very tardy in replying to your interesting letter of April 29. Wc were
greatly amused by the "election humours" which it communicates, and by
the comments you report on the injudiciousness of my second letter, s I do
1. MS at NLS.
Henry Bowie (d. Jan. 31, 1885), secretary and cashier of the Edinburgh Philo-
sophical Institution from 1847 until his death.
2. The Edinburgh Philosophical Institution was founded in 1846 to provide popular
lectures on science, literature, and art. For an account of its history, including the
session of 1865-66, see W. Addis Miller, The "Philosophical" (Edinburgh, 1949).
not wonder that people should think it injudicious if they suppose that my
grand object in the whole matter is to get myself elected. But as the only pur-
pose for which I care to be elected is to get my opinions listened to, it would
have been very "injudicious" in me to forego so good an opportunity of that,
for fear that it should damage my election. I have gained this by it, that what
are thought the most out of the way of all my opinions, have been, and are,
discussed and canvassed from one end of the country to the other, and some
of them (especially women's voting) are obtaining many unexpected ad-
hesions. I reckon this a good stroke of practicality, whether I am elected for
Westminster or not.
As to the election itself, I had much rather you were elected than I, and
if I could transfer my supporters in a body to you, I would do so instantly. I
suspect, however, that the thing will be taken out of our hands. The appear-
ance in the field of the illustrious man 8 whom the Tories have put forward as
the representative of the intelligent classes against popular ignorance, as em-
bodied in me, will probably produce a general demand that one of the pro-
fessedly liberal candidates should be withdrawn; and perhaps the appeal to
the individual electors by circular, which we have contended for, will be made
for the inferior purpose of ascertaining who ought to retire. I do not think the
Tories expect their man to come in, otherwise some more considerable person
would have started in that interest. But they are glad when anybody with
money to spend, is willing to venture it on the chance.
I feel for Sir Edw. Lytton, 4who expected to get some credit from my friends
by the expression of his good wishes (which were very likely sincere) but
found he had come across a man who had the peculiarity of expecting that
people should act up to what they say. I should have thought more highly of
him if he had said plainly, "These are my private sentiments, but I must go
with my party", a feeling which, as men go, is very excusable. Lord Amber-
ley, 5 1 am glad to see, has a higher standard. It is really a fine thing in him to
have withdrawn from Grosvenor's Committee and come over to me. 6
It is an agreeable surprise to me that Mr Westerton should have been so
favourably impressed by the "Liberty". I give him very great credit for it. It
shews that his view of religion is a much higher and better one than is at all
Penrhyn Stanley, dean of Westminster, had decided to support JSM. Chadwick also
reported on the contradictory opinions stimulated by Letter 799, and on the need for
a photograph of JSM for campaign purposes.
3. William Henry Smith (1825-1891), newsagent and politician, son of the founder
of the firm of W. H. Smith and Son. He led the poll for Westminster in the election of
1868 in which JSM was defeated.
4. Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton Lytton, who led the election for
Hertfordshire as a Conservative.
5. See Amberley's letter in support of JSM, dated April 30, 1865, in The Times,
May 6, 1865,p. 9.
6. For the members of the committee for JSM, as of May 27, see The Times, May
27, p. 5.
Letter 819 To Parke Godwin 1051
Avignon
May 15.1865
1. MS draftat Johns Hopkins. Published in the Liberator, June 30, 1865,p. 101, and
in Elliot, H, 31-33. In reply to Godwin'sof April 8, MS at Johns Hopkins, as is also
his rejoinder of June 27.
2. The day before Lee's surrenderto Grant.
1052 To Parke Godwin Letter 819
Avignon
May 22. 1865
DEARSIR
I have this morning received three more packets of extracts, for which I
cannot sutticiently thank you. They are all of use to me, the unfavourable
ones most of all.
You will do me a favour if you will buy the Fortnightly Review for me, and
(after reading it yourself) keep it for me till my return to England. I should
like to see the article you speak of, 2 but do not think it worth while to have it
sent here, and the more, as I have very little time at the present moment to
read it.
I have the Saturday Review.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
le 23 mai 1865
MON CHERD'EICHTHAL
Les demiers montrent bien l'enthousiasme que votre proposition excite trSs
naturellement chez les esprits HeU6niques. Jelis assez facilement le Grec
moderne, _ quoi, en effet, il suflit de poss6der une certaine connaissance de la
langue ancienne, et d'avoir lu une grammaire quelconque de la moderne:
car, darts le vocabulaire, toute ce qui n'est pas grec ancien est une imitation
assez dr61e des mots occidentaux et surtout fran_ais. Je n'ai jamais ri de meil-
leur coeur que lorsqu'_ ma premi6re visite _ la poste aux lettres d'Ath_nes, je
vis devant moi une afliche commen_ant par ces mots: 'tI _vtK_ &_vOuv_s rCo
'EXX_vtrcov_r#ocrra_wv 'Et_olro_d.4
Je trouve l'artiele de Littr65 fort bon, et votre lettre dam la Clio e exeellente.
Ce serait, sans doute, difl_cile de faire dans la langue ordinaire la restauration
grammaticale que vous proposez. Mais apr_s tout ee que les Grecs ont d6j_t
fait clans ce genre, il ne faut d6sesp6rer de lien. D'ailleurs 1'instruction que
reqoivent _ peu pros tOllSles enfants (au moins m_les) dam l'ancieune langne,
rend ces changements beaueoup moins ditficiles, puisque les formes restaur6es
seraient tout d'abord comprises.
Je vous renverrai les joumaux, qui pourront vous servir encore pour la
propagande.
Je ne eounais M. Blackie 7 que par son r6putation et par quelques-uns de
ses 6edts. J'ai remarqu6 avec plaisir les succ_s parlementaires de Lanjuinais. a
Ce serait une bonne fortune pour moi que de vous voir _t Avignon: mais,
pour le moment, je n'en ai gu_re l'espoir; car je me propose de partir en cinq
jours pour une toum6e dam les C6veunes et ell Auvergne, apr_s quoi je ne
serai ici que pendant deux ou trois jours au commencement de juillet avant de
partir pour l'Angleterre, oh je passe habituellement la moiti6 de l'ann6e.
L'61ection de Westminster n'est pour fien dans mort retour. Cette 61ection se
fait absolument sans moi. 9 Je ne compte pas du tout sur le succ_s, mais s'il
arrive, il en sera d'autant plus honorable pour moi et pour les 61ecteurs.
Je vous serre la main.
J. S. MILL
4. "The generalmanagement of Greek steamships informs .... "
5. Probably "Hugues Capet," a review of Hugues Capet, Chanson de Geste, publi6e
pour la premiere lois d'apr6s le manuscrit unique de Paris, par M. le Marquis de la
Grange (1864), in Journal des Savants (Feb., 1865), pp. 88-105. In this article, Littr6
is primarily concerned with linguistic changes in the French language as they can be
deduced from the original of the epic through various changes made by contemporary
and later copyists, and thus the article may have been of special interest to d'Eichthal
at the time he was working on the evolution of the Greek language.
6. Clio was a Greek paper published in Trieste.
7. John Smart Blackie.
8. Victor Ambroise Lanjuinais (1802-1869), politician and economist, an old friend
of d'Eichthal. See Earlier Letters, p. 38. Lanjuinais then held a seat in the Chamber of
Deputies.
9. See Letters 838 and 839. In the event, JSM went to four electioneering meetings:
Letter 822 To Edwin L. Godkin 1055
Avignon
May 24, 1865
DEARSIR
I thank you very sincerely for your article in the North American Review; 2
not merely for sending it to me, but for writing it. I consider it a very impor-
taut contribution to the philosophy of the subject; a correction, from one point
of view of what was excessive in Tocqueville's theory of democracy, as my
review of him was from another. You have fully made out that the peculiar
character of society in the Western States--the mental type formed by the
position and habits of the Pioneersmis at least in part accountable for many
American phenomena which have been ascribed to democracy. This is a most
consoling belief, as it refers the unfavourable side of American social exist-
ence (which you set forth with a fulness of candour that ought to shame the
detractors of American literature and thought) to causes naturally declining,
rather than to one which always tends to increase.
But if any encouragement were required by those who hope the best from
American institutions, the New England States as they now are, would be
encouragement enough. If Tocqueville had lived to know what those states
have become, thirty years after he saw them, he would, I think, have
acknowledged that much of the unfavourable part of his anticipations had
not been realized. Democracy has been no leveller there, as to intellect and
education, or respect for true personal superiority. Nor has it stereotyped a
particular cast of thought; as is proved by so many really original writers,
yourself being one. Finally, New England has now the immortal glory of
having destroyed Slavery; to do which has required an amount of high prin-
ciple, courage, and energy, which few other communities, either monarchial
or republican, have ever displayed. And the great concussion which has taken
place in the American mind, must have loosened the foundations of all pre-
on July 5, 6, 8, and 10. See the advertisements placed by his committee in The Times,
July 5, p. 10; July 8, p. 5; July 10, p. 8. JSM also met with his committee on July 3,
1865. The meeting attracted many other than those on the committee and turned into a
public meeting. See The Times, July 4, 1865. See also Letter 842.
41' "It- 'It- 41'
judices, and secured a fair hearing for impartial reason on all subjects, such
as it might not otherwise have had for many generations.
It is a happiness to have lived to see such a termination of the greatest and
most corrupting of all social iniquities--which, more than all other causes
together, lowered the tone of the national and especially the political mind
of the United States. It now rests with the intellect and high aspirations of the
Eastern States, and the energy and straightforward honesty of the Western,
to make the best use of the occasion, and I have no misgiving as to the result.
Do not trouble yourself to send me the North American Review, as I al-
ready subscribe to it. But I shall always be glad to be informed of any article
in it which is of your writing, and to know your opinion on any American
question.
I am Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. MmL
Edwin L. Godkin Esq.
Avignon
May 24. 1865
DEAR SIR It gave me great pleasure to receive your note of May 15. It
was, in the first place, very agreeable to hear that you go along with my book,
so far as it is directed against Sir W. Hamilton; which is fully as much appro-
bation as I could hope for; & it was pleasant to be told that there are other
points which could have been made against Sir W. H. but which I had omitted
--fearful as I was of being charged, on the contrary, with having pursued him
route outrance.
But a still greater cause of satisfaction to me from receiving your note, is
that it gives me an opportunity on which without impertinent intrusion I may
express to you, how strongly I have felt drawn to you by what I have heard
of your sentiments respecting the American struggle 2 (now drawing to a
close) between freedom & slavery, & between legal gov t & rebellion without
justification or excuse. No question of our time has been such a touchstone of
men & has so tested their sterling qualities of mind & heart--as this one---& I
shall all my life feel united by a sort of special tie with those, whether per-
sonally known to me or not, who have been faithful when so many were
faithless. I am Dear Sir
very truly&respectfullyyours
It seems a very long time since I either heard from you or wrote to you,
and you may have thought it strange that I did not write on a subject of such
deeply tragical interest to us both as the assassination of Lincoln. But I felt
it necessary to express my feelings on that catastrophe to so many persons, 2
Americans and others, who could not otherwise have known them, that I
felt less prompted than usual to give vent to them, to those who would know
and judge of them by their own. What I now principally feel is that the death
of Lincoln, like that of Socrates, is a worthy end to a noble life, and puts the
seal of universal remembrance upon his worth. He has now a place among the
great names of history, and one could have wished nothing better for him per-
sonally than to die almost or quite unconsciously, in perhaps the happiest hour
of his life. How one rejoices that he lived to know of Lee's surrender.
At present I am chiefly anxious that the Americans may not do themselves
any damage in the matter of Jefferson Davis) I do not like the trial of the
assassins by martial law. If they try Davis in that manner, and convict him,
let him be ever so guilty, the world will never believe that he had a fair trial.
I have good hopes, however, from the favourable opinion of Johnson 4 ex-
pressed by men who have the means of knowing him.
I was happy to see your name in full, attached to your excellent article
on Lowe's speech. 5 There were several very good things in the last number:
You have indeed a fine list of occupations for any one to carry on pari
passu with his election to Parliament. But your power of work seems
unlimited.
The request of the Committee 2places me in a considerable embarrassment.
What they propose is in itself perfectly reasonable; and any one who comes
forward and proposes himself as a candidate, ought to be willing to meet the
Committee and the Electors in the way they propose, as often as they think
desirable. But I have never, from the beginning, been in the position of one
who offers himself as a candidate. In my first letter _ I disclaimed doing so; I
said that my personal inclination was against going into Parliament; but that
6. "Emancipation--Black and White" (signed T.H.H.), Reader, V (May 20, 1865),
561-62. An appeal for the emancipation and education of women.
7. JSM probably means the new editor of the Reader. William Fraser Rae, rather
than John Douglas Cook (18087-1868). editor of SR, 1855-68.
8. The July 7 meeting of the Political Economy Club. See Letter 761, n. 5.
This letter of course is not for publication, but it may be shewn to any
members of the Committee.
I am Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL.
it is selling my cheap editions, and indeed the dear ones too, in a most splen-
did manner.
My occupation here, except letter-writing, has been of a kind very remote
from these interests, being chiefly that of reading Plato, with a view to re-
viewing Grote's new book. 7 1 do not find that this by any means quickens my
zeal in my own cause, as a candidate. It is an infinitely pleasanter mode of
spending May to read the Gorgias and Theatetus under the avenue of mul-
berries which you know of, surrounded by roses and nightingales, than it
would be to listen to tiresome speaking for half the night in the House of
Commons. The only disagreeable thing here is having to choose between
pleasures: thus we are about to tear ourselves away from this most enjoyable
place to make a tour in the Cevennes and Auvergne, beginning at Alais, and
going round by Le Vigtm, the Loz_re, the Cantal, and Mont Dore, to Cler-
mont. We expect much pleasure from this, but we give up so much pleasure
by not remaining here, that did we not think it useful to health, I do not be-
lieve we could either of us make up our minds to it.
I shall be back for the July meeting of the Club, where I shall hope to see
you. I am glad to see that Gladstone is to be chosen a member, s
With our kind regards to all your family
ever yours truly
J. S./V[ILL
Letters will be sent to us from here.
Nothing can be more agreeable to me than to hear that you are going to
answer me in the Fortnightly Review. 2 1 hope you will not spare me. If you
make out so strong a case (and no one is more likely to do so if it can be
done) as to make it absolutely necessary for me to defend myself, I shall
perhaps do so through the same Review; but not without a positive necessity.
I have had enough, for the present, of writing against a friend and ally.
With regard to the Reader, I like the plan of full signatures. I am glad to
see that my friend Professor Cairnes has adopted it, & I should be glad if it
were the common practice. But, to admit of this, it would be necessary for the
Reader to give up the plan it has recently adopted of making slashing attacks
to the fight and left, with very insufficient production of evidence to justify
the vituperation: and in a manner which gives to an indifferent spectator the
impression either of personal ill will in the particular case, or of general
flippancy and dogmatism. Contributors will not like to identify themselves
by name with a publication which would embroil them with an unlimited
number of angry and vindictive writers together with their friends and their
publishers. I myself should not like to be supposed to be in any way con-
nected, for instance, with the attack on the Edinburgh Review s (for which I
am at this very time preparing an article ) --an attack of which I wholly dislike
the tone, and agree only partially with the substance; and it happens that the
article singled out from the last number for special contempt, _ my name too
being cited against it, is by a personal friend of my own, a man of very con-
siderable merit, whom I was desirous of securing as a recruit for the Reader
--and who is very naturally hurt and indignant at the treatment of him. I am
by no means against severity in criticism, but the more it is severe, the more
it needs to be well weighed and justly distributed. I have represented a good
deal of this to Mr. Rae, 5 with whom I am in correspondence, and of whom in
other respects I have formed a very favourable impression. He has very much
improved the Reader, and is improving it more and more; and but for that
one fault it bids fair to justify our original hopes.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. M.mL
S[aint] V[6ran]
May 30, 1865
DEAR Sm--I have not written to you since I came here, having from
various causes been so overwhelmed with letter writing that I was obliged to
3. See the Reader, April 22, 1865,p. 452, and April 29, 1865,p. 473.
4. The article, so noted in April 22, 1865, p. 452, of the Reader, was "The Law of
Patents," ER, CXXI (April, 1865), 578-610, identified in the Wellesley lndex as by
T. E. Cliffe Leslie.
5. See Letter 791, n. 3.
,It- "It- 41' _1"
Avignon
May 31.1865
DE_ Six
The author of the paper "Nurses Wanted ''2 offers an article on a very dif-
ferent subject, a notice of the new (and much improved) edition of Mr Hare's
book on Representation. The article 8 is strongly in favour of Mr Hare's sys-
tem; which I suppose you do not object to, especially as any other contributor
is free to take the opposite side. I think the writer brings out some important
points very well, and will give an impression of novelty in the mode of treat-
ment.
Iam Dear Sir
verytruly yours
J. S. MILL
W. F. Rae Esq.
[June, 1865]
Your remark s is most just on the unworthiness of the conversions due only
to success. Such conversions merely show the fundamental unworthiness of
the original error. The disgust they occasion is one of the causes which make
those who have fought an up-hill battle up to the hour of victory eager to go
forward to something else, in which they will still have the low-minded and
selfish part of mankind against them.
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in The Life of Charles Loring Brace chiefly
told in his own Letters, edited by his Daughter (New York, 1894), p. 333. Reprinted
from Charles L. Brace, "A reminiscence of John Stuart Mill," in the N. Y. Christian
Union (June, 1873) and the Victoria Magazine, XXI ( 1873), 265-70.
2. Brace reports that, on reaching England just after the close of the Civil War, he
had written JSM how disgusted he was "at the sudden conversion of many Englishmen
to the side of the North after the defeat of General Lee."
Letter 831 To Rowland G. Hazard 1065
you for the arguments I have not room for here. Let me add, however, that
on the subject, practically considered, I am at one with you. Your view
of what the mind has power to do, seems to me quite just: but we differ on
the question, how the mind is determined to do it.5
To turn to another subject, no less interesting to us both; you seem to have
now a finance minister who understands currency, 6 and the close of the wax
will render return to the fight path comparatively easy. I look forward to the
brightest future for America now, provided the North is not foolishly generous
to its conquered enemies. It is quite indispensable to break the power of the
Slaveholding oligarchy. Emancipation is not enough, without making the
freed negroes electors and landholders, nor without reinforcing them by a
laxge migration of northern people into the southern states. Otherwise the
negroes will remain in a state of dependence on their old masters approach-
ing to slavery, and both they and the mean whites will be kept ignorant and
brutish as they have been kept hitherto. I would not shrink from extensive
confiscation if it were necessary for these purposes, but doubtless the im-
poverishment of the great landholders, and their disgust with the new state
of things, will cause a great number of the large estates to be sold and broken
up, a thing eminently desirable. Probably the indignation of your whole
people at the atrocious crime which robbed the world of your noble Presi-
dent, added to the known opinions and determined character of his successor,
may tend to diminish the risk of any undue indulgence being shown to those
who, like dethroned despots, will be always hankering after their lost power.
It is only the next generation of them who can possibly become true citizens
of a free nation.
I am Dear Sir
very sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
R. G. Hazard Esq.
Mende, Loz_re
Juno 8. 1865
DEAR CHADWICK
I am extremely sorry that your two letters were not answered immediately,
owing to their having arrived a day or two after we had set out on an excur-
5. JSM's criticismsin this letter were replied to at length in Hazard'sTwo Letters on
Causation and Freedom in Willing, addressed to John Stuart Mill. With an Appendix
on the existence of matter, and our notions of infinite space (Boston, 1869).
6. PresidentLincoln, at the beginning of his second term, had chosen as Secretary
of the TreasuryHugh McCuUoch (1808-1895), formerly comptrollerof the currency.
1. MS at UCL.
Letter 833 To George Grote 1067
sion in the mountains. They have been forwarded to me here, along with a
letter from Mr Beal, to whom I have by this post sent a reply, which he will
no doubt communicate to you. I have told him that I am decidedly for pro-
ceeding in the way first proposed, z and submitting your name to the deetors
with those of all the candidates, and that it would not be just to you to ask
you to forgo such claims as you possess, without having laid them before the
electors and obtained their decision. The talk about dividing the liberal in-
terest is quite inapplicable to the course proposed, in which it is implied that
neither you nor I will be nominated if the result of the appeal to the electors
shews that we have fewer supporters than Grosvenor and Smith. I need not
repeat what my own wishes are, and that I would much rather you were
elected than myself. But that is not the question: it is for the electors to shew
their preference, and for us, or rather our supporters, to withdraw our names
if any other candidates in the liberal interest are preferred to us.
I have revised your address, 8 not as to matter, but as to style, in which it
was very defective, and sometimes even unintelligible, from haste. The con-
tents of it (and it is an understatement of your public services) ought to
suliiee for your election by any constituency in the country. If the public
were not so much inured to seeing any petty consideration prevail over per-
sonal fitness they would feel it a national disgrace that you are not in Par-
liament.
Ever, dear Chadwick,
yours truly
J. S. MILL
Many thanks for the two sheets, which were waiting for me at Mende along
with your letter. The chapter on the Leges 2 is less interesting than most of the
others, because the subject is less so: its inferiority, in fact, was the main point
to bring out. The two concluding chapters, 8 on the other hand, are equal in
interest to almost anything in the work; especially the account of the Megaries,
2. See Letters 765 and 799.
3. Chadwick's proposed address to the electors of Westminster.
41. 41. 41. 41.
1. MS draft at Yale. Partly published in Mrs. Harriet Grote, The Personal Life of
George Grote (London, 1873), p. 276. Mrs. Grote also published portions (pp. 274-
75) of Grote's letter to Mill to which this is an answer.
2. Vol. HI, chap. xxxvn, of Grote's Plato.
3. Chap. xxxvm, "Other Companions of Sokrates," and chap. xxxax, "Xenophon."
1068 To George Grote Letter 833
or even hour, in which to get on with Plato. I hope to see you in the early part
of next month.
With our kind regards to M TM Grote
ever yours truly
L S.M_L
DEAR SIR--I very much regret that your letter and telegraphic message were
not answered as promptly as I should have wished, they having had to be
forwarded to me here. I have no objection whatever to attend meetings of the
Committee, or even of the electors, other than those which I stated in my
answer 2 to a letter which Mr Chadwick wrote to me on the subject, at the
request as I understood, of the Committee. But I confess the reason you now
give for desiring me to come over and meet the Committee, operates on my
mind the reverse way. I should never, for my own part, think of taking any
notice 9f a_charg e of irreligion brought by the Record s or the M. Advertiser. 4
They are ready to bring such a charge against the most pious man in England
if he does not agree in their narrow minded & thoroughly unChristian notions
of religion and my attending a meeting just at present would scarcely promote
the purpose for which you suggest it, since I should pg_s ifiylely_a_n_d_defiberately
refuse to allow .myself to be ime_rrogated on any subject whatever of purely
religiou s opinion. I do this on principle. I conceive that.nQ one has any right
_'question another on hisreligious opinions; that the tree ought to be judged,
and only can be judged, by i_ fruits; and I hold myself bound, not for my own
sake, for it is my practice
. --
to_._psa@k
_
my.
•
o_l_inions
_
very plainly, but
. .
for the• sake
•
1. Copied in Letter 836 to Chadwick, MS at UCL. Published in The Times, June 24,
1865,p. 5, and in the Reasoner, XXVIII (July 1, 1865), 34.
2. Letter 825.
3. See the leading articles in the Record, June 19, p. 2, andJune 26, 1865, p. 2. See
also preceding Letter,n. 10.
4. "Mr. J. S. Mill and his Supporters,"Morning Advertiser, June 28, 1865,p. 2. See
also precedingLetter, n. 8.
1070 To Charles Westerton Letter 835
fastened upon, I maintain to be one of the most religious and Christian ex-
pressions of feeling in all recent literature. I am not alone in this opinion.
Among many others, one of the most eminent of the Bench of Bishops
declares in a letter in the Spectator of June 17, _ that the sentence in question
breathes the purest spirit of Christian morality; and the Spectator itself (a
most religious paper) had said a fortnight before, ° of the same sentence, that
it speaks the true language of Prophets and Apostles. Such expressions as
these it would not become me to use; but I am not afraid that your judgment,
or that of any rational person who reads the passage and the context fairly,
would pronounce it other than Christian, in the truest sense. I am not aware_
that Mr Mansel's theology 7 is the same thing with religion, or that to sa_._ttLat
I will wor.shi_na..Czod b__uta good G0dis Lo_!_aa-atheist.--You are at full
liberty to make any use you please public or private, of this letter.
Any letter to me had better be addressed to Avignon, as I am about to
return there, and thence very shortly to England.
Charles Westerton, Esq.
DEAR SIR--When I wrote to you this morning I had not yet received your
letter of the 17th inst. written in the name of the Committee and requesting a
personal interview. In reply I beg to say that I shall be happy to attend the
Committee on any day they may appoint after I arrive in England. In the
meantime I beg to say that with regard to the plan of addressing the electors
by circular, as on every other matter connected with the election, it rests with
the Committee alone to decide; and I regard it simply as an additional mark
of courtesy and consideration towards myself, that they should have sought
any consultation with me on the subject. Not taking any of the usual burthens
of a candidate, I have no claim to the privileges of one. It is but reasonable
that those who take all the trouble should freely determine on their own judg-
ment the course to be pursued. I did not volunteer the proposal of submit-
ting various names to the constituency, as a suggestion of my own; I
understood it to be included in the original scheme of which my nomination
was a part; and thinking the plan an excellent one, both in itself and as an
5. Connop Thirlwall, Bishop of St. David's, in the So. (June 17, 1865) pp. 667-68.
For the sentence in question, see Letter 847, n. 2.
6. "Mr. J. S. Mill on Sir William Hamilton" (the first of a three-part review), Sp.,
May 27, 1865, pp. 584-85.
7. For JgM's opinion of Mansel's theology, see Hamilton, chap. v.
1. Copied in letterto Chadwickof June 22, 1865 (Letter 836), MS at UCI..
Letter 836 To Edwin Chadwick 1071
Brioude
June 22. 1865
D_AR CaADWICK
Your letters of the 15th and 16th followed me to Clermont, and along with
them I received an urgent letter from Mr Westerton (with a telegraphic
message which had preceded it) urging emphatically the necessity of my
coming over at once on account of the accusations of atheism made against
me by the Record and the Morning Advertiser. 2 1 thought so much sensitive-
ness to such attacks from such quarters of very bad augury; and not choosing
to submit to being catechized on my religious belief, I wrote to Mr Wester-
ton as follows: [Here JSM copies Letter 834].
By the next day's post I received a further letter from Mr Westerton as
Chairman of the Committee requesting on their part a personal interview
with me for the purpose of explaining to me how they had endeavoured to
adopt my plan (as he called it) of addressing the electors by circular, and why
they were now of opinion that altered circumstances render it desirable to
abandon the plan. I do not see what answer I could give to this except that
it was their affair, not mine; that having been asked my opinion I had given
it, and that it is unchanged; but that I am not a candidate, and have no right
or wish to take the management of the election into my own hands. I there-
fore wrote the following letter: [Here JSM copies Letter 835].
2. But see Letters 837 and 838.
3. At the meeting of the Political Economy Club, for which JSM had proposed the
question. See Letter 761, n. 5. .1_ ,11. 41'
My private opinion is, that they made a mess of the matter, and spoiled
their chances of great public good and great honour to themselves, by not
acting on the plan at first; but that they have let the time go by; that they
would stultify themselves by adopting it now, and (especially after Shelley's
retirement) 3 would bring on themselves bitter reproaches for dividing the
liberal interest, which they are not the men to be capable of facing. My
opinion of them is greatly lowered, and I doubt much if they have it in them
to bring in even one candidate. Mr Beal is evidently not a typical, but a much
too favourable specimen of them.
If you decide to start independently, I will subscribe, as I said. I do not
think either of us will be elected. I would at present lay considerable odds on
Grosvenor and Smith.
The details in your letters interest me very much and some of them are
really important, for purposes much beyond this election.
I am Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Of course this letter is private, and only for yourself.
Avignon
June 26. 1865
DEAR CHADWICK
A very urgent letter which I have received this morning from Mr Westerton
seems to make it necessary that I should return immediately, as it is due to
those who have taken so much trouble about me that I should not give them
the impression that for my own convenience I expose them to the probable
frustration of all their endeavours. I shall therefore be at Blackheath next
Friday morning, and shall probably see Mr Westerton and perhaps the
Committee on the same day. 2 1 shaU apparently be obliged to attend also a
meeting of the electors, though by doing so I shall in some degree alter the
original character of my candidature, which I had wished to preserve.
As I expect to see you so soon, I need not touch on any other topic.
Ever, dear Chadwick
yours truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at UCL.
2. For JSM's meetings with his committee and the electors, see Letters 821, n. 9,
838, and 839.
Letter 838 To Charles Westerton 1073
838. TO CHARLF_,SWESTERTON1
Avignon
June 26, 1865.
DEAR SIR
Blackheath Park
June 30. 1865
DEAR SIR
Having been informed by you that a proposal has been received from Capt.
Grosvenor's Committee, for a personal conference between Capt. Grosvenor
and five members of his Committe on the one part, and myself and five mem-
bers of your Committee on the other, to discuss the possibility of cooperation
between the two bodies; I beg to say, that I can have no objection whatever
to a conference between the two Committees for the proposed purpose, but
that I cannot personally take any part in it. I have from the first declared
that I am not a candidate, in the ordinary sense of the term; that I do not
offer myself to the electors, but that, if thought worthy of the honour of being
elected, I will do my best to serve them. To engage personally in a negotiation
with another candidate, would be not only to assume the character which I
have disclaimed but to take into my own hands, in a certain degree, the
management of the election. That management must rest, as it has hitherto
done, wholly with your Committee; with whose judgment respecting the
mode of conduct which most conduces to the furtherance of the liberal in-
terest, I have neither the wish nor the right to interfere.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Charles Westerton Esq.
Blackheath Park
July 2, 1865
DEARHARRIEr
I duly received your packet, but thought it best to put off signing the docu-
ment till I got my signature witnessed in London. Having now done so, I
dispatch it to Mr. Paterson 2by the first post.
There is no occasion to send stamps.
I am glad that you have got to the end of your troubles in this matter.
J.S.M.
Blacldaeath Park
July 6, 1865
DEAR SIR
I am very much indebted to you for your note, as well as for your most
energetic and most valuable support. I did not get the note until I had finished
my speaking for the evening 2 except in answer to questions. If any one had
come, as I fully expected, primed with questions out of the Morning Adver-
tiser, s I was prepared to enter upon the subject you mention? But as no one
said anything about it, I thought it best to say nothing either. If I should be
troubled on the subject at any of the other meetings I have to attend (which
does not now seem likely) I shall be ready to face the assailants. But (thanks
partly to you) I have now such a multitude of defenders 5 that they would
carry me through almost any attacks--saying and doing much more for
me than I should choose to say or do for myself.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Edwin Arnold Esq.
Blackheath
July 6. 1865
DEARCHADWICK
Though I hope you have gone to Evesham, I write to say that when I
went to the meeting yesterday evening) the Committee had already come to
an arrangement with Grosvenor's Committee, 8 in the bona tides of which
they seemed to have complete confidence so that there was nothing for me
to do but to acquiesce in it. I had copies made of the draft of my speech,
but as the reports of the previous meeting 4 were so satisfactory, I made no
use of them, and those of this morning give me no reason to regret that I
did not. You will have seen in the Daily News, and doubtless in the Tele-
1. MS at UCL.
2. For JSM to meet the electors of Westmlnxter, at St. James's Hall, Wednesday,
July 5, at 8 p.m. See The Times, July 6, p. 9.
3. The committee for R. W. Grosvenor, the other Liberal candidate, and JSM's
committee agreed to work together against W.H. Smith, the Tory candidate. The
coalition was announced in The Times, July 10,p. 5.
4. On Monday,July 3, 1865, at St. James's Hall, for JSM to meet with his committee.
The gathering was far larger and more public than he had anticipated. In his speech,
he paid tribute to the radicalism learned from his father. See The Times, July 4, 1865,
p. 14.
1076 To W. L. Harvey Letter 843
graph, 5the onslaught I made on the money power. The Times report, ° though
otherwise good, has cut down, or rather cut out, all that related to that sub-
ject. I have to speak at meetings tonight, Saturday, and Monday. Happily
Monday's must be the last. 7 The meeting was very enthusiastic, and every
one seemed very confident. Qui vivra verra. I shall only believe in success
when I see it; and, success or not, shall always regret that the original plan
was not tried. The probable loss of some liberal seats even metropolitan ones,
through too many or bad candidates, will make the liberal managers see
what they ought to have done when it is too late to retrieve the error. I am
Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
843. TO W. L. HARVEY 1
1. MS not located. Published in The Times, July 17, 1865, p. 7. W. L. Harvey Esq.
of 47, Bessborough Gardens, is named as a member of JSM's committee, the list of
which takes up two columns of The Times, May 27, 1865,p. 5.
2. In his letter of transmittal to The Times, Harvey explained that JSM had been
asked the following: "Would the demand for the ballot by a very large number of
tradesmen and employds, who are, or are duly qualified to be, on the electoral register,
on the ground they object to being canvassed by any person or party whatever, and
many of the latter of whom, as is well known, keep their assessed taxes unpaid until
after the 20th of July to avoid being on the register and so escape being canvassed,
justify exceptional legislation in the form of the ballot being permitted in boroughs in
conjunction with open voting, each elector having the option of using which of the
two modeshe preferred?"
Letter 844 To an Unidentified Correspondent 1077
the influence which is strong enough to induce him to vote against his con-
victions would be strong enough to compel him to give his vote openly as
long as he had the option of doing so. Electors who are tradesmen may be
some times exposed to coercive influence from both sides; but in that case I
should expect that both sides, or at all events the one which thought itself
strongest, would insist on the elector's voting openly, in order that they might
know whether they could depend on him.
You are at liberty to publish my letter.
I am, dear Sir, very faifldully yours,
L S. MIH.
DEAR SXR--... In spite of Mr. Hill's drawing back about the Wolverhampton
Plate-Lock Makers, 2 the papers which have been sent to me from both sides,
and especially the report of the correspondent of "A_ris's Birmingham
Gazette, ''8 confirm me in my opinion that the Co-operators are wholly in the
right.
I am, dear Sir, very truly yours,
J. S. _/IILL
Would this day week Friday the 21 a, suit you and M TM Cairnes for coming
here about 12 o'clock and going with us to Chiselhurst returning here to
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in the Co-operator, VI (Aug. 1, 1865), 92.
2. Matthew Davenport Hill (1792-1872), reformer of the criminal law; MP for
Hull, 1832-34; recorder of Birmingham, 1839-65; commissioner in bankruptcy for
Bristol, 1851-69; active in the NAPSS and the co-operative movement. In a letter of
May 21, 1865 (published in the Co-operator, June 15, 1865, p. 37), to Henry Pitman,
Hill expressed his disagreement with the position of the Wolverhampton Plate Lock
Makers' Co-operative. See also the Co-operator, Aug. 15, 1865, p. 99 and Letters 776
and 781.
3. The report in the Birmingham Gazette has not been located, but it was probably
the letter headed "The Co-operative Plate-Lock Makers," reprinted in the Beehive,
April 22, 1865, p. 5, and in abridged form in the Co-operator, June 15, 1865,pp. 36-37.
41' 41' 41'
1, MS at LSE.
107 8 To John Plummer Letter 846
To begin with the most pressing--there does not exist any photograph of
me, but I have been so urged to have one taken, that I have been obliged to
make up my mind to it, and I promise that you shall have one of the very first
copies. _
I cannot thank you enough for the trouble you have taken in sending me
such a number of cuttings from newspapers &c which I should not otherwise
have seen, and for which even in a pecuniary sense I must be considerably
your debtor. We are hoping to see you and Mrs Plummer very soon but are
still so overloaded with occupations we cannot put off, that we have not
been able yet to fix a day when we can ask you to give us that pleasure.
In haste
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. Helen Taylor in a letter to Chadwick of July 19, 1865, MS at UCL, reported that
JSM had agreed to sit for a photograph but had not yet made an appointment.
• • 41. 41"
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in Wilfrid Ward, William George Ward and
the Catholic Revival, p. 281, as part of JSM's reply to Ward's letter of July 17, 1865,
pp. 279-81. Passage in bracketsis Wilfrid Ward's summary.
Letter 848 To Jane Mill Ferraboschi 1079
as to the passage of my book for which I have been attacked, 2 I could not
doubt after reading your book on Nature and Grace) Let me add that (what-
ever may be my opinion of Ultramontanism) I know far too much both of
your writings and of yourself to be in any danger of mistaking you for a
'bigot. '4 Few people have proved more fully than you not only their endea-
vour but their ability to do ample justice to an opponent.
[Mill wrote also at considerable length on the Galileo case, _ and the essay
was partiaUy recast in deference to his criticisms.]
Though extremely busy, I write these few words to thank you for your
congratulations, 2 and to wish you, though it is past the day, many happy
returns of your birthday. I am quite well, and am glad to hear a good account
of your health and that of all your family. The cause of my not having called
on you is that it is many years since I have passed more than a few hours at
Pads. I regretted that some time ago when you were in England, my absence
prevented me from seeing you. Helen desires her kind regards.
J.S.M.
2. Wilfrid Ward (pp. 280--81) cites the passage from JSM's Hamilton chap. vii (in
which he attacks the views of Hamilton's disciple, Henry Mansel, on the limits of
religious thought) : "If, instead of the "glad tidings' that there exists a Being in whom all
the excellences which the highest human mind can conceive, exist in a degree incon-
ceivable to us, I am informed that the world is ruled by a being whose attributes are
infinite, but what they are we cannot learn, nor what are the principles of his govern-
ment, except that 'the highest human morality which we are capable of conceiving'
does not sanction them; convince me of it, and I will bear my fate as I may. But when
I am told that I must believe this, and at the same time call this being by the names
which express and affirm the highest human morality, I say in plain terms that I will
not. Whatever power such a being may have over me, there is one thing which he
shall not do: he shall not compel me to worship him. I will eaU no being good, who is
not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow creatures; and if such a being
can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go" (pp. 102-103).
3. W. G. Ward, On Nature and Grace..4 Theological Treatise (London, 1860),
which JSM citedwith praisein his Hamilton, pp. 174-75n. See also Letter 423.
4. Ward had written in his letter of July 17, 1865: "That I am not simply a 'bigot',
in the ordinary sense, I persuademyself, were it only from my great interest in every-
thing you [JSM] write.I may take the opportunityof saying how heartily 1 agree with
the drift of that passage about God which has so excited the bitterness of many Chris-
tians." (See n. 2 above.)
5. Ward had asked for help from JSM in preparing an essay on Galileo, which
appeared with the title "DoctrinalDecrees of a Pontifical Congregation.--The Case of
Galileo," in Dublin Review, n.s. V (Oct., 1865), 376-425. Ward quotes from JSM's
Hamilton in a footnote on p. 397.
tt tt 'It 41'
B[lackheath] P[ark]
July 21, 1865.
DEAR SIRmI have been prevented by much occupation from sooner acknowl-
edging your letter dated the 14 th.
The difficulty which you feel I understand to be this: how is the opinion
that Christianity might have been extinguished by persecution, compatible
with the belief that God intended & preordained that Christianity should sub-
sist? 2 I conceive there is no inconsistency between the two opinions. If
Xtianity would have perished had it been persecuted in a certain manner, if
God had preordained that it sh d not perish, the reasonable inference is that
God preordained that it should not be persecuted in that manner. The preser-
vation of Xtianity thus brought about would be no "accident" but part of the
divine plan.
The relation between means & ends is quite compatible with a providential
government of human affairs. It is only necessary to suppose that God, when
he willed the end, willed the means necessary to its accomplishment. If the
Maker of all things intended that a certain thing should come to pass, it is
reasonable to suppose that provision was made in the general arrangements of
the universe for its coming to pass consistently with these arrangements.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
July 21. 1865
DEAR SIR I thank you most sincerely for your Tract -° which I have read
with very great pleasure & sympathy. Though I had read several papers be-
longing to the same series & was well acquainted with your name & character
I had not happened to see this tract. You had a strong case & you have stated
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 41. In reply to Franks's letter
of July 14,also at Johns Hopkins. He has not been identified.
2. Franks had raised the question apropos of JSM's statement in On Liberty (chap.
II): "No reasonable person can doubt that Christianity might have been extirpated in
the Roman Empire."
_1' _ ,It. "K"
it well & effectively, & above all, like one who feels its importance. I cannot
conceive how any other view than that which you take, of the question raised
by Mr Mansel, _ can be deemed religious, or Christian; & I felt sure that in
maintaining, from my own point of view, the same conception of religious
duty, I sh d be in complete sympathy with the best part of the religious world
--using that phrase in its literal & not in its slang acceptation. Accordingly
the manner in which so many of the greatest ornaments of the C[hurch] of
E[ngland] lately came forward 4 to share the responsibility of a doctrine
which coming from me was called atheistic & satanic, 5 did not cause me half
so much pleasure from its connexion with myself as because it so fully justi-
fied the perfect confidence I had in their high feelings & principles. It causes
me no surprise but additional pleasure that you so fully participate in the
same convictions & sentiments.
I return as desired your letter in the Guardian e with thanks for the pleasure
it has given me.
Blacldaeath Park
July 23. 1865
MY DEARSm
Allow me, in thanking you for your kind congratulations on the result of
the Westminster election, to congratulate in my turn, not you, but the electors
of South Lancashire, 2 on having placed themselves in the honourable position
3. In his Bampton Lectures of 1858. See Letter 815. Lyttelton charged Mansel with
advocating "complete philosophical scepticism.... If human morality and Divine are
different in kind, we had better leave off speaking of the Divine attributes at all. If
'just,' 'merciful,' 'true,' as predicated of God, do not mean what they do when predi-
cated of men, they are evidently utterly unmeaning to us."
4. Including F. D. Maurice and Charles Kingsley.
5. See Letter 833.
6. Probably one of several letters in an exchange between Lyttelton and the Rev.
S. C. Malan, published in the Guardian from April to June, 1865. Lyttelton's letters
appeared on April 19, pp. 387-88; May 10,p. 459; June 7, p. 579; and June 28, p. 659.
The controversy had arisen over a sermon preached by Frederick Temple (1821-
1902), then headmaster of Rugby, later Archbishop of Canterbury, as the fifth of the
Lenten Sermons in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. As reported in the Guardian, April 5,
1865, Temple had said that attempts to reconcile the account of the Creation in Genesis
with the discoveries of modern science were doomed to failure. "It was clear.., that
the first chapter of Genesis was not the same thing they learned from geology.... They
had, in all probability, in that account of creation a poem, just as the whole of the
Apocalypse was a poem." Lyttelton defended Temple's position.
,15 ,1_ 41, 41'
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
2. Gladstone was elected for South Lancashire on July 20, after having lost for the
University of Oxford on July 18, for which he had been MP since 1847. He was de-
feated by non-resident electors, many of them disturbed by his attitude towards the
1082 To John Plummer Letter 852
whichanother constituency
hassounwisely relinquished.Thoughyourre-
electionfortheUniversityunderthenew circumstances wouldhavebeen,
bothpersonally andpublicly,
a greattriumph, theopposite result
isnotany
realloss,itbeingobvioustoeverybody that,
butforthenewmode ofvoting,
youwouldhavebccnreturned byalarge majority. Ifthetemporarycheckto
theLiberal partyhadindicateda retrogrademovementatOxford, itwould
havebeena serious matter.
Butthecountry knowsthattherealUniversity,
theresidentmembersofthebody,arcclear ofthediscrcdit ofthis
partymove,
andthat, withthem,youarestronger thanever. Itisevenpossiblethatthis
disappointment, by stimulating
theLiberal partyintheUniversity toin-
creasedexertions,may ultimately
beasgreat a helptothecauseofimprove-
mentascvcnyourreclcction wouldhavebeen.
Iam My dearSir
verytruly
yours
J. S. MILL
Blacldaeath
July 25, 1865
DEAR SIR
I hope to be able to give you a photograph soon, but I have not yet re-
ceived a proof from the artist. As soon as I have a likeness in a state to be
sent to you I will send it.
Hoping to see you and Mrs Plummer on Sunday I am
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
July 28, 1865
DEAR SIR
1. MS at Melbourne.
• @ • _.
1. MS at Canberra.
Letter 854 To lohn Plummer 1083
lisher and the copyright to remain with me. This is what I should propose
for the Comte papers, if agreeable to Mr Triibner. 21 should wish to revise the
articles before they are sent to the printer.
I shall be very glad to hear of any further applications of your discovery)
If it proves applicable to cholera, it will be still more important than it is
already shewn to be. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blaeldaeath
July 28 [1865]
DEAR SIR
I wrote last Sunday to ask if you and Mrs Plummer would do us the
pleasure of dining with us next Sunday July 30 at six o'clock. I have since
received a note from you and not being sure when yours was written, do not
know whether you have received mine. I should be glad to know whether we
may count on the pleasure of seeing you.
I hope the photograph will soon be ready.
I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
July 30. 1865
DEAR SIR
I have been long under an engagement to review Mr Grote's book for the
Edinburgh2mand shall scarcely have time to do that, much less to write an-
other review also, s before the meeting of Parliament. I sympathize much in
your difficulty, as it is not easy to find writers who are sufficiently familiar
2. See Letter 801. 3. See Letters 746 and 751.
.It 'It 4t .It
1. MS at Melbourne.
41. 41" 41. 'It
both with Plato and with philosophy, without being full of wrong ideas on
the latter, if not on both. I can think of no one who is not likely to have
been already thought of by yourself. Have you asked Professor Bain? 4
I am Dear Sir
yoursverytruly
J.S.Mii.t.
DEAR SIR In revising my Logic for a new edition 2 I have arrived at the
places where your son pointed out an error--viz, in my numerical estimation
of the probability arising from the addition of two independent improbabil-
ities (Vol. 2. Ch. 23 § 6 of the third book). I find to my very great regret that
I have mislaid the paper which contained the discussion of the point, and
though I was convinced at the time, I have not been able to reason out for
myself the estimation of the compound probability in the ease supposed.
Though I greatly regret giving you the trouble, I should feel it a great favour
if you would kindly put on paper the few sentences which would be sufficient
to make me once more understand the matter as it really is.
I ought not to need this additional assistance but though it is my own fault,
I think it better to ask for instruction on the subject than to go without it.
Thanks dear for taking the trouble to write an abstract of so many letters.
None of them need be sent, or need be answered till I come back, except
Thornton's. _ To him I will write tonight or tomorrow & I quite agree with
you about not taking any notice of Smith's letter, s It is very possible that the
creature thinks he has not committed any corruption, for that sort of person
squares his conscience by the law, entirely.
I rather think I shall not return till Monday, but I will write again to say.
Irvine _ seems rather inclined to stay on, and there is plenty to do botanically
for a much longer time. We have been successful thus far--fine though
showery weather (I have brought & worn a waterproof) & plenty of plants
but I have not been so well as I expected to be having had diarrhoea which
is going off but has not quite left me. I cannot write more as I am keeping
Irvine from his dinner to save the post.
Yours ever affectionately
J.S.M.
B[lackheath] P[ark].
Aug. 8. 1865
absurdities will weigh down the merits or the merits will float the absurdities,
& since many of those last are, in my estimation, of such a kind that if it were
impossible to laugh at them it would be necessary to denounce them serious-
ly & severely, I am glad that the former side of the alternative is possible.
Forgive the freedom with which I express what I know must appear to you
not only error & prejudice, but want of due modesty & reverence. But any
weaker terms would not put you in full possession of what I feel in the matter,
on which feeling must rest the justification of the tone of the article. In saying
that the offence I feared I might give would be unintentional I did not mean
that it would be unforeseen, but only that such a consequence of my free
speaking on the subject would be one which I sh d sincerely regret. I earnestly
disclaimed, near the beginning of the second article, any feeling but that of
respect towards M. Comte's persistent disciples, and I am bound to acknowl-
edge the extreme courtesy of your letter, in circumstances which would have
excused in my eyes some vehemence of language.
Black_heath Park
Aug. 8. 1865
DEAR SiR
I have to thank you for three or four notes which want of time prevented
me from answering when I received them. I congratulate you on the tri-
umphant return of Mr Cowen for Newcastle, 2 and I regret that the attacks on
you should have prevented the realization of your hopes in regard to the
Secretaryship. 8
The Affirmation Bill 4 must not be suffered to drop in consequence of Sir
John Trelawny's absence from the House. 5 His non-election is one of the
1. MS in the possess__onof Co-operative Union Ltd., Holyoake House, Manchester.
2. Joseph, later Sir Joseph, Cowen (1800-1873), a mine owner and firebrick and
clay retort manufacturer; MP for Newcastle, 1865-73.
3. Cowen, alarmed at newspaper attacks on Hotyoake's radicalism and atheism, did
not appoint him his private secretary as he had originally planned. See Joseph McCabe,
Life and Letters of George lacob Holyoake (2 vols., London, 1908), II, 19-20.
4. A bill to permit all persons to make affirmations "where there is inability to take
an oath from defect or want of religious knowledge or belief." If JSM was referring to
Trelawny's Affirmations (Scotland) Bill, it had finally been adopted the previous
March and had received Royal Assent (see The Times, April 8, 1865, p. 5). What JSM
may well have had in mind, however, was the continuing struggle to modify the Parlia-
mentary Oath, which was accomplished in the 1866 session. Not until 1888, in the
famous Bradlaugh case, was the Oath modified so as to permit an atheist to take it.
See W. L. Arnstein, The Bradlaugh Case (Oxford, 1965), pp. 66--67,317-18.
5. Sir John Salusbury Trelawny, 9th baronet (1816-1885), MP for Tavistock,
1843-52, 1857-65, and for East Cornwall, 1868-74. Sir John had been the original
sponsor of the Affirmations Bill. He did not run for Parliament in 1865.
Letter 860 To Thomas Henry Huxley 1087
greatest of the few losses which advanced opinions have sustained in this
Parliament.
I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Aug. 8. 1865
DEAR SIR
Blackheath Park
Aug. 9. 1865
DEAR SIR
Your letter is clear and conclusive, and, together with my own letter
grounded on your previous one, _ makes the truth perfectly obvious in the
ease to which they apply, viz. the comparative probabilities of the different
causes which may have produced a known effect. But it is not quite so easy
to apply the same principle to cases in which there is no known effect to be
accounted for, but the antecedent probability of an unknown fact is to be
estimated from mere statistics. Take the case in its most general form, as it
stands in my book: Two of every three As are Bs, three of every four Cs are
Bs, what is the probability that something which is both an A and a C is a B? s
The beginning of the argument runs smoothly enough. If the thing is a B,
something must be true which is only true twice in every thrice, and something
else which is only true thrice in every four times, and this coincidence will
only happen six times in twelve. If the thing is not a B, something must be
true which is only true once in every thrice, and something else which is only
true once in every four times, and this coincidence will only happen once in
twelve times; making the comparative probabilities six to one. But what be-
comes of the other five cases in this statement? In the ease of the two wit-
nesses these five cases are put out of count, being cases in which the two wit-
nesses give opposite testimonies, which in the case in question it is known
they have not done. But what is the equivalent of this exclusion in the more
general theorem? It seems to me that in this, the a posteriori falsity is replaced
by an a priori impossibility, since the remaining five cases, implying that the
thing is both B and not B, involve a contradiction.
There is something, to my mind, a little louche about this reasoning, which
makes me wish for your sanction to it before I make use of it. Is there not
something absurd in a theory of 12 possible cases of which 5 turn out impos-
sible? In the case of the witnesses, the five cases are not impossible, but it is
merely known that the particular instance is not one of them. But in the
general form of the theorem it would seem as if there were twelve cases, in
six of which one thing is true; in one, another thing; and in the remaining
five, nothing.
I thank you for your kind wishes about my health. No doubt I shall be fully
occupied with Parliament during the session, but I hope by keeping out of
Blaekheath Park
Aug. 11.1865
DEAR SIR
I have now the pleasure of enclosing two carte photographs either of which
I givemy full consent to your employing, for the purpose of Cassell's Family
Paper. 2
I rose enclose the very droll letter which you received from North Wales.
If you are often expected to communicate universal knowledge by return of
post, your duty will be an onerous one. The impatience of your correspon-
dent must have been great, since he could not even wait for an answer in the
paper. I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Aug. 12. 1865
DEARSIR
view. I consequently added a note at the end of the volume, of which, in case
you have not seen it, I enclose a transcript.
I do not find that the distinction between the two senses of the word incon-
ceivable, 8 removes or diminishes the difference between us. I was already
aware that the inconceivability which you regard as an ultimate test, is the
impossibility of uniting two ideas in the same mental representation. But,
unless I have still further misunderstood you, you regard this incapacity of
the conceptive faculty merely as the strongest proof that can be given of a
necessity of belief. Your test of an ultimate truth I still apprehend to be the
invariability of the belief of it, tested by an attempt to believe its negative.
I have, in my turn, to correct a partial misunderstanding of my own mean-
ing. I did not assert that a belief is proved not to be necessary by the fact that
some persons deny its necessity, but by the fact that some persons do not hold
the belief itself; which opinion seems as evident as the other would be
absurd. 4
On the main question between us your chief point seems to be, that the
Idealist argument is reduced to nonsense if we accept the idealist conclusions,
since it cannot be expressed without assuming an objective reality producing,
& a subjective reality receiving, the impression. _ The experience to which our
states of mind are referred, is, ex vi termini, (you think) experience of some-
thing other than states of mind. This would be true if all states of mind were
referred to something anterior; but the ultimate elements in the analysis I hold
to be themselves states of mind, viz sensations, memories of sensations, and
expectations of sensation. I do not pretend to account for these, or to recog-
nize anything in them beyond themselves and the order of their occurrence;
but I do profess to analyze our other states of consciousness into them. Now
I maintain that these are the only substratum I need postulate; and that when
anything else seems to be postulated, it is only because of the erroneous
theory on which all our language is constructed, and that if the concrete
words used are interpreted as meaning our expectations of sensations the
nonsense and unmeaninguess which you speak of do not arise.
I quite agree with you, however, that our difference is "superficial rather
than substantiar', 6 or at all events, need not and does not affect our general
mode of explaining mental phenomena. From the first I have wished to keep
the peace with those whose belief in a substratum is simply the belief in an
Unknowable. You have said what you deemed necessary to set yourself right
on the points which had been in controversy between us. I am glad you have
done so, and am now disposed to let the matter rest. There will probably be
other and more hostile criticisms, by Mansel and others, and if I should think
it desirable to reply to them, I could on the same occasion make some re-
3. See Spencer's article, pp. 534-35. 4. See ibid., p. 535, and Hamilton, p. 150.
5. See Spencer, pp. 539-40. 6. Spencer, p. 550.
Letter 864 To Edward Wilson 1091
Since writing this I have seen a clever article in today's Saturday Review 7
which takes my side of the question against yours. It is pleasant to see these
abstract questions really and intelligently discussed in a popular periodical.
Blackheath Park
Aug. 13. 1865
SIR
Blackheath Park
Aug. 14. 1865
DEAR SIR
Black_heathPark
August 18, 1865
DEARSIR
From what you say of the projected SchoolSI feel no doubt that it will be
a good thing, and deserving of support; but I do not see how, with my
opinions, I could publicly associate myself as a special supporter and recom-
mender, with any school in which theology is part of the course; for assuredly
I do not think that theology ought to be taught in any school; and there are,
even at present, schools (the Birkbeck schools) a in which none is taught;
though I am not aware of any schools of that sort for the higher and middle
classes, unless it be the London University College School,_ which, I believe
is only a day school. It might be useless, in the present state of the public
mind to propose such schools, and it may be quite right to support others;
but I do not feel that that justifies me in holding myself forth as approving,
and partly founding, schools in which a principle I wholly condemn is even
partly recognised and acted on. I must wait, therefore, to know more of the
actual plan of the institution in this respect, before I can judge how far and
in what way I can join in promoting its establishment.
When I said that our educational system needs other modifications still
more than it needs the due introduction of modern languages and physical
science, 5 what I had chiefly in view was improvements in the mode of teach-
ing. It is disgraceful to human nature and society that the whole of boyhood
should bc spent in pretending to learn certain things without learning them.
With proper methods and good teachers boys might really learn Greek and
Latin, instead of making believe to learn them, and might have ample time
besides for science and for as much of modern languages as there is any use
in teaching to them while at school. And if science were taught as badly as
Greek and Latin are taught, it would not do their minds more good.
I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Aug. 19. 1865
DvAR Sin--Having a strong impression that I sh d like the book which you did
me tbe favour to send, _ I delayed writing to thank you for it until I sh d have
had time to read it through.
I have now done so & I not only agree with far the greater part of the
opinions expressed but consider the book as of permanent value & shall keep
it by me for reference, especially on points connected with our military &
naval system, &with law reform.
The chief points on which I differ from you are
1_. I think you ascribe too great influence to differences of race & too little
to historical differences & to accidents as causes of the diversities of character
&usage existing among mankind, a
2 d_. I cannot join with you (glad as I sh d be to do so) in thinking that the
wages-receiving class, if universally enfranchised would have no class feel-
ings or class opinions as such. 4 The fact that the operative classes are divided
5. See Letter 860.
I have read your letter in the Economist. z It is extremely well done, and I
sympathize fully in your feelings, but it does not touch any of my difficulties.
I still think that the proper ground to take is to insist on keeping out of
the Senate of the Queen's University 8 any person who is disaffected to the
purpose for which that University was instituted, viz. mixed education. 4 The
Catholic party have a just claim to be represented in the choice of examiners,
but none whatever to have a voice in the curriculum of study for any but
their own institutions, or the conditions of a degree even for those. These are
things to be decided only by the State. If necessary, the subjects of examina-
tion ought to be fixed, not by the body which confers degrees, but by the
government, or even by act of parliament.
You are quite right to point out the bad consequences which are likely to
1. MS at LSE. The address has been cut off. In reply to Caimes's of Aug. 20, MS
copy also at LSE.
2. "Irish Education," Economist, Aug. 19, 1865, pp. 1000-1002. The occasion for
the letter was an attack upon the university system of Ireland by Daniel O'Donoghue,
MP for Tipperary, 1857-65, for Tralee, 1865-85. "The O'Donoghue," as he was known,
in effect charged the system with being discriminatory against Roman Catholics. For
the attack and the ensuing debate in Parliament, see Hansard, CLXXX, cols. 541-55.
3. Queen's University was established in 1850 as the degree-granting institution for
the Queen's Colleges, Belfast, Cork, and Galway, established in 1845 by the adminis-
tration of Sir Robert Peel. For details, see T. W. Moody and J. C. Becket, Queen's
Bel[ast (2 vols., London, 1959).
4. That is, mixed religiously, with both Roman Catholic and Protestant students.
Letter 869 To George Grote 1095
Blackheath Park
Aug. 22. 1865
MY DEARGROTE
I am sorry to say that this present day is the first time since 1 left Avignon
on which I have been able to resume Plato. The whole time here, since I got
clear of the election, has been occupied in preparing a new edition of the
Logic; 2 which I had hoped to be spared until December and January, when
the article for the Edinburgh s would be finished. But Longman came down
on me unexpectedly with a peremptory demand; which I should not be much
surprised, after a11,to find had been premature. From this pressure, I have
been obliged to get through the revision of the Logic in a more summary
manner than I had hoped to do, and to content myself with alterations and
additions to several chapters which I had once thought of rewriting altogether.
I have limited myself to what was indispensable, but have given references
to the book on Hamilton on points into which I could not enter at length. I
read Professor Grote's 4book carefully, but found speculations and criticisms
much more vague and less tangible than I expected. Bain seemed to think that
the objection to Noumena was important, and merited notice, but, as I under-
stand it, it amounts to little. It is very well to say, why suppose an unknow-
able entity as the substratum of everything knowable, but the truth seems to
be that the Professor merely, with Reid and Hamilton, believes this unknow-
able entity to be the knowable. Altogether I could make no use of the Explo-
ratio for the improvement of my Logic, and have merely touched upon it
briefly in a note. 5
I have also (but this was a very slight business) revised the two articles
on Comte for republication by Triibner as a small volume. I need hardly say
how glad I am that you like them. The parallel which struck you between
Comte in his old age and Plato in his, had impressed itself forcibly on my own
mind.
I was very happy to infer from Mrs Grote's letter to Helen, that the visit
to Baden was benefitting her health. It is hardly to be expected that her re-
covery should be rapid from the state of prostration she seems to have been
in. All will depend upon her being surrounded for a considerable time with
the most favourable circumstances attainable. We are not likely either to see
you and her before our departure or to encounter you on the Continent, as we
go first to North Germany, and shall make a long though very rapid circuit
before settling down to Avignon and Plato. There is now no other heavy
work hanging over me before the meeting of Parliament, and the worst that
can happen is that I may have to ask Reeve s for an additional three months,
so as to have the whole time up to February available.
Your doubts whether the new employment of so much of my time will on
the whole be a good thing, answer to corresponding misgivings of my own. It
will depend on what I find myself able to do in Parliament in the way of
promulgating useful opinions and adding to improving influences. How much
this will be, neither I nor anyone else can know beforehand, but it will be a
positive duty for me to try my utmost. On the other point you speak of, the
new influences brought to bear on the tone of my writings, I feel quite easy.
Those new influences will have no effect at all. I consented to be elected on
the footing of not modifying or keeping back a high opinion on account of
its being unacceptable to the public or the electors. As much to my own
astonishment as to that of others, I actually was elected on that footing, and
nothing else that I said or did, had so much success at all the public meetings
as that had. As for the social influences which so often corrupt or tame men
when they go into Parliament, I shall protect myself against those by keep-
ing out of their way.
An intelligent correspondent of mine in Greece, Mr Leonidas Sgouta, 7 has
Blackheath
Sept. 1.1865
DreARCHADWICK
I am obliged to you for drawing my attention to the official correspondence
aboutthe Low2affair.I should otherwise have overlooked it.
Today, the very day before we leave, I have for the first time been able to
look through the pamphlets and documents which you sent to me, and which
I now return. Your addressto the Social Science Assn is very good,s and Lord
Ebrington's pamphlet 4is full of good things.
I send a few more of the photographs. If you write before the end of Scp-
tember, it will be best to direct here, as letters, (though not parcels) will be
forwarded. After that time direct to Saint V6ran, Avignon.
ever yrs truly
J. S. _ILL
law journal Themis, to which he contributed on many subjects. None of his correspon-
dence with JSM has been located.
41. _1- 4J 4_
1. MS at UCU
2. Sic. Robert I.owe in 1859 became vice-president of the Council of Education and
was placed in charge of the distribution of public grants to the schools of the kingdom.
He was responsible for the "Revised Code" of 1862 and a system of "payment by
results" by the administration of examinations in the three R's. In 1864 I.owe was
accused of altering the reports of school inspectors (of whom Matthew Arnold was the
best known)to support his own views on education. Lowe was censured in theHouse
of Commons and resigned his office on April 18, 1864 (see ttansard, CLXXIV, cols.
897 ft. and 1203 ft.). In the spring of 1865 a select committee was appointed to investi-
gate the matter and a report was issued on June 19, 1865 (see Parl. Papers, 1865,
Reports of Committees, vol. VI). This is probably the "official correspondence" to
which JSM is referring.
3. Probably a draft of an address on the dangers and difficulties for lives and property
in the merchant marine. See "Address on Economy and Trade," NAPSS, Transactions,
1865, pp. 77-101.
4. Hugh Fortescue, 3rd Earl, Viscount Ebrington, Public Schools for the Middle
Classes (London, 1864).
1098 To William Martin Dickson Letter 871
Blackheath Park
Sept. 2. 1865
DEAR SIR
The "middle course" which you seem to think not feasible 2 would, I think,
consist in making the Board which confers degrees totally distinct from any
of the Colleges, and depriving it of all authority over them. Perhaps the
best mode would be to place the whole affair under the University of London, s
appointing, as you suggest a few persons in the contidence of the Ultramon-
tanes 4 to seats in the Senate. If this is objected to, it seems to me that a
similar body, named by the Government, and in which the Ultramontanes
should be represented but not to the extent of half, should be created for
Ireland. They are not entitled to hall The Catholic religion is entitled to half,
but not any particular section of the Catholic body. The Government would
merely in appointing Catholics take care to appoint some of the Ultramontane
party, instead of taking care to exclude that party.
But I am afraid there is little chance of getting this, or anything like it,
1. MS at LSE. In reply to Cairnes's of Aug. 28, MS copy also at LSE.
2. In his letter of Aug. 28, 1865, Cairnes doubted whether JSM's suggestion (in
Letter 868) not to permit anyone to serve on the Senate of Queen's University who did
not believe in the mixed educational system was a feasible solution to the Irish univer-
sity problem. Cairnes further pointed out that if entirely Roman Catholic institutions
were placed under Queen's University, that too would change the mixed system.
3. A degree-granting institution, which would have the advantage of not confusing
the issue between mixed and denominational colleges.
4. The Irish Roman Catholic prelates wished to have the Catholic University placed
on a footing of equalitywith the Queen's colleges and endowed by the government.
1102 To George Howell Letter 872A
Berlin
Sept. 13. 1865
DEAR Sm
I thank you sincerely for your letter and its enclosures. 2 Your details are
of importance by shewing that a strike, when extending to an entire trade, or
even to a great part of it throughout the country, is sometimes remarkably
successful. But you seem to argue that the benefit to the operators is not at
the expense of the employers, being, I suppose, reimbursed to them by the
increased price of the article in which they deal, being, in the present case,
houses. Now this might, and often would, happen in a single trade, but you
have not, perhaps, considered that it could not happen if the rise of wages
extended to all, or the generality, of trades. I could shew that there could not
possibly be, in that case, an equivalent rise of general prices. But I content
myself with saying that even if there was, it would not compensate the em-
ployers, since a rise of price extending to all things is merely nominal. Be-
sides, a rise of wages accompanied by an equivalent rise of all prices would
be no benefit to the labouring classes.
I think you will find, on consideration, that though a partial rise of wages
may be at the expense of the consumer, a general one is always at that of the
employer; which however is far from being, with me, a reason for not desiring
it. I am Dear Sir
Yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
M r George Howell
5. "The die is cast."
tt _ 41' 41'
Munich
Sept. 25. 1865
DEARSIRmMany thanks for your long & interesting letter. It is well that those
who agree as much as we do shdoccasionally discuss their points of difference,
if only for the sake of suggesting to each other matter for further thought. I
will therefore add a few words by way of rejoinder confining myself at present
to your third point, the extension of the suffrage.2
My experience agrees with yours as to the greater mental honesty, &
amenability to reason, of the better part of the working classes, compared
with the average of either the higher or middle. But may not this reasonably
be ascribed to the fact that they have not yet, like the others, been corrupted
by power? The English working classes have had no encouragement to think
themselves better than, or as good as, those who are more educated than
themselves. But once let them become the ascendant power & a class of base
adventurers in the character of professional politicians will be constantly
addressing them with all possible instigations to think their own crude notions
better than the theories & refinements of thinking people, & I do not deem
so highly of any numerous portion of the human race as to believe that it is
not corruptible by the flattery which is always addressed to power.
The vertical divisions of opinion which you speak of seem to me to be-
long to the past, & to be almost wholly the effect of bad laws, now mostly
removed. Who ever thinks of opposition of interest or feeling between the
agricultural & the trading classes now that the corn laws have been repealed? 8
But the division between labourers & employers of labour seems to me to
be increasing in importance, & gradually swallowing up all others, & I be-
lieve it will be always widening & deepening unless, or until, the growth of
Cooperation practically merges both classes into one. And if either of the
two powers is strong enough to prevail without the help of an enlightened
minority of the opposite class, it seems to me contrary to all experience of
human nature to suppose that it will not abuse its power. There is no con-
siderable opposition of apparent interest among the different kinds of manual
labourers. Even if there be any kind of them whose wages do not admit of
being raised, which I for one do not believe (much less would they), they
would still, I apprehend, vote for a law which they thought would raise the
wages of others, since the rise would not be at their expense. Neither is it
only on the question of wages, or hours of labour, that the poorest & most
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as is also Kinnear's letter of Sept. 11 to which this
is a reply. Published, except for last paragraph, in Elliot, II, 45--46.
2. In his letter of Sept. 11, Kinnear argued for his beliefs on race, the representation
of minorities, and classes in England. See also Letter 867.
3. Since 1846.
1104 To Yohn Plummer Letter 874
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. Edward Walford (1823-1897), bibliographer, antiquarian,subeditor and editor
of Once a Week from 1859 to 1865,and of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1866-68.
Letter 875 To William Fraser Rae 1105
I have a strong impression that you are well qualified for the Professorship
for which you propose offering yourself, 2 but have some difficulty in speci-
fying the grounds d that impression with the precision and detail desirable
in a testimonial. I inclose a few lines, but I should not be surprised if they
were quite insufficient to be of use to you.
I am sorry that you have had so serious an illness, but very glad that you
have got so much better. Your letter is the first information I have had that
you are no longer editor of the Reader. I have heardnothing of its affairssince
I saw you beyond being invited to a meeting to ratify the sale to some one
whose name I do not remember to have heard you mention. 81was in hopes
that in changing proprietors the paper would not have lost its Editor. I am
Dear Sir
very trulyyours
J. S. MILL
W. F. Rae Esq.
Saint Vdran,Avignon
Oct. 23. 1865
DEAR SIR
IcannotthankyouenoughforM rWendellPhillips'
admirablespeeches.
2
Iwasnotawarethathewassothorough an adherent
ofnotonlyrepresenta-
tionof minorities,
butwhat ismuch more,personal reprcscntationmthe
I.MS intheOsbornCollection,Yale.
2. Of EnglishLanguageand Literature,University College,London,in succession
toDavid Masson,who heldthechairfrom 1852to1865.SccLetter897,n.2.
3. The Readerhad beenpurchasedinAug.,1865,by Thomas Bendyshe(1827-1886),
Fellowof King'sCollege,Cambridge,and barrister,who ran ituntil
Jan.,1867,when
itwas suspended.Bendyshehad beenexpelled from theConservative Club forvoting
forJSM inJuly,1865. 4t 4t ,It 4t
representation of every elector: that great idea of which the credit, though
Mr Phillips seems to give it to me, is exclusively due to Mr Hare. It is
hardly possible to state the merits of the principle more forcibly, or with a
more thorough understanding of all its importance, than Mr Phillips has
done. It is indeed at once a direct corollary from the first principles of demo-
cracy, and a most powerful corrective of all evils liable to arise from the
forms of democratic government hitherto in use. That M r Phillips should have
taken it up, and in the manner he has, is most cheering and auspicious. I
was not aware of the publication he mentions, and should like very much
to see it.
I beg that you will express my warmest thanks to Mr Phillips for his cor-
rection of my unintentional misrepresentation of the Abolitionists--to whom,
I hope I need not say that I meant no disparagement, having always regarded
them as the 61ite of their country, not to say of their age. I have been much
gratified by receiving so strong a confirmation, from such authority, of my
opinion concerning Tocqueville, which I shall now hold with increased
confidence.
I have not, however, been convinced by M r Phillips' argument against an
educational qualification, s It is very true that intelligence, and even a high
order of it, may be formed by other means than reading, and even (though,
I think, rarely) without the aid of reading: but not, I think, intelligence of
public affairs, or the power of judging of public men, save perhaps in ex-
ceptional cases, too few to affect the practical conclusion. At the present
crisis, however, the securing of equal political rights to the negro is para-
mount to all other considerations respecting the suffrage. I should be glad
to think that you are strong enough to reject a compromise admitting negroes
on an educational qualification common to them with the whites. As things
look now, it seems as if even that would be a thing to be thankful for.
The author of the article "Enfranchisement of Women" would have been
Boston. published in the National Anti-Slavery Standard, Nov. 5, 1864; two on Jan.
26, 1865, at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, published in
the Liberator, Feb. 10 and 17, 1865; one on May 9, 1865, at the 32nd anniversary meet-
ing of the American Anti-Slavery Society at the Church of the Puritans in New York
City, published in the National Anti-Slavery Standard of May 13 and in the Liberator
of May 19. Major emphasis in all four speeches was upon advocating the immediate
extension of the suffrage to the emancipated slaves as well as to poor whites.
3. In his speech of May 9 Phillips had said: "In Revolutionary times, every man in
this country, black and white, who was born free, except in South Carolina, voted--
with the limitation, in some of the States, of a property qualification. Our fathers were
too wise to require book learning as a preliminary condition of the ballot. I am sur-
prised, and marvel greatly, that so masterly a mind as Stuart Mill should proclaim that
in his theory a man must read before he votes. Does he not remember that for four men
out of five, education does not come from books? Does he suppose there was no edu-
cation in the world before printing was invented? . . . The mass of men have their
faculties educated by work, not by reading.... "
Letter 877 To Augustus de Morgan 1107
well rewarded by the progress which that question is making, had she lived
to see it.4 Nothing would have gratified her more than to hear on such high
authority that a cause to which she was so earnestly devoted had been in any
degree forwarded in America by what she wrote.
I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
I have to thank you for three letters 2 which have been reproaching me ever
since they were forwarded from Blackheath. The one on probability I was
obliged to lay by for reperusal. This I have now been able to give to it and
I seem to myself to follow the reasoning and agree with it. You have probably
observed the correction I made on the point in question in the new edition
of my Logic. s It will probably now require a supplementary one. If the
edition were still unpublished I would have asked you for a short note with
leave to insert it as yours.
I agree with you about the misuse of prepositions, but is "averse to" a
case of it? Undoubtedly we ought to have said averse/rom; but did writers
in any [era?] of English literature, say so?
When I refer to a former "book," I always mean liber not opus. The con-
fusion is only pardonable in conversation where the context usually clears
itup.
4. As early as Oct., 1851, at a convention at Worcester, Mass., Phillips had presented
resolutions on women's rights in part framed from Mrs. Mill's WR article, "Enfran-
chisement of Women." See "Woman's Rights," in PhiUips's Speeches, Lectures, and
Letters (Boston, 1863), pp. 11-34.
In his speech of May 9, 1865, Phillips had advocated a constitutional amendment
that "'No state shall ever make any distinctions in civil privileges among those born
on her soil.., on account of race, color, or condition.' I hope in time to be as bold as
Smart Mill, and add to that last clause 'sex'. But this hour belongs to the Negro."
5. The Liberator.
I have sometimes thought I ought to have some mark for alterations and
additions. But one could scarcely give distinctive marks to all the successive
strata of new matter, and a mere note of distinction from the edition imme-
diately previous would not answer the [purposes of] those readerswho only
possess a still earlier one.
I well remember our meeting long ago, on the occasion you refer to, and
I have retained ever since a vivid impression of your personal appearance.
By the way, the phrenological indications in your letter do not by any means
tally with what knowledge I possess of my own character; but I refrain from
saying in what they differ from it, as I am not [--?] to shew up my weak
points.
I am Dear Sir
verytruly yours
J.S.MmL
878. TO MAURICEWAKEMAN1
Avignon
Oct. 25. 1865
I have kept your letter by me unanswered, partly for want of time, and
partly in hopes that the delay might enable something to occur to me which
would throw light on the rather subtle matter of difference between us which
you bring to my notice. 2 It is evident that I have again a misapprehension of
your opinion to confess and correct, since you do not acknowledge it as yours
in the mode in which it is stated by me. We seem to differ on two questions,
one a question of fact, viz. whether it is possible, while looking at the sun, to
imagine darkness. You, and your three friends, think it is not, while my
consciousness seems to tell me that it is quite as possible to imagine darkness
in its absence, as anything else in its absence. Of course the stronger present
3. The Ethnological Society, founded in 1843, met several times a year to listen to
papers. Its president at this time was John Crawfurd (1783-1868), orientalist, best
known for his History of the Indian Archipelago (3 vols., London, 1820).
4. See Letter 777.
,1$ 'It- _- _-
The place from which this note is dated will sufficiently account to you for
my not having written to you sooner. Had I been in England, I should have
endeavoured to find you out before this. As it is, I can only say that I shall
be at Avignon for the next three months and that if your Continental excur-
3. Logic, Book II, chap. vn, see. 3. JSM introduced a footnote and a few minor
changes in this passage in the 7th ed. See 8th ed., I, 312.
sion should lead you this way, I shall be most happy to see you. My address
here can be learnt at the Hotel d'Europe.
Iam Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Nov. 4, 1865
Wherever I might have seen that article, _ I should have felt a strong wish
to know who was its author, as it shows an unusual amount of qualities which
go towards making the most valuable kind of writer for the general punic.
I have read your three volumes.., and the result is that on their own
account as well as on yours, I am desirous that they should be published. *
You have fully established the claim of your view of the last years of Ameri-
Avignon
Nov. 5.1865
DEAR SIR
completing it. I have not yet written anything, but have read Plato all through,
and am now going through your book carefully again, not only referring to
Plato frequently, but reading once more quite through some of the most im-
portant of the dialogues which I read last spring: Phaedon, Parmenides,
Theoctetus, Sophistes, Politikos, &c.
The article in the Westminster on your book9 seems to me very good. I
am curious to know who wrote it.
If you have time to answer this, please tell us also how Mrs Grote is, for
it is long since we heard.
Ever yours affectionately
J. S. MILL
888. TO W. O. ADAMS 1
Avignon
Nov. 13. 1865
Sir--To give a proper answer to your question2 would be to write the essay
which you are intending to write. But if you wish for a mere opinion, ex-
pressed in few words, I would say,
1. Severe punishments of some kind are often necessary for boys, but
only when they have been negligently or ill brought up & allowed to acquire
bad habits.
2. Assuming severe punishments to be necessary, any other mode of
punishment that would be effectual is preferable to flogging. In the case
however of certain grave moral delinquencies chiefly those which are either
of a cowardly or of a brutal character, corporal punishment in that or some
equivalentform may be admissible.
I have been a long time without acknowledging your very interesting letter
of July 1. My excuse must be the great quantity of temporary business (in-
eluding a vast amount of letter-writing) which has come upon me lately, and
the necessity of finishing off old engagements before the new and engrossing
ones commence.
I hope you at length received the book on Hamilton. I gave a fresh order
for sending it to you, having reason to think that the first had not been
executed. You will have found less than you probably expected on the Free-
will controversy, the object having been, not to give a complete view of the
metaphysics of the question, but merely to reply to some objections and
resolve certain difficulties. I am glad you were interested by the review of
Comte. The remarks on his philosophy in your letter are just and reasonable
from your own point of view. Above all, they are clear; a merit which your
writings possess in a degree not common with the a priori or spiritualist
metaphysicians.
I was happy to find, though it was no more than I expected, that we
think exactly alike on the necessity of giving equality of political fights to
the negroes. What has just taken place in Jamaica 2 might be used as a very
strong argument against leaving the freedmen to be legislated for by their
former masters. The legislation appears to have been just such as might have
been expected, and the consequence is what we see. It seems not at all un-
likely that England will have to make a clean sweep of the institutions of
Jamaica, and suspend the power of local legislation altogether, until the
necessary internal reforms have been effected by the authority of the mother
country. How much more needful, then, is it that America should refrain
from giving back to the rebel states the fights already forfeited by them,
except on such conditions as will secure equal laws and an impartial adminis-
tration of justice between colour and colour; which will not and cannot be
the case unless the Negroes can serve on juries, and, through the electoral
suffrage, have an equal voice in choosing or controlling the judges, or those
who appoint them. I felt greatly discouraged a short time ago by the turn
which events seemed to be taking; but the published conversation between
the President and Mr Steams 3 has revived my hopes; for it seems to shew
that Mr Johnson does not differ fundamentally from us; that he only hesi-
tates on the question of time, and is ready even at once to enfranchise the
negroes subject to certain conditions, which he would make applicable also
to the uneducated whites. If he adheres to this, and also to his declared
opinion that non-electors ought not to be counted, even in a fractional pro-
portion, as part of the population that determines the number of Federal
representatives; the Republican majority in Congress will be able to act with
him, and to prevent any serious mischief.
You must be greatly edified, if you read the English newspapers and
periodicals, by their change of tone on American affairs. Those who, at the
time of the colonization of New England, used to be called "waiters on Provi-
dence," have changed sides, and are now profuse of panegyrics on the people
of the United States. Their praise is of no more intrinsic value than their
attacks were before; but it is an additional proof what a great benefit your
people have conferred on mankind by shewing what democracy and univer-
sal education together can do--how they make a whole people heroes when
heroism is required, and peaceful citizens again as soon as the necessity is
ended. Most English observers are also much struck by the total absence of
vindictive spirit, even under the provocation of Mr Lincoln's murder. I do
not share their surprise, my only fear having been that your people would
forgive too easily. But if they only take care not to be forgiving at the
Negroes' expense, I am ready to join in the universal chorus.
We often think and talk of you, both at Blackheath and here, where we
first saw you. I hope to hear from you now and then¢ It is of no consequence
whether you direct here or to Blackheath, as letters are promptly forwarded.
Ever, dear Sir, yours truly,
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Nov. 24, 1865
DEAR SIR
I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 30th ult °. It is
needless to send me the North American Review, as I am already a sub-
scriber to it; but I am always glad to hear from any of the writers and to be
enabled to identify an article with its author. The essay on American Political
Ideas 2 1 had read the day before I received your letter. There is a good cause
why the Americans are more attached than the people of other countries to
the principles of their Constitution; it is because their Constitution has prin-
ciples. The British Constitution has no principles: it is the unpremeditated
and unplanned result of a secular conflict of opposing forces. There are how-
ever, principles, not laid down in words, but involved both in the English
and in the American institutions, viz. personal freedom; liberty of thought
and publication; and, in America, perfect civil equality between one person
and another. To these principles the people of each country are strongly at-
tached, but in neither are they thoroughly carried out, though by you far more
nearly so than by us. I hope you are going to carry the last of them into
effect as between white people and black; after which it will still remain to
bring it into operation between men and women.
I have great pleasure in subscribing to every word of the practical exhor-
tations in your concluding paragraphs. Society in the Southern States has to
be democratized in law and in fact, on the principles of the Declaration of
Independence, otherwise the sufferings and sacrifices of these glorious years
will be more than half lost. And this will be easily done if the people of the
Northern States do but will it. The opinions, feelings, and entire civilization
of the North have made a wonderful stride since the war began. If they are
not yet quite up to the final mark, who can blame them? May they reach it
before anything irrevocable has been done in restoring the rebel States to their
constitutional rights. I am Dear Sir
Yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
MY DEARGROTE
I am very much indebted to you for taking the trouble to give me such full
explanations in answer to my question respecting the Apologia. 2 The points
you mention in Xenophon and Plato are all familiar to me, but I wanted
your appreciation of them, and that you have given me. I had been much
struck with the fact that the two authorities are not agreed even as to what
the oracle was, though unquestionably they must both have known it. There
is also a prima facie objection to the statement of Sokrates in the Apology,
that he first commenced his cross-examining Elenchus after he had already
been declared by the oracle to be the wisest of men. If the oracle declared
this of Sokrates before he set out on the career which has given him all his
fame with posterity, the oracle must have had remarkable sagacity and won-
derfuUy good information. However this may be, I understand you to think
that Sokrates spoke the substance of what Xenophon ascribes to him, and
also matters which, idealized by Plato, became the Platonic Apology; s and
this seems much the most probable supposition which can be made.
I now feel assured how far I can safely build upon the character of Sokrates
which the Apology indicates; and that is what I wanted. I do not think it
possible, without abridging more important matter, to discuss in the article
Plato's precise relation to Sokrates. His relation to the Sokratic dialectic is
the important thing: and, by the aid of your book and of the familiarity I
have now acquired with Plato himself, this is not difficult to bring out.
I have written a great part of the article, and see my way clearly to the
end of it. There will never, I think, have been as much said about Plato in
the same space; but there will not be anything both important and new in it,
for you have left nothing to do: except that every fresh turning over of the
ground makes some of the things that are turned up look new by some new
light which falls on them.
We are very happy to hear your favourable account of Mrs. Grote. Pray
give her our kindest regards. I am equally pleased and honoured by your re-
viewing me for Chapman, 4 and I am glad that you take the opportunity of
I have received your note, but not the prospectus of the new paper, 2 which
if sent to Blackheath, would in ordinary course wait there for my return, as
though letters are forwarded to me here, printed matter is not. I however ex-
pect a parcel from Blackheath in a week or thereabouts, which wiU probably
contain it. I dare say I shall be able to write some sort of letter to you when I
have seen the Prospectus, or at any rate after the first number. An article, I
am sorry to say, would be quite out of the question with my present occupa-
tions.
I have never yet had time to acknowledge your letter of Nov. 11. I am
very much obliged to you for all you write, and no less so for not writing
solely to forward applications which you are quite right in thinking I should
be unable to comply with. I am not surprised at your not accepting the offer
of the Indian Editorship) and were I in your place I would not accept it
either. Your present position, like aU others, may have its disagreeables,
but they are probably much less than those of the Indian situation, and the
connexion is a better one for opening other opportunities both of improving
your own condition and of serving your opinions.
5. On pp. 4--5 of the review Grote pays tribute to James Mill. The paragraph begins
as follows: "Mr. John Stuart Mill has not been the first to bestow honour on the sur-
name which he bears. His father, Mr. James Mill, had already ennobled the name. An
ampler title to distinction in history and philosophy can seldom be produced than that
which Mr.James Mill left behind him."
6. Autobiography, published posthumously in 1873,edited by Helen Taylor.
a. _1" .11. _1"
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. The Working Man, A weekly record of social and industrial progress, published
from Jan. 6, 1866,through Dec. 22, 1866.
3. See Letter 874.
1122 To Charles Kinnear Watt Letter 893
I am always glad to be told what people say about public affairs; but the
remarks mentioned in your letter as made by the Moderate Liberals must
come from very moderate Liberals indeed. If (which I am not aware of) the
Liberal party is "rapidly approaching a state of complete disorganisation",
the conclusion I should draw would be that it is time for it to dissolve, and
organise itself anew on some better basis. I am sure no party can deserve to
be kept together which is in danger of being broken up by the accession of
two or three persons who are thought likely to speak opinions freely which
are in advance of the rest. But the Moderate Liberals are always anxious to
stop the mouths of the immoderate ones, and these things are said and printed
for the effect it is hoped they may produce on the supposed marplots them-
selves. I am Dear Sir
with our kind regards to Mrs Plummer
yours verytruly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Nov. 27. 1865
DEAR SIR
I have this morning had the honour of receiving your letter of the 23 'e
instant.
At almost any other time than the present I should have felt it a duty to
shew my sense of the distinguished honour conferred on me, by accepting
the ottice of Rector and endeavouring to the best of my power to discharge
its duties. But it is hardly possible that such a function could have devolved
on me more inopportunely than in the circumstances in which I am placed
at the present moment, when my whole time is devoted to clearing off long-
standing literary engagements which I cannot hope to have completed sooner
than the commencement of the Session of Parliament. _ Even, therefore, if it
were possible for you to wait a considerable time for the visit which it would
be my duty to pay you, I do not know at what time it would be in my power
1. MS in St. Andrews University Library. Envelope addressed: Charles K. Watt
Esq. / St Mary'sCollege / St Andrews/ N.B. Published by Dr. Anna J. Mill in "The
First Ornamental Rector at St Andrews University," Scottish Historical Review, XLIII
(Oct., 1964), 135-36.
Charles Kinnear Watt, a theological student at St. Andrews, and chairman of the
committee for the election of JSM as rector of St. Andrews./SM had been elected on
Nov. 23 by 95 votes against 48 for George William Fox Kinnaird, 9th Baron Kinnaird
(1807-1878).
2. On Feb. 1, 1866.
Letter 894 To Lou/s B/anc 1123
1. MS at Bibliothbque Nationale.
2. "Lettre de Londres," Le Temps, Nov. 30, 1865, p. 1. An earlier "Lettre" had
appeared on Nov. 24, p. 2.
3. JeanBaptisteCarrier(1756-1794), FrenchRevolutionistandTerrorist,notorious
for the Noyadesof Nantes,thedrowningof largenumbersofprisoners.
4. Jean Marie Collot (1749--1796), French Revolutionist, known especially for his
savageadministrationof theTerrorin Lyonsin 1793.
1124 To Dr. Henry MacCormac Letter 895
sous cette banni_re, mais le fait n'est pas douteux. Le Times n'a-t-il pas fair,
pendant de longues ann6es, tout son possible pour forcer ou persuader le
gouvernement _ retirer l'escadre anglaise des c6tes de l'Afrique? _ tentative
qu'il n'a abandonn6e que lorsque l'impossibilit6 de r6ussir a 6t6 pleinement
constat6e. On sait toujours d'avance ce que dira le Times dans tout cet ordre
de questions: on est stir qu'il sera du parti le plus brutalement contraire anx
noirs. 11 ne serait pas sans utilit6 clue cette liaison du Times avec les int6r_ts
esclavagistes ffit connue en France, otz g6n6ralement on voit dans ce journal
un organe de l'opinion anglaise, sans tenir compte des impulsions sp6ciales
et pdv6es qui agissent souvent sur les 6cdvains du Times comme sur ceux de
tout autre journal, et modifient sa manvaise direction g6n6rale par de mauvais
caprices particuliers.
tout tt vous
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Dec. 4. 1865
DEAR SIR--In answer to your letter of Nov. 29, I would say, that restric-
tions on marriage, or on any other human action when so conducted as to be
directly injurious to others than the agents themselves, do not appear to me
objectionable on the principle of Liberty. 2 For all our actions which affect
the interests of other people I hold that we are morally, &may without viola-
tion of principle be made legally, responsible. I have however expressly
guarded myself against being understood to mean that legal restrictions on
marriage are expedient. That is an altogether different question, to which I
conceive no universal &peremptory answer can be given, & in deciding which
for any particular case due weight ought to be given to the probability of
consequences of the kind you mention as well as of any other kinds.
5. The squadron maintained there to block the slave trade.
I am glad that you agree with me on the subject (much more urgent in
this country) of compulsory education.
[Avignon]
Dec. 13, 1865
DEAR SIRmI have seen with great pleasure, in the newspapers, the move-
ment which the St. James's Vestry has originated at your suggestion for the
union of all London into one body for municipal purposes, with smaller
bodies of the same sort for purposes special to each of the parliamentary
divisions. _ I have long wished that an effort in this direction should be made.
All the more important town-interests are common to the whole town, and
can only be properly attended to by a body representative of the whole; and
I quite agree with you that there should be but one such body, and that the
functions (for instance) of the Board of Trade should merge into those of the
united municipality. I also go entirely along with the proposal to abolish the
jurisdiction of the Middlesex magistrates in the metropolis, and to have none
but stipendiary magistrates. The only point on which I do not agree with the
scheme as reported is the choice of magistrates by the citizens or the muni-
cipal body. The proposed corporation ought, of course, to have powers
equal to those of other municipal corporations; but it seems to me that the
choice of judicial officers is best placed, not with any corporation, but with
a minister or great public functionary, who can be held responsible for making
a proper choice. As a general rule, skilled professional officers are hardly
ever well chosen by numbers; some one person must make it his business to
find them and judge of their qualifications. I do not know if this view of the
question has been under your consideration, or that of the vestry; but as I
hope to aid in bringing your plan before Parliament, I am glad to begin
already an interchange of sentiment with you on the subject)
I am, dear Sir,
very truly yours,
J. S. MILL
James Beal, Esq.
1. MS not located. Published in The Times, Dec. 20, 1865,p. 6, and in the Journal
of Social Science, I (1866), 207.
2. For the motion presented by Beal, see "Metropolitan Government," The Times,
Dec. 5, 1865,p. 7.
3. Aided by Beal, JSM on May 21, 1867, presentedto the Commons a measure to
establish municipal corporations in the several districts of London. See Letters 1342,
n.4 and 1388,n. 2.
1126 To William Fraser Rae Letter 897
I imagine that none of the candidates for the Professorship had any chance
against Mr Henry Morley3 1 am sorry to hear such an indifferent account of
your health, and I regret much that you have been prevented from finishing
the article you mention. If you pass through Avignon before we leave for
England, we shall be very glad to see you.
I fully intend to read Livingstone's new book s when I have time, but I do
not know when that will be. There seems likely to be enough doing in Par-
liament, this session, to occupy all one's thoughts. There is no part of it all,
not even the Reform Bill, more important than the duty of dealing justly
with the abominations committed in Jamaica. 4 If England lets off the per-
petrators with an inadequate punishment, no Englishman hereafter will be
entitled to reproach Russia or the French Revolutionists with any massacres,
without at the same time confessing that his own country has done worse.
Iam Dear Sir
yoursvery truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Dee. 15. 1865
You are probably aware of the causes which have so long delayed my
answer to your communication dated the 24 in nit °. Being so situated as to
2. In his letter of Nov. 3, 1865, White had said, "I therefore beg leave to propose
that you write a letter or essay suitable for the columns of a daily newspaper, to ex-
plain in the simplest manner how it is that low wages in England, for instance, do not
give the English manufacturer an advantage over the American manufacturer who
pays high wages." • • • .It
have no chance of being able to visit Saint Andrews' for the purpose of de-
livering an address, at any time when the University will be sitting, earlier
than the end of January 1867, I thought it best to make this circumstance
known to the students who had done me the honour of electing me, and to
be guided by their wishes in accepting or declining the Rectorship. Being
informed that, notwithstanding this inevitable delay, it is still the wish of the
Students that I should fill the office of Rector, I beg, accordingly, to com-
municate to you my acceptance of that office. I understand that this intima-
tion should properly be made to the Vice Chancellor. _ I am not able, where
I am, to ascertain who is the present holder of that dignity, nor the proper
form in which to make the announcement; but I take the liberty of inclosing
a communication addressed to him, and of begging that if it be informal, or
in any other way insufficient, you will kindly furnish me with the means of
rectifying it.
I am Dear Sir
yours verytruly
J. S. MILL
Rev. Principal Tulloch
I received your letter only this morning, so that if you are at Paris tomor-
row as you expected, you will not receive this answer. But as in that case I
shall probably see you at Avignon, it will not matter.
I am doubtful of any good from an inquiry moved for by Lord Elcho. _
The sole object of its promoters will probably be to obtain such statistics as
may frighten Parliament and the electoral body into restricting the extension
of the suffrage to the narrowest limits possible. They do not want to have
2. Tulloch himself was then the vice-chancellor.
41. 41' 41' 41.
1. MSat UCL.
2. Francis RichardCharteris,Lord Elcho, and later 10th Earl of Wemyss (1818-
1914), MP for Haddingtonshire,1847-83.
After the House of Commons had voted down, on May 8, 1865,an attemptto reduce
the borough franchisefrom £ 10 to £6, Lord Elcho asked that a royal commission be
appointedto inquirehow many of the "wage-paid" class have the franchise,how many
are excluded,and the reasons for exclusion, and how far the franchise can be extended
in relation to the various classes in boroughs and the relative value of money and
property.The royal commission was not appointed during the session of 1865. See
the Annual Register, 1865,PartI, p. 115.
Letter 900 To Edwin Chadwick 1129
your, or my, or Mr Hate's plans of reform taken into consideration, and they
will prevent all such consideration if they can. Any locus standi for "cro-
chets" and "fancy franchises" before the Commission will have to be fought
for, and fought for against Tories, Whigs, and such Radicals as Bright. It
would therefore be in my opinion a false policy for any reformer to say to
Government or the punic, Do not propose a Reform Bill, but wait for the
result of an enquiry by such men as Lord Elcho. But even if it were compe-
tent to any other reformer to take this position, it is not so for me. It is for
those to call for an enquiry who need an enquiry, before being willing to take
action. I know what reform I want, and am ready now to do my utmost to
get it. An enquiry should be supplementary to, and not instead of, any mea-
sure of reform that the present ministry are likely to propose.
I am very sorry that you have had so much tmpleasantness about the News-
man, and sorry that Beal had any share in it. I was hoping that you and he
would be able to work together at the local government of London. It is
one of the many questions which incessantly make me regret that you are not
member for Westminster. I shall want to consult with you about it, and shall
miss you if you are in Algeria. s But if you can really help the sanitary im-
provement of the army, it is a thing worth going there for.
The idea of making the rate book the register, is a good one if the only
qualification is to be one of rating, because it makes the registration seek
the elector instead of the elector the registration. But it will not be carded,
because it would take away the qualifications by property--freehold, copy-
hold, and leasehold. If those qualifications are allowed to remain, there will
still be need of lawyers, and registration associations. The whole of our laws
of election from top to bottom require to be reconstructed on new principles:
but to get those principles into people's heads is work for many years, and
they will not wait that time for the next step in reform. If they would, all
they would get is to be told that the public is content with the thing as it is.
And perhaps some measure of reform is as likely to promote as to delay other
improvements in the representative system. I am Dear Chadwick
yoursverytruly
J.S.MILT
3.WhetherChadwickvisited Algeria
hasnotbccnascertained.
He hadbeeninter-
ested forsome timeinthemarkedimprovement insanitary
conditions
there,andin
1864hadpersuaded theminister ofwartodirect
aspecial
committee
boundforGibral-
tarto include Algeria in its itinerary.
• • • I866 • • •
I have delayed long to thank you for your book, 2 having been very busy
writing, and unable to read it with proper attention until within these few
days.
I think the essays must have been very interesting as lecturesfl and will
be very useful as a book. The subject of the land laws, and laws of inheri-
tance, is very well treated, and is one of which few feel the importance. You
have broken ground very usefully on it. The considerations you have brought
forward will be much needed in the discussions we shall soon have on Irish
affairs, and the whole subject will become much more practical after any
considerable parliamentary reform. One of the most important consequences
of giving a share in the government to the working classes, is that there will
then be some members of the House with whom it will no longer be an
axiom that human society exists for the sake of property in land--a grovel-
ling superstition which is still in full force among the higher classes.
I need hardly say how highly I approve your chapter on cooperation, and
the restatement of the ideas of your Westminster Review article respecting
Strikes. 4 On all these subjects you have strengthened yourself by new thoughts
and illustrations; and the speculations in the concluding chapter, on the
possibilities of the future, open a class of considerations both new and very
necessary to be thought of.
The chapter which on the whole I least like is the one on wages, 5 though
it will probably be more praised than any of the rest: but I think I could
shew that an increase of wages at the expense of profits would not be an
impracticability on the true principles of political economy. It might doubt-
less send capital to other countries; but we must recollect that the movement
for higher wages and shorter working hours is now common to all the
industrious nations.
There is one mistake in a matter of fact which I saw with regret in the
book, and which I hope a new edition may soon give you an opportunity of
correcting. You have entirely misunderstood the ateliers nationaux, e They
were not advances to cooperative societies, but direct payment of wages, for
work mostly nominal, from the public purse; and so far were they from having
any connexion with Louis Blanc or his opinions, that he has always bitterly
complained of them, as having been set up, not for, but against him and his
plans. The member of the Provincial Government principally responsible for
them was, he says, M. Marie. 7 The advances to associations of workmen were
quite another matter, and did none of the harm which the ateliers nationaux
did--probably even some good: at all events the Government could not have
refused such experimental aid when the associations thought that they could
not get on without it. I am not certain that such advances (resembling those
the Credit Mobilier s makes to a richer class) would not sometimes be useful
even now: though it is one of the lessons of the experience of that time that
in most cases the associations which did without subsidies prospered the most.
There are some misprints in the volume, especially 'married men' for
'monied men' at p.209, and Ars_ne Hanssage for Houssaye 9 (p. 103).
We shall now soon meet on our common field of battle. The two great
topics of the year will be Jamaica 1° and Reform, 11 and there will be an im-
mensity to be said and done on both subjects. I have just seen with great
pleasure that Lord Hobart has come out decidedly in McMillan's for Hare's
system. 12 It is gradually taking hold of one after another of the thinking men;
of whom Lord Hobart is decidedly one. I shall perhaps invoke your aid on the
Metropolitan government question, 18of the burthen of which I shall probably
have to take a considerable share.
I am Dear Mr Fawcett
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
6. Organized for the workers by the Provisional Government of 1848. The dispersal
of the workers in June, 1848, led to the abortiveinsurrection of that month.
7. Pierre Thomas Marie de Saint-Georges Marie (1795-1870), member of the
Provisional Government of 1848.
8. A large lending organization, founded in 1852 by Isaac and Emile Pereire.
9. Ars_neHoussaye (1815-1896), French playwright, poet, novelist.
10. See Letter 889, n. 2.
11. Parliamentaryreform, both of the franchise and of the distributionof seats, was
not achieved until the act of 1867, though the session of Parliament which opened on
Feb. 1, 1866,concerneditself greatlywith the problem.
12, V. H. Hobart [Baron Hobart], "Parliamentary Reform," Macmillan's, XIII
(Jan., 1866), 259-72.
13. Reform of municipal government was to become one of JSM's leading concerns
during his term in Parliament. He introduced bills on the subject on May 21, 1867, and
May 5, 1868. See Letters 896, 1342, and 1388.
1132 To Thomas Hare Letter 902
Avignon
Jan. 4. 1866
It seems a long time since I either heard from you or wrote to you. As the
time approaches when I shall be taking part in the discussion of pending
questions, I feel an increasing desire to take counsel with you concerning
some of them.
One is the question of the Irish Colleges. I have been drawing nearer and
nearer to your view of that subject, 2 practically considered, though I am
not sure that we quite agree yet about the amount of concession required by
equal justice. I shall take my stand against the denominational system in any
form for Ireland regarding it as a mere concession to practical difficulties
even in England, and in Ireland inadmissible altogether. I am prepared to
maintain that no public assistance ought to be given in/re/and to any eduea-
1. MS draft at LSE.
41. 'It' 41. 'It
1. MS at LSE.
2. See Letters 868 and 872. See also Cairnes, "University Education in Ireland,"
Theological Review, HI (Jan., 1866), 116--49. The rest of this paragraph is a good
summary of Cairnes'sposition.
1134 To John Elliot Cairnes Letter 904
tion involving more or other rengious teaching than exists in the mixed, or
national system. I also think that in Ireland it is so great a point to bring
youths of different religions to live together in colleges, as will justify almost
any encouragement to the system of the Queen's University, except that of
actually refusing degrees to those who have studied elsewhere. From what I
see in newspapers and hear, I am in hopes that the Catholic prelacy is shew-
ing itself so impracticable as to give the Government a fair ground for with-
drawing any offers they may have made, if only they can be induced to think
such a retraction desirable: and it must be the business of members of Par-
liament to try to make them think so. Do you know of any member likely to
lead the opposition on your side? What do you think of M'Cullagh Torrens? s
He, most likely, agrees with you, and he is one of the few Irishmen in Par-
liament who are not incumbered with an Irish constituency. Do you know
what views Neate _ takes of the question? Any tolerable stand made in the
House will have powerful support outside, from the mass of feeling in the
country always ready to be called forth against any new concession to
Catholics.
Then comes the Land Question. I have read several of your letters in the
Economist, 5 and admired them greatly. The generalities of the question have
perhaps never before been so well stated as in your first letter. But your con-
clusion seems to me to fall far short of your premises. It may be that this is
unavoidable. But the remedy of permitting the tenant to carry away or destroy
his improvements, will surely do very little for him. It is monstrous that the
law, at present, should not permit him to do this. But supposing that
abominable state of the law to be altered, how inconsiderable would be the
advantage to the tenant. 1_. If, as is generally the case, the landlord's object
is to clear the estate and consolidate the holdings, the tenant by pulling down
his buildings is merely doing the landlord's work gratis. 2d_. The cases most
of all deserving compensation, are those in which the tenant has actually re-
claimed the land: and how can he put it back into the state of heath or bog
in which it was before? 3aty. Even when the improvement consisted in put-
ting something on the farm which can be carried away such as buildings or
fences--to remove them would make no return to the farmer for the labour
or cost of putting them up, but would merely give him the value of the
materials; and what are they? earth or rough stones: seldom worth even the
3. William Torrens M'Cullagh Torrens (1813-1894), politician and social reformer,
MP for Dundalk, 1848-52, and for Finsbury, 1865-85.
4. Charles Neate (1806-1879), professor of political economy, 1857-62, at Oxford,
and MP for Oxford City, 1863-68.
5. Cairnes wrote a series of letters entitled "Ireland in Transition" to the Economist
which were published in the issues of Sept. 9 to Nov. 4, 1865, inclusive. The following
are on problems of land cultivation and land-holding in Ireland: Sept. 23, pp. 1146-47;
Sept. 30, pp. 1173-75; Oct. 7, pp. 1204-1205; Oct. 14, pp. 1238-39; Oct. 21, pp. 1268-
69; Oct. 28, pp. 1301-1303; Nov. 4, pp. 1333-34.
Letter 905 To Henry Samuel Chapman 1135
trouble of carrying away. It would be his interest to accept the most trifling
offer from the landlord, rather than exercise his right: unless indeed his
motive was a vindictive one; and he would have but little even of that kind
of satisfaction, for he could in general do the landlord as tittle harm as he
could do himself good.
I am disposed to make a much greater claim for the tenant--to demand
for him, not compensation for his outlay, but a full equivalent for the addi-
tional value which either by his labour or his expenditure he has given to the
land: to be assessed either by a special tribunal or by arbitration. Justice re-
quires no less than this, and its impracticability is not, to my mind, made out.
But, as I am afraid you are of a different opinion, I should like very much to
comparenotes with you on the subject.
Iam Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
manner far from agreeable. Thoughtful people have found it hard to make up
their minds on the New Zealand aspect of the universal colonial question--
what to do with the aborigines. It was hoped that this would be a less desper-
ate difficulty in New Zealand than elsewhere, on account of the higher quali-
ties and more civilisable character of the Maoris. But the eternal source of
quarrel, the demand of the colonists for land, has defeated these hopes; and it
seems as if, unless or until the progressive decline of the Maori population
ends in their extinction, the country would be divided between two races al-
ways hostile in mind, if not always in actual warfare. Here, then, is the burthen
on the conscience of legislators at home. Can they give up the Maoris to the
mercy of the more powerful, & constantly increasing, section of the Popula-
tion? Knowing what the English are, when they are left alone with what they
think an inferior race, I cannot reconcile myself to this. But again--is it pos-
sible for England to maintain an authority there for the purpose of preventing
unjust treatment of the Maoris, and at the same time allow self government to
the British colonists in every other respect? How is that one subject to be kept
separate, and how is the Governor to be in other things a mere ornamental
frontispiece to a government of the colony by a colonial Cabinet and Legisla-
ture, and to assume a will and responsibility of his own, overruling his cabi-
net and legislature wherever the Maoris are concerned? If the condition of
colonial government is, to keep well with the colonial population and its repre-
sentatives, there is no hindering the colonists from making their cooperation
depend on compliance with their wishes as to the Maoris. I do not see my
way through these difficulties. Nor do I feel able to judge what would be the
consequence of leaving the colonists, without the aid of Queen's troops, to
settle the Maori difficulty in their own way. Perhaps the proofs which the
Maoris have given that they can be formidable enemies may have produced
towards them in the colonists a different state of mind from the overbearing
and insolent disregard of the rights and feelings of inferiors which is the com-
mon characteristic of John Bull when he thinks he cannot be resisted. On all
these questions I am now under a special public obligation to make up my
mind, and I hope to be helped to do so by your knowledge and experience.
The information your letters are always full of, will be often valuable to me
now.
Your account of the Middle Island and its impassable range of high Alps,
is very attractive to me, and if New Zealand were an island in the Northern
Atlantic, would speedily send me on a visit there. The very idea of anything
impassable and impenetrable is almost too charming, now when every nook
and corner of our planet has got or is getting opened to the full light of day.
One of the many causes which make the age we are living in so very impor-
tant in the life of the human racemalmost, indeed, the turning Point of itm
is that so many things combine to make it the era of a great change in the
Letter 906 To 1ohn Nicolaus Triibner 1137
Avignon
Jan. 9. 1866
1. MS draft at LSE.
1138 To Thomas Hare Letter907
2. The first number of this periodical, which for years thereafter reflected a liberal
position within the Church of England, appeared in Jan., 1866. The Jan. and Feb.
numbers each carried a review-article on JSM's Hamilton which JSM correctly assumed
to be written by Henry Mansel (see Letter 915): "The Philosophy of the Conditioned:
Sir William Hamilton and John Stuart Mill," Contemporary Review, I (Jan. and Feb.,
1866), 31--49,185-219.
3. See Letter 886.
• 41' • 41.
Commons who think it any business of theirs to liberate and stimulate indi-
vidual thought and action, or who would desire to do so even if they knew
what it meant? How many are there even outside the House, who would
support a motion for such a Committee? The small number who are already
converts to your plan; not a man beside. To nobody else would such a pro-
posal carry any distinct meaning; still less represent anything that to their
minds would appear sensible or practical. I admit that our prospects are
nearly as bad if Lord Russell does include something else in his bill, as if he
does not. Little as the chance is of an early reopening of parliamentary re-
form after the bill has passed, it will probably be sooner reopened for a
readjustment of seats than merely for personal representation. This I cannot
deny; but in the meanwhile we lose the opportunity of discussing personal
representation in the present session--an opportunity which could not be
refused to us if the whole subject of representation were on the tapis, but
which we certainly shall not have if the question at issue is, by a previous
understanding between the two great parties, confined to the extension of the
franchise. I have given you my impression on the subject; but I cannot feel
complete confidence in its correctness when I see yours to be different.
I shall be delighted to read your paper in the Fortnightly Review _ when I
return to Blackheath. Were it sent here I probably should not receive it. The
Pall Mall Gazette you kindly sent, never arrived. The Daily News was stopped
four times in the six days of last week; and for about two months past, we
have never received both the Spectator and the Saturday Review--very often
neither. What has happened to increase the rigour of the French Government
to the foreign press, I do not know; but there is certainly something. You
doubtless noticed the interdiction of the Ind_pendance Belge, 4 and of the
principal liberal German papers, and the principle on which it was rested.
If that principle means anything, it means the exclusion of all my English
papers, except the Times which, for reasons best known to itself, is never
seized.
I agree with you about Lorimer's book: It is merely a weaker repetition
of his former one.
I shall be very desirous to discuss with you all the points of London muni-
cipal reform, in which I shall have to take an active part. Beal s told me that
you had sent him "a little work" of your own 7 "full of good matter on the
question."
Helen sends her kind regards to the Miss Hares. I am Dear Sir
everyours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Jan. 15. 1866
DEAR Sm--I have received your letter of Jan. 12 for which I thank you &
I accept all the conditions as mentioned in it.
It would have been more convenient to me to have made my corrections
in the sheets of the first edition than in the proofs of the new, as I have more
leisure now than I shall have a fortnight or three weeks hence; but I am will-
ing to do whichever you prefer. If it is done from the proofs they had better
be sent to Blackheath Park.
Avignon
Jan. 22,1866
DEAR SIR--I regret that the extreme proximity of the date at which the
meeting of the Commons Preservation Society z is to be held makes it im-
possible for me to be present. I have all my life been strongly impressed with
the importance of preserving as much as possible of such free space for
healthful exercise, & for the enjoyment of natural beauty as the growth of
6. James Beal.
7. Possibly Local Government in the Metropolis (London, 1862).
It ,It ,It It
1. MS draft at LSE.
tt It It It
population and cultivation has still left to us. The desire to engross the whole
surface of the earth in the mere production of the greatest possible quantity
of food & the materials of manufacture, I consider to be founded on a mis-
chievously narrow conception of the requirements of human nature. I there-
fore highly applaud the formation of the Commons Preservation Society &
am prepared to cooperate in the promotion of its objects in any manner which
lies in my power.
St V6ran
le 23 janvier 1866
I am much obliged to you for sending me your Social Science paper) and
the article on Cobden 8 the former I had read, Mr. Stort a having kindly
1. MS draft at Yale. See Letter 661.
given me a copy, but I am glad to have one from yourself. The subject of it
is one of the most interesting and important of the practical matters now
before the public. Many things are pointing to a strong, and I hope a com-
bined movement for the improvement of the dwellings of the working classes
which will need all our exertions to forward it. I agree with you as to the
necessity of some legislative measure to facilitate the procurement of sites;
and I attach the same importance as you do to enabling working classes to be
proprietors of their own dwellings. I hope you are on the Committee ap-
pointed by the Social Science Association, and are in communication with
Mr Hare who has, as you know, given great attention to the subject, and
who [has] a particularly strong opinion on this point.
My constituents have hitherto been very forbearing with me, but those
who have exerted themselves in the manner you and others have done for
my election becanse they thought me capable of promoting practical im-
provements, have the best possible claim on my time and attention when they
have any improvements to propose. I beg that you will never scruple to com-
municate with me on any matter of public interest in which you think I can
be of use; and I will always either do my best to help your object, or explain
and discuss with you why I am unable to do so.
Iam Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Thomas Beggs Esq
Blacldaeath Park
Jan. 30. 1866
DEAR SIR
I regret that Mrs Austin should have had any annoyance or anxiety on
the subject of the missing Notes of Lectures. 2 They never were in her pos-
session, having unfortunately been lent by me and lost by the borrower within
a year or two after the Lectures were delivered.
The Notes were written next day from memoranda made by myself in the
Lecture Room; and Mr Austin's slow delivery and splendid articulation made
it easy to report all the important passages nearly in his exact words. By these
means I had the good fortune to preserve many valuable oral elucidations.
1. MS in collection of autographs formed by Mrs. Richard Ford, sister of Sir
William Molesworth. Collection in 1945 in the possession of Sir John Molesworth-
St Aubin, Pencarrow, Washaway, Bodmin, Cornwall. Addressed: H. Reeve.
2. See Letters 576 and 577.
Letter 913 To John Elliot Cairnes 1143
There was only one lecture (I forget which one) at which I was unable to
be present, and in that case Mr Austin kindly lent me his manuscript to
enable me to fill up the vacancy. I never saw the MS of any of the others, nor
did he see any of the Notes.
I am happy that the unusual length of my article a is not an insuperable
obstacle to its insertion.
The proofs should be sent to Blackheath.
I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. Mn.L
Blackheath Park
Jan. 31. [1866]
DEAR SIR
Jan.31.1866
DVAR SIR
The inclosed passage 2 is the one which M _Wendell Phillips seems to have
had particularly in view. The remainder not only of the Preface, but of the
book, may be regarded as a commentary on it.
I had already read the article in Harper's Magazine 8 I need hardly say
with how much pleasure and had guessed, though not with full assurance,
its authorship.
I am Dear Sir
y" very truly
J. S. I_LL
Blackheath Park
Feb. 4. 1866
MY DEARGROTE
Unless I write now to thank you for your admirable article in the West-
minster Review, 2 1 do not know when I shall be able to do so, as my time is
already taken up, to a degree which you can very weU understand both from
theory and experience, though my constituents have hitherto given me very
little trouble of any kind, and that little only for important objects. I write,
then, while I can, to express some part of the pleasure it gives me that one
whose good opinion and good feeling I value more than that of any other
living man, should be able to write about me in the way you have done. _ I
thank you, too, most heartily, for the justice you have done to my father. 4
When your KIeine Schriften come to be collected, that passage will remain
as one of the weightiest testimonies to his worth, and to the place he filled
in his generation.
As to the points of difference between us on some minor matters of opinion,
which occur in the course of the article, it will be a pleasure to talk them
over with you some day. There is only one of them on which I yet see myself
to have been wrong, viz. when I spoke of a beginning without a cause as
being inconceivable by us. Of course, however, I did not mean inconceivable
by a law of the mind, but only by an acquired association.
Have you seen Mansel's critique (for I am told it is his) in Nos 1 and 2 of
a new publication called the Contemporary Review? 5 1 should like much to
know what you think of it, if you have read it.
My article on the Plato 6 is in Reeve's hands and accepted by him; which
is a relief to me, as its length so much exceeds the usual Edinburgh Review
dimensions, that I feared he might be unwilling to insert it without an im-
possible curtailment. I have seldom given so much time and pains to a re-
view article, but it has been well employed if I have done any tolerable
justice to the subject.
With our kind regards to Mrs Grote I am my dear Grote
yours ever truly
J. S. MILL
Blaekheath Park
Feb. 4. 1866.
DEAR SIR:_
On arriving here last week, I found the December livraison of your Biology,
and I need hardly say how much I regretted the announcement in the paper
annexed to it.2 What the case calls for, however, is not only regret, but
remedy; and I think it is right you should be indemnified by the readers and
purchasers of the series for the loss you have incurred by it. I should be glad
to contribute my part, and should like to know at how much you estimate
the loss, and whether you will allow me to speak to friends and obtain sub-
seriptions for the remainder. My own impression is that the sum ought to be
raised among the original subscribers.
In the next place, I cannot doubt that the publication in numbers, though
it may have been the best means that presented itself at the time, has had an
unfavourable effect on the sale, and that a complete treatise with your name
to it would attract more attention, obtain more buyers, and would be pretty
sure to sell an edition in a few years. What I propose is that you should write
the next of your treatises, and that I should guarantee the publisher against
loss, i.e., should engage, after such length of time as may be agreed on, to
make good any deficiency that may occur, not exceeding a given sum, that
sum being such as the publisher may think sufficient to insure him. With this
guarantee you could have your choice of publishers, and I do not think it
likely that there would be any loss, while I am sure that it could in no ease
be considerable. I beg that you will not consider this proposal in the light
of a personal favour, though even if it were I should still hope to be permitted
to offer it. But it is nothing of the kindmit is a simple proposal of coopera-
tion for an important public purpose, for which you give your labour and
have given your health.
Blackheath Park
Feb. 4. 1866
SIR
In reply to your letter of Jan. 31, I beg to express my willingness to take
charge of the Bill for carrying into effect the arrangement which appears to
have been made between the Government and the other parties interested.
I am Sir
very faithfullyyours
J. S. MILL
Edward Welmisley Esq.
Blaekheath
Feb. 7. 1866
DEAR SIR
To take your last subject first. I have of late avoided giving my name to any
of the Working Classes' Exhibitions, _ as it seems to me that the thing is
rather overdone; so many of these Exhibitions are now attempted that they
stand in each other's way, are apt to be unsuccessful in a pecuniary sense,
and excite but little of the interest which was felt about the first things of the
1. MS in 1965 in the possession of Joseph H. Schaffner of New York. Neither the
correspondent nor the Bill in question has been identified.
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. To judge from contemporary accounts, these exhibitions were designed for the
display of artifacts created during the leisure hours of working men. They were also
for the promotion of "union and good feeling between rich and poor." See Morning
Advertiser, March 24, April 3, and April 5, 1865. Working men did not always find to
their liking the condescension implicit in the exhibitions. See the Working Man, Jan. 3,
1866, p. 5.
Letter 919 To Edwin Chadwick 1147
kind. If it would oblige you that I should give my name to the North London
Exhibition I will very willingly do so on that account; but there is very little
chance that my daughter and I can be present at the opening, or at any time
during the exhibition, as we are almost sure to be abroad at the time.
Allow me to congratulate you on being Editor of the Family Paper, a both
as a rise in your position, and a great increase in the comfort of your daffy
work. I thank you for the pleasant things you have written about me in the
Sydney Morning Herald, 4 and for the letter on reform which you purpose
addressing to me: Would it not be worth while to write it so that it might
be published either in the Family Paper, the Working Man, 5 or somewhere
else? as a statement of the ideas of the best part of the working classes on
reform would be important and interesting to many persons besides me.
Many thanks for the cuttings. I have seen Mr Conway's article s and the
one in the Contemporary Review. 7 The Blackwood s I have not seen but
expect to see.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. Mrr,L
1. MS at UCL.
2. The Cattle Diseases Bill, to which royal assent was given on Feb. 20, 1866, was
debated at first reading on Feb. 12. During the debate on the second reading, Feb. 14,
1866, JSM spoke, objecting to the method of compensation proposed for owners whose
diseased cattle had to be slaughtered. This was JSM's maiden speech. See Hansard,
CLXXXI, cots. 488-92.
1148 To John Elliot Cairnes Letter 920
Blackheath
Feb. 13. 1866
DEAR SIR
Your news is very important, and the move of the Presbyterian body
promises well, 2 if the Government is not yet irrevocably committed. 8 I, on
my side, have talked with Mr Grant Duff, 4 who said he could hardly believe
that the Government can meditate such a step as the one we apprehend. Not
a single Scotch member (he said) would vote with them, and (he added)
as their enemies are keenly watching to take the first opportunity of putting
them in a minority they would probably be obliged to resign. The result of
this and of much other information that reaches me, is to make me appre-
hensive that we may be more successful than we desire, and may perhaps
break up the Ministry and lose the Reform Bill. This is not a sut_icient rea-
son against fighting the question of the Colleges to the utmost; but I attach
great importance to not being supposed to have the smallest approach to an
understanding or concert with those who will merely use our question as a
means of effecting purposes which we should greatly lament. Nothing can
be more proper than that you should apply to any and every influential
politician whom you can get access to; but I am very anxious not to be held
out to any one, even to sincere liberals, and much less to false liberals or
Tories, as desiring to communicate with them on the subject. I have no ob-
jection to its being said to any person whatever, that I have a very strong
opinion against the proposed changes. If any M.P. (even a Tory) chooses to
open the subject to me, I will tell him my mind. One or two members have
already done so; Mr Lowe 5 did so the very day I saw you, and I thought he
seemed disposed to take the initial step (by putting a question to the Govern-
ment) without any further parley or consultation with us and our liberal
friends. It is most clear to me that we, meaning myself and the other liberal
members you mention, should endeavour to act directly on the members of
the Government, and should avoid even the appearance of concert with any
1. MS at LSE. In reply to Cairnes's of Feb. 10, MS copy also at LSE, as are two of
Feb. 14.
2. In his letter of Feb. 10, 1866, Cairnes reported that the Presbyterian General
Assembly of Ulster, at a special synod held on Feb. 6, had passed resolutions in favour
of mixed rather than denominational education in Ireland. See also Letters 872 and 904.
3. The Irish educational system remained a continuing problem for British govern-
ments. By the Irish University Act of 1879, Queen's University was abolished and
replaced by the Royal University of Ireland, organized on the model of London
University. For the controversies on the Irish educational system and the various
attempts to resolve the problems, see Moody and Becket, Queen's Belfast, I, pp. 280-89.
4. Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff.
5. Robert Lowe.
Letter 921 To the Speaker's Secretary 1149
of those who would like to do them an ill turn. With regard to Sir Hugh
Cairns, 6 or any one on that side of the house, whatever they may choose to
do should be quite apart from us. The same political instinct which in-
fluenced Lord Stanley, _ would probably make them feel that they had better
appear as seconders than as originators of a move on this subject.
Many thanks for the pamphlet, which will be very useful to me.
I need scarcely say that this letter is confidential to yourself.
Iam Dear Sir
yrs very truly
J. S. MILL
SIR, I have had the honour of receiving an invitation to dine with the Right
Hon TM the Speaker 2 on Wednesday next Feb 28 but beg that I may be allowed
to excuse myself from accepting it as I think it desirable that those members
of the H. of C. who do not approve of the regulations in respect to dress at
present in force should make their objection known to the Speaker, who I do
not doubt will give to it whatever weight is justly due. I sincerely hope that in
taking this mode of expressing the objection which I entertain to the practice
hitherto followed I shall not be considered to be wanting in that respect and
deference to the Rt Hon the Speaker which it is as much my wish as my duty
invariably to observe.
6. Sir Hugh McCalmont Cairns, later 1st Earl Cairns (1819-1885), barristerand
politician, MP for Belfast, 1852-66.
7. EdwardHenry Stanley, 15thEarl of Derby.
4[" 'l_ .!. q"
1. MS draft at lohns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 57. Bears note: In answer to
invitationto dinner.H.T. &J.S.M.
Alfred Denison, Esq., probably Alfred Robert Denlson (b. 1817); B.A. Cambridge,
1839; later a settler in New South Wales. He was the brother of 3ohn Evelyn Denison,
later Viscount Ossington ( 1800-1873 ), who became Speakerin 1857 and retiredfrom
the office in 1872.
2. The tradition of the Speaker's dinners appears to have been established in the
late eighteenth century.To be invitedto one was generallyregarded as constitutingfull
social recognition. Convention for attending such dinners required the wearing of
uniform or Court dress. John Bright at the opening of the session on Feb. 1 had
protested against the requirement (see Hansard, CLXXXI, cols. 8-11). Later in the
century as working-classrepresentatives became common in Parliament more protests
were made. For a full account of the traditions of the Speaker'sdinners, see Arnold
Wright and Philip Smith,Parliament Past and Present (2 vols., London [1902, etc.]), I,
chap. w.
1150 To Frederick Milnes Edge Letter 922
DEAR SIR--I have to acknowledge a letter from you dated Feb. 15 asking me
to explain a passage of my Principles of Pol. Economy _ in which I express the
opinion that a protecting duty, for a limited space of time, may be defensible
in a new country, as a means of naturalizing a branch of industry in itself
suited to the country but which would be unable to establish itself there
without some form of temporary assistance from the state. This passage
you say has been made use of by American protectionists as the testimony
of an English writer on Pol. Economy to the inapplicability to America of
the general principle of free trade. The passage has been used for a similar
purpose in the Australian colonies, s erroneously in my opinion but certainly
with more plausibility than can be the case in the U. States; for Australia
really is a new country whose capabilities for carrying on manufactures can-
not yet be said to have been tested: but the manufacturing parts of the U.S.,
New England & Pennsylvania, are no longer new countries; they have car-
ded on manufacturing on a large scale, & with the benefit of high protecting
duties for at least two generations; their operatives have had full time to
acquire the manufacturing skill in which those of England had preceded
them; & there has been ample experience to prove that the inability of their
manufactures to compete in the American market with those of Great
Britain does not arise merely from the more recent date of their establish-
ment, but from the fact that American labour & capital can in the present
circumstances of America be employed with greater return & greater advan-
tage to the national wealth, in the production of other articles. I have never
for a moment recommended or countenanced any protecting duty except for
the purpose of enabling the protected branch of industry, in a very moderate
time, to become independent of protection. That moderate time in the
U. States has been exceeded, & if the cotton or iron of America still need
protection against those of the other hemisphere it is in my eyes a complete
proof that they ought not to have it, & that the longer it is continued the
greater the injustice & the waste of national resources will be.
I confine myself on the present occasion to the one special point which you
have referred to me & do not enter into the fallacies of Protectionism gen-
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins; in reply to Edge's letter of Feb. 15, also at Johns
Hopkins. Published in the Chicago Tribune, March 18 and 19, 1866, and, except for
last paragraph,in Elliot, H, 57-58.
Edge was the London representativeof the Chicago Tribune and author of a number
of books on the Civil War.
2. "Doctrine of Protection to Native Industry,"Pol. Econ.. Book V, chap. x, sec. 1.
3. See Letter811.
Letter 923 To Montague Richard Leverson 1151
Blackheath Park
March 6. 1866
MY DEAR SIR
I have just had the pleasure of receiving from you and M _j Gladstone a
card of invitation for Wednesday the 21_t. There are few things I more value
than the opportunity of cultivating the degree of personal acquaintance to
which you have done me the honour of admitting me; but I find it absolutely
necessary, just at present, to avoid all engagements on the evenings which
attendance in the House leaves me for other indispensable purposes. I hope
to be allowed to indemnify myself on Thursday mornings after Easter for my
present abstinence. I am
My dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S.M_L
The Right Hon.
W. E. Gladstone M.P.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 17. 1866
edition you propose would probably compete with the library editions much
more successfully.
SIR I have to acknowledge your note of the 1 lth instant. I have received
many communications on the same subject from working men, and it gives
me much satisfaction to find that so great a number of them are in the habit
of giving intelligent attention to the foreign policy of the country. The ques-
tion, which is the subject of your communication, is encumbered with great
difficulties; and though if Mr. Gregory 2 had divided the House I should have
voted against him, I am not satisfied that the immunity of private property
from capture would not on the whole be for the advantage if the Declara-
tion of Paris s must be maintained.
I agree with you in thinking this last the really important question, and I
am decidedly of opinion that the relinquishment by the naval Powers of
their most powerful weapon of defence against the great military Powers, *
can only be defended if it be true that the change of circumstances has made
that weapon one which could no longer safely be used.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
J. S. MILI,
Mr. Mawby
1. MS not located. Published in the Diplomatic Review, July 4, 1866, p. 91, under
the title, "Mr. John Smart Mill on the Right of Search," with a note on Mawby's letter
to JSM to which this is a reply, and Mawby's rejoinder of July 1, 1866.
Mawby was evidently the secretary or chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
of Bamford, near Hathersage, from which his letters to JSM were addressed. Such
committees, composed of working men, had been formed in a number of communities
under the stimulus of David Urquhart, owner and editor of the Diplomatic Review.
2. William Henry Gregory, later Sir William, K.C.M.G. (1817-1892), MP for
Galway (1857-71), on March 2, 1866, moved in Commons an address to the Queen
"for the purpose of making the principle that private property should be free from
capture by sea a maxim of International Maritime Law." At the end of the debate he
withdrew the address and its amendments. See Hansard, CLXXXI, 1407-80.
3. The Declaration of Paris, adopted in 1856 at the conclusion of the negotiations
for the Treaty of Paris, was signed by England, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria,
Sardinia, and Turkey. The Declaration dealt with maritime neutrality; it declared
privateering abolished and ruled that blockades in order to be binding must be effective.
The most important articles, 2 and 3, declared that the neutral flag covers an enemy's
goods, with the exception of contraband of war, and that neutral goods, with the ex-
ception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under an enemy's flag.
4. The right of search. See Letter 994.
1154 To an Unidentified Correspondent Letter 927
Blackheath Park
March 23.1866
DEAR SIR
Alderman Salomons 3 has asked me for a copy of the Bill, 4 which I suppose
you will give him as a matter of course. If it suited your plans to send one
also to Mr P. A. Taylor, who has asked me for a copy, it would give me
pleasure.
Blackheath Park
March 24, 1866
DEAR SIR
I return the paper with my signature added, and am happy to join in the
Avignon
April 4, 1866
2. See Letter 916. JSM, Huxley, and others arranged to take up a number of sub-
scriptions to Spencer's writings and hoped to have others purchase them so that he
could continue to publish. Meanwhile some Americans arranged to establish a fund of
$7,000 for Spencer. For his reactions to both arrangements and for details, see Spencer,
Autobiography, II, 154-67, 573-75. 4$ 4t
Blackheath Park
April 9. 1866
DEAR SIR
Your note of the 29th reached me at Avignon, but I could not answer it
until my return here enabled me to tell you if Mr Sullivan's pamphlet 2 had
bean sent to me or not. I find that it has, and I have lost no time in reading it.
After doing so, my opinion decidedly is that it requires an answer. It is
written with some ability, and knowledge of detail; it does not manifestly
exhibit want of candour, and as it makes some points on matters of fact, with
apparent success (though none which are essential to the question) it will be
largely used in the discussions, and will be represented as a complete answer
to youa and Whittle: There should, I think, be a reply to it in print if only to
supply those who fight the battle in Parliament with answers to what will be
brought against them. The fight will be a more arduous one than we thought;
for several of the leading Tories, in the debate on Tests, 5 shewed a disposi-
tion to adopt denominational instead of mixed education, and exhibited a
decided sympathy with the movement of the Catholic bishops. If you reply,
I have not the least objection to its being, as you propose, in the form of a
letter to me.6
I am obliged to stop short, being very busy, as you may suppose at such a
time as this.
Ever yours truly
J. S. _.ILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
April 11, 1866
DEARCARLYLE--
My answer to your note respecting Dr L_we2 has been delayed by the
necessity of findingtime to rummage old papers in order to ascertain whether
an impression I had of having already consented to a similar proposal from
some other quarter, was well founded or not. I now find that in December
1861 I gave my assent to a translation of my book on Repr. Govt by a
Dr F. A. Wille,s who like Dr Lbwe, had been engaged in the political events
of 1848 & had for ten years afterwardsbeen living in Switzerland. Dr Wille
then informed me that his translation was partly printed & I am almost sure
that it was published in the course of the following years. If a copy was sent
to me I have it not at hand, but Dr L/Swecould probably inform himself on
the subject without difficulty. Dr Wille's address at that time was Mariafeld
(sic), Meilen, Ziirich.
Please thank Mrs Carlyle for her remembrance of me. I have been sorry
to hear a rather poor account of her health4 & to see by your Edinburgh
address5that your own is not quite satisfactory.6
1. MS draft at NLS, with a typed copy, headed by the following note, presumably
by Alexander Carlyle: "The lost letter of Mill's Is/c] to Carlyle, which gave some
offence to JWC [Jane Welsh Carlyle]. This copy is from Mill's rough draft which was,
and I suppose is, among Carlyle's Letters to Mill, now in the Carlyle House in Chelsea."
How this draft could have been preserved among Carlyle's papers remains a mystery.
The letter was in answer to Carlyle's of March 13, 1866, published in Letters of Thomas
Carlyle to John Stuart Mill, John Sterling and Robert Browning, ed. A. Carlyle, pp.
185-86. Jane Carlyle's letter of April 13 to her husband is in Letters and Memorials of
lane Welsh Carlyle, ed. J. A. Froude (2 vols. in one, New York, 1883), H, 384-85.
2. Wilhelm L/Swe (1814-1886), liberal German politician, active in the 1848 Na-
tional Assembly in Frankfurt, and president of the Stuttgart rump Parliament in 1849;
in exile in New York, 1849-61.
3. Francois Arnold Wille (1811-1896), of Swiss-French parentage, editor of Ham-
burger Literarische und Kritische Bliitter; writer on political subjects; active in the
Revolution of 1848, he moved to Marienfeld, near Ztirich. His translation of JSM's
Rep. Govt. appeared with the title Betrachtungen iiber Repriisentativver[assung. Aus
dem Englischen von F. A. Wille (Ziirich and Stuttgart, 1862).
4. Jane Welsh Carlyle died suddenly ten days later, on April 21, before Carlyle's
return from Scotland.
5. In the second paragraph of his Inaugural Address as Rector of Edinburgh Uni-
versity on April 2 Carlyle had mentioned his weak health.
6. The last paragraph is cancelled in the draft, but perhaps it was retained in the
fair copy.
1158 To the Earl of Clarendon Letter 932
Blackheath Park
April 15, 1866.
MY LORD,
I have had the honour of receiving your communication of the 9th inst.
and am much gratified that the small offering 2 which I had the opportunity
of making to the London Library should have appeared to the Committee
deserving of such an acknowledgment. It is probable that I may continue to
receive from private friends or public authorities in the United States books
and documents of a similar character to those which I had the pleasure of
presenting, and since they are considered to be of value to the Library, I
shall have great satisfaction in forwarding them as they arrive. A few have
been discovered which were overlooked when the parcel was sent, and these
I will at once despatch to the Librarian.
I have the honour to be your Lordship's most obedient Servant,
J. S. MILL
1. MS at London Library.
The Earl of Clarendon was president of the London Library from its opening in
1841 until his death in 1870.
2. This appears to refer to a volume "Pamphlets 261" in the London Library, which
contains among others Judge W. M. Dickson's Absolute Equality (see Letter 871) and
two pamphlets by E. B. Elliot, both inscribed by the author to JSM.
•J .1_ ,1_ .It.
1. MS at Yale. Envelope addressed: Hon. S. S. Cox / Post Office Box 5660 / New
York City. Postmark: LONDON / AP 16 / 66.
Samuel Sullivan Cox (1824-1889), congressman and writer, frequently in Congress
from Ohio after 1857, prominent in 1868 and thereafter as a reformer of the tariff.
2. Thomas Tooke, d History of Prices and of the State o/ the Circulation from
1793 . . . (6 vols., London, 1838-57). Newmarch collaborated with Tooke on vols. 5
and 6.
Letter 934 To William E. Gladstone 1159
you want respecting the operation of free trade in this country, and with a
full review of the commercial history of the last year, forming a Supplement
to the Economist newspaper of March 10, 3 and written by himself. These I
will immediately send (probably through Mr Triibner) to the New York
address you gave me. I fear the unsatisfactory state of the reconstruction
question, and the differences between Congress and the President, may delay
for some time the progress which might otherwise have taken place more
rapidly on the freetrade question. But every awakening of the national mind
is sure to be favourable to the removal of prejudice; and I have no doubt that,
if not a complete, yet a very considerable reform of the legislation on this
subject, will before many years reward the exertions of yourself and the other
enlightened men who have taken up the cause.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. 1VIILL
Hon. S. S. Cox
Blacldaeath Park
April 21. 1866
MY DEAR SIR
I thank you very much for your kind invitation for Wednesday May 2, but
I still find so much need of repose on the evenings on which the House does
not sit (when those evenings are not absorbed by other necessary occupa-
tions) that I do not yet venture to accept an invitation for any evening. But
if your Thursday mornings have commenced, I should have great pleasure
in soon availing myself of one of them.
I venture to ask your acceptance of the inclosed paper 2 (printed in the
current number of the Edinburgh Review) the subject of which I know to be
interesting to you, whatever may be the case with the execution. I offer it,
not forgetting how long it must wait before you are likely to be able to give
it even a cursory glance. I am
My dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
You may well conceive what a gratification it is to me to find that you are
so well satisfied with my attempt to condense into an article the principal
ideas of your book. You had left so little to be done that the greatest success
I could hope for was to throw in a sufficient number of fresh citations and
illustrations and to put sufficient originality into the mode of turning the ex-
pression of your thoughts, to enable my repetition of them to have in some
small degree the value of a confirmation by an independent inquirer.
Was I not lucky in being able to quote so capital a Platonic passage from
Max Miiller? 2
I suppose you have read the review of your book in Fraser which was un-
fortunately the last production of D r WheweU. a So far as he differed from you
he always seemed to me to be wrong; but it was very pleasant to see that,
having some real knowledge of the subject, he gave so complete and so intel-
ligent an adhesion to your novelties of opinion respecting the Sophists.
With our kind regards to Mrs Grote I am
My dear Grote
ever yours truly
J. S. _ILL
DEAR Sm,--A Liberal county member, 2 to whom I have been speaking about
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
2. "Such terms as Nature, Law, Freedom, Necessity, Body, Substance, Matter,
Church, State, Revelation, Inspiration,Knowledge,Belief, are tossed about in the wars
of words as if everybody knew what they meant and as if everybody used them exactly
in the same sense; whereas most people, and particularlythose who represent public
opinion, pick up these complicated terms as children, beginning with the vaguest con-
ceptions, addingto them from time to time, perhaps correctinglikewise at haphazard
some of their involuntaryerrors, but never takingstock, never either inquiringinto the
history of the terms which they handle so freely, or realisingthe fulness of their mean-
ing according to the strict rules of logical definition." "Grote's Plato," ER, CXXIII
(April, 1866), p. 326 n. Quoted from Friedrich Max Miiller, Lectures on the Science
o[ Language, ser. 2 (London, 1861-64), pp. 526-27.
3. "Grote's Plato," Fraser's, LXXHI (April, 1866), 411-23. Whewell had died on
March6, 1866.
tt It 41. 41'
Brlackheath] P[ark]
April 28. 1866
DEAR SIR,--Many thanks for the pamphlets, 2 which will be of the greatest
use to Mr. Acland a (the county member I mentioned), and perhaps to others.
The news of the Wolverhampton Plate-Locksmiths 4 is most gratifying, and
a fine example of what Co-operation can do.
ThoughI do not agree, so far as compulsory measures are concerned,
with the U. K. Alliance, 5 yet, since you do, I congratulate you on having ob-
tained a sure income, compatible with the continuance of your most valuable
services to Co-operation.--I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,
J. S. MILL
H. Pitman, Esq.
MADAM,--I am happy to hear that you and other ladies are disposed to
assert your just claim to be represented in the body that taxes you, and I
recommend to you to lose no opportunity of doing so. When men who wish
to remove the invidious distinctions under which you labour offer arguments
founded on the evident justice of your cause, we are constantly met by the
reply that ladies themselves see no hardship in it, and do not care enough for
the franchise to ask for it. I am glad to be able to say that I know several
members of Parliament who wish to grant the franchise without distinction
of sex, but I know many more who would be ashamed to refuse it if it were
quietly and steadily demanded by women themselves. I am sorry to find that
you disclaim being strong-minded, because I believe strength of mind to be
one of the noblest gifts that any rational creature, male or female, can pos-
sess, and the best measure of our degree of efficiency for working in the cause
of truth. But such mental powers and energies as we any of us do possess,
ought to be employed in striving to remove the evils with which circum-
stances have made us acquainted; and a woman who is a taxpayer is the
most natural and most suitable advocate of the political enfranchisement of
women. I hope, therefore, that you will endeavour to strengthen the hands of
those (and I know more than one) who have devoted their lives to working in
your cause, by protesting against the injustice you suffer, whenever and
wherever you can, both in society, and when occasion offers in public. If
you could yourself write a petition (almost in the terms of your letter to me),
and procure as many signatures to it as you can, I should be happy to pre-
sent it to Parliament. 2
Blackheath Park,
May 6th, 1866.
DEAR SIR,
I am afraid you must have thought hard things of me for being so slow in
answering your very friendly and most interesting letter of February 1st. Had
your introduction to Mr. Holmes 2 not already been sent, but depended on my
answer, I should have written at once, if even only a line, to say how glad I
should be both to see and know him, both as his father's 8 son, as your friend,
and as one whose personal history has already been such as your letter inti-
mates. Among the countless and inexhaustible blessings which you, from your
national struggle, will in the end bring forth for the human race, it is one of
the greatest that they have behind them so many who, being what your friend
was, have done what he has done. Such men are the natural leaders of the
democracy of the world from this time forward; and such a series of events,
coming upon minds prepared by previous high culture, may well have ripened
their intellects, as it cannot but have fitted their characters, for stepping into
that vacant post and filling it with benefit to the world.
The new struggle, in which you are now engaged, that of reconstruction, is
well fitted to carry on the work of educating the political mind of the country.
I have learnt to have great trust in the capability of the American people at
large (outside the region of slavery) to see the practical leanings of a Pofitical
question truly and rapidly when the critical moment comes. It seems to me
that things are going on as well and as fast as could be hoped for under the
untoward accident of getting an obstinate Southern man, a pro-slavery man
almost to the last, in the position of President. 4 But the passing of the Civil
Rights Bill 5 over his head seems almost to ensure the right issue to the con-
test. If you only keep the Southern States out of Congress till they one by one
either grant negro suffrage or consent to come in on the basis of their elec-
toral population alone, they may probably then be let in in safety. But the real
desideratum (in addition to colonization from the North) is the Homestead
law which you propose for the negroes, e I cannot express too strongly the
completeness of my agreement with all you say on that point. ComlYaxed with
these great questions, free trade is but a secondary matter; but it is a good
sign that this also has benefited by the general impulse given to the national
mind, and that the free traders are raising themselves for vigorous efforts. I
am not anxious that this question should be forced on while the others are
pending; for anything which might detach the Western from the Eastern
States, and place them in even partial sympathy with the South, would at
present be a great calamity.
I have often during the years since we met in Vienna r wished that I could
talk with you, but always found something more urgent to do than to resort
to the unsatisfactory mode of communication by letter, and this is still more
the case now that I have allowed new and onerous duties to be placed upon
me. They are not nearly so agreeable to myself, and it remains to be seen
whether they will be as useful as that of writing out my best thoughts and
putting them into print. I have a taller pulpit now, but one in which it is im-
possible to use my best materials. But ]acta est alea, I must make the best I
can of it; and I have had thus far much more of what is called success than I
could have hoped for beforehand.
I am, dear Sir,
Ever sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
4. Andrew Johnson.
5. The bill giving Negroes civil rights was passed over President Johnson's veto by
the Senate on April 6, 1866,and by the House of Representativeson April 10, 1866.
6. Such a bill was introduced Jan. 8, 1866, and became law June 21, 1866. It pro-
vided for the acquisitionof certainlands in the South by ex-slaves.
7. In the snmmerof 1862. See Letter 555.
1166 To John Elliot Cairnes Letter 943
Blackheath Park
May II [1866]
DEAR SIR
Blackheath Park
Kent
May 15. 1866
DEARSm
Will you and M Conway do us the pleasure of coming down and dining
TM
with us on Sunday week (May 24th)? We dine at five, and there is a train from
Charing Cross at 4.5 P.M.
I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
May 18th 1866
the new limited liability company, "Greening &Co. ''_I regretmy inability to
attendon this interesting occasion; but beg to be allowed to express my warm
approbation of the principle of associating all the persons employed by the
Company, in the profits of the undertaking, and my congratulations on the
success which has already attended your application of that principle.
Blaekheath Park
May 19. 1866
DE_ SIR
Blaekheath
May 19 [1866]
the Reform Bill. I am greatly obliged by your very cordial invitation to attend
the meeting, but my absence from town will prevent my being present at it.
I am, &c.,
J. S. MILL
Crowcome, Somerset
May 21.1866
DE_ CHADWICK
I am much obliged to you for the documents you forwarded and I hope to
make good use of them.
I had no opportunity before leaving town of making the inquiries about
Carlisle and Bristol, but I will do so as soon as I can.
The Commission respecting Middle Class Schoolse seems to be much in
need of information and suggestions that you could give them. I have been
talking with Aeland, s one of the members of the Commission, and found that
he knew absolutely nothing of what had been done at Faversham. _He prom-
ised that he would look up the case, which must have been reported on by one
of their Assistant Commissioners. I could not remember where your account
of it was,5 which I read with such extreme interest when it came out. Could
you not write them a short letter, or send them papers about it, or, as the next
best thing, cram me on the subject, for I am threatened with having a set
of questions sent to me from them,e which would be much better sent to you.
Iam
Yrs very truly
J. S. MILL
Write to Blackheath as usual.
1. MS at UCL.
2. A far-reaching investigation of all schools in England, with the exception of the
nine public schools already studied by the Clarendon Commission of 1861 and the
schools for the working class, was conducted by the School Inquiry Commission ap-
pointed in 1864. It was known as the Taunton Commission after its chairman, Henry
Labouehere, Baron Taunton (1798-1869). See H. C. Barnard, A History of English
Education (2nd ed., London, 1961), pp. 128-34.
3. Sir Thomas Acland.
4. The trustees of public charities in Faversham had consolidated some educational
endowments of the district to establish a set of schools connected together in a regular
gradation for the training of children of all classes.
5. Chadwick in 1862 had made a report to another royal commission on education:
"Half-time Teaching and Military and Naval Drill," and "On the Time and Cost of
Popular Education on a Large and Small Scale" Parl. Papers, 1862, XLIH. For a report
on the Faversham Schools system, see part H: On the Application of an Educational
Division of Labour, or o/ the Principle of Improved Teaching on a Large Scale to
Popular Education, ibid., pp. 52-56.
6. See Letter 953.
Letter 949 To Earl Grey 1169
Crowcombe, Somerset
May 21.1866
MY DEAR LORD
Porlock, Somerset
May 25. 1866
DEARSIR
Your note of May 22 followed me into Somersetshire. Having ascertained
that I should not be wanted in the House on Thursday or Friday, I gave my-
self a whole week's holiday in the only form in which a holiday does me any
good, by long walks through beautiful scenery. I am sorry that you and your
friends will have had the trouble of going to the House on Thursday to no
purpose; but I shall be there on Monday, and every subsequent day for some
time.
I should have been much surprised if you, having attended to Irish affairs,
had come to any other conclusion about them than the one you express in
your letter. I am very happy that you think my speech _calenlated to do good.
The writer of the article you inclosed (for which I thank you) has well seized
the leading points. But he is mistaken in saying that the speech was a sur-
prise to the Irish members. The leaders of the National Party knew my
opinions and offered, more than ten years ago to bring me into Parliament for
an Irish County on purpose to advocate them: He is also mistaken in think-
ing that the Tory leaders went away to show disrespect to me. They went
away because it was long past dinner time.
I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Thomas Beggs Esq.
1. MS at Cornell.
2. In the debate on the Tenure and Improvement of Land (Ireland) Bill, May 17,
1866 (see Hansard, CLXXXHI, cols. 1087-97).
3. In 1851. See Letters 38, 39, 40.
Letter
951 To William
E.Gladstone 1171
Porlock,Somerset
May 25.1866
MY DEARSIR
Yourletter foundme yesterday atthefurther extremity ofSomersetshire
whereIwaswandering aboutthewoodyandheathyhills, tothegreat benefit
ofmy health, andhad arranged tocontinue doingsothewholeweek;not
without havingascertained fromMr Brand2thatinhisopinion a votemore
orless wouldbeofno consequence on ThursdayorFriday.
Igoentirely alongwithnearly thewholeofyourpaper:on apoint ortwo
Ineedsomefurther explanation whichyoucouldprobably giveinfive min-
utesconversation atanyconvenient opportunity. Itisquiteclear thatthe
objection made totheplanhasno application, solongaswe donotrequire
toborrowa sum greater thanthewholesurplus on ourBankingAccount:
since the extra million of charge occasioned by the plan, will not absorb any
part of our surplus either on the Exchequer or on the Banking account, but
will be provided for like the other expenses of the year, by the ways and
means voted by Parliament.
On the other hand, if we at any time require to borrow a larger amount
than our banking surplus, or in other words, than we can borrow from our-
selves, it does seem to me, as at present informed, that the plan is pro tanto
liable to the same objection as the old Sinking Fund. But this contingency, if
we keep out of wars (or even if we have wars, but only short ones, at con-
siderable intervals) will be altogether exceptional, and will, I think, be greatly
outweighed by the advantage of tying down the nation to keeping up an
extra revenue of a million for the express purpose of paying off debt.
In time of war, Operation B4might, and probably ought to be suspended.
Iam My dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. 1VIILL
Rt Hon. W. E. Gladstone
&c&c
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
2. Henry Bouverie William Brand was then chief party whip for the Liberals.
3. Gladstone's Budget Message, which had been delivered in the Commons on May
3 (Hansard, CLXXXIT[; eols. 365--411). In the Message Gladstone had expressed
regret (col. 389) at JSM's absence because of illness (see Letter 938). A major portion
of the Budget Message (cols. 387-407) had been devoted to the problem of retiring the
national debt. JSM's comments here refer to Gladstone's proposed plans for dealing
with the debt.
4. For Gladstone's "Operations A and B" to reduce the debt, see ibid., eols. 403..407.
1172 To an Unidentilied Correspondent Letter 952
Blackheath Park
May 29 [1866] _
DEAR SIR
If you are not engaged on Wednesday, June 6th, will you dine with us on
that day at 7? If you will meet me at the House of Commons at _i before 6,
we can go down to Blackheath together.
I amDearSir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blackheath
May 31.1866
DEAR CHADWICK
1. MS at Cornell.
2. The year has been added in the upper right comer by a different hand.
.It' .It' ,It" 41"
1. MS at UCL.
2. See Letter 948, n. 2. For JSM's written reply, dated Aug. 9, 1866, to the Com-
mission's questions on the best uses of endowment for education, see Parl. Papers.
1867--68 (Nov. 19, to July 31 ), XXVIH (Part II, vol. II), 61-66.
3. Not identifiable.
Letter 954 To Charles Ross 1173
Blackheath
June 1. [1866]
DEARSIR
Be sure that I shall persist in opposing the Gas Bill,2whatever the Commit-
tee may report3mand I hope the Government will do so too, as one of them
(I believe, Mr. Cowper), 4 on the former discussion, expressed the opinion
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. A bill to permit the Gas Light and Coke Company to concentrate three plants in
one at Hackney Marsh. The opposition feared the contamination of the areas near
Victoria Park. The bill passed third reading in Commons on June 18, 1866, but was
defeated on second reading in the House of Lords, June 29, 1866. See Hansard,
CLXXXIV, cols. 706--10.
3. The committee appointed to consider the provisions of the Gas Bill reported in
favour of the site at Hackney Marsh.
4. William Francis Cowper-Temple, later Baron Mourn-Temple (1811-1888), MP
for Hertford, 1835-63, and for South Hampshire, 1868-80; Commissioner of Works,
1174 To William Fraser Rae Letter 956
that Gas works ought to be kept out of towns and their immediate vicinity
altogether.
I expect to be at the House every day next week and it you like to come at
any time when the House is sitting and send in your name to me, I shall be
happy to come to you.
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
I should much like to accept your kind proposal, if it were not that I have
given a general invitation to two persons to dine with me at the House any
1860--66.During the debate of June 12, 1866, Cowper so expressed his opposition to
the site. Hansard, CLXXXIV, cols. 228-29.
•It 41' 41' 41"
day this week, and one or both of them may possibly choose Monday, 2 the
more so as they may be there on Monday to hear the debate. I therefore feel
tied up until my engagement with them is fulfilled, or till the end of this week.
tam
Dear Lady Amberley
yours very truly
J. S. _[ILL
Blackheath
June 13 [1866]
DEAR SIR
If you are disengaged on Wednesday the 20th, will you dine with us at
half past seven to meet some Americans, whom I think you will like to know
2. June 4, 1866, when for the fourth night the Representation of the People Bill and
the Redistribution of Seats Bill were to be debated.
•It 4t 4t .It
1. MS at LSE.
1176 To John Plummer Letter 960
It is most mortifying that we were beaten last night on the Gas Bill.2 I
thought when the Government took our side we should be successful, but the
influence of the Gas Companies, and the unwillingness of many members to
set aside the decision of the Select Committee, were too much for us.
I found your letter at the House, but not your own petition, and I could
learn nothing about it. But it would have made no difference.
I obtained several votes for the right side. But some who would otherwise
have voted with us [said.'?]that the manufacturers are a still worse nuisance,
and that the ground now given to the Gas Company would have been sure
to be occupied by manufacturers.
I am Dear Mr Hummer
ever yrs truly
J. S. MiLL
The papers are all wrong about my motion last night. I did not bring it in,
but postponed it to Tuesday [next?]3
J.S.M.
2. Mary Morris Hamilton, granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton, and later the
second wife of George Lee Schuyler.
3. Georgina Schuyler and Louisa Lee Schuyler, daughters of George Lee Schuyler ,
and Eliza Hamilton. Louisa Schuyler (1837-1926), who spent seven years (1864-71)
abroad for her health, later became well known as a leader in welfare work in America.
The Mill-Taylor Collection at LSE includes seven letters by Mary, Louisa, and
Georgina to Helen Taylor, 1868-73.
4. George Lee Schuyler (1811-1890), internationally known yachtsman, one of the
founders of the America challenge cup race. JSM was mistaken at this point; Schuyler
was the father of the two Miss Schuylers, not the husband of one of them. See Letter
978, in which the information is correct.
41. 41. 'It 4t
I. MS at Melbourne.
2. See Letter 955, n. 2. The crucial debate, for consideration of the Bill for third
reading, took place on Tuesday, June 12, 1866.
3. See Letter 958, n. 2.
Letter 961 To John Plummer 1177
Blackheath
Thursday night
[June 14, 1866]
DEAR MR PLUMMER
Blacldaeath Park
July 3. 1866
DEAR SIR
mated. 4 The supplemental charter received the Queen's signature weeks ago.
It empowers the Senate to give degrees to all comers. In order to enable these
graduates to have any voice in the Government of the University, and to en-
able the Gov t to enlarge the Senate, a Bill is required which Fortescue was on
the point of introducing when the resignation took place.
You are better able than I am to judge whether any breach of faith has been
committed. Fortescue maintains that the expression of intention given in their
speeches was the notice promised, and a sufficient warning. We, who were
holding back on account of the Reform Bill, certainly were led to expect a
further notice: otherwise we should have brought the matter before the
House at once, which would have been very disagreeable to the Gov t. Whether
treachery or misunderstanding, the fact is most unfortunate both in its direct
and its indirect consequences. When you have made up your mind what is the
best thing that can now be done, please let me know. I suppose the next step
will be to put a question to the incoming Ministry.
The conclusion of your pamphlet which you sent to me in proof, is excel-
lent. 5 It adds new and good arguments to the old ones. But I suppose you will
have to add a supplement to it now. In haste
yoursever
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
July 3 [1866]
DEAR CHADWICK
4. The government, upon advice from its law officers, had decided to issue a supple-
mental charter to Queen's University, Ireland. This action, taken on June 25, 1866,
empowered the university to hold a matriculation examination different from that of
the Queen's Colleges, to grant degrees to persons thus matriculated and considered
qualified by the Senate of the University, even though they had not studied at one of
the Queen's Colleges. See Moody and Becket, Queen's, Belfast, I, 280-81.
5. See Letter 930, n. 6.
41. 41. 41" ,It
1. MS at UCL.
2. Probably the evidence already given before the Select Committee on Metropolitan
Local Government, of which JSM was a member, and to which both Chadwick and
Hickson were to give evidence, Chadwick on July 23, 1866, Hiekson, on July 26, 1866.
See the Second Reportfrom the Select Committee on Metropolitan Local Government,
Parl. Papers, 1866 (Feb. 1 to Aug. 10), XIII, 223-37, 241-57. See also Letter 939.
Letter 964 To Lady Amberley 1179
I am quite unable to propose any time for a talk on the subject unless you
are able to come here early on Wednesday forenoon (for I expect a visitor
later) or unless you can come to the House on Thursday before the hour of
the Committee (twelve) or after the rising of the House---which will probably
be between four and five. In haste
y_ ever
J. S. _ILL
Blackheath Park.
July 4. [1866]
DEARLADY AMBERLEY
Thursday will not be convenient, and perhaps you will kindly allow me to
leave Tuesday week dependent on what is doing in the House that evening
---especially as it is the day on which I hope to bring in the motion I have
given notice of. 21 am
Dear Lady Amberley
yours very truly
J. S. M/LL
Blacldaeath Park
July 4. 1866
MY DEAR SIR
Many thanks for your note and its inclosure. _ I saw Mr Fortescue in the
House on Monday, and he gave me substantially the same explanations, dif-
fering however in one point from what seems to be your impression, for
according to his statement the authority to the University to grant degrees to
all comers is a completed fact. The admission of the new class of graduates
to Convocation, and the increase of the numbers of the Senate, require the
I send you by this post some of the most important parts of the Evidence, 2
of which I have been able to obtain duplicate copies. Hickson will send the
rest when he can spare it.
yrs very truly
J. S. MILL
B[lacLheath] P[ark]
July 6. 1866
it or of the influence you have exercised over the mode of thought of a con-
siderable proportion of the few & scattered metaphysical students in this
country. It would always give me much pleasure to bear testimony to your
knowledge both special & general, your abilities, & your candid appreciation
of opponents, of which I have had a striking instance in my own ease. 2 Un-
fortunately, however, if I were to volunteer that testimony on the occasion of
the vacancy in University College, a & if when given it were of any value to you,
it could only be so by being prejudicial to another candidate 4 who, though
I have no reason to think his claims superior to yours in any other respect,
would certainly teach doctrines much nearer than yours to those which I
myself hold on the great philosophical questions. Now though this in itself
is far from being a paramount consideration with me, the opportunities are
so few & unfrequent of obtaining for opinions similar to my own their fair
share of influence in the public teaching of this country that if I myself had a
vote in the disposal of the professorship, I sh d think myself bound, in the
general interest of philosophical thought no less than of my own form of it,
to give the preference to a candidate (otherwise sufficiently qualified) who
would teach my own opinions, in one of the very few chairs from which those
opinions would not be a peremptory exclusion. You are perfectly capable of
entering into this feding even if you do not approve of it, & I can only add
that I do not think I have ever in any instance regretted so much my inability
to support a similar candidature.
1. MS not located. Published in the Diplomatic Review, Sept. 5, 1866, p. 116, under
the rifle, "Mr. J. S. Mill on the Power of a Nation to repudiate the illegal Acts of its
Servants," with Mawby's rejoinder of Aug. 23, 1866.
1182 To Francis Bowen Letter 969
Blackheath Park
July 10. 1866
DEAR SIR
I perceive that Sir R. Peel has given a notice, 2 virtually for Monday next,
about the proceedings on the subject of the Queen's University, expressly in-
eluding the hurried convocation of the Senate) This is probably done in con-
cert with Mr Lowe and I think the subject is best in their hands. I do not
think there would be the smallest use in my speaking or writing further to Mr
Gladstone. The letter I wrote to him 4 in answer to the one you saw, would
make him fully aware of the damage which I consider to be done to the
reputation of his Government by the disregard of what was, at least, supposed
by the persons most concerned to be a pledge.
The subject is altogether a most unhappy one, and, in any event, full of
mischief to the liberal cause. I am Dear Sir
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
July 15. 1866
DEAR SXR
The success of the motion in the Senate for postponement is very impor-
tant. 2 Is the postponement to a given day, or, as I find stated in a newspaper
sine die? It is also important that it was moved by Sir R. Peel, as it shews him
to be in earnest: and he has been backed by an article in the Times, no doubt
written or prompted by Lowe. _
As they seem determined to go on with the subject, I think it is best in
their hands. I will certainly support them in what I think a good cause, but
I would rather not be the prominent person in a move which is very likely to
break up the alliance between the Irish Catholics and the English Liberals,
and perhaps keep the Tories in office for years. I am
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
[House of Commons]
July 16 [1866?]
DEAR SIR
Monsieur Barr_re, 2 the bearer of this note, and a highly esteemed and
valued friend of mine, is a candidate for headship of the new International
School to be established in France by your Association. _ I should think M.
Barr_re eminently qualified for such a post, both by his acquirements, his
general character and disposition, and his great experience as a teacher both
in England and in France. But he will himself more fully explain his qualifi-
cations. He is, I understand, very well known to D r Leonard Schmitz. 4
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Professor Huxley.
3. A leading article, The Times, July 14, 1866, p. 8. See also the leading article on
the same subject,July 17, 1866,p. 7. Robert Lowe had once been a writer of leaders for
The Times, and still retained influence there.
I shall be at the Cobden Club dinner, _ but it will hardly be possible for us
to talk of such matters there. I shall be at the House on Friday, and able to
see you either while the House is sitting, or, if it suits you better, in the
Library at any time between three and four.
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
This is to remind you that I hope to see you at the Committee on Monday, 2
and to say that the Committee has appointed to meet at one instead of
twelve.
yours ever truly
J. S. MILL
Could you and Mrs Plummer do us the pleasure of dining with us next
Sunday at five? We should like to see you again before we leave England. I am
Dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at LSE. In reply to Cairnes's of July 18, MS copy also at LSE.
2. The dinner took place Saturday, July 21, 1866, at the Star and Garter Hotel,
Richmond. At this inaugural meeting of the club about 150 members were present;
Gladstone presided, and JSM was one of the speakers. See The Times, July 23, 1866,
p. 6.
4t 4t 4l. 4t
1. MS at UCL.
2. On Monday, July 23, 1866, Chadwick testified before the Select Committee on
MetropolitanLocal Government.See Letter 963, n. 2.
•It' 'It' _'
1. MS at Melbourne.
1186 To John Plummer Letter 976
I congratulate you and all our friends on the yielding of the governmenL 9_
They deserve credit, especially Mr. Walpole, 8 for having given way before it
was too late.
I enclose £5 for the Defence Fund. 4
I am,
Dear Sir,
Yours very truly
J. S. ]VIILL
Blackheath Park
July 28. 1866
DEARSIR
Some American friends of mine, chiefly ladies, are very desirous of being
present at the meeting on Monday.2 Would you kindly interest yourself in
getting them places on the platform? The party consists of Miss Hamilton,
granddaughterof the celebrated statesman, her two nieces, and her brother
in law, Mr Schuyler.8 An admission directed to G. S. [sic] Schuyler Esq.,
United Hotel, Charles Street, Haymarket, would find them. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Edmond Beales Esq.
Blackheath
Aug. 1. [1866]
DEAR CHADWICK
I found your Clause on returning late at night from the House on the day
on which the Public Health Bill completed its passage through Committee. e
It was thus too late to do anything.
I will take care that your Evidence8is sent to you for revisal.
yrs ever may
J. S. 1V[ILL
Blackheath
Aug. 5. 1866.
DEAR CHADWICK
I. MS at UCL.
2. On July 30, 1866. See Hansard, CLXXXIV, cols. 1679-87.
3. See Letter 963, n.2.
it 4[" 41' ,It
1. MS at UCL.
2. His statement for the Taunton Commission. See Letters 948 and 953.
1188 To H. Cholmondeley PenneU Letter 981
Blackheath Park
Aug. 5. 1866
Aug. 5. 1866
DEARMR PLUMMER
I have read the essays which you sent, _ and I am glad that I was able
(though not without some inconvenience) to find time for doing so, as they
1. MS at LSE.
Henry Cholmondeley Pennell ( 1837-1915), government official;miscellaneous writer,
particularly on angling and ichthyology; editor, Fisherman's Magazine and Review,
1864--65.His projected publication at this time has not been identified.
41' 41' tt It
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. JSM had consented to act as a judge in an essay contest for workingmen spon-
sored by the Working Man, with which Plummer was associated. Ten prizes of £,5
each and ten of £.3 were offered for papers on such topics as trades unions, strikes,
co-operation, and working-class housing. The other judges included Lord Houghton,
Letter 983 To J. Arthur Partridge 1189
were very interesting and encouraging reading. All the seven essays deserve
honourable mention, and if they were printed together in a volume, it would
be a really valuable one, both for sound views and for arguments well worth
considering in support of what I think unsound ones. But the only one to
which, if I were the judge, I could conscientiously award a prize would be
the one numbered 160, with the motto, "Knowledge is Power." This, I
think, is very decidedly the best, both in matter and style.
The one numbered 137, with the motto "Free Competition," though by
no means equal to 160, shews a remarkable degree of mastery over some not
very obvious principles of political economy proving that the Sheffield artisan
by whom it professes to be written, has studied that subject diligently and
intelligently. If the writers were pupils in a school or students in an Univer-
sity, this one would perhaps deserve the second prize for his personal merits:
but as an essay on the subject, and as a composition generally, I do not think
it [superior?] if even equal, to several of the others. If the second prize is
divisible, I should suggest divid[ing] it among the six: if not, I cannot venture
to recommend any one of them as preferable to the rest. But if it is necessary
to select one, you can hardly go far wrong.
I am Dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
B[lackheath] P[arkl
Aug. 8. 1866
Blackheath Park
Aug. 9. 1866.
DEAR CHADWICK
I am greatly obliged to you for your notes. I have made use of them in im-
proving my answers by various alterations and insertions. 2 The main sub-
stance of the answers I am very glad to find that you approve.
I have sent in your name as a candidate for the Cobden Club. s The Com-
mittee will meet in February for the purpose of filling up the list of members.
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Aug. 10. 1866
DEAR SIR
1. MS at UCL.
2. For his statement to the Taunton Comm_ion. See Letters 948, 953, and 980.
3. JSM had attended the inauguraldinnerof the club on July 21.See Letter 973.
,It • • •
1. MS at LSE.
Letter 986 To Charles Gin, an Dully 1191
shall be glad to read what may be said in its favour, either by the Chamber of
Commerce of Birmingham s or by any other mercantile authority. I am
Dear Sir
very faithfully yours
J. S. MXLL
Blackheath Park
Aug 11. 1866
DEAR SIR
I had been hoping for some further communication from you, and now it
has unluckily come on the very day on which I am leaving England for the
Continent. I very much regret that circumstances have prevented us from
meeting more frequently during your stay in this country; but, so far as re-
gards Australian politics, I regret it chiefly on my own account, for on that
subject I should have been almost solely a learner from you. If you have time
to write to me at my address in France, Saint Vdran, pr6s Avignon, it would
give me great pleasure to correspond with you.
Iam Deax Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Saint Vdran,Avignon
Aug. 15. 1866
DEAR SIR
The Jamaica Committee 2 have decided that a short letter asking the public
for subscriptions to form a Guarantee Fund of £ 10,000 shall be published
2. The manufacturersand writerson economic theory of Birmingham,includingthe
members of the Chamber of Commerce, were generally for the inconvertibility of
bank notes and againstthe gold standard. See Frank W. Fetter, Development of Brit£sh
Monetary Orthodoxy (Cambridge,Mass., 1965), pp. 177-78,232-33.
4t 41. 4t 4t
1. MS copy at Northwestern.
2. On July 9, JSM had become chairman of the Jamaica Committee,which was to
attempt to prosecute Governor Eyre for murder (see Letter 889). The first chairman,
1192 To Gustave d'Eichthal Letter 988
with the signatures of some of those members of the Committee whose names
would have a favourable influence on any part of the public) You are, in
virtue of your subscriptions, a member of the General Committee, and your
name, as one of those appended to the letter, would be of very great value,
as it would add, to a great intellectual and moral weight, that of a position
aloof from all the personal part of politics, and a character which no one
would think of calling intemperate or fanatical. Merely in the list of sub-
scribers your name is of great value, but if you would not object to allowing
the use of it for the other purpose, please communicate with Mr. Chesson, 4
the Secretary, 65 Fleet Street. He will send you the letter and the list of those
who have given, or hereafter give, their names: the officers of the Committee
of course, together with Bright, Goldwin Smith, Samuel Morley (probably)
and several other members of parliament and liberal notabilities in the North
of England.
Iam Dear Sir
Yours verytruly
J.S.M.ILL
Votre lettre n'est parvenue _ Londres qu'apr_s mon ddpart. Depuis bien-
t6t huit jours, je suis ici, et bien content, je vons jure, de Pouvoir revenir
des occupations tranquilles. La vie parlementaire fatigue et dissipe l'esprit
toujours pour rexercer quelquefois.
C'efit dtd un vrai plaisir pour moi que de causer avec vous et de comparer
nos impressions.
Je suis tr_s indiff6rent aux pensdes de ceux pour qui les dv6nements du
moment ne sont que des dv6nements d'un moment; quand m_me ce moment
s'appeHerait un si_cle. Mais ceux chez qni tout ce qui arrive se lie _ une con-
ception g6n6rale du d6veloppement humain---et e'est notre cas _ttolls deux--
ceux-l_ ont toujours quelque chose h dire Fun h l'autre. Esp6rons que l'oeea-
sion nous en viendra.--Bien des amiti6s h votre fa_re, et _ Duveyrier, dont
la sant6 alt6r6e me fait de la peine.
Votre bien d6vou6
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Aug. 20. 1866
DEAR SIR
The Reform Meeting s to which the Committee and yourself have done me
the honour to invite me, seems likely to be a very important demonstration,
but it is out of my power to take part in it in any other way than by the ex-
pression of my best wishes. Begging the favour of your communicating this
reply to the Committee I am
Dear Sir
yours very faithftdly
]'. S. MILL
Avignon
Aug. 21, 1866
Sm
You have probably thought me unfeeling, since your letter of July 17th
seemed to me to deserve an answer, in having so long delayed it. The delay
was not solely owing to the manner in which all my time was engrossed during
the latter part of the session, for if I could have seen my way to any mode of
helping your struggles, though only by advice, I would not have omitted to do
1. MS in the Library of the Borough of Hove.
2. At Birmingham on Aug. 27, 1866, reform meetings were held both during the
day from nine to four, and in the evening at eight. At the evening meeting John Bright,
who together with Scholefield represented Birmingham in Parliament, gave the principal
address. See The Times, Aug. 28, 1866,p. 4.
41" 'It ,It- 41'
so. But I felt as if any time would be soon enough to say no, while by waiting
there might always be a faint chance of being able to say something better.
There is but little, however, that I can say, and hardly anything that I can do.
I have no power of obtaining government appointments, and little or no in-
fluence with those who can give literary employment. I am afraid, in the cir-
cumstances of the case, your chance of obtaining employment as a teacher is
small. Translating is one of the most wretchedly paid of all kinds of literary
work, and the market is so overstocked with translators (very bad ones, but
few publishers know the difference) that it is almost impossible to get em-
ployment even at that wretched pay. I see only two things of much promise,
in a literary capacity, open to those who are situated as you are, and in
neither of these would your opinions be much of an obstacle. You might be
able to form a connexion with some newspaper as subeditor, correspondent,
or writer, ultimately perhaps leading to editorship; or you might be able to
earn a subsistence by writing in periodicals. In the former I have no power of
helping you, unless you had already done something which could be adduced
as proof of your capabilities. In the second it is barely possible that I might
be of use to you; that is, if you write an article and send it to me, then may be
some review or magazine which if I think well of it, would take it on my
recommendation, whereby the foundation might be laid for your becoming
a habitual contributor. After a good deal of thinking, I can find nothing else
to propose to you. Manuscripts can be sent here (Avignon, Vaucluse,
France) by book post, or if sent to my house (Blackheath Park, Kent) they
are sure to be forwarded, but possibly not in less than three or four weeks.
You mention having been favourably recommended to Professor Key. _
From a former slight acquaintance with him_ I should not tblnk him likely to
be prejudiced against you on account of your opinions; though what his
power of being of use to you might be, I do not know. I am
Yours very sincerely
I. S. MH.L
Thomas Davidson Esq.
S[aint] V[_ran]
Aug. 21. 1866
SIREThe great occupation of my time in the latter part of the session has
prevented me from more promptly acknowledging your letter of April 14. I
2. Thomas Hewitt Key.
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in the National Reformer, Sept. 28, 1884,
Letter 991 To Robert Pharazyn 1195
am glad to find that a student & thinker, such as you evidently are, finds so
much in common between me & himself. The author of the article in the W. R.
from which you quote (who is not, as you suppose, Mr Lewes 2) is quite
right in saying that I have thrown no light on the difficulty of reconciling the
belief in a perfectly good God with the actual constitution of Nature. a It was
not my business to do so, but if I had given any opinion on the point it would
have been that there is no mode of reconciling them except the hypothesis that
the Creator is a Being of limited power. Either he is not all powerful or he is
not good, & what I said was, that unless he is good I will not call him so nor
worship him. The appearances however of contrivance in the universe, what-
ever mount of weight we attach to them, seem to point rather to a benevolent
design limited by obstacles than to a malevolent or tyrannical character in the
designer & I therefore think that the mind which cherishes devotion to a
Principle of Good in the universe, leans in the direction in which the evidence,
though I cannot think it conclusive, nevertheless points. I therefore do not
discourage this leaning, though I think it important that people sh d know
that the foundation it rests on is an hypothesis, not an ascertained fact. This
is the principal limitation which I would apply to your position, _ that we sh a
encourage ourselves to believe as to the unknowable what it is best for man-
kind that we sh d believe. I do not think it can ever be best for mankind to
believe what there is not evidence of, but I think that, as mankind improve
they will much more recognise two independent mental provinces, the prov-
ince of belief & the province of imaginative conjecture, that they will become
p. 214 (reprinted from the Wanganui Freethought Review), and in part in Elliot, II,
63-64. Pharazyn's letter of April 14, to which this is a reply, is also reprinted in part in
the National Reformer cited, pp. 213-14.
Robert Pharazyn (1833-1896), sheep farmer, writer, politician, of Wanganui, New
Zealand.
2. George Henry Lewes.
3. "On the whole it seems to us that though Mr. Mill will consent to worship only
a God of goodness, he has thrown no light on the grave problem.., how such a con-
ception of God is to be reconciled with the extent of evil and suffering actually prevail-
ing throughout the earth." From George Grote's review: "John Stuart Mill on the
Philosophy of Sir William Hamilton," WR, n.s. XXIX (Jan., 1866), p. 18.
4. Pharazyn had written: "The conclusion at which I have long since arrived is this:
'That no proof of the existence of a God can be given, nor of the nature of his attri-
butes; in short that the question is an insoluble one in any strictly scientific sense.' But
of course it is objected, if there is no proof of there being a good GOd there may be a
bad one, and so we fall back on orthodox myths, or at best 'intuitions', to avoid this
shocking possibility of belief, of the effects of which African fetichism and American
psychomancy are examples and warnings. There is something of this argument not only
m the 'Eclipse of Faith' sort of books, but in the 'Phases' of the one Newman and the
'Apologia' of the other, and indeed it gives a tinge to all Theistic as well as Theological
reasoning, and constitutes the half-conscious philosophy of popular religion. Now it
seems to me that the real answer to all this is not logical at all, but practical, though in
a wide sense it is logical too, as 'is the proof of the principle of utility,' 'for questions of
ultimate ends do not admit of proof, in the ordinary acceptation of the term.'"
(Pharazyn is quoting,inexactly, from chap. I of JSM's Utilitarianigm.)
1196 To Theodor Gomperz Letter 992
capable of keeping them distinct, & while they limit their belief to the evi-
dence, will think it allowable to let their imaginative anticipations go forth,
not carrying belief in their train, in the direction which experience & the
study of human nature shews to be the most improving to the character &
most exalting or consoling to the individual feelings.
I do not know enough of N. Zealand politics to enter on that subject with
you. I think most people in England are now of opinion that the colony sh a
have perfect freedom to manage its own affairs, paying the expenses of its
own wars. There is some fear that you will not be just to the aborigines, but a
still stronger belief that if you are not we cannot effectually protect them. I
hope you are not wrong in saying that there is no disposition to be unjust to
them. But if so the New Zealand colonists are I believe the only "Englishmen
under new conditions" who do not think any injustice or tyranny whatever,
legitimate against what they call inferior races, at least if those races do not
implicitly submit to their will. I will hope better things for New Zealand, but
in this as in the other & greater matter my belief will depend on the evidence.
P.S. I have not forgotten Mr. Revans, 5 to whom pray make my remem-
brances.
S[aint] V[_ran]
August 22, 1866
DEAR SIR Ever since the functions of a member of parliament have been
added I may say almost in spite of myself, to my other avocations, my time
has been so completely engrossed that I was obliged to postpone even the
duty & pleasure of thanking you for the second volume of your most inter-
esting & valuable Herculanean series. 2 You will not be surprised that I have
not yet been able to give to the new volume more than a cursory inspection.
I am indeed reduced to wondering whether I shall ever be able to resume
those quiet studies which are so prodigiously better for the mind itself than
the tiresome labour of chipping off little bits of one's thoughts, of a size to
be swallowed by a set of diminutive practical politicians incapable of digest-
ing them. One ought to be very sure of being able to do something in polities
5. Samuel Revans (1808-1888), co-founder of the Daily Advertiser in Montreal
in the 1830's. He joined E. G. Wakefield in the colonization of New Zealand, and pub-
lished its first newspaper, the New Zealand Gazette.
•It. 'It- _ ,It.
that cannot be as well done by others, to justify one for the sacrifice of time
and energies that might be employed on higher work. Time will show whether
it was worth while to make this sacrifice for the sake of anything I am capable
of doing towards forming a really advanced lily which, I have long
been convinced, cannot be done except in the House of Commons.
Meanwhile what a change in Germany! _ &, it may be said, in Europe: a
change of which it is hardly possible for any foreigner or perhaps for any
German, to divine the consequences. I am amazed at the confident oranl-
science of English journalists, periodical writers, & members of parliament,
every one of whom thinks he perfectly sees all the consequences that are to
issue from what has happened, forgetful that they themselves were mostly,
when the war began, indignant denouncers of Prussia & sympathizers with
Austria while they have now quite passed over to the other side. Rien ne
r6ussit comme le suce_s. All the faults of Austria are now seen & people have
ceased to care for the flagrant immorality of the contest on the Prussian side.
They do not see, or they do not care, that the struggle was between an expir-
ing feudality & a powerful Caesarism & that to wish success to the last even
against the first is to cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
I am very anxious to know what you think of all this. Few Germans are so
impartial both by position & by character as you are. What is now likely
to become of your country? It might be a greater country yet than it ever has
been, but there seems to me a want of practical good sense, & comprehension
of the situation in the counsels of the Court of Vienna which give little
ground of hope. Are the Hapsburgs capable of learning from experience or of
really fitting themselves into the circumstances of a new age? The abolition
of the Reichsrath 4 which many European liberals foolishly praised because
it seemed a concession to Hungary, has proved to be the most fatal step that
could have been taken, because, as might have been foreseen, it destroyed
all faith in the durability of a concession once made. It shewed that the
Imperial family did not deem itself bound by a Constitution once granted.
The hopes I had begun to form for Austria sunk to a very low ebb from that
day.
I expect to be at Avignon till the end of this year & shall be very happy if
you have time & inclination to write to me.
3. On the 26th of July, the so-called "Seven Weeks' War" between Prussia and
Austria over the perennial Schleswig-Holsteinquestion had terminated after the defeat
of Austria at KSniggditz.The two duchiesbecame part of the German Federation by the
Treaty of Prague, which was concluded the day after this letter was written. For details,
see A. J. P. Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918, pp. 142 ft.
4. The Reiehsrath, the Imperial parliament of Austria established in 1861,had been
made inoperative by the Hungarian refusal to send delegates. The Reiehsrath was
abolished in 1866. For details, see Charles Seiguobos, A Political History of Europe,
pp. 522--28.
1198 To John Baxter Langley Letter 993
DEAR SIR,---Your letter of Aug. 30th, did not reach me until too late to
send a letter which could be read at the meeting in favour of a Testimonial
to Mr. Beales. I think it quite right that reformers should make compensation
to Mr. Beales for the pecuniary loss to which he has been subjected in con-
sequence of the prominent part he has taken in urging the claims of the work-
ing classes to representation in Parliament. 2 I see no force in the reasons
assigned as a justification of thi_ treatment of Mr. Beales. Strong political con-
victions are not considered a disqualification in much higher judicial offices
than that of Revising Barrister, 3 nor are ever likely to be so considered except
when the opinions are on the side opposed to the ruling powers. To exclude
from the seat of justice all who are decided politicians would be to keep out
all the fittest men, for who in the present state of the world is without strong
political opinions of some sort, except because he is wanting either in the
mental cultivation or in the public spirit requisite for taking due interest in
the subject. And to say that the opinions shall be an exclusion because they
are known and avowed would be still more absurd, since it is precisely when
they are known to the world that there is least danger of their exercising
an improper bias on the judgment. Besides, even if the reason were good
against appointing an active politician for the first time, it cannot hold
against retaining him who having been appointed has, by the acknowledge-
ment of even adversaries, proved his impartiality by his conduct.mI am,
dear sir,
Yours very faithfully,
J. S. MILL
1. MS not located. Published in the Commonwealth, Sept. 22, 1866. Inserted in the
paper by Langley as Hon. Sec. of the Committee of the Beales Testimonial Fund.
John Baxter Langley, originally a physician, then a publicist, writer for and editor of
various newspapers including the Newcastle Daily Chronicle, radical politician, trade
union leader; president of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, 1872-73. In
the latter year, as Chairman of an Artisans' Dwelling Company, he was found guilty of
fraud in financial transactionsin land, and sent to prison at hardlabour. Thereafterhe
disappearedfrom the public scene. A biographical sketch of him was published in the
Commonwealth, Oct. 13, 1866, p. 5.
2. Beales had been dismissed by the Lord Chief Justice from his post as a Revising
Barristerbecause of his radical political activities as Presidentof the Reform League.
A biographicalsketch of Beales was published in the Commonwealth on the same page
as JSM's letter.
3. An official appointed to revise the list of persons qualified to vote for members
of Parliament.
Letter 994 To J. George Mawby 1199
DEAR SIR,---I thank you for your interesting and valuable letter of the
23rd ult._ The considerations brought forward in the latter part of it are
much to the purpose, and will materiaUy assist me in making up my mind on
the question to which you justly attach such high importance.
If, as you seem to have shown, Russia has, in the matter of Cireassia, s
violated the provisions of the Declaration of Paris, 4 it remains to be seen
whether France, the only other great naval Power which was a party with us
to the Declaration, is willing to join with us in getting rid of it. You and your
friends seem to anticipate no difficulty on this point; and I certainly think
that the Right of Search may, under many circumstances, be valuable to
France as well as to England. But I cannot share your confidence in this
matter, remembering how French Governments, and especially the first
Napoleon, have inveighed against England for exercising this right, and have
prided themselves on vindicating against us what they called the liberty of the
seas.
Mr. Disraeli's statement, _ referred to in your postscript, seems to me, as
it does to you, to give ground for hope that this great question is not closed.
I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,
J. S. MrLL
J. G. Mawby, Esq.
1. MS not located. Published in the Diplomatic Review, Oct. 3, 1866, p. 131, under
the title, "Reversal of the Declaration of Paris," and reprinted in Views of Mr. 1ohn
Stuart Mill on England's Danger through the Suppression of her Maritime Power
[Speech delivered in the House of Commons, Aug. 5, 1867] (London: Diplomatic
Review Office, 1874), p. 1. A footnote in the latter indicates that the text of the speech
was taken from a revised copy contributed by JSM to the Diplomatic Review of Feb.
5, 1868.
2. SeeLetter968,n. 1.
3. The Circassiantribes, who inhabitedthe northwesternsectionsof the Caucasus,
weresubduedbythe Russiansin 1863--64.
4. See Letter 926, n. 3. Russiawas chargedwith violatingarticles2 and 3 of the
Declarationof Paris becauseshe blockadedthe coastso that the Circassianscouldnot
receivesupplies.
5. "Mr. Disraelion the Resumptionof the Rightof Search,"Diplomatic Review,
Aug. 1, 1866,p. 106,whichincludesa letterfromMontaguCorrey,Disraeli'sprivate
secretary,datedJuly25, 1866,statingthat Mr.Disraeli"has thematter.., undercon-
sideration."
1200 To John Plummer Letter 995
Many thanks for your note of Aug. 14 and the article from the Working
Man inclosed in it. 2 The writing is that of one whose praise is worth having,
but he rather overstates the share I had in getting the Industrial Societies
Act passed, a Mr Hughes, in his generosity, had already given me too much of
the credit which justly belonged to himself and his friends. My evidence
certainly helped them, but I was not examined for "a whole week": my
examination only lasted a day, _ and the transaction is altogether too highly
coloured.
If you thought the parliamentary papers so bulky, what would you have
said if you had had the whole7 A much greater bulk than what I sent to you
had unluckily been otherwise disposed of before you spoke to me on the sub-
ject. But you will probably find some of them useful.
Will you kindly send me by post the biographical notice of me which you
wrote for Mess rs CasseH? 5 1 have been asked by a Geneva editor for biogra-
phical particulars, and I do not know of anything so suitable for sending to
him as your paper, but I have no copy of it here.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs. Plummet, I am
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
de m'avertir quelques jours d'avance, afro que je ne sois pas expos6 _ichoisir,
sans le savoir, le moment de votre arriv_e pour une de ces excursions que
j'ai l'habitude de falre. A l'hotel d'Europe on vons indiquera ma demeure.
Vons _tes maintenant un des plus anciens antis qui me restent. NoDs avons
non seulement beaucoup d'id_es mais encore beaucoup de souvenirs en
commun, h partir de celui de notre jeune ami Eyton Tooke, e que nous per-
dimes d'une mani_re si tragique il y a 36 am. J'ai toujours mieux aim_ les
vieux amis que les nouveaux, et vous ne faites pas exception _ la r_gle.
Votre affectionn_
J. S. MILL
Many thanks for the copy of the biographical notice. 2 1 am very sorry to
hear of the backslidings of the firm in Belle Sanvage Yard, a and of the prob-
able failure of the Working Man, 4 which is both unfortunate in itself and a
special disappointment to you. I hope that, even on the worst supposition
the personal inconvenience will only be temporary, but you will feel very
much the loss of a position which at one time seemed to promise so much
usefulness.
I am obliged to you for sending your Ode. It was really worth writing,
for there is both sense and spirit in it, and a degree of energy as well as of
melody which justify writing in verse.
I am Dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
2. William Eyton Tooke (1808-1830), son of the economist Thomas Tooke, com-
mitted suicide in Jan., 1830. For JSM's letter to d'Eichthal on the loss of their friend,
see Earlier Letters, p. 44.
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. See Letters 862 and 995.
3. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, publishers, a firm founded by John Cassell (1817-
1865). For details, see Simon NoweU-Smith, The House of Cassell, 1848-1958 (Lon-
don, 1958).
4. The Working Man ceased publication in Dec., 1866.See Nowell-Smith, p. 77.
1202 To John Morley Letter 998
DE_ SmmI am much obliged to you for your articl_ though I do not alto-
gether agree with it. I presented the petition, s not because I concurred in its
sentiments, but because it came from people who were entitled to be heard, &
on the last day of the session they could not find any other member whom they
thought suitable. I approved of all Lord Dalhousie's annexations, 4 except that
of Kerouli which never took effect, having been at once disallowed from home
& indeed Lord D. himself gave it up before he knew of its having been
negatived. My principle was this. Wherever there are really native states,
with a nationality, & historical traditions & feelings, which is emphatically
the case (for example) with the Rajpoot states, there I would on no aeeotmt
take advantage of any failure of heirs to put an end to them. But all the
Mahomedan (Rampore excepted which descends from Fyzoola Khan the
Rohilla chief) & most of the Mahratta kingdoms are not of home growth, but
created by conquest not a century ago 5 & the military chiefs & office holders
who carry on the government & form the ruling class are almost as much
foreigners to the mass of the people as we ourselves are. The Scindia & Holkar
families in Central India are foreign dynasties, & of low caste too, Mahrattas
who have usurped provinces from their native dynasties of Jars, Goojars,
Boondelas &c. The home of the Mahrattas is in the South, & there is no really
native Mahratta kingdom now standing except Kolapore. In these modern
states created by conquest I would make the continuance of the dynasty by
adoption not a right nor a general rule, but a reward to be earned by good
government & as such I would grant it freely.
All this however was changed by Lord Canning's promise, e which I thought
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. In reply to Morley's of Sept. 21, MS also at Johns
Hopkins. Published, with slight omissions, in Elliot, H, 64--66.
2. "England and the Annexation of Mysore," FR, VI (Sept. 15, 1866), 257-71.
3. The Times of Aug. 11, 1866, p. 6, reported the Petition "presented by Mr. Mill,
from General Briggs, the First Commissioner of Mysore; Sir John Low, late member of
the Supreme Council of India; General Fraser, late resident at Hyderabad and at
Mysore; Colonel Haines, late Judicial Commissioner at Mysore; General Jacob, late
Commissioner of the Southern Mahratta Country; Sir Robert Hamilton, late agent to
the Viceroy in Central India; and about 50 others, praying that the House will take
steps for preventing the annexation of Mysore, and for maintaining that tributary state
with every possible security for British interests and for the prosperity of the people of
the country." Morley quotes from the Petition in his article, pp. 268-69.
4. James Andrew Broun Ramsay, 10th Earl and 1st Marquis of Dalhousie (1812-
1860), Governor-General of India, 1848-56, was criticized by many for his annexation
policy. He extended British dominion both by conquest and by taking over native states
when their rulers died without natural heirs.
5. After the decline of the Mogul empire in the eighteenth century, Mohammedan
courtiers and Mahratta generals carved out their own kingdoms.
6. Lord Canning, as Governor-General of India, 1856--62,in his Adoption Despatch
of 1860 guaranteed the right of native rulers to adopt heirs if they had no children of
their own. See Morley's article, p. 265.
Letter 999 To Charles Gavan Duffy 1203
at the time, & still think most ill advised. And even if fight otherwise I think
it ought to have excepted states actually created by our gift, as Mysore was. r
In such eases we are by right the sole interpreters of our own deed of gift. All
arguments grounded on vague phrases of that most plausible and successful of
political humbugs Lord Wellesley, s count with me for nothing. He would
have taken the whole country outright had he dared, but Parl t had then very
recently made a solemn declaration against territorial acquisitions in India &
his object was to throw dust in the eyes of Parl t & take the country as far as
it could be done while pretending not to do it. The only practical question with
me is, does Lord Canning's promise to the native princes which waived our
right of escheat, fairly & reasonably include this particular case? Opinions
among experienced Indians are divided on this point & I have not yet thor-
oughly examined the documents. I therefore have not made up my mind
though I much fear our faith is committed beyond reeal[l].
In one thing I fully agree with you: that whenever we sanction an adoption
we ought to undertake the education of the young successor & train him to
public business under a judicious and experienced Resident. This has been
done in a good many instances & often with very considerable success. Tra-
vancore which you mention is only one of a number of cases in point (if
we did educate the chief himself, which I forget) 9 & though the princes so
trained usually degenerate more or less in the lapse of years, they almost
always remain much better than the miserable creatures brought up in the
zenana, t° One native chief within a recent period before succeeding to his
inheritance filled responsible offices in our territories & he immediately com-
menced introducing the best parts of our system into his own.
I feel it a very high compliment that you should wish to know my opinion
on a point of conscience, and still more so that you should think that opinion
likely to be of any assistance to you in the guidance of your own political
conduct.
The point mentioned in your letter is one which I have often and carefully
considered, for though my own course in public matters has been one which
did not often call on me to cooperate with anybody, I have reflected much on
the conditions of cooperation, among the other requisites of practical public
life. The conclusion which I have long come to is one which seems rather
obvious when one has got at it, but it is so seldom acted on, that apparently
most people find it difficult to practise. It seems to me, in the first place, that
a conscientious person whose turn of mind and outward circumstances com-
bine to make practical political life his line of greatest usefulness, may, and
often ought to, be willing to put his opinion in abeyance on a political question
which he deems to be, in the circumstances of the time and place, of secon-
dary importance: which may be the ease with any question that does not, in
one's own judgment, involve any fundamental principle of morality. But, in
consenting to waive one's opinion, it seems to me an indispensable condition
that he should not disguise it. He should say to his constituents and to the
world exactly what he really thinks about the matter. Insincere professions
are the one cardinal sin in a representative government. If an Australian
politician wishes to be in the Assembly for the sake of questions which he
thinks much more important, for the time being, than that of protection, I
should hold him justified in saying to a constituency "I think protection alto-
gether a mistake, but since it is a sine qua non with you, and the opposite is
not a sine qua non with me, if you elect me I will not oppose it". If he con-
scientiously thought that the strong feeling of the public in its favour gave
them a fight, or made it expedient, to have its practice tried, I should not
think him wrong in promising to support it; though it is not a thing I should
lightly, or willingly, do. He might even, for adequate public reasons, consent
to join a Protectionist ministry, but only on condition that protection should
be an open question--that he should be at liberty to speak his mind publicly
on the subject._The question of expediency in these matters, each must de-
cide for himself. The expediencies vary with all sorts of personal considera-
tions. For instance, if he has considerable Popular influence, and is, in all
other respects than this, the favourite candidate, it will often be his most virtu-
ous course to insist on entire freedom of action, and make the electors feel
that they cannot have a representative of his quality without acquiescing in
his voting against some of their opinions. The only absolute rule I would lay
down, is not to consent to the smallest hypocrisy. The rest is matter of prac-
which this is a reply. Published in Elliot, l-I, 66--68, and in Sir Charles Gavan Dutfy,
My Life in Two Hemispheres, 1I, 317-19.
Letter 1000 To David Urquhart 1205
tical judgment, on which all that can be said is, Weigh all the considerations
and act for the best.
I am Dear Sir
very sincerely and respectfully yours
J. S. MILL
Hon. C. Gavan Duffy.
S[t] V[tran]
Oct. 4. 1866
the working classes) by the atrocities perpetrated in the Indian Mutiny e &
the feelings which supported them at home. Then came the sympathy with
the lawless rebellion of the Southern Americans in defence of an institution
which is the sum of all lawlessness, as Wesley said it was of all villainyT----&
finally came this Jamaica business the authors of which s from the first day
I knew of it I determined that I would do all in my power to bring to justice
if there was not another man in Parlt to stand by me. You rightly judge that
there is no danger of my sacrificing such a purpose to any personal advance-
ment. I hope I sh d not be so base even if I cared for personal advancement,
but as it happens, I do not.
When I last heard from the Cm they had raised £ 3200 though no appeal
had yet been made to the general public. It must be considerably more now;
& I have good hopes that we shall be near enough to getting the £ 10000 we
ask for, to bring the Jamaica question within the reach of those of us who
are most in earnest. The paper which I enclose contains only the first sub-
scriptions. I am glad that our manifesto has raised your opinion of Goldwin
Smith. I do not by any means agree in his practical conclusions as to the
colonies, 9 though many of his premises are too true. But he is a man of
strong moral convictions which he is not afraid to act upon & has a decided
power of leading others--provided they do not require to be conciliated first.
The Preston 1° Cm did send me the placard which is excellent.
acquainted with it. I presume, and think I remember, that it is in the State
Trials. If so, that is by far the most convenient place in which to study it.
The expensiveness of the attempt to get justice done in the Jamaica matter,
arises from the necessity of bringing a number of witnesses from Jamaica to
London, and maintaining them there until no longer required. Our lawyers'
bills will doubtless be heavy, but will, for aught I know, not exceed as many
hundreds as we are obliged to ask for thousands. We may possibly not require
the whole £ 10000, but we thought, after consideration, that it would not be
safe to ask for less.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
General Thompson
Your old constituents at Bradford are doing nobly in this matterMthey
surpass everybody else.
I could hardly have received any invitation of a public kind which I should
have had so much pleasure in complying with as that in your letter of the
4th instant, which has only just reached me. I feel as grateful as if I were
myself an Irishman to whoever does any service to the cause of Ireland, and
there is no one who has better earned the gratitude of Irishmen than Mr.
Bright, were it only by his noble speech on the Habeas Corpus Suspension
Bill. a I regard the honor which you are paying him a as an important step
the death by flogging of Sergeant Benjamin Armstrong, on July I0, 1782. Wail, then
a lieutenant colonel and governor of Goree (an island off Senegal, Africa), had ordered
the punishment for Armstrong, who had headed a group of soldiers protesting the
planned departure of the garrison paymaster. The paymaster had not settled with the
soldiers for a period of short allowances. For details see T. B. Howell and Thomas
Jones Howell, compilers, A Complete Collection of State Trials (34 vols., London,
1816-28), XXVIII, 51-178.
I. MS not located. Published in the Manchester Examiner and Times, Nov. I, 1866,
p. 3.
Daniel O'Donoghue ("The O'Donoghue") (1833-1889), Liberal, Home-Ruler, MP
for Tipperary, 1857-65, for Tralee, 1865-85. He presided at a testimonial dinner for
John Bdght in Dublin on Oct. 30, 1866. Letters of regret were also read at the dinner
from Duncan McLaren, Henry Fawcett, Thomas B. Potter, and others, some of them
addressed to O'Donoghue.
2. In the House of Commons on Feb. 17, 1866. The speech was reprinted in
Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by John Bright, M.P., ed. James E. Thorold
Rogers (2 vols., London, 1868), I, 349-60.
3. Bright's speech on the occasion is reprinted in Speeches,I, 361-76.
1208 To David Urquhart Letter 1003
S[t] V[6ran]
Oct. 26. 1866
MY DEAR URQUHART---I thank you sincerely for your letter. The actual
experience of one who has had so much of it, & of so unusual a sort, is sure
to be worth having &worth meditating on.
Your letter makes me wish to give you an equally explicit statement of my
own way of thinking, so far as it is different from yours. And I think I can
trust myself sufficiently not to be afraid that my having done so will raise
any obstacle of amour propre in my own mind to prevent me from changing
any part of that way of thinking which can be shown to be wrong. I feel as
strongly as you the absence of control over the executive in matters of foreign
policy, & the absolute inutility & nullity, as far as that is concerned of any
change of Ministers. I sh d never dream of telling the working or any unrepre-
sented classes that they have no power unless they can get the suffrage, &I do
not ascribe the prodigious superiority of their moral sentiments on such
matters as Eyre, the Indian Mutiny, 2 &c. over the classes socially above them,
to any intrinsic superiority of moral excellence. But I do not believe that the
bad feelings, or absence of good feelings, in the others, arises from their
having votes. I ascribe it to the sympathy of officials with officials & of the
classes from whom officials are selected with officials of all sorts. I ascribe
it also to the sympathy with authority & power, generated in our higher &
upper middle classes by the feeling of being specially privileged to exercise
them, & by living in a constant dread of the encroachment of the class be-
neath which makes it one of their strongest feelings that resistance to author-
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as is also Urquhart's letter of Oct. 18 to which this
is a reply. Published in Elliot, II, 69-71.
2. See Letter 1000.
Letter 1004 To George Grote 1209
ity must be put down per fas et nefas. 8 1 do not believe that feelings of these
kinds would exist where there was no privileged class, & where no one had
more political influence of a direct kind than his mere vote gave him. There
is much in American politics that is regrettable enough, but I do not observe
that there is a particle of the English upper class feeling that authority
(meaning the persons in authority) must be supported at all costs; & Amer-
ican foreign policy is all above board & in broad daylight. So, I believe would
that of England be, if the working classes had votes. I am no worshipper of
those classes & they know it. I have written & published harsh truths of them, 4
which were brought up against me in meetings of the working classes during
my election & I never was so much applauded by them as when I stood to
what I had written & defended it. They are not yet politically corrupted by
power. I doubt not that they would be corrupted like other classes by be-
coming the paramount power in the country, though probably in a less degree
because in a multitude the general feelings of human nature are usually more
powerful & class feelings proportionately less so than in a small body. But I
do not want to make them predominant. I see the country under the leader-
ship of a higher & a middle class who, by long disuse of attempting or wishing
to do their duty as managers of the national affairs have become incapable of
doing it, & I am hopeless of any improvement but by letting in a powerful in-
fluence from those who are the great sufferers by whatever evil is done or is
left uncorrected at home & who have no personal or class interests or feelings
concerned either in oppressing dependencies, or in doing or conniving at
wrong to foreign countries. I could write at great length on all this, but it is
not my object to defend my view of existing English politics, my object is to
enable you whom I respect, to understand the source from which that view
proceeds in my own mind. As for those whom I do not respect, a category
which includes the great maiodty of public men & public writers, I should
never take the trouble to give any other explanation of myself to them, than
that which I hope my conduct will give.
I return, with thanks, the answer to Mrs Urquhart's letter on Jamaica.
additional vote and voice to support you on critical occasions. That I could,
in case I survived you, be to any effectual purpose your successor, is very
improbable. Such an influence as yours is, can only be acquired by many
years of assiduous devotion, such as you have given, to the business of the
institution. 2 Moreover, influence over such people as your colleagues in the
Senate can, by any one who has no claims to it but personal ones, only be
acquired by keeping constantly working at them, and wearing away by per-
severance the obstacles in their minds. He must not only accustom them to
look on him as a main prop, and the chief working mind of the institution
but must keep himself in frequent personal communication with them, and
bring social influences to bear on them. All these things would be not only in
the highest degree distasteful, but practically impossible to me; and I do not
see any reasonable prospect of doing as much for our objects as would make
it good economy in me to give the time and trouble that would be necessary
for effecting even such good as might be practicable.
The help, however, which I might give to good objects as an auxiliary to
you, would be a strong inducement to me to accept your proposal; and were
I not in Parliament I would do so without hesitation. As it is, however, my
attending the Senate, even if limited to the two important days which you
mention, would have the effect of exactly depriving me of the Easter vacation.
It is hardly possible for any one who does not share my life here, to estimate
the greatness of the sacrifice that being detained in England at that time
would be to me, or to know in how great a degree that break in the dreary
six or seven months of London, helps to keep up my health, spirits, and work-
ing power for what I have to do there. I am willing, for any object which
would make it my duty, to add this sacrifice to the great one I have already
made. But it is not clear to me that it is my duty to do so for the amount of
good which I can see my way to effecting by means of it. As long as you are
able to continue your active exertions in the Senate, there is not much danger
that the ground already gained will be lost. And without you I see little
prospect that any influence I could ever have would supply your place. It is,
however, very desirable that there should be some one in the Senate who
would give you a more effective backing than you have at present. But there
are others besides me who could do this. Bain being unattainable, s have you
ever thought of Herbert Spencer? 4He is as anti-clergymanlsh as possible; he
goes as far as the farthest of us in explaining psychological phenomena by
association, and the "experience hypothesis"; he has a considerable and grow-
ing reputation, much zeal and public spirit, and is not, I should think, more
2. Grote wasone of the foundersof LondonUniversityand servedon its Council
from 1826to hisdeath.He hadbeenVice-Chancellorsince1862.
3. Bainhadheldthechairof Logicat Aberdeensince1860.
4. Grote subsequentlyaskedfor andreceivedSpencer'spermissionto nominatehim
for the Council.Nothing,however,came of the matter.SeeSpencer,Autobiography,
II, 172.
Letter 1005 To Rowland G. Hazard 1211
I am greatly obliged to you for your letter of Oct. 22, and still more so for
5. See Letter 967. 6. Ibid. 7. Richard Holt Hutton.
8. The Chancellor,the Duke of Richmond,cast the decidingvote in favour of
MotmtstuartGrant Duff,MP for Elgin,and againstGrote in the electionfor Rector,
Dee.,1866.SeeThe Times,Dec. 22,p. 8, andDec.25,p. 7.
1. MS at Rhode Island Historical Society. MS copy at Columbia.
1212 To Rowland G. Hazard Letter 1005
2. The first of two letters to JSM eventually published as Causation and Freedom in
Willing (see Letter 831, n. 5). Hazard had printed the letter for private circulation
among his friends.
3. See Hazard, sec. 2, pp. 7 ft.
4. David Hartley (1705-1757), philesopher and physician, best known for his
Observations on Man (London, 1749), the origin of associational psychology.
5. See Hazard, sec. 4, pp. 17 ft.
Letter 1005 To Rowland G. Hazard 1213
motion, but they were just as much conceived and known as active forces be-
fore that opinion grew up. I think this consideration materially affects your
theory, for the natural agencies which have always been conceived as powers,
agree in nothing but in being the observed antecedents of motion or change.
Most of your arguments against my chapter on causation e I have antici-
pated in the chapter itself: but
3. You misunderstand my expression "as long as the present constitution
of things lasts. ''7 You do not appear to see that the extinction of the sun's
light would not be, in my sense, a change in the present constitution of
things. As long as all the properties of matter remain the same, and are gov-
erned by the same laws, no modification which those laws may produce in
the concrete bodies surrounding us is a change in the constitution of things.
Consequently I do not admit that we believe that "while the present consti-
tution of things lasts night will invariably precede day". s It will only do so if
the sun continues to give light, and if no other body of a similar nature
comes into our region, or we into its region, of the universe. Night, though
an invariable, is not an unconditional antecedent of day.
4. You say "As soon as we find that night can for a time exist without
producing day, we perceive that it cannot be the cause of day. ''9 Then sun-
rise is not the cause of day either; for the actual sunrise has taken place for
some time without producing day, viz. the time necessary for a ray of light
to travel over the intervening distance.
5. You say "if the whole aggregate antecedents are the cause of any
effect, then, as at each instant the whole antecedents are the same at every
point of space, the effects should be everywhere the same. ''19 This, I think,
you will see, is an oversight. The whole antecedents are not the same at every
point of space; for, the antecedent condition of an effect is not the mere
happening of an event somewhere, but its happening in a certain degree
of proximity to the scene of the effect; and antecedents of this sort cannot
be the same for any two points of space.
I throw out these remarks merely as matter for your own mind to work
on. If they do nothing else, they will suggest answers from your point of
view, and will help to render your side of the argument more complete.
It is unlucky that your visit to England should have occurred while we
are away; for we shall not have returned by the time you mention, and I fear
you are not likely to visit this side of the Channel before you recross the
Atlantic: otherwise you would be warmly welcomed at our little place. Does
6. Logic, Book III, chap. v.
7. Ibid., Book HI, chap. v, see. 5 (p. 378 in 1865 ed.).
8. Hazard,p. 44.
9. The privately printed version of Hazard's letter probably read thus; in the pub-
lished edition, cf. p. 46.
10. Hazard,p. 56.
1214 To John Mills Letter 1006
the notice prefixed to your printed letter include me? if so, I will return it
through Messrs Baring.
I am Dear Sir
ever yours sincerely
J. S.MmL
R. G. Hazard Esq.
Avignon
November 16, 1866.
DEAR SIR,--I have only just received your letter of the 15th in reply of
mine. Your pamphlet 2 reached me by the same post, my answer is therefore
too late for the purpose for which you requested it. I am the more sorry for
this, as you have thought it right to mention in a note that you had been told
I had changed the opinion which you quoted from the last edition of my
"Political Economy", a and I should have been glad if you had mentioned
such a statement, you should have been able to contradict it. I hold to the
passage you quoted in every respect; it still expresses my opinion as correctly
as it did when I first wrote it.
I am faithfully
J. S. MILL
I have been in debt to you for two letters, I am ashamed to think how long:
but when one is as busy as I am, and has also so many letters to write, the
1. MS not located. Published in John Mills's From Tinder-Box to the "'Larger" Light
(Manchester, 1899), pp. 302-303.
John Mills (1821-1896), banker.
2. The Bank Charter Act and the late Panic..4 paper read beJore . . . the National
Social Science Association at Manchester, Oct. 5, 1866. With notes added (London,
1866). For a brief summary, see NAPSS, Transactions 1866 (London, 1867), p. 761.
3. Mills had written (p. 11): "In the case of the Bank Act, however, it has been
forcibly argued by Mr. John Stuart Mill that this authorized departure from the letter
of the Act in times of crisis is in reality a more effectual carrying out of its spirit." Then
Mills cites this passage from JSM: "The opportune relief thus afforded to credit.., and
almost all the losses and failures attended on it are consummated." (Pol. Econ. [6th
ed.], Book III, chap. 24, sec. 4.) In a footnote on pp. 18-19 Mills defended his citing of
the passage from JSM, on the ground that he had quoted from the latest edition of the
Pol. Econ.
friends one values most are apt to be last served, if there is nothing in their
letters requiring to be answered immediately. You, also, have been working
hard, and with great efficiency, for and at the Social Science meeting. 2 The
ignorance of the very A B C of the subject which was shewn by the speakers
on the other side, struck me even in the newspaper reports, and your letter
shews that this ignorance is accompanied by a false opinion of knowledge.
Lord Robert Montagu's 3 confounding your plans with the mode of election
which is of all others most different from it, and most opposed to its principle,
is very illustrative of the manner in which English politicians, especially of
his class, make themselves acquainted with new ideas. They just snatch up
some one feature--in this case, the voting for many candidates instead of
only two--and then fancy they are masters of the whole thing. What I most
want to say to you is this: There will, in all probability, be a Tory Reform
Bill, and whatever may be its quality, no moving of amendments or raising
of new points will in the case of a Tory bill be, regarded by Liberals as ob-
structiveness, or as damaging the cause. Then will be the very time to bring
forward and get discussed, everything which we think ought to be put into a
good Reform Bill. I am anxious, therefore, to hear what, in your opinion,
would be the best way of bringing your plan before the House in the ap-
proaching session. Perhaps the mode you mention, that of moving for a
Committee, would do best; for as Disraeli will be glad to curry a little favour
with the independent liberals, and not sorry to gain a little time, we have
more chance of getting our Committee, than perhaps we should at a future
time. If a Committee is granted, we will get Fawcett and any other friends
put on it, and I will devote myself as much as I am able to working it, and
extorting a real discussion of the plan from the witnesses. If you think this
the best way, should the motion be for a Committee on your plan alone,
or on representation of minorities generally?
I suppose you saw in how excellent a way Lord Hobart returned to the
subject in his article on Bribery in the November M°Millan. 4 Mr Schuyler 5
says in a letter I have just received from him, "I have been carefully reading
My daughter, from whom you have .,already more than once accepted
articles, has written one on the claim of women in independent circum-
stances to the suffrage, 2 which she sends by this post and places at the ser-
vice of the Westminster Review if you are disposed to insert it. It is written,
as you will see, with a practical object, to aid the parliamentary movement
which will probably be made in the next session, and it takes, therefore,
mainly the constitutional ground and that of analogy to English institutions,
taking only incidental notice of the broader and higher principles on which
the claim may be rested. It is desirable that the article, if accepted, should
be in the January number, as the number following may perhaps be too
late for the immediate occasion. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Dr Chapman
1. MS at Canberra.
2. "The Ladies' Petition. Petition presented to the House of Commons by Mr. J.
Smart Mill, June 7th, 1866," WR, n.s. XXXI (Jan., 1867), 63-79, reprinted, with
Helen's name, as The Claim of Englishwomen to the Suffrage Constitutionally Con-
sidered (London, 1867). The article begins by discussing the petition, submitted by
JSM on June 7, to Parliament, on women's voting fights in relation to property. See
Letter 958.
Letter 1009 To Robert Were Fox 1217
On returning home the other day, I regretted to find that you and your
ladies, _ after taking the trouble to come, and staying some time for the pur-
pose of seeing me, had gone away disappointed: I should certainly have
made an attempt to find you before you left Avignon, if it had not been
already too late. The recollections left by my former intercourse with your
family are too pleasant for me not to have pleasure in reviving them. I was
sorry to hear that your visit to the South was for the sake of Miss Caroline's
health I hope only by way of precaution. The winter climate of the South
East of France is, I think, excellent for chronic weakness or delicacy, but
inferior to many other of the resorts of invalids in case of actual disease,
either pulmonary or bronchial: and whenever there is any facility in taking
cold, great care is required. But Hy_res, in the opinion of medical men, has
in a less degree than Nice the defects which are common to both. At all
events it will have, in your case, the advantage of being a very complete
change; for the type of its climate is the very opposite of that of Cornwall.
I am afraid we shall have left this place for England before you turn your
faces homeward; but either in England or here I should always be happy to
see you, or to serve you in any way in my power. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
1. MS copy at Northwestern.
2. Emile Honor6 Cazelles (1831-1907), physician and government administrator,
1218 To John Chapman Letter 1011
Many thanks for your letter. My daughter intended all along to insert a
heading in the proof. 2 She had some thought of heading the article with the
Report of the General Committee of Petitions in which the Ladies' Petition
was printed: but we have not the series of those Reports by us, and we do
not know which of them is the one that contains it.
I am sorry to hear that you are in any difficulty about the Review, and
should be very glad to hear further about it. Knowing how little support there
is for a Review of advanced opinions, I have always thought it eminently
1. MS at Indiana.
2. For heading used, see Letter 1008, n. 2.
Latter 1012 To George Grote 1219
honourable to you that you should have been able to carry it on for so many
years, and to make it as good as it has been through all that time. I am
Dear Sir
very yours
J. S. MILL
Dr Chapman
Avignon
Dec.2,1866
SIR
Iam obligedtoyouforyourbook.Ihavenothadtimetoreadmorethan
theIntroduction,
butthatisenoughtoconvince
mc thatyourideaisagood
one,andthatyouhavedoneausefulthing.Iam Sir
Yours verysincerely
J.S.MILL
Alex. Vance Esq.
Saint Vdran,Avignon
Dec. 6. 1866
DEAR SIR
My daughterhasputa headingtothearticle,
_andreturns thecorrected
prooftoyouraddressby this
post.Shewouldbcmuch obliged toyouffyou
wouldallowtwelveseparate copiestobe made up (atherexpense)and
senttoherhere,
asearlyasconvenient.
Iam DearSir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Dr. Chapman
7. "Voltaire's Romances and their Moral," WR, n.s. XIX (April, 1861 ), 363-80, and
"Mr. Buckle's History of Civilisation in England," WR, n.s. XX (July, 1861 ), 187-207.
•It- _l. _ .11.
1. MS at LSE. 2. SeeLetter1008,n.2.
Letter 1015 To Thomas Hughes 1221
The idea of exhibiting in detail the practical need of reform, and answering
the objections to it, in a volume of short essays,2 seems to me a very good
one. If as well executed throughout, as from the persons engaged in it, some
parts of it are sure to be, there is reason to hope that it will not only help
Parliamentary Reform in the coming session, but will also hoist the flag of a
future party of practical reformers, in anticipation of the time for following
Parliamentary Reform to its consequences. It is impossible, however, that I
should write anything for the collection, as I have work in hand that will
require all my time up to the opening of Parliament.
With regard to the two departments for which I am asked to recommend
writers, No 4 of the A series will, I think require to be divided. For Poor
Law and Sanitary Reform, Mr Chadwick is the right person, if he can be
prevailed on: if not, he is the person most competent to recommend some
one else. For Municipal Reform, I should propose my constituent M r James
Beal, who has paid great attention to the subject, and understands it well: or,
failing him, perhaps Mr Horton. _ 9 C, "the House of Commons and Taxa-
tion", I think I would omit altogether. There is no longer much to complain
of in the conduct of the House of Commons, under the guidance of Mr
Gladstone, on this subject; and any one who took it up with that idea, would
probably do so on the wrong principles of the Liverpool Financial Associa-
tion. 4 The worst things the House of Commons is now chargeable with on
the subiect of taxation, are the non-extension of the Probate Duty to real
property, and the levying of the Succession Duty, in case of settled property,
on the life interest only: and these points, I think, would come in better,
propos of something else.
1. MS in the Thomas W. Hughes Collection of the William Allen White Library.,
Emporia, Kansas. One excerpt published in Edward C. Mack and W. H. G. Armytage,
Thomas Hughes (London, 1952), p. 150.
2. The project seems not to have been carded out.
3. George Horton, in 1866 a junior clerk of the General Register Office, author of
The Municipal Government o/the Metropolis (London, 1865).
4. The Liverpool Financial Reform Association, of which Robertson Gladstone,
brother of W. E. Gladstone, was a leading member, advocated these objects: "1. To use
all lawful and constitutional means of inducing the most rigid economy in the expendi-
ture of government, consistent with due efficiency in the several departments of the
public service. 2. To advocate the adoption of a simple and equitable system of direct
taxation, fairly levied upon property and income, in lieu of the present unequal, com-
plicated, and expensively coUeeted duties upon commodities." Economist, Sept. 30,
1848, p. 1111.
1222 To George Grote Letter I016
more various culture of more recent times causes people to ripen slowly.
We must not forget either, that your experience and mine of the older set
includes the very best of them--those who were formed under the Benthamic
influence. There was, in general, Kimmerean darkness then, beyond the
region to which that influence, directly or indirectly, extended.
I have got through fully three fourths of the revision of the Hamilton for
the new edition. 4 1 have corrected some minor matters; but the wish you ex-
pressed, on Hamilton's account, that some one might be able to clear him
from a part of the inconsistencies and other errors laid to his charge, has not
been realized to the extent that might reasonably have been expected.
Mansel, 5 in particular, is perpetually crying out that I have misunderstood
Hamilton, but the points on which he makes out even a plausible ease of
misunderstanding are extremely few and small. Some of the new matter I
have inserted will, I think, add to the intrinsic value of the book, indepen-
dently of repelling objections.
Among the books I have had occasion to read in connexion with the
subject is one lately published by Chapman and Hall, called "Inquisitio
Philosophica, an Examination of the Principles of Kant and Hamilton by
M.P.W. Bolton, ''6 which is on our side, and attacks Mansel, and which I
think you would like very much. The writer is a scholar, well read in the
history of philosophy as well as in philosophy itself, is particularly good at
stating correctly and clearly both sides of a case, and though he does not
always profess to decide between them, shews plainly enough that he holds
with the inductive school, both in their philosophy and in its consequences.
I have mentioned his book to Bain.
In referring to the article in the Westminster, on Hamilton and me, _ am
I at liberty to speak of it, either directly or by a circumlocution, as yours, or, :
as attributed to you? Unless you would rather I did not, I should like to be
allowed to do so, not only on account of the value of your expressed approval
of the book, but for the sake of the opportunity of expressing my sense of
that value.
I hope Aristotle s is profiting by the termination of your troublesome and
anxious contest.
With our kind regards to Mrs Grote, who I hope is now quite recovered,
Iam
my dear Grote
ever yours truly
I. S. MILL
S[aint] V[6ran]
Dec. 29. 1866
I am most desirous to find out what can be done to relieve you and the
Review from your present difficulties._ Besides the importance of the Re-
view to the friends of progress, you have a very strong personal claim on
them, not only by what you are likely to do, but by what you have already
done. Any help in my own power to give, would go but a little way: and un-
fortunately my personal connexion does not lie among monied people. Most
of my radical allies in the House of Commons who are men of wealth, and
who are chiefly Yorkshire and Lancashire manufacturers, 3care for little ex-
cept practical matters and politics: the most characteristic feature of the West-
minster Review, its freedom of speculation in religion and philosophy, would
rather be distasteful than a recommendation to most of them; while many
who like this, do not like its radicalism. I do not know whether there
is any other M.P. except Mr Stansfeld, 4 whom there would be any use
in taking into our councils. Him you probably know. The only other per-
sons I can think of to consult with are Mr Grote and Mr Herbert Spencer.
With both of these, however, it is likely that you are already in commtmiea-
tion. If you give me permission to consult with them and with Mr Stansfeld,
I will write to these three, and will inclose to Mr Grote your letter to me, with
a request to pass it on. In the meanwhile, if I think of anything else, I will
write to you again; and I hope you will mention to me anything that occurs
to yourself.
I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Dr Chapman
1. MS at Indiana.
2. On the current financial difficulties of the WR, see also Letters 1019, 1021, 1024,
1026, 1035, 1045.
3. Among the most prominent of these were Thomas Barnes (b.1813), MP for
Bolton, 1852-57, 1861-68; Thomas Bazley, MP for Manchester; Edmund Potter, MP
for Carlisle; and Thomas Bayley Potter, MP for Rochdale.
4. James Stansfeld, MP for Halifax.
Letter 1019 To John Chapman 1227
I have received your second letter, 2 and require a htfle more time to con-
sider what is best to be done. In the meantime there are two questions I
should like to ask. The first is--Is it in your opinion undesirable, or would it
be disagreeable to you, that I should consult on the subject with Mr Herbert
Spencer? or do you merely think that it would be of no use? The other point
is this. There is one essential dement of the question about which I should
certainly be asked by every person to whom I might speak on the subject;
the present pecuniary position of the Review. What is now its sale? and do
the proceeds suffice to pay the actual expenses, or is there a fresh deficit every
quarter, to be added to the debt against which you and the Review are now
struggling? If you will do me the favour to answer these questions, I will then
write to you again without delay. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MII.I.
Dr Chapman
I duly received your kind note, as weU as the Essays, 2 about which I hope
in two or three days to be able to write to you.
I proposeleavingLondon by a night trainon the 30 th which will bringme
to St Andrews some time in the forenoon of the 31_t; s and leaving again on
I shall remain here till the 24th of January,and therefore letters can safely
be addressed to me here untilthe 22nd.I am Dear Sir
verytruly yours
J.S.MILL
5. "Social Reform in England," WR, n.s.XXXI (Jan., 1867), 150-71. The author
has not been identified.
41. 41. ,It 41.
1023. TO W. L. (JOHNS?) 1
Avignon
Jan. 22. 1867
DEAR SIR
Blaekheath Park
Jan. 29. 1867
DEAR SIR
fill up in the manner most convenient to yourself the dates which are left in
blank.
I am sorry that I have not the smallest or most indirect knowledge of any
one of the Directors of the Mutual Life Assurance Society. I could perhaps
(if it would be of any use) get at their medical officer, Dr Brinton, 4 who I
hope is not the one whose death makes the vacancy. With your professional
claims, and such testimonials, you ought to have a good chance. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blaekheath Park
Jan. 29. 1867
MY DEARSIR
On arriving from abroad I found the communication which you have done
me the great honour of addressing to me on the subject of the intended Royal
Commission of Inquiry into the questions connected with Trades Unions. 2
The importance of such an inquiry cannot be overrated; and that you should
wish to include me in the number of those to whom it is to be entrusted,
would be of itself a proof of your desire that it should be so conducted as to
do complete justice to the artisans' side of the question, equally with that of
the employers.
Were the inquiry by a Committee of the House of Commons (though a
much less efficient mode of investigation) or were its operations likely to be
terminated within the Parliamentary season, I should feel bound in duty to
accept the honourable office of taking a share in them. It is, however, next to
certain that the proceedings of the Commission not only cannot be concluded
before the end of the session, but will be carded on with much greater activity
1. MS at LSE.
Walpole was then Home Secretary.
2. As a result of a gunpowder explosion in a non-unionist's house in Sheffield in
Oct., 1866, and of other signs of difficultyamong the unions, a Royal Commission was
appointed in Feb., 1867, to report on all matters related to trades unions. The Commis-
sion met frequently between Feb., 1867, and Dec., 1869, when it issued its eleventh and
final report. For details, see Sidney and Beatrice Webb, The History of Trade Unionism
(London, 1911), chap. v, and G. D. H. Cole, A Short History of the British Working-
Class Movement (London, 1947), chap. v., sec. 2.
1232 To 1olm Chapman Letter 1026
Blackheath Park
Feb. 6. 1867
DEAR SIR
I will direct my solicitor to make the alterations you suggest, and to prepare
the deed for signature without loss of time.2 My solicitor says the mortgage
should be registered at Stationer's Hall, which he undertakes to see done.
3. NeitherFawcettnor JSM becamea memberof theCommission.
4. Sir WilliamErle (1793-1880),barrister,hadjustretiredin 1866as LordChief
Justice of Common Pleas. He later wrote The Law relating to Trades' Unions (London,
1868).
'It 41' 41' 41.
Febr. 7, 1867
DEAR SIR,
The historical fragments left by Mr. Buckle, and which my daughter (not
myself) is engaged in editing, have been in part published in Fraser's Maga-
zine for this month,z More will probably be printed hereafter in a small octavo
volume,s I need hardly say that my daughter would most gladly do what she
could to promote any wishes of yours with regard to them. _And if you have
Mrs. Allat's5 consent, without which of course we should not be instified in
3. See Letter 1008.
41. 41. 41. 41,
doing anything, she will forward the proofs to you when they are ready for
publication.
I am very thankhfl for your kind expression of approbation and sympathy
in regard to my public conduct. You will easily understand that I look upon
the House of Commons not as a place where important practical improve-
ments can be effected by anything I can do there, but as an elevated Tribune
or Chair from which to preach largerideas than can at present be realised.
Iam
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Feb. 9. 1867
DEARMR CAIRNES
We are truly grieved to hear of your suffering so much. You do not men-
tion to what place in the South of France you are going. If to Pau, you must
not be disappointed if you do not find your health greatly improved by it.
The climate of Pau is damp, and dampness is, I am afraid, bad for rheu-
matism.
My daughter is very much pleased that you think favourably of what she
has been doing. We have been made very happy by the adhesion of the Daily
News, _ in an admirable article for which the cause is evidently indebted
directly to Mr Hill, s and indirectly to you.
I need not say how glad I am that you like my Address? Nor, I hope, need
I say how earnestly I desire your speedy restoration to health. You can ill
be spared from among us even for a short time.
With our best regards to Mrs Cairnes I am
Dear Mr Calrnes
ever truly yours
J. S. l_ff_rLL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Feb. 9. 1867
DEAR SIR--I agree entirely with the general principles & spirit of your
letter received yesterday. I think it highly desirable that the New Testament,
& those parts of the Old which are either poetical or properly historical,
1. MS at LSE.
2. A Daily News leader of Feb. 7, 1867, p. 4, advocated the suffrage for women who
satisfied the property qualifications for voting.
3. Frank Harrison Hill (1830--1910), journalist, assistant editor of the Daily News,
1865--69,and editor, 1869-86.
4. JSM's Inaugural Address at St. Andrews on Feb. 1 was reported at length in The
Times, Feb. 4, p. 4, and published as a book in the same w_k.
Q 41" 41' 41'
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as are also Fowle's letter of Feb. 7 (to which this is
a reply) and his rejoinder of Feb. 12. Published in Elliot, II, 74, but with the corre-
spondent named as Towle.
Thomas Welbank Fowl, (1835-1903), theologian and writer on the poor law, re-
spomibl* for having new schools built while curate of Holy Trinity, Hoxton, 1863-68.
1236 To John Plummer Letter 1031
Feb. 9. 1867
DEAR MR PLUMMER
I have to congratulate you on the birth of your daughter, and at the same
time to condole with you on the failure of the Working Man 2 and on the
termination of your engagement with Mess TM Cassell. What have you in view
for your next employment.'? I wish it were in my power to help you to a
position of profit and usefulness.
I am glad to hear of a local Jamaica Committee, and of your being a
member of it. I think you should decidedly offer yourself as a witness to the
Trades Union Commission) They will find few who know so much of the
subject and feel so impartially on it. There must often be witnesses quite as
hard of hearing as you are.
With our kind regards to Mrs Plummer, I am
dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
2. Fowle had been moved to write JSM by this sentence from his Rc_-torialAddress,
as reportedin The Times of Feb. 4: "Christianitybeing an historical religion, the sort
of religious instructionwhich seems to be most appropriateto a University is the study
of ecclesiasticalhistory."
In his letter, Fowle proposed to extend this principle to the schools: "The Bible what-
ever else it may be contains the two first volumes of religious history.It should there-
fore be taught.., not dogmatically but historically, and exactly under the conditions
and in that spirit which you [JSM] have prescribed as legitimate in national Univer-
sities."
,It • • •
Blaekheath Park
Feb. 9. 1867
DEAR SIR
Feb. 9. 1867
DEAR SIR
Allow me to thank you for the book 2 you have been so good as to send,
and which I am quite prepared to find very interesting. I am sorry that the
occupations, parliamentary and other, which press on me, are not likely soon
to leave me the leisure necessary for reading it. I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Rev. R. H. Story
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Feb 9 1867
D R SIR
The Dublin Review reached me duly & I thought I had acknowledged it.
The article on Jamaica _ was excellent. I am very happy that you feel with me
so strongly on that subject. I am glad too that you like the St. Andrews
Address.
I wish I had seen your article on Free WilP while I was revising my boolP
for a new edition and replying to other critics. You would have been a much
worthier adversary than most of those I have had.
Blackheath Park
Feb. 10. 1867
DEAR SIR
the words which you wished omitted. But he says that even as the draft
originally stood, it would not have pledged the back stock, or any monies
still to come in from the back numbers.
I inclose a cheque, for which the deed of mortgage will be the receipt, and
I am Dear Sir
yrs very truly
J. S. MILL
Dr Chapman
DEAR SIR--I shall be very glad to see the proof of your article 2 & I only
regret that the pressure on my time during the session will make it impossible
for me to take notice of it in the forthcoming edition of my book)
1. MS atLSE.
2. LeonardHenryCourtney, not elected until 1869.
3. John Welsford Cowell (1795-1867), barristerand banker, pamphleteeron cur-
rency and the poor law. Treasurer of the Political Economy Club, 1831-34, Hon.
Secretary, 1821-54.
1240 To Edward FFalford Letter 1038
Want of time, combined with dislike for the operation, has obliged me to
refuse all proposals from photographers to take my likeness, except in one
instance, when I sat to Mr Watkins _ of Parliament Street, from whom any
one who wishes for a photograph of me can obtain one. I hope, therefore,
that you will excuse me if I decline to sit to Mr Edwards. 31 am
Dear Sir
yours faithfully
J. S. MILL
Edward Walford Esq.
I have read your article 2 with very great interest. You are the clearest
thinker I have met for a long time who has written on your side of these great
questions. And I quite admit that your theory of divine premovement is not
on the face of it inadmissible. Your illustration of the mice inside the piano
is exceUent. 8 The uniform sequences which the mice might discover between
the sounds & the phenomena inside would not negative the player without.
But you only put back the collision between the two theories for a certain
distance. It comes at last. At whatever point in the upward series the un-
forseeable will of the divine musician comes in, there the uniformity of
physical sequence fails: the chain has been traced to its beginning; a physical
phenomenon has taken place without any antecedent physical conditions.
Now what would be asserted on the other side of the question is, that the
facts always admit of, & render highly probable, the supposition that there
1. MS in 1965 in the possession of Joseph H. Sehaffner of New York.
Perhaps Walford had asked for JSM's photograph for Hardwicke's Shilling House
of Commons, of which he was editor.
2. To John Watkius, doing business at Watkins Brothers, 34 Parliament St., in the
summer of 1865.
3. Ernest Edwards (1837-1903), London portrait photographer, introducer of the
heliotype.
It. 41. 41. 41.
I. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 74-76, and in Wilfrid Ward,
William George Ward and the Catholic Revival, pp. 292--94.
2. See Letter 1034,n. 3.
3. To elucidate Ward's point on divine premovement. See Ward's article,pp. 267-69.
Letter 1039 To William George Ward 1241
were such antecedent physical conditions, & that there has been no ultimate
beginning to that series of facts, short of whatever beginning there was to the
whole history of the universe.
We do not pretend that we can disprove divine interference in events, &
direct guidance of them. All our evidence is only negative. We say that so far
as known to mankind everything takes place as it would do if there were no
such direct guidance. We think that every event is abstractedly capable of
being predicted, because mankind are in each case as near to being able
actually to predict what happens as could be expected, regard being had to
the degree of accessibility of the data, & the complexity of the conditions of
the problem.
I cannot perceive in your article any errors in physics. But I am not a safe
authority on matters of physical science. Astronomers now think that they
can predict much more than eclipses & the return of comets--their predic-
tions reach even to the dissipation of the sun's heat & the heaping up of the
solar system in one dead mass of congelation. But I hold all this to be at
present nothing more than scientific conjecture. All that is required by your
argument is that the possibility of absolute & categorical prediction should
be, as yet, confined to cosmicphenomena. This, I believe, all men of science
admit, & I indorse everything on that subject which is said by Mansel in your
note. 4 Scientific prediction in other physical sciences is not absolute, but
conditional. We know certainly that oxygen & hydrogen brought together in
a particular way will produce water, but we cannot predict with certainty that
oxygen & hydrogen will come together in that way unless brought together
by human agency. The human power of prediction at present extends only to
effects which depend on a very small number of causes. Astronomical pheno-
mena do depend on a very small number of causes, & consequently can be
predicted. Most other physical phenomena can be predicted with the same
certainty provided we are able to limit the causes in question to a very small
number. This power of prediction you have not, I think_ allowed for in your
Essay. Yet it surely is all important. For if the effect of any single cause, or of
any pair or triad of causes, can be calculated, the joint effect of a myriad of
such causes is abstractedly capable of calculation. That we are unable prac-
tically to calculate it is no more than might be expected, at least in the present
state of our knowledge, however calculable it may in itself be.
With regard to free will, you have not said much that affects my argument.
I am not aware of having ever said that foreknowledge is inconsistent with
free will. That knotty metaphysical question I have avoided entering into, &
in my Logic I have even built upon the admissions of the free will philoso-
phers that our freedom be real though God foreknows our actions. 5 You
simplify the main question very much by your luminous distinction between
4. The note is at the end of Ward'sarticle, beginningon p. 296.
5. Log/c, Book VI, chap. n.
1242 To lohn Chapman Letter 1040
the spontaneous impulse of the will, which you regard as strictly dependent
on preexisting mental dispositions & external solicitations, & what the man
may himself do to oppose or alter that spontaneous impulse. The distinction
has important practical consequences but I see no philosophical bearing that
it has on free will; for it seems to me that the same degree of knowledge of
a person's character which will enable us to judge with tolerable assurance
what his spontaneous impulse will be, will also enable us to judge with about
an equal degree of assurance whether he will make any effort, & (in a general
way) how much effort he is likely to make, to control that impulse. Our fore-
sight in this matter cannot be certain, because we never can be really in
possession of sufficient data. But it is not more uncertain than the insufficiency
& uncertainty of the data suffice to account for.
Thanking you very much for giving me the opportunity of reading your
very able & interesting speculation I am &c.
The best train to come by on Sunday will be the North Kent train which
leaves Chafing Cross at 1.5, as it is the earliest after 9.45, and as I am not
sure that I shall be alone later in the afternoon. From the Blackheath station
to my house (the last but one in Blackheath Park) is about ten minutes walk.
I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. I_IILL
Dr Chapman
Blaeldaeath Park
Feb. 18, 1867
DEAR SIR
Many thanks for the cards for your Lecture _ which you were kind enough
to send. It would have been a real pleasure to me to make use of them, but
unfortunately there is no prospect of my being able to do so. Shall I return the
cards to you? I am
Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
•.. received your note I had been planning a Resolution to move in the
Committee of the House if the Government Resolutions ever get that far. 2 I
"London Order" of Bricklayers; and Daniel Guile, secretary of the Moulders' Society.
They sought to persuade Walpole to appoint a working man to the Royal Commission
on Trades Unions, and to arrange for the presence of a representative of each trade
union to explain any difficulty which might arise. See the Report of the Various Pro-
ceedings taken by the London Trades Council and the Conference of Amalgamated
Trades, in Reference to the Royal Commission on Trades Unions and other Subjects in
Connection Therewith (London, 1867).
3. Frederic Harrison.
41. 41" 4t 41"
1. MS in 1943 in the possession of Mrs. K. E. Roberts. About half of the first page
has been torn off and is lost.
2. See Letters 1044 and 1086, n. 2.
1244 To Thomas Hare Letter 1044
Blackheath Park
Feb. 19. 1867
DEAR MR. HARE
Blackheath Park
Kent
Feb. 20, 1867
DEAR SIR
Blaekheath Park
Feb. 21. 1867
DEARM RCHSJSTIE
There are a great many important features in your plan and I will en-
deavour by its help to think the subject out in a practical point of view as
soon as leisure is given us from the urgency of the present contest. 2No one
will give his mind to a detailed scheme for checking bribery at the present
moment; but there is a very strong sense that it ought to be one of the first
things done after passing a reform bill. You will have seen how strongly Mr
Gladstone has already in the House, expressed his sense of its necessity,s
Iam
Dear Mr Christie
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at Indiana.
2. Jacob Bright (1821-1899), radical politician, John Bright's brother. MP for
Manchester, 1867-74, 1876--85, and southern division, Manchester, 1886-95.
3. See Letters 1018, 1019, 1021, and 1024.
•It It ,It 41.
1. MS at Cornell.
2. In the Commons over the proposed Reform Bill.
3. Gladstone, in his comments on the Queen's Address at the opening of Parliament
on Feb. 5, 1867, deplored the omission from the Address of any reference to the need
to reform corrupt practices in elections. See Hansard, CLXXXV, col. 71.
1246 To an Unidentified Correspondent Letter 1047
Blaekheath Park
Kent
Feb y 27 th 1867
SIR
I have not leisure to go at length into the subject of your letter, but I spoke
of Dr Arnold 2 as a practical reformer precisely because I think that it was in
practic_ rather than in theory that his work and his influence were most
beneficial I look upon the example he set of friendly intercourse between
master and scholars, and of effort on the part of the teacher to arouse moral
ambition in his pupils, as of great practical value; and if generally followed,
sure to produce (as I think it has already produced) a considerable reform
in the whole method and results of school teaching.
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
[March, 1867]
I hope you will permit me to observe that the principle that "it is unjust
that the great bulk of the nation should be held amenable to laws in the
making of which they have had no voice," cannot stop at "residential man-
hood suffrage;" but requires that the suffrage be extended to women also. I
earnestly hope that the working men of England will show the sincerity of
their principles by being willing to carry them out when urged in favour of
others besides themselves.
1. MS not located. Published in the Co-operator, VII (March 15, 1867), 315.
The letter was preceded by this statement: "Mr. H. J. [sic] Rowntree,the chairman of
the late Reform demonstrationin York, has receivedcommunications from Earl Russell
and Mr. J. S. Mill, M.P., acknowledgingthe vote of thanks passed to them at the meet-
hagabove referredto."
Henry Isaac Rowntree (1838-1883), businessman;son of Joseph Rowntree (1801-
1859), prominent Quaker businessman, alderman, mayor-elect of York; younger
brother of Joseph Rowntree (1836-1925) with whom he was in partnership in the
cocoa manufacturing business which carried the family name. The latter was the
founderof the LiberalAssociation in York.
Letter 1049 To William Randal Cremer 1247
DEAR SIR--I am sorry to say that the proceedings at the meeting of Dele-
gates reported in the Star _ of Feb. 28, a meeting promoted by the Reform
League 3 & at which members of its Council were the chief speakers, make it
necessary for me to withdraw the paper which I had expressed my willingness
to sign: because I can no longer say with sincerity that an agitation conduc-
ted in the manner proposed at that meeting would be beneficial to the cause
of Reform.
The speeches delivered at the meeting were characterized by two things:
a determined rejection beforehand of all compromise on the Reform ques-
tion, even if proposed by the public men in whose sincerity & zeal as re-
formers you have repeatedly expressed the fullest confidence, & a readiness
to proceed at once to a trial of physical force if any opposition is made either
to your demands or to the particular mode, even though illegal, which you
may select for the expression of them.
It is best that I sh a express my opinion plainly & unreservedly on both
these points. My conviction is that any Reform bill capable of being passed
at present & for some time to come must be more or less of a com_m!s e. I
have hitherto thought that the leading minds among the working classes
recognized this, & though frankly declaring that nothing less than the whole
of what they think required by justice will finally satisfy them, were aware
that such ultimate success can only in this country be obtained by a succes-
sion of ssteps, and that a l_ge p0rt[6n-o-f the-/nlddleaiid Some portion of the
higher classes may be carried with them in the first step, & Perhaps in every
successive step, but would certainly resist a passage all at once from the
present distribution of political power to one exactly the reverse, the effects
of which they feel quite unable to foresee. All this the speakers at the meeting
on Thursday either forgot or entirely disregarded.
But even if I thought them right on this point I sha think them utterly &
fatally wrong in the course they adopted of directly instigating the mass of
reformers to seek the attainment of their object by physical violence. One of
the leading speakers proclaimed superiority of physical force as constituting
right, & as justifying the people in "riding down" the ministers of the law; &
the speaker who followed him emphatically expressed concurrence in his
treatment. I do not impute to the meeting the monstrous doctrine of these
two speakers. But unless misreported, the general tone was that of a direct
appeal to revolutionary expedients. Now it is my deep conviction that there
are only two things which iustify an attempt at revolution. One is personal
oppression & tyranny & consequent personal suffering of such intensity that
to put an immediate stop to them is worth almost any amount of present evil
& future danger. The other is when either the system of government does not
permit the redress of grievances to be sought by peaceable & legal means, or
when those means have been perseveringly exerted to the utmost for a long
series of years, & their inefficacy has been demonstrated by experiment. No
one will say that any of these justifications for revolution exist in the present
case. Yet unless the language used was mere bravado, the speakers appear to
have meant to say that the time has already come for revolution.
I do not wish to exaggerate the importance of these things; I believe them
to be the result of feelings of irritation, for which there has been ample
provocation and abundant excuse. But however natural irritation it may be,
things done or said under its influence are very likely to be repented of after-
wards. This, however, is for you to judge of. I do not claim the smallest fight
of offering advice to you or to the League, but you have asked me to express,
in a written document, approbation of the general character & effects of your
agitation, & as it is impossible for me to do this when it has assumed a
character of which I decidedly disapprove, I have thought it best to explain
candidly the reasons why I must now decline to comply with your request.
Excuse the long delay in answering your letter of the 22 nault °. I have really
had no time, during the interval, to write anything which would bear delay.
1. MS at King's.
Letter 1051 To John Plummer 1249
March 3. 1867
DEARMR PLUMMER
I shall have much pleasure in giving you an introduction to an old friend
of mine at Paris, M. Gustave d'Eichthal, 2 who knows England and the Eng-
2. George Hammond WhaUey (1813-1878), MP for Peterborough, 1852-53, 1859-
78. whaney both bored and amused the House by persistent and bitter attacks on the
Jesuits, whom he considered conspirators against the government. See Justin McCarthy,
Reminiscences (2 vols., London, 1899), II, 181-83.
• • 41. 41.
lish language well, will be interested in you and your history, is well qualified
to advise you, and can give you other introductions if you require them. If
you will let me know when you are going, I will send you a letter to him.
I am happy to hear a good account of your prospects. There is a great
heap of parliamentary papers ready for you, if they continue to be useful.
Shall I send them to Homer Terrace7
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer, I am
Dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MmL
Black.heath Park
March 5. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
I supposed you knew the time fixed for the Committee on Mr Hardy's
bill. 2 I am sorry to say it is next Thursday. I have not heard whether it is
likely to be further put off.
I have been in communication with various people on the subject, among
whom Dr Stallard, 8 as far as he goes, seems to agree very much with you,
while Beal 4 and his Vestry attack the bill on the old anti-centralization
notions, as interfering too much with the guardians. I had to fight a deputa-
tion of them in the tea room along with eight or ten metropolitan members,
most of whom went with me against them. But the deputation also are for
merging the separate boards in one. Their strongest objection was to the
nominees. What do you think of that part of the plan? Could a better system
of inspectors be substituted for it?
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS at UCL.
2. Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, later 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814-1906), conserva-
tive politician and statesman. In 1866 he was president of the Poor Law Board, in 1867,
Home Secretary. He sponsored the Metropolitan Poor Bill, to increase the facilities
and other care available in the metropolitan areas for the poor, especially for the sick
among the poor. See "English History," Annual Register 1867, pp. 16-17, and Reports
from the Select Committee on Metropolitan Local Government, etc. (London City Im-
provements Bill), 1867, XlI.
3. Joshua Harrison Stallard, physician, writer on paupers and sanitation.
4. James Beal. See Letter 896.
Letter 1053 To William Longman 1251
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 6, 1867
DEAR SIR--I agree to the terms mentioned in your note of March 4 for the
people's edition of the Address. e
Please send a copy of the People's Ed. of "Pol. Economy" to Mr W.
Dixon, 8 care of Mr Radford, 7 Red Lion Street Clerkenwell E. C. charging
me as usual with all expenses.
DEAR SIRmI do not see that the fact that it may become expedient at
some future time to admit women to the House of Representatives can be
any bar to admitting their claim at present to be electors. Any objections to
the meeting of persons of both sexes for the purpose of legislation are such
as naturally tend to diminish with a higher state of civilization. In some
countries the sexes are still separated at church; in the East the influence of
sex is so strong that even family life is rendered impossible by it, and brothers
and sisters, fathers and daughters, are separated, and men and women can
only associate together in the single relation of husband and wife. But we
have proved by experience that exactly in proportion as men and women
associate publicly together in a variety of relations not founded on sex, their
doing so becomes safe and beneficial, and raises the tone of public morality.
I am disposed to think that no legislation is needed to prevent women from
becoming members of parl t for that before any woman is likely to be chosen
by a sufficient number of electors, public opinion will ensure sufficient
propriety of sentiment in the House of Commons to make her presence there
perfectly harmless.
As to the objection that men & women might on some occasions differ
collectively, and that the women might have their own way, it has much
less force than the similar objection to the working classes, because men
and women are much more likely to be evenly balanced in number than
the poor & the rich. I cannot see how arranging that men shall always
have their own way in everything can in justice be the proper way to pre-
vent women from occasionally having theirs. There is a more even balance
between men and women than between any other two classes and therefore
the attainment of justice through equal representation may be more easily
trusted to the reason & fight feeling of the best among each acting as a check
to violence or party feeling on either side.
I should object to the plan of a subordinate house of representatives for
women just as I should object to any such plan for working men, and just as
I should object to placing the House of Commons in any such subordination
to the House of Lords. I dislike all merely class representation, and I still
more disapprove of all class subordination. Moreover one of the useful func-
tions of a H. of Representatives is discussion, and the representation of
women's point of view whether through male or female representatives is
part of what would be gained by admitting women to the suffrage. And it is
not merely in the H. of C. but also even in the tone of electioneering and
popular politics that the admission of new elements to the national life is of
importance. New topics get discussed and old ones from new points of view.
Different classes of electors are aroused to interest, and to influence one
another. Shutting their representatives up separately, even if with equal
powers, would be to weaken the educational influence of Political contests,
and at the same time to intensify their bitterness.
pelle le grand inter& que vous avez pris, il y a bien longtemps, taRowland De-
trosier: M. Plummer est un homme encore plus remarquable. I1 a 6t6 long-
temps simple ouvrier dans une petite ville de province. I1 a commene6
6trite sous la stimulation d'une vive indignation eontre terrains proe6d6s
d'un Trades Union. De _, il a 6t6 toujours en progr_s; il est maintenant
6edvain et journaliste, et ses 6edts, sur toutes les questions qui int_ressent
partieufi_rement la classe ouvd_re, sont remarquables par leur bon sens, par
leur philanthropic 6clair6e, et m_me par la puret6 de leur style. Malgr6 les
d6savantages, non seulement de sa position mais de sa personne, ear il est
boiteux et un peu sourd, il a une influence consid6rable parmi les classes
ouvd_res, surtout en mati_re sociale et 6conomique, car, quoique radical, il
s'oceupe moins de politique que des questions d'6ducation et de progr_s
moral et intellectuel. Je suis stir que vous ne le eonnaRrez pas sans 6prouver
pour lui un vff int6r&; et si vous pouviez l'aider _ obtenir ce qu'il d6sire, j'en
serais vraiment reconnaissant.
J'ai vu bier Monsieur votre ills, 5 pendant un quart d'heure _ la Chambre.
Je eompte causer avec lui plus au long _ son retour de Liverpool.
Votre affectionn_
J. S. MILL
The best plan, I think, will be for me to give notice, on Monday next, that
I shall, in the course of the Reform discussions, call the attention of the
House to the principle of Personal Representation. 2 I will then put your
clauses in the paper immediately after the production of the Bill.
I am Dear Mr. Hare
yours ever truly
J.S. MILL
4. Rowland Detrosier (18007-1834), workingmen's leader, secretary of the London
Political Union. See Earlier Letters, p. 147.
5. Probably Georges d'Eichthal, who came to Britain to enter business (see Letter
1514); but possibly Eugene d'Eichthal (1844-1936), journalist and economist, author
of many articles on political and economic subjects and editor of lohn Stuart Mill,
Correspondance in_dite avec Gustave d'Eichthal, 1828-1842, 1864--1871 (Paris, 1898).
March 8, 1867
DEAR MR PLUMMER
Blaekheath Park
March 9. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
You will have seen that you were mistaken about what Mr Hardy did on
Thursday, 2 and that the [substantive?] discussion in Committee commenced
last night, s In the course of it, I had opportunities of enunciating several of
the true principles of administration (though I am very imperfectly reported
at some other stage of the Reform Bill, call the attention of the House to the plan of
personal representation. See The Times, March 15, 1867,p. 4, and Letter 1086.
41. • • •
1. MS at UCL.
2. Gathorne-Hardy moved on Thursday, March 7, that the House go into Committee
on the Metropolitan Poor Bill so that the Amendments might be printed in time for dis-
cussion on the following night, March 8. See Letter 1052, n. 2.
3. JSM spoke on the admini,_tratinnof the Metropolitan Poor Law. See Hansard,
CLXXXV, cols. 1608-10.
Letter 1059 To an Unidentified Correspondent 1255
--the Star reporO is the best) and I shall bring out others of them on Mon-
day _ when the Committee is to be resumed and when it will get to the position
and mode of appointment of the medical officers. None of the reports give
(what I said very emphatically) that, for the executive duties, the only per-
sons to be relied on are the paid officers, and that the use of boards is to look
after those officers.
Mr Hardy tells me that Miss Nightingale's paper e is already before the
House annexed to the Cubical Space Report.
Thanks for your article, which I will return shortly.
yrs ever truly
J. S. MnJ,
Blackheath Park
March 11 th 1867
DEAR SIR
You axe evidently a real student and I wish that all who read my books
would scrutinize them with the same strictness.
In quoting the passage from De Quineey _ I did not mean to make myself
answerable for all it contains, but only for so much of it as is recognized in
my own introductory sentences. I thought it in the main right and well fitted
to carry the reader into the very heart of the subject, and when there to set
him looking about and thinking for himself, which opinion is confirmed by
the effect it has had upon you. I do not think that Mr De Quincey has in this
passage given a correct expression to the whole of the truth, and on the
particular point which is the subject of your letter my opinion agrees with
that which, if I rightly understand your letter, you have arrived at.
Yours faithfully
J. S. MILL
4. See Morning Star, March 9, 1867,p. 3.
5. Monday, March 11. For JSM's remarks, see Hansard, CLXXXV, cols. 1678-79,
1680, 1685, 1696.
6. Paper No. XVI in Report of the Committee appointed to consider the cubic space
oJ metropolitan workhouses; with papers submitted to the Committee (London, 1867),
pp. 64-79. Reprinted in Lucy Ridgely Seymer, ed. Selected Writings o/ Florence
Nightingale (New York, 1954), pp. 271-309.
41. 'It 41. tt
1. MS at Comell.
2. For quotations from and references to Thomas De Quineey's The Logic of Poli-
tical Economy, see Collected Works, HI, 1107-1108, and V, 783-85.
1256 To Edwin Chadwick Letter1060
Blackheath Park
March 12. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
The time had passed for moving your amendment in Committee but I
have put it on the notice paper (to the great satisfaction, among others, of
Dr Stallard) to be moved on bringing up the Report. 2 1 shewed it first to Mr
Hardy, who said that the plan was 'what we shall certainly come to.'
What I said is better reported this time than last, s though briefly.
The Bill is now through Committee, and one of Mr Hardy's own amend-
ments 4 has given the Poor Law Board, to a great extent, the power you want,
of classifying without district restrictions.
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
Black_heath Park
March 15. 1867
DEAR MR HARE
Disraeli said last night in answer to a question, that the Reform Bill would
be in the hands of members on Tuesday morning. 2 It seems likely that its
provisions will include cumulative voting. If so, our clauses ought to be
moved as an amendment on that. I think the clause giving power to the
Speaker of framing rules should stand and I expect to be able to suggest some
other improvements in the draft. 3 As I gave my notice in general terms last
1. MS at UCL. See also Letters 1052 and 1058.
2. Although JSM urged the necessity of large rather than small districts and corre-
spondingly large asylums, and of an administrative board for the whole metropolitan
district, which would supervise the districts and report to the Poor Law Board, he offered
these points as suggestions, not as amendments at the third reading of the Metropolitan
Poor Bill, which passed on March 14, 1867. See Hansard, CLXXXV, cols. 1861-63.
3. "This time" refers to JSM's remarks of March 11 (see Letter 1058, n. 5); "than
last" refers to his remarks of March 8 (see ibid., n. 3 and n. 4).
4. Clause 50, Metropolitan Poor Bill, gave the Poor Law Board the authority to
send the poor from one district to a workhouse in another. Parl. Papers, 1867 (Feb. 5
to Aug. 21 ), vol. IV, Bill 66.
night, _ the middle of next week will be soon enough for putting the actual
clauses on the paper. I will call on you at your office as soon as possible after
we have the Bill. I am
Dear Mr Hare
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
1062. TO W]-[JJA._IWOOD1
Blackbeath Park
March 15th 1867
DEAR SIR
Among the many letters on Reform which I have received since the subject
assumed a practical aspect, none has given me so much pleasure and none I
think has shown so true a perception of important principles and distinctions
as yours. I am not aware that I differ essentially from anything which your
letter contains though I should sometimes express the same, or an equivalent
meaning in different words.
If you have time and are inclined to write further to me on the subject,
specifying the particular mode which occurs to you of giving effect to the
principles of representation laid down by you, it will give me much pleasure
to hear from you.
I am dear Sir
yours truly
J. S. MILL
Your point of view is quite reasonable and complete in itself; I have only
one fault to find with it--I think it a mistaken one. I see no reason for
believing women to be inferior to men, and I do not believe them to be so.
You will of course see that it would be impossible for me to find time to enter
with you into a discussion on the fundamental equality of the two sexes, it
will be sufficient to indicate to you that this is the true point on which we are
at issue.
H.T. [for JSM]
Blackheath Park
March 21, 1867
DEARSIR
Black.heath Park
March 21, 1867
DEAR SIR
House of Commons
Friday [March 22, 1867]
DEAR SIR,
I have just presented your petition, 2 and stated its contents, incorporating
some of the most striking expressions in it. I have not moved that it should
be printed, as I am told that this is only done when it is intended that a
motion should be grounded on the petition; but it is sure to be printed by the
Committee of Petitions and sent to every member with their periodical report.
I am Dear Sir
Very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Spencer's address not having the number by me. It is Queen's Gardens Hyde
Park.
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blaekheath Park
March 26. 1867
DEARMR HARE
I understood you to say one day in conversation, that the majority of the
old deeds of endowment of schools included girls as well as boys, _ but that
this part of the original design has been allowed to fall into desuetude. Am I
right as to the fact? If so, I shall make use of it in my speech on the repre-
sentation of women.
I was glad to see your hand again in the Daily News) Helen asks me to
beg you to be kind enough to tell Miss Hare that there is now no chance of
the women's suffrage debate coming on next Thursday, and it is not likely
even for next week. 41 am Dear Mr Hare
ever yours truly
.]'. S. M/LL
Blackheath Park
March 26. 1867
DEAR SIR
Mr Grote has promised to dine with us on Sunday April 7th and this being
one of the Sundays on which I understood you to say that you would be in
town, we hope to have the pleasure of seeing you on that day. We dine at five
o'clock.
I am Dear Sir
Very truly yours,
J. S. MILL
Herbert Spencer, Esq.
1. MS in 1943 in the possession of Mrs. K. E. Roberts.
2. Hare must have confirmed this fact, for JSM made use of the point in his speech
on the representation of women on May 20. See Hansard, CLXXXVII, col. 827.
3. "Minorities, Cumulative Voting and Personal Representation," Daily News,
March 25, 1867, p. 3.
4. The debate took place on May 20, 1867. See Hansard, CLXXXVII, eols. 817--45.
41' 41" 41. 41.
1. MS copy at Northwestern.
Letter 1070 To Gustave d'Eichthal 1261
DEAR SIR--I am glad to find that you agree with me in thlnl_ing that there is
no sufficient evidence that women are morally or intellectually, or essentially
inferior to men. But in that ease I am afraid I no longer think your theory
reasonable so far as it goes, and complete in itself.
I do not think it indisputable that the physically strongest must necessarily
be dominant over the physically weaker in civilized society, since I look
upon it as the fundamental purpose of civilization to redress as much as
possible all such natural inequalities, and I think the degree to which they
have been redressed as one of the best tests of civilization.
Nor is superior physical strength invariably even at present the ground
of political supremacy, for I suppose there can be little doubt that negroes
are physically stronger than white men. But superiority whether of physical
strength or of intelligence, having once given any sub-division of humanity
an advantage over another it is always difficult for the dominant class to
1. MSat Arsenal.
2. Henry (later Sir Henry) Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), barristerand author of
treatises on law.
3. William Theobald (1798-1870), of the Inner Temple andthe CalcuttaBar, author
of legal works.
see that their own particular superiority does not justly entitle them to limit
the freedom or check the development of those who chance to be inferior
to themselves in some respects. To see this it is necessary to admit in some
form or other the law of justice or of the general good as the final test, but I
do not at all despair of mankind as a whole becoming capable of recognising
it as such, as I understand you yourself to do. I must beg you to excuse the
brevity with which I am obliged to write.
Blackheath Park
April 5. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
Your plan of registration would be cheap and effectual and might have
answered under the old constitution of the Poor Law Board; but it would
never be consented to, nor would be admissible, to place the whole registra-
tion of the country under the supreme control of a member of the existing
Cabinet, whatever it might be.
The subject of expenses of elections will certainly come on this year, unless
there is an early dissolution. A paper in the next number of Fraser 2 would,
I have no doubt, be quite in time for it.
I return your paper by book post, and along with it the evidence of
Chamberlain Scott,s which please return
In haste
ever yrs
J. S. MILL
but I heartily agree in the demand for an efficient lodger franchise s and I
trust that the House will insist on its introduction in any Reform Bill which
it allows to pass.
Iam
Yours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
April 16, 1867.
DEAR SIR
I hardly think there would be any use in putting the question you propose
to the Government, as they wouldonly return a blunt negative. But the sub-
iect ought to be brought in a direct manner before the House at an early
period. Perhaps the best time, if a Reform Bill passes, would be in the first
session of the Reformed Parliament.
I am not surprised, though very glad, to hear that you and the ladies of
your family are strongly interested in favour of the admission of women to
the suffrage. I am dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
Edward Truelove, Esq.
. Avignon
April 21. 1867
DEAR SIR
Owing to my absence from England, I have only just received your letter.
I inclose a note addressed to yourself, 2 which will probably answer your
give middle-class and working men a chance to confer on the Reform Bill. See The
Times, April 8, p. 9.
3. For those living in boroughs a £ 10 lodger franchise was part of the Reform
Bill of 1867.
_1. .I. 'It
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
Edward Truelove (1809--1899), bookseller and publisher. Once a member of Robert
Owen's communistic settlement at New Harmony, Hants., Truelove in 1858 was in-
dicted but not tried for publishing a pamphlet [by William E. Adams] entitled Tyranni-
¢ide, is it justifiable? JSM contributed £ 20 to the Defence Fund raised for Truelove
at that time.
41" .It 41" 41"
Avignon
April 21. 1867
DEARMR FURNIVALL
I am very glad to hear of the merit and success of the Frame Makers' and
1. MS at Brit. Mus.
2. Thomas Vardon, librarian of the House of Commons since 1831, had died on
April 12. Furnivall, who had lost his fortune in the failure of the Overend and Gurney
bank earlier this year, had to seek a remunerative position. The librarianship appoint-
ment, however, went to the assistant librarian, George Howard.
3. Furnivall had founded the Early English Text Society in 1864.
4. He had been one of two honorary secretaries of the Society since 1853 and was
sole secretary from 1862 to his death.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
April 28. 1867
DEAR SIR
I have been a long time without answering your letter of Jan. 12 & you
have been very patient under the delay. I am so busy that it is with dit_culty
I have found time to read your MS. To write to you what I think on the
different topics of it would be impossible for it would require nothing less
than a treatise to explain how far I think you right & how far wrong on all
the greatest subjects, religious, potitical, & social, which can possibly occupy
the thoughts of an intelligent human being. Let me say however that I think
the production very creditable to you, that I advise you by all means to
continue thinking, reading, & studying; but I hesitate to advise you to publish,
because I think you will very probably acquire additional thoughts which
will modify some of those that you have stated with so much vigour, & on
many points with so great a foundation of truth. You will also, by persever-
ing self culture, acquire constantly greater power of doing justice to your
thoughts by your mode of expressing them. Had I time I shd be very glad
to correspond with you, & discuss those great matters of speculation but my
pressing occupations forbid any such hope.
I wiUreturn your MS, to any address you may give.
Blackheath Park
May 1.1867
DEAR MR FAWCETT
Blackheath Park
Kent
May 1st 1867
DEAR SIR
Want of time has hitherto prevented me from complying with your request
that I would acknowledge receipt of your last letter, which I would gladly
do at greater length than is possible for me at present.
I think with you that the plan of Reform proposed in your letter is far
preferable to that of the present Gov t. I presume that your household suffrage
would include women who are householders. I am glad to hear that you
are against the Ballot. For other points I would refer you to Mr Hare's book 2
and my own volume on Representation)
I shaU hope to hear from you again, and to be able at a more favourable
1. MS at LSE.
2. Henry Fawcett married MilticentGarrett on April 23, 1867.
3. See Letter 1068,n. 4.
.11. 4t .It 4t
moment to reply more fully to any communications with which you may
favour me.
I am dear Sir
yours truly
J. S. MILL
Mr. William Wood
I have seldom been more shocked by any similar event than I was by the
melancholy loss of your poor brother. Most gladly would I shew in any
1. MS not located. Published in the Manchester Daily Examiner and Times, May 9,
1867, and in the Manchester Weekly Times, May I1.
Hare read the letter at the grave as a part of the funeral service for Max Kyllmann
on May 7.
2. The final discussion of the "compound-householder" question under Clause 3,
which was then in Committee. Controversy on May 6 concerned several smaller issues
(Hansard, CLXXXVII, cols. 15-56); but the entire debate of May 9 centred on an
ambiguous four-word amendment offered by Disraeli (Hansard, ibid., eols. 266--357).
JSM opposed the amendment on the ground that it would lead to expensive politicking
and perhaps to traffic in votes; the amendment
tt 41' It
passed,
41.
however, with a majority of 66.
1. MS at CorneU.See preceding Letter.
1268 To an Unidentifted Correspondent Letter 1081
way my profound respect for his memory and my sympathy with his poor
wife but tonight, debate and division are unhappily among the most critical
in the whole progress of the Reform Bill, making it absolutely necessary for
me to be present, and to remain to an hour which would make it impossible
for me to arrive at Manchester in time.
I am, Dear Mr KyUmann with the deepest sympathy
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
My letter did not amount to a promise that I would support the proposal
to omit the word 'certificated' in the clause giving the franchise to attornies, z
though it expressed a willingness to entertain the question.
The Chelsea garden grievances which you complain of are a proper sub-
ject for a memorial to the Home Secretary or a petition to parliament, either
of which I should be happy to present if it should be desired that I should do
so rather than one of the members for Middlesex. s
I am Sir
Yours faithfully
J. S. M.ILL
From the length of time which elapsed without my hearing further from
you on the state of your affairs as connected with the Review, _ I had hoped
1. MS at Coruell. In Helen Taylor's hand but signed by JSM.
2. Clause 5 of the original biU: "Educational Franchises for Voters in Counties and
Boroughs," Proviso 4, "Is, and has been during the Period aforesaid, a Serjeant-at-Law
or Barrister-at-Lawin any of the Inns of Court in England, or a Certificated Pleader or
CertificatedConveyancer .... "
3. On May 20 JSM and on May 21 Henry Labouchere, MP for Middlesex, and Capt.
Grosvenor, MP for Westminster, presented petitions to Parliament from the residents
of Chelsea requestingfuller access by the public to both the outer and inner gardensof
Chelsea Hospital. For the reply of the First Commissioner of Public Works to Labou-
chore's questions,see Hansard, CLXXXVH, cols. 1026-27.
41" 41' 41' 41"
that things had in some way assumed a better aspect, but I am sorry to find
that the very reverse is the case. I shall be anxious to hear the results of
your communication with Mr Jacob Bright, my own prospects of being of
use in the matter by any influence with monied people being, as I have said
from the first, anything but promising. But I will endeavour to do what little
I can, and will keep you informed of anything I have to tell. I am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. M_LL
Dr Chapman
Blackheath Park
May 19. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
From the turn which events are taking, there is now, I think, no prospect
whatever of an early dissolution. _
In thinking of the various possibilities of your return to Parliament, it has
occurred to me that one of the most promising might be, to offer yourself for
one of the two Parliamentary boroughs into which the Tower Hamlets are
to be divided. 8 One advantage of this is that you would not displace any
existing member, whose friends would oppose you: another is, that there are
no preponderant or commanding local interests in a metropolitan borough.
Another chance would be to try against Doulton 4 for Lambeth. Almost
any presentable candidate standing as a supporter of Reform and of Glad-
stone, could probably succeed against Doulton if he were the first in the
field.
It is feared that the University of London will return Fowler, 5 the late
Tory candidate for the City, who is an alumnus of University College, and
takes an active part in its affairs and in those of the University.
I am Dear Chadwick
yours ever truly
J. S. M_LL
1. MS at UCL.
2. This Parliament was not formally dissolved until Nov. 11, 1868.
3. It was divided into Tower Hamlets and Hackney.
4. Frederick Doulton (1824-1872), manufacturer, MP for Lambeth, 1862-68.
5. Robert, later Sir Robert Nicholas Fowler (1828-1891 ), banker and politician, MP
for Penryn and Falmouth, 1868-74, and for the city of London, 1880-91. Robert Lowe
was elected unopposedfor the Universityof London in 1868.
1270 To Herbert Spencer Letter 1084
B[lackheath] P[ark]
May 24. 1867
DEAR SIRmI write now to ask a favour of you, which however I am certain
before I ask it you will grant if it can reasonably be granted. My daughter
has formed a plan for publishing a series of papers on the representation of
women, which she would like to consist of the following:
1. MS draft and MS copy at Northwestern. Spencer in his reply of May 28, MS also
at Northwestern, partly published in Duncan, I, 180-81, politely refused permission to
publish the chapter on "The Rights of Women," because in the seventeen years since
its original publication his views had changed.
2. See Letter 28.
3. Social Statics (London, 1851), Part H, chap. x'o.
4. The Rationale of Political Representation (London, 1835).
5. Speech o/lohn Stuart Mill, M.P., on the admission of women to the electoral
franchise, spoken in the House of Commons, May 20, 1867. Hansard, CLXXXVII,
cols. 817-829. Reprinted by Triibner (London, 1867).
6. "Of the Extension of the Suffrage," Rep. Govt., chap. vm.
7. Lydia E. Becker, "Female Suffrage," Contemp. Rev., IV (March, 1867), 307-16.
Miss Becker (1827-1890) was secretary of the Manchester Women's Suffrage Society,
and editor of the Women's Suffrage 1ournal, 1870-90.
8. Barbara L. S. Bodichon (1827-1891), feminist and educational reformer, read her
paper on "Middle-Class Schools for Girls" at the 1860 (Glasgow) meeting of the
NAPSS. For abstract, see Transactions 1860 (London, 1861), pp. 432-33. She also
read a paper on suffrage for women freeholders and householders at the 1866 (Man-
chester) meeting of the Association. It was printed as a pamphlet by the NAPSS,
Reasons for the Enfranchisement of Women (London, 1866).
9. See Letter 1008.This article was reprinted by Triibner, 1867.
10. Mrs. Mill's article, JSM's speech, and Helen Taylor's article were reprinted by
Triibner (see Letter 1093).
Letter 1085 To John Elliot Cairnes 1271
minority of 73 (which would have been near 100 if the division had not
taken place unexpectedly at a bad time of the evening) is most encouraging,
and has put its members and many other supporters in great spirits. The
greatest triumph of all is getting [John] Bright's vote: ten days before, he
was decidedly against us.
We are not yet safe from the gross blunder as well as crime of shedding
the blood of Fenian prisoners. The Government had decided, by a majority,
to hang Burke. 8 About 50 M.P.'s, of which I was one, went as soon as
possible to intercede with Lord Derby, 9 and at this time of writing I do not
yet know what is the result. If they have not given in we shall attack them
furiously in the House tomorrow.
As to Lord Naas' bill, 1° it does so very httle that nobody seems to wish
it to pass, except, probably, himself: I think, however, that it had better pass,
because it contains the principle of giving compensation for improvements
beneficial to the landlord, though made without his consent. But there are
symptoms of the Government's giving way on this point, and if they do, the
Bill will be a mere authority to lend public money, even if ostensibly to
tenants, yet really to landlords, for improvements by which landlords alone
will benefit, except so far as everybody is benefitted by any agriculturalim-
provement.
I hope you do not depend on the Times or Galignani for all your news.
Probably you see the Daily News. Not only that, but the Star, and even the
Telegraph, are much fairer, have often better reports and contain much
that the Times does not choose to give.
With our kind regards to Mrs Caimes, whose health we were happy to
hear had improved.
I am Dear Mr Cairnes
yours most truly
J. S. M/LL
May 30. I kept the letter open to be able to say that Burke's life is spared.
But we had to threaten that some of us would go down to Balmoral. 11
Blaekheath Park
Monday
[May 26, 1867]
DEAR MR HARE
It would give me much pleasure if you would take dinner with me at the
House of Commons on Tuesday at seven. Under the new arrangements I
shall be free from 7 to 9, and I have asked Prof. Bain to join us.
I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
May 27. 1867
DEAR SIR I do not antieipate that women would be made less valuable
in the house by having their minds directed to the great concerns of man-
kind: but quite the contrary, wherever men's minds are employed as much
as they ought to be on those great concerns.
Neither do I think that the adaptation of the work of each person to his
1. MS in 1943 in the possession of Mrs. K. E. Roberts.
2. The amending resolutions to introduce Personal Representation into the Reform
of Parliament Act were debated on Thursday, May 30, 1867. Following the debate, JSM
withdrew the resolutions. Hansard, CLXXXVII, cols. 1343-62.
3. For admission to the Speaker's Gallery; JSM would have placed Hare's name on
a list kept by the Sergeant at Arms.
House of Commons
May 27, 1867
J.S.M.
2. For a report on the bribery in a parliamentary election, see "Tomes. Report of the
Election Committee." Devon Weekly Times, March 1, 1867, p. 7. For a report on the
action by the Church, see "The Totnes Independents and Bribery," Manchester Guar-
dian, May 20, 1867,p. 3.
,ll. 41' 41' 41-
1091. TO G. W. SHARP1
B[lackheath] P[ark]
June 1. 1867
Sin--In answer to your letter of May 27 I beg to say that the passage you
refer to in my speech at St James's Hall was correctly reported: And I do
not know how anyone could express himself otherwise who believes, as all
Englishmen do, that insurrections & revolutions are sometimes justifiable. I
will only mention, as cases about which there is scarcely any dispute in this
country, the resistance to Charles I; our own Revolution of 1688; the Polish
insurrections; & the Italian revolutions by Garibaldi & his friends.
I did not mean that all insurrections, if successful, stand exculpated; the
rebellion of the American slaveholders would have been equally guilty &
even more detestable if it had succeeded. What I was arguing for was that
even those revolutionists who deserve our sympathy, ought yet for the gen-
eral good, to be subject to legal punishment if they fail.
1. MS not located. Published in The Industrial Partnership Record, No. 6 (August,
1867), of which Greeningwas Editor.
2. The periodical was published monthly from March, 1867, to Feb., 1868. George
Jacob Holyoake became editor on Jan. 19, 1868, and the name was changed to the
Social Economist in March, 1868.
3. The Co-operator. See Letter 575.
JSM had spoken at a meeting of the National Reform Union on May 25, 1867.
Although the meeting had been called in support of parliamentary reform, he had
devoted most of his speech to an attack upon the government's decision to hang the
Fenian Burke. See Letters 1085 and 1089. For JSM's speech and a report of the meeting,
see The Times, May 27, 1867,p. 12.
1276 To William Todd Letter 1092
B[lackheath] P[ark]
June 1. 1867
DEAR SIR
1. MS draft at Yale. In reply to Triibner's of the same date, also at Yale, as is his
answer of June 4.
2. In his letter of the same day, Triibner informed JSM that the Society for the
Extension of Suffrage to Women had ordered the speech he made in Parliament on
women's suffrage to be reprinted. See Letter 1084, n.5.
3. See ibid., n. 9.
Letter 1094 To William Wood 1277
& informing her of the difference which is made in the cost by any increase
in the number of copies.
[P.S.] Please send a copy of the speech as soon as published to Mr Hansard *
in the Row.
Your letter of May 20 interested me very much as the preceding ones did.
You seem to have profited much by your really solid reading, and to have
made excellent use of your powers of thought; and I shall be most happy to
hear from you on the other subjects you mention. My immediate object in
writing is to say that though it is very honourable to you to have relinquished
your intention of going to the Paris Exhibition, 2 it is really desirable that
you should go, as there is much to be learnt in that way also by a thinking
person like yourself: and to make up for the delay it may cause in stocking
your bookcase, I would with the greatest pleasure lend you, say for six
months at a time, any standard books I have in my library which may be in-
teresting and useful to you which I am not immediately using. If you would
let me know the subjects which you would like to study at present, I could
probably recommend to you some of the best books there are on it. I am
Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. ]VIILL
Mr. William Wood
Blackheath Park.
June 2. 1867
DEAR MADAM
tions, both moral and political, which the Cumulative Vote has not.2 The
Cumulative Vote, however, under the necessary condition of three mem-
bers to a constituency, is to be proposed by Mr Hughes, 8and I shall vote for
it as the second best proposal: whether I shall say anything on that occasion
will depend on circumstances, but much of what I have said for Mr Hare's
plan will be argumentfor the Cumulative Vote.
I am sorry that the Representation of Women has not the benefit of your
support. No doubt, there are plenty of women, as there are of men, who are
at present very insufficiently qualified for the exercise of political judgment;
but their exclusion from the suffrage does more than anything else to per-
petuate that incapacity, by stamping it with the approbation of Society. The
removal of that stamp would make women feel entitled to exercise their
minds on politics, and they would very soon know quite as much on the
subject as men know; which they never will do while society and the law
warn them off the ground.
I am Dear Madam
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
DEAR SIR: Being one who takes as deep and as continuous an interest
in the political, moral, and social progress of the United States as if he were
himself an American citizen, I hope I shall not be intrusive if I express to
you as the executive organ of the Impartial Suffrage Association, 2 the deep
joy I felt on learning that both branches of the Legislature of Kansas had,
by large majorities, proposed for the approval of your citizens an amend-
ment to your constitution, abolishing the unjust political privileges of sex
at one and the same stroke with the kindred privilege of colour. We are
accustomed to see Kansas foremost in the struggle for the equal claims of all
2. See Letters 695 and 949. 3. Thomas Hughes, then MP for Lambeth.
human beings to freedom and citizenship. I shall never forget with what
profound interest I and others who felt with me watched every incident of
the preliminary civil war s in which your noble State, then only a Territory,
preceded the great nation of which it is a part, in shedding its blood to arrest
the extension of slavery.
Kansas was the herald and protagonist of the memorable contest, which
at the cost of so many heroic lives, has admitted the African race to the
blessings of freedom and education, and she is now taking the same ad-
vanced position in the peaceful but equally important contest which, by re-
lieving half the human race from artificial disabilities belonging to the ideas
of a past age, will give a new impulse and improved character to the career
of social and moral progress now opening for mankind. If your citizens,
next November, give effect to the enlightened views of your Legislature,
history will remember that one of the youngest States in the civilized world
has been the first to adopt a measure of liberation destined to extend all
over the earth, and to be looked back to (as is my fixed conviction) as one
of the most fertile in beneficial consequences of all the improvements yet
effeeted in human affairs. I am, sir, with the warmest wishes for the pros-
perity of Kansas,
Yours very truly
J. STUART MILL
Blackheath Park
June 7. 1867
DEAR MR FAWCETT
3. The pre-Civil War contiicts between the "free-soilers" and the pro-slavery forces.
41. _ _ 41'
1. MS at LSE.
2. A Select Committee was nominated on June 27, to which was committed an
Oxford and Cambridge Universities Bill which sought to open both institutions to stu-
dents without requiring them to be members of the constituent colleges. Another bill to
revise the constitutions of the two universities was also considered by the Committee.
The bills were withdrawn on July 22, 1868.
1280 To John Nicolaus Triibner Letter 1098
B[lacldaeath] P[ark]
June 7. 1867
DEAR SIR
Will you kindly have a page of the "Claim of Englishwomen to the Suf-
frage ''2 set up on specimen paper?
The two copies of the Speech 8 have not yet arrived. I should be glad to
have a dozen for the present.
With regard to the conditions of publication whichever of the two modes
you prefer will be agreeable to me. 4
Saffron Walden
Sunday morning
[June 9, 1867]
DEAR the Spectator you kindly sent came safe. We 2 have, as you see,
splendid weather and things have gone prosperously with us thus far except
as to my neuralgia, which came on as usual after the first half hour's walking
and remained much the same as in our bad days in the [Lebern?] a (bad in
that respect but glorious in all others). And, what is worse, I have it already
this morning before starting, from the mere exertion of dressing. I am
obliged therefore to take a fly today to carry us out a certain distance and
begin our walk from thence though if I had been in proper condition we
would have done it all on foot. We have determined to remain here the
whole time, as none of the other places we wish to go to are too distant for
excursions from hence. So any letters or newspapers posted on Monday will
reach me if sent here. It is unnecessary to post any on Tuesday. With love to
pussy, your ever affectionate
J.S.M.
1. MS at LSE.
Z. A_exan6erIrvine, ISM's _avouiite botan'_z_ngcompanion in later _jear%no doubt
was with him.
3. Possibly the Lebern mountains, a range near Wangen on the north side of the Aare
valley, in Switzerland.
Letter 1100 To Helen Taylor 1281
Saffron Walden
Monday evg
[June 10, 1867]
J.S.M.
1. MS at LSF.. .....
2. It did not publish Helen's letter, but on June 17, 1867, p. 5, it published a sum-
mary statement on petitions in behalf of women suffrage presented to the Commons.
3. JSM had spoken briefly on the Bankruptcy Acts Repeal Bill on Tuesday, June 4;
for the debate on that occasion, see Hansard, CLXXXVII, cols. 1556-82. The Bill was
subsequently withdrawn on July 11.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
June 22. 1867.
gerald) office of the City Item, Philadelphia; and 100 copies to Miss
Becker, 4 10 Grove Street, Ardwick, Manchester.
My daughter approves of the specimen you sent & decides to have 5000
copies of her pamphlet s printed at the expense stated in your estimate. As
she reprints it chiefly for distribution & does not look for a remunerating
sale she fixes the price at a penny & cannot expect that a publisher sha take
the risk, but she desires me to ask on what condition you would be willing to
publish it on her account.
She sends a title page and would wish to see a proof.
Blackheath Park
June 30. 1867
DEAR MR C_RNES
Many thanks for your kind and interesting letter of June 10. Since then
we have twice had news of you through Thornton. I should think Bar_ges
a very desirable place to try, as regards specific influence on your complaint,
though all the Pyrenean climates are moist and relaxing. With regard to
Montreux, I have been there, and remember its situation, which seemed
sheltered, but I should have thought that no place in the/klps could have a
climate mild enough in winter for a weak chest, or dry enough at any season
for a rheumatic patient. However you will doubtless make all necessary en-
quiries and only act on the advice of good medical men well acquainted with
the place.
You will have seen that Fawcett did not fail to bring on his motion for
opening Trinity College. 2 You will also have seen the amendment which
MonseU moved; 8 and I am very desirous to know what you think of it. My
present impression is that though constituting a change for the worse, it is
less bad than the plan of the late Government because it is compatible with
making the governing body of the proposed University impartial, and un-
connected with the Colleges; excluding ultramontane Catholics, or at all
events greatly diminishing their influence: and less bad also than the plan to
which the present Government seem inclined, that of giving a charter to the
Catholic University, because that would lead to a bidding for students by
lowering the standard required for degrees in all secular subjects. But I
wait to hear your opinion before forming any decided one of my own.
I never expected any better reception in Parliament or the press for Per-
sonal Representation than it has met with. Considerable good has notwith-
standing been done, and the plan is becoming known, and obtaining serious
consideration from many who had not previously attended to it. The
Women's question has been a most decided and important success, and it is
truly astonishing how the right opinion is spreading both among women and
men since the debate. We are now forming a Society in London for the
Representation of Women, 4 and hope to get others formed in Edinburgh,
Dublin and elsewhere (there is already a most efficient one in Manchester,
which obtained the majority of the 13500 signatures to this year's petitions).
The proposed Society will probably be composed of an executive committee
of ladies, a General Committee of both sexes subscribing one guinea a year,
which will be the ultimate governing body, and ordinary members who
will only subscribe a small sum per annum, will receive the reports and
circulars, but have no part of the management. The chief members of the
Executive Committee will be M rs P. A. Taylor, 5 Miss Cobbe. Mr_ Stans-
feld 6 and M TM Fawcett. My daughter and I will be on the General Committee.
Will you and M r_Cairnes give us leave to put your names upon it? and can
you give any help for the formation of a Society in Dublin?
It would have given you great pleasure had you been at the Garrison
breakfast, 7 and heard, especially Bright, and Garrison himself. I wished for
you, too, at the splendid Reform meetings at St James's Hall, 8 if only to see
4. As announced in the papers on July 6, 1867, it was named "The London National
Society for Woman Suffrage." As correspondence at LSE between Helen Taylor and
Clementia Taylor reveals, Helen threatened that she and JSM would withdraw unless
the name was altered. On July 22 the Committee yielded, and the name henceforth
used was "The London National Society for Women's Suffrage."
5. Clementia Taylor (1811-1908), wife of Peter Alfred Taylor, liberal MP for
Leicesterfor many years.
6. Caroline (n6¢ Ashhurst), (d. 1885), wife of Sir James Stansfeld, radical MP for
Halifax, 1859-95.
7. A breakfast in honour of William Lloyd Garrison, the American abolitionist,was
held at St. James's Hall, London, on June 29, 1867. John Bright spoke, followed by the
Duke of Argyll, Earl Russell. JSM, and others. The text of JSM's speech is printed in
W. P. Garrison and F. 3. Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879 . . . (4 vols.
New York, 1889), IV, 211-13.
8. JSM spoke at meetings of the National Reform Union at St. James'sHall on May
Letter 1105 To John Colam 1285
and hear the admirable feelings of the people respecting Ireland. Apropos,
at the last meeting M r' Law 9 addressed them in favour of the political equal-
ity of women, and was not only loudly applauded but when she asked all
who were in favour of it to hold up their hands, nearly the whole of the mul-
titude who were present did so. Is not that worth having worked for? I am
Dear Mr Caimes
ever yours truly
J. S. MaLL
25 (see Letter 1091) and on June 28, on the latter occasion when he was unexpectedly
called upon.
9. The Daily News for June 29, 1867, p. 5, reported that at the close of the meeting,
before a motion of thanks to the Chairman, Jacob Bright, was put to vote, "a lady in a
sailor's hat . . . came forward and made a long oration on the subject of women's
political fights. She called for a show of hands in favour of Mr. Mill's proposition to
admit women to the suffrage, and the meeting, which had half dwindled away, cor-
dially answered the appeal."
The lady was Mrs. Harriet Law (1832-1897), well known as a lecturer on secularist
topics. Two years earlier the National Reformer (May 28, 1865,pp. 348--49), in a piece
entitled "Mrs. Law's Provincial Tour," had reported that her lecture at Birmingham "was
a comparison of the teaching of Moses, Jesus and Mill on Political Economy, in which
the wisdom of the latter and the foolishness of the former were judiciously shown.
Moses and Jesus, in almost everything they said on this subject, were shown to be in
direct opposition to the teachings of Mill, and other great political economists of the
present time. And in everything they differed, although God-inspired men, their dif-
ferences only tended to render their teachings absurd, useless, and contradictory."
In June, 1867, Mrs. Law became the first woman member of the General Council of
the International. From 1872 to 1879 she edited the Secular Chronicle (published at Bir-
mingham), which printed a number of the writings of Karl Marx.
41' _ 41' 41'
1. MS at UCLA.
John Colam (ca. 1827-1910), secretary of the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, 1860-1905; a founder of the National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children; a founder and editor of the journal of the RSPCA, the Animal
WorM. See Letter 1271.
1286 To George John Graham Letter 1106
Blackheath Park
June 30. 1867
DEAR GRAHAM
Blackheath Park
July 3. 1867
DEAR SIR
1. MS at LSE.
2. William Wood. See Letter 1062.
Letter 1108 To Robert W. OUivier 1287
least they lead to conduct which would excite moral disapprobation, or entail
legal penalties on private individuals.
Blacldaeath Park
July 9. 1867
DEARSIR
As I have not myself sufficient knowledge of recent works on geometry to
be able to direct you to the books best adapted for your purpose, I have
consulted my friend Mr De Morgan, 2 the late Professor of Mathematics at
University College London, who is not only one of our best mathematicians
but a distinguished thinker on other important subjects. He was much inter-
ested by what I told him of you, and suggests that you should write directly
to himself, stating in some detail both what you know and what you want.
In doing so, you should specify what you know, whether much or little, of
arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and physical science, as well as anything else
you may like to teU him of your general knowledge and mental habits. His
address is Augustus De Morgan Esq, 91 Adelaide Road, London, N. W.
I am very glad that you have so just and clear an appreciation of the true
character and merits of Mr Hare's system, and that you are making it known
among your friends and fellow workmen. It is in that way that truth gets on.
I am obliged to be brief, but I shall always be happy to hear from you at any
length. Continue to direct here, as, when I am abroad, letters are forwarded
to me at least once a week. Do not send stamped envelopes. I am Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S./VIILL
Mr William Wood
Blackheath Park
July 17. 1867
DEAR MR FAWCETT
1. MS at LSE.
2. Edward Henry Stanley, Foreign Secretary, 1866-68, in reply to a question by
JSM, said that the appointment of Commodore Sir William Wiseman, R.N., as head of
the Naval Council to the Turkish Government (a body formed to reorganize the
Turkish navy) would be suspended until the hostilities caused by the Cretan insurrection
Letter 1113 To Edmond Beales 1291
I am, on the whole, rather against carrying the subject of the Sultan's ball
any farther, s It is by no means the strongest case of charging India with ex-
penses that if incurred at all, should be borne by England; and many who
might support us in other cases would probably consider the reason given by
Northeote, that the civility is in return for assistance given to telegraphic
communication with India, a sulficient justification for charging India with
the expense. But what weighs with me more than this, is that, very possibly,
Northcote did not tell us all. The real fact is that the Sultan has done his part
in the telegraphic business very badly; he win not allow English telegraph
clerks, and his Turkish ones perform the duty abominably. Perhaps, there-
fore, under pretence of thanking him for what he has done, the real object is
to induce him to do better, and there may be a plan for coaxing him into con-
cessions by putting him in good humour, which any further opposition might
unwittingly obstruct. What you have already done has been very useful; the
disavowals which it has elicited have wiped off part of the stain on our
character, and it would perhaps be as weU to let the matter rest for the
present. I am
Dear Mr Fawcett
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
against Turkey were at an end. JSM had asked whether it was consistent with Britain's
non-intervention policy to send Commodore Wiseman to the TUrkish post. Stanley
agreed to JSM's interpretation only after questions at two meetings of the Commons on
July 16 and 22, 1867. Hansard, CLXXXVIII, cols. 1621-22, and 1873. The further
question mentioned here was not raised until Monday, July 22.
3. On July 16, Fawcett had asked Sir Stafford Northcote, Secretary of State for
India, whether a ball planned for the Sultan of Turkey should be charged to the Indian
revenues. Northcote, as JSM notes, defended the policy on the grounds of Turkish
assistance to telegraphic communication with India. See Hansard, CLXXXVIII, cols.
1624-26.
41. 41- tt It
Blackheath Park
Kent
July 22. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
1. MS at UCL.
2. Sir James Stansfeld, B.A., 1840, LL.B., 1844, of University College, London, had
been active in urging Walter Bagehot to be a candidate for the seat in Parliament
granted by the Reform Bill of 1867 to the University of London.
3. Walter Bagehot (1826--1877), economist and journalist, man of letters and editor
of the Economist, 1860-77. Graduate of London, B.A., 1846, and M.A., 1848.
4. Report on Dwellings Characterised by Cheapness combined with the Conditions
necessary ]or Health and ComJort--Class 93, a report which was part of a series on the
Paris International Exhibition, 1867, prepared by order of the Committee of Council
on Education, and published in the Illustrated London News, Supplement, July 6, 1867,
pp. 22-28.
Letter 1115 To Augustus de Morgan 1293
Blackheath Park
Kent
July 22. 1867
DEAR SIR
Blackheath Park
July 23. 1867
DEAR MR CAIRNES
I am much obliged to you for your most interesting letter which I have
shewn to Fawcett and shall shew to others who are interested in the Irish
education question--which question I am sorry to say looks very ill. I hope
soon to write to you about it at length. But my present object is different. I
have heard that you have written to the authorities at University College
expressing a fear that you may be obliged to resign the Professorship._ Now
even a chance of your being able to resume its duties is so valuable that I en-
treat you not to resign in the present season at least. I am aware that Waley s
declines going on for another year, but our friend Leslie is ready and desirous
to take the duty as your locum tenens, and if you are willing to go on with a
substitute for another year and to recommend Leslie as that substitute, there
can, I think, be no doubt that the arrangement would be accepted. The ines-
timable chance would then remain of your being able to take the duties; and
Leslie is, next to you, by far the fittest person I know to fill the place, among
those who would take it.
Excuse my brevity, as I am obliged to go to the House unexpectedly early
to give all the opposition I can to the bill about the Parks. 4 1 will write again
very shortly and am
Dear Mr Caimes
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I spoke to O'Reilly 2 yesterday, within five minutes after he came into the
House. Unfortunately he had already engaged himself to Forteseue s and
others to support Bagehot, otherwise he is almost sure he should have sup-
ported you. The O'Donoghue he thinks is not a graduate. Sir Colman
O'Loghlen is, 4 but he is on Lowe's Committee. 5 They both, however, say
that an attempt will be made to induce Gladstone to let himself be proposed
and that all are likely to give way to him. I am greatly afraid that many who
might have supported you are thus preengaged. But that is no reason for not
4. A "Meetings in Royal Parks Bill" which sought to limit the fight of free assembly
by declaring "that any meeting held in Royal Parks without the permission of the
Crown should be an illegal assembly." JSM in the Commons on the day preceding this
letter had spoken vigorously in defence of holding political meetings in the Parks: "And
why do I desire this? Because it has been for centuries the pride of this country.., that
a man has a right to speak his mind, on politics or any other subiect, to those who would
listen to him, when and where he will. He has not a right to force himself upon anyone;
he has not a fight to intrude upon private property; but wheresoever he has a right to
be, there, according to the Constitution of this country, he has a right to talk politics,
to one, to fifty, or to 50,000 persons. I stand up for the fight of doing this in the
Parks .... " Hansard, CLXXXVIII, col. 1890. The Bill was further debated on July 29
and Aug. 13. On the latter occasion JSM again spoke (see Hansard, CLXXXIX, cols.
1482-84).
1. MS at UCL.
2. Miles William Patrick O'Reilly (1825-1880), B.A., London, 1845; MP for Long-
ford, 1862-79.
3. Chicbester Samuel Parkinson-Fortescue is not listed, however, as a member of
Bagehot's committee in an advertisement in Sp, June 29, 1867, p. 731.
4. Sir Colman Michael O'Loghlen (1819-1877), B.A., London, 1840, barrister, MP
for Clare, 1863-77; judge-advocate-general, 1868-70.
5. In the event, Robert Lowe won the seat for London University unopposed.
Letter 1118 To William Longman 1295
bringing your name forward, if your medical and educational supporters can
make up a tolerable list of signatures. I am Dear Chadwick
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
1118. TO WILLIAM LONGMAN1
H[ouse] of C[ommons]
July 25. 1867
DEAR Sin--My daughter would be glad to have some separate copies of the
second instalment of Mr Buckle's remains which will be in Fraser's Magazine
for August 2 & of the third also as soon as published which I understand will
probably be in September. a
A friend of mine who has been engaged for many years in making a col-
lection of the proverbs of all nations, 4 has asked me for an introduction to
you with a view to its publication. His name is Irvine & the only writings he
is known by are botanical but he is a man of much Scotch shrewdness & ex-
tensive linguistic acquirements. If you think it might suit you to entertain the
subject, Mr Irvine would be glad to call on you with part of his MS.
might possibly have some other person in view whom you might prefer to
him. I will say nothing to him until I hear again from you. I am still obliged
to delay writing to you on the education question.
I am Dear Mr Cairnes
ever truly yours
J. S. MILL
It is not the O'Conor Don, 2 but his brother, s who is a graduate of the Uni-
versity. The O'Conor Don says he will speak to his brother, but is afraid he
is already pledged to Bagehot. Grant Duff 4 was not at the House yesterday,
but I have written to him in strong terms, and will speak to him at the first
opportunity. Continue to let me know anything I can do.
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
Blacldaeath Park
July 31, 1867
MY DEARGROTE
I inclose a note which I have just received from Mr Waley. I had myself
also had a letter from Prof. Caimes in which while assenting to my strong
recommendation not to resign the Professorship at present, he expresses his
opinion that Leslie would be a very proper substitute. 2 1 have written again
to Caimes and am waiting for his reply, which will probably bring a formal
recommendation of Leslie if this has not been already sent to the Secretary.
I am extremely glad that you were able to induce the Council to take no
step on the subject of Professor Beesly. s
I am my dear Grote
ever yours truly
J. S. Mn.L
I thank you for your very kind note of the 29th but you were not at all
wrong in the request you made to me nor did I for one moment think you so.
I was glad to be able to assure you in my note of yesterday, 2 that I know
Leslie desires the arrangement on his own account, and has not the smallest
idea of conferring a favour, but would feel, on the contrary, that he was
1. MS in 1944 in the possession of Mrs. Minna E. Lewin, widow of Henry Grote
Lewin, of the Stone House, Bexhill on Sea.
2. See Letters 1116 and 1119.
3. Edward S. Beesly (1831-1915), professor of history at University College and
principal of University Hall, 1860-93; also professor of Latin at Bedford College,
1860--89;one of the leading English positivists and a tireless worker for the cause of
Labour.
Beesly, in a speech at Exeter Hall, July 2, 1867,tried to combat the wave of hostility
towards trades unions which resulted from the Sheffield"outrages" of Oct., 1866.He in
turn criticized the rich for not dissociating themselves from Gov. Eyre, and the middle
classes for their indignation against unions, which could only hinder the cause of reform.
Punch took to calling him "Professor Beastly," and Sir Francis Goldsmid at a meeting
of the University College Council proposed that Beesly be dismissed for his indiscretion
in the speech and for two letters published in the Daily News on July 9 and 10. Grote,
though annoyed by Beesly's tactlessness, managed to shelve Goldsrnid's motion, and
nothing further was attempted. See H. H. Bellot, University College, London, pp.
333-35.
41' "It It tt
H of C Library
Friday
[August 2, 1867]
DEAR CHADWICK
[Embossed]
House of Commons
Friday
[August 2, 1867]
DEAR CHADWICK
Cheatham is not a graduate of Un. Coll. but his son is,2 and I hope that
what I have said to the father will get you the son's vote which appears luckily
to be disengaged.
I shonld think Bristol hopeless, but if any one speaks to Berkeleya it had
better be some other person rather than I, for though he is very civil to me,
1. MS at UCL. 2. See Letter 1120.
3. See Letter 1142. 4. See Letter 1117, n. 5.
5. Sic. John Cheetham (1802-1886), merchant and manufacturer, MP for South
Lancashire, 1852-59; and for Salford, 1865-68.
4t. 45 41" ,It.
1. MS at UCL.
2. Sic. John Frederick Cheetham (1835-1916), a graduate of University College,
London; MP for North Derbyshire, 1880-85, for Staleybridge, 1905-09; Privy Council-
lor, 1911.
3. F. Henry F. Berkeley, MP for Bristol; leader in the Commons for the Ballot.
The other representative for Bristol was Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809-1889), con-
tractor and politician, MP for Norwich, 1847-54, for Bristol, 1865-68; after the failure
Letter 1126 To Lord Houghton 1299
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
Aug 4. 1867
DEAR MADAM
You will be glad to hear that a Society has been formed to continue the
movement for the admission of women to the suffrage, and I should be very
happy to be allowed to add your name to the General Committee, of which
my daughter and I are members. No responsibility is incurred except the
annual subscription; but the General Committee is the body which will here-
after elect the Executive Committee. I am
Dear Madam
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Miss Thompson
[Embossed]
House of Commons
Aug. 6. [1867]
DEAR THORNTON
I will not thank you for your kind and hearty response about the Women's
Suffrage Society. I will only say that it is like yourself.
1. MS at Cornell.
Letter 1130 To Lord Houghton 1301
In case you should not have received the Prospectus of the Society now
forming to promote the movement for the admission of women to the suffrage
I take the liberty of inclosing it and of saying how much pleasure it would
afford me if I might be permitted to add your name to the General Committee
of which many of my friends are members.
Those who form the General Committee incur no obligation as to work or
time, or anything but the annual subscription. The object of the Society is
strictly limited to obtaining the suffrage for women who fillfil the same condi-
tions as male electors: but the most important effect of gaining this political
object would be the influence it would have on the social disabilities and the
general social position of women.
I am, &e.
J. S. MILL
As I know how fully you appreciate a great many of the evil effects pro-
duced upon the character of women (and operating to the destruction of their
own and others' happiness) by the existing state of opinion, and as you have
done me the honour to express some regard for my opinion on these subjects I
should not like to abstain from mentioning the formation of a Society aimed
in my opinion at the very root of all the evils you deplore and have passed
your life in combating.
1. MS copy at LSE, as is also Miss Carpenter's reply of Aug. 11.
Mary Carpenter (1807-1877), eldest child of the Rev. I.ant Carpenter; distinguished
educator, prison reformer, and author.
41' 4t ,It" ,It"
Blaeldaeath Park
Aug. 10. 1867
Me DEARLORDBROUGHAM
Though I do not positively know whether you are favourable to the move-
ment for opening the suffrage to women, I presume so far on the congeniality
of that proposal to your large and liberal feelings on political and social
questions, as to venture on sending you the Prospectus of a Society now form-
ing to promote the object. The work of the Society will be done by the very
efficient Executive Committee of ladies, but there is a General Committee,
of which I am myself a member, and which many friends both in and out of
Parliament have joined; and it would give me great pleasure if you would
permit me to add your name.
I was very happy to hear that you had returned to England in good health.
Iam
My dear Lord Brougham
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Aug. 10. 1867
DEAR SIR I thank you for your two little books, 2 & regret that until with-
in the last few days I have been prevented from reading them by mere want
of time & by no means through indifference to their contents.
You have not misunderstood my meaning in the St Andrews address
though the very concise manner in which I was obliged to express everything
in that paper may probably have given you a partially incorrect impression
of my opinions on education generally. There is much in your view of the
subject with which I heartily agree. Your strictures on the system of French
schools by which the boys are never for an instant out of the sight or free from
the direct control of a master I entirely agree in & I have long thought that
while French schoolboys, on the average, are better taught & learn more than
English boys, the freer system of English schools has much to do with the
superiority of England over France in the love & practice of personal & politi-
cal freedom. I also agree to the full in your & Dr Hook's 3 principle that real
education depends on "the contact of human living soul with human living
soul." But I am entirely sceptical as to the possibility of accomplishing this
in any very considerable degree in a numerous school. Even the family if it
consisted of 200 or 300 boys could not possibly accomplish it. A wise &
zealous master may no doubt acquire a certain amount of beneficial moral
influence over the boys & may come into really close contact with the minds
& characters of a few among them. In the former of these points if not in
both, St Mark's School appears to have been signally successful; & the prin-
ciples on which it appears to be conducted are well calculated to attain what-
notis et interpretatione in usum Delphini, etc., ed. Abraham John Valpy (4 vols., Lon-
don, 1823). Part of a series known as Delphin and Variorum Classics published in 183
vols., 1819-30.
W _l" 41, W
ever such success is attainable. But while I applaud both your theory &your
practice I have the less hope of finding my opinion radically altered by them
because you seem to me to regard Eton as a favourable specimen of what a
school can do in the way of moral & religious training; an opinion from which
all that I know of the kind of article turned out annually from Eton into the
higher walks of life in this country leads me strongly to dissent.
Blaekheath Park
Aug. 11. 1867
DEARSIR
I thank you for the cuttings you kindly sent. Mr Greeley's notion of two
separate legislatures, 2one of men and the other of women, is unwise enough,
though there are points in the article which make one feel indulgently towards
the writer. I have met with an Englishman who had a similar notion, s I sup-
pose one might search long before finding a third.
I hardly think (to carry on your metaphor) that it is worth while to fire
at such a long range on a position so little formidable. Perhaps to write
against the proposal as a serious thing might be the way to make it one. More-
over I have too much on my hands at present. I shall be glad to hear if you
find that the suggestion does any mischief. But I am more inclined to think
that whatever leads people to turn over a great question in every possible way,
is likely on the whole to be useful.
I am Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Aug. 12.1867
DEARSIR
This letter will be presented to you by my political and personal friend
Lord Amberley, who is visiting your country z to acquire that knowledge of it
1. MS at Columbia. Envelope addressed: Rev. M. D. Conway/Warren Farm
House / Wimbledon / SW. Postmark largely illegible.
2. In an editorial in the New York Daily Tribune, July 26, 1867, p. 4, written after
a New York State constitutional convention had defeated women's suffrage by a vote
of 125 to 19, Horace Greeley (1811-1872), statesman and man of letters, proposed
separate legislatures for men and women and a setting apart of matters relating to the
family, marriage, divorce, and children to the women's legislature.
3. See Letter 1054.
'It 41' _ 41'
1. MS at LSE.
2. Lord and Lady Amberley sailed for America on Aug. 17, 1867, and returned to
England just after New Year's, 1868.
1306 To Ralph Waldo Emerson Letter 1137
I givethis letter to my friend Lord Amberley, not so much for his sake,
for he would easily obtain abundant introductions to you, as to make use of
the privilege of writing to you which was kindly conferred on me by the
letter I had the pleasure of receiving from you last year. 2 Few Englishmen,
especially few Englishmen in political life, are more worthy of the privilege
of knowing you than Lord Amberley 3 who, while he is one of the very best of
our rising politicians, is even more interested in the intellectual movement of
mankind than in the political. He is likely to keep always in the front rank
of his cotemporaries, and I fully share the general hope of his friends that
he will be as useful to the coming generation as his father has been to that
which is past.
3. Eight years in Congress/rom 1857 to 1865. Memoir and speeches (New York,
1865).
41' 41' 41" ,IF
I wish I could share with him the pleasure and benefit of hearing from
your own lips your commentary on the present state and prospects of man-
kind. To me it seems that our two countries, on the whole the two most ad-
vanced countries of the world, have just successfully emerged from a crisis
essentially similar, though by much the gravest and most trying in the United
States; which has shaken up and dislocated old prejudices, set the stagnant
waters flowing, and the most certain consequence of which is that all the
fundamental problems of politics and society, so long smothered by general
indolence and apathy, will surge up and demand better solutions than they
have ever yet obtained. To those who, like me, regard stagnation as the
greatest of our dangers, and the primary source of almost all social evils, this
is a very hopeful and promising state of things; but it will make a most
serious demand upon the energies of all cultivated minds, to obtain for
thoughts which are not obvious at first sight, their just share of influence
among the crowd of notions plausible but false or only half true. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
R. W. Emerson Esq.
Blackheath Park
Kent
Aug. 15. 1867
DEAR MR PLUMMER
I will immediately send you the papers you ask for, in another parcel of
Parliamentary papers. The former I must ask you to return when done with,
as I shall require to study them. The addresses you intend writing will, I have
no doubt, be of great use. I thank you for the article in the Liverpool Albion, _
which I had not seen. I spoke on the Indian Budget debate, 3but not on the
Orissa debate, 4 as I think it a good rule not to speak when there are other
people capable and desirous of saying what one wishes should be said.
I am Dear Mr Plummer
yours very truly
J. S. MIr.L
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. Probably the unsigned article, "Mr. John Stuart Mill on the Right of Seizing
Enemies' Goods in Neutral Vessels," Albion, Aug. 12, 1867, p. 4.
3. JSM spoke on the importance of councils in the administration of India during the
debate on Aug. 12 on the East India Revenue Accounts. See Hansard, CLXXXIX, cols.
1382--87.
4. This debate on Aug. 2 concerned the famine in Orissa (Bengal) during which it
1308 To John Nicol Letter 1139
I thank you very much for your two letters, and have had great pleasure
in sending your name for the General Committee. All that you say on the
women's suffrage question I agree with so completely, that it is quite unneces-
sary for me to say anything more on the subject.
With regard to the proiected Society for the encouragement of free inquiry
and discussion, 2 those who live in Scotland are the best judges of the value
and seasonableness of the proposal. As far as I can presume to judge, I
should think such a Society very desirable, but I feel some doubt whether
my temporary connexion with one of the Scotch universities s would prevent
it from being thought a kind of intrusion in me to occupy so prominent a
position in it as you propose. Perhaps you will allow me to suspend any posi-
tive answer at present and will in the meantime kindly inform me of the
reception which the project meets with, and the progress it makes towards
realization. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
P.S. As we leave England in two or three days, perhaps you will kindly
send your subscription to the Treasurer, Mrs. P. A. Taylor, Aubrey House,
Notting Hill, London.
was estimated that 750,000 persons had perished. For a contemporary discussion, see
"The Famine in Orissa," Fraser's, LXXVI (Sept., 1867), 373-82.
In the course of the debate Viscount Cranborne said of JSM that he had "'byhis works
been a great benefactor to mankind. But there was a curious reverse to the coin. No
man's authority had been more systematically mis-used than his by unintelligent officials
in propagating mischievous error. In Australia his authority had been used on the side
of protection; in Bengal for starving some 750,000 persons. The doctrine of political
economy had been worshipped as a sort of 'fetish' by officials who, because they be-
lieved that in the long run supply and demand would square themselves, seemed to have
utterly forgotten that human life was short, and that man could not subsist without food
beyond a few days. They mechanically left the laws of political economy to work them-
selves out while hundreds of thousands of human beings were perishing from famine."
See Hansard, ibid., cols. 810-11.
4[' 41" 41. ,It
I think that a country can sometimes, by taxing its exports, make foreigners
pay a part or even the whole of the tax. I have discussed this question in the
first paper of a volume entitled "Essays on some Unsettled Questions of
Political Economy", and have there, as I think, shewn that even a tax on
imports is not, of necessity, wholly paid by the home consumer, but that a
part of it is sometimes paid (not by the foreign producer, but) by the foreign
consumer of the country's exports.
But these things, though abstractedly true, are too much interfered with
by other agencies to be of much importance in practice. To confine myself to
the case of exports: it is clear that a country can only make foreigners pay a
tax on articles in which it possesses a superiority so preeminent that it has no
competition to fear. Even then, foreign countries which cannot produce the
article at all, or not at such a price as to compete with the taxed producer,
may be able to produce some substitute for it, or something which will be
accepted instead of it. In the present day, when there are so many exporting
countries, and when the advantage of one country over another in any article
is generally limited to a small margin, the attempt to tax exports almost always
leads to the total or partial loss of that branch of trade. The latest consider-
able experiment of this kind that I remember in any part of the British posses-
sions was in Ceylon. That island was supposed to have a natural monopoly of
cinnamon, and for many years it derived a large revenue from an export duty;
but in the end other nations either grew cinnamon, or used something else
instead: the tax had to be repealed, and the trade, nevertheless was reduced
to comparative insignificance.
I am leaving England for the Continent just when you are returning and
cannot hope to meet you again this season; but I hope that our acquaintance
will not be dropped and that we shall correspond on the many important sub-
jects in which we feel a common interest. I am
Dear Sir yrs very truly
J. S. MILL
D. A. Wells Esq.
Blackheath Park
Kent
Aug. 20. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
I have made a great many minor alterations in your address, 2 both for the
sake of clearness and brevity, though it is still longer than I like. For greater
legibility I have made most of the alterations in ink, but of course subject to
your own judgment. The passages that I have struck out encumber the case
more than they strengthen it; at least, that is my opinion. I have also made
some slight alterations in the letter which is to be addressed to myself. 31 hope
the reply to it, which I inclose, 4 will meet your wishes, and be useful to your
candidature.
Letters sent here will be forwarded to me wherever we are. I am
Dear Chadwick
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Kent
Aug. 20. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
I think you eminently entitled to offer yourself as a candidate for the House
of Commons; and, while I should rejoice to see you elected by any constitu-
ency, I should deem it highly appropriate that you should be returned by the
University of London, one of the few bodies which, being emancipated from
1. MS at UCL.
2. Address to the Members of the Convocation of the University of London (London,
1867).It is summarized in B. W. Richardson, The Health of Nations, I, Ixix-lxxii. A copy
of the pamphlet is in the JevonsCollection at LSE.
3. Chadwick's letter of Aug. 17 is included in the pamphlet cited.
4. The next Letter.
4t 4t 4l. 4t-
all local influences, are peculiarly called on to guide their choice exclusively
by the capability of a candidate to render important public service.
The services you are capable of rendering, are of the precise kind which
will be most needed under our reformed Constitution. It is generally felt that
one of the most pressing occupations of the new Parliament will be the better
organisation of the machinery of government, which at present, from defects
of construction, produces almost the minimum of beneficial result, at almost
the maximum of cost. No one whom I know of has devoted so great a portion
of his life, or so great an amount of mental power, as you have done, to the
study of the scientific principles of administration. The course of your otticial
life has continually brought you into contact with the most difficult adminis-
trative problems, and you have so well used the opportunities it afforded,
that among all the administrative questions which you have touched (and
they are both numerous and of the highest importance) there is hardly one
on which you have not originated thoughts and suggestions of the greatest
value; some of which have been carried into effect with distinguished success,
while the merit of others has been manifested by the consequences which have
followed their neglect. On several of the most important branches of public
administration, you add to your knowledge of principles a knowledge of
details which few can rival. I need only mention the sanitary department, the
importance of which, now so widely recognised, you were among the very
first to press upon a careless public; the various branches of the administra-
tion of relief to the destitute; and many parts of the great subject of the edu-
cation of the poor, which is destined henceforth to be one of the most anxious
cares of our public men of all parties, and which it is next to impossible to
make really et_cient except by means and on principles repeatedly pointed
out by you.
These are claims which, as it seems to me, are well entitled to recognition
from a scientific body like the University. They correspond more exactly with
the exigencies of this particular juncture, than the merits, great as they are, of
several of the other candidates; who, moreover, are almost sure to obtain
access to the House of Commons through the ordinary channels. The time
requires men who are not merely willing to adopt, but able to originate and
prepare, important improvements; and when a man of this stamp offers his
services, the consideration of whether he is or is not a graduate of the Uni-
versity sinks into insignificance.
I am Dear Chadwick
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
W. J. Linton Esq.
Baden
Aug. 28. 1867
DEAR SIR
I do not see how I can make the proposal to Mr Jacob Bright which you
suggest. He probably would not think himself justified in parting with the
£130 (unless for your entire liberation) without the express consent of
each of the donors; and it is very doubtful if he would like to be asked to ask
this of them. But, under the increased hope of ultimate extrication for you
and the Review, 2 given by the surplus of your receipts over your expenses
in the last three months, I can lend you £ 100 on your personal security, for
which I inclose a cheque.
Since I saw you I had some conversation with Mr Grote on your affairs,
and shewed him the statements which you sent to me. He shewed, I thought,
a willingness to join with others in helping, and I think you would be justi-
fiedin sending him the latest statement of your affairs.
1. MS at Yale.
2. Periodical not identified. Linton worked as pictorial editor for Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper sometime between his emigration to the United States in Nov.,
1866, and late in 1867, when he went to Paris to the Exhibition, and visited England.
See his account in his Memories (London, 1895), pp. 204-27.
'It 'It 41' 4t
P.S.You willunderstand
thatIdo notwishtobe repaid the£ 100atany
giventime,
oruntilyoucando itwithoutinconvenience:
butincaseofun-
foreseen
loss,
Ishouldwishonlytobearmy shareofloss
withtheothers who
havepecuniaryclaims
onyou.
J.S.M.
Freudenstadt (Wiirtemberg)
Sept. 1.1867
DEARMRCAIRNES
Forster, MP for Bradford; and Algernon Egerton, MP for South Lancashire. They were
called the "Manchester party" evidently because they hoped that the bill would first
take effectin Manchester.
4. Henry Austin Bruce, later 1st Baron Aberdare (1815-1895), liberal MP for
Merthyr Tydvil, 1852-68; privy councillor and vice-president of committee of council
on education, 1864; home secretary, 1869-73; lord president of council, 1873-74; first
chancellor of the University of Wales, 1894.
5. The Personal Representation Society. formed in July, 1867, to agitate for reform
in the system of representation, "and the substitution therefor of Mr. Hare's scheme, or
a similar plan which will insure 'personal' representation." See New York Times, July
18, 1867,p. 8.
6. David Dudley Field (1805-1894), American lawyer and legal reformer, first presi-
dent of the Personal Representation Society.
Letter 1145 To John Elliot Cairnes 1315
I have long been convinced that complete justice to Ireland was scarcely
to be hoped for unless by a reform in Parliament sufficiently thorough to
take away the present preponderance of the landed interest, and transfer a
large share of political power to classes who are not under the influence of
landed or Church prejudices. There is considerable reason to hope that the
Parliamentary reform which we have now obtained may accomplish this.
Whatever power has been gained by the working classes or by the advanced
Liberals will, I am convinced, be used for the complete redress of the griev-
ances of Ireland on the two most fundamental points--the Church and the
land. An era of hope therefore is opening for Ireland, which, if improved by
wise and harmonious action on the part of your representatives and ours,
may make the connection between the two countries an unalloyed benefit
to both.
Avignon
Oct. 9. 1867
DEARSIR
Avignon
le 9 octobre 1867
MON CriERD'EICHTHAL
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Oct. 14, 1867
DEAR SIR
I have just finished reading your Chapter in the Fortnightly 2 & I put down
my observations while my mind is full of its contents. In execution I think
it excellent, & of good augury for the success of the book; a for, beginning
with so luminous a statement of principles & going on as it probably will
do afterwards to important practical recommendations, it bids fair both to
make a more than ordinary impression on those who read it at first, & to be
permanently distinguished from other writings on the subject as a systematic
treatise. I expect that the subsequent chapters will be equally well executed
& that I shall agree with all or most of your practical conclusions. But in
its principles the chapter does not carry me with it. I find in it what I always
find where a standard is assumed of so called justice distinct from general
utility & supposed to be paramount whenever the two conflict, viz. that some
other standard might just as well have been assumed. Not only do I not
admit any standard of right which does not derive its sole authority from
utility, but I remark that in such cases an adversary could always find some
other maxim of justice equal in authority but leading to opposite conclusions.
1. MS in the George Howell Library, Bishopsgate Institute. See Letter 872 A.
4t. 4t _ 4t
A great many rules of morality of every day application are habitually classed
as principles of justice. You have selected one of these; Louis Blanc 4against
whom you are arguing would select others. You say, the rich are not bound
to give employment & subsistence to the poor because they had nothing to
do with bringing the poor into the world. Louis Blanc would or might say
that the fiches and often the very subsistence of the rich would not exist for
them if the poor had not been brought into the world, & that to return good
for good & the product to the producer is a duty of justice. Again, when he
says that the raw material of the earth was not given to a few or to one
generation but to the human race, you answer, admitting this, the vast
maiority of the poor could never have been born if the earth had not been
appropriated & compensation is only due to them for their share of what the
earth could have produced if it had remained unappropriated. To this L.B.
might answer, Compensation is due to them not for that only but for not
allowing them to appropriate their rateable share of the soil and to obtain
what they by their labour can make that share produce. Again you argue
throughout that no question of justice can arise as to the amount for which A
hires the labour of B, because A is not bound to hire B at all. Is not this
assuming that what the iurists call a duty of imperfect obligation, i.e., not
owed to an assignable individual, is no duty? A may not be bound to hire B,
but if he is bound to hire or to benefit some person or persons at his choice,
the amount of the benefit may be an essential condition to his fulfilment of
the duty. You carry your adherence to one particular view of moral obliga-
tion so far as to pronounce a person blameless in point of duty (however
odious otherwise) who refuses to save the life of another without an exorbi-
tant payment; I conceive on the contrary that it is a serious question whether
a person who can save another's life & does not do it even without any hope
of reward, ought not to be amenable to the criminal law. For these reasons
I think that the chapter, though as I said impressive, & though likely to be
provocative of thought, will probably not convince a single person. All who
did not already agree with you will find maxims of iustice equally plausible, &
in my estimation quite equally strong in support of contrary conclusions.
What you may perhaps effect is to make some of the poor, or of their
Mends, think they ought not to be severe on the rich as men for using the
advantages which their position gives them. But the more they are persuaded
of that the more determined will they be to upset the social system which
gives a few persons these advantages. They may say, it is not A's fault that
he is rich, but they will be not the less likely to say, let us oblige him to
divide his riches equally among all & start afresh; & they will never be per-
suaded by the principles of justice which you have laid down to think this
4. Muchof Thornton'sargumentis againstthatof LouisBlanc,De l'Organisationdu
Travail(Paris, 1840).
1320 To Oscar Browning Letter 1151
unjust. They would say, it may have been right to allow appropriation as
long as unappropriated land was to be had by all, but when all is appro-
priated, & some are left without, there ought to be a redivision, the "r$_
_tva6a,#6_ 5 of the Greeks. Nor can they be met as far as I see by any argu-
ments but those of expediency--which, once let in, would open the whole
question of the fights of the poor & obligations of the rich, & would I think,
lead to consequences very different from those which you draw from your
theory of justice though probably not very different from what you would
practically recommend.
I have stated strongly the fault I find with your Chapter. It would take me
a considerable space to set out all the good I find in it. To mention only
one thing, the book will be very serviceable in carrying on what may be
called the emancipation of pol. economy--its liberation from the kind of
doctrines of the old school (now taken up by well to do people) which treat
what they call economical laws, demand & supply for instance, as if they
were laws of inanimate matter, not amenable to the will of the human beings
from whose feelings, interests, & principles of action they proceed. This is
one of the queer mental confusions which will be wondered at by & by & you
are helping very much in the good work of cleating it up.
We arrived here a few days ago & I am settling down to the winter's work
which will not be political or economical but psychological. I am going to
prepare in concert with Bain a new edition of my father's Analysis of the
Mind with notes and supplementary matter. 6 This will be not only very
useful but a very great relief by its extreme unlikeness to parliamentary
work & to parliamentary semi-work or idleness. I hope your health has
greatly benefitted by your holiday & goes on improving.
Avignon
October 26. 1867.
DEAR Sm--I was glad to receive your letter because it is important to know
what an Eton master (especially one who admits defects in the institution)
says in vindication of Eton. Your defence however is mainly directed to
5. _Redistribution of the land."
6. James Mill, Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind, with notes illustrative
and critical by Alexander Bain, Andrew Findlater, and George Grote, ed. with addi-
tional notes by John Smart Mill (London, 1869).
41. ,It 41'
other points than those which I have attacked. I have never I believe ex-
pressed any opinion as to the merits or defects of Eton in comparison with
our other public schools. As the one of highest pretensions I took it as the
representative of them all. Nor in what I said of moral results had I particu-
laxly in view the grosser & more disreputable vices. I look upon the general
moral state of the educated classes of Great Britain, taken in the mass, as
essentially low & mean: a mean standard, & a contemptible falling short even
of their own standard. You will not expect that I sh a, in such a letter as the
present, enter into a discussion as to the truth of this opinion, or shew how
it is verified in our whole social state & in the manifestations which proceed
from those classes on all punic occasions on which the moral aspect of the
facts is the predominant one. But if this opinion or anything approaching to
it is justified by the fact, I cannot be wrong, as you seem to think, in visiting
the shortcomings or vices of a class upon the school (or schools) which
chiefly educates that class, not as the authors or primary causes of the evil,
but as having at least been signally unsuccessful in counteracting it. The
teachers, I apprehend, are only entitled to wash their hands of the "short-
comings or vices" of their pupils when they acknowledge & deplore them &
shew that their utmost efforts are steadily exerted in the contrary direction.
When you say that so many of your best boys go into the Guards you say
what amounts to an acknowledgment of utter failure in educating them
morally either for the special responsibilities of a governing class or for the
universal duties of a man.
I am not called on to deny that Eton as well as other schools, is far more
successful in individual specimens than it is in the mass: & the peculiarities
which you mention in its system, the less rigid confinement to a single curri-
culum & the more intimate association of every boy with his tutor afford
facilities for this which, I have no doubt, are often taken good advantage of.
But the use made of these facilities depends on what the tutors are & that
their general quality sh a [be] high is hardly consistent with what you say in
your letter of the nepotism, favoritism, & general unfitness of the body who
possess "the patronage of the chief school appointments." From this evil
you call on Parl t2 to relieve you & on me to do what I can to help, & you
may rely on my doing so: The Public Schools Bill has been passed over by
the H of C in the last two sessions not from neglect but from the incessant
occupation of the H with the Reform Bill, & I look forward to its occupying
much of the attention of the House in the session next to come. s
Iam &e
2. Browning had presented a 200-page plan for educational reform to the Royal
Commission on Public Schools, active between 1861 and 1864. See H. E. Wortham,
"Eton and Reform,"chap. m of Oscar Browning (London, 1927).
3. The Endowed Schools Act, adoptedin 1869, gave a special commission power to
reorganizethe schools.
1322 To larnes Garth Marshall Letter 1152
Avignon
Oct. 26. 1867
DEAR SIR
S[aint] V[6ran]
Nov. 4. 1867
DEAR BAIN--I thank you very much for your letter, & for the promise of
matter so soon for the edition of the Analysis. 2 I myself have not begun
writing yet, but see my way more & more clearly to the work; I have been
reading through Laromiguihre, a & Maudslay. 4 The first I read chiefly to
know what he makes of the active department of human nature (that being
his strong point) from the psychological side without the physiological. On
that & on other subjects he is meritorious as far as he goes, but too easily
satisfied. In the higher departments he leaves everything unexplained, or
smuggles the explicandum into its own explanation. His acute remarks
sometimes however anticipate the thoughts which others have worked out.
I was surprised to find in him a complete anticipation of my father's im-
portant remark on the ambiguity of the copula. 5 He also anticipated Hamil-
ton's view of abstraction as distinct from generalization, e & his notion of
the substantial identity of Nominalism & Conceptualism. 7 From Maudslay
I have learnt more; but (as with most of the physiologists) his theories seem
to me to go far beyond the evidence. I observe, by the way, that he takes
Carpenter's view, s that ideation is the special function of the cerebral hemis-
pheres, sensation (or rather something ill-defined which he calls a residuum)
being packed up there by nerve force to be manufactured into idea. If I am
not mistaken, you consider this to be obsolete and false theory. Is it not
so? A propos why does Maudslay charge me with disparaging physiology,
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, 1I, 92-94. In reply to Bain's of
Oct. 27, MS also at Johns Hopkins.
2. See Letter 1150,n. 6.
3. Pierre Laromigui_re (1756-1837), author of Lemons de philosophie sur les prin-
cipes de l'intelligence... (Paris, 1815-18 and later editions).
4. Sic. Henry Maudsley (1835-1918), author of The Physiology and Pathology oJ
Mind (London, 1867) and other works on psychology and physiology.
5. "In all Languages, the Verb which denotes EXISTENCE has been employed to
answer the additional purpose of the Copula in Predication. The consequences of this
have been most lamentable. There is thus a double meaning in the Copula, which has
produced a most unfortunate mixture and confusion of ideas. It has involved in mystery
the whole business of Predication; the grand contrivance by which language is rendered
competent to its end.... " For the full discussion, see James Mill, Analysis (2nd ed.,
London, 1878), I, 174-78.
6. See Sir William Hamilton, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, eds. H. L. Mansel
and John Veitch (7th ed., 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1882), II, Lecture 34.
7. Hamilton, Lectures, Lectures 35 and 36.
8. William Benjamin Carpenter, Principles of Human Physiology, ed. Francis Gurney
Smith (Philadelphia, 1866), pp. 127, 210--11, 541-43, 624, 636--37. Carpenter's book
was first published in 1839 with the title Principles of General and Comparative Physi-
ology; JSM published a notice of the 1841 ed., WR, XXXVII (Jan., 1842), 254.
1324 To Alexander Bain Letter 1153
I am glad that Mr Hunter 15 has done so well with the article for Cham-
bers. 16 That question is making way in a wonderful manner. In the U. States
the so called radical party seems to be taking up in a body the equality of
women as it has that of negroes. At least all the leaders seem to be doing so,
Chief Justice Chase among the rest. The Governor of Kansas lr is said to be
actually canvassing the State for the sanction by popular suffrage of the
constitutional amendment which has passed both Houses admitting women
to the franchise.
We are very well & hope to return three months hence in good condition.
Avignon
Nov. 4. 1867
DEAR CHADWICK
I have read and been duly edified by the paper you mention in the
Journal of the Society of Arts. 3 I think there is a chance that Ireland may
be tried as a corpus vile for experimentation on government management of
railways and telegraphs, as well as of other things. Certainly there is little to
spoil there: the worst that could happen would but be one more failure, and
there is no necessity to fail.
Your first paper read to the Academy, I have lately received, and will
read, as well as the one which is yet to come. 4 There is no difficulty of prin-
ciple in legislating for trades' unions, but a great deal in detail. For example
on that question of picketting. The principle is that they may persuade, but
must not intimidate. But who is there to be persuaded, in case of a strike, but
those who have accepted work? and how are they to be got at, except by
watching to see who they are? and if persuasion is permitted, can the per-
suader be withheld from expressing disapprobation, and strongly too? while,
as we all know, this expression of disapprobation easily degenerates into
illegitimate intimidation. But how or where is the line to be drawn? Can
more be done than to prohibit threats? and not even that, if the mischief
threatened is not physical, but mere ill will, with its natural expression?
Hardly any one who has written on the practical question seems to me to
have faced this difficulty.
Ever, dear Chadwick,
yours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
6th November 1867.
DEAR SIR,mA few months ago I took the liberty of introducing Lord Am-
bedey to you. I now venture to give an introduction to another friend of
3. "On the Economy of Telegraphy as Part of a Public System of Postal Communica-
tion," Journal o/the Society of Arts, XV (March 1, 1867), 222-26. Chadwick argued
for the nationalization of telegraphic communication through placing it under the postal
system; he suggested, also, the military efficiency of the nationalization of the railroads
by alluding to a declaration to that point made by the Belgian minister of war.
4. Since Chadwick's first paper for the Academy (on the half-time school system)
had appeared as long ago as 1864,JSM presumably meant here by first the first of two
papers on trades unions: "Sur les unions ouvri&es et leur organisation en Angleterre,"
Acaddmie des sciences morales et politiques, LXXXI (1867), 279-303; and "Les
unions ouvri_res en Angleterre au point de vue criminel," ibid., LXXXIV (1868),
161-98.
mine, of great capacity and promise, Mr John Morley, _ one of our best and
most rising periodical writers on serious subjects--moral, social, and philo-
sophical, still more than political---and at present editor of the Fortnightly
Review. I should not thus presume did I not feel confident that you would
find Mr Morley worthy of your attention and interest, both as man and as a
thinker.--I am, dear Sir, very truly yours,
J. S. MmL
1156. TO E. W. YOUNG 1
Avignon
Nov. 10. 1867
DEAR Sm I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 23 rd ult °.
I do not claim any greater latitude of making exceptions to general rules
of morality on the utilitarian theory than is accorded by moralists on all
theories. Every ethical system admits the possibility & even frequency, of a
conflict of duties. In most cases the conflict occasions no great di_culty,
because one of the duties is in general obviously paramount to the other.
The difficulty arises when the choice is between a very great violation of a
duty usually subordinate & a very small infringement of one ordinarily of
more peremptory obligation. In such a case the former, I cannot but think,
may be the greater moral offence. When I mentioned, as a case of this
kind, the case of stealing or taking by force the food or medicine necessary
for saving a life, 2 I was thinking rather of saving another person's life than
one's own. A much stricter rule is required in the latter case than in the
former, for the obvious reason, that there is more probability of self decep-
tion or of dishonesty. But I am far from saying that the rule sh d never be
relaxed even when the case is one's own. A runaway slave by the laws of
slave countries commits a theft: he steals his own person from his lawful
owner. If you say, this is not morally theft, because property in a human
being ought not to exist, take the case of a child or an apprentice who runs
away on account of intolerable ill usage. There is in the doctrine I maintain
nothing inconsistent with the loftiest estimation of the heroism of martyrs.
There are times when the grandest results for the human race depend on
2. For Morley's own account of this introduction, see his Recollections (2 vols., New
York, 1917), I, 52.
Avignon
Nov. 16, 1867
ratists are so excitable & so devoid of common sense that a very little
encouragement from any reputable quarter in G. Britain might have a stimu-
lating effect on them such as we cannot limit or calculate. The responsibility
therefore of giving even a single word of encouragement is such as I sha be
very sorry that any English liberal sha assume.
The parallel of Hungary s seems to me to fail in the most essential particu-
lars. The Hungarian people have shewn throughout a most remarkable
amount of the esprit de conduite--a good sense, a calm & judicious appre-
ciation of means & ends, which prove them to be highly qualified both for
acquiring & for preserving national independence & free institutions. In this
respect they are a complete contrast to the Irish. Moreover, the Hungarians
are a full match in military qualities or resources, for the whole remainder
of the Austrian empire & therefore any terms of accommodation deliberately
agreed upon between them & the other half has a considerable chance of
being kept and after all the success of the experiment of two independent
legislatures & governments under the same crown royal is as yet very doubt-
ful, & it is far too soon to predict its results. Still less likely is it that this
Dualism sh a succeed in Ireland. The question there is not Repeal but Sepa-
ration. There is not a Fenian who would be content with a separate legis-
lature. They all seem to want total separation, & a republic, and total sepa-
ration is what I think we must make up our minds to if after having done
fi_A1justice to the Irish in church & land matters & done all we can do for
their educational & economical interests we find that their aversion to
union with us remains unabated. But for their friends in England to begin
already pointing to separation even in the distance, would be the very way
to make the Irish separately resolve that nothing else sh a succeed.
At present the Irish members of the H. of C. of the extreme party instead
of "regarding the efforts of English radicals with antipathy," are on such
terms of cordial alliance & cooperation with them as I do not believe ever
was the case before: they are, apparently for the first time, convinced that
the popular party in England really feels to them as fellow countrymen, &
really wishes to do them complete justice, & are fixing their hopes more &
more on helping that party to acquire the power of doing so. They seem to
dread Fenianism extremely, & some of them have said to me that if the two
countries were separated, there would be a civil war in Ireland. The only
important point on which most of the advanced liberals differ from the
representatives of the Irish party is the question of denominational educa-
tion: If we escape quarreling on that point there is every prospect of a closer
& closer alliance between us. I look therefore with more hope on the cul-
tivation of that alliance than on any proceeding by English liberals which
would give gain de cause to the Separatist party in Ireland.
3. In his letter of Nov. 10, 1867, Bridges had suggested a parallel between Hungary
andAustria,andIrelandand GreatBritain.
1330 To William E. Gladstone Letter 1158
This is the way in which the subject presents itself to my mind. If it adds
anything to your materials of thought on the question I shall be very glad
that you have done me the honour of writing to me about it.
Avignon
Nov. 19. 1867
MY DEARSIR
1. MS at Brit.Mus.
2. In the event, Parliament convened on Nov. 19, and recessed Dec. 7, 1867. JSM
remained in Avignon.
3. To rescue the British consul and other Europeans held captive by Theodore, King
of Abyssinia, Sir Robert Napier with 12,000 men invaded Abyssinia in Jan., 1868, and
completed the mission of rescuing the captives and defeating Theodore by capturing his
capital, Magdala, on April 13, 1868.
4. George Grenfell Glyn (182z1--1887),liberal MP for Shaftesbury, 1857-73, and
chief whip from 1868-73, when he became a member of the Privy Council; a personal
friend of Gladstone. He became Baron Wolvertonin 1873 upon the deathof his father.
Letter 1159 To William Dougal Christie 1331
Avignon
Nov. 20.1867
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
Electoral corruption will, as you say, be the most important subject of the
next session, 2 and we should endeavour to induce those who have thought
on it with a view to practical legislation, to bring their suggestions into a
common stock, that they may be sifted, and a selection made of all which
are likely to be efficacious, to be made the basis of a Bill, such as the ad-
vanced Liberals might in a body support. Few have taken so much pains
with the subject as you have, and I hope you will draw up the heads of such
a measure as you would yourself propose if you were a minister. Those,
whether in or out of Parliament, who have contributed to this stock of sug-
gestions might meet together as soon as Parliament reassembles in February
and produce an outline of a Bill which might be circulated among the Liberal
party. It might be possible to prevail on M r Gladstone to introduce it: but
whoever may do so, the Bill will only be a rallying point: the fight will not
be on that, but on the attempt to engraft its provisions on the bill of the Tory
Government. I have already spoken or written to several of those who have
most considered the subject, and I hope we shall succeed in getting together
really good materials for a Bill.
I quite agree with you on the importance, on all accounts, of including
municipal elections in the measure.
Iam
Dear Mr Christie
yours very truly
J. S.MILL
W. D. Christie Esq.
Avignon
Nov. 25. 1867
DEAR SIR
1. MS at Cornell.
Possibly Walter Lovell, solicitor, admitted to the Law Society, Nov. 15, 1868; in
partnershipwith his father, in Lovell, Son & Pitfield,3 Gray's Inn Square,W.C.
1332 To Alexander Bain Letter 1161
in the papers of the next day, and in Hansard. 2 It has been published sepa-
rately by Triibner, 60 Patcrnoster Row. I have not written any book ex-
pressly on the subject, but it is one of the points which I have discussed in
a volume entitled "Considerations on Representative Government" of which
there are both a Library and a People's Edition.
Iam
yours very faithfully
.l.S. MILL
Walter Lovell Esq.
Avignon
Dee. 6. 1867
DEAR BAtN--I have received your letter & the packet of MS. The death of
Clark 2 is a painful surprise to me. I had heard from him several times sinee
I left England & his last letter dated as late as the 15 th of November was
more than usually lively & varied, discussing Berkeleianism, the psychology
of the senses, &c. It was very unlike a person so near his end. Of what illness
did he die?
I shall be happy to nominate Mr Findlater as my Assessor for the remain-
der of the term, 8 if you will be kind enough to ascertain for me whether he
will accept the office & to give me his complete name & the designation by
which I sh d describe him to the St Andrews people when they write to me
on the subject. Any probability of a vacancy in the Moral Philosophy chair
during the period makes it extremely important to have in the University
Court a man whose views on that subject are likely to agree with ours. No
doubt you will be on the look out for a fit person to fill that professorship if
the vacancy occurs. I shall probably have to depend chiefly upon your
knowledge of available Scotchmen for the purpose.
I am very thankful to you for having found, & indeed made, time to do so
much for the Analysis. 4 I like all your notes very much & they all supply
valuable matter most of which I could not have made out by myself. The
only case in which we have gone over the same ground is the case of Associa-
tion by Resemblance, on which I have also written, to the same general
2. See Letter 1084,n. 5.
41' 41' 41" 41'
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published except for first two paragraphs in Elliot, II,
97-100. In reply to Bain's of Nov. 30, MS also at Johns Hopkins.
2. Thomas Clark died Nov. 27, 1867.See Letter 660, n. 19.
3. On the University Court of St. Andrews. Andrew Findlater (1810-1885), school-
ma_ter, compiler, editor of Chambers's Encyclopedia. He contributed notes to JSM's
edition of James Mill'sAnalysis.
4. See Letter 1150, n. 6.
Letter 1161 To Alexander Bain 1333
effect as you; & I propose to retain both, as they do not repeat, but enlarge
& strengthen one another. Yours is, I think, one of the very best of the
present batch. I also have been working pretty vigorously, & have exactly
got through the first volume. I have written (as far as regards the rough
draft) a great number of minor notes & several long ones, the two longest
being on the subjects that you particularly recommended to me, Belief &
Nominalism. I have no doubt that I shall get through the second volume in
the same manner by the meeting of Pail t. What will remain for the next
recess will be the rewriting, which will probably involve much enlargement
as well as improvement. But I shall not commence this until your part of
the work is finished & before me. I shall be particularly glad of any notes
on the chapter on Memory as that phenomenon is still to me the great un-
resolvable fact of Psychology. It seems to me that it & the problem of Belief
are in fact the same, viz. that which I have stated in the chapter on the Ego
in my book on HamiltonS--the distinction between recognising something as
a mere thought & as an actual fact.
There are two subjects which my knowledge is unequal to, & on which
I hope you will give me further assistance. One of them is the direct rela-
tion between Ideas & states of the nerves. You must have observed that the
source of some of the chief imperfections of the Analysis is the author's
steady refusal to admit any production of ideas by physical causes except
through the medium of sensations raising up ideas already associated with
them. He carries this so far, as to explain the fact that chronic indigestion
excites feelings of anxiety by the circumstance that anxiety disorders the
digestion. You have just touched this topic in one of your notes, but in a
very summary manner. The other point is one which I could, if necessary,
get up from your Grammar without troubling you: it is the distinctive
characters of the Subordinate Parts of Speech. Your view of the Adjective
I believe coincides with my father's, that it serves for making cross divisions.
You could however help me very much if you had time to annotate those
sections. There is one point which I am quite unequal to. The philology of
the Analysis on the subject of prepositions, conjunctions, &c. though right in
principle is now obsolete in detail & I do not know who is the best person
to ask to amend it. Can you suggest the right person? 6
I have not found any help in Bailey7for dealing with Nominalism though
he objects to the same points in my father's exposition which I object to. I
have however derived some benefit from reading again Bailey's four volumes;
5. Chap.x, "SirW. Hamilton'sViewof the DifferentTheoriesRespectingthe Belief
inanExternalWorld."
6. The "rightperson"turnedoutto beFindlater,who,saidJSMin thePrefaceto the
Analysis, p. xx, "communicatedthe correctionsrequiredby the somewhatobsolete
philologywhichtheauthorhadborrowedfromHomeTooke."
7. SamuelBailey,Letterson thePhilosophyoJthe HumanMind (London,1stseries,
1855;2ridseries,1858;3rdseries,1863).
1334 To Alexander Bain Letter 1161
but how very, very shallow he is! He not only cannot seize any of the less
obvious applications of the principle of association, but he is unfeignedly
unable to make out what the writers who speak of such things can possibly
mean. Yet at the same time, how plausible! He has scarcely his equal in
skimming over the hollow places in philosophy, & putting a smooth face on
unsolved difficulties. If he had been in the Forum at the time of Curtius he
would not have leaped into the gulf, s but would have thrown a platform
over it, by which people might walk across without noticing it. When he
attempts to confute those who are trying to resolve difficulties which he does
not see, he usually does it by formally stating & developing at great length
some elementary truth which he fancies to be all there is in the matter. As
elementary truths are very often lost sight of, these elaborate enforcements
of them are, in many cases, useful, but are seldom at all germane to the par-
ticular controversy. The best thing about him (except his chapters on the
moral sentiments) is that he is a decided supporter of the "experience
hypothesis": but he is so in a way, & in a sense, peculiarly his own: What
used to be called the mundus intelligibilis, consisting of all the obscurer
notions which have wearied & divided metaphysicians, he disposes of by
maintaining that the Intelligible world is all perceived through the senses.
Why puzzle ourselves about the necessity of any of our beliefs? Necessity
is a quality of outward facts, & can be seen. We see that the theorems of
geometry are necessary. How absurd to seek for an explanation or a defini-
tion of Cause! We see one thing cause another.
How different Herbert Spencer whose Psychology 9 I have been reading
for the third time! The second of his four parts is admirable as a specimen
of analysis. It is a great satisfaction to find how closely his results coincide
with ours. I hope he will not make the book worse instead of better in the
proiected rewriting, as I am afraid he is going to do with his Social Statics. 1°
The long miscellaneous chapter with which the 2 ndvolume of the Analysis
commences will give us a great deal of occupation--for under the guise of
explaining names it contains the author's solutions of most of the great
questions of metaphysics proper. I shall hope by & by for a full note from
you on the Will whether I write one myself or no. The original generation of
Will which Hartley had the first glimpse of 11 but which you have been the
first to understand thoroughly, will be much better treated by you than by
me. I may perhaps add something of my own on the polemics of the subject.
8. According to legend, when in 362 B.C. a gulf opened in the Roman Forum, Marcus
Curtius, dressed in full armour and riding a horse, leaped into it; it closed in accord
with the seers' saying that only upon the sacrifice of Rome's most valuable possession
would it close. Curtius recognized that nothing was more precious than a Roman citizen.
9. Principles oJ Psychology (London, 1855).
10. See Letter 1084.The 2nd ed., revised, was published in two volumes, 1870, 1872.
11. David Hartley, Observations on Man, Part I, chap. m, see. m, and chap. IV,
Conclusion.
Letter 1162 To Edwin Chadwick 1335
Avignon
Dec. 22. 1867
DEARCHADWICK
I received your letter and proof yesterday afternoon and I read the proof
immediately on receiving it. Like most things you write, it is full of instruc-
tive and important details, but I differ from you on the point of its being im-
possible for Trades Unions to raise wages. The only reason I can find
assigned in the article for this opinion is that if they do raise wages, they in-
crease the cost of production and price of the product, and thereby lessen
the demand and bring wages down again. But increased wages do not neces-
sarily raise the price of the article (nor even make competition with foreign-
ers more difficult) so long as there is any margin of profits to take the in-
crease from. Of course neither Trades Unions, nor anything else can per-
manently raise wages so high as not to leave a rate of profit sufficient to
encourage accumulation. But if they limit their attempt within reasonable
bounds, I do not see why they should not in many cases succeed, both in
raising wages, and in (what is equivalent) diminishing the hours of labour.
The rules laid down by some Unions against piecework, or against machin-
ery, or against the admission of more than a limited number of persons into
the trade, and so forth, appear to me as noxious as they do to you, though
I do not see how legislation can interfere with people for annexing these
conditions to the acceptance of work, provided they do not use force, or
threats of force, to prevent other workmen from accepting it. I have marked
in pencil, on the margin of the proof, one or two places where something
seems omitted which is necessary to the grammar.
I infer from the newspapers that the public are half crazy about Fenian-
ism. 8 Gladstone's Lancashire speeches 4 will, however, I hope have some
effect in recalling some of them to common calmness and ordinary good
feeling.
I am Dear Chadwick
yours ever truly
J. S. MILL
1. MS atUCL. 2. See Letter 1154,n. 4.
3. The Fenians, or Fenian Brotherhood, were an Irish-American revolutionary secret
society founded in America in 1858. The most notable of the recent Fenian outrages in
England had been the attempted destruction of the Middlesex House of Detention in
Clerkenwell on Dec. 13, 1867. A group of Fenians blew up a section of the prison wall
but failed either to destroy the prison or to rescue the two Fenians held within. The
explosion killed six people and injured 120, many of them inhabitants of the district.
For the reaction to this event and to other Fenian demonstrations and breaches of the
peace, see Sp., Dec. 14, p. 1401, and Dec. 21, 1867, p. 1437; and The Times, Dec. 16,
pp. 5, 8, 9, 10; Dec. 17, pp. 6, 7; Dec. 18, pp. 5, 8, 9; Dee. 19, p. 5; Dee. 20, pp. 3, 4;
Dec. 21, 1867,p. 5.
4. Gladstone delivered five speeches within two days at Oldham, Ormskirk, and
1336 To F. Kidell Letter 1163
1163. TO F. KIDELL1
Avignon
Dee.22.1867
SIR
Avignon
Dec. 22. 1867
DEAR SIR--I sh d be glad to know at once what proposal you are prepared
to make for a new edition of the Logic supposing that no cheap edition is
issued; also on what conditions you would propose to issue a cheap edition s
& in case of my acceding to them what difference this would make in your
proposals for a new library edition. I sha be obliged if you will be so good as
to send me the sheets of the last ed. of the Logic here as soon as possible.
Southport, on Dec. 18 and 19, 1867.See The Times, Dec. 19,p. 7, and Dec. 20, pp. 5-6.
At Oldham he said, "... we must not get upon the high horse and say we will entertain
no questions with regard to measures of relief until what is called 'Fenianlsm' is extin-
guished." The Times, Dec. 19, 1867, p. 7.
1. MS draft at Yale.
Kidellhas not been identified.
•It. _l, _ ,It.
1. MS draft at LSE. In reply to Longman's letter of Dec. 12, also at LSE, which
reported that 271 copies of the Logic had been sold since June 1 and that only 193
remained on hand.
2. A seventh edition was published in 1868.
3. Not until 1884 was a People's edition of the Loglcpublished.
Letter 1165 To William Dougal Christie 1337
Avignon
Dec. 28. 1867
DEAR M RCHRISTIE
I am glad that your ideas for a Bribery BiLlare put on paper, and will
soon be published. 21 quite agree with you as to the importance of including
Municipal elections. Your other point, that of having an enquiry as a matter
of course after all elections, I had not thought of. One can at once see many
reasons in its favour, but it will be a difficult thing to get carried, owing to
the habitual objection to "fishing" enquiries, and to enquiries when there
is no complaint. It is, however, evident that the absence of complaint is, in
such a case, no evidence of the absence of mischief.
I forget if you have ever expressed any opinion on requiring a declaration
on honour from members of parliament, and if so on the terms in which
it should be drawn up. Other points are, What should be the punishment
of the convicted briber? Should not all persons proved to have been agents
of bribery, be for ever interdicted from acting as election agents? Should
not all monies expended for election purposes pass through a public officer,
so that the mere fact of incurring expenditure in which he is passed over
should be legal proof of an unlawful purpose? If so, what should be the deft-
nition of election purposes?
Further, it is quite as necessary to deal with what are at present lawful
expenses as with actual corruption. They are as mischievous, and even as
demoralizing politically, though not so depraving privately. The Liberals
ought to force on both subjects in the approaching session.
As Disraeli means to bring in his Bill on the very day of reassembling, 8 I
think it will be wiser to try to get a conference after than before that time.
If it were tried before, some desirable people would be absent, and others
would say "Let us wait till we see the Bill." But the Bill being almost sure to
be grossly inadequate, it will then be easier to get people to join in an effort
to extort something better.
I am
Dear Mr Christie
very truly yours
J. S./VIILL
1. MS at Corndl.
2. His article "Corruption and Cost of Elections. The Corrupt Practices at Elections
Bill," The Law Magazine and Law Review, XXIV (Feb., 1868 ), 177-202.
3. Disraeli's Bill on Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections was pro-
posed on the first day of the reassembling of the Commons, Feb. 13, 1868.
1338 To Horace White Letter 1166
DEAR Sin: I am much obliged by your kind offices to Lord Amberley 2 and
Mr Morley, _ both of whom will, I am convinced, not only derive great
benefit from any knowledge they acquire of America as it really is, but will
make excellent use of that knowledge, and will help to spread it more widely
when they return home.
I am afraid we differ rather fundamentally in our opinions on the justice
and policy of exclusive taxation on what is called realized property. I have
gone very fully into the question in the chapter on Taxation in the concluding
work of my Principles of Political Economy, _ and it would not be possible in
a letter to explain myself so fully or so clearly. But it seems to me contrary
both to the rule of equal justice and to economical policy, to tax one person
because he has saved, and leave another untaxed, because he has spent all
his gains on himself and family, without adding anything to the accumulated
means of further production. The contribution you propose to levy for the
payment of the national debt would be simply taking away from everybody
who had laid by anything for distant purposes, the greater part of the whole of
his savings, while the self-indulgent who have spent all in present pleasures
would escape altogether, though benefitted as much as any one else by the
protection of government. It seems to me a very narrow view of the purposes
of government to suppose that it is only of use to the possessors of accumu-
lated capital. It protects, or at least is bound to protect, every body's life,
person and dignity from injury and insult; and even as regards pecuniary
matters, those who spend all they get have as much objection to its being
taken from them by malefactors as those who save. You say that those who
would be left untaxed would, in consequence, have more means of saving;
but being already persons who are less frugal in their disposition than others
of the same means, they are still less likely to save when a large part of their
savings would not be at their own disposal, but would be taken by the
State.
On the mere economic question, "is there any way in which an annual
tax may be collected from capital without leaving to the latter an oppor-
tunity to collect it back from labor?" I should answer that capital will not
have this opportunity. I do not believe that the burthens laid on the capitalist
ever fall on labor, except in one way, viz: if the burthens are so heavy as to
check the accumulation of capital, and prevent it from keeping up with the
increase of population; in which case, without doubt, wages would fall,
unless the increased numbers migrated to a less crowded field for the em-
ployment of labor, such as your Western Territories.
The objections to special taxes on capital accumulated by personal fru-
gality, do not in the same degree apply to inherited property; and I am quite
in favor of some special taxation of all inheritances above a small amountm
and graduated taxation too; a percentage rising with the amount of the
inheritance.
I would also have no direct tax on such incomes as are only sufficient to
give mere necessaries of life and health to an average family; nor would I
have any indirect taxes on the necessaries of life and health; though I would
on the luxuries, even of the poor; especially luxuries which are apt to be
noxious, such as intoxicating drinks. Your cotton tax comes within the class
of taxes on necessaries, and is therefore, I think, a bad tax; but not knowing
in which manner it is levied, I do not feel certain as to its exact incidence. I
should suspect that it is partly a tax on the laborer; not however by depress-
ing money wages, but by making them not go so far as they otherwise would,
in the purchase of clothing.
I am
Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Horace White Esq.
Avignon
Dec. 29, 1867
DEAR MADAM
I have to thank you for your letter of Aug. 112which a journey of some
length on the Continent and much occupation ever since have prevented me
from answering before now.
If you think that to give your name in aid of the movement for political
enfranchisement of women might be in any degree injurious to the work you
have chosen, I cordially agree that those who are working in another de-
partment than your own for the public good have no claim upon you.
Whether giving your name to our Society would have any such mischievous
effect you are far better qualified to judge than I am, and I will not therefore
1. MS copy at LSE, as is also Miss Carpenter's letter of Aug. 11, to which this is a
reply. Written by Helen Taylor (see Letter 1186). Published in J. Estlin Carpenter,
Life and Work of Mary Carpenter (London, 1879), pp. 493-95.
2. In reply to JSM's of Aug. 9 (Letter 1131 ).
1340 To Mary Carpenter Letter 1167
venture an opinion. I will content myself with thanking you for the pleasure
with which I learn from your letter that you are with us in principle, and
with expressing the hope that the time may not be very far distant when the
progress of events and of public opinion may remove the obstacles which
prevent you from joining us.
There are however one or two points in your letter in which I cannot
agree with you. To take the most important first, most important because it
is a point of moral obligation. You say you do not desire a vote for yourself.
I have too great a respect for you not to venture to say that in my opinion
this is a dereliction of the duty you owe to your fellow creatures. If your
vote could affect only yourself, that is to say if you only could be the sufferer,
materially speaking, from allowing yourself to be governed by others, it
would still be a question whether unless those others govern you with per-
fect justice, you are morally entitled to forego the right and power which
a vote would give you to force them to do justice, and thereby become
themselves better moral creatures. But it is not the fact that the possession
of a vote would enable you only to protect yourself. Every citizen possessed
of a vote is possessed of a means of protecting those who cannot vote, such
as infants, the sick, idiots &c.as well as of a means of helping others who can
vote to do good in every conceivable way in which just and provident legisla-
tion can affect human happiness. I am deeply persuaded that nothing but a
most regrettable absence of thought on this subject can account for or even
partially excuse, for wholly excuse it cannot, the very common neglect of
the power of voting which prevails among gentlemen and educated persons.
I am certain that a time will come when it will be felt that a man, and I need
not add a woman too, because any rational creature, is committing a most
gross dereliction of duty when he habitually neglects to make use of this
power conscientiously and at any cost of labour to himself. He owes it as a
return to the civilisation to which he owes not only all the security and
peace, all the highest enjoyments of his life, but also the possibility of attain-
ing refinement and moral elevation. He owes it therefore by the deepest debt
that man can owe to his fellow creatures. Nor is it less imperative that he
should pay it because if the duty of voting is not fulfilled from virtuous
and public motives the power of voting will be left to people who are induced
to exercise it by the spur of selfish interest or ambition. Thus I can conceive
no duty not even the most primary duties of private and personal morality,
that it is more absolutely essential to the happiness of mankind that every
virtuous and rational citizen should fulfill steadily and carefully. The right
of voting is in my opinion not only a power to be coveted (although it is a
legitimate powev which may be honestly coveted by an honourable ambi-
tion) but it is sti21more essentially an obligation to be dutifully fulfilled.
You will see from this that I cannot agree in the wish you express that the
Letter 1168 To Thomas Hare 1341
right should rather be "given to woman by those who deprived her of it than
from her own demand." Because even if any sentiment of generosity should
make one feel that it is a more beautiful thing to receive a legitimate power
unasked than asked, there can be no generosity and nothing noble or beau-
tiful in waiting to have a duty thrust upon one instead of asking to be allowed
to take it upon oneself for the good of every one concerned.
In regard to the third point on which you express yourself uncertain--
whether the time has yet come for agitation--there are several reasons
which concur to make me think it has. In the first place to agitate for the
change in the law is not to obtain it; and therefore even if any of us think
that women are not yet prepared to exercise the suffrage, that will still not
be a reason against agitating for it, because much smaller changes than this
can never be obtained until after the agitation for them has lasted some time,
and the agitation itself will be the most effectual means of preparing people
for the change whenever it comes.
The great change now taking place in the right of voting among men z is
however the main reason for bringing forward this question at this particu-
lar time. The subject of the right of voting is under discussion, and people's
minds are comparatively open to receiving new ideas on the subject. If it is
true that women ought to vote, it is wrong to lose the present opportunity
of spreading this truth as far and wide as possible. By doing so we are only
sowing seed to bear fruit in due time if it is good seed suited to the soil and
the climate. We do not dream of reaping the harvest directly.
I have troubled you, dear Madam, with a very long letter, but I agree too
much with you not to wish to agree still further.
I am, &c.
J. S. MILL
It gave me great pleasure to hear from you. The news you give of the
acceptance by the Reform League of the proposed conference 2 may turn
3. Approximately one million new voters were enfranchised by the Reform Act of
1867.
•1_ .It. .g.
out very important. There are a number of the most intelligent leaders of the
working men in the League, and even in the Council; men who have not the
silly aversion of most of the well-to-do people to anything new in politics,
and who are capable of understanding, and accustomed to requiring, general
principles of some sort as a basis of their convictions. If you could make an
impression on two or three of these if you could make a convert of even
one such man as Odger, a or Cremer, 4 or HowellS--the gain would be
immense.
I am glad you have seen Dudley Field, 6 and I hope your communications
with him will continue. I was asked some time ago to meet him at Paris, but
as I did not go to Paris during his stay, nothing came of it.
Mr Rathbone's Lecture 7 was calculated to be very useful to the people it
was addressed to. Though the philosophy of it is not profound, its tendency
and spirit, and many of its practical recommendations, are very valuable. It
indicates a good kind and type of person: in addition to which he seems
either to hold, or to be much inclined to, many right opinions, among others
the enfranchisement of women, and Personal Representation. There are a
great number of signs, of which this lecture is one, that the general moral
and social condition of the country and of the world are inspiring many
people with serious reflections of a very novel kind, and especially with an
anxious interest about the future; as a consequence of which we may hope
to see a great increase of efforts to deal with the primordial sources of na-
tional evils, and at all events a far greater willingness to listen to suggestions
of improvement the grounds of which do not lie on the surface.
I was glad to hear about the Philomathic society) but I am obliged to de-
dine all invitations like the one in question.
I should say something about the proposal to change the petition for
women's suffrage into one for a Declaratory Act, if Helen had not gone so
fully into that question in her letter to Miss Hare. Her reasons seem to me
conclusive, and I quite share her fear lest talking extrajudicially about a
right which Parliament does not wish women to possess, should lead to re-
moving all doubts by a declaratory Act the wrong way. I am
Dear Mr Hare
very truly yours
J. S. Mmr.
rison, MP. The conference met also on March7 and 21, and on June 13. See The Times,
March 2, p. 5; March 23, p. 7, and June 15, 1868,p. 5.
3. George Odger (1813-1877), trade union leader. Originally a shoemaker, he was
secretary of the London trades council, 1862-1872. He made five unsuccessful attempts
to gain a seat in Parliament, 1868-74.
4. William Randal Cremer. 5. George Howell.
6. See Letter 1145,n. 6. 7. The lecture has not been identified.
8. Probably the Liverpool Philomathie Society.
Letter I 169 To Florence Nightingale 1343
Avignon
Dec. 31. 1867
DEAR MADAM
You will readily believe that only the pressure of constant occupation has
prevented me from replying earlier to the interesting letter I received from
you in August. If you prefer to do your work rather by moving the hidden
springs than by allowing yourself to be known to the world as doing what you
really do, it is not for me to make any observations on this preference (inas-
much as I am bound to presume that you have good reasons for it) other than
to say that I much regret that this preference is so very general among women.
Myself--but then I am a man--I cannot help thinking that the world would
be better if every man, woman, and child in it could appear to others in an
exactly true fight; known as the doer of the work that he does, and striving
neither to be under nor overvalued. I am not so "Utopian" as to suppose that
bad people will very readily lend themselves to this programme; but I con-
fess to considerable regret that good women should so often be almost as
fond of false appearances as bad men and women can be; seeking as much to
hide their good deeds as the others do to hide their bad ones; forgetting
probably the while that they are putting somebody--more or less willing--
in the position of a false pretender to merits not his own, but belonging legi-
timately to the lady who delights to keep in the background.
I know that it often appears, in practical matters, that one can get a great
deal of work done swiftly and apparently effectually, by working through
others; securing perhaps in this way their zealous cooperation instead of
their jealous (or perhaps only stupid) obstruction. In the long run, however,
I doubt whether any work is ever so well done as when it is done ostensibly
and publicly under the direction or at the instigation of the original mind that
has seen the necessity of doing it. Whether this is the fact or not, I am quite
certain that were the world in general to know how much of all its important
work is and always has been done by women, the knowledge would have a
very useful effect upon it, and I am not certain that any woman who pos-
sesses any talent whatever could make a better use of it in the present stage
of the world than by simply letting things take their natural course, and
allowing it to be known just as if she were a man. I know that this is not
pleasant to the sensitive character fostered by the present influences among
the best women; but it is to me a question whether the noble, and as I think,
1. MS at Brit. Mus. MS draft in Berg Collection, NYP. Published in Elliot, II, 100-
105, and in Hospitals, X, No. 7 (July, 1936), 83-84. In reply to Miss Nightingale's of
Aug. ll, in Hospitals, ibid., 82-84. Bears note in ISM's hand: Rejoinder Dec. 31,
1867 / dictated by H.T.
1344 To Florence Nightingale Letter 1169
heroic enthusiasm of truth and public good ought not in this age to nerve
women to as courageous a sacrifice of their most justly cherished delicacy, as
that of which the early Christian women left an example for the reverent
love and admiration of all future time. I have no doubt that the Roman ladies
thought them very indelicate.
In regard to the questions you do me the honour to ask me----_st, "Are
there not evils which press much more hardly on women than not having a
vote?" 2_ "May not this, when obtained, put women in opposition to those
who withhold from them these rights, so as to retard still further the legislation
necessary to put them in "possession of their rights?" 3air "Could not the
existing disabilities as to property and influence of women be swept away by
the legislature as it stands at present?"
To answer these questions fundamentally would require only to state fun-
damental principles of political liberty, and to reiterate that debate so nobly
carried on in our own history whether social happiness or dianity, commer-
cial liberty, religious freedom, or any form of material prosperity, is or is not
best founded on political liberty.
It may be granted in the abstract, that a ruling power, whether a monarch,
a class, a race, or a sex, could sweep away the disabilities of the ruled. The
question is, has it ever seemed to them urgent to sweep away these disabilities,
until there was a prospect of the ruled getting political power? More than
this, it is probably a question whether it is in human nature that it ever
should seem to them urgent.
In the same way it may often be a question whether painful symptoms do
not press more hardly upon a patient than the hidden disease which is the
cause of them. And undoubtedly, if the symptoms themselves are killing,
the physician had better address himself to them at once, and leave the
disease alone for a time. But if the oppressions and miseries under which
women suffer are killing, women take a great deal of killing to kill them.
God knows I do not undervalue these miseries; for I think that man, and
woman too, a heartless coward whose blood does not boil at the thought of
what women suffer; but I am quite persuaded that if we were to remove them
all tomorrow, in ten years new forms of suffering would have arisen; for no
earthly power can ever prevent the constant unceasing unsleeping elastic
pressure of human egotism from weighing down and thrusting aside those
who have not the power to resist it. Where there is life there is egotism, and
if men were to abolish every unjust law today, there is nothing to prevent
them from making new ones tomorrow; and moreover, what is of still greater
importance, new circumstances will constantly be arising, for which fresh
legislation will be needed. And how are you to ensure that such legislation
will be just, unless you can either make men perfect, or give women an equal
voice in their own affairs? I leave you to judge which is the easiest.
Letter 1169 To Florence Nightingale 1345
the position of women; thirdly, I see no danger of party spirit running high
between men and women and no possibility of its making things worse than
they are if it did.
Finally, I feel some hesitation in saying to you what I think of the respon-
sibility that lies upon each one of us to stand steadfastly and with all the bold-
ness and all the humility that a deep sense of duty can inspire, by what the
experience of life and an honest use of our own intelligence has taught us to be
the truth. I will confess to you that I have often stood amazed at what has
seemed to me the presumption with which persons who think themselves
humble set bounds to the capacities of improvement of their fellow crea-
tures think themselves qualified to define how much or how little of the
divine light of truth can be borne by the world in general; assume that none
but the very 61ite can see what is perfectly clear to themselves, and think
themselves permitted to dole out in infinitesimal doses that daily bread of
truth upon which they themselves live, and without which the world must
come to an end. When I see this to me inexplicable form of moderation in
those who nevertheless believe that the truth of which they have got hold
really is the truth, I rejoice that there are so many presumptuous persons
who think themselves bound to say what they think true.---who think that if
they have been fortunate enough to get hold of a truth, they cannot do a
better service to their fellow creatures than by saying it openly; who think
that the truth that has not been too much for themselves will not be too much
for others; who think that what they have been capable of seeing, other people
will be capable of seeing too, without a series of delicately managed grada-
tions. I even go so far as to think that we owe it to our fellow creatures and
to posterity to struggle for the advancement of every opinion of which we are
deeply persuaded. I do not, however, mean to say that there is any judge but
our own conscience of how we can best work for the advancement of such
truths, nor do I mean to say that it may not be right for any of us, endowed
with special faculties, to choose out special work, and to decline to join in
work for which we think others better qualified and which we think may
impede us for our own peculiar province. Therefore, while I have seen with
much regret that you join in so few movements for the public good, I have
never presumed to think you wrong, because I have supposed that your
abstinence arose from your devotion to one particular branch of public-
spirited work.
! am Dear Madam
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
• • • I868 • • •
S[aint] V[6ran]
Jan. 8. 1868
Avignon
Jan. 8. 1868
DEAR SIR
I thank you for the opportunity of reading the little pamphlet on educa-
tion.2 All that the author says against centralizing the education of the coun-
try in the hands of government is very just, & I entertain the strongest objec-
tions to any plan which would give a practical monopoly to schools under
government control. But I have never conceived compulsory education in
1. MSdraftatYale. 2. SeeLetter661.
41" 41' 41' .It.
Avignon
Jan. 8. 1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
I am very much obliged to you both for your letter and for sending me
your pamphlet 2 and the Bill. In order not to delay returning you the pamphlet
(which goes by this post) I have copied out its list of recommendations. I
think almost all of them excellent. Above all, you seem to me to be right in
having everywhere one public officer who shall perform all the duties con-
nected with elections, and who shall be specially responsible (as far as it is
possible to make him so) for doing everything that can be done to keep them
pure. You have also perceived the necessity of having an appeal from his
decision; since otherwise he would acquire, in the cases not contested before
3, implies that the pamphlet is in MS. The author of the pamphlet was Ellen Julia
(Teed) Hollond (1822-1884), whom Bernays identified by two of her writings:
Channing, sa vie et ses o_uvres (Paris, 1857), and La vie de village en Angleterre, ou
Souvenirs d'un exild (Paris, 1862). Her Parisian salon was a centre for liberal intel-
lectuals.
1. MS at Cornell.
2. Election Corruption and Its Remedies (London, 1867). JSM praised it in his
speech in the Commons on March 26, 1868. See Hansard, CXCI, cols. 308-11.
Letter 1172 To William Dougal Christie 1349
him by the parties, & would carry into the others a habit of indulgence and
laisser-aller which would make him as little to be relied on as the Poor Law
Inspectors have come to be. But do you not think that the jurisdiction in
appeal should be (as the Select Committee propose that the original
jurisdiction should be) with one of the Judges, rather than with five
M.P.'s named by the Speaker, and a legal Assessor? These M.P.'s would
never be impartial. It could not be hoped that they would be better selected
than the present Chairmen of Election Committees, and the evidence which
you quote from the Corrupt Practices Report shews how confidently parties
rely on the partiality of these.
I am acquainted with the Blue Book of 1860,3 having gone carefully
through it some time ago. I am aware of the failure of the Election Auditors;
but they were sure to be a failure like Railway Auditors, unless a great deal
more was done to ensure their fidelity than was provided for by the Act which
created them. I see that we quite agree on the subject, as you give all the
powers of the Election Auditor to your Returning Officer, who, if your plan
were adopted, would be a very different sort of person from the Election
Auditors, and far more in the public eye. I am glad that you require all elec-
tion expenses to pass through the Returning Officer. I would make him the
direct dispenser even of all charities on the part of the member or candidate;
otherwise these are sure to be so bestowed as to "keep up the.., interest."
The Bill, as altered by the Select Committee, has more good points than
I expected. But the £ 1000 security is a bar to its making much practical
improvement. Some such provision is perhaps necessary on Disraeli's plan,4
to prevent frivolous petitions by men of straw who could not be made to pay
costs. But all such necessity would be obviated by your plan of having an
enquiry and scrutiny after every election, by a special officer whose business
it would be to watch over elections.
The Bill provides a better system of penalties for bribery than I expected.
It is perhaps better that the disqualifications (being so comprehensive and
severe as they are) should be for seven years, as proposed, rather than for
life; since if they were for life there would be much danger that opinion
would be indulgent to every excuse for not inflicting them.
Iain
Dear Mr Christie
yours very truly
J. S. ]VIILL
W. D. Christie Esq.
3. Probably Report of Committee on the Operation and Effects o] the Corrupt Prac-
tices Prevention Act, 1854. Evidence, Appendix, and Index, 1860.
4. SeeLetter 1165.
1350 To Henry SolIy Letter 1173
Avignon
Jan. 9. 1868
DEARCHADWICK
I quite agree with you as to the inutility of the Cobden Club 2 unless it
makes itself an instrument for diffusing good opinions, and several members
of the Club have already expressed to me the same feeling. Mr Potter 8 who,
I believe, is the real founder of the Club, has told me that he very much
wishes to make it useful as a political organ. I think it very desirable that
your suggestions should be brought before the managing Committee. This I
could do, either by writing them a letter enclosing yours, or by attending a
meeting of the Committee (for I am a member, though I have never acted
as such) as soon as possible after my return to England, and bringing the
subject regularly before them. I will do whichever of the two you prefer.
Some good will be done if the Club can be prevailed on to take even a small
step in the direction of your proposals. The largest measure you suggest, that
of pressing for a Congress to reconsider the international law of Europe on
the subject of the commencement of hostilities, has not the smallest chance
of leading to anything practical, but the value of the demonstration might
be considerable.
1. MS not located. Excerpt published in Henry Solly, These Eighty Years (2 vols.,
London, 1893), II, 331.
2. Solly had announced a series of evening "'Historical Lectures' on the Political
and Social History of the Roman Republic." The projectwas inauguratedat Cambridge
Hall on Jan. 15, 1868, with Thomas Hughes in the Chair (Daily News, Jan. 16, 1868).
3. Solly was sometimes called the "father" of the movement to establish working
men's clubs.
•IJ • g. •
I think with you that Mr Leslie's article on Military Systems 4 is very im-
portant, and ought to be made widely known if possible.
I am Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Jan. 9. 1868
DEAR SmnI thank you for your letter. After consideration I have made up
my mind not to print a cheap edition of the Logic at present, but to propose
to you to publish a new edition in the same form & on the same terms as the
last viz. £500 per an edition of 1500.
Avignon
Jan. 9. 1868
DEARSIR
I am very sorry to say that I have no means of procuring any situation, but
I shall most willingly recommend books to you, and after you have read M r
Bain's treatises I should be glad to hear what sort of impression they make on
you, as it would be some help to me in making further recommendations.
Iam
yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
4. "The Military Systems of Europe," North British Rev., XLVII (Dec., 1867),
404--40, reprinted in T. E. C. Leslie, Essays in Poh'ticaland Moral Philosophy (Dublin
and London, 1879), pp. 128-47. 41. 41' 'It' 41'
1. MSat LSE.
1352 To Secretary, Universal Franchise Association Letter 1177
Avignon
January 16, 1868
D_AR MADAM I have watched the progress of opinion in favor of the en-
franchisement of women in America with deep interest, believing that your
country is destined to lead the way in this great question, as it has already
done in so many others. I learn with great pleasure the formation of your
association at Washington, and feel much honored that you have included
my name in your Consulting Committee. I inclose a credit of £ 2 on New
York, not having been able to obtain one [on] Washington, being one from
myself and the same amount from my step-daughter, Miss Helen Taylor, as
subscriptions to your association, and should I have any likely opportunity
I will not fail to mention your association among our friends in England,
but the cause has in this country, as yet, so few supporters that those among
us who are able to give pecuniary help find all their available means absorbed
by the expenses necessary for diffusing the principles in our own country.
You will hear with interest that a society has been formed in England for
the same purpose, e
I am, dear Madam, yours, very sincerely,
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Jan. 17. 1868
DF.ARCH_WICK
I have inclosed your two letters to Mr Potter with one from myself, press-
ing on him the consideration of them. 2
I have read the extracts from the Medical Mirror, and I quite feel with
you against circulating among the electors, from you or your friends, a mere
attack on Lowe. 3 If one candidate puts forth a personal attack upon another
1. MS not located. This letter was read at "the recent meeting, in Washington,of
the Universal Franchise Association, to the Secretary of which it was addressed."
Publishedin the New York Times of June 15, 1868.
The Association, founded in 1867, in Washington, D.C., sought to secure the vote
for both Negroes and women. A founder and the first presidentwas Josephine Sophie
White Gfiffmg (1816--1872), best known for her work with the Freedman's Bureau;
she also served as the secretary of the National Woman Suffrage Association in
Washington.
2. The LondonNational Society for Women'sSuffrage.See Letter 1104, n. 4.
1. MS at UCL.
2. Probably Chadwick'sproposals to extend the usefulness of the Cobden Club in
influencingpublic opinion;see Letter 1174.
3. Robert Lowe was attacked in the Medical Mirror: ,4 Monthly Magazine of Cur-
Letter I 179 To William Dougal Christie 1353
Avignon
Jan. 17. 1868
DEARMR CHRISTIE
The same post which brought your letter, brought the proof from the Law
Magazine. 2 The article will do much good, and I wish it were circulated
widely among the liberal members of Parliament. It does not, however, re-
move the few difficulties which your pamphlet had left in my mind. The
Chairmen of Election Committees have been less grossly partial since they
were a fixed body selected on the responsibility of the Speaker, but they are
still believed and expected to lean to their own party. The corruption which
was so flagrant as to cause the disfranchisement of Yarmouth, 8 did not make
void the seats of the Conservative members, for the Chairman of the Com-
mittee was a Conservative. At present what I prefer is the plan you propose,
of an investigation after every election, parliamentary or municipal, by a
special officer, with the addition of an appeal from that officer to one of the
Judges. It is possible indeed, that to make the appeal be to a Committee of
the House with legal assessors, might facilitate the passing of the measure.
But it is our business to demand what is best, and not to propose a splitting
of the difference, though we may accept it if forced.
rent Medical Literature and News, in the issues of Dec., 1867, pp. 762-63, and Jan.,
1868,pp. 44-52, for vacillating in matters of political, educational, medical, and military
reform. The Medical Mirror opposed his standing for Parliament as the candidate of
London University.
1. MS at Cornell. 2. See Letter 1165, n. 2.
3. A Royal Commission investigating the 1865 election in Yarmouth found that
all the elections since the Act of 1854 had been corrupt. See Cornelius O'Leary, The
Elimination o[ Corrupt Practices in British Elections, 1868-1911 (Oxford, 1962), p. 28,
1354 To the Administrators of the Hospices d'Avignon Letter 1180
S[aint] V[6ran]
Jan. 20. 1868
Avignon
Jan. 27. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
It would be a very good thing if you could get into Parliament for Bristol
even for the present session, 2 but one of the great evils of the present mode of
election is that a local man is almost always the one preferred unless some
one else is willing to pay a great deal more money. Even Radical Bradford
elects a semi-Tory, because he is a local man, in preference to MiaU. a
I have written to Mr Gladstone expressing in strong terms my sense of the
importance of your being in Parliament, with the reasons of it, and of the
desirableness of your being on Mr Glyn's list (Mr George Glyn, the younger
of the Glyns, is Mr Brand's successor as whip).41 do not think Mr Gladstone
is likely to take the suggestion amiss, and it will at any rate place the matter
before his mind.
Can I anywhere find a summary of your recommendations for a legislative
measure against corruption at elections? and if not, could you find time to
send me one? This subject is to come on, the very day of the reassembling of
Parliament. 5
Ever, my dear Chadwick
yours truly
J. S. MILn
1. MS at UCL.
2. One of the two seats for Bristol had been vacated in 1866 by the retirementfrom
public life of Sir Samuel Morton Pete (see Letter 1125, n. 3).
3. Matthew William (later Sir Matthew) Thompson (1820-1891 ), business man and
politician, had been elected as a liberal-conservativeMP for Bradford in 1867, over the
liberal leader Edward Miall (181)9-1881), dissenting minister, founder and editor of
the Nonconlorraist, and founder of the Society for the Liberation of Religion from
1356 To August l oann y Chap3 Letter 1182
Avignon
Jan. 27. 1868
DEAR SIR I much regret to hear of the state of your health. But I hope you
are not relying in any degree upon the pecuniary results of the paper you
sent me. It is very creditable as the first essay of a beginner, but I believe it
to have no chance of being accepted either by a bookseller or by the editor of
any paying periodical. Its opinions alone would exclude it from almost every
periodical which can afford to pay its contributors. And the opinions & argu-
ments are presented rather as they would be written down for the writer's
own satisfaction, than in the manner of one who is trying to convince or
persuade others. I am very sorry if this causes you any disappointment, but
I am convinced that to attempt to derive pecuniary fruits from this first
attempt would only add to disappointment the loss of time & trouble. Re-
gretting that I have nothing more agreeable to communicate.
Avignon
Jan. 27. 1868
State Patronage and Control, commonly called the Liberation Society. Miall was
elected for Bradford,however, in 1869.
4. George Glyn had nominally succeededSir Henry Brand as the senior liberal whip
in Dec., 1866, but Brand continuedto carrythe main responsibilityuntil the end of the
session of 1867. See A. F. Thompson, "Gladstone's Whips and the General Election
of 1868," English Historical Review, LXIII (April, 1948), 189-200.
5. When Parliament reconvened on Feb. 13, an "Election Petitions and Corrupt
Practices at Elections Bill" was given its first reading.After its second readingon March
5, the bill was recommitted on March 26; JSM spoke on the latter occasion (see Han-
sard, CXCI, cols. 308-11 ).
duce fruits. -_I am just now revising the book for the seventh edition. There
will not be many, nor very important alterations; but I shall be happy to send
you the sheets of the new edition, with the alterations marked if it is possible
for you to receive them in time.
With respect to the Inaugural Address, I have given permission to a young
geologist, Dr Anton Dohrn, 8 of Jena, to translate it into German, & perhaps
Mr Grosser would be good enough to communicate with him.
A Dr Sattler 4 has just written to me from Madeira to propose translating
the essay on Comte. He refers to Gervinus 5 as a voucher. I have referred him
to Mr Grosser.
Dr Wille's translation of "Considerations on Representative Gov t''6 seemed
to me when I looked through the first pages of it, to need a good deal of
correction.
With respect to introductory matter I should prefer, on every account,
that anything of the sort should be written by you. It would be sure to be
both valuable in itself and much more fitted to explain and recommend the
series of Works to the German public, than anything I could write.
I am unable to give any opinion as to including the "Essays on Unsettled
Questions of P. E." but if a new ed. of them were called for here I should
alter the first Essay considerably. 7 It is probably prudent to keep back the
book on Hamilton for the present.
I have written a few lines to Mr Grosser s in answer to his letter, & have
referred him for particulars to you.
I have to thank you for your publications of & respecting the Herculanean
MSS 9 which are always very interesting to me.
[P.S.]
I shall be at Blackheath on & after the 12 th of February.
2. Gomperz had essentially completed his translation of the Logic fourteen years
earlier. It was now to be published in the proposed collected edition (see next Letter).
3. Dr. Anton Dohrn (1840-1909), German zoologist; founder of the Marine Biology
Laboratory in Naples. Dohrn did not make use of JSM's permission, and the "Inaugural
Address" appeared in vol. I of Gomperz's edition of JSM's works in the translation of
Adolf Wahrmund ( 1827-1913 ).
4. Probably Wilhelm Ferdinand Sattler, philologist, professor of English at a Bremen
Gymnasium. Sattler's translation of the essay on Comte did not satisfy Gomperz, and
the translation published in the German collected edition was by Elise Gomperz, his
wife, whom he married on Aug. 8, 1868. See letter by Gomperz to Helen Taylor, Nov.
25, 1873, at LSE.
5. Georg Friedrieh Gervinus (1805-1871), German historian, politician, and jour-
nalist.
6. See Letter 931, n. 3. Gomperz disapproved of Wille's translation, and instead
used a translation by Eduard Wessel (vol. VIII of the German edition).
7. The first essay was "On the Laws of Interchangebetween Nations." The Essays
were not included in the German edition, but are reprintedin Collected Works, IV,
231-339. The Essays were not republishedby JSM, but were by Helen Taylor in 1874.
8. The next Letter. 9. See Letter 992, n. 2.
1358 To Julius Grosser Letter 1184
Avignon
Jan.27.1868
Avignon
Jan. 27. 1868
DEAR Sm
I thank you for your note, and the very satisfactory intelligence it contains
respecting your prospects. I wish I had known sooner that the articles in the
Daily News on East London distress wcrc written by you, 2 as I should then
have been much more particular in reading them. I am glad the Bluc Books s
have been useful. I have no doubt that your Lectures 4 will be instructive to
the working men on the points which most concern them. When you feel in
doubt on any point of principle on which it is necessary for you to touch, I
should at any time with pleasure give you any assistance I could in clearing
1. MS draft at LSE. In reply to Grosser'sletter of Jan. 9 (on same sheet with letter
from Theodor Gompcrz), also at LSE.
2. Julius Grosser, proprietor of the Vienna publishing firm Tendler and Co., in his
letter of Jan. 9 proposed bringing out a complete edition of JSM's works in German
translation.In the event, however, Grosser's firm failed, and Fues of Leipzig in 1869
took over the publicationof the edition.
3. The preceding Letter.
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. Under the caption "Distress at the East End," Plnmmer wrote a series of articles
for the Daily News: Dec. 14, 1867, p. 6; Dec. 23, 1867, p. 3; Jan. 2, 1868, p. 4; Jan.
15, 1868,p. 5; Jan. 23, 1868,p. 2. He may also have written two leaders---Dec. 17, 1867,
p. 4; and Jan. 11, 1868,p. 4--on the same topic.
Because of widespread unemployment, especially in the shipbuilding trades, the
poor of East London sufferedseverely throughout 1867-68, the winter being especially
harsh.
3. Parliamentaryreports.
4. Not identifiable.
Letter 1186 To Mary Carpenter 1359
it up. We shall arrive at Blackheath only just in time for the reassembling of
Parliament. Pray give our kind remembrances to Mrs Hummer.
I am Dear Mr Hummer
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Feb. 3, 1868
J.S.MILL
1. MS draft and copy at LSE. In reply to Miss Carpenter'sletter of Jan. 27, also at
LSE.
2. Letter 1167.
1360 To John Venn Letter 1186A
Avignon
Feb. 4. 1868
DEARSIR
1187. TO CHARLF_._HAYES1
B [lackheath] P[ark]
Feb. 15. 1868.
DEAR SIR--I sh a be happy to support almost any feasible plan which would
ensure the regular appropriation of a surplus revenue to the reduction of the
brief.... There are moreover some errors.., in what he has written,which will be
referred to in some of the following chapters."
6. SeeVenn, chap. my, see. 9, p. 322.
4t 4t 4t
7. Venn, pp. 314--42.
national debt. 2 The mode you propose of effecting this is strongly recom-
mended by the close connexion of the subiect with the limitation of our coal
supply, & plans similar to it have sometimes been suggested. For my own
part I am unable to see the force of the strong objection which many public
men entertain to any tax on coals. As for the iron manufacturers, Mr Plimsoll
has shewn in his letters in the Times 8 that the coal they waste amounts to as
great a quantity as their Belgian rivals consume altogether & it would do
good instead of harm to compel them by a tax to be more economical. No
plan for reducing the debt has a better claim to consideration than yours, but
until it has been more discussed it is impossible to come to a positive opinion
in favour of it.
1188. TO WILLIAMTALLACKX
Blackheath Park
Kent
Feb. 15. 1868
SIR
In reply to your communication I beg to say that I would rather not sign
the form recommending the Address of the Howard Association s "to the
consideration of influential persons," because the form, though not expressly
declaring, would be understood to imply, an adhesion, not only to the
opinions expressed in the Address, but to the objects of the Association, some
of which I highly approve, but from others of which, I dissent, s
I am Sir
yours very faithfully
J. S. _ILL
William Tallack Esq
2. JSM in a debate on the Malt Duty on April 17, 1866, had spoken on the need of
paying off the National Debt before England's coal fields should be exhausted. Han-
sard, CLXXXI/, cols. 1524-28.
3. Samuel Plimsoll (1824-1898), coal merchant, expert on mercantile shipping,
Radical MP for Derby, 1868-80. He had recently published a series of four letters on
"The Iron Trade" about his tour of ironworks in England and on the Continent (The
Times, Jan. 31, 1868, p. 8; Feb. 8, p.41"6; .1_
Feb. 10, p. 10; and Feb. 12, p. 10).
41- 41"
Blackheath Park
Kent
Feb. 16. 1868
DEARMRMASSON
I must apologize for giving you further trouble on the subiect of my daugh-
ter's article2which you were so kind as to forward to Mr Macmillan, 3but as
she has no other copy, and as we observe that Mr Macmillan does not
undertake to return articles unless the name and address are written on them,
a condition which was not complied with in this instance, we hope you will
excuse our having recourse to your good offices to obtain the return of the
article, if it should not be found to suit the Magazine.
I hope that your anxiety about Mrs Masson's health is now over. I am
Dear Mr Masson
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
and in the meanwhile every one must act according to his own judgment of
what is prudent and right. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
T. J. Haslam Esq.
I have received your two letters (under one cover) and have read them
with the same pleasure which all your former letters have given me. On all
the subjects on which you have yet given me the benefit of an expression of
your opinions, they appear to me not only sound and rational, but compre-
hensive; and what you call your "besetting weakness", that of always referring
questions to first principles, and treating them as wholes, or in other words
looking at all the cases together which fall under the same or similar prin-
ciples, seems to me to be the source of your strength.
I hope that you will continue to favour me with similar communications
at your leisure, and that you will let me know when there is anything I can
do to help you. I might be sometimes useful in lending you books that you
may not have access to at Hanley. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
I. S. MILL
Mr William Wood.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Feb. 23. 1868
DEAR SiR I am sorry that the resolution adopted by the Jamaica Com-
mittee 2 sh a deprive them of the benefit of your cooperation. But the fact
1. MS in the possession of Mr. George Arthur Wood.
•It .It 41- .It
There are few persons whose complete adhesion to the opinions expressed
in my pamphlet 2 could have given me more pleasure and encouragement
than yours. I am truly glad to find the deep sense I entertain of the necessity
of a radical change in the relations of the people of Ireland to the soil and
the formidable and growing danger of the attempts to palter with the subject
by measures which scarcely touch the evil, confirmed by an equally strong
conviction on your part. Though every day shews more and more the inca-
pacity of our governing classes to use their minds to any purpose on the
subject, there is a hopeful change taking place in the minds of some other
portions of the public; and if the Reform Act, when it comes into operation,
fulfils in other respects the hopes that have been founded on it, we may hope
that it will lead to a less prejudiced consideration of the measures necessary
for Ireland. If not, I agree with you in thinking that the ultimate issue (after
a period of great suffering, crime, and national disaster) will be separation.
I am my dear Lord
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
The Lord Hobart.
1. MS at Cornell.
George Walker has not been identified. Perhaps he was related to Thomas Walker,
the editor of the Daily News (1854--69).
2. Sir Robert Collier (1817-1886), solicitor-general (1863-66), attorney-general
Letter 1196 To Louis Blanc 1367
made tomorrow (Thursday) as the case has never yet been brought before
the public in a manner satisfactory to those who consider Eyre as a great
public criminal, it is of great importance that Sir Robert Collier's speech
should be correctly and fully reported. The Jamaica Committee will there-
fore employ a short hand writer to take it down, and a copy of the report,
corrected by Mr Shaen a and with mere surplusage cut out, will be sent to the
Daily News in the course of the evening. I hope that you will think it desir-
able and find it practicable to insert the report in your paper. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Kent
le 29 f_vder
1868
Je me suis address6 _ celui de mes antis qui est le plus au eourant du per-
sonnel de l'6ducation militaire, _ M. Chadwick, 2 pour avoir des renseigne-
ments sur le Conseil, et j'ai re_u de lui la r6ponse ci-jointe. Comme lui, je
trois qu'il y a peu _ esp6rer pour votre ami d'une recommandation lib6rale
quelconque. Celle des autorit6s de Sandhurst College 3 pourrait _tre plus
etIicace, en supposant qu'il n'y a pas de parti pris de nommer quelqu'un par
faveur, ou par int6r_t politique.
votre tout d6vou6
J. S. MILL.
(1868-71). On Feb. 27, Collier succeeded Fitzjames Stephen as barrister for the
Jamaica Committee, and on that day applied in the Bow Street Court for a warrant
against Eyre on a charge of murder. The application was denied. For the subsequent
developments, see Bernard Semmel, The Governor Eyre Controversy, pp. 161 ft.
3. William Shaen (1821-1887), of the well-known firm of solicitors, Shaen and
Roscoe; solicitor for the Jamaica Committee, and active in many radical causes.
41" ,It 41" .%-
1. MS at Biblioth_queNationale.
2. See Letter 1193.
3. The SandhurstRoyal MilitaryCollege.
1368 To M. E. Grant Duff Letter 1197
Blackheath Park
Kent
Feb. 29 [1868]
DEARSIR
I have just received an answer 2 from Heligoland which I have the pleasure
of forwarding to you.
The long adjournment of the House 3 seems to be a mere expedient of the
the Government to gain time. It will help towards making the present session
of Parliament a useless one. I am
Dear Sir
Yours very truly
J. S. MmL
M. E. Grant Duff Esq. M.P.
Blackheath Park
March 1. 1868
DEAR MR CAIRNES
I was disappointed that your letter did not report a further progress in the
improvement of your health. It is something, however, that your letter is in
your own handwriting, which it was a great pleasure again to see.
I thank you for Mr Nesbitt's paper, 2 which I was very glad to have an
opportunity of reading. My opinion on the Education question is exactly
what it was, namely, entirely with you, up to the limits of practicability. What
either Disraeli or Gladstone intend or desire on that subject will probably
appear in the debate on the state of Ireland, a which has been, probably with
set purpose, staved off till next week by the adjournment of the House. The
question is now getting involved with that of the endowment or disendow-
1. MS in the Osborn Collection, Yale.
2. Not located. Heligoland, a British possession from 1807 to 1890, received a
reformed constitution in 1868.
3. The House of Commons had adjourned on the preceding day until March 5.
•It" _ 'It" 41.
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 5. 1868
DEAR SIR
Your letter of the 2nd inst. gave me the pleasure your letters always do.
Were I to enter into the subjects on which it touches, there would be much to
be said; but it is not necessary to do so in order to express my agreement
4. England and Ireland (London, 1868). JSMproposed the creation of a commission,
possessed of compulsory powers, which through judicial inquiry would establish fixed,
fair rents for all lands. The state would guarantee the rent to the landlord and the
holding, at the fixed, fair rental, to the tenant. See pp. 36-38.
5. An international court of arbitration awarded the United States $15.500,000 in
gold on Sept. 14, 1872, the British judge, Sir Alexander Cockburn, dissenting. For the
text of the award, see The Times, Sept. 16, 1872,p. 9.
6. The House of Representatives had begun consideration of a bill that would have
granted equal fights to American citizens, whether native or naturalized. The bill
would also have given the President the right to detain a subject of any foreign power
that had detained an American. In part, the bill sprang from American anger over
British treatment of the Fenians. This bill was eventually dropped, and a substitute
bill adopted in June, 1868.For a conciliatory
•1_ 4t 4t
leader,
4t
see The Times, Feb. 12, 1868,p. 8.
1. MS in the possession of Mr. George Arthur Wood.
1370 To William Allingham Letter 1200
with the opinions stated in your letter, which appear to me thoroughly sound
and enlightened.
I am, unfortunately, very poor in recent treatises on practical science, of
which I hardly possess one. In regard to works of general literature, you
would oblige me by mentioning those which you say you would like to pos-
sess. I am
Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Mr William Wood
W. Allingham, Esq.
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 8. 1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
I said nothing on the second reading of the Bribery Bill, a as the House were
evidently unwilling to discuss the subject until they see the promised altera-
tiom. But the going into Committee pro forma next Thursday, or more
seriously on a later day, may afford a better occasion; and we shall, I hope,
have had our meeting before that time. I am
Dear Mr Christie
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
DEAR MR. CHRISTIE,----I am extremely glad that you intend to present your-
self as a candidate to the electors of the Stifling Burghs. 2 The Scotch burghs
have long supplied the House with some of the best and most to be depended
on of the advanced Liberals, and I believe that you, if elected, would be
worthy of a place among the number. There would, moreover, be a peculiar
propriety in your return to Parliament by a constituency so free from elec-
toral corruption as those of Scotland have proved themselves to be; since
you have thought to greater purpose on the means of preventing electoral
corruption, and are likely to be of more service in passing measures for that
vitally important end than any other person whom I could name. Your diplo-
matic experience, and your knowledge of the mode in which our foreign
affairs are conducted, would be of great value in Parliament, acquired as that
knowledge was in the course of an honourable service, of the rewards of
which you have been deprived for no obvious reason but that an interested
c/amour was raised against some parts of your official conduct, s the authors
of which, by general admission, failed to make good any imputation against
you, unless it be an imputation to have made yourself disagreeable to those
who were endeavouring to evade the fulfilment of their national obligations.
mI am, dear Mr. Christie, very truly yours,
J. S. MILL
W. D. Christie, Esq.
1. MS not located. Published in the Morning Star, March 19, 1868, p. 5. See pre-
ceding Letter.
2. Christie subsequently stood for Greenock, but was defeated.
3. See Letter 719.
1372 To Thomas Hare Letter 1203
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 8. 1868
DEAR MR. HARE
I send you a paper I have received from Mr. Boyd Kinnear. 2 He seems a
good deal shaken in his opposition. And he is a person well worth gaining
over to the plan, if possible.
The article in Tuesday's Times 3 (I suppose by Mr. Courtney) will give the
question a new and much more advanced position than it has yet had. Your
proposal for a Conference 4 is producing splendid fruits. The perfectly intel-
ligent adhesion of so many leaders of the working men at the meeting, 5 is
most encouraging.
ever yrs truly
J. S. MILL
Blackbeath
March 10. 1868
DEAR MR CAIRNES
The pamphlet 2 may have missed you through being directed Poste Res-
tante, as I did not then know your address at Nice. I send another copy by
this post. You will not find in it much argument, of a nature to remove any
1. MS in 1943 in the possession of Mrs. K. E. Roberts.
2. Possibly Kinnear's paper on "Redistribution of Seats," in the volume by various
writers, Essays on Reform (London, 1867), pp. 127-53.
3. Actually, Wednesday, March 4, 1868, p. 8. The leader was occasioned by a con-
ference on Hare's scheme of proportional representation first held in the rooms of the
Reform League, Adelphi Terrace, on Feb. 28, 1868. JSM attended and spoke. Though
generally sceptical of Hare's plan, The Times leader did concede it some virtues: "We
do not suppose the adoption of Mr. Hare's scheme to the wide extent he himself
recommends will ever be seriously contemplated; but it will be seen that its principle
offers a means of reconciling the idea of equality with the maintenance of representative
government .... "
Three further such conferences were held, on March 7, 21, and June 13. See Repre-
sentative Reform. Report of the Committee appointed by the con/erence o/ members
of the Reform League, and others, on Mr. Ham's Scheme of Representation, Held 28th
Feb., and 7th and 21st March, 1868 (London, Triibner [1868]).
4. See Letter 1168.
5. Among those present were Charles Bradlaugh, Thomas Conolly, and Thomas
Mottershead.
•It _ 41. 41-
difficulties which you are likely to feel. The object was to strike hard, and
compel people to listen to the largest possible proposal. This has been
accomplished, and now the time is come for discussing in detail the manner
in which the plan, if adopted, would work. I do not share your hopes that
anything much short of what I have proposed, would give peace or prosperity
to Ireland in union with England: but if there is any intermediate course
which would do so, its adoption is likely to be very much promoted by fright-
ening the Government and the landlords with something more revolutionary;
as even the Saturday Review admits. 3
The great Irish debate begins tonight, 4 and in the course of it I shah
probably have an opportunity of answering the practical objections to my
proposal.
I am
Dear Mr Cairnes
ever yours truly
J. S. MmL
enquiring of Miss Cobbe, from whom she received the notification of your
willingness to join us, whether she should put down your name and those
of your daughters as members of the General Committee, or as members of
the Society, she finds some uncertainty on this matter, and that Miss Cobbe
hesitates to say more than that she is certain of your "approval." In this
uncertainty, I am commissioned by Mrs Taylor to express to you her deep
regret if unwittingly your name has been made use of without your own full
sanction; and at the same time, to beg of you to permit your name and those
of Miss Somerville and Miss M. Somerville 4 to be placed on the General
Committee. I greatly regret if there has been any misunderstanding, but Mrs
Taylor tells me that she was under the impression that you had received
copies of the Circular of the Society, and had given your consent to become a
member after having seen them: and it is only when printing a list of the
subscribers that she finds her friend unwilling to define in which list your
name is to be inserted, though quite certain of your approval of the aims of
the Society.
You will see by the papers I inclose, that the Society consists, besides the
Executive Committee: Firstly, of a General Committee, consisting of annual
subscribers of one guinea, who are not responsible for the management; who,
in giving their names, are considered to give in an adhesion only to the specific
object of the Society, the extension of the franchise to women. Secondly, of
ordinary members, consisting of all subscribers of one shilling or upwards,
less than one guinea. Some of our most valued members belong to this latter
portion, and I beg that you will allow your name to be included in one of the
two: certain as I am that in doing so you will give the weight and dignity of
the living name to which English-women justly look up with the greatest
pride, to help a movement better calculated than any other to enable women
in general to attain a position more worthy of them than that which they
now hold, and one better fitted to make them of use to the world.
I am Dear Madam with the greatest respect
Yours sincerely
J. S. MILt.
MY DEARMR GOMPERZ I hope you received the sheets of the First Book
of the new edition of the "System of Logic. ''2 There were no alterations in it
4. Martha Charters Somerville and Mary Somerville.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
March 18. 1868.
DEAR Sm--I have to thank you for your enclosure & inquiry. It is the first
time I have ever heard that I was a believer in Spiritualism, & I am not sorry
to be able to suppose that some of the other names I have seen mentioned as
believers in it are no more so than myself.
For my own part I not only have never seen any evidence that I think of
the slightest weight in favour of Spiritualism but I sh ° also find it very ditt_cult
to believe any of it on any evidence whatever: And I am in the habit of
expressing my opinion to that effect very openly whenever the subject is
mentioned in my presence.
You are at liberty, to make any use you please of this letter.
deplorable doctrines now afloat in the United States about currency and
the obligation of contracts. A breach of faith with the national creditor by
the people of the United States, under whatever disguise, would be, in my
estimation, the most unfortunate event for the morality of the world, and for
the reputation and progress of free institutions, which at the present time
could possibly happen; and of all modes of defrauding the public creditor,
that of cancelling the debt by handing over to him a vast quantity of paper
depreciated to worthlessness by excessive issue, would be, in its praetical
operation, the worst. If, as you do me the honour of thinking, anything that
I could write on the subject could in the smallest degree aid your exertions
to ward off this calamity from your country and from mankind, I should
feel bound in duty to what little I can for the purpose. Unfortunately, it is im-
possible for me to write anything requiring care and concentration of thought
during the session of parliament. But to the extent of a letter, or a short
article adapted for a newspaper, I could promise: _ and if you would kindly
let me know the form and mode of publication which you would prefer I
will do my best to meet your wishes. I am Dear Sir
very sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
Charles Eliot Norton Esq.
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 18. 1868
DEAR SIR
I thank you very sincerely for your further remarks in illustration of the
matters treated in your book. I shall keep them by me for a fuller and more
deliberate consideration than it is in my power to give them during the
session of Parliament. I will merely, at present, say a few words on a single
point; the flaw which seems to you to exist in the theory of the predictability
of human history, from the influence which the foresight itself may have
in modifying the facts foreseen. 2 This influence is real, but does not seem to
me to affect the theory; for the self-consciousness of mankind, and their fore-
sight of their own future, is itself a foreseeable and calculable element. It
might have been predicted by a superior being that at such and such an epoch
in the development of the human mind, mankind would begin to perceive
the law of their own future, and that their perception would modify the future
in such and such a way.
There is an inconsistency though only a verbal one, between the two pas-
sages which you cite 3 from my Political Economy.
Your examination papers in Political Economy are very thorough and
searching.
You are most welcome to use any part of my letter a as a testimonial, pro-
vided it is so used as to shew that it was not written with a view to the present
vacancy in the Examinership in Logic; as, with regard to that vacancy any
influence it is in my power to exercise is preengaged in favour of another
highly qualified candidate. 5
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
J. Venn Esq
better qualified to see what is the common root of the many grievances from
which others are suffering.
Those two which you particularly mention, the want of education & the
want of a career, 2 are probably those most deeply & pressingly felt at present
in our own country among educated women of the class of ladies. And al-
though I think it would be easy to trace the still more sad & bitter sufferings
of married women & women among the poor to a political cause, still these
two are among the evils which are most evidently the consequence of political
defranchisernent [... ?] would be most speedily & easily removed by open-
ing the suffrage to women.
How very quickly public attention to the education of a class follows
upon opening the franchise to that class we have all of us seen within the
last year in the sudden & universal interest in the education of the poor which
has followed upon our new Reform Bill. It is not going too far to say that
six months have done more with the aid of the Reform Bill to ripen public
opinion in the matter of popular education than 20 years with the aid of all
the most enlightened thinkers & writers among us. On the other side we see
how very little extensive endowments will do if those for whose benefit they
have been made have not the power of insuring their application; since
there is scarcely one if one of all the educational endowments in the country,
most of which were originally made for poor boys & girls, which have not been
long ago appropriated to the boys of those classes which possess political
influence. And I am persuaded that if women in this country urged by a
strong feeling of the importance of the education of women to found magni-
ficent institutions for that object, and to train women without any votes, a
century or two hence would see them all silently lapsed into the hands of
those who possess by the vote the power of attending to their own interests.
It is not by accident that this has happened hitherto with all our endowments,
nor is it by any extraordinary perversity or wickedness. It is by the steady
& invariable pressure of self interest in all human affairs, for make what
regulations you will, somebody must enforce them; they will not enforce
themselves; & those among the persons affected who have the power to en-
force them will be active in enforcing what concerns themselves, & will by
2. Miss May had written in her letter to Helen Taylor: "there seems to me nothing
more melancholy than the waste of mind & energy wh. goes on amongst women, no
more bitter thought than that of the aimless, obiectless life they are compelled to lead.
Then again there is their want of occupation--What can girls living at home do? Just
nothing except lead, as it were, a kind of hand-to-mouth existence killing time in small
daily parcels with little frivolous amusements or at most with foolish, petty pretences of
work. They can have no centre, no end in their lives, nothing to strive & work & live
for, & so their energies are deadened and their talents wasted & their lives thrown away
so that it wd almost seem better for them never to have lived at all. I know, at least,
that this is so with me. I have a most passionate longing for work, but where is the
possibility of finding any? It was this problem wh. caused me to send my paper to Mr.
Mill. t'
Letter 1209 To Florence May 1379
mere forgetfulness & negligence, if from nothing worse, let what does not,
lapse into the oblivion & neglect which have been the fate of the regulations
concerning the poorer scholars in almost all our magnificent endowments
for education. Give to women a vote & it will be worth while to educate
them, as it is now thought worth while to educate the working classes. Give
to women a vote & they will begin to ask what has become of the funds for
the education of girls in our existing endowments & when a voter asks a can-
didate a question, the question will not be pooh poohed as feminine talk.
Give to women a vote, & new institutions arising from the new sense of the
importance of women in the world will not be turned aside from the objects
for which they were intended.
The closing of all careers to women is still more obviously the consequence
of their political insignificance. A lady who takes much interest in this
subject 3 has taken some pains to point out the many ways in which the mere
fact of having no vote causes women applicants for employment to be passed
over. The daughters & widows of farmers have the greatest difficulty in in-
ducing, & only can induce a few philanthropic landlords to permit them to
retain the farms of their fathers & husbands because a woman has no vote &
the landlord likes all his tenants to vote for his own candidates. Postmistresses
& other little functionaries are disappearing to the level at which voters begin
because all these little places are given through the influence of members of
Parl t, who naturally give them to voters. In France some years ago many
hundred women were employed as clerks in telegraph offices; since the lower-
ing of the suffrage in that country to all the men, no fresh women clerks
have been appointed. I need scarcely point out to you how all these things
throw hundreds of women upon such few means of earning their bread as
men cannot keep for themselves, & make the pressure of competition greater
& the chance of success less even in these few. But it is evident that these
same principles are at work in all those departments of life which might fur-
nish what may properly be called a career as distinguished from a mere living.
Parliament decides the rules by which entry into all professions is governed
& a pad t consisting of men elected by men only, either expressly excludes
women or more often leaves the drawing up of those rules to a body of pro-
fessional men who shut out women with all the jealousy of rivals. Thus it is
that the medical profession threatens to be closed against women as well as
all public employments.
But I feel sure that as you come to reflect on these subjects you will be
peculiarly able to see the working of several principles, & I will do myself the
pleasure of forwarding some of the papers & publications of the Society for
Women's Suffrage.
3. Possibly the paper read by Mrs. Barbara Bodlchon at the meeting of the NAPSS
at Manchester,Oct. 6, 1866, "Reasons for the Enfranchisement of Women," reprinted
as a pamphlet (London, 1866).
1380 To lohn .4. Elliott Letter 1210
24 March, 1868
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 29, 1868
DEAR M"RCHRISTIE
You will have seen that in Thursday's debate 2 1 broke ground on the sub-
ject of the two or three most important of your suggestions respecting a
bribery bill. I think my doing so has done some good. There seems so much
difficulty in bringing the various MP's who have been spoken to on the sub-
ject to meet together, that I have determined to act without reference to any
meeting, and have therefore given notice of an amendment for the prohibi-
tion of paid canvassers, and have suggested several other amendments which
I am endeavouring to induce suitable members to move. I am told that I
may expect a good deal of support even from Tories on the subject of paid
canvassers.
I am sorry that you found no opening at Stifling, but since you think my
letter s calculated to be of use, I am glad it was published, since it helps to
make you generally known as a candidate. I am Dear Mr Christie
verytrulyyours
J. S. MILL
1. MS not located. Excerpt printed in the Sept., 1929, autograph catalogue of
Messrs. Radford & Co., 8 Bruton St., New Bond St., London, W.1.
Probably John Arthur Elliott, author of Dewdrops of the Heart. Poems and Tales
(London, 1866).
4t 4t 41" 4t
1. MS at Cornell.
2. JSM spoke in the debate on the Corrupt Practices Bill on March 26; for his
speech see Hansard, CXCI, cols. 307-11.
3. Christie was sounding out several constituenciesin the hope of running for Par-
liament.See Letter 1202.
Letter 1212 To Edwin Chadwick 1381
Blaekheath Park
Kent
March 31. [1868]
DEARCHADWICK
Blackheath Park
Kent
March 31.1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
I much regret that I have given my order for Friday--and could have
given many others if I had had them to give. The demand for orders this
week is the greatest I have known.
M r Torrens has undertaken one of the amendments, and I am in com-
munication with other members. In drawing up my clause prohibiting paid
canvassers, I shall include another important suggestion of yours, the limita-
tion to one paid agent. Otherwise, as has been well remarked to me, the
canvassers would simply be retained as agents.
I shall put the clause or clauses on the paper on Friday, and should be
very glad of any suggestions from you in the meantime as to the wording of it.
I suppose I must take some lawyer into counsel.
I will either ask, or get some one to ask, the question you suggest about
Municipal Elections. e
I at once set down the very useful article in the Pall Mall Gazette to you)
1. MS at UCL.
2. On the Public Schools Bill, referred to a select committee on March 20, 1868,
given Royal Assent on July 31, 1868. JSM took part in the debates on various amend-
ments to the bill, which set forth regulations on the endowments and government of
the public schools. For the debates, see Hansard, CXCII, cols. 1631-57, 1924--42;
CXCI/I, cols. 812-27, and 1903-1908.
•It .It _ 41.
I wish it had been some one else, as any one else would probably have men-
tioned your pamphlet _ as the source from which my proposals were taken.
I am
Dear M r Christie
very truly yours
_o S. MILL
Your letter 2 gave me very great pleasure, both personally, and for the
sake of the cause in which I am glad to know from yourself that your interest
is already of old date. I now write to ask of you a further service to that
cause--a service the value of which will probably be less in your own eyes,
than in those of any other person connected with the movement. Petitions
in considerable numbers are coming in; a dozen or more have already been
presented, and many others are in the hands of members, from various places,
great and small; but there will be one, promoted by the London Branch of
the Society, to be presented by myself in May signed both by women and
men which far exceeds in number of signatures all hitherto presented, s It
has already nearly 14000 signatures, many of them names of great weight,
and many more are expected. Now it would not only be felt a great honour
by the promoters, but would also be of great value to the cause, if you would
allow the first signature to this petition to bear your name. 4
In the hope that you will not refuse us this favour, I inclose what will, in
that case, be the first sheet of the voluminous document, and I beg you to
return it to me at the address which heads this letter. I am
Dear Madam
very sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
Mrs Somerville
Your letter dated March 16 was like all your letters, very interesting to
me. It is a real pleasure to receive them.
I do not happen to have in my possession spare copies of any of the books
in your list but I have little doubt of being able to procure some of them.
Milton's Prose Works however are not easy to be met with. Some of the
books you mention are French: is it translations that you wish for, or have
you been enabled to learn to read French books in the original?
The Mr De Morgan u who died lately is, I am sorry to say, a son of the
eminent mathematician with whom you have corresponded.
I inclose a petition s which is in course of signature, and as I know you
agree with its sentiments, should be glad if you would sign it or get it signed
by men or women who agree with it and send it back to me. It has already
been signed by 14,000 persons, and it is found that working women are very
often willing to sign it. I am Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. MINT.
Mr WiUiam Wood
Many thanks for your very valuable cautions. I shall not finally draw up
my clauses until I receive your further suggestions. It is only too clear that
we have plenty of time.
Mr Disraeli's answer to my question was civil but in no degree satisfac-
tory. 2 In fact the enquiring into municipal corruption in any effectual manner
[P.S.] Serjeant Pulling has sent me his two articles from the Law Review._
His plans seem to agree very much in principle with yours.
Avignon
le 7 avril 1868
MADEMOISELLE
Je n'avais pas fait tirer _ part des exemplaires de mort discours sur
l'Irlande, 2 mais puisque vous me faites l'honneur d'en d6sirer un, je l'ai
command6 expr_s pour le Journal des Economistes, qui, je l'esl_re, le recevra
prochainement.
Quant h la traduction, 8 je n'ai pas pu faire un erratum en temps con-
venable pour le Journal. Du reste, je ne tenais _ faire des corrections h la
3. Sir John Tomlinson Hibbert (1824--1908), MP for Oldham, 1862-74, 1877--86,
1892-95, and holder of sub-cabinet posts in Gladstone governments.
4. Over the ensuing months, both Fawcett and JSM presented various amendments
to strengthen the bill (on May 21, July 18, 22, and 23) but to little avail; the Govern-
ment's bill passed without essential change.
5. Alexander Pulling (1813-1895), serjeant-at-law, legal author, had published on
this question "The Law of England Relating to Purity of Elections," Law Magazine and
Law Review, 3rd ser., XXI (1866), 54-68 and 274--82, reprinted as a pamphlet, Our
Parliamentary Elections. Can no Laws protect the Honest Voter [rom the Dishonest?
(London, 1866); and "Electoral Bribery and Corruption," Law Magazine, 3rd ser.,
XXIII (1867), 113-25.
41' 41. 41. 4I.
Avignon
April 1,4, 1868
DEAR MADAM
I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 23rd ult. I beg to
express not only my earnest wishes, but my confident hopes for the success
of the efforts which the American Association for Equal Rights is carrying
on to obtain the full rights of citizenship for every subject of the United
States, and especially for that moiety of the nation who, though the imaginary
disqualification of difference of race and blood cannot be alleged in their
case, are denied a voice in those public interests which concern them in the
same manner and in the same degree as the other moiety. In this country
the political enfranchisement of women is gaining ground rapidly in public
opinion, and if the cause is thus prospering in the old country, which has
never yet professed to ground its political institutions on principles of equal
iustice, but chiefly on historical precedent, how much more ought it to
prosper in the United States, the very foundation of whose institutions is
the equality of all human beings in the eye of the law and of the constitution,
and who proclaimed that great devotion in the memorable document by
which they first attested their existence as a nation. There is no true demo-
cracy where large classes of the community are denied equality of political
rights. Every Government which permanently divides its people into a
governing part and a governed part is an aristocratic Government, by what-
ever name it may be called, and I am convinced that the people of the
United States of both political parties are capable of seeing this, and, attached
as they both are to the general principles of democratic government, only
need a persevering appeal to their reason and good feelings to induce them
to free their constitution from the remains of the old system of privileged
1. MS not located. Published in both the Daily News and the Morning Star for May
28, 1868, and in the Beehive, May 30, 1868. The letter had been read at a meeting of
the American Equal Rights Association in New York on May 14, 1868, and published
in the New York Times the next day, p. 5.
Lucy Stone [B1ackwell](1818-1893), American reformer, anti-slavery and women's
fights leader. She married in 1855 a prominent abolitionist and advocate of women's
rights, Dr. Henry B. Blackwell (1824--1909), but with his approval retained her
maiden name. Blackwell's sisters Elizabeth and Emily were prominent early women
physicians.
1386 To Lyon Play/air Letter 1219
Avignon
April 16. 1868
DEAR SIR
I shall certainly oppose the attempt to reduce the four Scottish universities
to one representative in Parliament when Trinity College, Dublin, has two.
Scotland owes much more to her universities than either England or Ire-
land to theirs, and they have been far greater diffusers of a Liberal education.
To treat the people's universities so much worse than the universities of the
higher ranks is quite according to custom, but ought to be resisted to the
utmost.
In the same spirit, the present Irish Reform Bill gives no representation
at all to the Queen's University. I am
Dear Sir
y" very truly
J. S. MILL
Prof. Lyon Playfair
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
April 20, 1868
were voluminous, the consent of the publishers, Messrs Longmans and Co,
would be necessary, as well as that of Mr Mill, which he would be most
willing to give: but for extracting "a short passage", it is a proof of delicacy
of feeling on Professor Buchheim's part that he should have deemed any per-
mission to be required.
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
April 20. 1868
W. D. Christie Esq.
1. MS at Cornell. MS draft at Yale. In reply to Christie's of April 17, also at Yale.
2. See Letter 1216.
3. A Select Committee had been nominated on March 19 "to inquire into the state
of our Treaty relations with Foreign Governments regarding extradition, with a view
to adoption of a more permanent and uniform policy on the subject." JSM was a mem-
ber. The Committee made its report on July 6, 1868.
4. On Aug. 6, 1840, Louis Napoleon, with a small band of followers, landed at
Boulogne, vainly hoping to win over the support of the regiment stationed there, as a
prelude to a coup d'_tat. In the altercation that preceded his capture, Louis Napoleon
inadvertently discharged his pistol and shot a soldier of the regiment.
13 88 To William Longman Letter 1222
1222. TO W1I.T.TAMLONGMAN1
B[lacldaeath] P[ark]
April 20. 1868
B[lackheath] P[ark]
April 22. 1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE---I have ascertained that the Bribery Bill 2 will certainly
not be brought on this week.
Hibbert has undertaken to move an amendment providing that all pay-
ments shall be made through the returning officer, s
1. MS draft at Yale.
2. Longman eventually secured as editors T. H. Green and T. H. Grose, who pub-
lished the Treatise of Human Nature (2 vols., London, 1874); The Essays, Moral
Political and Literary (2 vols., London, 1875); and The Philosophical Works of David
Hume (4 vols., London, 1878).
B [lackheath] P[ark]
April 22, 1868
B[lackheath] P[ark]
April 22. 1868
DEARSIR--I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 20 thinst. & its inclosures.
Even labourers who have the means of saving from their wages, (which
cannot be said of the first person mentioned in your letter) must if they
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 110. In reply to Deml's of
April 14, MS also at Johns Hopkins.
Deml has been identified only, as he announced himself in his letter of April 14, as
Editor of the periodical Der Urwiihler, the organ of the Fortschrittspartei (Progress
Party). Copies of the periodical for the years 1867-74 are preserved in the Oster-
reichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.
•It- .It. 41'
have not done so, be relieved at times of temporary inability to work; but
there ought to be legal means of recovering the amount from their wages
as soon as they are again able to earn. By the poor law of 1834 power was I
believe, given to guardians to grant temporary loans to persons in distress:
certainly this power was given in the original bill & I am not aware of its
having been struck out though I am surprised at never having heard of its
being used.
I do not think it beyond the competence of a government to compel all its
subjects to insure against the various evils of life--which is the principle of
your proposed National Friendly Society. But I think it much better simply
to afford them facilities for doing so without employing compulsion, and I
do not believe that a compulsory measure would be carried unless long &
thorough previous discussion had led the working classes themselves to
demand it. Neither, I think, would it ever be felt to be just to take compul-
sory measures against the improvidence of the labouring classes, leaving
that of all other classes free.
B[lackheath]
P[ark]
23,
1868
MY DEAR MR GOMPPRZ,---Many thanksforyour letter. Allthatyou have
done and are doing in respect to the edition of my writings _ seems to me
highly judicious. I am most happy in accepting Mr Wessel's offer to translate
the Dissertations & Discussions & to retranslate the Representative Govt. 8 It
is a rare good fortune to find a translator with such a union of eminent quali-
fications eertitied by such a witness as you. And it is the greater satisfaction
to me on account of his intimacy with yourself, & of the sincere esteem
which I conceived for him personally during the short period of our inter-
course.
In the case of D" Sattler 4 I hope I did not omit to mention that I know
nothing of his qualifications except that he referred to Gervinus as an
authority for them. I am therefore very glad that you intend to make correc-
tions if they sh d be needed. I hope D r Soetbeer has brought up his translation
of the Pol. Econ: to the latest edition.
With respect to the Inaugural Address assuming that D r Dohrn e who
holds my written authority for translating it, waives that authority, I gladly
place it at your discretion as well as the "Utilitarianism" & I inclose on a
separate piece of paper an authority for the translation by any person whom
you select. With regard to the passage you mention in the Utilitarianism 7
I have not had time regularly to rewrite the book, & it had escaped my mem-
ory that you thought that argument apparently though not really fallacious
which proves to me the necessity of, at least, further explanation & develop-
ment. I beg that in the translation you will kindly reserve that passage to
yourself, & will remove the stumbling block, by expressing the real argument
in such terms as you think will express it best.
I am very curious to know your answer to Mr Grote's arguments about the
Platonic Canon & I hope you will have time to write it out & communicate
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as are also Gomperz's letter of March 26, to which
this is a reply, and his rejoinder of May 11.
2. See Letter 1183.
3. Eduard Wessel's translations eventually constituted vols. 8, 10, and 11 of the
Collected German edition.
4. See Letter 1183, n. 4.
5. See Letter 74.
6. See Letter 1183, n. 3.
7. This refers to a passage in Utilitarianism, pp. 51-52, 1st ed. (audible, vislble--
desirable). Gomperz regretted that JSM in the later editions of Utilitarianism did not
"remove the stumbling-block (to any reader, and more especially to a translator),"
which, when pointed out to him, JSM had promised to remove. Gomperz says JSM's
arg.u,
merit "looks like a verbal quibble,far as it is from being one and has besides the
serious disadvantage of being utterly untranslatable" (Gomperz to JSM, 26 March
1868). JSM did not revise the passage (see Collected Works, X, 234).
1392 To William DougaI Christie Letter 1228
Blackheath Park
Kent
April 25. 1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
The Notice paper distributed today omits to give the amendments to the
Bribery Bill = referring for them to former papers. Of these I send you the
only one I can now recover, along with a copy of the Bill. Probably you have
8. Grote had contended that the "original MSS of Plato... were doubtless treasured
up in the school [the Academy at Athens] as sacred memorials of the great founder,
and served as originals from which copies of unquestionable fidelity might be made."
Plato, vol. I, chap. IV, "Platonic Canon as recognized by Thrasyllus," p. 135. For
Grote's discussion of the existence of this school-library of manuscripts, see ibid., pp.
136-37. Gomperz believed that such a school-library in all probability had not existed,
and in his Inaugural Lecture on July 10, 1867, "Die angebliche Platonische Schul-
bibliothek und die Testamente der Philosophen," later published in Platonische Au/siitze,
vol. II (Vienna, 1887), he had developed his reasons for his opinion. See also Gomperz,
p. 459, n. 4.
9. Traumdeutung und Zauberei. Ein Blick auf dos Wesen des Aberglaubens . . .
(Vienna, 1866).
10. The death of his nephew, Carl yon Wertheimstein, and the breakdown of the
young man's mother, Gomperz's oldest sister Josephine.
1. MS at Cornell. 2. See Letters 1216 and 1221.
Letter 1229 To George Howell 1393
later information than this paper gives. I will write to you more fully tomor-
row. I am Dear Mr Christie
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
I think the plan of the Club 2 a very good one and beg to be put down as
a member. I enclose the subscription of 2/6d and a contribution of £ 1 for
the purpose mentioned in your note, and I have directed my publishers to
send copies of my writings for the Library.
Iam
Dear Sir
Yours very sincerely
I. S. MILL
B[laekheath] P[ark]
April 27. 1868
By a negligence I do not know how to account for, I find that I sent you a
printed copy of the petition to which you so kindly gave your signature, 2
whereas it ought to have been in writing. We are therefore constrained either
to lose the honour and advantage of having your signature first, or else once
again to trouble you, after you have already shewn so much kindness.
I am
Dear Madam
very truly yours
L S. MiLL
Mrs Somerville
From the interest you took in the Reader, and again last year in another
proposal for founding a weekly paperfl I infer that you agree with me in
thinking that some good might be done by a thoroughly liberal well written
paper. I have now been applied to by Mr Boyd Kinnear, who is very earnestly
desirous of establishing something of the sort, a prospectus of which I inclose.
He tells me that although the contributions, being signed by the writers, will
be allowed considerable latitude in the expression of opinion, and place is to
be given in "Correspondence" for opinions contrary to those of the paper,
yet the general tendency of the paper is "not to be extreme---only pretty
much mine (J. S. Mill) in politics and philosophy." It is with some surprise
that I hear I am a model moderate man, but I have no objection to accept
the position, if all my opinions are to be accepted as moderate too. From
what I see it appears to me that Mr Boyd Kirmear and his proposed associates
have much more definite ideas on polities than on any of the other topics that
interest us; and I have told them that I think the paper, to be successful
either among thinking working men or really liberal thinkers in any class,
must include good writing with advanced opinions on science and philosophy.
He demurred a little at first to this, apparently disliking to give up much
space to anything but politics, because he proposes that the paper should be
small, about half the size of the Saturday Review, with good print and paper,
and costing only a penny. He seems to propose the pay of contributors to
average about £2 a page. He has got a considerable staff of young men--
such as those who wrote the two volumes of Essays on Reform last year a-
to whom he looks for regular contributions. But he wishes to have articles
from writers of high standing, one or two every week, and to be able to give
their names as regular contributors. He proposes to be editor himself, but
does not make a point of this: but I should prefer his being so, because I
think it would ensure the thing not being carded on merely as a money specu-
lation. I have recommended to him to apply to yourself and Mr Huxley and
Sir John Lubbock, and he has asked me to do so. Do you think the plan
promises well, and that you yourself, and those of your friends who were
thinking of some such scheme last year, would be disposed to amalgamate
with Mr Boyd Kinnear? For myself, I will do my best, which is not very
much, to help the scheme, if I can see persons like yourself connected with
it, who are likely to keep it in a good school in philosophical matters: but I
do not feel inclined to do so if it is likely to be, like some of the daily papers,
pretty good in politics, but altogether gone-by in other matters. Among the
persons Mr Boyd Kinnear has mentioned to me as having promised to write
are Mr Roundell, _ the two Trollopes, 5 Dean Alford ([)s Lord Ambedey,
Baynes and Masson.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILt,
Blaekheath Park
Kent
May 5, 1868
DEAR MR PLUMMER
1. MS in the St. Andrews University Muniments. Grace was Clerk to the University
Court. Endorsed: Blackheath Park 6 May 1868 / I Smart Mill / as to Dr Cook's
proposal to retirefrom Professorshipwith allowance.
2. John Cook, D.D. (1808-1869), Professor of Divinity and Ecclesiastical History.
He retired on July 30, 1868.
Letter 1235 To an Unidentified Correspondent 1397
B[lackheath] P[ark]
May 8. 1868
DEARMR CHRISTIE--Ihave put on the notice paper the whole of the amend-
ments which you wrote on the margin of the Govt Bill;2 & also my own
amendment, forbidding paid canvassers, & solicitors' agents or subagents
other than the one recognized by the Act of 1854. 3 This clause has been
revised for me by Serjeant Pulling.
On Monday I shall probably put on the paper other clauses.
The Bribery Bill is not to be proceeded with, I understand, until after the
Boundary Bill4 & the Scotch & Irish Reform Bills; but I shall do what little
I can to prevent its being put off to another Parliament.
1. MS not located. Published in a report of the Birmingham conference on women's
suffrage on May 8, Daily News, May 11, 1868, p. 3, and The Times, same day, p. 10.
The letter was read at the meeting. •It- 'It" 'It" ,It.
Blackheath Park
Kent
May 11. 1868
DEARMR CHgtSTm
I thank you for your letter. Not being a member of a Club, I may have
some di/ficulty in referring to the Pall Mall Gazette of April 242 but if you
would kindly suggest what you consider an unexceptionable wording for the
passage in my amendment, there is plenty of time to alter it.
I will keep in view what you suggest respecting questions to Disraeli. I
expect that every possible question will be put to him about his intentions,
every member of the House being interested in knowing them: but the in-
tentional vagueness of his answers makes the extorting of clear information
very difficult. I am
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
W. D. Christie Esq.
I thank you very much for your kind attention to my note. 2 Greatly as
your personal cooperation would have increased the chances of usefulness
for the proposed publication, I can only regret the very sutficient reasons
which compel you to withhold it. Any cooperation whatever from Mr Hux-
ley and Mr Tyndall will be of great value, even though they be unable to
promise so much of it as would help to determine the philosophical charac-
ter of the periodical.
It is to be hoped that Sir John Lubbock may be disposed to join.
I duly received the second edition of "First Principles ''3 and have only de-
layed thanking you because I have as yet been obliged to exercise the self
denial of postponing the study of it. It will however be one of the first things
I do after the end of the Session.
I am
Dear Mr Spencer
very truly yours
J. S. M_LL.
Blackheath Park,
Kent.
May 17, 1868
DEAR MR. CHRISTIE,
I thank you much for the two numbers of the Pall Mall Gazette, 2 which
I will keep for the present and return to you. The latter of them I had seen.
I find by the annual return of expiring acts of Parliament, that the Cor-
rupt Practices Prevention Act (1854) expires this very summer. Does this
circumstance affect any of our amendments? s
I found it would be entirely useless to suggest the abandonment of the
Boundary Bill. 4
I am,
Dear Mr. Christie,
Yours very truly,
J. S. _ILL.
Blackheath Park
Kent
May 20. 1868
DEARMR CHRISTIE
The "Register of Temporary laws now in force" just distributed states the
duration of the 26 & 27 Vict. c. 29 to be until the 8th June 1868 and the
1. MS at Cornell.
1400 To William Fraser Rae Letter 1241
"end of the next session"; which I understand to mean the session (if any)
then pending.
I yesterday put on the paper Serjeant Pulling's clauses 2 providing for a
scrutiny of all elections before the return of the writ, and extending that
scrutiny to municipal elections, and likewise two of your clauses (but by
some mistake the clerk has omitted one) allowing Election Committees to
inquire into corruption committed at municipal elections within the two years
previous. After consideration I thought this better than moving an instruction
to the Committee. It brings the subject in a practical way before the con-
sideration of members, which is all we can hope to do this year on a proposal
which deviates so far from the system of the Government Bill. Next year we
must have a Bill of our own, drawn up on your principles. These particular
amendments will serve this year as a peg for discussion, but our previous
efforts had better, I think, be reserved for the anti-canvassing clauses, which
there is no likelihood of arriving at tomorrow, and on which I shall be very
happy to receive your further suggestions. I am
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
The project which you have heard of is not mine, but Mr Boyd Kiunear's; _
but I think sufficiently well of it to be desirous of giving it what help I can. I
will teU you more about it when we meet. If it goes forward, your aid as a
contributor will be very valuable.
Yours is the first report which has reached me of the Conference last
Saturday at the Working Men's College. 8 I was myself invited to attend it,
but was not able. We saw with great pleasure your presence at the Birming-
ham meeting, 4 and your general activity in the cause.
2. See Letter 1216,n. 5.
I seldom see the Express and have not seen the articles you mention, 5
but I saw your leaders in the Daily News.
I_n Dear Sir
yr. very truly
L S. MILL
W. F. Rae Esq.
May 20 th 1868
Blackheath Park
MONSIEUR
J'ose esp6rer que vous voudrez bien ne pas trouver d6plac6e la libert6 que
je prends en vous recommandant le nom de mon ami M. Chadwick pour le
fauteuil d'Associ6 ]_tranger h l'Acad6mie des [sciences morales et] Pol.
vacant par la mort de Lord Brougham. z Vous n'ignorez pas les rares qualit6s
de M. Chadwick, & les services importants qu'il ne cesse de rendre _ quel-
ques-uns des int6r&s les plus importants et jusqu'_ lui les plus n6glig6s de
l'humanit6.
On peut dire avec v_rit_ que sa vie est eonsaer6e au progr_s de l'adminis-
tration publique, et qu'il apporte h presque toutes les branches de eette
6tude si n6glig6e parmi nous, des pens6es aussi vraies, et f6condes qu'origi-
nales. Li6 avec lui depuis le commencement de sa carri_re publique, je sais
mieux que personne l'ardeur d6sint6ress6e qui l'a de tout temps caract6ds6
et le r61e qu'il a jou6 dans la pr6paration de tousles importants progr_s
administratifs qui se sont r6alis6s de nos temps en Angleterre, sans parler de
ceux encore plus nombreux qui restent encore _ r6aliser. Vous savez
M[onsieur] les contributions que M. Chadwick a faites aux travaux de
l'Acad6mie s depuis qu'il a l'honneur d'en &re un des correspondants, 4 con-
tributions qui seraient d6j_ un titre _ l'honneur encore plus grand auquel il
5. Not identified.
1. MS copy in unknown hand at UCL. The copyist's many errors in French have
been silently corrected. The copy is on stationery bearing an embossed address: Rich-
mond / Surrey/S.W.
Simon was later vice-president (1870) and president (1871 ) of the Acad6mie des
sciences morales et politiques.
2. In the event, it was not Chadwick but JSM who was nominated for the seat of
Associ6 _tranger left vacant by the death of Brougham on May 9, 1868; at the meet-
ing of the Acad6mie on March 20, 1869,however, JSM was defeated by Count Federigo
Sclopis di Salerano (1798-1878), eminent Italian lawyer and scholar. See next Letter.
3. See Letter 674, n. 4.
4. See ibid., n. 3.
1402 To Jules Simon Letter 1243
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
May 22. 1868
DEARMR CHRISTIE
You will have seen the debate on the first amendment, 2 which however
is a good deal abridged in the report. The minority of 74 is not discouraging,
as Whitbread, 8 MeUy, 4 and (I believe) many others who voted against the
amendment will vote for it when it is moved in a separate clause. The bill
cannot well be brought on again before next Thursday, and in the meantime
if you would draw up a clause embodying the purpose of the rejected amend-
ment, I will put it on the paper. I ask you to take this trouble because you
would do it much better than I can myself.
I send you the full list of amendments as it now stands. I have never had
a spare copy before. Hibbert's 5 is not yet among them, but he intends to give
it in. I shall this evening substitute the clauses you last sent (with one or two
slight verbal changes) for my original notice on the subject of paid canvassers.
The feeling of the House is better than I expected. Many, especially of the
advanced liberals, seem really to take up the subject seriously. I am
Dear Mr Christie
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Kent
May 25. 1868
DEARMR CrilUSTm
1. MS at Cornell.
1404 To Frederick W. Chesson Letter 1246
Blackheath Park
May 27, 1868
.... Mr. Garvie's 2 chronological classification of the executions s will be
very useful.., to those of us who may have to speak on the subject ....
B[lackheath]P[ark]
May 28, 1868
MY DEAR GOLDWIN SMITH_
I. Excerpt quoted in 1958 catalogue of the Carnegie Book Shop of New York City.
Present location of MS not known.
2. Possibly William Garvie, barrister.
3. The executions ordered by Governor Eyre after the riots in Jamaica. See Letter
889, n. 2.
,1_ ,11- ,If 41-
1. MS draft at Yale. In reply to Smith's of May 27, also at Yale. Published in part in
Elliot, II, 111.
2. In his letter of May 27, Smith had said: "In case they press you in the House or
Letter 1248 To John Elliot Cairnes 1405
Blackheath
May 29. 1868
DEARMR CAIRNES
Before receiving your most welcome letter, I had seen the Queen's Uni-
versity delegates (of whom Professor Nesbitt was not one) and had promised
them all the help I could give to their application for a representative in
Parliament. 2
Fawcett has put off his motion from tonight to this day fortnight) there
elsewhere about the prosecution of Eyre do not forget that the government itself
'persecuted' the minor offenders in Jamaica, where it was baffled by grand juries and
class tribunals just as we have been here."
3. James, later (1910) Sir James Lamont (1828-1913), explorer, author, and sports-
man, MP for Buteshire, 1865-68. Lamont appears not to have raised a question on the
Government's defraying Eyre's legal expenses until June 9. Hansard, CXCII, cols.
1334-35.
4. Peter A. Taylor, a leader in the Jamaica Committee.
5. "I hope I need hardly say that I will do and contribute any thing in my power. I
will arrange not to leave England till the case is at an end. This however I suppose it
will soon be; for, let the judge charge as he may, no Grand Jury, I take it, will find a
true bill."
Smith did not leave England for the United States until Oct. 27, 1868. He accepted
a professorship of English and constitutional history at the newly founded Cornell
University at Ithaca, N.Y., which opened that autumn.
¢t .It ,It #
being no hope of a good discussion when people were eager to get away for the
holidays. McKenna, the Tory Irishman, 4 has given notice of an amendment
which would turn the debate into one between the Catholic project and
Fawcett's; a thing which Monsell 5 was anxious to avoid. But this issue must
be faced if need be. A greater practical difficulty is this: As both Monsell
and Pim 6 remark, the parallel case to Maynooth 7 is not the Irish Church,
but Trinity College: and there will not be complete religious equality if May-
nooth is abolished, and any Divinity School at all kept up for the Anglican
Church, however Trinity College may be freed from denominationalism in
every other respect. Now it is doubtful if the public are yet prepared to
support a proposal for abolishing the Divinity School altogether at Trinity
College, any more than at Oxford and Cambridge: and they certainly would
refuse to admit a Catholic Divinity School by the side of it.
You will have heard of, if not seen Provost Lloyd's pamphlet. 8 The
movement in Trinity College itself against his proposal and in favour of Faw-
cett's is very auspicious.
I am glad you at last got my pamphlet. 9 Bright's land plan 1° would, like
any plan for creating a class of peasant proprietors in Ireland, do a certain
quantity of good: but I do not believe it would get over the main difficulty
since it would give no security to the actual tenantry of Ireland.
Laveleye has sent me his book on Holland 11for the sake of an interesting
account it contains of a system of landlords with tenants under them at a
fixed rent, which obtains in the province of Groningen. It appears to work
well there; but the recent rise of general prices is now enabling the tenants to
sublet at a profit to tenants who will not enjoy the same advantages. This is
provided against in my plan.
The cause of women is indeed making progress, and is now, probably, past
all danger of retrogression.
I most earnestly hope that you will derive benefit from the mud baths. If
you pass through London, pray let me know beforehand if possible, that I
may not miss the chance of seeing you.
I am Dear Mr Cai_rnes
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Blaekheath Park
Kent
May 29. 1868.
DEAR SIR
I have read your speech on the Land question 2 with great interest. I have
no doubt that you are right in endeavouring to prevent the sale of the public
lands to mere speculators who buy to resell at a profit: but it seems to me
that the land in the hands of its actual cultivators is a perfectly legitimate
source of revenues. I often think that it would be much better if a new country
retained all its lands as state property, giving, as we do in India, leases re-
newable for ever at rents guaranteed against any augmentation except by a
general measure. But perhaps jacta est alea, and the people of the United
States would not take land except on the same terms of absolute property
on which it has been hitherto acquired. According to my own notions, abso-
lute property in land, even when owned by the cultivators, is a prejudice and
an abuse. I am
Dear Sir
Yours very sincerely
J. S. I_ILL
B [lackheath] P[ark]
June 6, 1868
DEAR SIR I have already made use of your testimony (though without
naming you) in a note to the new edition of my Logic just published. 2
I do not feel the confidence you appear to do in Messrs. Longmans' will-
ingness to publish the Common Place books, _ (at least at their own risk) :
but if published they would doubtless be very valuable & I will sound Messrs.
Longmans on the subject.
Blackheath Park
Kent
June 6. 1868
DEAR M R CHRISTIE
I am afraid the Radicals do not care enough about a Bribery Bill to agitate
out of doors for it, placing their reliance wholly on the Ballot, which what-
ever it might do against intimidation, would, I am convinced, do little or
nothing against Bribery.
Iam
Dear M r Christie
y" very truly
J. S. _ILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
June 8. 1868
MADAM--I have the pleasure of enclosing the papers of the Nat. Sot:. for
Women's Suffrage, & of being able to inform you that on application to the
Hon. Secretary Mrs P. A. Taylor, A[ubrey] H[ouse] N[otting] H[ill] London
she will supply you with all the information which I am happy to hear you
desire with reference to the suffrage.
Miss Nicholson
[ThelwaULawn?]
Southport.
Black.heathPark
Kent
June 9. 1868
DEAR MR PLUMMER
The Metropolitan Foreign Cattle Market Bill2 has passed the second read-
ing, has been once committed pro forma for Government amendments, and
1. MS draft at Yale.
Miss Nicholson has not been identified.
41" 41' _1. 'It
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. This bill, which provided for the establishment of a market for foreign cattle
in or near London with a view to prevent the transmissionof the cattle plague (rinder-
pest) to English stock, had passed its second reading on Feb. 13, 1868.
1410 To William Sims Pratten Letter 1254
B [lackheath] P[ark]
June 9, 1868.
DEAR SIR I regret deeply that any one who has ever done me the honour
to vote for me can disapprove of the course I thought it my duty to take in
regard to Mr Eyre's proceedings in Jamaica, 2 because I have never in the
whole course of my life felt myself called upon to take practical action on
any matter on which I felt more clear as to the course indicated by the prin-
ciples which I hold & have always endeavoured to promulgate. In regard
to Mr Eyre personally my feelings towards him, so far as I can be said to
have had any, before I knew of his conduct in Jamaica, were favourable,
inasmuch as I knew of him only as a traveller whose narrative I had read
with interest) Neither has anything ever occurred directly or indirectly in
the whole course of my life to arouse the smallest personal feeling of any
sort in me towards Mr Eyre as a private man. But I cannot say that it is
possible to me as a man to regard Mr Eyre's conduct in Jamaica without
the deepest indignation, or as an Englishman without a sentiment of
humiliation: nor can I pretend that I can regard without abhorrence &
contempt the man who knowing himself to be guilty in the eyes of many
disinterested persons, of the wanton torture & death of many hundred
men & women, can be content to shelter himself under any shield whatever
3. As JSM thought likely, the discussion in committee was delayed by the debate on
the Representation of the People (Ireland) Bill. The Cattle Market Bill was discussed
on June 26, July 3, 16, 20, and 24, and finally was withdrawn on July 25, 1868.
4. A new periodical which ran for only five numbers.
_ 41" 'lt-
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 111-14, and in The Times,
June 15, 1868, p. 12, with the emendations suggested in JSM's letter of June 13, 1868, to
Pratten. In reply to Pratten's letter of June 8, also at Johns Hopkins. Elliot identifies as
by Helen Taylor.
William Sims Pratten, in 1865 a member of the Committee for JSM's election, and
later this year one of the local chairmen for his re-election.
2. Pratten in his letter reported that a large number of/SM's former supporters had
been alienated by his activities on the Jamaica Committee.
3. Edward John Eyre, Journals of Expeditions o/Discovery into Central Australia...
(2 vols., London, 1845).
Letter 1254 To William Sims Pratten 1411
against a judicial examination & does not eagerly challenge and earnestly
invite the closest possible scrutiny into whatever justification he thinks he can
urge. To me it appears that the conduct of Mr Eyre since his return to
England shews a callousness to human suffering & a contempt for his fellow
men which alone go far to shew his total unfitness for any station of authority
over them.
Yet if all human sympathies could be cast aside altogether, the importance
of instituting a judicial enquiry into the proceedings in Jamaica would still
be paramount in the eyes of all thinking persons who look upon law &
justice as the foundation of order & civilisation. If the majority of any nation
were willing to allow such events to pass unquestioned I have no hesitation
in saying that all the ties of civil society would in that nation be at the mercy
of accident. There would be no principle in the minds of men to bind civilized
society together. Happily I am fully convinced that the great majority of the
English nation does desire judicial enquiry into these events. Were I not so
convinced I sh a be ashamed of my country. Nevertheless even if I were not
convinced of this I sha think it my duty to express in the clearest, the most
public & the most practical way in my power my opinion of the importance
of checking the lawlessness of which Mr Eyre's conduct in Jamaica appears
to my humble judgment a flagrant example. I believe from a perfectly calm
& disinterested examination of the subject that Mr Eyre has either been
guilty of, or has tolerated under his authority, crimes of violence & cruelty
which no man of even ordinarily tender conscience or good heart could be
capable of. The detestation of the right judging among his fellow creatures
might however in some circumstances be a sufficient punishment for this. At
all events, while the world is as full of crime as it is, I do not suppose that
however strong my feelings about it, I shd have considered myself as pecu-
liarly called upon to interfere against him. But I do consider myself as an
Englishman called upon to protest against what I believe to be an infringe-
ment of the laws of England; against acts of violence committed by English-
men in authority, calculated to lower the character of England in the eyes
of all foreign lovers of liberty; against a precedent that could justly inflame
against us the people of our dependencies; & against an example calculated
to brutalize our own fellow countrymen. Nor would any amount of declama-
tion, public or private, political or literary, have been to my mind a proper
mode of chastising what I believe to be the offence committed, so long as it
was uncertain whether the laws of England are not competent to restrain
such lawless proceedings for the future, or punish them in the past. The
humblest & obscurest English man or woman, animated with that respect
for law &love of liberty on which the greatness of England has been founded
in past times &depends in the future, ought in my opinion to contribute his
part towards calm & legal settlement of this question. And it is at once
1412 To William Sims Pratten Letter 1254
amazing & humiliating to me that anyone who has done me the honour to
read, much less to approve, of any of my writings could for one instant doubt
that I shd think so. I can understand that anyone might doubt what might be
my opinion of M_rEyre's conduct. I can understand that those who have not
examined it as carefully as I have done might expect me to approve of it. But
I cannot understand that anyone shd expect me not to desire an examination
of it, conducted in the fairest & most open manner that could be attained.
That the real or supposed crimes of men in authority should be subject to
judicial examination, is the most important guarantee of English liberty, & I
am not aware that any reason has ever yet been brought forward why bfr
Eyre shd be the sole & solitary exception to this liability.
In regard to the petition concerning which you ask my opinion (that of
one of the Foreign Affairs Committees against the Abyssinian war)' I did
not present it because I agreed in it but because I think members of parl t sha
extend as widely as possible the limits within which they accept petitions to
present. The power of petitioning is very important, especially to all unrepre-
sented citizens & as it can only he exercised through members of parl t, I
think they shd throw as few obstacles as possible in the way. Those who
approve of my little book on Liberty can scarcely think me inconsistent in
this opinion.
I have always thought & often said that this country was bound to recover
its envoy even by war if necessary & the manner in which the war has been
carried on by Sir R. Napier does honour to him & to our country. _ Its success
is probably owing in great measure to the spirit of law & order which reduced
the sufferings of war to the lowest possible point amongst the people in
whose country it was carried on. The continuance of hostilities after the
prisoners had been surrendered is the one point which requires, & which will
probably receive, explanation, e
Blackheath
June 10. [1868]
DEn O-I_WICX
As soon as I received your message, I sent a telegram to the office saying
that I should be at home this afternoon but to my surprise was told that
telegrams could not be sent to Richmond at nine on Saturday evening. If it
is so it is a strong argument for the radical reform you want in the manage-
ment of telegraphs. 21 am disappointed, for I have so much on my hands this
week that I ean fix no time for seeing you (unless at the House) till next
Sunday; but if you can come on that forenoon, I will be at home. Could you
manage to come by the 10.10 train from Charing Cross, as I have an engage-
ment at half past two.'?
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
B[lackheath] P[ark]
June 10. 1868
Bflackheath] P[ark]
June 13. 1868
1. MS draft at Yale.
2. JSM on the previous day had presented a petition from Belfast "in favour of
the Bill for Amending the Law respecting the Property of Married Women" (The Times,
June 10, 1868, p. 6).
3. The Married Women's Property Bill passed the second reading by a vote of 124
to 123. For the debate, see Hansard, CXCII, cois. 1352--78. However, the bill was
subsequently withdrawn without debate on July 24, 1868.
• 'It 41. •
but there are few persons less able than myself to do so, & although I can
sincerely say that I shall not forget your name sh d any occasion offer itself
to me, yet I cannot hold out any hope that I am likely to meet with one.
In regard to the points on which you say that the convictions in which
you were brought up have been shaken I fully agree with you that it would
not be right for you to attempt to inculcate those convictions. I think, how-
ever, that you will find them, at least as stated in your letter, as difficult to
disprove as to prove: Except indeed in the case of prayer. I think you have
omitted to mention one effect that prayer may reasonably be said to have on
the mind, & which may be granted to it by those who doubt as well as by
those who admit divine interposition in answer to it: I mean the effect pro-
duced on the mind of the person praying, not by the belief that it will be
granted but by the elevating influence of an endeavour to commune & to
become in harmony with the highest spiritual ideal that he is capable in
elevated moments of conceiving. This effect may be very powerful in clear-
ing the moral perceptions & intensifying the moral earnestness. It may be so
powerful as to leave it open to question whether it is produced solely by the
internal action of human nature itself or by a supernatural influence, & this
question will have to be resolved by each individual from his personal ex-
perience. I know of no proof sufficient to entitle psychologists to assert it as
certain that the whole of this influence is reducible to the known elements
of human nature, however highly probable they may think it. As to the other
two points, the existence of a Deity & the immortality of the soul, it would
be still less possible to bring negative proof to bear upon such questions that
would be conclusive to all minds. You might perhaps find much to interest
you on these matters in Mr Herbert Spencer's First Principles2 & in Mr
Grote's work on Plato.
As to the sentence you quote from my "Utilitarianism"; s when I said that
the general happiness is a good to the aggregate of all persons I did not mean
that every human being's happiness is a good to every other human being;
though I think, in a good state of society & education it would be so. I
merely meant in this particular sentence to argue that since A's happiness
is a good, B's a good, C's a good, &c., the sum of all these goods must be a
good.
then a teacher in a private school in Bristol. Feeling cramped in that situation be-
cause of the loss of his religiousfaith,he soughtJSM'shelp in securing other work.
As a studentof JSM'swritings,he alsoraisedsomequestionswith regardto a passage
in Utilitarianism.
2. Presumably in Part I, "The Unknowable," First Principles (1862).
3. Jones had quoted from p. 53 of the 3rd ed. as follows: "No reason can be given
why the general happiness is desirable except that each person.., desires his own
happiness. This, however, being a fact, we have.., all the proof which the ease vdmlts
of... that each person's happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness,
therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons." (Collected Worlc_, X, 234)
Letter 1258 To William Sims Pratten 1415
DEAR SIR I did not receive your former letter until late on Tuesday night
& my reply to it therefore was written very hurriedly as well as without any
view to publication. There are consequently in it one or two expressions
which although I think them perfectly warrantable in a private communica-
tion, I sh d not wish to make use of in print, however I think too great care
cannot be taken to avoid what might be felt as violent language in all public
discussions. If however you would kindly erase the words "abhorrence &
contempt" & substitute "profound disapprobation" for them in one sentence
& in another further on would substitute "the moral condemnation of the
right judging among his fellow creatures" for "the detestation of &c" I could
have no objection to the publication of the letter, provided you would state
that it was not written with a view to publication, but in answer to a letter
from one of my constituents.
B [lackheath] P[ark]
June 13. 1868
DEAR SIRmThe report you kindly sent had been sent to me already by (I
believe) Mr G. Jenkinson 2& I had read your speech with interest & pleasure.
Such enlightened views as it expressed are not common among agriculturists
but I think they are in a way rapidly to become so, & the Farmer's Clubs are
a very valuable means of diffusing them.
1. MS at Cornell.
2. Andrew, later Sir Andrew Lusk (1810-1909), a native of Scotland; London
merchant; Sheriff of London, 1860-61; alderman, Aldgate, 1862-63; MP, Finsbury,
1865-85; Lord Mayor, 1873-74.
3. The Mutual Westminster Chambers Association, Ltd., Victoria St., S.W.
1416 To Frederick IV. Chesson Letter 1261
you will receive it at the same time with this. I found he had written to his
brother by Saturday's post in recommendation of you/and he seems disposed
to give you all the help he can.
In haste
yours very truly
J. S. MXLL
Blackheath Park
June 19, 1868
Black.heath
Park
Kent
le 20 juin 1868
MON CriERMONSIEURLouis BLANC
1. MS at Bibfioth_queNationale.
2. Not identified.
Letter1263 To John Elliot
Cairnes 1417
Autant que je comptais sur votre sympathie enti_re dans l'affaire Eyre, s
autant j'6tais sQr de votre dissentiment sur la peine de mort. Heureusement
c'est une diff6rence qui peut exister entre amis. Nos prineipes sent les m_mes,
et nous ne diff6rous que sur leur application.
votro bien d6vou6
J. S. MILL
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
June 28. 1868
DEAR MR CAmr_S
Blackheath Park
Kent
June 28. 1868
DEAR MR FAWCETT
that she should be induced to write as much as possible. I have also read
the article myself, and quite concur in Helen's opinion, and we therefore hope
that you will take all possible steps to get it published. I do not suppose that
I am likely to have influence when you have not, for this purpose, but if you
think so you have only to let me know, and I shall be glad to use it where-
ever I can.
I do not feel quite sure whether there may not be a distinct use in a Col-
lege for the study of midwifery only (which function might be filled by D _
Edmunds' College) s supposing that there really is a need, as he asserts, for
keeping this branch of practice apart from others. If this is really the case,
it might perhaps be worth while to insert some sentence into the article, to
the effect that "space will not allow of entering into the question whether
there should exist a College for midwifery distinct from other branches of
medical science, which may perhaps prove a useful innovation on established
practice; but in that case the title Female Medical College would be a mis-
nomer, as the purpose of the College would be to qualify practitioners for one
branch only of medical practice. TM I do not suggest these words, but I merely
put them to indicate in what direction I think, so far as I am at present in-
formed, a concession might be made to D r Edmtmds (that is, to Dr Chap-
man) without departing from the principles so ably advocated in the article
and which we so thoroughly agree in; for it is not inconsistent with these to
think that midwifery ought to be a special branch of medical science, and
that facilities ought to be created for enabling women to study it by itself.
I do not know whether Mrs Fawcett takes this view: if she does, it is perhaps
possible that a qualification of this sort introduced into the article might
meet D r Chapman's wishes: and if Mrs Fawcett does take this view, it would
perhaps be fair to Dr Edmunds to say something of the sort, and repay him
good for evil.
I return Cairnes' very interesting letter. I am happy that he speaks hope-
fully of some improvement in his health: and if there is some improvement,
we may hope that there will be more. I am
Dear Mr Fawcett
yours very truly
I. S. MmL
3. In 1864 a Female Medical Society for Promoting the Proper Education and Em-
ployment of Superior Women in the Practice of Midwifery and the Treatment of the
Diseases of Women and Children had been established, which in turn had set up an
unchartered Female Medical College, Dr. James Edmunds (1832-1911), a pioneer
in the cause of women's medical education, was a founder and hon. secretary of the
society (Lord Shaftesbury was the president), and secretary and lecturer of the College.
The College was later merged in the London School of Medicine for Women, founded
in 1874. See "The Female Medical College," Lancet, Oct. 14, 1865, p. 435, and the
obituary of Edmunds, Lancet, Feb. 25, 1911,p. 551.
#, JSM's suggested sentence is adapted as a footnote in Mrs. Fawcett's article, p. 555.
Letter 1265 To Enoch C. Wines 1419
Blackheath Park
Kent
June 28. 1868
DEAR SIR
B[lackheath] P[ark]
July 5. 1868
DEAR SIR I hope you will pardon me for the delay in acknowledging your
letter dated as long ago as February. Parliamentary business is so exacting
& I receive such a multitude of letters which require an immediate answer
that I am often obliged to put aside for a time those which admit of delay.
Your impression is quite correct that I was applied to from Victoria in
consequence of the use made by Protectionists of the passage in my Pol Econ
2. Letter 811.
3. Contemporary developments permitted this opthnistic view of the decline of
protectionism; France and Germany lowered tariffs between 1860 and 1880, and the
United States reduced tariffs for a period in the 1870's.By the end of the century, how-
ever, protection was dominant in all three countries.
4. Holden sent copies of letters he had published attacking protectionism, but these
have not been preserved.
5. See Letter 580. 6. See Letter 1203.
Letter 1267 To William Dougal Christie 1421
Blackheath Park
Kent
July 7. 1868
DEAR MR CHRISTIE
The papers you have from time to time sent me, have given me a good view
of the situation, and the highest hopes for your success. 2 The Scotch consti-
tuencies are keeping up their high character for political honesty.
When you read the Bribery debate of last night, do not suppose that I have
abandoned, even temporarily, the advocacy of our plan of a jurisdiction. I
told the House (though this is not reported) 8 that I should bring that for-
ward before clause 10 is disposed of: and it will come on at the beginning
of the next discussion.
I will attend to your wish about referring only to the article in the Law
Magazine. 4 1 did mention the pamphlet 5 (though your name was not put to
it) because it is so much fuller and more explanatory than the article.
I am Dear Mr Christie
very truly yours
J. S. MtLL
Blacldaeath Park
Kent
July 10, 1868
DEAR SIR
My friend Mr Edwin Chadwick who is looking out for a seat in the House
of Commons, and who would be one of the greatest acquisitions to the new
Parliament that it could possibly receive has been told there might be a chance
for the third seat at Glasgow to a candidate who could appeal as he can to
great services rendered to the working classes (as the author of the first
Factory Acts, a most efficient worker for Short Time, the great promoter of
sanitary measures etc.) and at the same time might be less obnoxious to the
higher classes of electors than a firmly working class candidate. Mr Chad-
wick presided at the Health section of the Social Sciences Association when
it met at Glasgow and delivered an address there, 2 which may have made him
in some degree locally known. There is no person living whom I am so
anxious to be in Parliament as Mr Chadwick, and I know not any one at
Glasgow so likely as yourself to be able to give an impartial opinion as to the
possibilities of the ease. It is of no use taking the opinion of the usual party
leaders as to what are the opinions of the working men; but you, perhaps,
have the means of knowing something about them from the working men
themselves. If you have, I should feel it a personal favour as well as a public
service if you would give Mr Chadwick the benefit of your knowledge, and
of your help if he should resolve to stand.
I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Professor Nichol Litt. D.
Blaekheath Park
Kent
July 14, 1868
DEAR SIR
July 16 1868
DEAR MR NICHOL
Blaekheath Park
Kent
July 26, 1868
DEAR SIR
the Society very useful, and have been for many years one of its members and
subscribers,31 do not feel it consistent with my principles of action to identify
myself to any greaterextent with the management, while it is thought neces-
sary or advisable to limit the Society's operations to the offences committed
by the uninfluential classes of society. So long as such scenes as the pigeon
shooting exhibitions lately commented upon in the newspapers,4 take place
under the patronage and in the presence of the supposed dlite of the higher
classes, male and female, without attracting the notice of your Society, this
respect of persons, though it may be prudent, is too foreign to my opinions
and feelings, to allow of my sharingin any even indirect responsibility for it.
I can not help thinking that anything of the sort is peculiarly to be regretted,
because the Society really includes so many of the upper classes (and does
them so much honour) that an attack upon the cruelty of the less enlightened
among themselves would come with the best possible grace from them, who
cannot be accusedof class feeling.
Iam
Dear Sir
very sincerely yours
J. S. MILL
John ColamEsq
Blackheath Park
Kent
July 26. 1868
DeARMRPLUMMER
You are too well aware how much I am occupied to have been surprised
at my not answering the interesting notes I have repeatedly received from
you. The same pressure of occupations is also alone responsible for our not
having asked you and Mrs Phmmer to come down here and tell us more
fully of your proceedings and prospects. What your notes tell of them is
very pleasant and satisfactory. We were very glad to find you an established
contributor to the Daily News and to observe that you are active in the Com-
mittee of the Social Science Association on the Labour Question. I have also
to thank you for your very interesting biography of a remarkable man.2 I
am very glad that the Parliamentary papers continue to be useful.
3. /SM continued to subscribe to the Society, and left it £500 in his will.
4. Cf. "PigeonShooting,"The Times,July 13, 1868,p. 6, andJuly20,p. 9.
1. MS at Melbom'ne.
2. The Story of a Blind Inventor; being some account of the life and labors of Dr.
lames Gale... (London, 1868).
Letter 1273 To William Dougal Christie 1425
Blackhcath Park
Kent
July 27. 1868
DEAR MR CHmS_E
From the papers you have sent, I have had a good notion of what was go-
ing on at Grcenock, and am very glad that your prospects there are so good. _
You will have seen that after many days and nights of hard fighting, all
our efforts to improve the Bribery Bill have been defeated, 8 even Fawcctt's
clause being at last negatived. Good however has been done by the discus-
sion, and a foundation laid for future success, as even the Saturday Review
acknowledges. 4 The Bill has, as you see, been extended to Scotland and Ire-
land. But its good effects, as it stands at present, will not be very great
Iam Dear M' Christie
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Blackheath Park
Kent
July 27. 1868
DEAR SIR
I always look through the Social Economist _ and had been struck with the
great improvement in its quality.
I. MS at Cornell.
2. In Christie'scampaignfor a seat in Parliament.
3. On July 24.
4. "The BriberyBill," SR, July 25, 1868, pp. 110-11. JSM'sproposal is discussedon
p. Ill.
'It ,It 'It 41,
It is very lucky that you have family connexions at Dumfries. The chance
seems better there than anywhere else that we have heard of. Scotch electors,
besides that they have more intelligence, are not open to bribes, and in the
present electioneering, are shewing in many places a strong feeling against
canvassing and election expenses. But I would suggest to you whether you
had not better go down yourself at once. ALready chances which you might
have had in constituencies, have been intercepted by some one else merely
by his being beforehand, and the same thing has happened to other excellent
candidates within my knowledge. For this reason, and because I doubt if
the Secretary of the Reform League at Glasgow would be able to go about
to the different boroughs of the district, I return your cheque; but if you wish
it, I will send £ 10 to Professor Nichol to be expended at his discretion.
If there is a subscription, the &50 1 formerly promised is at your service;
as well as a letter of the strongest recommendation.
Noel's 2 probable best card against you is not his money, but his evangel-
icalism, he being the son of Baptist Noel. _
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
I was not aware that any letter of yours had remained unacknowledged.
On reference, however, to my papers, I have found one; and I now remember
that I put it aside, in hopes that when I answered it I might be able to send
you some of the books on your list. For want, however, of time to look out,
I have not yet succeeded in procuring any of them. I have seen more than
one in booksellers' catalogues, but on enquiring at the shops, found they were
already sold.
I have read your letter with the pleasure your letters alwaysgiveme, and I
am very glad to hear that you are so justly appreciated by your fellow work-
men as to have been put on the Council for the selection of candidates. There
is some probability that real working men will be in some places elected to
the House. In your own county, at Stafford, Mr Odger, 2 one of the very best
leaders of the London working men, has started, with, I am told, very good
prospects of success.
The signatures you obtained for Women's Suffrage formed an important
addition to the very numerously signed petition which I presented soon after
I received them. The signatures to the different petitions for Women's
Suffrage this year have nearly reached 50,000, of whom probably more than
one half were from women. The cause is prospering beyond all hope, and will
prosper more and more if taken up by the enlightened among the working
men. I am
Dear Sir
yours very sincerely
J. S. MILL
Mr William Wood.
I am sorry I was engaged when you called. Possibly you wished to speak
to me concerning the Memorial_ in favour of Dr. Tulloch, which I did not
see till this afternoon (having only just returned home) but which I have
already sent off to Mrs. Tulloch. If however there is any other subject on
which you wish to speak to me, and you will let me know in time, I can call
at your house either on Saturdaymorning between 11 and 12 or at any time
before 5 on Monday or Tuesday.
Iam
My dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S.MV..L
The Very Reverend
The Dean of Westminster
2. See Letters 1270 and 1275.
• 41. • •
Blackheath Park
Kent
Aug. 1. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
The inclosed came this morning Hem Prof. Nichol. Perhaps what it com-
municates about Kilmarnock may compensate for your correspondent's un-
favourable report from Dumf_ries.2
Mr Bcales having returned to town, I called on him yesterday. He was
quite aware of the strength of your claims to a seat in Parliament, and ex-
pressed his desire to help you. He does not think it necessary that you should
join the Lcagne. a He would like to have some conversation with you, ff you
could call on him any day at his Chambers, Stone Buildings Lincoln's Inn,
between 10 and 4. I think he wishes to know how far your opinions on spe-
ciaily radical points are such as would be satisfactory to the working men. At
desire I told him of what your views have been in regard to the London
University, Kflmarnock, and Dumfdes, and he said there would probably
be places in England where the League could help you.
We leave this evening for Avignon, where letters will find us.
everyourstruly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
August 8th [1868]
1. MS not located. From a handbill in the Howell Collection, the Bishopsgate In-
stitute, which also carries a letter from the St. Anne's Electoral Association, Ryder's
Court, Leicester Square, conveying to JSM a resolution adopted on Aug. 4. Bailey
and Armistead have not been identified.
1430 To John Chapman Letter 1280
class who are aggrieved by it, and presented to the new Parliament as soon
as possible after it meets. The grievances which are the most petitioned
against are likely to be the soonest redressed.
I am, Gentlemen,
very sincerely yours
John S. MaLL
Mr. J. Bailey & Mr H. Armistead
Avignon
Aug. 12. 1868
DEAR SIR
I regret that your note was not received until I had left England, otherwise
I should have been happy to confer with you on any matter you might wish
to consult me upon; and I shall with great pleasure give you my opinion in
writing on the matter in question, if you think it worth while to write to me
respecting it. I am Dear Sir
very truly yours
]'. S. MaLL
Dr Chapman
Avignon
Aug. 22. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
J. S. MaLL
Avignon
Aug. 22.1868
DEAR SIR
only would the vast expense of constructing the Union Workhouses nave
been in a great measure saved, but the greatest blots upon our present Poor
Law Administration would have been effectually provided against.
The next of Mr Chadwick's great public services was as a member of the
Factory Commission 6 which proposed & carried the limitation of the labours
of children in factories to six hours. From that time Mr Chadwick has never
ceased to occupy himself with the improvement of the condition of factory
operatives. He was the proposer, &has been the indefatigable apostle of the
half time school system by which the education of the children of the opera-
tive classes has been made compatible with the necessities of the family. He
proposed but did not succeed in carrying a measure for the protection of the
operatives, by making masters pecuniarily responsible for accidents. He has
been, from the be_nning, the leading mind of the sanitary movement, 7 which
has done so much, & will do so much more to improve not only the health
but the moral & economical condition of the working populationgenerally
& especially of its most neglected portions. Almost as much of his time &
thoughts has been employed upon the great question of public education in
its most difficult department, its business details, & I know of no one capable
of being of so much use to our future ministers and legislators in forming
an organized plan by which the most efficient education can be given to the
whole people at the smallest sacrifice either to the public or to individuals.
I have touched only on main points; for, to go through all the minor, but
still important matters of public interest which he has helped forward, would
take up far too much time & space. I may say in brief, that he is one of the
organizing & contriving minds of the age; a class of minds of which there are
very few, & still fewer who apply those qualities to the practical business of
government. He is, moreover, one of the few persons who have a passion
for the public good; and nearly the whole of his time is devoted to it, in one
form or another.
With respect to political questions in the narrower sense of the word, I
may say that Mr Chadwick was highly esteemed by Mr Bentham, s the father
of enlightened Radicalism; that throughout life I have seldom had occasion
to differ from him on subjects of that nature; & should we be returned to
Parliament there are few whose vote I should expect oftener to agree with
mine on all subjects involving the principles of popular government.
You are at liberty to make any use you think well, of this letter
Yours very truly
J. S. MILL
James Henderson Esq.
Avignon
Sept. 11, 1868
DEAR SIR
I regret that your arrival in England should have taken place just after
I had left for the Continent with no prospect of returning until the eve of the
general election. Should you still be in the neighbourhood of London at that
time, I hope I may have the pleasure of seeing and conversing with you.
1. MS not located. Published in Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, Charles Bradlaugh
(2 vols., London, 1894), I, 267. A MS copy by P. Calleral is at Johns Hopkins.
Austin Holyoake (1826-1874), younger brother and associate in various enterprises
of G. J. Holyoake; active as a secularist lecturer and propagandist.
2. Charles Brad/augh campaigned unsuccessfully for a Liberal seat for Northampton
against Lord Henley and Charles Gilpin. JSM was much criticized for his support of
Bradlaugh, and some attributed to it his own defeat in November. See Letters 1285,
1293, 1336, 1341, 1360, and 1365.
4t 4t 4t 4t
A[vignon].
Sept. 12. 1868.
the mere rank & file Liberals can be as valuable in the H of C. as yourself.
But (although for totally different reasons) I think Mr B. also would be a
very valuable member of Pad t. He also holds opinions not cut after the
pattern of some 300 or so other liberal members of pt, & I think him able to
sustain them with ability which would give them effect. This is what we
want in the H of C., & while it is most important to uphold honest & honorable
men, faithful supporters of our own party, like Lord Henley s against Tories
& lukewarm Liberals, I do not think that their claims ought to be allowed
to prevail against the claims of exceptional men. Where there are two men
to sustain one opinion & only one man to sustain another, the one is a more
valuable man than either of the two: & after all, the men willing to vote
against the Irish Church 4 are at least 200 to one as against men holding
original opinions of their own like yourself & Mr Bradlaugh. Moreover, the
good average liberal, especially if he is a man of rank, is likely to have a
better chance for a larger number of constituencies than such a man as Mr
Bradlaugh: you will see that I urged upon Mr B. the importance of not allow-
ing a Tory to step in, & this seems to me the only important consideration in
the matter. You will perhaps let me add that I could scarcely forbear smiling
at the modesty which could let you suppose that you were the candidate
against whom Mr B's efforts are likely to have the greatest effect, even if he
did oppose you, which I sincerely believe he would not do.
Avignon
Sept.
13.
1868
DEARCHADWICK
As I have not heard from you since your letter of Aug. 28, and as I see
that another candidate _ is in the field against Bouverie, I suppose you are
now at Richmond. I am a good deal disappointed that nothing came of your
tion. Bradlaugh said that he was trying to win Lord Henley's seat. JSM had contributed
&10 to Bradlaugh's campaign (see Letter 1283). According to Hypatia Bradlaugh
(Charles Bradlaugh [2 vols., London, 1894], I, 278), Gilpin later also contributed
_E10 towards Bradlaugh's election expenses and wrote a favourable letter to the
Morning Star about his conduct in the election.
3. Baron Anthony Henley (1825-1898), MP for Northampton, 1859-74.
4. Gladstone had led the fight for the disestablishment of the Irish Church in the
spring of 1868.
41. 41- ,It" 41.
1. MS at UCL.
2. Alexander Macdonald ( 1821- 1881), miner, from 1863 presidentof the National
Union of Miners. Macdonaldretired from the contest with Bouverie to avoid splitting
the liberal vote. In 1874 Macdonald was elected MP for Stafford. For his entry into
candidacy againstBouverie, see The Times, Sept. 12, 1868, p. 6.
1436 To Augustus de Morgan Letter 1287
visit to Scotland. In your place, I think I should have run the chance, s I
should have tried whether, by holding meetings, without spending much
money, a sufficient impression might not have been made, to obtain the warm
support of the working classes: Nichol's opinion is worth more than twenty
discouragements from members or candidates or their middle class partisans,
who are sure to be against disturbing any member, who is nominally of their
party, in his seat. The main consideration is, whether you are likely to find
any better opening elsewhere. If so, it will be either through Glyn4or Beales,5
Beales the more likely of the two. There is still time before you, but not
much more than enough, as all the constituencies are getting fitted with can-
didates. Your best chance is in the recalcitrancy of the new electors against
the wealthy nobodies who are imposed on them by the old party managers.
But you need to be ready to seize these opportunities at once, before some
unwealthy or popularity-hunting nobody has got the start. Many an oppor-
tunity has been missed by good candidates in this general election already,
for want of promptitude.
Let me know when there is anything I can do. My letter s can be used with
a few verbal changes in the first sentence, for any opening that presents itself.
As soon as a subscription list is open, I will send mine. I am
Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Sept. 13. 1868
DEAR SIR
I am much obliged to you for your letter, which I shall place among the
3. JSM did not yet know that Chadwick had just announced his candidacy for Kil-
marnoek. See the Kilmarnock Standard, Sept. 12, 1868.
4. See Letter 1181.
5. As president of the Reform League.
6. Letter 1282.
41. 41. ,It. 41.
2. JSM in the Logic had attributed the phrase to Bacon. De Morgan pointed out that
Ludovicus Vives (Spanish humanist and philosopher, 1492-1540) "commends Petrns
Hispanus [(d. 1321), Portuguese ecclesiastic and philosopher, author of Summulae
Logicales--for centuries a standard work on elementary logic] for making it his defi-
nition, and corrects those who think it only an hyperbole of praise, explaining it as
the art which treats of arts."
3. De Morgan had written: "In p. 71 [Log/c, Book I, chap. m, sec. 9 (6th ed.)]
you say that a pedantic physician in Moli_re accounts for the fact that Topium endormit'
by the maxim 'parcequ'il a un vertu soporifique.' From whom do you get your quota-
tion marks? Not from Moli_re. Yon know the original at the end of the Malade
lmaginaire :--
Mihi a docto doctore.
Domandatur eansam et rationem quare
Opium faeit dormire.
A quoi respondeo
Quia est in eo
Virtus dormitiva,
Cuius est natura
Sensus assoupire.
"I never read this exquisite satire without wishing for a Moli_re to expose the school
of thinkers of our day who invert the process; and having settled that opium has not
and cannot have a virtus dormitiva, will deny the sleep, or else declare that it is only
a coincidence..." (pp. 378-79). JSM adopted the version quoted by De Morgan in the
7th ed. (1868); see 8th ed., II, 403.
4. De Morgan: "I cannot understand how you liken the virtus dormitiva to a ease of
the 'scholastic doctrine of occult causes.' In fact, I have never been able to arrive at
such causes in the Schoolmen. I know that these offenders are charged in our day, and
since the time of Bacon, with upholding certain things called occult causes, but I can-
not find any. Virtutes occultae and occult qualities I find enough of" (p. 379).
5. De Morgan: "You say elsewhere [Logic, Book II, chap. vn, "Examinations of
some opinions opposed to the preceding Doctrines," I, 310, 6th ed.] that the following
proposition is not intelligible: "Abracadabra is a second intention.' Literally, 'animal is
a second intention' may be held [alse, not unintelligible. For a second intention is a
subjective use of a name. Probably you mean that the proposition 'Abracadabra is a
(name of) second intention' is unintelligible. But why more than 'animal'? If you mean
that Abracadabra is a mere sound, you do less than due honour to the name of a
medical instrument of 1,200 years' life .... " JSM did not change this.
1438 To Augustus de Morgan Letter 1287
Virtus Dormitiva
In the article 'Physique' of the Dict. de Phil. Schol. of the Abb6 Migne's
coUection,e after noting the virtutes and essentiae as scholastic faults, which
is only true of their abuses, the author proceeds thus :--
'Arnauld 7 lui-m_me, Arnauld le Cart6sien, pratiquait les vieux erremens
de la scholastique, lorsqu'il disait _ Malebranche, s "I1 est insens_ de se de-
mander pourquoi l'Lrne humaine pense _ l'infini et au n6eessaire. Elle y
pense parce que e'est dans son essence d'y penser."
'Aujourd'hui encore l'6eole 6cossaise et l'6cole 6electique expliquent ex-
elnsivement les ph6nom_nes psychologiques par des faeult6s qu'on multiplie
et qu'on distingue parfois avec une ridicule subtilit6; et on s'imagine qu'en
pla_ant ainsi sons les faits intimes des facult6s que la conscience n'a jamais
perques on a fait de la science.
'L'6cole rationaliste eommet la mdme erreur dans la question de rorigine
du langage. L'homme parle parce qu'il a la facult6, done il a pu inventer la
parole.'
The Schoolmen never generalised a quality until they had at least two
instances. As long as there was only A which had a certain virtus, they said
nothing about it; it was occult, i.e. unknown. But when B was found to have
the same they had such knowledge as comes of classification, being almost all
they had.
The moderns invented a name upon one instance, and made it a cause.
They said that magnetism was the explanation of the magnet. The Schoolmen
would have waited until the amber showed its quality, and then the distinction
of magnetism and electricity would have been specific knowledge, the genus
being virtus attractiva. It is something to know two phenomena with a generic
agreement and a specific difference.
6. Dictlonnalre de theologic et de philosophie scolastiques, ou Etude sur l'enseigne-
ment philosophique au moyen 12ge. . . par Fr&lerie Morin, in Troisi_me et derni_re
Ency. clop_die thdologique; . . . publi6e par l'abb6 Migne (66 vols., Paris, 1855--66),
XXI-XX/I.
7. Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), philosopher of the Cartesian school, author of
La Logique ou l'art de penser. La Logique de Port Royal (Pads, 1662) and of man]/
other works.
8. Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715), philosopher of the Cartesian school.
Letter 1288 To I. R. Ware 1439
If the medical candidate had known the mind of those who classed, he
would have said, I do not know why except in that I can refer the phenome-
non to a class. We note agreements and differences and arrange them.
Amauld, &c., might have a similar answer made for them, but not for those
who inferred power of invention of languages from possession.
1288. TO J. R. WARE1
Avignon
Sept. 13. 1868
DEARSIR
The numbers of the Illustrated Weekly News which you were so kind as
to send, were only quite recently forwarded to me here. The articles on Trade
Unions 2 to which you call my attention seem to me very sensible, and I
agree in all essentials with them. I am quite of opinion that the various forms
of Cooperation (among which the one most widely applicable at present to
production, as distinguished from distribution, is what you term the system
of small percentage partnerships) are the real and only thorough means of
healing the feud between capitalists and labourers; and, while tending even-
tually to supersede trade unions, are meanwhile a natural and gradually in-
creasing corrective of their operation.
I look also with hope to the ultimate working of the foreign competition,
on the effects of which you dwell in the first of the two articles. The opera-
tives are now fully alive to this part of the case, and are beginning to try how
far the combination principle among labourers for wages, admits of becom-
ing international, 3 as it has already become national instead of only local,
and general instead of being confined to each trade without help from other
trades. The final experiment has thus commenced, the result of which will fix
the limits of what the trade union principle can do. And the larger view of
questions which these considerations open up, and which is already visibly
enlightening the minds of the more advanced workpeople, will dispose them
more and more to look for the just improvement of their condition rather in
1. MS in the Berg Collection of NYP. Published, except for first two sentences, in
Illustrated Weekly News, Oct. 3, 1868,p. 614.
Probably James Redding Ware, journalist and playwright.
2. "Trade Unions" [two leaders], Illustrated Weekly News, Aug. 1 and 8, 1868, pp.
502 and 518.
3. The International Association of Working Men, with which Karl Marx was from
the first associated, had been formally established at a meeting in London on Sept.
28, 1864.
1440 To William Cox Bennett Letter 1289
Avignon
Sept. 14. 1868
DEAR SIR
Avignon,
Sept. 22 1868
DeAR CrlADWlCK
Avignon
Sept. 24, 1868
DEARSIR
Along with this, I send you the letter which I have written for publication. 2
I have, on consideration, thought it best not to address it to an American
newspaper, which would be too like arrogating to myself the fight of lecturing
the American people. I have given it the form of an answer to a private friend
who has asked my opinion on the question. If you will honour me so far as
1. MS copy, not in JSg's hand, at UCL. The letter was read by Chadwick to a
meeting of the electors of Kilmarnock, and was published along with Chadwick's
speech in The Times, Oct. 21, 1868, p. 7. It had previously been published in the
Glasgow Herald, Oct. 19, 1868.
2. See Letter 1270,n. 3.
41, 41' .It 45
to be that private friend, please fill up the blank at the beginning with your
own name. s In any other case, three stars must stand for a name.
Should there be any mistake of fact, or anything that seems to you inju-
dicious, or otherwise objectionable in the letter, you would do me a favour
by pointing it out. It is unnecessary in that ease to send the letter back, as
I have kept a copy.
There is no doubt that the feeling of the mass of the working classes in
England is very much alienated from the propertied classes. _ They axe very
strongly imbued with a sense of the opposition of interest between the re-
ceivers of wages and the payers of them. But I do not think that this feeling
has reached the point of personal hatred between classes. I think that the
operatives have confidence in the good will towards them of many persons
in the higher and middle ranks, and that experience has taught them to expect
that the others will be brought round gradually by the joint influence of
conviction, persuasion, and prudence. The intelligent, who are the politically
active part of the working classes, are not impatient; they have a sincere
dread of the mass of brutal ignorance behind them, and have consequently
set themselves to demand very vigorously a real national education. This
they will soon obtain, & it will alter, in an incalculable degree, all the bad
elements of the existing state of things. Already the aspirations of the work-
men to the improvement of their physical condition are pointing not so much
to anything to be done directly by the State, as to what they can do for them-
selves by cooperation. Revolution and civil war will not come from their side
of the question; for, when their minds are sufficiently made up, the existing
political institutions are sufficient to carry into execution their will. The poli-
tical enfranchisement of women, whenever it takes place, will further
strengthen the influences opposed to violence and bloodshed. The only ques-
tion which may possibly become dangerous is that of the land. There are
signs of a rapidly growing conviction in the operative classes that the land
ought not to be private property but should belong to the State. This opinion,
which has always seemed to me fundamentally just, may perhaps come to
maturity before the landholding classes are prepared even to listen to it; & in
that case there will be bad blood and violent class animosities: but even then,
as far as I am able to anticipate the future, it seems to me that the probabil-
3. Norton chose not to add his name, and the letter was published with the recipient
not named.
4. Norton in his letter had remarkedthat "the breakingup of old beliefs and super-
stitions & institutions [in England] are much more obvious than those of the future
reorganization. But the question which seems to me to underlie all others . . . is
whether there is in England today a real nation--a community---or simply a congeries
of individualsdivided into distinct& almost hostile classes. ! fear that a vast mass of
the populationhave no reason for attachmentto the existing social order, and no fear
of change howeversubversive.... "
Letter 1292 To Charles Eliot Norton 1443
Avignon
Sept. 24, 1868.
DEAR MR...
You ask me what I think of the controversy now going on in the United
States respecting the rightfulness of paying off a portion of the national debt
contracted in cash, in a depreciated paper currency, and of taxing, in viola-
tion of an express compact, the interest of the national bonds. It is painful,
even to have to answer such a question. It is already a great calamity that two
such proposals should have been inscribed in the electoral programme of a
great political party, 2 and not unanimously rejected even by its opponents.
The success of either proposal would, in my estimation, be one of the
heaviest blows that could be given to the reputation of popular governments,
and to the morality and civilization of the human race.
This is one of those vital questions which send us back to the first prin-
ciples of social existence, and compel us to ask ourselves what are the condi-
tions which enable mankind to dwell together in nations and communities,
to work together in joint undertakings, and exchange the privations of the
savage for the blessings of civilized life. The very first and most essential of
these conditions is, that they should be able to trust one another's engage-
ments. Even savage life could not be carried on unless the savages fie-
quently helped one another: in civilized life every human being depends for
comfort, for security, often for life itself, upon things done for him by other
people. If he could not rely upon other people for doing what they undertake;
if his experience taught him that a man who makes a promise, does so with
diate penalty except the disgrace, there is no other difference between the
two eases but such as makes the criminality greater, of a nation which robs
its creditors, than of an individual. For, in the first place, a nation always can
pay its creditors if it chooses; which cannot always be said of an individual.
And, in the next place, a breach of faith by a whole people involves every-
body in the guilt, except such as with their whole heart and strength de-
nounce and protest against it. It is an example of fraud displayed in the sight
of mankind, and penetrating into every family in the country. It is a direct
sanction of the like dishonesty to every citizen in his private transactions.
Let any one be really persuaded that a whole people may break its word,
and refuse to pay in full the money it has borrowed--is he likely to think
that he himself is culpable for doing the same in his own private affairs, if he
can manage to evade the legal punishment which is the only real distinction
between the two cases?
The detractors of democratic government on this side of the Atlantic have
been accustomed to say that however specious may be the arguments for it,
in its actual working it would turn out to be a retrogradation towards bar-
barism. Until now, the example of the great American Republic, notwith-
standing the dishonourable conduct of several of the States s (mostlyu
would that I could say always---among those which had been demoralized by
slavery) has generally been deemed a practical refutation of these sinister
prophecies. But the charge against democracy of being a return to barbarism
would be made out, if its effect were to be the public repudiation of pecuniary
engagements. It is a remarkable fact, that what the people of the United
States are now urged to do with respect to the five-twenty bonds 4 urged
by the programme of a political party (happily not by every member even of
that party) bears an almost exact likeness to some of the most disgraceful
misdeeds of the European despots in the middle ages. Read the history of
the most profligate Kings of France and other European countries, not ex-
cepting England, and see who were those whose conduct excited the greatest
public indignation during their lives, and left the deepest stain on their
memory when dead. They were those who debased the coin. What was their
motive for debasing it? To put off their creditors with the same nominal sum
of money, but a less quantity of the precious metal. Even the despots were so
conscious and so much afraid of the infamy of this fraud, that they generally
endeavoured to commit it secretly and in silence. They made it a capital
offence to betray the secret. Would they have been less guilty if they had
impudently brazened it out? Living in a rude age, the only means at their
3. JSM and the Austins had all lost money when state bonds in the United States
were repudiated. See Earlier Letters, p. 486, n. 2.
4. That is, bonds which were redeemable in five years, payable in twenty. Much of
the debt for the Civil War was in such bonds, which carried an interest rate of six per
cent, payable in gold coin.
1446 To Charles Eliot Norton Letter 1292
disposal for committing the fraud was the coarse expedient of altering the
coin. Their ingenuity had not reached the contrivance of putting forth pieces
of paper which pretended to be money and were not, inducing people to take
them by a promise printed on the paper to give for it on demand real money
of the same nominal value, and then breaking that promise and issuing them
in such numbers as to be only worth half the money which they purported to
represent. But this roundabout way, and the direct way, have the self-same
purpose; to get rid of debts, by paying, instead of what one has engaged to
pay, what is called the same sum of money, but is really a much smaller
sum. And this example, set by the despots of barbarous ages, the people of
the United States, in the ninety-second year of their national freedom, are
invited by many of their active politicians to imitate!
Observe, too, that none of the apologies, poor and weak as they are, which
have been suggested to the nations of Europe by the same sort of bad ad-
visers, have any applicability to the case of the United States. The Democracy
of European countries have sometimes been told that they are not bound to
pay their national debts, because the money was borrowed by Kings and
aristocracies who did not represent the people, and was expended in keeping
the people in subjection or in carrying on foreign wars which the people had
not authorized. None of these lame excuses can be alleged by the American
repudiators. The most audacious pleader for dishonesty cannot deny that the
money was borrowed by a Congress and a President elected by, and fully
responsible to, the people--borrowed for the service of the American Re-
public in its utmost need, for a war which was emphatically a war of the
people, and in which the stake involved was the preservation of their col-
lective existence as a nation. The only persons in whose mouths any other
doctrine can possibly be sincere, are the ex-rebels and their favourers. To all
but them, it is impossible even to conceive a case in which the obligation to
pay the debt, principal and interest, to the full extent of the contract, could
be more binding.
A plea which imposes upon some people, who would shrink from anything
which they themselves regarded as repudiation, is this: Greenbacks,5 how-
ever they may be depreciated, are legal tender--are the lawful currency of the
United States: other persons are obliged to receive this currency in pay-
ment of all their dues, and why should the public creditor be an exception?
This seems to have been the argument which prevailed with the upright, but
not always clearsighted or discerning mind of the late Thaddeus Stevens.e
5. Duringthe CivilWar,Congressin 1862hadauthorizedtheissuanceof a newtype
of publicmoney,"UnitedStatesnotes,"popularlyknownas "greenbacks."They were
not supportedbyany collateral,butsimplybythe creditof the Federalgovernment,and
theirvaluefluctuated.
6. ThaddeusStevens(1792-1868),lawyer,politician,powerfulmemberof Congress
fromPennsylvania,1848-53, 1858-68;advocateof a Draconian_ policytowardsthe
South.
Letter 1292 To Charles Eliot Norton 1447
But the answers to it are manifold. The first is, that almost all persons except
the public creditor have the remedy in their own hands. Those who have
goods to sell can and do demand a higher price; those who sell their services
can and do require a higher remuneration. Even in loan transactions that are
yet to come, the lenders know the chances they are exposed to---are aware
that the medium they are to be paid in is of uncertain value, and can and will
require a rate of interest sufficient in their estimation to cover their risks. To
all these persons the uncertainty of the measure of value is a source of great
inconvenience, but to none of them is it an injustice. Injustice is done to those
who had lent their money, or had otherwise become entitled to fixed annual
incomes, before specie payments were suspended. Among these are the old
creditors of many of the States. All persons thus situated are grievously in-
jured, by being paid their interest in depreciated greenbacks, and would be
still further defrauded if the principal were repaid to them in a similar
medium. But at least the nation collectively had incurred no obligation to
those persons, beyond the general obligation of good government. It had
not specifically pledged the national honour to them. Even the separate States
never, I believe, pledged their faith to their creditors that they should not
suffer this particular injury; however binding the obligation ought to have
been felt in honour and conscience. That pledge has been given to the creditors
of the United States. I make no distinction between payment of the interest,
and repayment of the principal. The bonds themselves, it is not denied,
stipulate expressly that the interest shall be paid in cash, but are silent as to
the principal. That the obligation, however, applied to principal as well as
interest, was universally understood; was expressly declared by the author-
ized agents of the nation whenever the question was asked; was not then
gainsaid by any of those who are now attempting to shake off the obligation,
and was only not declared in expressed terms because nobody thought that
such a declaration was necessary, or could add any strength to the pledge.
In consequence of this understanding the loans were obtained at rates of
interest very low under the circumstances; far lower than would otherwise
have been possible. Governments which pay their creditors in inconvertible
paper always borrow, if able to borrow at all, on much more onerous terms
than other Governments. If those who lent their savings to the United States
had been told at the time, that every thousand dollars they lent should be
repaid to them in greenbacks which might then be worth not more than a
thousand cents (the depredation of the French assignats amounted to that
and more) nobody, unless he could afford to make the nation a present of
his money, would have parted with it unless at a rate of interest sufficient to
ensure him against this extreme risk. The United States obtained these great
sums of money in their extreme necessity, at an interest (all things con-
sidered) not very much exceeding what the high value of capital in a new
country compels them to pay in ordinary limes; and after having reaped the
1448 To Charles Eliot Norton Letter 1292
7. For the following three of JSM's sentences, Norton, for the Nation, substituted:
"But if exemption from all direct taxation were a condition of the contract, and ex-
pressly stipulated for, it is not an unjust advantage conceded to the bondholders over
other people, since for every advantage so obtained value has been given by those who
enjoy it in the shape of a diminishedinterest."
Letter 1293 To Thomas Beggs 1449
A[vignon]
Sept.27.1868
why, though I shd have preferred to see him displace a Tory, I still desire his
success even against Lord Henley; who, moreover, would probably have
much less ditficulty than Mr B. in obtaining another seat? I can say most
sincerely that no one more thoroughly disapproves than I do any conduct
or expressions needlessly offensive to the reverential feelings of any one even
if I had less sympathy of feeling with him than I have with many pious minds.
Avignon
Sept. 27. 1868
DEAR SlRmThe works which contain most matter adapted to your purpose
in a small compass are a pamphlet entitled "Enfranchisement of Women"
reprinted from the W[estmin_ter] R[eview], 2 another pamphlet by Miss
Helen Taylor entitled The Claim of Englishwomen to the Suffrage, s & my
own speech on the subject in the H. of C.4 All these are published by Messrs.
Triibner 60 P[aternoster] R[ow]. There are a few pages devoted to the ques-
tion in Mr. S. Bailey's Rationale of Representation 5 & in my own "Cons la
on Repr. Gov t'' of which there is a People's Edition. 6
A[vignon]
Sept. 27. 1868
DEAR SIR--I thank you for your proposal to translate my writings into
French. All of them, however, with the exception of a collection of essays in
5. At this point Elliot prints the following sentence which is crossed out in the MS
draft: "'And I hope to stand acquitted, even if not justified in your eyes, and in throe
of the friends whom you mention."
1. MS draft at LSE. In reply to Thateher's letter of Sept. 21, also at LSE along with
Thatcher's reply of Oct. 8.
Thatcher has not been identified. He had asked for the names of works by which
he might prepare himself for a debate on women's suffrage.
2. His wife's article. See Letter 28.
3. A reprint, with a new title, of her WR article, "The Ladies' Petition." See Letter
1008.
4. Speech of 1ohn Stuart Mill, M.P., on the Admission of Women to the Electoral
Franchise, Spoken in the House of Commons, May 20th 1867 (London, 1867).
5. See Letter 313, n. 10.
6. Firstpublishedin 1865.
1. MS draft at Yale.
1452 To an Unidentified Correspondent Letter 1296
A[vignon]
Sept. 28. 1868
DEAR SIR I am much obliged to you for your book which I expect to read
with interest & instruction when leisure permits. I thank you also for your
kind invitation but am unable to avail myself of it having no other time than
the recess of parlt for many important occupations.
S. W. Burton, Esq
1. MS draft at Yale.
1. MS not located. Published in the Morning Star, Oct. 29, 1868, p. 2, along with
Burton's reply.
Burton, whose address was 8, St. George's Square, Belgrave Road, S.W., has not
been identified.
2. See Letter 1283.
Letter 1298 To an Unidentified Correspondent 1453
A[vignon]
Oct. 1. 1868
DEAR SIR----] have had the honour of receiving your letter of the 15 th ul t°
respecting the Marylebone Penny Readings. It gives me sincere pleasure that
so useful a work as these readings should be so successful. I am, however, as
a general rule, averse to connecting my name with any undertaking to which
my occupations prevent me from giving any portion of my time & attention;
& the many distinguished names already on the list of patrons & which are
more than sutficient to give the Readings every advantage that can be ob-
tained by that mode of adhesion, render the addition of my name quite super-
fluous.
Avignon
Oct. 4. 1868
DEARMR BOU_Rm
It is of so much importance to the public good that the very best man each
party possesses should be sent to represent it in the House of Commons, that
it is much to be desired that every constituency should consider, not
merely whether a man will do to represent it, but whether he is the best
man to be had; and that every candidate should consider first, not his own
claims and wishes, but the public interest. For my own part I can fairly dis-
claim acting ungenerously towards yourself when I warmly support the
candidature of Mr Chadwick, because I would very gladly put him in my own
place if I saw a probability of success. I consider Mr Chadwick to be an
altogether exceptional man, to whom it would be an honour to any other man
to give way; because, however superior he may consider himself, or might
actually be, to Mr Chadwick in some things, there are others (of extreme
importance in Parliament) in which Mr Chadwick has not his equal in
England, nor, so far as I know, in Europe.
In regard to the matter of sowing dissensions among the Liberal party,
I could say a great deal, which I am sure would meet with sympathy in the
1. MS draft at Yale.
41. 4t 41" 41.
advanced portion of it at least, and would shew to all portions that I am not
acting without very cogent reasons. I need not enter into these at present,
because, as you will see from what I have already said, there exist reasons
enough peculiar to Mr Chadwick, to decide my line of conduct towards him,
even without reference to more general considerations. I am
My dear Sir
Yours very faithfully
J. S. MILL
The Right Honourable
E. P. Bouverie M.P.
Avignon
Oct. 4, 1868
DEAR SIR
I am truly glad that you are pleased with the letter, 2 and that you think its
publication will be of service. On the matter of fact as to the liability of the
bonds to income tax, my original impression was what I now learn to be the
correct one; but I found the contrary so positively stated in articles and letters
in newspapers, that I supposed I had been mistaken, and altered my first draft
accordingly. The rectification s you have been so kind as to make will per-
feetly meet the case.
I should have been glad if your name could have appeared in the first line,
but on that point your judgment and feelings must decide.
I have no uneasiness as to the future of England from the two points in its
condition which you mention in your letter. Those "who would work if they
could find work to do," will, I think, find their field of employment greatly
widened by the rapid progress of industrial improvement, and such of them
as the growth of the national wealth does not provide employment for, will
be more and more taken off by emigration. "Those who would not work even
if work were abundant and wages fair" are a comparatively limited class of
the lowest of the population, and whatever they make it necessary to do in
order to keep them in obedience to law will have the fullest support from the
respectable working people. "The ignorance and hopelessness of the mass
of the agricultural labourers" are in a fair way to be removed. The movement
will soon be irresistible for a national education which will include them;
l. MS at Harvard. Envelope addressed: Angleterre / Charles Eliot Norton Esq /
Keston Rectory / near Bromley / Kent. Postmark: AVIGNON / 5 / OCT / 68. Pub-
lished in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings,L (1916-17), 21-22.
2. Letter 1292. 3. See ibid., n. 7.
Letter 1301 To Edmond Beales 1455
and as soon as they have intelligence to know that better wages are to be
had in the manufacturing towns, or in the United States or the Colonies, they
will flock thither. Emigration, already so great an element in the social
economy of Ireland, is only beginning to reach the agricultural districts of
England. It will be the great safety valve, and will, I think_ prevent the stir
that is sure to take place in the minds of the agricultural labourers from
having any other than a wholesome effect.
In the United States, ever since the North shook off the yoke of the South,
the most favourable prophecies are always those which are verified. Allow me
to say with what pleasure and instruction, always increasing, I read the North
American Review. 4 The July number is perhaps the best I have yet read. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
C. Eliot Norton Esq.
A[vignon]
Oct. 9.1868
DEAR SIR--You are no doubt aware that Mr Chadwick has gone down to
the Kilmarnock burghs, that he has been very successful, has been generally
accepted by the working men as their candidate & that they are very confident
of being able to return him as their member. I hear from Mr C. that in the
opinion of his supporters, the only thing which gives Mr Bouverie a chance is
the candidature of M r McDonald, who is Secretary to the Miners Union &
is expected to carry with him the miners of one of the five burghs, Rutherglen,
which is a mining place, but who, it seems, has very little support in the other
four burghs, & though he has an encouraging letter from Professor Beesly, _
is not thought to have any chance of success, but may perhaps take from Mr
C. a sufficient number of votes to turn the scale in favour of Mr Bouverie if
the Whigs & Tories unite as they probably will. Both Whigs & Tories prefer
any one of the old set of backward politicians to any man with troublesome
new ideas. The inclosed report from the Glasgow Herald shews the complete
failure of Mr McDonald at Kilmarnock. At Mr Chadwick's meeting at K it
4. Norton had been co-editor, with James Russell Lowell, from Oct., 1863, to July,
1868.
4t ,It 4t ,It
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. This letter was written at the request of Edwin Chad-
wick; see his letter of Sept. 30, 1868,MS at Johns Hopkins.
2. E. S. Beesly's letter to McDonald of Sept. 7, 1868, was printed in the Kilmarnock
Standard, Sept. 12.
1456 To P. Callerall Letter 1302
was estimated that he had more than a thousand workmen for him, but his
supporters, not to offend the miners, & to let them do the best they could, did
not move an amendment at Mr McD's meeting. It would be a great triumph
of advanced opinion if Mr C. were elected & it will be a great pity if McD's
candidature sh a prevent it. Mr C. was put forward before Mr McD. was
known to be in the field, & he would be more listened to in the House even on
the subject of the miners, than Mr M_D; having paid special attention to their
condition, as was shewn in his report on the sanitary condition of the labour-
ing population in 18423 as well as on subsequent occasions. 4 I write this to
you because if you are able to bring any influence to bear on Mr McD. either
directly or through Prof Beesly that might induce him to retire you may per-
haps think it desirable to do sop No one man that I know is likely to do so
much in the House for the interests of the working people as Mr C. & now
when he seems to have a good chance it would be sad indeed that such a
hindrance as this sh a defeat it.
You are yourself encumbered by an obstacle of a similar kind, though
from a much more considerable person, Mr Newton. _ I earnestly hope he may
be induced to postpone his candidature or to try his chance with some other
constituency. No radical or working class candidate ought to place himself
in competition with you though it was of course quite right & no more than
was to be expected from your public spirit that you should as you did set an
example of willingness to be governed by any [illegible word] like a division
of the liberal electors.
1302. TO P. CALLERALL1
A[vignon]
Oct. 9.1868
DEAR Sn_--The letter of which you enclose a copy was written by me. I be-
lieve there can be no doubt that Mr Bradlaugh is a very fair representative of
the opinions of a very large & important portion of the working men of
England. I, who have always maintained that the working classes do not form
3. Report of the Poor Law Commissioners to the Secretary of State, on an inquiry
into the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain. Parl. Papers,
1842, XXVI, 1 (House of Lords).
4. Chadwick had made these points in his letter of Sept. 30 to JSM.
5. McDonald eventually retired from the contest and endorsed Chadwick. See
Kilmarnock Advertiser, Nov. 14, 1868.
6. William Newton (1822-1876), of working-class origin, a leader in the establish-
ment of the Amalgamated Engineers Society in 1851; proprietor of a local newspaper;
member, Metropolitan Board of Works, 1862-76; both Beales and Newton were sub-
sequently defeated in the contest for the Tower Hamlets.
41" ,11. ,It- It
a homogeneous mass all exactly like one another, as we have been often told
they do by their opponents, of course admit most readily that Mr B. is no fair
representative of other large & important sections of the working class. But
as there are in the H. of C. & ought to be, representatives of the Quakers, the
R. Catholics, many of the various Dissenters as well as of the C. of England,
& the Jews, so I do not see why the working classes may not have one repre-
sentative of opinions which are indisputably extremely fife among many of
them however distasteful these opinions may be to many others.
I say all this as regards what if I understand rightly is the main objection to
Mr B. because I would fully face the most serious difficulty: & I do not hesi-
tate to say that if Mr B. chooses to take his stand upon what are called secu-
larist principles in religion, & can succeed nevertheless in inducing any con-
stituency to send him to Parlt, he ought not to be prevented from doing so by
want of funds: for in that case it is plain that he must represent a class of
opinions sutficienfly considerable to have a fight to be represented. But I am
not aware that Mr B. does take his stand upon these principles. I understand
him to come forward as a representative of purely political opinions & in that
case I do not think that any one is entitled to object to him on the ground of
religious opinions: for to do so is contrary to the principles we follow when
Jews &c. are admitted to Parl t. If Mr B. were a rich man, I shd not have taken
any steps to forward his election; had he been a rich man, I think no one
would have blamed me if I had taken any such steps. As a matter of fact I
have done nothing whatever to forward Mr B.'s election except to help to
remove in a very small degree whatever obstacle poverty may be to his
chances. I pronounce no opinion upon his merits but leave them to be judged
by those who are better qualified to judge them than I can profess to be my-
self.
Avignon
Oct. 9. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
I have received your two letters of Sept. 30 and Oct. 4. We are, as you may
well imagine, highly delighted at your excellent prospects. For the purpose
28, 1868, to Austin Holyoake (Letter 1283) was really JSM's and whether he did sub-
scribe to Bradiaugh's campaign.
Callerall in his letter gave his address as 69 Stanley St., Pimlico, London, and iden-
tified himself as "a Working Man, an Elector, and the representative of a considerable
section of the Working Class in the District."
41' .It- .1$ 4$
of gettingMr McDonald out of your way, 2 1 should have more faith in the
influences of the constituency itself than in any others, for it is only local
opinion that will make him think he has no chance of success. I have, how-
ever, written a long letter to Beales on the subject. Mr Beesly, though I be-
lieve I was once introduced to him, I hardly know even by sight, and have no
reason to think that I have any influence with him. For aught I know, he
might even be disposed to go against any recommendation of mine. Beesly
belongs, I fancy, to one of the advanced Comtist sets, and they, you know, do
not at all go along with me. Mr Beales may have influence with him or with
McDonald, and may be wimng to exert it; it is, however, just possible that
McDonald represents the Potter section of the Trades Unionists, 8 and I rather
believe there is a split between that and the League. I am not, however, quite
sure of this, and so I have written to Beales.
Some days ago I received a mild expostulation from Mr Bouverie. I wrote
to him in reply, 4 saying, among other things, that I must be acquitted of acting
ungenerously towards him ill supporting your candidature, because I would
gladly give up my own seat to you, if I thought I were able to do it: and I
told him that any man might be proud to give way to you, and hinted pretty
plainly that public spirit called upon him to do so. I thought it best, however,
not to open upon any of my personal grievances against him (e.g. his attack
upon Gladstone, 5 and Adullamite proclivities) to him_lf. I am rather sur-
prised at his writing to me, and cannot think what his motive was; but I do
not think he is likely to make use of my letter, because it was the most glowing
eulogium of you that I could well get into the space.
There is nothing that I can do, beyond what I have done, in the matter of
the election for the Institute. 6 It would be hopeless to attempt to influence the
time of the election.
I think it is a mistake to suppose that my support of Bradlaugh r at all di-
minishes my weight. The sort of people with whom it does so have had to put
up with my Women's Suffrage, Jamaica Committee, representation of minori-
ties, and other "crotchets", and probably have long ago given me up, or more
properly speaking, have never taken me up at all. You know that my Mal-
thusian and religious heresies, and my accusing the working people of not
speaking the truth, were all brought up against me at the Westminster
A[vignon]
Oct.14.1868
8. In 1865.
9. In the 1865 election John Roebuck had won in spite of antagonlzing many of his
supporters by his attacks on Gladstone, his support of the Conservatives' Reform Bill,
his attitude toward Trade Unions, and his opposition to the temperance movement. In
1868, however, he lost the seat he had held for nearly twenty years.
,11, _ ,It. ,11,
Avignon
Oct.16.1868
DEAR CHADWICK
I hope you receivedmy telegram.I must beg you notto takeany public
noticeof my correspondence withBouveriefl as,beingprivate, thoughon a
publicsubject ,I do notthinkitfightto givepublicityto it,or to anything
contained init,withouttheconsentof theotherpartyconcerned. I am still
incorrespondence withhim.
I do notremember anythingdone by Bouvede toobstruct theReform Bill
of 1866.
I have read all your speeches in the papers you sent and I think them very
telling. I am
Dear Chadwick
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
stancy it would appear that the constituency of K[ilmarnock] has been con-
stant for the last five & twenty years, from whence one may fairly infer that
they made a very good choice 5 & 20 years ago. But 5 & 20 years & a new
Reform Act make a great change in men & in politics, & if the constituency of
K makes as judicious a choice now as it did when it last changed its repre-
sentative, I sincerely hope it will be 5 & 20 years before it changes again. Still,
with the fullest regard to the consideration due to past services, one must
admit that there ought to be some limit to it. You would not, I presume,
maintain that a seat in Parl t ought to be a seat for life, unless the member has
given some violent offence to the constituency. The urgency of an infusion of
new blood is as good a reason for making a new choice, as dissatisfaction with
an existing representative: & there is no time at which giving the preference
to a new candidate is so little of a reflection on the former member as when
a change has been made in the Constitution, admitting new electors often
much more numerous than the old.
I am sorry that the occasions on which people have asked my advice or
help in their electioneering affairs should have caused me so often to incur
your disapprobation by expressing opinions so very different from yours as
to the sort of men that would be of most use in the H of C. But I do not see
that the fear of being disagreeable to one class of candidates ought to prevent
me from giving my opinion, when asked, in favour of another class or that
there is anything presumptuous either in answering questions that are ad-
dressed to me, or in giving testimony which I am told will be of use to those
in whose favour it is given, &which, if as you say it has no weight, will at least
be innocuous to their rivals.
I have no objection to receiving the advice you tender in the last sentence
of your letter, 2 although I did not invite it by opening up any communications
between us. For my part I never presumed to give you any advice, nor did
I "incite" you to retire in Mr C[hadwick]'s favour, because I had no idea that
you were in the least likely to do so; I merely, in reply to a communication
from yourself, shewed how very public spirited a proceeding I sh d consider
it if you did. I sh a not however have troubled you with this opinion if you had
not been the first to write to me.
Writing to yourself, what at the time I wrote it, I supposed was to be a
private letter, I did not think it necessary to raise the question how far the
present member for K. is entitled to claim the support of liberals on the
ground of fidelity to the liberal party. But to the public or to the constituency
2. "You will pardon me... for declining your invitation to 'give way' for the pur-
pose of obtaining the return of Mr. Chadwick, as unconstitutional, unwise, and not
likely to be attended with success; and if you will permit me a word of advice in return
I would say that the best hope of our common political adversaries lies in the Liberal
constituencies being exposed to a contest among Liberals, and that those who aspire to
play leading parts among us would do well not to exaggerate this evil."
1462 To Edward P. Bouverie Letter 1306
I have no hesitation in saying that no untried man can be looked upon as less
a member of the liberal party than the man who at the beg_nnlng of this
present year, called the liberal party a rabble & declared that their leader was
incapable of leading) I do not know that any one is likely to do more than
this to sow dissension among the liberal party nor do I see what possible
claim this gentleman can have upon party fidelity, or what pledge he can give
his constituents that he will not at a critical moment turn round again upon
this same "leader who cannot lead" & shew himself even more a conspicuous
example of a '_follower who will not follow." Whatsoever claim_ he may
have upon his constituency can only be those of his own individual personal
merits; he is the last man who has a fight to the sympathy of his whilom
party or who can appeal against me on the ground of his high sense of the
claims of party organisation.
Even in the most ordinary circumstances, the efficiency of representatives
can only be kept up by a keen rivalry, & a probability that if they fall below
the standard they have ever attained, their constituents will look out for new
men who come up to it. But we are not now in ordinary times. There are not
only new electors to be represented, but new questions to be decided, requir-
ing men deeply impressed with the wants of the country, &who have exercised
their minds on the means of remedying the most pressing existing evils. The
liberal electors have a right to a choice between their present members & any
others who may seem to them better qualified in this respect & such choice
is denied them if it is regarded as treason against liberalism for a new liberal
candidate to offer himself in competition with an old member.
I am keenly sensible of the importance of not dividing the liberal party:
but it is not a very hopeful way of keeping the party united, for the repre-
sentatives of the old electors to engross all the representation, leaving none
for the new: & if a reasonable number of men of advanced opinions, or
possessing the cortfideneeof the working classes, are not to be included among
the recognised candidates of the party, they cannot be blamed if they some-
times stand against those who are. Just as we are often told that to secure the
unity of a married couple what is the man's is his own, & what is the woman's
is the man's, so now we are being told every day that to secure the unity of
the liberal party which is threatened by a division between the old men & the
new, the old men should be represented by themselves, &the new men by the
old. With the solitary exception of the advice which you supposed me to give
to yourself, I have not heard of any instance in which it has not been proposed
to resolve the difficulty by the new men retiring, & the old men magnani-
mously accepting their retirement. And this in many cases is very naively put
upon the ground that as the old men will not consider the public interest &
retire, for fear of letting in a Tory, the new men must.
3. OnMarch5; seeLetter1270,n.3.
Letter 1306 To Edward P. Bouverie 1463
The real danger, in my opinion, of the liberal party, is not what you con-
sider it to be. It is in the renewal of the tactics which made the last H of C a
spectacle of dissension &want of principle, shewing us representatives trying
to slip out of the engagements their constituents conceived them to be bound
by, &others yielding a shameful obedience when called to order by the dread
of losing their seats, while in cases where this powerful motive was not in
operation, men elected under the same banner proved by their conduct that
there was as irreconcilable a variance in their intentions & political feelings
as if they had sat on opposite sides of the House. What gave this deplorable
character to the last H of C was that its so called Liberal members were
rallied under the cry of supporting Palmerston, as we axe now told they ought
to be rallied under the cry of disestablishing the Irish Church. Now, I am not
one of those who think that the political progress of England has but one
step more to make before reaching its summit, where it may rest & be thank-
ful, & that if a man is ready to vote for the disestablishment of the Irish
Church he is ready to do all that the staunchest liberalism can demand of him.
But I would remind those who differ with me as to the all-sufficiency of this
particular step, that our power to make even that step next session may
depend upon our getting men into the H. of C. who are not merely certain
to vote for that step, but who will follow their leaders loyally through all the
paxliamentary tactics with which our skilful opponent will try to impede the
way. Days, weeks, & months may be lost if Mr Gladstone's majority is com-
posed of men who will keep their word in voting for the disestablishment of
the Irish Church, but will thwart & embarrass their leader in every previous
step by which that desirable consummation may have to be led up to. It was
not the Tories but the Adullamites, 4 who weakened the liberal party in the
last parliament; & if a similar result should befall it in the next there will be
cause for bitter regret that the liberal party did not fight out its battles at the
polling booths rather than in the lobby of the H. of C. There does not appear
to be any danger that Mr G[ladstone]'s nominal majority will not be greater
than in the last Paxlt. What the country has to look to is that his majority shall
be more steadfast to genuine liberal principles. We do not want men who
cast reluctant looks back to the old order of things, nor men whose liberalism
consists chiefly in a warm adherence to all the liberal measures already
passed, but men whose heart & soul are in the cause of progress, &who axe
animated by that ardour which in politics as in war kindles the commander
to his highest achievements & makes the army at his command worth twice
its numbers; men whose zeal will encourage their leader to attempt what their
fidelity will give him strength to do. It would be poor statesmanship to gain
a seeming victory at the poll by returning a majority numerically large but
composed of the same incompatible elements as the last; even if we put poli-
4. See ibid.,n. 2.
1464 To Charles Stewart Walther Letter 1307
tical principle aside & look at nothing but the exigencies of the fight we are
going to sustain against a politician _renowned for his skill in availing himself
of the disunion of his opponents.
I am yours very faithfully
J. S./VIILL
DEAR SIR--I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 22nd inst. in behalf of
Mr. Howell's London provisional committee, asking my opinion respecting
his candidature. It would give me much pleasure to see Mr. Howell returned
to Parliament. I look upon it as of great importance that the working classes
should be represented in the new House of Commons by persons possessing
their confidence, and that some of those persons should be themselves work-
flag men; and, though my knowledge of Mr. Howell personally is not great,
what I have seen of his public conduct has made me look upon him as one
who, in point of opinions and abilities would be a valuable representative of
the working classes in Parliament.
Iam
dear Sir,
yours very sincerely,
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Oct. 29. 1868
DEAR MR CAIRNES
It seems a long time since I heard from you, as well as since I wrote, but
Faweett sent me some weeks ago a letter of yours to him. The report of your
5. Disraeli.
41. .It @ 41'
2. The long controversy over the Irish Church was finally resolved in 1869 with the
adoption of the Gladstone-sponsored measures for the disestablishment of the Church.
3. By the Irish Church Act of 1869 the annual grants to the Catholic College at May-
nooth were terminated. See also Letter 1248, n. 7.
4. Leonard Courtney's candidacy did not survive to the final poll
5. See Letters 1285, 1303, and 1311.
6. William Coningham, MP for Brighton, 1857-64, failed badly in his effort to
unseat Faweett.
1466 To John Elliot Cairnes Letter 1308
Brighton; his supporting the minority clause; and Coningham actually re-
proached him with wanting to punish severely an elector who is bribed!
I hope some day to talk over with you the reasons pro and con about
abolishing Marriage Settlements. I have been reading Mr McDonnelrs paper 7
which you recommended to Fawcett. I quite agree with Mr McDonnell about
the bad consequences of making the eldest son sure of succeeding indepen-
dently of the will of the parents. But property might be settled so that it could
not be squandered, and yet the power of bequest retained. In settlements on
a wife and her children it is already common to give her the power of distrib-
uting the property among the children by will, and I do not see why property
should not be settled on a person for life, with power of bequest, but not of
alienation inter vivos. The great argument, however, for marriage settlements
is the protection of the wife. Mr McDonnell is willing that the wife's own
property should be secured to her by settlement so long as the present law
respecting the property of married women is maintained. But the alteration
required would be much greater than merely not to deprive her of her
ownership. As long as she is at all in the husband's power, she is liable to be
forced to surrender her rights. It would be necessary that she should not be
compellable to live with him; and that anything done by him which would be
unlawful if done to any other person, should be unlawful when done to her.
And there must be some just arrangement about the children in case of
separation. Until all this is accomplished I think it would be a great aggrava-
tion of the dependent position of women to put an end to settlements.
I hope all is now safe in America, as far as relates to the continuance of
the Republican party at the head of affairs, a and without any diminution of
vigour in their councils. Since the ex-slaveholders are incorrigible, it is a good
thing that they cannot help shewing themselves to be incorrigible. The danger
of tampering with the rights of the public creditor seems also to be blowing
over. It certainly was thought, at one time, to be serious. I was asked to write
something on Repudiation, in the form of a letter that could be published in
the Nation, 9 and afterwards circulated in the broad sheets of the Loyal Pub-
lication Society. I have done so, and it has just come back from America, and
is reprinted in last Wednesday's Morning Star (October 28). I hope if you
see it you will approve of it, as I know you will of its sentiments.
I should be delighted to hear from you. It will be best to write to Blaeldaeath
until the election is over, after which, whether I am elected or not, I shall
return here.
Avignon
OCt. 29. 1868
DEAR SIR
1. MS and MS copy at UCL. In reply to De Morgan's of Sept. 20, 1868 (MS not
located), published in De Morgan Memoir, pp. 382-84.
Noting JSM's presence at Avignon, De Morgan had inquired whether any informa-
tion was available about three priests who had published there in 1770 a reprint of
William Gardiner's Tables of Logarithms, ]or all numbers, from 1 to 102,100, first
published in London in 1742.
2. Le P_re Jean Baptiste Blanchard, S.J. (1720-1788), professor of philosophy at
Aix, 1750-51; professor of mathematics at Toulon until the suppression of the Jesuit
order in 1773.
3. Le POreJean Dumas, S.J. (1696-1770).
4. Esprit de Ptzenas, S.J. (1692-1776), professor of hydrography at Marseilles;
erected the observatory at Avignon, of which he became the director. He published the
first translation of Gardiner in 1742, and was a co-editor with Blanchard and Dumas
of the Avignon edition of 1770.
5. Not identified.
1468 To Charles Friend Letter 1310
name, 6 but I have not been able to learn if it was Deselozeaux, or who else:
probably you will know what book it must have been.
Avignon, at the time mentioned, was a place of publication (or at least
printing) for all sorts of books which were published in France, licentious
books, &c. which were printed in cellars and secret places, generally with
extreme incorrectness: and a thing which stamped in M. Bourges' memory the
recollection of the Tables, was the singularity of the circumstance that a work
requiring such punctilious exactness should have been printed in such a place.
When I obtain any further information, I shall write to you again'.
I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. I_ILL
Augustus De Morgan Esq.
A[vignon]
Oct. 29. 1868
against one's fellow creatures in general, & against abstract truth in whatever
form it appears most sacred to one's eyes. One has most assuredly no right to
incumber the reason & entangle the conscience of one's children, one has no
right to send citizens out into the world to play their various parts for or against
their fellow creatures furnished with anything less than the most honest truth
that one can give them. Nor can I see that the plea of worldly interest is the
smallest valid excuse, although I am well aware how many people think it so.
But in the first place he would be a wise man indeed who can foresee the state
of society 15 or 20 years hence. In the second place the clear intellect & the
sturdy conscience which are acquired in a household where truth is rever-
enced above all things are as valuable to men & women pushing their way in
the world as any supposed conformity with popular prejudice. In the third
place, if there is one thing to which we all ought to give our allegiance irres-
pective of consequence it is truth, & here I look upon the ancient Christian
teaching as the highest the world has yet known, & sh a regard it as a misfor-
tune indeed if this noble spirit were to die out with the prejudices which have
overlaid it. But I do not believe it will, & the immense value attached to
worldly prosperity by the bulk of so-called Xtians is to me the best proof that
their doctrine is hollow & effete.
But I do not think that there sh a be any authoritative teaching at all on such
subjects. I think parents ought to point out to their children when the children
begin to question them, or to make observations of their own, the various
opinions on such subjects, & what the parents themselves think the most
powerful reasons for & against. Then, if the parents show a strong feeling of
the importance of truth, & also of the difficulty of attaining it, it seems to me
that young people's minds will be sufficiently prepared to regard popular
opinion or the opinions of those about them with respectful tolerance, & may
be safely left to form definite conclusions in the course of mature life.
There is one other point in which a mother may I believe be of immense
use to her children, which is apt to be too much overlooked in my opinion in
modern education, but on which there is a great deal of good sense in Miss
Edgeworth's stories for children, 2 in Sandford & Merton, s & in Miss Martin-
eau's Household Education: 4 & this is, teaching children (more especially if
they are not going to be rich) to respect, to enjoy, & habitually to practise
manual and domestic labour. The love of this, & the sense of moral dignity in
doing it, are, next to the love of truth, the very most valuable possessions with
which to begin life, whether we consider happiness or the power of getting on.
2. In his Autobiog., chap. i, JSM mentions his father's having borrowed Maria
Edgeworth's Popular Tales (1812) for him to read.
3. Thomas Day, The History of SandJord and Merton (3 vols., London, 1783-89,
and many subsequent editions).
4. Harriet Martinean, Household Education (London, 1849).
1470 To Edwin Chadwick Letter 1311
Avignon
Oct. 30. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
5. Schools founded initially by ISM's early friend William Ellis and named in honour
of Dr. George Birkbeck, pioneer in adult education for working men (see Letter 866,
n. 3). The first such school opened in 1848, and Ellis founded five more at his own
expense in 1852. At one point there were seven in London, and others in the provinces.
6. Founded in 1854 by F. D. Maurice, F. J. Furnivall, Thomas Hughes, and others.
41" 41. 4t 4_
1. MS at UCL.
2. A Rev. Robert Thomson had entered the contest for Kilmarnock.
3. Alexander McDonald (see Letter 1286,n. 2).
Letter 1311 To Edwin Chadwick 1471
away votes from you, though without any chance for himself. If he can be
induced to withdraw, it must be by the influence of working class opinion in
the boroughs themselves. I wrote very strongly to Beales 4 from whom I have
had no answer: but the London chiefs of the League have probably little in-
fluence in the localities.
By publishing the correspondence, 5 Bouverie did me a favour which he did
not intend, by compelling me to do what would have been an impertinence
if I had done it uncompelledmto put forth a manifesto on the necessity of
bringing in new men in the place of some of the old. The reply appears to
have produced a considerable effect, and seems likely to act on the electors
even more than on the talking and writing public. The Times, though obliged
to take notice of it, got off with the fewest words it could; and most spiteful
words they were. 6 The spite of the newspaper writers is partly against you,
for getting more praise than they like you to have; partly (as the Daily News
remarked 7) against me, because they are angry at finding that my words
have influence. One would suppose that giving a recommendatory letter to a
candidate had never been heard of before, instead of being quite in the com-
mon course. The Glasgow paper you sent, mentioned Disraeli's recommen-
datory letters to Wycombe. s It might have added that Roebuck in 1832 went
to Bath with a recommendation from Hume. How else are new men to make
themselves known? This sort of cant is intended to keep all influence a
monopoly in the hands of residents.
I have just received a letter from a surgeon in West Cornwall, 9 saying that
a candidate is very much wanted for that division of the county, that he would
undertake within ten days to get up a numerously signed requisition to any
man of mark, asking whether I can prevail upon you to go down, and saying
"There would not be any doubt about his" (your) "return if he came among
us. Those already in the field are of no account whatever."
I sent you by yesterday's post a number of Le Temps, 1°containing a letter
by Louis Blanc on the Bouverie correspondence, where you will see in what
high terms he speaks of you.
DEAR MADAM--I am very glad to find that you enjoy Buckle's History, &
I suppose from what you say, that you would like to enter into a course of
reading that would be a good preparation for historical & social philosophy.
Something must depend in this course on the number of hours you can give
to reading every day, & on the quickness with which you are in the habit of
reading. But in any case I would strongly recommend three things. First,
to read every book (with few & special exceptions) straight through from
the rifle page to the last word. 2. To read a fixed number of pages of such
reading as is taken for work, every day. I do not recommend hours, but 20,
50, or 100 pages. To read the working reading of the day as early as cir-
cumstances will admit in the day: but never, unless on some very rare ex-
ceptions, to go to sleep without having read it. 3. To fix so small a quantity
of reading for work, as shall never be a burden, nor weary the mind, nor
interfere inconveniently with other occupations; & to fill in the many gaps
of time which will be left unoccupied by this rule, with light reading, amusing
& agreeable, which has the advantage of being attractive when you are tired,
of being able to put aside for days together when you are otherwise occupied,
& which at the same time if well chosen may end by filling the mind with a
fund of valuable knowledge as to the habits & ideas of past times & foreign
countries.
I recommend, therefore, dividing your reading into four courses, which sh e
be carried on simultaneously: the first two of them to consist of books, some
small portion of which sh d be read invariably every day, & every word of
which sh d be read steadily through. The third course sh d consist of books
from which you can select portions if you like, which are comparatively light
reading, but which sh d be read because they are standard books the knowl-
11. JSM and his fellow candidate Captain Grosvenor spoke at the meeting on Nov.
2 at the Regent Music Hall, Vauxhall Bridge Road.
1. MS draft at LSE. In answer to Miss May's letter to Helen Taylor of Oct. 21,
also at LSE. The letter is in JSM's hand; the list in Helen Taylor's.
Letter 1312 To Florence May 1473
II
III
Spenser's Poems
Massinger's Plays
Bacon's Essays
Milton Paradise Lost, Comus, Lycidas,
L'AUegro, Penseroso, Sonnets
Dryden's Poems ./Eneid
Pope's Poems----Iliad & Odyssey
Spectator
Clarissa Harlowe
Sir Charles Grandison
Rasselas
Rambler
Goldsmith's Poems
Goldsmith's Citizen of the World
Gray's Poems
Cowper's Poems
Ellis's Early English Prose Romances
Sydney's Arcadia
Letter 1313 To Helen Taylor 1475
Coleridge
Wordsworth
Shelley
Keats
IV
Shakespeare
Don Quixote
Gil Bias
Fielding's Novels
Vicar of Wakefield
Sterne's Sentimental Journey
Percy's Reliques of Early English Poetry
Lamb's Selections from the Dramatists
Mrs Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho
.... Romance of the Forest
Miss Austen's Novels--Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice &c.
Scott's Poems
Scott's Novels
Wed_ 3 oclock
[November 1868]
Since I dosed (& stamped) my letter, this has come from Miss Cobbe. I am
on the whole inclined to think she had better not vote, since she believes
there was an actual mistake in the name2--which makes her case different
from that of the Ashford 3 and other ladies who I think should vote. But what-
ever you think, I have no doubt your reasons will be such as I should agree
with. The polling day will probably be Tuesday.
ever affectionately
J.S.M.
1314. TO J. S. BIRDX
B[lackbeath] P[ark]
Nov. 3. 1968
DEAR SIR--The grounds of the claim for the admission of women to the
Suffrage are stated in small compass in a paper reprinted from the W. R.
under the title "Enfranchisement of Women", 2 in a pamphlet by Miss Helen
Taylor, "The Claim of Englishwomen to the Suffrage ''a & in my own speech
in the H. of C. all published by Trubner, 60 Paternoster Row. 4 The right of
women to the suffrage under the existing law, is maintained & defended in
Mr Chisholm Anstey's work on Representation 5 & in a pamphlet published
by him. 6 The Secretary to the National Socy for Women's Suffrage is Mrs.
P. A. Taylor, Aubrey House, Notting Hill.
Blackheath Park
Kent
Nov. 4. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
DEAR SIR--As a good opportunity did not present itself at the meeting
yesterday evening 2 for answering your questions, I now answer them by
letter.
The first question you ask raises a difficulty which will exist at whatever
sum we fix the limit to the Income Tax: for whether the tax begins at £ 100
at £200 or at £ 500, that sum will represent a larger real means of support in
some places than in others. But I am very much disposed to think that the
limit of £ 100 is too low; and that it would be an improvement to make the
income tax begin at £150 (as it did at first), if not higher. If all taxation
were direct, it ought to come down to the limit of income just sutticient for
the necessaries of life, & everyone ought to pay in proportion to the surplus
of the income he possesses beyond those mere necessaries. But so long as the
larger part of our revenue is raised by indirect taxation on articles of almost
universal consumption, 8: of which the poor consume more, in proportion
to their small means than the rich, so long I think that the incomes between
£50 and £ 150 or £200 pay more than their fair share of indirect taxation,
&this requires to be made up to them by levying a tax on the higher incomes,
from which they should be exempt.
In answer to your second question, my opinion is that in justice the same
amount of income should pay the same amount of tax, whether it be a fixed
annual income or a variable sum paid weekly. But it would be extremely
difficult to check fraudulent concealment of income in the latter case.
1317. TO J. H. FLETCHER1
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Nov. 5. 1868.
DEAR Sin--In answer to your letter dated yesterday, I beg to say that Mr
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. In reply to Edwards's undated letter, also at Johns
Hopkins. Published in Daily News, Nov. 11, 1868, p. 6, in Falmouth and Penryn
Weekly Times, Nov. 14, 1868,p. [2]; and in Elliot, II, 136-37.
Edwards has not been identified.
2. Of the electors of the parish of St. Anne's, Westminster, at Caldwell's Assembly
Rooms, Dean St., Soho.
•It" .11- "1_ 41.
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Nov. 5. 1868
DEAR SIR When I was first proposed as a candidate for the representa-
tion of Westminster, an attempt was made to raise the same religious cry
against me, 2 which you inform me, is now being repeated. But I publicly
announced my determination, on principle, to answer no questions respect-
ing my religious belief, because I would not give any encouragement to a
practice the effect of which would be that when no objection could be made
to a candidate either on the ground of character or of political opinions, his
opponents would endeavour to extract from himself materials for raising a
religious prejudice against him. You will, I hope, pardon me for adhering to
the resolution I then declared. But if there really are persons who, in good
faith & honesty, conclude me to be an atheist because I subscribed to the
2. See Letters 1285 and 1293.
3. Bradlangh offered to submit to a test ballot of Liberal electors, but none was held.
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as are also Marshall's letter of Nov. 4 to which this
is a reply, and a rejoinder of Nov. 10. Published in Elliot, II, 137-38.
Richard Marshall, a builder and house agent, residing at 1 Denbigh Place, St.
George's Road, Pimlieo.
2. See Letter 834.
Letter I319 To John Plummer 1479
fund for the election of Mr Bradlaugh, a such persons merely shew that they
are ignorant or regardless of the principles I have openly proclaimed espe-
dally in my book on Liberty, 4 viz that atheists as well as the professors of
any, even the worst religions, may be & often are, good men, estimable &
valuable in all the relations of life, & are entitled like all other persons to be
judged by their actions ("By their fruits ye shall know them" are the words
of Christ) 5 & not by their speculative opinions. My subscription was not
given for Mr B as an atheist but for Mr B as a politician; just as we may pre-
sume that the working men of Northampton selected him as their candidate, 6
& the Reform League as a member of its Council not as an atheist, but as a
politician. 7
P.S. You are at liberty to make any use you please of this letter.
Blaekheath
Nov. 5. 1868
DEAR MR PLUMMER
1. MS at Melbourne.
2. The Daily News of Nov. 5, 1868, p. 2, carrieda reportof the meeting in Cald-
well's Rooms, Dean St., Soho, on the precedingevening.
1480 To I. Dawson Burns Letter 1320
DEAR SIR,mIt is quite true that my answer to the question, 2 about the Per-
missive BilP was very inadequate, but it did not pretend to be adequate; it
was only intended to give a general notion of the kind of objection I have to
the BiU--viz., that the use or non use of alcoholic liquors is a subject on
which every sane and grown-up person ought to judge for himself under his
own responsibility, and that interference with that private responsibility from
known good motives, and with however much apparent justification is not, in
my eyes, made allowable by the fact of its being sanctioned by the vote of
the majority.
My reason for not accepting the proposal of an interview 4 was merely that,
each side being already well aware of what the other side has to say, it was
probable that any oral discussion would be lost time. For the same reason I
hope you will excuse me from replying to the arguments in your letter. But I
will not conclude without saying that a much better licensing system might
easily be had than that of leaving all to the discretion of the magistrates, and
that I should not necessarily be opposed to any proposal on the subject be-
cause it might involve 'a reduction in the number of drinking-shops.' This,
of course, does not affect my opposition to a Bill for allowing a two-thirds
majority in a locality the power of prohibiting the sale of alcoholic liquors.
Allow me, at the same time, to say that I have never expressed myself
otherwise than most respectfully concerning the intentions of those who sup-
port the Bill, and the great moral value of the end they pursue.
I am, dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
J. S. M.ILL
1. MS not located. Published in The Times, Nov. 10, 1868, p. 4, and in Falmouth
and Penryn Weekly Times, Nov. 14, 1868.In reply to Burns'sletter of Nov. 6, published
ibid.
2. Whether the people in any parish or township should have the right by a two-
thirds majority to prohibit the sale of intoxicatingliquors. Asked, Nov. 2, 1868, at an
electioneeringmeeting of JSM and Robert Wellesley Grosvenor,the liberal candidates
for Westminster,JSM expressed agreement with Grosvenor's answer that 999 people
could not have his assistancein preventingone person from doing what he had a right
to do. See the Daily Telegraph,Nov. 3, 1868,p. 2.
3. Permissive ProhibitingLiquor Bill, later introducedby Sir WilfridLawson (1829-
1906), MP for Carlisle, on Feb. 22, 1869. Like a similar bill, IntoxicatingLiquorsBill,
which Lawson had introducedMarch 10, 1864,the PermissiveBill would have granted
owners and occupiers of property within certaindistricts the local option of prohibiting
the sale of intoxicating liquors. The bill was introduced many times by Lawson and
as often defeated.
4. In his letter of Nov. 4, Burns complained: "I am sorry that, unlike Captain
Grosvenor and Mr. Smith DV.H. Smith, the Tory candidate], you have not consented
to receive a deputationof your constituentson this subject."
Letter 1321 To Edwin Chadwick 1481
I send you another letter from Mr Gill, 2 which, as you will see is most en-
couraging, except as to the shortness of the time. He writes like the kind of
man to make such a thing succeed. And it is very pleasant to find that, among
the attacks on you 8 and the pretences of ignoring you, proofs of the high
opinion entertained of you start up in such unexpected quarters.
I had already addressed one of my meetings on election expenses,
and in compliance with your suggestion I did so again last evening. 4 But the
papers have given only the most trumpery reports of any of my speeches
except the first, which was comparatively commonplace; and of that, the only
good report that I saw was in the Telegraph. 5 All have been immensely sue-
cessful.
Pratten, 6 one of my local chairmen, says it is all nonsense employing paid
agents for election purposes, and that the whole thing is much better managed
by the local committees. Even at the registration, he says, the thing would
have been boshed if it had been left to the agents; it was only by the exertions
of the Committees that they got on a greater number of lodgers than have
been got on in almost any other place.
I am Dear Chadwick
ever yrs truly
J. S. 1VIILL
[? November 7, 1868] _
the Continent, that I have not received any drawback upon it: and that the
form of declaration is kept at the Chafing Cross custom house. I told him
what the officer there had told us the last time: he said he still did not under-
stand how that can have been said but that I may absolutely depend on
nothing being necessary but to sign the declaration, &that no paper from the
Custom House is required nor any steps to be taken before taking the plate
out of England.
I had a short shower or two in going through the City but a fine walk across
the heath afterwards and it is now very fine as I hope it will remain as long
as you need it.
Your everaffectionate
J.S.M.
Blackheath Park
Kent
Nov. 8. 1868
DEAR MR FAWCETT
During our short conversation the other evening, I had not time to speak
to you about the Wolverhampton Plate Lock Cooperative Association. _ The
Secretary of the Association wrote to me at Avignon that they were in diffi-
culties, which threatened their existence, but that the state of their affairs was
such as would justify the friends of cooperation in making advances to them,
and that they had placed a statement in your hands. I told them in reply that
I would when I had an opportunity, consult with you on the subject. I know
how your time must be filled up, between your Lectures and your election
work, but if at any casual moment you could briefly give me your opinion as
to the state of their affairs, and as to whether anything can be done, or should
be done, to help them, it would enable me to give them an answer. It is but
little that I could in any case do to aid them, but even a little is sometimes
useful: it is however an unthrifty mode of using one's means of doing good,
B[lackheath] P[ark]
Nov. 9, 1868
DEAR SIR--I suppose the persons who call me an Atheist are the same who
are impudently asserting that Mr Gladstone is a Roman Catholic. I sh d think
my friends in W[estminster] must by this time be aware that Tories, in elec-
tion times, stick at nothing. An attempt was made to raise the same cry
against me at my first election, & the defence which I did not choose to make
for myself was made for me by several eminent dignitaries of the C[hurch]
of England. 2 At that time I declared my deliberate determination, on prin-
ciple, not to answer any questions whatever respecting my religious creed,
because I acknowledge no right in any one to ask them, and because I owe
it to future candidates & to the interest of future constituencies not to encour-
age a practice, the effect of which would be that when no objection can be
found to a candidate's character or political opinions, attempts would be
made to extract from himself materials for raising a religious prejudice
against him, which is often easiest stirred up against the best men. I think I
shall act most rightly, & most in conformity to my principles by adhering to
this declaration. If any one again tells you that I am an atheist, I would
advise you to ask him_ how he knows and in what page of my numerous
writings he finds anything to bear out the assertion. You will find that he has
3. Letter 1308.
41" 'It 41' 41-
1. MS draft at LSE. In reply to Bates's letter of Nov. 6, also at LSE. Both Bates's
and JSM's letters were published in The Times, Nov. 11, 1868, p. 5, and Daily News,
same day, p. 6.
FrederickBates, a volunteer canvasserand committeeman (St. Anne's District), by
trade a brassfounder,residing at 20 LitchfieldSt., W.C.
2. See Letter834, n. 5.
1484 To Edwin Chadwick Letter 1325
Blacldaeath
Nov. 10. 1868
D_A_ CHADWICK
B [lackheath] P[ark]
Nov. 10. 1968
1. MS draft at LSE.
2. Cremer was defeated for Warwick, receiving only 260 votes.
Letter 1327 To Charles Eliot Norton 1485
I have long felt, & I expressed the feeling on the second reading of Mr
Gladstone's reform bill in 1866, that one of the most desirable consequences
of parl y reform would be the presence in the H. of C. of some of the 61ite
of the working classes. It is not for the sake of class interests that I desire
this. Class legislation for the working classes is as much to be deprecated as
class legislation for any other class. But the most numerous of all classes
ought not to be without, what every other class has--representatives in Parlt
who can speak from their own knowledge of the wants, the grievances, and
the modes of thought & feeling of their class--of all which, Parliament ought
to be fully informed, to enable it to legislate wisely and justly not for class
interests but for the general interest; & no other persons however deservedly
trusted by the working classes can speak on these subjects with either the
same knowledge or the same authority as those who, being in other respects
qualified, are themselves working men. I regret that so few working men have
offered themselves as candidates at the present general election; & that one of
the ablest & worthiest of them 3 has had to retire from Chelsea in order not
to risk the return of the Tory candidate. 4 I am the more desirous on that
account that a man like yourself, who possesses, & as I believe, fully deserves
the confidence of a large & intelligent portion of the working classes, should
succeed in his candidature. The importance of the contest is still further in-
creased by the fact that your competitor is a Tory, 5 who will vote against
Mr Gladstone & in support of that great & old standing iniquity, the Irish
Church Establishment.
I received your letter when on the point of setting out for England on
account of the elections; with which I have been fully occupied ever since. I
regretted much to hear of your illness, from which I hope you have, long ere
this, completely recovered.
We may congratulate ourselves and each other on the political prospect in
3. George Odger.
4. There were two Tory candidates for Chelsea: Charles (later Sir Charles) Iames
Freake (1814-1884), a wealthy contractor who had built Cromwell Road; and William
(later Sir William) Howard Russell (1820-1907), war correspondent for The Times,
founder of the Army and Navy Gazette.
5. Edward Greaves (1803-1879), MP for Warwick, 1852--65,and re-elected, 1868.
both our countries. The election of Grant and Colfax _ will, to all appearance,
be followed by the return to Parliament of a large majority to support a Glad-
stone government. Your anticipations have proved true as to Buffer, 8 but
that is of very minor consequence.
I return to Avignon in a few days, and I fear I shall not be able within
that time to pay my respects to you at Keston; but if you are passing any-
where near Blackheath and can find time to look in upon me, it would give
me much pleasure to see and converse with you. I am
Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
C. Eliot Norton Esq.
Blackheath Park
le 19 Novembre 1868
MeN CriERMONSIEURLouis BLANC
2. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) had recently been elected President of the United
States, and Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), Vice-President.
3. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler, a Democrat but elected to Congress as a Re-
publican, and identified with the radical element among the Republicans in Washington.
1. MS at Biblioth_que Nationale.
2. The vote on Nov. 17 had been: Smith, 7648; Grosvenor, 6584; and JSM, 6284.
3. "The Bouverie-Mill Controversy from a French Point of View," Kilrnarnock
Advertiser, Nov. 14, 1868.
The articleopenedwith a tributeto JSM: "If there is one man in England today who
is entitled to the respect even of his most declared enemies, it is certainly Mr John
Stuart Mill. What a multitude of masons has England to be proud of him! She does
Letter 1329 To Charles Bradlaugh 1487
plus de succ_s que moi, 4 et c'est un malheur, car il efit 6t6 tr_s utile _ la
Chambre.
votre tout drvou6
J. S. Mmr_
DEAR Sm--I may have lost some votes by my subscription for you, but
neither that nor any one thing is the cause of my losing the election. Many
things have contributed to it, & I sh a very likely have been defeated if my
name had never been coupled with yours. In any case it was a right thing to
do & I do not regret it.
I am very sorry that you, as well as all other candidates who would have
especially represented the working classes, have been unsuccessful. But their
time will come. Your perseverance at N[orthampton] is fully justified by the
result as notwithstanding the large number who voted for you have not, as
was predicted, brought in a Tory. 2
When your telegrams arrived, I was at the Declaration of the Poll, 2 where
I was detained longer than I expected. When I got back it was past five, and
not possess a greater philosopher, economist, and moralist; or any man in whom the
courage of the citizen is united in a higher degree to the calmness of the thinker. Nor
can she offer to the world the example of a more thoroughly honest man. Such, how-
ever, is the blind rage of party spirit that Mr John Stuart Mill is at this moment the
object of all sorts of venomous attacks and of cruel and indecent raillery; and that to
such an extent that, stranger as I am in England, I blush for her. And what crime
has broughtupon him this storm of reproaches?Mr Mill, convinced that nobody would
be better able than Mr Chadwickto plead with strenzthand elevationin Parliament,the
cause of the people, has written to the electorsof Kilmarnock and recommendedthem
to elect him. Is not this a very black crime?"
4. See Letter 1330.
41. 41. • •
Blackheath Park
Nov. 19. 1868
DEAR SIR
I thank you for the spine bag s (I had never yet seen one) though my cold
has got so much better that I shall not have occasion to make use of it this
time.
The persons to be spoken to about cases of bribery are Mr Beal s or Mr
3. The vote had been: Bouverie, 2892; Chadwick, 1148; Rev. R. Thomson, 999.
4. William Brewer, physician, chairman of the Metropolitan Asylums Board; elected
for Colchester.
5. Henry Davis Pochin (1824--1895), Salford business man; mayor of Salford, 1866-
68; elected for Stafford.
6. Charles Wentworth Dilke (see Letter 1391). Dilke had been returned for Chelsea
by a margin of nearly two to one. JSM, at this time unacquainted with Dilke, was
probably unsure of his value as a "new man."
7. Gladstone had been elected for Greenwich, but was still a candidate for re-election
to his seat for Lancashire, Southwest. That election was not to be held until Nov. 24.
It was widely understood that ff successful in Lancashire, Gladstone would decline
the Greenwich seat, thereby creating a vacancy. In the event, Gladstone lost in Lanca-
shire on Nov. 24 and therefore accepted election for Greenwich.
1. MS at LSE. 2. See Letters 635 and 751. 3. JamesBeal.
Letter 1332 To Edwin Chadwick 1489
I am sorry to hear of your cold (I too have had a bad one) and the more
so because it will prevent my seeing you, as I start for Avignon on Monday.
There is no opening at Greenwich for either of us. 2 I had a numerous
deputation here, which I supposed had come to ask me to stand, in which
case I should have declined, and, if I saw any chance should have recom-
mended you. But they came to ask me not to stand, inasmuch as Baxter
Langley's a supporters will not suffer him to retire, as he had voluntarily
said he would if either Bright or I needed the seat. They were so bent on
having Langley and only Langley, that it would have been waste of breath
to have talked to them of any one else. You are quite in error if you think
Tories would not oppose you. The Kilmarnock affair has classed you along
with me as an extreme radical. A Tory is considered certain to start, and will
probably come in, as there are expected to be three Liberals in the field:
Langley as a radical, General Codfington 4 as a mild Whig, and a Mr Soames, 5
a local man, who has already started as a liberal unattached. I am
Dear Chadwick
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
4. William T. Malleson, secretary of JSM's election committee. An investigation was
being made of possible corruption in the extravagantly expensive campaign by JSM's
successful opponent, W. H. Smith. Beal's petition against the return of Smith was
heard before Mr. Baron Martin at the Sessions House, Westminster, on Feb. 12 and
15, 1869. Fitzjames Stephen was the chief counsel for the petitioners. At the final ses-
sion on Feb. 19 Smith was declared elected.
Avignon
Nov. 27.1868
DEAR SIR
Avignon
Nov. 27. 1868
DEAR CHADWICK
the House of Commons, and therefore there is not so much cause for regret
as in the case of those whose work lies only within it. Still I should have been
glad if you, like myself, had had the opportunity of propounding some of
your principal Heresies in the face of the House itself, and making it listen
to them. I do not doubt but that, in that case, you, like myself, would have
been very glad after a year or two to be dismissed from the work. I am
Dear Chadwick
very truly yours
J. S. Mn.L
Avignon
Nov. 27 1868
DEAR MRS CaADWXCK--I have been unable earlier to acknowledge your re-
proachful & you must excuse me for saying, I think unreasonable letter. You
appear to consider me as the adviser & instigator, & sole cause of Mr Chad-
wick's offering himself as a candidate for the H. of Commons. I however
have been aware that to be elected to Parl t- has been a strong desire of his for
a great number of years, & one which he was almost certain to act upon, be-
lieving as he does on very good grounds that his public usefulness would be
in an extraordinary degree increased by a seat in Parl t. Being in the habit of
considering Mr C. to be a competent judge of his own affairs I by no means
thought myself called on to dissuade him from the attempt, & when he had
undertaken it of himself, & not by any advice of mine, I felt it my duty to give
him all the help that could be given by my strongest testimony in his favour.
I regret to find that you do not support Mr C in a matter in which I am
sure your encouragement would give him so much pleasure. One of the
grounds of my high respect for Mr C has always been his willingness to
[postpone?] private interests to public; & sympathy in his own home in such
a willingness is the best source of repose & strength that a man can find. Of
course you are a better judge than I am of what may or not be prudent in
Mr C. to do in the matter of expense; but for this very reason I sh a never
dream of presuming to give him advice on such a subject, & I hope you will
excuse me if I continue to say to yourself that the more you shew him that
you sympathize in his public interests, the more insight will he be likely to
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. In reply to Mrs. Chadwick's letter of Oct. 18 (MS
also at Johns Hopkins, as is also her rejoinder of Nov. 30) protesting bitterly JSM's
encouraging her husband to run for Parliament.
Mrs. Chadwick (nre Rachel Dawson Kennedy) had been Chadwick'swife since 1839.
1492 To Mrs. Elizabeth Lambert Letter 1336
attach to your advice on those private concerns on which you are the best
judge except himself.
Avignon
Nov. 28. 1868.
DEAR MADAM--Mr Bradlaugh is a man who has been guilty of the very
great fault of using insulting language towards those who differ from him in
religious opinions: a fault which he appears to share with your friend the
clergyman who calls Mr B "the prince of scoundrels" in a country abounding
in murderers, thieves, &c., &c. I am not aware that any accusations are made
against Mr B's moral character while I am quite certain that no such accusa-
tions could be substantiated, as if they could they would have been brought
forward against him in the bitterness of the recently contested elections. _
The violence of the language which has been made use of by Mr B has been
very greatly exaggerated by his opponents, & I believe that it was in his
younger days that he made use of it but at the same time I have no excuse
to offer for that. I myself know nothing of him except that he has put himself
very boldly forward to advocate with considerable ability a great number of
unpopular opinions; some of them unpopular among the upper classes, such
as religious scepti,'i_m.&demaacracy, others unpopular among working men,
suc_i as representation of minorities & the equality of women. If you will do
me the honour to read my little book on Liberty, you will at once understand
why I think such men as Mr B ought to b_e-allowed to say what they have got
to say, & not be abused for their opinions so long as they do nothing wrong.
I cannot easily express to you, & I will not take the trouble to try to ex-
press, the contempt I feel for a man who calling himself a Xtian can call
another man the prince of scoundrels because of differences on religious
opinion. If Mr B is wrong, a clergyman ought to be the first to pity him, the
first also to recognise with humility that men with such opinions as Mr B can
behave honourably & uprightly while men who call themselves Xtians are
daily guilty of any crime against the laws of their country, of religion, & of the
human conscience. Let such clergymen apply themselves to the improvement
of their own flocks, & they will have neither time nor energy to spare for
abusive language.
Avignon
Nov. 28, 1868
DEAR MR NORTON
If you do not leave England early in the spring, we may still have an oppor-
tunity of meeting, as, although I shall not hurry away from here as I have
been obliged to do when in Parliament, while the weather is still wintry in
England, I shall be at Blackheath, most likely, in the course of the month
of March. My absence from the House of Commons is personally a very
great relief to me, and therefore I have declined the invitations I have re-
ceived to stand elsewhere. I accepted the invitation made to me three years
ago, partly because of the reproach which has often been made against the
literary men of America, that they would not enter into political life; a re-
proach, however, which I do not think well founded. Moreover, there were
at that time some points which I thought could be usefully brought before the
public through the House of Commons. Nor were the relations of America
and England so settled then as now. At present I am very glad to be free
from parliamentary work, much of which is a great waste of time, more
especially during the height of the violent party contest on such a point as
the Irish Church, the final result of which does not admit of a doubt, and yet
which will cause a deplorable waste of time and energy. There are always
periods of this sort in the practical working of politics, when those whose
taste or talent lies rather in principles than in details can be of more use in
literary than in political life.
I regret the defeat of the radical party throughout the country. 2 It seems
to have been owing to the want of organisation on their side, and to the great
expenditure of money on that of our opponents. It remains to be seen, and
I cannot venture to predict, how far our friends will be discouraged by the
result. Those with whom I am myself in communication seem to be stimu-
lated rather to more efforts; but perhaps they may be the most energetic
among us. It is in any case satisfactory to find that if these elections have been
carried by money, there is at all events so much money on the moderate
liberal side; since after all, as a question between Gladstone and Disraeli,
Gladstone is triumphant. When we consider how slow the English mind is
to move, we must look upon this as a success, and trust to the Press to pre-
pare the way for more progress hereafter. I am
Dear Mr Norton
very truly yours
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Nov. 30. 1868
DEARLORDAMBERLEY
I regret exceedingly to hear today by the papers I have just received, that
your contest has been unsuccessful3 Had you been in the House this session,
you would have been one of the exceedingly few men there in whom I should
have felt thorough confidence; and there are some points, such as that of
religious liberty, which you alone are willing to work. Your conduct on this
matter has been so brave and generous that it will infallibly bear good fruit
in the future. I see that the Times (model of piety!) snarls at you, s as the
Daily News did at me! 4 but these snarls are the best testimony that one is
doing work which really requires to be done, and which all the world is not
ready to do.
I deferred writing, in the hope, growing slighter however from day to day
as I saw how persistently the elections continued in one direction, that I
might be able to congratulate you on a success at the same time that I thanked
you for your kind letter on my defeat. I should myself be so far from willing
to accept your kind suggestion _ [? as to say] that you are the candidate whom
I should like to see for Westminster. If you have family influence there, I
am sure the present state of affairs might remove all scruple in using it: and
you are certainly the only man who could have, who would be really wel-
come to the advanced Liberals. I am recommending to them to make up their
minds about their next candidate and set things in hand at once; I confess
that though not mortified at present, I should be mortified if a Tory con-
tinues to represent Westminster, _ unless indeed it should turn out that the
Tories have a fair and genuine majority there, which I do not expect.
The result of the elections seems to justify the opinion of those who said
1. MS in 1944 in the possession of the Hon. Isaac Foot. In reply to Amberley's
of Nov. 18 (MS at Yale) on JSM's defeat.
2. Amberley had been defeated for Devonshire, Southern Division, by Sir Massey
Lopes and Samuel T. Kekewich.
3. "It is true that Lord Amberley is not.., a powerful candidate.He has contrived,
moreover, to shock many of the constituents he sought to win by the strangeness of his
opinions, and he could not overcome this prejudice by force of character." The Times,
Nov. 28, 1868,p. 9.
4. A leader in the Daily News, Nov. 28, 1868, p. 4.
5. Amberley in his letter of Nov. 18 had written: "I wish I had a seat for a Liberal
borough, & constituents willing to accept you as a member, as I should have been proud
to resign in your favour. Unfortunately the Tories are very strong here, & if I can
succeed in beating them at all it will still be a very close contest.... Indeed it will be
a wonderful thing if a Liberal can be brought in at all for S. Devon, the territorial
influence being nearly all against us, & likely as you may guess to be unsparingly used."
6. W. H. Smith, JSM's victorious opponent, continued to hold the seat for Westmin-
ster until his death in 1891.
Letter 1339 To Alphonse Esquiros 1495
[December, 1868]
2.Probably
a reference
toMorley's
prediction:
"Theelection
of1868atthismoment
promises
tobe themostcorrupt anddishonourable
inourannals,andtogiveus for
rulers
someoftherichest
andstupidest
men that
everentered
theChamber.TheBritish
Empireisgoingto be handedoverto thetendermerciesof iron-masters,
brewcrs,
bankers,
landlords,
and ship-owners."
("ThePolitical
Prelude,"
FR, n.s.
IV [JulyI,
1858],p.111).Sccalsotwo otherarticles
by Morleyon the1868elections:
"Old
Parties
andNew Policy,"FR, IV (Sept.
I,1868)pp.320-36;and"TheChamberof
Mediocrity,"
FR,IV (Dec.I,1868),pp.681-94.
Letter 1340 To John Morley 1497
[Deeember, 1868]
["He (JSM) told one who was speaking of Condorcet's Life of Turgot, that
in his younger days whenever he was inclined to be discouraged, he was in
the habit of turning to this book, and that he never did so without recovering
possession of himself. (Cf. also Autobiog., chap. Iv.) To the same friend
(Morley), who had printed something in this Review ("The Chamber of
Mediocrity", n.s. IV [Dec. 1, 1868], 681-94) comparing Mr. Mill's repulse
at Westminster with the dismissal of the great minister of Lewis XVI, he
wrote:]
I never received so gratifying a compliment as the comparison of me to
Turgot; it is indeed an honour to me that such an assimilation should have
occurred to you.
1. MS not located. Excerpt in John Morley, "The Death of Mr. Mill," FR, n.s. XIII
(Juno 1, 1873), 671. The portion in brackets is Morley's introduction to the excerpt,
with editorial additions.
1498 To Thomas Dyke Acland Letter 1341
Avignon
Dee.1. 1868
ligion whatever, not even the dogmas of natural religion, are to continue to
wrap up their doubts in mystery, to be afraid to speak out, & to be the object
of abuse whenever they do, a strong premium is put upon dishonesty on their
part, & those among them who have a great deal of natural energy of charac-
ter are drawn into a violence of language which hurts the feelings of other
people & arouses in themselves something of that very intolerance from
which they are sufferers. They are led to speak without respect & without
tolerance of the religious convictions they do not share. In doing so they
excite just resentment on the part of genuinely religious people, who would
be the best qualified to sympathise in their honesty & disinterestedness, &
those who really profit by the result are the hypocrites of all parties. Those
who make religion a matter of worldly success &profit take care to draw the
moral from all this that if a man once gives up the formal dogmas there can
be no unison of feeling between him & pious men; those who have not a
trace of religious feeling or religious conviction of any kind whatever but
who have not the smallest wish to sacrifice a particle of worldly consequence
& success are confirmed in the opinion that if they allowed the world in
general to know the true state of their mind on religious matters they would
become objects of opprobrium & deep seated dislike such as they see the
outspoken men of their own opinions to be.
Now you will see how all this applies to Bradlangh. 4 Few people feel more
dislike than I do to anybody who can use insulting expressions to that which
excites the respect of their fellow creatures, or who treats with ingratitude
those influences to which the world owes so much. A tender respect for every
worthy & pious feeling, & a pious tenderness towards the past, constitute to
my mind important elements of the religious character without which no
character can be complete or altogether worthy of respect. But a courageous
willingness to face opprobrium, an urgent need to speak the truth, a kind of
necessity to fight against all falsehood & hypocrisy, are no less important
elem.ents of true _:eligion. Some men will excel in some of these elements,
some in others. "A diversity of gifts, but the same spirit. ''5 1 do not doubt in
my own mind that many Ritualists _ who are or who fancy themselves ready
to go to the stake for the cause of smart dresses in Church; Dissenters who
will go to prison rather than pay Church rates; C[hurch] of E[ngland] mis-
sionaries who distribute Bibles among the Chinese, are the true brothers in
spirit of Mr Bradlaugh. Like him they rush to excess in following out their
opinions, but like him they act upon the principle that there are other things
in this world better worth exertion than this world's goods. I myself know
4. Acland had written: "I suppose your generosity to Bradlaugh alienated many of
your friends."
5. "There are diversities of gifts,but the same Spirit." 1 Cor. 12:4.
6. Adherents of the Anglo-Catholic party in the Church of England.
Letter 1342 To George Grote 1501
Avignon
Dec. 1. 1868
MY DEARGROTE
I am extremely obliged to you for your kindness about the note on Aris-
totle's theory of Universals, 2 to which I look forward with great pleasure, s
and which will be a contribution to the value of the book such as no one
but yourself could give. I am very grateful also for the kind things you
say about my defeat in Westminster. Except as a part of the general rout
1. MS at Brit. Mus.; MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 147---48.
2. JSM's edition of his father's Analysis o/the Human Mind, I, chap. viii, 271-87,
n. 79.
3. Grote's letter of Dee. 11 accompanying his note is printed in part in Harriet
Grote, The Personal Li/e of George Grote, pp. 295-96.
1502 To George Grote Letter 1342
4. In 1866 and 1867 JSM had been an active member of a Select Committee headed
by A. S. Ayrton "to inquire into the Local Government and Local Taxation of the
Metropolis." Though the Committee brought in reports and proposals favouring muni-
cipal government, no progress was made. On May 5, 1868, JSM had introduced two
bills, one providing for the establishment of Municipal Corporations in the Metropolis,
and the other for the creation of a Corporation of London. He contended that with
one exception "the local government of the Metropolis was a parish government," and
that government "by means of vestries had endured long enough" (Hansard, CXCL
cols. 1859-63). Not until 1870, however, was substantial progress achieved,
Letter 1343 To S. Alfred Steinthal 1503
DEAR MR STEINTHAL,_The result of the new elections, now that they are
complete, appears to be on the whole unfavourable to the cause of women's
suffrage. The new members in favour of it are but few, and there have been
losses among both its Tory and Liberal supporters. It appears therefore im-
probable that any efficient stand can be made on this subject in the House of
Commons this session; and I have long been of opinion, and expressed myself
strongly to that effect last year, that it would be injurious to the cause if a
division should take place leaving us with smaller numbers than in the former
division. It would be doubly injudons, first by seeming to show a reaction in
public opinion against us, and secondly, by depriving us, as it very probably
would, of the prestige of Mr John Bright's name, 2 which at present we are
able to boast.
Shortly before the late elections I received (and I suppose other expected
Members of Parliament received also) a circular which I enclose, which was
addressed to me in a blank cover. The announcement it contained seemed
singularly injudicious at a moment when it was quite unknown what would
be the character of the new House, and the question ill timed, being addressed
to men who might not be, and some of whom have not proved to be, in it. I
cannot help thinking that you will agree with me that the most judicious way
of bringing the subject before the House of Commons is by petition, and if
possible, by a petition on a far greater scale than has been yet attempted. A
really extensively signed petition on the part of the women of the kingdom,
with those men who desire with them an alteration of the law in their favour,
is the proper reply to the authoritative decision that the law is now against
them. Indeed, if it were a good occasion for bringing forward a Bill in the
House of Commons, and if all promised favourably for an influential increase
of the votes on our side, it would still be most desirable to show that out of
the House as well as in it, and among women as well as men, there exists a
strong desire for their representation. And while the feeling is still fl'esh
among those women who have been disappointed of the power to vote, is the
time for asking them to petition. It would show but little perseverance in
1. MS not located. Published in Elliot, II, 141-42. Elliot labels it as by Helen Taylor.
Rev. S. Alfred Steinthal (1826-1910), Unitarian minister, then at Platt Chapel, Man-
chester; later co-pastor with William Gaskell. husband of the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell,
at Cross Street Chapel, Manchester. Steinthal was active in such causes as co-operation
and Negro emancipation, and had been one of seven members (including Max Kyll-
mann and Jacob Bright) of a provisional Manchester suffrage committee (the first of
its kind in the United Kingdom); he was later an officer of the Manchester National
Society for Woman Suffrage.
2. John Bright had voted for JSM's amendment to the Representation of the People
Bill in favour of women'ssuffrage on May 20, 1867,but had later wavered in his support.
1504 To John Plummer Letter 1344
women if they cannot go on year after year asking for this change of the law,
when we remember with what patience these sorts of petitions are continually
renewed for the various political objects which men desire. If we compare the
mount of petitioning that women have yet had patience for, with the num-
bers sent up year after year on the comparatively small grievance of Church
rates, it would almost seem to justify the assertions of those who say that
women are not yet fit for political rights if they are already wearied out. The
desire to produce Eclat and great results with small means, and effects that
should tell at once rather than that should prepare the way silently for the
future, are indeed what we have to fear from inexperienced politicians. It
seems very advisable to show women that they have a means in their own
hands of quietly and steadily pressing their claims upon the legislature, and
encourage them to begin that great lesson of steady, silent, persevering effort
by which every class and nation has to be fitted for freedom.
Avignon
Dee. 2. 1868
DEARMR PLUMMER
I thank you for your kind letter of Nov. 18. It is a great gratification to me
that so many of my friends thought me sufficiently useful in the House of
Commons to regret my absence from it. But, with the command I now have
of my time I hope to be of more use by writing than I had any prospect of
being in the Parliament just elected.
With our kind remembrances to Mrs Plummer, I am
Dear Mr Plnmmer
very truly yours
J. S. MXLL
Avignon
Dee. 2.1868.
DEAR MR SPENCER
England. I have told him that your letter, combined with his Prospectus, made
me look upon his projected publication as one which I should be very glad
to aid, and that I may be able to send an occasional contribution, but that,
even when out of Parliament, I have so little time for periodical writing, that
I cannot hold out any definite expectation. Dr Youmans expressed a desire
to make arrangements for the publication in America, simultaneously with
England, of any future books I may publish, s and in this respect it is probable
that I may be able to meet his wishes.
I have been wanting to write to you ever since I read carefully through the
new edition of your First Principles 4 and the whole of your Biology, 5 which
formed a very interesting part of my occupations during the last recess. But
I had to get to other work, and meanwhile many things which I had it in my
mind to say to you have escaped my memory. If worth saying they will again
occur to me when I refer to your books, which are not of a kind to make one
rest contented with a single reading. This I may say, that I have seldom been
more strongly impressed by any scientific treatise than by your Biology; that
it has greatly enhanced my sense of the importance of your philosophical
enterprise as a whole; and that, altogether apart from the consideration of
what portion of your conclusions, or indeed of your scientific premises, have
yet been brought into the domain of proved truth, the time had exactly come
when one of the greatest services that could be rendered to knowledge was
to start from those premises, simply as a matter of hypothesis, and see how
far they will go to form a possible explanation of the concrete parts of orga-
nization and life. That they should go so far as they do, fills me with wonder;
and I do not doubt that your book, like Darwin's, will form an era in thought
in its particular subject, whatever be the scientific verdict ultimately pro-
nounced on its conclusions; of which my knowledge of the subject matter
does not qualify me to judge.
I look forward with great delight to occupations for myself, more allied to
yours than those to which so much of my time has been devoted for the last
three years; and I share your doubt whether the quieter mode of usefulness
which is so much more agreeable to myself, is not also, in my case, the most
and propagandist for science. Closely associated with the publishing firm of D. Apple-
ton and Co., Youmans had been responsible for the American publication of Spencer's
writings. In the fall of 1868 Youmans had travelled to England to secure contributions
for a new periodical he was to edit, Appleton's lournal of Popular Literature, Science
and Art, which first appeared on April 3, 1869. In the first volume Youmans published
an abstract of the opening argument of JSM's Subjection of Women, June 19, 1869, pp.
372-74, and also an article, "Mill on the Woman Question," July 24, 1869, pp. 536-37.
3. The proposed simultaneous publication arrangement by the Appleton firm did
not materialize. Appleton published an edition of the Pol. Econ. in 1870, based on the
5th (1862) English edition, and an edition of the Subjection o/Women in 1870, fol-
lowing one in 1869 by Lippincott of Philadelphia.
4. The 2nd ed., 1867. 5. Vol. II had been published in 1867.
1506 To John Elliot Cairnes Letter 1346
Avignon
Dec. 4. 1868
DEAR MR CAI_ES
I had the great pleasure of receiving your letter of Nov. 9 while I was in
England for the elections, and I afterwards saw a letter from you to Thornton
written on the news of my defeat. From this last I learnt that your health was
somewhat better since your return to Nice. It is very pleasant that the climate
of Nice seems to suit you, and to be at least not unfavourable to Mrs Cairnes,
of whose improvement in health you report so satisfactorily.
I am very grateful for the kind interest you shew in my health and feelings,
but for neither need you feel the smallest anxiety. It must be remembered that
I am not alone to do my work, and that it is the work not of one but of two
persons. The cold I had when on the hustings soon abated, and is now, I may
say, gone; leaving me in every respect in my usual health. And I really have
much difficulty in feeling as I ought to do about what is a real defeat to ad-
vanced Liberal opinions, so great and fresh is the pleasure of the feeling of
freedom, and the return to the only occupations which agree with my tastes
and habits. I hope to be quite as active for my opinions out of the House as
I was in it, and more usefully so than I probably should have been during the
next Session (if not Sessions) during which the Irish Church will engross
nearly all the activity of Parliamentary men. You are the only person who
seems to me to feel about the Irish Church exactly as we do. z
There is discouragement in the general rejection by the constituencies, of
candidates whose claims were either those of culture or of democracy. But
when one looks into the circumstances, the case is not so bad as it seems.
6. See Letter 1150,n. 6.
3. Cairnes: "The rancour of the clergy and their adherents is only what one might
have expected, but I was when in Ireland a good deal surprised to find great lukewarm-
ness on the subject on the part of such priests as I came in contact with .... The
truth is I believe they all begin to feel that they are parting with a valuable grievance
which has not been exploit6 yet to the extent of its capabilities; and I think some-
thing like resentment is felt towards the liberals who have unexpectedly taken them at
their word."
4. Cairnes had noted that all the Irish Liberal candidates had "declared for denomi-
national education, or, what in their mouths means the same thing, 'freedom of educa-
tion.' The simple truth is that the priests make this a test question; the masses are
indifferent, and therefore obey the priests. Nevertheless, I believe that sounder views
are growing amongst the educated Catholic laity; and I am in hopes that the settlement
of the Church question may do something to bring these better views into prominence.
For this reason as well as for that you mention ['the growing feeling against Denomi-
nationalism' (Letter 1308)], everything is to be gained by delay: in fact it constitutes
our only hope of a sound settlement."
1508 To Mrs. Philippine KyUmann Letter 1347
in him not merely because of the religious cry raised against him, but because
he is as willing to stand up for opinions disliked by the working classes, as for
those by which he might hope to recommend himself to them: witness his
earnest Malthusianism, his support of women's suffrage, and his intelligent
and thorough advocacy of Hare's system.
I shall be very glad to see any further remarks of Mr McDonnell on the
subject of [his] essay. 5 The difficulty of establishing a d[emocratic?] e govern-
ment in the Southern States is, no doubt, considerable, the white population
being what it is. But every month's experience makes me feel more and more,
what an evil it would have been to have left a nucleus of legal and recognised
slavery even in the smallest corner of the Union.
Helen is in at least her usual health, and is likely to get much better now,
for the relief to her from our return to more healthy circumstances is such as
any one would hardly believe possible. She bore up most heroically and
wished me to remain in harness while it seemed a duty to do so, but it was
at the cost of gradually drying up her springs of life.
With our kind regards to Mrs Caimes, I am
Dear Mr Caimes
ever truly yours
J. S. MILr.
J. E. Cairnes Esq.
Avignon
Dee r 4. 1868
MY DEARMRS KYLLMANN
I have justreceived
yoursofthe2ndwhich must have crossedmy answer
to your formerletterand from which I Icarnwithregretthatmy dclayin
answeringwas mistakenlyattributed by you to reluctance
to enteron the
subject.My delaywas causedby my wish to shew your letter to Mr Mill
beforeI answeredit,by hisabsenceinEngland atthetimeIreceived it& by
thepressofotherbusiness causingone ortwo daysdelayafter
hisreturn.
5.SeeLetter
1308,
n.7. 6.Pagetorn.
•It 41" .It 41-
I am sure no one could think your letter other than most delicate, & the
request in it most reasonable. Had we known at the time I answered it that
you felt as strongly as from your last letter we see you do, in which feeling we
most fully sympathize, I sh d not have hesitated myself to enter more fully
into the subject.
The letter I mentioned to you in my last was very far from the first of the
same sort I have received, & if I may judge by the apparently studied dis-
courtesy which has been shewn to us, of the habitual manner in which
friends & subscribers are treated by the Manchester branch of the National
Society, I believe that exceedingly few persons but ourselves would have con-
tinued in spite of it to be as liberal as we have been. That such habits must
have the effect of alienating friends from the cause I have long felt with regret.
I was not aware, of course, until I heard from you, that the urgent requests for
money by which the M. Committee has been distinguished from all the other
branches of the Society, were not authorized by the Committee meetings.
However much offended & pained we have felt by many things we did not
choose to withdraw altogether our pecuniary support when we supposed it was
urgently needed: but we did, by insisting that the larger part of it sh a be given
entirely in your name, endeavour to secure its application to the purposes we
desired.
We were greatly pleased to find that you are again Treasurer, as we had
hoped to be able to communicate with you occasionally on these matters in
future, & our last subsc _ to the M. Corn _ would have been considerably
smaller in amount had we not wished to secure you against loss. We never
for a moment supposed that you were cognizant of any of the letters we re-
ceived unless when they had been directed to be written by the Corn ee. How
far this last was the case we were of course unable to iudge, but we supposed
that although the particular terms were not dictated by the C% the request
was made by its directions. We certainly thought that as our subsc nBhad been
made for two trials & only one came on, there would have been more delicacy
shewn if some part had been returned, or some statement of the expenses
incurred had been forwarded to us. Our experience however did not lead us
to expect anything of the sort.
It is with very great sorrow I find that my unfortunate delay sh a have
caused you to think that we in any degree attributed any of all this to you. We
have often deeply regretted the loss of our friend s & his invaluable services
in this as in every other good cause & that it should have brought with it what
seemed the very natural consequence that your own health sh a keep you out
of the active part of the C ee.I am sure you will understand that we cannot for
a moment think of accepting your generous inclosure. We have felt from the
first moment of seeing your name in the newspapers that in giving your name
2. Her husband, Max Kyllmann,who had died in 1867.
1510 To Mrs. Philippine Kyllmann Letter 1348
& being willing to take the responsibility of expense if need be you have done
fully your part. I therefore beg of you to allow us to share with you as we
wished to do in the enterprise, & if your share of the expenses of the appeal
have amounted to £50, we shd wish to pay it all. Moreover I do not under-
stand what complications may have arisen with the M. C ee and we are most
anxious that you sh d not be involved in any misunderstandings in the matter.
If the funds we subscribed for the expenses of your appeal have been applied
to any other purpose, we will not consent to your making it good to us. If we
consented to this, our purpose would be doubly thwarted. Money would have
been applied to objects for which we had no intention of advancing it & the
final result of the whole transaction would be that you are a loser.
There is so much that is unsatisfactory for some time past about the
management of the M C e_that we feel we had better not be concerned in it
for the present. 3 For while we feel that we have ourselves been the objects of
marked rudeness, we feel that as long as our names are connected with it we
might be held responsible in some measure for rudeness of the same sort
towards other people. But as it appears to us most desirable for the interests
of the cause that there should be no dissensions among its supporters, we have
not chosen to express our feelings to the C e_as a body, even sh d we wish to
withdraw our help when it is engaged in doing useful work which we alone
are willing to help effectually. For this reason it is that we have gone on sub-
scribing & have asked no questions about the application of our last subscrip-
tions.
But if you judge that by the Committee or any of its members being aware
of our feelings any good purpose could be served we are quite willing that
anything I have said sh dbe made use of for the purpose.
H. TAYLOR
Avignon
Dec 4 1868
MY DEARMRS KYLLMANN
May I ask you to inform your Committee that it is my own and Miss
Taylor's desire to withdraw our names from the Manchester So[ciety] for
W[omen] S[uffrage]
J. S. MILL
Mrs Max Kyllmann
3. See next Letter.
DEARMR CANDLISH--A thousand thanks for your kind & warm heartedletter.
It is not altogether a selfish pleasure to be glad to be so regretted; for the
assurance that friends like you think after trial that my presence was really
useful in the H. of Commons is an evidence I could ill spare that I did not
commit an error of judgment when I exchanged another mode of usefulness
for the far less congenial one of a seat in Parl t. In returning to my older &
more natural mode of activity I shall not lose the feeling which my three years
in Parl t have given me, of brotherhood in arms with those who are still there
fighting the battles of advanced liberalism, & I shall always be happy & proud
to cooperate with them out of the House, either by my pen or otherwise.
Avignon
Dec.7. 1868
DEAR MR FAWCETT
Avignon
Dec. 7. 1868
DEAR SIR
1. MS at LSE, as is also a letter of May 25, 1873, to Helen Taylor which enclosed
this letter for her possible use.
Mackson has been identifiedonly as a cashier residingat 57 Cliff Road, Leeds.
2. Scc Letters 1150 and 1153.
3. The History o/British India, by .lames Mill. Fourth edition with Notes and Con.
tinuation by Horace Hayman Wilson (9 vols., London, 1840-48).
4. William H. Allen and Co., publishersof Allen's Indian Mail and O_cial Gazette.
5. James Madden,3 LeadenhaUSt., bookseller who specializedin oriental books.
Letter 1352 To R. C. Madge 1513
1352. TO R. C. MADGEX
A[vignon]
Dec. 7. 1868
DEAR SIR--The earnest & kindly letter which I have just received from the
Committee of the Chelsea Working Men's Parliamentary Electoral Associa-
tion gives me very great pleasure. That the 61ite of the working classes should
think so kindly of me & should attach so much importance to my political
services, I feel to be a subject of just pride, since it has been given to me not
in spite of, but, as I believe partly in consequence of, my having made no
saeritices of my honest convictions to obtain it. It is because I have never
concealed from the working classes, any more than from any other class, my
differences of opinion with them, & my determination not to be the organ in
parliament of any opinions not my own, that they have had confidence in my
sincerity when I professed to agree with them, & have never failed to give me
a patient, a respectful, & even a sympathetic hearing on the points on which
we differed.
If the electors of the working classes continue to guide themselves in the
choice & treatment of their representatives by the same principles & feelings
which have governed their conduct towards me, the progress of democracy
will soon cease to give uneasiness to any sincere & reasonable minds.
There is much which is gratifying & something which is disappointing in
the results of the General Election. It has decided, thoroughly & irrevocably,
the question of religious equality in Ireland, in the only way which could be
tolerated in the present age, the impartial disendowment of all sects: & has
to that extent lightened the burthen of the reparation due to the people of
that ill-treated country for centuries of misrule. It has also raised to the place
of highest power the one English ministers of past or present times who has
best deserved, &has obtained in largestmeasure, the confidence of the labour-
hagclasses. On the other hand, those classes, though to their votes the liberal
party principally owes its victory, are far from having had their just influence
in the selection of the members who represent the party in the new H. of
Commons. No working man has been a successful candidate; even so distin-
guished a member of the working class as Mr Odger, the ignorant attacks on
whom have only served to bring forth from all sides additional tributes to his
worth has found, even in your metropolitan borough, that the zeal of his sup-
porters could not compete with the greater wealth &superior organization of
other candidates & when this was ascertained, he honourably consented to
withdraw. Those new candidates who though not working men, possessed
the special confidence of the working classes, or who combined high educa-
tion & culture with advanced opinions, have in general been equally unsuc-
cessful.
It was not to be expected that there could be much organisation & concert
among voters who, when the election took place, had only just been put on
the electoral roll. But if these things happen a second time, the new electors
will have chiefly themselves to blame.
Public opinion will in time demand the only complete remedy, the adop-
tion of Personal Representation, by which the electors would be enabled to
group themselves as they pleased, & any electors who chose to combine eonld
be represented, in exact proportion to their numbers, by men of their own
personal choice. But as this great improvement in representative Govt is not
yet ripe for adoption, what should be done now is that the working classes
should assert their right to an equal voice with the Liberals of the higher &
middle classes in the choice of Liberal candidates. Where a place returns two
members, one of these should be acandidate specially acceptable to the work-
ing classes: where there is but one, he sh d be selected in concert by both
sections of liberals. Thus much the working classes are fairly entitled to, &thus
much if they insist, they will obtain; for liberal candidates can in most places
no more be elected without their cooperation, than elected by them alone,
without the cooperation of others.
There is one thing more which demands the immediate & most strenuous
efforts of the working classes & of all who wish the recent change in our
representative institutions to be more than nominal. The real cause of the
failure of working class candidates & of so many other advanced liberals in
the late contests, is the inordinate expense of elections. In a great majority of
these cases, if money had had no influence, or if the expenditure of it had been
2. w.E. Gladstone
Letter 1353 To Archibald Michie 1515
equal on both sides, the popular candidate would in all probability have sue-
eeeded. If the working classes ever wish to be more genuinely represented
than they are, they should make a united & energetic appeal to Parl t to clear
away this obstacle to their representation. They should demand that the neces-
sary expenses of elections be made a public charge, & that the useless &
noxious expenses be made illegal & punishable. Some of their best friends
vainly exerted themselves to extort measures for this purpose from the last
Parliament, but Tories & lukewarm Liberals were too strong for them. Mr.
Gladstone however made known both by speech & vote his approbation of
the attempt; & we may feel confident that if properly supported by the people
he will be no reluctant leader in the accomplishment of this, one of the most
urgent as well as essential of remaining Parliamentary reforms. But when
there is so great a mass of interested or timid resistance to be encountered, a
reform is not properly supported unless it is strenuously urged.
Once more thanking your Committee for their gratifying expression of
feeling towards me, I am, &c
J. S. MILL
Avignon
Dec. 7. 1868
DEAR SIR
tion (I admit that they are not numerous) make no reservation of the kind,
but advocate the general theory of Protection, on the old ignorant grounds,
support it by the old stock fallacies, and refer to the stupidest authorities,
British, American, and Continental, as a sanction for it. All this is very
natural. The Protectionist theory appears plain common sense to persons
thoroughly ignorant of the subject; and industries artificially fostered, even
thoughit be professedly for a time only, raise up private interests which com-
bine, as they have done in the United States but too effectually, to convert
what was intended as a temporary expedient into a permanent institution;
(though the thick end of the wedge seldom follows the thin end at so short
an interval as three years). These considerations have greatly shaken the
opinion I expressed in my book; and though I still think that the introduction
of a foreign industry is often worth a sacrifice,and that a temporary protect-
ing duty if itwas sure to remain temporary, would probably be the best shape
in which that sacrifice can be made, I am inclined to believe that it is safer
to make it by an annual grant from the public treasury, which is not nearly
so likely to be continued indefinitely to prop up an industry which has not
so thriven as to be able to dispense with it.
I can readily believe that the Free Trade party in Victoria is swelled by
the private self interest of importing merchants; but a cause seldom triumphs
unless somebody's personal interest is bound up with it. It would have been
long before the corn laws would have been abolished in Great Britain if, be-
sides the public interests concerned, those laws had not been contrary to the
private interests of nearly the whole of the manufacturing and mercantile
classes.
It gives me extreme pleasure that you approve of what I have said and
done to promote the admission of women to the political franchise. If your
important and rising community could be induced to adopt this great social
improvement (if I am rightly informed, it is adopted already at your munici-
pal elections) it would not be the first time that a colony has outstripped the
mother country in the introduction of improved principles of legislation.
With many thanks for your [offer]8of information which it may be a great
advantage to me to be able to obtain from so good a source, I am
Dear Sir
yours very faithfully
J. S. Mitt.
Hon. Arch. Michie.
3. Lettertorn.
Letter 1354 To Alexander T. Teetgen 1517
Avignon
Dec. 7. 1868
DEAR SIR
Though your poetry 2 had been equal to Shelley's, it probably would not
have covered the original sin of your opinions in the eyes of such critics as
the one in the London Review?
Even he, however, gives you credit for "some poetic ability." But I am
inclined to think that at the present period of the world, ability (except per-
haps in the ease of the very highest order of poetic genius) is thrown away
when it addresses itself to the world by means of verse. The time for poetic
composition may come round again; but it will be a quieter time, after several
great battles have been fought and won. Both the instruction and the exhorta-
tion necessary for winning them, is much more effectually given in prose.
With respect to your wish that I should review your poem, I can only say,
as before, that I have not time; nor is poetic criticism in the line of my
pursuits. I am
Dear Sir
y" very faithfully
J. S. Mn, L
A. T. Teetgen Esq
A[vignon]
Dec. 9.1868
DEAR SIR
A[vignon]
Dec. 10. 1868
DEAR SIR---Since I wrote to you I have received a more definite letter from
Mr Longman, in which he says "with regard to the stipulation as to the
American publisher of the Analysis, _ we are quite ready to supply them with
stereotype plates, but I think they ought to pay something more than the mere
cost of casting. It would be fair that they should also pay a proportion of the
cost of setting the type. About 15 per cent on this cost would probably be
sufficient. It is to be remembered that the cost of setting the types of a book
intended to be stereotyped is greater than when this is not the case."
It is for you to consider whether you regard Mr Longman's proposal as
acceptable.
A[vignon].
Dee. 11.1868
1.MS draft
atYale. 2.Seepreceding
Letter.
I.MS draft(incomplete)
atJohnsHopkins.
InreplytoBeggs's
ofNov.19,MS also
atJohnsHopkins.Envelope
containing
theletters
ismarkedinJSM'shand:"Forpubli-
cation/ asHelen's."
Allbutlast
incomplete
sentence
published
inElliot,
1"I,
155-57.
2. ForBeggs's
published
letter
onJSM'sdefeat
forWestminster,
seeLetter
1293,
n.1.
Letter 1357 To Thomas Beggs 1519
success in your endeavours. At the same time, if we take a large view of the
subject, it appears to me that it is more conducive to the growth of high
political principle in the electors & consequently to the permanent political
progress of the nation, that the liberal party in any constituency sh d occa-
sionally suffer defeat from the scrupulous purity of the means it employs, than
that it sh a practise tactics unworthy of a good cause & thereby win a seeming
success by means subversive of the principles to which the party owes its life.
It is very painful to all true liberals to see their own constituency represented
by a Tory in Parl t. Yet I think that this sometimes may be a wholesome
humiliation if it stimulates them to redoubled efforts to arouse the political
energies of the constituency by all morally legitimate & honorable means. The
true humiliation is when honorable men become in the words of the Psalm,
"emulous of evil doers, ''_ & despairing of serving a good cause by good means,
fancy that a temporary discomfiture is a permanent defeat & have recourse to
methods of achieving success which are quite as humiliating as, & infinitely
more mischievous than, defeat itself. It is much to be hoped that the advanced
liberal party which has to a certain extent, owing partly to its want of organ-
isation & partly to the results of its scrupulous adherence to perfectly honour-
able means, sustained a comparative defeat all over the country, will not
despair of future success by such means, but will remember that so great & so
important a reform as purity of election cannot be won at once nor until after
having sustained many partial reverses.
I must take this opportunity of thanking you & the other kind friends who
supported me in W. for their zealous support & for the thorough manner in
which they carried out the principles on which I stood: & I can assure you
that although I had not personally any desire to be in the H. of C. I did not
on that account neglect anything that I thought it fight for me to do or not to
do for the purpose of securing my election. I can sincerely say (& it is due to
the electors of W. that it sh d have been so) that I acted in all things as I sh d
have done had my career been dependent upon my success. Whatever I did
that might seem to have perilled my return, I did not do because I was indif-
ferent to my return, for as an honorable politician I could never be indifferent
to the return of any liberal candidate, & as candidate for W. I was doubly
bound in honor to exert myself for the liberal representation of the consti-
tuency: which motive I am sure you will do me the justice to believe, was
fully as strong in my mind as the desire to be in Parl t could be in the mind of
any ambitious young politician. If, therefore, I felt myself obliged to do some
things which it is very likely .... 4
A[vignon]
Dec. 11. 1868
DEAR Sin--When I had the honour of receiving your letter of Sept. 4 my time
was so fully occupied with our great electoral struggle & other things, that I
have been obliged to defer answering it till now.
I have had a rather extensive correspondence with various persons in
Australia respecting the sanction supposed to be given by the passage which
you quote from my Pol. Econ. to the Protectionist doctrines there afloat. One
of my most recent explanatory letters which was addressed to Mr Holden, e
Member of the Legislative Council of N. S. Wales, has been printed in the
newspapers of that Colony, & it is not unlikely that since writing your letter
you may have seen it. s
The Protecting Duties which I thought might sometimes be advisable in
a young country for the purpose of ascertaining by experiment the suitability
of its circumstances for the naturalisation of foreign branches of industry, are
duties expressly imposed for a limited time, not exceeding a few years (say
from five to twelve or thereabouts according to the case) & to cease peremp-
torily at the end of the period unless it could be conclusively shewn that the
facilities given by the duties had been fairly used, but required some further
& still more strictly limited time to make the experiment a fair one.
Some Australians have assured me that the Australian Protectionists do
not carry their Protectionist proclivities beyond this point. I observe however
that the protectionist interests which are fostered by the protecting duties, are
raising up as they have always done elsewhere, protectionist theories of the
old type & that the most exploded fallacies of the mercantile system are
revived, with a simple ignorance of all that has been written & proved against
them, which is strange to minds accustomed to the subject as usnally dis-
cussed in Europe.
There is great danger that the duties even if imposed ostensibly for a time
only, would at the expiration of the time, or before it, have been made per-
manent: that they were not, I believe, in any case, imposed as temporary
duties but were as permanent as any Acts of the Colonial Parliaments.
I am now much shaken in the opinion, which has so often been quoted for
purposes which it did not warrant; & I am disposed to think that when it is
advisable, as it may sometimes be, to subsidize a new industry in its com-
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. Published in Elliot, lI, 154-55.
Edward William Stafford (1819-1901), at this time colonial secretary of New Zea-
land, later prime minister.
2. Letter 1266.
3. It was published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 16, 1868, p. 5.
Letter 1359 To Priscilla McLaren 1521
mencement, this had better be done by a direct annual grant, which is far
less likely to be continued after the conditions which alone justified it have
ceased to exist.
A[vignon].
Dec. 12. 1868
women had possessed the warmth of heart which all women ought to have,
their feelings would have been revolted at the tortures inflicted, & they would
have considered the reasonings by which they were attempted to be palliated
as beyond their province. As it is, the conduct of so many among them has
afforded one more evidence that the renunciation of masculine intelligenc_
gives no security for womanly kindness.
A[vignon]
Dee. 13. 1868
DEAR SIR--I beg to say that in the first place to wish for a man's success
as a parly candidate is not to identify oneself with him: if it were, how could
a Catholic vote for a Protestant, a Churchman for a Dissenter, or a Xtian
for a Jew? In the second place I did not go out of my way to subscribe to Mr
Bradlaugh's expenses (expenses for which had my own & Mr Faweett's
amendments to the Bribery Bill 2 been carried last session no subscription
would have been needed) but I did not consider myself justified in refusing
when asked to lighten the iniquitous expenses which would have prevented an
otherwise eligible man from even taking the sense of the electors of North-
ampton concerning him, merely because either I or other people did not ap-
prove of his being, as I have been told he has been, as insolent towards Xtians
in general as excellent Xtians have often been towards one another. If you
think that the man who will vote for the perpetuation of the oppression of
one sect of Xtians by another, as Mr Smith will do, 8 represents you better
than I could have done, you did your duty. If not, you must excuse my saying
that you appear to me to have allowed an unreflecting displeasure at an
unpractical evil to overcome your sense of what as an elector you owe not only
to your own country but to a nation which your countrymen have long op-
pressed.
If Mr B is only generally known for blasphemy, it must be because the
facts concerning him are not generally known. I who do not know that he
has stood forward as the advocate of many other opinions, the advocating of
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins, as are also Hayward's letters of Nov. 12 and Dec. 4
and his rejoinder of Dec. 19 to this letter. Published in Elliot, II, 158-59. The draft is
in JSM's hand, but the envelope in which it is contained bears note: "reply by H. T."
Probably of the firm of John Hayward and Co., Woollen Drapers of St. Martin's
Lane. He had written to protest JSM's support of Bradlaugh.
2. See Autobiog., chap. vn, and Letter 1216, n. 4.
3. On the presumption that W. H. Smith, the successful Tory candidate, would vote
against disestablishment of the Irish Church, as he eventually did on May 31, 1869.
Letter 1361 To James Beat 1523
which must be contrary to his interests, was bound to act upon my better
knowledge, and if a long-established character is worth anything, those who
have done me the honour to approve of my general line of conduct &my pub-
lished writings for 30 years & more, might fairly be expected to suppose that
I was not likely to support any man for no other reason than that he had made
l_imseif remarkable by blasphemy.
The fact that you approved my conduct in the proceedings against Mr Eyre
makes me hope that, on further reflection you will see that I was not so much
to blame as you imagine about Mr B.
A[vignon]
Dec. 14. 1868
DEAR SIR
I have not gone deeply into the subject of the treatment of prisoners, tickets
of leave, &c. but from all that I have seen & heard upon it I am under the
impression that I sh d place great reliance upon the opinion of Sir Walter
Crofton. 2
There are, however, some points respecting criminals & the police, on
which I have formed a decided opinion of my own, which in each ease, were
it necessary, I think I could support by a very wide induction. I will not go at
length into any of these, but I will just note them down.
1. I observed with satisfaction that one point was judiciously insisted on
by Mr Edwin Hill s at the meeting at which you attended. It is that there shd
be a great increase of efforts to root out the receivers of stolen goods. The
receivers are the solid support & foundation of all professional theft, & with-
out them a criminal class, as a class, could not exist. If there were no re-
1. MS draftat Yale. In reply to Beal's of Dec. 9, also at Yale. Envelope in which the
two letters were filed bears note in JSM's hand: "For publicationas Helen's." Largely
in JSM's hand, but with emendationsand one paragraphin Helen Taylor's hand. See
Letter 1495. Publishedin Elliot, II, 159-63, and, except firstand last paragraphs,in the
Morning Star, Dee. 23, 1868, p. 6.
Beal in his letter of Dec. 9 reportedthat at a meeting of vestrymen that day he had
appointeda committee to preparea memorial to the Home Officeon improvementsin
the management of the London police force, and on the punishment of offences. He
requestedJSM'sadvice.
2. Sir Walter Fredsriek Crofton (1815-1897), soldier and prison admlni_trator;
chairman of the directorsof convict prisons in Ireland, 1854--62;privy councillor of
Ireland, 1868; chairman of the Prisons Board in Ireland, 1877-78; author of various
works on the convict question.
3. Edwin Hill (1793-1876), inventor and author, between 1870 and 1872 published
pamphlets entitled Criminal Capitalists attacking landlords who harboured criminals
or rented shops for stolen goods. Hill had attendedthe meeting of vestrymen that led
to Beal's letter.
1524 To James Beal Letter 1361
money or gifts of any sort whatever from any private individual. This rule
sh d be absolute & inflexibly applied. No services of any sort, whether within
or without the routine of regular duty, sh d be permitted to receive any reward,
either honorary or pecuniary, openly or privately, from individuals or from
public bodies, except from the superior authorities of the force itself, & then
in the way only of avowed promotion & increase of pay. Also the mere accep-
tance of food or drink or shelter while on duty from any person whatever shd
be ipso lacto sufficient to ensure expulsion from the force.
It is obvious that employing policemen for private purposes must draw off
their time, their attention & their interest, from their public duty. It is a mere
sophism to say for instance that if you give a man whose duty it is to watch
over the safety of a whole street a few pounds a year to watch more peculiarly
over the safety of a few houses in it, it only quickens his zeal for them without
diminishing his zeal for the rest. The work for which he receives no extra pay
is certain to be considered of minor importance, & to be neglected in favour
of that for which he expects special remuneration.
The insidious working of the system of perquisites is even more mischie-
vous than its direct & obvious effects. It may be laid down as a rule of pol.
economy that what people get by way of gifts connected with their profession
or mode of earning their living, comes in the end to be counted as part of
their earnings. Hence, however little they themselves may desire such a result,
perquisites invariably have the effect of lowering men's legitimate & regular
pay. This has been found both in higher & lower examples than that of the
police force. The working of this rule is well known to all political economists
with regard to the agricultural labourers under the old poor law system; it is
well known to all reforming politicians with regard to the perquisites of public
servants of the highest ranks. I believe it to have acted injuriously upon the
moral character of the police force. The fall in the value of money which
should be met by increase of pay, is apt to be, I believe has actually been,
chiefly met by the increased urgency & ingenuity of the men in eking out their
pay by perquisites. This is a natural tendency which can only be combated by
liberality in pay on the part of the employers, accompanied by inflexible
severity in putting down the perquisite system. This combined liberality &
severity is essential precisely in proportion to the responsibility of any employ-
ment, and the importance of honesty in it. When the Perquisite system is
allowed to prevail the best men get the fewest gifts: for they neither are so
impudent in putting themselves in the way of gifts, nor so willing to neglect
their proper duty for the sake of them. Hence the best men get the worst pay,
are disgusted with the force, gladly take other places when they can get them,
& leave only the worst men behind. The same reasons apply of course to the
enlistment of new men: & step by step the men get worse & worse, carry on
the system of favour more openly & impudently year by year, until the dis-
1526 To George Grote Letter 1362
graceful state of things of the Haymarket is arrived at, 4 while the increasing
di_culty of the superiors in finding trustworthy men to replace the untrust-
worthy causes them to go on tolerating abuses, the toleration of which in its
turn makes the men more encroaching, & creates a vicious circle which
nothing but a complete change of system can break through.
I am glad to hear the Tory is not to sit for West r without at least an attempt
to protest against it, 5 & I hope the attempt will result in opening the way for
a liberal. I can say this the more freely as I am no longer a party concerned.
Avignon
Dee. 15. 1868
MY DEARGROTE
I thank you most heartily for your very valuable contribution to the new
edition of the Analysis. 2 It is not a particle too long. The strictures it contains
on the substantive doctrine of the chapters on Classification and Abstraction,
coincide generally with, though they are not in the least superseded by, my
own remarks on those chapters; and it is not only very pleasant but a great
advantage, to have views substantially similar expressed in a decidedly dif-
ferent manner and propounded under the sanction of your name.
The feeling you have in making dissentient criticisms on the Analysis, I
fully share. I have had to express difference of opinion on a number of points,
some of them important; and so great a part of my notes is taken up with
justifying the dissent that I have an uncomfortable feeling as if I should ap-
pear too much in the character of an assailant. I have endeavoured to obviate
this by the Preface (or Introduction). I think I ought to quote from it a pas-
sage in which I have mentioned your name, which if it meets otherwise with
your approbation, you will see may conduce to the same purpose with regard
to yourself: a
"Such was the effect of his conversation, and of the tone of his character,
on those who were within reach of its influence, that many,then young, who
4. The Haymarket for years had been the centre of much of the most dissolute night
life of London.
5. Beal in his letter had reported that he had filed petitions against W. H. Smith's
return on charges of corruption and that he was about to deposit the £ I000 required
to try the action. See Letter 1331.
1. MS at Brit. Mus. In reply to Grote's of Dec. 11, one paragraph of which is pub-
lished in Harriet Grote, The Personal Life of George Grote (London, 1873), pp.
295-96.
2. See Letter 1342.
3. The passage that follows appears in the Preface (I, xv) to the revised edition of
the Ana/ys/s.
Letter 1363 To Princess Marie Stcherbatov and Associates 1527
have since made themselves honoured in the world by a valuable career, look
back to their intercourse with him as having had a considerable share in decid-
ing their course through life. The most distinguished of them all, Mr Grote,
has put on record, in a recent publication, 4 his sense of these obligations, in
terms equally honourable to both."
I have entered fully into the distinction between my father's use of the term
connote and my own, and into the reasons for preferring mine; 5 but there will
be no need to cancel more than a few words (if any) of your note in conse-
quence.
I will give orders that a proof be sent to you.
I have always felt the same doubt which you express as to my comparative
power of usefulness in and out of the House of Commons. But it was worth
giving three years of life to bring the question of Women's Suffrage to the
point it has now reached.
We are delighted to hear so good an account of Mrs Grote's improved
health. Pray give her our kindest regards.
May I request your acceptance of the inclosed cheque, not however as any
return for your kindness in turning aside from your work to help in this, for
which I am very much indebted to you. I am
My dear Grote
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
George Grote Esq.
1. MS not located. Printed in the Revolution, HI (Feb. 11, 1869) p. 87, and in Le
Temps, Jan. 14, 1869, from La Gazette de l'Acad_mie.
In Oct., 1868, a Russian Princess, Marie Steherbatov, and twenty other Russian ladies,
a number of them of high rank, had issued two public letters, published in French in
L'lnvalide Russi, on the need of Russian women for higher education.These letters were
translated and published by the American journal of the cause of women, the Revolu-
tion, 1I (Dee. 24, 1868), 389-90. JSM may have read them in L'lnvalide Russi or copies
may have been sent to him,
1528 To Dr. Edward Livingstone Youmans Letter 1364
cine, and to gain for this cause important support from the scientific world.
That is what the most enlightened persons are asking, without having yet
attained it, in the other countries of Europe. Thanks to you, Mesdames,
Russia is perhaps about to surpass them in speed; it would be a proof that
civilization relatively recent, sometimes accepts before the older civilizations
great ideas of amelioration. The equal advent of both sexes to intellectual
culture is important not only to women, which is assuredly a sufficient recom-
mendation, but also to universal civilization. I am profoundly convinced that
the moral and intellectual progress of the male sex runs a great risk of stop-
ping, if not receding, as long as that of the women remains behind, and that,
not only because nothing can replace the mother for the education of children,
but also because the influence upon man himself of the character and ideas
of the companions of his life cannot be insignificant; woman must either push
him forward or hold him back. I applaud with all my heart your efforts and
those of the enlightened men who support them, and I reckon upon the per-
severance of which you have already shewn proof, as a guarantee that you
will not become discouraged, and that you will assert by every means the
justice of your cause, which, in an enlightened age, bids fair to meet in a short
time an assured success.
Pray receive, Mesdames, the sincere expression of my high esteem and
lively sympathy.
J. STUARTMILL
A[vignon]
Dec. 20. 1868
I was greatly surprised to see it, and still more to see the manner in which it
was inserted in the Star. I do not know how my friend M. Esquires came to
consent to its publication, for I am sure he would not have done so had he
known my feeling against the publication of private letters without the per-
mission of the writer. I certainly did infer from your published letter that you
thought me wrong, s not in the things I did, but in doing them without suffi-
cient consideration for my constituents. I am therefore very glad to hear from
yourself that that was not your feeling.
Although I think it is to be regretted that you thought it necessary to give
publicity to any difference of opinion between us, I might have been tempted
to reply publicly to your letter myself, but I think it better to abstain than to
give a handle for those who would be delighted to see anything like apparent
dissension.
If I have not written to you before now, thanking you for your exertions in
the election, _ it has been from the tendency to say least to those in whom one
feels the fullest confidence. I felt so sure of your public spirit that I have
thought you could not possibly doubt my esteem nor care for any expressions
of gratitude from me for services to the cause in which we are fellow-workers.
I had occasion some little time ago to write to Mr Beggs 5 in reply to a
letter from him, and in doing so I said what I would have been far more will-
ing to see published than anything else I have written on the subject, inasmuch
as I assured him that I had omitted nothing that conscience and sense of
public duty would allow me to do to secure my return for Westminster. How-
ever little I personally wished to be returned, I felt that I owed it to my con-
stituents to do all that lay in my power to succeed; but I did not feel that I
owed it either to them or to myself to go against the very principles upon
which I was standing. Those for whose sake I most cared to succeed, among
the foremost of whom was yourself, would not have had a true representa-
tive in me if I had after all succumbed to that temptation to time-serving, the
very prevalence of which, and my protests against which, were their original
3. Malleson in a letter to The Times, Dec. 21, 1868, p. 5, on "The Defeat of Mr.
Mill," commenting on the publishedletterto Esquires, remarkedthat JSM had omitted
to mention one of the chief causesof his defeat, "namely, the apparentincapacity,on
the partof a large portionof the constituencyto admireor even to understandthe rigid
independencewhich led him, on the eve of an importantelection, to act and write pre-
cisely as he would have donehad he not been a candidate....
"No doubt, recklessexpenditureof money on the otherside, and the perfect organiza-
tion which unlimited means make possible, told against us, but all this we were pre-
pared for and meant to beat, as we had beaten it before, by the strength of popular
enthusiasm. Unfortunately,the full wind upon which we had counted to fill our sails
fell away under the influence of the Bouverie correspondenceand the Bradlaugh sub-
scription."
4. Malleson had served as honorarysecretaryto the Grosvenor andMill Committee.
5. Letter 1357.
Letter 1366 To Philip Henry Rathbone 1531
reason for choosing me. It is better to have a man who has never made any
pretence of disliking it, than one who, after having protested strongly against
it, has finally fallen a victim to the many temptations to practise it. In flue,
I thought that my constituents as well as myself would rather have Mr Smith
as he is, than myself false to my professions. It is, of course, a subject of
regret to all who feel as you and I do that absolute purity of principle in elec-
tioneering, and perfect independence on the part of candidates, cannot be
made to succeed better than it generally does at present, yet I think I have
done more to draw attention to the need of it by my failure than I could have
done if I had allowed it to be possible to reproach me with the smallest tergi-
versation. The slightest example of anything of the kind would of course
have been eagerly seized by our opponents, and nothing that they can say
now can be so mortifying to you or myself as such accusations would have
been had they had a shadow of foundation. Could it have been said that I
turned my back upon old friends or shrunk from any associations that were
not likely to be popular with the mass of my constituents, neither society nor
the press would have failed to say it.
P.S.---As I have very unexpectedly seen so many of my letters lately in
print, may I beg you to consider my letters as not intended for the public.
Pray excuse my making this request to you, with whom I have every reason to
believe it unnecessary.
A[vignon]
(Private) Dec. 26. 1868
DEAR SIR I am much honoured by the renewal of the invitation from the
Philomathic Socx,2 & could I be sure of any definite result, more particularly
of any definite political result, that could be obtained by my acceding to it, I
would not hesitate to come to England for the purpose & to undertake the
labour of preparing something for the occasion, although to do so would
require me to put aside avocations in which I am now engaged & which I ex-
pect will fully occupy my time for some months to come so that my present
plan is not to be in England until the beginning of March. But I am very ais-
1. MS draft at Johns Hopkins. In reply to Rathbone's of Dec. 22, also at Johns
Hopkins. Published in Elliot, II, 166-67.
Philip Henry Rathbone (1828-1895), third son of the prominent Liverpool business
man, William Rathbone (1787-1868), had just succeeded his father as partner in a
firm of insurance brokers.
2. It had held its meetings at the Liverpool Royal Institution since 1826.
1532 To John Chapman Letter 1367
trustful of the good that can be effected or at all events of my own powerto
effect much good, by merely social means, or even by eliciting sympathies
chiefly literary or scientific: Knowing as I do how many of the slaveholders
approved of & admired my writings, I know how little any practical political
results need necessarily follow from this sort of approval: & although I am
aware that the enthusiasmproduced by oratory is among many, perhaps among
the majority of men, warmer than that felt for any literary works, still I doubt
whether it is more lasting & I am quite sure that it is not within my own
power to excite so much of it. Could I within the compass of an after dinner
speech carefully calculated to touch upon no points which could hurt the
feelings of any who differ from us most radically both in principles & in their
applications, produce any appreciable effect in reuniting & stimulating the
liberal political opinions of Liverpool? Were you proposing to discuss any
especial political topics (for example such as the representation of minorities)
which I have made the object of study, the case might be different, for it
might then be in my power to advance arguments &to put them in a point of
view not usual. But from what you say I imagine that you think politics sha
be eschewed & even the political aspect of such subjects as education avoided.
Nor am I quite sure whether just at present my views on personal representa-
tion, on the applications of endowments, on the land laws, on trades unions,
& other topics partly politico-economical & partly political, might not be
somewhat too startling for those who shrink even from the disendowment of
the Irish Church.
Thanking you for your kind offer of hospitality I am
Avignon
Dec. 27. 1868
DEAR SIR
in all the subjects in which her late husband exerted himself, and I will write
to ask her whether it would be possible to furnish a list of those from whom
he obtained subscriptions for the Review. 41 am Dear Sir
yours very truly
J. S. MILL
Dr Chapman
Avignon
Dec. 27. 1868
MY DEARGROTE
I am particularly obliged to you for the further matter you have been so
kind as to send. 2
Your last note coincides in its general purport with a short one I had
written on the same passage. But mine will stand very well with yours as a
brief summary of the philosophical portion of it, apart from the historical.
If anything else, either great or small, occurs to you which you feel dis-
posed to put down and send, I shall be only too glad to have it, and I hope
you will not be deterred by thinking it unnecessary. Even if it is to the same
effect as something written by Bain or me (Findlater's notes are mainly philo-
logical) it will be more or less from a different point of view, and will not be
a repetition, but valuable as a confirmation.
I am glad you approve of the passage in the Preface. s I think, when you
see the remainder, you will regard the historical and philosophical place
assigned in it to the Analysis as the right one. The new edition will now be a
monument collectively raised to the memory of the author by the principal
inheritors of his philosophy, while it will also authenticate, and in part exhibit,
the progress since made in the paths which he opened up.
With our kind regards to Mrs Grote, I am
My dear Grote
ever yours truly
J. S. MILL
A[vignon]
Dec. 27.1868