A treatise on the intellectual, moral, and social man, written under forty captions

Front matter

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V V

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Part I. Chapter Page

Preface 7

I. Bead the Best Books 9

II. Rich and Poor — The Sources of Wealth and Poverty 12

III. Aristocracy 19

IY. Village Aristocracy 23

V. The Other Side of the Picture 29

YI. Proposal of a Basis 32

VII. Faith and Knowledge 36

VIII. Purposes of Life and the Principle of Morals 41

IX. The Moral Law 48

X. Obedience to the Laws of Nature Promotes Happiness 59

XI. Liberality of Sentiment — Cheerfulness — Happiness 69

Part II. An Essay On Man

I. His Mind and Senses — Kesult of Organization 77

II. His Nature is ever the Same 83

III. His Positive and Self-Knowledge 87

IV. His Education 99

V. His Moral Accountability 108

VI. His Personal Freedom 112

VII. His Self-Improvement 115

VIII. His Self-Respect and Life-time Duties 120

IX. His Social Eights and Duties 124

X. His Peculiarities and Varieties 129

XI. His Moral Evil 132

XII. His Penalties 135

XIII. His Actions are the Results of Circumstances 140

XIV. He is Held in the Arms of Necessity Forever 148

XV. His Conflicting Elements and Opposing Forces Harmonized. 154

VI CONTENTS.

Part III. Chapteb Page

I. Position and Privilege of Truth Speakers 165

II. Origin and Nature of Government — Of Society 172

III. Of the Sense of Justice — Of Remorse and of the Consciousness of Merit , . 181

IY. Philosophy , 186

V. Nature and Nature's Works 189

YI. Social Reform — Circumstances M 199

VII. Thoughts on Prejudice 204

VIII. A Sketch of Natural History 201

IX. Causes of Crime and Treatment of Criminals 215

X. Punishment for Children 231

XI. Mothers and their Daughters 238

XII. Matter and Motion 243

XIII. Philosophy, Mystery, and Mutation 246

XIV. Land Monopoly 252

XV. The Great Atlantic Cable, etc 269

PEEFACE.

In offering to the public this volume I have no apology to make, for it has been my constant effort to condense into as small a compass as possible the greatest amount of useful and practical knowledge in plain and familiar language; and, after long and tedious labor, am satisfied that I have so far succeeded in this object as to have presented in this book vastly more information in relation to the intellectual, moral, and social man than can be found in any other work of twice its size.

Its author offers it with the hope that his readers will kindly and impartially investigate it with the spirit of a true philosopher, free from all idle tirade or senseless invectives; that they will peruse it, not with prejudice, but with a desire to discover truth; to enlarge, if possible, their store of useful knowledge, and hence to better their condition through life. Let them carefully investigate, analyze, submit to the closest test, every proposition advanced; then, and not until then, will they be prepared to receive and appreciate facts as they exist. Nevertheless, the writer is not so "green" as to expect to please more than a large majority of his readers; to do much more would be a very bad indication, an indication that his labors are worthless. Indeed, he is convinced in advance that his worthy readers will stumble on many propositions or doctrines, which to them will be rather new, novel, and, perhaps, seemingly absurd; but, reader, you should not

Vlll PREFACE.

prejudge — rather peruse again, stop to think, to meditate, to investigate — because there surely ' will be found nothing wrong only your want of a greater familiarity with such subjects, only your want of abetter knowledge of natural laws, of first principles.

It is utterly impossible to believe that which we can not understand or comprehend, although so many intelligent and well-meaning people too often yield a blind credence to this or that theory or doctrine; but such is not reasonable or philosophical belief. Indeed, strictly speaking, it is no belief at ail ; but that belief or conviction, which is based upon tangible evidence deduced from common-sense experience and sound philosophy, may be depended upon under all circumstances as a sure and safe road to the Haven of Friendship, Love, and Truth.

This volume is devoted to the great laws, principles, and influences which govern man mentally, morally, and socially — which underlie and control all his actions and affections — as its title indicates, than which none are more neglected, none less understood, and yet none more important. They relate to and teach some of the dearest interests of human life, and gather within themselves some of the most useful questions of practical morality and religion. They take us by the hand, as it were, and lead us into the great temple of life, where sacred duties stand ministering around the altar of Human Wisdom, Benevolence, and Greatness.

It is written (in outline) under forty headings or captions, including an essay on Man (of fifteen captions), perhaps the best to be found in the States, and which alone is worth, to almost any person, ten times the cost of this book. And as the author has, for the last thirty years, not only devoted much time and hard study to these subjects, but has also frequently written upon nearly all of them in the way of contri-

PREFACE. IX

butions to various journals, he entertains a confidence that this little donation is written upon true moral, religious, and scientific principles, and in a manner most definite, char, concise, and yet quite illustrative.

It is a rare and rather novel work, containing a great deal of useful and practical information to be found nowhere else, and interspersed with many sentimental and appropriate selections of poetry, well calculated for all classes and ages of men and women, but more particularly for the young and rising generations.

It contains a vast amount of what might be called domestic or social information — of all information the most useful — and which, if properly understood and reduced to practice, would work a happy reformation, morally and religiously, among the people ; would enable them to know themselves, and, consequently, to know all mankind ; would teach them to know (the great secret) wherein lies their true and best interest — that it lies in living less for ourselves and more for our dear race — that it lies in the universal equality and consequent prosperity and happiness (as nearly as can be) of all the sons and daughters of Adam; would induce them to cultivate peace, friendship, and charity, hence to respect the feelings, interests, opinions, and even prejudices of their neighbors ; to the end that our polluted streams of persecution, condemnation, and (moral) execution for mere imaginary wrongs might dry up, might cease to flow; and, finally, that they might make peace with all mankind, and enjoy the life of practical, moral, and religious men and women under all circumstances, the following pages, to the friends of Science and Frogress, are dedicated by

THE AUTHOR

Preface

GOOD LIFE.

"He liveth long who liveth well — All else is but life flung away; He liveth longest who can tell

Of true things truly done each day.

11 Then fill each hour with what will last, Buy up the moments as they go j The life above, when this is past, Is the ripe fruit of life below.

"Sow love and taste its fruitage pure; Sow peace and reap its harvest bright ; Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, And find a harvest home of light."

GOOD COUNSEL.

♦'Seek not to walk by borrowed light, But keep unto thine own; Do what thou doest with thy might, And trust thyself alone 1

M Work for some good, nor idly lie "Within the human hive; And, though the outward man should die, Keep thou the heart alive.

"Strive not to banish pain and doubt In pleasure's noisy din ; The peace thou seekest for without Is only found within.

" If fortune disregard thy claim, By worth her slight attest ; Nor blush and hang thy head for shame, When thou hast done thy best.

" Disdain neglect, ignore despair, On loves and friendships gone; Plant thou thy feet, as on a stair, And mount right up and on I"

THE

INTELLECTUAL, MORAL, AND SOCIAL MAN.

Chapter I. Read The Best Books

Men live for one another more tnan for anything else, and the fact stands out on the face of society ; therefore, their first and highest desire should be to know themselves, and hence to know each other — to learn those great laws, principles, and relations which govern and control the intellectual, moral, social, and religious man. Now to accomplish which, we must read the best books on history, literature, religion, and the various sciences. But much of what is called literature is not worth the reading — in fact, is worse than useless — mere trash and rubbish, creating a morbid, sickly sentimentality which aims at improbabilities; and the reader of such trash naturally imbibes the idea that " something is to turn up," that fortune and honor must be the result of some startling combinations instead of the reasonable conclusion that they are the effect of earnest application, close study, and hard brain work.

Often after the exhaustion of reading such works, the desire is almost irresistible to seek a little recreation in a broomstick ride through the ethereal regions, or a horseback ride to the moon.

But all literature is not to be condemned, for we have considerable which is really valuable, abounding in flights of wit, flowers of thought, and mines of information ; we can not give it all up, but we must separate the dross from the gold. True literature is the natural food of the heart and brain, ennobling the mind, and expanding its powers; but false literature feeds the passions and dwarfs the soul.

Reading is fast becoming the channel of information, nence we ought to be careful that no filth darkens the current. We should learn that rare art of discrimination, and not condemn the fruit because poison lurks in the flower ; but the disposition to do this is becoming altogether too prevalent, and the sooner this idea becomes obsolete the better for society.

Our literary works should be drawn from nature — so clear and transparent that the mind's eye may look down in it and see the reflection of all the better traits of human nature, and catching the inspiration, press on to higher and nobler duties. That is the best book which your enlightened understanding tells you is true and beautiful — because in its truth you entrench yourself, while with its beauty you add the decorations — their truth and beauty become a part of yourself.

We must not forget science — must build no wall between it and the people ; because scientific knowledge and moral, intellectual, and physical development are natural allies and handmaidens of each other.

Every family library should contain the best histories of our own and foreign countries, and standard works on physiology, natural, moral, and mental philosophy, the laws of marraige, of entailment, etc., etc.; also, geology, botany, agriculture, astronomy, atmospheric phenomena, etc., etc. Armed with these, the rocks, the plants and flowers, the earth and elements, become our companions; with these as the magic wand, the granite rock finds a tongue, the rose and the myrtle waves a nod of intelligence, the winds whisper of health and prosperity, while the elements thunder their loud response. What a field opens before us with these in our hands ! But powerful as they are, they must be accompanied by careful observation and intelligent thought. We must not only read, but think, day and night; must analyze and get to the bottom of every subject; must learn the laws and relations involved — the whys and wherefores.

Books are but the tools, the brain must work; therefore, to read without mature reflection, is like storing a large number of tools to rust and rot for the want of use.

Then let us "read the best books," and reading let us apply, engraft, and enlarge, leaving nothing to decay or corrode on the brain.

Chapter II. Rich And Poor — Sources Of Wealth, Etc

In the unequal distribution of wealth, nature has not been so partial as the poor man generally imagines. The difference in the amount of happiness between the two persons depends upon their imaginary and unsatisfied wants. Whoever saw a rich man have enough ? In the drawing-rooms of the affluent " luxury lies straining its low thought to form unreal wants," which, being too easily supplied, confer little pleasure. Their food is not seasoned with appetite, and indigestion turns it to disease. The wants of the humble are few, natural, and healthy. The bread of the poor man may be hard to get; he may sigh for the hour of repose; but when obtained, mark with what excellent appetite he enjoys them! He has pleasure that wealth can not command, and no costly conserves are so sweet as those that finish his repast. Appetite and digestion wait, and health is the priceless dessert. No gorgeous tapestry that adorns the canopy of luxury can match the rosy dreams that bedeck the couch of the lowly.

" The rich man," says a Chinese proverb, "is a pig incumbered with fat." No figure can be more appropriate. As wealth accumulates, the dread of using it accompanies; generosity tadeo.

Charity is shut out, and when a trifle is lost how it afflicts the soul! Wealth thus becomes a heavy burden that is dragged along with pain through life, and when at last death comes, how bitter the parting ! That the man of wealth does not work, that he is free from care, is a great mistake. The toil of the mechanic or common laborer has its hour of limit, and sound sleep gives him refreshment; but the, toil of head work never ceases. The cares and anxieties of the rich haunt their midnight hours and poison sleep. The miserly propensities that grow up with wealth make the rich man, at best, a hard working, ever wakeful watchman, hired at mean wages to guard a treasure which avails him but little. "Whoever saw a man made really more happy, more benevolent, more virtuous, by growing rich? What, then, have the poor to envy?

Therefore let no man be ashamed that he has to perform manual labor for a living. Let him only be ashamed of idleness, dishonesty, and bad habits. Let him not be ashamed of a hard hand nor a sunburnt face. Let him only be ashamed of subsisting like a drone upon the sweat and toil of others ; and let him always bear in mind, that if there be a high class, it is those who perform useful work for a living, and that the low class are the lazy and the idle. The workingman, conscious of his usefulness, upholds the dignity of his nature by a becoming self-respect that cringes to no superior.

No man is blessed with greater exemption from care, and no hearth brightened with more domestic happiness. The artificer of all that gives pre-eminence to man, the founder of civilization and human glory, lie may stand boldly forth a model of the most noble and most useful work of nature upon the earth.

Having discussed the relative merits, usefulness, and advantages existing between the rich and poor, will now inquire where wealth comes from. As follows : If a dealer in dry goods takes an account of his stock of property, a portion of it will be set down as a number of yards of cloth.

Let us examine a piece of this — say a piece of sheeting — and see where the wealth in it comes from.

In the first place, the cotton was raised on a southern plantation. The seed was planted in the ground, and when the plant came, it was plowed and hoed till the cotton was ripe, when it was picked, baled, and sent to market. Now by this process no new matter was created, and it is regarded by chemists and philosophers as a settled fact that matter can not be produced by man. The elements which form the cotton were previously floating in the air or resting in the earth, and all the farmer did was to bring them together in new combinations, by which process he gave them value. After the bale of cotton reached the shipping port, it was placed on board a vessel and sent over the sea to the manufacturer. By this change of location additional value was given to it. The merchant is not only just as really a producer of wealth as the farmer, but he produces wealth in the same way. Both of them give value to matter by changing its location. The manufacturer draws the cotton out into long slender threads and weaves it into a web of cloth ; by this change of its form — of its several parts in relation to each other — gives it additional value. It then passes into the hands of the trader, who separates the large quantity into small parcels, convenient for use, and transports them into the neighborhoods where they will be wanted. By thus changing its location and the relation of the several parts to each other, he imparts to it additional value. The trader is a producer of wealth in the same sense as is the farmer or the manufacturer.

There was a time when there was no wealth in the world : it is now to be reckoned by millions of millions ; and if we examine each item of it, we shall find that all this wealth has been produced by making changes in the form, or the relation of the parts, or the location of the several articles of which wealth consists. Let us take one more case, that of a ship. A certain value is given to the logs by cutting and transporting them to the saw-mill, changing their location. They receive additional value by being sawn into plank or timber, removing the surplus, changing the relation of their several parts to each other. The transportation to the ship-yard gives them additional value, changing their location. Then cutting away the portions which are not wanted and placing the materials together in the ship, gives them another installment of value. And thus is wealth produced, by changing the form of some material substance or the relation of its several parts to each other, or its location in such a way as to impart value to it.

Now it will be observed that the reason why these changes give value to the material is, that they advance it a step in the process of adapting it to gratify some human want; but if labor is bestowed upon an article in a way not to have this effect, such labor adds nothing to its value, and of course does not increase the wealth either of the laborer or of the world. If the farmer works the whole season to raise a crop which will satisfy no want, his season's labor adds nothing to his own wealth or the wealth of mankind. If a manufacturer makes such changes in the forms of his articles as not to increase their usefulness, be does not, by such changes, add anything to their value or to his own wealth and prosperity. If a merchant purchases hides in Boston and transports them to Buenos Ayres, where they are worth less than in Boston, he not only loses his own money, but diminishes the wealth of the whole world by the operation.

Now, as regards the sources of poverty, there can be no doubt 'but a great deal of it is produced by causes entirely beyond our control, and I need not specify them in detail, for they will readily occur to every reflecting mind. But still there are some complaints — in fact, there are many complaints — made continually in relation to hard times, the impossibility of paying debts, supporting families, and contributing to benevolent objects, which are rather unreasonable than otherwise. Whether the old proverb is true or not, and I shall not stop now to discuss it, that "the poor are always prodigal," it does seem as if many who make the above complaints are the very persons who are expending every year nearly double what is necessary for unnecessary and injurious articles of meat and drink, saying nothing of other superfluous habits and customs.

They can hardly make out a meal unless four or five varieties of food and a quantum of strong tea or coffee are before them ; after which there must be cigars, and perhaps tobacco, and sometimes ardent spirits and other hurtful drinks are indulged in rather freely. Clogged as they are by this needless extra expense, and incapacitated as they must be for the vigorous prosecution of business, by this excess in eating and drinking, it is no wonder that they find it difficult to keep their expenditures within their income. Now if these views be correct, it would seem that if these people would only adopt those rules of diet and drink for themselves and families which experience and common sense point out as best calculated to promote their health and happiness, they would find their temporal concerns astonishingly improved. Instead of complaining of hard times, the difficulty of supporting their families and paying their debts, they would be continually rejoicing that their lot is cast in a part of the world where their facilities for obtaining the comforts, and even the luxuries of life, are unexampled, and where by honest industry and economy, they can not only do this, but obtain a surplus for meeting in a liberal manner the various calls which education, benevolence, and reform make upon their charity; and beside all this, have something handsome left as a reserve for future exigencies.

Is this saying too much, or will it be thought bordering on fanaticism? Let any poor man who reads these lines keep an exact account of what he pays out for articles of consumption that in fact not only do him no good but really injure him, such as tea, coffee, pork, tobacco, with certain other stimulants and luxuries (saying nothing of the foolishness and extravagance of unnecessary apparel), and the sum total will astonish him — will solve the question why there are so many homeless and destitute families — so many honest and well-meaning men who are forever unable to pay their rents and other debts.

Tes, and all such who may chance to peruse these lines will readily admit that I am about right, when I declare that many of the causes of poverty might be conveniently removed.

Chapter III. Aristocracy

The principle of aristocracy is founded in the extreme inequality of conditions. No man can be a useful member of society, except so far as his talents are employed in a manner conducive to the general advantage. In every society the produce, the means of contributing to the necessities and convenience sof its members, is of a certain amount ; and in every community the bulk at least of its members contribute, by their personal exertions, to the creation of this produce. What, then, can be more reasonable and just than that the produce itself should, with some degree of equality, be shared among them? What more injurious than the accumulating upon a few, comparatively speaking, every means of superfluity and luxury to the destruction, measurably, of the ease and plain but plentiful subsistence of the many?

It may be calculated that the king even of a limited monarchy receives, as the salary of his office, an income equivalent to the labor of thirty or forty thousand men.

The situation which the wise and good man would desire for himself, and for those in whose welfare he was interested, would be a situation of alternate labor and relaxation — labor that should not exhaust the frame, and relaxation that was in no danger to degenerate into indolence. Thus, industry and activity would be cherished, the frame preserved in a healthy tone, and the mind accustomed to meditation and reflection. This would be, measurably, the situation of the whole human family if the supply of our wants were about equally distributed; but ignorance and aristocracy forbids.

Can any system be more unnatural, unjust, and impolitic than that which converts more than half the people into mere working animals, annihilates so much thought, renders impossible so much virtue, and extripates so much happiness ?

Yes, it is truly a humiliating and deplorable circumstance that so large a proportion of the people in every country are forced to become, as it were, mere working animals, and thereby deprived of the precious opportunity of properly developing their intellectual, moral, and social faculties; while a minority of inflated aristocrats wallow in unnecessary wealth, living in extravagance, dissipation, and idleness, considering labor disgraceful and the laboring class as an inferior order of beings, when they are, in fact, the more useful and better class — the bone and muscle, the life and salvation, of every country. Yea —

" The noblest men I know on earth

Are those whose hands are brown with toil;

Who, backed by no ancestral groves, Hew down the wood and till the soil;

And win thereby a prouder name

Than follows the king or warrior's fame.

"The workingmen, whate'er the task,

Who carve the stone or bear the hod; They bear upon their honest brows

The royal stamp and seal of God ; And worthier are their drops of sweat

Than diamonds in a coronet.

11 God bless the workingmen,

Who rear the cities of the plain, Who dig the mines, who build the ships,

And drive the commerce of the main.

God bless them, for their toiling hands

Have wrought the glory of all lands."

There is no mistake or vice more thoroughly to be deplored on this subject than that persons sitting at their ease and surrounded by all the conveniencies of life, who are apt to exclaim, "we find things very well as they are ;" and to inveigh bitterly against all projects of reform as "the myths and romances of visionary men, and the declamations of those who are never to be satisfied/' Now, is it well that so large a part of nearly every people, who are natural heirs to a fair portion of the soil and to the produce of their own labor, should be kept in penury, rendered stupid with ignorance and disgustful with vice, perpetuated in poverty and degradation, goaded to the commission of crimes, and made the unhappy victims to the merciless laws which the rich have instituted to oppress them, to starve them, to degrade them, to enslave them, and very often to imprison and execute them, while they themselves commit far greater crimes, but who, with their ill-gotten treasure, generally purchase their ransom ; or, which is more common, outwit the laws, and go scot-free to repeat their crimes. Then, would it be sedition to inquire whether this state of things may not be exchanged for a better ?

Or can there be anything more humiliating and degrading than for such men, calling themselves " gentlemen," to exclaim that " all is right," merely because they are floating along at their ease, regardless of the misery, degradation, and vice that may be occasioned in the less favored of their worthy race.

These are but some of the disgraceful and fatal effects of our present favorite system of land monopoly, and it does seem almost useless to write, lecture, or preach against it — against such a great crime— for men are determined not to think.

Chapter IV. Village Aristocracy

In almost every village of much importance, there is, among certain persons who would be considered, or who fancy themselves to be, actually above others, a spirit of pride, or what is called aristocracy, which is certainly one of the greatest evils ; and I should be pardoned for calling it one of the greatest curses that can afflict any community. A great deal of it is to be found among those who, in consequence of their overreaching in business, have succeeded in accumulating the greatest amount of wealth. Yes, I say, a great share of it is confined to the rich people of this character; but generally those who have obtained wealth by honest industry are still too honest, too sensible and worthy, to consider themselves above their industrious, honest, but less gifted or less fortunate fellow-citizens. But I believe that far the greater part of this low and foolish pride is confined to people who are measurably poor ; such as shackled traders, merchants, grocers, and very many industrious and honest mechanics, who possess, unfortunately, much more vanity than practical intelligence.

Some official and professional distinctions also not tinfrequently operate to feed that vanity and self-esteem which conduce to the evil of which I am complaining, while at the same time a good share of those officers and professors are incompetent and otherwise unworthy to enjoy their positions ; for I observe that it is a common practice among civil officers to first consider the interest of themselves and favorites before that of the public good, dispensing favors around with public money, to secure friends, " to sell calico," creating large debts and liabilities on the people without their consent, and in violation of the laws before them, etc.

And we yet have another class less useful but more to be pitied than the above — men who have no stability and concentration, and but little tact for any literary business, and being, the most of them, too lazy to labor, are obliged to battle around at one little business or another, always hard up for means to keep their poor souls and bodies together. Consequently they contract debts here and there, promising to pay at stated times, but owing to a want of nerve and moral stamina fail to come to time ; thus it goes with them from bad to worse, forever promising to pay, but too often never paying, obtaining about the one-half of their living by deception and intrigue, until they finally contract fixed habits of lying and dishonesty — of dishonesty and lying. Hence it is obvious that no lazy and trifling man can possibly possess a good character for truth and veracity — that no aristocratical, self-wise, and self-righteous man can possibly be a Christian.