The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-01-10 00:00:00

" PROOREBB," A LECTURE BY MR. B.

FOBBET-LOCK.

A meeting of the members of the Dorchester Liberal
Amociatiob was bald at the Temperance Hall on
Monday evening last, for the purpose of bowleg a
lecture OD " Progrem " by Mr. B. FossiteLook.
barrister-at-law. The attendanos was not so large as
might have been aaticimited, but the torrents of rain
that fed at tin/ time doubtless prevented msay of the
members Irons attending. The enbject " Progrese "is
a wide one, and those present must have been highly
gratified by the thorough manner in which Mr. Lock
was able to deal with it in the course of his lecture,
which w.a mole of tbe character of an address, being
almost entirely delivered without the aid of notes uf
any him'.
.in the mU rt of Mr. AIITHOR LOCK, ARO 'acted by
Mr. W. TILLIV, hit. J. Peard-Jillmd was voted to the
chair.
The CHAIRMAN expressed the great pleasure he felt
ID OCINIITHHI that position. Mr. L needed no
introduction, am! he was aure they all felt it to be
exceedingly kin I of him to come there to lecture to
them on such an inclement night. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. B. FoserriLoce mksd their attention for • few
minutes that night. not upon soy party diatribe. flora
speech after lii. faeoi .0 of Sir William Harcourt on the
ou aide. and Sir Rendolph Churchill on tht other, but his
objdt woo to discos., (rum the p out of viow of principle,
"rod they. as Liberel& in -ant wben they said they were
the patty of prioress. What did they mean by progress?
Everybody talked of it in these day., and each
school ot thought kid claim ti Poolic respect
and approval on the [Mind it woo the party
of pr deem It was quite sufficient to look
round at the different schools of thouget and °pint .as,
which claim for thetumtym the exclusive tile
representing erode... t "knot. there was an extraordinary
number of possonngs to " proved " in the mlud• of
diff rent pontoon en I different schools, both in politics. in
enenta in retigioo, ant in every branch of human
th night and imagination. He would take one or two
inatoo o of people who were always talking about
progress. Is tbe first place, Ordinal Meaning, or the
P .p. himself, and in their opinions the rule of their
church is certainly one of progress; but progress to teem
meant the extension of Roman Catboliciem all over the
world, from and to end, wall the whole outvotes is cured
by the belief in the in' allible Pope. Without discussing
whether this was right or wrong, in tbe sine dint of Tie •
let them look at the mediae of progress in the mouth of
Lori Bbafteebury. Wbes Lord Rhalthebury talked about
Pr 00110.4 he roman the destruction of Catholicism all over
the meth. As in religion, solo other Witter, ; when people
talked about program they had absolutely did event ideas.
In politico in divide, end in mod other doless
it wae eqoally true. Take fir in.t.nce the view
of Mr. Brigid in internailonal relations. His idea
:fai=rele was the approximstion of • time when no
should inteHere with titters, when armies should
disappear, and the whole world 'would live in • perfect
heaven of pesos and net, end when "the lion is to lie down
with the lamb." Coed.' thie with the opinions of
Sir Bartle From. In exactly the name way be Mirada
himself as the upholder or program and civilisation
by which he moat the corn.° tt by Zeeland of all native
races near English settlemes to the consecration of stand'
ins armies and toilitoy systems, and the enforcing of
Erielsah dello ition all over the world. They were
Lib. rale sal a L bard A.sediation in two points of view;
one of thein he did not heeitisee to sly was • bad point.
There ought really to be no such thing NI party politics,
for if they hart scienttfic vie-s of human progress there
would be no room for two Pete of people who propond
diametrically opposed solutions of the tame problems.
Tboro was • time when people were just as hotly and
ferocious:y divided upon the subject I/nether the earth
went round the sun, as they were now on the question
whether Liberate or Ciumnratives entertaloed the proper
view of politics; but no., by • series of patient investielr
dons and experiment. they had come to the conclusion,
though very few ciuof prove it, that the earth did really
go round the son. He thought they ooeht to look
forward to a time in politic, as., when they ghoul t arrive
at , time when the specific problem should receive a
specific 'solution. Now, wbat did they mean by progreee
In the fle.t place it did no: moan merely change. In order
to test pr they moot consider the point el departure
Sal the object or gold aimed at, for unless they knew
what thee wens aiming at it was quite imporwible to tell
whether or not they were progressing. In order that the/
might know what human progress redly is, they GUM
find know whet is humanity. The Lost thing they had
to consider as English workiog-men of the town of DM.
chaster, in order to have a right view of political subjects,
was to know what wee the organism. what were the
organs making it up, and what were the function* they
were to perform. It • 'ended • very big question, but it
was clearly • question they solved every dim for them-
s•lves under tort own eyes. They were simply coming
gradually to conclusion as to whet were the necessary
component parts of honosn tocieg. After all, they would
C4llll to the cone wink there were not very many. In
human society there were sigh things as family govern-
mood, general government, divided into central and the
different forms of local government; there were the
rights of property, of ....pital. and labour, and employer
and employed. In the math way there were various
forme of religion and systems of education in
hum m society. The first thine, then, that they had to
do, woo to form proper ideas by obeervation by west the
phiboophers called induction—strides at general laws
by the observation of a great number of instances. They
found nut what were the component parts of human
soon V. and Wee wm the first element of discord between
the different parties and individuals. They said there
must 100 some form of government • tut that wee not
always c indeed by Nihilist., Fenlen;, and people of that
Bode. But they Ito England had arrived at the coniusion
that some government was neceusrj, and then it lees
asked—shall it be a Monareby or a Republw, • const rD
tional or absolute Monarchy I In K agland we ha I •
cortsin form of constitutional Monarchy, which had
charged very rapi fly. Admitted there mud be some form
of Government, there followed the practical question—
shall the Government be • Monarchy or a Republic I and
it was equally true of capital and labour. All them
queettons resting to capital and labour, central and local
Government, anti all the different organs of human society
soodd be dealt with from • ecientific point of view; and
than the question arose—whet me the functions of thios
organ. c =poodle the organism of human society I He
could only say they were gradually arriving, by eerie' of
experiments. at approximations ef what wee right and
wrong in these matters. When they came to the question
of program in them matters they wanted to know what
was the waning of progress of human society. What
were the general functions of humanity as opposed to the
special functions? Each man had some functions and
duties besides twine • man, and pbdoephers had always '
called those duties he bail, apart from professional duties,
morels flat, then, is the ground of human progn et
Humanity had orgies which were capable of advancing in
a great number of lines—there were material poottrem,
scientific progress, philoophical prognu, and intellectual
progren ; but all these different sorts of program must be
subordinate to the general progress of the human race in I
morality. In the same point of view with politics '
they might advance in any number of different
lines in the improvement of the human rue, but
the real question woo whether they really advenoed
In, or affected, or improved the human morality.
As with central, so exactly in he same manner with bcd
Government. There woo nothing they admired more in I
'mall boroughs and is c 'unties than the devotion of the
man to toe general let osste--in ouch capacities as tbe
Ilkyor of Dorcheethr, ant the Chairmen of the Quarter
Saddens of the county. What they especially admired
and liked wee that each men should devote themselves to
the interests of the Borough and the local community, but
still they should recollect that it wae only • part of the
wider sods', which made greater demands upon their dove- I
then and interest. The City of L bail entirely for-
gotten that for the last bye id, sod it had been the caws of
• vest amount of misgovernment, and jobbery, and dis-
comfort to everybody who lived here. twangs it bad been
powerful enough to put the interests of that mall part
edited the City of Lon ion over the Metropolis and the
country at large. And in the mom way he instanced lines'
burgh. They had in Dorset several unreformed boroughs,
which had attracted the attention of Sir Charles Mike
lately, and very likely something would have to be said
to them soon on the subject of their government, for
whether In the City of London, at Wareham or Cords
Cottle. or liemborgh, the interests of the small body most
io ma le sue 'Minato to the interest., of the larger body.
Woh iced.] env e, nmeot it wee co eetly the same thing.
It grout.' seem to.' the inien eta of England mast be
pfratuount to everything e 1... het, looking deeper, they
wool? see the friteresta of England must be subordinate
to the interests of the U nited Kingdom; and it wee
absolutely neimesery they should he prepared, patriotic as
they were, and devoted to England as they m.4ht be, to
subordinate the noceigi inta•eets of England to the wider
inteeesto of the European nail -ne ate whole. For indeed,
in the quedlon of Free Trot,. it may be a matter of vital
imp,eitsnos to France not to extond her principles if Tree
Teas?"; that, of o-uro, will be very Sailing to
Engl Ind. But lo at the r orral aspect of the con.
finest. and they would IRO there must be some
c -operaticn to keop hack Germany. Austria and
Rode whose vest military organisation might, at any
moment, threateo war and newt the peace of Bar ipe.
And in that light he ['Anted England would not be
inclose'? by the notion of France in her cemmorciel
treatise to be set againet her, simply because it might
lower I. • small intent the es returns of English
Wade. Emelt,' no lathe conotions of capital end laboor
—the intermits of industry mud be subordinate to the
general and iothrnatlonel morality. In regard to the
opium question, the lecturer sell the English army had
for about 40 yeses been employed in enforcing the Chinese
I, admit into their ceuntry, at a small tax of only five per
cont., the opium which woe grown by the British Govern.
mew for the purposee of the Indian revenue There were
difficulties shoot the r ght settlement of this question it
was true, hot if they tore in mind the general princ.ples
of [wordily, which should to.. held paramount over the
Interest, ef Endl-h trade and revenue., it owild con-
aiderably golde them through this very intricate question.
Formtly the same stone in regent to Freida and Tonis
an tontinee nf political toogoos and • retrearde move-
ment in morality. (Applense 1 With the Traneveal it
wee the sac,'. There woe nothing more to the credit of
Redline in her actinn in regard to the Transvatl than her
reinstating the n Ode government as • protest ageinst
the notion that Enelish interests were to over-ride the
notion of right and justice of every notion in the world,
(Applause.) The only tart they tomtit have of progress
from • ',dentine point of view was that progress tnedd a
continuous succession of States going forward lea defiedte
melee each of which offered to every member of the
society affected by it, greater oppertnnitiee, thee the
epecial functions he had to perform sli-uld be well per-
formed, and, oeverthelem, performed is sustainer which
should make his omelet fonctions subordinate to tee
general functions. No Liberal party or no Liberal Al•O•
dation eould he of ultimate valise to the world, unless the
members of it are in view of the fact that polities were
di•tinctly a duty in wild& every man must melte up his
mind in the Interests of the whole, and of no pert in
particular 7 if thet were en, he had no doubt not only the
Liberal Association of Dorchester, but Liberal Amoci %lions
throughout England would have a were practical voice in
the Pnntrese of the wad interests of humanity. (Ay•
plums.)

Tba CIIATIMN said their first duty was to thank Mr.
Lock forth, lucid aid admirable ivetura with whith be
bad favounwl them. Re 11.. t ray he perammily felt
very moch beneg.,rd by it, and be was are ethers present
felt themes. (Hear, bear)
Mr. BAILOR feared very much that the Liberal Asvociation
•••• not Prosreseins very much. He contended they did
not hold their mai ioss often enough- He suggested they
should have meetings, at least, once • month, when
"Admen" could he delivered to them. (Hear, hear.) He
contrasted the Liberal Association of D^rchester with that
of Brideort, at which place he said there was an over-
whelming mown'.
Mr. Cuint.ga advised that a meeting be called, at which
they might discuss the matter. He begged to move a
vote of thanks to Mr. Look for his 'salient Lecture.
(Apolanee)
Mr. RAMRocItCOIS.I..I.
.. -

Mr. neturiat.Lien weed they did not have enough
nteetinee. and there was nut that activity mutilated
which there °not to have been, and he believed that view
would be taken bY hi. oollwaeoes on the executive coin.
mitten,

Mr. A. H. Loaf IMO Of theism. pion. He Well 1116,1 of
opinion that their meetings aboul be wider and opener
I an at Present. (Rear. hear.) When P gentleman took
the trouble tn levers to them. aa Mr. Nese. did e' m.
time ago. it wee a greet Pity they should simply canape
themselves t, thamealm. (11..ar, hear.) If they were
the ohne of proreei they wen not afraid of whet 1t..,
mid or did, and by simply Wring to Libeeals they would
nem colleen anybods (Reer. hear.) The committee
would ele if they rould not do matethina daring the
coming year In this reopect (Appian... 3
Mr. B. P. Loci thanked them for their vote of thanks
gad for their kind attention.
The meting Oa disposed.