The Sun.
London, England, 1824-04-17 00:00:00

MR. OWEN.

" Men have not their affections in their
_power."
THE PIRATE, V 01.3. P. 127.
The Means of Ameliorating the Human .Condi-
lion, to be sought for in a ICnowledge of, the
Principles of Human Nature;
The Legislature of Great Britain is at this
moment assembled. The congregated talent and
knowledge of these realms is united for the -pur-
pose of devising suchmeasures of practical wis-
dom, as will promote the well-being and increase
the advantageS of the population committed to
their guidance.
It would be well to direct the attention of this
Assembly to the following observations of.
STEWART*. • -

" There is a science in Legislation which the
details of office, and the intrigues of popular
assemblies will never communicate-7a sciet;ce,
of which the principles must be sought far
in the constitution of human nature, and in
the general laws which regulate the course of
hnman affairs ; and which, if ever, in conse-
quence of the progress of reason, philosophy
should be enabled to assume that ascendant in
the Government of the world, which
.has hi-
therto been maintained by accident, com-
bined .with the passions and capriCes of a few
leading individuals, may, perhaps; produce moce
petfect and happy forms of society than have yet
been realised in tha history of mankind."•
Reason has made a rapid and unlooked-for
progress ; philosophical knowledge both natural
and moral; has opened upon the "world a succes-
sion •of new and unexpected lights, and the le-
gislature
may now deem it expedient, and even
find it necessary, to look into the constitution of
human nature for those 'principles, which will
enable them to prodUcethe long sought forms of
society, from which a more perfect and happy
state of human existence will result,.than any
which has yet been realised in the history of
mankind.

It has hyretofore been the practice of Legis-
lators and of the ruling authorities to avail them-
selves of the materials which compose society,
to' take them up, mashed as they are, and de-
formed by the accumulated errors of past centu-
ries, and to designate such materials by the name
of human nature, and the combinations thereof
by that of civilized society ; while they have but
superficially inquired how much of what they
see is the produce of artificial arrangement, how
littlechas its basis in the constitution of mankind-
-with impressions of this character stamped
upon the mind, they contemplate as visionary
projects, as, illusive dreams, all great and per-
manent improvements in the human constitution,
and, when undertaking the arduous task of
amendment, they satisfy themselves with the
temporary removal of immediate and local dif-
ficulties, leaving- their successors as much embar-
rassed as they have been themselves, and as ig-
norant of the real causes and remedies of the
prevailing evils, as all generations must remain,
until philosophy shall instruct the legislating
powers, and direct them to inquire into the na-
ture of the beings whose improvement they have
hitherto so vainly sought to effect. The astro-
nomer may range through the starry firmament,
and tell the course of every planet; but, igno-
rant of the affinities of earthly bodies, could he
decompose an alkali.
No more can the Legislator, however he may
have studied the histories of past and present
times, however familiar he may be with all the
intrigues of Courts, and of popular assemblies,
hope to ameliorate effectively the condition of -the
human species, until he shall derive his principles
from a knowledge of the contitution of human
nature.

Mr. OWEN'S View of the Human Being, and the
Nature of circumstances considered.

The Philant-rophic founder of " The New
System," who has lately occupied much of the
public attention of these countries, and whose
philosophic mind has ranged over the physical
and moral scene of life, is' led to hope that the
period of amelioration is founded upon the basis
which Stewart proposes, is not so distant as
might at first sight seem probable. Nay, he
ventures to assert, that the means of effecting
the desired improvement, is at this moment be-
fore the world. Mr. Owen has, by an enlarged
intercourse with all classes of the human family,
by a close investigation of nature, and by an ac-
cumulation of facts, which his deeply reflecting
and Combining mind has brought together, ar.
rived at the conclusion : that the human being
is plastic in his ❑ature, and prepared from birth
to receive such impressions as external circum-
stances are calculated to produce; allowing for
the modificatiOn which those circumstances will
receive from the peculiar combination and degree
of the faculties, qualities, and propensity of the
individual upon whom they act. He maintains,
that the infant Chinese, if transplanted at birth,
would become an adult Englishman, and that the
sava►!e Cannibal, might with ease have been trained
to the character of a mild and benevolent Quaker—
that the gloomy and desperate cov,spirator might,
Under a different combination of circumstances,
have become an intelligent and able Statesman,
and that the votary of idle dissipation and folly
might, without difficulty, have" been moulded
into the child of industry, or of graceful refine-
.

This is a new and a happy view of human na-
ture, including within its range the progressive
steps of ever increasing improvements, and clos-
ing out from the mental vision the Hydra of na-

".Elements, p: 2. §. 2. on the utility of the Philosophy of the
human mind. _

tural and necessary evil, with which it has so lane;
been daunted and .dismayed ; it is a view, whicli
if borne out ; by , facts, And by fair. reasoning
thereon, would ultimately lead (as truth when
once'perceiVed -most force its onward . waY) ,to
such great and universal changes in the StructUre
.of society, that-it. Well may claim the attention
of every acute and reasonitig.mind.
We should first inquire What is meant by cit'-
=instances, which are proposed as the powerful
engine by which the destiny of man is to be ruled;
and next, as a question of no minor importance,
we should ettdeavonr to ascertain the degree in
which those circuinsfances are capable of being
influenced by the powers of the Being, whoa)
they in their turn controul ;7—circumstances are,
all the existences which compose and which sur-
round
.us. The physical, moral, and mei:ltal ex-
istences, amongst which we Jive and move, and
have our being, are .. the circumstance's in whiChr
we are placed*." There are internal and natu-
ral circumstances connected with mankind, by
which we understand the organization of his nature,
.and the climate and localities which surround him :
there are external and artificial circumstances,
by which we comprehend the social arrangements
Under which. he is placed ;. these, combining to-
gether, do, and ever must create the general and
particular character of the human being, and
ever must determine the proportion of his attain--
ments, as well as the measure of his prosperitY
and enjoyment.
That each individual has no controuling powei
over ,either of these classes of circumstances,
appears to be a self-evident proposition,-,--to
what extent the public mind, or the ruling
authorities, may influence both, is an inquiry
which merits the most attentive investigation.

Internal and Natural Circumstances capable of
Modification by Human Agencies, and in the-
selves favourable to the Species which they

Influence.

The internal and natural Circumstances must
necessarily give the first impetus to the course of
human affairs,—the faculties, qualities, and pro-
pensities, which compose us, together with the
climate and localities which surround us, must
largely contribute to direct and impel, to cause
or create the peculiar character, as well as the
social arrangements which, in each distinct class
of the human species, in each varying country,
and at each succeeding period, have manifested
themselves amongst nations. Over this class of
circumstances it would seem that we can have but
little comparative controu 1. Look at the Egyptian,
reposing under the shady trees, which spring up
spontaneously upon the banks of the refreshing
Nile. See him plunging into its cooling waters,
gathering the melon which ministers to his
health, while it delights his senses. How much
must his conformation, his climate, and his loca-
lities, contribute to create for him a character,
and to constitute for him a social system, unlike
that of the Laplander, " stinted of nature's fair
proportion ;" shivering and starving in his sun-
less and ungenial latitudes. That these circum-
stanceishould not fall within the pale of human
management, will be readily and very generally
-pronounced ; yet their stubborn and resisting
nature will not ever militate against the progress
of improvement ; wherever knowledge eitends
`subjects,
sway, she embellishes the dominions of her
subjects, and rules the materials of the universe
—she pours through every regLn new and vivi-
fying lights—she fathoms the deep, and soars oil
high. She plays with the blossoms which na-
ture supplies, and presents to her votaries the
richest fruits. Such is the power of knowledge,
that her gifts are inexhaustible, as their -culture
is delightful! Yet, while dwelling upon the
thoughts of all that she bestows, we must not
pass unheeded the beautiful constitution of
simple nature, who, in all climates and'at all pe-
riods, manifests towards her children Her unceas-,
ing care. She grants them, under the rudest of
circumstances, the enjoyment of simple' plea-
sures, and of careless ease, and her unerring
hand, impels them on by slow yet certain steps
to seek that knowledge which never fails to
reward and to crown their pursuits.

* The faculty of speech, the power of motion—are circum-
stances of our nature, as the education which cultivates and
improves them are circumatanees of our social condition.
( To be continued. )

PNEUMATIC APPARATUS.--The Dolls trans-
lates from a Cadiz paper the following accounts of two
veries of Pneumatic Apparatus, which are to form a substi-
tute for the power of steam as applied to navigation. -There
must be some mistakes in the original account, or in ti e
Etoile's translation ; for in their preient form we can make -
thing of the " discoveries." We shall, however, repeat the
tice in the hope that some scientific (Edipus may. derive instruc-
tion from it. The Cadiz
,Commercial Gazette contains the follow-
ing account of two new. discoveries by a Mr. Crivelli":—:" The
first consists of two pneumatic machine, which are placed at
the bottom of the hold of a vessel, and put into motion by
means of a spring. The powerful action of these machine§
having formed a vacuum, he columns of atmospheric air,`
following the laws of pressure, fall with all their weight into
the interior, and, by the continual motion of, the machines,
receiving a fresh impetus from the columns which succeed
each .other with extraordinary rapidity, open a channel for
the action- of the atmospheric pressure. The compressed air is
are
eblf means us in pr4er
of prts-.
•
forced into two pipes, and strikes against an appartus which is
placed on the sides of the vessel, and which, in its turn, moves
two large paddles,,producing the same effect as in steaiia-hoat.V%
The second discovery is as follows:—" After having extracted
from Sea-yater, hy means of evaporation, the oxygen and hydro-
w.uinrfiniacnhhi an extraordinaryintsclailoattaidnsa,pptialrea gassess;.us,
explosivewhere, power. Cit..
velli is now endeavouring to discover the means of apply
this power without danger, and will communicate the result or
proportionsg
sure,eh
his researches to the public an soon as his labours are concluded.'

A quarrel arose on Monday week, in the after-
noon, between two men who had been drinking
together at a public-house in Salford, when one
man, with a most savage ferocity, seized the other
his teeth by the lower lip,-r.nd completely,
bit it off. The wretch was itnthediately taken'
into custody, and lodged in the New Bailey.