The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-24 00:00:00

thought, when most unrestrained, carry a conservative I
power in itself ? In such a state of things, the erring
do not. all embrace the same error. Whilst truth is one
and the same, falsehood is infinitely various. It is a
house divided against itself, and cannot, stand. Error
soon passes away, unless upheld by restraint on thought.
History tells us, and the lesson is invaluable, that the
physical force, which has put down free inquiry, has
bisen the main bulwark of the superstitions and illusions
of past ages.
" In the next place, if we look at the chief direction
of the universal activity of the age, We shall find that it
is a conservative one, so as to render social convulsion next
to impossible. On what, after all, are the main energies of
thiS restlessness spent ? On property, on wealth. High
and low, rich anti poor, are running the race of accumula-
tion. Property is the prize for which all strain their nerves;
and the vast majority compass in some measure this end.
And is such a society in danger of revulsion ? Is tu-
melt the way to wealth ? Is a state of insecurity coveted
by men who own something and hope for more ? Are
civil laws, which, after all, have property for their chief
concern, very likely to be trodden under foot by its wor-
shippers ? Of all the dreams of fear, few seem to me
more baseless than the dread of anarchy among a people
who are possessed almost to a man with' the passion
for gain. lam especially amused when, among such
a people, I sometimes hear of danger to property and
society; from enthusiastic, romantic Reformers, who
preach levelling doctrines, equality of wealth, quaker
plainness of
.dress, vegetable food, and community-sys-
tenis, where all are to toil and divide earnings alike.
What ! Danger from romance and enthusiasm in this
money-getting, self-seeking, self-indulging, self-display-
ing land. ! I confess that to me it is a comfort to see
some outbreak of enthusiasm, whether transcendental,
philanthropic, or religious, as a proof that the human
spirit is not wholly ingulfed in matter and business, that
it can lift •up a little the mountains of worldliness and
sense with which it is so borne down. It will be time
enough to fear, when we shall see fanaticism of any kind
stopping ever so little the wheels of business or pleasure,
driving ever so little from man's mind the idea of gain,
or from woman's the love of display. Are any of you
dreading an innovating enthusiasm ? You need only to
step into the streets to be assured that property and the
world are standing their ground against the spirit of re-
form as stoutly as the most worldly man could desire.
" Another view which quiets my fear as to social or-
der, from the universal activity of the times, is the fact
that this activity appears so much in the form of steady
labour. It is one distinction of modern over ancient
times, that we have grown more patient of toil. Our
danger is from habits of drudgery. The citizens of
Greece and Rome were above work. 'We seem to work
with something of the instinct of the ant and the bee ;
and this is no mean security against lawlessness and
revolt.
"Another circumstance of our times which favours a
quiet state of things, is the love of comforts whicti the
progress of arts and industry has spread over the com-
munity. In feudal ages and ancient times, the mass of
the population had no such pleasant homes, no such de-
fences against cold and storms, no such decent apparel,
no such abundant and savoury meals, as fall to the lot of
our population. Now, it must be confessed, though not
very flattering to human nature, that men are very slow
to part with these comforts, even in defence of a good
cause, much less to throw them away in wild and sense-
less civil broils.