Star.
London, England, 1823-07-30 00:00:00

or-
to talk of virtue and of virtuous conduct, as though
they were familiar with both; while, in fact, they are
totally unacquainted with either, and I will demon-
strate this truth by referring to the circumstances
which now exist around us.
" It is virtue, if I know anything of the subject, to
adopt measures to prevent the existence of vicious
circumstances around any portion of mankind, be-
cause men are sure to become what those circum-
stances make them. At this hour, every portion of
mankind is surrounded with. circumstances, the
greater part of which are of an immoral character—
and the great majority of mankind are forced to exist
amidst circumstances, almost all, if not all, of which
are directly vicious and detrimental to them. To take
an instance from our own country, and among our own
fellow-subjects, can we find one single virtuous cir-
cumstance prepared for the millions of infants who
conic into existence in the Irish cabins ? It is the first
duty, it is the true interest of our Government, to
form arrangements calculated to render all its sub-
jects healthy, active, intelligent, temperate, moral,
and happy ; and they have, at their disposal, more
power and more means than are requisite to accom-
plish this purpose ; but see how this power and these
means have been applied! Let me now ask those
who are acquainted with any more of Ireland than the
Castle and its precincts, how many circumstances
exist around the population of that island, which do
not tend to deteriorate and demoralize the human
character ? Is it the policy of Government that Ire-
land should continue in its present state? It cannot
be ; for it is not their interest, neither is it any longer
practicable. Ireland cannot remain long in her pre-
sent miserable condition. She must undergo a change,
and the only question is, what should it be—what
change is the best that, in the present advanced state
of science and knowledge, can now be made ? I fear-
lessly answer, that as a change must come, it ought
to be the best that can be advised, the most correct in
principle, and the most beneficial in practice. In prin-
ciple, then, it is far better that an uneducated labourer
should be employed, than that he should be idle ;
and, if employed, it is equally desirable, that his in-
dustry should be directed in the most beneficial•man-
ner for himself and society. It is also desirable that
his children should be so trained as to acquire good
constitutions, dispositions, and manners, industrious
habits, and useful intelligence. And if all this be true
in principle, then it follows, that, in practice, circum-
stances should be immediately . arranged by Go-
vernment to secure these results—for they are under
its controul. But, in this mode of proceediog, Go-
vernment should have the entire plan before it, and
see and understand all its consequences from the be-
ginning to the end, that it may nut halt between two
opinions, or adopt half measures. Every one now
feels the pernicious effects, if they do not understand
the cause, of the errors of the present system ; and the
only consideration which remains is, will the change
proposed be an essential improvement or not ? for,
unless the condition of inankind be greatly ameliorated
by it, I readily admit no fundamental alteration ought
to be attempted or thought of. Having had the sub-
ject long before me, and having acquired more expe-
rience connected with it than any other individual, 1
am fully prepared to say, without fear of opposition
from► any intelligent practical man, that the change
will be productive of incalculable advantage to sub-
jects and to Governments—so great, indeed, that as
soon as they make themselves masters of what is pro-
posed to be done, they cannot fail to be eager in their
• endeavours to have it accomplished in the shortest

,possible time.
" Under the system recommended, the forming of
the character of the rising generation will no longer
be left to accident. Measures will be adopted to pre-
pare for them such new circumstances as are calcu-
lated to ensrre them a good constitution, proper
treatment in infancy, an education from which they
will derive good dispositions and manners, indus-
trious habits, and useful intelligence—the means of
productive employment, and of an advantageous ex-
change of the surplus products of their labour, as
well as the means of maintaining a beneficial inter-
course with general society. By such arrangements
there will be no waste of labour or materials; and
the result of each person's exertions will be much
more than four fold in produce compared with their
iesult under the existing system, and a hundred fold
greater in reference to comfort and all the real ob-
jects of human life. I have had two sets of calcula-
tions accurately made out—the one :hewing the re-
sult of the arrangements which I propose, allowing
that the common spade-produce only is obtained
from the land, and valuing the manufacturing labour
of each individual at 7s. per week ; the population
being supposed to be employed on greater or less
quantities of land, and more or less in manufactures,
in proportion to the extent of land to be cultivated.
The other set of calculation exhibits the result which
would be produced under the new system, after it
shall have attained the full benefit of its own opera-
tions, and estimating the manufacturing labour at its
'real value under the improved circumstances. This
new arrangement might be commenced on the prin-
ciple of artificial productive employment, because it,
will return to the producers a much larger commer-
cial profit, while it continues in competition with the
present system, than any regular outlay of capital
can afford. But to intelligent men of business it will
be at once obvious that the system of artificial pro.
ductive employment must soon cease. No one will
continue to expend capital for the purpose of making
a machine on an old plan, after he has discovered that
a new one, much superior, has been invented and suc-
cessfully applied to perform similar operations. And
when a certain number of these arrangements, or
new machines, as they may very properly be termed,
shall be formed and set to work, produce and com-
modities of all kinds will be so easily created, that it
will become impossible to effect a sale of them, that
will yield a commercial profit to the producers. But
this will give rise to no inconvenience, for as the new
establishments multiply, the parties conducting them
will gradually adopt the system of natural produc-
tive employment, and exchange labour for labour,
through a convenient representative medium, until
all shall find themselves fully supplied with what-
ever can contribute to their well-being and happi-
ness, under arrangements permanent in their nature
and pleasant and gratifying to all in practice. The
ignorance and folly of pursuing any other mode of
supplying the wants of mankind will then become
apparent to every ma. The old machinery of society

will be seen to be, as it really is, most defective in
principle, and altogether inadequate to the work
which it was intended to perform. Men will at length
discover why a surplus produce, or real wealth, should
embarrass and overwhelm commercial nations, while
all the individuals composing them were ardently de-
sirous of increasing their wealth.
" They will plainly perceive that there is nothing
more absurd and irrational than that any part of so-
ciety should be in poverty, or that any anxiety what-
ever should now exist respecting the method and
means of enabling every individual to possess more
than sufficient to support him in the best state, physi-
cally and mentally. The modern political economists
surely know not what real wealth is, how it can`be
best created, or best distributed and enjoyed. If they
understood the subject, they would discover that their
minds had been filled with theories which have no
reference to practice; mere terms without ideas;
phrases, which, as they employ them, are made to
stand in the way of everything that is beneficial to
mankind—tending to puzzle common minds, until
they make them think, contrary to the evidence of
the senses, that abundance, or surplus produce, must
perpetually inflict poverty and misery. Upon this
branch of the inquiry, it may be sufficient to add, that
the British Government, or the people, unaided by
the Government, possess the most ample means, with-
out any pecuniary sacrifice whatever, to enable any
and every portion of the population to • supply itself
with whatever is necessary or beneficial for every in-
dividual composing such portion. To suppose that
pecuniary charity is necessary or beneficial, is an
error of the most pernicious and lamentable descrip-
tion. The working classes may now with ease be as-
sisted, without sacrifice on the part of any individual,
to provide, by their own industry, for themselves;
and not only provide for themselves, but to produce
a surplus more than sufficient to supply the most ex-
travagant wants of the higher classes, although the
latter were double their present number, and should
expend four timesr their present revenues. Pecuniary
charities will no longer be considered as virtues but
as crimes, since they necessarily tend to render de-
pendent, to impoverish and degrade those who are
the objects of them; who, if treated with common
justice, would be in a situation to bestow favours
upon their fellow creatures, rather than be the re-
ceivers of a miserable pittance—a small fraction of
that affluence which, by their previous industry, they
had actually created for those very persons who make
merit of such misnamed charities. Let but com-
mon justice be done to the working classes by those
above them, and each, on an average, shall produce
sufficient for ten, and each of those ten shall be
abundantly supplied with whatever is best for him as
a human being. How erroneous, then, must be the
system which renders it necessary to assign poors%
rate and pecuniary charities, as they are called, to
those who produce all the wealth now in society, and
who, if placed under other circumstances, could in
a sh.4t time, and without difficulty, augment that
wealth much more than four-fold !

.‘ It is in consideration of this, and of many more
grievous errors, that I on this day come prepared to
advocate the advantages that would arise to all from
an entire change of the present system, and to de-
monstrate the necessity which now exists for an im-
mediate commencement of that change, beginning
with the poor and working classes. Having entered
into this explanation of my views regarding the ne-
cessity and utility of finding productive employment
for the Irish peasantry, and for all those of the work-
ing classes who are now in want of it, I proceed to
the consideration of the means by which the inhabit-
ants of Ireland can be united, and induced to live to-
gether as one people, having the same interest. The
primary and substantial cause of the divisions among
the people of Ireland is, the manner in which religion
is taught to them—l say, the manner in which reli-
gion is taught to them. Experience demonstrates
that men, in any part of the world, may be forced to
believe anything to be true, however irrational and ab-
surd, and centraryto truth,that which is taught maybe.
—lt is a principle in unison with all the facts with
which we are acquainted, that the will of the indivi:
dual has no power over his belief; that his belief or
conviction is in all cases forced upon him, and very
generally by the geographical circumstances of his
birth. Yet have the Irish people been taught for many
centuries that there is merit in ene particular belief,
and great demerit in every other, on the setject of
11 religion. This same doctrine is taught by two power-
ful parties in that Island, who have teen forced to re-
ceive different impressions on their minds, as to which
are the notions which will entitle the individual to
merit, or which are thole to which demerit ought to
be attached. Each party is fully impressed with the
conviction that the truth is on its side, and the error
with its opponents. They are thus forced, from in-
fancy, to entertain hostile feelings towards each other,
and to acquire characters of violence and in ationality,
necessarily leading to all manner of error in princi-
ple and es it in practice.
While our fellow men and fellow subjects shall
be thus instructed, it will be worse than childish to
expect that they can be made to think of, or to act to-
wards each other in a rational manner, or towards
any other individuals who had been taught notions
not corresponding with their own. These jarring
notions, and the hostile feelings which they necessarily
'create, can exist only while men shall be allowed to
remain in ignorance of their own nature and consti-
tution. For, as it is evidently a law of our nature,
that our will has no controul over our sentiments or
belief, it is equally evident, that there never could be
any merit in any individual for receiving one set of
opinions in preference to another, and quite as little
demerit. 1 repeat, then, that the primary cause of all
religious differences among the people of Ireland is,
the error which has been forced into their minds from
infancy, that merit or demerit can belong to opi-
nion. WO same error produces similar effects in
every part of the world, and it is the chief cause, either
direct or indirect, of the dissensions and wars which
have disturbed and desolated all human society. It
is a bar to all charity ; it nourishes every antisocial
_feeling ; it prepares man for every species of crime;
it is alone the origin of all the moral, and of much,
if not all, the physical evil which the world has hitherto
experienced. Why, then, should we—why should
any part of society not desire that this pestilential'
doctrine should be whully.withdrawn from the moral
code of the world ? Tell me—l address myself to
those among you who haft often deeply reflected upon,
and have patiently and calmly observed the ways of

men, what practical results would follow, if this doc-
trine, the source of universal division, dissension,
hatred, and strife, were entirely blotted out from the
system of their early instruction? Would our young
minds, in the absence of it, imbibe feelings towards
oar fellow-creatures that would impel us in manhood
to torture, burn, and massacre them, because, being
differently taught from ourselves, they could not be-
lieve the same truths or falsehoods which we from
infancy had been compelled to entertain? Can you
conceive it possible, that, if error had not been forced
into the minds of our predecessors, any one of them
could have felt and acted in this manner, or that they
could have adopted such conduct with the view of
gratifying a mild, merciful, and benevolent BUN%
who possessed all knowledge and power within his
own nature? To eradicate this terrible error, this de-
stroyer of every good feeling and of all good con-
duct in mankind, would it not be, at once to with-
draw from human society that which alone separates
man from man, that which excites the peculiar re-
pulsiye feeling in the Churchman, when he commu-'
nicates with the Dissenter; in the sectarian, when he
meets with . those into whose minds has been put
another version merely of his own creed ?
" Some, however, who are now present, will not
have it in their power to prevent themselves from
thinking at this moment, that if it be indeed true,
that any opinions may be forced in infancy into the
mind of any child, and that it is a law of nature, that
the will of man is powerless over his opinions, then it
is a necessary conclusion that merit or demerit never
did or can belong to any sentiments entertained by
any portion of mankind. Here, then, we have
attained a point of the highest interest in the affairs of
men, and to this point I would now rivet your
attention. That there is much evil in the world, all
admit. Dissension, ignorance, and poverty, or the
tear of poverty, with all the train of dire calamities,
which these continually generate, afflict the greater
part of our species. Whence do these arise? From
the system by which the world has ever been, and is
now governed. From whence does that system pro-
ceed? Solely from the notion which has been forced
into the minds of all men in childhood, that there is
merit and demerit in opinion; and yet the first rational
reflection that a human being must make, after he
becomes•acquainted with the history of his race, is,
that opinions are the necessary effects of the geogra-
phical situation of man; and, therefore, if there be
merit or demerit in opinions, both belong to geographi-
cal situation, and not either of them to the individual.
" It was from this view of the subject, and from
knowing the endless evils which this fundamental
error has brought upOn the human race, that I was
led to declare my intention on this day to advocate a
change of system ; and I have come to this resolution,
because the measure of the iniquities of the present
system is quite full, and can be no longer endured;
—because the wretched state of Ireland calls loudly
for improvement, and it is not possible to ameliorate,
the condition of that country, until the system by
which it has been hitherto governed shall be changed
from its foundation. Those who possess minds equal
to the comprehension of this subject, will readily un-
derstand that the system cannot be changed in Ire-
land without also being changed in Great Britain,
and that the change cannot take place in the British
Empire without extending its beneficial influence to
the neighbouring nations, and, at no distant period,
to all other parts of the earth. The entire subject is
thus placed before you, and I trust your minds will
now expand to comprehend its full extent. I wish it
to be, without delay, placed also before the world,
and so placed that the world shall understand the
real nature of the change which is this day advocated.
It is one that will be accompanied by no evil in its
progress ; it has no hostile feeling to a single child
of man. Its object is, to do good, and, against every
adverse circumstance, to extend that good continually."
—Mr. Owen next took a comprehensive view of the
state of society which, he said, could never be im-
proved
piecemeal. In the system he proposed he dis-
claimed all hostile interference with the present prac-
tices of the world. All were equally admissible to
its advantages—individuals of every sect and party
would harmonize together; " thus, (continued he),
in a short time, there will be no clashing of pecuniary
interests, no unsocial differences on the subject of re-.
ligion ; every motive to individual or national con-
tests will be withdrawn, and the errors which give rise
to the personalities that now torment society will
become too glaring, even to young children, to ad-
mit of the continuance of such puerile proceedings."
—Alluding more particularly to Ireland, he drew a
strong picture of the distress in that country, and said,
a loan of from five to eight millions, well secured on
land, houses, and on the industry of those who would
prefer employment to idleness, would rescue it from
its miseries. He recommended that Government
should advance that sum ; and -even if no part of it
was refunded, nor the interest paid, the moral result
would be suffiOent compensation. But he thought
the interest of such a loan would be paid ; and so cpn-
vinced was he of it, that he was ready to form a list, and
put his name down, as further guarantee to Govern-
ment. Whateverothersmight do, he ( M r.O wen) would
never cease calling on Government and the people, to
rescue Ireland from her misery ; and he was also de-
termined to establish a Society in Scotland on his
plan, where persons should be trained for forming
similar establishments in other parts of the kingdom.
In conclusion, Mr. Owen said, " Those present who
are inclined to invest in the parent establishment any
part of their funds at an interest of iper cent. to be
paid half yearly at Messrs. Fry and Chapman's, in
the City, will have the goodness to send up their
names to be added to those already on the printed
list ; and as a Society has been formed in Dublin,
under the title of the Hibernian Philanthropic So-
ciety, for the purpose of forming one or more of these
establishments in Ireland, and as several thopsand
pounds have been already subscribed for that pur-
pose, it is requested that those Ladies and Gentlemen
who wish to promote the trial of one of the proposed
villages in that country, will put down their names
on the same terms as the Scotch loan has been sub-
scribed for. I take the interest in them, which you
have witnessed, becAuse I feel that human nature
has been abused and ill treated ; and because I believe
that the principles and plans whiCh I advocate will
do justice to our common nature. The sole return
I seek, or have ever sought, is to know that some day
my fellow-beings will be in possession of the full ex-
tent of that happineu and epjoyment which the exer-
tions of my pasMife have been employed to secure,