The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-11-18 00:00:00

THE ABUSE OF INTELLECT

.3.
AO/
There is arpresent so vehement a flourish of trne2P-00
and so prodigious a roll of the drum, whenever vie.,io
called upon to throw up our hats, and cry, Hub- y
to the " March of Enlightenment," that, out of that ce.,r,
spirit of contradiction natural to all rational animals,
is tempted to stop one's ears, and say, " Gently, gent i;
LIGHT is noiseless ; how comes ' Enlightenment' to rea,f
such a clatter ? Meanwhile, if it be not impertinent, Pr%,
where is Enlightenment marching to ?"" Ask that qne„,
tion of any six of the loudest brawlers in the processn7),
and I'll wager tenpence to California that you get six 110,
unsatisfactory answers. One respectable gentleman, we ;,,
to our great astonishment, insists upon calling himself his
slave," but has a remarkably free way of expressing
opinions, will reply—" Enlightenment is marching 1h i
wards the nine points of the Charter." Another, wt 5
his hair ala Anne France, asserts that Enlightenmen f
proceeding towards the Rights of Women, the reigil Ge.
Social Love, and the annihilation of Tyrannical PreiediPd,
A third, who has the air of a man well to do in the in4l3or
die class, more° modest in his hopes, because he neuhis
wishes to have his head broken by, his errand-boy, nnr,ines
wife carried off' to an Agapemone by his apprentice, us'oo
not take Enlightenment a step farther than siege I
Debrett, and a cannonade on the Budget. Illiberal man;
the march that he swells will soon trample him under feneli
No one fares so ill in a crowd as the man who is wecli
in the middle. A fourth, looking wild and dreamy, 'r
he had come out of the cave of Trophonius, and wilnif%ll
mesmeriser and a mystic, thinks Enlightenment is in
neerevr,
universal•
ac
sas eeretrs ttoh wapathrtidlhasent
philanthropy,
rgocophoy d,ofo Enlightenment
vegetablendiai
toe
diet,
ime te ,natlland
s alchemists and
'rnners. A fifth. whom ono might take for a Quakfor
tion of peace, by means of speeches, whichtahcecerrPuteasriaPadeleYl;
produce a very contrary effect from the Philippics of Dig
mosthenes ! The sixth—(good fellow, without rag Ode
back)—does not care a straw where the march goes. ,to
can't be worse off than he is ; and it is quite immateris' t,
him whether he goes to the dogstar above, or to the be ho
tomless pit below. I say nothing, however, against t;
march, while we take it altogether. Whatever hapPq.„
one is in good company ; and though I am somewhat
dolent by nature, and would rather stay at home to
Locke and Burke (dull dogs though they were), t'',l
have my thoughts set off helter-skelter with those curses
trumpets and drums, blown and dub-a-dubbed by fellewa
that I vow to Heaven I would not trust- with's five-P°llo
note—still, if I must march, I must ; and so deuce tB,O
the hindmost. But when it comes to individual roar,,ebio
upon their own account—privateers and condottieri of.fer,
lightenment—who have filled their pockets with Wel h•
matches, and have a sublime contempt for their Ileta
hours' barns and hay-ricks, I don't see why she
throw myself into the seventh heaven of admiration 11"

ecstasy.
If those who are eternally rhapsodising on the celesteblessings that are to follow Enlightenment, Uoivertof
Knowledge, and so forth, would just take their eyes 01l 15,
their pockets, and look about them,, I would respectm
inquire if• they have never met any.very knowing and ens`
lightened gentleman, whose acquaintance is by no ole se
desirable. If not, they are monstrous lucky. Every °OO
must judge by his own experience ; :and the worst rad,
I have ever encountered were amazingly well-inforleala
clever fellows! From dunderheads and dunces we eo,
protectuurselves ; but from your sharp-witted gettleroll,
all enlightenment, and no prejudice, we have but to ;iiia
" Heaven defend us !" It is true, that the rogue (Ifth;o3-
be ever so enlightened) generally comes to no gooar bis
self, (though not before he has done harm enough "'BOO
neighbours.) But that only chews that the worldo_oco
something else in those it rewards, besides intelligd to
per se and in the abstract ; and is much too old a w°,eooo
allow any Jack Horner to pick out its plumbs for h'eity
tp‘sfirirtiohsi
strong-box,
egnho-aubel
eomg,xraa,wnt
wihfiisoicylambtpi
eepolrani
het.
ahv
pei
sympathies,
gain,ie Hence ice re
andoa ad
vast
Lm keeps
npdffseoe
arfhlsi verymhs ioseryerae pos heartod
Off
re r at
oe r iboioe beatr ,
knowledge ever gives to a rogrulseen.inli •st lif
owvt huei er:
with
shooters from the general march
knowledge were power, would rot on a dunghill ; .Y,e, gr."
thmhhemeeioerseesp:sfa:c
rrtrthele:odttfuthhlwitonohhuukeefignhaidl
blockheads,ololni
areaetanoflltar anticipate
op a te
who, an
enlightenment.outcrystrange
og a ;$1.1,,, i
,B o'it
n o reason that we should make ourselves
enlightenment has furnished them with a gun` elide.'
lti
vieehennseliddagethmtatereeegnahrevt /a,
eiirt"stsb,c
so
is t pi.
tot
:co
.:
doubtless, been already remarked by the judiciono.e, vorlo
that of the numerous characters introduced into th1C:011 the
the larger portion belong to that species which Inoci (Iv
broevrlgoix,..,,reoler!
INTELLECTUAL—that through them are analYseu. 000'
veloped human intellect, in various forma and dlref baOS
So that this History,, rightly considered, is a kiolotoo°7'
ble familiar Epic., or, if you prefer it, a long Serio-,entedi
upon the Varieties-of English Life in this our,'„t. I§-!3,4
set in movement by the intelligences most prevaL"Bpoo—
more ordinary and less refined types of 17ieratiqc,l;
round and complete the survey of our passing gew whir
they will often, suggest, by contrast, the deficiene.'„g. Get,
mere intellectual culture leaves in the human eilt-e00303,3
tainly, I have no spite against intellect and enhg_, oellioic
Heaven forbid I should be such a Goth. Ii" 3 li" t
011 hear
advocate of common sense and fair play. lif bis 0•
an able man necessarily an angel ,• but I think, 1001110
match his head, and both proceed in the great _ angel
of
der a divine Oriflamme, he goes as near to to_vn,orthe!
humanity will permit : if not, if he has but a Pelloo aego,
hlesaeert
otootathpoeusntednoyf borpawinssr,dlwsianyg,s," Bon jothr'sa-iliog Po(
ven-hoof." I'd rather be offuscatedbut theby If
Hazeldean, than enlightened by Randal 7-,?9 Vie phil if
man to his taste. But intellect itself (not 'pig rattle'
sophical, but the ordinary sense of the term?. not oo_erteo
Hever, one completed harmonious agency; it's ° Tole,
culty, but a compound of many, some of NY , they/ 0
-at war with each other, and mar the concorif' in itenioe
Few of us but have some predominant fae_ll.A, donilbil•
strength ; but which, (usurping unseowulsoweveroo
over the rest,) shares the lot of all tyranny., L., diesite,_l
liant, and leaves the empire weak agaloslntelleotroet
within, and invasion from without. Ilenceand sonse_wnt 0f
be perverted in a man of evil disposition,,_ for vilfa. .1,
merely wasted in a man of excellent impulses' tool; ob
the necessary discipline, or of a strong ""
body much cleverer than himself, which
ell ! -51"%ti°114
os 01
tamed
t ei fhti
ghhe there
reputation
a toneion
fpoerr
talent,
oi nt , the
cllaorarf_hins
aiinwtd brosaoevot__sl3:o4_
has never obtained any reputation it; ‘,..greetto coca
Audley Egerton, are constantly seen I to' It
,E trangeF ion 0
of life ; while men, like Harley 1 9
wally Str 50 sel
have beaten them hollow' in anything eq
_A, utile
voi!.tio
by both, float away down the stream, en" ; §
energ•e, ioroloalto
hEavxeebliennitleursiattobili3;
sudden stimulant arouse the drnosYnlint imaell,belh
out of sight into silent graves. f
much mei ? f °
Hamlet would unquestionably be a „Tamle.e_ce 0.
~r
tual character. What would become 0,'..9"exper1"5,0000
from "I re /
ven knows! Dr. Arnold said, fr
__ man and. 0 g ,
school, that the difference between ono,,ere loa_k.oe
was not mere ability—it was energy: 4,r,i,, Bi ci"
chance c e livingo f beingu o w'
ChancellorPuiuuluu
deal of truth in that saying.—"MY Ivo"
woofuiltte