The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-09


just because it cotncided with public senti
ment, with aoq,liescence, If not with active
approval Bold was the reformer who
between 1890 and 1920 avowed his sym
pathy with so-caled ,Iacobinical principles
even though his Jacobinism went no further
than a desire for the representation OF
Birmingham and the Acknowledgement
of Old Sarim. Bolder far was the theo
Logan who applied historical criticism
OF the most moderate character to the
Biblical records. Reckless, rather than
bold, was the avowed opponent OF funda-
mental beliefs. whether social or religious,
In footnote it is pointed out that az late
| az 1880 Milman's History OF the Jews
shocked English opinion, In this I'M
pretending book for the first time "ar
English Clergyman treated the Jews as an
| Oriental tribe, recognized sheiks and emirs
in the Old Testament. shifted and classified
documentary evidence and evaded or
minimized the miraculous. Consterna-
ton, which the author had not anticipated,
spread among the orthodox. The sale
OF the book was not only stopped. but the
publication OF the series in which 1t APP
peared ceased.
1t lie. in truth, necessary to get rid OF the
notion that liberty Of opinion, as now under
STOOD was chara cteristic Of England in the
earliest years Of the nineteenth century,
in order that we may realize the full ex-
tent OF an intellectual and moral re volution,
which, beca Use il has not been accompanied
by outward violence or startling political
changes, ia apt to escape notice. A few
facts are brought forward in this book to
mark the stages Of this revolution. For
example, by the middle of the nineteenth
century. the restraints imposed by law on
free discussion had all but vanished.
Statutes or common law rules which inter-
fered with liberty OF speech or writing were,
unless the ground Of complaint was Sc
dition or defamation. obsolete in practise.
Even In ls4l trials for the publication Of
blasphemous libels were felt to be anachro-
nisms The ma kim that Christianity is part
of the common Law was derided by eminent
lawyers. In 1859 the whole tone Of Mills
Liberty" implies that the discussion Of all
political and even Of most social topics
was little checked by law. Buckles de-
nunciation Of the imprisonment inflicted on
Pooley. a halfwitted Cornish laborer. for
writing up in public places language often
sive to every Christian, as gross instance
Of legal persecution, proves that such perse-
cution was, in reality, all but unknown:
while the general feeling that the severe
punishment Of semi-maniac for the in
deoency rather than the blasphemy of his
language was a mistake, shows the tolerant
spirit OF the time. Later legislation has
removed such trammels on the freedom of
the press as existed in 1850. The present
vague ness OF the law OF libel in England is
open to objection. II at all, on The score only
OF the inefficient prote ction afforded by it
to the possible victim of defa nation.
Even in 1859. however. Mills Liberty"
deplored the hostility. no longer indeed
Of the law, but Of social opinion, to indie
pendence Of conduct and originality Of
thought. Our author submits that this
complaint, whatever its reasonableness in
Mills day, sounds in 1905 like paradox.
Before the end Of the nineteenth century
the expression Of opinion had become in
England all but completely free. At the
present time there are no political and very
few social, moral or religious theories to
the disputing whereof is attached that kind
of reprobation which would deter a man
Of ordinary firmness from freely speak
ing his mind. The silence which, among
the family Of James Mill concealed re-
ligous skepticism would now be an alb
surdity. Avowed agnostics or the adj
herents OF now and strange creeds suffer
nothing in public estimation. Bradlaugh
was, before the close of his life, respected
Member OF Parliament and popular, it is
said, among his fellow members, yet Brad
laughs atheism would have shocked such
deists az Franklin or Tom Paine" 1t is
true that Anglican clergymen still sub
scribe to and are supposed to be bound
in some very indefinite sense by the doc
trine Of the Thirty-nine Articles, but. as
Mr.. Dicey reminds us, the clergy of the
Church Of England. in practise, enjoy the
right to express their opinion on all mat
ters of religion and theology with nearly
a. much freedom as the laity Not only
upon Biblical history, but upon doctrines
which have often been supposed to be
the fundamental dogrnas Of Christianity,
preachers whom every man respects may
utter criticisms which in the days of DR..
Arnold would hardly have been whispered
by a minister Of the Church Of England to
his most intimate friends, and which in
1850 would have amazed, If not scanda-
lzed, the authors of Essays and Reviews
and might well have given rise TO proceed
ings in the ecclesiastical courts.
One Of the most interesting and striking
features of this book is the demonstration
that the development of freedom of opinion
has in England been in the closest way
conn; cted with, and, indeed has been a |
main cause of that singular phenomenon,
which Is best described as the disintegra-
ton Of beliefs, or. in other words, the |
breaking up of established creeds whether |
religious, moral, political or economical,
Lest tho demonstration should excite ,
Mr.. Dicey points out in a foot |
note that while free discussion does in the |
end favor the establishment of indisputable
truths, its immediate effects are, flrst to
direct attention toward the weak points
Of any existing body Of belief, and, next,
to reveal an unexpected amount OF dissent
from received formulas. Now, as an
ordinary mans futh in any moral or in
doctrine depends in part on ts
conference, in part on the authority of
experts, and greatly also on the sympathy
Of others with his creed, anything which
shows that q creed is not entirely con-
sistent, that even experts are not agreed
as to it's truth, or that MANY persons dissent