Tae Address of Mr, Frederic Harrison to the Positivist Society on last new year's day is, like everything from him, pointed and dogmatic, He is one of the most brilliant of modern English writers, and his style, which is especially good for fighting, makes his contributions to the discussion of political affairs very attractive, His opinions on these Tie away from those of the ordinary Englishman; he holds, as all his school do, peculiar views on the duties of the Government, and on the manner in which these should be applied in the relations of his country to the rest of the world, He would have us go on making ourselves better, which is of course an admirable aim for nations as well as individuals, opting the doctrines of the Positivist oreed, and displaying ils virtues in our walk and conversation, until our example has permeated the rest of the world with the sense of our excellences, and all men and people shall have become even as he would have us, The English Positiviata retain M. Comte's argu. ment—to use a somewhat old-fashioned word formerly prefixed to epics and other works of imagivation—which they entitle the Worship of Humanity. This Las always been the lamest portion of the Positivist teaching, at loas England, and therefore we are not sur prized to find in the account of Mr, Harrisou's last discourse, that the reforouces he made to it wore "explanatory in form and almost apologetic in tone." The commemoration of good meu by pilgrimages to the places where they lived and died was instituted among Positiviste last yenr, and Mr, Harrison says that they found their spirits kindled thereby, But, unless the surrender of private opinion on the merits of the docensed grent, is a part of the oreed, the practice of obtaining "spiritual harmonies" by visiting the places with which their memories are connected, may lead to the Positive Church splitting into soots by and by. People may be agreed as to the merits of Shake. sapere, but there is a good deal of difference of opinion about Milton and Cromwell, two of the names mentioned by Mr, Harrison, while it is not easy to imagine devotees having spiritual kindlinge.at the Shrine of Confucius, another worthy in the Positivist elect.
But the address was mainly occupied with political matters. Positivists can, Mr. Harrison says, be of both our parties; their watchword, " Order and Progress," shows their affinity with them. They are vitally distinguished from other politicians by the recognition of what their Master called the "spiritual power" in politics, which Mr. Harrison suid might best be translated as "moral force." Proceeding from that definition Mr. Harrison showed that England was uow a pure democracy, the aristocratic republic had collapsed nud the democratic republic had been installed, without any of those organic resources for stable government which exist elsewhere. There remai the Crown, the Lords, and the Privy Council, but these in his view are as impotent as Gog and Magog. Bat Mr. Harrison omits to take into account the characteristic love of compromise in political altairs lish people. It is true that there la no written English constitution, as Mr.
8, or as those which have had their day and ceased to be in France, but the spirit of it influences the common political action of all Englishmen, It is also true that the last Reform Bill handed over an immense deal of political power to uninstructed people; but, as we saw at the General Elect the sober-minded middle classes, and the working men in cities and towns who have politically educated themselves since they were admitted to the franchise, acted as a check upon the ill-informed country labourers. In a few years the latter will boas the workmen in towns are now, better instructed in politics, and able to take a fairer and therefore a wiser view of the questions submitted to their votes, Nevertheless, there is great force in what Mr, Harrison says about the absence of a strong executive, apart from the popular Chamber which uow makes and an makes ministries and attempts to administer the affairs of a vast empire. Ho quotes Professor Dicey and Sir H. Maine who both agree that the reformed House of Commons is the most absolute government seen in Ea-rope since 1793. In his desire for an efficient check on the House of Commons Mr, Harrison agrees with several eminent Tory Statesmen of the present day, and something of the kind will probably be constructed by changes in the constitution of the Lords, Afterdealing with the attitude of Posi m to the new state of affairs in England, Mr, Harrison said that his creed forbade all government by force, whether by the Government of one nation by another by forer, or by the wisest—what Mill called a Pedantobat he adopted a third al.
the trae solution—nam ly, the government by competent per sous, with the consent of the governed, and the intelligent ce-operation of whole body. "The government by competent persons" was the root idea of the Constitution of 1688, to which the reformers of 1832 added—" not without the consent of the governed." This is wise and admirable, bat we have gone beyond it; and it will be a long time before a majority of the English people can be induced to ree trace their steps. Me, Harrison's preferred alternative closely resembles Tory Democracy, as propounded by some of the present Opposition. Those who are not cuffering from bartizan blindness must agree with what Mr. Harrison says of democracy, and trusting everything to mat is done at the ballot box. "There is no saving virtue in democracy asmuch. Universal suffrage has been in fall swing in Franco for forty years; the country has not progressed in legislation, but taxation is at a standstill; and no statesman gets more than a onsunl innings, It would be bard to match the corruption of the Municipal Council of Paris on the European side of the Atlantic." Part of what ho says of the ballot is this—For my part I utterly decline to accept the absolute fiat of the ballot-box spired revelation, What is there to make it competent to decide her I am to buy a glass of beer if whether wy neighbour is to Tain to be prosecuted my children, to revolutionize between men and women, to x, and to make marriage:
of conve the I box is the worst possible tribunal, would as soon submit to it the question of the comparative merits of Dante and Shak: speare, or of the best methods for obser: ity it of Venus, Yet into the ballot-box we cast every system and every institution as into a Medea's cauldron, The annexation of Burma and the gioions circle" of Imperial annexation were denounced, and Home Rule for Ireland claimed as an old Positivist opinion, Unfortunately, as the world now exists, physical force is necessary to the improvement of a great number of rulora and peoples, and it is ome. times imperative on nations like Euglaud to interfere with, and eyen to annex, countries that cannot other" wise be induced to do right, Had there beer no missionary spirit in the past, by fire and sword, as well as by preaching, the people in England might still have been living on herbs and roots in the woods, and attired in little more than a few blae decorations.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.