A Critical Spirit: The Thought of William Dawson LeSueur 9780773591646

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A Critical Spirit The Thought of William Dawson LeSueur Edited and with Critical Commentary

by A.B. McKillop

The Carkm Library No. llP4 Published by McClelIaud and Stewan in associatio~with the institute of Conmiion Studies Carlemn Universiw.

ETON LIBRARY o f original works; reprints and new ions of source material relating a, issued under the editorial @up~ision of the Institute of Canadian ,h,.$.$dres of Carleton University, Onawa. -s* '.

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2. The Intellectual Life

thus recognizes itself as superior to change, the hue type of th inwmptible and eternal. The -&&om of spirit, however, is realised in different degrees in different races, and individuals. Throughout a large ponion of the . . buman family, the life of sense predominites altogether over the life of thought, and man is seen as the slave of passion, and of custom, rarher than& master of his own faculries anddestinies. There is. nodoubr, a radicnl distinction between the thought even of savages, and that of the .. lower animals; but if thegloly of mankindis to be found in the power of seIt-conRol and self-education, and in tbe possession of interests whollv uncnnnected with the ohvsical anwtires. there are numerous races-of men to whose humahib little lory &n be said to attach. Amone savage tribes there seems an absolute lack of caoacitv for the exercise of &sttact thought, or any disengagement of tie mind from material obiecIs and interests: but I am not sure that in civilised communities, we do not sometimes wimess what, strictly judged, is a more painful subiect of wntemolation. namelv. a kind of v o l u n t ~ ~ ~ ignorance of all-the nobler sp;ings of hum& action, a v o l u n G clinging to a mode of life. such as, in all its moral elements, might be lived by beings very far down in the scale of civilisation. - In cases of this kind how much should beamibuted to sheer inferiority of organization in the individual, and how much to the lack of favourable formative influences? The balance is often difficult to strike. but probably ma case wmes under our notice in which we are not disposed OI believe that, had circumstances only been different, a betier result might have been brought about. ~ t r - a n ~characters e no doubt are born into the world, but what these might become under a rhoroughly natural and healthy system of educatio~noone,perhaps, is in a position to say. Certain it is that, by unwiseandviciousmethods~f - - education, many a nalurally eood disposition has been smilt. &eats of intellect thatmight havCGoved oithe highest value to society cave . either been condemned to uselessness, m directed intowsitively mischievous courses. The great dramatist has told us of a"~iviniiy that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will." This may perchanre bolh m e of human destinies; but in thedevelopment ofhum&character it would seem as if nature did the rough-hewing and left education and circumstances to do the shaping. ~ n the d shaping is a great deal. The turn that it gives to our thoughts, our interests, our tastes, our manners, may make all the difference between happinessand unhappi-~ ness, between success and the want of it; may make our lives nobleor make themmean, make them a blessing tothe worldora burdeneven to 7 % oui'selves. Very few human beings have even moderate justice donet .. them in the way of education. Carlyle has said: "A wise, weU calculating b-&of ayounggenial soulin this world, oralasof aq

young soul m it, lies fatally over the h i m h rhese days." The starelpleat is ga exme, bul to t h a e w b know how to read Curlyh, k c a m h a gl41. " W i d * ~ B I I - cMPh g~ " ~d o e s a~tliec y "w tLe Loaisoa" wea in &me dpys; bw. like all & x E & ~ . kbm.Teditmf0l~110.isiheoneereat

ra, tke r

, 9cmeh. enter into the culPiv~tiead th. r a m ad %ts popular idea d e d u c a t h at dl. Ye4 surely am &mion that m&es no povisioa for h x rhiws is wwa?&yd h idfered lo a being like nlaa, susceptik of marorre, dh.ofdisin*res(edness, of admiration. d Bnrlrsdapm for the me and the b a u i f ~ l a; being fonned for

attends t k slfclm Ot PI1

RPlfY &a

w&ecs. One ma lrke Dr. ncld~ofhundsedsof

Am& made his boys too s i a si8F, w k k I tmrslow to believe, i r w l a o n o r W ~ b @ c k s e dW t i f t h e y tried.arrd8mofwhlDh e w k a awns&. ar in qdte of uakmmae, iniluW r h c e b f f s s h d we seen m rise e m and abxEthe ki&w a d oottlar io~.pl~ias M bmes at once -6 pueh ti- ir gre-emkewly a Life of Ii6p keen a d d d y * . thouPaI. 4 by s b w g ne~d C0ekng. if we call it

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iaa-riaely, or Gig. m them mw Resring han they are adap& to bear. For is there rn m he m r d "intellect" LscH. something noble and i m p i s g , and should rut c.re m digmify viA she nsme mrelleclual activity thcqkc de\toted m dk or sdlish purposer? In such s lifc as I refer to, there is a pccvading uniiy af lone and pwpow. The man who thinks a nobk thought dws Ror distinguish between the n m d act and ~ it is s i m ~one l ~moment d hisexistence. If. its moral c o ~ n toehim therefore, one w c h is fo be cho& to express a life in which high thoueha and hieh aims are thus hamwniouslv and indissolubly blenzed, I know i f none more suitable than the word "intellecrual." 1batinrgph~~ti6:wu,kors*&b ab o w

sincerely, thomughly, and once for all, dm man bas faculties dnpted for the dixovery of auh, ssd that a faEhful we of these anrst be attended by good reswlts. Swch a f a is so rrrctml mihe human ndnd thatirean ha~dlvfailf o b e d o v e l o s e d m n v m ~ w t m h d s e e s examples, cn perhaps even a singk example. of its active exclciw. In default of living coll~anionshi~ of the rirk kind. a beok casuallv met with will so&hes'wakan &a caind kj a of its power; a d privileges; but, in w$a)pverwar t b ofis w w & . it is r l w m s oae oftheveryp~esnat-M. A c o o m m m idas-dkamian~cPs~ais that it is a asncsw k i d d E fcodw, m d d h business operations and in t k oon8bwy affain d Me; b,ia wdm or k p z r questim, wxe likely to lsad IO e m lltaa to (ruth. TIw view of r&n is rh& it is r k ~ o d yfac* mnhas for arriving st aML on my subject great or mail, so I& m y t m h wkkh wason ca+aoc grasp is entirely out of humm reach. if we are to guard npPinst being led asmy by reason. what f.cu(cy are we a employ for the p q o s e ? %dl we better ourw(ves by giviag he rrim m hnaginaticu, or )anrping at conclusions with a n eyes sku?This n vh.1 in M a i m qupners we me counselled w do. an the undmmadbg, of come, dm rkmrkrrims we jumpatihsll belbbseolarr c o l a r h ; O ( h w i w ~ p f o * kis vain. M&edeS.wel&dmMa when she mote: The defendem d pre$u&saa, atDaP is m my, d mjw claims, ol existence as appwzrt( order to be peEe lo

Y, in

standing h, p % i wbkh we m pdnivr, bmt &Beta from analysiw; in a word, a mid rmcise d W w t which eervee the single purpose d ~rg~giwrnusdew@&~is.*

lhere must have beem " ~ w of s AMEM," and tmafifes on "The Limits of Retipiour "1 kEhosedays~wiias&&se,forhere they are describsd as r ~ g a ~Phbir & spirit and puqoes m very letter. who a c e futly r d i r e s fbaf anh is made tm or a d slan fw mth. enpys a seaw-of freedom &a&kg elss cmgive. He breaths a larger and more invigoraring air, and feels himself acuizea, not of the world only, but of the mive-m. He is &livead from bondage to his own opinions, for he b s now hat, though he were proved wrongon every point, there is a right elsewhe+that in fact. only in thelightof higher truth could he be rationally convinced of his own erron. 7 % ~

poet Clough, whose life was almost a type-example of what we would here describe, has nobly saidIt fortifies my soul to know That.. thoueh I oerish. Truth is so: That, howsoe'er I stray and range, Whate'er I do. Thou dost not chanee I steadier step when I recall That, if I slip, Thou dost not fall.

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Most men, on the contrary, speak and act as though the fortunes of the universe were bound up with their own infallibility, and as if, therefore, any demonstration of radical error in their opinions would imperil all the happinew and hopes of humanity. ~ e n c ;follows, by a natural process of development, a kind of fetish-uorship of opinions that leaves out of sight almost entirely the question of their &th or f a l s e h d , and lwks only at their supposed utility. The moreassureda man is of wssessine the mth. the more confident should be his he should be to examine the out-look upon the woryd, the more oninions of those who are so unfortunate as to disamee with him. and ascertain the grounds on which they are held. We Grid, however; that just the contrary is the case; that people whose opinions rest, as they say, on an immovable basis, are, as a general thing, particularly reluctant to acouaint themselves directlv with other forms of belief. They will, perhaps, look into some havesty of hostile opinions prepared for them by hands they can mst, but as for a personal survey of the hostile territory, they would rather be excused. In such cases the thing dreaded is not the loss of huth, but the loss of apersuasion; that truth may be on the other side they cannot helpat timeisuspecting, but they are determined never to be brought face to face with the proofs. If thev thoueht that a thoroueh and candid examination of their onoonents' position would confirm them in their present opinions and set their minds for ever at rest. they would eladlv and eaeerlv resort to it: but they think nothing of theekind. Gsteai of s e t h i truth above odnion, thev set.opinion above truth. T ~ t is h a far-off Mikado, a dignified kindof en& always to be spoken of with respect, but opinion is the praesens divus,the Tycoon, or, to come back to Europe, the mavorbf the nalac-the ac&al ruler of men's lives. Is thereno word to express this disposition of mind? Certainly there is: the word is scepricism. The scevtic, in any sense of the word, that can live in this centurv is not he who: after caniid examination, decides that he cannot accept thisorthat systemof belief, but he whosemind is full of dark placesthar he does not care to have illumined, wholearsthat hisstructure of belief is tonering, yet dreads toexamine its foundations, orevcn so much as to

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t M m t his hand tosteadv it, who~iteouslvbegseve~bodvnear to keep bier, lest a breathor a ;ib~tionshouldfay tie whoie fairic in ruins.' Directlv opwsed to the soiritof scepticism is the sdrit of intellectual libmy. He ;hose though; has been'emancipatedmay find himself a u ~ l e l l e dto deny, or at least to question, many things commonly ac&red, but the general tone of hismind is not negative, butpositiv; In acertain sense he feelsas though hecouldbelieveall things, for he is prepared to welcome truth from any quaner, and the universe seems to lziar full of truth, while error dwindles away to the most insignificant d h s i o n s . Even errors, when understood in their genesis and M o p m e n t , yield up their quotaof truth, and may thus serve, like any dber objects of study, to help forward the education of the mind. B by no means follows that he who has arrived at a conviction of the suoremacv of reasonmost makean idolof his own individual reason. or sei up a n i f o m whatever of self-worship. Of coursehe will be accu&d of this, and probably of numerous other absurdities, but he must learn, as a reasonable man, to bear the charge with patience, knowing how plausible it must a p m to those who urge it. Reason itself teaches that. certain matters; b e reason of othefiis to be preferred to our own; and, in such cases we shall use our reason simply to guide us to those wlmm it may be prudent for us to trust or follow. If these, instead of doing us good, inflict injury on us, or leadusastray, wepay thepenalty of cur ignorance, as men have been doing, more or less, from the b e h i o , ! of the world. Our duty was discharged if we made the best se&tion2:. .,'.:.: - much-abused French philosophers of the 18thcentury, that the idea of may be said to have orighred. In the face of a hierarchy still .~progress -. po&ful ad dangerous, they