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German Pages 420 Year 1976
HE G E L- STU DIEN In Verbindung mit der Hegel-Kommission der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Akademie der Wissenschaften herausgegeben von FRIEDHELM NICOLIN und OTTO PÖGGELER
B and 1 1
FELIX MEINER VERLAG HAMBURG
Inhaltlich unveränderter Print-On-Demand-Nachdruck der Originalausgabe von 1976, erschienen im Verlag H. Bouvier und Co., Bonn.
Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über ‹http://portal.dnb.de› abrufbar. ISBN 978-3-7873-1475-1 ISBN eBook: 978-3-7873-2939-7 ISSN 0073-1578
© Felix Meiner Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2016. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Dies gilt auch für Vervielfältigungen, Übertragungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen, soweit es nicht §§ 53 und 54 URG ausdrücklich gestatten. Gesamtherstellung: BoD, Norderstedt. Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Werkdruckpapier, hergestellt aus 100 % chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff. Printed in Germany. www.meiner.de/hegel-studien
HEINZ HEIMSOETH
ist am 10. September 1975, im 90. Lebensjahr, gestorben. Schüler von Cohen und Natorp, hat Heimsoeth die Verengungen der erkenntniskritisch-wissenschaftstheoretischen Fragestellung des Neukantianismus bald überwunden. Daß die metaphysischen Hintergründe und Endabsichten der Kantischen Philosophie neu ins Blickfeld gerückt wurden, ist wesentlich dem Mitwirken Heimsoeths zu danken. Neben dem Werk Kants, dem sein unablässiges Bemühen galt, waren die großen Themen der Metaphysik zentraler Gegenstand seines weitgespannten philosophiehistorischen Forschens. So beschäftigte ihn auch der Beitrag Hegels im geschichtlichen Zusammenhang des metaphysischen Fragens. Als langjähriger Vorsitzender der Hegel-Kommission der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft konnte Heinz Heimsoeth — noch im hohen Alter von bewundernswerter Aktivität — die Erfahrungen seines Forscherlebens dem großen Projekt der Hegel-Gesamtausgabe zugute kommen lassen. Maßgeblichen Anteil hatte er auch an der Begründung der Hegel-Studien. In seinem Geleitwort zum ersten Band, der vor fünfzehn Jahren erschien, gab er ihnen die Aufgabe mit, für die Hegel-Forschung „Organ der Sammlung und Anregung" zu sein; ein Programm, dem sich die Hegel-Studien noch heute verpflichtet wissen.
INHALT
TEXTE UND DOKUMENTE
M. J.
PETRY,
Rotterdam
Hegel and the „Morning Chronicle"
11
Bochum Dokumente zu Hegels politischem Denken 1830/31
81
HELMUT SCHNEIDER,
ABHANDLUNGEN
Siegen Zur Vorgeschichte des Hegelschen Unendlichkeitsbegriffs
MANFRED BAUM,
89
Heidelberg Die Logik des Freiheitsbegriffs
125
M. SEEBOHM, State College, Pa The Grammar of HegeTs Dialectic
149
WOLFGANG MARX,
THOMAS
Jerusalem On Cyclical Patterns and their Interpretation. The Interpretations of Judaism in the Wake of Vico and Hegel 181
NATHAN ROTENSTREICH,
MISZELLEN Bern Aus Hegels philosophischer Berner Zeit
205
Utrecht Eine frühe Hegel-Diskussion in Holland
211
LUDWIG HASLER,
WIM VAN DOOREN,
DISKUSSION
Hegels Naturrecht 1802—1805/06 (HEINZ KIMMERLE, Bochum)
219
Die endgültige Lösung einer Diskussion? (JOHANN HEINRICH TREDE, Essen)
228
LITERATURBERICHTE UND KRITIK
W. C. Zimmerli: Die Frage nach der Philosophie (HELMUT GIRNDT, Duisburg) 235 W. R. Beyer: Zwischen Phänomenologie und Logik (MANFRED BUHR, Berlin) 240 A. Leonard; Commentaire litteral de la logique de Hegel FLEISCHMANN, Paris)
(EUGENE
242
B. Liebrucks: Sprache und Bewußtsein. Band 6, Teil 1—3 (PETER ROHS, Kiel) 244 G. Maluschke: Kritik und absolute Methode in Hegels Dialektik (KLAUS DüSING, Bochum) 249 Zur Diskussion um Hegels Dialektik. — Über Schriften von A. Sarlemijn, L. Erdei, R. Simon-Schaefer, W. Becker, B. Liebrucks, W. SchmiedKowarzik, D. Böhler, R. Bubner, D. Henrich (ANNEMARIE GETHMANNSiEFERT, Bochum) 253 W. Röd: Dialektische Philosophie der Neuzeit (CARL FRIEDRICH GETHMANN, Essen) 269 Veränderung und Entwicklung. Hrsg, von G. Stiehler (JOSEPH WäCHTER, Bochum) 271 G. W. F. Hegel: Vorlesungen über Rechtsphilosophie 1818—1831. Hrsg. von K.-H. Ilting. Band 2—4 (ROLF P. HORSTMANN, Bielefeld) ....
273
R. K. Hocevar: Hegel und der preußische Staat (ROLF P. HORSTMANN, Bielefeld) 277
B. T. Wilkins: Hegel's Philosophy of History (MURRAY GREENE, New York) . : 279 K. Bai: Rozum i historia (RYSZARD PANASIUK, Lodz)
281
H. Scheit: Geist und Gemeinde (WALTER KERN, Innsbruck)
284
P. Szondi: Poetik und Geschichtsphilosophie I (PETER-CH. PENNER, Bochum)
290
Hegel and the History of Philosophy. Ed. by J. J. O'Malley, K. W. Algozin and F. G. Weiss (JERE PAUL SURBER, Denver) 292 Hegel et la Pensee Grecque. Publie sous la direction de J. D'Hondt (JEANLOUIS VIEILLARD-BARON, Tours) 295 Hegel et le Siede des Lumieres. Publie sous la direction de J. D'Hondt (MANFRED BAUM, Siegen) 298 J. D'Hondt: Verborgene Quellen des Hegelschen Denkens (HELMUT SCHNEIDER, Bochum) 301 P. Baumanns: Fichtes ursprüngliches System; A. Schurr: Philosophie als System bei Fichte, Schelling und Hegel (LUDWIG SIEP, Freiburg) . . .
303
K. Homann: F. H. Jacobis Philosophie der Freiheit (HELMUT SCHNEIDER, Bochum) 307 B. Lypp: Ästhetischer Absolutismus und politische Vernunft (REINHARD ROMBERG, Münster) 309 H. Ende: Der Konstruktionsbegriff im Umkreis des Deutschen Idealismus (AXEL PITT, Freiburg) 310 G. Planty-Bonjour: Hegel et la pensee philosophique en Russie 1830—1917 (THOMAS M. SEEBOHM, State College Pa) 313 M. Bakunin: Frühschriften (ULRICH DIERSE, Bochum)
316
L. D. Easton: Hegel's first American Followers; The American Hegelians. Ed. By W. H. Goetzmann (HANS-MARTIN SASS, Bochum) 319 H. T. Engelhardt, jr.: Mind-Body: A Categorial Relation (MURRAY GREENE, New York) 321 H. Schnädelbach: Geschiditsphilosophie nach Hegel (ULRICH DIERSE, Bochum) 324
O. Marquard: Schwierigkeiten mit der Geschichtsphilosophie (OTTO PöGGELER, Bochum) 326 G. Renggli: Die Philosophie des objektiven Geistes bei Nicolai Hartmann mit Berücksichtigung Hegels (KURT MEIST, Bochum) 327 H. Kiesewetter: Von Hegel zu Hitler (ROLF K. HOöEVAR, München)
.
.
329
W. Büchner: Egoismus und Gemeinwohl; J. Streisand: Kritische Studien zum Erbe der deutschen Klassik; M. Buhr: Zur Geschichte der klassischen bürgerlichen Philosophie (GERHARD GöHLER, Berlin) ....
332
J. Zeleny: Die Wissenschaftslogik und „Das Kapital" (JOSEPH WäCHTER, Bochum) 336 R. Gumppenberg: Freiheit und Wissenschaftsgeschichte MEREI, Zürich)
(WALTER CH. ZIM-
338
H. Nakano: Was der Philosophie Hegels zugrundeliegt (TAKAKO SHIKAYA, Bochum) 341 Stuttgarter Hegel-Tage 1970. Hrsg, von H.-G. Gadamer (WALTER JAESCHKE, Bochum) 344 Beyond Epistemology. Ed. by F. G. Weiss (MICHAEL J. PETRY, Rotterdam)
348
Hinweis auf einige jüngere italienische Studien über Hegel und seine Rezeption. — Über F. Papa, L. Lugarini, C. Gesa, G. Galabro ed altri (REMO BODEI, Pisa) 350 J. D'Hondt: Hegel in seiner Zeit (HELMUT SCHNEIDER, Bochum) ....
352
Briefeditionen aus dem Umkreis Hegels von H. Fuhrmans und J. L. Döderlein (FRIEDHELM NICOLIN, Bonn) 355 Kurzreferate und Selbstanzeigen über G. Thaulow, A. Hager, A. Pitt, H. P. Kainz, M. I. Lewina (Trad.), R. Lauth (Hg.), W.-D. Marsch, E. de Negri, F. W. Kantzenbach, H. Deuser, S. Crites, J. F. Sandberger, H. Hengst, O. Negt, R. Dunayevskaja, H. Lange, G. Lichtheim 359
BIBLIOGRAPHIE Abhandlungen zur Hegel-Forschung 1974. Mit Nachträgen aus früheren Berichtszeiträumen 375
M. J. PETRY (ROTTERDAM)
HEGEL AND 'THE MORNING CHRONICLE'.
Like the rest of Hegel's political writings, the article on the Reform Bill is not an explicitly philosophical work, but an essay in political journalism, — an attempt to analyze the problems posed by a concrete political Situation and to suggest means for overcoming them. The hub of its argument is that the English monarchy, unlike many of its Continental counterparts, had failed to function as the Promoter of the general welfare and justice of society, and that the country was therefore being administered and governed not in the interest of all, but in the interests of the social and economic groupings Controlling Parliament: "The reason why England is so remarkably far behind the other civilized States of Europe in institutions derived from true rights is simply that there the governing power lies in the hands of those possessed of so many Privileges which contradict constitutional law and true legislation." ^ Since the main theme of this paper is the influence of the Utilitarians upon Hegel's political thinking, it is perhaps worth noting here at the outset that JAMES MILE, from the time when he was converted to BENXHAMism, also rejected the constitutional theory of the balance of powers, and that he finally reached conclusions concerning the potential reforming role of the monarchy which closely resemble Hegel's. From about 1820 until his death in 1836, he too was a firm advocate of the view that effective reform could only be pushed through with the help of a monarchy which had freed itself from its aristocratic entourage and identified itself with the interest of the people: "A first magistrate is necessary; that is a fixed and undisputed point. The necessity of unity in matters of administration, the use of concentrated responsibility, and many other considerations, seem to place the balance of advantage on the side of the individuality of the first magistrate. He should be one, not two, or more." ^ Hegel develops this central conception in his analysis of the contents of the Bill, pointing out that there was evidence of its having been drawn up by men serving a sectarian and even a personal interest ®, and that the proposals it * Berliner Schriften. Hrsg. v. J. Hoffmeister. Hamburg 1956. 469—470; Hegel's Political Writings. Ed. by T. M. Knox and Z. A. Pelczynski. Oxford 1964. 300; extracts 33, 49. * London Review. January, 1836. No 4. 302—305; cf. E. Halevy: The Growth of Philosophie Radicalism (tr. Morris, London 1972). 418—421; extract 14. * Extract 45.
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PETRY
contained were not a coherent and consistent body of constitutional reforms, but an incongruous hotcbpotch of abstract principle and positive rights *. He was by no means the only Contemporary observer to put forward such criticism, and by and large subsequent historical research and later parliamentary reform have borne him out on these matters. It is generally agreed that the leading promoters of the Bill saw it as a means of preventing the necessity for a revolution which would have threatened the interests of the landed and propertied classes. ® The resulting Act, although it certainly introduced a new principle into the English Constitution by amending the representation of the people and not that of communities and interests also perpetuated many features of the old electoral System which had been severely criticized even by the more moderate reformers of the 1820's. In fact it initiated as much as it accomplished, and its subsequent revision has involved a protracted and complex process of constitutional development, — the secret ballot was not introduced until 1872, basic reforms such as the enfranchisement of women and the abolition of arbitrary property qualifications for voting were only carried through after the First World War, and comprehensive proportional representation has still to be achieved. A large part of Hegel's article is devoted to an analysis of the sociological and institutional background to the political manoeuvering involved in getting the Bill through Parliament, — the bribery rampant at elections, the taxation and poor-rate bürden, church tithes, the state of Ireland, the game laws, the inconsistency and inefficiency of the legal System, the lack of a professionally trained administrative dass etc. ’’ He then goes on to suggest that it was Parliament's failure to deal with these problems in a disinterested, rational and constructive way that had given rise to the English Version of the irresponsible, abstract and potentially destructive theorizing which had already run riot in France ®, and that to pass a Bill enabling this radicalism to find a voice in a partially reformed Parliament could give rise to a confrontation which might lead to the overthrow of the whole Constitution, the disruption of all administration. "The people would be a power of a different kind; and an Opposition which, erected on a basis hitherto at variance with the stability of Parliament, could be led to look for its strength to the people, and then introduce not reform * Hoff. 487—488; K. and P., 315. ® Morn. Chron. March 30th 1831, p. 3 col. 3, Leader quoting Grey: "The people, disappointed of their just expectations ..., would be inflamed with resentment, and would eventually demand, with a voice of thunder, that which it would be found jmpossible longer to deny." Cf. Midiael Brock: The Great Reform Act. London 1973. 336. • Extracts 38, 41. ’’ Hoff. 465-483; K. and P. 296-311. ® Hoff. 492—493; K. and P. 319—320: "Only in the Frendi democratic Constitution of the year III under Robespierre — a Constitution adopted by the whole people but of coui*se all the less carried into effect — was it prescribed that laws on public affairs were to be brought before individual citizens for confirmation."
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but revolution." ® Although he was almost certainly influenced by Contemporary Continental events such as the French and Belgian revolutions in reaching this conclusion, Hegel's basic premiss here is quite evidently an informed, reasoned and comprehensive survey of the state of Great Britain, and one has only to remember the rick-burning, cattle-laming and machine-smashing which spread throughout the agricultural districts of Southern England in the autumn of 1830, the Derby, Nottingham and Bristol riots which followed the Lords' rejection of the Bill in the October of 1831, to realize how dose to revolution England was while he was writing. The precise nature of Hegel's mature attitude to revolution and reform, the basic reasons for his dislike of crude and disruptive radicalism, have not always been fully appreciated by those who have professed to be interpreting him. The traditional Marxist point of view has led many Continental scholars to regard the Berlin political writings as simply "reactionary", and English scholars have tended to fall in with the drift of this interpretation by reading into them a dyed in the wool Toryism of the Eldon kind. This investigation should show, that at least in his interpretation of the background to the Reform Bill, Hegel had his dosest English coimterparts in the BENXHAMites, ROMIILY, MACKINTOSH, BROUGHAM, MACAULAY, — in intellectuals who, for all their differences, were agreed as to the general desirability of bringing about peaceful reform within the existing framework of the law and the Constitution. In his broad assessment of the Bill he tends to differ from them not on the fundamental issue of longterm objectives, nor even on that of tactics, but on that of political Urning. The basic difference between them is that whereas he thought it necessary, in the interest of orderly social and constitutional development, that those in control of government should respond to the pressing need for economic, social and legal reform before making any change in the electoral System which might open Parliament to the radicals, they tended to see the Bill as the most readily available means for the achievement of their general social, legal and political objectives. Looking at this difference in the light of subsequent developments, it seems not unreasonable to conclude that it is easy to overrate its signi-
® Hoff. 506, K. and P. 330. Cf. the Catholic Association (extract 17), and O'Connell's election as M. P. for County Cläre in 1828. April 1831. Hegel refers to events in Parliament which took place at the end of March, and even, apparently, as late as April 21st (extracts 44—50). Cf. Hoff. 785—786; extracts 33, 40, 41; W. R. Beyer in: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 19 (1971), 628—643. W. R. Beyer: Zwischen Phänomenologie und Logik. Frankfurt 1955. 188: „Die Philosophie des Universitätsprofessors Dr. Hegel, des ,Hegels im Glück', erstarrte. Nach der Logik gelang ihm im Grossen kein revolutionärer Wurf mehr." Cf. J. H. Muirhead in Enc. Brit. (llth ed. 1911) vol. 13. 203: 'The revolution of 1830 was a great blow to him, and the prospect of democratic advances almost made him ill.' ** Extracts 1, 33, 34, 54 etc.
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ficance
and that there is much to be said for the wisdom of both assessments. PELCZYNSKI is undoubtedly right to call attention to the importance of distinguishing between Hegel's positive ideas on concrete political issues and the principles of his more general philosophy. Although most of the topics touched upon in the political articles are also dealt with in the Philosophy of Right, these topical writings are certainly not attempts to solve practical problems by the application of general philosophical principles. As has already been observed, they are in fact political journalism, and they are effective as such precisely because they are so firmly based upon the informed commonsense of those actually involved in the situations about which Hegel is writing. In the Philosophy of Right however, as throughout the whole of the Encyclopaedia, the overriding consideration is the philosophical procedure involved in eliciting from the given subject-matter the structure and interrelationships of a comprehensively dialectical exposition. This is not to say that there are no Connections between Hegel's political journalism and his political philosophy, but that what Connections there are are rooted principally in the subject-matter common to both, not in his philosophy. Most of the topics dealt with in the analytical part of the article on the Reform Bill are also to be found in the Philosophy of Right, — the codification of the law (§ 216), the support of the poor (§ 241), the function of the monarchy (§ 275), the selection and training of civil servants (§ 289), taxation (§ 299), elections (§ 308) etc. It is, however, only in the latter work that the treatment is systematic and philosophical. Hegel's journalism is therefore important to the study of his political philosophy not because it shows him putting his general philosophical principles to the test in practical political situations, but because it indicates far more readily than the Philosophy of Right his actual interests, preoccupations and prejudices, the ultimate sources of his empirical knowledge. His idiosyncrasies are also apparent in his philosophical work of course, but critidsm of them there has to take into consideration the principles of his Overall System, whereas in the political writings the fundamental topic of enquiry is simply his handling of his sources. Although Hegel was evidently following English affairs as early as thel790's there is no direct evidence as to what his sources were at this time, and it is not even certain that he could read English. He seems already to have been in the habit of reading newspapers regidarly while he was teadiing at Jena however. George Heiman: The Political Thought of Hegel and J.S. Mill (Thesis, University of Toronto, 1966). Op. cit. 5—137. In Hegel's early political writings there is as yet no clear distinction of this kind, — hence the main thesis of Raymond Plant: Hegel. London 1973. See his Vertrauliche Briefe (Frankfurt 1798. 71, 81, 82), an annotated translation of a Frendx work (1793) by J. J. Cart (1748—1813), and his reference (1798) to Fox's speedi of May 26th 1797 in support of "Mr. Grey's motion for a reform in Parliament": H. S. Harris: Hegel's Development. Oxford 1972. 430.
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and the researches of D'HONDT and BEYER provide us with good reasons for assuming that even during his early years most of his Information about England was probably gathered from periodical literature. Fortunately there is no need for us to speculate as to the nature of his sources during the period immediately preceding the publication of the article on the Reform Bill, since many of the jottings and notes he then made have been preserved among the papers now held by the Staatsbibliothek Preussisdier Kulturbesitz in Berlin and Houghton Library at Harvard. These collections confirm what might have been suspected long ago from a reference contained in the Aesthetics, and what is clearly apparent from the selections published by HOFFMEISTER namely that throughout the greater part of the 1820's Hegel was a regulär and assiduous reader of the Morning Chronicle. — It is a dioice of paper which says much for his taste and perceptiveness, and on which one can only congratulate him. The modern reader is still struck by the Intelligence, informativeness, liveliness and readability which made the Chronicle the most populär and influential English paper of its day: "This paper we have been long used to think the best, both for amusement and Instruction, that issued from the daily press. It is full, but not crowded; and we have breathing-spaces and openings left to pause upon each subject. We have plenty cuid variety. The reader of a morning paper ought not to be crammed to satiety. He ought to arise from the perusal light and refreshed. Attention is paid to every topic, but none is overdone. There is liberality and decorum. Every dass of readers is accommodated with its favourite articles, served up with taste, and without sparing for the sharpest sauces. A copy of verses is supplied by one of the populär poets of the day; a prose essay appears in another page, which, had it been written two hundred years ago, might still have been read with admiration; a correction of a disputed reading, in a classical author, is contributed by a learned correspondent. The politician may look profoimd over a grave dissertation on a point of constitutional history; a lady may smile at a rebus or a charade. Here, PITT and Fox, BURKE and SHERIDAN, maintained their nightly combats over again; here PORSON criticized and JEKYEE punned. An appearance of conscious dignity is kept up, even in the Advertisements, where a principle of proportion and separate grouping is
Jacques d'Hondt: Hegel Secret. Paris 1968; W. R. Beyer: op. cit. Cf. Hegel's well-known Jena aphorism: "Reading the morning newspaper is a kind of realistic morning-prayer. One orientates one's atiitude to the World towards God, or towards what the world is. In that one then knows where one Stands, both provide the same reassurance." {Hoffmeister: Dokumente, 360). I should like to adcnowledge my indebtedness to both these institutions for permission to publish the original manuscript material contained in this article, and to Dr. K.-R. Meist of the Hegel Archive, Bochum, for having first suggested to me that it ought to be investigated. Extract 11: Hoff. 677—739.
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observed; the announcement of a new work is kept distinct from the hiring of a servant of all-work, or the sailing of a steam-yacht." By the time Hegel was reading it regularly, the general character of the Chronicle was already well established and widely recognized. It had been founded some fifty years before (1769) by WILLIAM WOODFALL (1746—1803), to whose personal interests and abilities it owed much of its initial success. WOODFALL had strong Whig sympathies, a great interest in Parliamentary affairs, and a remarkable memory, which enabled him to write out as much as six or seven columns of Parliamentary debate without the aid of notes. It was natural enough therefore that his paper should soon have become famous for the fulness and accuracy of its Parliamentary reporting, especially of Speeches made by members of the Opposition. In 1789 he was bought out by JAMES PERRY (1756—1821), who further improved the excellence of the paper's Parliamentary reporting by organizing a team of reporters, and identified it even more closely with the Opposition party through his personal contacts. PERRY had a way with him, "a dash, no slight one either, of the courtier". Düring the Peninsular War he vexed and puzzled WELLINGTON by the promptness with which he managed to publish articles based on highly confidential despatches. He grumbled about the "disgusting, though necessary, reports of parliamentary chattering", but continued to spend £ 2,000 — £ 3,000 a year on them. Though in no respects a Creative writer himself, he had an eye for literary talent, and got on well with poets and men of letters. In September 1793 the young COLERIDGE sent him a poem soliciting the loan of a guinea for a distressed author: “PERRY, who was generous with his money, sent it, and COLERIDGE often mentioned this, when the Morning Chronicle was alluded to, with expressions of a deep gratitude proportioned to the severe distress that small sum at the moment relieved." COLERIDGE, LAMB, THOMAS MOORE, HAZLITT and J. P. COLLIER contributed to the literary reputation of PERRY'S paper, and with articles and letters from BROUGHAM, SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, SHERIDAN and RICARDO also appearing regularly in its columns, it was equally distinguished in the political sphere. Despite PERRY'S ** W. Hazlitt: The Periodical Press. (In: Edinburgh Review. Vol. 38, May 1823); Works. Vol. 16. 222—223. Hegel knew of the Edinburgh, see note 35, and copied out the greater pari of its review of Bentham's Papers relative to Codification (Nov. 1817, 217—237), see Berl. V, 2, 4. Charles Lamb: Newspapers Thirty-five years ago. In: The Last Essays of Elia. F.K. Hunt: The Pourth Estate (2 vols. London 1850) characterizes Perry as follows: "Though not profound, he was quick, versatile and showy. He wrote like a man of the World, and took plain, common-sense views of the subjects on which he treated; and his style was easy and familiär. He was fond of epigrams, and very successful with them." (106) Wellington's staff officer Willoughby Gordon sent copies to the Opposition leader Lord Grey, who forwarded them to Perry: A. Aspinall: 'Politics and the Press 1780— 1850.' London 1949. 282. Thomas Moore: Memoirs. London 1853—6. vol. 8. 127. The Centleman's Magazine. Vol. 10.124 (Aug. 1838).
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outspoken criticism of the establishment and of government policy, he was too well-known and influential to be easily prosecuted for libel, so that his paper gained an enviable reputation for candour and independence of judgement. Although it always remained broadly Whig in its sympathies, it was financially independent of the party Organization, and did not hesitate to take a line of its own if it disagreed with current party policies. It annoyed BROUGHAM when it did not criticize CANNING'S acceptance of the office of Foreign Secretary in September 1817 for example, and there was some talk at this time of the Whigs' setting up a paper of their own. On occasions it took a line which was not only independent but also unpopulär. It did not take as uncompromising an attitude to PETERLOO as was expected for example, and it failed to give its wholehearted support to BROUGHAM on the QUEEN CAROLINE issue. When PERRY'S health began to decline in 1817, the editorship passed to another Scotsman, JOHN BLACK (1783—1855), who had begun to edit its foreign correspondence about six years before, and who had already made his mark as a translator and interpreter of serious Italian and German works. It was under BLACK, and during the period that Hegel read it regularly, that the paper reached the height of its influence, reputation and prosperity. BLACK was a dose friend of JAMES MILL, and as the younger MILL points out in his autobiography, during the first years of his editorship the paper bid fair to become the main Organ of the utilitarians; "During the whole of this year, 1823, a considerable number of my contributions were printed in the Chronicle and Traveller: sometimes notices of books, but oftener letters, commenting on some nonsense talked in Parliament, or some defect of the law, or misdoings of the magistracy or the Courts of justice. In this last department the Chronicle was now rendering Signal Service. After the death of Mr. PERRY, the editorship and management of the paper had devolved on Mr. JOHN BLACK, long a reporter on its establishment; a man of most extensive reading and information, great honesty and simplicity of mind; a particular friend of my father, imbued with many of his and BENTHAM'S ideas, which he reproduced in his articles, among other valuable thoughts, with great facility and skill. From this time the Chronicle ceased to be He was not immune however. He was prosecuted and acquitted in 1792 and 1810, and in 1798 fined and imprisoned for Publishing material detrimental to the reputation of the House of Lords: Parliamentary History. Vol. 33; H. R. Pox Bourne: English Newspapers. London 1887. Vol. 1. “ Patricia Hollis: The Pauper Press. Oxford, 1970; Aspinall: op. cit.; E. Halevy: The Liberal Awakening. London 1961. 24—25. C.W. New: The Life of Henry Brougham to 1830. Oxford 1961. 94—96; A. Aspinall: Lord Brougham and the Whig Party. Manchester 1927. 46—47; Morn. Chron. leaders 19th—23rd August 1819, and June 6th—Nov. llth 1820. It was purdiased from Woodfall in 1789 for £ 1,500. In 1821, when it was bought by W. I.Clement (d. 1852) for £ 42,000, it cost 7d (4d duty), had a circulation of about 6,000, and was showing an annual profit of £ 12,000: see Pox Bourne, op. cit. Vol. 1. 363; English Historical Review. 1950. 223; James Grant: The Newspaper Press. London 1871. Vol 1. 256—313.
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the merely Whig organ it was before, and during the next ten years became to a considerable extent a vehicle of the opinions of the Utilitarian radicals. This was mainly by what BLACK himself wrote, with some assistance from FONBLANQUE who first shewed his eminent qualities as a writer by articles and jeux d'esprit in the Chronicle. The defects of the law, and of the administration of justice, were the subject on which that paper rendered most Service to improvement. Up to that time hardly a Word had been said, except by BENTHAM and my father, against that most peccant part of English institutions and of their administration. It was the almost universal creed of Englishmen, that the law of England, the judicature of England, the unpaid magistracy of England, were models of excellence. I do not go beyond the mark in saying, that after BENTHAM, who supplied the principal materials, the greatest share of the merit of breaking down this wretched Superstition belongs to BLACK, as editor of the Morning Chronicle. He kept up an incessant fire against it, exposing the absurdities and vices of the law and the courts of justice, paid and unpaid, until he forced some sense of them into people's minds. On many other questions he became the Organ of opinions much in advance of any which had ever before found regulär advocacy in the newspaper press. BLACK was a frequent visitor of my father, and Mr. GROTE used to say that he always knew by the Monday morning's article, whether BLACK had been with my father on the Sunday." By continuing and developing PERRY'S independent and critical attitude, BLACK raised the paper above party conflict and eventually identified it with the most powerful English philosophical movement of the time. It therefore says much for his general abilities as a journalist that he was able to maintain its popularity for as long as he did: "Its philosophical consistency made it seem inconsistent, and was irritating to shallow and fickle people . . . BLACK offended the Radicals by demolishing COBBETT'S rhetoric and questioning his honesty, and shocked the Whigs by recognising virtue in CANNING and declaring that WELLINGTON was sometimes in the right." BLACK'S European interests and connections might have caused him trouble had he not been a man of such complete and transparent integrity. He reported the policies of the Holy Alliance and of the anti-liberal government in France as accurately and objectively as he did the liberal Sentiments of CANNING'S famous speech at Plymouth, and this breadth of interest A. B. Fonblanque (1793—1872) contributed regularly to the Chronicle during the 1820's. He attracted notice by the terseness and superiority of his style as well as the boldness and liberality of his opinions: see E. B. Fonblanque: Life and Labours of Albany Fonblanque. London 1874. George Grote (1794—1871), the historian of Greece. J. S. Mill; Autobiography (1873), ch. IV. The early contributions Mill refers to began to appear in the Chronicle in October 1822 and were usually signed "Widcliffe". Fox Bourne; op. cit. Vol. 2. 13—14. In 1834 Clement sold the paper to the politician and journalist Sir John Easthope (1784—1865) for only £ 16,000. Black resigned the editorship in 1843. It continued to decline and was sold again in 1849 and 1854. In 1860 it amalgamated with the Daily Telegraph.
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and scrupulous fairness were not always fully appreciated. Early in 1822 for example, METTERNICH was actually encouraged to insert an article in the Chronicle, and LORD GRANVILLE (1773—1846), the British ambassador to France, wrote as follows to Canning soon after his arrival in Paris in October 1824: "I think I can assure, you, on authority not to be disputed, that the private correspondence in the Courier and the Morning Chronicle is written under the direction of the agents of the French Government." Like both BROUGHAM and JAMES MILL, BLACK was convinced that any dose identification with socialist radicalism was not only undesirable in itself, but would have made it practically impossible to get the desired reforms through Parliament. His sub-editor THOMAS HODGSKIN (1787—1869) sometimes managed to insert socialist Propaganda into the paper surreptitiously however, — a move which led to severe criticism from MILL, who wrote as follows to BROUGHAM about the Chronicle's reporting of one of ATTWOOD'S Speeches during the reform crisis: "The nonsense to which your Lordship alludes, about the rights of the labourer to the whole produce of the country, wages, profits, and rent, all included, is the mad nonsense of our friend HODGKIN [sic], which he has published as a System and propagates with the zeal of perfect fanaticism . . . These opinions, if they were to spread, would be the Subversion of civilized society; worse than the overwhelming deluge of Huns and Tartars." ^ Admirable though BLACK'S paper was as a popularizing medium and as a means for bringing the principles of BENTHAMism to bear upon current problems, it was clearly unable to accommodate the lengthy and elaborate articles and reviews that then constituted the stock in trade of any serious political or philosophical movement. MILL saw the need for a periodical comparable to the Whig Edinburgh and the Tory Quarterly and it was for this reason that he launched the Westminster in January 1824 *®. In the decade or so during which Hegel was reading the Chronicle, the paper was therefore important to the BENTHAMites not as a vehicle for the direct presentation of their philosophical views but as a means of general Propaganda, and they were well aware that it was effective as such only in so far as it maintained its attitude of critical independence. H. Temperley: The Foreign Policy of Canning. London 1966. 300. Canning's Speech was delivered on October 28th 1823; Metternich wrote to Esterhazy about the article on January 31st 1822. “ Thomas Attwood (1783—1856), the Birmingham political reformer and monetary theorist. MilTs letter of Sept. 3rd 1832: see Alexander Bain: James Mill. London 1882. 363—367. Hodgskin was at that time a naval officer on half pay. In 1825 he published an anonymous work which influenced Marx — see extract 10. Mill may be referring to his Populär Political Economy (London 1827). Cf. the Chronicle January 28th 1830. The Edinburgh Review was started in 1802, the Quarterly Review in 1809. Hegel made extracts from both: Quart. Jan. 1817 p. 523, April 1818 p. 30, Sept. 1818 p. 116; Edin. Nov. 1817 pp. 217—237, March 1819 pp. 368, 415. See G. L. Nesbitt: Benthamite Reviewing. The Westminster Review 1824—1836. New York 1934.
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Consequently, Hegel was almost certainly unaware that there was any dose Connection between BENTHAM'S philosophy and the sort of Information he was gathering from the Chronicle. The paper adopted a reforming motto and it pulled no punches in its leaders, but it concentrated upon making its points by implication, by straightforward reporting of particular items of news, and it was quite evidently on account of its news value that Hegel continued to read it regularly. Since he drew most of the conclusions it was hoped he would draw, not only all the factual material but also the greater part of the argumentation to be found in the Reform Bill article may also be found in the Chronicle. This subject needs to be more fully investigated than is possible here, but it may be of value to give a broad survey of the paper's policies and attitudes with regard to certain central issues, to point out which of Hegel's extracts relate to these issues, and to indicate the possible reasons for his reacting as he did. In the crucial field of the law, as MILL noted, the Chronicle looked beyond the official machinery, and attempted to mobilize public opinion, not only against undesirable conduct, but also against the judges' view that this appeal to the people was mere scandalmongering, and that those who had the cause of justice at heart might obtain their end equally well by providing evidence in the Courts. It devoted a lot of space to publicizing the proceedings of the police Courts, since this was the only effective check on the wanton exercise of the power of commitment entrusted by law to the magistrates. It provided detaiied accounts of proceedings at the central courts and county assizes, especially if the issues raised, the handling of the evidence or the decisions reached could be used to illustrate the anomalies of the System. In reporting Parliamentary affairs it gave full Publicity to what actually went on at elections and to Speeches advocating reform and rarely missed a chance of reviewing constitutional issues in the light of the general economic, social and religious state of the country On the central matter of the reform of the electoral System it had a consistent if somewhat devious policy, determined partly by the changes that took place in the Parliamentary scene and partly by JAMES MILL'S political tactics. Throughout the whole of LORD GREY'S parliamentary career it never failed to take an opportunity to call attention to the underrepresentation of the industrial areas, to advocate the redistribution of seats, and to emphasize the September 3rd 1822: "Misgovernment must destroy the Press, or the Press will destroy misgovernment." See W. H. Widcwar: The Struggle for the Freedom of the Press 1819—1832. London 1928. It also indulged in simple sensationalism however, in reporting scandalous cases in detail primarily on account of their news value: extracts 2, 13. Extracts 31, 58, 59. " Extracts 21, 24, 28, 59, 65 (issues); 12, 36, 37, 58, 60, 64 (evidence); 26, 27, 40, 42, 62 (decisions). Extracts, 19, 23, 35, 41, 44, 45, 50, 63. « Extracts 1, 34, 38, 40, 46. “ Extracts 5, 7, 9, 29, 52, 57 (economic); 3, 32, 42, 46, 70 (social); 8, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 27, 29, 42, 51 (religious).
Hegel and The Morning Chronicle
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social implications of such a move. Shortly after PETERLOO for example, it suggested that bestowing representation on the great industrial towns of the north would be far more effective than any Coercion Act in restoring tranquillity to the disturbed areas. Düring WELLINGTON'S administration however, it was more impressed by his breaking with the ultra Tories, his furthering the cause of Catholic emancipation and the pacifism of his foreign policy, than it was by his Opposition to Parliamentary reform, and it tended to blame the lack of progress in this sphere upon the radicals. Although MILL himself had no sympathy with the radicals, and thought it essential that reform should be brought about by constitutional means, he saw the value of creating the appearance of impending revolution in Order to extract concessions from Parliament, so that when the Chronicle attacked HUNT and COBBETT and emphasized the dangers of the potential effectiveness of their methods, it was simply pursuing an orthodox BENTHAMite policy: "It is of immense consequence that the army of the people should now be such as to dispel the Illusion which some Peers may entertain, that this is a question with regard to which the people may be safely opposed . .. Let it never be forgotten that power is with the people, and that the people have merely to resolve, and their purpose is effected. This every sensible Peer must know." The main features of Hegel's political thinking had developed long before the 1820's, and by 1821 had already been given their detailed philosophic form. As has already been observed, the philosophical structure of the Philosophy of Right is simply part of the Overall structure of the Encyclopaedia, and in itself is essentially irrelevant to practical politics. It is however within this framework that Hegel expounds his positive opinions on particular topics. To analyze the interaction in his thinking between philosophic structure and positive opinion would take us beyond the scope of this paper, but in assessing the use he made of the Chronicle in selecting the material for his article on the Reform Bill, it is essential that we should refer back to the positive political ideas expressed in his philosophical work. His views on codification (§ 216) naturally led him to make a dose study of the Edinburgh's review of BENTHAM'S papers relative to the subject and to
October 20th 1819.
£. Halevy; The Liberal Awakening. London 1961. 302; Elizabeth Longford: Wellington. London 1972. 179; see Morn. Chron. September 26th 1829: "The cause of reform never was at a lower ebb than at this moment; and it is more indebted to Cobbett and Hunt than anybody eise for its fallen condition." Morn. Chron. September 19th 1831. Cf. extracts 6, 25; J. Hamburger: James Mill and the Art of Revolution. New Haven and London 1963. Papers relative to Codification (Edin. Rev. Nov. 1817, 216—237), see Berl. V. 2, 4 and note 19. Hegel copied out the greater part of this review from page 222 onwards: "In spite of the panegyrics which have so often been pronounced upon our laws, and upon the administration of them, no person who is practically acquainted with our English System of jurisprudence, and who will speak of it ingenuously, can deny
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draw the conclusions MILL and BLACK expected him to draw from the legal reports published in the Chronicle. His preconceptions concerning society's obligations in respect of poverty (§ 241) clearly influenced his selection of material concerning the social responsibilities of the law, the landowners and the church in Ireland, and led to his calling attention to this aspect of the Irish question in his article. His attempt to characterize the monarchy as uniting within itself the three moments of the Constitution, counsel and decision (§ 275), provided him with the philosophical background for the opinion that it was the weakness of this institution in Great Britain which was holding up the improvement of the country's Constitution. As MILL reached the same conclusion at much the same time, tracing the idea in the Chronicle would be a worthwhile undertaking, since there is only one clear reference to it in Hegel's surviving notes. His thorough treatment of the civil Service (§§ 287—297) has its natural corollary in his picturesque condemnation of the "crass ignorance" of Britain's "fox-hunters and landed gentry". The incidental similarities between Hegel and the BENTHAMites might be illustrated by many judgements of this kind. The very phräsing here, indicative though it is of Hegel's deep and long-standing enthusiasm for the ways of German civil servants, is evidently taken straight from the Chronicle, and it is indeed difficult to imagine either Hegel or JAMES MILL responding very readily to the joys of the chase. Since Hegel finds the Philosophie significance of taxation in the state's exaction of Services from individuals in Order to provide for their "well-being and happiness" (§ 299), one readily appreciates the process of direct Suggestion by means of which the Chronicle's constant complaints about the tax bürden gave rise to the treatment of this subject in Hegel's article. On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine a sharper contrast than that between the conscientious analysis of the principles of electoral representation in the Philosophy of Right (§§ 308—311), and the hair-raising accounts given by the Chronicle of what went on at election time in Britain. Taking into consideration the extracts Hegel made on this topic, one is Struck mainly by the mildness of his remarks in the article.
It has already been observed that although the Chronicle soon changed its opinion of WELLINGTON'S political abilities once he had taken office, it never that it is attended with great and numerous misdiiefs, which are every day becoming more intolerable." etc. etc. « Hoff. 469; K. and P. 300. « Extracts 3, 16, 17, 29, 32, 46, 70; Hoff. 477—478; K. and P. 306—307. Hoff. 469—70, 501; K. and P. 300, 327. “ Extract 33; cf. 14, 38, 49; Hoff. 783. “ Extract 33 (February Sth 1828); Hoff. 482; K. and P. 310—11. Curiously enough, and for reasons of his own of course, Marx comes out here on the side of the foxhunters: see Kritik der Hegelschen Siaatsphilosophie (1843). Tr. J. O'Malley Cambridge 1970. 44—54. Cf. the Chronicle's championing of London University, July 19th 1825. 53 Hoff. 471; K. and P. 301—302. 55 See note 41. Hoff. 465, 488; K. and P. 296, 297, 316.
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abandoned MILL'S policy of attempting to create the appearance of impending revolution. Hegel had evidently worked out bis basic opinion as to the possibility of a revolution in Britain as early as February 1828, when he expressed himself on the subject as a result of the Chronicle's negative reaction to WELLINGTON'S acceptance of the premiership. It is quite evident therefore, that when he praises WELLINGTON'S political insight and concludes his article with the Suggestion that the Bill might "introduce not reform but revolution", he is not indulging in his own peculiar brand of Toryism, but simply retailing the views he had acquired from the Chronicle. As is well known, Hegel had no very high opinion of the philosophical capabilities of the English, and several of these extracts illustrate the sort of factual material on which he based his judgement. Although he was almost certainly unaware of the Chronicle's philosophical background however, he had acquired some knowledge of BENTHAM'S philosophy of law, and it is therefore possible that the "greatest happiness" principle had some influence upon his treatment of the sphere of "Practical Spirit" (§§ 469—480) in the Encyclopaedia. Feeling, impulses and happiness are treated here as the immediate presuppositions of abstract right, which would certainly seem to imply that he was in basic agreement with BENTHAM in regarding this level of psychology as constituting an important factor in the formulation of rational legislation. Hegel did not only use the material he had gathered from the Chronicle for his article on the Reform Bill. In editing these extracts some attempt has therefore been made to indicate other contexts in which this material appears, and in tracing these contexts some reference has been made to unpublished lecture material. As might have been expected, there is much evidence that at this Stage in his career he was reading in Order to confirm, not in Order to develop his ideas. References in the Reform Bill article for which there are no corresponding manuscript notes have been included among the extracts ®®, although it is of course not absolutely certain that Hegel relied upon the Chronicle in all these cases, and there is indeed direct evidence that he also consulted
Extract 33. Hoff. 497, 506; K. and P. 323, 330. Since the section of the article containing these observations (Hoff. 495—506; K. and P. 321—330) was censored as being “unsuitable for the State paper" (Hoff. 786), it did not appear with the rest in the Allgemeine Preussische Staatszeitung nos. 115, 116, 118 (April 26th—29th, 1831). ” Enc. §§ 394, 408; extracts 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 30. Cf. Philosophy of Right. §§ 20—21. In the 1827 edition of the Encyclopaedia, the sphere of "Free Spirit" (§§ 481—482) constitutes the initial level of "Objective Spirit". The existing notes relating to Hegel's lectures on these paragraphs have now been prepared for publication. He evidently mentioned "the System of eudemonism", but he made no direct reference to Bentham. Extracts 2, 25. Extracts 13, 19, 23, 34, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50.
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other sources **. Many of his notes have undoubtedly been lost. It is apparent from the published text of the Aesthetics for example, that only part of extract eleven has been preserved, and several extracts have disappeared even since HOFFMEISTER had access to them. It is to be hoped that this paper will encourage those interested in Hegel's political thinking during the Berlin period to take the Chronicle into consideration when assessing the nature of his positive views (and perhaps to trace those extracts that are still unidentified). In its broadest context such a field of research is important in that it illustrates how much ground Utilitarianism shares with Marxist socialism once one views these movements from an Hegelian standpoint. And it is, perhaps, encouraging to find that most of the anomalies, inconsistencies, corruptions and idiocies pointed out by the Chronicle and noted by Hegel were in fact eliminated long ago by the democratic Parliamentary procedures brought into being by the Great Reform Act.
Editorial procedure Forty five of these extracts are published by permission of the Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Nachlaß Hegel, K. 15. V 1, 1 ff; V 3, 2 ff and V 4, 7), five of them by permission of the Harvard College Library. This manuscript material, which consists of nothing more than rough notes, constitutes a small part of an extensive and largely unsorted body of miscellaneous papers containing jottings made by Hegel during his reading. The manuscript Originals of a further seven extracts seem to have disappeared since they were first published by HOFFMEISTER in 1956, and it has therefore been necessary to reprint them from his text. One extract has been taken from the manuscript lecture-notes included in a new two-language edition of the Philosophy of Subjective Spirit soon to be published by ReideTs of Dordrecht, and the remaining twelve have been drawn from the English translation of the article on the Reform Bill. The references in square brackets indicate the source of each extract, and suggest passages in Hegel's published Works on which it may have a bearing. The following abbreviations have been used: In extract 1 for example, he quotes a Parliamentary speech more accurately than the Chronicle reported it, and in extract 30 he seems to have checked the Chronicle's account of the court case against another source. Extracts 1, 16, 51, 53, 55, 64, 65. The texts of the extracts Hoffmeister published are very imperfect. “ Eric Stokes: The English Utilitarians in India. Oxford 1959; cf. extract 54; Graeme Duncan: Marx and Mül. Two views of social conflict and social harmony. Cambridge 1973. “ Extracts 18, 21, 22, 24, 26, 34, 37; cf. 1, 12, 17, 36, 38, 62.
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Berl.
Nachlaß Hegel. Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.
Harv.
The Houghton Library. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hoff.
Berliner Schriften 1818—1831. Ed. J. Hoffmeister. Hamburg 1956.
K. and P.
Hegel's Political Writings. Tr. T. M. Knox, intr. Z. A. Pelczynski. Oxford 1964.
Ph. R.
Hegel's Philosoph}/ of Right. Tr. T. M. Knox. Oxford 1962.
Enc.
Enzyklopädie (1830). Ed. F. Nicolin and O. Pöggeler. Hamburg 1959.
Jub.
Jubiläumsausgabe. Ed. H. Glöckner. 20 vols. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1965.
Fifty of the extracts have been collated with the text of the newspaper, and numbered in a chronological sequence. Despite a painstaking but admittedly not exhaustive search, it has not been possible to identify the original contexts of the remaining twenty with very much certainty. There are various reasons for this, — in some cases Hegel is not copying but summarizing, and in others he has either misdated or misassigned what he has noted, or simply failed to give any indication of its origin. Editorial additions have been placed between square brackets, and every effort has been made to present the extracts precisely as they were noted down. In Order to facilitate the comparing of what Hegel wrote with what appeared in the newspaper, any instance of inaccurate or fragmentary notetaking has been numbered, and the original Version or the supplementary material has been supplied in a footnote. If the meaning of Hegel's German is not made explicit by these notes, a translation has been supplied. Düring this period, the contents of the Chronicle invariably feil into a number of clearly defined categories, — advertisements, leaders, Parliamentary news and law reports being the most important. The category from which an extract is drawn has been indicated, and whenever possible some attempt has been made to assess its general significance and sketch in its historical background.
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1. Der von Sir James Mackintosh eingebrachte[n] Bill wegen Verminderung der Strafe für das Verbrechen der Verfälschung von Handschriften u. s. w. (die am 4. Juni 1821 durchgefallen ist) widersetzte sich der Generalprokurator und meinte, daß, wenn das Hängen abgeschafft würde, ein neues Gefängnis erbaut werden müßte, das eine Bastille genannt und in ganz England verwünscht werden würde; überhaupt sei die Bill eine Maßregel, um die Bestrafung von zehnjähriger Einsperrung zu harter Arbeit einzuführen, die man in England bis jetzt noch gar nicht kannte. [TransZ.;] Sir James Mackintosh's Bill for reducing the penalty for the offence of forging handwriting etc. (which was rejected on June 4th 1821), was opposed by the attorney-general, who was of the opinion that if hanging were to be abolished, a new prison would have to be built, whidi would be denominated a Bastille and execrated throughout England; that the Bill was simply a means for introdudng the sentence of ten years' hard labour, which has hitherto been quite unknown in England. [Hoff. p. 720.] 'The Morning Chronicle' June 5th 1821 p. 2 col. 4, Parliament: the Attorney-General (Sir Robert Gifford 1779—1826), "With respect to the punishment attached to the uttering of forged notes ... If imprisonment and hard labour were to be that punishment, prisons must be built, which would become the objects of detestation in every county in England." Cf. 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' new series vol. V col. 1107, "What would be the consequence? They would be obliged to build a prison, which would be denominated a bastile, and which would be execrated in every part of England, for the Security of those individuals ... Moreover, this measure went to introduce a punishment unknown to the law of this country — imprisonment and hard labour for ten years." Sir James Mackintosh (1765—1832), unlike most British philosophers of his day, had some knowledge of the writings of Kant and Fichte. His theoretical interest in legal matters seems, however, to have been influenced more by Bentham than by German idealism, and as an active reformer he regarded himself as carrying on the work of Sir Samuel Romilly (d. 1818). On March 2nd 1819 he carried a motion against the government for the setting up of a Committee to consider 'so much of the criminal laws as relates to Capital Punishment in Felonies.' When its report was published in 1820, he attempted to give effect to its recommendations by introducing six Bills into the Commons, three of which were finally accepted by the Lords (1 George IV c. 115, 116, 117). He was not so successfui in 1821, for the three Bills thrown out in 1820 were again rejected, but 1 William IV. c. 66 (1830) reduced considerably the number of cases in which forgery was a Capital offence. On July 4th 1831 Mackintosh supported the second reading of the Reform Bill 'in a speech which was respectfully received, in spite of its philosophical generalities.'
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2.
Es ist nicht leicht zu erkennen ob Menschen verrückt sind oder nicht, weil sich die fixe Idee oft sehr versteckt, häufig sind kluge Leute darüber getäuscht. In England ist der Zustand der Verrücktheit sehr häufig und es giebt da eigene Ärzte die sich nur auf seine Behandlung legen und doch kommt oft der Fall vor daß sie verschiedener Meinung sind. Über den Zustand des Lord Portsmouth waren z. B. die Ärzte sehr im Widerspruch, daß er nicht klug war, ist wohl zugegeben, die Behandlung die er sich von seiner Frau gefallen ließ, seine Liebhaberei Glocken zu läuten, besonders bei Leichenbegängnissen, wofür er sogar die Pence annahm, sprachen dafür, aber die Narrheit war schwer zu bestimmen. [Transl.:] It is not easy to decide whether people are deranged or not, for the fixed idea is often by no means evident, and even experts are frequently deceived. The state of derangement is very common in England, but although there are special doctors there, concerned exclusively with the treatment of it, they will often deliver differing judgements. The doctors expressed very conflicting opinions on the condition of Lord Portsmouth for example. It was admitted that he was somewhat odd, this was evident from what he put up with from his wife and his fondness for ringing bells, particularly at funerals, for which he even accepted the pence he had earned, but it was difficult to prove him a fool [Lecture on Anthropology, 5—6 p. m. Mon. July 18th 1825; ms. notes K. G. von Griesheim p. 225; cf. Kehler ms. pp. 162/3, Jub. 10 p. 224, 24 (Enc. § 408 Add.).] The Morning Chronicle'February 14th 1823 p. 4 col. 1, Lam Report; "Lord Portsmouth's Gase. Proceedings of the Commission (De Lunatico Inquirendo) — Yesterday. Jos. Head — (Examination reassumed by Mr. Wethereil.) — Returned with Lord Portsmouth, when he went into Hampshire after his second marriage frequently, while there he told witness that Lady Portsmouth ill-treated him, by horsewhipping and threatening him; said the late Lady Portsmouth had behaved very kindly to him; in the late Lady Portsmouth's lifetime witness often went out with Lord P. in his phaeton, both in town and country; they frequently passed a funeral, when his Lordship would sometimes hit at the coachmen driving the mourning-coaches or hearse, and would call them Anthony and Joe; he often ordered his phaeton to follow in the procession, and when it arrived at the burial ground he generally accompanied the corpse into the church and to the ground; witness was frequently at the church at Hurstbourne when the bells were being rung, and his Lordship always rung one; sometimes his Lordship would flog the ringers with the rope; witness once divided a sum of money amongst the ringers, which the clerk brought him, his Lordship's share was fifteen pence, which he took; don't recollect his Lordship's paying, but he often received his share; when people were ill Lord Portsmouth would frequently inquire how they were, and Orders always were given to the clerk to let him know when they died, that his Lordship might toll the church bell; knows that his Lordship frequently left the house, when so informed, for the purpose of ringing the bell." The 'Chronicle' reported this case at length between February 13th and March Ist 1823. John Charles Wallop, third Earl of Portsmouth (1767—1853), after the death of
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PETRY
his first wife in 1813, married Mary Anne Hanson, the daughter of his solicitor. It soon became well-known that Lady Portsmouth was the mistress of the earl's physician, and that both lovers were in the habit of bullying him. Since his estates were worth over £ 17,000 p. a., the question of his sanity and so of the validity of the bond was raised. Five commissioners appointed by the Lord Chancellor under a commission de lunatico inquirendo and a jury of twenty four met at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street on Monday February lOth 1823, to enquire whether the earl was not of sound mind and capable of conducting his own affairs. The enquiry lasted about a fortnight, and the mass of evidence was greater than in any case which had come before the court in living memory. On February 28th Mr. Commissioner Trawer summed up at great length: “He particularly commented on the evidence of the medical men who had declared Lord Portsmouth to be of unsound mind, and put it to the jury whether they had seen anything in their examination of his Lordship to lead them to a different conclusion." (“Fhe Gentleman's Magazine' vol. 93 pt. i p. 270, Jan.—June 1823). The verdict was unanimous, "That John Charles, Earl of Portsmouth, is a man of unsound mind and condition and incapable of managing himself and his affairs; and that he has been so from the Ist Jan. 1809." In May 1828 the marriage was declared null and void on account of the earl's having entered into it when of an unsound mind: 'The Annual Register ... of the year 1828', Chronicle pp. 59—63. 'A Genuine Report of the Proceedings on the Portsmouth Case' (79 pp. London, 1823; B. Mus. Cat. 6495 e. 20), see esp. pp. 12, 18; John Johnstone (1768—1836) 'Medical Jurisprudence: on madness' (Birmingham, 1800), the first English work on the medical and psychiatric aspects of crime; Anthony Highmore (1758—1829) 'A Treatise on the Law of Idiocy and Lunacy' (London, 1807).
3. Mr. North, im english Parliam. 11/5 24. He confessed that he thought nothing more likely to do mischief than a perfect consciousness of purity of motive, accompanied with an imperfect knowledge of the subject. [Berl. V, 3, 3, Hoff. p. 722; cf. Ph. R. § 137.] 'The Morning Chronicle' May 12th 1824 p. 3 col. 5, Parliament: "He was now about to give utterance to a sentiment, which, he was aware, would be considered by many gentlemen as savouring strongly of Irish prejudices, but which, he was sure, sprung from an ardent affection for his country; and that sentiment was, that if any of their institutions were to be modified or changed, or reformed, that modification and reform should come from the country Gentlemen of Ireland. From the observations he had made during the short time he had held a seat in that House, he feit disposed to deprecate any modification or change from any other quarter. The country Gentleman of Ireland were alone possessed of that practical knowledge of the country which was essentially necessary for the purpose of effecting any modification with security. The country Gentlemen could alone appreciate opinions, and even prejudices which it was necessary to respect. They would do nothing hastily or intemperately; they would avoid those errors into which others, though actuated by the best intentions, were
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likely to fall. He respected the motives of those who came forward with propositions for the relief of Ireland, but he confessed that he thought nothing more likely to do mischief than a perfect consciousness of purity of motive, accompanied with an imperfect knowledge of the subject. It was from his own countrymen alone that he anticipated any thing like a safe and secure Reform in Ireland." John Henry North (1789—1831), at this time M. P. for Plympton Earle in Devonshire, was a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, a king's counsel in Ireland, and an ardent and eloquent supporter of Canning. He was appointed Judge of the Irish Admiralty Court by Wellington, but it was not until the end of the Wellington administration, when he was M. P. for Drogheda, that there was any resurgence of the earlier brilliance of his Speeches in the Commons. See 'Gentleman's Magazine' vol. CI pt. 2 p. 466; G. P. Judd Members of Parliament (London 1955) p. 290. This debate on the state of Ireland is to be found in T. C. Hansard 'The Parliamentary Debates' vol. XI cols. 654—724 (Hegel's extract col. 702). Lord Althorp's motion, "That a select Comittee be appointed to inquire into the State of Ireland" was defeated by 184 votes to 136. 4.
The Maxim of a wellknown French Statesman, that language was given to man to conceal his thoughts — seems to be ever present to the framer of the King's speeches to Parlament; — for in Order to obviate all difficulty on the part of the opposotion in echoing them, they are generally of a purely negative character. [Berl. V, 3, 5; cf. Jub. 10 p. 252.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 3 rd 1825 p. 2 col. 2, Leader: "The maxim of a well-known French Statesman, that language was given to man to conceal his thoughts, seems to be ever present to the framers of the King's Speeches to Parliament; for, in Order to obviate all difficulty on the part of the Opposition in echoing them, they are generally of a purely negative character. Yet one should think the ingenuity of Ministers would be rather hard tasked to evade all allusion to the circumstances whidi render so large an addition of troops necessary to our security. Danger there must be, or we should not be augmenting our army by upwards of twenty thousand men; and, to say nothing of the danger to those who represent virtually, if not really, the People of England, would be to declare Parliaments a farce, as well as County Meetings." "La parole a 4te donnee a. l'homme pour deguiser sa pensee." The words were evidently spoken by Talleyrand in conversation with the Spanish ambassador Izquierdo in 1807: see B. Barere (1755—1841) 'Memoires' vol. 4 p. 447 (Paris, 1842); 'Siede' Aug. 24th 1846. 5.
Brougham the right of men to employ their Capital in that way which their interests, their wishes, or even their caprices point out — Brougham — by
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Address as Answer to the Speech from Throne 3/2 25 Those statesmanlike and philosophical principles of free trade — for philosophical they undoubtely were — on the adoption of which his Majesty had that day congratulated his Parlament. [Berl. V, 1, 2, Hoff. p. 701; cf. Enc. (1830) § 7, footnote.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 4th 1825 p. 5 col. 2. Parliament: "That narrow shop-keeping and huckstering policy, ... is at length universally reprobated, although the reverse had been a policy which had been established in the conviction of enlightened minds for two generations, and had been inculcated by Adam Smith, and supported by a succession of able writers from his time ... This very doctrine of free trade and of the rights of men — the right I say to employ their Capital in that way which their interests, their wishes, or even their caprices point out — that long depreciated and absurd right is now happily acknowledged as the rising code of our commercial policy ... Thank God, they have even realized those most damnable heresies of free trade; and in place of those real heresies and that narrow pedlar-like policy which so long oppressed the national enterprize, adopted those statesmanlike and philosophical principles of free trade — for philosophical they undoubtedly (type faulty) were — on the adoption of which his Majesty had that day congratulated his Parliament." C. W. New "The Life of Henry Brougham to 1830" (Oxford, 1961). Hegel himself makes mention of Adam Smith in his 'Lectures on the History of Philosophy.'
6.
Morn. Chron. 9/2 25 (in Journal: Scotsman) The Spaniards ^ are the Moslems ^ of Western Europe. They have lost their place in the scale of nations and sunk into semi-barbarism from the same causes — the paramount influence of Superstition and despotism. Like the Turks, they exhibit in their Government a most ludicrous combination of magnificent pretension and deplorable imbecillity and in their national character, the same pride, ignorance, intractableness, and fanaticism. Like the Turks, too, they inherited a splendid empire, which is in a state of utter dilapidation. The colonies of the one ® like the subject nations of the other, having made the discovery, that their governors are weak, stupid, and tyrannical, cannot by any human means * kept in subjection to rulers they despise. We may add, to complete the parallel, that the two Courts are composed of very similar materials. The Monk and the Mufti, the white page and the blak ® eunuch, are consellors ® of the same Order; ^ Spain and Turkey seem, in fact, to have been placed at the two extremities of Europe, to serve as monuments to other nations, of the degrading and barbarishing ® ef fects of Superstition and despotism. [Berl. V, 1,1, Hoff. pp. 716—717; cf. Jub. 10 p. 83 (Enc. § 394 Add.)]
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'The Morning Chronicle' February 9th 1825 p. 3 col. 1, Leader, Extract from 'The Scotsman': ‘ not emphasized; * imbecility; ® comma; * he; ^ black; • counsellors; ^ and were it possible for the bearded brother of the Sun and Moon to transfer himself to Madrid, and make a small change in his creed, he would scarcely be able to perceive any alteration in the spirit or the mechanism of his government. As for Ferdinand, it would be doing injustice to theTurks to suppose that they would endure him for a single year. Spain and Turkey seem ... Hegel wrote and then crossed out the first eight words of this passage. ® barbarising. The writer of the leader quotes this passage from 'The Scotsman' while commenting upon Anglo-Spanish relations: "A good deal of diplomatic altercation will, no doubt, take place before the Holy Allies consent to forgive Great Britain for presuming to maintain formal relations of any kind with the rebel subjects of a State, which they have taken under their protection. They are determined themselves to recognise no authority or sovereignty, but that of his Catholic Majesty, and to consider even local power an Usurpation, but that which emanates from him ... On the Continent it is stoutly maintained that Great Britain has not merely set a bad example by countenancing rebellion and insurrection; but violated the express stipulations of treaties .. . However, Spain being now a non- entity, the sentiments of its Government are merely important in so far as they may be enforced by France ..
7. Morn. ehr. 14/2 25. Ship Owner's Society; armiversary. Dinner of this Soc. The Earl of Liverpool, as President of the Soc. took the head of the Table, supported on his right by Mr Secretary Canning, and on his left Sir Charles Long, the Paymaster — General of the Forces. (— 300 persons sat down to dinner. — Mr Canning: (after the health of Mr. Canning drunk with three times three and reiterated applause) A period has lately commenced when Ministers have had it in their power to apply to the state of the country the just maxims of profound philosophy — maxims which have enabled them to carry on their System in a plainer and more intelligible way; — [Berl. V, 1, 2, Hoff. p. 701; cf. Hoff. p. 498, K. P. p. 324, Enc. (1830) § 7 footnote, Jub. 10 pp. 85—86, 11 p. 567.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 14th 1825 p. 3 cols. 3 and 4, Report: "Ship Owners' Society, On Saturday the Anniversary Dinner of this Society took place at the City of London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street. At about half-past six the Earl of Liverpool, as President of the Society, entered the room, and took the head of the table, supported on his right by Mr. Secretary Canning, and on his left by Sir Charles Long, the Paymaster-General of the Forces; in addition to those Gentlemen, we observed among others, Mr. T. Manning, M. P., Mr. Alderman Wood, M. P., Mr. Alderman Bridges, M. P., Mr. T. Wilson, M. P., etc. etc. A most respectable Company of about 300 persons sat down to dinner ... "The health of Mr. Canning" was then drunk with three times three, and reiterated applause.
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Mr. Canning then rose to return the Meeting thanks, and addressed them nearly as follows: — Gentlemen ... For a long time the world seems to have been under an impression that the cause of the great commercial prosperity of this country was to be attributed to some secret wrapped up within the island, and that it all in a great measure preceeded from some mysterious combination with whith other nations were not conversant; and I do not see how these other nations are to be blamed, if they should adopt notions of this sort, though they are altogether false. But a period has lately commenced when Ministers have had it in their power to apply to the state of the country the just maxims of profound philosophy — maxims which have enabled them to carry on their system in a plainer and more intelligible way; yet still I am not surprised that other countries should be for a second time deceived, and not being aware of the principles on whidi we are acting, only conceive it to be another System of mysterious combination, and that the secret lies in some fraud which they had not yet arrived at the ingenuity of fathoming [a laugh]. At sudi a blunder as this I am not surprised, for if it was difficult before to learn our secret, it must be still more so now when we have to impress upon them the truth, that the only principle by whidi we are guided is that which Providence has bestowed equally upon every country, and with which secret we have every wish that all nations should become acquainted, so that that Stage for rivalry may be opened — which it is always necessary should be opened to insure success; and whether it is opened by men first launching into adventure, or by veterans in the contest, it will always afford new opportunity for the boldness of enterprise, and bring along with it that irrepressible energy, and spirit of ambition beyond controul, which will enable England to carry her commerce to the end of the world, and cater for the wants of all mankind."
8.
March 16; 1825, Mom. Chron. From a letter of Rome: There is not an individual at Rome who can read and write, who is not an atheist. Proverbe — "The nearer the church the further from God." [Berl. V, 1, 3, Hoff. p. 731; cf. Jub. 15 p. 115] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 16th 1825 p. 4 col. 4, Report: "Pentonville Bihle Association. The Eleventh Annual Meeting of this Institution was held last evening, at Clermont Chapel ... The Rev. Mr. Blackburn, in his address to the meeting, read the following extract from a letter, which he had received lately, from a scientific gentleman, now residing at Rome: — "The holy year, or year of Jubilee, goes on rather stupidly. It is thought that the Pope is sadly disappointed in his expectations. None of the ceremonies have excited much attention ... My time is so much occupied by my own particular studies, and I go so little into any but English society, that I have few opportunities to observe the character of the people. A friend who has long been here, and who knows them well, says there is not an individual at Rome who can read and write, who is not an atheist. The vulgär English proverb, 'The nearer the church the further from God, seems to apply in this case.'
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Cf. Sir Walter Scott Tvanhoe' (1819) ch. 20: Tf this be the habitation of a thief, it makes good the old proverb, The nearer the church the farther from God.'
9. Lord King Pari. 6/6 25 He had yesterday read a book, written by a very great divine, in which was said "Hell was paved with good intentions." [Berl. V, 3, 4; cf. Ph. R. §§ 119—128.] 'The Morning Chronicle' June 7th 1825 p. 1 col. 4, Parliament; "Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland. House of Lords — June 6th . . . Bonded and Canada Corn . . . Lord King would vote for going into a Committee with great pleasure, because he liked the Bill ... which he hoped to see introduced next year ... He did not see many landed gentlemen among the disciples to the modern treasury doctrines .. . He did not think it was right for the whole Community to be taxed to keep up high prices and high rents, and if he were the first Lord of the Treasury, and found the landed gentlemen refractory, he would turn the cows in amongst them. He had yesterday read a book, written by a very great divine, in which it was said, "Hell was paved with good intentions;" he believed the Treasury also was paved with good intentions; but the inhabitants of both these places were rather tardy in carrying their intentions into execution." The Lords debated the Bonded Corn Bill on May 31st 1825 (Hansard N. S. cols. 952— 959), and on June 6th simply considered a 'Petition from Owners and Occupiers of Land in the County of Norfolk' that the bill should not pass into law ('Journal of the House of Lords' vol. LVll p. 981), although this could not have been gathered from the 'Chronicle' report. Peter King, baron of Ockham (1776—1833) first took his seat in the House of Lords in 1793, and remained true to the Whig traditions of his family throughout the whole of his political career. He was a determined Opponent of the Corn Laws, and not only spoke but also wrote against them, his 'Short History of the Job of Jobs' being published some years after its composition as an anti- cornlaw pamphlet (1825; London, 1846). See also his 'On the Conduct of the British Government towards the Catholics of Ireland' (London, 1807), and 'Life of John Locke' (London, 1829). The 'great divine' he had read was evidently John Wesley, see the 'Journal' July lOth 1736 (Everyman ed. I p. 36): "It is a true saying. Hell is paved with good intentions". Earl Fortescue 'The Speeches and Writings of Lord King' (London, 1844). The Corn Law of 1815 was intended to keep the price of wheat in British markets at about 80/- per quarter. British farmers and landowners were naturally opposed to allowing the import of cheap foreign corn, and since they were grossly over-represented in Parliament, were able to counter most attempts to repeal the law. It was, however, modified on several occasions. The 1825 act allowed the import of Canadian wheat at a fixed duty of 5/- per quarter, irrespective of the home price. See W. Jacob 'Report on the Trade in Foreign Corn' (London, 1826); D. G. Barnes 'A History of the English Corn Laws' (London, 1930); C. R. Fay 'The Corn Laws and Social England' (Cambridge, 1932).
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10.
30/7 25. Unter Anonncen: The Art of Preserving the Hair, on Philosophical Principles, neatly printed in post 8vo price 7s. board, is just published. Printed for Septimus Prowett, Old Bond-Street. [Berl. V, 1, 4, Hoff. p. 701; cf. Enc. (1830) § 7, footnote.] 'The Morning Chronicle' July 19th 1825 p. 1 col. 5 Advertisement: "Books Published This Day . . . Neatly printed, in post 8vo. price 7s. Boards, The Art of Preserving the Hair, on Philosophical Principles. Printed for Septinaus Prowett, 23, Old Bondstreet." The author, who had already published 'The Art of Improving the Voice ... on philosophical principles' (1825), promises in his introduction, "to make the more difficult and rugged parts of the road as smooth and level as we can, and cause you to exclaim with Milton — 'How charming is divine philosophy!'" It may be worth noting that the following announcement appeared on July 30th 1825, the date noted by Hegel: "Price Is. Labour defended against the Claims of Capital; or, The unproductiveness of Capital proved, with reference to the present Combinations amongst Workmen. By A Labourer. In the Author of this Pamphlet the labourers have found a scientific advocate. He has been very successful in pointing out the incorrectness of the received notions as to Capital, and in proving that the labourer's poverty is owing to the demands of the capitalist. It ought to be read by all men who labour either with their heads or their hands, and who think man somewhat a nobler being than the clod he treads on, or the Instrument he makes." The author of this anonymous work, which is referred to several times by Marx in 'Capital', was Thomas Hodgskin (1787—1869), sub-editor of the Chronicle: see G. D. H. Cole's edition of it (London, 1922); F. Boase 'Modern English Biography' vol. V col. 676 (London, 1965); E. Halevy 'Thomas Hodgskin' (1903; Eng. tr. London, 1956); E. P. Thompson 'The Making of the English Working dass' (London, 1964) pp. 777— 779.
11.
26/7 Bustes, ancients. Of individuals, emperors roman. in Gallery at Florence What pleases me in these busts and other of the same kind that I have Seen, is that they very much resemble English people of sense and education in the present day, only with more regulär features. They are grave, thoughtful, unaffected. There is not a face among them that you could mistake for a French face. These fine old heads, in short, confirm on in the general idea, of general humanity; French faces make one doubt the species. [Berl. V, 1, 4; cf. Jub. 13 pp. 180, 399, 432, 435, 436.] 'The Morning Chronicle' July 26th 1825 p. 4 col. 1, Article: "Notes of a Journey through Trance and Italy. — No. XVIII ... One of the striking things in the Gallery
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at Florence (given to the City by one of the Medici Family) is the Collection of Antique Busts. The Statues of Gods are the poetry of the art of that period. The busts of men and women handed down to us are the history of the species ... As to individual character, it would be as well sometimes to find it involved in obscurity; for some of the persons are better looking than for the truth of physiognomy they ought to be. Nero is as handsome a gentleman as Mr. Landor could wish him to be. The truth is, that what pleases me in these busts, and others of the same kind, that I have seen, is, that they very much resemble English people of sense and education in the present day, only with more regulär features. They are grave, thoughtful, unaffected. There is not a face among them that you could mistake for a French face. These fine old heads, in short, confirm one in the idea of general humanity: French faces make one doubt the species! There are two long galleries . .., and in a room near the centre . . . Stands the Venus of Medici ... I do not know what to say of the Venus, nor is it necessary to say much, where all the world have already formed an opinion for themselves ... If I might, notwithstanding hazard an hypercriticism, I should say, that it is a little too much like an exquisite marble doll. I should conjecture ... that there is a want of Sentiment, of character, a balance of pretensions as well as of attitude, a good deal of insipidity, and an over-gentility. There is no expression of mental refinement, nor much of voluptuous blandishment. There is great softness, sweetness, symmetry, and timid grace — a faultless tameness, a negative perfection. The Apollo Belvidere is positively bad, a theatrital (sic) coxcomb, and ill made, I mean compared with the Theseus. The great objection to the Venus is that the form has not the true feminine proportions; it is not sufficiently large in the lower limbs, but tapers too much to a point, so that it wants firmness and a sort of indolent repose (the proper attribute of woman), and seems as if the least thing would overset it. In a word, the Venus is a very beautiful toy, but not the Goddess of Love, or one of Beauty. It is not the Statue Pygmalion feil in love with; nor did any man ever wish or fancy his mistress to be like it." These 'Notes' were published anonymously. Their author was, however, none other than William Hazlitt (1778—1830), — 'Complete Works' (21 vols. London and Toronto, 1930—1934) vol. X pp. 221—223, who had first contributed to the 'Chronicle' in the autumn of 1812 (parliament, theatre, essays), and continued to do so fairly regularly until 1817. He was paid £ 300 for these 'Notes', whidi were serialized in the paper between September 14th 1824 and November 16th 1825. See H. Baker 'William Hazlitt' (Oxford, 1962).
12.
Morn. ehr. 27/7 1825 — On perusing the trial of a miscreant for brutality the most horrible, inflicted on a girl of 16, I was petrified at finding that the wretch was allowed to escape without any punishment whatever, merely, as it seems, because the young creature, in the agony of her sufferings, was incapable of describing with technicality the diabolical process of the monster's bestiality. [Berl. V, 1. 4.]
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'The Morning Chronicle' July 27th 1825 p. 4 col. 5 Letter: "To the Editor of The Morning Chronicle. Sir — On perusing the trial of a miscreant, for brutality the most horrible, inflicted on a girl of 16 (Barbara Crips), I was petrified at finding that the wretch was allowed to escape without any punishment whatever, merely, as it seems, because the young creature, in the agony of her sufferings, was incapable of describing with technicality the diabolical process of the monster's beastiality! Is there any other country on earth where such mockery of justice would be endured for a moment as in this, boasting of a system of law, the perfection of human reason! Had the poor girl been robbed of a trifling article of property, under such circumstances, the wretch's life would have been forfeited; while a bereavement which millions cannot compensate passes totally unattoned for!! Surely if anything deserving the name of Reform is meditated in legal proceedings, cases of this description, whith but too frequently occur, ought to be anxiously attended to; so that while the party accused is duly shielded from false accusation, the victim of brutality shall not be deprived of all redress for happiness totally destroyed. Your daily Reader, Filiarum Pater." Those convicted of rape suffered the death penalty. The law governing the rules of evidence was changed soon after this case, see 9 George IV c. 31 s. 18 "And whereas, upon trial for the crimes of buggery, and of rape, and of carnally abusing girls . . . offenders frequently escape by reason of the difficulty of the proof which has been required of the completion of those several crimes; for remedy thereof be it enacted, that it shall not be necessary, in any of those cases, to prove the actual emission of seed in Order to constitute a carnal knowledge, but that the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only".
13. A comprehensive idea of the connexion between holding a benefice and drawing its revenues on the one hand and the moral conduct and the fulfilment of officialduties on the other is afforded by an example that was the subject of court proceedings a few years ago. A motion came before the court against a clergyman named Frank, to the effect that, on account of insanity, he was incapable of managing his property and that it should be put in ward. He had a living of £ 800 per annum, and other benefices of about £ 600. But the judicial complaint was brought before the court by his son, as having now reached his majority, in the interests of the family. As a result of many days' [proceedings] and a mass of testimony, the publicly proved demonstration of the alleged lunacy brought to light actions of this clergyman of which, wholly undisturbed by a spiritual authority, he had acknowledged his guilt in the course of years; for example, he was once drawn in broad daylight through the streets and over the bridge of his town with a strumpet from a house of ill fame on each arm and pursued by a lot of sneering street-arabs. Still more scandalous were the stories, likewise confirmed by witnesses, of his relations with his
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own wife and a lover of hers wKo lived in the same house. This shamelessness in a clergyman of the English Church was no detriment to his possession of his office or to his enjoyment of the income of his benefices. [Hoff. p. 475, K. and P. pp. 304—305.] The Morning Chronicle' August 4th 1825 p. 4 cols. 4, 5, Law Report, witness Jonathan Boast: "I keep the Bear Inn at Yarmouth; I remember Mr. Frank coming to my house in February last ... I saw him come up the town with two common girls, followed by a crowd of boys. Mr. Bowen Boast: I am the son of the last witness; I remember Mr. Frank coming to my father's in February last; he slept out of the house two nights; Mr. Frank sent for me to a house of a low description; I went and saw him sitting by the fire with two girls; I asked him what he wanted? he said he merely wanted me to move his trunk; I left the house and one of the females came after; I went back, and he said that I had no occasion to remove the trunk; I saw Mr. Frank walk over the Yarmouth Bridge with two common prostitutes, a few minutes after he arrived by the coach." August 3rd. p. 4 col. 1, witness Robert Fox; "I have seen Mrs. Frank and Dr. Dickinson in bed together, in a room adjoining the small one, in which Mr. Frank slept. Mr. Frank never slept in Mrs. Frank's bed-room; he constantly slept in the small room adjoining." Edward Frank (1780—1834) came of a Yorkshire family owning property and land in the Pontefract and Doncaster area which he inherited on the death of his father in 1812. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, married in 1800, and in 1810 and 1811 was granted two livings in the diocese of Norwich, — Alderton in Suffolk (rated at £ 14.8.4d), and Shelton with Hardwick in Norfolk (total rating £ 13). He had a house at Shelton, but, at least at Alderton, his pastoral duties were carried out by a curate who evidently 'knew him little more than by name' (Morn. Chron. 6. 8.1825 p. 3 col. 4). The Chancery proceedings referred to here by Hegel were initiated by his eldest son R. B. Frank (1803—1832) in April 1825 ('The Times' 2. 5.1825 p. 3 col. 4) and were concerned primarily with the control of his personal estate, not his church livings. They were reported in great detail by the 'Chronicle' (3.8.—10.8.1825), and on account of the 'most indelicate and offensive nature' of much of the evidence, attracted a great deal of public attention. The jury decided that since Oct. 25th 1816, Frank had been "of unsound mind, so as to be unfit for the government of himself or his affairs." The trial probably interested Hegel in the first instance on account of the conflicting opinions as to Frank's state of mind expressed by some of the most outstanding psychiatrists of the day, — Dr. Haslam regarded him as sane, George Burrows as eccentric, and of those who gave evidence only Dr. Vetch deemed him a lunatic (cf. extract no. 2). J. A. Venn 'Alumni Cantabrigiensis' pt. II vol. ii (Cambridge, 1944) p. 566; Joseph Foster 'Index Ecclesiasticus' (Oxford and Cambridge, 1890) p. 67; John Burke The Commoners of Great Britain' (4 vols. London, 1833/8) vol. II pp. 575—577; Samuel Lewis 'A Topographical Dictionary of England' (4 vols. London, 1831) vol. I p. 20, II p. 321, IV p. 52. Lewis notes that the living of Shelton was then, 'in the patronage of the King, by reason of lunacy.'
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14. Mom. Chron. Knox Monument. 1 Oct. 1825 Passage in Robertson 1559. lawful for subjects, to resist to tyrann. princes The treatises of Languet, Hottoman, Beza and Buchanan — did not appear for many years after the period we are speaking of. Elsewhere the principle had been acted upon long before, but we believe we may say with truth, that it is to Knox we owe its first public recognition in a deliberative assembly in the modern world. On the day when this solemn decision was pronounced it may be truly said that the age made a great Step in advance, and that a vast subject was gained for the highest interest of mankind. [Berl. V, 1, 5; cf. Jub. 19 p. 225.] 'The Morning Chronicle' October Ist 1825 p. 3 col. 3, Report: "Knox's Monument. — The Speeches on this occasion were respectable, especially that of Dr. Gill, at the dose of the Masonic ceremony. Still we think justice was not done to Knox, whose spirit, while it happily exemplified the perfervidum ingenium of his countrymen, combined a degree of firm rectitude, moral energy, and intellectual power, which lifts him immeasureably above his contemporaries, and makes him by far the most spotless, elevated, and truly great character to be found in Scottish history. There is a passage in Robertson, relating to Knox, which we never could read without a feeling of exultation. When the Lords of the Congregation, in 1559, found it indispensable to set aside Mary of Guise, the Regent, they consulted the leaders of the church. "Knox and Willox," says the hlstorian, "appeared for the whole Order, and pronounced, without hesitation, both from the precepts, and examples in Scripture, that it was lawful for subjects, not only to resist tyrannical princes, but to deprive them of that authority which in their hands becomes an Instrument for destroying those whom the Almighty ordained them to protect." The treatises of Languet, Hottoman, Beza and Buchanan, which laid down the doctrine of resistance more or less distinctly, did not appear for many years after the period we are speaking of. At Runnymede, indeed, and elsewhere, the principle had been acted upon long before, but we believe we may say with truth, that it is to Knox we owe its first public recognition in a deliberative assembly in the modern world. We are proud to think that our country, then deemed an obscure corner of Europe, was the theatre of so illustrious an event. On the day when this solemn decision was pronounced, it may be truly said that the age made a great Step in advance, and that a vast object was gained for the highest Interests of mankind. We excuse the Glasgow Clergy for saying little about such a topic; but what tied up the tongue of Mr. Ewing, the principal Speaker on the lay side? The truth, we fear, is, that this Gentleman, though intelligent and ingenious, is like most of the half-way politicians — wants soul to be devoted to a great cause himself, or to appreciate such devotedness in others. He is, however, a very useful and respectable Citizen, and we have no desire to lessen his importance. One stränge oversight seems to have been committed by the managers of the feast. Will it be believed, that while Parliamentmen, and bailies, and craftsmen of various grades, were honoured with toasts, the
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name of Dr. M'Crie, the faithful biographer of Knox — the vindicator of his fame — and whose work has done more for his memory than fifty sculptured columns can do — was forgotten! We cannot suppose for a moment that the omission could arise from jealousy or malice prepense; but how it really has originated, passes our comprehension. — Scotsman." William Robertson (1721—1793) 'History of Scotland' (2 vols. London, 1759; 18th ed. 3 vols. London, 1809) vol. I p. 413; F. Hotman 'Francogallia' (1573), T. Beza 'Du Droit des Magistrats' (1574), G. Buchanan 'Baptistes' (1577), H. Languet 'Vindiciae contra tyrannos' (1579); J. W. Allen 'A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century' (London, 1951); Thomas Mc Crie (1772—1853) 'Life of John Knox' (Edinburgh, 1811).
15. Morn. Chron. 14/11 25. ^In Kelly's Reminiscences, an epitaph from a tomb in the Cathedral at Sienna “Wine gives life! it was death to me. I never beheld the morning sun with sober eyes; even my bones are thirsty! ^ — Stranger! sprinkle my grave with wine; empty the cup and depart.' ® [Harv. 114, Hoff. p. 732.] 'The Morning Chronicle' November 14th 1825 p. 2 vol. 5, Notices: * "In Kelly’s very interesting Reminiscences, just published, the following epitaph, extracted from a tomb in the Cathedral at Sienna, during the eccentric author's travels in Italy." ^ no exclamation mark; ® inverted commas. Michael Kelly (1762—1826), the Irish tenor, actor and Composer, was the son of a wine-merchant. He himself engaged in the wine trade, and this circumstance, combined with suspicion that some of his compositions were derived from foreign sources, led Sheridan to propose that he should inscribe over his shop "Michael Kelly, Composer of Wines and Importer of Music." His 'Reminiscences' (2 vols. London, 1826) were actually written by T. E. Hook (1788—1841); see vol. I p. 117. They have recently been republished (ed. A. H. King, New York, 1968).
16. Mom. Chron. 14/12 25: Religious Tract Book Society for Ireland- meeting. 1 The Rev. Mr. Eccles said, the Irish were not Heathes ® or Mohametans, nor Jews, but they were worse than all put together, for they were Papists; their creed was full of error, degradation, delusion, misery, and atrocity. They pray to the virgin; — ® they put an unlimited dependence on the Priests to forgive them their sins, and they substitute external rites for internal holiness morality. *
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The Rev. Joseph Irons. ® Of a verity ® it may be said, that Satan's seat is in Ireland^ where Popery reigns triumphant, ^ that man of Sin, that accursed, Antichrist, the Pope set up his dominions there. — compared the Church to a building composed of living stones cemented by the riches of grace and love. [Hoff. p. 719; cf. Hoff. p. 477, K. and P. p. 306 et seq.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 14th 1825 p. 3 col. 3, Report: ^Religious Tract and Book Society for Ireland. — A numerous Meeting was held on Thursday evening, at the Chapel of the Reverend Dr. Collyer, at Peckham, being the Anniversary of the Ladies' Auxiliary to the Religious Tract and Book Society for Ireland.; ^ The Rev. Mr. Eccles said, the Tracts were a cheap, simple, inoffensive, easy, and adequate means of good. The Irish were not Heathens; ® Virgin; they put; ^ nine lines omitted; ^ The Rev. Joseph Irons feit himself placed in an awkward predicament on the present occasion; firstly, he had doubted whether the cause was the cause of God; . . . eleven more lines of piety; “comrna; ’ triumphant. The text given me by the Ladies warmed my heart, and carried all my desires into Heaven. It reminded me of the beautiful imagery which you employed, Mr. Chairman, comparing the Church to a building composed of "living stones," cemented by the ridies of grace and love. The difficulties in such a cause are scarce worth naming. Indeed, in my view, all carnal means are quite contrary to the Spirit of the Gospel. When Dagon was to be pulled down, did a parcel of men go in with pickaxes? No! but they brought in the Ark, and down tumbled Dagon! — Has the Dagon of Popery erected his throne in Ireland — has that "Man of Sin," described by Paul — that accursed Antichrist, the Pope, set up his dominion there? Let US send against him, not muskets, and bayonets, and swords, and cannon, but spiritual weapons, such as Tracts, and Bibles, and Missionaries. Our success is certain. The social significance of the Irish labourer in England was not forgotten by a subsequent Speaker (Rev. Mr. Cobbin): "We owe a great debt to Irishmen. How could we build such beautiful houses without their nervous arms? And when those houses were built, how could we see them without wading through heaps of mud, if the same nervous arms did not make sewers under ground to carry off the filth? so let US repay the debt by sending tracts and bibles to carry off the moral filth of Ireland."
17.
British Catholic Association. Morn. Chron. 1/2 26 (the Meeting was yesterday. ^ In ^ a ^ letter addressed hy Pope Pius VII to ^ the ^ Irish Prelates, in 1791 ® his Holiness declared, that the See of Rome, had never taught that faith was not to be kept with heretics, or that an oath to Kings separated from the Catholic communion can be violated; or that it is lawful for the Bishop of Rome to invade their temporal rights and dominions; but that the See of Rome had always taught, that every attempt or design against the lives of Kings and Princes, even under pretence of religion, was a
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detestable crime. You all know that in 1682 ® the Clergy of France ^ made a solemn declaration, consisting of four articles. ^ The first contained a most explicit declaration of the independence of the temporal power on the spiritual power, in all temporal and civil concerns; the other three, related to matters of discipline. — The ® articles were signed by every secular and regulär ecclesiastic in the Kingdom ® of France. Some contests, out of France, arose on the three last articles; the first was agreed to, without exception, by the universal Catholic world. — In the discussions between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon, the Emperor violently urged his Holiness to sign the four articles. His Holiness refused to sign the three last; but the first — that which declares the independence of the temporal on the spiritual power, in all civil concerns, his Hol. ^ declared he would sign without difficulty. — In the Petition presented to his present Majesty, by the British Catholics in 1820, they express themselves in these words — ® We have lately joined in heart and and ® voice in proclaiming your Majesty to be our liege Lord and Sovereign. To your Majesty we sweai full and undivided allegiance. This Petition was signed by all our Catholic Prelates, and all their coadjutors, xoith the single exception of Doctor Milner. ^ [Berlin V, 1, 6, Hoff. p. 719; cf. Ph. R. § 270.] Yhe Morning Chronicle' February Ist 1826 p. 1 col. 5, Report: * British Catholic Association. Yesterday a General Meeting of the Members of this Association was held at the Crown and Anchor, in the Strand, for the purpose of considering the expediency of petitioning Parliament to restore them to their civil rights and liberties; * emphasized; ®comma; ^ none of these words is emphasized; ® These; “kingdom; '' Holiness; ® inverted comma; ® ommitted; inverted comma, hyphen. The Catholic Association was formed initially in May 1823 by Daniel O'Connell (1775—1847) and other Irish barristers in Order to further the Interests of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, and came into effective existence at the beginning of 1824. At a meeting held on February 16th 1824, O'Connell referred to a recent change in the 'Chronicle's' attitude to the religious aspect of his movement: "The Morning Chronicle, since it had become a mere mercantile speculation in the hands of the present proprietors, had ceased altogether to give any thing like fair play to the Catholics .. . (It) had heaped the most rancorous and monstrous abuse upon the Catholic religion; had attempted to confirm and strengthen the prejudices of the English people against the Catholic Claims; had libelled and calumniated the religion of five-sixths of the people of Europe, the religion of Alfred, of Edward, of Sir Thomas More, and Fenelon; had audaciously styled the Catholic religion as one that can only be professed by knaves or fools". See 'Proceedings of the Catholic Association in Dublin from May 13, 1823, to February 11, 1825' (London, 1825) pp. 187—195. Although the Association was a truly populär national reform movement, and United nearly all the Roman Catholics of Ireland, it had nothing in common with mob rule and violence. It was controlled and kept within the law by O'Connell and the priesthood, raised its own taxes with
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regularity and efficiency, and held orderly sessions in Dublin for responsible discussion of the government of Ireland. The fact that it pressed for reform within a legal and constitutional framework elicited the approval of Black and Mill, and it was therefore given a broadly sympathetic coverage by the 'Chronicle'. In February 1825 however, it was finally suppressed by the government as dangerous to public Order. The Whigs had opposed the bill, and once it had become law, pressed for the removal of the basic reason for the Association, the civil disabilities suffered by Roman Catholics. O'Connell managed to reconstitute the Association legally in spite of the ban, and its subsequent meetings, which were regularly reported in the 'Chronicle', helped to prepare the way for the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829. There would have been less resistance to Roman Catholic emancipation had the church been prepared to make concessions to the British government on the temporal control of ecclesiastical appointments. John Milner (1752—1826), who had been appointed Vicar-Apostolic of the Midland District in 1803, energetically opposed all Claims on the part of laymen to interference in matters of religion, and came to be regarded by his co-religionists as the Champion of catholic orthodoxy. He was expelled from the Catholic Board, which was agitating for Roman Catholic emancipation, on account of his uncompromising Opposition to the proposal that the British government should have a veto on the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops in the United Kingdom. He enjoyed the full confidence of the Irish prelates however, and acted as their agent in London. Thomas Wyse 'Historical Sketch of the late Catholic Association of Ireland' (2 vols. London, 1829); J. O'Connell 'Life and Speeches of Daniel O'Connell' (2 vols. Dublin, 1846); F. C. Husenbeth 'Life of John Milner' (Dublin, 1862).
18. Morn. Chron. 9/3 26 A Roman Catholic Clergyman has been compelled to abandon his parish ^ in the county of Cläre, and must eventually fly the country, for imiting in marriage a Catholic and a Protestant within the last month. Informations have been sworn, and a warrant issued for this infringement of an old penal Statute — Limerick Chron. ® [Berl. V, 1, 7.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 3rd 1826 p. 3 col. 3, News Extract: ^ comma; * Statute; ® Limerick Chronicle. The Marriage Act of 1823 (4 George IV c. 76) regulated marriages in England at this time. § 21 made it felony, punishable by fourteen years' transportation, to solemnize matrimony in any other place than a church or chapel in which banns might lawfully be published. In Ireland, the law regulating marriage was substantially the same as that which had prevaiied in England prior to Lord Hardwlcke's Act of 1753 (26 George II c. 33). The Irish Statute 19 George II c. 13 declared marriages performed by Roman Catholic priests, if the parties, or either of them, were Protestant, to be null. 3 and 4 William IV c. 112 repealed so much of the Irish legislation as made it felony for Roman Catholic clergymen to celebrate marriages involving Protestants.
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19. From the last Parliament the Bank Director Manning, who had sat there for many years, was expelled on the ground that his Opponent had proved that he had used bribery in his election. [Hoff. p. 485, K. and P. p. 313.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 15th 1826 p. 3 col. 2, Parliament: Bribery at Electlons Bill, Lord John Russell, "After the Hon. Member for Penryn (Mr. P. Grenfell) had refused to countenance the corrupt practices there, and it was therefore evident that a vacancy would occur in the representation, a person, said to be Solicitor to the Bank of England, had proceeded thither to form a Connection, in hopes, probably, of being returned. There was little doubt, therefore, that some of the unsoiled Notes of the Bank of England, perhaps numbered in succession, would find their way to Penryn at the next election [hear!]." William Manning (1763—1835), the West-India merchant and banker, was M. P. for Plympton Earle 1794—6, Lymington 1796—1806, Evesham 1806—18, and Lymington again 1818—26. Russell must have been well-informed, because Manning was in fact returned by Penryn, a rotten borough, in the June-July election of 1826. Committees of the House investigated alleged bribery and corruption there in 1807, 1819 and 1827, and once Peel had brought up the possibility of the borough's disfranchisement in March 1828, and this issue had been allowed to break up the Wellington-Canningite coalition (19.5.1828), the corruption of the place became notorious. Manning continued to sit in the House until 1830 however. See G. P. Judd 'Members of Parliament 1734—1832' (New Haven, 1955).
20.
Morn. Chron. 27/3 26 from Courier francais A printed ^ Memorial of M. Deplas Roques Priest at Castres, which is an appeals ® to public opinion against a * denial of justice of M. Brault Archbishop of Alby. ® The ecclesiastical autority ®, thinks that lending on legal interest is usury; in consequence it interdicts M. Deplas ^ from the right of saying the Mass. — Mr. Deplas asks — to what judges ® can he now recur, as neither the official nor the Promoter, nor the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs wish to come to any decision, and demand an absolute Submission, and without possibility of argumentation. It results from this Memoir, that the Clergy find blameable, what the civil law and reason indicate as legitimate. [Berl. V, 1, 8.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 27th 1826 p. 2 col. 1 Leader: ^ The Courier Francais gives the following singulär case: — "We have before us a printed; ^bold letters;
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’appeal; * the; “The facts which give rise to this appeal are very simple. M. Deplas believes that lending on interest Is permitted by the laws, and by Evangelical morality, and he prints his opinion.; • Ecclesiastical authority, which is not more advanced than the Jews in Political Economy,; ’’ In vain this Ecclesiastic has entreated the Metropolitan Archbishop to give motives for his censure, or to revoke the interdict. The Archbishop has not wished to express his opinion otherwise than the measure adopted with r“spect to M. Deplas, which would continue in force tili he retract his opinion. M. Deplas says that he will not retract tili it is pointed out to him in what he is erroneous. "He asks; ® Judges; * Official; comma; inverted commas; Civil. The 'Chronicle's editorial comment upon this case was as follows: With all Submission to M. Deplas Roques, when a man becomes a Priest (after the many hard things he has swallowed), surely he need not have any difficulty in condemning all interest as usury. If Deplas Roques could afford to have a conscience of his own, why did he go into the Church? and if he went into the Church, it was his business to submit to all its decisions, whether in accordance with political economy or not. A Priest ought to have no opinion of his distinct from that of the Church to which he belongs; liberality in him is impertinence.
21.
Justice. Morn. Chr. Apr. 13, 1826 Deffective Arrangement at the Old Bailey. Mr. Fox ^ informs us, that he was subpoenaed as a witness in a case, at the present Sessions at the Old Bailey. He attended six days, without being called on. — This is an immense sacrifice to exact from any individual. Day after day, a man summoned to these Courts is forced to hang on, without being able to obtain from any one the least Information when he may be wanted. If he go out of the way for a refreshment, during the interval the case may be disposed of — and this was Mr. Fox's case. The Court proceeded, per saltum from no 14 to no 22 ®. The persons whose convenience is consulted are the Practitioners. One is at the New Sessions, another is at the Middlesex Sessions; all sufficient reasons for postponing the case. Prosecutor's * witnesses are of no account. Need we wonder that crime abounds? What man possessed of a grain of common sense would be fool enough to prosecute a felon, except he has some vengeance to gratify? ® [Berl. V, 1, 9.] 'The Morning Chronicle' April 13th 1826 p. 4 col. 5, News Extract: * Defective Arrangements at the Old Bailey. — Mr. Fox, of King-street, Covent garden,; ^italics; ’ No. 14, to No. 22; “ Prosecutors'; “ Of this reluctance, felons, to do them justice, are pretty well aware, and hence the business runs now chiefly in this department of crime — sudi as picking of pockets — which does not stimulate to vengeance. In civil proceedings a witness was not obliged to attend unless his expenses were tendered to him (5 Elizabeth I c. 9), but in criminal proceedings the demands of
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public justice were regarded as superseding every consideration of private inconvenience, and witnesses were therefore bound unconditionally to attend the trial upon which they were summoned: see the Subpoena Act, 1805 (45 George III, c. 92 ss. 3, 4). This was generally admitted to be a defect in the law, see Joseph and Thomas Chitty 'The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer' (6 vols. London, 1831), vol. I p. 896, but it was not fully remedied until the Costs in Criminal Gases Act of 1908 (8 Edward VII c. 15).
22.
Morn. Chron. 21/4 26. Slavery, Catholics (W. Smith im Parliament) ^ It was something stränge, that in every colony which had been subject to Roman Catholics, the laws were more favourable to the Slaves, and productive of effects infinitely more beneficial to their interests, than in those belonging peculiarly to those who were styled the liberal Protestants. In Demerara, it was one of the greatest objections to the Missionary Smith, that he had gone about asking questions with regard to the condition of the Slaves, ^ — this was censured in unmeasured terms by Protestants, as one of those things enjoined and commanded by Roman Catholics. In the Spanish Colonies, the Roman Catholic Priests were commanded to go about, and visit, and comfort, and inquire into the wants and complaints of the Negroes. ® — The Orders in Council sent to Trinidad, were in part, if not wholy * founded on the old Spanish Laws; and was it not disgraceful ® as Prot. ® that they should thus adopt so tardily the measures left them by the Roman Catholics. ^ [Berl, V, 1, 10, Hoff. p. 718; cf. Hoff. p. 468, K. and P. p. 299.] 'The Morning Chronicle' April 21st 1826 p. 2 col. 4, Parliament: * They declared, in this country, by their actions and by their expressions, that Roman Catholics were incapable, by their religious tenets, of understanding or practising the relations enjoined by civil society; but it was ... ; ^ for the purpose, as was alleged, of ingratiating himself into their favour; but his astonishment may be conceived, when he found that what was objected to the Missionary Smith, by Protestants, and censured in such unmeasured terms, was one of those things enjoined and commanded by Roman Catholics; ® Was it not astonishing, that those who had first imported the Africans, and worked up the Aborigines, should have left them the model upon which they had since framed their Resolutions?; ^wholly; ®in the highest degree, “Protestants,; ^by Roman Catholics; and that, adopting them, they had not more speedily carried them into execution, to their full extent? William Smith (1756—1835) was M. P. for Norwich from 1802 until 1803. He was a Whig, and took part in almost every discussion on religious disabilities until the Test and Corporation Acts were finally repealed in 1828. He was equally energetic and consistent in his Opposition to the slave trade.
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For the legal status of slaves in areas of British Jurisdiction at this time see 'Judicial Cases concerning American Slavery and the Negro' (ed H. T. Catterall, Washington D. C., 1926). Their being unbaptized was taken to justify their being treated as property (Butts v Penny, 1677). The maxim that 'England was too pure an Air for Slaves to breathe in' (Cartwright's Case, 1569), was deemed to be inextendible to a slave who had resided in England and then returned to his or her country of origin (Lord Stowell's j'udgement in the case of the Slave Grace, November, 1827). Spanish American law respecting slavery tended to ascribe more importance to baptism, it being a general principle that, "the Pope may Order by law that any infidel who is converted and baptized be forthwith freed from human serfdom." See S. de Madariaga 'The Rise of the Spanish American Empire' (London, 1947) ch. II; Juan de Solorzano Pereire (1575—1655) 'Politica indiana' (Madrid, 1648; 1776 ed.) Book II ch. 1 par. 8 (vol. I p. 60).
23. At the last election but one it was stated that in the populous country of York £ 80,000 sterling had been disbursed for the election of a landowner there, Beaumont. [Hoff. p. 489, K. and P. p. 316.] 'The Morning Chronicle' June 17th 1826 p. 4 col. 5, Leader: "If we possessed the wealth of Mr. Marshall, of Leeds, and had been led to expend 100,000 1. in a contest for Yorkshire, the successful termination of which conferred no more real power than a return for the most obscure Borough in the Kingdom, we are sure that we should have afterwards bitterly regretted the sacrifice ... Till the elective franchise is so diffused as to defy purchase, we shall have a repetition of the disgusting scenes which have prevailed in England for more than a Century. The lower Orders are so poor and so degraded in most places, that to expect them to act otherwise than they act at present would be visionary." July 6th 1826 p. 2 col. 1, Leader on the Northumberland election: "In enumerating the causes of the success of his opponents, his Lordship (Lord Howiek, son of Earl Grey) distinctly States that "Mr. Beaumont derived great advantage from the unscrupulous manner in which his agents have, in consequence of the unlimited command of money at their disposal, induced many persons to sacrifice their public duty at the shrine of private interest." Success in a contest for a great county proves merely, according to Lord Howick's own showing, that it has been obtained by means of which a man has no particular cause to be proud — the possession of superior wealth. We protest that we think, of all causes of exultation, that of being chosen to represent a large County the least rational ... We have never been able to see any peculiar beauty in election contests for counties, which seem to us to exhibit English liberty in its most humiliating aspect. The spectacle of poor men conveyed to the Hustings by the Lords of the Soil, feasting in public houses, and fighting like slaves for the men who cram them, is not atoned for by the spectacle of the Candidates themselves descending to the level of the blackguards by whom they are surrounded." Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (1792—1848) succeeded his father as one of the two representatives for Northumberland in 1818, but lost the election there in June-July
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1826, and only entered the House the following December as the representative for Stafford. Since both the Yorkshire and the Northumberland campaigns of 1826 were well-reported by 'The Morning Chronide', it is difficult to account for Hegel's confusion. One of Beaumont's family seats, was, however, in Yorkshire, and in 1831 he inherited further mines and estates in the county. See 'Morn. Chron.' March ISth 1828 p. 2 col. 1; John Burke 'The Commoners of Great Britain' (4 vols. London, 1833/8) vol. II pp. 323—326; Annual Register XCI p. 213.
24. Morn. Chron. 22/9 26. No prejudice is more deeply rooted than that honesty and fair dealing are more common in a rüde and simple than in an advanced age. So far ^ however, from this being the case, we believe it will be uniformly found that plain dealing is the characteristic of high civilization, and the absence of it of a simple state of society. All the dishonest practices in Sheriffs' Offices in Ireland were common formerly in Ireland Judges, Sheriffs and Jurors used ^ in the times of our good Queen Bess and her predecessors, to take bribes in the most scandalous manner. (— Bishop Latimer — in his Sermons VI. ® Commissioners Report in 1826: The systematised abuse ^ of legal process in the hands of the Sub-Sheriff ® appears to us to have operated most injuriously to the commercial and landed interests of Ireland; and ^ by exciting a general distrust in the Executive Department of the Law ^ in cases of process sued out by creditors, for the recovery of their just demands, has tended mainly to prevent the introduction of English Capital into this part of the United Kingdom. ® [Berl. V, 1, 11; cf. Jub. 10 pp. 162—163.] 'The Morning Chronide' September 22nd 1826 p. 2 col. 2, Leader on a report on the Office of Sheriff in Ireland: ^comma; ^England; ®We have only to look into the Contemporary publications to be satisfied of this. Bishop Latimer, in his sermons, is perpetually giving instances of corruption in this way. In his fifth sermon before King Edward the Sixth, he says ... ; * After a 21 line extract from the sermon the leader-writer continues: This is Ireland all over. The Commissioners state, that "The systematic abuse ..." ® Sub-Sheriff, Which we have endeavoured to explain and exemplify,; ® inverted commas. The Office of Sheriff is that of the chief officer under the crown in a shire or county. Düring the middle ages it was a necessary protection for the interests of the Crown and people against a powerful local baronage. The sheriff paid rent for the shire, executed the royal writs, called out the local militia in times of emergency, presided in the county Courts, prepared the panel of Jurors for the assizes, kept prisoners in safe custody, and acted as returning officer at parliamentary elections. Since his office was subject to a minimum of local control, it was peculiarly open to abuse.
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As the Organization of local government improved, particularly throughout the nineteenth Century, the administrative as opposed to the ceremonial importance of the Office declined, and F. W. Maitland went so far as to maintain that, "The whole history of English justice and police might be brought under the rubric,the decline and fall of the sheriff." ('Justice and Peace' (1885), 69). The laws relating to sheriffs in Ireland at this time were defined by 57 George III c. 68 (1817). The 'Morning Chronicle' leader concludes its survey of the report as follows: "Without an intelligent middle dass, it is utterly impossible that there should, in any country, be a fair and upright administration of justice. Public opinion, brought to bear on public men, is the only security for their purity of conduct." Cf. Hugh Latimer (c. 1490—1555), bishop of Worcester; 'The Sermons of Hugh Latimer' (ed. J. Watkins, 2 vols. London, 1824).
25. Morn. Chron. 16/12 26 ^ So far from mankind in general being fond of revolutions it may be safely said ® that the great body are always averse to changes. They hate to be driven from what they have been accustomed to. ^ The higher and middle ranks of Englishmen, who are always dreaming of the possibility of revolutions and insurrections, know very little of human nature. An extraordinary number of circumstances must concur to produce a revolution, and it may truly be said, that a revolution (not a mere military one) carries with it its own justification. [Berl. V, 1, 12; cf. Hoff. p. 466, K. and P. pp. 297/8; lectures on Anthropology § 392 (Jub. 10 p. 67, 15): "Der alte, sehr geistreiche Prinz de Ligne, welcher große Güter in den Niederlanden besaß, wurde zur Teilnahme an einer Rebellion aufgefordert, und erwiderte: 'Im Winter rebellire ich nicht.'" "The old Prince de Ligne, a very shrewd person who owned large estates in the Netherlands, when he was urged to take part in a rebellion, replied that he, did not rebel during the Winter." (1825; Kehler ms. p. 80, Griesheim ms. p. 110).] 'The Morning Chronicle' December 16th 1826 p. 2 col. 2, Leader on the British troops sent to Portugal to check the insurrection there: ‘We certainly are not without our fears for the security of the Constitutional System of Portugal, notwithstanding the exertions of this country; ^not emphasized; ^comma; ^ Even in this comparatively enlightened country, any man who knows any thing of the country people, must be aware of the great difficulty of inducing them to change any old habit, or submit to any novelty.
26. Morn. Chron. 18/8 2.. Insolvent Debtors Court. Friday Captain Ramsden — 10 years in prison — stated he had during these 10 years ^ by legacies.
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presents, halfpay ^ and otherwise ^ received and expended upwards 15000 1, and payd out of this sum 11, 214 H to divers persons ® Mr. Barry opposed the petition to be discharged, said he (Cpt R.) had received 4 ® times as much as would have paid his debts ^ but he had not paid his creditors one farthing. ® — The Chief Commissioner said he had lost 500 1 by horses since he had been in prison, and paid 200 1 for the keep of horses. Said that a man must not ® remain in prison for life, and discharged him 1«. [Berl. V, 1, 16.] 'The Morning Chronicle' August 18th 1827 p. 4 col. 2, Law Report: * Insolvent Debtors' Court — Friday. — An application was made to this Court yesterday, on the part of Captain John Ramsden, for leave to file a Petition, and to obtain his discharge. Mr. Ramsden, in his petition, stated, that he had been in prison upwards of ten years, during which time,; ^halfpay,; he had; ^ of 15,0001.: out of this sum, he had paid 11,214 1.; ® He had also lost 500 1. by horses since he had been in prison, and paid 200 1. for the keep of horses. He had made several attempts to effect a compromise with his creditors, but without effect.; * Mr. Barry, who appeared to oppose the application, said, that since the insolvent had been in prison, he had received four; ’’ comma; ® A short time ago, he endeavoured to obtain his discharge by a fraudulent bankruptcy, but the persons concerned in it had been tried and convicted.; ® The Chief Commissioner, however, said, that a man was not to; granted the application. At this time, the courts exercising Jurisdiction in matters of bankruptcy still consisted of commissioners appointed by the Lord Chancellor. It was not until 1831 that a special court of bankruptcy was established. Public attention had been called to the confused state of the bankrupt law by the proceedings of a committee of the House of Commons in 1817 and 1818. As a result, R. H. Eden (1789—1841) was entrusted with the task of preparing the ground for the Bankruptcy Act of 1825 (6 George IV c. 16), see his 'Practical Treatise on the Bankrupt Law' (London, 1825). This act concluded with a Provision that it should be construed beneficially for creditors. The apparantly ludicrous features of the case noted by Hegel were probably the result of the 1825 provisions designed to reduce litigation by giving the commissioners the power of expunging proofs of debt.
27. Morn. Chron. 21/8 27 The Institution of Juries is unsuitable in all countries in which the population is divided into castes, whether political or civil. It would p. ex. be a mockery ^ to try a negro by a Jury of White ® planters. * — Every cause of dispute between a Protestant and a Catholic becomes a trial of strength between the two castes; and as the Protestants have the law in their hands the ^ naturally exclude the Catholics
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from Juries in party causes^ and use the law merely as an engine for upholding their influence and punishing their opponents. [Berl. V, 1,18, Hoff. p. 718; cf. Hoff. p. 481, K. and P. p. 309.] 'The Morning Chronicle' August 21st 1827 p. 2 col. 2, Leader on the justiciary in Ireland: ‘ be a mockery of justice, for instance,; ^ white; ® Planters may sit in judgment on planters, and negroes may sit in judgment on negroes but when a negro injures a planter, or a planter a negro, the judge of the wrong should belong to neither body. In former times the population of this country was composed of freemen and bondsmen. The freemen were all equal in the eye of the law, and all capable of sitting in judgment on each other in the capacity of Jurors. The Jurors sat in judgment only on their equals, for bondsmen were subject to their Lords. In Ireland, in the present day, certain Privileges, attached to the profession of the Protestant religion, seem to have the effect of inflaming Protestants and Catholics with animosity towards each other, & literally divides (sic) the population into two distinct castes. Every they. The occasion of this leader was a trial for perjury at the County Down Assizes, reported in The Belfast Northern Whig. On November 5th 1826 a number of Orangemen had paraded outside the Roman Catholic Chapel in Hilltown while a Service was in progress. A quarrel had ensued, and two Roman Catholics had lost their lives. A man was prosecuted for the murder and acquitted, while a boy who had given evidence against him was tried for perjury and found guilty. Five Roman Catholic jurors were challenged by the Crown and obliged to retire from the jury box. The leader writer comments as follows: "Against the justice of the verdict returned, we throw out no insinuation. But it is a remarkable, and, we regret to say, far from solitary fact, that two Roman Catholics have been murdered, and yet no one has been brought to justice; while another Roman Catholic has become liable to transportation, from a circumstance arising out of the same fatal event. We have no hesitation in saying, that had the same strenuous exertions been made to bring the murderers to justice that have been resorted to in Order to convict this unfortunate boy, the perpetrators of the foul deed would not have escaped." He also points out, referring to J. F. Zöllner's 'Briefe über Schlesien' (2 pts. Berlin, 1792/3) as his source, that similar situations, though by that time 'fairly extinct' on account of the 'steady maxims' of the Prussian government, had occurred for several decades in Silesia after 1740.
28. Mom. Chron. l/ll 27. Court of Kings Bench. — Action ^ against Mr Jones, the Marshai of the Kings ® Bench ® for 385 1. 17 s. 5 d. debt a ^ 17 1. costs, alleged to have been due to the plaintiff from Mr ® Bryant, a gentleman. ® whom the Marshai had allowed to escape from his custody; ® — d. h. hatte ihm Erlaubniss ertheilt, d. 15. Nov. 1826 the rules of K. B. für diesen Tag zu verlassen, unter der Bedingimg Abend 9 Uhr wieder sich einzufinden. Br. kam aber nicht auf diesen Zeitpunkt zurück ®, wegen Unwohlseyn u. wie durch Zeugen erwiesen ward, sondern stellte sich erst den andern Tag
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wieder ein. Die Declaration des Plaintiff war um 11 U. Nachts den ISten Nov. aufgesetzt. — Verdict Nominal damages, (one Farthing) carried the costs, severes enough upon the Marshai ^ [Berl. V, 1,19.] 'The Morning Chronicle' November Ist 1827 p. 4 vol. 2, Law Report: ‘ Court of of King's Bendi — Oct. 31. Westminster Hall. Sittings before Lord Tenterden and Special Juries. — Escape; Brazier v. Jones. — This was an action; ^King's; “ comma; ^, and; ^ full-stop; ®... obtained from the Court of Common Pleas a day rule for the ISth Nov., 1826, by which he had leave to quit the rules of the King's Bench Prison for that day, upon condition of returning again to the rules by nine o'clock that night. Mr. Bryant did not return at the time limited ... ; ’... from having been taken ill, was unable to return to the rules tili next day; but he did then return, and the plaintiff had sustained no damage whatever, although he had been watchful enough to have hls declaration ready, and to file it at eleven o'clock on the night of the ISth Nov. In this case nominal damages would carry costs, which would be severe enough upon the Marshai, and surely nominal damages were the utmost they could give in this case ... Verdict for the plaintiff — Damages, One Farthing. It is not quite clear why Hegel should have noted this case, but it looks as though he may have regarded it as yet another example of the unreasonable formality of English legal procedures. He certainly appears to have missed the main issue. Bryant had already been committed to the Fleet prison for contempt of court in refusing to pay the money awarded to Brazier by the Court of Common Pleas. The question was, therefore, whether this was a case of escape upon an execution or escape from custody on mesne process. Had it been proven to be the former, Brazier could have claimed the whole of the debt from the Marshai. Lord Tenterden, however, was of the opinion that it was a case like an escape from custody on mesne process, hence the nominal damages. For the preliminary and subsequent issues raised by the case (February 8th 1826, May 13th 1828), see R. V. Barnewall and C. Cresswell 'Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Coiut of King's Bendi' vol. VI pp. 196—199, VIII, pp. 124—131 (London, 1828/9).
29.
Mom. ehr. 17/11 27. The land and the Church of England should be forced to contribute to the support of the poor. ^ — In the year of famine the corn which was exported from Ireland to England was sent back to Ireland to save the people here (in Ireland) from the horror of starvation. it was bought trough the found of English generosity, from the irish landlord, who received the full value for his com, the full amount of his rental, for the purpose to save his tenantry from starvation. ^ [Berl. V, 1, 22; cf. Hoff. p. 473, K. and P. p. 303 et seq.] 'The Morning Chronicle' November 17th 1827 p. 2 col. 5, p. 3 col. 1, Leader on the state of Ireland, quoting the 'Dublin Evening Post' of November 13th 1827: .. the Land
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and the Churdi of Ireland . . . ; ^ "It is a well known fact, and no one is better acquainted with it than Sir H. Parnell, that in the year of famine, the corn which was exported from Westport and Tralee was bought up at Greenock and Liverpool with English money, and sent back to save the people here from the horrors of starvation. It is well known that they were saved from starvation by the corn grown in Ireland, and whidi corn was bought from the Irish landlord for the purpose of saving his tenantry from death. Honour to English generosity by all means — but what shall we say of the generosity of the Irish landlords? What of the charity of the Church established by law? We remember, perfectly well — for we took a deep interest in the matter — reading of a Nobleman who was spending his Princely income on the banks of the Seine during this terrible year, subscribing a hundred pounds to the Relief Committee, and we knew that on this very Nobleman's estate thousands were reduced to destitution, while the corn grown upon his lands was exported — while he received the full value for that corn in rent, whidi was afterwards bought — the identical grain — by English money, and re-shipped for the sustenance of this very tenantry. This Nobleman, notwithstanding the misery of the people, from whose labour he derived his income, received notwithstanding the full amount of his rental, or nearly so. He was absolutely paid out of the charitable fund raised in England. We also remember having read of a Bishop, we believe it was him of Ossory; Fowler, we think, is his name — a Prelate of considerable celebrity in a certain walk of exertion — who, amusing himself in the purlieus of London, took it into his head to preach a Charity Sermon to the good people of Fulham, with a view of collecting money towards Irish Relief. We believe, by this display of his zeal and talents in the cause of humanity, the good Bishop was enabled to dispatch thirty or forty pounds to the starving Irish — the good Bishop, however, besides his estates — for we believe he is a Proprietor — derives some seven or eight thousand a year from the Church. What shall we say of these instances? Why, my Lord, we would make this Nobleman and his like — we would make this Bishop and his confraternity contribute to the support of the People." In this leader, the editor of the 'Chronicle' analyzes the overall Situation in Ireland as follows: "We agree with a Contemporary (The Times), that "the poor families have just as great a right to send the rieh away, as the rieh the poor;" and we cannot easily understand why the former injustice of the rieh (neglecting to discharge their duty towards the poor, by making those provisions for them which are indispensable to the existence of Order and civilization), should entitle them to exercise still further injustice. We have again and again said, that the land of a country belongs to the people of that country; and though it be found best for the good of the community, that the land should not, as in the case of our German or Gallic ancestors, be occupied in common by the tribe or clan, but allotted to individuals as a means of calling forth industry, yet it must never be forgotten, that this allotment is only justifiable with reference to the interests of the people as a whole. But when all principles of right are openly set at defiance, as in Ireland, and a parcel of proprietors conceive their right to land absolute and unclogged with any liability, calling into existence millions when it suits their views to do, and issuing what would amount to sentence of death to millions, if practicable — namely, the detruding the peasantry from their possessions, their only means of existence, then the common feelings of nature rise up in arms, and the indignant public appeal to a law, superior to positive law, which cannot be violated with impunity ... The Dublin Evening Post of Tuesday last, contended, and we think on just grounds, that the Land and the Church of Ireland
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should be forced to contribute to the support of the poor, from which they are now entirely exempted. We need not say that Ireland is the only country in Europe in this predicament. In all the countries of the Continent there are either Poor Laws, or the peasantry have land belonging in common to the several villages, which enables them to take care of their own poor." Elsewhere, reference is made to Malthus's theory, Mill's History of British India, and the Connection between economic and social distress, and crime. Sir Henry Brooke Parnell (1776—1842), great uncle of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846—1891), M. P. for Queen's County 1806—1833, was a conspicuous advocate of Catholic emancipation, and an active member of the most liberal section of the Whig Party. Robert Fowler (1767—1841), son of the archbishop of Dublin and brother of the Countess of Kilkenny, was educated at Westminster and Christ Church Oxford, and appointed bishop of Ossory in 1813. He had a fine palace at Kilkenny, an episcopal income after the Whig reforms of the 1830's of £ 4,630 gross, £ 3,867 net, and ruled, 'over an immense tract of country, which is about the best inhabited and best cultivated portion of the island, having an industrious, orderly, and well-conditioned Population, so far, at least, as the country parts are concerned.' J. Godkin Treland and her Churdies' (London, 1867) p. 257; J. Förster 'Alumni Oxoniensis . . . 1715—1886' (4 vols., London, 1888) p. 486.
30. Morn. Chron. 22/11 27 Union-hall. Informations were exhibited at this Office, against the proprietors of the Circus and the Rotunda Wine and Concert — Rooms, — the performances at each place of amusement illegal, — which compriss a comedy, tragedy, farce, burletta etc. without a licence. — Paul Pry got into a bag, whilst in it mounted a horse, on which he rode several rounds etc. (in e[inem] andern Blatt —) — diese Phantasmagorien vorgestellt wurden, der Advocat, diß ein (much) highly philosophical Entertainment. [Berl. V, 1, 20, Hoff. p. 701; cf. Enc. (1830) § 7, footnote.] 'The Morning Chronicle' November 22nd 1827 p. 4 col. 4, Police report: "UnionHall — Mr. Cook's New Entertainment. — Some days ago six informations were exhibited at this Office, against the proprietors of the Circus and the Rotunda Wine and Concert-rooms, situate in Great Surrey-street, Blackfriar's — road, on the complaint of some of the inhabitants of the adjacent houses, who considered the performances at each place of amusement illegal, and not sanctioned by the lOth of George II. cap. 28, whidi enacts, that any proprietor of a theatre, suffering to be performed therein an entertainment of the stage, which comprises a comedy, tragedy, farce, burletta, etc., without a license from the Lord Chamberlain, shall be liable to a penalty of 501., on conviction of each offence ... The performances commenced with Paul Pry, in the course of which the witness described that Paul Pry got into a bag, and whilst in it mounted a horse, on the bade of which he rode round the ring several times; and having at length very dextrously managed to get out of the
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hag, Paul Pry, still on horseback, was metamorphosed into the character of Punch, with bis red nose, to tbe great astonisbment of tbe audience." Tbe play 'Paul Pry' (Sept. 13tb 1825; Germ. tr. Stuttgart, 1842) was by Jobn Poole (1786—1872), and was reputedly a skit on tbe bibliophile and bon-vivant Thomas Hill (1760—1840): see, however, 'The New Monthly Magazine' vol. XXXI p. 280 (1831), where Poole claims general 'philosophical' significance for it. The court case was also reported in 'The Times' (p. 3 col. 6) and 'The Globe' (p. 4 col. 4), but there is no record there of the entertainment's having been said to be 'highly philosophical'.
31. Morn. Chron. 22/11 27. Leiden 25 Oct. ^ Though ^ the Code which is employed in Holland offers few guarantees for personal liberty or Security — and almost none when an individual has to contend with the power of the State — yet on the integrity of the Judges the Dutch people rely with unbounded confidence. [Berl. V, 1, 4.] 'The Morning Chronicle' November 22nd 1827 p. 2 col. 5, Article on Dutch literature, periodicals, law and medicine: ^ Leyden, Oct. 25.; ^. . . though. Hegel may have taken a particular interest in the subject on account of his friend Peter Gabriel van Ghert (1782—1852), who heard his lectures on Natural Law during the Summer Term of 1805 and subsequently worked for the Dutch police in a judicial capacity; see A. V. N. van Woerden 'P. G. van Ghert tussen Hegel en de Una Sancta' (Alphen, 1965).
32. Morn. Chron. 23/11 27 Art. on the poor laws in the Quarterly Review March 1826 — The present ^ state of Ireland bears ^ in many points ^ a strong ® resemblance to the state of this country during the 16th ^ Century. ® — We are disposed to think that the same code of laws which contributed so materially to bring an improvement in the agricultural oeconomy ® of England ^ would be attended with similar consequences if introduced into Ireland. The — system of poor laws — ’ on the principles which prevailed here before the fatal Innovation of 1795 ^ would gradually extinguish the practice of subdividing and subletting ® land, which had ® proved so injurious to that country; and at the same time it would impose a check upon the sudden and violent depopulation of estates, which inflicts upon the ejected tenantry, now totally unprovided for, sufferings at which humanity shudders. — Wherever a legal Provision has existed for some time for the maintenance of the poor, there is no ground for
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representing it as pressing exclusively ® ore even partially ^ upon the occupiers of land or houses; — the amount is calculated when they are let, — is deducted from the rent." A Strange delusion has taken possession of many persons that the Poor laws tend to increase the population. So far from this ^ they form the only effective check against redundant population. — It is always in the power of the owners of land to prevent the erection of more cottages than are necessary for the labourers required for the cultivation of the land. — Between 1550 and 1750 there is good ground for supposing that the agricultural population had suffered a considerable diminution; it is the diminution in several agricultural districts which has led Mr Cobbet to assert ® that the population of the Kingdom generally has experienced a considerable decline. [Berl. V, 1, 22, Hoff. p. 722] 'The Morning Chronicle' November 23rd 1827 p. 2 cols. 4 and 5, Leader on the state of Ireland, occasioned in particular by the publication of 'Report ... to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, respecting their late visit to that country' (London, 1827) by the Quaker philanthropists Elizabeth Fry (1780—1845) and Joseph John Gurney (1788— 1847): * ln an excellent article on the Poor Laws, in The Quarterly Review for March, 1826, the best production on the subject we have yet seen, the writer says, "It has been often observed that the present; ^cornma; ®a very strong; ^ sixteenth; ® Coinciding in the correctness of this remark, we; “economy; ’The introduction of a System of poor laws, administered; ® sub-letting; “has; salutary; fourteen lines omitted; *“"Wherever; *“or; the poor rates, in fact, constitute a rent Charge, which is calculated when they are let; the amount is deducted from the rent, which, in the absence of this bürden, would be exacted by the Landlord.; eighteen lines omitted; who have not attended to the subject,; A man in England cannot live like the savage in the woods of South America; he must have a house to put his head in, and fuel as well as food for himself and family. Now it; eleven lines omitted, concluding the extract from the Quart. Rev.; and this position is born (sic) out, at all events, by an inspection of a variety of parochial Registers in several agricultural districts. It is the diminution of the old agricultural; ““ Mr. Cobbett; kingdom. See 'The Quarterly Review' vol. XXXIII pp. 454—455. The article is anonymous. Cobbett published the 'Weekly Political Register' 1802/35; after mentioning him, the leader writer continues as follows: 'Our ancestors (and when we say ancestors, we mean the whole Teutonic family, of which the English brauch had the same laws and usages with the rest) were very early alive to the importance of a good police for the poor.' Cf. Jub. 11 pp. 437, 451, 452 etc.; Hoff. p. 734.
33. London 5/2 28 Das neue Ministerium kann dem König das Oberhaus verschaffen; aber es kann machen, daß er das Unterhaus verliert, u. wo ist
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dann sein Gewinn? — Die engl. Aristokratie versucht das Wagestück, die Regierung von dem Volke zu trennen — sie ruft zu verhängnisvollen Streit des Patriziats u. der Plebejer auf. [Trans/.;] London S/2 28 The new ministry can procure the Upper House for the King; but it can cause him to lose the Lower House, and then what has he gained? — The Engl, aristocracy is indulging in the risky business of attempting to separate the government from the people — it is calling forth fatal antagonism between the patriciate and the plebeians. [Berl. V, 1, 23, Hoff. p. 723; cf. Hoff. pp. 470, 495, 501, 783, K. and P. pp. 300, 321, 326, Ph. R. § 275—286.] This is quite evidently a summary of the 'Chronicles' leaders on the formation of the Wellington ministry. January 9th 1828 (p. 2 cols. 3, 4): "It is not so easy to make a Ministry in this country as it is in France. The French are without those privileged Orders, which make Government so nice an affair in England ... The French Executive has only to consult the feelings and inclinations of the body of the people to be invulnerable ... But in England a Ministry have a more difficult task. They have to please the people, and to please the enemies of the people at the same time. It has been observed, that a populär Administration in this country can afford to be more honest than one which is not populär, inasmuch as it is less under the necessity of expending the resources of the nation in obtaining majorities ... Hence the honesty and firmness displayed by the Administration of Lord Liverpool for some years before his political demise. It would have been too hazardous an affair either for his Majesty or any junto in Parliament, to disturb an Administration so firmly seated ... Those who command votes know well that the interest of the people and their own are at variance; and though they might not dare to oppose even the public-spirited measures of an old Administration, they would be almost sure to attempt the overthrow of an honest Ministry of recent foundation. If the King and the Ministry were, indeed, to be identified, there might be a better chance of success in the attempt to conduct the Government on honest principles The higher ranks of this country require a lesson, and they will receive one ere long. The patience of the people seems to tempt them to a somewhat too open display of the beauties of the British Constitution. They forget .. . that there are now no longer any Church or King mobs, not bought with a price. An honest Minister may find it difficult to obtain majorities in Parliament; but an attempt to carry on the Government without regard to the opinions and feelings of the nation, may, at this time of day, lead to consequences of which they do not dream." January 14th (p. 2 col. 1): "One brandi of our Legislature is exclusively composed of men, "whose wants have been forestalled from their cradle," who have never needed to exercise their wits to possess any object of their desires ... Hence the chief difficulty with which we have to struggle in England is, that of the ignorance and imbecility of those who have the monopoly of political power. We have to dread measures whidi injure the people and benefit no one. It were too much to expect that men who monopolize power should not exert it for their own separate advantage; but when separate advantage is obtained, a liberal policy would seek to promote the public benefit ... The Constitution gives the King the power of choosing Ministers. But he must dioose Ministers acceptable to Parliament."
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January 19th (p. 2 col. 2): "A good Ministry for the country, may be a bad Ministry as far as its own vitality is concerned." January 21st (p. 2 col. 2): 'Tn this country, as we have more than once observed, there is the King, the Aristocracy and the nation ... In England we have a third party, who may return Members hostile to the Ministry for the time being, and opposed to the People ... Now, if Toryism be so unacceptable to the great mass of the people of England, they must be blind, indeed, who, counting on mere Parliamentary majorities, and interests independent of the people, deem that it is of little consequence whether the people be or be not satisfied." January 22nd (p. 2 col. 2): "The men who now figure as politicans, are not perhaps inferior to the men who occupied the same stations forty or fifty years ago, but they have to do with a more intelligent public ... When public men find that their admiration of themselves is not shared by the people, they will see the necessity of either doing something to merit the public approbation or making way for others." January 26th (p. 2 col. 3): "His Majesty had certainly the power to make the Duke of Wellington Premier. But we cannot help thinking it would not be amiss if Monarchs were to bear in mind, that the best means of ensuring the homage of the people, is to exercise their authority in such a way as the people themselves would wish it to be exercised ... Caligula's horse was probably an excellent horse ... but does it follow that he ought to have made the horse a Consul?" January 30th (p. 4 col. 2): "It was observed by Mr. Canning, that the perfection of a King's Speech was its unmeaningness, as that which contained no meaning could hardly become the subject of argument, and what was wished was unanimity and not discussion." February 5th (p. 2 cols. 4,5): "We are a stränge people . . . we find his Majesty's faithful Commons unable to contain their joy and satisfaction at the good fortune which has befallen the nation in obtaining a Premier like his Grace ... What a happy people we are — we have always had the best of Kings — we have the best of Constitutions — schoolboys are transformed in an instant into Heaven-born Ministerssoldiers, unlettered and unread, Start forward paragons of wisdom and proficients in political knowledge. Whatever is is right in this happy country. Who would give their days and their nights to study, when the best Legislators in the world are formed by fox-hunting, and the best Premiers in the tented field?" James MilTs influence upon the editor of the paper is clearly apparent in these leaders, which are a good example of his policy of attempting to extort concessions from the ruling dass by playing upon their fear of an impending revolution: see J. Hamburger 'James Mill and the Art of Revolution' (New Haven and London, 1963) pp. 58—61. Hegel, like many of his English contemporaries, was taken in by Mill's tactics, and could hardly have been wider of the mark in his interpretation of the motives behind the formation of the new ministry. It is certainly true that the king was not unaware of the significance of drawing so many cabinet members from the Lords, for on January 16th Wellington wrote to him as follows: "The office of President of the Board of Trade is the only one proposed to be held by a Member of the House of Commons which, under existing circumstances, it would be possible to confer upon a peer." ('Despatches' IV p. 196). It is, however, quite clear that both the King's and Wellington's main objective was to avoid anything that might have perpetuated the quarrels of the previous government, and to establish a broadly acceptable, middle-
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of-the-road administration. Canningites such as Dudley, Huskisson, Grant and Palmerston were brought into the cabinet, and old Tories such as Eldon, Bexley and Westermorland pointedly excluded. Peel, as Home Secretary, was given the leadership of the Commons, and on January lOth wrote as follows: "My view is to re-unite the old Party which was in existence when Lord Liverpool's calamity befell him. I cannot undertake the business in the House of Commons without more assistance than the mere Tory Party, as it is called, would afford me." (N. Cash 'Mr. Secretary Peel', London, 1961, p. 453). The Chancellor, Lord Lyndhurst, wrote as follows on January 13th: "I think we are populär with the King's support, and public opinion in our favour, we may feel confidence as to the success of our Ministry." Six days later the king's brother, the Duke of Clarence, commented as follows upon Huskisson's inclusion: "Huskisson being secured I should think the Minster must have the House of Commons and the Duke is sure of the Lords." (A. Aspinall 'The Leiters of King George IV' vol. III pp. 364, 368, Cambridge, 1938). In these circles, it was well known that the reformer Lord Grey also approved of Wellington's moves: see Ellenborough 'A Political Diary' (2 vols. London, 1881) vol. I p. 6 (January 24th), and Grey's letter of January 2Sth to Princess Lieven: "I wish personally well to the Duke of Wellington, and I shall be glad to see a Government established by him that might rescue us from all the disgrace of the last eight months." ('Correspondence of Princess Lieven' 2 vols. London, 1890 vol. I p. 103). Wellington seems to have had in mind the broad outlines of his subsequent attitude to Roman Catholic emancipation from the very beginning of his period in office ('Despatches' IV p. 194). He critlcized Canning for having rallied, "all the Radicals in the country, and the discontented throughout Europe and the Press; and occasioned, fostered, and augmented the mistrust and dislike of the great aristocracy of the country." (ibid. IV pp. 179—180). And he was himself criticized by his peers (ibid. IV pp. 257—258, Newcastle's letter of February 4th) for having included Canningites in his cabinet: "As I opposed Mr. Canning's government on account of the pernicious formation of it, so must I do the same now, seelng that the present ministry is formed on the same principle, and of mainly the same ingredients; those ingredients, too, being the most noxious ln the whole materia politica." The 'Chronicle' began to support the Duke once the main features of his policies had become apparent, especially in foreign affairs, and this attitude did not change after the Canningites had resigned from his cabinet at the end of May 1828. Hegel evidently approved of its subsequent assessment of his statesmanship: see Hoff. p. 497, K. and P. p. 323. Cf. Halevy 'The Liberal Awakening' (tr. E. I. Watkin, London, 1961); B. Kemp 'King and Commons 1660—1832' (London, 1957); A. S. Turberville 'The House of Lords in the Age of Reform 1784—1837' (London, 1958).
34.
The extensive jumble of English private law, which even Englishmen master their pride in their freedom sufficiently to call an Augean stähle.
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might well afford grounds for hoping for some tidying up. The little that Robert Peel carried through a few years ago is regarded as most valuable and has won universal praise. More comprehensive proposals for the reform of justice, advanced later by the present Lord Chancellor, Brougham, in a seven-hour speech, and heard with great acceptance, did give rise to the appointment of committees but so far have remained without further result. [Hoff. pp. 481—482, K. and P. p. 310.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 8th 1828 p. 4 col. 3, Leader: "The extensive and most important subject of the State and Administration of the Law was brought before the House last night by Mr. Brougham, in a speech which occupied between six and seven hours in the delivery. That there are great evils in the state of the Law, and that the means for its administration are woefully defective, are truths which few would now be disposed to deny. It is the difficulty of the task and not any conviction of the want of necessity for reform, that has allowed this evil to remain so long unremedied ... He concluded with moving an Address, for the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the subject." 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' new series vol. XVIII cols. 127—247. 'The Morning Chronicle' devoted 3 1/2 of its 4 pages to reporting the speech, which Bentham had helped to prepare. Two commissions, on the common law and the law of real property were set up as the result of it, and numerous Victorian reforms, to which may be added legislation as recent as the Crown Proceedings Act of 1947 may be traced back to it. Holdsworth, 'History of English Law' vol. XIII p. 103, wrote as follows, "Brougham had done more than any other person to forward the cause of law reform. We shall see that his great speech in 1828, in which the long list of abuses urgently needing reform were set forth, made it impossible to shelve the subject of law reform, and so inaugurated the period which gave practical effect to many of Bentham's proposals." C. W. New 'The Life of Henry Brougham to 1830' (Oxford, 1961) ch. XXL
35. Morn. Chron. 13/2 28 Court of Kings Bench City of Norwich. At the elecHon of an Alderman in N. ^ a practice prevailed of cooping votes in one candidate's putting out of the way ® or shutting up the voters of another cand. ^ tili the election was over. In ® the election of Sept. last ® those in the interest of the antagonist of cand Mr Marshall had laid hold of 38 of Mr. M. voters, and put them in coaches and hurried them away for a considerable way out of town, and then put them in a boat, and kept them afloat at a considerable distance from the bank, and set a guard over them, to prevent their landing. ® Some of them attempted to escape, but
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were driven back again by the guard, and in this mode they were detained tili the election was over ®. [Berl. V, 1, 18; cf. Hoff. p. 490, K. and P. p. 317.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 13th 1828 p. 4 col. 3, Law Report: ^ Court of King's Bench. — Tuesday. [Sittings in Banco.] — City of Norwich. Sir James Scarlett moved for a rule to show cause why an information in the nature of a quo warranto should not be filed against —, calling on him to show by what authority he claimed to be an Alderman of the City of Norwich. At the elections in Norwich, it appeared that a practice .. . ; ^, and this practice the most respectable of the citizens of Norwich wished to get rid of. The practice consisted in one . . . ; ^comma; ^ candidate,; ® At; * in September last, a Mr. Marshall was a candidate for the Situation of Alderman of the City, and it appeared that those in the interest of his antagonist, who had been elected, had laid hold of 38 of Mr. MarshalTs voters; ’ no comma; ®hyphen; ® seven lines omitted, concluding, "It was common in that city, to keep the voters shut up in their houses, in Order to prevent them from voting." See T. H. B. Oldfield 'History . . . of the Boroughs' (3 vols. London, 1805) vol. III pp. 345—347.
36. Morn. Chron. 14/2 28 Kings Bench ^ An indictment against the defendant for alleged perjury^; the principal witness, Mills was called, did not appear, Lord Tenterden directed that the jury should acquit the defendant a verdict of non-Guilty was accordingly recorded. The ^ Verd. had scarcely been pronounced ® when Mr. Mills appeared ®; the lord held that he had not ^ power to review what had been done ® and therefore the Verd. of Acquitted ® must stand. [Berl. V, 1, 26.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 14th 1828 p. 4 col. 4, Law Report: * Court of King's Bench. — Wednesday. Sittings before Lord Tenterden and Common Juries ... The King v. Hulme. — This was an ... ; ®, in an affidavit made in the Court of Chancery. Sir J. Scarlett detailed the facts of the case at some length, and then called the Principal witness, named Mills, to produce the proceedings in Chancery. This witness did not appear on being called, and Lord Tenterden; ’ A verdict of Not Guilty; ‘This verdict had; ® comma; * Sir J. Scarlett mentioned the fact of his appearance to the Learned Judge; but Lord Tenterden held; '' no; ® verdict of acquittal. Charles Abbott, first Baron Tenterden (1762—1832) was promoted to the diief justiceship of the king's bench in 1818. He was an uncompromising Tory, and had no sympathy with the reform of the criminal law then being furthered by Sir Samuel Romilly (1757—1818). He was raised to the peerage in 1827, and strongly opposed Roman Catholic emancipation and the Reform Bill. He probably took this to be a case of amendment (see 14 Edward III stat. 1 c. 6 and 8 Henry VI c. 12 and 15). The law was quite clear on the point, see 32 Henry VIII
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c. 30, "If the jury have once passed upon the issue, though afterwards there be found a jeofaile in the proceedings, yet judgment shall be given according to the verdict." Cf. 21 James 1 c. 13, 16 and 17 Charles II c. 8, 4 and 5 Anne c. 16, 5 George I c. 13, 25 George III c. 80 § 17. It was, however, revised soon after this case, see 9 George IV c. 15.
37. Morn. Chron. 16/2 28 ^ Marlborough-Street. Johnson ^ the informer ^ and his witness, Atkinson, were extremely active yesterday at this office ^ in laying informations against the Noblemen and Gentlemen resident in Grosvenor-square and the adjacent streets, for not having the foot pavement proper ly swept et ® cleansed in front of their respective residences. With ^ very few exceptions, however, the informer was defeated, and he must have been a considerable loser by the business, as in every information that was dismissed, he had to pay 3 s. 6 d. costs. In several of the cases, it appeared, that the servants of the defendants had misled Atkinson ^ by giving him an erroneous description of their master's tittles ® etc. The information against the Marquess of Salisbury was dismissed, because his Lordships ® Christian names of James William Brownlow Gascoyne Cecil were not set forth in the information; that against the Hon. Sir John Lowther ^ because he ® was designated Sir J. Lawson ^ in the summons; ® etc. [Berl. V, 1, 24; cf. Hoff. p. 473, K. and P. p. 303.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 16th 1828 p. 3 col. 5, Law Report: ^ MarlboroughStreet. —; * comma; ® and; ‘;with; ® masters' titles,; “Lordship's; , Bart., of Grosvenor-square; ®the worthy Baronet; ® and an information against the Hon. Mr. Lascelles was quashed for a similar informality; as was also one against the Earl of Mountcharles. The Earl of Derby was the only Nobleman that Johnson succeeded in convicting in the mitigated penalty of five Shillings and costs. At this time it was already the case in criminal law that no indictment could be abated by a plea of misnomer (7 George IV c. 64 § 19), but it was not until the passing of 3 and 4 William IV c. 42 § 11 that the same principle was extended to cases such as that noted here by Hegel: "no plea in abatement for a misnomer shall be allowed in any personal action but that ... etc."
38. Morn. ehr. 27/2 ^ Dissenters Brougham: Major Cartwright, those pure reformers contended that the Ministers of the Crown ought not to have seats in this House at all; but ^ I contend that they are not Ministers of the
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Crown in this House, they lost their character of servants of the Crown whenever they entered this House, and sat there only as Repräsentatives of the People. [Berl. V, 1, 31, Hoff. p. 723; cf. Hoff. p. 492, K. and P. p. 319, Ph. R. §g 283, 284, 298—320.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 27th 1828 p. 4 col. 1, Parliament, speech by Henry Brougham (1778—1868) in support of Lord John Russell's motion for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts: ^... I am not prepared to admit . .. that there is a difference between a Minister who is a Member of Parliament, and an ordinary Member of Parliament ... Those pure reformers ... of whom the late Major Cartwright may be considered as the out ward and visible head ... contended; “ I contended against the Major that they did not sit here as Ministers of the Crown, they lost their character of servants of the Crown, whenever they entered this House, and sat here only as the Representatives of the People. This is my argument. Now, Sir, I contend that they are not Ministers of the Crown in this House, they sit here as the Representatives of the People, they may propose their measures in the Cabinet, ready to be submitted to Parliament, but they are not known as the servants of the Crown, whenever they enter the walls of this House; they are not Ministers with a seat in Parliament, not the servants of the Crown, but the Representatives of the People.' Russell's motion was carried by 237 votes to 193. The 'Chronicle' devoted 14 of its 20 columns to the publication of the debate, and in its leader on the subject observed that, 'The Motion was carried by a majority of 44 in a full House. That the minority was so large in a question like this does not say much for the "march of intellect" among the higher classes of Englishmen.' The Wellington government was unwilling to resign on this defeat. It negotiated with the bishops, and the Duke recommended the House of Lords not to offer further resistance to the measure. The necessity of receiving the sacrament as a qualification for office was abolished by 9 George IV c. 17. These acts excluding dissenters from office had been in force since the Restoration (1661, 1672), and their repeal prepared the way for the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 (10 George IV c. 7). Throughout its history in England, the elective principle had been applied to Community interests, regardless of their numerical weight (cf. Hoff. p. 485, K. and P. p. 313). In that the 1832 Reform Act was 'an Act to amend the representation of the people', it therefore introduced a new principle which was certainly derived to some extent from the doctrines of the French Revolution and Benthamism. Brougham's insistance on the fact that whenever servants of the Crown enter the House they sit there only as representatives was, however, a well established Whig principle throughout the eighteenth Century. Its essential significance had been dramatically established as early as 1642 by Charles I 's failure to impeach and arrest the Five Members. The 'pure reformers' referred to by Brougham were the friends and followers of Major John Cartwright (1740—1824), who had written in favour of the Americans in the 1770's, and then devoted the greater part of his time and energy to the attainment, in Britain, of universal suffrage and annual parliaments: see his 'The Legislative Rights of the Commonalty vindicated' (London, 1777).
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39.
Mom. Chron. 29/2 28 ^ Calamity. Brunswick Theatre between 11 and 12 hrs. in the moming — When the workmen (100 bis 200 men geschickt von der Dock Companie) ® discontinued their search for the bodies in consequence of excessive fatigue after two o clock in the night there was such a picture of human misery exhibited as would have appalled the stoutest heart. ^ They wept piteously; — it was most generally regretted that a fresh supply of workmen could not have been engaged to proceed in the removal of the rubbish for in all human probability there may be still some persons alive under it ® who ® as long as they heard that means were being used to extricate them, would not despair of being saved from a dreadfull ® death. It is intended that the workmen ^ [Berl. V, 1, 28.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 29th 1828 p. 1 cols. 3 and 4, Headline news: Dreadful Calamity, — Fall of the iron roof and destruction of the Brunswick Theatre, attended by the loss of many human lives ... ; ^ Yesterday morning, a little before twelve o'clock ... ; ^ The Proprietors of the St. Catharine's Dock, on being informed of the accident, with great humanity dispatdied one hundred navigators to aid and assist in digging out the bodies of those who were buried under the ruins When the workmen discontinued their search for the bodies as above stated, in consequence of excessive fatigue, there was such a picture of human misery exhibited as would have appalled the stoutest heart. The friends of those whose bodies lie buried in the ruins wept most piteously; and, indeed, it was most ...; ® comma; • dreadful; ’’ shall proceed at an early hour this morning in the removal of the rubbish, timber, etc. ^
40.
Mom. Chron. 29/2 28 (Aid. Waithman — Peels Bill) If they were to look in the Calendar ^ they would find that a vast number of persons were convicted for thefts of the most trifling nature — some for a pound of bread, others for 2 or 3 Ib ® of cheese - and so on ® — [Berl. V, 1, 27.] 'The Morning Chronicle' February 29th 1828 p. 3 coL, 2, Parliament, Commons debate on Sir Robert PeeTs (1788—1850) bill for setting up of a Committe of Enquiry in respect of the Police of the Metropolis and the adjoining Districts: * comma; ^ two or three pounds; ® ; and therefore, if the Right Hon. Gentleman did nothing more than bring such persons as these to speedy pimishment, he would be merely altering the law without introducing any substantial remedy. Peel pointed out that crime was on the increase in London and the neighbouring districts, and presented similar statistics for the whole of the country. He suggested
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that unemployment, the game- and poor-laws were the main causes, but that in the expanding suburbs of the London area not enough Provision had been made for securing the safety of property. A Professional, salaried police force was required. In the course of the subsequent debate mention was made of possible causes for this increase — low wages, high prices, excessive taxation, unemployment, Irish immigration, inefficiency in policing, detective work, courts, prisons etc.
Robert Waithman (1764—1833) said that he would 'confine himself to such facts as came within his own knowledge', gave an account of what he had observed of Newgate prison while serving as Sheriff, expressed the opinion that, 'there was hardly any project likely to improve the police of London', singied out unemployment as the most important cause of criminality, and concluded with the Observation noted by Hegel. Waithman was a linendraper by trade. He became an alderman of London in 1818, sheriff in 1820, and lord major in 1823. He was M. P. from 1818 until 1820, and again from 1826 until 1833. His 'Maxims' (London, 1824) were widely read when first published. A similar parliamentary committee had been set up in 1822. The 1828 report appeared in July, and Peel's bill bringing into existence a single police force for the metropolis was passed on June 19th 1829. N. Gash 'Mr. Secretary Peel' (London, 1961) ch. 14.
41.
At the opening of every new Parliament, the opportunity presented by bribery petitions has given rise to proposals for improving [the System], but they have remained without any significant success. For example, the recent and most proper proposal to take away the franchise from one place where bribery has been proved and to transfer it to the city of Birmingham, and thereby to display an equitable inclination to redress the most striking inequality with extreme moderation, was manoeuvred off the field by the parliamentary tactics of Ministers, especially of Peel, the Minister otherwise praised for his liberal views. [Hoff. p. 467, K. and P. p. 298.] 'The Morning Chronicle' May 20th 1828 p. 2 col. 4, Parliament: 'Mr. Secretary Peel had stated his reasons for the vote he gave so fully on a former night, that he had very little to add. He had voted for disfrandiising Penryn because he thought ... that such a decision was justified; and he had voted for giving the franchise to Manchester, because he thought that town merited it. He did not do this from any abstract principle, ... he had done it from a view of all the circumstances of the case. In voting for transferring the franchise from Penryn to Manchester, he had not forgotten that Cornwall had 44 Members, and in now voting for throwing open the Borough of East Redford (sic), he did not forget that Nottingham had only eight Members.'
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p. 3 col. 1: 'Mr Stanley repeated, that he had no Intention o£ impugning (PeeTs) ... personal character. He gave (him) ... full credit for acting from the most conscientious motives. But with all his respect for (his) ... personal character, he must repeat, that comparing (his) ... course that night with what he had held out on a former occasion, his parliamentary conduct was not consistent.' Bills for disfranchising two notoriously rotten boroughs, Penryn in Cornwall and East Retford in Nottinghamshire, were introduced in March 1828. On March 24th Peel agreed that it would be advisable to transfer the two Penryn seats to 'a large commercial Community' i .e. Manchester, and not to disfranchise the constituency by merging it with the neighbouring hundreds since Cornwall was already overrepresented. Since Nottinghamshire was underrepresented, it was proposed to disfranchise East Retford by enlarging it to include the adjacent hundreds. In May objections were raised to the Penryn proposal in the Lords, and the Commons countered by proposing the transference of the two Retford seats to another 'large commercial community' i. e. Birmingham. This Situation gave rise to confusion in the Cabinet, and it was eventually decided, on May 19th, to keep to the original proposal, and to reconsider the Retford case if the Lords did in fact reject the Penryn bill. Peel toed the Cabinet line in the evening debate, but Huskisson voted against his colleagues, and it was this difference which gave rise to the break- up of the Wellington-Canningite coalition. Peel therefore acted consistently in the light of his understanding of the overall Situation, but deviously if one is convinced that the transference of the franchise from a rotten borough to a large commercial community was in itself an uncompromisingly 'proper proposal'. 'The Morning Chronicle' was by no means convinced of his integrity (4. 3.1831, p. 4 col. 4, Leader), 'However, the people of England ... understand ... the character of Sir Robert Peel tolerably well. He is now deeply in love with the lower Orders from whom he Sprung, and wishes to protect their liberties, as he formerly wished to preserve their religion. Sir Robert hates corruption, and votes against the disfranchisement of East Retford; but he hates a Reform still more which would render corruption impossible.' Cf. the Leader on the dissolution of Parliament (26. 4.1831, p. 2 col. 2), 'Sir Robert Peel lost all that placidity and oiliness of exterior whidi has hitherto diaracterised him; he absolutely foamed with rage, and, with a violence of gesticulation and action whidi revealed the real bitterness and violence of his feelings, ... declared that on the heads of the King's Ministers should lie the blood of the innocent victims destined to fall in the approadiing Revolution.' Norman Gash 'Mr. Secretary Peel' (London, 1961) di. 13.
42. Die Schlechtigkeit der englischen Justiz muß sich e[inen] Ersatz, Ergänzung geben, durch die Härte der Straffen — ein Mulattenjunge stahl im Sept. 1828 ein Herren Taschentuch — Werth zwey Pence — verurtheilt zu 7 Jahre Transportation. Die irländische Aristokratie Zieht die katholischen Pächter vor, weil sie e[ine] höhere Rente bezahlen als die Protestantischen, welche bessere
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Wohnung, bessere Kleidung, Nahrung — Erziehung fodern; — besonders seit d[ie] Kathol. die electionering francise erlangt haben. Gegen d[ie] Härte der Straffe wieder: the uncertainty of punishment; it appears that of 1200 person condemned to death in 1826, only 57 were executed; and of the punishment of the remaining 1143 no account appears. [Transl.:] In Order to compensate, make up for its rottenness, English justice has to impose severe penalties — in Sept. 1828 a young mulatto who stole a gentleman's handkerchief worth two pence was condemned to 7 years' transportation. The Irish aristocracy prefers catholic tenants because they pay a higher rent than the protestants, who require better housing, clothing, food, education; — especially since the catholics have got the electoral franchise. Something eise against serve penalties: [Harv. 80, Hoff. p. 720; cf. Hoff. p. 478, K. and P. p. 307.] 'The Morning Chronicle' September 3rd 1828 p. 3 col. 4, Law Report: Surrey SessionsSept. 2. Owen Smith was indicted for stealing a handkerchief, value two-pence, from the person of Samuel Davis. He was quite a young boy, apparently a mulatto, and wept bitterly when placed at the bar. When asked by the Clerk of the Arraigns whether he was guilty or not guilty, he replied that it was his first offence, and he would never be guilty of such an offence again. It was explained to him his plea of guilty would be of no avail to him in mitigation of punishment, but he persisted in it, and was taken from the bar apparently in great distress... Owen Smith was now recalled, and appeared at the bar, still weeping, and was informed by the Court that they saw no reason why he should not receive the same sentence as the last two prisoners, notwithstanding his plea of 'Guilty'. The prisoner answered only by his tears, and was then sentenced to transportation for seven years.' The Chairman evidently explained this procedure ('Morning Chron.' Sept. 4th 1828 p. 4 col. 2), 'At the commencement of the Sessions the Chairman said, that the crime of stealing from the person had so enormously increased, that it was necessary to put it down by exercising the utmost severity of the law ... The punishment for picking a pocket of a silk handkerchief is usually two or three months' imprisonment, and perhaps a whipping; but because there happen at a particular period to be several pickpockets, the individual culprit is sentenced to transportation, not because he is more guilty, but because there are others guilty as well as himself. The Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill (10 George IV c. 7) received the Royal Assent on April 13th 1829.
43. Morn. ehr. 30/9 28.. — J. Crawfurd Journal of an Embassy to Siam and Cochin China — 1828 The Siamese ^ have a great horror of destroying animal life, and yet are great Consumers of animal food, and Wholesale dealers in the teeth, hides, homs, etc. ^ of slaughtered cattle. They have a
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door to creep out of, and maintain that the sin is exclusively his or her's ® who kills the animal, and if they do not deprive the creature of life, there is no sin in eating it when dead. ^ Crawf. — ® soldiers, officers, players ^ and all classes are equally accustomed to the wholesome species of discipline ® — the bambooing On one occassion ® he (Crawf) ® was entertained by a tragedy, and the curtain having droped he was astonished to see the hero of the piece seized, thrown down, and well bambooed because he did not know his part. What a transition for a Macbeth or a Richard III to be thrown on his face on the stage and bamboed before the audience. [Berl. V, 1, 24.] 'The Morning Chronicle' September 30th 1828 p. 1 col. 5, Review: ^ Siamese; ^ comma; ®sic; *66 lines omitted; ® Our author teils us that soldiers; ®*this; ®full-stop; ’’Preceding sentence: This caning or bambooing is exercised in a manner that would satisfy even the greatest Parliamentary advocate for the flogging System; ®occasion; ® Hegel's insertion; dropped; ** Macbeth; Richard the Third,; bambooed. John Crawfurd (1783—1868) 'Journal of an Embassy ... to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China ...' (London, 1828) pp. 101, 136, 578 etc.
44.
One of the most important opponents of the Bill, Robert Peel, grants that it may seem easy to expatiate on the anomalies and absurdity of the English Constitution ... [Hoff. pp. 464—465, K. and P. 296.] 'The Morning Chronicle'March 4th 1831 p. 4 col. 2, Parliament: Peel,'In some respects, it must be admitted, the representative system of the country is capable of being advantageously altered [laughter] ... Sir, we have heard a great deal about the monstrous anomaly of non-residents exercising the right of voting. It has been most pleasantly put forth as a thing utterly ridiculous, that men who were connected with the place, though they resided elsewhere, should come 200 miles and vote at the election. And, Sir, this monstrous anomaly, whidi was productive of such unseemly effects, is to be corrected. But what will the nonresidents of Cambridge say to this [loud dieers] T 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. II cols. 1330—1355.
45.
A more personal and more offensive charge lies in the Statement that the line of demarcation by which electoral rights were to be left to privileged
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smaller towns was drawn in such a way as to leave untouched the boroughs belonging to the Duke of Bedford, whose brother, Lord John Russell, had introduced the Bill in the Conunons. [Hoff. p. 487, K. and P. p. 315.] 'The Morning Chronicle’ March 5th 1831 p. 4 col. 3, Parliament: J. W. Croker (1780—1857) 'The Duke of Bedford, as every body knew, had paid the most peculiar attention to the Borough of Tavistock; he had enriched it by his wealth, and adorned it by his taste, and it was not to be wondered, and far from being (sic) to be regretted, that its inhabitants should be influenced by gratitude for the benefits they had received. Yet the son of that Noble Duke, bearing a name illustrious in the history of the country, had not scrupled to state that his father would never again allow one of his family to canvass Tavistock, What! was it indeed come to this — that a Russell should never again present himself for the suffrages of a borough which owed so much to that great family? ... God forbid, he (Mr. Croker) would say, that the time should ever arrive when a beneficent landlord like the Duke of Bedford should have no influence over his tenants. But what he (Mr. Croker) complained of was, that while such a great town as Bolton was allowed but a single Member, the small borough of Tavistock was permitted to return two.' 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. III cols. 101—102. Croker pointed out that Russell's proposals involved giving two MP's each to Tavistock and Bedford, both of which had under 5,500 inhabitants, and one MP each to Bolton and Blackburn, both of which had over 22,000 inhabitants. His speech included an interesting characterization of the British Constitution; 'The complexity of ... (it), like the complexity of the universe, is a complexity only to the eye; for its apparent irregularities all tend to general Order, and seeming anomalies and counteractions contribute to produce the most admirable symmetry and the most beautiful proportions.' Cf. John Prest 'Lord John Russell" (London, 1972) pp. 38—54.
46.
An Act of Parliament (the Sub-letting Act) which was meant to restrict division into small tenancies, the method of accommodating a fertile dass of beggars in Ireland, and their breeding-ground, was shown to be so little adapted to remedy the evil that it had to be repealed recently after a few experimental years. [Hoff. pp. 479—480, K. and P. p. 308.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 19th 1831 p. 3 col. 3, Leader: 'Lord Melbourne last night explained the nature of the Provision to be substitued for the Subletting Act, which he proposed to repeal. The object of the new measure is to give a prospective effect only to leases. The old Act provided against leaving a lease to more than one person, but left intestacy unprovided for. As great hardship would often take place in Ireland, from the impossibility of the farmer providing for his children, were his
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farm to go to one person, this measure provides that both in cases of will and intestacy, "it was intended that when leases came as real property to the heir, or as chattel Interests to the next of kin, that when it happened in either cases that the successors were co-heiresses, or there were more than one next of kin in the same degree, these respectively should take as joint-tenants, and that there should be no division or alienation except between each other." ' 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. III cols. 522—527.
47. The Duke of Wellington earnestly pressed on the Lords in his last speech . . . that what they had to create was a legislative assembly, not a Corporation of the enfranchised, a House of Commons and not a new system for its constituents . .. Indeed in the course of his speech the Duke cites the evidence of a friend of the Reform Bill to the effect that the present House of Commons is so formed that no better could be elected. [Hoff. pp. 486—487, K. and P. p. 314.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 29th 1831 p. 4 cols. 1 and 2, Parliament: The Duke of Wellington ... 'All the Noble Lords, and all the Honourable Members who have hitherto spoken, seem to have left out of the question this consideration — that it is a Legislative Assembly you ought to create, and not a body of voters — a House of Commons, and not a constituency ... Now as to the present House of Commons, I maintain that it is as complete and perfect a Legislative Body as can be required ... I have the authority of the Noble Marquess himself, the President of the Council, for saying that were he to appoint a House of Commons, he could not select one better adapted to the great ends of national welfare, giving, as it ought, a due preponderance to the weight of landed property. The Noble Earl, too, at the head of his Majesty's Government in 1817, on the presentation of a Petition upon this very subject, admitted that the House of Commons was always ready to assert and maintain the interests of the people.' 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. III cols. 1064—1073.
48. England is in agreement with what the Duke of Wellington said recently in the House of Lords, that 'from the year 1688' (the year of the Revolution which drove from the throne the House of Stuart with its Catholic mentality) 'until now the country's affairs have been conducted in the best and most glorious way through the union of the wealth, talents, and innumerable skills which have represented the great interests of the kingdom'. [Hoff. p. 483, K. and P. p. 311.]
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The Morning Chronicle' March 29th 1831 p. 4 col. 2, Parliament: 'His Grace then proceeded to examine how the Constitution had worked, as far as regarded the House of Commons, from 1688 to the present time. He contended that the Business had been carried on most satisfactorily by a conjunction of persons of property, talent, and knowledge of all kinds, representing all the great interests of the kingdom, and that for 140 years they had promoted the prosperity and maintained the glory of the British nation. If, then, such a House of Commons — so constituted and so gifted — were to be destroyed, it was the duty of Ministers to take care that it was succeeded by a repräsentative body which would give to the King's Government the necessary Support.' 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. III cols. 1069—1070.
49.
Thus the right accruing to the King, as the third branch of the legislative power, of confirmingor rejecting a bill accepted by both Houses becomes all the more illusory in that the Cabinet is once again the same Ministry embodied in Parliament. Earl Grey has said, in reply to that reproach, that the Ministry's introduction of the Bill did have the King's agreement in advance, but that the Ministry was exonerated from the blame of saying outright that the King's agreement had been secured, simply by the fact that this Statement had not come from Ministers but from elsewhere. [Hoff. pp. 502—503, K. and P. p. 328.] 'The Morning Chronicle' March 29th 1831 p. 4 col. 3, Parliament: 'Earl Grey ... The last remaining point, was that of Parliamentary Reform. The Noble Duke in speaking of this, had complained that the name of his Majesty had been unduly used; he had, however, admitted that the Government had not used it beyond signifying that the King's consent had been given to the measure, and that it was quite improper to suppose that the introduction of it had influenced any of the votes in the other House of Parliament. In this he thought that the Noble Duke was quite correct; and all that could be assumed was, that the measure had been submitted to the King, and that his consent had been given. But was this unconstitutional? Were not measures often introduced by message or by speech, even before they were introduced to Parliament? He thought, therefore, that the Government stood clear from any improper use of the King's name on this subject.' 'Hansard's Parliamentary Debates' third series vol. III cols. 1079—1080.
50.
An M. P. elected for Liverpool has just been excluded from Parliament because the voters have been proved to have taken bribes. [Hoff. p. 488, K. and P. p. 316.]
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'The Morning Chronicle' April 22nd 1831 p. 2 col. 3, Parliament: Liverpool Election, 'Mr. Benett, in moving a Resolution with respect to the corrupt state of the representation of the Borough of Liverpool, said he intended that Resolution, with the permission of the House, to form the ground-work of a Bill, which would have the effect of correcting, in future, that corruption which was so prevalent there.' Parliament was dissolved on the day on which Benett moved this resolution. The M. P. involved, Isaac Gascoyne (c. 1770—1841), had represented Liverpool continuously since 1796, but was defeated in the following election (May 1831). At the Liverpool by-election of November 1830, it cost £ 100,000 to poll 4,400 votes: See Michael Brock 'The Great Reform Act' (London, 1973) pp. 149, 359; 'General Index to the Reports of Select Committees 1801—1852' (House of Commons, 1853) p. 197; 'Morn. Chron.' May 4th 1831 p. 4 col. 1.
51. Mom. Chron. 2/2 28: How a large [part] of the people of England live [Auszug über das starke Anwachsen der Dissenters in den letzten 20 Jahren]. [Transl.:] Extract concerned with the great increase in the numbers of dissenters over the last 20 years. [Hoff. p. 723.] Doubtful Identification. In a leader (p. 2 col. 5) devoted to the proposed repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, it is observed that, 'The Dissenters of England, as well as the Irish Catholics, and the whole Scotdi nation, are a sort of half aliens' etc., but it is not certain that this was the extract that Hoffmeister had before him. W. R. Ward 'Religion and Society in England 1790—1850' (London, 1972) ch. 4.
52. In England ist der Preis des Getreides und der Pachtungen der Ländereien seit 50 Jahren um das Dreifache gestiegen, und der Preis des Tagelohns für Feldarbeit derselbe (8 sh.) wöchentlich geblieben. [Trnnsl.;] In England over the last 50 years the price of corn and agricultural rents has trebled, while the cost per week of the daily wage for agricultural labour has remained the same (8 s.). [Harv. 57, Hoff. p. 723; cf. Hoff. p. 499, K. and P. 325.] Doubtful identification. Cf. 'The Morning Chronicle' February 25th 1828 p. 3 col. 2: In 1732, the price of agricultural labour was settled by the Magistrates at 6 s. per week, and wheat was then 2 s. 9 d. per bushel. In 1825, the price of labour was 9 s. per week, and wheat
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was 9 s., per bushel; therefore each labourer obtained the value of one bushel of wheat less for bis week's labour, in 1825, than he received 1732. J. D. Marshall 'The Old Poor Law' (London, 1973).
53. Brougham, 26/2 28: Wisdom of the ancestors. Lord High Chancellor, Bacon- that those who went before, instead of being elder and wiser, had less experience than we had; that then was the youth of the world and the present time its old age, when our you[n]g men knew more than the sages of old times. [Hoff. p. 722; cf. Hoff. p. 467, K. and P. p. 298.] Doubtful Identification. Cf. 'The Morning Chronicle' February 26th 1828 p. 3 col. 3: Lord Bacon recommends that men should lie only when driven into a corner, and their general habit of openness and veracity will then serve to blind the public. February 28th 1828 p. 2 col. 4: Bacon, from his frequent returns to the subject of the authority of antiquity, must evidently have also suffered not a little from the bigots of his age.
54. Collision in Indien (M. Chr. 20/5 29) Zwischen der Oberpolizey der Gouvememente (Bombay, Malcolm) und den Richtern, die auf Verhaftung ein Habeas Corpus Writ ausfertigen u. den vor sich fordern lassen, der die Verhaftnehmung auf Befehl vorgenommen, u. wenn nicht law-Gründe vorhanden, den Verhafteten entlassen — sogar den der Verantwortung nidit enthoben erklären, der auf Befehl der Gouveme. gehandelt — sondern ihn den Strafen der Gesetze unterworfen erklären — Sehr hoch haben die Richter darüber dem Gouv. Malcolm geantwortet — [Transl.:] Collision in India (M. Chr. 20/5 29) between the supreme authority of the government (Bombay, Malcolm) and the magistrates, who issue a writ of Habeas Corpus for arrest, and have the person who was ordered to carry out the arrest brought before them, and if there are no legal grounds, release the prisoner — they declare moreover, that the person who acted on the Order of the gov. is not relieved of responsibility, but subject to the legal penalties — Great haughtiness in the way in whidi the magistrates have replied to Gov. Malcolm on this matter — [Berl. V, 1, 30, Hoff. p. 724.] Misdated, doubtful Identification. Cf. 'The Morning Chronicle' April 23rd 1829 p. 2 col. 3, Leader: "It will be remembered that late arrivals from India brought accounts of a serious difference between the Members composing the Executive Government of Bombay and the highest Judicial
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Authorities o£ that Presidency. We learn with extreme regret, by the very latest advices, that discontents have also exhibited themselves at Madras, in a quarter and under a form likely to give room for very serious reflection." The Supreme Courts of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were established by charter under the direct authority of the crown, and at this time claimed to be administering the English Common and Statute law prevailing when their Charters were granted, the date generally assigned for this being 1726. This basic legal authority was limited in various crucial respects however, and since the limitations involved very few clearly defined principles, they tended to give rise to uncertainty and conflict. The acceptance of 1726 as the decisive date was questioned, there was disagreement as to the law then prevailing, and it was admitted that subsequent Statutes relating to India as well as such regulations of the Governor General in Council as had been registered in the Courts, should modify the law administered. By 21 George 111 c. 70 the Jurisdiction of these Courts was, in effect, limited to the inhabitants of the presidency towns and only to suitors of European origin residing elsewhere. Throughout the rest of British India the East India Company had established courts administering Hindu and Mahommedan law. The central government of India at this time was regulated by Pitt's Act of 1784. The Governor-General of Bengal had authority in matters of peace and war and relations with native States, and to this extent exercised political authority over the governors of Bombay and Madras. The ultimate legal authority of these governors was exercised as presidents of their respective councils. Sir John Peter Grant (1774—1848) was appointed a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Bombay in 1827, and by the deaths of his colleagues became for a time the sole judge of the court. Sir John Malcolm (1769—1833), the Orientalist and historian, took diarge of the government of Bombay on November Ist 1827, and within the year had come into direct conflict with Grant over the case of Moroo Ragonath. The supreme court asserted a Jurisdiction beyond the limits of the islands and factories of Bombay, and claimed the right to issue a writ of habeas corpus against Pandoorung Ramchunder, who was under the protection of the British government. Malcolm considered that such a claim vitally impugned the authority of the East India Company, and on October 3rd 1828 delivered a letter of protest to Grant, signed by himself and all the members of the council, which intimated that they had stayed all further proceedings in the case, and ordered no returns to be made to similar writs of habeas corpus in future. Grant lost his temper and wrote a hot letter in reply, and the court announced that it would ignore the Orders of the government. When Sir Thomas Bradford (1777—1853), the commander-in-chief, considered lending Grant military assistance, Malcolm was at one time on the point of having him selzed and deported. In February 1829 Grant issued a writ of attadiment against Ramchunder and addressed it to the governor-in-council for execution. When Malcolm declined to have anything to do with it, Grant closed his court in protest on April Ist. Malcolm replied to this by announcing that since Grant had abandoned the function of protecting the persons and property of the inhabitants of Bombay, the government itself would do its best to supply the deficiency. The home government then intervened, and appointed two Judges unsympathetic to Grant to the vacancies in the supreme court. On February 21st 1829 the President of the board of control, Edward Law (1790—1871), wrote to Malcolm saying that Grant would now be 'like a wild elephant led away between two tarne ones,' and under control. This letter was copied and made public
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in the 'Bengal Hurkaru', and so worsened the Situation still further. See J. W. Kaye 'Lives of Indian Officers' (2 vols. London, 1904) vol. I pp. 316—318; E. Law 'A Political Diary' (2 vols. London, 1881) vol. II p. 145; D. N. B. vol. 53 p. 411; 'Gentleman's Magazine' Sept. 1848 p. 335. The Charter Act of 1833, which instituted the Governor-General of Bengal as Governor-General of India, and so provided the country with a single omnicompetent legislative and executive authority, embodies most of the constructive outcome of this scandalous squabble. By this act a Commission, of which Lord Macaulay was member, was set up to survey the whole field of Indian law, and suggest such alterations as appeared desirable: see the excellent account of this by Eric Stokes 'The English Utilitarians in India' (Oxford, 1959). The question of the Supreme Court's power to issue such a writ of habeas corpus was decided by the king's affirming a report made by the privy council, it being thus established, 'that that court had no power or authority to issue a writ of habeas corpus, except when directed either to a person resident within the local limits within which such court has a general Jurisdiction, or to a person out of such local limits, who is personally subject to the civil and criminal Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.' (Knapp's Reports).
55. Morn. Chron. 2/2 25: The doctrine of the Sovereignty of the people first laid down by the celebrated Juden. [Hoff. p. 726; cf. Hoff. p. 491, K. and P. p. 318.] Misdated, unidentified. Evidently Pierre Jurieu (1637—1713), the Huguenot controversialist, who defended the legitimacy of the English revolution of 1688, and became famous in Hegel's day for having forecast the French one; see G. H. Dodge 'The Political Theory of the Huguenots' (New York, 1947).
56. When Ferdinand of Naples swore to maintain the Constitution with his hand upon the Gospel, with tears Streaming down his face, he turned to General Pepe, and said "This time General, I speak from my heart, I am sincere." [Berl. V, 1, 4.] Misdated, unidentified. Since this extract occurs between nos. 10 and 11, it would appear to be dated the second half of July 1825. The anecdote refers to Ferdinand I (1751—1825), Gabriele Pepe (1779—1849), and the revolution of 1820.
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57.
Mom. Chron. 8/6 27. 1825 Kentucky (N. America) Unfortunate condition of the judiciary of this State for some years. Upon the conclusion of the war, the westem Merchants finding it easy to obtain credit in the Atlantic States, purchased larger quantities of foreign manufactures and produce than the consumers required and beyon their means of payment. To enable the merchants and farmers to comply to their engagements the legislature autorised a bank, which only aggravated the mischief by procrastinating the time of final payment and thus encouraging the spirit of extravagant speculation. — Palliatif. The legisl. enacted laws delaying the retum of executions for 2 years. At the end of that term the property was to be appraised, and the judgment creditor was compelled to take it a 3/4 of its appraised value; the debtors invested with the power to designate their property in wich execution to be first levied — (in distant country) The supreme Court of Appeals in Kentucky denied the constitutionality of these laws, declaring them to be in violation of the clause of the constit. of the Un. St. prohibiting to pass any law impairing the Obligation of contracts. A decision of the Supreme Court of the Un. St. declared certains laws of the St. of Kent in favour of accusing claimants to be in violation of the Orig. Compact In the House resolutions passed maj. 59 to 40 protesting against the decis. of the Supr. C of the un. St. of the St. of K. and declaring the decis. of the C. of App. to be erroneous. In the next year the majority of the Legislature of the relief System against the anti relief System, passed a law re-organising the C. of App. an 4 Judges were appointed constituting a new C. The old Judges determined to resist this attempt to legislat them out of office; — but in pursuance of a Resolution of the Legislature the Office of the Clerk of the old C. was forcibly entered, and the records and papers taken therefrom, and placed in the custody of the new C. The old C. however continued to meet at its stated terms, but being deprived of its records, did not transact any business; the new C. also went into Operation. — In 1825 the old Judges obtained a majority in the House of Representatives, and in the next year in the Senate also. The law creating the new C. was repealed. — It does not appear from this narrative, that the relief laws are expressly repealed. The registered an licensed tonnage of the Unit. States at the commencement of 1825 was 1,389,163, that of the whole Brittish Empire 2,542,216 tons; — that the of the Un. St. is greater in proportion to population and far greater to wealth.
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[Berl. V, 1, 14, Hoff. p. 736.] Misdated, unidentified.
58. Mom. ehr. 24/7 27. Ge. Williams had been shot in the act of breaking into Mr Newman's House in Camberwell, 1/7 by a pistol set by Mr Newman whose house had been several times attempted by burglars at night. The thief was found in a field near Mr N. House the morning after he was shot greatly exhausted by loss of blood. In the hospital he was dressed when brought (some days after) before the magistrate denied all he had before said, declaring that he was shot by persons unknown. The Constable said, the prisoner was the Captain of a gang, and the terror of the neighbourhood, and such an affliction to his family, that when his father heard he had been shot, he declared that it would have been a blessing from God had he been killed. — The Magistr. after expressing his indignation at the prisoners conduct, said as no property had been taken from Mr Newman, he must be discharged. — that he was shot in the act of entering Mr Newm. house through window he had forced open. [Berl. V, 1, 15.] Misdated, unidentified. 'The Morning Chronicle' April 19th 1827 p. 3 col. 5 records a Bow Street case involving a George Williams, who was charged on suspicion of having committed a burglary.
59. Morn. Chron. 20/8 27 Courier; „Several of the Judges have lately taken occasion to reprobate this practice in the strongest terms. — (that) — Police-Officers question and cross-examine the persons they arrest, and afterwards swear to a confession they obtained — confessions which the imhappy prisoners have no means whatever of contradicting, inasmuch as it is always sworn that no third person was present. The acquittal of a prisoner thus circumstanced is next to impossible. We would really submit to those who have the controul of the police, that each case should be allowed to rest on its own merits; and that interrogation by the of Heers, of the unfortunate prisoners, on whose minds hope and fear (no matter whether excited unduly or not) must, to a certain degree, operate, should not be tolerated. By the Act 1 u. 2 d Philipp and Mary c. 13, it is enacted the Justices — when any prisoner is brought before them before them for any
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manslaughter or felony, before any bailment or mainprize, shall take the examination of the said prisoner, — shall be put in writing, — shall certify the examining at the next General Gaol Delivery — The law autorizes the examination. But a great latitude is allowed to the Magistrate in England, — he may either exert himself to obtain evidence from the prisoner or to prevent the pris. furnishing such evidence. When a Engl. Mag. hates a man, or wishes to have him hanged or transported, he has only to give a hint to a goaler, a police officer, or other subordinate, and the evidence will be obtained in a much better way than he himself could extract it, because these low individuals being more on a level with the prisoner, are more likely to engage his confidence, and to seize the moment for attaking him when his conscience may be awake or his feelings strongly excited. If on the other hand a Mag. wishes to bring off a prisoner, he can caution him against opening his heart to others, and impress on him the importance of wrapping himself up in secrecy, in Order not to furnish evidence by which his conviction may be furthered. This difference between the Engl, practice and — of other countries is quite in accordance with the spirit of the Engl, law, which delights in falsehood and fiction — The great object of the Engl. Law is to favour the rieh and the powerful, to enable them to elude justice by means of friends or the aid whida lawyers can supply. — The poor man cannot afford to indemnify sureties or prosecutors, so justice must be done on him; * and the multitude are stupid enough to deem it equal justice, because there is a equal binding over in the case of rieh and poor. * (Peel Parli 26. 2.1826: — if an individual loses property of 10 1 he is gravely told he may have a chance of convicting the offender by expending some 20 (more) [Berl. V, 1,17, Hoff. p. 721.] Misdated, unidentified. Peel did not deliver a speedi in Parliament on February 26th 1826, see 'Speeches' (4 vols. London, 1853) vol. I p. 391.
60. Jungen von 10 Jahren committiert, d. i. viele Monate eingesperrt bis zu den Assizen oder Quarter-Sessionen Denn bei der Grand Jury werden keine Zeugen Aussagen angenommen, wodurch ein Beklagter sogleich befreyt werden könnte. Die Anklagen haben sich vermehrt seit der Peels Consolidat. Bill, seit dem die Prosecutionskosten auch for misdemeanor von der County bezahlt
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werden. Ein Mann kommt zum Proceß kann heut seine Klage nicht anbringen, bleibt in der Stadt (— wohl auch mit den Zeugen) über Nacht, erhaelt Reise u. Aufenthaltskosten. [Transl.:] A ten-year-old youth committed, i. e. imprisoned for several months until the Assizes or Quarter Sessions The reason being that the grand jury does not accept Statements of evidence relevant to the immediate release of the accused. There has been an increase in prosecutions since Peel's Consolidat. Bill, since the cost of prosecution, even for misdemeanor, has been borne by the County. A man comes to court is unable to bring his action on the day, stays in the town overnight (-also with the witnesses moreover) and gets travel and accommodation expenses paid. [Berl. V, 3, 14, Hoff. p. 721; cf. Hoff. pp. 473, 482, K. and P. pp. 303, 310.] Unidentified By 7 George IV c. 64 (1826), in all cases of felony, and in certain specified cases of misdemeanor, prosecutors and witnesses attending in court on recognizance or subpoena, or before the examining magistrates, were allowed their expenses for their trouble and loss of time. The courts of quarter sessions were empowered to establish the rate of costs and expenses to be allowed, which had to be approved of by a judge. Cf. Peel's Parliamentary speedi of March 9th 1826, in whidi he introduced the subject of legal reform: 'Speedies' (4 vols. London, 1853) vol. I pp. 397—410.
61.
Watchmen ausgeprügelt von einem Raufer bei Nacht — ihre Beulen, Wunden u. s. f. punishment. [Transl.:] Watchmen beaten up during the night by a rowdy — their bruises, wounds etc. — punishment, [Berl. V, 3, 7, Hoff. p. 720.] Unidentified.
62.
The judgment (nicht der trial) on several prisoners was respited until the next sessions. [Berl. V, 3, 6, Hoff. p. 720.] Unidentified. See 4 George IV c. 48 'An Act for enabling Courts to abstain from pronouncing sentence of death in certain Capital cases.' The law governing the arresting of a judgment was clarified by 7 George IV c. 64.
63.
L. Liverpool: unerträgl. ein kathol. Geistlicher wisse durch d. Beichte vom Vorhaben eines Mords, — dürfe ihn nicht abwenden. —
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— Dasselbe im englischen Pari. u. den Committeen — Vorgefordete müssen Alles sagen — theils öffentl., theils werden sie in den Reports der Committeen (bribery by Elections) ohne Namen etwas, mit Buchstaben A. B. C u s. f. — doch kenntl. genug durch die Umstände — gedruckt — imd es darf keine Anklage darauf noch Bestrafung stattfinden — weder als Eingeständnis des eignen Verbrechens, noch als Zeugenaussage. [Trans?.;] L. Liverpool: intolerable — a Catholic priest knows of intended murder through confession, — may not prevent it. — The same in the English Parliament and Committees: those appearing obliged to keep nothing batk — printed, partly publicly, partly in the Committee Reports (bribery by Elections) — names may be replaced by letters, A, B, C etc., but clear enough from the circumstances — and this can be used neither for prosecution nor for punishment — neither as an admission of personal guilt nor as evidence. [Harv. SO, Hoff. p. 718; cf. Hoff. p. 467, K. and P. p. 298.] Unidentified.
64. Zwei Diebe, der eine zu 14 Jahren Transportation, der andere zum Tode verurteilt. Neither of these sentences can be carried into effect, in conse-
quence of its having been discovered that one of the Jurors, who sat on both trials, is under the age of 21. [Transl.:] Two thieves condemned, one to 14 years' transportation, the other to death ... [Hoff. p. 720.] Unidentified.
65. Vor einem englischen Gericht kam vor kurzem der Fall vor, daß einer Gras stahl, zwei Tage nach dem Mähen. Das Gesetz setzt Strafe auf Diebstahl von Gras und Heu; jenes war nicht Gras mehr und auch noch nicht Heu. Der Angeklagte wurde auf diese Weise vom Gericht entlassen. [Trans?.;] The case of someone who stole grass mown two days previously recently came before an English court. There is a legal penalty for stealing grass and hay, but since this was no longer grass and not yet hay, the accused was dismissed. [Hoff. p. 720.] Unidentified.
66.
The boy, an apprentice, he was well taken care of „both back and belly." [Berl. V, 3,11, Hoff. p. 720.] Unidentified.
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67. Courier When we can understand that liberty of action consists in the right to spit in any mans face whom we meet, or to offer any other blackguard insult, then we shall be able to comprehend that the liberty of the press consists in the use of language precisely upon a level with such conduct. Till then, we must regard them both as emanating from kindred natures. [Berl. V, 4, 7, Hoff. p. 722.] Unidentified. 68.
13/4 27 Cat of Mieris; ein Fischverkäuffer bietet e. Köchin vor ihrer Küche Fische an, e. Katze dabey — verkauft für 320 guineas ein Ostade für 465 guineas. [TransJ.:] 13/4 27 Cat of Mieris; a fishseller offering fish to a cook in front of her kitchen, with a cat there — sold for 320 guineas an Ostade for 465 guineas. [Berl. V, 1, 13; cf. Aesthetics (tr. Knox) pp. 599, 849.] Misdated, unidentified. Evidently the seventeenth Century Dutch painters Adrian or Isaac Ostade and Frans van Mieris the elder or younger.
69. Our first parent were apple-stealers, and their offence against the Garden of Eden Act has entailed upon us all a most disagreeable penalty. [Berl. V, 3, 2, Hoff. p. 705; cf. Jub. 1 p. 18.] Unidentified.
70. The great source of the evils that oppressed Irland — the absenteism — Trettmühle — ewiger Zirkel — dies abschaffen — die Ursache ist etwas anders — so bei allem u. jedem — [Transl.:] Treadmill — everlasting circle — get rid of it — the cause is something eise — as with all and everything. [Harv. 22, Hoff. p. 719; cf. Hoff. p. 476, K. and P. p. 306 et seq.] Unidentified.
HELMUT SCHNEIDER (BOCHUM)
DOKUMENTE ZU HEGELS POLITISCHEM DENKEN 1830/31
I. Ein Brief Hegels an v. Beyme
Eure Excellenz haben in Ihrer hochgeneigten Zuschrift vom löten d[ieses Monats] die mir schmeichelhafte Bezeugung Ihrer Zufriedenheit mit einem Artikel in der Staatszeitung machen wollen, für dessen Verfasser ich ausgegeben worden bin; was diese Autorschaft betrift, so ist dem Vernehmen nach zwischen der Direction der Staatszeitung und dem Verfasser das Einverständniß getroffen, den Nahmen, auch wenn er erkannt worden wäre, — was aus mancherlei Umständen leicht geschehen könnte, — nicht einzugestehen; wonach ich die gegen Eure Excellenz ganz unverfängliche Befugniß, von meiner Seite eine Aüsserung zu machen, da sie als einseitig sich qualificirte, als mir nicht zustehend anzusehen hätte; nodi weniger aber könnte ich das zu grosse Lob, das Eure Excellenz jenem Aufsatze ertheilen wollen, auf mich nehmen. Da die Tendenz desselben, Principien in Anspruch zu nehmen, die unter anderem auch eine constante Quelle der Verkennung und Verunglimpfung der preußischen Verfassimg und Gesetzgebung sind, wie gegen dieselbe auch die Pretension und der zugestandene Ruhm der englischen Freyheit gelten gelassen wird, die Gelegenheit der englischen Reformbill genommen hat, so hat der Gesichtspunkt daraus erwachsen können, daß die englische Staatsverfassung damit angegriffen wurde, was als ungeeignet für die preussische Staatszeitung den Abdruck des Beschlußes des Artikels verhindert habe. Ein besonderer Abdruck, wozu Eurer Excellenz gnädige Aufmunterung der wichtigste Bestimmungsgrund seyn würde, erforderte wohl eine grössere Ausführung, wozu es wohl weniger an Stoff als an Zeit gebräche. Bey dieser Gelegenheit habe ich die Ehre, Eure Excellenz den gefälligst mitgetheilten Auszug der englisdien Recension von COUSIN'S Schrift mit dem unterthänigsten Danke zurückzuschicken, mit der angelegentlichsten Entschuldigung zugleich über die lange Verzögerung; es ist mir, da es mich
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zugleich am nächsten trift, sehr interessant gewesen zu sehen, wie weit Engländer in philosophische Studien und Bekanntschaft mit auswärtigem Philosophiren eingehen, und daß sie gegen deutsche Ideen auch mit deutschen, mit KANiischen Ansichten polemisiren. Indem ich noch bitten darf, daß Eure Excellenz die Versicherung meiner tieffsten Verehrung gnädigst aufzunehmen geruhen mögen, habe ich die Ehre zu seyn Eurer Excellenz unterthäniger Diener Professor Hegel Berlin den 21[.] May 1831 Der Brief befindet sich in Privatbesitz. * Ein Vorfahre des Mannes der jetzigen Besitzerin war Hauslehrer bei v. BEYME (oder seinen Nachkommen?) und ließ sich den Brief schenken, der dann in der Familie weitervererbt wurde. Der Brief besteht aus drei beschriebenen Seiten im Oktavformat. Da V. BEYME als Briefpartner Hegels bisher nicht bekannt war, mag es berechtigt sein, die Biographie v. BEYMES etwas ausführlicher darzustellen. ^ CARL FRIEDRICH V. BEYME wurde am 10. 7.1765 in Königsberg geboren. Seine Erziehung erhielt er in den FRANCKEschen Stiftungen in Halle, wo er auch Jura studierte. 1784 wurde er am Kammergericht in Berlin Referendar, 1788 Assessor, 1791 Kammergerichtsrat, 1798 Geheimer Kabinettsrat im Kabinett FRIEDRICH WILHELMS III. Er nahm an der Reform der inneren Verwaltung Preußens teil und erreichte die Befreiung der Bauern auf den Domänen. 1808 wurde er Justizminister, der als letzter den Titel Großkanzler führte, den er auch später beibehielt. 1810 mußte er durch den Sturz der Regierung durch HARDENBERG aussdieiden. 1817 berief ihn HARDENBERG wieder in den Staatsrat und an die Spitze des neuen Ministeriums für Gesetzesrevision. 1819 trat er zusammen mit W. V. HUMBOLDT und H. v. BOYEN aus Protest gegen die Karlsbader Beschlüsse zurück. Seit dieser Zeit beschäftigte er sich mit der Verwaltung seiner Güter Steglitz, Dahlem und Schmargendorf bei Berlin. 1816 war er geadelt worden. Er war ein gründlich belesener und gebildeter Mann, der die Literatur und Wissenschaft seiner Zeit aufmerksam verfolgte. Als überzeugter Anhänger FICHTES war er dessen wichtigster Protektor bei MASSOW, ALTENSTEIN und DOHNA. Bekannt waren seine üppigen Gastmähler, zu denen u. a. VON ALTENSTEIN, SCHLEIERMACHER, RITTER, ZELTER, HEGEL, GANS, STAEGEMANN und VARNHAGEN VON ENSE eingeladen wurden. Bei der Vorbereitung der Berliner Universitätsgründung war er maßgeblich beteiligt, wofür er 1830 den philosophischen Ehrendoktor verliehen bekam. Er starb am 12.10.1838 bei Berlin. * Für die Bereitstellung und die Druckerlaubnis möchte sich der Herausgeber bei der Besitzerin, Frau Käte Schmidt, herzlich bedanken. ® Biographische Angaben nach: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Bd 2. Berlin 1955. 208 (H. Hausherr). — H. ]. Sdioeps: Carl Friedrich v. Beyme. Mit Proben aus seinem unveröffentlichten Briefwechsel. In: Philosophischer Eros im Wandel der Zeit. Festgabe f. M. Schröter z. 85. Geburtstag. Hrsg. v. A. M. Koktanek. München 1965. 189—200. Leicht überarbeitet nochmals in H.J. Sdioeps: Neue Quellen zur Geschichte Preußens im 19. Jahrhundert. Berlin 1968, 26—37.
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Wenn auch bisher keine Briefe zwischen Hegel und v. BEYME bekannt wurden, hat Hegel doch sehr früh schon von BEYMES Einfluß erfahren. SINCLAIR erwähnte in einem Brief an Hegel vom 25. 4.1806 BEYME als einen einflußreichen Mann, Freund FICHTES, an den sich Hegel direkt wenden solle, wenn er eine Anstellung an der kurz vor der Errichtung stehenden Universität Berlin haben wolle. ^ Ob Hegel damals an V. BEYME geschrieben hat, wissen wir nicht. ROSENKRANZ kannte jedoch den genannten Brief SINCLAIRS und bemerkte dazu: „Als eine Curiosität, wie späteres Geschehen oft in früherem sich vorspiegelt, ist anzuführen, daß SINCLAIR in einem seiner Briefe, den 25. April 1806 aus Homburg, Hegels Wunsch erwähnt, in Berlin eine Anstellung zu erhalten, falls FICHTE von Erlangen nach Göttingen gehen dürfte." ■* Über Hegels Beziehungen zu v. BEYME in Berlin liegen einige Zeugnisse vor. K. F. ZELTER schrieb am 13.3.1831 an Goethe: „Es ist Sonntag. Ich will noch nach Steglitz mit Hegel, zum Großkanzler BEYME. Hegel ist gebeten, ich fahre nur so mit; einer mehr wird nicht zu viel sein." ® Davon spricht auch M. LENZ : „Oder Hegel begleitete ihn [= ZELTER] — ungeladen, denn dort war er immer willkommen — nach Steglitz zu dem alten BEYME, der zu der gleichen Generation gehörte und, wie früher an FICHTE, SO nun an dessen Nachfolger seine Freude hatte." ® Inwieweit Hegel an der Ehrenpromotion v. BEYMES 1830 beteiligt war, wäre noch zu untersuchen. Immerhin war Hegel 1829/30 Rektor der Universität Berlin und man darf vermuten, daß auch er zum Zustandekommen der Ehrenpromotion beitrug. v. BEYME war aber nicht nur mit Hegel befreundet, sondern auch mit dessen Kontrahenten SCHLEIERMACHER. H. J. SCHOEPS berichtet aus den Briefen v. BEYMES an seine Tochter aus dem Jahre 1831 von dem gleichen Treffen am 13.3.1831 bei V. BEYME, das ZELTER erwähnt. „In den späten Briefen von 1831 stellt er die beiden miteinander verfeindeten Gelehrten: SCHLEIERMACHER und Hegel als die Repräsentanten der Liberalen und Servilen zusammen. Beide waren beim Ordensfest im Januar 1831 mit dem Roten Adlerorden dritter Klasse ausgezeichnet worden. Bei diesem Ordensfeste waren sie unerwartet zusammengetroffen. Das zweite Mal geschah es Mitte März 1831, als beide mit verschiedenen anderen wie dem Komponisten und Goethefreund ZELTER, dem Geographen RITTER und dem Staatsrat STAEGEMANN ZU BEYME nach Steglitz zum Mittagessen eingeladen worden waren. Ob und worüber sie bei Tisch miteinander gesprochen haben, erfährt man aus BEYMES Brief leider nicht." ’ Der Inhalt von Hegels Brief bezieht sich auf einen nicht erhaltenen Brief v. BEYMES vom 16. Mai 1831, in dem dieser Hegel sein Lob aussprach wegen seines Aufsatzes in der Allgemeinen Preußischen Staatszeitung über die englische Reformbill. ® Der Schluß des Aufsatzes, also die vierte Folge, wurde auf Befehl des Königs nicht mehr abgedruckt. Hegels Aufsatz war anonym erschienen. Durch Spekulationen ’ Briefe von und an Hegel. Hrsg. v. J. Hoffmeister. Bd 1. Hamburg 1952. 107. * K. Rosenkranz: Hegels Leben. Berlin 1844. 269. 5 Der Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Zelter. Hrsg. v. M. Hecker, Leipzig 1913 ff. Bd 3. 400. Hier nach G. Nicolin: Hegel in Berichten seiner Zeitgenossen. Hamburg 1970. 428. • M. Lenz: Geschichte der Königlichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin. Bd 2, 1. Hälfte: Ministerium Altenstein. Halle 1910. 400. ’ Schoeps: Carl Friedrich v. Beyme. 198. « Nr 115 vom 26. April, 853—854; Nr 116 vom 26. April (abends), 857—858; Nr 118 vom 29. April (Beilage), 867—868.
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war aber offensichtlich doch Hegel als Verfasser erkannt worden. Hegel weigerte sich nun, wenigstens formal, sich als Verfasser des Artikels zu bekennen. Schließlich war es auch nicht die erste politische Schrift, die er anonym erscheinen ließ, wohl aus Angst vor Schwierigkeiten. Indirekt gesteht er die Verfasserschaft jedoch durchaus ein, wenn er den durch v. BEYME vorgeschlagenen Sonderdruck wegen Zeitmangel ablehnt. Ein Privatdrude von dem verbotenen Schluß des Aufsatzes wurde aber anscheinend doch hergestellt. Die Nachricht darüber stammt aus einem Brief von MARIE HEGEL an NIETHAMMER vom 2.12.1831: „Auf Befehl wurde die Fortsetzung besonders abgedruckt und unter der Hand vertheilt und Hegel, der nicht genannt seyn wollte, erhielt noch privatim die größten Elogen dafür." ® Erstaunlich ist, daß der Schlußteil „auf Befehl" (des Königs?) gedruckt wurde. Über die Motive dafür kann man höchstens Vermutungen anstellen. Ein Exemplar dieses Privatdrucks ist jedoch nie bekannt geworden. Unklar ist, ob sich der Vorschlag v. BEYMES ZU einem besonderen Abdruck auf den Schlußteil bezog oder auf den ganzen Aufsatz. Hat Hegel auf die „größere Ausführung" verzichtet und dem Druck des Schlußteils zugestimmt oder wollte v. BEYME einen Sonderdruck vom ganzen Aufsatz Vorschlägen, der nie zustande kam? In der Hegelliteratur kann man öfters lesen, daß der ganze Aufsatz als Sonderdruck erschien. Dafür gibt es jedoch keinen Beleg. Die englische Rezension eines Buches von COUSIN, aus der v. BEYME einen Auszug gemacht und an Hegel geschickt hatte, steht im Edinburgh Review, einem vierteljährlich erschienenen Rezensionsorgan, das Besprechungen von Büchern aller Gebiete brachte. Die umfangreiche Rezension ist anonym. Es handelt sich bei dem Buch um die Vorlesungen, die COUSIN nach seiner Wiedereinsetzung als Professor 1828 in Paris vor über 2000 Zuhörern hielt und die bald große Beachtung und weite Verbreitung fanden. Wenn Hegel an v. BEYME schrieb, daß in der Rezension gegen deutsche Ideen mit deutschen, d. h. KANTischen Ansichten polemisiert werde, brachte er damit indirekt zum Ausdruck, wie sehr COUSIN von der deutschen Philosophie abhängig war und es sich im Grunde um deutsche Ideen handelte. Letztlich waren es überwiegend Ideen Hegels, die von COUSIN popularisiert und mit Ideen ScHELiiNGS vermischt wurden, wobei COUSIN weder Hegel noch SCHELLING als seine Quellen mit Namen nannte, sondern alles als seine eigene Philosophie ausgab. Der Autor der Rezension scheint ein KANTianer gewesen zu sein. COUSIN wird von ihm als Schüler SCHELLINGS gesehen (209), während Hegel zusammen mit OKEN ZU den „two most distinguished followers of SCHELLING" (208) gezählt wird. Die Rivalität zwischen Hegel und SCHELLING bezog sich auch sehr stark auf COUSIN, den SCHELLING als seinen legitimen Interpreten in Frankreich ansah. ® Briefe von und an Hegel. Hrsg. v. Karl Hegel. Teil 2. Leipzig 1887. 378 Anm. V. Cousin: Cours de Philosophie. Introduction ä l'histoire de la philosophie. Paris 1828. In: The Edinburgh Review. Edinburgh. 50 (1830), 194—221. Nicht nur in Frankreich, sondern auch in Amerika wurde Hegel durch Cousin bekannt. 1831 erschien eine englische Übersetzung des Buches, das für die frühen amerikanischen Transzendentalisten eine wichtige Quelle für die Kenntnis des Deutschen Idealismus und Hegels wurde (V. Cousin: Introduction to the History of Philosophy. Boston 1832). Vgl. dazu G. Müller: Amerikanisdie Philosophie. 12. Aufl. Stuttgart 1950. 117; H. W. Schneider: Geschichte der amerikanischen Philosophie. Hamburg 1957. 143, 160, 167; O.B. Frothingham: Transcendentalism in New England. A history. Philadelphia 1972 (1. Aufl. 1876). 66—75, 116/117. 12 Nachweise bei B. Knoop: Victor Cousin, Hegel und die französische Romantik. Einflüsse und Wirkimgen. Diss. Berlin 1932. 46 ff., 70 ff.
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II. Notizen Hegels zur Julirevolution In der Ausgabe der Briefe Hegels wies J. HOFFMEISTER bereits auf ein Konzept Hegels zur Philosophie der Weltgeschichte hin, das auf der Rückseite eines Briefes von GANS an Hegel vom 5. 8.1830 steht. Vor einiger Zeit wurden nun über diesen bisher unveröffentlichten Text unzutreffende Spekulationen angestellt. W. R. BEYER bezeichnete den Brief, in dem GANS über die Ereignisse der Julirevolution aus Paris an Hegel berichtete, als Telegramm, auf dessen Rückseite sich Hegel Notizen über die Julirevolution gemacht habe, die er in der Vorlesung über die Philosophie der Weltgeschichte bei diesem Thema verwendet habe. Auch bei der Abfassung der Schrift über die englische Reformbill habe Hegel die Notizen auf der Rückseite des Telegramms benützt. Abgesehen davon, daß es kein Telegramm, sondern ein handschriftlicher Brief ist, besteht auch keine inhaltliche Beziehung zwischen dem Brief von GANS und den Notizen auf der Rückseite. Es sind nicht Notizen zur Julirevolution, sondern Vorstudien zur Niederschrift der Einleitung in die Philosophie der Weltgeschichte. Das ergibt sich eindeutig aus einem Vergleich der Notizen mit der ausgeführten Niederschrift, die Hegel am 8.11.1830 begann. Hegel las im Wintersemester 1830/31 Philosophie der Weltgeschichte. Die Entstehung der Notizen kann man demnach in die Zeit zwischen dem 5.8. 1830 als dem Datum des Briefes von GANS und dem Ende dieses Jahres verlegen, da Hegel bis zum Jahresende in seiner ausführlichen Niederschrift sicher bis zu dem in den Notizen behandelten Thema von Vernunft und subjektiver Leidenschaft in der Weltgeschichte gekommen war. Die Verwendung des Briefes von GANS war rein zufällig, Hegel brauchte Schreibpapier. Da nach wenigen Zeilen bereits der Gliederungsbuchstabe ßß auftaucht, kann man vermuten, daß Hegel auf anderen Blättern den vorhergehenden Gedankengang ebenfalls in Stichworten skizziert hatte.
Es bleibt noch die Möglichkeit zu prüfen, daß es sich vielleicht um Notizen für die Vorlesung gehandelt haben könnte, wie W. R. BEYER meinte. Dagegen spricht jedoch, daß der Großteil der Notizen senkrecht von oben nach unten durchgestrichen ist. Das ist nach dem auch in anderen Manuskripten Hegels und bei anderen Autoren (SCHOPENHAUER, MARX) in Entwürfen angewandten Schreibbrauch das Zeichen, daß der Inhalt in ein anderes Manuskript, also in die ausgeführte Niederschrift, übernommen bzw. durch ausführliche Ausarbeitung als erledigt betrachtet wurde. Nur ein kleiner Abschnitt der Notizen ist nicht durchgestrichen. Er ist auch in der Niederschrift nicht enthalten, sondern nur in Vorlesungsnachschriften. Für diesen Abschnitt wäre eine Verwendung der Notizen in der Vorlesung denkbar. Das Blatt mit den hier edierten Notizen befindet sich in der Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Sammlung DARMSTAEDTER). Wie die Signatur ausweist ** Briefe von und an Hegel. Hrsg. v. J. Hoffmeister. Bd 3. 456. “ W. R. Beyer: Der Stellenwert der französischen Juli-Revolution von 1830 im Denken Hegels. In: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie. 19 (1971), 628—643. 15 Ebd. 632. 1» Ebd. 634. 11 Hegel: Die Vernunft in der Geschichte. Hrsg. v. J. Hoffmeister. 5. verb. Aufl. Hamburg 1955. 25 ff. 1® H. Schneider: Unveröffentlichte Vorlesungsmanuskripte Hegels. In: HegelStudien. 7 (1972), 51.
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(«ICC. Darmst. 1921. 187), kam es 1921 in diese Sammlung. Die Edition erfolgte nach den Prinzipien, die bereits bisher bei der Edition von Notizen angewandt wurden mit der Abweichung, daß Punkte und Klammern bei den Gliederungsbuchstaben hier dem Original völlig entsprechen.
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auch Schauspiele der un[endlichen] Verwiklungen — Noth, Unglük, Böse — Vergänglichkeit, nur Trauer — Unwillen. Bedauern — mit Grauen den Blick abwenden — ßß — Diese Ersch[einungen] u[nd] Leidensch[aften] zus[ammen]gef[asst] — Mittel — Land[?] Feld der Zufäll[igkeit] — Ursache u[nd] Mittel — wenn den Leid[enschaften] preisgegeben schlechtbestellt mit der Ausführung Welcher Zus [ammenhang] zwischen Endzw[eck] u[nd] Mittel Einsicht das Allg[emein]e So vorstellen — a) allg[emeiner] Endzweck — vollführt sich n[ich]t für sich ß) durch Menschen — Thät[igkeit] — Gesez abstr[act] — Leid[enschaft] Inter[esse] — als i h r subj [ectiver] Zweck — Inter [esse] Erreichen, nur ihren Zw [eck]
ß) Tugend, Moral[ität] a Absol[utes] Recht des W [eit] Geistes ß.) Feld der Zufälligkeit] Wenn wir so als Mittel — Schauspiel der Welt — abs[oluter] Endzw[eck] — M[o]ral[ität] Tug[end] zu Grunde gehen in bes[onderen] Kreisen — wollen[?] ihr Recht — Kampf—Zerstörung — fällt in diß Besondre List der Vern[unft] Diese Thät[igkeit] überh[aupt] das innere Mittel f[ür] den Zweck Werke. eines Zwecks mit der Thät[igkeit] dem Int[eresse] der S[u]bj[ec]te — — So d[er] allg[emeine] Endzw[eck] — Vern[unft] mit der Thät[igkeit] Int[eresse] der Menschen — Aber Untersch[ied] von Bew[u]ßts[eyn] u[nd] Bew[ußt]losigkeit — derselben — Hier indem wir glauben, Vern[unft] d[ie] Weltreg[irung] sie in den Thaten der Menschen, obgleich bewußtlos — daß durch ihre Handlungen zugleich noch etwas anderes vollbracht werde — herauskomme als sie H. Schneider: Hegels Notizen zum absoluten Geist. In: Hegel-Studien. 9 (1974), 15. — Der Staatsbibliothek Preuß. Kulturbesitz in Berlin sei für die Druckerlaubnis freundlich gedankt.
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unm[ittelbar] wissen u[nd] wollen — noch weiter darin ist — sie haben ihren bes[onderen] Zweck ihr Int[eresse] Beysp[iel] versch[ieden] in Einem — Mordbrenner — thut nur nur gerechte Rache — gute Absicht — aber zugleich Verbrechen aüsserlich — Ungl[ück] [eine]r Stadt — Mensch Zus [ammen] hang. Aber d[as] Einz[elne] aüsserlich — hängt mit dem Innern, Allgem[einen] zus[ammen] — Handlung — Verbrechen — u[nd] Straffe,