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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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National life: a lecture read at the Manchester Friends' Institute on the 22nd of fourth month, 1870
Creator
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Duncan, David
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Place of publication: London; Manchester
Collation: 33 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Pre-title page headed National Life with a quotation from Joseph Mazzini, 'The Duties of Man'. Pre-title page is marked from adhesive tape.
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F. Bowyer Kitto; Hale & Roworth
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1870
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G5205
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Society
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (National life: a lecture read at the Manchester Friends' Institute on the 22nd of fourth month, 1870), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
Conway Tracts
Society
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THE
"CIVILIZATION OF THE FUTURE,
NECESSITY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF ^SOCIETY ON
SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES.
BY A.
BRISBANE.
HE idea of a Reconstruction of Society, involving an entire
change in the existing order of things, has taken possession
of a large number of minds at the present day. These minds
belong mainly to two extreme classes in society; to the most
advanced thinkers, and to the suffering masses. Profound reflection
and misery are alike leading men to comprehend the necessity of fun* damental social changes, and of a new and higher Order of society on
I the earth;—and this insight is giving rise to a vast under-current of
p agitation^-but little suspected by the conservative classes—which is
becoming powerful, and is destined ere long to change all the issues
that now occupy public attention.
The question of a Social Reconstruction is by far the most im- portant that can engage human thought. It should be a subject of
• the most serious study on the part of progressive and able thinkers,
- for ere long the question will become the order of the day: and when
r
this takes place, and the idea of a better social state penetrates the
minds of the masses, it will<give rise to great convulsions, to Social
Revolutions, unless the leaders of society are prepared with scientific
solutions. The work of real Thinkers at the present day is not with
partial and fragmentary reforms; it is with these solutions,—with the
. means of a fundamental and organic Reconstruction of Society.
We will endeavor to throw some light on this subject by an analysis
of Society—of its nature and constitution. We will examine it in its
relation to Man, who is a system of mental and moral Forces, and
who lives under and acts through its Institutions. Society (by which
we understand a synthesis of customs, laws, and institutions) is the
great external or collective Body of a collective Soul,—of a large
community of beings, co-operating industrially, politically, and socially,
and forming a State or Nation. In studying this Body, we must do
so with constant reference to the living and superior Principle which
acts through it, and to which it should be adapted.
The terms Society, Social System, Social Order, are used in a gen■L
29
T
�226
, THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE FUTURE.
eral and vague manner to convey the idea of a system of customs, laws,
and institutions, under which a community of human beings liveThey convey the idea of merely an indefinite Whole, which requires
to be decomposed or analyzed and defined, and its different parts shown
and explained, in order that a clear and intelligible conception of its
nature may be formed.
The Social System is then'to be considered as a Whole, composed
of subordinate parts or branches like other Wholes,—like the human’
body, for example, which is composed of subordinate organs, such as
the brain and nervous system, the lungs, heart, stomach, liver, etc., or
like a machine, composed of wheels, springs, and other parts. To
living Wholes, the name Organism is given: to inanimate Wholes,
constructed by man, that of Machine or Mechanism. Thus the
human body is an Organism, while a steam-engine is a Machine. To
the Social Whole, called the Social System or Order, the term Organ
ism may, we think, be justly applied, inasmuch as the living Forces
in man—the Senses, Sentiments, and Intellectual Faculties—act . in
and through it. It is, as stated, the external Body of a collective
Soul,—of a community, nation, or race.
In analyzing the social Organism, and decomposing it into its con
stituent parts, we find that it is composed of the following principal
branches.
TABLE OF THE SOCIAL ORGANISM AND ITS BRANCHES.
Transitional Branch. EDUCATION : Development of the Child or germ.' INDUSTRY : Creation of Wealth.
Three
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: Regulation of the Social rePrimary
“
lations of human beings.
Branches.
GOVERNMENT : Regulation of the collective relations
t and interests.
Pivotal Branch.
RELIGION: Regulation of the relations of Man with the
invisible Universe.
J THE FINE ARTS. Harmony.
Accessory Branches.
1 THE SCIENCES. Knowledge.
We will explain briefly the functions of these various branches;
after which we will present a more complete analysis of the social Or
ganism.
Transitional Branch: The System of Education. We designate
this branch as transitional, as its function is to develop and form the
Child, which is the germ of the future Man, and to train and prepare
it for the industrial, social, and civil.pursuits and relations into which
it is later to enter. This branch is composed of three sub-branches :
1st Sub-branch : Industrial Education. The function of this
branch of the general Educational system is to develop the Child
physically, to initiate it into Industry, and thus render it a producer
capable of supporting itself, as it grows to manhood. This branch is
entirely unorganized in the present social Order; in fact, it does not
�THS
CIVILIZATION
Of
THE
FUTURE.
22?
exist, except in the rude state of the apprenticeship system for the
children of the poor. The upper and middle classes grow up entirely
uneducated industrially, and are, as a consequence, non-producers,
who must appropriate to themselves the wealth created by the poorer
classes,’ which they do through the parasitic operations of commerce
and finance, and the profits of capital.
2d Sub-beanoh: Social or Moral Education. The function
of this branch is to develop the social or moral Sentiments, and pre
pare the Child to become a true member of the body-social. This
branch is unorganized; the germ exists in -the families of the rich,
but in a feeble and artificial state. As a consequence, the honorable
social Sentiments are almost wholly undeveloped in men. The feel
ings of collective justice^honor, fright, and benevolence exist only
exceptionally in a very few individuals.
3d Sub-branch: Intellectual Education. The function of
this branch is to develop and cultivatejkthe Mind, and initiate the
Child into the Sciences. The whole attention of men has hitherto
been directed to this branch, and it has been developed and organized
to some extent. Our schools, colleges, and universities are the results
of the efforts to organize Intellectual Education. Under it, the chil
dren of the rich receive a fair degree of mental training; and are
much more developed intellectually than they are morally or indus
trially.
First Primary Branch of the Social Organism: The System oe
Industry. The function of this branch is the creation of Wealth and
the regulation of the relations of Man with Nature. At present it
is unorganized or falsely organized, and does not second Man in his
industrial labors and operations, especially those of a higher and more
universal character. In the future, when scientifically organized, it will
furnish him the means of executing his industrial function or destiny
on the' earth; namely, that of cultivating and embellishing his globe,
of developing and perfecting the animal and vegetable kingdoms upon
it, of distributing them properly over its surface, and of establishing
order and harmony in Nature. Man, the Overseer of the globe, the
Beason of Nature, requires a scientifically organized system of Indus
try to execute the vast industrial labors that devolve upon him. This
first of the primary branches is composed of three sub-branches, which
are:
.
1. The Production of!Wealth, effected by agriculture, manu
factures, the mechanic* arts, mining, transportation, the fisheries, and
household labor.
2. The Exchange of Wealth, effected by commerce and bank
ing. Commerce buys and sells, that is, effects the exchange of products
already created. Banking gives credit, and credit is equivalent to the
exchange of products, one of which is not as yet created. The first is
synchronous exchange, the second exchange on-time.
�228
THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE FUTURE.
3. The Division- oe Wealth, effected or determined by the Laws
and Customs of Society, which regulate the ownership of property,
the system of labor, commerce, banking, the currency, interest, rents,
etc. The custom of Slavery, for example, determines a division of
wealth, based on the will of the master; it is different from that de
termined by the system of Wages or hired-labor, which gives the la
borer the right of refusal. Entailed estates, as the system exists in
England, determines a division of the products of the earth different
from that of the small proprietary system of Erance. The Commer
cial system, as it now prevails in our unorganized and incoherent
Industry, with its speculations, monopolies, and frauds, and its selfish
individual action, determines a division of the wealth created by the
first branch in a way most favorable to the commercial class. It is
these Laws and Customs which regulate the Division or Distribution
of Wealth among the different classes in society, and constitute the
third sub-branch of the Industrial system.
Second Primary Branch of the Social Organism: The System oe’
Social Institutions. The function of this branch is the regulation
of the play and action of the social Sentiments in society, and of the
social relations between human beings to which they give rise. Thesel
Institutions are as yet in an undeveloped, and, consequently, in an un
organized state; they exist in fact only in germ. When fully developed
and organized in the future, forming part of a Scientific Social Or
ganism, they will secure a full and harmonious action of the social
Sentiments,—of those moral Eorces in man, which impel him to form
ties of various kinds with his fellow-creatures—ties of Friendship,
Love, Ambition, and Parentalism—and will lead to the creation of
social order and unity in Society. This branch of the Social Organism
places Man in sympathetic relation with Humanity, as the Industrial
branch places him in relation with Nature. It is composed of four
sub-branches:
1. System oe Rights and Obligations, regulating the social
relations of human beings as members of the body-social, and as
beings of the same species, without regard to sex, age, or capacity.'
2. System oe Marriage, regulating the sympathetic relations of
the Sexes.
3. System oe Hierarchy, (of grades, ranks, honors, and dis
tinctions in industrial, social, and political functions), regulating the
relations of human beings.as functionaries and co-workers, according
to capacity and merit. It is introduced in a more or less imperfect
manner in government, the army, and the catholic church.
4. The Family System, regulating the relations of parents and
children, and generally of the old and young, the strong and the .
weak.
These four Systems, when fully constituted and organized, will
become four Cardinal Institutions, which. will develop fully and
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE lUTUR'E.
229
normally the four cardinal Social Sentiments in the human soul,
regulate theirmction, and establish order and harmony in the Social
relations to which they give rise. These Sentiments iare—1. Friendship
or the ■■sentiment of humamequality and unity. 2. Love, or the symi - pathy betweeiuthe Jsexes. 3. The corporate and hierarchal Sentiment,
called Ambition. 4. Parentalism, or the family Sentiment. These
four Institutions, when truly and normally organized, will constitute
a general
o/ Laws and Ordinances, and of Rites, Ceremonies,
Usages, and other external forms, which will correspond perfectly to
the social Forces they are to govern; they will become the external
Organism, through which these Forces will manifest themselves and act.
Music furnishes an ^lustration that will render this intelligible. The
r Scien^ of music consists of the laws of the Sense of Hearing; and
the Art, orthe means and aids through which the Sense manifests itself
and acts. The two constitute its external Form and Organism. With
the aid of Music, the Sense is cultivated, and is truly and harmo
niously developed. We may call Music, to render our idea clear, the
Institution of the Sense of Hearing. When Institutions, as perfectly
adapted to the four Social Se'htiments as Music to that Sense, are discovered and established, they will develop them as harmoniously as
Muji^fdevmpps the musical Sense, and will create in the social world
accords as beautiful as Music creates in its sphere. The social Senti
ments, we will add, are in as low a state of development among the
civilized masses as the Sense of Hearing among savages and barbarians.
Third Primary Branch of the Social Organism: The System of
Government. The functions of this branch is .the regulation of the
conduct and action of Man in the extensive relations and combinations
he forms with his fellow-men as a citizen of the body-politic. As men
must form great political Associations or Communities, with complex
and varied interests and relations, there must be Institutions, with
their laws, ordinances and prescriptions, and their external forms, to
In
regulate these interests and Relations. They are the Political InstituMAonaErnd constitu^^ whole! called Government. They regulate the
Political or collective relations of human beings, as the preceding Insti?
tutions Lregulate their social and personal relations. This branch is
composed of three sub-branches.
1. The Legislative Branch,E-the^creation of Laws and Ordinances.
Legislation has been, first, Theocratic, having its source in the Emotions of theocratic rulers and law-givers, who attribute to inspiration
or the Divine will the laws they promulgate; second, Monarchic and
Oligarchic, having its source in the will of one or many Rulers; third,
Democratic, having itsjourcepn the deliberations of legislative Bodies,
Khat min the speculations and theorizing of human reason. The Laws
derived from these three sources are all arbitrary, incomplete, or false,—
those derived ‘from the ^speculations of Reason as well as the others.
The true and scientific Legislation of the future will be based on the
�230
THE CIVILIZATION Of THE FUTURE.
Laws of order and organization in creation, according to which the
government of the universe takes place.. The true function of Reason
is to discover these Laws and employ them in the government of
human relations and interests on the earth.
2. The Judiciary Branch,—the Interpretation of Laws and the
explanation of their intent and purpose. This interpretation has been
exercised; first, by Priests; second, by absolute Rulers; third, by civil
Judges, appointed by the government or the people. In the future,—
in the scientific Organization of Society,—it will be exercised by Men,
who will be guided entirely by science, and who will restrict themselves
to interpreting and explaining the laws of Nature.
3. The Executive Branch,—the enforcement of obedience to
Laws, and their Execution. This function has been exercised in the
past by agents of various kinds,—religious, military and civil, secret and
open,—according as they served priesthoods, monarchies or democracies.
At the present day, it is exercised in our civilized societies by men chosen
for the purpose,—by sheriffs, constables, policemen, executioners, and
others, employing as means the scaffold, prison, fines, exiling and other
penalties. In a true social Organization, with the reign of universal
education and wealth, and the normal development of the social senti
ments, the vices and crimes of our unorganized and incoherent Socie
ties will so far disappear, that the violent and brutal system of repres
sion and constraint, now necessary, will be dispensed with, and replaced
by one of direct incentives to, and of rewards and honors for, just and
honorable conduct.
Pivotal Branch: Religion. The function of this branch is to
develop the Sentiments and the Intellect of Man in their higher
degrees, to elevate them to universality, so as to awaken in him an
interest in the cosmical Whole to which he belongs; that is, in the
Humanities on its planets, its plan and design, and its laws and order,
and thus associate him in feeling and thought with its cosmical life and
destinies. Man, by his Senses and the physical wants they entail upon
him, is drawn down to the material or animal plane of existence, and
his sentiments and reason are subordinated to material and selfish con
siderations. Now as the function of social Institutions, with the influ
ence they exercise upon the social Sentiments, is to develop him
morally,, and attract him to Humanity, thus elevating him in one direc
tion above the animal plane; and the function of Science, with the
influence it exercises upon the Intellect, is to develop him mentally,
and attract hiigrto universal ideas, to laws and principles, thus eleva
ting him in another direction above that lower plane; the function of
Religion is to develop him both in sentiment and thought to the extent
to excite in him an interest in the great Whole, to which he belongs,
and of which he forms a part and is a member; and to seek to asso
ciate himself with its cosmical operations. and destinies, and with the
moral Order that reigns in it, thus raising him to the dignity of a citi
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE FUTURE.
231
zen of the universe. As it is noble in Man to become a truly social
being, associated in hisj sympathies with the whole of the Humanity to
which he belongs, and a scientific thinker, associated in his thought
with the Laws and Order of creation, it is nobler still to become ideally
a universal being, associated with the Cosmos, his finite life linked in
consciously with it, and participating through his aspirations in its
grandeur and harmony, its destinies, and its eternal life.
This pivotal branch is composed of three sub-branches, which, as
they have existed and now exist, are:
1. Worship,—a System of Bites and Ceremonies, through which
Man manifests his aspiration for Unity with Humanity, with the Uni
verse and its spiritual hierarchies, and with God; and a System of
Symbols by which he expresses through material forms, appreciable by
the Senses, invisible and mysterious truths, which the intuitions of the
Soul dimly apprehend.
2. Morality,—a System of Bules and Ordinances of conduct, of
moral life on earth, based on the mind’s conception of the moral attri
butes of the Deity—attributes to which he is stimulated to conform
from desire of unity with God.
3. Theology,^-Theory of the Universe and its general destinies,
of the immortality of the soul, and the Divine nature.
These three elements of Beligion will in the future—in the normal
social Organism of Humanity—be developed in a way widely different
from what they have been and are in the incomplete and outlined
Societies of the past and present.
.
„
, ( The Fine Arts.
iTui, g0IBK0BSH|
This branch accompanies the others, and is common to them all.
The function of the Fine Arts is to embellish the other branches
of the Social Organism, and establish refinement, beauty, and harmony
in the material and the social world. The function of the Sciences is
Organization and the creation of Order in all departments of human
affairs.
The Fine Arts comprise two sub-branches
1. The M atkrt at,. or the Fine Arts of the Senses, of which
music, painting, sculpture, architecture, and tlje dance are the princi
pal now developed. These Arts are external embodiments of the
Senses in their measured or harmonious development and action.
The Laws of the Arts are the modes of action of the Senses in this
development. Music, for example, is the external expression or em
bodiment of the Sense of Hearing,—of its perceptions distributed, co
ordinated, and classified by the Intellect or organizing Faculty. There
will exist, in the future, four Orders of this first Class of Art; namely,
the Arts corresponding to Hearing, to Sight, to Taste, and to Smell.
The Art which corresponds to Hearing—Music—has been fully de
veloped. That which corresponds to Sight—Painting, Sculpture,
�232
THE
CIVILIZATION OF THE
FUTURE.
Architecture, and Decoration—has been developed in outline; some
empirical principles have been discerned by instinct, but the laws of
visual Harmony are as yet unknown. The two Arts, corresponding to
Taste and Smell, are not discovered, or even recognized; they will be
come important Arts in the future, especially the first, and will hayp.
their interpreters, as has Music at the present day. The Sense of
Touch is the pivot or trunk out of which the other Senses spring or
ramify, and has not its Art.
2. Social or Moral Art, or the Fine Arts of the Spot at.
Sentiments. These Sentiments, when they shall receive a refinp.fi
development, will, like the Senses, give rise to a system of harmonious
expressions and forms, which will constitute a Harmony of Manners,
that may appropriately be called the Fine Arts of the Social Senti
ments. Its germs exist and are known under the name of Polite
ness. When a complete system of politeness, with its various elements
fully developed, such as urbanity, suavity, gracefulness, dignity, deli
cacy, and refinement, is established, with a Code of Etiquette—the
Laws or Science of the Art—we shall then see developed the new Art,
and shall understand its vast importance in refining, elevating, and
giving charm to the social intercourse of human beings. There will
be four branches to this second Order of Art, corresponding to the
four Social Sentiments that are to evolve it. Each Sentiment will have
its own special Art, that is, a System of Politeness and Etiquette pe
culiar to it. That .of Ambition will differ quite widely from that of
Friendship. The former will sum up all the forms of - hierarchal
dignity; the latter, those of frank and friendly equality.
The Sciences, classified objectively, or according to the subjects of
which they treat, form the following five sub-branches:
1. The Physical;—Theory of Matter and its Forces.
2. The Psychological;—Theory of Man, or theory of the mental
Forces that impel him, and their social functions.
3. The Sociological;—Theory of Society and its Organization.
4. The Cosmological;—Theory of the Cosmos, of its constitution,
organization, and order.
5. The Ontological;—Theory of pure Being or of primary Existence. (This latter is an illusive Science, which will be replaced by
another.)
A final Synthesis unites all these Sciences in one,—in a Pivotal or
Trunk-science; namely, the Science of the Laws of Order and Har
mony in the universe, according to which its various departments are
governed, and its phenomena regulated. These Laws are the mani
festation of the Supreme Reason, in action in creation—the Thought or
Logic of the universe. The finite Reason of Man, constituted on the
model of the Supreme Reason, (and it can be constituted on no other
for there are no more two kinds of reasoning faculties than there are
two kinds of mathematics), can discover and comprehend these Laws,
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE FUTURE
233
and in so doing elevate itself to unity with its supreme Prototype, and
obtain the Key to the special Sciences, which key is the Science of
Laws, and underlies them all.
With these brief explanations, we will sum up and present in
tabular form the six branches of the Social Organism, so that it can
be seen both as a whole and in its parts.
SYNOPTICAL TTABLE OF THE SOCIAL ORGANISM, WITH ITS
BRANCHES AND SUB-BRANCHES.
Industrial Education
EDUCATION.
Social Education
Preparation of the Germ.
Scientific Education
( Development of the Body, and Ini| tiation of the Child into Industry.
I Development of the Social Sentij ments, and Initiation.of the Child
) into Social life and true social re( lations.
(Development of the Intellect, and
< Initiation of the Child into the
( Sciences.
Production of Wealth ■
INDUSTRY.
Relation of Man to Nature.
Exchange of Wealth
Division
of
Wealth
I
Institution
of
Rights
SOCIAL**
Institution of Marriage
INSTITUTIONS.
I Hierarchal Institution
Relation of Man to Hu?
manity.
Family Institution
GOVERNMENT.
Relation of Man to the
>
State.
Legislative Branch.
Judiciary Branch.
Executive Branch.
Worship
RELIGION.
Relation of Man to the
Universe.
Morality
Theology
The Fine Arts
ACCESSORY
BRANCH.
The Sciences
Agriculture, Manufactures, Min
ing, Transportation, Fisheries,
Domestic Production.
Commerce.
Banking.
Laws and Customs that regulate
landed property, capital, labor,
commerce, the currency, interest,
rents, etc.
Laws that regulate the relations of
human beings as equals.
Laws that regulate the relations of
the Sexes.
Laws that regulate the relations of
men as co-workers.
Laws that regulate the relations of
Parents and Children, and the
family.
Creation of Lawn.
Interpretation of Laws.
Execution of Laws.
'System bf rites, ceremonies, and
symbolic acts by which Man
manifests his unity with Human
ity and with God. Explanation
of spiritual truths by means of
material emblems.
’Aspiration for unity with God, and
desire for regulating human con
duct in accordance with the Di
vine Will—the true basis of Mo
rality.
Theory of the Divine nature, of
Creation,—its cause and origin,—
of Man’s cosmical destiny and his
I I immortality.
(The Material or Sensuous Arts.
J The Social or Moral Arts.
Science of the Laws of universal
Order,—the Logic of the Uni
verse. Basis of the five special
Sciences.
(
The table exhibits the branches (the special organs) of which the
general social Organism is composed. It exhibits, as a whole and in
its parts, the great external Body which a collective Soul creates for
itself. Without the developing, educating and directing influence of a
Social Organism, Man remains an undeveloped, .ignorant and gross
being, but little raised above the level of the lower animals, as is proved
30
�234
THE
CIVILIZATION
ON THE FUTURE.
by the social condition of the Savage. He elevates himself in propor
tion as he improves his Social Organism, and when, in the future, he
shall have discovered the true Laws of organization, and based it on
them, he will attain to a social Destiny, worthy of the cosmical Wis
dom that has planned the Order and Harmony of the universe,—an
Order and Harmony in which Humanity is involved, and is ultimately
to participate.
The different social Organisms which have existed oh the earth
since the beginning of history, are embodiments of the social concep-.
tions, and the experience of the various Races that have established
them, and mark the stages of the great social elaboration in which
Humanity has been, and .still is engaged,—the elaboration being sub
ject to the general Laws of development in creation,—the Laws that
regulate Eyolution in all departments. We will explain briefly the
order which has reigned in th&uccession of the social Organisms that
have been so far elaborated and. established, the true character of these
Organisms, and their place in the social career of Humanity on the
earth. Our views, both of the order of succession and of the character
of the Organisms, are deduced from the above Laws of Evolution, aided
by the study of social phenomena in the past and present.
In the course of the existence or the career of every finite thing,
whether concrete and. tangible, like a. plant or an animal, or abstract
and intangible, like a religion or a science, there exist two fundament
ally distinct states. The one is the Formative or Fm&rgonic phase in
the career,—the process of development from the germ or beginning to
the organized and completed state. It is a preparatory, transitional
and unorganized stage, during which the constituent elements dr parts
of the finite thing are elaborated and prepared, and the process of their
combination and organization takes place. The other is th® Formed,
Organized and Completed state, and the normal and permanent condi
tion of the finite thing,—its destination. In this second stage, the
elements are fully developed and regularly constituted,—forming an
organic Whole, which is the true or natural state. We thus find two
distinct states or conditions of existence in every finite career:—the
formative or embryonic, which is the inorganic state; and the fully
developed and completed, which is the organic state.
A few illustrations will explain this subject, and render clear the
difference between the state of Formative development and of Organic
completeness; between non-organization and organization.
The physical organism of a human being is formed—gradually
organized—in the mother’s womb. The elements of the new organism
are brought together successively in this wonderful workshop, where
the process of formation goes on for a fixed period, until the new being
is organized, when it is ushered into the world by an operation called
Birth. There are marked differences in the life, of a human being,—as
that, for example, between infancy and adult age,—but none so radical
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF THE FUTURE.
235
and distinct as that between the formative or inorganic state, preceding
birth, and the formed and organic, following birth.
• In the career of our globe, we find an illustration of these two great
stages on a vast scale. The geological ages which preceded the appearance of the present flora and fauna and of Man, were the formative or
embryonic phase in the career of the globe—a phase of elementary
development and of immaturity, in which, the crust of the earth was
formed. The present state is one of organic completeness, although in
the early (infantile) organic stage, and susceptible of future develop
ments.
In the construction of an Edifice, we find an illustration of this
Law of Evolution, for nothing can escape.it. When an edifice is to be
built, the materials are collected, the foundations laid, the walls raised,
the timbers put in, and the roof puk on. A process of construction
(evolution or elaboration) takes place; and an incomplete and partially
finished (formative and inorganic) stage precedes the completed (or
ganic) state. When thejedific® has left the hands of the masons and
carpenters, it is then painted and cleaned, and enters its true and
organized state, or that designed for it, and becomes fit for habitation.
It (thus passes, like a living organism, through a formative and inorganic stage—in all cases preparatory and transitional—to arrive at"one
of completion and permanence. •
All finite things must go through this process of development or
formation, for nothing can pass at once from the germ to a fully organ
ized and developed state. It is a necessity, inherent in the nature of
things; and to change it, it would be requisite to annihilate time,
space and succession, and the property of matter.
A few examples in the sphere of the abstract and intangible will
show that this Law of Evolution is not limited to material things.
The Formative or Embryonic Stage in the Evolution of Christianity
embraced the period extending from Christ to the Emperor Constan
tine. The latter "in making Christianity the Religion of the State,
gave it its regular constitution, which marked the period of its birth.
During this phase, which lasted about three centuries, the elements of
the Religion—its Worship, Morality and Theology—were elaborated,
and regularly developed and organized. The state of full development
and .<of complete organization, was that of the great Catholic Church,
as inexisted between the 7th and 16th centuries.
The Formative stage in the development of the Greek Civilization
^Comprised the heroic ages prior to Solon. During these ages, the ele
ments of Grecian life were wrought out. The Laws established by that
remarkable man may be said to have brought the fluctuating, and (for
the Greek race) abnormal political state to a close. In the great
Egyptian Civilization, the Formative stage embraced the Theocratic
ages which preceded Menes, who established a Monarchy in the place
of the Theocracies that had previously ruled the country; and brought.
�236
TBE
CIVILIZATION
ON TNE
FUTURE.
Egypt under one government. The social life, industry, art, laws and
religion of that race were developed during the reign of the Theocracies.
The country was divided into nomes or districts with a theocratic ruler
at the head of each. When the elements of society were developed and
prepared, Menes established a unitary power, and organized one great"
State. This event took place not less than 4,000 B. 0. The Formative
phase, directed and controlled by the influence of Religion, must have
reached back at least twenty-five centuries.
The Formative—preparatory and preliminary—stage in the evo
lution of the Science of Astronomy extends from the observations of
the Egyptians and Chaldeans to the time of Copernicus, who, in 1543,
published his discovery of .the true constitution of the Solar system
This important discovery marked, we think, the birth of the science*®that is, placed it on a true or positive basis. From that time, the
Science was rapidly developed by Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and others.
Chemistry had a much shorter Formative phase in Alchemy. The labors
and speculations of the Alchemists created the materials or elementsj
of the science; its birth was determined in the last century by the dis
coveries of Stahl, Priestley, Lavoisier, and others. A great Science is
being developed at the present day—the' most important of all
branches of knowledge—namely, Social Science. Glimpses of it were
caught by Pythagoras and Plato; the latter, in his Republic, presents
a plan of social Organization. The Embryonic preludes, the Transi
tions to this Science, comprise, first, the Political and Economm theories
of the past and present, which are a mass of incoherent and conflict
ing speculations, based on no positive Laws; and, second, the special
theories of social Organization, such as are contained in the Republic
of Plato, the Utopia of Sir Thomas More, the City of the? Sun, and
the Icaria of Cabet, which are equally without any scientific founda
tion. Socialism, with its multiform doctrines, is the immediate pre
cursor of the new Science, that is to be developed; it holds about the
same relation to it that astrology held to astronomy, and alchemy^ to
chemistry. The basis of a positive Social Science has been laid in the
present age by Charles Fourier and Auguste Comte. The Science is
born, that is, is regularly constituted, and awaits its full elaboration.
Fourier has shown the true foundation on which the Organization of
Society must rest, namely, the Laws of Order and Harmony in crea
tion ; the Laws which underlie all Organization in Nature, and which
regulate the distribution, co-ordination, and classification of her
phenomena. Human Reason, he affirms, should not frame social
theories of its own; its true work is to discover these Laws of Organ
ization in Nature, and with their aid deduce the natural or scientific
social Organization destined for Man. In his Organization of Indus-S
try, his system of Education, his brilliant theory of “ Passional Har
mony ” (which implies the possibility of regulating in accord or
harmoniously the action of those mental and moral Forces in Man,
�TEE
Cl VILIZA TION
OF
THE
FUTURE.
237
called sentiments, passions<etc.) ;• and in the extension of the Law of
Attraction to the moral or passional world—all deduced from and
based upon the general Laws of Order in Nature—he furnishes the
special foundations of the first three branches of the social Organism.
Comte has "shown that a certain ascending Order or Hierarchy
exists in the Sciences, and that the lower sciences in the series point
to, and provAlearly, that at the apex a Science of Society must exist.
He thus demonstrates the possibility and the necessity of a Social
Science, in doing which he has rendered it an immense service.
With these remarks, we can enter upon the examination of the
course which the Evolution of human Society has taken, and the
Order that prevails in the succession of the different Systems of Soci
ety which hatBbeen established on the earth.
The evolution of human Society is subject to the Laws of proJgressiVfadevelopment which we pointed out. It must pass through a
preparatory hnd transitional stage—the Formative or Embryonic—in
order to arrive at a fully developed and organized state. Humanity is
the agenF that? effects this great Evolution. It constructs the social
Organisms und|r which it lives, and does so by successive stages as
Nature constructs a globe? The elaboration is so vast that the individuSts'Bngaged in it cannot oversee the field of operations, and do
not comprehend the work on which tlfoy are employed. This is true
at least of the Formative Societies, when Humanity is without So
cial Science to guide, it. These Societies, we will remark, are devel
oped by theEoUecilm^iinstinctsjioi Humanity without any clear.idea of
the results which are to follow. In the future, when the path shall be
KWmingted by a positive social Science,, it will labor at its great Social
Construction with a clear consciousness of its work.
It isrevident, without recurring £0 general Laws, that Society must
pass through the Formative and Preparatory stage of evolution de
scribed.! Humanit^cannot leap at once from a primitive or Savage
S^SyiiMmhwh it is without the elements of Society and without In
stitutions^ to a state, of perfected Social Organization. It must first
develop or prepare the elements of Society (Industry, the Arts, Sciences,
on others), and discover the Laws by which they should be co-ordinated;
and then mak^axperiments and acquire experience in applying such
‘ Laws^ It is as impossible for Humanity to construct its great Social
Edifice without passing through the preliminary stage of creating and'
putting to^Sher its parts, as for theS individual man to construct’an
■HM® without putting together the materials of which it is composed.
The Social Organisms which have existed and are to exist on the
earth, are to be divided into two great Classes. These Classes are
based on th”two distinct\Stages in Evolution which we have pointed
(mL^-th^Formative^ Preparatory and Inorganic; and the Formed,
Completed and\ Organic. The first division of Societies is, then, deter
mined by these two essential Stages in Evolution. The two Classes
�238
THE
CIVILIZATION
OE
THE
EUTUR'E.
differ from each other as much as Embryonic differs from Organic life,
as immature and incomplete organization from complete and mature
organization; or, choosing a concrete illustration, as the globe in its
geological phases of development differed from the globe in its present
condition; as an edifice in process of construction differs from the
edifice finished and fit for habitation.
The first Class of Societies comprises those that have existed from
the beginning of history to the present time,—from the Egyptian
Civilization, which was the earliest, to our modem Civilization. This
first Class (Inorganic and Transitional) still exists, and determines the
character of social phenomena, and the social condition of the races
living under it.
To exhibit clearly the important truth that human Society is still
in the formative and transitional stage, and that our modern Civiliza
tion is one of the inorganic Societies, would require an elaborate anal
ysis. We will content ourselves with a few indications.
1. The first branch of the present social Organism—Education—
is not only unorganized, but two of its sub-branches—the Industrial
and Social—are so rudimentary that they can scarcely be said to have
an existence. These two essential sub-branches must be developed, and
the three scientifically organized,.before the organic statesin this department will be reached.
2. The second branch—Industry—which is the most advanced of
any part of the social Organism, is still in an unorganized and in
coherent state. As proof we find that Labor is prosecuted in a rude
and repulsive manner in dirty workshops and lonely fields; that con- H H
flict and antagonism exist in all interests and operations; that Com- ■
merce is at war with Production, which it spoliates, and Capital with
Labor, which it oppresses; and that there is an entire absence of
method, order and unity in the industrial world. If the Economists
see in this unorganized field of operations justice, and even “ Har
monies,” as does Bastiat, the student of social Science sees in it dis
order, anarchy, strife, and servitude,—characteristics of Non-organization. When this important branch of Society shall be scientifically
organized, it will be prosecuted with all the resources which the genius
of man can invent, as War now is, .on principles of unity and co
operation, and in a thoroughly scientific manner; it will, through such '
organization, be dignified and rendered attractive, and will become the
most honorable, as Well as the most agreeable field for the exercise of
the physical activity of Humanity.
3. Of the’ four Institutions which compose the third branch of the
Social System, one only—that of Marriage—is regularly constituted.
We will not stop to inquire how scientifically, that is, bow fully in
accordance with the Sentiment to which it corresponds, and to which
it should be adapted. The other three exist only in germ; they a.re
wholly undeveloped, not to speak of being unorganized.
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF
THE
FUTURE.
239
4. The political branch!-Government—is, so far as its elements
are developed, much more regularly constituted,—a consequence of the
necessity of establishing Order in Administrative affairs. But the
element^ of a complete Political system are. only partially developed,
and the conception of a scientific Government does not exist. The
Republican form, which is the least imperfect; is but a fragment of the
< integral and organic Government of the future. Strictly defined, it is
the transition from political despotism to liberty.
5. The fifth or.Religious branch is in a general state of disintegra: -tion and decay,—at least as regards its Theology and Worship. The
great Catholic .Unity jhas been broken into fragments—into sects—
which are in conflict with each other, each denying the other’s dogmas,
while thg progressive and scientific world attaches no importance to
any of their theological systems. The second sub-branch—the Aspira
tion for Unity with the spiritual universe and the desire for the reign of
justi.c"and right on the earth—are as vitally active at the present day,
we think,, as they have been in the past, but they cannot’ assume their
religious form without the aid of a Theology and a Worship,—the first
being the Intellect; the second, th® body of the Aspiration or Senti
ment. Before this fifth branch*can be scientifically organized, the
whole circle of the Sciences must be created, and the true Theory of
the Cosmos discovered and established.
6. The accessory branch, comprising the Fine Arts and the Sci
ences, is, as a whole, in an undeveloped state. There are, however,
two exceptions which are very important. One Aft—Music—and one
Science—Mathematics—are fully developed and organized. It would
Seem as if Nature wished to furnish Man some models of scientific
Organization as guides, and for this reason facilitated the creation of
these two. All the Arts, except music, are still in the formative stage.
Of the Scieiwes, a few of the Physical are placed on a positive basis,
though not fully elaborated and constituted, while the higher branches
of the Physical and the Psychological and Cosmological sciences are
in a speculative and conjectural state,—in the embryonic phase of
their development.
These facts disclose the important truth that the general Evolution
of human Society is still in its formative or embryonic phase, and that
our modern Civilization is one of the imperfect and transitional so
cieties, through which Humanity is passing in its onward march
towards its social Destiny.
The most general division of the great epochs in History shows, we
think, that there are three of these distinctive systems of Society.
They are the three great Civilizations which have been evolved and es
tablished by the progressive and historical Races, by the Egyptian and
the Chaldeo-Assyrian on the' one hand, and the Arian on the other.
The out-lying Societies and races are, in a. primary analysis, to be left
. aside, as they have exercised no direct influence on progressive history.
�240
THE
CIVILIZATION
OF
THE
FUTURE.
The earliest Civilization—the Egyptian and the Chaldeo-Assyrian—
was the creation of the first two races; its seat was the valleys of the ;
Nile, and the Tigris and Euphrates. In it was begun the regular de
velopment of the elements of society—industry, the arts, sciences, etc.,
—and the work of social construction; it governed the world of its
epoch, and was its active history. The second Civilization was that
developed by the black-eyed Arians—the Greeks and Romans; its seat *
was the shores of the Mediterranean. In it the elaboration, begun in the
first Civilization, was taken up and continued, and vastly extended.
The third was that developed by the blue-eyed Arians, and mainly by
the Germanic races; its seat was the whole continent of Europe. It
inherited of the two preceding all that was essential and valuable, and
continued the work of social evolution and construction, bringing it
down to the present day.
The Medes and Persians (Arians) founded great States, but effected
nothing essentially new in social elaboration. The Hindoo Civilization,
founded by the Brahminical Arians, was a failure, as Castes and other
false institutions were established to hold in subjection the indigenous
races that were conquered.
These three great Civilizations form the three Orders of the first
Class of Societies. We will present them in tabular form, to enable
the reader to embrace them at a glance.
FIRST CLASS OF SOCIETIES.
The Formative and Inorganic.
First Order : the Egyptian and ChaldeoAssyrian Civilization, with its branches—
the Hebrew, Phoenician, etc.
Second Order : the Greek and Roman Civ
ilization, with its branches.
Third Order : the Germanic, or the Catholico-Feudal Civilization, which still con
tinues, but modified, and in process of
dissolution and.transformation.
Whether the classifications we have given, and' the various details
into which we have entered, are strictly correct or not, is a matter of
secondary importance. The great Truth which we have wished to set
forth in a clear and distinct light is, first, that Humanity is still living
in the Formative, Preparatory and Inorganic Societies,—in Socie
ties which are not the true and final ones, are not its normal
social state, its social Destiny; and, second, that a Class of Organic
Societies—as radically different from the first Class as scientific Or
ganization is different from incomplete or false Organization—remains
to be discovered and established on the earth.
If this fundamental truth were clearly comprehended, it would
change entirely the views of Men on social questions,—on the true
character pf the present system of Society, and the social Destiny of
Humanity. It would unite the intellectual leaders of the world in a
general and concerted effort to effect a fundamental social Reconstruc
tion, and to organize Society on scientific principles.
�THIS
CIVILIZATION
OF
THE
FUTURE.
241
In a future article, we will explain the fundamental and distinctive
systems of; Society, which have existed up to the present time, show
the stages through which Humanity has passed to reach its present
F - social state, and indicate the4 nature of the constructive social labors
which lie before it in the immediate future.
In Connection with this subject of the progressive Evolution of
human Society^ and of the distinction between the Inorganic and 'the
' Organiclsocieties, we will present what we believe to be the simple so
lution of a problem that, from the beginning of history, has bewildered
the human mind, and led it to the framing of innumerable false theo
logical and metaphysical theories. The problem is the Cause of Evil.
EhBs a general or synthetic term, which sums up all the effects
resulting from the Non-organization, the incomplete, and the false Or- M
ganization of the six branches of the social Organism. Its reign takes
■ plac^inth^Inorganic Societies. Poverty, for example, which, with its
■' ' privations and sufferings, is the great physical Evil that oppresses man
hook, is caused by the false organization, of Industry; its product is,
in the first pl^^ scanty, and in the second place, this scanty product
Kisi*rvB.nequffably and unequally divided. Social or moral discords,
or the dissensibns, hatreds, antipathies, jealousies, disappointments, and
mental sufferings of human beings are caused by the false Organization
of ^Wal IiRtitutions.,’ These Institutions thwart, violate, and pervert
the social or moral Sentiments, and engender a class of effects which
■BonstitlnBivhat is called Moral Evil.j Political Evils, such- as war, op
pression, and thejreign of monopoly and privilege, are caused by the
false organization of political Institutions.
Thejreign of Evil will come to a close with that of the Inorganic
Br societies: the reign wdG-ood will begin with the inauguration of the
r
Organic, societies. Opposite phases of development produce opposite efS'fepts: this is a universal Law. It applies to all things—to the least as
to the grdjTWEB If a fruit, when ripe or fully organized, is destined to be
■ • ■ agreeablHin flavor and healthy, it must, when green and unripe, be to
a certain extent disagreeable in flavor and unhealthy. If order and
harmony, with the happiness and elevation of mankind, are effects of
Societies, scientifically and normally organized, disorder and dis
harmony! with suffering and degradation, must be effects of Societies
incomplerely and falsely organized^
Evil, as stated, is a general term. To be understood, it must be
analyzed, so that it can be clearly seen in what it consists. In the
analysis, of this general term we find’ three primary Classes of Evils.
1st Class : Evils in Man, comprising three Orders.
’ 2d lClass : Evils in Society,’comprising five Orders.
3dKJl1ss: Evils in Nature, or the material world around man,
comprising six Orders.
The Evils in Man are the result of the perversion of his nature by
•
the influence of incomplete or false social Institutions, causing a fq]se
31
K
�242
*
THE
CIVILISATION
ON THE
FUTURE.
development of the Senses, of the social Sentiments, and of the in
tellectual Faculties. This first Class contains three Orders
Order, comprising the effects of the false development of the
Senses,—which development gives rise to sensual excesses, coarseness,
brutality, selfishness, and vices and crimes of a material character.
2(Z Order, comprising the effects of the misdirection and perversion
of the social Sentiments, giving rise to antipathies, hq^reds, jealousies,
antagonisms and discords, and disorders of a moral character. Each
of the social Sentiments, when violated and outraged, takes a false de
velopment and produces effects exactly the opposite of its true nature.
Friendship and Love, for example, engender hatred, distrust, jealousy,
suspicion, coldness, etc., instead of the sympathy, confidence, devotion,
and other noble feelings which are natural to them. Benevolence
turns to malevolence, and philanthropy to misanthropy, under long
disappointment. These false or inverted developments of the social
Sentiments are the source of what are called, moral Evils.
3d Order, comprising the effects of the misdirection of the Intel
lectual Faculties, and of their ’subordination to the Senses and the
social Sentiments in their inverted development. In this state; they
engender craft, cunning, low intrigue, deception, hypocrisy, duplicity,
deceit, falseness, treachery, perfidy, and o.ther subversive effects- of an
intellectual character.
2d Class,—Social Evils. They include the various effects of an *
incomplete or false Organization of the five branches of the social Or
ganism :—Education, Industry, Social Institutions, Government, and
Religion. A few’ examples will explain this branch of the subject,
without entering into details.
Poverty and disease, the coarseness of the masses, and other Phys
ical Evils are caused by the false Organization of 'Industry, or the
second branch of the social Organism. The product of our ‘false In
dustry is, in the first place—comparatively to the wants ,of man—very
scanty; and in the next place, it is very inequitably divided. Here is
the true Cause of Poverty,—the explanation of the mystery of one. of
the Evils that afflicts man. Debility and disease—other Evils—have
their source, directly, in the prolonged and excessive! toil of our un
organized Industry ? indirectly, in the effect which its repulsiveness
produces of driving the rich from it, and causing them to lead a life
of idleness and inactivity.
The existence of antagonist and antipathetic classes in society, of
social inequality, the pride of caste, the subordination of Woman, the
tyranny of false and capricious customs, and other similar abuses are
caused by the false Organization of Social Institutions, or the third
branch bf the social Organism.
Tyranny, servitude, war, class privileges, monopoly, and abuses of a
political character are caused by the false Organization of Government,
or the fourth branch of the social Organism.
✓
�TSE
CIVILIZATION OF TEE
FUTURE.
243
Superstition,Ifana’ticisnT, intolerance, blind faith, persecution, and
religious abuses generally are engendered under the influence of false
Religious Ins&tutions, and especially of false Theologies.
3dEvils, in Nature. They comprise the disorders that re
sult from a derangement of the climate, the atmospheric system, and
other departments of Nature, and are caused by the neglect of cultiva
tion, falsmcultivation,. and ravage of the surface of the globe by man,
that is, by the false industrial action of Humanity on its planet. These
disorders (Evils in the physical world) consist in—1. The Derangement
ofxbtt^&n^ manifested in violent fluctuations of temperature, excess
of heat and cold, late and early frosts, draughts and prolonged rains,
and the uncertainty of the seasons. 2. The Derangement of the AtmoSfflkeric
manifested in violent storms, hurricanes, tornadoes,
Cyclone" and disturbance in the proportion of the elements of the
atmosphere. 3. Pervert
causing epidemic diseases, such
as the plague, cholera, and yellow and other fevers. 4. "Disorders in the
^egekablf-agx^^i/mal kingdoms, such as the oidium in the vine, potato
rot and onderpest, and the excessive spread of destructive insects and
vermin, and of weeds. 51 Perturbation of the electro-magnetic forces
of t^garth, peiwading the other departments, and giving rise to phenomena, now inexplicable! (possibly to earthquakes.) 6. False state of
the ^^P^ofulfflalobe. exhibited in the great deserts (looked upon as
the! natural and unchangeable condition of the planetary surface); in
theRwamps,.marshes, jungles, and arid steppes; the devastated and
ruined regions (like the Tigro-Euphrates basin); the treeless districts,
and the denuded mountain ranges. These great physical disorders or
evils! whichEn^belieyed to be natural and permanent, are in fact due
to thanon-cultivationf bafllcultivation, ravage and devastation of the
globe by manrj He exercises an immense influence for good or evil on
his planet, He can, for example, destroy the forests on ’the mountains of
a country, dryingmp the Streams, and rendering a region sterile that
beformwas Wtil^. The great'physical disorders that now exist in Na
ture will disappear under a system of universal and scientific cultiva
tion, and such a system will l>fput in execution when Industry shall
be scientifically organized, and dignified and rendered attractive, so as to
induce all mankind to engage voluntarily in it; when the Industrial
policy shall become entirely preponderant, as it will, over the military,
Iconm^^yll^^Mfirmncial policies; when the material resources of
Society shall be devotedgto industrial improvements; and when Humanity shall comprehend its collective function or destiny—that of
Overseer of the globe, and the creations upon it. When the labor,
treasures, and talent that have been devoted in the past to war, shall
be devoted to a systematic (cultivation and embellishment of the globe,
it will become in a few generationsEaBgarden. a scene of material har
mony and unity!
^Themgn of Evil is" o cease with the reign of the Inorganic So-
�244
THE CIVILI ZATIO 2V
OE THE
FUTURE.
cieties, it being the general expression of their disorders and discords.
The reign of Good is to begin with that of the Organic Societies.
Two classes of opposite social effects will be generated by opposite
social states.
Wealth and Health will be secured by a scientific Organization of
Industry. Social Concord and Harmony by a scientific Organization of Institutions, adapted to the social Sentiments. Political Justice, prac
tical Liberty, universal Peace, by the scientific Organization of political
Institutions. The full development of the Child, by the scientific
Organization of the three branches of Education. The real and prac
tical Sentiment of the Unity of the race, and its ideal association with
the cosmos, by a universal Science (a true theology) which will explain
to it its Destiny on the earth, and the plan and order of creation and
its place in it. ‘
The duration of the inorganic and transitional Societies is relatively
short, as is the inorganic (embryonic) phase in the career of the indi
vidual man. That of the organic and normal Societies ?is relatively
long, as is the period of organic development in man when compared
to that of gestation. In this organic and long period which lies before
Humanity in the future, the reign of Good will hold sway; and the
Order and Harmony (the result of Organization) which pervade all
spheres of the Universe where normal .Organization exists, will be
realized on the earth.
The formative and inorganic phase of development can, in no de
partment of creation—no more in the development of a social Organism
than of a human being or a globe—be avoided, unless finite creations
cease, and time and space, and succession and matter, are annihilated.
In this phase, effects are engendered and phenomena take place which
must, from a mathematical necessity, be different’from, and in many
cases exactly the opposite of,those of the1; organic state. It. is these
effects and phenomena—abnormal and transient—that constitute Evil.
From the earliest Civilization of Man—that on the banks of the
Nile—down through the Chaldeo-Assyrian, the Greek and Roman, and
the Oatholico-Feudal of the middle ages to our own, but one great Sys
tem of Society has existed and held its sway. There have been different,
stages in its progressive evolution, giving rise to the different Orders
pointed out, accompanied by different manifestations and phenomena
on the surface, but with Unity of Principles underneath. The ap
parently long duration of this System, with the reproduction of the
same effects—the^ same Evils—under different forms, has misled the
human mind, and caused it to frame the erroneous Induction that it
is the permanent and natural social state of mankind, destined, with
its discords and miseries, to last forever. This erroneous Induction,
this reasoning falsely from the known to the unknown, has -blinded
men on social questions; it has destroyed hope in the future, and faith
in 'human nature, and has paralyzed and still paralyzes all studies on
/
/
�THE
CIVILIZATION
OF
THE
FUTURE.
245
the part of the thinkers and. intellectual leaders of the world on the
vast problem of a Social Reconstruction, and of happier social destinies
for Man. A new Civilization is to come—the true and normal Civiliza
tion of Humanity, based on the full development of the elements of
the six branches of Society, and their scientific Organization. It will
come, accompanied by the reign of Good; that is, of that Order,
Harmony, and Unity which are the general Law of creation, and
which prevail wherever preparatory Development or Evolution is ac
complished, and scientific Organization has taken place.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
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The civilization of the future: necessity of the organization of society on scientific principles
Creator
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Brisbane, A.
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: New York
Collation: [225]-245 p. ; 26 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From Modern Thinker, no. 1, 1870.
Publisher
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[American News Company]
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[1870]
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G5425
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (The civilization of the future: necessity of the organization of society on scientific principles), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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Text
Language
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English
Subject
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Society
Civilization
Conway Tracts
Social Reform
Society
-
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Text
ENTERING SOCIETY:
A DISCOURSE
BY
MONCURE D. CONWAY, M.A.
DELIVERED AT
SUNDAY, 29th July, 1877.
frige twopence.
�LONDON :
PRINTED BY WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED
LONDON WALL.
I
�ENTERING SOCIETY.
Every physical law runs through the universe; ex
plains equally the rolling world and rolling pebble ;
harmonises flowers and constellations. In the moral
and social world there is a like self-similarity. A
certain unity may be discovered in the culture of a
child, a nation, or the human race. »
Constant is the unity of interests, feelings, thoughts,
making what we term society. There is an endless
variety in human nature, but its distinction from all
lower nature is that its varieties can be utilized to
form a society. In animal swarms and herds same
ness is their strength; feather flocks with-its feathei.
There is a strange tribe of American Indians who
have a tradition that mankind is descended from the
animal world. There was, they say, a mountainous
monster who devoured all manner of animals. He
swallowed them alive, and once, when he had taken
this various meal, a certain Little Wolf that had
�4
been swallowed, found the animals inside the monster
quarrelling with each other; and he persuaded them
that instead of quarrelling they should one and all
unite, and contribute their several powers of horn,
tooth, or other faculty to get out of the monster and
slay him. The animals co-operated; liberated them
selves ; slew the monster; and, in doing that, they
were changed to men, and the human race began.
It is a much more moral and scientific genesis of man
than that in the Bible. Intelligent co-operation of
different species imply humanity; and there are
facts enough to show that, on the other hand, pro
longed strife disintegrates society, and men may be
transformed back to animals.
All human beings are born members of society.
Some pietists and fanatics have tried to escape this
necessity, because society is what they call worldly ;
but, though they hide in nunneries, monasteries,
caves and deserts, they do not get out of society any
more than they get out of the world. If society were
to cease its work of coining, baking, weaving, trading,
then the hermit would get out of it in the one way
possible—death.
There is nothing more grotesque, were we not so
familiar with it, than where the abject language of her
mits who fled society,—and sometimes escaped from
it by the door of death,—and their anathemas on the
�5
world are repeated by Christians enjoying society and
ambitious of its rewards. Possibly they feel bound
for form’s sake to carry the skeleton of asceticism
round the banquet, but, as in the Egyptian custom,
the performance only seems to stimulate the more the
avidity with which the so-called pious utilise and enjoy
the kingdom of this world. The Church of England
merits the credit of having to a large extent abolished
the fiction of a world of sinners and an un-world (so to
say) of saints; and it might become a fairly good
church if it were to lay aside its pretence that the
world is morally an invalid in need of its holy medi
caments. The temptation is great where the deceived
patient is rich, for priests as well as for the doctors
who proffer bread-pills. (The “ Priest in Absolution
really believes in the deadly situation of human nature,
and goes on with the old practice of drugging, blister
ing and bleeding.)
The unpardonable sin of nearly every theology ■
the sin by which it must perish—is the separation it
has effected between two parts of man’s nature, the
antagonism instituted between his social and spiritual
activities, in whose harmony man’s well-being can
alone be found. That only a few eccentric priests
believe and act on that principle does not mitigate the
evil fact that all are taught it, and that the young and
simple have their consciences bruised and their lives
�6
misdirected by it. A result of this figment lias been
that the strongest moral agencies, which a true religion
would have cultivated, have been left to trail or climb
as they could; no sect being willing to acknowledge
that any good force belonged to human nature. Still,
without any aid from the churches, and mostly against
their opposition, Society has been partially able to
cultivate the motives, feelings, aims which constitute
the actual religion,—the guiding, moulding, animating
religion,-—of each civilised community, so far as it is
really guided, leaving the churches to become more
and more museums of antiquarian dogmatic remains.
What is the Social Religion ? Its motive is the
sentiment of honour, the sin it specially hates is
meanness : these two—love of the honourable, hatred
of the dishonourable—branch out from the individual
heart into endless adaptations. Out of the social
sentiment of honour emerge patriotism, justice, forti
tude, supporting states; and that loyalty in personal
relations, generating sympathy and friendliness, which,
when men make the most of them, will cement the
w'orld better than gunpowder. No state can ever be
perfectly civilised until it is held together by simple
force of friendliness.
There is a print often seen in shop-windows which
has been sent by thousands through the world. It is
inscribed—“Simplyto thy cross I cling,” and repre
�7
sents a young woman with the waves of a sea dashing
around her, clasping for safety a cross which rises
from the mid-ocean. It is a perfect mirror of Chris
tian idolatry: it is translatable into many systems of
superstition, where above the billows Faith clings now
to a lingam, next to a wheel, or it may be, to the
symbol of a serpent. But from what engulphing
waves will a stone cross, or any of the like idols, save
those who cling to them? From billows of sorrow,
loss of their friends, or from disease, pain, and death ?
By no means. It is truly written in the Bible that
one fate happens to all alike, whatever be their
prayers and sacrifices; and it almost broke the hearts
of the old prophets and psalmists that the pious got
no advantage at all over others in these things; in
fact, nature’s strict impartiality between the prayerful
and the prayerless was a main reason why priests fell
to abusing nature and building up a cloudy realm, in
which, being its sole creators, they could like other
romancers have things turn out as they liked—all the
“ pious ” happy, all the rest damned. In that world
where cause and effect are of no importance all
the stone crosses are in order. They are effective
enough to save clinging Faith from imaginary billows,
from storms that are not raging, floods non-existent,
' waves of delusive sin against a demonic majesty, and
fabulous furies of a phantasmal hell.
�But for all of these the real religion that grows
around us day by day -will substitute the definite
recognition of actual moral dangers, and the study of
■rational methods by which they may be escaped,
and the health of man and society be preserved.
Even now the finest hearts and minds in this
world are impressing upon us the real hells
beside which those of the sects appear petty and
ridiculous. While the “ lake of fire,” to an increasing
number, reads like something seen by Baron Mun
chausen on his travels, it is no dream that bright and
sweet children are growing up to people asylums and
prisons, to break hearts and desolate homes, and to
pass into degradations which sometimes make death .
seem a tardy joy. If a man has ever had the sorrow
of seeing one youth beginning with promise, throwing
away his life in debauchery and selfishness, much
more if he have seen the anguish of a home when all
its fairest promises are broken, he will hardly require
more to show him the absurdity of priest-made horrors
in the presence of these that are real.
I think it not too soon to maintain that somewhat
more gravity—even solemnity, if you please—should
be associated with what is called “entering society.”
That phrase usually denotes participation in festal
society—a realm of gaiety, beauty, mutual felicitation,
where persons are seen in picturesque tableau.
�9
There are some silly moralists who look upon all that
as vanity j all the beauty of raiment, each effort to
look the best, to be happy and make others happy, as
ministering to ostentation and selfishness, and as
injurious to modesty, humility, and simplicity.
Nothing of the kind. It will never harm the modesty
of youth to enjoy life’s springtide, as nature invites
with her blossom and melody. All that purity
requires is that their mirth and dance keep always in
the light, and that there be no blind ways such as
priests in absolution” provide, and other spiders
that weave their webs along the flower-fringed paths of
early life. There are hard, odious men (not many
.women I hope), who would turn this world into a coal
depot, or a grocer’s shop; but the social health is too
vigorous for them ; and it is a satisfaction to know
that there is a demand for roses as well as cabbages.
They who wear the roses, or other decoration, are
they vain? On the contrary they are conscious of
their need of the rose or the gem to supply that
wherein they fall short. Nor are they selfish; they
do not array themselves for self-admiration; they long
to contribute their part to the general happiness, to
make the social circle beautiful, tasteful, and worthy
of the enormous cost and toil by which it is sup
ported.
The only danger is that the young will believe some
�IO
evil whisper that their circle of social enjoyment is
quite apart from their round of religious interests and
moral duties. They may not indeed adopt the vulgar
cant that these are opposed to each other—one holy,
the other wicked. But even where that notion is not
found, some regard society as a worldly thing, a region
of persons not of principles. The merchant who regards
religion as a thing for Sunday and not Monday; who
conceives the commandments proper between lids of
the Bible, out of place between lids of the ledger ; the
preacher who on Sunday rehearses creeds declaring the
human race under a doom, and everybody moving
amid satanic snares, and then passes the rest of his
week as smilingly as if there were no danger;—these,
and others like them, are generally so unconscious of
the duplicity of their lives that we may see plainly
that the actual every-day world and the so-called
religious world are to those they represent as different
as two planets. But it is impossible that this tradition
can be suffered to go on much longer. That religious
world which has no relation to society, but only to an
anthropomorphic deity and another world, has already
received the verdict of human intelligence that it is
no real religion at all, but a morbid excrescence on
the body of Humanity. The verdict has been passed,
and the sentence can not long be delayed; for it is
impossible that the real interests of man can be
�preserved if his energies, his means, above all his
moral enthusiasm, are diverted from a society in need
to a deity not in need ; from actually existent men and
women to possibly existent angels; from the momen
tous day that is to that which is not.
The fundamental law of society is one with the
fundamental law of religion. It is a higher law than
the Hebrew golden rule (though not inharmonious
with it), for it teaches us that our self-love must not
equal our love of others. In every case the social
instinct requires our personal interest to be held
subordinate to the general good; and there is no other*
foundation of either morality or religion than just that:
self-denial, self-restraint, even self-sacrifice, for things
larger than self, are varied growths from the one germ
of our moral nature—the social self rising above the
personal self.
Unless the endless combinations of society be at
tended and supervised by the moral principle just
stated, increase of wealth and power is but increase
of things anti-social, selfish, unprogressive. An irre
ligious society is self-disintegrating; but how is society
to be kept in pure elevation when religion is off at
tending to mansions in heaven; and when the majority
of young people are taught such notions of religion
that they are only too glad to get rid of it during the
rational days of the week ? They are perfectly right;
�12
the introduction of cant and sanctimoniousness into
the drawing-room, or theatre, or club, or business,
would be like the new beetle amid grain ; for that is
vast selfishness disguised as religion. But there is such
a religion as charity and kindness, as self-control and
love and service to others ; the spirit that desires to
learn and be set right; the courtesy, the sympathy,
which alone can make the true gentleman or gentle
woman j and if this kind of religion does not beat as
pulse of the social heart to transfuse the social body
and all its members, the life of these will be coarse,
their end corruption.
Let us for example consider one of the great social
growths of modern times—the club system. To what
is called polite society the club is almost as important
a development as the railway system to trade. It re
sults from the application of the principle of co-opera
tion to secure personal intercourse under favourable
conditions, and all manner of comfort and culture
with utmost economy of means. That is the most
powerful principle in the world—combination and
though society is itself a product of it, it has hardly
imagined its farther results. But what are the social
effects of club life at present? It appears to me that
great as are their advantages they are fostering some
very serious evils, and it is to be feared, even vices.
Every respectable young man has the opportunity of
�13
entering one or another of the innumerable clubs, and
if he obtains a little means the club almost doubles
them. The average home cannot rival the average
club for comfort, luxury, or various society. The wife
may make herself a slave, but if great wealth be not
given her she cannot make her home compete with
the ample attractions of the club. And how little the
cost 1 A young man, for little more than half of
what it would cost him to marry and found a home of
moderate comfort, may live luxuriously, passing his free
hours in the finest library, with all the current litera
ture of the world, amid decorated rooms for use
or amusement, dining magnificently with clever com
pany ; and all by combining his small means with the
small means of other young men. All very good, and
rightly helpful to many a youth. But for that youth
duties are waiting, tasks presently clamour to be done
by him j and if he remains in his palace after ne has
heard their voice, it becomes to him tne Castle of In
dolence, and probably also the home of sensuality. It
is no narrow or ascetic judgment to say that large
numbers of young men of high tastes and talents are
sinking into lives of selfishness, dilettantism, and
worthlessness through the enticing luxuries of club
life. Nor is the evil much, if at all, diminished when
we consider how many homes after they are foimed
are robbed of their rights by this overpowering growth
of modern society.
�14
How are such evils to be met ? Is there any case
for a crusade against clubs ? If there were it would
be a quixotic crusade. But clubs are not an evil; they
supply great and necessary advantages. All we need
is that there shall be a social religion attending and
guarding these vast social formations. Our need is
that moral culture shall turn from star-gazing and face
moral facts, and a religion rise up to teach every man
from the cradle to the grave that his duty is not
to a dead Christ but to a living humanity, not to a
Virgin Mary but to womanhood around him, not to a
« Holy Ghost” but to a principle of honour,—aye, an
honour which, when it has a religious sanction, will not
be unarmed, but remand every idler in club or else
where to his task, will place every self-indulgent circle
under ban of intolerable shame, and get from each
his or her high duty, with every pure pleasure in its
train.
When there is a religion appealing to the highest
motives in every human heart, that leads each youth
of either sex who enters society to consider that every
advantage corresponds with a duty, then all develop
ments of power and wealth in any direction must be
diffused through every part of society as benefit. We
hear a great deal of social science ; there is one very
old piece of social science confirmed by ages of experi
ence_ that we are members one of another. Hand
�cannot be so well off if foot is lame ; all are weak if
one is weak. Great nations have learned at terrible
cost that when one class or interest advances very far
it is sure to be brought to a stop till other classes gain
their share. The white people in America found lately
that their own freedom could not last another year
unless the black people enjoyed the same. Europe is
learning a severe lesson of the same kind about some
long neglected Eastern tribes. But the law holds with
equal truth of any community, or any social circle in
it. If, for example, co-operation has exemplified its
power in the club, the club cannot monopolise it with
out danger; it must become the economy of homes
also ; both sexes must share it; working men and
working women must share it. And if there is any
society where wise principles are not thus diffused
those who belong to it will be themselves fragmentary
and inharmonious.
Every man or woman entering society should carry
a whole heart into it. Not one instinct or faculty
should be reserved, or left to take the veil. Each and
all, let them enter into life, love it, enjoy it, and not
fail to do their duty by it. The price is not fairly
paid unless you endeavour to diffuse what there is
acquired. You enter the hive to create the sweet as
well as to enjoy it. And in the human hive the
creation means the progressive purification, and per-
�i6
fection of it. In society you have found new thoughts
—higher truth—liberal views ; they all belong to the
hive. And in a high sense your debt to all is secured :
you can have no benefit genuinely unless by giving it.
If God himself were to offer you a private favour and
advantage of which nobody else could reap the least
good, far better decline it. That which is sweet to you
That which is pure and true to
is sweet to others.
you, would be so to others if they felt it as you do.
Then give others your very best. So shall you stimulate
them to diffuse their best; and all shall become
apostles of the sunshine.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Entering society : a discourse delivered at South Place Chapel, Finsbury, Sunday 29th July 1877
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway, Moncure Daniel [1832-1907.]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 16 p. ; 15 cm.
Notes: Part of Morris Miscellaneous Tracts 1. Printed by Waterlow & Sons, London Wall.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[South Place Chapel]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1877]
Identifier
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G3336
Subject
The topic of the resource
Religion
Society
Ethics
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Entering society : a discourse delivered at South Place Chapel, Finsbury, Sunday 29th July 1877), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Moncure Conway
Morris Tracts
Religion and Civil Society
Social Ethics
Social Justice
Society