Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 347, September, 1844 — John Shaqi
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 347, September, 1844Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 347, September, 1844
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
"If we say that a man, in virtue of his intellectual superiority, is to
adjudge to himself a larger share than others of the goods of this
world, what right have we to censure the sturdy barbarian, who, in
virtue of his physical superiority, was wont to take the lion's share to
himself? We have changed the basis on which the tyranny rested--the
tyranny remains. The St Simonians, it is true, justify their formula on
the grounds of public utility; it is well, say they, to stimulate talent
by recompense. But is it necessary that the recompense of talent be of
this gross and material kind? that it be counted down in so much wealth?
Thank Heaven! man has other and more energetic motives. With a piece of
riband to be attached to the buttonhole, Napoleon could make an army of
a million of men rush forward upon danger and death. The word _glory_,
well or ill understood, has always decided the destinies of the world.
What is amply sufficient when the work of destruction is in hand, by
what disastrous fatality does it become incompetent when the task is to
produce and to create? Is it not true that great men have always sought
and found their principal recompense in the very exercise of their high
faculties? If society had wished to recompense Newton, it would have
been utterly powerless to do so; there was for Newton, in all the world,
no other or sufficient recompense, but the joy he must have felt when
his genius discovered the laws which govern the planets. * * * The
greater the intelligence, the greater the sphere of action; but not
necessarily the greater the material recompense. The inequality of
capacities can legitimately conduct to the inequality only of duties."
The revolution of 1830 gave a wonderful stimulant to the little society
of St Simon. It extended rapidly, and adjourned its sittings from a
private house to an ample theatre, where three tiers of boxes held the
admiring or ironical auditory. Fêtes, and the presence of charming
women, increased the number of proselytes; artists, physicians,
advocates, poets, flocked to share in the generous hopes of the new era.
The capital and the provinces were portioned out into new departments,
to accord with the new administration of affairs, and St Simonism had
also its map of France. The two chiefs, or fathers, took upon themselves
the ambitious title of popes. They already cast their eyes upon the
Tuileries. Louis-Philippe was summoned by letter to yield his place to
MM. Enfantin and Buzard. St Simonism was already a government destined
to replace the authority of the Catholic church.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account