How to Observe: Morals and MannersMartineau, Harriet
Science
How to Observe: Morals and Manners
Martineau, Harriet
Manners and customs; Observation (Psychology); Social psychology -- Methodology
This kind of society is composed of two classes only; those who have
something, and those who have nothing. The chief has property, some
knowledge, and great power. With individual differences, the chiefs may
be expected to be imperious, from their liberty and indulgence of will;
brave, from their exposure to toil and danger; contemptuous of men, from
their own supremacy; superstitious, from the influence of the priest in
the household; lavish, from the permanency of their property; vain of
rank and personal distinction, from the absence of pursuits unconnected
with self; and hospitable, partly from the same cause, and partly from
their own hospitality being the only means of gratifying their social
dispositions.
The clergy will be politic, subservient, studious, or indolent,
kind-hearted, effeminate, with a strong tendency to spiritual pride, and
love of spiritual dominion. It will be surprising, too, if they are not
driven into infidelity by the credulity of their pupils.
The women will be ignorant and superstitious, for want of varied
instruction; brave, from the frequent presence or promise of danger;
efficient, from the small division of labour which is practicable in the
superintendence of such a family; given to gossip and uncertainty of
temper, from the sameness of their lives; devoted to their husbands and
children, from the absence of all other important objects; and vain of
such accomplishments as they have, from an ignorance of what remains to
be achieved.
The retainers must be ignorant,--physically strong and imposing,
perhaps, but infants in mind, and slaves in morals. Their worship is
idolatry--of their chief. The virtues permitted to them are fidelity,
industry, domestic attachment, and sobriety. It is difficult to see what
others are possible. Their faults are all comprehended in the word
barbarism.
These characteristics may be extended to the divisions of the nation
corresponding to those of the household: for the sovereign is only a
higher feudal chief: his nobles are a more exalted sort of serfs; and
those who are masters at home become slaves at court. Under this system,
who would be so hardy as to treat brutality in a serf, cunning in a
priest, prejudice in a lady, and imperiousness in a lord, as any thing
but the results--inevitable as mournful--of the state of society?
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