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fibres run in ^ every direction , crossing and re-crossing in endless intersections . But selfishness so veils the human understanding that this marvellous interweaving of all interests and fortunes is but little recognised . The selfish man thinks he lives for himself , little dreaming that , whether he will or not , he is always living for others . He
looks upon society as a confused heap , out of which it is his business to rake up some little advantage for himself . He discerns not the exquisite structure of the vast machine so'contrived that not the smallest wheel can move without putting the whole into motion - But this dream of independence , which affects large masses of the
community , is perhaps , of all conceits , the most preposterous and the nearest allied to insanity . It proceeded originally from the father of lies when he promised our first parents they should be " as gods , ' and he appears to be able to suggest it now with equal success when men become at once rich and selfish and empty-headed .
There are many reasons for believing that the social evils which prevail at present are more than usually dependent on the unthinking selfishness which characterises every grade of society , from the mechanic to the peer . To what are we to attribute the unexampled disasters of the early period of war , but to the blind and desperate selfishness of the highest classes , who have actually seemed to believe
that their own interests were most safely to be secured by endangering the nation at large ! This base and baneful principle has filled the offices of State with noodles , and the camp with incapables . And , as if this were not enough to exasperate the people , it has been shown by a recent example , that if there be an exception to the rule of substituting family and rank and connection for talent and power and
wisdom , —if there be one moral qualification which entitles a scion of a noble family to especial patronage and promotion in the ranks , —it is vice , or profligacy , or violence , which would disgrace a scavenger and supersede a hangman . In all this folly and wickedness , the natural re-action and recoil ( which is as absolute a law as the rebound of an elastic ball ) , has been entirely overlooked . The very class thus unthinkingly and iniquitously honoured , will be the first to smart
under the consequences . Are we then political incendiaries , who would rouse the populace to rebellion by dilating on their wrongs ? By no means : —we proposed to show that there was no class exempt from this "blind devotion to self . We have shown how it exists in the higher classes , and we forbear to exhibit , as we might , the iniquities of embassies and the vices of diplomacy . These have already been sufficiently exposed *
Turn we to the lower orders . On what principle are these Sunday Hyde Park mobs collected ? "What motive instigates the misguided reptiles who spout their venom and malignity to the motley assemblage of vagabonds and idlers on these occasions ? Is it the public good ? Is yon orator in earnest when he declaims on the degeneracy and injustice of our rulers ? Believe it not . He is only
* " Embassies and Foreign Courts , " by "The Roving Englishman . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
fibres run in ^ every direction , crossing and re-crossing in endless intersections . But selfishness so veils the human understanding that this marvellous interweaving of all interests and fortunes is but little recognised . The selfish man thinks he lives for himself , little dreaming that , whether he will or not , he is always living for others . He
looks upon society as a confused heap , out of which it is his business to rake up some little advantage for himself . He discerns not the exquisite structure of the vast machine so'contrived that not the smallest wheel can move without putting the whole into motion - But this dream of independence , which affects large masses of the
community , is perhaps , of all conceits , the most preposterous and the nearest allied to insanity . It proceeded originally from the father of lies when he promised our first parents they should be " as gods , ' and he appears to be able to suggest it now with equal success when men become at once rich and selfish and empty-headed .
There are many reasons for believing that the social evils which prevail at present are more than usually dependent on the unthinking selfishness which characterises every grade of society , from the mechanic to the peer . To what are we to attribute the unexampled disasters of the early period of war , but to the blind and desperate selfishness of the highest classes , who have actually seemed to believe
that their own interests were most safely to be secured by endangering the nation at large ! This base and baneful principle has filled the offices of State with noodles , and the camp with incapables . And , as if this were not enough to exasperate the people , it has been shown by a recent example , that if there be an exception to the rule of substituting family and rank and connection for talent and power and
wisdom , —if there be one moral qualification which entitles a scion of a noble family to especial patronage and promotion in the ranks , —it is vice , or profligacy , or violence , which would disgrace a scavenger and supersede a hangman . In all this folly and wickedness , the natural re-action and recoil ( which is as absolute a law as the rebound of an elastic ball ) , has been entirely overlooked . The very class thus unthinkingly and iniquitously honoured , will be the first to smart
under the consequences . Are we then political incendiaries , who would rouse the populace to rebellion by dilating on their wrongs ? By no means : —we proposed to show that there was no class exempt from this "blind devotion to self . We have shown how it exists in the higher classes , and we forbear to exhibit , as we might , the iniquities of embassies and the vices of diplomacy . These have already been sufficiently exposed *
Turn we to the lower orders . On what principle are these Sunday Hyde Park mobs collected ? "What motive instigates the misguided reptiles who spout their venom and malignity to the motley assemblage of vagabonds and idlers on these occasions ? Is it the public good ? Is yon orator in earnest when he declaims on the degeneracy and injustice of our rulers ? Believe it not . He is only
* " Embassies and Foreign Courts , " by "The Roving Englishman . "