MR. MACKINNON'S HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. THERE are three kinds of
history, says Mr. Mackinnon in his preface : first, that of the annalist or chronicler ; next, " that of the writer who takes his stand on some moral point, and selects a series of events for the purpose of illustrating if not proving his position " ; and lastly, philoso- phical history, "not composed for any particular cause, but attempting ' to describe human nature itself on a great scale." To these three classes might be added a fourth, under the head of the narrative style, adorned by epic or almost dramatic art ; of which Livy is the most eminent ex- ample. The class Mr. Mackinnon proposes to himself is the second,
which selects recorded events in order to deduce some special truth from the annals of mankind, or perhaps, in the case before us, to establish a favourite theory. Thus, Mr. Mackinnon starts with views upon the subjects of civilization and public opinion which would have the effect of limiting their existence to Great Britain : for although France and America are nominally included, yet we doubt whether they fulfil all our author's conditions, since public opinion, especially in America, is powerful enough to act without violence in regular channels, yet is very far from exhibiting much of morality.
According to Mr. Mackinnon, the requisites of civilization are "in- formation, moral principle, (based on religious faith,) facility of commu- nication, and amount of wealth possessed by individuals composing a given community " • the wealth being so subdivided as to create a middle class. This middle class he conceives essential to the formation of public opinion, which he opposes to popular clamour ; and, without exactly defining what either of them is, he proceeds to assert, that "public opinion is powerful in a community where the requisites for its formation are spread among the people,—that is, where moral principle, information, wealth, and facility of communication exist, and where the middle class is extensive. On the contrary, popular clamour is influential in proportion as the lower class is numerous, ignorant, poor, and fanatical." Having elaborated these fundamental views at some length, Mr. Mackinnon goes on to esta- blish them by a rapid survey of universal history. Egypt, Greece, and Rome, are passed under review, and decided to have had neither civiliza- tion nor public opinion, though the higher classes were refined, and in- dividuals exhibited great genius in arts and literature. The history of England is then elaborately surveyed during its leading epochs; and the growth of its civilization and public opinion dated from the Bestoration wader Charles the Second, whence we have gradually advanced to the present day. It seems to us, however, that the firm front of the Long Parliament, and the steady organized resistance of the people, indicated a higher degree of moral principle and sound judgment than the Popish Plot, the roar of the " Church and Dr. Sacheverel," the Wilkite mobs, or the riots of 1780. Proceeding to the European Conti-
nent, Mr. Mackinnon passes many of its states in review. The re- sult of this survey is, that some of the Italian cities may have touched upon civilization, before their country was overrun by foreign invaders, especially Florence and Genoa • but if they reached it, they could not maintain it, for want of "moral principle" : Holland, seemingly, has had civilization and public opinion; Belgium in a less degree i • Switzerland early attained them ; France has made great progress towards them,--as may be seen in the peaceable Revolution of 1830; Spain, Portugal, and even Russia, are slowly advancing towards civilization. Mr. Mackinnon seems inclined to allow both phases to America; though, if the mode of exercise, instead of the thing itself, be the teat, as Mr. Mackinnon's defi- nition would imply, then the wild Democrates of the new States appear to have little more claim to it than the Jacobins of France. Asia is cursorily dismissed, as not having the elements of civilization ; and a variety of chapters on misePllaneotur subjects—such as witchcraft and the influence of civilization on the female sex—conclude the work.
The History of Civilization exhibits considerable reading, but rather of a popular and standard character than indicative of much research among original authorities : a labour which is necessary to the historian who would form a vivid idea of past ages, or even a just judgment upon them ; since the literary artist, however just his conclusions, will select and group his materials with a view to effect; and, after all, a general history is but the reflex of the historian's mind, and by no means super- sedes the necessity of consulting the original authors. In the cursory notice of foreign countries this is not much felt; but in ancient, and especially in English history, Mr. Mackinnon seems to take his instances from extremes, and to exaggerate the tyranny under which our ancestors are alleged to have suffered; whereas law was always paramount in this country from a very early period, and even the injustice committed was, after the accession of Edward the First, perpetrated under colour of the law. His general conclusions are also very questionable. No doubt, if he makes the present age a standard, all other ages must fail in the comparison, simply because they differ from it; and the fact might be announced without the trouble of a survey. But ancient Egypt, (and its pictures and other remains show its civilized condition,) Athens, and Rome, as well as China, (overlooked by Mr. Mackinnon,) have all attained a high degree of civilization, though not our kind of civiliza- tion. In fact, the author rather means human advancement to- wards "the greatest happiness of the greatest number," " than civiliza- tion in the common acceptation of the word. In public opinion, again, we think the ideas he entertains very questionable. What is usually called public opinion seems constitutional power, acting, when called upon to act (not operate) by means of regular organs. Such in England and America are the constituencies, the various corporate bodies, and districts with assembling power. In France, Mr. Mackinnon admits, there was no public opinion till there was representation. Holland has had repre- sentation, however oligarchical or plutocratical, from the independence of the United Provinces. In the better ages of the Roman republic, public opinion would seem to have had an operation : at Athens, it was ever in action—foolishly often ; but power and its mode of exercise are Iwo dis- tinct things. Public opinion blew aside Lady Jane Grey and seated Mary on the throne, as it also sustained Elizabeth. With the growth of a middle class, the spread of education, and a stricter morality, public opinion improves ; but it may be doubted whether its influence much increases till the people possess means of legitimate action; and that is seldom gained unless by actual force of some kind. The same erroneous view seems to be lurking here as in civilization—the confusion of public advancement with public opinion.
Mr. Mackinnon's work is animated throughout by a mild and amiable conservative spirit; but conservative only of what is good, and prepared to go forward with the advancing movement of the age in all which the author conceives will contribute to the benefit of mankind. Here, for example, is a passage from the conclusion—a glance at the past, and a hortative on the necessity of looking to the poor.
" If a further elucidation of the subject was required, volumes might be filled from historical records of every nation in the world, to demonstrate the state of mankind in former ages and their improved condition in the present. What a scanty amount of comfort was enjoyed—what a mass of misery was endured by man in that ocean of time that is past, until within comparatively a short period! This contemplation leaves the mind doubtful whether most to regret the number of centuries in which man, by his crimes, his bigotry, his indolence, his super- stition, and his folly, has not only wasted his existence, but made it wretched; or to rejoice at the improvement that is now daily if not hourly taking place, and affording to the sons of humanity a state in which the social duties of man towards his fellow creatures are better observed, and in which the elements for civilization are fast spreading over the globe. " It may therefore be admitted, that this condition of mankind, as it promotes mechanical improvements, adds considerably to those classes who, exempt from manual labour, may be enabled to enjoy leisure and intellectual cultivation. Let us, however, not be unmindful of those whose lot may compel them to remain in that class where labour is required, and where the means of subsistence are pre- carious.
"Care must be taken that the increase of wealth in all the civilized nations of the globe, and particularly in our island, may lead us in an especial manner to at- tend to the education, morals, and welfare of those persons whose means are de- ficient for that purpose. Not only is this our bounden duty to them as fellow creatures, but it is the interest of all who have any property to lose. As remarked at the commencement of these pages, there is little to apprehend from popular tumults at the present time. The great extension and influence of property may counteract them; but the means of organization now are so easy, the facility of communicating and of combining and holding intercourse, from the Land's Rod to John of Groat's House, is such, that it behoves every man of education and of reflection well to consider the vast importance of instilling a . proper moral edu- cation in the inferior portion of the lower class. Some sort of information will, in thepresent day, be acquired by thisclasa; and if not of a moral description, it may
take an opposite direction. The condition of those who have no means of sup- port but their own labour, when they see around them so much luxury and wealth, must be considered. The constant and severe toil to which a labourer is sub- jected, and the exposure to climate in sickness or delicate health, render him, if equally temperate and virtuous as his more wealthy neighbour, deserving of the
greatest praise, as being liable to greater temptations, either from intemperance, or from the little attention that his conduct, if he keeps within the pale of the law, will excite. The poor man, after his toil, has not the enjoyment of imagination or of literature: in the other classes, whatever may be the cares or anxieties, the means of occupying leisure hours in improving the mind, augmenting information or perfecting moral attributes, are great. Under all these circumstances, the man who earns his daily bread must be considered with great indulgence, and ought by all possible means to be assisted by those whose energy, activity, or good fortune, have placed them in affluence. The sorrows and sufferings of Hie poor are indeed
sacred things.'
The following is a wretched enough picture ; but we must remember that a great part of what it describes arose from the sudden abolition of the monasteries,—for the alms of which, the Poor-law was a sort of substitute.
"A document preserved by Strype, written by an eminent justice of the peace for Somersetshire, near the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign, when the authority of that princess may be supposed fully corroborated by time, contains an account of the disorders that then prevailed in the above county. The author says, that forty persons had been executed in that conuty in a year for robberies, thefts, and other felonies; thirty-five burnt in the hand; thirty-seven whipped; one hundred and eighty-three discharged; that those who were discharged were most wicked and desperate persons, who never could come to any good, because they would not work; that, notwithstanding the great number of indictments, not the fifth part of the felonies committed in the county were brought to a trial. The greater number escaped censure, either from the superior cunning of the felons, or the remissness of the magistrates.
"The number of rapines committed by the infinite number of idle, wicked, wan- dering people, were intolerable to the poor countrymen, and obliged them to keep a perpetual watch over their sheep-folds, their pastures, their woods, and their corn-fields. The other counties in England were in no better condition than Somersetshire; many of them were even in a worse.
"There were at least three or four hundred able-bodied vagabonds in every county, who lived by theft and rapine, and who formed themselves into troops of about sixty, and committed spoil on the inhabitants. Strype adds, that if all the felons of the kind were assembled, they would be able, if reduced to good sub- jection, to give the greatest army her Majesty bad a strong battle; that the magistrates themselves were intimidated from executing the laws on them; and that there were instances of justices of the peace, who, after giving sentence against rogues, had stopped the execution of their own sentence, on account of the danger which hung over them from the confederation of the felons."
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