tion for The Man who would go where the cause of liberty called him, "though there should be there as many devils as tiles on the roofs," must be made of sterner stuff than I am. Look on that incarnation of bravery. See how undaunted that single representative of the cause of the human race stands, amidst the terrible array of princes and bishops. There were six hundred of them; headed by the Emperor him self. As fearlessly as Paine first openly pronounced those treasonable words "American Independence," Luther has dared to burn the Pope's bull, even when there was not a crowned head in all Christendom, but trembled at that awful document. Surely the heart that warms for Paine must glow for Luther. Materialist though I am, I do reverence that brave monk. Had the Elector of Saxony been the most absolute monarch that ever reigned; and had the Landgrave of Hesse, taken as many wives* and concubines as the wisest man, in Jehovah's estimation, that ever was or ever will be, is said to have had, these princes would nevertheless deserve the eternal gratitude of mankind, for the protection they afforded to the great apostle of reform, but for the division, in the ranks of despotism, which he created, a Rousseau and a Paine could not so soon have preached liberty, nor could a Fourier and a Comte as yet have indicated how to put it into practice. To the zeal and liberality of Mr. Albert Brisbane, and to the scholarship of Mr. Henry Clapp, Jr., are English readers indebted for an introduction to Fourier's great work, "The Social Destiny of Man. And the same class of readers are similarly indebted to Mr. Lombe and Miss Harriet Martineau (the latter aided by professor Nichol) for being en "All the theologians of Wittemberg assembled to draw up an answer [to the Landgrave's petition to be allowed to have two wives,] and the result was a compromise. He was allowed a double marriage, on condition that his second wife should not be publicly recognized." 66 If, nevertheless, your highness, is fully resolved to take a second wife, we are of opinion that the marriage should be secret." "Given at Wittemberg, after the festival of St. Nicholas, 1539,-Martin Luther, Philipp Melancthon, Martin Bucer, Antony Corvin, Adam, John Lening, Justin Wintfert, Dionisius Melanther."-Michelets Life of Luther. Published by Calvin Blanchard. Between whom and Mr. Atkinson, there took place that admirable correspondence on the subject of the "Laws of Man's Nature and Develop abled to acquaint themselves with "The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte."* These great works are carrying on a constructive, and therefore noiseless and unostentatious revolution; they do not (particularly the latter) appeal to the common understanding, and the masses will know but little about them, until they feel their beneficient effects. But the keen observer and the social artist perceive that they have already given a new tone to all the higher literature of Western Europe, and even, to some extent, to that of the United States. "Tis strange that they who are capacitated to think truth, should so generally have made the unfortunate blunder of not seeing that by the masses, truth of any great degree of complexity can only be felt. Their religion is addressed almost wholly to their feeling. Their knock-down argument to all opposition, is, "I feel it to be true." A more unreasonable scheme never emanated from Bedlam, than that of plying the masses with reason, on subjects so complicated as are religion and sociology. Has not the experiment uniformly proven the truth of what I here assert? Reason is, of course, connected with, every thing which a sane person voluntarily does or thinks of. It is connected with the construction of the steam engine; and should be similarly, and only similarly connected with social architecture. Numerons experiments to which the name of Fourier has been attached, have failed. But there was not one of them which bore the most distant resemblance to the system of the great master, whose name they so over-zealously and rashly appropriated. A very successful trial of the household economies of Fourier has been going on in New York for the last three years, under the management of Mr. E. F. Underhill. His " Cosmopolitan Hotel" comprises four elegant five story brown stone front houses, situated in the most fashionable part of Fourteenth-street. The world has been prevented from becoming acquainted with Fourier's magnificent discoveries in social architecture, mainly through the agency of the blackest and most impudent falsehood ever uttered. Fourier's system has been denounced as communism; whereas it is the very opposite of that. Our ment," republished in a neat volume by Mr. J. P. Mendum, publisher of the "Boston Investigator." * Published by Calvin Blanchard. |