AN ' ENL IGHTENED ' SCOT AND ENGLISH REFORM: A STUDY OF HENRY BROUGHAM, by JOHN ALFRED DWYER B . A . , U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1971 A. ( Ed.)i U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1973 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULF ILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f HISTORY We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s a s c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIT ISH COLUMBIA A p r i l , 1975 In presenting th i s thes is in pa r t i a l fu l f i lment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the Un ivers i ty of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the L ibrary sha l l make it f ree l y ava i l ab le for reference and study. I fur ther agree that permission for extensive copying of th i s thes is for scho lar ly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives.. It is understood that copying or pub l i ca t ion of th i s thes i s for f i nanc i a l gain sha l l not be allowed without my wr i t ten permiss ion. Depa rtment The Univers i ty of B r i t i s h Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 i i ABSTRACT Henry P e t e r Brougham (1708-1868) has a l w a y s r e c e i v e d more t h a n h i s f a i r s h a r e o f a t t e n t i o n f r o m h i s t o r i a n s . However, as we s h a l l a t t e m p t t o show, h i s r o l e a s a s o c i a l r e f o r m e r i n E n g l a n d has not been t r e a t e d p r o p e r l y . H i s t o r i a n s have v i e w e d Brougham i n d i f f e r e n t ways. They have c a l l e d him a h u m a n i t a r i a n , a B e n t h a m i t e , and a m i d d l e - c l a s s a p o l o g i s t . They have n e v e r t a k e n h i s S c o t t i s h b a c k g r o u n d or h i s t r a i n i n g a t E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y a d e q u a t e l y i n t o a c c o u n t . As a r e s u l t , t h e s e h i s t o r i a n s have o v e r l o o k e d an i n t e r e s t i n g example o f t h e i n f l u e n c e o f S c o t t i s h t h o u g h t and p r a c t i c e i n E n g l i s h r e f o r m movements. The p r e s e n t s t u d y i s an a t t e m p t t o examine Henry Brougham i n t h e l i g h t o f h i s S c o t t i s h h e r i t a g e . By i s o l a t i n g t h o s e f a c t o r s i n Brougham's S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e w h i c h were t o have a b e a r i n g on h i s e f f o r t s i n b e h a l f o f s o c i a l r e f o r m i n E n g l a n d , we hope t o c o n s t r u c t a c o m p o s i t e p i c t u r e o f Brougham as an ' e n l i g h t e n e d S c o t * . The f i r s t c h a p t e r o f t h e t h e s i s d e a l s w i t h S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e i n a f a i r l y g e n e r a l way. Here, we a t t e m p t t o d e f i n e t h e p e c u l i a r a s p e c t s o f t h e S c o t t i s h i d e n t i t y and t o e x p l o r e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f ' m o r a l ' o r 'common s e n s e ' p h i l o s o p h y by t h e t h i n k e r s o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . In a d d i t i o n , we show how Brougham, as a member of t h e ' E d i n b u r g h l i t e r a t i . ' and a s t u d e n t o f B l a c k and S t e w a r t , was a t r u e e x e m p l a r o f t h i s c u l t u r e . In c h a p t e r two, we examine t h e s p e c i f i c a l l y S c o t t i s h i n s t i t u t i o n s o f law, poor r e l i e f , and e d u c a t i o n i n some i i i d e p t h . T h e s e i n s t i t u t i o n s i n g r a i n e d deep a t t i t u d e s i n t h e minds o f S c o t s s u c h a s Brougham. F u r t h e r m o r e , i n e v e r y c a s e , t h e S c o t s b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e i r own i n s t i t u t i o n s w e r e v a s t l y s u p e r i o r t o t h o s e o f E n g l a n d . H a v i n g o u t l i n e d Brougham's ' m e n t a l b a g g a g e ' , we t h e n move on t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h e ways i n w h i c h Brougham's work a s a s o c i a l r e f o r m e r i n E n g l a n d r e f l e c t e d h i s S c o t t i s h h e r i t a g e . F o r , i t i s q u i t e c l e a r t h a t h i s i d e a s were v e r y much i n f o r m e d by S c o t t i s h t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e . F i r s t , a s a l e g a l r e f o r m e r , Brougham e v i d e n c e d h i s t r a i n i n g a s a S c o t s l a w y e r . L i k e M a n s f i e l d b e f o r e h i m , he l o o k e d t o Roman l a w a s a remedy f o r t h e c h a o t i c c o n d i t i o n o f E n g l i s h Common l a w . S e c o n d , i n h i s a t t a c k on t h e E n g l i s h P o o r Law, Brougham was f o r e v e r c o n t r a s t i n g t h e E n g l i s h s y s t e m o f i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d r e l i e f w i t h t h e v o l u n t a r y s y s t e m o f S c o t l a n d . Tuoreover, h i s t r a i n i n g i n p o l i t i c a l economy a t E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y c a u s e d h i m t o r e g a r d i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d r e l i e f a s a h i n d r a n c e t o e c o n o m i c a d v a n c e . F i n a l l y , a s t h e l e a d e r o f t h s move-ment f o r mass e d u c a t i o n i n E n g l a n d , Brougham a t t e m p t e d t o c r e a t e a n a t i o n a l s y s t e m o f e d u c a t i o n on t h e S c o t t i s h m o d e l . And h i s p r i d e i n S c o t t i s h p a r o c h i a l e d u c a t i o n was b u t t r e s s e d by an ' e n l i g h t e n e d ' f a i t h i n t h e power o f e d u c a t i o n t o s h a p e men. i v TABLE OF CONTENTS T i t l e Page i A b s t r a c t i i T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s i v I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 I The S c o t t i s h E x p e r i e n c e 5 I I S c o t t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n s . 22 I I I A Scotsman a t t h e E n g l i s h Bar 55 IV The Poor Law Debate 81 V The E d u c a t i o n movement 107 C o n c l u s i o n 143 Notes 146 B i b l i o g r a p h y 175 1 INTRODUCTION 2 As a r e c e n t w r i t e r on t h e e a r l y V i c t o r i a n p e r i o d has p o i n t e d o u t , one o f t h e most s e r i o u s f a i l i n g s o f B r i t i s h h i s t o r i a n s i s t h e i r t e n d e n c y t o c o n c e n t r a t e on E n g l a n d t o t h e e x c l u s i o n o f t h e o t h e r c o u n t r i e s i n t h e B r i t i s h I s l e s . ^ T h i s o v e r s i g h t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y s t r i k i n g i n t h e c a s e o f S c o t l a n d . The u n i q u e and c o n t r a d i c t o r y n a t u r e o f t h e S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e has been v i r t u a l l y o v e r l o o k e d i n B r i t i s h h i s t o r i e s . S c o t l a n d ' s d i f f e r e n t s y s t e m o f l a w s , e d u c a t i o n , and poor r e l i e f m-v-e n o t been t r e a t e d a d e q u a t e l y . l\ior has t h e o r i g i n a l i t y o f t h e S c o t t i s h i n t e l l e c t u a l r e n a i s s a n c e a f t e r 1750 been t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t . Even s o , t h o u g h t and p r a c t i c e i n t e r r a c t e d i n s u c h a way a s t o d e f i n e a c u l t u r e w h i c h , a l t h o u g h g r e a t l y i n f l u e n c e d f r o m o u t s i d e , was p e c u l i a r t o S c o t l a n d . The n e g l i g e n c e on t h e p a r t o f B r i t i s h h i s t o r i a n s i s a l l t h e more p e r p l e x i n g when one c o n s i d e r s t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between E n g l a n d and S c o t l a n d was n o t e n t i r e l y o n e - s i d e d . D u r i n g t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h and e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y was t h e c u l t u r a l Mecca o f G r e a t B r i t a i n . L a r g e numbers o f E n g l i s h m e n , as w e l l a s S c o t s , c o m p l e t e d t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a t t h i s -Athens o f t h e N o r t h ' . Here, t h e y l e a r n e d t h e p r o g r e s s i v e and r e f o r m i n g p r i n c i p l e s o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . I t i s c e r t a i n l y no c o i n c i d e n c e t h a t s t u d e n t s s u c h as R u s s e l l , M i l l , Brougham, and P e t t y went on t o become r e f o r m e r s i n E n g l a n d . They had been w e l l s c h o o l e d i n t h i s c a l l i n g d u r i n g t h e i r s t a y a t E d i n b u r g h . Y e t t h e r o l e o f E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y r e m a i n s t o be examined 3 i n any d e t a i l . In f a c t , o n l y r e c e n t l y have h i s t o r i a n s even begun t o e x p l o r e t h e c o n n e c t i o n s between S c o t t i s h t h o u g h t and 2 E n g l i s h r e f o r m movements. And t h e work t h a t has been done i s v e r y l i m i t e d i n s c o p e . W h i l e i t would be i m p o s s i b l e t o d e a l w i t h a p r o b l e m o f s u c h m a g n i t u d e i n a s t u d y o f t h i s k i n d , one can t r a c e t h e S c o t t i s h i n f l u e n c e t h r o u g h a s i n g l e i n d i v i d u a l w i t h some a c c u r a c y . Henry P e t e r Brougham (1788-1868) was one o f t h e most n o t a b l e r e f o r m e r s o f t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . He was a l s o a Scotsman and a g r a d u a t e o f E d i n b r u g h U n i v e r s i t y . We s h a l l a r g u e t h a t Brougham can o n l y be p r o p e r l y u n d e r s t o o d once h i s S c o t t i s h b a c k g r o u n d i s t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t . C o n v e r s e l y , t h e r e i s a l o g i c a l c o n t i n u i t y between Brougham's f o r m a t i v e y e a r s i n S c o t l a n d and h i s e f f o r t s on b e h a l f o f s o c i a l r e f o r m i n E n g l a n d . Henry Broughamwas a w e l l e d u c a t e d L o w l a n d S c o t . When he t r a v e l l e d t o London i n 1803, a t t h e age o f t w e n t y - f i v e , 'he c a r r i e d w i t h him a t y p i c a l l y S c o t t i s h a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s s o c i e t y , law, p o v e r t y , and e d u c a t i o n . T h i s p e r s p e c t i v e c a u s e d Brougham t o r e a c t t o t h e p r o b l e m s b e s e t t i n g E n g l i s h s o c i e t y i n a p r e d i c t a b l e way. I n v a r i a b l y , he would draw upon h i s S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e i n o r d e r t o f o r m u l a t e a s o l u t i o n . Brougham's ' S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e ' was o f two k i n d s . On t h e one hand, i t c o n s i s t e d o f an i n b r e d and n a t i o n a l i s t i c p r i d e i n t h o s e i n s t i t u t i o n s w h i c h were d i s t i n c t l y S c o t t i s h . On t h e o t h e r hand, i t embraced t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l d o c t r i n e s t h e n b e i n g d i s s e m i n a t e d by way o f E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y . Thus, Brougham 4 was not simply a Scot — he was an 'enlightened Scot'. And i t i s t h i s d i s t i n c t i v e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c which we intend to discuss in r e l a t i o n to his a c t i v i t i e s in England. Since Henry Brougham can only be properly understood in terms of Scottish culture, we s h a l l devote a considerable amount of t h i s study to ou t l i n i n g i t s s a l i e n t features. Once t h i s has been accomplished, we w i l l be'able to make sense of Brougham as a reformer. 5 CHAPTER I THE SCOTTISH EXPER IENCE I t i s no s i m p l e m a t t e r t o c a t e g o r i z e t h e S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e V o f t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h and e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . -B-u-t p e r h a p s t h e b e s t way of a p p r o a c h i n g t h e p r o b l e m i s t o s e e S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e t h r o u g h Brougham's e y e s . In a l e t t e r w r i t t e n t o L o r d A r d m i l l a n i n 1859, commemorating a f e s t i v a l i n honour o f R o b e r t B u r n s , Brougham e x p r e s s e d a deep c o n c e r n f o r t h e p r e s e r v a t i o n o f " t h e p u r e and c l a s s i c a l l a n g u a g e o f S c o t l a n d . " ^ He drew h i s r e a d e r ' s a t t e n t i o n t o t h e " c o n c i s e n e s s " and " c l e a r n e s s " o f t h e S c o t t i s h l a n g u a g e , as e v i d e n c e d by t h e b r e v i t y o f S c o t t i s h l e g a l s t a t u t e s . Most o f a l l , he e m p h a s i z e d t h e p o e t i c a l q u a l i t y . o f t h e S c o t t i s h t o n g u e as i t was r e f l e c t e d i n a n c i e n t and modern n a t i o n a l p o e t r y . Why were Scotsmen s u c h a s Brougham so w o r r i e d a b o u t t h e p r e s e r v a t i o n o f a l a n g u a g e w h i c h , i n most c a s e s , t h e y d i d n o t even s p e a k ? Brougham's l e t t e r i s a good example o f t h e a n x i e t y of L o w l a n d S c o t s t o ' , e s t a b l i s h a f i r m i d e n t i t y s e p a r a t e 2 f r o m E n g l a n d . One i s i m m e d i a t e l y r e m i n d e d o f t h e w i l l i n g n e s s w i t h w h i c h t h e E d i n b u r g h ' l i t e r a t i ' , i n t h e i r q u e s t for a p u r e l y S c o t t i s h body of l i t e r a t u r e , a l l o w e d t h e m s e l v e s t o be seduced by the s u p p o s e d l y p r i m i t i v e p o e t r y o f (Yiacpherson's O s s i a n . Henry Brougham was t h e p r o d u c t o f a c u l t u r e c o n t i n u a l l y f a c e d w i t h t h e p r o b l e m o f s e l f - i d e n t i t y . T h r o u g h o u t t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e L o w l a n d S c o t s l o o k e d t o E n g l a n d a s t h e model o f a w e l l - o r d e r e d P r o t e s t a n t s o c i e t y . But t h e i r f e a r o f E n g l i s h a s s i m i l a t i o n c a u s e d them t o r e t a i n many o f t h e c u l t u r a l t i e s o f t h e ' a u l d A l l i a n c e ' w i t h F r a n c e . ~ - / h i s , i n s p i t e o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e S c o t s b o r e no l o v e f o r ' p a p i s t s ' . In t h e i r 7 s t r u g g l e f o r s e l f - i d e n t i t y , t h e S c o t t i s h ' l i t e r a t i ' drew h e a v i l y f r o m t h e G a e l i c c u l t u r e o f t h e H i g h l a n d s . Y e t , L o w l a n d e r s g e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d t h e i r n o r t h e r n n e i g h b o u r s a s i d l e and b a r b a r i c s a v a g e s . They even went so f a r as t o deny t h a t H i g h l a n d e r s were S c o t s ; i n s t e a d , t h e y gave them t h e d e r o g a t o r y l a b e l " I r i s h " . L o w l a n d c u l t u r e was i n d e e d , t o 3 q u o t e D a v i d D a i c h e s , ' s c h i z o p h r e n i c ' . I t was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a h e s i s t a n t b o r r o w i n g f r o m a c r o s s t h r e e f r o n t i e r s : E n g l a n d , F r a n c e , and t h e H i g h l a n d s . When t h e S c o t s d e c i d e d t o g i v e up t h e i r i n d e p e n d e n c e a s a n a t i o n , t h e i r m o t i v a t i o n was a p u r e l y e c o n o m i c one. B e f o r e t h e U n i o n o f 1707, S c o t l a n d was an e x t r e m e l y p o o r c o u n t r y . ' * A l t h o u g h v a r i o u s p a n a c e a s were a t t e m p t e d , t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e D a r i e n scheme u n d e r l i n e d t h e n e c e s s i t y o f j o i n i n g E n g l a n d i f e c o n o m i c p r o g r e s s was t o o c c u r . D e s p i t e much o p p o s i t i o n , t h e e v e n t - f i n a l l y t o o k p l a c e ; S c o t l a n d r e t a i n e d her C h u r c h and l e g a l s y s t e m b ut l o s t h e r p a r l i a m e n t . And, w h i l e t h e S c o t s were d e t e r m i n e d t o p r e s e r v e t h e i r i d e n t i t y and r e m a i n i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s f r o m E n g l i s h i n t e r f e r e n c e , i n t e l l i g e n t o b s e r v e r s among them u n d e r s t o o d t h a t t h e U n i o n b r o u g h t g r e a t e c o n o m i c a d v a n t a g e s . In t h e c o u r s e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , and e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r 1745, S c o t t i s h a g r i c u l t u r e and commerce p r o s p e r e d . The p r o f e s s i o n a l and b u s i n e s s c l a s s e s o f t h e L o w l a n d towns l e a r n e d t o speak E n g l i s h and l o o k e d t o t h a t c o u n t r y a s a model o f c o m m e r c i a l s o c i e t y . T h i s r e l a t i v e l y l a t e d e v e l o p m e n t o f the S c o t t i s h economy h e l p s t o e x p l a i n why Brougham and o t h e r ' e n l i g h t e n e d S c o t s ' 8 a t t r i b u t e d so much importance to economic growth, f o r the j e a l o u s y with which the Scots eyed the i n d u s t r y and commerce of the E n g l i s h was c l e a r l y r e f l e c t e d i n t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a l works as w e l l . Hume, f o r example, claimed t h a t the economic system of England accounted f o r i t s s u p e r i o r i t y "above any n a t i o n a t present i n the world, or t h a t appears i n the r e c o r d s of any s t o r y . A d a m Smith c o n t i n u a l l y c o n t r a s t e d England's p r o s p e r i t y with the r e l a t i v e poverty of S c o t l a n d , although he d i d note t h a t the S c o t l a n d of 1776 had progressed s t e a d i l y s i n c e Union, and was o u t s t r i p p i n g France which h e l d t r a d e i n d i s r e p u t e . ^ As a student at Edinburgh U n i v e r s i t y , Brougham f e l l h e i r to t h i s emphasis on economics through h i s t e a c h e r s 7 Dugald Stewart and John m i l i a r . Whereas the Lowlanders looked south with a mixture of f e a r and envy, they looked north with d i s g u s t . Henry Brougham's a t t i t u d e towards the Highlanders was t y p i c a l . In h i s account of a tour of the Western I s l e s i n 1799, Brougham c a l l e d the Highlanders 'savages'. In a l e t t e r to h i s great u n c l e , the h i s t o r i a n , Robertson, Brougham compared the Highlanders g unfavourably with the n a t i v e s of the P a c i f i c I s l a n d s : Nothing i n Captain Cook's voyages comes ' h a l f so low...A t o t a l want of c u r i o s i t y , a s t u p i d gaze of wonder, an e x c e s s i v e eagerness f o r s p i r i t s and tobacco, a l a z i n e s s only to be conquered by the hope of the above-mentioned c o r d i a l s , and a b e a s t l y degree of f i l t h , the n a t u r a l consequence of t h i s , render the St. K i l d i a n c h a r a c t e r t r u l y savage. S i m i l a r c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n s of Highland s o c i e t y may be found i n Johnson's and Boswell's A journey to the Western I s l a n d s of S c o t l a n d as w e l l as i n the r e p o r t s of the G a e l i c S o c i e t y or 9 9 The S o c i e t y f o r the Propagation of C h r i s t i a n Knowledge. Despite the attempts to e x p l o i t Highland c u l t u r e f o r p r o p a g a n d i s t s purposes, there was l i t t l e l ove l o s t between the peoples north and south of the Highland l i n e . Lowlanders thought the Highland c l a n s i d l e , t h e i v i n g b a r b a r i a n s who spoke a f o r e i g n language, p r a c t i c e d strange C e l t i c r i t e s , and were g e n e r a l l y poor and i l l i t e r a t e . The Lowlanders had good reason to regard the a l i e n s o c i e t y of the Highlanders with some r e s e r v a t i o n . The Highlands:was t r a d i t i o n a l l y a m a r t i a l s o c i e t y ; i t s o r g a n i z a t i o n had been based on the a u t h o r i t y . o f w a r r i o r c h i e f s . As l a t e as 1724 , Highland c l a n s descended i n t o the Lowlands i n order to r u s t l e c a t t l e . 1 0 In 1745 , they rose i n r e b e l l i o n under the banner of C h a r l e s S t u a r t . The ' 4 5 u p r i s i n g ended as a dismal f a i l u r e , d e s p i t e e a r l y s i g n s of success, and r e s u l t e d i n the f i n a l conquest of the Highlands and the e x p u l s i o n of r e b e l c h i e f s . From t h i s time on, the Highlands l o s t many of i t s d i s t i n c t i v e q u a l i t i e s . And, although Highland s o c i e t y had been g r a d u a l l y changing from a fe.uda-1—t.o__an_ economic organization, the d e f e a t of the l a s t of the o l d c h i e f s symbolized the end of c l a n v a l u e s . The Highland l a n d l o r d s , l a r g e l y imported from the south, tended to become masters of t h i n g s r a t h e r than men. They even began to r e p l a c e t h e i r "clansmen with Lowland sheep." 1 However, as one can see from Brougham's l e t t e r to Robertson, the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the Highlanders was a gradual one. Brougham's s o l u t i o n (which would no doubt have pleased the author of The H i s t o r y of C h a r l e s V) was economic development. 10 As a c o r o l l a r y of t h i s , i t uias necessary to tr a n s f o r m the Highlanders i n t o r a t i o n a l 'economic' men l i k e the Lowlanders. 12 The t o o l was to be education. Brougham wrote: We made s e v e r a l remarks on the s t a t e of the i s l a n d , and the mode of management to which i t i s s u b j e c t . Were i t s extent, f e r t i l i t y , and p o p u l a t i o n s of s u f f i c i e n t consequence, no b e t t e r method c o u l d be f a l l e n . u p o n than to send a schoolmaster, and then to a b o l i s h the present i n i q u i t o u s method of c o l l e c t i n g i t s produce. Brougham's su g g e s t i o n c o n t a i n e d nothing new. Highland i l l i t e r a c y and economic backwardness had long been a concern of Lowlanders. But there was some u n c e r t a i n t y about what k i n d of e d u c a t i o n would s u i t the purpose. In 169B, an E p i s c o p a l i a n m i n i s t e r by the name of Kirkwood converted some Edinburgh gentlemen of "weight and d i s t i n c t i o n " to the task of b r i n g i n g 13 ' c i v i l i t i e ' to the Highlands. They formed the S c o t t i s h branch of the S o c i e t y f o r the Propagation of C h r i s t i a n Knowledge. The i n i t i a l attempts of the S c o t t i s h S.P.C.K. c o n c e n t r a t e d on \ -f i n s t r u c t i o n i n r e l i g i o n , and E n g l i s h . When t h i s f a i l e d , -due—to •• the h o s t i l i t y of the Hig h l a n d e r s , i t was decided to supplement such i n s t r u c t i o n with t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g i n i n d u s t r i a l and a g r i c u l t u r a l s k i l l s . Given the great s t r e s s on i n d u s t r y i n the Lowlands, t h i s step does not seem s u r p r i s i n g . N e v e r t h e l e s s , the attempt to spread e d u c a t i o n to the Highlanders had l i m i t e d e f f e c t . The S.P.C.K. achieved i t s g r e a t e s t success i n o p e r a t i n g s p i n n i n g s c h o o l s f o r young women.^ The s i g n i f i c a n c e : o f the S c o t t i s h S.P.C.K. r e s i d e s not so much i n i t s achievements as i n the way i t demonstrates the Lowlanders' a t t i t u d e towards economic backwardness and 11 e d u c a t i o n . Faced w i t h the problem of a poor and p o t e n t i a l l y unruly p o p u l a t i o n , Scots l i k e Brougham a u t o m a t i c a l l y turned to education f o r the s o l u t i o n . The i n f l u e n c e of the Highlands was, by and l a r g e , a negative one. Lowlanders regarded Highlanders as b a r b a r i a n s and sought to tr a n s f o r m them i n t h e i r own image. A much more p o s i t i v e i n f l u e n c e , however, was e x e r c i s e d by France. In t h e i r f e a r of E n g l i s h a s s i m i l a t i o n and -fehelT d i s g u s t with Highland b a r b a r i t y , Lowland c u l t u r e borrowed h e a v i l y from French l i b e r a l thought. U n l i k e England, Lowland S c o t l a n d experienced an 'enlightenment' which corresponded f a i r l y 15 c l o s e l y with i n t e l l e c t u a l l i f e on the c o n t i n e n t . Brougham was a tr u e c h i l d of t h i s enlightenment5 he s t u d i e d s c i e n c e , mathematics, and moral philosophy at Edinburgh U n i v e r s i t y . Among h i s teachers were such l u m i n a r i e s as Black, P l a y f a i r , [ Y l i l l a r , and Dugald Stewart. Since Brougham's f u t u r e a c t i v i t i e s can only be understood i n the l i g h t of h i s enlightenment t h i n k i n g , i t i s important to d i s c u s s t h i s development i n some deta i l . In many r e s p e c t s , the S c o t t i s h enlightenment p a r a l l e l e d the 'awakening' i n France. S c o t l a n d ' s h i s t o r i c a l and c u l t u r a l t i e s with France f a c i l i t a t e d an int e r c h a n g e of idea s between the two c o u n t r i e s . Thus, the French and Scots had i d e n t i c a l heroes i n Bacon, Newton, and Locke. Enlightenment t h i n k e r s regarded Newton wit h s p e c i a l reverence he was the prototype of a good s c i e n t i s t . His supposed i n t r o d u c t i o n of the p r i n c i p l e s of emp i r i c i s m and i n d u c t i o n i n t o p h y s i c s was, 12 a c c o r d i n g to the 'philosophes', a majors step i n the advancement of knowledge.^ His-use of ' a n a l y s i s ' to determine the b a s i c components of t h i n g s and then to d i s c o v e r the laws by which they are s t r u c t u r e d , was what the ' p h i l o s o p h e s ' meant by •Reason'. In t h i s way, 'reason' i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d as 'agency' • 1 r a t h e r than 'being'. Ernst C a s s i r e r , i n h i s mastery work The Philosophy of the Enlightenment, regartis t h i s as the 17 d i s t i n g u i s h i n g mark of the enlightenment approach: The e i g h t e e n t h century takes reason i n a d i f f e r e n t and more modest sense. I t i s no longer the sum t o t a l of "innate i d e a s " given p r i o r to a l l exp e r i e n c e , which r e v e a l the a b s o l u t e essense of t h i n g s . Reason i s now looked upon r a t h e r as an a c q u i s i t i o n than as a h e r i t a g e . It i s not the t r e a s u r y of the mind i n which t r u t h l i k e a minted c o i n l i e s s t o r e d ; i t i s r a t h e r the o r i g i n a l i n t e l l e c t u a l f o r c e which guides the d i s c o v e r y and d e t e r m i n a t i o n of t r u t h . Only by the use of reason, now seen as agency, c o u l d l e g i t i m a t e knowledge be a r r i v e d a t . A l l e l s e was s u p e r s t i t i o n . Wh-arc-h- i s not to say that enlightenment t h i n k e r s were s c e p t i c a l about the e x i s t e n c e of g e n e r a l laws by which nature was ordered; q u i t e the c o n t r a r y . They d i d , however, b e l i e v e that these laws c o u l d only be d i s c o v e r e d by c l o s e examination of c o n c r e t e 18 experience. Since reason, f o r enlightenment t h i n k e r s , was a u n i v e r s a l l y a p p l i c a b l e method f o r a r r i v i n g at knowledge, i t s a p p l i c a t i o n went f a r beyond the study of mathematics and p h y s i c s . It c o u l d a l s o be used to examine the i n s t i t u t i o n s of man and even the nature of man h i m s e l f . Now, both the Scots and the French were i n t e r e s t e d i n s t u d y i n g the i n d i v i d u a l and h i s 1 3 r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h s o c i e t y i n t h e l i g h t o f r e a s o n . However, i n t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f e m p i r i c i s m t o s o c i a l l i f e , t h e y came t o q u i t e d i f f e r e n t c o n c l u s i o n s . L i k e t h e S c o t s , t h e F r e n c h t h i n k e r s r e j e c t e d t h e C h r i s t i a n a s s u m p t i o n t h a t man was i n h e r e n t l y e v i l . They a r g u e d t h a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l was b a s i c a l l y a r e a s o n a b l e and m o r a l c r e a t u r e . However, t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e F r e n c h ' p h i l o s o p h e s * u t i l i z e d t h i s c o n v i c t i o n i n a r a d i c a l c r i t i q u e o f e x i s t i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s . As Norman Hampson i l l u s t r a t e s i n h i s work The E n l i g h t e n m e n t , by a b o u t 1760 many F r e n c h t h i n k e r s had a d o p t e d a ' c r i t i c a l and 19 p a s s i o n a t e ' a p p r o a c h t o p o l i t i c a l p r o b l e m s . T h e s e men f e l t t h a t , i n o r d e r f o r t h e good q u a l i t i e s o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l -t o be b r o u g h t f o r t h , i t was n e c e s s a r y t h a t " s o c i e t y must be cha n g e d t o make i t w o r t h y o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l and n o t 'v-isa-The S c o t t i s h t h i n k e r s d i f f e r e d f r o m t h e i r F r e n c h c o u n t e r -p a r t s i n a s much as t h e y d i d n o t s t r e s s t h e ' r i g h t s ' o f i n d i v i d u a l s b u t , r a t h e r , t h e i r ' d u t i e s ' a s s o c i a l b e i n g s . They v i e w e d s o c i e t y a s a " n a t u r a l r e l a t i o n " , n o t an " a r t i f i c i a l 21 c r e a t i o n " . F o r t h i s r e a s o n , t h e y l a i d a g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s on man's ' e t h i c a l s e n s e ' and h i s ' s o c i a l s e n s i b i l i t y ' t h a n d i d t h e ' p h i l o s o p h e s ' . man, t h e y a r g u e d , was n o t o n l y a c r e a t u r e w i t h r e a s o n , he was a l s o a s o c i a l a n i m a l , a t t a c h e d t o h i s f e l l o w s by 22 s t r o n g t i e s of a f f e c t i o n . W h i l e s u c h i d e a s were n o t f o r e i g n t o F r e n c h t h i n k e r s , t h e y were n o t n e a r l y so d e e p l y r o o t e d t h e r e . S c o t t i s h t h o u g h t , on t h e o t h e r hand, a l w a y s c o n t a i n e d t h i s h e t e r o g e n e o u s m i x t u r e o f ' r e a s o n ' and ' f e e l i n g ' . 14 The reasons f o r t h i s p a r a d o x i c a l " d i v i s i o n between the S c o t t i s h head and the S c o t t i s h h e a r t " were both c u l t u r a l and 23 h i s t o r i c a l . No doubt there i s a great deal of t r u t h to David Daiches* c l a i m that the philosophy of the S c o t t i s h enlightenment r e f l e c t e d the o v e r l y ' s e n t i m e n t a l ' q u a l i t i e s of S c o t t i s h romance l i t e r a t u r e . ^ But c e r t a i n l y there i s more i n v o l v e d than j u s t t h i s . The S c o t t i s h School b e l i e v e d that 'reason' untempered by • f e e l i n g ' was a p o t e n t i a l l y dangerous t o o l . The French R a t i o n a l i s t s , f o r example, claim e d to be employing reason i n the development of the theory of ' s o c i a l c o n t r a c t ' . A c c o r d i n g to t h i s theory, s o c i e t y c o n s i s t e d of separate i n d i v i d u a l s who had no r u l e but t h e i r own s e l f - i n t e r e s t . These same i n d i v i d u a l s came together i n s o c i e t y only f o r the sake of convenience and i n order to p r o t e c t t h e i r p r o p e r t y . The S c o t t i s h School was w e l l aware of the r a d i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of t h i s theory -- i t c o u l d e a s i l y be used to support an a t t a c k on e x i s t i n g i n s t i t u t i o n s of government. Such a view c o u l d never be s a n c t i o n e d by S c o t t i s h t h i n k e r s . C l o s e r to Montesquieu than other French t h i n k e r s , 25 the Scots d i d not have any s t r o n g hatred of government. Nor would they countenance any theory which might j u s t i f y r a d i c a l change. The S c o t t i s h i n t e l l e c t u a l s looked upon s o c i e t y as a n a t u r a l e n t i t y and r e j e c t e d the n o t i o n of ' c o n t r a c t ' . The l i k e l y e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h i s r e s i s t a n c e to the idea of . r a d i c a l change was the c l o s e c o n n e c t i o n between S c o t t i s h i n t e l l e c t u a l s and the landed c l a s s e s . Since most i n t e l l e c t u a l s were e i t h e r attachdd to patrons or h e l d u n i v e r s i t y posts at t h e i r p l e a s u r e , they were not at a l l i n t e r e s t e d i n a t t a c k i n g 15 the 'status quo'. Indeed, they tended to i d e n t i f y themselves 27 with t h e i r benefactors. And, as T.C. Smout puts i t s This i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with the landed classes was accompanied by a lack of s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l iconoclasm. David Hume, for instance, was ready enough to attack the creeds of the church and Adam Smith to destroy the basis of mercantilist economics, but no one ventured to do the same for property and s o c i a l p r i v i l e g e . But there i s another side to the question of Scottish i n t e l l e c t u a l conservativism besides this 'deep seated need for association with the great'. Scottish landowners exercised a v i r t u a l l y despotic power over the society in which they l i v e d . They 2 8 controlled education, poor r e l i e f , and church patronage. They wielded considerable authority as j u s t i c e s and landlords. And their r e l a t i o n s h i p with the society at large was an extremely p a t e r n a l i s t i c one. Thus, there was very l i t t l e opportunity for the expression of s o c i a l c r i t i c i s m i n Scotland. Whenever c r i t i c s did appear, as they did during the early stages of the French Revolution, 29 they were quickly and e f f e c t i v e l y silenced. Given such a r e s t r i c t i v e state of a f f a i r s , i t i s hardly surprising that the energies of Scottish thinkers were channeled into moral philosophy instead of p o l i t i c a l polemics. Moral philosophy set i t s e l f the task ,of discovering the laws which govern s o c i a l l i f e and then deriving i n d i v i d u a l norms of action. It has been c a l l e d 'common sense philosophy* because i t accepted the v a l i d i t y of certain common human b e l i e f s which could not be proven i f one adhered s t r i c t l y to the theory of sensations. In fact, the only member of the Scottish School to follow the theory of sensations out to i t s l o g i c a l 16 c o n c l u s i o n s uuas t h e s c e p t i c , D a v i d Hume. He went so f a r a s t o a r g u e t h a t t h e c o n c e p t o f ' c a u s e ' was m e r e l y a p r o d u c t o f cu s t o m . T h e r e was no " n e c e s s a r y c o n n e c t i o n " between t h i n g s 30 w h i c h c o u l d " d e f i n e a c a u s e and e f f e c t . " But most o f t h e S c o t t i s h t h i n k e r s were not p r e p a r e d t o go t o s u c h e x t r e m e s . Brougham i s f a i r l y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e i n t h i s r e s p e c t . He b e l i e v e d i n t h e e x i s t e n c e o f God, t h e q u a l i t i e s o f sympathy and b e n e v o l e n c e , a 'm o r a l s e n s e ' , and t h e p r o p e n s i t y o f men t o seek t h e i r own improvement. He a l s o b e l i e v e d i n t h e i n e v i t a b i l i t y o f huma^i' p r o g r e s s . He a r g u e d t h a t r e a s o n a l o n e was not a s u f f i c i e n t o r g a n t o d i c t a t e a man's s o c i a l d u t y ; t h e s e common b e l i e f s must a l s o be t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t . Adam F e r g u s o n (1723-1816) was t h e c h i e f spokesman f o r m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y , and r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e o t h e r s i n t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . H i s work, w h i c h o f t e n r e f l e c t s h i s a d m i r a t i o n o f M o n t e s q u i e u , was c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e d i s c o v e r y o f t h e s c i e n t i f i c l aws o f human s o c i e t y . F o r F e r g u s o n , t h e r e 31 were two t y p e s o f l a w s , " p h y s i c a l l a w s " and " m o r a l l a w s " . m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y , c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e l a t t e r , i n v e s t i g a t e d t o p i c s l i k e b e n e v o l e n c e , " s o c i a l d u t y , and human improvement. F e r g u s o n b e l i e v e d t h a t man's m o r a l d u t y t o w a r d s t h e common good was as s e l f - e v i d e n t a s h i s i n s t i n c t f o r s e l f - p r e s e r v a t i o n and h i s d e s i r e f o r p e r s o n a l h a p p i n e s s . As G l a d y s B r y s o n w r i t e s i n man and S o c i e t y : The S c o t t i s h I n q u i r y o f t h e E i g h t e e n t h 32 C e n t u r y : m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y d e a l s w i t h m o r a l l a w s , t h a t i s , w i t h e x p r e s s i o n s o f what ought t o be, o f what i s n o t y e t u n i v e r s a l l y a f a c t o f a k i n d a p h y s i c a l law c a n 17 e x p r e s s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t has i t s b a s i s . . . i n p h y s i c a l f a c t , i n the c o n s t i t u t i o n of man which i m p e l s him not o n l y t o p r e s e r v e h i m s e l f , but to be a b e n e v o l e n t l y minded member of s o c i e t y , and t o seek always t o improve h i m s e l f and the common l i f e . On t h a t b a s i s the moral law c o n s c i o u s l y b u i l d s the d i c t u m t h a t the most d e s i r a b l e t h i n g f o r a man i s t h a t he s h o u l d c u l t i v a t e the l o v e of h i s f e l l o w s , and a c t always f o r t h e i r h a p p i n e s s and b e t t e r m e n t . In t he works of Ferguson, s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s a r e "so 33 many f i e l d s f o r the a p p l i c a t i o n of the moral law." One sees t h i s same theme r u n n i n g t h r o u g h o u t the w r i t i n g s of the S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . Hutcheson, f o r example, a t t a c k e d the R a t i o n a l i s t s and p o s i t e d a d i s i n t e r e s t e d " p u b l i c s e n s e " i n h i s a n a l y s i s of human n a t u r e . ^ As a f o l l o w e r of Locke, Hutcheson was aware of the e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s of p o s i t i n g such moral a s s u m p t i o n s . However, he s i d e s t e p p e d the problem by c l a i m i n g t h a t our " i d e a s of p r i m a r y q u a l i t i e s " 35 c o u l d be a t t r i b u t e d t o God. Adam S m i t h , t o o , was a moral p h i l o s o p h e r ; he was i n t e r e s t e d i n p o l i t i c a l economy o n l y insomuch as i t formed a d i v i s i o n of the e t h i c a l s c i e n c e . H i s fame d u r i n g h i s l i f e t i m e was not due t o The Wealth of N a t i o n s , but r a t h e r , t o The Theory of Mor a l S e n t i m e n t s . These c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the S c o t t i s h e n l i g h t e n m e n t --t h a t b l e n d i n g of 'reason' and ' s e n t i m e n t ' -- a r e c l e a r l y e v i d e n t i n the work and i d e a s of Henry Brougham. When he e n t e r e d Edinburgh U n i v e r s i t y i n 1792, Brougham q u i c k l y became a d i s c i p l e of the s c i e n t i s t B l a c k and the m a t h e m a t i c i a n P l a y f a i r . He worshi p p e d B l a c k , whom he c a l l e d " the f i r s t 36 p h i l o s o p h e r of h i s age." A c c o r d i n g t o Brougham, i t was 37 B l a c k who had made c h e m i s t r y a s c i e n c e : 18 I t was c e r t a i n t h a t a f t e r t h e d i s c o v e r i e s o f B l a c k had opened v a s t and new v i e w s o f n a t u r e , b o t h as r e g a r d s t h e o p e r a t i o n s of h e a t , t h e most p o w e r f u l and u n i v e r s a l o f a l l a g e n t s , and a s r e g a r d s t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n of e l a s t i c f l u i d s , t h e most unknown o f t h e f o u r e l e m e n t s , no n a t u r a l p h i l o s o p h e r would have had t h e h a r d i h o o d t o d o u b t i f c h e m i s t r y was an i m p o r t a n t b r a n c h o f h i s s c i e n c e . But what i m p r e s s e d Brougham most was B l a c k ' s a b i l i t y t o "show him b o t h t h e c o n n e c t i o n o f t h e t h e o r y w i t h t h e f a c t s , and t h e 38 s t e p s by w h i c h t h e p r i n c i p l e s were o r i g i n a l l y a s c e r t a i n e d . " Brougham became s o m e t h i n g o f a s c i e n t i s t i n h i s own r i g h t . A t t h e young age o f s e v e n t e e n , he w r o t e a p a p e r on Newton's O p t i c s e n t i t l e d " E x p e r i m e n t s and O b s e r v a t i o n s on t h e I n f l e c t i o n , R e f l e c t i o n , and C o l o u r s o f L i g h t " , w h i c h was r e a d by t h e R o y a l S o c i e t y . T h i s was f o l l o w e d by a n o t h e r p a p e r on l i g h t as w e l l as one on ' p o r i s m s ' . Brougham a l s o had t h e r a t h e r d u b i o u s d i s t i n c t i o n o f " d e l a y i n g t h e wave t h e o r y ( o f l i g h t ) f o r some c o n s i d e r a b l e t i m e " as a r e s u l t o f h i s s e v e r e c r i t i c i s m o f Thomas Young i n an 1803 a r t i c l e f o r t h e E d i n b u r g h 39 Review. W h i l e Brougham was n o t t o make t h e s u b j e c t h i s p r o f e s s i o n , he r e t a i n e d h i s l o v e f o r s c i e n c e and h i s f a i t h i n t h e s c i e n t i f i c method t h r o u g h o u t h i s l o n g l i f e . And, l i k e most e n l i g h t e n m e n t t h i n k e r s , he c o n s t a n t l y r e f e r r e d t o t h e e x a m p l e s o f Newton and Bacon i n h i s w r i t i n g s . In f a c t , he was s o m e t h i n g o f an e x p e r t on t h e l i f e a nd t i m e s o f Bacon. However, Brougham's i n t e r e s t i n s c i e n c e was n o t c o n f i n e d t o c h e m i s t r y and o p t i c s ; r a t h e r , i t was t h e e n l i g h t e n m e n t i d e a l . S c i e n c e , or r e a s o n , was a u n i v e r s a l l y a p p l i c a b l e 19 method for a r r i v i n g at knowledge. With th i s t o o l , any f i e l d of enquiry could be reduced to general laws. In an essay e n t i t l e d "Objects, Pleasures, and Advantages of P o l i t i c a l 40 Science," Brougham wrote: General p r i n c i p l e s of Moral and P o l i t i c a l Science may thus be established, by reasoning upon the results of experience; and from those p r i n c i p l e s , rules for our guidance may be drawn, highly useful both in the regulation of the i n d i v i d u a l understanding, and in the managing of the concerns of communities of men. To deny that Morals and P o l i t i c s may be reduced to a science, because the truths of Natural Philosophy rest upon more clear evidence and assume a more precise form, would be as absurd as to deny that experimental science i s deserving of the name, because i t s proofs are more feeble, and i t s propositions less d e f i n i t e and less c l o s e l y connected together than those of pure mathematics. This understanding of 'science' helps to explain Brougham's 41 comprehensive range of knowledge. He could write with some authority on any number of subjects from the habits of bees 42 to the existence of God. The e x p l i c i t l y Scottish influence becomes evident when we turn to Brougham's attitude towards society. Like almost a l l the other members of the Scottish School, he did not regard man as an i s o l a t e d i n d i v i d u a l but a s o c i a l being. For t h i s reason, he was more i n c l i n e d to stress man's 'duty' than his 'rights*. Although he was an ardent reformer, and even looked upon as an extremist by some of the older members of the Scottish School, Brougham believed that society was an organic 43 body and that a l l change should be gradual. In 1818, he wrote 44 in t h i s way about the old English reformers: They-knew well that man and nature, or rather i t s great Parent, must proceed by very d i f f e r e n t steps; and that, while the l a t t e r , according to Lord Bacon's beautiful observation, engenders at once the 20 whole plant, so that the rudiments of each part are to be formed in the germ, from whence the l i g h t , the a i r , the shower, expand and educate the perfect vegetable; f i n i t e beings must be content to add things to each other, and go on by successive experiments, step by step, u n t i l , through many t r i a l s and f a i l u r e s , they work something approaching to the object of t h e i r wishes. Such an approach was to lead i n e v i t a b l y to d i f f i c u l t i e s in dealing with the Benthamite u t i l i t a r i a n s , whose view of society was far more mechanical. Henry Brougham, on the other hand, was much more l i k e a modern s o c i o l o g i s t than the advocate of the pe r f e c t l y ordered utopia. Thus, i t i s not surprising to fin d that when the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science was founded i n 1857 for the purpose of discovering "the laws which govern men's habits and the p r i n c i p l e s of human nature, upon which the structure of society and i t s movements depend" Brougham took the chair and delivered the 45 inaugural address. In many of his essays, such as A Discourse of the Gbjects, Advantages, and Pleasures of Science (1828), Brougham introduced his subject matter by enclosing i t within the t r a d i t i o n a l 45 structures of moral philosophy. For example, he wrote: After the many instances or samples which have now been given of the nature and objects of Natural Science, we might proceed to a d i f f e r e n t f i e l d , and describe in the same way the other grand branch of Human knowledge, that which teaches the properties, or habits of 'mind* -- the ' i n t e l l e c t u a l f a c u l t i e s ' of man, or the powers of his understanding, by which he perceives, imagines, remembers, and reasons; --his 'moral f a c u l t i e s ' , or the feelings and passions which influence him; and, l a s t l y , as a conclusion or result drawn from the whole, his 'duties' both towards himself as an i n d i v i d u a l , and towards others as a member of society; which l a s t head opens to our view the whole doctrines of ' p o l i t i c a l science', 21 i n c l u d i n g the nature of 'governments', of ' p o l i c y ' and g e n e r a l l y of 'laws'. Again, t h i s i s a r e s u l t of h i s Edinburgh t r a i n i n g . Brougham attended l e c t u r e s on moral p h i l o s o p h y from Dugald Stewart. Stewart's Account of the L i f e and W r i t i n g s of Adam Smith was an a c t i v e s y n t h e s i s of the views of the S c o t t i s h School on progress, epistemology, m o r a l i t y , and economics, 4'' And, although Brougham seldom r e f e r r e d to Stewart i n h i s w r i t i n g s , a l l of h i s comments i n d i c a t e d t h at he had a gr e a t deal of r e s p e c t f o r 48 h i s "revered f r i e n d " and teacher. In summary, we can say that Brougham was an exemplar of the 'paradox' of S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e . He advocated the use of the s c i e n t i f i c method, while adhering to the 'a p r i o r i ' and s o c i o l o g i c a l c o n s t r u c t s of moral p h i l o s o p h y . He was d i s g u s t e d with Highland backwardness at the same time as he took an i n t e r e s t i n the a n t i q u a r i a n s t u d i e s of G a e l i c l i f e and language. And, l i k e other members of the S c o t t i s h School, Brougham tended to regard the development of c i v i l i z a t i o n i n terms of economic prog r e s s . T h i s p a r t i c u l a r l y S c o t t i s h set of a t t i t u d e s and values was to have an enormous i n f l u e n c e on the way i n which Brougham viewed, and proposed s o l u t i o n s t o, ' s o c i a l f a c t s ' . 22 C H A P T E R I I S C O T T I S H I N S T I T U T I O N S 23 B e f o r e t u r n i n g t o a d i s c u s s i o n of Brougham's a c t i v i t i e s ^ i n E n g l a n d , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o examine y e t a n o t h e r a s p e c t o f S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e . F o r S c o t t i s h c u l t u r e was n o t o n l y t h e r e s p o n s e o f a s m a l l n a t i o n w h i c h f e l t i t s i d e n t i t y t h r e a t e n e d f r o m t h e o u t s i d e , i t a l s o r e f l e c t e d a t t i t u d e s w h i c h had l o n g been m a i n t a i n e d and l e g i t i m i z e d i n u n i q u e l y S c o t t i s h i n s t i t u t i o n s . When S c o t l a n d ' s i d e n t i t y came'infco d a n g e r o f b e i n g a s s i m i l a t e d a f t e r 1707, t h e s e i n s t i t u t i o n s t o o k on a n a t i o n a l i m p o r t a n c e . I n d e e d , t h e S c o t s were q u i c k t o b o a s t o f t h e s u p e r i o r i t y o f t h e i r own i n s t i t u t i o n s o v e r t h o s e o f E n g l a n d . Henry Brougham was no e x c e p t i o n . He o f t e n e x p r e s s e d h i s ' r e s p e c t and a d m i r a t i o n ' f o r . S c o t t i s h i n s t i t u t i o n s i n word and p r i n t . m o reover, i n l a r g e p a r t , Brougham m o d e l l e d h i s r e f o r m measures on s p e c i f i c a l l y S c o t t i s h e s t a b l i s h m e n t s . T h e r e f o r e , i f we a r e t o comprehend f u l l y Brougham's v i e w s on s o c i a l r e f o r m , we must c o n s i d e r S c o t l a n d ' s d i f f e r e n t s y s t e m s o f law, p o o r r e l i e f , and e d u c a t i o n . I I f he had h i s w i s h , Henry Brougham p r o b a b l y would have f o l l o w e d t h e t h e o r e t i c a l c a r e e r o f h i s t e a c h e r b l a c k . As he t o l d h i s f r i e n d F r a n c i s H o r n e r : 1 S c i e n c e i s u n q u e s t i o n a b l y a f a r f i n e r f i e l d t h a n Law or even p o l i t i c s : b u t w o r l d l y t h i n g s have t h e i r w e i g h t and t h e i r s w e e t s : an i n d e p e n d a n t s p i r i t r e v o l t s f r o m t h e i d e a o f s u b s i s t i n g w h o l l y on any man's b o u n t y , even on a f a t h e r ' s . So, i n 1796, Brougham began h i s s t u d i e s f o r t h e S c o t t i s h Oar, t o w h i c h he was a d m i t t e d i n 1800. He s p e n t s e v e r a l y e a r s as 24 a lawyer on the Scottish c i r c u i t . However, as his l e t t e r s to James Loch and Francis Horner indicate, Brougham viewed the House of Commons as his "ultimate" objective and his ambition was not s a t i s f i e d to remain in V.the sticky bottom of Scots 2 law." Therefore, he had his name entered at Lincoln's Inn, and began his studies of English law i n 1B04. The future Lord Chancellor had l i t t l e love for English law; he regarded i t as a means to an end. At the outset of his studies, Brougham wrote to his fr i e n d Loch:. The English Bar i s in a very great degree tedious, and, to say the least of i t , somewhat uncertain. I look forward with no small horror to f i v e years' d u l l unvaried drudgery, which must be undergone to obtain the p r i v i l e g e of drudging s t i l l harder, among a set of disagreeable people of brutal manners and confined t a l e n t s . The i m p l i c i t assumption behind t h i s statement i s that of the supe r i o r i t y of Scottish law and lawyers. Brougham here i s underlining the fundamental difference between the two systems. And, i f one wishes to understand Brougham's future a c t i v i t i e s as a le g a l reformer, i t i s important to be aware of these differences. When Brougham referred to the "brutal manners and confined t a l e n t s " of English lawyers, he was doubtless comparing them to the c u l t u r a l e l i t e of the Scottish legal system. For the Scots, law was regarded as "not only a profession leading to p o l i t i c a l advancement but also as a gentlemanly pursuit and a guarantee of a l i b e r a l mind." 4 Many Scottish lawyers doubled as h i s t o r i a n s , writers, antiquarians, poets, and l i t e r a r y 5 c r i t i c s . The l i s t included such men as Walter Scott, Charles 25 E r s k i n e , L o r d Karnes, and L o r d J e f f r e y . Brougham, t o o , w r o t e p o e t r y and l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m ( a l t h o u g h h i s a t t e m p t a t w r i t i n g a n o v e l was a m i s e r a b l e f a i l u r e ) . In f a c t , most o f t h e E d i n b u r g h ' l i t e r a t i ' were t r a i n e d i n S c o t t i s h law. And, a s D a v i d D a i c h e s n o t e s , t h e y were w e l l aware o f i t s n a t i o n a l 7 s i g n i f i c a n c e s many j u d g e s , a d v o c a t e s , and ' w r i t e r s ' r e g a r d e d t h e m s e l v e s , w i t h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f c o n s c i o u s a w a r e n e s s , as g u a r d i a n s o f a p e c u l i a r l y S c o t t i s h t r a d i t i o n . They r e a l i z e d t h e n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r o f t h e S c o t t i s h l e g a l s y s t e m , and b e i n g an e l i t e t h e y r e g a r d e d t h e m s e l v e s as l e a d e r s n o t o n l y o f s o c i e t y b ut o f n a t i o n a l t h o u g h t . But S c o t t i s h law was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by more t h a n j u s t i t s e l i t e c l i e n t e l e ; i t was a v e r y d i f f e r e n t s y s t e m f r o m t h e -C-Qfn-mo'n law o f E n g l a n d . In e s s e n s e , G-omrrron law i s an amalgam o f p r a c t i c e s and c u s t o m s w h i c h have t h e i r b a s i s i n l o c a l t r a d i t i o n . E n g l i s h Common law was a complex c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e c u s t o m a r y l a w s o§ t h e A n g l o - S a x o n s , t h e f e u d a l p r a c t i c e s and r o y a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e Normans, and t h e l a t e r r e f i n e m e n t s and i m p r o v i s a t i o n s o f j u d g e made law. In t h e c o u r s e o f t i m e , E n g l i s h c r i m i n a l law became a complex and u n w i e l d y maze o f l e g i s l a t i o n . F o r example, E n g l i s h c i v i l law began a s a n - e x t e n s i o n o f t h e K i n g ' s g C o u r t i n t o t h e b u s i n e s s o f p r i v a t e d i s p u t e s . Each new c a s e had t o be d e a l t w i t h by f o r m a l w r i t t e n o r d e r s c a l l e d ' w r i t s ' . However, i n t i m e t h e s e ' w r i t s ' p i l e d up and, s i n c e t h e y were e x t r e m e l y f o r m a l documents, t h e t e c h n i c a l i t i e s o f E n g l i s h law became s t a n d a r d . And, b e c a u s e e v e r y ' w r i t ' was l e g a l l y b i n d i n g , i t was up t o j u d g e s t o d e c i d e what was ' r e l e v a n t 26 in past cases and what was n o t . " ^ Given the weighty body of often c o n f l i c t i n g l e g i s l a t i o n which had accumulated over the centuries, t h i s c e r t a i n l y was no mean task. When Brougham referred to the "drudgery" of English law, what he meant was this system of 'stare d e c i s i s ' or the following of precedent. Scottish law, on the other hand, had roots as.far back and preceeding the 'auld A l l i a n c e ' with F r a n c e . ^ It was comparative and cosmopolitan in flavour where English law was ins u l a r . The absence of a complex maze of l e g i s l a t i o n --largely due to the influence of 'Romano-canonical' law --enabled i t to be much more e f f e c t i v e and f l e x i b l e than i t s English counterpart. For insLance, Scotland's criminal laws in the eighteenth and nineteenth century were much fewer and ; less harsh than those of England during the same period; the speed and certainty of punishment reduced the need for a 12 mu l t i p l i c a t i o n of laws and bloody examples. Furthermore, Scottish law was capable of changing with the times where English law was not. In The Scottish Legal Tradition , Lord Cooper w r i t e s : ^ tested by the standards of the modern philosophy of jurisprudence and by experience, the c l a s s i c a l law of S t a i r , Erskine, and B e l l has proved to be eminently suited to Scottish needs and eminently capable of adaptation and adjustment to solve the new problems of a transformed s o c i a l world, which i t s authors never beheld even in a v i s i o n . It was only after the Napoleonic Wars that Scottish law began to become absorbed into the law- of Great B r i t a i n -- much to the chagrin of Scottish n a t i o n a l i s t s then and now. 27 As was t h e c a s e w i t h Germany, F r a n c e , and H o l l a n d , S c o t l a n d ' s laws were c h a r a c t e r i z e d by t h e p r e d o m i n a n t i n f l u e n c e o f Roman law. Between 1100 and 1500, Roman law became t h e b a s i s f o r l e g a l s c i e n c e t h r o u g h o u t w e s t e r n E u r o p e . ^ 4 c U n l i k e E n g l i s h law, i n w h i c h p r e c e d e n t was s t r i c t l y a d h e r e d t o , Roman law was b a s e d upon d e f i n i t e p r i n c i p l e s o f j u s t i c e or ' e q u i t y ' . These p r i n c i p l e s , i n t i m e , came t o be e q u a t e d w i t h ' n a t u r a l law', o r t h e law w h i c h was t h e o r e t i c a l l y b i n d i n g on a l l human s o c i e t i e s . Roman law p r o b a b l y f i r s t e n t e r e d 15 S c o t l a n d t h r o u g h c h u r c h and canon law. D u r i n g t h e p e r i o d o f t h e ' a u l d A l l i a n c e ' (1329-1460) and even l a t e r , Roman law was r e c e i v e d i n t o S c o t l a n d f r o m F r a n c e . S c o t t i s h s t u d e n t s s t u d i e d i n O r l e a n s , B o u r g e s , and L o u v a i n . However, a f t e r t h e R e f o r m a t i o n c u t t h e d i r e c t t i e s between F r a n c e and S c o t l a n d , S c o t t i s h s t u d e n t s u s u a l l y went t o L e y d e n i n H o l l a n d t o c a r r y o n ' . t h e i r l e g a l s t u d i e s . Thus, t h e r e was a c o n t i n u o u s i n f l u e n c e o f Roman law on Lowl a n d S c o t l a n d . T h i s was r e f l e c t e d i n t h e two c l a s s i c s o f S c o t t i s h law, S t a i r ' s ' I n s t i t u t i o n s ' (1681) and E r s k i n e ' s ' I n s t i t u t e ' ( 1 7 7 3 ) . B o t h works r e l i e d h e a v i l y upon Roman law as a s o u r c e o f i n s p i r a t i o n . I n v a r i a b l y , Roman law s u p e r s e d e d Common law a s t h e g u i d e f o r l e g i s l a t i o n i n S c o t l a n d . ^ W i t h t h i s s o r t o f l e g a l t r a i n i n g , i t i s h a r d l y s u r p r i s i n g t h a t Brougham ~ f o u n d E n g l i s h law u n s a t i s f a c t o r y . R e p e a t e d l y , he c l a i m e d t h a t i t was chaotic and i n d i r a need o f c o d i f i c a t i o n a c c o r d i n g t o d e f i n i t e p r i n c i p l e s . In h i s e s s a y "On t h e making and D i g e s t i n g o f t h e Law," Brougham c o m p l a i n e d o f t h e 28 b a c k w a r d n e s s o f E n g l i s h l aw: I am v e r y w e l l a s s u r e d t h a t were a F r e n c h l a w y e r t o p a s s a p o r t i o n o f h i s t i m e y e a r l y i n E n g l a n d as I do i n F r a n c e , he would f i n d h i m s e l f e x c e e d i n g l y a t a l o s s t o a s c e r t a i n t h e many p o i n t s r e s p e c t i n g w h i c h I have o c c a s i o n t o seek i n f o r m a t i o n , and h a r d l y e v e r t o seek i t i n v a i n , f r o m t h e F r e n c h Codes. Suppose any one r e s o r t i n g t o our c o u n t r y i n t h i s way, were t o ask a f r i e n d i n what book he must l o o k f o r i n f o r m a t i o n a s t o t h e law, e i t h e r c i v i l o r c r i m i n a l , u nder w h i c h he had come f o r a s e a s o n ' t o l i u e : I w i l l v e n t u r e t o s a y a more p e r p l e x i n g q u e s t i o n c o u l d n o t be p u t . Brougham went on t o p o i n t o u t t h a t t h e p r a c t i c e o f Common law l e f t f a r t o o much power i n t h e hands o f i n d i v i d u a l s , t h u s g i v i n g r i s e t o " t h e u n c e r t a i n s t a t e o f c o n f l i c t i n g d i c t a o f 18 J u d g e s . " However, i t s w e a k e s t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c , he a r g u e d , was t h a t i t f a i l e d t o a d j u s t t o t h e t i m e s -- i t .was " o b s o l e t e . " The d i f f e r e n c e between t h e two s y s t e m s h e l p s t o e x p l a i n why E n g l a n d d i d n o t e x p e r i e n c e a n y t h i n g l i k e an ' e n l i g h t e n m e n t ' . The ' n a t u r a l law' t h e o r i s t s o f t h e e n l i g h t e n m e n t l o o k e d t o S t o i c p h i l o s o p h y i n s u p p o r t o f l o g i c a l p r o o f and d e f i n i t i o n : i n j u r i s p r u d e n c e . They a l s o b e l i e v e d t h a t ' n a t u r a l l a w s ' a p p l i e d i n a l l t h e b r a n c h e s o f human, n a t u r a l , and t h e o l o g i c a l 19 s c i e n c e . F o r them, law s h o u l d be t h e r e f l e c t i o n o f man's 20 r e a s o n r a t h e r t h a n h i s t o r i c a l f a c t : Law i n i t s p r i m a r y and o r i g i n a l s e n s e , i n t h e s e n s e o f " n a t u r a l law" ( ' l e x n a t u r a l i s ' ) , c an n e v e r be r e s o l v e d i n t o a sum o f m e r e l y a r b i t r a r y a c t s . Law i s n ot s i m p l y t h e sum t o t a l o f t h a t w h i c h has been d e c r e e d and e n a c t e d ; i t i s t h a t w h i c h o r i g i n a l l y a r r a n g e s t h i n g s . I t i s " o r d e r i n g o r d e r " ('ordo o r d i n a n s ' ) , n o t " o r d e r e d o r d e r " ('ordo o r d i n a t u s ' ) . The p e r f e c t c o n c e p t of law p r e s u p p o s e s w i t h o u t doubt a commandment a f f e c t i n g i n d i v i d u a l w i l l s . But t h i s commandment does n o t c r e a t e t h e i d e a o f law and j u s t i c e , i t i s s u b j e c t t o t h i s i d e a . The E n g l i s h c o n c e p t i o n o f law was q u i t e d i f f e r e n t . One 21 s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y w r i t e r summarized i t as f o l l o w s : 29 (English customary law) i s so framed and f i t t e d to the nature and d i s p o s i t i o n of t h i s people, as we may say i t i s connatural to the Nation, so as i t cannot possibly be ruled by any other Law. This Law therefore doth demonstrate the strength of wit and reason and s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c e y which hath been always i n the People of thi s Land, which have mads their own Laws out of the i r wisedom and experience ( l i k e a silk-worm that formeth a l l her web out of her s e l f onely), not begging or borrowing a form of Commonweal, either from 'Rome' or from 'Greece', as a l l other Nations of 'Europe' have done... Notice that the concept of 'reason' and 'nature' are used in a very d i f f e r e n t sense here than they are in the writings of the Scottish and French i n t e l l e c t u a l s . 'Reason' refers to the wisdom of t r a d i t i o n , while 'natural' simple means customary. The practice of English law precluded the .enlightenment notion of 'natural law'. Thishelps to explain Edmund Burke's fundamental opposition to the 'philosophes' of the French Revolution. In his c r i t i c i s m of the r-ev-Q-lti^e^ar-i.es i d e a l bf " j u s t i c e , " Burke employed the concepts 22 of 'reason' and 'nature' in a t y p i c a l l y English way. For the Scottish thinkers, law was to be deduced from the pr i n c i p l e s of moral philosophy. They stressed the duties which each i n d i v i d u a l has in the maintenance of s o c i a l l i f e . In The Wealth of Nations, for example, Adam Smith presented his subject as a branch of "jurisprudence" and the "science of the l e g i s l a t o r . " Lord Karnes was quite representative of the Scottish viewpoint when he claimed in his Essays on the Pri n c i p l e s of Morality and Natural Religion (1751) that a l l law has i t s roots in man's 'moral sense' or 'peculiar f e e l i n g ' . Karnes' 23 biographer, Ian Ross, writes: 30 The o b j e c t s o f t h e ' p e c u l i a r f e e l i n g ' , j u s t i c e , f a i t h , and t r u t h , a r e s t r i c t l y e n t a i l e d by o u r d u t y , and w i t h o u t them s o c i e t y would d e g e n e r a t e i n t o a n a r c h y . The whole d r i f t o f t h i s a rgument i s o f t h e g r e a t e s t i n t e r e s t when i t i s remembered t h a t Home (Karnes) i s a S c o t s l a w y e r , p r e s u m a b l y n u r t u r e d on S t a i r ' s ' I n s t i t u t i o n s ' , w i t h a l l i t s s t r e s s on t h e o p e r a t i o n o f r i g h t r e a s o n i n making m o r a l and u l t i m a t e l y j u d i c i a l d e c i s i o n s : 'Law i s t h e d i c t a t e o f r e a s o n d e t e r m i n i g e v e r y r a t i o n a l b e i n g t o t h a t w h i c h i s c o n g r u e n t f o r t h e n a t u r e t h e r e o f ' . S i m i l a r v i e w s were h e l d by a l l t h e members o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . John M i l l a r ' s s o c i a l p h i l o s o p h y , f o r example, d e r i v e d l a r g e l y f r o m h i s l e g a l t r a i n i n g -- he was P r o f e s s o r o f Law i n Glasgow U n i v e r s i t y f r o m 1761 t o 1 8 0 1 . ^ 4 Henry.Brougham, too, was d e e p l y imbued w i t h t h e m o r a l i s t i c a t t i t u d e o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l t o w a r d s law. Brougham e v i d e n c e s a f a i r l y e x t e n s i v e k n o w l e d g e o f t h e l e g a l i d e a s o f S t a i r , E r s k i n e , and B a r o n D a v i d Hume t h r o u g h o u t h i s w r i t i n g s and s p e e c h e s . But h i s b a c k g r o u n d i n S c o t t i s h j u r i s p r u d e n c e comes o u t most s h a r p l y i n h i s t r e a t m e n t o f f o r e i g n p o l i c y . Brougham c o n s i d e r e d h i m s e l f . a n e x p e r t on t h e sub j e c t and wr o t e p r o l i f i c a l y on s u c h t o p i c s a s c o l o n i a l p o l i c y , t h e b a l a n c e o f power, t h e 'Hol y A l l i a n c e ' , and f o r e i g n i n t e r v e n t i o n . In an 1848 e s s a y on " G e n e r a l P r i n c i p l e s o f F o r e i g n P o l i c y " , he c o n t i n u a l l y a t t e m p t e d t o f i t s p e c i f i c 25 c a s e s o f f o r e i g n p o l i c y w i t h i n c l e a r l y e t h i c a l p r i n c i p l e s . F o r example, he a r g u e d t h a t w h i l e t h e c o n f i s c a t i o n o f Denmark's f l e e t d u r i n g t h e N a p o l e o n i c Wars was j u s t i f i e d i n o r d e r t o p r e s e r v e i t f r o m f a l l i n g i n t o t h e hands o f t h e enemy, t h e f a i l u r e o f B r i t a i n t o r e s t o r e t h e f l e e t t o i t s p r o p e r owner on a f t e r t h e war was q u i t e i l l e g a l , s i n c e i t c o u l d n o t be b a s e d -rrr 31 any moral p r i n c i p l e . It could only be held on the grounds that 'might i s r i g h t ' . Brougham went on to maintain that a country's foreign relations should not r e f l e c t i t s own s e l f -i n t e r e s t , but rather, the values of j u s t i c e and humanity. Since international r e l a t i o n s should be conducted within the bounds of moral law, Brougham advocated the union of a l l countries into a league for the defence of member states against rapacious aggressors. However, the league was not to mdddle in the in t e r n a l a f f a i r s of any of i t s members; the sins of the 'Holy A l l i a n c e ' were to be avoided at a l l costs. It made l i t t l e difference to Brougham that his 'league' did not conform to the practice of foreign policy in his day. The j u s t i f i c a t i o n for a league of t h i s sort existed in reason and moral law. Brougham's views on foreign policy were derived from 'natural law' theory and, ultimately, from Stoic philosophy. And he was well aware of t h i s . In "A H i s t o r i c a l View of the Doctrine 26 of Foreign Policy", he wrote: The Law of Nations, sometimes not ir^naccurately termed ( International law, was thus introduced, or rather was reduced to a system; for i t s p r i n c i p l e s , grounded on the plain maxims of natural j u s t i c e , existed at a l l times, and were at a l l times admitted i n argument, how widely soever departed from practice... The Roman Lawyers gave the name of Law of Nations ('Jus Gentium') to that branch of Law which we term National; namely, the law which a l l nations use, the p r i n c i p l e s of natural j u s t i c e which, being implanted in the minds of a l l men, are recognized by the municipal Laws of a l l nations, and are the foundation of a l l systems of jurisprudence. But what we term International law, the law that binds, or ought to bind independant states in th e i r intercourse and mutual r e l a t i o n s --the Law which regards a l l States as forming one great community -- this was termed by the Roman j u r i s t s , Natural Law ('Jus Naturale'). 32 Brougham's debt to the Scottish t r a d i t i o n of moral philosophy i s f a i r l y clear in thi s passage. It i s also shown e a r l i e r on in the essay, when Brougham referred to Robertson's History of Charles V and Hume's Essay on the Balance of Power as the source of many of his ideas. The i n t e l l e c t u a l lineage was a direct one. In conclusion, we can say that Brougham's attitude towards both le g a l practice and theory was heavily determined by his tra i n i n g in Scots law and his.study of moral philosophy. Brougham was quite convinced of the su p e r i o r i t y of Scottish law to the Common law of England, which he thought was archaic, confused, and unjust. It i s also probable that Brougham's d i s l i k e for English law r e f l e c t e d his inbred S c o t t i s h nationalism. At any rate, l i k e Lord Mansfield before him, Henry Brougham was l i t t l e impressed with the aesthetic q u a l i t i e s of English Common law. He found the "silk-worm's web" to be a sticky "trap." II Henry Brougham was even more annoyed at the English treatment of poverty than he was with th e i r notion of 'law'. The aspect of the English Poor Law which Brougham detested most was i t s encouragement of the " i d l e and the p r o f l i g a t e . " He contrasted t h i s s i t u a t i o n with the one which obtained in Sc o t l a n d : 2 7 Scotland i s not a land where many v i s i o n a r i e s or speculators are to be found. Metaphysically as some of i t s inhabitants are i n c l i n e d , they have an utter 33 contempt f o r a n y t h i n g t h a t does n o t promote t h e i r cwn r e a l and s u b s t a n t i a l a d v a n t a g e . . . My p r a i s e o f t h e S c o t c h i s , t h a t t h e y know and f o l l o w what i s t h e i r r e a l a d v a n t a g e , and t h a t t h e y do n o t see t h e a d v a n t a g e s o f v i c e and i d l e n e s s . T h e i r y o u t h a r e n o t b r o u g h t up i n v i c e and i d l e n e s s , b u t i n p e r s e v e r i n g , and i n d u s t r i o u s h a b i t s . To Brougham's mind, i d l e n e s s was t h e c a r d i n a l s i n s i n c e i t d e s t r o y e d a p e r s o n ' s " m o r a l s e n s e . " " G u i l t " , " c r i m e " , and 28 " i m pure d e s i r e s " were t h e " r e c o r d s o f i d l e n e s s . " I n d u s t r y and t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f one's f a c u l t i e s , on t h e o t h e r hand, were " t h e s a f e g u a r d a g a i n s t i m p ure d e s i r e s " and " t h e t r u e 29 p r e v e n t a t i v e o f c r i m e s . " Brougham's a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s work and i d l e n e s s had a p a r t i c u l a r l y S c o t t i s h f l a v o u r . The m o r a l i s t i c l a n g u a g e i n w h i c h he p r a i s e d ' i n d u s t r y ' and condemned ' s l o t h ' does n o t have a u t i l i t a r i a n t o n e . I n s t e a d , i t r e f l e c t s e l e m e n t s o f m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y i n c o m b i n a t i o n w i t h a t r a d i t i o n a l l y S c o t t i s h a p p r o a c h t o p o v e r t y . Such v i e w s . w e r e t y p i c a l o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . When M a l t h u s d r o p p e d h i s b o m b s h e l l on t h e t h e o r i s t s o f human p r o g r e s s , i t was no c o i n c i d e n c e t h a t among h i s most a r d e n t s u p p o r t e r s were t h e w r i t e r s o f t h e E d i n b u r g h Review. A l o n g w i t h M a l t h u s , t h e y s h a r e d a d i s t a s t e f o r t h e ' v i c e s ' o f i d l e n e s s . Long b e f o r e M a l t h u s a r g u e d t h a t " d e p e n d e n t p o v e r t y ought t o be h e l d d i s g r a c e f u l , " t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r law had 30 been o p e r a t i n g on j u s t t h a t p r i n c i p l e . The S c o t t i s h p o o r law had i t s b a s i s i n t h e S t a t u t e o f 1579. Here, a c l e a r d i s t i n c t i o n was made between t h e i m p o t e n t p o o r , who were t o be " p l a c e d i n alms h o u s e s or g i v e n badges t o beg" and t h e 34 31 " s t u r d y b e g g a r s " who were t o be " a r r e s t e d and s c o u r g e d . " Thus, o n l y t h e most d e s t i t u t e : t h e a g e d , widows, and i n v a l i d s , were e l i g i b l e f o r r e l i e f . Even t h e n , h e l p was s c a n t y . Poor r e l i e f was c a l c u l a t e d a n n u a l l y a t t h e k i r k s e s s i o n s . However, s i n c e f u n d s f o r t h i s p u r p o s e were o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y d o n a t i o n , t h e y were n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o be o f much h e l p t o t h e needy. In t i m e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l s c a r c i t y , s u c h as t h e c r o p f a i l u r e o f 1783, t h e a b l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r was u n a b l e t o o b t a i n t h e r e l i e f n e c e s s a r y t o s u p p o r t h i m s e l f and h i s f a m i l y . I n d i v i d u a l a t t e m p t s by l a n d l o r d s t o remedy t h e s i t u a t i o n by r e d u c i n g r e n t s o r making ch e a p c o r n a v a i l a b l e , were t o o s p o r a d i c and r e g i o n a l t o be o f much u s e . The w i d e s p r e a d d i s t r e s s w h i c h o c c u r r e d was d e s c r i b e d by one w i t n e s s f r o m 32 I n v e r n e s s i n t h i s way: I c a n n o t e x p r e s s t o you t h e m i s e r a b l e s i t u a t i o n o f t h i s c o u n t r y -- T h e r e a r e many good f a r m e r s w i t h t h e i r w i v e s and c h i l d r e n b e g g i n g i n t h e s t r e e t s --L a s t h a r v e s t has f i n i s h e d t h e most o f them -- meal or any k i n d o f v i c t u a l s c a n n o t be had f o r l o v e o r money, and b e f o r e t h e summer i s o v e r p e o p l e w i l l d i e i n t h e f i e l d s f o r want. However, d e s p i t e t h e r e c u r r e n c e o f s u c h c o n d i t i o n s , t h e S c o t t i s h l a n d o w n e r s were adamant i n t h e i r o p p o s i t i o n t o o u t d o o r r e l i e f f o r t h e a b l e - b o d i e d p o o r . In c o m p a r i s o n t o t h e S c o t t i s h s y s t e m , t h e E n g l i s h Poor Law, w h i c h Brougham c r i t i c i z e d so v e h e m e n t l y , was r e l a t i v e l y humane. D u r i n g t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , E n g l i s h Poor Law p r a c t i c e was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a t a c i t r e c o g n i t i o n . o f t h e r i g h t 33 o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l t o s u b s i s t e n c e . The Speenhamland s y s t e m , 35 i n t r o d u c e d by t h e B e r k s h i r e m a g i s t r a t e s i n 1795, was c o n c e i v e d t o b r i n g a i d t o a b l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r s i n a t i m e o f a g r i c u l t u r a l d i s t r e s s . However, t h e ' r i g h t t o s u b s i s t e n c e ' was an a l i e n c o n c e p t t o t h e S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e . ^ Brougham h i m s e l f was s e v e r e i n h i s a t t a c k on s u c h a n o t i o n . In 1834, he • . 35 s a i d : They have s u c c e e d e d i n w h o l l y d i s c o n n e c t i n g t h e i d e a o f l a b o u r and i t s r e w a r d i n t h e minds o f t h e p e o p l e . . . P a r i s h a l l o w a n c e i s f a r worse t h a n a d o l e b e c a u s e i t i s more c e r t a i n i n i t s n a t u r e -- b e c a u s e i t i s b e t t e r known, more e s t a b l i s h e d -- b e c a u s e i t a p p r o a c h e s , i n t h e mind o f t h e p o o r , t o t h e i d e a o f a r i g h t . F o r Brougham, t h e r i g h t t o s u b s i s t e n c e was n o t t o be p e r m i t t e d s i n c e i t removed t h e m o r a l d u t y o f work f r o m i n d i v i d u a l s . One might s u s p e c t t h a t t h e h a r s h n e s s o f t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r law r e f l e c t e d C a l v i n i s t i c a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d s work and i d l e n e s s . B u t , a t l e a s t i n i t s a p p l i c a t i o n t o s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y S c o t l a n d , t h i s i d e a seems n o t t o be c o r r e c t . W h i l e t h e r e f o r m e d c h u r c h was c o n c e r n e d t o r i d t h e ' t r u e k i r k ' o f i d l e v a g r a n t s , i t was 35 a l s o t h e 'champion o f s o c i a l j u s t i c e ' f o r t h e p o o r . Knox and h i s f o l l o w e r s c o n t i n u a l l y u p b r a i d e d t h e S c o t t i s h l a n d o w n e r s f o r t h e i r u n c h r i s t i a n b e h a v i o r t o w a r d s t h e i m p o t e n t p o o r and t h e l a b o u r e r . I n d e e d , as T.C. Smout n o t e s , Knox's program f o r s p i r i t u a l r e f o r m i n c l u d e d a p l a n f o r b a s i n g p o o r r e l i e f on c h u r c h 37 teco-uie o f t i t h e s . When t h i s f a i l e d , d4=i-e—te-o- o p p o s i t i o n f r o m t h e l a n d o w n e r s , i t was t h r o u g h no f a u l t o f t h e G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y . On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e p r e s b y t e r i a n a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s work and i d l e n e s s d i d , i n t i m e , come t o p l a y a s i g n i f i c a n t r o l e i n S c o t t i s h t h i n k i n g on t h e s u b j e c t o f r e l i e f . Once S c o t t i s h poor 36 law p r a c t i c e had been f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d , i t was d e f e n d e d by S c o t s on r e l i g i o u s as w e l l as p r a c t i c a l g r o u n d s . In t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h and e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , S c o t t i s h c l e r g y m e n v i e w e d t h e E n g l i s h Poor Law as i m moral b e c a u s e i t e n c o u r a g e d T O i d l e n e s s and i r r e g u l a r i t y . They p o i n t e d t o t h e i r own i n s t i t u t i o n as a s a f e g u a r d a g a i n s t t h e s e ' v i c e s ' . T h e r e f o r e , i t i s s a f e t o s a y t h a t C a l v i n i s t t h o u g h t e v e n t u a l l y d i d i n f l u e n c e p o o r law p o l i c y , even t h o u g h i t s o r i g i n a l e f f e c t was f e l t on 39 t h e " p s y c h o l o g i c a l r a t h e r t h a n t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l p l a i n . " One t h i n g i s c e r t a i n , as a r e s u l t o f t h e S c o t t i s h a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s p o v e r t y , t h e c o s t o f p o o r r e l i e f i n t h a t c o u n t r y was e x t r e m e l y modest. In A H i s t o r y o f t h e S c o t c h Poor Law, N i c h o l l s compared t h e c o s t o f r e l i e f w i t h t h a t o f E n g l a n d i n t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y : 4 ^ C o s t (<£) % Pop. R a t e /Head Eng. 1840 4,576,965 7+3/4 5s l O ^ d S c o t . 1837 155,121 3+1/6 I s 3d Such f i g u r e s h e l p e d t o p e r p e t u a t e t h e myth t h a t t h e S c o t s were more i n d u s t r i o u s t h a n t h e i r E n g l i s h c o u n t e r p a r t s . In f a c t , Henry Erougham was one o f t h e l e a d i n g p r o p a g a n d i s t s f o r t h i s v i e w . He a t t r i b u t e d t h e S c o t s ' g r e a t " s u c c e s s i n l i f e " t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e was no p o o r law i n S c o t l a n d and t o t h e S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m w h i c h i n s t i l l e d ' h a b i t s o f i n d u s t r y ' . 4 * I n d e e d , i t i s f r o m p e o p l e l i k e Brougham t h a t t h e image o f t h e h a r d w o r k i n g p r a c t i c a l S c o t has come down t o us t o d a y . The q u e s t i o n i s -- does t h i s image have any b a s i s i n r e a l i t y ? As N i c h o l l s p o i n t e d o u t , t h e r e was no l a c k o f 37 v a g abonds and b e g g a r s i n S c o t l a n d . When B o s w e l l and J o h n s o n a r r i v e d i n E d i n b u r g h i n 1773, t h e y were s u r p r i s e d t o f i n d t h a t i t s p r o p o r t i o n o f b e g g a r s was as g r e a t i f n o t g r e a t e r t h a n 42 s i m i l a r towns i n E n g l a n d . And, as D o u g l a s Young p o i n t s out i n h i s book E d i n b u r g h i n t h e Age o f S i r W a l t e r S c o t t , t h e back s t r e e t s o f l a t e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y E d i n b u r g h were n o t u n l i k e t h o s e o f London -- " t h e r e s o r t o f m i s e r y , f i l t h , p o v e r t y , and v i c e . " 4 3 What o f t h e work h a b i t s o f t h e S c o t t i s h p e o p l e -- were t h e y i n f a c t more d i s c i p l i n e d and i n d u s t r i o u s t h a n t h e i r s o u t h e r n n e i g h b o u r s ? Brougham may have t h o u g h t s o , but t h e r e a l i t y o f t h e s i t u a t i o n was q u i t e d i f f e r e n t . A l t h o u g h some e n t e r p r i s i n g E n g l i s h managers t h o u g h t t h a t i t might be b e t t e r t o b u i l d t h e i r f a c t o r i e s i n S c o t l a n d d u r i n g t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e r e i s l i t t l e e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t t h a t t h e S c o t s had s u p e r i o r work h a b i t s . In The G e n e s i s o f Modern Management, S i d n e y P o l l a r d t e l l s o f t h e d i f f i c u l t y t h e S c o t t i s h t e x t i l e 44 f a c t o r i e s e x p e r i e n c e d i n r e c r u i t i n g and d i s c i p l i n i n g l a b o u r : In S c o t l a n d , s i n c e ' a l l t h e r e g u l a r l y t r a i n e d S c o t s p e a s a n t r y d i s d a i n e d t h e i d e a o f w o r k i n g e a r l y and l a t e , day a f t e r day, w i t h i n c o t t o n m i l l s ' , and ' i t was most d i f f i c u l t t o i n d u c e any s o b e r , w e l l - d o i n g f a m i l y t o l e a v e t h e i r home t o go i n t o c o t t o n m i l l s as t h e n c o n d u c t e d ' , t h e f o u n d e r s o f t h e m i l l s had t o employ t h e scum o f t h e c i t i e s , or s n a t c h a t p e o p l e i n d i s t r e s s . . . G l a s c o w m a s t e r s , i n d e e d p r e f e r r e d t h e I r i s h , who were d o c i l e and w i l l i n g t o t a k e s t a r v a t i o n wages. I t w ould seem, t h e r e f o r e , t h a t t h e much v a u n t e d r e p u t a t i o n f o r ' r e g u l a r h a b i t s ' and ' i n d u s t r y ' o f t h e S c o t t i s h p e o p l e was q u i t e u n f o u n d e d . 38 Regardless of their e f f i c a c y , the Scottish poor laws re f l e c t e d deep feelings towards poverty and work in the minds of Scots. And, while i t i s not clear to what extent these views themselves were derived from the practice of poor r e l i e f , they were c e r t a i n l y to have a longstanding e f f e c t upon the way in which the Scots perceived the problem of poverty. These attitudes were also r e f l e c t e d in Scottish i n t e l l e c t u a l c i r c l e s . Invariably, the members of the Scottish School viewed poor r e l i e f as an encouragement to idleness and a threat to 45 industry. According to A.W. Coats: members of the Scottish school maintained that man possessed a natural 'impulse to action*, so that the poor laws, by encouraging idleness among those who had not yet developed an 'active' habit of industry and enforcing idleness upon those who had, constituted a source of i n d i v i d u a l unhappiness as well as a loss to society. Or, as Lord Karnes succinctly put i t -- "men by inaction degenerate into o y s t e r s . " 4 ^ ' However, there i s yet another aspect of the 'enlightened' attitude towards work and poverty which requires explanation. For there i s no doubt that the members of the Scottish School were extremely concerned about the problem of economic backward-ness. They equated poverty, such as that which existed in the Highlands, with a low stage in the evolution of c i v i l i z a t i o n . They also considered work to be a fundamental duty of a l l members of society, since without i t economic advance and the raising of culture could not occur. In this context, pauperism became more than simply an i n d i v i d u a l problem; i t became a serious menace to c i v i l i z a t i o n . Thus, i t i s necessary to discuss 39 the t h e o r e t i c a l framework of the Scottish School in greater d e t a i l , In "Economics and History -- The Scottish Enlightenment," Andrew Skinner points out that a d i s t i n c t feature of the philosophy of the Scottish School was i t s development of 47 economic history. Indeed, Scottish thinkers t y p i c a l l y regarded h i s t o r i c a l progress in s p e c i f i c a l l y economic terms, viewing the le v e l of c i v i l i z a t i o n as dependant upon the stage _ 48 ' of socio-economic organization. Ferguson, M i l l a r , Steuart, and 5mith developed th i s method of analysis quite c l e a r l y i n their writings. S i r James Steuart, for example, believed that feudal government resulted from primitive methods of production which were doomed from the minute that a g r i c u l t u r e 49 became capable of producing a surplus. And, of course, Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, b u i l t upon t h i s type of analysis and carried i t a step further towards the idea of c a p i t a l i s t organization. Brougham too shared in these views. In his h i s t o r i c a l and p o l i t i c a l essays, he was quick to point out the advantages which the expansion of commerce brought about i n r a i s i n g the l e v e l of c i v i l i z a t i o n of the countries which pa r t i c i p a t e d in i t . He also argued that the form of a country's government was in large measure, caused by i t s economic structure. Thus, republics and mixed governments could only exist in countries 50 which were advanced economically. This ' m a t e r i a l i s t i c ' i nterpretation of history can be traced back to David Hume, to whom Brougham often referred in his own writings. In an essay e n t i t l e d "Of Refinement in the 40 Arts," Hume argued that c i v i l i z a t i o n and economic advance were inseparable: Industry i s much promoted by the knowledge inseperable from ages of art and refinement; as, on the other hand, th i s knowledge enables the public to make the best advantage of the industry of i t s subjects. Laws, order police, d i s c i p l i n e ; these can.never be ca r r i e d to any degree of perfection, before human reason has refined i t s e l f by exercise, and by an app l i c a t i o n to the more vulgar a r t s , at lea s t , of commerce and manu-facture. Can we expect, that a government w i l l be well modelled by a people, who know not how to make a spinning-wheel, or to employ a loom to advantage? The m a t e r i a l i s t i c approach, as Skinner shows in his essay, was most c l e a r l y developed in the work of Adam Smith and Brougham's 52 teacher, John M i l l a r . However, one should not overlook the work of other Scottish thinkers such as Dluir, Stewart, and Brougham's great uncle, Robertson. Economic thought did not merely constitute one area of study for the Scottish thinkers. As Ronald Meek argues in "The Scottish Contribution to Marxist Sociology," the Scottish School l a i d i t s "primary emphasis on the development of economic 53 techniques and economic r e l a t i o n s h i p s . " While i t i s true, as Bryson claims, that Scottish economic thought was only one branch of moral philosophy, i t i s nevertheless clear that i t 54 achieved predominance over a l l the other ones. For, i f one believes that the most important 'natural laws' of s o c i a l l i f e are necessarily economic ones, then moral philosophy, for a l l intents and purposes, tends to approach p o l i t i c a l economy. Both M i l l a r and Smith viewed human relationships primarily in terms of dependence upon the 'mode of production'. According to Smith, a l l men were born with.the "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another" as well as a desire 4 1 55 f o r s e l f - i m p r o v e m e n t . The d i f f e r e n c e between the most p r i m i t i v e s a v a g e and t h e most e n l i g h t e n e d man seemed to " a r i s e n o t so much f r o m n a t u r e as f r o m h a b i t , custom, and 56 e d u c a t i o n . " T h e s e i n t u r n were d e p e n d e n t upon t h e e x t e n t o f t h e d i v i s i o n o f l a b o u r i n s o c i e t y . In f a c t , S m i t h u n d e r s t o o d t h e p r o g r e s s o f i n t e l l e c t u a l i d e a s i n t h e same terms as he d i d 57 t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f p i n s : In t h e p r o g r e s s o f s o c i e t y , p h i l o s o p h y o r s p e c u l a t i o n becomes, l i k e e v e r y o t h e r employment, the p r i n c i p a l o r s o l e t r a d e and o c c u p a t i o n o f a p a r t i c u l a r c l a s s o f c i t i z e n s . . . E a c h i n d i v i d u a l becomes more e x p e r t i n h i s own p e c u l i a r b r a n c h , more work i s done upon t h e w hole, and t h e q u a n t i t y o f s c i e n c e i s c o n s i d e r a b l y i n c r e a s e d by i t . Once t h e complex o f s o c i e t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s had been r e d u c e d to a s i m p l e economic model, i t r e m a i n e d o n l y f o r t h e m o r a l p h i l o s o p h e r t o c l a r i f y t h e d u t y o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l w i t h i n i t . S i n c e , f o r S m i t h , a l l p r o g r e s s was an outcome o f t h e d i v i s i o n o f l a b o u r and man's p r o p e n s i t y f o r s e l f - a g g r a n d i z e m e n t , i t was n e c e s s a r y t o s t r e s s t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f work and s e l f - h e l p . In an u n p u b l i s h e d d o c t o r a l t h e s i s , "The C o n c e p t i o n of Work and t h e Worker i n E a r l y I n d u s t r i a l E n g l a n d , " E . J . H u n d e r t shows how S m i t h b u i l t on Hume's e a r l i e r work t o a r r i v e a t a new t h e o r y o f human n a t u r e . ^ By a d a p t i n g t h e e n l i g h t e n m e n t b e l i e f i n t h e p o t e n t i a l e q u a l i t y o f a l l men t o f i t h i s m a t e r i a l i s t i c t h e o r y o f h i s t o r y , S m i t h d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t i t was n e c e s s a r y 59 and n a t u r a l f o r a l l men t o work. Those who were i d l e had s i m p l y been b r o u g h t up i n bad h a b i t s . T.C. Smout a r g u e s t h a t t h e m a t e r i a l i s t i c n a t u r e o f t h e S c o t t i s h e n l i g h t e n m e n t may have been c o n n e c t e d w i t h " C a l v i n i s t h a b i t s o f r e f l e c t i o n and s e r i o u s n e s s o f i n d i v i d u a l 42 purpose."^ 0 3y this he means that once the influence of the 'kirk' had diminished, the energy and drive of Scottish i n t e l l e c t u a l s became channelled into secular objectives. In essence, Smout's argument i s similar to the one put forth by Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the S p i r i t of Capitalism, except that i t i s applied to the i n t e l l e c t u a l l i f e of Scotland. On the other hand, Ronald Week does not see any connection between Calvinism and economic theory in Scotland. Instead, he argues that socio-economic thought of t h i s kind i s a •function' of the 'rapidity of economic advance' and 'the f a c i l i t y for observing contrasting areas at d i f f e r e n t stages of economic growth'. According to meek, the rapid economic development of Lowland Scotland had an enormous influence on Scottish i n t e l l e c t u a l habits. He goes on to point out t h a t : ^ 1 the new forms of economic organizations which were emerging could be f a i r l y e a sily contrasted with the forms of organization which s t i l l existed, say, in the Scottish highlands. 6 2 Andrew Skinner makes much the same claim in his a r t i c l e . The v a l i d i t y of Week's thesis can be e a s i l y seen by looking at the large number of comparative references made by Scottish 6 3 i n t e l l e c t u a l s to England and to the Highlands. However, there i s no need to regard Smout and Week's theses as mutually > exclusive. The m a t e r i a l i s t i c nature of the Scottish enlightenment had i t s roots in t r a d i t i o n a l attitudes towards work and poverty. This was doubtless reinforced by ce r t a i n aspects of C a l v i n i s t thought. At the same time, such an inte r p r e t a t i o n was heavily influenced by the sharp contrast 43 between the Highlands and Lowlands as well as the comparison with England. A l l these elements can most c e r t a i n l y be found in Brougham's writings. He was an advocate of ' r e f l e c t i o n ' and se l f - h e l p ; he regarded the backwardness of Highland l i f e with disgust; and he h e a r t i l y approved of the Scottish poor law. It would be impossible, however, to estimate the r e l a t i v e importance bf these factors. Brougham was heir to a succession of economic thought which had been developing from Hume to Smith. Brougham received the ideas of p o l i t i c a l economy from his mentor, Dugald Stewart, and through discussion in the Speculative Society.^ 4 It i s not surpri s i n g , therefore, to f i n d that Brougham considered himself to be a d i s c i p l e of Adam Smith. In Lives of tha Philosophers of the Time of George III, Brougham . 65 wrote: the general soundness of Dr. Smith's views upon th i s important subject ( p o l i t i c a l economy) has never been questioned by persons of good authority. Since Brougham accepted Smith's analysis of the progress of society, he believed that i t was the e t h i c a l duty of a l l men to labour for the common good and to try to improve their condition. The socio-economic system, seen in Smith's terms, operates smoothly only when the d e s i r a b i l i t y of work has been accepted as the main requirement of c i t i z e n s h i p . The e t h i c a l nature of work derives from the main tenet of moral philosophy -that man i s a s o c i a l creature and his duty i s towards the betterment of society as a whole. The problem i s -- how can men, s p e c i f i c a l l y the lower orders of society, be brought to 44 r e a l i z e t h e i r m o r a l d u t y ? F o r Brougham, a s f o r many S c o t s , t h e s o l u t i o n l a y i n ' m o r a l e d u c a t i o n ' . I l l On December 12, 1 8 0 3 , Brougham w r o t e a l e t t e r t o h i s f r i e n d , James L o c h , i n w h i c h he i n c l u d e d some s t a t i s t i c s on t h e s a l e o f m a g a z i n e s i n B r i t a i n : ^ o f t h e F a r m e r ' s M a g a z i n e 4200 a r e s o l d : o f t h e s e 300 i n I r e l a n d a n d a b o u t 1000 i n E n g l a n d . . . M e a n t i m e i t i s s i n g u l a r t o r e m a r k t h e d i f f e r e n t c i r c u l a t i o n o f i t i n t h e two p a r t s o f t h i s i s l a n d --n o t a s t o t h e numbers s o l d -- b u t t h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e p u r c h a s e r s . I n E n g l a n d t h e g e n t l e m e n a l o n e t a k e i t . I n S c o t l a n d i t i s c i r c u l a t e d among t h e f a r m e r s f u l l y a s much a s t h e l a n d l o r d s . I am t h e more p l e a s e d wh. f i n d i n g t h i s t o be t h e c a s e t h a n I had p r e d i c t e d t o m y s e l f b e f o r e I a s k e d C o n s t a b l e i f i t was n o t s o . Brougham was h e r e e x p r e s s i n g h i s p r i d e i n t h e e x t e n t o f l i t e r a c y i n S c o t l a n d . The c h a u v i n i s t i c t o n e i s t h e one o f a man who has s o m e t h i n g t o p r o v e - - i t r e f l e c t s t h e i n s e c u r e , y e t f l a m b o y a n t , a t t i t u d e o f t h e S c o t t i s h ' l i t e r a t i ' . S t i l l , B rougham's p r i d e had some j u s t i f i c a t i o n . As M.C J o n e s p o i n t s o u t : " S c o t l a n d a l o n e o f t h e f o u r c o u n t r i e s o f t h e B r i t i s h I s l e s c o u l d l a y c l a i m a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y 6 7 t o a n a t i o n a l s y s t e m o f e d u c a t i o n . " Brougham was f o r e v e r p r a i s i n g t h e S c o t t i s h s y s t e m o f p a r o c h i a l e d u c a t i o n . I n a House o f Commons s p e e c h i n 1618, he c l a i m e d t h a t " n a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n i n S c o t l a n d r e f l e c t s i m m o r t a l . h o n o u r upon i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . " ^ He went on t o s a y t h a t t h e e d u c a t i o n s t a t u t e o f 1696 was one o f S c o t l a n d ' s "most p r e c i o u s l e g a c i e s . " I n w o r d o r p r i n t , Crougham was a l w a y s p r e p a r e d t o a t t a c k t h e E n g l i s h s y s t e m o f e d u c a t i o n , o r 45 compare i t unfavourably with that of Scotland. This attachment to Scottish education i s s i g n i f i c a n t for Brougham was to become the acknowledged leader of tha movement for universal 6 9 education i n England after 1811. furthermore, his basic aim was to establish a national system of education on the Scottish model. Thus, in order to understand the 'mental baggage' which Brougham brought to England from the Scottish milieu, i t i s necessary to examine the basic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Scottish education. In contrast to their southern neighbour, the Lowland Scots had a strong f a i t h i n the benefits of universal education. The C a l v i n i s t b e l i e f that each man should be able to read and understand his bible had ensured widespread l i t e r a c y throughout the Lowlands. But the r e l i g i o u s influence went far beyond thi s . Education, for Knox and his followers, had as i t s fundamental purpose the i n c u l c a t i o n of habits of 'Godly d i s c i p l i n e ' i n a l l the members of the k i r k . It was rooted in the conviction that man was not born innocent, but in s i n . 70 T.C. Smout describes the r e l i g i o u s influence thuss The sphere of e c c l e s i a s t i c a l d i s c i p l i n e was c a r e f u l l y and sharply defined: ' i t stands in reproving and correcting of those f a u l t s which the c i v i l sword doth either neglect either may not punish... drunkenness, excess (be i t in apparel or be i t in eating and drinking), f o r n i c a t i o n , oppression of the poor by exactions, deceiving them in buying and s e l l i n g by wrong mete or measure, wanton words and licencious l i v i n g tending to slander do properly appertain to the Church to punish the same as God's words commandeth' ...The whole system of d i s c i p l i n e was to be supplemented by a national scheme for education, for while d i s c i p l i n e serves merely to correct the adult af t e r the offence, education by touching the 46 soul of the c h i l d may altogether avoid the s i n . Although the power of the old kirk gradually declined during the eighteenth century, i t s influence continued to be f e l t in the importance which the Scots attached to education. Scottish education retained i t s moral flavour u n t i l well into the nineteenth century (and, indeed, in the twentieth century). Scottish education, although praiseworthy by S-r^trrs~h standards, was never a l l that i t s admirers thought i t to be. As we have seen, attempts to provide the Highlanders with a moral and work-orientated education in the eighteenth century had limited success. Even i n the Lowlands, there were great 71 regional differences in the qu a l i t y of education. Burgh schools often taught a wide variety of subjects, at least a f t e r the t r a d i t i o n a l C a l v i n i s t i n s t r u c t i o n had been watered down by the influence of Moderates. The educational fare of the v i l l a g e schools, on the other hand, was of a much more humble sort. But i t cannot be denied that almost a l l Lowlanders were provided with a minimum standard of l i t e r a c y throughout the eighteenth century. Two facts about Scottish education are s i g n i f i c a n t F i r s t , except in cases of exceptional poverty, parents were required to pay a small fee for the i n s t r u c t i o n of t h e i r children. In this way, i t was f e l t that education would be valued as a p r i v i l e g e rather than a right and i n d i v i d u a l incentive would not be destroyed. Second, the general d i f f u s i o n of education (combined with the r e l a t i v e poverty of the upper classes) resulted i n a 72 greater mixing of classes of Scotland than in England. 47 Upward s o c i a l mobility was not so uncommon in Scotland either. During the a g r i c u l t u r a l revolution of the second half of the eighteenth century, an independent class of yeoman farmers came into existence, l a r g e l y as a re s u l t of 73 educational opportunities: 'This i s ascribed c h i e f l y to the examples of a perfect c u l t i v a t i o n set by many of their ancestors, joined to the c a p i t a l possessed by most of them, and to the good education they receive: which in many instances i s perfected at the University'. This absence of r i g i d d i s t i n c t i o n s i n Scottish society helps to explain Brougham's d i s l i k e of t i t l e s and other a r t i f i c i a l d i s t i n c t i o n s . It also explains why Scotsmen of talent, including Brougham, were regarded as "oddities" in English p o l i t e society. Scotsmen usually retorted by c r i t i c i z i n g 'salon' culture and c l a i n i n g that they were p r a c t i c a l men -- thereby revealing t h e i r own defensive s e l f -consciousness.'' 4 On the other hand,it i s f a i r l y clear that s o c i a l mobility and the mixing of classes in Scotland did re s u l t in "a r e l a t i v e absence of s o c i a l tension" in that 75 country. Thus, Scots l i k e Brougham found i t d i f f i c u l t to understand the argument of many Englishmen^ that the education of the lower orders would only r e s u l t in class war. Scottish education had the important e f f e c t of easing the opposition between classes. But b y far the most s i g n i f i c a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the system derived from i t s h i s t o r i c a l r e lationship to the treatment of poverty.--jhat i s , i t s stress on 'industry' and 'habits or prudence'. While Nicholls, the nineteenth century authority on the 48 Poor Law, was e x t r e m e l y c r i t i c a l o f t h e S c o t t i s h a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s p o v e r t y , h i s p r a i s e o f the " e n l i g h t e n e d p o l i c y " o f S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n was e x c e s s i v e . He n o t e d t h a t e v e r y 7 6 p a r i s h s c h o o l had a w e l l q u a l i f i e d t e a c h e r . He a l s o p o i n t e d o u t t h a t s c h o o l m a s t e r s were r e q u i r e d t o p r o v i d e t h e c h i l d r e n o f t h e p o o r w i t h f r e e e d u c a t i o n . However, N i c h o l l s f a i l e d t o c o n n e c t t h e i m p o r t a n c e w h i c h t h e S c o t s a t t a c h e d t o e d u c a t i o n w i t h t h e i r a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s p o v e r t y . To a s e n s i b l e Scotsman, t h e c o n n e c t i o n was a d i r e c t one, P o v e r t y , c r i m e , and i d l e n e s s were t h e p r o d u c t s o f poor u p b r i n g i n g ; e d u c a t i o n i n t h e ' r i g h t p r i n c i p l e s ' o f i n d u s t r y and m o r a l i t y was t h e o n l y remedy. Brougham r e p e a t e d t h i s theme i n c e s s a n t l y . In t h e s p e e c h o f 1818, he l a v i s h e d p r a i s e on t h e S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m , c l a i m i n g t h a t i t had 77 become t h e example f o r o t h e r c o u n t r i e s : In Sweden, where a number o f n o b l e f a m i l i e s a r e o f S c o t c h e x t r a c t i o n , s o m e t h i n g upon t h e model o f the p a r i s h - s c h o o l s y s t e m has l o n g been e s t a b l i s h e d . In t h e S w i s s c a n t o n s , and i n many o f t h e P r o t e s t a n t c o u n t r i e s o f Germany, t h e example has been f o l l o w e d , w i t h more or l e s s c l o s e n e s s , and whenever t h e p l a n has been a d o p t e d i t s i n f l u e n c e upon t h e improvement of t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s and t h e g e n e r a l w e l l -b e i n g o f s o c i e t y h a s . . . b e e n a b u n d a n t l y m a n i f e s t . At t h e same t i m e , by c i t i n g t h e c a s e o f A m e r i c a , Brougham e m p h a s i z e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f e d u c a t i o n f o r i n c u l c a t i n g good 78 work h a b i t s : T h a t i s s u r e l y t h e l a s t c o u n t r y i n t h e w o r l d where i d l e n e s s c an e x p e c t t o f i n d e n c o u r a g e m e n t . . . An i d l e r t h e r e i s a k i n d o f m o n s t e r . . . s u c h i s t h e c o n v i c t i o n t h e r e t h a t p o p u l a r e d u c a t i o n f o r m s the b e s t f o u n d a t i o n o f n a t i o n a l p r o s p e r i t y , t h a t , i n a l l t h e g r a n t s made by t h e Government... t h e 49 t w e n t i e t h l o t i s r e s e r v e d f o r t h e e x p e n s e o f i n s t r u c t i n g and m a i n t a i n i n g t h e p o o r . Thus, t h e s o l u t i o n t o p o v e r t y and ' t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f n a t i o n a l p r o s p e r i t y ' , f o r Brougham and o t h e r S c o t s , a l w a y s r e s t e d i n e d u c a t i o n . G i v e n t h e deep r e l i g i o u s and h i s t o r i c a l r o o t s o f S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n , i t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t o f i n d t h a t t h e r e was a " g r e a t f l u r r y o v e r e d u c a t i o n " i n i n t e l l e c t u a l c i r c l e s i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . G l a d y s B r y s o n t r e a t s o f e d u c a t i o n a s i f i t were m e r e l y one o f t h e s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s 79 w h i c h came un d e r t h e s c r u t i n y o f m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y . She i s m i s t a k e n . A l m o s t e v e r y m a j o r S c o t t i s h t h i n k e r s t r e s s e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f e d u c a t i o n . In f a c t , most o f them were t e a c h e r s t h e m s e l v e s and t o o k t h e i r r o l e a s d i f f u s e r s of k n owledge v e r y s e r i o u s l y . The S c o t t i s h S c h o o l had u n l i m i t e d f a i t h i n t h e power o f e d u c a t i o n t o mould mens' minds. f l o r a l p h i l o s o p h y s e t i t s e l f t h e t a s k o f d i s c o v e r i n g t h e l aws w h i c h g o v e r n s o c i a l l i f i e a nd t h e n d e r i v i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s d u t y f r o m them. But men w i l l n o t a l w a y s do what i s i n t h e i r own and s o c i e t y ' s b e s t i n t e r s t ; t h e i r ' r e a s o n ' and ' m o r a l s e n s e ' c a n become d e f e c t i v e as a r e s u l t o f t h e e v i l s o f c u s t o m and h a b i t . I t i s f o r p r e c i s e l y t h i s r e a s o n t h a t e d u c a t i o n i n ' r i g h t p r i n c i p l e s ' was so i m p o r t a n t . And, s i n c e t h e most i m p o r t a n t s o c i a l laws were e c o n o m i c o n e s , t h e s e ' p r i n c i p l e s ' were ' i n d u s t r y ' and ' s e l f - h e l p ' . The r e l a t i o n s h i p between e d u c a t i o n and i n d u s t r y comes out q u i t e c l e a r l y i n Hume's 8 0 e s s a y ' o f R e f i n e m e n t i n t h e A r t s : " 50 Thus ' i n d u s t r y ' , 'knowledge', and ' h u m a n i t y , ' a r e l i n k e d t o g e t h e r by an i n d i s s o l u b l e c h a i n , and a r e f o u n d , f r o m e x p e r i e n c e as w e l l as r e a s o n , t o be p e c u l i a r t o t h e more p o l i s h e d , and, what a r e commonly d e n o m i n a t e d , t h e more l u x u r i o u s a g e s . . . B u t i n d u s t r y , k n owledge, and h u m a n i t y , a r e n o t a d v a n t a g e o u s i n p r i v a t e l i f e a l o n e : They d i f f u s e t h e i r b e n e f i c i a l i n f l u e n c e on t h e ' p u b l i c ' , a n d r e n d e r t h e government as g r e a t and f l o u r i s h i n g a s t h e y make i n d i v i d u a l s happy and p r o s p e r o u s . Brougham went so f a r as t o s u g g e s t t h a t t h e l o w e r o r d e r s s h o u l d 81 be t a u g h t t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f ' p o l i t i c a l economy': I can h a r d l y i m a g i n e , f o r example, a g r e a t e r s e r v i c e b e i n g r e n d e r e d t o t h e men, t h a n e x p o u n d i n g t o them t h e t r u e p r i n c i p l e s and m u t u a l r e l a t i o n s o f p o p u l a t i o n and wages So, t h e n e c e s s i t y o f e d u c a t i o n f o r i n c u l c a t i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s m o r a l d u t y was as c l e a r t o t h e S c o t t i s h p h i l o s o p h e r s a s i t was t o t h e i r C a l v i n i s t f o r e r u n n e r s . O n l y , i n t h e c a s e of m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y , one's m o r a l d u t y was n o t t o s e r v e God, but t o e n s u r e t h e w e l l - b e i n g o f t h e s o c i o - e c o n o m i c s y s t e m . L i k e t h e F r e n c h , t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l b o r r o w e d f r o m L o c k e t o b u t t r e s s t h e i r f a i t h i n t h e power o f e d u c a t i o n . In h i s E s s a y C o n c e r n i n g Human U n d e r s t a n d i n g ( 1 6 9 0 ) , L o c k e a t t a c k e d t h e b e l i e f t h a t t h e mind c o n t a i n e d i n n a t e i d e a s . I n s t e a d , he c l a i m e d , t h e mind was a ' ' t a b u l a r a s a , * upon w h i c h s e n s a t i o n s 8 2 made an i m p r e s s i o n . A c o r o l l a r y o f t h i s argument was t h a t a l l human v a l u e s a r e a p r o d u c t o f e n v i r o n m e n t and h a b i t . A l s o , t h e r e i s no n a t u r a l s u p e r i o r i t y o f i n t e l l e c t ; t h e d i f f e r e n c e between men i s a r e s u l t o f t h e i r u p b r i n g i n g . E n l i g h t e n m e n t t h e o r i s t s s e i z e d upon L o c k e ' s i d e a s and d e r i v e d s e v e r a l 8 3 i m p o r t a n t p r i n c i p l e s f r o m them: t o l e r a t i o n . . . ; a c c e p t a n c e o f t h e p o t e n t i a l e q u a l i t y 51 o f man...; t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t s o c i e t y by t h e r e g u l a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l c o n d i t i o n s , c o u l d p r o m o t e t h e m o r a l i m p r o v e m e n t o f i t s members; a new p s y c h o l o g y a n d a new a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s e d u c a t i o n , b a s e d on t h e b e l i e f t h a t human i r r a t i o n a l i t y was t h e p r o d u c t o f e r r o n e o u s a s s o c i a t i o n s o f i d e a s , t h a t had become f i x e d i n c h i l d h o o d . E n l i g h t e n m e n t t h i n k e r s , a s t h e y i n t e r p r e t e d L o c k e , saw g r e a t hope f o r t h e f u t u r e o f m a n k i n d t h r o u g h m o r a l a n d e d u c a t i o n a l Adam S m i t h c e r t a i n l y c o n c u r r e d w i t h t h e s e i d e a s , a l t h o u g h he a t t a c h e d a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y e c o n o m i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n t o OA them. He w r o t e : The d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h e most d i s s i m i l a r c h a r a c t e r s , b e t w e e n a p h i l o s o p h e r a n d a common s t r e e t p o r t e r , f o r e x a m p l e , seems t o a r i s e n o t so much f r o m n a t u r e a s f r o m h a b i t , c u s t o m , a n d e d u c a t i o n . When t h e y came i n t o t h e w o r l d , a n d f o r t h e f i r s t s i x o r e i g h t y e a r s o f t h e i r e x i s t e n c e , t h e y were p e r h a p s v e r y much a l i k e , a n d n e i t h e r t h e i r p a r e n t s n o r p l a y - f e l l o w s c o u l d p e r c e i v e any r e m a r k a b l e d i f f e r e n c e . A b o u t t h a t a g e , o r s o o n a f t e r , t h e y come t o be e m p l o y e d i n v e r y d i f f e r e n t o c c u p a t i o n s . The c o n c l u s i o n o f S m i t h ' s a r g u m e n t i s c l e a r -- t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n men i s n o t a r e s u l t of h e r e d i t y b u t e d u c a t i o n . Brougham w o u l d have a g r e e d w i t h S m i t h e x c e p t i n h i s a n a l y s i s o f t h e c r i t i c a l age a t w h i c h a c h i l d ' s e d u c a t i o n s h o u l d b e g i n . F o r Brougham, t h e e a r l y f o r m a t i o n o f good h a b i t s was a l l . . 85 i m p o r t a n t : t h i s age i t i s b r o u g h t up i n d i s s i p a t i o n a n d i g n o r a n c e , i n a l l t h e b a s e n e s s o f b r u t a l h a b i t s , a n d i n t h a t v a c a n c y o f mind w h i c h s u c h h a b i t s c r e a t e , i t i s i n v a i n t o a t t e m p t t o r e c l a i m i t by t e a c h i n g i t r e a d i n g a n d w r i t i n g . You may t e a c h what you c h o o s e a f t e r w a r d s , b u t you have n o t p r e v e n t e d t h e f o r m a t i o n o f bad h a b i t s , you w i l l t e a c h i n v a i n . u p l i f t . 52 For t h i s reason, in addition to his e f f o r t s on behalf of national education in England, Brougham was concerned with the establishment of 'Infant Schools'. Here, 'moral habits' could be i n s t i l l e d in young minds before they could be exposed to the "nurseries of obscenity, v u l g a r i t y , vice, fl f\ and blasphemy." Henry Brougham's conception of education and i t s e f f i c a c y was informed by his Scottish background. In practice and i n theory, the Scots were convinced of the power of education to shape 'moral beings'. By moral beings, they meant industrious, prudent, and s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e d i n d i v i d u a l s who were aware of, and carried out, their duty to the community. Brougham's pride in the b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t s of Scottish education we^e thus reinforced by his tra i n i n g as a moral philosopher. When he saw the sicknesses which were besetting English society, i t was only natural that he should regard education in 'right p r i n c i p l e s ' as the remedy. IV Theory and practice in the Scottish milieu cannot be categorized in any a r t i f i c i a l order of importance. Rather, they interacted in a highly complex way. Scottish i n t e l l e c t u a l l i f e was influenced greatly by the French enlightenment, but i t was also characterized by s p e c i f i c a l l y Scottish feelings about society, ' natural ..law' , and the development of industry. These, in turn, were reinforced by the contrast between the lawless, barbaric Highlands and the Protestant, commercial 53 L o w l a n d s . H i s t o r i c a l f a c t o r s p l a y e d an i m p o r t a n t r o l e . C a l v i n i s m l e f t - i t s mark on e d u c a t i o n and t h e c o n c e p t i o n o f work, l o n g a f t e r i t had l o s t i t s i n s t i t u t i o n a l power. The i n f l u x o f Roman law, f i r s t t h r o u g h F r a n c e and t h e n t h r o u g h H o l l a n d , e n s u r e d a q u i t e d i f f e r e n t l e g a l s y s t e m f o r S c o t l a n d t h a n E n g l a n d . The h a r s h p r a c t i c e o f S c o t t i s h p o o r r e l i e f i n g r a i n e d a n e g a t i v e a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s p a u p e r i s m and a d i s t a s t e f o r c h a r i t y . These and o t h e r f a c t o r s a l l p l a y e d a p a r t i n Henry Brougham's S c o t t i s h e x p e r i e n c e . . : One o f t h e most r e v e a l i n g summaries o f Brougham's r e l a t i o n s h i p t o h i s S c o t t i s h u p b r i n g i n g i s t h e l e t t e r w r i t t e n t o L o r d A r d m i l l a n i n 1859. T h e r e Brougham d i s p l a y e d h i s " h o n e s t n a t i o n a l p r i d e " i n t r e a t i n g o f t h e s u p e r i o r i t y o f S c o t t i s h c h a r a c t e r , l a w s , and e d u c a t i o n . He l a u d e d t h e e f f e c t s o f S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n on ' i n d u s t r y * and ' p r u d e n c e ' ; 8 a t t h e same t i m e , he was c o n c e r n e d t o e n s u r e i t s m a i n t e n a n c e : i t i s f i t t o d w e l l upon t h e common and u n i v e r s a l e f f e c t s o f t h e s y s t e m i n r a i s i n g t h e c h a r a c t e r o f our p e o p l e , d i s t i n g u i s h i n g them w h e r e v e r t h e y go f o r i n t e l l i g e n c e and u s e f u l n e s s ; f o r t h o u g h t f u l and t h e r e f o r e p r u d e n t h a b i t s . The t e s t i m o n y i s g e n e r a l and i t i s s t r i k i n g , w h i c h i s b o r n t o them i n t h e s e r e s p e c t s , n ot o n l y by c a l m o b s e r v e r s f r e e f r o m a l l n a t i o n a l p r e j u d i c e . . b u t by e m p l o y e r s o f l a b o u r i n a l l p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d b o t h o l d and new...Our d u t y i s t o m a i n t a i n and amend t h e s y s t e m by a l l w e l l c o n s i d e r e d m e a s u r e s , so t h a t i t may n o t o n l y be p e r p e t u a t e d but i m p r o v e d . S i m i l a r l y , Brougham c a l l e d f o r a r e v i v a l o f t h e o l d S c o t t i s h p o e t r y and l a n g u a g e . Even more i n t e r s t i n g i s t h e way i n w h i c h Brougham p r o p o s e d t o m a i n t a i n t h e S c o t t i s h i d e n t i t y . He d i d n o t a r g u e t h a t t h e 54 uniqueness of Scottish i n s t i t u t i o n s should be rsspected; rather he claimed that their s u p e r i o r i t y should be recognized. Scottish words would 'improve and enrich' the English language; the 'brevity and conciseness' of Scottish law could amend English l e g a l procedure; Scottish educational methods should be implemented in England. In order to defend his heritage, Brougham did not go to the barricades. He went on the attack. In Erougham, the Scottish School l e t loose an ardent n a t i o n a l i s t on B r i t i s h society. Brougham's zeal was the consequence of his tr a i n i n g in moral philosophy. Throughout the l e t t e r , Brougham adopted the tone of a moral philosopher with his alternate appeals to 'reason' and 'sentiment*. The terminology of the Scottish School can be found there too, in Brougham's peculiar use of "science", "happiness of mankind", " v i r t u e " , and "solace". But the influence i s most s t r i k i n g i n the Q Q following statement: It i s truly g r a t i f y i n g to r e f l e c t that wherever a native of Scotland goes, he bears t h i s character along with him, and finds his claim to respect acknowledged, as soon as he declares his country; not l i k e the old Roman appealing to the fears awakened by the sound of the barbarous tyrant's name, and s i l e n c i n g the voice of j u s t i c e or preventing i t s course; but representing the humane and enlightened nation which has f a i t h f u l l y discharged i t s highest duty of d i f f u s i n g knowledge and promoting vi r t u e . Beneath the rhetoric, Brougham was underlining the duty which any i n d i v i d u a l , but espe c i a l l y an enlightened Scot, has towards the human community to which he belongs. 55 CHAPTER I I I A SCOTSMAN AT THE ENGLISH BAR 0 Brougham! a s t r a n g e m y s t e r y you a r e ! ' N i l f u i t unquam s i b i tarn d i s p a r ' ; So f o o l i s h and so w i s e - - s o g r e a t , so s m a l l , E v e r y t h i n g n o w — t o m o r r o nought a t a l l . Bentham 56 The p a r t played by Henry Brougham i n E n g l i s h l e g a l reform has yet to be t r e a t e d i n any d e t a i l . T h i s i s odd, i f only because Brougham was regarded as a great l e g a l reformer by many of h i s contemporaries. His speeches on the r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n of law, as w e l l as h i s reforms i n the Court of Chancery, made Brougham the d a r l i n g of such popular organs as The Times and The Morning C h r o n i c l e . ^ At the o p p o s i t e end of the p o l i t i c a l spectrum, 'the Man at the Bar* was a prime t a r g e t f o r Tory 2 ballad-makers and c a r t o o n i s t s . C l e a r l y , he was c o n s i d e r e d a f i g u r e of some importance by both s i d e s . However, our primary purpose here i s not to measure Brougham's i n f l u e n c e but, r a t h e r , to show how h i s reform a c t i v i t i e s r e f l e c t e d a t r a i n i n g i n S c o t t i s h law and enlightenment 3 theory. In order to demonstrate the importance of S c o t l a n d , i t i s necessary to c h a l l e n g e the assumption t h a t Brougham was a d i s c i p l e of Jeremy Bentham. T h i s i n v o l v e s some d i s c u s s i o n of ni n e t e e n t h century a d m i n i s t r a t i v e reform i n g e n e r a l . I A l l the major works on Bentham and n i n e t e e n t h century l e g a l reform p o s i t a m a s t e r - d i s c i p l e r e l a t i o n s h i p between Bentham and Brougham. E l i e Halevy c a l l s Brougham the " s p i r i t u a l son" of Bentham, and argues that h i s e f f o r t s on beh a l f of the reform 4 of j u d i c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n are evidence of Bentham's i n f l u e n c e . S i m i l a r l y , A.V. Dicey r e f e r s to Brougham as a "Benthamite", 5 quoting him on the "genius and p o s i t i o n " of Bentham. The famous l e g a l h i s t o r i a n , Holdsworth, regards Brougham as the 57 person who gave Bentham's t h e o r i e s a " p r a c t i c a l shape."^ And, i n a more recent book, Alan Harding claims t h a t , although Bentham o b j e c t e d to Brougham's "piecemeal" and "unsystematic" 7 reforms, Brougham was nonetheless Bentham's " d i s c i p l e . " This supposed master-student r e l a t i o n s h i p has not been questioned by any of Brougham's b i o g r a p h e r s . Both A s p i n a l l ' s Lord Brougham and the Whig Party and G a r r a t t ' s Lord Brougham acknowledge Brougham's great debt to Bentham i n h i s views on 8 law reform. His l a t e s t b i o g rapher, Chester New, i s q u i t e g e x p l i c i t on the s u b j e c t * He never spoke, as Bentham too o f t e n wrote, as though e v e r y t h i n g was wrong and e v e r y t h i n g c o u l d be put r i g h t by a new s e t of t h e o r i e s . Never-t h e l e s s , i n law reform he was the d i s c i p l e of Bentham. In the same v e i n , New goes to great l e n g t h s to e x p l a i n away Bentham's c r i t i c i s m of Brougham. He c l a i m s t h a t "Bentham was the great b a s i c t h e o r i s t ; Brougham the p r a c t i c a l reformer. T h e r e f o r e , the d i f f e r e n c e s between them were not q u a l i t a t i v e but merely ones of degree. But perhaps we should take Bentham's c r i t i c i s m of Brougham a b i t more s e r i o u s l y . A f t e r a l l , Bentham d i d c a l l Brougham an opponent i n law reform. And Bentham was more than w i l l i n g to go h a l f way i f i t meant t h a t even a few of h i s i d e a s might be implemented.^ The f a i l u r e to d i s t i n g u i s h Brougham's idea s on law reform from those of Bentham i s a con c e p t u a l one. It stems from a broader tendency to regard most n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y governmental reforms as Benthamite i n stamp. Since t h i s i s a problem which 58 w i l l be e n c o u n t e r e d a g a i n i n l a t e r c h a p t e r s , i t may be f r u i t f u l t o d e a l w i t h i t i n some d e t a i l h e r e . A c c o r d i n g t o O l i v e r MacDonagh, t h e p r o b l e m r e a l l y began w i t h t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f Law and P u b l i c O p i n i o n by D i c e y i n 1905 . In t h i s w o r k , D i c e y d e f i n e d Benthamism as ' l a i s s e z - f a i r e * i n d i v i d u a l i s m , and t h e n p r o c e e d e d t o a t t r i b u t e g o v e r n m e n t a l r e f o r m s between 1830 and 1870 a l m o s t e n t i r e l y t o B e n t h a m ' s 13 i n f l u e n c e . The ' D i c e y t h e s i s ' h e l d t h e f i e l d f o r a r e m a r k a b l y l o n g t i m e ; s t r o n g e l e m e n t s o f h i s argument a r e p r e s e n t i n t h e work o f such w e l l known s c h o l a r s as Crane 14 B r i n t o n and W i l l i a m H o l d s w o r t h . In what i s s t i l l t h e b e s t s t u d y o f Bentham and h i s s c h o o l , E l i e H a l e v y r e f e r s h i s r e a d e r s 15 t o D i c e y f o r an a c c o u n t of B e n t h a m ' s i n f l u e n c e on l a w . I t was not u n t i l t h e 1 9 5 0 ' s and 1 9 6 0 ' s t h a t D i c e y ' s a n a l y s i s was s u b j e c t e d t o any r i g o r o u s c r i t i c i s m . D u r i n g t h e s e d e c a d e s , h o w e v e r , an e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t and h e a t e d r e a p p r a i s a l o f n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y g o v e r n m e n t a l r e f o r m t o o k p l a c e . A l t h o u g h i t i s q u i t e beyond t h e scope o f t h i s e s s a y t o examine a l l t h e i n t r i c a c i e s o f t h e c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r ' t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y r e v o l u t i o n i n g o v e r n m e n t ' , two p o i n t s a r e w e l l w o r t h o u r a t t e n t i o n . 1 ^ The f i r s t i n v o l v e s D i c e y ' s l o o s e use o f the t e r m ' u t i l i t a r i a n i s m ' . By e q u a t i n g s u c h h e t e r o g e n e o u s c o n c e p t s as ' i n d i v i d u a l i s m ' , ' u t i l i t y ' , ' h u m a n i t a r i a n i s m ' , 'common s e n s e ' , and ' u t i l i t a r i a n i s m ' , D i c e y was a b l e t o u n i t e a l l s o r t s o f s c a t t e r e d r e f o r m a c t i v i t i e s under B s n t h a m ' s b a n n e r . He even went so f a r as t o c l a i m t h a t t h e r e f o r m s of C o n s e r v a t i v e s and E v a n g e l i c a l s were n o t h i n g more 59 17 than "a r e c o g n i t i o n of the p r i n c i p l e of u t i l i t y . " In a s i m i l a r way, a l a r g e number of w r i t e r s a f t e r Dicey have adopted ' u t i l i t a r i a n i s m ' and "Benthamism' as c a t c h - a l l phrases. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , as Dicey's c r i t i c s p o i n t e d out, such usage obscures much more than i t r e v e a l s . Chester New's a n a l y s i s of Brougham i s a good example of the p i t f a l l s i n t o which such l a c k of r i g o r i n d e f i n i t i o n may l e a d . Dn the one hand, New wants to argue that Brougham was a d i s c i p l e of Bentham i n law reforms. At the same time, he r e p e a t e d l y claims t h a t "we r e c o g n i z e h i s humanitarian o u t l o o k " i n Brougham's a t t i t u d e towards law reform.'^ But are 'humanitarianism' and ' u t i l i t a r i a n i s m ' as compatible as New would have us b e l i e v e ? A c c o r d i n g to Halevy, Bentham's system 19 e x p l i c i t l y r u l e d out any s e n t i m e n t a l f e e l i n g . He w r i t e s : (Bentham) m i s t r u s t e d s e n s i b i l i t y and opposed reason to sentiment: he had a l r e a d y so c o l o r e d the philosophy of reform i n England as to d i s t i n g u i s h i t f o r a l l time from the humanitarian philosophy which p r e v a i l e d i n the country of Rousseau, and even t h a t of B e c c a r i a . To t h i s , we might add the country of Ferguson and Hutcheson. If New wants to c l a i m t h a t there were s t r o n g humanitarian elements i n Brougham's l e g a l theory, perhaps he should look f o r other i n f l u e n c e s than Bentham. Indeed, he might look to enlightenment thought or 'common sense' philosophy i n S c o t l a n d . The second c r i t i c i s m of Dicey's t h e s i s concerns the extent of Bentham's i n f l u e n c e . Given that Dicey's d e f i n i t i o n of Benthamism was f a u l t y , the problem of a s s e s s i n g Bentham's i n f l u e n c e remained. It was on t h i s p o i n t t h a t the f i e r c e s t 60 i n - f i g h t i n g of the 'nineteenth century debate' took p l a c e . Two of the p r o t a g o n i s t s , O l i v e r [YlacDonagh and David Roberts, argued t h a t the i n f l u e n c e which Bentham had upon governmental reform was minimal. They, i n t u r n , were a t t a c k e d by Henry P a r r i s and J e n n i f e r Hart, who claimed that n i n e t e e n t h century 20 reform cannot be e x p l a i n e d i f Bentham's r o l e i s excluded. But r e g a r d l e s s of the weaknesses i n Robert's and lYlacDonagh' s 21 arguments, they most c e r t a i n l y e s t a b l i s h e d the importance of l o o k i n g c l o s e l y a t the workings of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e machinery and i n d i v i d u a l reformers. In the f u t u r e , h i s t o r i a n s w i l l be f o r c e d to proceed with c a u t i o n when they d i s c u s s the i n f l u e n c e of Bentham or l a b e l each and every reform ' u t i l i t a r i a n * . I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to note, however, that n e i t h e r Dicey nor h i s c r i t i c s p aid any a t t e n t i o n to Bentham's l e g a l theory 'per se SHj^pr-i^-jrng-l-y—s&, s i n c e Bentham was more i n t e r e s t e d i n the 2 mechanics and s y s t e m a t i z a t i o n of law making than anything e l s e . If one would expect to f i n d h i s i n f l u e n c e anywhere, i t i s t h e r e . T h i s o b s e r v a t i o n l e a d s us d i r e c t l y i n t o the r e l a t i o n s h i p between Bentham and Brougham, because Brougham i s regarded as important evidence of Bentham's i n f l u e n c e i n t h i s a r ea. If i t can be shown that Brougham's l e g a l theory was informed by q u i t e d i f f e r e n t c o n s i d e r a t i o n s from Bentham's, then the argument,for Bentham's i n f l u e n c e i s s e r i o u s l y weakened through the e l i m i n a t i o n of one of i t s s t r o n g e s t b a s t i o n s . And, converse i f Brougham's l e g a l theory was S c o t t i s h i n f l u e n c e d , then the r o l e of Edinburgh U n i v e r s i t y and the S c o t t i s h Bar i n E n g l i s h l e g a l reform must be taken i n t o account. 61 II In order to determine i f our hyp o t h e s i s i s v a l i d , i t i s necessary to examine Brougham's w r i t i n g s and speeches on the su b j e c t of l e g a l reform. Brougham's most comprehensive s t a t e -ment on E n g l i s h law was h i s s i x hour speech d e l i v e r e d to the House of Commons i n February, 1828. In t h i s sharp i n d i c t m e n t of the l e g a l system, he d e a l t d i r e c t l y or i n d i r e c t l y with almost every department of j u r i s p r u d e n c e . And, alth o u g h i t i s necessary to supplement i t with evidence of d i f f e r e n t k i n d s , the speech p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l focus to d i s t i n g u i s h Brougham's ideas from those of Bentham. As we s h a l l see, Brougham was opposed to Bentham on s e v e r a l extremely important p o i n t s . Furthermore, Brougham's most common r e f e r e n c e s were not to Bentham but to S c o t t i s h and French l e g a l p r a c t i c e . In a d d i t i o n to i t s comprehensiveness, the speech i s important f o r two reasons. F i r s t , l e g a l h i s t o r i a n s have viewed i t as a most e f f e c t i v e instrument of reform. J.B. A t l e y w r i t e s : T h i s speech may be s a i d without exaggeration to have l e d , d i r e c t l y or i n d i r e c t l y , to a g r e a t e r number of b e n e f i c i a l and u s e f u l reforms than any other, a n c i e n t or modern, and i t s e x t r a o r d i n a r y wealth of d e t a i l may be recommended to those who are i n c l i n e d to s c o f f at the q u a l i f i c a t i o n s of Brougham as an i n i t i a t o r of l e g i s l a t i o n . Second, and more important f o r our purposes, Halevy and others have p o i n t e d to t h i s speech as c o n c l u s i v e proof that Brougham 24 was Bentham's student. Halevy w r i t e s : Upon the reform of j u d i c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , Bentham's i n f l u e n c e i s s t i l l e a s i e r to determine. The great speech d e l i v e r e d by Henry Brougham i n February 1828 developed a l l Bentham's t h e o r i e s on the reform of a d j e c t i v e law, from the s u p r e s s i o n of s p e c i a l 62 p l e a d i n g t o the i n s t i t u t i o n o f l o c a l c o u r t s . H a l e v y was q u i t e m i s t a k e n . Brougham began h i s s p e e c h by s t r e s s i n g two i d e a s w h i c h c l e a r l y c o n t r a d i c t e d Bentham' s l e g a l t h e o r y . "To my m i n d " , 25 Brougham s a i d : he was g u i l t y of no e r r o r - - he was c h a r g e a b l e w i t h no e x a g g e r a t i o n — he was b e t r a y e d by h i s f a n c y i n t o no m e t a p h o r , who once s a i d , t h a t a l l we see a b o u t u s , K i n g s , L o r d s , and Commons, t h e whole m a c h i n e r y of t h e S t a t e , a l l the a p p a r a t u s o f t h e s y s t e m , and i t s v a r i e d w o r k i n g s , ended s i m p l y i n b r i n g i n g t w e l v e good men i n t o a box . Such — t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f j u s t i c e - - i s the cause of t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f g o v e r n m e n t : i t i s t h i s p u r p o s e w h i c h can a l o n e j u s t i f y r e s t r a i n t s on n a t u r a l l i b e r t y - - i t i s t h i s o n l y w h i c h can e x c u s e c o n s t a n t i n t e r f e r e n c e w i t h t h e r i g h t s and p r o p e r t y o f men. These a r e t h e words o f no u t i l i t a r i a n , but a l i b e r a l t h i n k e r . T h r o u g h o u t the s p e e c h , Brougham de fended the ' n a t u r a l l i b e r t y ' and ' r i g h t s ' o f men. And h i s f a i t h i n t h e j u r y s y s t e m was a l m o s t r e l i g i o u s . N o t h i n g c o u l d be more a n t i t h e t i c a l t o B e n t h a m ' s scheme t h a n l a n g u a g e o f t h i s f l a v o u r . Bentham c o n s i d e r e d the c o n c e p t of l i b e r t y t o be a ' m i s c h i e v o u s p i e c e 27 o f s o p h i s t r y ' p o p u l a r i z e d by t h e l i k e s of M o n t e s q u i e u . T r i a l by j u r y , he a r g u e d was t o t a l l y opposed t o h i s s y s t e m o f ' n a t u r a l p r o c e d u r e ' ; i t i n v o l v e d ' d e l a y ' , ' v e x a t i o n * , and , t 28 ' e x p e n s e . Brougham's n e x t f o r a y was h a r d l y u t i l i t a r i a n . He condemned t h e p r a c t i c e s o f t h e C o u r t s i n W e s t m i n s t e r - h a l l : K i n g ' s b e n c h , Common p l a c e , and t h e E x c h e q u e r . Whereas t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e s e c o u r t s had once been q u i t e s e p a r a t e , he a r g u e d , t h e y now o v e r l a p p e d c o n s i d e r a b l y . However , d+J-e-t-o t h e m o n o p o l i e s o f ! 63 advocates and the s p e c i a l i z e d t e c h n i c a l forms i n the d i f f e r e n t c o u r t s , most s u i t s went i n v a r i a b l y to the c o u r t of King's bench. Such an i n o r d i n a t e system caused a great deal of pressure on one c o u r t . Thus, Brougham claimed that the number of judges i n 2 9 King's bench should be i n c r e a s e d : If twelve was b e a u t i f u l i n the days of l o r d Coke, f o u r t e e n must now, I f e a r , on t h i s account take i t s p l a c e : f o r how any one can suppose that twelve men can be a b l e to do now, what they were only a b l e to do c e n t u r i e s ago, i s to me a matter of astonishment. Even t h i s p r a c t i c a l reform would have been opposed by Bentham. Although Bentham was a l l f o r i n c r e a s i n g the number of judges i n the country as a whole, he was dead s e t a g a i n s t i n c r e a s i n g the number of judges i n any one c o u r t . Such an a c t i o n , he b e l i e v e d , negated the b e n e f i t s of ' i n d i v i d u a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ' which might be obtained under a more n a t u r a l system. As he says: A ' b o a r d ' . . . . i s a 'screen'. The l u s t r e of good d e s e r t i s obscurred by i t j i l l - d e s e r t , s l i n k i n g behind, eludes the eye of censure: wrong i s covered by i t with a presumption of r i g h t , s t r o n g e r and s t r o n g e r i n pro-p o r t i o n to the number of f o l d s . Only by means of ' s i n g l e - s e a t e d j u d i c a t u r e ' c o u l d Bentham's ' n a t u r a l system' be implemented. Bentham would l a t e r make s i m i l a r c r i t i c i s m s of Brougham's p r o p o s a l s f o r the reform of Chancery. But there are more p r o d u c t i v e ways of c o n s i d e r i n g the i n f l u e n c a c t i n g on Brougham i n 1828 than merely s e a r c h i n g f o r p o i n t s of disagreement between the p h i l o s o p h e r and the p o l i t i c i a n . The p o s i t i v e i n f l u e n c e of S c o t t i s h i n s t i t u t i o n s and thought i s evi d e n t i n almost every theme. Brougham never mentions Bentham, but he makes numerous r e f e r e n c e s to the S c o t t i s h l e g a l system. And, i n almost every case, he c o n t r a s t s S c o t t i s h law f a v o u r a b l y 64 with t h a t of England. The S c o t t i s h i n f l u e n c e i s e v i d e n t , f o r example, i n Brougham's lengthy a n a l y s i s of the p o s i t i o n , d u t i e s , and i d e a l frame of mind of a j u d i c i a r y . Here, h i s primary t a r g e t was the e v i l of choosing judges on the b a s i s of party r a t h e r than mer i t . Comparing England with S c o t l a n d , Brougham claimed t h a t the Scots were more l i b e r a l i n choosing d e s e r v i n g i n d i v i d u a l s to f i l l j u d i c i a l v a c a n c i e s . In that c o untry, a judgeship ..o f u r t h e r ^ d i s s a p p o i n t ^ Bentham, One of Brougham's p r o p o s a l s even r e s u l t e d i n Bentham 79 c a l l i n g him "an enemy". T h i s was Brougham's r e s o l u t i o n t o absorb the C o u r t s of the v i c e - C h a n c e l l o r and the Master of the 76 R o l l s i n t o the Chancery Court p r o p e r . The r a t i o n a l e b e h i n d the measure was a l i b e r a l one -- t h r e e e q u i t y j u d g e s , i n s t e a d of one, c o u l d a c t as a check upon b i a s e d or m i s t a k e n judgements. Bentham s e v e r l y a t t a c k e d Brougham on t h i s m a t t e r (as w e l l as h i s l o v e of j u r i e s ) i n an essay e n t i t l e d "Boa C o n s t r i c t o r , a l i a s H e l l u o C u r i a r u m , " i n which he defended ' s i n g l e - s e a t e d * j u s t i c e and r i d i c u l e d the l i b e r a l t h e o r y of checks and b a l a n c e s . Bentham . 77 w r o t e : For my own p a r t , my own o p i n i o n , r i g h t or wrong, i s a t any r a t e c l e a r , d e t e r m i n a t e , and s e l f - c o n s i s t e n t : i t i s -- t h a t so f a r as depends on 'number', i n t h e case of a j u d i c i a l s i t u a t i o n , a p t i t u d e i s as t h e number of the f u n c t i o n a r i e s o c c u p y i n g i t , i n v e r s e l y . Bentham was no l i b e r a l ; Brougham, as a p r o d u c t of E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y , was. IV In p r a c t i c e , t h e r e f o r e , as w e l l as i n t h e o r y , Brougham was a p r o d u c t of h i s S c o t t i s h background. As we have t r i e d t o dem o n s t r a t e , two elements converged t o form h i s a t t i t u d e on t h e r e f o r m of E n g l i s h law. E d i n b u r g h l i b e r a l i s m , d e r i v e d from F r e n c h t h i n k e r s such as Mo n t e s q u i e u , c o n s t i t u t e d one element; S c o t t i s h law, w i t h i t s r e l i a n c e on r a t i o n a l p r i n c i p l e s and Roman law, was the o t h e r . One s h o u l d not s e p e r a t e t h e s e elements too r i g i d l y , however, s i n c e the S c o t t i s h Bar was r e g a r d e d as 'the guarantee of a l i b e r a l mind'. I f t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s c o r r e c t , then the n o t i o n t h a t Brougham was Bentham's ' d i s c i p l e * can no l o n g e r be e n t e r t a i n e d . 80 M o r e o v e r , i f Brougham's l e g a l a c t i v i t i e s were i n s p i r e d by h i s S c o t t i s h c u l t u r a l and p r a c t i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t , t h e n the r e l a t i o n -s h i p o f Bentham t o n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y law r e f o r m must be r e a p p r a i s e d . Bentham s h o u l d be p l a c e d w i t h i n t h e r e f o r m t r a d i t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n as i t s ' deus ex m a c h i n a ' . Jeremy Bentham was more aware t h a n h i s b i o g r a p h e r s o f t h e d i f f e r e n c e s between Brougham and h i m s e l f . He r e a l i z e d , t o o , t h a t most o f t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s were a t t r i b u t a b l e t o Brougham' s f o r m a t i v e y e a r s i n S c o t l a n d . As a m a t t e r of f a c t , Bentham lampooned one o f Brougham's B i l l s by r e f e r r i n g t o i t s S c o t t i s h 78 a u t h o r s h i p s Noble andi l e a r n e d e y a s ! can you c a r r y y o u r s e l v e s so f a r as t o t h e o t h e r s i d e o f the T w e e d ? . . . In S c o t l a n d , had not t h e n o b l e and l e a r n e d f a t h e r o f t h i s a c t , i f not t h e w h o l e , t h e l a s t and f i n i s h i n g p a r t , o f h i s e d u c a t i o n ? In h i s a d v o c a t e ' s s h a p e , d i d no t — i n h i s c h a n c e l l o r ' s s t a t e , have not a l r e a d y — t h o s e same n o b l e and l e a r n e d eyes f o u n d need t o c a r r y t h e m s e l v e s a l l o v e r t h a t p a r t o f the i s l a n d ? Indeed t h e y had . 81 CHAPTER IV THE POOR LAW DEBATE I r e n o u n c e any c o n n e c t i o n w i t h a s o c i e t y s p e a k i n g o f men a s mere a n i m a l s , o f r e a r i n g them and s e n d i n g them t o m a r k e t ! Anonymous 82 Most o f Brougham's e n e r g y was d i r e c t e d a t t h e r e f o r m o f t h e ' l o w e r orders'.''" He c o n s i d e r e d l e g a l r e f o r m s e c o n d a r y t o t h e d e c i s i v e t a s k o f i n d o c t r i n a t i n g t h e poor w i t h a new m e n t a l i t y 2 c o n s i s t e n t w i t h a d e v e l o p i n g i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y . Such a d e s i g n i n v o l v e d much more t h a n a r e d i r e c t i o n o f t r a d i t i o n a l f r a m e s o f r e f e r e n c e . I t was t a n t a m o u n t t o t h e c r e a t i o n o f a c o m p l e t e l y new human n a t u r e , w i t h u n i q u e i n c e n t i v e s t o b e h a v i o r . F o r Brougham, one f o r m i d a b l e o b s t a c l e s t o o d i n t h e way o f t h i s r e - m o d e l l i n g o f t h e p o o r . T h a t o b s t a c l e -- w h i c h he d e s c r i b e d as a ' s t a l k i n g m o n s t e r ' -- was t h e Poor Law. W h i l e t h e p r o b l e m o f t h e ' l o w e r o r d e r s ' was c e r t a i n l y n o t a new one, i t s f o c u s and s i g n i f i c a n c e had s h i f t e d c o n s i d e r a b l y by t h e t i m e i t had a t t r a c t e d Brougham's a c t i v e a t t e n t i o n . The l a t e e i g h t e e n t h and e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w i t n e s s e d a s p a t e o f p a m p h l e t s d e c l a r i n g t h a t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l i m p e d i m e n t t o t h e improvement o f t h e l a b o u r i n g p o o r was t h e c o r r u p t i n g i n f l u e n c e o f t h e Poor Law. The t h r e e most f r e q u e n t c r i t i c i s m s o f t h e P o o r Law were: i t ' d i s c o u r a g e d l a b o u r by r e w a r d i n g i d l e n e s s ; i t e n c o u r a g e d i m p r o v i d e n c e ; and i t d e c r e a s e d t h e ' r e a l ' p r i c e o f l a b o u r by d e n y i n g i t m o b i l i t y and a c o m p e t i t i v e m a r k e t . Though t h e c r i t i c s d i s a g r e e d w i d e l y upon t h e s o l u t i o n , most were c o n v i n c e d t h a t s o m e t h i n g had t o be done q u i c k l y . I t was w i t h i n s u c h a c o n t e x t t h a t Brougham, f i r s t a d d r e s s e d h i m s e l f 3 t o t h e p r o b l e m o f t h e p o o r . In 1817, he w r o t e : The c o u r s e o f p r o c e e d i n g w h i c h t h e l e g i s l a t u r e o u g h t t o p u r s u e i n d e a l i n g w i t h t h e e s t a t e s o f t h e p o o r , i s a s u b j e c t o f p e c u l i a r d e l i c a c y and c l o s e l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e g r e a t q u e s t i o n o f t h e Poor Laws. I t i s 83 c h i e f l y i n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , that I have from the beginning been induced to regard both the s u b j e c t of C h a r i t i e s and of N a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n . Because t h i s 'great q u e s t i o n ' dominated contemporary thought on the reform of the 'lower o r d e r s ' , i t warrants some g e n e r a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n here. I Contemporary s c h o l a r s h i p on the Old Poor Law i s almost i n v a r i a b l y concerned with the s o - c a l l e d Speenhamland system, i n t r o d u c e d by the B e r k s h i r e m a g i s t r a t e s i n 1795 and f i n a l l y a b o l i s h e d by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. 4 H i s t o r i a n s have o f f e r e d arguments f o r and a g a i n s t t h i s system of r e l i e f to the a b l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r . In the pr o c e s s , they have bandied about a good many i d e o l o g i c a l assumptions about the nature of man and the development of h i s t o r y . But only r e c e n t l y has any s e r i o u s r e s e a r c h been undertaken to determine the way i n which t h i s system worked i n p r a c t i c e . The f i n d i n g s of h i s t o r i -ans such as Mark Blang and James Huzel i r i d i c a t e t h a t the p r a c t i c e of outdoor r e l i e f was not as widespread or s i g n i f i c a n t as was once b e l i e v e d . 6 What l i t t l e e f f e c t i t d i d have was probably b e n e f i c i a l i n the sense of p r e v e n t i n g unnecessary s u f f e r i n g and r u r a l r i o t . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h i s k i n d of i n f o r m a t i o n t e l l s us very l i t t l e about the p e r c e p t i o n of pauperism by Brougham and other contemporaries. They had n e i t h e r the s t a t i s t i c s nor the s o p h i s t i c a t e d a n a l y t i c a l t o o l s to a r r i v e at these c o n c l u s i o n s . Regardless of the a c t u a l e f f e c t s of the r e l i e f system, i t i s nonetheless c l e a r that a great many i n t e l l i g e n t men came to 84 p e r c e i v e i t as a s e r i o u s d i s e a s e i n the s o c i a l organism. And, while i t would be assuming too much to a t t r i b u t e the Poor Law Amendment Act p r i m a r i l y to t h e i r i n f l u e n c e , t h e i r p r o t e s t s c e r t a i n l y d i d become embodied i n the powerful d o c t r i n e s of c l a s s i c a l economy. Furthermore, t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n of dependant poverty has had a remarkably long l i f e . In 1928, George Orwell was s t r u c k by the f a c t t h a t unemployed Englishmen were 'ashamed' to be out of work, d e s p i t e 7 the r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t no jobs were to be had. These ' l o a f e r s on the Dole' had t r u l y i n t e r n a l i z e d the economic b e l i e f t h a t poverty was a p e r s o n a l f a i l i n g r a t h e r than a s o c i a l problem. This a t t i t u d e towards dependence was c l e a r l y a r t i c u l a t e d i n the Poor Law Report of 1834, a s y n t h e s i s of e n l i g h t e n e d contemporary o p i n i o n on the nature of pauperism and i t s remedy. E x t o l l i n g the v i r t u e s of prudence and s e l f - h e l p , the Report a d v i s e d that the workhouse r e p l a c e outdoor r e l i e f as the means f o r a l l e v i a t i n g d e s t i t u t i o n . A c c o r d i n g to the Commissioners, i n order t h a t i d l e n e s s and f r a u d might be d i s c o u r a g e d , the workhouse s i t u a t i o n was to be ' l e s s e l i g i b l e ' than that of the lowest p a i d worker. In t h i s way, the Report a t t a c h e d a stigma to dependant poverty which even the experience 1 of the d e p r e s s i o n of the 1930's c o u l d not e r a d i c a t e . In t h e i r p i o n e e r i n g study of the E n g l i s h Poor Law, the Webbs pl a c e d a m i s d i r e c t e d emphasis on the Commissioner^] Report. They assumed that the Report brought i n t o being the g Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. In a l l p r o b a b i l i t y , however, the New Poor Law r e f l e c t e d more the s t a t e of the honourable 85 members' purses than the a p p l i c a t i o n of any a b s t r a c t theory g of pauperism. The poor r a t e s were paid by landowners and, u n t i l the t w e n t i e t h century, landowners dominated P a r l i a m e n t . It may w e l l be that the r a p i d l y r i s i n g c o s t of p r o v i d i n g f o r the poor decided the i s s u e . In any case, the Act was so s e r i o u s l y m o d i f i e d i n p r a c t i c e as to be a pale r e f l e c t i o n of what the Commissioners had intended. Again, i t s r e a l s i g n i f i c a n c e r e s t e d i n the p e r c e p t i o n of poverty which i t helped to e s t a b l i s h . Whence d i d the Commissioners d e r i v e t h e i r a n a l y s i s of pauperism? T h i s q u e s t i o n remains to be answered s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . Sidney and B e a t r i c e Webb made the mistake of a t t r i b u t i n g the i d e a s i n the Report s o l e l y to the i n f l u e n c e of Bentham and Malthusv They claimed that Malthus' theory of p o p u l a t i o n and Benthamite u t i l i t a r i a n i s m were the Commissioner g u i d i n g l i g h t s . ^ The Webbs* assumptions, supported by scanty evidence, have had a noteworthy s t a y i n g power. In h i s essay on poor law r e s e a r c h , J.D. M a r s h a l l s t a t e s t h a t there i s " l i t t l e doubt t h a t the Commission was i n f l u e n c e d , d e c i s i v e l y , by u t i l i t a r i a n t h o u g h t . " ^ In a s i m i l a r v e i n , Mark Blaug s i n g l e s out Malthus as the v i l l i a n of the Poor Law debate. Without denying the important c o n t r i b u t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l t h i n k e r s such as Bentham and Malthus, i t i s suggested that the 13 Webbs have l e d h i s t o r i a n s on an u n f r u i t f u l chase. The s i n g l i n g out of ' i n f l u e n t i a l ' i n t e l l e c t u a l s has r e s u l t e d i n a g e n e r a l b l i n d n e s s towards the r i c h and complex debate on the l a b o u r i n g poor which was c a r r i e d on throughout the e i g h t e e n t h century and 86 c o n t i n u e d on i n t o t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . Even J.R. P g y n t e r ' s i m p o r t a n t work S o c i e t y and P a u p e r i s m f a i l s t o remedy t h i s l a c k . By e m p h a s i z i n g t h e s u b t l e , v a r i e d , and c o n t r a d i c t o r y o p i n i o n s on d e p e n d a n t p o v e r t y between 1795 and 1834, t h e a u t h o r does made a d e t e r m i n e d e f f o r t t o - p l a c e Bentham and lYlalthus w i t h i n v t h e d e b a t e r a t h e r t h a n a t i t s head. S t i l l , t h e p e r i o d P p y t n e r c o v e r s i s f a r t o o s h o r t , w h i l e t h e number o f p o s i t i o n s he e x a m ines i s t o o l a r g e . The r e s u l t i s a somewhat s u p e r f i c i a l t r e a t m e n t o f t h e q u e s t i o n o f p a u p e r i s m as a w h o l e . In o r d e r f u l l y t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e a t t i t u d e w h i c h Brougham and some o f h i s c o n t e m p o r a r i e s h e l d t o w a r d s p a u p e r i s m , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o r e a c h f u r t h e r back i n t o e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y c o n c e p t i o n s o f p o v e r t y a n d l a b o u r . In h i s c l a s s i c s t u d y , E.S. F u r n i s s c l a i m e d t h a t a d o m i n a n t b e l i e f o f e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y o b s e r v e r s was t h a t p o v e r t y was n o t o n l y i n e v i t a b l e b u t 15 i m p e r a t i v e . O n l y t h r o u g h f e a r o f s t a r v a t i o n was i t p o s s i b l e t o f o r c e t h e s t i f f - n e c k e d p o o r t o p e r f o r m d e g r a d i n g b u t n e c e s s a r y l a b o u r . S u ch an a t t i t u d e was i n t i m a t e l y c o n n e c t e d t o t h e b e l i e f t h a t manual l a b o u r was i n h e r e n t l y s e r v i l e and u n p l e a s a n t . T h i s may have been t h e d o m i n a n t p a r a d i g m , b u t i f A.W. C o a t s i s c o r r e c t , t h e n i t seems t h a t a q u i t e c o n t r a d i c t o r y view e x i s t e d a l o n g s i d e i t . In " C h a n g i n g A t t i t u d e s t o L a b o u r i n t h e M i d - E i g h t e e n t h Century,'' C o a t s a r g u e s t h a t t h e b e l i e f t h a t t h e p oor w o u l d r e s p o n d t o l a b o u r i n c e n t i v e s was g a i n i n g g r o u n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . 1 6 In f a c t , some t h i n k e r s , p r i m a r i l y S c o t s , c l a i m e d t h a t a man had a ' n a t u r a l j. i m p u l s e t o i n d u s t r y ' j u s t as l o n g as he was r e w a r d e d f o r h i s l a b o u r . 87 By the n i n e t e e n t h century, the l a t t e r view had gained c o n s i d e r a b l e support.*'' For those who b e l i e v e d that work was ' n a t u r a l ' and that the poor would respond to economic i n c e n t i v e s , the Poor Law c o u l d be regarded, at best, as a necessary expedient. More o f t e n , i t was seen as a dangerous and p e r n i c i o u s i n s t i t u t i o n . I t negated man's n a t u r a l i n c l i n a t i o n and moral duty to work by g r a n t i n g him a ' r i g h t ' to s u b s i s t e n c e r e g a r d l e s s . L i k e many of h i s contemporaries, Brougham was h i g h l y c r i t i c a l of t h i s " i dea of a right.V He even went so f a r as to c a l l f o r the t o t a l a b o l i t i o n of the Poor Law. However, i t i s f a r too s i m p l i s t i c to say that Brougham was one of those who regarded pauperism i n a new l i g h t and to leave i t a t t h a t . New a t t i t u d e s do not a r i s e out of t h i n a i r . The c r u c i a l f a c t o r i n the development of Brougham's i d e a s , and a s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a b l e throughout the Poor Law debate, was th a t of the S c o t t i s h c o n c e p t i o n of work and pauperism. There i s l i t t l e doubt t h a t the new a t t i t u d e was most c l e a r l y formulated by 18 members of the S c o t t i s h School of moral p h i l o s o p h y . Both Hume and Smith, as w e l l as the l e s s e r l u m i n a r i e s of the S c o t t i s h School, regarded an i n c r e a s e i n the standard of l i v i n g of the lower orders as "an u n m i s t a k e a b l e - i n d i c a t i o n of n a t i o n a l w e l l -19 bei n g . " It i s a l s o c l e a r that a m a j o r i t y of the prop a g a n d i s t s i n the Poor Law debate accepted t h i s view. Regardless of whether or not they wished to see the Poor Law a b o l i s h e d i n i t s e n t i r e t y , the pamphleteers u s u a l l y agreed that labour should r e c e i v e i t s j u s t reward. This was as true of Cobbett and 20 O a s t l e r , as i t was of men l i k e Brougham. 88 The importance of the Scottish School in the spread of a new conception of the;a;onomic r a t i o n a l i t y of the worker and the advantages of high wages should not be underestimated. Not u n t i l the mid-nineteenth century, at which time workers began to adjust to the rules of the marketplace, did any more than 21 a small minority of workers respond to monetary incentives. Nor did employers see any benefits i n incentive payments and 22 'intensive labour u t i l i z a t i o n ' u n t i l l a te in the century. Yet the theorists who attacked the administration of r e l i e f demonstrated a perceptiveness far in advance of those a c t u a l l y engaged in labour and production. I m p l i c i t l y or e x p l i c i t l y , they assumed that a l l men were p o t e n t i a l l y r a t i o n a l and cal c u l a t i n g i n Adam Smith's terms. The Scottish School had done a good job of disseminating i t s c doctrine. Townsend was well acquainted with the p r i n c i p l e s of the 'Edinburgh l i t e r a t i ' s Bentham claimed that he was following Smith i n his attack on low wages and the Law of Settlement; and 23 Eden t i t l e d himself 'a d i s c i p l e of Adam Smith'. In his int e r e s t i n g pamphlet e n t i t l e d "The Condition of the Labouring Classes of Society", John Barton claimed to be arguing from the. "incontrovertable opinions of Locke, Hume, and Smith" in his attack on the merchantilist theories of Young. 2 4 And similar references may be found in many of the tra c t s written against the Poor Law. Brougham, of course, was forever r e f e r r i n g to Scottish thought in his writings and speeches. While the Poor Law propagandists drew upon Scottish philosophy, many pointed as well to Scotland's superior system 89 of a d m i n i s t e r i n g r e l i e f . Again and a g a i n , they c i t e d S c o t l a n d as a country without any l e g a l p r o v i s i o n f o r the poor yet with a hard working, obedient labour f o r c e . Champions of the S c o t t i s h system, such as, Townsend, Davies, Rickman, Chalmers, Curwen, Brougham and Whitbread, a t t r i b u t e d the s u p e r i o r i t y of the Scots to the f a c t t h at t h e i r system of 25 r e l i e f was a v o l u n t a r y one. T h e i r w r i t i n g s g r e a t l y d i s t o r t the r e a l s i t u a t i o n , however. S c o t t i s h c o n d i t i o n s were not as s a t i s f a c t o r y as the c r i t i c s of the E n g l i s h Poor Law were i n c l i n e d to b e l i e v e . S c o t l a n d , i n the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century, was f a c i n g i t s own problems with the poor and many Scots were beginning to look to the example of the E n g l i s h Poor Law as a p o s s i b l e s o l u t i o n . And, as George Rose p o i n t e d out i n h i s pamphlets, r e l i e f i n S c o t l a n d was not as v o l u n t a r y as i t seemed. K i r k h e r i t o r s had c o n s i d e r a b l e powers of assessment, and c a l l e d upon the common law to f o r c e compulsory c o n t r i b u t i o n s 26 under s p e c i a l c o n d i t i o n s . Thus, one should not assume that the S c o t t i s h working c l a s s e s were much b e t t e r o f f than t h e i r E n g l i s h c o u n t e r p a r t s . There was t r u t h i n Cobbett's d e r i s i o n of the "impudent Scotch quacks" who r a i l e d a g a i n s t the E n g l i s h Poor 27 Law but overlooked the s u f f e r i n g i n t h e i r own country. N e v e r t h e l e s s , even those who d i d not swallow the myth of the i n d u s t r i o u s and obedient Scot were usu a l l y w i l l i n g to admit that the S c o t t i s h system was an improvement over that of England. It at l e a s t d i s c r i m i n a t e d between the a b l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r and the s i c k or aged. Furthermore, i t d i d not d i v e r t l a r g e sums of money from i n d u s t r y to the support of a s t a g n a t i n g r u r a l 90 s o c i e t y . Among t h o s e who l o o k e d t o t h e S c o t t i s h model on t h e s e g r o u n d s we can number: Chadwick, Eden, M a l t h u s , Rose, 28 R o m i l l y , and S t u r g e s Bourne. Thus, t h e v a r i a b l e s o f S c o t t i s h t h o u g h t and p r a c t i c e c o n c e r n i n g t h e t r e a t m e n t o f p a u p e r i s m a r e c r u c i a l t o an u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y d e b a t e on t h e Poor Law. The r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h o s e v a r i a b l e s t o a c t u a l p o l i c y d e c i s i o n s i s d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s . The i n c r e a s i n g c o s t o f p o o r r e l i e f was an.important f a c t o r i n t h e demise o f t h e O l d Poor Law. D r a m a t i c s o c i a l change and p r o b l e m s s u c h as t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l d i s t r e s s o f 1815, t h e a g i t a t i o n f o r r e l i e f i n I r e l a n d d u r i n g t h e 1820's, and t h e C a p t a i n Swing r i o t s o f 1830, a l l p l a y e d an i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n b r i n g i n g t h e p r o b l e m o f p a u p e r i s m f o r w a r d . However, i t seems p r o b a b l e t h a t t h e S c o t t i s h a t t i t u d e had some e f f e c t on t h e f o r m u l a t i o n o f a s o l u t i o n . More i m p o r t a n t , t h i s a t t i t u d e has r e m a i n e d w i t h us i n t h e modern age. The i n f l u e n c e o f S c o t t i s h i d e a s on Henry Brougham i s much e a s i e r t o d e t e r m i n e . We have a l r e a d y shown t h a t Brougham was a p r o d u c t o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l and an e x t r e m e l y n a t i o n a l i s t i c d e f e n d e r o f S c o t t i s h i n s t i t u t i o n s . What r e m a i n s i s t o demon-s t r a t e how Brougham e v i d e n c e d t h e s e t r a i t s i n h i s a t t a c k on t h e E n g l i s h Poor Law. I I Brougham and s e v e r a l o t h e r f o r m e r s t u d e n t s o f E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y were f o r t u n a t e i n b e i n g a b l e t o u s e t h e E d i n b u r g h 91 Review as a v e h i c l e f o r the spread of S c o t t i s h ideas on work 29 and pauperism. The Edinburgh Review maintained a c o n s t a n t and severe c r i t i c i s m a g a i n s t the E n g l i s h Poor Law p o l i c y during the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century and educated a s i g n i f i c a n t 30 s e c t o r of B r i t i s h s o c i e t y i n a b o l i t i o n i s t p r i n c i p l e s . Among i t s c o n t r i b u t o r s were two of the f i e r c e s t opponents of outdoor r e l i e f : Chalmers and Brougham. Malthus,- too, wrote a number of a r t i c l e s f o r the p u b l i c a t i o n and the Review was from the f i r s t a staunch supporter of the M a l t h u s i a n d o c t r i n e as i t a p p l i e d to the Poor Law. There appears to have been a f a i r l y c o n s i s t e n t d i v i s i o n of labour among the c o n t r i b u t o r s to the Edinburgh Review on the 31 problem of the poor. John A l l e n , Sidney Smith, and, of course, Thomas Chalmers, wrote most of the a r t i c l e s on the Poor Law, while the education of the poor was c o n s i d e r e d to be Brougham's t e r r i t o r y . However, one should not assume t h a t the two i s s u e s were d i s t i n c t i n the minds of the reviewers, ^ u i t e j the r e v e r s e . Thomas Chalmers, f o r example, i n h i s essays on "Causes and Cures of Pauperism", argued that the o p e r a t i o n of the Poor Law " s u s t a i n s the whole f a b r i c of pauperism." "A powerful as safeguard a g a i n s t t h a t d e g r a d a t i o n of c h a r a c t e r among the people", he went on to say, was "moral e d u c a t i o n " i n " i n d u s t r y " 32 and " f r u g a l i t y " . S i m i l a r l y , Brougham made innumerable damning comments on the o p e r a t i o n of the Poor Law i n h i s essays on the education of the poor and the s t a t e of the n a t i o n . A few examples w i l l s u f f i c e to i n d i c a t e h i s views on the s u b j e c t . "Two f a c t s speak a language which cannot be d i s r e g a r d e d , " 92 Brougham w r o t e i n an a r t i c l e o f 1813:"" 0 1 s t , T h e r e i s no p o o r - r a t e i n S c o t l a n d . In E n g l a n d e v e r y e i g h t h o r n i n t h man i s a p a u p e r ; and t h e p o o r ' s r a t e , w h i c h was a l i t t l e u n der f i v e m i l l i o n s t e n y e a r s ago, i s p r o b a b l y a s much more t h a n s i x a t p r e s e n t . 2nd, A c c o r d i n g t o t h e c r i m i n a l c a l e n d e r s o f t h e two L c o u n t r i e s , f o r e v e r y s i n g l e c r i m i n a l i n S c o t l a n d , i n an e q u a l q u a n t i t y o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , you have e l e v e n i n E n g l a n d . L i k e many o f h i s f e l l o w r e v i e w e r s , Brougham was f o n d o f condemning t h e Poor Law by c o m p a r i n g t h e S c o t t i s h s i t u a t i o n w i t h t h a t o f E n g l a n d . I n d e e d , Brougham's n a t i o n a l i s t i c p r i d e comes o u t i n a l m o s t e v e r y a r t i c l e he w r o t e . 3 4 He b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e l o w e r o r d e r s o f S c o t l a n d were m o r a l l y , as w e l l as i n t e l l e c t u a l l y , s u p e r i o r t o t h e i r E n g l i s h c o u n t e r p a r t s . The E n g l i s h Poor Law had s a p p e d t h e m o r a l f i b r e o f t h e p o p u l a c e ; i n i t s wake had come v i c e , c r i m e , and i n s u r r e c t i o n . In a l a t e r w r i t i n g , Brougham c l a i m e d t h a t t h e Poor Law was t h e most i m p o r t a n t p r o b l e m f a c i n g t h e L e g i s l a t u r e and t h a t i t s h o u l d be 35 a b o l i s h e d a l t o g e t h e r . At t h e v e r y l e a s t , he a r g u e d , r e l i e f 3 5 s h o u l d be w i t h d r a w n f r o m t h e a b l e - b o d i e d p o o r t i n a l i t t l e more t h a n t w e n t y y e a r s i t w o u l d l e a v e no p o o r t o be p r o v i d e d f o r , e x c e p t t h o s e who a r e i n -c a p a b l e o f w o r k i n g , f r o m a c c i d e n t , d i s e a s e , o r a g e . T h e r e may be a q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r even t h e s e o ught not t o be l e f t d e p e n d a n t upon p r i v a t e c h a r i t y , b u t , a t a l l e v e n t s , t h e p o o r f r o m want o f employment, s h o u l d l o o k t o t h i s s o u r c e o f s u p p o r t a l o n e . H a r s h words, i n d e e d , f o r t h e modern e a r ! S t i l l , one s h o u l d be wary o f a c c u s i n g Brougham and h i s c o l l e a g u e s o f a l a c k o f g e n u i n e sympathy f o r t h e p l i g h t o f t h e p o o r . The r e v i e w e r s c o u l d a r g u e w i t h ' M a i t h u s t h a t t h e Poor Law was c r u e l b e c a u s e i t d e p r e s s e d t h e wages of l a b o u r , t h u s n e g a t i n g t h e e f f e c t o f money 93 i n c e n t i v e s . F u r t h e r m o r e , i t s a p p e d t h e w o r k e r o f h i s s e l f r e s p e c t and l e f t t h e poor a t t h e mercy o f p o s i t i v e c h e c k s 37 t o w a r d s p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h . B u t , above and beyond t h a t , t h e y b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e p r o b l e m o f t h e d e s e r v i n g p o o r c o u l d be e l i m i n a t e d t h r o u g h p r i v a t e c h a r i t y . So c e n t r a l was t h i s b e l i e f t h a t Brougham r a i l e d a g a i n s t a f e l l o w a b o l i t i o n i s t , A r t h u r Young, f o r a d v o c a t i n g t h a t a l l alms s h o u l d be a b o l i s h e d . Brougham l a b e l l e d Young a man who had f o r g o t t e n " t h e common 38 l a n g u a g e and f e e l i n g s o f h u m a n i t y . " Even M a l t h u s , t h e h e r o o f t h e E d i n b u r g h Review, was n o t f r e e f r o m c r i t i c i s m on t h i s 39 s c o r e . One r e v i e w e r w r o t e : T h e r e i s no d a n g e r t h a t t h e l i b e r a l i t y of i n d i v i d u a l s w i l l e v e r f l o w so c e r t a i n l y , or so a b u n d a n t l y , a s t o draw a f t e r i t any s o r t o f d e p e n d a n c e . . . . g e n u i n e b e n e v o l e n c e , i n s h o r t , v i s i t s and r e l i e v e s d i s t r e s s w i t h o u t any s t r i c t i n q u i r y i n t o i t s c a u s e , w h e r e v e r i t i s f o u n d . 'Jie c a n n o t t h e r e f o r e a g r e e w i t h Mr. M a l t h u s , t h a t t h e hand o f p r i v a t e b e n e v o l e n c e s h o u l d be v e r y s p a r i n g l y s t r e t c h e d o u t . T h i s theme r e c u r s a g a i n and a g a i n i n t h e a r t i c l e s o f t h e E d i n b u r g h Review. And, i t stems d i r e c t l y f r o m t h e m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l . Brougham o f t e n r e f e r r e d t o Adam S m i t h ' s t h e o r y o f ' n a t u r a l sympathy' i n h i s own w r i t i n g s , b u t t h e c l e a r e s t a r t i c u l a t i o n o f t h i s p o s i t i o n i s f o u n d i n t h e e s s a y s o f h i s a s s o c i a t e C h a l m e r s . The 1818 e s s a y " C a u s e s and C u r e s o f P a u p e r i s m " r e a d s i n p a r t s l i k e a d e l i b e r a t e p a r o d y o f Adam S m i t h ' s T h e o r y o f M o r a l S e n t i m e n t s . A l l men, C h a l m e r s w r i t e s , a r e l e d by " t h a t g r e a t law o f t h e human c o n s t i t u t i o n . . . . t o a s s o c i a t e w i t h s i m i l a r c i r c u m s t a n c e s . " 4 ^ In o t h e r words, i t i s a p r i n c i p l e o f man's 94 nature that he should sympathize with h i s poorer b r e t h r e n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , Chalmers claimed, t h i s f e e l i n g had become ' f e t t e r e d ' through the compulsory aspect of the Poor Law. The Poor Law needed to be a b o l i s h e d i n order that mens' ' k i n d l i e r f e e l i n g s c o u l d work f r e e l y a g a i n . Only then, w i l l men have r e s t o r e d "to Benevolence a l l i t s l o v e l y and endearing a t t r i b u t e s , without robbing i t of one p a r t i c a l of i t s e f f i c i e n c y . " 4 1 Malthus, as we have a l r e a d y shown, was taken to task f o r f a i l i n g to r e c o g n i z e the power and beauty of benevolence. N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t remains t r u e t h a t he was the d a r l i n g of the Edinburgh Review up u n t i l the 1820's when McCulloch became the p e r i o d i c a l ' s p r i n c i p a l w r i t e r on economics. However, i f we are . r e a l l y to grasp fYlalthus' appeal f o r Brougham and h i s f r i e n d s , we must examine the r e s p e c t i v e p o s i t i o n s of both more c l o s e l y . In Scotch Reviewers; The 'Edinburgh Review', 1802-1815, John C l i v e c l aims t h a t the reviewers were staunch M a l t h u s i a n s . 4 2 On f i r s t glance^ Brougham's w r i t i n g s seem to bear t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n out. In an essay e n t i t l e d "O'Connor's 'Present S t a t e of Great B r i t a i n ' " , Brougham p r a i s e d Malthus' theory of p o p u l a t i o n . He r e f e r r e d to fflalthus as a genius i n almost every one of h i s essays on e d u c a t i o n . Furthermore, he defended Malthus a g a i n s t Cobbett's a t t a c k i n a review of Cobbett's Cottage Economy. 4 3 N e v e r t h e l e s s , there were extremely important d i f f e r e n c e s between Brougham and Malthus. In the f i r s t p l a c e , Brougham's theory of the development of c i v i l i z a t i o n was taken from enlightenment thought and was, t h e r e f o r e , much more o p t i m i s t i c . 95 It i s f o r t h i s reason that one f i n d s no r e f e r e n c e to a n y t h i n g 4, l i k e the wage theory which was so c r u c i a l to Malthus' p o s i t i o n . Secondly, the M a l t h u s i a n d o c t r i n e d i d not c e n t e r around the q u e s t i o n of the Poor Law. In f a c t , Malthus tended to be r a t h e r c o n t r a d i c t o r y about the p o s s i b l e i n f l u e n c e of the Poor Law on p o p u l a t i o n growth. I n i t i a l l y , he a t t a c k e d the Poor Law as a s t i m u l u s to p o p u l a t i o n . However, i n l a t e r w r i t i n g s , he tended to c l a i m t h a t the i n f l u e n c e of the Poor Law on p o p u l a t i o n was minimal and r e s t e d h i s case, i n s t e a d , on the f r a u d u l e n t nature 45 of the Poor Law i n promising a l l e v i a t i o n from s u f f e r i n g . The 'Edinburgh Reviewers', on the other hand, were almost t o t a l l y concerned with the a p p l i c a t i o n of Malthus' theory to Poor Law p o l i c y . Thus, they were Malthusian i n only a very narrow 46 sense. Malthus held a strong appeal f o r the reviewers because he c a l l e d f o r the t o t a l a b o l i t i o n of the Poor Law. Most E n g l i s h w r i t e r s , i n c l u d i n g Bentham, were not prepared to do away with o r g a n i z e d r e l i e f e n t i r e l y . Brougham and h i s c o l l e a g u e s , on the other hand, had the ' v o l u n t a r y ' system of S c o t l a n d i n mind. They thought the E n g l i s h ' system i r r a t i o n a l i n p r i n c i p l e as w e l l as i n e f f i c i e n t i n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . Malthus c o u l d be used to support t h e i r argument. At the same time, Malthus was ignored or a t t a c k e d whenever .he c o n t r a d i c t e d the t e a c h i n g s of the S c o t t i s h School. His concern to keep wages low and h i s d i s t r u s t of benevolence c o u l d not be r e c o n c i l e d with the d o c t r i n e s of Adam Smith or h i s f o l l o w e r s i n the Edinburgh Review. When an important element of Malthus' theory i s examined, i t 96 i s p o s s i b l e f u r t h e r to understand i t s appeal to Brougham and the reviewers. That element i s the r e l i g i o u s value which Malthus a t t a c h e d to 'work' and ' i d l e n e s s ' . Malthus c o n t i n u a l l y a s s o c i a t e d work with order, c a l l i n g , and God's b l e s s i n g , whereas i d l e n e s s and i r r e g u l a r h a b i t s he a s s o c i a t e d with d i s s i p a t i o n , d e p r a v i t y , and s i n . He b e l i e v e d that 'constant and r e g u l a r e x e r t i o n ' would enable an i n d i v i d u a l to "avoid e v i l and pursue good;" in d o l e n c e would have the r e v e r s e e f f e c t . As seen i n Malthus' eyes, t h e r e f o r e , work was much more than a matter of p e r s o n a l or s o c i a l i n t e r e s t ; i t was a r e l i g i o u s duty. Thus 47 the c o n c l u d i n g l i n e s to the Essay on P o p u l a t i o n s E v i l e x i s t s i n the world not to c r e a t e d e s p a i r but a c t i v i t y . We are not p a t i e n t l y to submit to i t , but to exert o u r s e l v e s to a v o i d i t . It i s not only the duty of every i n d i v i d u a l to use h i s utmost e f f o r t s to remove e v i l from h i m s e l f and from as l a r g e a c i r c l e as he can i n f l u e n c e , and the more he e x e r c i s e s h i m s e l f i n t h i s duty, the more w i s e l y he d i r e c t s h i s e f f o r t s , and the more s u c c e s s f u l these e f f o r t s a r e , the more he w i l l probably improve and e x a l t h i s own mind and the more completely does he appear to f u l f i l l the w i l l of h i s C r e a t o r . Malthus* message i s c l e a r . I d l e hands are the d e v i l ' s workshop; work i s a r e f l e c t i o n of g o d l i n e s s . Not c o i n c i d e n t a l l y , the members of the S c o t t i s h School of moral philosophy e n t e r t a i n e d a s i m i l a r a t t i t u d e to work and i d l e n e s s . This a t t i t u d e had i t s r o o t s i n the C a l v i n i s t r e l i g i o n , which dominated S c o t l a n d ' s c u l t u r a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l l i f e u n t i l the second h a l f of the e i g h t e e n t h century. C a l v i n ' s God had demanded a l i f e not only of godd works but a l s o of Godly d i s c i p l i n e . Our purpose here i s not to examine the mechanism by which t h i s moral commandment to o r d e r l y e x e r t i o n 97 was t r a n s f e r r e d i n t o the m a t e r i a l i s t i c philosophy of the S c o t t i s h School. N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t was c l e a r l y t h e r e . The w r i t i n g s of S c o t t i s h p h i l o s o p h e r s , such as Reid and Ferguson, r e f l e c t e d an i n b r e d d i s g u s t f o r i d l e n e s s q u i t e r e l i g i o u s i n i t s f l a v o u r . For them, as f o r t h e i r P r e s b y t e r i a n f o r e r u n n e r s , d i s c i p l i n e d work was a holy t h i n g . Thus, a b a s i c a l l y C a l v i n i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e was deeply imbedded i n the f a b r i c of the moral philosophy i n which Brougham and h i s f r i e n d s were steeped. As John C l i v e puts , . 48 i t t T h e i r n a t i v e country s u p p l i e d the reviewers with a tw o - f o l d h e r i t a g e s P u r i t a n i s m and 'Enlightenment. They r e t a i n e d the e t h i c a l p o s t u l a t e s of the former along with the i n t e l l e c t u a l p r e s u p p o s i t i o n s of the l a t t e r . T h i s goes a long way towards e x p l a i n i n g the great esteem i n which fflalthus was h e l d by the revi e w e r s . T h e i r k i n s h i p w i t h (Ylalthus was as much r e l i g i o u s as i t was i n t e l l e c t u a l . In t h e i r a t t a c k on the Poor Law, t h e r e f o r e , Brougham and t h e other reviewers showed themselves to be products of t h e i r S c o t t i s h h e r i t a g e . They used lYlalthusian t e n e t s , but only to a very l i m i t e d extent. On c r u c i a l p o i n t s , such as the wages of labour and the workings of c h a r i t y , they remained c l o s e r to the tea c h i n g s of Adam Smith. But, l i k e [Ylalthus, the reviewers a t t a c h e d fundamentally C a l v i n i s t i c values to work. They viewed the Poor Law, on p r i n c i p l e , as d e s t r u c t i v e of these v a l u e s , and they a t t a c k e d i t with a r e l i g i o u s f e r v o r . I l l Brougham and Chalmers v i g o r o u s l y attempted to spread t h e i r 98 views to educated Englishmen through the pages of the Edinburgh Review. However, the p r i n t e d page was only one of the f r o n t s on which the b a t t l e a g a i n s t the Poor Law was t a k i n g p l a c e . Brougham s i m u l t a n e o u s l y c a r r i e d the f i g h t i n t o the House of Commons. When Brougham r e - e n t e r e d Parliament i n 1816 as a member of the borough of Winchelsea, the country was f e e l i n g the e f f e c t s of what many thought to be a severe a g r i c u l t u r a l d e p r e s s i o n . Although the p e r i o d from 1815-1836 i s viewed by modern h i s t o r i a n s as one of a g r i c u l t u r a l re-adjustment r a t h e r than d e p r e s s i o n , many l a r g e farmers c e r t a i n l y d i d f e e l the pinch of 49 post war p r i c e s . Brougham came to t h e i r defence on A p r i l 9th, 50 with a powerful speech on the ' D i s t r e s s of the Country'. Here, he argued that while some d e c l i n e i n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o f i t s had been i n e v i t a b l e , the u n d e r l y i n g cause of a g r i c u l t u r a l s u f f e r i n g was the Poor Law. The landed i n t e r e s t had been u n j u s t l y burdened with an e x c e s s i v e and unnecessary expense, s i n c e the Poor Law only spread the d i s e a s e which i t was 51 supposed to remedy. Brougham c o n t i n u e d : I confess that I see but one r a d i c a l cure f o r the s t a t e i n t o which t h i s l a s t abuse i s d a i l y growing worse, degrading i t s whole economy, debasing i t s n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r . . . . i t i s the one which f o l l o w s so immediately from the p r i n c i p l e s u n f o l d e d i n Mr. Malthus' c e l e b r a t e d work. At the very l e a s t , Brougham s a i d , r e l i e f should h e n c e f o r t h be wi t h h e l d from the a b l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r . I d e a l l y , v o l u n t a r y c h a r i t y should r e p l a c e a l l forms of i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d a s s i s t a n c e . Brougham intended to f o l l o w up t h i s a t t a c k with a b i l l of h i s own f o r the a b o l i t i o n of the Poor Law, but h i s work on 99 e d u c a t i o n and c h a r i t a b l e a b u s e s k e p t him t o o busy. N e v e r -t h e l e s s , he d i d hope f o r some good r e s u l t s f r o m S t u r g e s B o u r n e ' s Committee oh t h e Poor Law w h i c h was s e t up i n 1817. J o h n Curwen, a p o l i t i c a l a l l y o f Brougham's w i t h s i m i l a r v i e w s on e d u c a t i o n and t h e Poor Law, had moved t h a t t h i s c o m m i t t e e be 52 s e t up i n 1816 and a g a i n i n 1817. In h i s m o t i o n t o s t r i k e a c o m m i t t e e , Curwen p r a i s e d S c o t l a n d as an example o f " t h e i n f l u e n c e o f m o r a l and p h i l o s o p h i c a l p r i n c i p l e s on t h e c o n d u c t 53 and c h a r a c t e r o f a n a t i o n . " A c c o r d i n g t o him, i t was S c o t l a n d ' s s y s t e m o f v o l u n t a r y c h a r i t y and 'moral e d u c a t i o n ' w h i c h had p r e v e n t e d t h e s p r e a d o f p o v e r t y and t h e debasement o f l a b o u r . Curwen s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e same remedy w o u l d p r o v e e f f e c t i v e i n E n g l a n d . Brougham c o u l d n o t have a g r e e d more. When t h e c o m m i t t e e l a i d t h e S t a t e m e n t o f t h e G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y o f t h e C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d on p o v e r t y b e f o r e t h e House, Brougham e x c l a i m e d t h a t "none were more q u a l i f i e d t o j u d g e o f t h e e x i g e n c i e s o f t h e 54 p o o r , and o f t h e b e s t mode o f p r o v i d i n g f o r t h o s e e x i g e n c i e s . " The end r e s u l t o f Curwen's e f f o r t s was d i s a p p o i n t i n g . He was u n a b l e t o c o n v e r t t h e o t h e r members o f t h e c o m m i t t e e t o t h e a b o l i t i o n i s t p o s i t i o n . C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e Poor Law Amendment B i l l o f 1818 was an e x t r e m e l y weak measure, h a r d l y t o u c h i n g on any o f t h e most f u n d a m e n t a l p r o b l e m s . Brougham t h r e a t e n e d t o b r i n g i n a b i l l o f h i s own. At t h e same t i m e , he was o n l y t o o aware t h a t any b i l l c a l l i n g f o r d r a s t i c c h a n g e s i n t h e t r e a t m e n t o f t h e poor would come up a g a i n s t c o n s i d e r a b l e o p p o s i t i o n i n t h e House, and would most s u r e l y be r e j e c t e d by t h e L o r d s . Thus, Brougham e v e n t u a l l y d e c l i n e d t o s u b m i t h i s p l a n a t t h a t t i m e , 100 55 l e s t i t " s c a r e " too many of h i s c o l l e a g u e s i n the House. Brougham was not a b l e to exert e f f e c t i v e p o l i t i c a l p r e s sure f o r Poor Law reform again u n t i l 1831. At t h a t time, he became a member of the Whig a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and, i n t y p i c a l 5 6 Brougham f a s h i o n , f o r c e d h i s p a r t y ' s hand on the i s s u e . Lord S a l i s b u r y had j u s t moved a r e s o l u t i o n f o r the reform of the- Poor Law i n the House whereupon Brougham a s s e r t e d that a b i l l was p r e s e n t l y being d r a f t e d on that very s u b j e c t . Then Lord S a l i s b u r y g r a c e f u l l y withdrew h i s motion i n e x p e c t a t i o n of a government b i l l . But the whigs had a b s o l u t e l y no i n t e n t i o n of d r a f t i n g any plan f o r Poor Law reform a t that time. Melbourne was completely taken aback by Brougham's ra s h statements. N e v e r t h e l e s s , Brougham had now f o r c e d h i s party to a c t . He, more than any other, can be s a i d to have been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a commission to enquire i n t o the o p e r a t i o n of the Poor Law. In Passages of a Working L i f e , C h a r l e s Knight t e l l s how 57 a r d e n t l y Brougham f o l l o w e d the progress of the commissions: The C h a n c e l l o r took ah e s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i n the i n q u i r i e s t h a t were then proceeding under a Royal Commission as to the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and o p e r a t i o n of the Poor-Laws. Evening a f t e r evening would h i s Dispatch-box b r i n g down soma Report of the A s s i s t a n t Commissioners. In a d d i t i o n , Brougham made an important behind the scenes o n t r i b u t i o n to the i n v e s t i g a t i o n . It was he who suggested that A s s i s t a n t Commissioners be appointed to t r a v e l around the country i n order t h a t f i r s t hand evidence might be o b t a i n e d . ^ 8 The usual p r a c t i c e i n commissions of t h i s s o r t had been the 101 r a t h e r dubious one of hearing o r a l evidence from a l l i n t e r e s t e d p a r t i e s . Brougham's i n n o v a t i o n helped give the ^commissioner^sA Report a s c i e n t i f i c c r e d i b i l i t y among contemporaries. In f a c t , contemporaries r e c o g n i z e d Brougham as the leader of the Poor Law reform movement. They had adequate reason to do so. Besides h i s a c t i v i t i e s behind the scenes and i n the Cabinet, i t was Brougham who convinced H a r r i e t Martineau to 59 e n l i s t her pen i n the s e r v i c e of reform. Miss Marineau's s i m p l i s t i c s e r i e s , a p p r o p r i a t e l y e n t i t l e d Poor Lams, probably had more e f f e c t , and most c e r t a i n l y a g r e a t e r r e a d e r s h i p , than (/ t h e c o m m i s s i o n e r ^ Report and a l l the t r a c t s w r i t t e n a g a i n s t the Poor Law put together. In g a i n i n g her a s s i s t a n c e , Brougham evidenced a shrewd p e r c e p t i o n of the need f o r p u b l i c support. For p u b l i c o p i n i o n o u t s i d e Parliament was d i s t r i b u t e d h e a v i l y on the s i d e of the Old Poor Law. Richar O a s t l e r c a l l e d Brougham a ' c o l d , c a l c u l a t i n g Scotch M a l t h u s i a n ' and claimed t h a t he was t o t a l l y i g n o r a n t of the c o n d i t i o n and f e e l i n g of the E n g l i s h p e a s a n t r y . 6 0 Most people were i n c l i n e d to agree with O a s t l e r . Even Brougham's most l o y a l s u p p o r t e r , The Times, c o u l d not r e c o n c i l e Brougham's a t t i t u d e towards the Poor Law w i t h h i s more popular views on reform, d e s p i t e the f a c t that he had made the con n e c t i o n q u i t e c l e a r i n h i s w r i t i n g s and speeches. His l a c k of support i n the country d i d not hamper Brougham from c a r r y i n g through with h i s crusade. He played a dramatic r o l e i n the c a r r y i n g of the Poor Law Amendment B i l l of 1834 through p a r l i a m e n t . In f a c t , contemporaries thought that h i s 102 famous speech on the second r e a d i n g of the b i l l i n the House of Lords uias the d e c i s i v e f a c t o r i n i t s p a s s a g e . 6 1 T h e i r comments n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , i t i s extremely d i f f i c u l t to measure the e f f e c t of a s i n g l e speech on a money i s s u e such as t h i s . Furthermore, the Lords were no doubt prodded i n t h e i r d e c i s i o n by the f e a r of renewed labour r i o t s which were thought to stem 6 2 from the m a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the Poor Law. The r e a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g about the speech i s i t s t h e o r e t i c a l b a s i s . Nassau S e n i o r c a l l e d Brougham's speech a " p h i l o s o p h i c a l d i s q u i s i t i o n , " and so i t was. In f a c t , A l t h o r p and Melbourne v a i l y attempted to t a l k him out of g i v i n g i t once they had been ^ informed of i t s content. For Brougham's speech d i d not merely of t r e a t A t h e bad a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the Poor Law, i t a l s o condemned the p r i n c i p l e s on which i t was founded. Brougham went much f u r t h e r than the Commissioner^) Report i n sugges t i n g t h a t a " system of i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d r e l i e f was i n i m i c a l to the laws of p o l i t i c a l economy as w e l l as the moral law. Brougham's c o l l e a g u e s were a f r a i d t h a t such extreme views would a l i e n a t e the Lords. F o r t u n a t e l y f o r the Whig cause, the speech was r e c e i v e d f a v o u r a b l y . For our purpose, the s i g n i f i c a n c e of'" Brougham's speech r e s i d e s i n the way i n which i t summarizes h i s a t t i t u d e towards the E n g l i s h Poor Law and pauperism i n g e n e r a l . Brougham began by r e - i t e r a t i n g the r a t h e r commonplace argument that the ab l e - b o d i e d l a b o u r e r should be l e s s e l i g i b l e f o r r e l i e f than the more d e s e r v i n g poor. Very q u i c k l y , however, he expanded t h i s argument to c l a i m that any f i x e d and permanent fund f o r the r e l i e f of the poor was a d i s a s t e r . Not only would i t encourage \ 103 i n d i v i d u a l s to remain i d l e and imprudent, but a l s o i t would remove from the more f o r t u n a t e members of s o c i e t y t h e i r 64 C h r i s t i a n duty to help the poor. Brougham s a i d : For most c e r t a i n i t i s , t h a t a n y t h i n g more mischievous, anything more f a t a l to the country, anything more c a l c u l a t e d to m u l t i p l y , i n d e f i n i t e l y , the numbers of the poor, cannot be conceived, than the a p p l y i n g to them any r e g u l a r and f i x e d p r o v i s i o n , be i t t i t h e or be i t tax, which they can c l a i m a t the hands of the r i c h , except by the f o r c e of t h a t duty of i m p e r f e c t o b l i g a t i o n -- p r i v a t e c h a r i t y which is.imposed upon a l l men. An a b o l i t i o n i s t p o s i t i o n , combined with a f i r m b e l i e f i n the e f f i c a c y and moral im p e r a t i v e of benevolence, i s c l e a r l y at work here. Brougham turned next to the e f f e c t of the Poor Law on work and i d l e n e s s . I t was man's moral duty, he claimed, to work. The Poor Law was immoral i n that i t encouraged the g r e a t e s t of a l l temptations to v i c e i d l e n e s s . If God had commanded men to work, the Poor Law encouraged the exact o p p o s i t e . Thus, the Poor Law was to be a t t a c k e d because i t was s i n f u l , not simply because i t was dangerous or i n e f f i c i e n t . Brougham evidenced 65 t h i s a t t i t u d e towards work i n the f o l l o w i n g vehement passage: The d i s p e n s a t i o n of wrath, which appointed t o i l f o r the p e n a l t y of t r a n s g r e s s i o n , was tempered with the mercy which shed c o u n t l e s s b l e s s i n g s upon i n d u s t r y --i n d u s t r y , t h a t sweetens the c o a r s e s t morsel, and s o f t e n s the hardest p i l l o w ; -- but not under the Poor Law! Look to t h a t volume, and you w i l l f i n d the pauper tormented with the worst i l l s of wealth l i s t l e s s and u n s e t t l e d -- wearing away the hours, r e s t l e s s and half-awake, and s l e e p l e s s a l l the night t h a t c l o s e s h i s slumbering day, -- needy, yet pampered -- i l l - f e d , yet i r r i t a b l e and nervous. Uh! monstrous progeny of t h i s u n n a t u r a l system, which has matured, i n the s q u a l i d r e c e s s e s of the workhouse.... Industry, the safeguard a g a i n s t impure d e s i r e s -- the t r u e p r e v e n t a t i v e of crimes; -- but not under the P o o r -law* Look at that volume, the r e c o r d o f i d l e n e s s , and her s i s t e r g u i l t , which now s t a l k over the land. 104 c Obviously, t h i s evocation of the ' d i s p e n s a t i o n of wrath' was not t y p i c a l of B r i t i s h w r i t e r s on the Poor Law. I t was, however, i n the s p i r i t of pamphlets w r i t t e n by D i s s e n t i n g clergymen and Scots. Brougham had i n h e r i t e d a C a l v i n i s t i c p e r s p e c t i v e from the S c o t t i s h School of the e i g h t e e n t h century. T h e r e f o r e , l i k e [Ylalthus, h i s o p p o s i t i o n to the Poor Law c o n t a i n e d a powerful r e l i g i o u s element. According to Brougham, th e r e was no excuse f o r such a p e r n i c i o u s and immoral system. The example of S c o t l a n d p r o v i d e d s u f f i c i e n t proof that the Poor Law merely i n c r e a s e d the e v i l which i t was set up to p r e v e n t s 6 6 The good e f f e c t s of a r i g i d a b s t i n e n c e , i n a d m i n i s t e r i n g r e l i e f have been s t r o n g l y e x e m p l i f i e d i n S c o t l a n d , and yet that experience has been q u i t e thrown away upon England... The Scotch -- a c a r e f u l and p r o v i d e n t people -- always w a t c h f u l and f e a r f u l of consequences, kept an e x c e e d i n g l y c l o s e hand upon the managers of the poor's fund, and d i d e v e r y t h i n g i n t h e i r power to ward o f f the n e c e s s i t y '.of assessments. Consequently, the S c o t t i s h people were not burdened with an e x c e s s i v e r a t e and the l a b o u r i n g c l a s s of that country had not been demoralized. Brougham b e l i e v e d that England must 'tread back her s t e p s ' i n order" to a c h ieve the s a l u t a r y s t a t e of her northern neighbour. Brougham concluded h i s speech with a long-winded eulogy on p o l i t i c a l economy. D i s t r e s s e d by the " g r o v e l l i n g and i g n o r a n t " d e r i s i o n of the Economists by many Englishmen, he s a i d t h at he was proud to f o l l o w i n the f o o t s t e p s of these i l l u s t r i o u s men. Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , Brougham had h i s c h o i c e s t words of p r a i s e f o r adam Smith. But he a l s o i n c l u d e d Quesnai, 105 T u r g o t , and t h e o t h e r F r e n c h p h i l o s o p h e r s among t h o s e who d e s e r v e d t h e l a u r e l s o f mankind. I t was o n l y f i t t i n g t h a t Brougham s h o u l d end h i s c r i t i q u e o f t h e Poor Law w i t h s u c h an a n a l y s i s . F o r , i t was t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e laws o f p o l i t i c a l economy w h i c h marked t h e g r e a t e s t c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h e S c o t t i s h S c h o o l t o t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l h e r i t a g e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . And, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s e l a w s , i t was n e c e s s a r y t h a t a f r e e m a r k e t i n men and goods be e s t a b l i s h e d . B e f o r e t h i s m i g h t t a k e p l a c e , however, t h e Poor Law had t o be done away w i t h . F o l l o w i n g Adam S m i t h and M a l t h u s , Brougham condemned t h e Law o f S e t t l e m e n t a s an i m p e d i m e n t t o t h e f l o w o f l a b o u r and an i n c e n t i v e t o p a u p e r i s m and i m p r o v i d e n c e . The p r o v i s i o n s o f s e t t l e m e n t were so complex and c o n d u c i v e t o f r a u d , Brougham a r g u e d , t h a t much o f i t s h o u l d be a b o l i s h e d . He went much 7 f u r t h e r t h a n t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f a c o m p l e t e l y m o b i l e l a b o u r f o r c e by s u g g e s t i n g t h a t t h e i d e a l 6 7 d e t e r m i n a n t o f s e t t l e m e n t s h o u l d be r e s i d e n c e . T h i s w o u l d r i d E n g l a n d o f t h e " g r e a t c h i c a n e r y and much t r i c k e r y " w h i c h was p r e s e n t l y p r a c t i c e d by b o t h i n d i v i d u a l s and p a r i s h e s . More i m p o r t a n t , - i t ^ w o u l d r e s u l t i n a f r e e m arket f o r l a b o u r . In f i n i s h i n g h i s s p e e c h , Brougham r e m i n d e d h i s a u d i e n c e t h a t h i s i d e a s on t h e Poor Law had not c h a n g e d s i n c e he had f i r s t • borne a p a r t i n t h i s g r e a t q u e s t i o n ' i n 1817. T h i s was q u i t e t r u e . The L o r d C h a n c e l l o r who d e l i v e r e d t h e famous s p e e c h o f 1834 was f u n d a m e n t a l l y t h e same E d i n b u r g h r e v i e w e r who had condemned the Poor Law i n an a r t i c l e i n 1816. 106 IV Wherein l i e s the s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h i s a t t a c k on the Poor Law which dominated the l i t e r a t u r e of the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century? The answer i s not f a r to seek. In h i s c l a s s i c work The Great T r a n s f o r m a t i o n , Karl P o l a n y i s t r e s s e d the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 as a sharp break i n t r a d i t i o n a l CO a t t i t u d e s towards labour. His theory of r a d i c a l change simply w i l l not do. The a t t i t u d e s embodied i n the Act had long been a n t i c i p a t e d . The Act 'per se' d i d not amount to much i n p r a c t i c e . Cn the other hand, P o l a n y i ' s understanding of the nature and s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h i s a l t e r a t i o n i n p e r c e p t i o n i s a s t u t e . As a r e s u l t of the long-term debate on pauperism, labour d i d i n c r e a s i n g l y become c a t e g o r i z e d as a commodity s u b j e c t to the f l u c t u a t i o n s of the market. This m e c h a n i s t i c p e r c e p t i o n of a man's work -- and thereby of man h i m s e l f was unprecedented i n the h i s t o r y of mankind. I r o n i c a l l y , while the S c o t t i s h School was extremely c o n s c i o u s of the d i g n i t y of work and man's duty towards h i s f e l l o w s , i t had contributed to the c r e a t i o n of a completely u n f e e l i n g s o c i a l e t h i c . The humanitarian impulses of Adam Smith, and d i s c i p l e s , such as Henry Brougham, were overlooked or f o r g o t t e n . S e l f -i n t e r e s t -- without the saving grace of benevolence and duty, was to have i t s day. 107 CHAPTER V THE EDUCATION MOVEMENT ' E d u c a t i o n ' ! D e s p i c a b l e c a n t and n o n s e n s e ! C o b b e t t 108 The c o n n e c t i o n between the a t t a c k on the Poor Law and the movement f o r mass education i n the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century was a d i r e c t one. Because the Poor Law had debased the morals of the lower o r d e r s , i t was necessary to r e p l a c e ' i d l e ' a n d ' d i s s o l u t e ' h a b i t s with ones of order, f r u g a l i t y , and i n d u s t r y . The t o o l f o r t h i s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n was ed u c a t i o n . T h i s i s not to say that the E n g l i s h had completely over-looked the e f f e c t i v e n e s s of educating the poor i n the past. The Sunday School movement and the l a b o u r s of the S o c i e t y f o r the Propogation of C h r i s t i a n Knowledge are proof t h a t t h i s p r i n c i p l e had been r e c o g n i z e d and a c t e d upon long b e f o r e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , the q u e s t i o n of the Poor Law g r e a t l y i n t e n s i f i e d the demand f o r e d u c a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s and broadened the h o r i z o n of e d u c a t i o n a l aims. During'the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century, e d u c a t i o n became more than simply a v e h i c l e f o r the i n d o c t r i n a t i o n of p a r t i c u l a r r e l i g i o u s v a l u e s . Forward l o o k i n g men p e r c e i v e d e d u c a t i o n as the means f o r a complete t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the poor and s o c i e t y at l a r g e . These men were o f t e n Scots; t h e i r l e a d e r was Henry Brougham. It would be d i f f i c u l t to overestimate Henry Brougham's c o n t r i b u t i o n to the development of E n g l i s h e d u c a t i o n . He was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n founding s e v e r a l i n s t i t u t i o n s and s o c i e t i e s f o r the advancement of l e a r n i n g . Among these were: London U n i v e r s i t y , the Infant School a t Brewer's Lane, the B r i t i s h and F o r e i g n School S o c i e t y , and the S o c i e t y f o r the D i f f u s i o n of U s e f u l Knowledge. Besides t h i s , the 'Learned F r i e n d ' wrote c o u n t l e s s t r a c t s , on an i n f i n i t e number of s u b j e c t s , f o r the b e n e f i t of the 109 p o o r . At t h e p o l i t i c a l l e v / e l , Brougham uias p r e - e m i n e n t i n b r i n g i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f e d u c a t i o n t o t h e a t t e n t i o n o f p a r l i a m e n t . I t uias he who was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r s e t t i n g up and d i r e c t i n g t h e famous Committee o f 1816 t o e n q u i r e i n t o t h e e d u c a t i o n o f t h e l o w e r o r d e r s . And, f r o m t h e f i r s t , Brougham was t h e l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e o f a n a t i o n a l s y s t e m o f e l e m e n t a r y e d u c a t i o n . Thus, i n s i d e as w e l l as o u t s i d e p a r l i a m e n t , he l e d t h e e d u c a t i o n a l movement. One would be h a r d p r e s s e d t o name a p i e c e o f t h e e d u c a t i o n a l p i e i n w h i c h Brougham had no f i n g e r . But a c a t a l o g u e o f Brougham's e n d e a v o u r s on b e h a l f o f e d u c a -t i o n i s n o t i n t e n d e d i n t h i s c h a p t e r . 1 I t i s s u f f i c i e n t m e r e l y t o p o i n t o u t t h a t Brougham was t h e d o m i n a n t f i g u r e i n t h e h i s t o r y o f e d u c a t i o n f o r t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . The p u r p o s e - o f t h i s c h a p t e r i s , r a t h e r , t o d e m o n s t r a t e i n what ways Brougham's v i e w s were i n f o r m e d by E d i n b u r g h t h o u g h t and S c o t t i s h e e u c a t i o n a l p r a c t i c e . In t h e p r o c e s s , we hope t o show t h a t t h e s e v a r i a b l e s were o f some s i g n i f i c a n c e , n o t o n l y i n Brougham's c a s e , but f o r t h e e d u c a t i o n a l movement as a w h o l e . B e f o r e t h i s t a s k c a n be u n d e r t a k e n , however, a b r i e f r e - a p p r a i s a l o f e d u c a t i o n a l h i s t o r y f o r t h e p e r i o d between 1804 and 1839 i s i n 2 o r d e r . F o r , as we s h a l l a r g u e , t h e h i s t o r y o f e d u c a t i o n d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d -- p a r t i c u l a r l y a s i t a p p l i e s t o Brougham -- has been r a t h e r b a d l y done. As a r e s u l t , t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f S c o t t i s h i d e a s has been o v e r l o o k e d . I Many o f t h e a c c o u n t s o f e d u c a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e 110 3 n i n e t e e n t h century c o n t a i n an i m p l i c i t theory of p r o g r e s s . For example, one well-known author views the spread of e d u c a t i o n to the lower orders as an "advance of humanity." 4 Given t h i s premise, i t f o l l o w s that those who opposed popular e d u c a t i o n . 5 were e i t h e r ' p r e j u d i c e d * or ' r e a c t i o n a r y ' . The reader of these t y p i c a l accounts i s o f f e r e d the age-old dichotomy between good and e v i l , with the assurance of h i n d s i g h t t h a t good w i l l e v e n t u a l l y p r e v a i l . The problem with t h i s s o r t of approach i s t w o f o l d . F i r s t , i t presupposes t h a t e d u c a t i o n i s an unmixed b l e s s i n g . Second, i t tends to obscure the p a r t i c u l a r aims of those engaged i n e d u c a t i o n a l reform. In almost every case, Brougham's bio g r a p h e r s f a l l i n t o the p i t f a l l s of t h i s approach. They assume that his a c t i v i t i e s as a reformer were p r o g r e s s i v e , b e n e f i c i a l , and humanitarian. They seldom attempt to say what Brougham's idea s on e d u c a t i o n r e a l l y were. F r a n c i s Hawes' work Henry Brougham i s a case i n p o i n t . ^ The author p r a i s e s Brougham's e f f o r t s to c r e a t e a n a t i o n a l system of e d u c a t i o n , but i s s t r u c k by the f a c t t h a t Brougham believed t h at education should be n e i t h e r f r e e nor compulsory. T h i s f a c t the author e x p l a i n s by t e l l i n g h i s reader t h a t Brougham was "a man of h i s times," and, a l t h o u g h he had managed to r i d h i m s e l f of many p r e j u d i c e s , h e was s t i l l i n f l u e n c e d by t r a d i t i o n a l views. But t h i s i s not an e x p l a n a t i o n at a l l . Hawes says nothing about the s p e c i f i c problems to which Brougham addressed h i m s e l f or the i n f l u e n c e s which determined the nature of h i s s o l u t i o n . Brougham i s r e l e g a t e d to the s t a t u s of a s t e p p i n g stone to p r o g r e s s . In the process, h i s aims and 111 behavior are c o n s i d e r a b l y d i s t o r t e d . Another biographer of Brougham sums up h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n to E n g l i s h education i n the f o l l o w i n g l i n e : "Throughout h i s a c t i v e c a r e e r he devoted h i m s e l f u n t i r i n g l y to the stupendous task of breaking down the b a r r i e r s t h a t stood i n the way of u n i v e r s a l e d u c a t i o n , and to work of l i b e r a t i n g the minds of 7 the masses from the bondage of ignorance and p r e j u d i c e . " In yet another work, G.T. G a r r a t t d e s c r i b e s Brougham as the champion of a l l those who opposed any monopoly on knowledge g and a man " f a r i n advance of c o n v e n t i o n a l V i c t o r i a n o p i n i o n . " The two s t u d i e s which deal at l e n g t h with Brougham's e d u c a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s have a s i m i l a r tone. Chester New f i t s h i s s u b j e c t n e a t l y i n t o the framework of a whig theory of h i s t o r y and p r o v i d e s very l i t t l e a n a l y s i s . The same i s true of Amy G i l b e r t ' s unpublished master's t h e s i s "The Work of Lord Brougham f o r Education i n England," wherein the p r o t a g o n i s t i s d e p i c t e d as 'the enemy, of every k i n d of o p p r e s s i o n ' towards g the poor. T h i s image of Brougham as the f r i e n d of the oppressed does not do anything to a i d our understanding of h i s e d u c a t i o n a l views. F o r t u n a t e l y , there has been a r e a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h i s approach i n the past few years, n o t a b l y i n the work of some American h i s t o r i a n s . Michael Katz's C l a s s , Bureaucracy, and Schools i s a concerted a s s a u l t on the whig p o s i t i o n . Mass s c h o o l i n g , he argues, began as a method of e n s u r i n g the a d a p t i o n of the working c l a s s e s to the needs of a r a p i d l y d eveloping i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y . 1 0 The promoters of e d u c a t i o n a l 112 reform the m i d d l e - c l a s s -- were not moved by any humanitarian impulse. Rather, t h e i r c h i e f aim was to i n c u l c a t e moral h a b i t s and thereby ensure the obedience and w o r k - d i s c i p l i n e of a growing urban working c l a s s . Schools, to use I r v i n g Goffman's term, became ' t o t a l i n s t i t u t i o n s ' s t r e s s i n g r e g i -mentation, p u n c t u a l i t y , and p r e c i s i o n . B r i a n Simon has noted a s i m i l a r p a t t e r n i n E n g l i s h e d u c a t i o n a l development. In S t u d i e s i n the H i s t o r y of Education, he q u e s t i o n s the assumption that the proponents of u n i v e r s a l e d u c a t i o n were moved by " d i s i n t e r e s t e d benevolence."** Instead, Simon argues, the p e r i o d between 1800 and 1850 witnessed the spread of educ a t i o n as the t o o l of a m i d d l e - c l a s s r a p i d l y i n c r e a s i n g i t s power.. The m i d d l e - c l a s s looked f o r very r e a l advantages from the educ a t i o n movement. On the one hand, they wanted to wrest p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l over e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s from the a r i s t o c r a c y and e s t a b l i s h e d church. At the same time, they sought to use educa t i o n .to f u r t h e r the i n t e r e s t s of c a p i t a l i s m . As r e v e a l i n g as t h i s c l a s s a n a l y s i s i s f o r a l a t e r p e r i o d , i t does not do j u s t i c e to the e d u c a t i o n a l movement of the e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century. To be sure, some of those engaged i n the o r g a n i z a t i o n and o p e r a t i o n of i n d u s t r y viewed education i n terms of t h e i r own i n t e r e s t . But to say that these i n d i v i d u a l s dominated the movement, or even t h a t they c o n s t i t u t e d a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s c l a s s , i s simply i n c o r r e c t . From the beginning of the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , there were l a r g e numbers of landowners and high ranking c l e r g y who advocated the 1 13 spread of education and supported s o c i e t i e s and i n s t i t u t i o n s f o r that purpose. And the problem of the Poor Law c e r t a i n l y s w e l l e d t h e i r membership. Furthermore, a r i g i d c l a s s s t r u c t u r e cannot be s a i d to have f u l l y a r r i v e d i n England u n t i l the mid-nineteenth century. Thus, the idea of a homo-geneous m i d d l e - c l a s s i n the e a r l y decades of the century i s a n a c h r o n i s t i c . As Harold P e r k i n p o i n t s out i n The O r i g i n s of Modern E n g l i s h S o c i e t y , i t i s not u n t i l the 1820's t h a t one i s a b l e to see the beginnings of a true m i d d l e - c l a s s which saw 12 i t s i n t e r e s t s as being i n o p p o s i t i o n to the landed c l a s s e s . Only with R i c a r d i a n economics d i d the i m p l i c a t i o n s of c l a s s become f u l l y e v i d e n t . Even then, ' i t had a great deal of growing up to do' before i t l o s t a l l of i t s e i g h t e e n t h century c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . B r i a n Simon's treatment of Henry Brougham, although p e r c e p t i v e i n many r e s p e c t s , s u f f e r s from the r i g i d i t y of h i s c l a s s framework. He views Brougham p u r e l y as a m i d d l e - c l a s s 13 a p o l o g i s t . If t h i s be so, then Brougham c e r t a i n l y e n t e r t a i n e d some extremely p e c u l i a r m i d d l e - c l a s s views. Brougham was a staunch defender of the corn laws i n the House of Commons. Furthermore, he was opposed to the t o t a l d i s e n f r a n c h i s e m e n t of ' r o t t o n buroughs'. Were these simply " p e c u l i a r views," as Simon would have us b e l i e v e ? Or, as we suspect, i s the c l a s s framework an inadequate one f o r understanding Brougham and many of h i s contemporaries? There i s no doubt t h a t Brougham f e l t t h a t the 'middling c l a s s e s ' were e n t i t l e d to a more e q u i t a b l e share of p o l i t i c a l power.. But nothing c o u l d have been f u r t h e r 114 from h i s mind than the c o n s t r u c t i o n of a m i d d l e - c l a s s s t a t e . The i dea that education should serve the i n t e r e s t s of a s i n g l e group never o c c u r r e d to Brougham. Simon f a l l s i n t o yet another t r a p i n h i s a n a l y s i s of e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century e d u c a t i o n a l development. He p l a c e s f a r too much emphasis on Bentham and h i s s c h o o l . Thus, i n h i s eyes, Bentham and James M i l l were the l e a d e r s of e d u c a t i o n a l reform; Brougham was merely t h e i r ' d i s c i p l e ' . * 4 Simon goes so 15 f a r as to c l a i m t h a t Brougham "owed a l l h i s ideas to M i l l . " T h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n simply w i l l not do. As we argued i n an e a r l i e r chapter, to a t t r i b u t e each and every s o c i a l reform to Bentham's i n f l u e n c e i s as wrong-headed as i t i s commonplace; The same i s true of the tendency to p o s t u l a t e a m a s t e r - d i s c i p l e r e l a t i o n s h i p between Bentham and Brougham. For Brougham d i d not owe any of h i s i d e a s on the nature and importance of e d u c a t i o n to eitherBsntham or M i l l . They were a product of h i s S c o t t i s h u p b r i n g i n g and e d u c a t i o n . The need f o r a broader framework i n which to view e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century e d u c a t i o n a l reform should be obvious. Neither the whig i n t e r p r e t a t i o n nor a p u r e l y c l a s s a n a l y s i s i s adequate. One t h i n g i s c e r t a i n , however -- a new framework should i n c l u d e the i n f l u e n c e of S c o t t i s h thought on the e d u c a t i o n a l movement. As Simon h i m s e l f p o i n t s out, the S c o t t i s h u n i v e r s i t i e s " e x e r c i s e d a key i n f l u e n c e " upon e d u c a t i o n a l theory i n the second h a l f of the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . * ^ U n f o r t u n a t e l y , he i g n o r e s the S c o t t i s h c o n t r i b u t i o n a f t e r 1800. T h i s over-s i g h t i s p u z z l i n g because so many of the men i n v o l v e d i n the 115 spread of education were either Scots or had studied at Edinburgh University. It i s not without reason that one author has l a b e l l e d the education movement a "Scottish 17 invasion of England." Chester New notes the large number of those involved in the British'and Foreign School Society as well as the Mechanics' 18 Institute movement who had been educated i n Scotland. The l a t e s t research on the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge also indicates that the hard core of the Society's general committee w-e-r-e—S-c-ert-s. And, as one investigator puts i t , "for many ordination had taken place at the University of 19 Edinburgh." Even the Infant Schools, f i r s t established by Robert Owen, had th e i r o r i g i n i n Scottish thought. In Robert Owen and the Owenities in B r i t a i n and America, J.F.C Harrison has shown the extent to which Owen's ideas derived from the moral philosophy of the Scottish School. Though Owen wds reluctant to admit his debt to the Scottish School, his followers were quite l i b e r a l in th e i r praise of the Scottish 20 philosophers. Why were so many Scotsmen certain that education was the solution to the problems besetting English society? Further-more, why were they not f e a r f u l of r a d i c a l consequence from educating the 'lower orders'? The answer i s not far to seek, Many Scots had i n t e r n a l i z e d an enlightenment f a i t h i n education at Edinburgh University. Moreover, they r e a l i z e d that the education of the poor in Scotland had not resulted in revolution or even d i s a f f e c t i o n . Quite the contrary; as the Scots were 1 16 only too fond of p o i n t i n g out, e d u c a t i o n had a s t a b i l i z i n g e f f e c t . In f a c t , the c l a i m that education i s the most e f f e c t i v e means of p r e v e n t i n g r i o t and d i s o r d e r was repeated c o n t i n u a l l y i n the w r i t i n g s of S c o t t i s h pamphleteers. They o f t e n c a l l e d education 'moral t r a i n i n g ' to d i s t i n g u i s h i t from the l e a r n i n g process 'per se'. It would be simple, though t e d i o u s , to document the use by the Scots of t h i s concept of moral educ a t i o n here. One example w i l l s u f f i c e . In an a r t i c l e w r i t t e n f o r The Scotsman i n 1830, the author a t t r i b u t e d the r e c e n t l a b o u r e r ' s r e v o l t to the f a c t t h a t e d u c a t i o n had not been d i f f u s e d to the E n g l i s h people. Only when the poor have been p r o p e r l y educated, he argued, w i l l they become obedient and o r d e r l y . Otherwise, they w i l l c o ntinue to g i v e themselves up 21 to 'depraved h a b i t s ' and ' v i c e ' : Search the h i s t o r y of the c r i m i n a l s who crowd our B r i d e w e l l s to come to the s c a f f o l d . . . and you w i l l f i n d , t h a t most of them have become what they a r e , i n consequence of n e g l e c t of e d u c a t i o n and moral t r a i n i n g i n t h e i r youth. T h i s concept of e d u c a t i o n , e s s e n t i a l l y as a mechanism of s o c i a l c o n t r o l , was no l e s s p r e v a l e n t i n S c o t t i s h i n t e l l e c t u a l c i r c l e s . As we have a l r e a d y p o i n t e d out, the p h i l o s o p h e r s of the S c o t t i s h s c h o o l were more concerned with the i n d i v i d u a l ' s d u t i e s than w i t h h i s r i g h t s ; they tended to view s o c i e t y i n a c o n s e r v a t i v e way. Thus, i t i s not s u r p r i s i n g to f i n d t h a t they saw e d u c a t i o n more as a t o o l f o r i n c u l c a t i n g moral h a b i t s than as a means of p e r s o n a l l i b e r a t i o n . T h i s i s not to say t h a t the S c o t t i s h t h i n k e r s completely overlooked the l i b e r a l i d e a l of 1 1 7 education; f a r from i t . But, although Adam Smith was an ardent defender of the r i g h t of every man to a decent e d u c a t i o n , he l a i d g r e a t e r s t r e s s on the advantages which accrued to the s t a t e through the moral t r a i n i n g of the ' i n f e r i o r ranks'. Smith 22 ends h i s chapter on education i n The Wealth of Nations thus: An instructed and i n t e l l i g e n t people, b e s i d e s , are more decent and o r d e r l y than an i g n o r a n t and s t u p i d one. They f e e l themselves, each i n d i v i d u a l l y , more r e s p e c t a b l e , and more l i k e l y to o b t a i n the r e s p e c t of t h e i r l a w f u l s u p e r i o r s , and they are t h e r e f o r e more disposed to r e s p e c t those s u p e r i o r s . A shrewd a n a l y s i s indeed! The l i n k between the movement f o r education and the c r i t i q u e of the Poor Law now becomes even c l e a r e r . Having gained an i n s i g h t i n t o the power of s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n h e r e n t i n e d u c a t i o n , Scots l i k e Brougham were i n c l i n e d to view the 'great q u e s t i o n ' of pauperism i n a d i f f e r e n t way from t h e i r E n g l i s h c o u n t e r p a r t s . It was p o s s i b l e f o r them to argue that pauperism was n e i t h e r necessary no r . . i n e v i t a b l e i t was merely the r e s u l t of a poor e d u c a t i o n . The problem of pauperism c o u l d be s a f e l y e l i m i n a t e d through 'moral t r a i n i n g ' . Thus, moral e d u c a t i o n would s t r e s s not only obedience but a l s o prudence and good 23 work h a b i t s . It i s p e r f e c t l y t r u e t h a t the S c o t t i s h concept of moral t r a i n i n g i n v o l v e d more than the c r e a t i o n of a r e l i a b l e labour f o r c e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , the d i s t i n c t i o n between a moral man and a d i s c i p l i n e d worker d i d tend to become b l u r r e d i n the context of the Poor Law debate. T h i s tendency was a l s o accentuated by Adam Smith's theory of economic development. I f , as Smith argued, the economic laws governing s o c i a l l i f e were so 118 important, then the i n d i v i d u a l ' s duty as a s o c i a l being was to obey these laws. And, s i n c e economic growth was dependant upon the i n c r e a s e d d i v i s i o n of labour, i t was i m p e r a t i v e that labour become s t r i c t l y d i s c i p l i n e d . As seen from a Smithean p e r s p e c t i v e , the good f a c t o r y worker and the moral man approximate one another. Given t h i s b r i e f a n a l y s i s of the S c o t t i s h concept of e d u c a t i o n , i t i s now p o s s i b l e to examine Brougham's c o n t r i b u t i o n to the e d u c a t i o n movement. For Brougham was t h o r o u g h l y S c o t t i s h i n h i s approach to e d u c a t i o n . Whenever he t r e a t e d of the e d u c a t i o n of the lower o r d e r s , he almost i n v a r i a b l y r e f e r r e d to t h e i r 'moral e d u c a t i o n ' . His w r i t i n g s and speeches were t y p i c a l l y Scot with t h e i r n a t i o n a l i s t i c b i a s and use of enlightenment concepts. Thus, i t behoves us to examine Brougham's endeavours i n a new l i g h t . He was not a ' d i s i n t e r e s t e d humanitarian', a ' m i d d l e - c l a s s a p o l o g i s t ' , or a 'Benthamite u t i l i t a r i a n * — he was en e n l i g h t e n e d Scot. As such, he h s l d very d e f i n i t e views on the power and ends of e d u c a t i o n . II Brougham was not the f i r s t Scot to make the cause of e d u c a t i o n h i s own. Some of Brougham's f e l l o w students had a l r e a d y become deeply convinced of the need to educate the poor as e a r l y as the beginning of the n i n e t e e n t h century. James P i l l a n s and F r a n c i s Horner, h i s c o l l e a g u e s on the Edinburgh Review, were advocates of the m o n i t o r i a l system of e d u c a t i o n 24 d e s c r i b e d by Lancaster i n 1804. Brougham's f r i e n d , George 119 B i r k b e c k had begun t e a c h i n g s c i e n c e t o t h e m e c h a n i c s o f G l a s c o w as e a r l y as 1799. And, o f c o u r s e , R o b e r t Owen had s t a r t e d t o i m p l e m e n t h i s p l a n to e d u c a t e t h e c h i l d r e n o f w o r k e r s by 1809, But Brougham was t h e e d u c a t i o n a l p r o p a g a n d i s t 'par e x c e l l e n c e ' , as w e l l as t h e d e f e n d e r i n p a r l i a m e n t o f t h e p e o p l e ' s r i g h t t o e d u c a t i o n . So, a l t h o u g h he was n e v e r th e o r i g i n a t o r o f e d u c a t i o n a l schemes, Brougham was a l w a y s a t t h e head o f t h e ' e d u c a t i o n mad p a r t y ' . Brougham became a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d i n t h e e d u c a t i o n q u e s t i o n i n 1810, when t h e f o l l o w e r s o f L a n c a s t e r t u r n e d t o him f o r h e l p . I t seems t h a t L a n c a s t e r had n o t a c q u i r e d t h e s k i l l t o manage money and was d e e p l y i n d e b t . Brougham, w i t h h i s u s u a l s k i l l i n s u c h m a t t e r s , a r r a n g e d p u b l i c m e e t i n g s and w r o t e a r t i c l e s . As a r e s u l t , f u n d s were o b t a i n e d , and, i n 1811, t h e R o y a l L a n c a s t e r i a n S o c i e t y was f o u n d e d . T h i s w o u l d e v e n t u a l l y become t h e B r i t i s h and F o r e i g n S c h o o l S o c i e t y . T h r o u g h th e pages o f t h e E d i n b u r g h Review, Brougham now began t o p u b l i c i z e t h e L a n c a s t e r i a n method and t o a d v o c a t e a n a t i o n a l s y s t e m o f e l e m e n t a r y e d u c a t i o n . By 1816, he was a s k i n g p a r l i a m e n t t o use c h a r i t a b l e endowments f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f p r o v i d i n g t h e poor w i t h s c h o o l s and t e a c h e r s . The h i s t o r y o f Brougham's e f f o r t s t o i m p l e m e n t t h e s e a i m s i s a l o n g one, g r e a t l y c o m p l i c a t e d by t h e i s s u e o f s e c t a r i a n s t r i f e . I t need n o t c o n c e r n us h e r e . What i s i m p o r t a n t , however, i s t h e a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s e d u c a t i o n w h i c h Brougham and h i s f r i e n d s h e l d , and t h e t y p e of e d u c a t i o n t h e y wanted t o s e e . In h i s p r o p o s a l t o e s t a b l i s h a n a t i o n a l s y s t e m o f e d u c a t i o n , Brougham c l e a r l y had t h e S c o t t i s h model i n mind. " I n my 120 humble o p i n i o n , " he s a i d i n t h e House o f Commons i n 1818, "we o ught t o a d o p t t h e s y s t e m w h i c h has a l r e a d y been t r i e d w i t h so 25 much a d v a n t a g e i n S c o t l a n d . " The E d u c a t i o n o f t h e P o o r B i l l , w h i c h Brougham i n t r o d u c e d a t t h i s t i m e and a g a i n i n 1820, c a l l e d f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f p a r i s h s c h o o l s i n t h e s m a l l towns and v i l l a g e s o f E n g l a n d . Brougham deemed i t q u i t e u n n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e government t o meddle w i t h e d u c a t i o n i n t h e more p o p u l o u s a r e a s . T h e r e , v o l u n t a r y c h a r i t y c o u l d be c a l l e d upon t o e n s u r e t h e e d u c a t i o n o f t h e p o o r . But t h e more t h i n l y p o p u l a t e d d i s t r i c t s r e q u i r e d government a i d i f t h e p o o r were t o r e c e i v e any i n s t r u c t i o n . ^ T h i s a i d s h o u l d n o t amount t o v e r y much. A g a i n c i t i n g t h e example o f S c o t l a n d , Brougham a r g u e d t h a t i t s h o u l d n o t e x c e e d t h e c o s t o f b u i l d i n g a s c h o o l and, i f n e c e s s a r y , t h e s c h o o l m a s t e r ' s f e e . The c o s t o f s u p p l i e s and m a i n t e n a n c e w o u l d be t a k e n c a r e o f by t h e t u i t i o n o f t h e s t u d e n t s . F o r , 27 a s i n S c o t l a n d , e d u c a t i o n was n o t t o be f r e e : In S c o t l a n d t h e r e was h a r d l y s u c h a t h i n g as g r a t u i t o u s e d u c a t i o n . . . . Even t h e p e a s a n t s t o o k c a r e t o p r o v i d e means f o r t h i s p u r p o s e ; and we i n t h i s p a r t o f t h e e m p i r e might w e l l envy S c o t l a n d t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f s u c h a p e a s a n t r y . Brougham was p a r t i c u l a r l y f o n d o f t h i s a s p e c t o f S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n b e c a u s e i t h e l p e d t o c u l t i v a t e i n d e p e n d e n t h a b i t s and an a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r e d u c a t i o n . He o f t e n c i t e d c a s e s o f p o o r p a r e n t s d o i n g w i t h o u t f o o d or s u r r e n d e r i n g meagre s a v i n g s i n o r d e r t o o b t a i n an e d u c a t i o n f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n . Erougham c a n n o t be a c c u s e d o f s t i n t i n h i s p r a i s e f o r S c o t t i s h p a r o c h i a l e d u c a t i o n . He c l a i m e d t h a t S c o t l a n d ' s 121 2 8 system r e f l e c t e d "immortal honour upon i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . " The Act of 1696, which f o r c e d k i r k h e r i t o r s to f o o t the b i l l f o r education i n t h e i r p a r i s h e s , was "among the most p r e c i o u s l e g a c i e s " which the S c o t t i s h p a r liament bequeathed to i t s 29 country. As f o r the r e s u l t s of the system, Brougham s a i d , they were s e l f - e v i d e n t . The S c o t t i s h people were renowned f o r t h e i r l e a r n i n g . Wherever they t r a v e l l e d , Scotsmen c a r r i e d t h e i r e ducation with them and c o n f e r r e d c o u n t l e s s b l e s s i n g s on t b e l a n d of t h e i r a d o p t i o n . The S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n a l system 'per se' had been copie d by a number of c o u n t r i e s . Sweden and Germany, f o r example, had adopted a m o d i f i e d v e r s i o n of p a r o c h i a l e d u c a t i o n to t h e i r d i s t i n c t advantage. Not so England — a 30 s i n g u l a r l y uneducated country: Before 1803, only the t w e n t y - f i r s t p a r t of the p o p u l a t i o n was p l a c e d i n the way of e d u c a t i o n , and at that date England might be j u s t l y looked on as the worst-educated country of Europe. What a d i f f e r e n t p i c t u r e was a f f o r d e d by S c o t l a n d ! The e d u c a t i o n there was i n the p r o p o r t i o n of l - 9 t h . Brougham's p r a i s e of the Scots and d e p r e c i a t i o n of the E n g l i s h are o b v i o u s l y n a t i o n a l i s t i c i n tone. However, i t would be a mistake to think t h a t h i s attempt to S c o t i f y e d u c a t i o n south of the Tweed simply r e f l e c t e d chauvinism. The f u l l i m p l i c a t i o n s of Brougham's scheme become more r e a d i l y apparent when we examine h i s defence of education a g a i n s t i t s c r i t i c s . In h i s Edinburgh Review essays on the "Education of the Poor," Brougham was most concerned to r e f u t e the arguments of 31 Dr. Mandeuille and " h i s orthodox f o l l o w e r s i n modern times." M a n d e v i l l e ' s famous work The Fable of the Bees (1723) condemned C h a r i t y Schools on the grounds that e d u c a t i o n would 122 make the poor despise t h e i r work. "To make the S o c i e t y Happy and People Easy under the meanest Circumstances," 32 wrote M a n d e v i l l e : i t i s r e q u i s i t e that great numbers of them should be i g n o r a n t as w e l l as Poor. Knowledge both e n l a r g e s and m u l t i p l i e s our D e s i r e s , and the Fewer t h i n g s a Man Wishes f o r , the more e a s i l y h i s n e c e s s i t i e s may be supply'd.... The more a Shepherd, a Plowman or any other Peasant knows of the World, and the t h i n g s that are F o r e i g n to h i s Labour or Employment, the l e s s f i t h e ' l l be to go through the F a t i g u e s and Hardships of i t with C h e a r f u l n e s s and Content. M a n d e v i l l e ' s :'modern f o l l o w e r s ' , i f l a c k i n g h i s f r a n k n e s s , preached much the same argument. E.W. G r i n f i e l d , i n a pamphlet e n t i t l e d A Reply to Mr. Brougham, claimed t h a t he c o u l d see no s o c i a l b e n e f i t s but a great deal of s o c i a l unrest r e s u l t i n g 33 from the education of the lower o r d e r s . C o n s e r v a t i v e opponents p o i n t e d out that s e r v a n t s would r e f u s e to serve and "farmers scorn the plough" i f ever Brougham had h i s way.^ 4 The manner i n which Brougham countered these arguments i s most i n t e r e s t i n g . He d i d not merely c l a i m that e d u c a t i o n was no danger to order and i n d u s t r y , but that i t was an extremely e f f e c t i v e means of promoting them. Again, h i s model was S c o t l a n d . Brougham's w r i t i n g s and speeches were f i l l e d with r e f e r e n c e s to the ' i n d u s t r y ' and ' r e s p e c t a b i l i t y ' of the poorer c l a s s e s of S c o t l a n d . And t h i s benign s t a t e he a t t r i b u t e d to two causes. F i r s t , there was no Poor Law i n S c o t l a n d . Second, S c o t t i s h youth r e c e i v e d "moral and i n t e l l e c t u a l " t r a i n i n g i n he p a r i s h s c h o o l s . "We d e s i r e our opponents to t e l l us," 35 Brougham wrote: 123 i n what re s p e c t the circumstances of the E n g l i s h p o p u l a t i o n have not been more f a v o u r a b l e than those of the S c o t t i s h , except i n the a r t i c l e of s c h o o l i n g a l o n e ? . . . . A l l these causes of e l e v a t i o n to the minds of the E n g l i s h populace were h i g h l y f a v o u r a b l e both to t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a l and moral v i r t u e s ; and yet t h e i r i n f e r i o r i t y to the Scots i n both, has ceased to be a matter of d i s p u t e . He went on to l i s t the b e n e f i t s which r e s u l t e d from the system: there were few paupers i n Sco t l a n d ; the crime r a t e was c o n s i d e r a b l y lower; the peasantry were more prudent, independent, and v i g o r o u s . And, although Brougham d i d hasten to add "the value of that inward happiness, which r e s u l t s from a mind l i f t e d somewhat above the o b j e c t of mere animal p u r s u i t , " --37 i t was as a q u i t e secondary c o n s i d e r a t i o n . It would appear, then, t h a t Brougham's primary i n t e r e s t i n educating the poor was to teach them h a b i t s of obedience and w o r k - d i s c i p l i n e . T h i s h y p o t h e s i s can be f u r t h e r t e s t e d by t a k i n g a c l o s e look a t the p a r t i c u l a r k i n d of e d u c a t i o n which Brougham supported. The L a n c a s t e r i a n or m o n i t o r i a l method, which Brougham d e s c r i b e d and p r a i s e d i n h i s w r i t i n g s , was e s s e n t i a l l y a cheap 3 8 way of educating l a r g e numbers of st u d e n t s . It was a system whereby one teacher taught a few s e l e c t students a l e s s o n which they, i n t u r n , taught to other c l a s s e s of st u d e n t s . Andrew B e l l , the S c o t t i s h o r i g i n a t o r of t h i s system, c a l l e d i t a "moral engine", and, indeed, i t was. The L a n c a s t e r i a n s c h o o l s s t r e s s e d i n d u s t r y , r e l i g i o n , and obedience. The method of i n s t r u c t i o n was ex c e e d i n g l y m e c h a n i s t i c . Each u n i t of t e a c h i n g had to be mastered by r o t e before the next one c o u l d begin. 124 D i c t a t i o n and r e c i t a t i o n were the usual means of mastering a l e s s o n . As Brougham was f o r e v e r p o i n t i n g out, the content of these l e s s o n s was of minimal importance. Tha manual f o r the B r i t i s h 39 and F o r e i g n School S o c i e t y t e a c h e r s c l e a r l y s t a t e d : The f i r s t great and l e a d i n g p r i n c i p l e of the B r i t i s h system i s , that i t i s a t e a c h e r ' s duty to pay more regard to the for m a t i o n of the c h a r a c t e r of h i s s c h o l a r s , than to t h e i r success i n any, or i n a l l the branches of l e a r n i n g p r o f e s s e d l y taught. Df what d i d t h i s c h a r a c t e r f o r m a t i o n c o n s i s t ? The " r e a l importance" of these s c h o o l s , the manual s p e c i f i e d , was to i n c u l c a t e " h a b i t s of i n d u s t r y and o r d e r " and to d i r e c t young minds to "the b l e s s e d G o s p e l . " 4 ^ If the aims of the L a n c a s t e r i a n s ware f a i r l y l i m i t e d , t h e i r f a i t h i n the power of education was not. For them, e d u c a t i o n was the key to s o c i a l p r o g r e s s . Brougham went so f a r as to 41 c l a i m t h a t : he t r u s t e d to the schoolmaster armed with h i s primer more than he d i d to the s o l d i e r i n f u l l m i l i t a r y a r r a y . Such enthusiasm f o r education was common among the s u p p o r t e r s of the B r i t i s h and F o r e i g n School S o c i e t y . It can only be f u l l y understood i n r e l a t i o n to t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a l h e r i t a g e . The g u i d i n g p r i n c i p l e s of the m o n i t o r i a l system were taken d i r e c t l y from l a t e enlightenment thought. Or, as Brougham would have i t , they were "founded i n good sense, and a knowledge of 42 human nature." Enlightenment t h i n k e r s had combined Locke's epistemology with the a s s o c i a t i o n i s t theory of H a r t l e y and Reid to form a r e v o l u t i o n a r y psychology of the mind. Thus, the 125 mind became a ' t a b u l a r a s a ' upon w h i c h f a c t s c o u l d be e t c h e d ; t h e s e f a c t s were t h e n o r d e r e d by means o f t h e ' a s s o c i a t i o n o f i d e a s ' . 4 3 The r a d i c a l u p s h o t o f t h e new p s y c h o l o g y was a v i e w t h a t human n a t u r e was e x t r e m e l y m a l l e a b l e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e c a s e o f c h i l d r e n who had n o t . y e t had o c c a s i o n t o f o r m h a b i t s o r o p i n i o n s . Hence, t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f e d u c a t i o n i n t h e e y e s o f i t s e n l i g h t e n e d s u p p o r t e r s . Brougham summed up t h e i r b a s i c 44 p r e m i s e q u i t e n e a t l y when he s a i d : s e n d them t o s c h o o l . . . a t t h a t i n v a l u a b l e p e r i o d o f l i f e when m i n d , a s t h e Roman p o e t s a i d , " m i g h t be f a s h i o n e d l i k e wet c l a y . " The e n l i g h t e n m e n t a c c o u n t o f t h e m e n t a l p r o c e s s h e l p e d t o e s t a b l i s h a new a t t i t u d e t o w a r d s t h e c h i l d , one w h i c h was c l e a r l y r e f l e c t e d i n t h e mode o f t e a c h i n g u s e d i n t h e m o n i t o r i a l s c h o o l s . The c h i l d was no l o n g e r v i e w e d a s a s i n f u l c r e a t u r e o r an a n i m a l t h a t had t o be t r a i n e d . I n s t e a d , e d u c a t i o n a l r e f o r m e r s e m p h a s i z e d t h e c o n c e p t o f t h e ' i n n o c e n t c h i l d ' , who w o u l d r e s p o n d t o r e a s o n a b l e t r e a t m e n t . L a n c a s t e r e n c o u r a g e d h i s t e a c h e r s t o use k i n d n e s s and p o s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t r a t h e r t h a n s e v e r e p u n i s h m e n t s . Brougham was p l e a s e d t o . i n f o r m t h e r e a d e r s o f t h e E d i n b u r g h R e v i e w t h a t t h e m o n i t o r i a l method was a 45 " s o u r c e o f amusement" f o r c h i l d r e n : A l a r g e c o l l e c t i o n o f t o y s , b a t s , b a l l s , p i c t u r e s , k i t e s , i s s u s p e n d e d a b o v e t h e m a s t e r ' s h e a d , b e a m i n g g l o r y and p l e a s u r e upon t h e s c h o o l b e n e a t h . T e a c h e r s gave good s t u d e n t s t o y s a s p r i z e s , a n d p u n i s h e d 46 n a u g h t y s t u d e n t s w i t h h u m i l i a t i o n : Mr. L a n c a s t e r p u n i s h e s by shame r a t h e r t h a n p a i n ; v a r y i n g t h e means o f e x c i t i n g shame, b e c a u s e , a s he j u s t l y o b s e r v e s , any mode o f p u n i s h m e n t l o n g c o n t i n u e d l o s e s i t s e f f e c t . 126 By means such as these, the s o c i a l i z a t i o n of the c h i l d became less oppressive. At the same time, however, i t s influence became more subtle and e f f e c t i v e . In the monitorial schools, the powerful force of enlightenment educational thought was directed towards one fundamental end -- the creation of obedient, d i s c i p l i n e d workers. Undoubtedly, this was a narrow i d e a l . However, one should avoid the tendency to change i t s supporters with being ' narrowly s e l f - i n t e r e s t e d . Men l i k e Brougham r e a l l y did believe that i t was the i n d i v i d u a l ' s best i n t e r e s t to i n t e r n a l i z e these 47 'moral habits'. Furthermore, they argued that i t was for the good of the community as a whole, that the lower orders adopt regular work habits. Such an emphasis was e n t i r e l y consistent with the doctrines 48 of Adam Smith. And i t i s hardly surprising to discover that so many of the advocates of the monitorial system considered themselves to be his d i s c i p l e s . As Eric Midwinter points out in Nineteenth Century Education, these men consciously applied Smith's p r i n c i p l e of the d i v i s i o n of labour to the i n s t i t u t i o n 49 of education: Andrew Be l l and Joseph Lancaster, the chief progenitors of the schools in that period, both maintained that 'the p r i n c i p l e in schools and manufactories i s the same'. Their earnest admirer and advocate, S i r Thomas Barnard, urged "t h e i r grand p r i n c i p l e ' as being 'the d i v i s i o n of labour applied to i n t e l l e c t u a l purposes'. But their adherence to Smith's thesis went beyond a mere imitation of the factory model. Education was the ideal means for training the future workers of an i n d u s t r i a l society. 127 I t i s f o r p r e c i s e l y t h i s r e a s o n t h a t t h e movement f o r e d u c a t i o n must be s e e n as s o m e t h i n g more t h a n a s o l u t i o n t o th e p r o b l e m o f p a u p e r i s m . To be s u r e , t h e ' g r e a t q u e s t i o n ' o f t h e Poor Law i n i t i a t e d an e d u c a t i o n a l r e s p o n s e , b u t i t d i d not d i c t a t e t h e form i t wou l d t a k e . Brougham, Owen and o t h e r S c o t s were c o n c e r n e d t o make e d u c a t i o n t h e v e h i c l e f o r i n d u s t r i a l p r o g r e s s . T h i s f e a t u r e c an be s e e n most c l e a r l y i n a n o t h e r phase o f t h e e d u c a t i o n a l movement -- t h e f o u n d i n g o f I n f a n t S c h o o l s . H I The two names most c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h I n f a n t S c h o o l s were Henry Brougham and R o b e r t Owen. Both men had a r r i v e d a t t h e c o n c l u s i o n e a r l y on t h a t t h e m o r a l t r a i n i n g o f c h i l d r e n was f a r t o o i m p o r t a n t t o forego u n t i l t h e age o f s i x o r s e v e n . I t was Owen who f i r s t p u t t h i s p r i n c i p l e i n t o p r a c t i c e by f o u n d i n g an I n f a n t S c h o o l f o r c h i l d r e n f r o m t h r e e t o s i x a t New L a n a r k . When Owen came t o p u b l i c i z e t h e r e s u l t s o f t h i s i n s t i t u t i o n t o t h e E n g l i s h p e o p l e , i t was u s u a l l y Brougham who p r e s e n t e d h i s p e t i t i o n s b e f o r e p a r l i a m e n t . ^ And, i n 1818, two y e a r s a f t e r Owen had e s t a b l i s h e d h i s s c h o o l , Brougham s t a r t e d an I n f a n t S c h o o l i n London.^* Two s t r a n g e r b e d f e l l o w s t h a n Owen and Brougham can s c a r c e l y be i m a g i n e d . As a d i s c i p l e o f S m i t h , Brougham was t h e a d v o c a t e o f e c o n o m i c i n d i v i d u a l i s m . Owen, on t h e o t h e r hand, wanted t o r e p l a c e c a p i t a l i s t c o m p e t i t i o n -- t h e t e n d e n c y o f w h i c h was t o d e v a l u e t h e t r u e w o r t h o f l a b o u r -- w i t h a c o o p e r a t i v e community. 128 Yet the 'father of modern socialism' and the d i s c i p l e of Adam Smith became l i f e l o n g friends. There are two good reasons why thi s friendship occurred. f i r s t , they both had s i m i l a r roots in 'the Scottish enquiry of the eighteenth century'. Second, they both perceived education as a tool in the s o c i a l i -zation of a manufacturing population. Like Brougham, Dwen owed most of his ideas on society and human nature to the teachings of the Scottish enlightenment As a member of the Glascow Literary and Commercial Society, and a personal friend of many of the Edinburgh l i t e r a t i , Cwen was 53 exposed to the same influencesas his fr i e n d . Thus, he borrowed heavily from enlightenment epistemology in his analysis of character formation and the importance of s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s . In addition, he believed that a l l men possessed a moral sense which .could be cul t i v a t e d through a 'r a t i o n a l and consistent' education. Owen's o r i g i n a l i t y i s not to be found in his i n t e l l e c t u a l framework. It resides, rather, in his clear a p p l i c a t i o n of s o c i a l theory to an .Emerging i n d u s t r i a l society. For, both Owen and Brougham were primarily concerned to ease the t r a n s i t i o n between a predominantly a g r i c u l t u r a l society and a highly developed i n d u s t r i a l state. This involved a s o c i a l transformation of singular importance -- the adjustment of individu a l s to the dictates of the factory system. As far as th i s issue was concerned, the fact that Brougham was a ' c a p i t a l i s t ' whereas Owen was a ' s o c i a l i s t ' made l i t t l e difference. In the short run, their aims were i d e n t i c a l . The establishment of Infant Schools was to be a major step 129 i n t h e c r e a t i o n o f a new i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y . Brougham and Owen were w e l l i n a d v a n c e o f t h e i r t i m e s i n r e c o g n i z i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f what i s now c a l l e d ' p r i m a r y s o c i a l i z a t i o n ' . In an 1319 s p e e c h on 'Mr. Owen's P l a n ' , Brougham n o t e d t h a t he 54 had o b s e r v e d t h e g r e a t e f f e c t s : where e d u c a t i o n a l o n e was g i v e n t o c h i l d r e n w i t h o u t any f o o d o r c l o t h i n g , and where c h i l d r e n were t a u g h t m o r a l , a t t e n t i v e and c l e a n l y h a b i t s a t t h a t p e r i o d o f l i f e when c u r i o s i t y , t h e g r e a t s p r i n g and e l e m e n t o f a l l e d u c a t i o n was most a c t i v e and a r d e n t -- when i n c o n s e q u e n c e , t h a t w h i c h a t a n o t h e r p e r i o d o f l i f e w ould have been f e l t a s a b u r t h e n , was e n j o y e d as a p l e a s u r e . The i m p l i c a t i o n o f s t a t e m e n t s s u c h a s t h e s e i s c l e a r . I f c h i l d r e n were t a u g h t h a b i t s o f i n d u s t r y and d i s c i p l i n e i n t h e i r e a r l y y e a r s , t h e y would n o t f i n d i t n e a r l y so d i f f i c u l t t o a d j u s t t o f a c t o r y l i f e as had t h e i r p a r e n t s . The p r o b l e m s o f l a b o u r r e c r u i t m e n t and l a b o u r d i s c i p l i n e w o u l d v i r t u a l l y d i s a p p e a r . C o n t r a s t t h i s s i t u a t i o n w i t h t h e one t h a t o b t a i n e d i n L a n a r k b e f o r e Owen and h i s b r o t h e r began t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l 55 e n d e a v o u r s : I t was... n e c e s s a r y t o c o l l e c t a new p o p u l a t i o n t o s u p p l y t h e i n f a n t e s t a b l i s h m e n t w i t h l a b o u r e r s . T h i s , however, was no l i g h t t a s k ; f o r a l l t h e r e g u l a r l y t r a i n e d S c o t c h p e a s a n t r y d i s d a i n e d t h e i d e a o f w o r k i n g e a r l y and l a t e , day a f t e r day, w i t h i n c o t t o n m i l l s . E d u c a t i o n was t o s e r v e a most u s e f u l p u r p o s e . T h i s g r e a t e m p h a s i s on t h e e a r l y i n c u l c a t i o n o f h a b i t s o f w o r k - d i s c i p l i n e c a n be s e e n i n Brougham's a r t i c l e s on F e l l e n b u r g '