Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative; Vol. 3 of 3 Library Edition (1891), Containing Seven Essays not before Republished, and Various other Additions.

ESSAYS: SCIENTIFIC, POLITICAL, & SPECULATIVE.

 BY
 HERBERT SPENCER.

 LIBRARY EDITION,
 (OTHERWISE FIFTH THOUSAND,)
 _Containing Seven Essays not before Republished,
 and various other additions_.

 VOL. III.

 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,
 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;
 AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
 1891.




 LONDON:
 G. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, HART STREET,
 COVENT GARDEN.




CONTENTS OF VOL. III.


                                                        PAGE

 MANNERS AND FASHION                                       1

 RAILWAY MORALS AND RAILWAY POLICY                        52

 THE MORALS OF TRADE                                     113

 PRISON-ETHICS                                           152

 THE ETHICS OF KANT                                      192

 ABSOLUTE POLITICAL ETHICS                               217

 OVER-LEGISLATION                                        229

 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT—WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?          283

 STATE-TAMPERINGS WITH MONEY AND BANKS                   326

 PARLIAMENTARY REFORM: THE DANGERS AND THE SAFEGUARDS    358

 “THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM”                                 387

 POLITICAL FETICHISM                                     393

 SPECIALIZED ADMINISTRATION                              401

 FROM FREEDOM TO BONDAGE                                 445

 THE AMERICANS                                           471

 THE INDEX.

{1}




MANNERS AND FASHION.

[_First published in_ The Westminster Review _for April 1854_.]


Whoever has studied the physiognomy of political meetings, cannot
fail to have remarked a connexion between democratic opinions and
peculiarities of costume. At a Chartist demonstration, a lecture
on Socialism, or a _soirée_ of the Friends of Italy, there will be
seen many among the audience, and a still larger ratio among the
speakers, who get themselves up in a style more or less unusual.
One gentleman on the platform divides his hair down the centre,
instead of on one side; another brushes it back off the forehead, in
the fashion known as “bringing out the intellect;” a third has so
long forsworn the scissors, that his locks sweep his shoulders. A
sprinkling of moustaches may be observed; here and there an imperial;
and occasionally some courageous breaker of conventions exhibits a
full-grown beard.[1] This nonconformity in hair is countenanced by
various nonconformities in dress, shown by others of the assemblage.
Bare necks, shirt-collars _à la_ Byron, waistcoats cut Quaker fashion,
wonderfully shaggy great coats, numerous oddities in form and
colour, destroy the monotony usual in crowds. Even those exhibiting
no conspicuous peculiarity, frequently indicate by something in the
pattern of their clothes, that they pay small regard to what their {2}
tailors tell them about the prevailing taste. And when the gathering
breaks up, the varieties of head gear displayed—the number of caps,
and the abundance of felt hats—suffice to prove that were the world at
large like-minded, the black cylinders which tyrannize over us would
soon be deposed.

 [1] This was written before moustaches and beards had become general.

This relationship between political discontent and disregard of
customs exists on the Continent also. Red republicanism is everywhere
distinguished by its hirsuteness. The authorities of Prussia, Austria,
and Italy, alike recognize certain forms of hat as indicative of
disaffection, and fulminate against them accordingly. In some places
the wearer of a blouse runs a risk of being classed among the
_suspects_; and in others, he who would avoid the bureau of police,
must beware how he goes out in any but the ordinary colours. Thus,
democracy abroad, as at home, tends towards personal singularity.
Nor is this association of characteristics peculiar to modern times,
or to reformers of the State. It has always existed; and it has been
manifested as much in religious agitations as in political ones. The
Puritans, disapproving of the long curls of the Cavaliers, as of
their principles, cut their own hair short, and so gained the name of
“Roundheads.” The marked religious nonconformity of the Quakers was
accompanied by an equally-marked nonconformity of manners—in attire,
in speech, in salutation. The early Moravians not only believed
differently, but at the same time dressed differently, and lived
differently, from their fellow Christians. That the association between
political independence and independence of personal conduct, is not
a phenomenon of to-day only, we may see alike in the appearance of
Franklin at the French court in plain clothes, and in the white hats
worn by the last generation of radicals. Originality of nature is sure
to show itself in more ways than one. The mention of George Fox’s suit
of leather, or Pestalozzi’s school name, “Harry Oddity,” will at
once suggest the {3} remembrance that men who have in great things
diverged from the beaten track, have frequently done so in small things
likewise.