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 Letters on Early Education. Addressed to 
 
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 Effects of Civilisation on the People in 
 
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 Colloquies on Religion and Religious Edu- 
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 A SERIES 
 ORIGINAL AND EEPEINTED WORKS, 
 
 BBAEING ON THE 
 
 RENOYATION AND PROGEESS OE SOCIETY, 
 
 IN 
 
 SELECTED BY J. M. MORGAN. 
 
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THE 
 
 REYOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 " On observing that the instinct of those little animals had surpassed 
 the intelligence of man, I said within myself, ' Happy were it for the 
 societies of the human race, did they possess the wisdom of those of bees ! ' 
 and I began to form wishes in behalf of my country." — St. Pierre. 
 
 jFourtl^ ?St?ittoti. 
 
 LONDON: 
 CHAELES GILPII, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT. 
 
PEEFACE TO THE FOUETH EDITION.* 
 
 Thirty years have passed away since the principle 
 and details of a structure of society which the follow- 
 ing- work was intended to illustrate, were first pub- 
 licly announced. During that period they have with- 
 stood the lighter missiles of ridicule and sarcasm, and 
 the more powerful weapons of argument and angry 
 denunciation. The more considerate in the learned 
 professions preserved a discreet silence, while those 
 who condemned the system as wild and visionary, 
 were at length reduced to the admission that the world 
 was not yet prepared for its reception. As to the 
 objection of some, that its Author was not orthodox 
 in his opinions, and therefore the good which he ten- 
 dered should be rejected — however much we may differ 
 from some of these opinions, it is as futile as that which 
 would oppose the adoption of any discovery in the arts, 
 before the religious tenets of the discoverer had been duly 
 
 * A portion of tte Preface to the Third Edition is embodied in the 
 
 present. 
 
VI PREFACE TO THE 
 
 certified; to put aside the art of printing itself, by 
 which the Scriptures have been circulated over the 
 world, because the inventor was of the Eomish Church. 
 If there is one thing more than another that can tend 
 to spread infidelity and weaken the confidence of the 
 people in the ministers of religion, it is, that they 
 should be found in the ranks of the worldly opponents 
 of a system which, so far as human means are con- 
 cerned, can alone realise all the promises of the Gospel ; 
 by uniting the individual with the general interest, 
 the causes of contention are removed, and there re- 
 mains less obstruction to a voluntary obedience to Him 
 who commanded us to love one another : so identified 
 is the principle of combined exertion for the common 
 good, with that of religion itself, that subscription to 
 both may be justly deemed the surest, nay, almost 
 the only, test of genuine charity and of true faith. 
 
 Controversy between the Malthusians and their op- 
 ponents long kept a starving population in suspense ; 
 it has now lighted upon education, and the people are 
 to be debarred from intellectual and spiritual, as they 
 were formerly from bodily nourishment, during the 
 fierce and interminable debate ! 
 
 But surely neither the Word nor the Works of 
 the Deity can be disregarded by him who aims at the 
 highest degree of usefulness: an exclusive adherence. 
 
POURTH EDITION. vii 
 
 either to the one or to the other involves us in per- 
 petual difficulties with ourselves and with others. 
 Under this conviction, a pamphlet was published in 
 1818, attempting to show the harmony of a better 
 arrangement of society with Christian principles; it 
 was dedicated to Mr. Wilberforce, to whom a copy 
 was sent, with a letter, urging the necessity of im- 
 mediate attention to the inquiry, as at that period the 
 greatest distress prevailed in many parts of the country. 
 A reply was received, pleading inability at the mo- 
 ment to do more than acknowledge the work, of which 
 no further notice was taken. The effect of this 
 indifference upon the mind of the writer, under the then 
 existing circumstances, when the distress was alarming 
 and increasing, and all other remedies had failed, was 
 for a time injurious : it created a painful suspicion that 
 there must be some discrepancy between Science and 
 Rehgion, until more diligent investigation disclosed the 
 discrepancy in the one-sided views of many votaries of 
 each. Some of the serious consequences of a neglect 
 too much participated in by the country at large, are 
 described in Lord Lansdowne's observations on the 
 Juvenile Offenders' Bill, so recently as July, 1838.* 
 
 * " Tlieir Lordships must be aware that for many years past there 
 had been a very great increase of juvenile offenders — that was, of 
 offenders under twelve years of age. This, it had been remarked, was 
 
Vlll PKEFACE TO THE 
 
 When a sectarian triumph is anticipated, the large room 
 at Exeter Hall is crowded to excess : the smallest room 
 suffices for the meeting's of the ^^ Children's Friend 
 Society/' and for those of similar institutions. In the 
 strife of doctrine the character of " pure and undefiled 
 religion" is forgotten, the abodes of wretchedness ne- 
 glected, and the causes of poverty in the midst of plenty, 
 and of the increase of crime notwithstanding the vast 
 exertions for diffusing religious knowledge, continue 
 unexplored. 
 
 There were occasions, however, on which Mr. Wilber- 
 force recognised one of those deeply-seated errors, the 
 
 the case in every part of Europe, but to a greater degree in tMs country 
 than in other states. A laborious inquiry had been instituted, in 
 order, if possible, to ascertain the probable causes of this increase of 
 crime. By some it was attributed to the rapid increase of the popula- 
 tion and the growth of large manufacturing towns, while others found 
 Bome peculiar circumstances in the state of society in England, which 
 they were of opinion occasioned the evU. But whatever the cause 
 might be, the increase of juvenile depravity was most appalling, as, by 
 the result of an inquiry made in one great manufacturing town, that of 
 Manchester, it was ascertained that in four years the number of children 
 absolutely abandoned, or found lost in the streets, amounted to 8,610 ; 
 in 1832, there were 1,954; in 1833, 2,104 ; in 1834, 2,117 ; and in 1835 
 they amounted to the enormous number of 2,435. With respect to the 
 commitments of juvenile offenders throughout the country, the result 
 had been, as taken from accounts lately made up, that in the last two 
 years, 5,174 males, and 1,275 females, under the age of sixteen years, 
 were committed for various crimes, the average of the two years being 
 2,587 males and 637 females. The ratio in London was still greater." — 
 Marquis of Lamdowne's Speech on Juvenile Offenders' Bill, 
 July 17th, 1838. 
 
FOURTH EDITION. IX 
 
 pernicious effects of which are felt through all the 
 ramifications of society : when solicited to aid the 
 Lancasterian schools^ he "wrote Wilham Allen to 
 decline being* a committee-man^ though it gave me 
 great pain to refuse him ; but emulation and vanity are 
 the vital breath of the system." In this sentence is 
 conveyed a severe bat just condemnation of a principle 
 encouraged in all our public schools and colleges^ and 
 by which practice, the injunctions of Holy Writ and 
 the results of experience are equally defied. Stimulated 
 by the artificial allurement of a glittering prize, to be 
 toiled for with pain and jealousy, to be lost with envy, or 
 won with pride, all of the generous and noble in youth is 
 deadened by invidious distinctions and vainglorious am- 
 bition. Children are trained in the way in which they 
 ought not to go, and yet they are expected to love one 
 another, and to exhibit a corresponding disposition in their 
 future conduct ; but we can neither " gather grapes of 
 thorns, or figs of thistles," and, in times of commercial 
 difficulty, increased distress among still larger numbers, 
 will continue to produce, in aggravated and more terrific 
 forms, the inevitable evils of this satanic principle of 
 competition. 
 
 But if the professors of religion have injured their 
 own cause by denouncing a constitution of society, 
 which, whatever either party may advance, is the off- 
 
X PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 spring of Christianity itself, the advocates of united in- 
 terests have more fatally erred in discarding the aid of 
 a religion which they have never examined ; the value 
 of which they are, of course, unahle to appreciate; 
 and the potency of the higher and more enduring mo- 
 tives to action are therefore to them unknown. The 
 consequence is, that their meetings are converted into 
 so many arenas for theological disputation, in which 
 division of opinion is widened by prejudice and hostility, 
 instead of each party seeking for points of agreement, 
 and remembering that truth is one. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 
 
 ^^Interiores plerique frumenta non serunt, sed lacte 
 et came vivunt, pellibusque sunt vestiti. Omnes vero 
 se Britanni vitro inficiimt; quod cseruleum efficit colorem; 
 atque hoc horribiliore sunt in pugna adspectu." Such 
 was the language employed by Csesar, in describing the 
 rude inhabitants of an island which formed the bound- 
 ary of his conquests in the west. Ages elapsed before 
 the dawn of civilisation could dispel the darkness of a 
 people so deeply sunk in barbarism. At length they 
 emerged from ignorance^ and entered upon a career of 
 improvement which finally placed them in the highest 
 rank among the nations of the earth. This elevation 
 and power had been won for them by the successive 
 efforts of an illustrious train of heroes, patriots, legislators, 
 and philosophers, whose names adorned the annals ot 
 their country. 
 
 Coeval with the advance of Britain, was the rise of 
 a neighbouring and powerful country, which had become 
 a distinguished rival in the cultivation of the arts and 
 B 
 
Xll PREFACE TO THE 
 
 in military glory. Gaul, once inhabited by a race of 
 barbarians and reduced to a Roman province, was des- 
 tined in its turn to form the centre of a mighty empire 
 which numbered Rome itself among- its tributary states. 
 
 It was after the overthrow of this colossal power, 
 to which Britain mainly contributed, enriched by 
 commerce with every portion of the globe ; skilled in the 
 exact sciences; profound in the abstruse branches of 
 philosophy ; cultivating with success a taste in literature 
 and the fine arts ; and, above all, professing a religion 
 the precepts of which were calculated, when observed, 
 to compensate for deficiencies, and smooth the asperities 
 of life — that one of the most singular anomalies that 
 ever was recorded in history excited the astonishment 
 of the world. The cries of distress, arising from 
 poverty and privation, resounded from one extremity of 
 the empire to the other. 
 
 Under these extraordinary circumstances, the peers 
 of the realm, and the delegates of the people, assembled 
 to devise a remedy for evils which threatened, unless 
 abated, to involve the downfall of the state. Night 
 after night was consumed in fruitless discussion of the 
 various causes to which the distress was ascribed ; but as 
 none of any magnitude were recognised, none but in- 
 adequate remedies were suggested. 
 
 Can the foregoing be considered an exaggerated 
 
SECOND EDITION. Xlii 
 
 representation of the present position of Great 
 Britain ? 
 
 The real cause of all our difficulties is the rapid ad- 
 vancement in scientific power, from the consequences of 
 which the Emigration Committee hope to escape by 
 expatriating a portion of the population : but although 
 this Committee in their Report attribute the redundancy 
 of unemployed labourers in particular instances to the 
 substitution of machinery, and notice the repletion in 
 other occupations ; yet have they entirely overlooked 
 the magnitude and important consequences of that 
 more general and overwhelming influence of scientific 
 power, through which the market value of every species 
 of human employment has been directly or indirectly 
 
 That portion of labour which is displaced by ma- 
 chinery flows into other channels until all become satu- 
 rated : in reply to the objection, that the superabundance 
 cannot affect other branches of ' manual employment 
 requiring peculiar skill, it must be observed, that those 
 are the very employments that have been chiefly super- 
 seded j while the quahfications essential to other 
 branches, such as counting-house, and even literary 
 avocations, are now rendered easy of attainment through 
 the general diflusion of knowledge. 
 
 It has been computed that the increase to the pro- 
 
xiv PREFACE TO THE 
 
 diictive power, througli the aid of steam and improved 
 mechanism, with other scientific appliances, during the 
 last forty-years, is equal to an additional supply of the 
 labour of six hundred millions of men. As there can 
 be no data sufl&ciently accurate to enable us to ascertain 
 the precise amount, we will suppose it to be one-half 
 only, which is at the average rate of an annual addition 
 of seven millions j but if the increase to the supply of 
 labour proceeds at the rate not of seven millions, but of 
 two or even one million (for I am willing to allow the 
 advantage of the lowest calculation possible), how can 
 the abstraction of four hundred thousand of the popu- 
 lation, the number proposed for annual emigration, im- 
 prove the general value of labour for those who 
 remain ? 
 
 Practical and commercial men are of opinion, that 
 so far from discoveries for the abridgment of human 
 labour having been suspended, there never was a period 
 when invention was more active than at present, urged 
 on by the struggles of increasing competition. 
 
 Had it been perceived that the aid which labour 
 derives from science, contributes, equally with the 
 augmentation of labour itself, to a redundancy, the 
 Committee would have been led to the recognition of a 
 remedy at once simple and comprehensive. 
 
 Labour is the source of wealth ; and, in proportion 
 
SECOND EDITION. XV 
 
 as this source has been enlarged, our poverty and 
 distress have increased. After-ages will wonder at 
 our proceedings ; nay, in a very few years (for a change 
 cannot be now protracted), we shall be astonished at the 
 infatuation which could hide from us, in the midst of 
 evil, attainable good. 
 
 This power of creating and diffusing wealth, which, 
 under an enlightened Government, might be rendered 
 conducive to the prosperity of the people, is so misdi- 
 rected, or left without guidance, as to afflict the country 
 with the most complicated misery : but when it shall 
 be duly appreciated and directed by intelligence, our 
 rulers will no longer consume their time in devising 
 petty expedients for counteracting the accumulating 
 difficulties of a structure of society, the foundations of 
 which were laid in times of comparative ignorance and 
 barbarism. Those difficulties have been within the last 
 half century immensely aggravated, by the gradual 
 declension in the value of the only exchangeable com- 
 modity of the great bulk of the people, — labour : and 
 now, by its final depression. To meet this evil there is 
 no other remedy than an entire change of system j and 
 the elaborate Report of the Emigration Committee is 
 probably one of the last efforts of the kind that will ever 
 be made to sustain the tottering fabric. 
 
 It is time that ignorance should be superseded by 
 B 2 
 
XYl PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 intelligence; that destitution, misery, and vice, the 
 bitter fruits of the former, should be supplanted by 
 abundance, happiness, and virtue ; and that the people, 
 to adopt the language of the Report, should no longer 
 be '^ compelled to live by plunder and spoliation." 
 
 When statesmen are resolved to discard the con- 
 sideration of every interest, temporary, local, or private, 
 that impedes the general good, theii^ duties will be dis- 
 charged with facility. They will then discover that 
 ^' there is a science of legislation, which the details of 
 office and the intrigues of popular assemblies will never 
 communicate ; — a science, of which the principles must 
 be sought for in the constitution of human nature, and 
 in the general laws which regulate the course of human 
 affairs ; and which, if ever, in consequence of the pro- 
 gress of reason, philosophy should be enabled to assume 
 that ascendant in the government of the world, which 
 has hitherto been maintained by accident, combined 
 with the passions and caprices of a few leading indivi- 
 duals, may perhaps produce more perfect and happy 
 forms of society than have yet been realised in the 
 history of mankind." 
 
It is related in Kirby and Spence's "Introduction to Entomology," 
 that the bees in theii' excursions " furnish themselves with three different 
 materials : the nectar of flowers, from which they elaborate honey and 
 wax; the pollen, or fertilising dust of the anthers, of which they make 
 what is called bee-bread, serving as food both to old and young ; and 
 the resinous substance called by the ancients propolis, fissoceros,^' &c. 
 —Vol. ii. p. 176. 
 
 "The society of a hive of bees, besides the young brood, consists of 
 one female or queen ; several hundreds of males or drones ; and many 
 thousand workers." — Yol. ii. p. 125. 
 
THE 
 
 EEYOLT OF THE BEES 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 As bees 
 
 In the spring time, when the snn with Taiinis rides, 
 Pour forth their populous youth about the hive 
 In clusters ; they among fresh dews and flowers 
 Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, 
 The suburb of their straw-built citadel, 
 New rubb'd with balm, expatiate and confer 
 Their state affairs." — Miltoyu 
 
 At the distance of five miles to the south-west of 
 Edinburgh rise the Pentland Hills : they are in 
 height about two thousand feet, and form two 
 ridges running parallel with each other, divided by 
 a beautiful ravine, with a burn coursing its way 
 through the centre. In this sequestered retreat, 
 Allan Eamsay laid the scene of the " Gentle Shep- 
 herd." In a part of the valley where there is a 
 bend, and the space between the hills widens, a 
 monument has been erected to his memory, con- 
 secrating the lovely spot to the author of the 
 
^ THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 most finished pastoral of Scotland. Not far 
 distant ' stands Habies How, which has been 
 described by the poet in the following lines : — 
 
 " farer up the burn is Habies Ho\^^, 
 
 Where a' that 's sweet in spring and summer grow : 
 Between twa birks out o'er a httle lin 
 The water fa's, and makes a sing* and din : 
 A pool breast deep, beneath as clear as glass, 
 Kisses with easy whirls the bordering grass." 
 
 Higher up the valley and near the foot of one of 
 the hills is Logan House, supposed to have been 
 the ancient residence of Sir William Worthy, but 
 which is now in the occupation of a shepherd. 
 This is the only habitation within many miles, 
 and in the severest months of the winter, the 
 inmates are prevented by the drifted snow from 
 leaving the valley. Besides tending his flocks, 
 the shepherd receives, during July and August, 
 the bee-hives of the neighbouring inhabitants be- 
 yond the mountains, for the purpose of enabling 
 the bees to gather honey from the heather, which 
 at that period of the year blooms in great luxuri- 
 ance on the Pentland Hills; he has generally 
 more than a hundred hives. 
 
 It happened some thirty years since, when 
 revolutionary principles were so much in vogue, 
 that a few of the bees, in one of the larger hives, 
 manifested a desire to change the policy they had 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 6 
 
 hitherto pursued. Secret meetings were held by 
 the revolutionists, who despatched emissaries to the 
 neighbouring hives, in order to establish a corre- 
 spondence with others equally discontented. Their 
 designs succeeded ; and disaffection spreading from 
 hive to hive, a general revolt took place, and de- 
 puties from each were summoned to meet upon 
 the highest eminence. 
 
 About a hundred bees from each hive being 
 assembled, some difficulty arose in the election of 
 a president ; as it was alleged that if a queen bee 
 were appointed, she would be liable to a bias in 
 favour of the existing policy. This objection was 
 at length over-ruled by the nomination of the 
 queen bee Elia, who was distinguished for the 
 strictest impartiality in the administration of 
 justice. Silence having been proclaimed, the 
 queen president rising, addressed the assembly as 
 follows : 
 
 '' It would ill become me, industrious bees, 
 to offer any opinion upon the important object of 
 our meeting. I will endeavour to enforce the 
 rules of order in your discussion ; and, for my own 
 part, I shall submit to whatever may be resolved 
 on for the general good. After having swayed 
 the sceptre of the hive with maternal solicitude, 
 should it be decreed that the queens must abdicate 
 the royal cells, I shall depart from mine, not 
 
4 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 without a sigh, but with the grateful feelings 
 arising from a conscientious discharge of my regal 
 duties. I call upon Orpheus, as the most zealous 
 advocate for a change, to state his grievances and 
 produce his plans of reformation." 
 
 ''I am aware," said Orpheus, "that I have 
 undertaken an invidious task ; since, in proposing 
 any alteration in the economy of the hive, many 
 will erroneously apprehend that, because their 
 particular interests are for the present disturbed, 
 their happiness will be impaired. But a sense of 
 public duty alone impels me to declare, that to me 
 it appears unjust that those bees who are more 
 active workers than others, should not have a 
 larger share of honey ; that the weak and the 
 impotent should derive an equal portion of the 
 produce with those who range the fields ; and that 
 even among those who toil the whole day, no dis- 
 tinction is made between the successful wanderer 
 and him who brings in but small supplies. To 
 remedy these evils, I propose — 
 
 " 1st, That each bee shall reserve for his own 
 use and disposal, all the honey that he col- 
 lects. 
 '' Sndly, That the Pentland Hills be divided 
 into difi'erent districts, and that each hive 
 have its particular allotment. 
 " 3dly, That each allotment be subdivided, 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. D 
 
 and a subdivision appropriated to each 
 
 bee/' 
 " I cannot but with reluctance," said Emilius, 
 '^ offer an opinion at variance with the sentiments 
 of my friend Orpheus ; for often have we winged 
 our way together along the flowery mead, and 
 sought with mutual aid the sweetest petals. But 
 since the history of past ages records no instance 
 of a constitution of apiarian society different from 
 the present, and as we experience no evils which 
 do not admit of a remedy, we should deliberate 
 long, before we abandon those laws which have 
 prevailed in the hive from time immemorial. If 
 some are more weak and feeble than others, it is 
 the dispensation of Nature ; and how can the 
 superior efforts of the active and more strong be 
 better directed, upon principles of equity and 
 benevolence, than in supplying the deficiencies of 
 those whose necessities are occasioned by unavoida- 
 ble causes ?" 
 
 The just reasoning of this appeal was borne 
 down by clamour, and by several violent haran- 
 gues from the reformists, who were so prepossessed 
 in favour of their new project, and had made so 
 many proselytes, that the Eesolutions were carried 
 by a large majority. The meeting broke up ; the 
 deputies flew away to their respective hives, and 
 no time was lost in carrying the scheme into 
 c 
 
6 TEE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 effect. We must now detail some of the conse- 
 quences of the revolution. 
 
 Scarcely had a week elapsed before a few of the 
 more powerful or fraudulent bees had accumulated 
 to themselves a much larger portion of honey than 
 they could consume ; they had already become sur- 
 feited, indolent, and unhealthy, by the quantity 
 they had devoured : and although they perceived 
 that the weak were almost famished from being 
 unable to collect sufficient for their subsistence, 
 they would not part with their superfluity but 
 upon certain hard conditions.* They required, in 
 
 * " If you should see a flock of pig-eons in a field of corn ; 
 and if (instead of each picking* where and what it liked, 
 taking- just as much as it wanted and no more) you should 
 see ninety-nine of them gathering- all they got into a heap, 
 reserving nothing for themselves but the chaff and the 
 refuse ; keeping this heap for one, and that the weakest, 
 perhaps the worst pigeon of the flock ; sitting round, and 
 looking on all the winter, whilst this one was devouring, 
 throwing about, and wasting it ; and if a pigeon, more 
 hardy or hungry than the rest, touched a grain of the hoard, 
 all the others instantly flying upon it, and tearing it to 
 pieces, — if you should see this, you would see nothing more 
 than what is every day practised and established among 
 men. 
 
 " There must be some very important advantages to 
 account for an institution, which, in the view of it above 
 given, is so paradoxical and unnatural. 
 
 " The principal of these advantages are the following : — 
 " 1st, It increases the produce of the earth. 
 " 2ndly, It preserves the produce of the earth to maturity. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 7 
 
 the first place, that the destitute bees should sur- 
 render to them all right to their individual portions 
 of the Pentland Hills, and in future gather honey 
 solely for the affluent ; receiving as a reward 
 for their excessive toil just so much honey as 
 the saturated should agree among themselves to 
 dispense. 
 
 Under this arrangement, the aggregate quan- 
 tity of honey continued to increase far beyond the 
 consumption, until the wealthy bees had no 
 inducement to augment their stores. But how 
 were the destitute to obtain a portion of those 
 stores, since the saturated would not part with 
 any unless in exchange for the produce of their 
 labour, and of which produce they had now too 
 great an abundance ? It so happened, that with 
 the distempered state of body arising from reple- 
 tion and indolence, new and fanciful desires were 
 engendered, and of which the destitute were called 
 
 " 3rdly, It prevents contests. 
 
 " 4thly, It improves the conveniency of living-." 
 
 Paley's Moral Philosophy, book iii. 
 A discovery has now been made in social science, which 
 secures to mankind in a much higher degree the advantages 
 enumerated above, as derived from the right of private pro- 
 perty superseding the gregarious state, — a discovery which 
 not only improves those advantages in an extraordinary 
 degree, but procures man}?- others, and is destined to banish 
 for ever the evils so well illustrated by Archdeacon Paley's 
 analogy of the pigeons. 
 
8 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 upon to furnish tlie means of gratification. Not 
 content with the clothing nature had provided them, 
 the afSuent desired peculiar garments and orna- 
 ments, for which it became necessary to explore 
 the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.* 
 
 The destitute bees, seeing no prospect of 
 obtaining support but by their exertions to satisfy 
 the factitious desires of the wealthy, and having 
 parted with the right to their portions of the Hills, 
 set out in pursuit of the various articles in request. 
 Some were compelled in distant climes to descend 
 into mines, to the irreparable injury of their 
 health : or if the bees in foreign countries were 
 
 * " If it can be imag-ined that there ever was a time when 
 the inhabitants of any country were in a state of equality, 
 without distinction of rank or peculiarity of possessions, it is 
 reasonable to believe that every man was then loved in 
 proportion as he could contribute by his strength or his skill 
 to the supply of natural wants ; there was then little room for 
 peevish dislike or capricious favour ; the affection admitted 
 into the heart was rather esteem than tenderness ; and 
 kindness was only purchased by benefits. But when, by 
 force or policy, by wisdom or by fortune, property and 
 superiority were introduced and established, so that many 
 were condemned to labour for the support of a few ; then 
 they whose possessions swelled above their wants, naturally 
 laid out their superfluities upon pleasure ; and those who 
 could not gain friendship by necessary offices, endeavoured 
 to promote their interests by luxurious gratifications, and to 
 create needs which they might be courted to supply." — 
 Dr. Johjnson : RajnUer, No. 104. 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 9 
 
 disposed to procure the minerals, tliey demanded 
 honey in exchange. This gave rise to exportation, 
 and increased the toil of the destitute at home; while 
 others contracted diseases and lost their lives in the 
 fabrication of whimsical and useless articles. 
 
 The unequal division of the honey did not long 
 continue without exciting discontent, and leading 
 to a complicated state of things, widely differing 
 from the harmony and orderly movements in the 
 hives under Nature's system. Many disputes 
 arose for the possession of the honey : those 
 whose stores were abundant, were in continual 
 alarm from the fear of plunder. Hence it became 
 necessary to set apart a certain number, whose 
 sole business it was to adjust differences, and to 
 award punishment to delinquents : these were 
 called Judicatores, and were distinguished by 
 large bushy caps placed upon their heads, and 
 depending over the shoulders and the breasts; 
 the caps were covered with a profusion of the 
 fertilising dust. Their appearance was somewhat 
 grotesque; and certain bees, who had travelled 
 through the air upon a voyage of discovery from 
 the South Sea Islands, are said to have mistaken 
 them for insects of a different species.* 
 
 * " Sometimes a bee is so discoloured with this powder 
 as to look like a diiFerent insect, becoming white, yellow, or 
 
 2 
 
10 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 But there was one of tlie Judicatores who pos- 
 sessed more power than the others, and to whom 
 it belonged to decide upon cases of extraordinary 
 difficulty and doubt : he resided at the extremity 
 of a cell of remarkable depth, the windings and 
 turnings of which were so intricate, that those 
 who entered and penetrated far, found it extremely 
 difficult to get out. There were a number of 
 sharp- sighted bees who also dwelt in this cell, and 
 were continually glancing with an envious eye at 
 the seat occupied by the chief, hoping one day to 
 possess it : but at the period to which we are 
 referring, the grand Judicator had outlived the 
 baffied expectations of thousands, to the great joy 
 of the bees in general ; who, notwithstanding 
 many mal-practices in his capacious cell, and 
 which they attributed to the subordinates, enter- 
 tained a high opinion of his personal qualities and 
 the rectitude of his motives. They remarked, 
 that after-ages would venerate his decisions, 
 which would become precedents for their future 
 guidance. And such might have been the result, 
 if the progress of knowledge had not, within a 
 
 orange, according" to the flowers in which it has been busy. 
 Eeaumur was urged to visit the hives of a gentleman who, 
 on this account, thought his bees were different from the 
 common kind." — Kirby and Spence, vok i. p. 181. 
 
THE EEVOLT OP THE BEES. 11 
 
 short period of his resignation, closed for ever the 
 cell of perplexity and despair.* 
 
 When two bees entered this cell with a vessel 
 of honey in order that it should be awarded to one 
 or to the other, they found themselves involved in 
 a labyrinth long before they could reach the grand 
 Jtidicator ; but at every turning there was sta- 
 tioned one of the sharp-sighted bees, who very 
 courteously conducted them round the corner, at 
 the same time taking some of the honey out of 
 the vessel as a recompense for his kind assistance ; 
 and even the grand Judicatory after his doubts 
 were resolved, did not scruple to refresh himself 
 with a portion of the honey, so that by the time the 
 vessel was adjudged to one of the contending par- 
 ties, he beheld with dismay that it was nearly 
 empty ; and too late they discovered, that if they 
 
 * " He that buys and sells a house, must have a house 
 full of writings ; there be so many circumstances, so many 
 words, such tautological repetitions of all particulars (to avoid 
 cavillation they say) ; but we find by our woful experience, 
 that to subtle wits it is a cause of much more contention 
 and variance : and scarce any conveyance so accurately 
 penned of one, which another will not find a crack in, or 
 cavil at, if any word be misplaced, any little error, all is 
 disannulled. That which is law to-day, is none to-morrow ; 
 that which is sound in one man's opinion, is most faulty to 
 another ; that, in conclusion, here is nothing amongst us but 
 contention and confusion, we bandy one against another." — 
 Burton's Anatomy of Melanclioly. 
 
12 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 had divided tlie honey without entering the cell of 
 contention, each would have had a larger share 
 than the successful suitor. 
 
 It was not unusual for the wealthy bee to be 
 attacked and robbed by one who was destitute, 
 and who stung him to death in order to avoid 
 detection ; the assailant, however, seldom escaped 
 eventually, and when brought to trial was con- 
 demned to die. Thus the community was de- 
 prived of the aid of two individuals, who under 
 the ancient policy might have proved friendly and 
 industrious companions. 
 
 The longer the new system continued, the 
 more complicated and confused became the pro- 
 ceedings of the hive, and numberless were the 
 laws that were enacted to correct the growing 
 evils. The necessity for these laws, however, 
 could be traced almost exclusively to the unequal 
 division of the honey.* The laws were framed 
 
 * " On punit a la Chine le Mandarin dans le departement 
 duquel il s'est commis quelque grand crime. C'est a sa 
 propre negligence ou sa propre injustice qu'un mauvais 
 gouvernement devroit s'en prendre du grand nombre de mal- 
 faiteurs qui se trouvent dans un etat. La multiplicite des 
 criminels annonce une administration tyrannique et peu 
 soigneuse. La rigueur des impots ; les vexations, les du- 
 retes des riches et des grands font pulluler des malheureux 
 que souvent la misere reduit au desespoir, et qui se livrent 
 au crime comme au moyen le plus prompt pour s'en tirer. 
 
THE KEVOLT OE THE BEES. 13 
 
 by the saturated bees, who, for the purpose of 
 giving a colour of justice to the principle upon 
 which legislation was regulated, permitted the 
 impoverished to nominate those among the wealthy 
 whom they preferred as lawgivers ; nevertheless, 
 their choice was greatly influenced by the afiiuent, 
 who gave to them small portions of the honey to 
 vote in obedience to their wishes. But with the 
 destitute, so strong was the temptation to satisfy 
 
 Si I'opulence est la mere des vices, I'mdig-ence est la mere 
 des crimes. Lorsqu'un etat est mal gouverne, que les 
 richesses et I'aisance sont trop ineg-alement reparties, de 
 maniere que des millions d'liommes manquent du neces- 
 saire, tandis qu'un petit nombre de citoyens regorg-ent de 
 superflu, on y voit communement beaucoup de malfaiteurs, 
 et les chatimens ne diminueront point le nombre des cri- 
 minels. Si un gouvernement punit les mallieureux, il 
 laisse en repos les vices qui conduisent Fetat a sa ruine ;; 
 il eleve des gibets pour les pauvres, tandis que c'est lui qui, 
 en faisant les miserables, fait des voleurs, des assassins, des 
 malfaiteurs de toute espece ; il punit le crime, tandis qu'il 
 invite sans cesse a commettre le crime." — Systeme Social, 
 vol. iii. p. 47. 
 
 " He could discern cities, like so many hives of bees, 
 wherein every bee had a sting, and they did nought else 
 but sting one another, some domineering like hornets, bigger 
 than the rest, some like filching wasps, others as drones. 
 Over their heads were hovering a confused company of per- 
 I turbations, hope, fear, anger, avarice, ignorance, &c., and a 
 multitude of diseases hanging, which they still pulled on 
 their pates. Their towns and provinces mere factions, rich 
 against poor, poor against rich, nobles against artificers, 
 they against nobles, and so the rest." — Buktok's Anatomy, 
 
14 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 the calls of hunger by any means within their 
 reach, that other restraints were deemed neces- 
 sary besides these legal enactments. 
 
 From a remote antiquity had been handed 
 down a volume, written by Divine inspiration ; 
 and truly such were the beauty and sublimity of 
 the composition, that it bore the impress of its 
 sacred origin. But it was remarkable that this 
 book contained precepts totally at variance with 
 those feelings which the new order, or rather dis- 
 order of society, engendered ; for it recommended 
 contentment, mercy, benevolence, and denounced 
 ambition, resentment, and covetousness. The 
 expounders of this volume were called Ecclesiastes , 
 and were appointed to their office .^ the powerful 
 bees. Their education taught them to inculcate 
 the doctrine of passive obedience as an imperative 
 duty ; they even inferred that the existing order 
 of apiarian society was ordained by Providence, 
 and therefore immutable.* The evils then preva- 
 
 * This " right divine " is certainly not destitute of 
 ancient precedent. " When the territory of a tribe or nation 
 ceased to be its property, and individuals acquired particular 
 spots or estates, which they cultivated for their use, and 
 transmitted to their posterity, it was a consequence of the 
 old manners, that these improvements were regarded as the 
 usurpation of the powerful on the weak : and historians 
 assure us, that it happened both in Greece and Italy, that the 
 land-mark^ which had been fixed to distinguish the bound- 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 15 
 
 lent in tlie hive tliey attributed to tlie conforma- 
 tion of the bee ; the qualities were inherent in his 
 nature ; he was originally bad. They had for- 
 gotten that under the primitive system, when 
 each had his due proportion of the honey, there 
 was no repletion, no destitution, and consequently 
 resc ' theft nor assassination ; that there was no 
 xdo. jf power, no contention, and very few dis- 
 orders. In short, it was extremely difficult to 
 reconcile their opinions with the character of the 
 sacred volume, which in spirit was congenial with 
 the peace, harmony, and contentment that pre- 
 vailed under the natural arrangements of the 
 hive ; and which distinctly declared, that when the 
 bees should I properly trained, they would per- 
 severe in an undeviating course, and finally arrive 
 in a land flowing with milk and honey. 
 
 aries of property, were frequently removed or destroyed. 
 It seemed an encroachment on the rig-hts of the people, that 
 lands, which of old pastured indifferently the cattle of suc- 
 cessive occupiers, should be allotted to the use and conve- 
 nience only of private men. It was, accordingly, not merely 
 necessary to make laws to prevent the violation of private 
 rig-hts ; but what is curious in an uncommon deg-ree, even the 
 termini or land-marks, that they might remain unremoved 
 for the preservation and the separation of property, were 
 exalted into divinities. Thus, religion as well as policy held 
 out its terrors to force mankind to learn the art of appro- 
 priation, and to accept of power and riches. "—Stuart's Fiew 
 of Society, p. 143. 
 
16 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 So numerous were the diseases peculiar to the 
 affluent from indolence and repletion, and to the 
 indigent from excessive toil and noxious employ- 
 ment,* as also from accidents arising from want of 
 order in their proceedings, that it became neces- 
 sary for another class to be devoted to the cure of 
 diseases, the repair of broken mandibles, anth ,-, . , 
 wings. Some cells were set apart by the \n' .^.^^ 
 for those of the impoverished who were afflicted 
 with illness or injured by accidents ; and it ap- 
 peared that the new institutions, although calcu- 
 lated to produce the most complicated misery and 
 the most injurious propensities, were still unable 
 eradicate that sympathy, which the bees, in com- 
 mon with all other animated beings, manifest to- 
 wards others of the same species. For the miseries 
 occasioned by the selfishness, folly, or ambition, to 
 which the new system gave birth, excited the com- 
 miseration of some of the more reflecting bees, 
 and from time to time there would arise individuals 
 who devoted themselves voluntarily to the relief 
 of the distressed. One of the punishments in- 
 fi: -r'Tig- 9.y."j those who committed depredations 
 rnd other offences, was imprisonment; and in 
 
 * See Eamazini's work " De MorMs Artificum,^^ iu which 
 are enumerated no less than seventy diseases incidental to 
 artificers. 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 17 
 
 eacli hive there were several large cells constructed 
 for immolating delinquents : the keepers of these 
 cells would sometimes exercise a severity beyond 
 the duty of their office, or relax in their attention 
 to the sustenance of their prisoners. Struck with 
 the appalling misery in one of these cells, a bee 
 resc "^ to examine all the prison cells in the prin- 
 ciple- . ives ; and accordingly set out on his travels, 
 and effected great improvements in those he visited. 
 It so happened, that an ingenious bee invented 
 a machine by which he could elaborate honey and 
 wax in large quantities with the aid of a few 
 workers only. This scheme was imitated by 
 others to such an extent, that the poor working 
 bees began to think they should have but little 
 employment ; and occasionally, when there was a 
 great accumulation of honey and wax, they were 
 discharged in large numbers, while the few who 
 were retained got very little honey for their hard 
 exertions. Whenever this took place, thefts and 
 other crimes, the too frequent attendants of poverty 
 and want of occupation, increased, to the gr'^at 
 discomfiture of those who had built all '^?^'^^. ^ i 
 of moral reformation, solely upon the inculcatior 
 of precepts;* for circumstances, overwhelming 
 
 * " Tell him to be virtuous, to be beneficent, to promote the 
 happiness of his fellow-creatures ; you must show him it is 
 his interest to be so. Tell him to be virtuous, and surround 
 
 D 
 
18' THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 circumstances, triumplied over the ill-fated, im- 
 poverished, and partially enlightened workers ; 
 and how should it be otherwise, when the wisest 
 of their philosophers, the most strenuous advocates 
 for morality, were sometimes seen to fall before 
 the influence of untoward events? By degrees, 
 these machines were so much improved, that they 
 produced immense quantities of honey and wax, 
 so that very large supplies were sent to distant 
 hives where machines were not in use. These 
 exportations were considered by the Legislatores 
 as undoubted proofs of prosperity : and when it 
 was urged upon them that the workers, the great 
 majority of the bees, could not be benefited by 
 exportation, they turned a deaf ear to the com- 
 plaint, and still exultingly pointed to the stream 
 of honey issuing rapidly from the hive.* 
 
 him with such circumstances as make the virtues you re- 
 commend contrary to his ajrparent interest : his conduct 
 will unhesitatingly follow in the line of what seems to him 
 his interest, and all exhortations in opposition thereto, will 
 be.;;'"'heeded and inoperative. Improve his powers of com- 
 p£brr j>ru,2ia judging', teach him to observe the consequences 
 of his own actions, as well as those of others, as well as their 
 immediate effects ; teach him foresight ; and then, sur- 
 rounded by favourable external circumstances, all the virtues 
 will necessarily spring up." — Thompsojm : Distribution of 
 Wealth, p. 49. 
 
 * " One great and common error, amidst a multitude of 
 other errors, is the confounding the people with the govern- 
 
THE EEYOLT OP THE BEES, 19 
 
 But there were periods when honey and wax 
 wonld become scarce in consequence of foreign 
 orders, and labour would then be in demand ; so 
 that the workers perceived they were treated like 
 inanimate beings, to be used or laid aside according 
 to the exigencies of the times. As in seasons of 
 abundance they were obliged to submit to the 
 terms of their directors, they began to think that 
 when they were most required, they were entitled 
 to a larger share of honey, of which they were the 
 only producers. They abandoned their employ- 
 ments, and assembled tumultuously, to enforce 
 more favourable conditions. The directors and 
 the affluent bees alleged, that when the workers 
 were amply compensated for their labour, they 
 would neglect their work and descend into low and 
 quarrelsome cells, and there sip nectarean juices. 
 
 Whatever truth there might be in this argu- 
 ment, it was equally applicable to the possession of 
 
 merit. The people are supposed to be happy whensover the 
 government prospers. Instead of keeping* in view the good 
 of individuals, nothing is considered but the growth and 
 duration of empires, as if the public prosperity and the 
 general felicity were two inseparable matters." — Marquise 
 DE Chasteleux on Public Happiness, vol. i. p. 41. 
 " Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey 
 The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay, 
 'Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand 
 Between a splendid and a happy land." 
 
20 THE REVOLT 0"P THE BEES. 
 
 any superfluity by every class ; for seldom was it 
 beneficially applied, either to themselves or to 
 others. 
 
 But various as were the contentions, disorders, 
 and accidents occurring within the hive, they were 
 far exceeded in number and severity by the con- 
 flicts that arose on the Pentland Hills between the 
 occupiers of the different hive allotments. The 
 slightest encroachment upon each other's territory 
 by a single bee, would sometimes involve whole 
 communities in a warfare, ending only with the 
 destruction of several millions. But how such 
 calamitous consequences should follow from causes 
 so apparently trivial, requires explanation. 
 
 The affluent bees, by indulging a propensity to 
 control the conduct of others, had acquired a love 
 of power and dominion which appeared among 
 some of the rulers to be almost insatiable. Not 
 content with the influence they had obtained within 
 the hive, and the allotment connected therewith on 
 the Pentland Hills, they desired to increase their 
 territories and the number of their dependents. 
 Thus it was that they availed themselves of the 
 slightest pretext for directing an attack upon the 
 more peaceable bees of another district : and 
 although, after many days' fighting and the sacrifice 
 of many millions, each party retained their former 
 possessions, yet the wars were frequently re- 
 
!rHB REVOLT OF THE BEES. 21 
 
 newed ; but if, percliance, any little advantage 
 was obtained by either party, no benefit whatever 
 accrued to the indigent bees in becoming subject to 
 another ruler.* 
 
 When the wars first commenced upon the Hills, 
 the leaders found it convenient to bestow upon the 
 most valiant, larger vessels of honey and additional 
 portions of the Hills ; they also dignified them 
 with titles, and placed glittering stars upon their 
 breasts. t Thus far the distinctions under the 
 
 * " It is to be feared that these wars, of which the poor 
 bear the burden, and in which milHons of them lose their 
 limbs, their health, and their lives, are often entered into 
 for the express purpose of increasing" their subjection and 
 oppression, and making- them the instruments of it. 
 
 " If these conjectures are true, how are the poor to be 
 pitied ! The reflection that all the calamities of the poor 
 orig-inated from, and were really the work of, menh hands ; 
 that fresh calamities have been purposely brought on them, 
 and that they themselves have been made use of as instru- 
 ments to confirm their old grievances, add to, and perpetuate 
 them, is too sad for a human heart to dwell on." — Dr. Hall's 
 JEffeets of Cimlisation, p. 134, " PhoBnix Library." 
 
 t " There is a district in America, where, when an Indian 
 has gained a victory, or managed a negotiation with dex- 
 terity, they say to him in an assembly of the nation, '■ Thou 
 art a man.' This eulogium is a more powerful incentive to 
 great actions, than all the dignities proposed by civilised 
 States, to those who render themselves illustrious by their 
 talents." And we may add, that if men are to be praised 
 for their actions, this is a far more rational commendation. 
 When Epimenides departed from Athens, after improving 
 
 D 2 
 
22 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 existing policy were attended with some general 
 benefit. But it too frequently happened that the 
 gifts of the large vessels of honey, the allotments 
 on the Hills, and the titles and the stars, were 
 transmitted upon the death of the meritorious bees 
 to others, who turned out to be mere drones,* and 
 who considered themselves, as in truth they were, 
 an order of beings altogether distinct from the 
 worker s.f 
 
 A certain number of the bees were employed 
 during the night imprinting upon the leaves of a 
 plant called the papyrus, the occurrences of the 
 preceding day ; such as the accidents and contests 
 arising from competition. It will scarcely be 
 
 the laws, he refused considerable presents, and only de- 
 manded for himself a branch of the olive consecrated to 
 Minerva, and the friendship of the Athenians for Cnossus 
 his country. 
 
 * Ovid, in his relation of the contest for the armour of 
 Achilles, describes Ulysses as charging* Ajax with his igno- 
 rance of the devices on the shield, " Postulat ut cajnat quce 
 non intelliget, armaP But he could not represent him as 
 deficient in bravery, the quality through which the deceased 
 hero had been rewarded with his impenetrable armour. 
 
 t " II se regardoit comme etant d'une autre nature que 
 le reste des homme ; les autres ne lui sembloient mis sur la 
 terre par les Dieux que pour lui plaire, pour le servir, pour 
 prevenir tous ses desirs, et pour rapporter tout a lui comme 
 a une Divinite. Le bonheur de le servir etoit, selon lui, une 
 assez haute recompense pour ceux qui le servoient." — 
 Telemaquej xvi. 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 23 
 
 believed with what eagerness the little creatures 
 sought for these leaves, and read without emotion, 
 details of the calamities, follies, and penury, of 
 their fellow-citizens. But when the wars were 
 raging upon the Pentland Hills, and the various 
 successes and reverses were minutely described, the 
 papyrus was inquired for with increased avidity ; 
 the victories achieved were emblazoned upon the 
 leaves very conspicuously; but the wounds that 
 were inflicted, and the privations and sufferings 
 that were endured, were either not imprinted at all, 
 or so glossed over as to be scarcely legible.* 
 
 An extraordinary interest was excited by what- 
 ever happened to an affluent bee, particularly one 
 
 * " By means of which it comes to pass, that daily so 
 many voluntaries offer themselves, leaving- their sweet wives, 
 children, friends, for sixpence (if they can get it) a-day, 
 prostitute their lives and limbs, desire to enter upon breaches, 
 lie sentinel, perdue, give the first onset, stand in the fore- 
 front of the battle, marching bravely on, with a cheerful 
 noise of drums and trumpets, in such vigour and alacrity, 
 so many banners streaming* in the air, g-littering- armours, 
 motions of plumes, woods of pikes and swords, variety of 
 colours, cost and magnificence, as if they went in triumph, 
 now victors to the Capitol, and with such pomp, as when 
 the army of Darius marched to meet Alexander at Issus. 
 Void of all fear, they run into imminent dangers, cannon's 
 mouth, &c., to get a name of valour, honour, and applause, 
 which lasts not ; for it is but a mere flash this fame, and 
 like a rose, intra diem unum extinguitur, 'tis g-one in an 
 instant." — BuRTOisr's Anatomy, 
 
24 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 distinguislied by a star. If lie passed only from 
 one cell to another, the movement was publicly 
 annomiced ; but when he was indisposed, the whole 
 hive were inquiring if the fever was abated. 
 However laudable such benevolence, it should not 
 have been confined to those, who, when indisposed, 
 were surrounded by every alleviation, and received 
 the most assiduous attention. The indigent invalid 
 was entitled to the warmest and most general 
 sympathy ; for not only might he be destitute of 
 medicinal aid, but his discharge from employment 
 frequently deprived him of the common necessaries 
 of life. But justice no longer presided in the 
 hive ; and the poor working bee would languish in 
 an obscure and miserable cell, and die unpitied and 
 unknown,* while the bee who enjoyed every com- 
 fort and luxury, was the object of general solici- 
 tude to the latest period of his existence. 
 
 The accumulated evils at last became so great 
 
 * " Should the poor man terminate a miserable existence 
 with less obscurity, what is the melancholy alternative ? He 
 draws his latest breath in the parish workhouse, ' Where all 
 that's wretched paves the way to death ! ' 
 
 * Here on a matted flock, witli dust o'erspread, 
 The drooping wretch reclines his languid head. 
 Por h.im no hand the cordial cup applies, 
 Nor wipes the tear that stag-nates in his eyes ; 
 No friends with soft discourse his pain beguile, 
 Nor promise hope till sickness wears a smile.' " 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 25 
 
 and alarming, that the Legislative Assembly were 
 unwilling' any longer to defer the consideration of 
 them, more especially as the workers were some- 
 times driven to desperation, and even threatened 
 to overthrow the hive. Laws out of number had 
 been enacted for the punishment of criminals, and 
 to arrest the progress of pauperism ; but how to 
 prevent the further increase of offenders and 
 paupers, was a perplexing question,* resolved, as 
 they were, not to permit any material changes in 
 the order of society. That poverty, if not the only, 
 was at least one of the primary causes of crime, 
 they could not deny; but their difficulty was 
 augmented when they observed that poverty became 
 more general in seasons of great superabundance. 
 An impartial observer could at once trace the 
 cause to the injustice of their agrarian laws, to the 
 monopoly of the large tracts of the Hills, and of 
 
 * " Such," exclaims Mr. Courtney in his perplexed and 
 perplexing- Treatise, '' are the opposing- difficulties of this 
 extensive subject ! They will dishearten one who has per- 
 suaded himself that it is possible or desirable to disentang-le 
 our political constitution from a system of Poor Laws." And 
 such will ever remain the opposing- difficulties to those who 
 vainly endeavour to reconcile great inequality in the dis- 
 tribution of the products of labour with truth and justice, 
 and more especially when the political order of society 
 assigns to the idle the superfluity, and to the producers a 
 bare sufficiency. 
 
26 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. " 
 
 the stores of honey by the few : * for it could not 
 be doubted that the workers would be able to 
 provide far more than was sufficient for themselves, 
 if they could have found any portion of the Hills 
 unoccupied, when employment was not to be 
 obtained from the affluent. 
 
 Season after season the Assembly sat in close 
 deliberation, examined numerous witnesses, and 
 published voluminous reports ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing all their labours, the last list of delinquents 
 contained a greater number than any preceding 
 one.f Treatises were written on the subject, 
 
 * " Necessity, in vulgar life, is known to be one of the 
 chief incitements to vice and depravity. From a state of 
 indigence, wretchedness, and despair, the transition is easy 
 to criminal offences." 
 
 " From the degrading, the injurious influence of a state 
 of debasement, generating a corruption of morals, spreading 
 in every direction, how can it be expected that the inferior 
 ranks in society can be regular, sober, frugal, or indus- 
 trious V — CoLQUHou:!^ on Indigence. 
 
 t *' I am free to confess, that it gives me great concern, 
 that the labours of the Grand Jury are likely to be extended 
 to a considerable length of time ; for up to the time the 
 calendar was made up for publication, there were eighty-two 
 prisoners charged with crimes within the City of London, 
 which is at least one-fourth more than I ever remember in 
 the corresponding periods, during my forty-years' expe- 
 rience." — Vide Becorder^s Charge to the Grand Jury, Sep- 
 tember 14, 1825. And again : 
 
 " In looking over the calendar, I am sure you will join 
 with me in lamenting, that there are no fewer than seventy- 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 27 
 
 involving it in still greater difficulty; and one 
 theorist had the boldness to question the right of 
 the panper bees to relief at all : but their forlorn 
 condition was sufficient to excite the sympathy of 
 the most obdurate, and the proposition, from its 
 revolting character, was speedily dismissed. 
 
 At last they resolved upon the expedient of 
 enlightening the minds of the workers ; and accord- 
 ingly great pains were taken to teach them to 
 read, with the expectation that such pieces only 
 of the papyrus would be perused as the affluent 
 approved. But, alas ! when their minds were a 
 little expanded, they began to dive into other 
 matters, and such as were considered of a danger- 
 ous tendency, particularly by those who were 
 dignified with titles ; for they apprehended, and 
 their fears were too well grounded, that by ex- 
 amining the foundations of society, the workers 
 would question the equity of exclusive privileges, 
 and be less dazzled by the splendour of their stars. 
 
 Another class of writers now came forward, 
 termed the Apiarian Economists. Their professed 
 object was to promote the prosperity of all the in- 
 habitants of the hive. But upon investigating 
 
 three prisoners for trial on the London side, which is nearly 
 double the number of last sessions, and by far exceeds any- 
 thing- within my recollection."— C/^^r^^, Aj^ril 5, 1826. 
 
28 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 their tlieories, they were foimd, like much of their 
 reasoning, to be directed almost exclusively to the 
 most effectual means of accumulating the largest 
 quantity of honey.* Whether those means were 
 beneficial or detrimental to the working bees, or 
 in what manner the honey was distributed, appears 
 to have been altogether a secondary consideration. 
 Their theories were very unintelligible to the bees 
 in general : nor is this to be wondered at, when it 
 was found that they could not even agree among 
 themselves upon any consistent plan, but were 
 
 * And yet one of the latest writers considers that the 
 field of inquiry has not been sufficiently contracted. " It is 
 not pretended," says Mr. Mill, " that writers on Political. 
 Economy have always limited their inquiries to this class of 
 objects. It seems, however, important to detach the science 
 from all considerations not essential to it. I therefore 
 premise, that in the following- pag-es, I have this alone in 
 view ; namely, to ascertain the laws according* to which the 
 production and consumption are reg-ulated of those com- 
 modities which the intervention of human labour is necessary 
 to procure." — Introductionto Elements of Political Economy ^ 
 ly James Mill, Esq. 
 
 It would be of no moment within what limits political 
 economists circumscribed the science, if their opinions were 
 not permitted to have a preponderating" influence in the 
 enactment of laws. The above definition of the objects of 
 Political Economy may be correct, but it is the province of 
 the enlig-htened statesman " to ascertain the laws according 
 to which the production and consumption ought to be 
 regulated." 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 29 
 
 continually disputing one witli another upon the 
 working of a favourite system ; and indeed, not 
 one was found practicable : yet there was a solitary, 
 but fatally important proposition upon which they 
 were unanimous — namely, that the number of the 
 bees had a tendency to increase in greater propor- 
 tion than the quantity of honey, and consequently, 
 that the destruction occasioned by intemperance, 
 disease, and by the wars on the Pentland Hills, 
 kept their numbers within those bounds which the 
 supply of honey prescribed. 
 
 Unfortunately for the poor destitute bees, this 
 opinion became too prevalent; the affluent re- 
 peated it as a sanction to their overgrown stores ; 
 and even the benevolent, assenting to the supposed 
 truth of the proposition, resigned all hope of any 
 extensive amelioration in the condition of the bees, 
 and thenceforward limited their efforts to the cor- 
 rection of some few of the disorders of the hive. 
 The Legislatores also concurred in the general 
 opinion, and hastily broke up their meetings; 
 their huge reports and laboured treatises were 
 deposited high upon the shelves, and, in their own 
 peculiar phraseology, they declared that " the evil 
 would cure itself." * 
 
 * The meaning of this phrase appears to be, that when 
 the country is afflicted with scarcity and hig-h prices, there 
 E 
 
30 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 So many difficulties liad the influential bees 
 experienced in attempting to reform the abuses of 
 the hive, and to relieve the indigent, that they were 
 disposed, previous to the publication of this dogma, 
 to resign the cause in despair, if they could have 
 reconciled it to themselves to pass by with indiffer- 
 ence so much accumulated and increasing misery. 
 But now they were overjoyed to find that they were 
 sanctioned by the inexorable laws of nature, in 
 abandoning the impoverished to their fate, and 
 that they could resume without remorse their 
 jollity and feasting. The drone who had made the 
 grand discovery did not go unrewarded, for he was 
 lodged in one of the choicest cells and fed with the 
 royal jelly.* 
 
 will be more produced until the country is afflicted with 
 superabundance and low prices. What physical and moral 
 consequences attend this oscillation among- the producer,- 
 are seldom thoug-ht of. 
 
 * There appears to be some error in this part of the nar- 
 rative, as the royal jelly was given to the young workers 
 intended for future queens, who were destined to augment 
 the population of the hive. But as the drone who pro- 
 claimed the dogma was peculiarly adverse to that measure 
 he is the last who would have been selected for such an 
 important office. " If the bees are deprived of their queen, 
 and are supplied with comb containing young worker brood 
 only, they will select one or more to be educated as queens ; 
 which, by having a royal cell erected for their habitation, 
 and being fed with royal jelly for not more than two days, 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 31 
 
 After the failure of the various theorists, an 
 experimentalist arrived, and announced his dis- 
 covery of the source of all their moral evils. He 
 came to promulgate a code of regulations in which 
 no principles that had not stood the test of experi- 
 ment were admitted, and which therefore could 
 not fail to be as true and correct in practice as all 
 theories formed upon a rigid adherence to induc- 
 tive philosophy.* " I have had," said he, " under 
 
 when they emerg-e from the pupa state (thoug-h if they had 
 remained in the cells which they orig-inally inhabited, they 
 would have turned out workers), will come forth complete 
 queens, with their form, instincts, and powers of g-eneration 
 entirely different."— Kiuby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 129. It 
 thus appears that the characters of bees, as well as those 
 of men, are altered by a change of situation, and that both 
 experience a remarkable transition when they taste the 
 flavour of the royal jelly. 
 
 * " Of the prog-ress which may yet be made in the dif- 
 ferent branches of moral and political philosophy, we may 
 form some idea from what has already happened in physics, 
 since the time that Lord Bacon first united in one useful 
 direction the labours of those who cultivate that science. At 
 the period when he wrote, physics was certainly in a more 
 hopeless state than that of moral and political philosophy in 
 the present ag-e. A perpetual succession of chimerical 
 theories had till then amused the world ; and the prevailing- 
 opinion was, that the case would continue to be the same 
 for ever. Why, then, should we despair of the competency 
 of the human faculties to establish solid and permanent 
 systems upon other subjects which are of still more serious 
 importance ? " — Stewart's Elements of the Philosoijhy of 
 the Mind, vol. i. p. 296. 
 
32 THE EEYOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 my direction a swarm of bees settled on the banks 
 of the Clyde ; they came from the Pentland Hills 
 after the revolution, and had contracted the habits 
 and peculiarities of your present policy. Having 
 ascertained that the real causes of intemperance, 
 vice, and misery, were to be found in the altered 
 circumstances under which they were placed, I 
 removed many of the unfavourable circumstances, 
 and replaced them with such as were productive 
 of health and contentment. The hours of employ- 
 ment with the working bees were limited, their 
 cells improved, and temptations withdrawn. The 
 happiest results followed, and I had scarcely any 
 occasion for the Judicatores. Thus far, however, 
 nothing more has been effected than some improve- 
 ment of your present system ; but the plans which 
 I now recommend, require an equal participation 
 in the division of the honey, equal employment in 
 proportion to bodily strength ; — in short, they 
 form in all respects a system of mutual assistance." 
 Now, although it was evident that this was 
 the identical constitution of apiarian society 
 from which they had departed, the princi- 
 ples of which were so obvious and simple, a 
 singular phenomenon occurred. The bees of all 
 classes — Judicatores, Ecclesiastes , and Legisla- 
 tores — were unable to comprehend it, — not even 
 the working bees, who would have been most 
 
THE KEVOLT OP THE BEES. 33 
 
 benefited by the change. The Judicatores bad 
 been so long occupied in tbe adjustment of indi- 
 yidual claims, that tbey could not understand the 
 identity of particular with general interests. The 
 Ecclesiastes rejected the scheme, because its ac- 
 cordance with the particular doctrines which they 
 upheld had not been enforced. And the apiarian 
 economists repeated their favourite theory of 
 Number versus Honey. 
 
 The experimentalist had the welfare of his 
 species so much at heart, that he was determined 
 to meet the objections of all parties : and accord- 
 ingly, to the working bees he stated, that although 
 they might unite under his arrangements in order 
 to secure a due proportion of honey, yet they 
 could retain their individual cells and their pri- 
 vileges of privacy; that they could even regale 
 themselves in their own cells, if they objected to 
 feed upon the bee bread in the large cell con- 
 structed for those who wished to take their repasts 
 with the community. He earnestly dissuaded 
 them from committing any acts of violence, as 
 being both unjust and calculated to retard his 
 ameliorating measures. He clearly showed that 
 the characters of their directors, even of those the 
 most tyrannical, were not formed hy themselves, 
 but /or them, partly in the pupa state, but chiefly 
 by the institutions of the hive. Above all, he ex- 
 e2 
 
34 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 liorted them to leave the affluent in the undis- 
 turbed possession of their ample stores, and to 
 begin under his system to gather honey for them- 
 selves. But the workers had contracted habits 
 which rendered them unwilling to submit to a 
 change, the advantages of which they were as yet 
 unable to appreciate. 
 
 Of the Legislatores he demanded how they 
 could reasonably expect order in the hive, while 
 their institutions were the obvious causes of dis- 
 satisfaction and turbulence, of inequality in the 
 distribution of honey, and all the evil consequences 
 resulting therefrom, both to the saturated and to 
 the indigent; presenting to one class an over- 
 excitement, and depriving the other of the means 
 of temperate gratification. Then, appealing to the 
 Judicatores, he inquired how they could reconcile 
 it to themselves gravely to sit in judgment upon 
 their fellow-citizens, while they must be conscious 
 that had they possessed the same natural dis- 
 positions, and been subject to the influence of 
 the same circumstances, they would have been 
 equally guilty. In reply to the objections of 
 the Ecclesiastes , he remarked, that his scheme, so 
 far from impeding the exercise of any religious 
 institutions, offered increased facilities to all sects, 
 and admitted the most perfect freedom of opinion. 
 Then, turning to the apiarian economists, he 
 
THE KEVOLT OP THE BEES. 35 
 
 observed, that their fears of an overgrown hive 
 were groundless ; — could not each bee gather more 
 honey than was sufficient for his own subsistence, 
 since the working bees already not only supported 
 themselves and the rest, but also produced large 
 quantities for exportation? therefore every in- 
 crease in their numbers was attended with a larger 
 proportionate increase in the power of collecting 
 honey; and until the heather on the Pentland 
 --Hills was completely exhausted of its nectar, and 
 the whole globe had become one entire flower- 
 garden, they might continue to lead forth their 
 swarms without any apprehension of a famine. 
 But his arguments were fruitless ; for all the 
 powerful bees declared the scheme to be visionary ; 
 while they admitted the benevolence and prac- 
 tical experience of the projector. He therefore 
 flew away, and established a colony upon his own 
 principles in a distant region. 
 
 The departure of the experimentalist was 
 lamented by a few only of the inhabitants, among 
 ^whom was Emilius. That reflecting bee had 
 never ceased to deplore the sad consequences of 
 the revolution which he had in vain attempted to 
 prevent. Since that eventful period, he had se- 
 cluded himself in a retired part of the hive, and 
 seldom mixed with the crowd : he felt the neces- 
 sity in the general struggle of laying up a store 
 
36 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 for the satisfaction of his own wants ; and as these 
 were few and simple, and he was early on the 
 wing, the task was soon performed. He then 
 devoted the remainder of the day to study. He was 
 not, however, unmindful of his public duties ; and 
 occasionally assisted in the senatorial deliber- 
 ations, when the community reaped the fruits of 
 his researches. Such was the high estimation in 
 which the character of Emilius was held, that 
 although he was known to be adverse to their 
 general policy, and opposed more or less to the 
 several parties, yet his opinions were always 
 listened to with respect. Attributing the distinc- 
 tions in the hives to accidental circumstances, he 
 was the universal friend of bees ; and it might be 
 said of him, what the historian has remarked of 
 Atticus, — '^ Hie autem sic se gerehat, ut communis 
 i7ifimis,par principihus videreturr His love of 
 truth predominated over every other consider- 
 ation ; and, regardless of the customs of the hive, 
 his whole conduct was regulated by its dictates. 
 With the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and with 
 leisure and means to prosecute his favourite pur- 
 suits, it might have been expected that his happi- 
 ness was complete ; — and if his gratifications had 
 centred in himself, he would have had nothing 
 further to desire. But to witness the manifold 
 disorders of the hive, the miseries arising from 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 37 
 
 want, and the endless individual disputes, the 
 monthly execution of delinquents, when their 
 crimes were the evident result of defective legis- 
 lation, gave rise to reflections that embittered all 
 his enjoyments.* 
 
 Early one morning, when taking his solitary 
 flight, he lighted upon a flower whose broad and 
 ample petals gave promise of an abundant supply 
 of honey, without much sacrifice of time. As he 
 descended towards the stamen, he observed a bee 
 going up on the other side so heavily laden with 
 ambrosia, that he could scarcely move. Upon 
 advancing a little sideways, who should he 
 recognise but his friend Orpheus. Although 
 Orpheus had been the chief promoter of the revo- 
 lution, he was far from being influenced by any 
 sinister designs ; he accumulated wealth because 
 he found it was an important instrument in 
 promoting public improvements, and for the 
 purposes of private benevolence. But whether it 
 was that the prevailing system being a child of 
 his, own, and he was therefore desirous of palli- 
 
 * " After his return to France from Prussia, in 1765, 
 Helvetius retired to his estate at Vore, and hved remote 
 from the noise and bustle of the world. He passed his time 
 in study, in select society, and in acts of beneficence. ' The 
 sight of misery which he could not relieve,' says the author 
 of his Elog-e, ' rendered Paris disagreeable to him.' " 
 
38 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 ating some of its imperfections, or that his mind 
 had been bewildered in the mazes of conflicting 
 theories, certain it was that he became incapable 
 of discerning the true principles of apiarian so- 
 ciety. Acknowledging most of the existing evils, 
 he always maintained that they could be more 
 eflfectually overcome without abolishing individual 
 competition, by allowing a more unrestricted 
 freedom of exertion to all the inhabitants of the 
 hive, and by establishing a more liberal policy 
 between the communities of the various hives in 
 their intercourse with each other. 
 
 '^ And what occasion," said Emilius, addressing 
 him, ^' can my friend have for such an intolerable 
 load of wealth ? Does the individual system im- 
 pose so much laborious exertion? Had you, 
 Orpheus, listened with more attention to the 
 experimentalist who visited us of late, you would 
 have adopted a policy less toilsome than the pre- 
 sent, and equally abundant in its supplies." * 
 
 il c 
 
 In medium qucerum/ is a tempting* sentiment," 
 says Mr. Davison. " It seems to be in the way both to 
 benevolence and wealth. It is the sentiment by which the 
 Roman poet has described the economy of a hive, and a still 
 greater poet of our own has told us that the inhabitants of a 
 hive may teach ' the art of order to a peopled king-dora.' 
 But men are not bees, as in many respects, so in this — that 
 the love of property, exclusive property, and aversion from 
 labour, make no part of the natural history of that wise 
 
THE REYOLT OP THE BEES. 39 
 
 '' The sclieme of a mere yisionary !" exclaimed 
 Orpheus ; '' and much does it surprise the com- 
 munity that a bee of your sagacity should 
 
 insect : but in man they are characteristic ; and they are set 
 off in him one ag-ainst another. They oug-ht to be kept well 
 tog-ether. He has his sympathies ; but it is not in the first 
 instance with his hive, but within his cell, within his family. 
 The poor man's endeavours can hardly extend any further. 
 For him, the principle of joint labour and community of 
 acquisition is put where it oug'ht to be, when it is infused 
 into his lesson of domestic duty. His capacity of feeling 
 and exertion is just commensurate with it there. It fills his 
 little circle; more is too much for him." — Considerations on 
 the Poor Laws, ly John Davison, M.A., Fellow of Oriel 
 College^ p. 19. 
 
 Unfortunately for Mr. Davison's arg-ument, but happily 
 for poor traduced human nature, facts are opposed to this 
 fallacious reasoning*. Societies have existed, and still exist, 
 in which individual exclusive property is unknown, and 
 where labour is more cheerfully performed, and a hig-her 
 degree of enjoyment and happiness attained, than in any 
 communities founded upon the principle of individual com- 
 petition. Lycurgus established an equality of property. 
 The Essenes, a sect of the Jews, are described as " exceeding 
 all other men that addict themselves to virtue," and 
 "having all things in common." The more modern in- 
 stances are the celebrated establishments of the Jesuits in 
 Paraguay, the Moravians, the Shakers, and the Harmonists 
 in Indiana. In consequence of the superstitious opinions 
 prevailing in these societies, they afford very imperfect 
 examples of the superior advantages to be derived by com- 
 munities of co-operation composed of an intelligent people, 
 unrestricted by prejudice in the pursuit of knowledge and 
 happiness. When we know that a given number of indi- 
 viduals, aided by all the modern discoveries in science. 
 
40 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 patronise a plan so impracticable and absurd. 
 The advocates of that system maintain, that each 
 bee will have an ample supply of honey ; whence, 
 then, will arise the motives to exertion ? Instead 
 of busy bees, we should have none but slothful 
 and idle drones." '^ If/' rejoined Emilius, " the 
 most distinguished success in practice is a proof 
 of the futility of opinions, then might the experi- 
 mentalist be deemed a visionary. But that a sys- 
 tem, resting exclusively upon the broad basis of 
 demonstrable truths, should yet be rejected by 
 intelligent bees, can only be accounted for by the 
 prejudices that have hindered them from giving 
 the subject due consideration. When it is seen 
 that no greater exertions are necessary for the 
 general welfare than are consistent with, or essen- 
 
 could produce mucli more than they can have occasion for, 
 is it probable that any one would desire more than he could 
 use, while the storehouses were at all times superabounding- ? 
 Water is coveted beyond all price by those who are crossing" 
 the burning- sands of Arabia : — but does the inhabitant of a 
 town desire more than is sufficient to allay his thirst when 
 the conduit is flowing at all hours in the day 1 Mr. Davison 
 may prescribe rules for the poor man, who will soon be as 
 difficult to find, as now, and in times past, the honest man. 
 Strange that in a country saturated with wealth, poverty 
 should be known except by name. Men will not be less 
 estimable in their domestic characters, by an expansion of 
 mind, and that enlarged benevolence which contemplates 
 the happiness of all mankind. 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 41 
 
 tial to, individual healtli, the bees will be anxious 
 for employment ; and tbey will derive additional 
 pleasure from the employment itself, when they 
 know that the work about which they are engaged 
 conduces to the public good, and that a full share 
 of their produce is secured to each. With the 
 training the bees will experience, under these 
 arrangements idleness would be insupportable." 
 
 " Utility — " He was here interrupted by the 
 arrival of a bee of a more slender form, of bril- 
 liant appearance, and who moved about with 
 uncommon agility : his name was Poeticus, and 
 his chief amusement was to wander about, con- 
 templating and describing, in glowing language, 
 the beauties of nature. Sometimes he would 
 sing of the contests upon the Pentland Hills, and 
 the call to arms ; at others, he would select the 
 prevailing follies and vices in the hives, and hold 
 them up to ridicule. He obtained his supply of 
 honey from other bees, who gave it in return for 
 the delight his compositions afforded them. He 
 was well skilled in most languages : for it should 
 be related, that after the communities in all the 
 hives had abandoned the plans of nature at the 
 period of the revolution, they gradually diverged 
 into different policies, still retaining the competi- 
 tive principle. With these changes, a diversity 
 of language sprang up ; and instead of the former 
 
 E 
 
42 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 expressions of nature universally intelligible, eacli 
 community had a different word for the same 
 idea ; so that it became necessary for those who 
 desired to go from one hive to another, to devote 
 much precious time to the study of the different 
 dialects. The multitude, the uninformed bees, 
 were taught to look up to those who were ac- 
 quainted with many languages as the most highly- 
 gifted and intelligent bees ; whereas, their learning 
 amounted to no more than the ability to give 
 various denominations to the same thing — to call 
 honey, /^eXt, mel, i&onig, or miel. 
 
 Such was the character of Poeticus; for 
 although he was enamoured of the charms of 
 nature, he had rarely sufficient perseverance to 
 investigate philosophical principles ; he possessed 
 little scientific information, and was equally igno- 
 rant of the apiarian springs of action. Poeticus 
 had heard the concluding sentence of Emilius, and 
 with his usual vivacity remarked, '^ that he could 
 not endure any system, the objects of which were 
 confined to utilitarian insipidity; repressing the 
 efforts of genius, and devoting their whole lives 
 to objects of mere necessity, — thus sinking the bees 
 into a droning uniformity,* divesting existence of 
 
 * When, at a public meeting-, the objection was advanced 
 against societies of joint property, that they would make 
 
THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. 43 
 
 half its pleasures, and depriving the satirical poet 
 of his lawful game." 
 
 "You mistake," said Emilius, "in supposing 
 that the proposed system aims at abridging the 
 pleasures of the bees. On the contrary, the 
 economy of the arrangements will so far facilitate 
 the production of honey, that more time will 
 remain for recreation, while the institutions are 
 calculated to generate a taste for all that is beau- 
 tiful in nature. He must be a sorry poet who 
 will be at a loss for a subject unless the disorders 
 of the hive are perpetuated, and who can 
 
 ' Look then abroad through nature to the range 
 Of planets, suns, and adamantine spheres 
 Wheehng- unshaken through the void immense,' 
 
 and not find a legitimate theme for the display of 
 exalted genius." Poeticus, apparently chagrined 
 at this concluding remark, skipped to the ex- 
 tremity of the flower, and, spreading his wings, 
 was soon out of sight. Orpheus gathered up the 
 load which he had laid down during the dis- 
 cussion, and, pleading some appointment as an 
 excuse for the suddenness of his departure, com- 
 
 mere machines of men, it was happily replied by a distin- 
 guished orator, " that if such an effect were produced, they 
 would become machines of which intellect would be the 
 moving spring." 
 
44 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 menced Hs laborious flight. Emilius, however, 
 perceived that the real cause of the termination 
 of the conference was indifference towards his 
 favourite scheme ; and he returned with dejected 
 spirits to his cell, in utter despair of convincing 
 the bees of truths the most essential to their 
 happiness. 
 
 A few days afterwards, as Emilius was medi- 
 tating in his cell, he heard a gentle tap at the 
 entrance, and was surprised with . a visit from 
 Orpheus. " I am come," said he, '^ to invite you 
 to one of the courts of justice, to hear the trial of 
 a very young worker, who has had the audacity to 
 pick one of my wax-pockets." 
 
 Emilius, thinking that the occasion might 
 afford an opportunity for some useful reflections, 
 accompanied his friend without hesitation; and 
 they flew away to that part of the district on the 
 hills where the trial w^as to be held ; for it was 
 usual to try prisoners for offences near the spot 
 where they wjre committed, and the Judicatores, 
 with the paraphernalia of justice, and all their 
 attendants, moved from place to place for that 
 purpose. 
 
 When the two friends arrived at the spot, the 
 bees were beginning to assemble, and preparations 
 were making to receive the Judicatores with 
 demonstrations of joy. This was somewhat ir- 
 
THE EEVOLT OP THE BEES. 45 
 
 reconcilable to the feelings of Emilius, who had 
 inquired respecting the delinquents, as to the 
 nature of their offences and general condition. He 
 was grieved to learn that they were mostly very 
 young and much dejected. 
 
 While observing the bees that were passing 
 and repassing, he descried Poeticus among the 
 crowd, and beckoned him to join them. '' And 
 how is it that you are present at this melancholy 
 scene !" said Emilius. 
 
 " Melancholy scene !" replied Poeticus ; " have 
 you not heard of the butterfly's ball, — and 
 that we also intend to get up a ball this very 
 night?" 
 
 " What !" rejoined Emilius, " do you intend to 
 promote gaiety while so many miserable bees are 
 here in dreadful suspense of losing their lives ? 
 None but butterflies would think of dancing at 
 such a ball." 
 
 "You, Emilius, are far too rigid; wherever a 
 number of bees are assembled, there are animation 
 and buoyancy of spirits, and it is desirable now 
 and then to drive away the cares of life. As for 
 the bees who have committed depredations, they 
 must, for the general safety, be punished, or 
 removed from the hives. If we are to dwell with 
 painful commiseration on the fate of all whom the 
 law condemns, our lives would be one continued 
 r 2 
 
46 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 series of sorrow and lamentation. These evils 
 always have existed, and always will exist."* 
 
 The bustle that now took place announced the 
 approach of the Judicatores, and several of the 
 bees in office went forth to receive them. On the 
 following morning the court assembled; and the 
 criminals, although they dreaded the day of trial, 
 were so much worn down by delay, that they had 
 become anxious for the decision of their fate. 
 Emilius and his friend took a station in one corner, 
 from whence they could observe all the proceedings. 
 As the criminals were led forth, with drooping 
 heads and lacerated wings, Emilius was shocked at 
 their forlorn appearance. They were in general 
 very young workers, and had all been placed under 
 circumstances, less fortunate than those through 
 which the Judicatores who presided at their trials 
 had passed. There were two or three older than 
 the rest, and whose offences were of a more ag- 
 
 * This reply is the ordinary refug-e of the indolent and 
 unreflecting. Bishop Butler remarks : " And just so we 
 might have argued, before experience, concerning the reme- 
 dies provided in nature for bodily diseases, to which by 
 nature we are exposed ; for many of these were unknown 
 to mankind for a number of ages ; are known but to few 
 now ; some important ones probably not discovered yet ; 
 and those which are, neither certain in their application, 
 nor universal in their use." — Preface to Analogy of lieligiorij 
 Natural and Revealed. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 47 
 
 grayated character. Tlie evidence against them 
 was most conclusive ; but, owing to some trifling 
 informality in the proceedings, they contrived to 
 escape. 
 
 It was late in the day before the young worker 
 who had picked the wax-pocket of Orpheus was 
 brought out. He was of a delicate frame, and 
 there was a degree of interest in his appearance, 
 which, together with his extreme youth, excited the 
 sympathy of the whole court. ^'Surely," exclaimed 
 Emilius, '^you would not think of visiting with 
 punishment one so young ? " " The younger," 
 replied Orpheus, "the more necessary the punish- 
 ment, to arrest his progress in evil courses." 
 
 The charge was fully substantiated ; and after 
 the Judicator had condemned him to imprisonment, 
 he admonished him to pursue a more virtuous 
 course on his liberation. 
 
 The youthful prisoner was about to be led from 
 the bar, when in feeble accents he begged permis- 
 sion to address the court. The application was 
 altogether so new, and the occasion so interesting, 
 that he was listened to with mute attention, while 
 he thus expressed himself : — 
 
 " I feel so poignantly the ignominy of xnj 
 present situation, that I hope I shall be excused in 
 detailing a few particulars of my past life, not as 
 affording any justification of the deed for which I 
 
48 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 stand convicted, but as some extenuation of my 
 general character. — I was born in a loathsome 
 part of the hive, and scarcely had I emerged from 
 the pnpa state, when I found myself surrounded 
 by vicious bees, who taught me to practice deceit, 
 to pass my time in idleness, and to live by plunder. 
 Once upon a time, when I was hardly capable of 
 reflection, I do remember that the lamentable con- 
 dition of our portion of the hive attracted the 
 notice of some humane bees ; and their opinions 
 and advice, although new to me, were still so 
 consolatory, that my mind was exhilarated by 
 some glimmering hopes of better days. They 
 told me that if I would follow their instructions I 
 should soon learn to take delio'ht in beholdino; the 
 lilies of the valley, and in collecting the sweetest 
 honey from the rose of Sharon. My mind was 
 deriving some amendment from their benevolent 
 efforts ; but too often these benefits were rendered 
 ineffectual by the contagion of bad example : and 
 as it was not in the power of my humane friends 
 to improve the circumstances surrounding me, 
 while they imparted the most useful truths, I 
 became the victim of the demoralising influence of 
 vicious associates. The Judicator advises me 
 henceforward to pursue a different course. Most 
 gladly would I extricate myself from the thraldom 
 of vice and misery ; but woeful experience has 
 
THE KEVOLT OP THE BEES. 49 
 
 proved that the affluent bees will not employ 
 those who have once appeared as culprits at the bar 
 of justice." 
 
 The Indicator remarked, that it was his duty 
 solely to judge according to the laws, and that it 
 was not for him to regulate the circumstances or to 
 frame the institutions of the hive. That task 
 devolved upon the learned civilians, aided by the 
 still more learned apiarian economists. He ac- 
 knowledged that the young worker had made a 
 powerful appeal, and humanely promised that his 
 case should be taken into consideration. 
 
 The court broke up, and through the interces- 
 sion of Emilius a pardon was obtained for the 
 culprit. Emilius took him into his own service, 
 and by kind and judicious treatment and instruc- 
 tion he became one of the most industrious and 
 faithful of bees. 
 
 Often would Emilius remind his friend Orpheus, 
 that, besides precept, example and other circum- 
 stances strongly impressed the mind, and that a 
 combination of their best influences was essential to 
 the formation of superior characters.* 
 
 * The benevolent advocates for universal instruction 
 should consider, that by investigating- and adopting* plans for 
 improving" the circumstances of the working" classes, they 
 would disarm their opponents of one of their most powerful 
 arguments. How often has it been reiterated, that since 
 
50 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 A few years after the revolution, and towards 
 the close of summer, a war broke out on the 
 Pentland Hills, in which all the bees were engaged 
 either actively or as spectators, and it was carried 
 on with a ferocious obstinacy unexampled in the 
 annals of apiarian warfare. After much desultory 
 fighting, a general engagement took place, which 
 lasted two days, when upwards of three millions 
 were left dead upon the field of battle : the victory 
 was still doubtful, although one of the contending 
 parties retired. On the third day the arm}^ that 
 had quitted the field, returned, when the contest was 
 renewed with redoubled vigour, and deeds of 
 heroism were performed, which, if they had not 
 inflicted misery upon others, might have been 
 worthy of imitation, and esteemed glorious. As 
 the sun went down, the raging of the battle ceased, 
 but the stillness of the night was disturbed by the 
 cries and the shrieks of the wounded. Soon after 
 midnight, when those who had escaped without 
 wounds, were reposing after their toils and dangers, 
 they were suddenly awoke by a tremulous motion 
 of the hills ; a light mist was seen to arise between 
 the two armies ; and in the midst there appeared a 
 
 education has become so g-eneral, crime, and more especially 
 juvenile delinquency, has alarming-ly increased. As if vice 
 were the offspring- of intelligence ! 
 
THE REYOLT 0"P THE BEES. 51 
 
 human form of majestic and graceful stature, with, 
 a countenance indicating some concern, but beaming 
 with mildness and intelligence. 
 
 ^^You behold," said the figure, "the spirit of 
 Allan Kamsay; ever and anon I haunt my 
 favourite streams and verdant hills, chosen by me, 
 when sojourning on earth, as the suitable abode of 
 innocence ; but of late these peaceful scenes have 
 been disturbed by tumults before unheard-of; and 
 this night I walk the hills to learn the ominous 
 cause. But, alas ! that cause is too apparent in 
 this melancholy spectacle of the dying and the 
 dead. Was it for this that your praises were sung 
 by the bard of Mantua ? Has not the economy 
 of the hive been held up to the world as the model 
 of a perfect commonwealth ? Whence, then, this 
 direful change ? And where, in the whole range 
 of animated nature, can you discover a single 
 instance of beings of the same species destroying 
 each other ?" 
 
 The bees were much agitated by the appear- 
 ance of this unexpected mediator, and more so by 
 his animated and pointed address. They ran to 
 and fro in great consternation. At length there 
 was a general cry for Orpheus to stand forth and 
 vindicate their policy. The ranks opened, and per- 
 mitted him to pass, with the same respect and atten- 
 tion as they were wont to pay to the queen bees. 
 
52 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 "You have demanded, most illustrions and 
 gentle spirit/' said Orpheus, "in what order of 
 the creation we can observe an example of indi- 
 viduals destroying others of the same species. It 
 will, we presume, be deemed sufficient if we 
 adduce one only, since that example will be found 
 in a class of beings claiming the highest pre-emi- 
 nence, and holding all others in subjection. You 
 will perceive that we refer to that order of which 
 you were a distinguished ornament, and exempt 
 from the general failing, when your lyre was 
 sweetly strung in the vale of Pentland." * 
 
 The spirit, gracefully extending his arm, spoke 
 as follows : — " Attend, Orpheus, and you, mis- 
 guided bees, to what I shall unfold. As far back 
 as the records of time allow us to trace, we dis- 
 cover a marked difference between man and the 
 
 * Allan Ramsay had certainly forgotten some of the oc- 
 currences on the surface of the globe; for spiders will 
 sometimes destroy each other, and rats also have evinced 
 the same propensity ; so that we know of three instances at 
 least — namely, spiders, rats, and men ! He is, however, 
 not singular in this opinion ; for the amiable Fenelon has 
 remarked, " Les hommes sont tous freres, et ils s'entre 
 dechirent : les betes farouches sont moins cruelles. Les 
 lions ne font point la guerre aux lions, ni les tigres aux 
 tigres ; ils n'attaquent que les animaux d'espece differente : 
 I'homme seul, malgre sa raison, fait ce que les animaux 
 sans raison ne firent jamais." — Telemaque, livre xvii. 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 53 
 
 rest of the animal creation : each species of bird 
 builds its nest in a peculiar manner, and one 
 generation following another, displays the same 
 undeviating instinct;* nor have they scarcely 
 any variation in their food, except from accidental 
 necessity. The beaver and the tiger have, for 
 thousands of years, preserved the same distinctive 
 character, equally well instructed in the earliest 
 period of their history as in the present day. 
 Not so with man : born in a more helpless con- 
 dition, he would have soon fallen a prey to other 
 animals, had he not been endowed with a superior 
 faculty, amply compensating for his inferior 
 strength. His powers of reasoning are greater 
 or less, according to the number and correctness 
 of his ideas. The new-born infant is, therefore, 
 destitute of reason, and in youth it is less powerful 
 than in the adult man. Analogous, in some de- 
 gree^ to the advance of the individual, is the pro- 
 gress of knowledge and power in the history 
 
 * "There are, moreover, some actions of the beasts so 
 ordered and directed, as plainly discover them to be the 
 effects of some small deg'ree of reason ; as is most manifest 
 in ants and bees, and also in some others, which, before they 
 have experienced them, will avoid thing's hurtful, and seek 
 those that are profitable to them. That this power of 
 searching" out and distinguishing" is not properly in them- 
 selves, is apparent from hence, because they act always 
 alike." — Grotius, booki. section 2. 
 
54 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 of the species. In tbe infancy* of society, the 
 paucity of his ideas, and consequently the limited 
 means of forming the judgment, enabled man to 
 discover no other mode of obtaining his food and 
 raiment but by hunting and fishing ; the gradual 
 accumulation of ideas led him on successively to 
 the pastoral, the agricultural, the commercial, and 
 manufacturing state; and now he is enabled to 
 produce wealth in superfluity. A still further 
 advance will conduct him to a knowledge of those 
 principles of political and domestic economy, 
 which, when once recognised as the science of 
 human society, will lead to a beneficial distribu- 
 tion of his riches, and finally to universal peace." 
 
 * " The opinion which men entertain of antiquity is a 
 very idle thing, and ahuost incongruous to the word ; for 
 the old age and length of days of the world should, in reality, 
 be accounted antiquity, and ought to be attributed to our 
 own times, not to the youth of the world, which it enjoyed 
 among the ancients ; for that age, though with respect to 
 us it be ancient and greater, yet with regard to the world it 
 was new and less. And as we justly expect a greater 
 knowledge of things, and a riper judgment, from a man of 
 years than from a youth, on account of the greater expe- 
 rience and the greater variety and number of things seen, 
 heard, and thought of, by the person in years, so might much 
 greater matters be justly expected from the present age (if 
 it knew but its own strength, and would make trial and 
 apply) than from former times ; as this is the more ad- 
 vanced age of the world, and now enriched and furnished 
 with infinite experiments and observations." — Lord Bacon. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 55. 
 
 Emilius, who had been occupied during the 
 night in administering to the relief of the 
 wounded, listened with intense interest to this 
 address. He now advanced, and appealing to 
 the spirit, observed : ** We have been doubly- 
 wrong — first, in departing from that policy to 
 which instinct had directed us, as best suited 
 to our nature; and secondly, in following the 
 example of man before his reason had become 
 matured." 
 
 " If by the maturity of reason," replied the 
 Spirit, " be meant that fulness of knowledge in 
 which man shall be acquainted with every fact in 
 nature, who will venture to predict that that 
 period shall ever arrive ? But if you refer to that 
 clear perception of particular truths which, com- 
 manding universal assent by their consistency, 
 become the principles of science, mankind can 
 offer no example worthy of imitation in the conduct 
 of their affairs. If a system in all respects 
 adapted to the faculties and exigencies of man 
 were once put in practice by a single community, 
 that system would speedily be applied in every 
 country where the light of knowledge was ad- 
 mitted. Survey the most civilised portions of the 
 globe, and you there behold a variety of forms of 
 government, but none without the germs of discord 
 and misery, abundantly testifying that the reason 
 
56 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 of man in the art of legislation, is to this day- 
 crude and imperfect." 
 
 '^ But whence does it arise," said Orpheus, 
 " that man should not have been able to discover 
 truth on a subject of such vital importance to his 
 happiness, and one which it might have been 
 expected would engross his whole attention ? " 
 
 ^' Truth," replied the Spirit, " can be elicited 
 only by observation and experiment. The me- 
 chanic who invents a superior implement in 
 husbandry, constructs the machine without the 
 necessity of previously convincing the judgment of 
 others ; but the theorist in legislation is unable to 
 exhibit his combined principles in operation with- 
 out the aid of large numbers ; and as a sufficient 
 number of individuals cannot, for a time, be in- 
 duced to co-operate, he is compelled to wait the 
 further progress of knowledge for his practical 
 illustration."* 
 
 * " The Deity seems to have said to man, ' I endow thee 
 with sensibility, the blind instrument of my will, that, being- 
 incapable of penetrating- into the depth of my views, thou 
 mayest accomplish all my designs. I place thee under the 
 guardianship of pleasure and pain ; both shall watch over 
 thy thoughts and thy actions ; they shall beget thy passions, 
 excite thy friendship, thy tenderness, thine aversion, thy 
 rage ; they shall kindle thy desires, thy fears, thy hopes ; 
 they shall take off the veil of truth ; they shall plunge thee 
 in error, and after having made thee conceive a thousand 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 57 
 
 " But without this practical experiment," 
 rejoined Orpheus, " my friend Emilius has 
 ventured to extol a scheme recently promulgated, 
 but which was deemed chimerical by the bees in 
 general, and consequently rejected." 
 
 " I had long since," said Emilius, " by contem- 
 plation, detected the causes of good and evil 
 under our existing polity ; and, having patiently 
 and thoroughly investigated the plan which was first 
 proposed to mankind, I found it a combination of 
 those principles alone, that have ever been pro- 
 ductive of good order and happiness in society." 
 
 Upon this allusion to the science of Social 
 Union, the Genius displayed great animation, and 
 thus replied : '* I heard of that inimitable system, 
 and hailed it as the fruition of those cheering and 
 delightful anticipations in which poets and philoso- 
 phers of all preceding ages have indulged. It is 
 true, as Emilius has stated, that it was previously 
 offered to mankind, but their prejudices for a time 
 have hindered them from forming a just estimate 
 of its merits, and from perceiving the glorious 
 prospects that await them upon its general adop- 
 
 absurd and different systems of morality and government, 
 shall one day discover to thee the simple principles on the 
 unfolding of which depends the order and happiness of the 
 moral world.' " — Helvetius. 
 
 G 2 
 
58 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 tion. As you, Orpheus, and others, have been 
 misled in attempting to follow the example of 
 mankind while they were ignorant of the most 
 important of all the sciences, I will exercise that 
 power which belongs to the spirit of poetry, and 
 conduct you to a spot from whence you shall 
 behold communities formed upon true principles, 
 and nearly a century in advance of the present 
 period. I direct you to assemble on the hills, to- 
 morrow, about midnight, when I will again ap- 
 pear. In the meantime, collect the dead bodies, 
 and, having burnt them, deposit the ashes in an 
 urn, to be erected as a lasting memorial of your 
 fatal departure from the laws of nature." 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 " Fmbritius here Ms sullen silence broke, 
 And turn'd on Rome indignant as he spoke, — 
 Since virtue droops, he cried, without regard, 
 And honest toil scarce hopes a poor reward; 
 Since every morrow sees my means decay, 
 And still makes less the little of to-day : 
 I hasten there where all his labours past, 
 The flying artist found repose at last."* 
 
 Giffokd's Juvenal, 3rd Satire. 
 
 On the following night the bees were assembled 
 on the hills in considerable numbers, long before 
 the appointed hour. At midnight, the genius of 
 Allan Ramsay was seen to arise, surrounded by 
 an immense cloud, which, opening in front, dis- 
 played his figure at full length ; although no flame 
 was visible, the whole was exceedingly luminous. 
 His hair, of light brown, was entwined with a 
 
 * Perhaps there can be found no better commentary 
 upon the evils inflicted by individual competition upon 
 ancient Rome, than is contained in the Satires of Juvenal. 
 For a commentary upon the dissensions, follies, and misery* 
 springing' from the same source in modern times, consult 
 the columns of a daily newspaper. 
 
60 ' THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 cliaplet of flowers, in which the purple bloom of 
 heather was conspicuous ; he wore a long flowing 
 robe of violet silk, and as he arose, he waved a 
 silver wand. The anticipation of beholding the 
 future destinies of mankind, animated his coun- 
 tenance with the glow of enthusiastic delight. He 
 elevated the wand high above his head, and the 
 queen bee Elia alighting upon the end, was fol- 
 lowed by others, until the whole were collected in 
 one glittering ball. The sound of cymbals was 
 heard, as if proceeding from the valley, and, 
 distance softening the tones, produced a pleasing 
 melody. As the bees entered within the sphere 
 of the light, they assumed a most brilliant appear- 
 ance, and when united, resembled a globe of 
 rubies and emeralds, or, as Virgil has described 
 the queen bees, '' resplendent with gold and pur- 
 ple." Poeticus was an exception to the rest; 
 exhilarated with the splendour of the scene, he 
 could scarcely rest an instant in one place, but 
 was seen flitting about displaying his gay and 
 brilliant colours. The cloud majestically rose, 
 and, bearing away this beautiful vision to the 
 western country, rested on the summit of Ben 
 Lomond. 
 
 The bees separated as soon as they had reached 
 the mountain, and ranged themselves in circles 
 round the Spirit, who waved his wand, and the 
 
THE EEVOLT OP THE BEES. 61 
 
 cloud gradually disappearing, lie addressed them 
 as follows : — 
 
 " Perhaps there is not a more striking contrast 
 between the old and new systems of society, than 
 that which is exhibited in the disposition of their 
 dwellings. Under the former, mankind were 
 congregated in towns or large cities, some of 
 which contained many hundred thousand persons ; 
 the houses were so crowded together, that the in- 
 habitants could scarcely move without annoyance, 
 inhaling an unwholesome atmosphere, and de- 
 prived of the view of a single green leaf. It 
 might have been imagined that the predicted and 
 fatal period had arrived, when the earth should 
 be so completely occupied as to admit of no 
 further increase of population ; and yet, within a 
 few miles of these cities, the most beautiful parts 
 of the country were found to be perfect solitudes. 
 
 " Under the new system, mankind have, in the 
 first instance, selected the most favourable and 
 agreeable situations, and the buildings are so 
 arranged as to afibrd the advantages both of large 
 cities and country residences, without the incon- 
 veniences of either; combining the pleasures of 
 the various and intelligent society of the former, 
 with the pure air and healthful exercises of the 
 latter. 
 
 ^' The stupendous mountain upon which you 
 
62 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 are assembled, rises, as you will perceive at break 
 of day, from the borders of an extensive lake, in 
 which there are about thirty islands. On the 
 other side, and to the north, are mountains of 
 less magnitude ; on the south, the lake is termi- 
 nated by a small river, the Leven, which runs 
 into the Clyde. There are about twenty-five 
 communities in the intermediate vicinity of the 
 lake, each consisting of two thousand persons. 
 The smaller islands belong to difibrent commu- 
 nities, but the larger ones are the joint property 
 of the whole. Upon the largest, there is a marble 
 building of the Doric order, of considerable di- 
 mensions, resembling in external appearance, and 
 when viewed at a distance, the Parthenon at 
 Athens, except in size, being rather larger. In 
 this, delegates from the different communities 
 assemble to deliberate upon subjects of local 
 interest, and upon such undertakings as may 
 require the united efforts of many communities to 
 achieve. It is also used for music-meetings, 
 when held upon a larger scale than usual. 
 
 '' Upon some of the other islands are edifices 
 appropriated to different studies, erected in the 
 various orders of architecture, affording an illus- 
 tration of the art, so conspicuously as to be seen 
 by all the communities. For the convenience of 
 the students, there is a museum for every four 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 63 
 
 communities, so placed as to be equally distant 
 from all, and of course very near to eacli : but in 
 one of tbe Grecian structures on the islands, is a 
 museum on a much larger scale, devoted to the 
 most curious specimens of natural history, and 
 such as every museum could not be supplied with; 
 indeed, all its specimens are exceedingly rare, 
 and in many instances unique. 
 
 '' In another island is a botanic garden, con- 
 taining in hot-houses some very fine exotics ; there 
 is also a flower-garden of great interest and 
 beauty : to visit these is only an occasional 
 pleasure, each community having smaller botanic 
 and flower gardens of its own. One of the islands 
 is the resort of foreign aquatic birds, of which 
 there is a very large collection. On the borders 
 of the lake are some menageries, where the 
 animals are kept as much in their native state as 
 possible; the bears have trees to climb, the ele- 
 phants space to move about, and the ape to 
 gambol. The assemblage forms the finest illus- 
 tration of this branch of natural history ever 
 collected. Before a child is informed what a lion 
 is, he is brought to view the animal itself. 
 
 " At the foot of this mountain is a magnificent 
 temple, richly ornamented with turrets and pinna- 
 cles, and supported by clusters of slender pillars ; 
 the lofty windows of stained glass are of the most 
 
64 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 brilliant colours. This edifice, surrounded by 
 high trees, with the mountain rising majesticallj^ 
 in the rear, forms from the opposite shore a truly 
 picturesque object. In this temple are deposited 
 the records of the communities of Loch Lomond. 
 It contains an organ, which in magnitude and 
 power, and in the harmony and variety of its tones, 
 surpasses the celebrated one of Haarlem. In 
 various parts of the building are paintings exe- 
 cuted in a style inferior to none of the greatest 
 masters,* representing landscapes, animals, birds. 
 
 * If g-enius is innate, and the arts are not indebted to a 
 variety and extent of knowledge, why were not the produc- 
 tions of a Michael Ang-elo found among* the paintings of 
 Mexico 1 To what excellence could not the art of painting- 
 be brought in a community where all the individuals were 
 highly intelligent, and had been trained to admire whatever 
 was beautiful and sublime in nature. 
 
 " It is in vain," say s Sir Joshua Reynolds, " for painters or 
 poets to endeavour to invent, without materials on which the 
 mind may work, and from which invention must originate. 
 Nothing can come of nothing. 
 
 " Homer is supposed to be possessed of all the learning 
 of his time ; and we are certain that Michael Angelo and 
 Haffaelle were equally possessed of all the knowledge in the 
 art which had been discovered in the works of their pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 " A mind enriched by an assemblage of all the treasures 
 of ancient and modern art, will be more elevated and fruitful 
 in resources, in proportion to the number of ideas which 
 have been carefully collected and thoroughly digested." — 
 Reynolds' Siccth Discourse. 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 65 
 
 flowers, and portraits. There are no paintings of 
 battles or warriors; for these, with all other 
 subjects peculiar to the barbarous ages, are 
 sinking fast into oblivion. In the centre of the 
 temple, and under a lofty dome, from which is 
 suspended a very large and splendid chandelier, 
 there is a circular table formed of the whitest 
 marble, bordered with rich gold tabernacle work, 
 from which depends a silken fringe of a beautiful 
 green dye. This table is supported by a pedestal 
 exquisitely carved. On the borders of the lake, 
 between Tarbert and Luss, are public baths about 
 a mile distant from each other, and connected in 
 part by long colonnades of the Ionic order, and by 
 gravel walks. There are baths in each community, 
 but to the public baths the members resort when 
 they desire a change, and wish to see friends of 
 other societies. 
 
 " Upon the first, second, and sometimes the 
 third ridges of the principal mountains, terraces 
 are formed with light balustrades encircling the 
 mountains ; upon some, from whence finer views 
 can be obtained, they are found still higher. The 
 waters which formerly settled on the ridges and 
 occasioned swamps, are now drained ofi", and 
 descend in cascades variously constructed by the 
 aid of fragments of the rock. Upon each terrace 
 there are several huts and cottages furnished with 
 
 H 
 
66 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 a select number of books for the amusement of 
 visiters : these cottages are all in the ornamented 
 rural style, with neat wicker gates in front, and 
 are entwined with ivy and honeysuckle, or sur- 
 rounded with laurel and other shrubs. In as- 
 cending from one ridge to another, there are 
 occasional seats ; some in the open air, others in 
 rustic temples, which at a distance resemble 
 masses of rock, and are ornamented with shells 
 and moss : there are also seats in excavations 
 having the appearance of the openings of caverns. 
 Upon the smaller mountains, observatories are 
 placed, as also telegraphs communicating with 
 other societies in various directions. In the groves, 
 and in various parts of the mountains, are statues 
 of the most exquisite workmanship, of those who 
 have been distinguished by extraordinary powers 
 of body or of mind. 
 
 "But the morning star announces the ap- 
 proach of day, and I perceive a troop of little 
 children with their attendants ascending the side 
 of the opposite mountain, in order to have a better 
 view of the rising sun. When they reach one of 
 the resting-places, they will gather a herb possess- 
 ing a healing quality for the relief of some of the 
 invalids, to whom they will themselves present it. 
 This act will in itself prove grateful to their feel- 
 ings, and as the principle of benevolence is of the 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 67 
 
 highest importance to individual and general 
 happiness, it cannot be associated with too many 
 agreeable sensations."* 
 
 At the earliest dawn the bugle was sounded, 
 and answered successively by each community on 
 the borders of the lake. The birds began their songs, 
 as if to welcome the return of light ; and the low- 
 ing of the cattle and the bleating of the sheep, 
 together with the movements of innumerable ani- 
 mals, appeared as if all nature was reviving. As 
 soon as the sun had ascended the horizon, a scene of 
 varied and wonderful beauty was unfolded. The 
 mountains, no longer presenting an aspect of 
 solitary grandeur, with scarcely an inhabitant in 
 the vicinity, save here and there a lonely shepherd, 
 now wore the appearance of presiding intelligence, 
 
 * " That the influence of early associations on the mind 
 mig-ht be employed in the most effectual manner, to aid our 
 moral principles, appears evidently from the effects which 
 we daily see it produce, in reconciling* men to a course of 
 action which their reason forces them to condemn ; and it is 
 no less obvious that, by means of it, the happiness of human 
 life mig-ht be increased, and its pains diminished, if the 
 agreeable ideas and feelings which children are so apt to 
 connect with events, and with situations which depend on 
 the caprice of fortune, were firmly associated in their ap- 
 prehensions with the duties of their stations, with the 
 pursuits of science, and with those beauties of nature which 
 are open to all." — Stewart's Philosophy of the Mind, vol. i. 
 p. 395. 
 
68 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 and evinced that beings capable of appreciating 
 the sublimity and loveliness of that highly favoured 
 spot had become its fit inhabitants. Numerous 
 flocks of sheep were browsing on the sides of the 
 mountains, herds of deer were seen in various 
 directions, and the cattle were grazing in the 
 richest pastures. The meadows and fields re- 
 sembled parks and gardens : care and attention 
 had promoted the growth of trees new to the 
 situation, and the plantations were tastefully 
 disposed. The white stone of the buildings, seen 
 through the foliage of the trees ; the various tem- 
 ples and colonnades, the hanging woods, the inter- 
 mixture of knolls with crags of rock, and the 
 elegant vessels and boats upon the lake, formed a 
 picture surpassing description. At eight o'clock 
 the bugles were again sounded, announcing the 
 breakfast. About an hour after, the inhabitants 
 came forth. Some repaired to the fields, others to 
 the manufactories (which were invisible, from the 
 buildings being surrounded by plantations, and at 
 sufficient distance to prevent any noisy operation 
 being heard) ; while others resorted to the Athe- 
 nseums and libraries, as their various pursuits 
 directed. In some parts of the mountains, in 
 the colonnades and groves, groups were seen 
 conversing, and many couples in friendly com- 
 munion. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 69 
 
 — " Social friends 
 
 Attun'd to Tiappy unison of soul ; 
 
 To whose exalting eye a fairer world, 
 
 Of which the vulg-ar never had a glimpse, 
 
 Displays its charms ; whose minds are richly fraught 
 
 With philosophic stores, superior light ; 
 
 And in whose breast, enthusiastic, burns 
 
 Virtue, the sons of interest deem romance ; 
 
 To Nature's vast Lyceum, forth they walk 
 
 By that kind school where no proud master reigns, 
 
 The full free converse of the friendly heart 
 
 Improving and improv'd." 
 
 The females and children were engaged as well 
 as the men in agTicultnre, during the summer 
 months ; the fields were all cultivated in the garden 
 style, which, together with the custom of having 
 all the population more or less occupied in agricul- 
 tural exercise, rendered the employment extreme- 
 ly light; nor were they enggiged, unless they 
 desired, for any longer time than was absolutely 
 necessary to the preservation of health. During 
 this avocation the instruction of the children was 
 going on : for as the mode of teaching was chiefly 
 verbal, and the various objects in natural history 
 frequently presented themselves, the intense 
 curiosity of the young inquiring mind was excited. 
 
 About noon there was a sudden pause in the 
 
 occupations, and all were directing their attention 
 
 to one of the telegraphs which was actively at 
 
 work. " I perceive, " said Orpheus, '' a consider- 
 
 h2 
 
70 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 able army approaching, with colours flying an d 
 streamers floating in the wind ; they appear to be 
 returning' from the achievement of some important 
 victory."* 
 
 * Mankind would long since have been disgusted with 
 war, if their rulers had not assigned to the profession of 
 arms distinguished honours, and formed an unnatural 
 alliance between the destruction of human life and the fas- 
 cinations of dress, of military trappings, and of music. 
 Divested of these blandishments, war appears in its native 
 deformity : but such is their imposing effect, that even 
 historians have been sometimes dazzled by its " pomp and 
 circumstance." Dr. Robertson, in his account of the battle 
 of Pavia, in which the Duke of Bourbon and the chivalrous 
 Francis the First fought with great bravery, describes " a 
 gallant young monarch, seconded by a generous nobility, 
 and followed by subjects to whose natural impetuosity, 
 indignation at the opposition which they had encountered 
 added new force, contended for victory and honour." And 
 he adds, " ten thousand men fell on this day, one of the 
 most fatal France had ever seen." Here there is no ex- 
 pression of sympathy for suffering humanity. But after 
 describing the ravages of the Vandals and the Huns, who 
 were clothed in skins, and destitute of all other imposing 
 appendage of war except the battle-axe, he makes the fol- 
 lowing just reflection : "It is shocking to follow these 
 destroyers of mankind through so many scenes of horror, and 
 to contemplate the havoc they made of the human species." 
 
 Dr. Johnson observes : " The great community of man- 
 kind is therefore necessarily broken into smaller independent 
 societies; these form distinct interests, which are too fre- 
 quently opposed to each other, and which they who have 
 entered into the league of particular governments falsely 
 think it virtue to promote, however destructive to the hap- 
 piness of the rest of the world." — EamUer, No. 99. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 71 
 
 '' You mistake," replied tlie Spirit ; '^ that army 
 has effected a conquest, it is true, but it was a 
 bloodless triumph, for the elements were their 
 opponents. About four years since, the inhabitants 
 of Batavia were overwhelmed in distress by the 
 breaking down of the Schevelingen works, which 
 had protected them from the inroads of the ocean : 
 a numerous band of volunteers passed over, and, 
 aided by the inhabitants, have erected an impreg- 
 nable barrier against the further encroachments of 
 the sea. They now return, and the trophies you 
 behold are the testimonials of gratitude and 
 friendship from the natives of Batavia : they bring 
 also the best specimens of the staple commodities 
 of the country. You perceive they are separating : 
 the detachment belonging to the communities of 
 Loch Lomond enters the defile between Tarbert Hill 
 and the Cobler Mountain ; they pass to the head 
 of Lock Long, and there they will remain until 
 the members of these communities are prepared 
 to go out to greet their arrival. This ceremony, 
 and that which follows, are observed for the purpose 
 of impressing the occasion of their absence more 
 strongly upon the minds of the children." 
 
 In about an hour, the inhabitants, having 
 changed their apparel, repaired to meet their 
 friends : a numerous instrumental band was sta- 
 tioned up the side of a steep hill where the 
 
?S THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 cavalcade was to enter. As they approached, the 
 trumpets sounded, and were answered by a flourish 
 of trumpets from the second terrace of Ben 
 Lomond. Flags were instantly flying on diflerent 
 stations throughout the vast amphitheatre, and the 
 vessels were decorated with various colours. As 
 soon as the cavalcade entered, the band upon the 
 hill played an impressive air of the olden time, 
 and the music reverberating along the mountains 
 produced a sublime efiect. The procession was 
 headed by a hundred girls dressed in the Highland 
 tartan, with wreaths of flowers on their heads, 
 and a hundred boys also dressed in the Highland 
 costume, and wearing blue bonnets : then came 
 three trumpeters on milk-white steeds, richly 
 caparisoned : these were followed by the volunteers, 
 each walking with a friend who had not been on 
 the expedition : some, however, were riding in 
 light open landaus, with low wheels, and drawn 
 by six Shetland ponies : then proceeded caravans 
 drawn by oxen, decorated with flowers, and bearing 
 presents from Batavia. 
 
 When the cavalcade arrived on the margin of 
 the lake, opposite the Gothic temple, boats were in 
 readiness to receive them : those in which the girls 
 passed over were fantastically ornamented with 
 plants and flowers, which gave them the appear- 
 ance of floating gardens. The boys went over in 
 
, THE REVOLT Or THE BEES. 73 
 
 larger but elegantly-formed boats with awnings, 
 and carried with tbem some of the articles of mere 
 curiosity among the presents : the trophies also 
 were placed in the centre of the boats, and flags 
 were flying at the head and stern. The adults 
 passed over in wider boats surrounded by festoons 
 of flowers, supported by some of the younger 
 children, who took great delight in their employ- 
 ment. The temple had very large doors, which, 
 when opened, displayed to those on the opposite 
 bank a considerable portion of the interior, at the 
 extremity of which the magnificent organ might 
 be seen. Additional decorations for the temple 
 had been for some time in preparation, with the 
 intention of introducing them on the first suitable 
 occasion. Among them were statues in white 
 marble, very highly finished, representing the four 
 Seasons, with emblematical devices : — these were 
 placed at the corners of the temple. But there 
 was also a most beautiful ornament suspended at 
 some height over the table or altar in the centre ; 
 it was a canopy formed of flowers tastefully in- 
 termixed, and crowned with a bouquet of white 
 and red roses : the edge of the canopy was stud- 
 ded with diamonds, and the lining was of light 
 blue silk with silver tufts. This canopy was 
 suspended from the chandelier by threads and 
 lines so fine as to be invisible at a short distance* 
 
74 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 An immense concourse of spectators was assembled 
 on the banks of the lake and upon the sides of the 
 mountains. 
 
 When the procession landed, they advanced to 
 the sound of music, and entered the temple in the 
 same order they had observed before. A number 
 of the girls danced gracefully round the marble 
 table, and formed a semicircle between that and 
 the organ ; the remainder divided, and ranged 
 themselves in the same form on the right and left. 
 The boys danced in the same order, and took their 
 stations beyond the girls. The children then 
 followed and stood round the table, still holding 
 up the garlands of flowers, but leaving a space for 
 the adults to approach and deposit the trophies. 
 Hitherto the music had consisted of the softest 
 strains; but the moment the trophies were laid 
 upon the table, the organ burst forth with incon- 
 ceivable grandeur. After playing for some time, 
 the girls and boys sang singly and together, alter- 
 nately, and occasionally with a few of the adults : 
 the ceremony concluded with a full chorus. 
 There appeared to be no distinction between those 
 who had been on the expedition and those who 
 had not, as all sympathised in the calamities of 
 the Batavians, and would have been equally 
 desirous of contributing their aid had it been re- 
 quisite. The visit to the temple being over, they 
 
THE KEVOLT OE THE BEES. 75 
 
 repassed the lake, and then departed to their 
 respective communities. 
 
 Orpheus now began to think that the co- 
 operative arrangements were not altogether so 
 objectionable as he had supposed even for mankind ; 
 and Emilius was delighted to behold his rejected 
 principles so incontestably and beautifully illus- 
 trated. Even Poeticus acknowledged that he had 
 at last found an admirable subject for an epic; 
 and that vice, misery, and folly, were no longer 
 essential to his muse : " But where," said he, 
 " are the bards ? where are we to look for the 
 Tyrtseus of Loch Lomond ?" 
 
 ^^ Whether," said the Spirit, ^^ poetry implies 
 an enthusiastic admiration and love of nature, or 
 an extended acquaintance with the works of the 
 creation, united with a felicity of description, and 
 a skill and taste in forming new combinations of 
 ideas, you have beheld none to-day who are not 
 more or less in possession of these constituents of 
 genuine poetry : it is true that some are gifted 
 with such powers in a higher degree than others, 
 but they are all imbued with the poetry of thought.* 
 
 * Justly has it been remarked by Locke, ''that all those 
 sublime thoug-hts which tower above the clouds, and reach 
 as high as heaven itself, take their rise and footing- here : in 
 all that good extent wherein the mind wanders, in those 
 remote speculations it may seem to be elevated with, it stirs 
 
76 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 By the influence of tins wand yon have been able, 
 and will continue, to hear and see whatever 
 passes in the communities that may be essential 
 for you to know. You observed among the 
 spectators of this day's ceremonies, an individual 
 richly attired in the Oriental costume : he is the 
 son of a Persian satrap of considerable eminence 
 in his own country, and travels in search of infor- 
 mation. He is a most accomplished scholar, and 
 has devoted so much attention to English litera- 
 ture, that there are few of our authors with whose 
 works he is not familiar ; he is passionately fond 
 
 not one jot beyond those ideas which sense or reflection 
 have offered for its contemplation." 
 
 The variety and intensity of intellectual pleasures must 
 in a great degree depend upon the number of truths with 
 which the individual is acquainted ; for by such means only, 
 combined with reflection, the consequence of knowledge, 
 can the powers of judgment be improved. jN^ow, all men 
 whose organisation is not imperfect, are capable of acquiring 
 knowledge to an extent of which we can at present form 
 but an inadequate idea. What so calculated to enlarge and 
 fill the mind with admiration as astronomy ? and yet some 
 of the truths in this science, once deemed so abstruse, and 
 comprehended only by a Newton, are now within the reach 
 of every capacity. When the minds of the great mass of 
 mankind are no longer permitted to lie waste, but shall be 
 properly cultivated, and under the genial influence of equi- 
 table institutions, a taste for intellectual enjoyments and for 
 the pleasures of the imagination, will become as general as 
 the desire for bodily nutriment. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 77 
 
 of the Greek and Koman classics. On his route 
 he visited the ruins of Athens and of Eome. His 
 name is Saadi. He is descended from the Persian 
 poet and philosopher of that name, and ^who 
 was born at Shiraz, the capital of Persia Proper, 
 about the beginning of the twelfth century. Of 
 Saadi's ancestor it is related, that he was driven 
 from his country by the ravages of the Turks ; 
 that he wandered through various scenes during 
 a period of forty years, and was at length taken 
 prisoner by the Franks in the Holy Land, and 
 condemned to work on the fortifications of Tripoli. 
 A merchant of Aleppo redeemed him from slavery, 
 and gave him his daughter's hand, with a hundred 
 sequins as a marriage portion. Her petulance 
 and ill-humour rendered him more miserable 
 than he had ever been during his long and painful 
 captivity. One day she asked him whether he 
 was not the slave her father had redeemed for ten 
 sequins. ^^ Yes," replied Saadi, '^but he sold me 
 again for one hundred." This ingenious philo- 
 sopher had a friend, who being suddenly elevated 
 to an important post, was resorted to and com- 
 plimented by all the citizens. " These people," 
 said he, " crowd around him merely on account of 
 his dignity; but I shall go when his office has 
 expired, and then I am sure I shall go alone." A 
 man who had quitted the society of Dervises for 
 
78 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 that of the Philosophers, asked Saadi what differ- 
 ence he thought there was between their charac- 
 ters. ^' Both of them," replied he, '^ swim, across a 
 turbulent stream with their respective brethren. 
 The Dervise separates himself from the rest to 
 swim with greater safety, and arrives in solitude 
 on shore ; but the true philosopher continues in 
 society, ready to lend a helping hand to his 
 brethren in distress." '* I repeat these anecdotes 
 as illustrative of his character, because Saadi 
 partakes much of the disposition and intellectual 
 endowments of his ancestor. Several of the com- 
 munity where he has taken up his residence are 
 appointed to attend upon this illustrious stranger. 
 Among his attendants is an intelligent youth 
 named Douglas, for whom he has conceived a 
 sincere friendship. For the sake of retirement, 
 and also to afford Saadi a view of the fine scenery 
 by moonlight, Douglas has invited him to a pro- 
 menade at a late hour this evening, upon the 
 second terrace of the small mountain, rising 
 immediately above Tarbert ; you will thus most 
 probably have an opportunity of hearing some 
 arguments in favour of each system, the Co- 
 operative and the Competitive." f 
 
 * Zimmerman. 
 
 t We are indebted for this expressive adjective to the 
 author of the most able work upon political economy that 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 " Here now the human being stands adorning 
 TMs loveliest earth with taintless body and mind, 
 Blest from his birth with all bland impulses 
 Which gently in his noble bosom wake 
 All kindly passions and all pure desires." Shellet. 
 
 The moon was rising with great beauty over the 
 magnificent mountains towards the north, and her 
 beams were mildly reflected by the trembling 
 waters of the lake, when Douglas, true to his ap- 
 pointment, appeared upon the terrace of Tarbert 
 Hill. In Douglas there was a graceful and manly 
 dignity ; his eye beamed with intelligence, and a 
 noble ingenuousness in his countenance at once 
 evinced that all disguise was foreign to his nature ; 
 but its most distinguishing characteristic was that 
 of sincere and ardent benevolence. He wore the 
 Highland bonnet surmounted with two black 
 
 has appeared since the "Wealth of Nations." In acute 
 analytical investigation, in just and comprehensive views of 
 society, and in bold uncompromising- exposition of error, the 
 " Distribution of Wealth," by Mr. Wilham Thompson, is 
 perhaps unrivalled. 
 
80 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 feathers, fastened with a silver buckle ; and he still 
 retained the ancient dress of his country, over 
 which was thrown a large tartan cloak : his ap- 
 pearance altogether was that of a Highland 
 chieftain. As he was looking over the balustrade 
 for the approach of Saadi, he heard the gate of 
 one of the landing-places open, and he hastened 
 to receive his friend. The person of Saadi was 
 tall and finely proportioned: in his deportment 
 there was considerable majesty tempered with 
 mildness ; his complexion was a dark olive, the 
 contour of his face inclined to the Grecian ; and 
 his eyes beamed with that fixed and placid expres- 
 sion, which so peculiarly distinguishes the Eastern 
 character. His dress consisted of white cloth 
 trowsers, a blue coat trimmed with gold and lined 
 with white silk; in his hat he wore a brilliant 
 diamond crescent, and the hilt of his sabre was 
 embossed with jewels and precious stones. 
 
 *^ Pardon," exclaimed Saadi, " my delay, but I 
 could not forbear pausing to admire the sublimity 
 of this scene. Yet how much is the interest 
 heightened by the reflection, that in that beautiful 
 valley the inhabitants are enjoying a repose in 
 harmony with the heavenly tranquillity that reigns 
 around them ; that, undisturbed by angry passions 
 or by a spirit of rivalry, they will awake in the 
 morning to the sound of music, and go forth to the 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 81 
 
 enjoyment of healthful and useful exercise, of 
 intelligent and affectionate intercourse." The 
 sensibility of Saadi was strongly excited, and he 
 averted his head as if to conceal his feelings. " Is 
 it possible," said Douglas, ^Hhat you should wish 
 to disguise those sympathies which are so grateful 
 to yourself, so pleasing to others, and which it 
 must be the general interest to encourage !" " Such 
 sentiments," replied Saadi, '' in Persia are deemed 
 fit only for romance.* Address yourself on this 
 subject to a merchant of Ispahan, he smiles at 
 your simplicity, and passes on with his richly 
 laden caravan. Our nobles, encumbered with the 
 pomp and ceremonies of a court, are equally indif- 
 ferent to the charms of nature and to the moral 
 improvement of the people. But, alas ! they are 
 far from being happy. And I have frequently 
 remarked, that while their countenances indicate 
 care and anxiety, the camel-drivers, who endure 
 more privations, and encounter infinitely greater 
 perils than any other of their own class, are con- 
 tented and even cheerful." 
 
 * If the term romantic implies that which is unnatural, 
 fictitious, or extravag-ant, then are the men who are g-ene- 
 rally deemed romantic, the least deserving- of the epithet. 
 Those are the romantic, who, blind to the beauties of nature, 
 and regardless of her best gifts, search for happiness in the 
 artificial distinctions of society, or solely in the pursuit of 
 wealth. 
 
 I 2 
 
82 • THE REVOLT OF THE EEES. 
 
 '' Let US," rejoined Douglas, ''walk round the 
 terrace ; and, while enjoying the fragrance of the 
 honey-suckle and the clematis hanging over the 
 balustrade, I must remind you of your promise to 
 explain why your sentiments are so much at 
 variance with those of the Persian nobles, and so 
 congenial, or identified, with ours." " Congenial, 
 if you please," replied Saadi, '' but not altogether 
 identified : for yesterday, when passing near the 
 Athenaeum, I beheld a number of the community 
 entering, and curiosity prompted me to join them. 
 A lecture by one of the seniors, on the Formation 
 of Character, was delivered, avowing principles to 
 which I could never subscribe. The motives that 
 have induced in me a preference to scientific pur- 
 suits and to the study of moral philosophy, I attri- 
 bute entirely to my education, which devolved 
 upon one of the Imans who was distinguished by 
 great erudition, and by an infiexible integrity in 
 the fulfilment of his engagements. Almured, my 
 tutor, from his youthful days, was the companion 
 and friend of my father, who was therefore, as 
 may be expected, well acquainted with his char- 
 acter and qualifications. At my birth, my father 
 exacted a promise from him that he would super- 
 intend my education. He consented, after stipu- 
 lating that he should have the appointment of the 
 females who were to take charge of me during 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 83 
 
 infancy; for lie was accustomed to remark, that 
 the disposition of children was in some degree 
 influenced by the temper and management of 
 servants even during the first year : it was also 
 agreed that he should select my associates, and in 
 every way possess entire control over me imtil 
 he finally resigned his charge. The instruction I 
 received for the first six years was chiefly verbal ; 
 my tutor taught me a knowledge of things, either 
 by bringing to my view the object itself, or its 
 exact representation.* The principle upon which 
 he conducted my education was that of love : know- 
 ledge was first solicited; and the gratification of 
 an active curiosity, accompanied by the affection- 
 ate manner of my instructor, were sufficient to 
 
 * " Another principal advantage which the ancient mode 
 of the Greek education gave its pupil, was the early access 
 to every branch of philosophical learning-. They did not, 
 like us, employ their youth in the acquisition of words ; 
 they were engaged in pursuits of a loftier nature, in ac- 
 quiring the knowledge of things. They did not, like us, 
 spend seven or ten years of scholastic labour, in making a 
 general acquaintance with two dead languages ; — those 
 years were employed in the study of nature, and in gaining 
 the elements of philosophical knowledge from her original 
 economy and laws." 
 
 "Plutarch, when he learned the Roman language, which 
 was not till he was somewhat advanced in life, observed 
 that ' he got the knowledge of words from his knowledge 
 of things.' "— Lakghorn's Life of Plutarch. 
 
84 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 stimulate further inquiry without any additional 
 excitement. The ardour with which I sought 
 information was equalled only by Almured's 
 unwearied attention to impart it ; and he watched 
 with delight the rapid progress of his pupil. As I 
 advanced in years, the warmth of our mutual affec- 
 tion was increased rather than abated ; and to this 
 day, the most unreserved friendship subsists 
 between us. Often, at the approach of evening, 
 would he lead me to a seat under a wide-spreading 
 palm-tree upon a rising ground, to view the last 
 rays of the setting sun ; and while the orb of day 
 was disappearing through clouds of amber, while 
 the flocks were returning to their folds, and nature 
 seemed gradually sinking into repose, he would 
 exclaim, ' This is an emblem of the serenity of a 
 virtuous life. Observe the benefice of the Deity; 
 for in that economy of nature which sustains life, 
 the necessary changes exhibit beauties to delight 
 and to refine the contemplative mind.'* 
 
 * " It is on tMs account that it is of so much consequence 
 in the education of the young-, to encourage their instinctive 
 taste for the beauty and subhmity of nature. While it opens 
 to the years of infancy or youth a source of pure and per- 
 manent enjoyment, it has consequences on the character and 
 happiness of future hfe, which they are unable to foresee. 
 It is to provide them, amid all the agitations and trials of 
 society, with one gentle, unreproaching friend, whose voice 
 is ever in alliance with goodness and virtue, and which, 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES, 85 
 
 " However admirable the instruction imparted 
 by Almured, I have been frequently led to question 
 some of the doctrines taught me as sacred truths : 
 but so impressive was the manner in which they 
 were inculcated, that I fondly cling to many opin- 
 ions which my reason half condemns ; while those 
 which I feel compelled altogether to abandon, I re- 
 linquish with the pain that is sometimes experien- 
 ced by the final separation from a valued friend * 
 
 when once understood, is able both to soothe misfortune, and 
 to reclaim from folly. It is to identify them with the hap- 
 piness of that nature to which they belong", and to give them 
 an interest in every species of being" which surrounds them ; 
 and, amid the hours of curiosity and delight, to awaken 
 those latent feelings of benevolence and of sympathy, from 
 which all the moral and intellectual greatness of man finally 
 arises." — Essay on the Beauty and SuMimity of the Ma- 
 terial World, hy Mr. Allison, p. 445. 
 
 * " To beheve all things as our predecessors did, is the 
 ready way to keep mankind in an everlasting state of in- 
 fancy, and to lay an eternal bar against all the improvements 
 of our reason and our happiness. Had the present age of 
 philosophers satisfied themselves with the substantial forms 
 and occult qualities of Aristotle, with the solid spheres, 
 eccentrics, and epicycles of Ptolemy, and the ancient astro- 
 nomers ; then the great Lord Bacon, Copernicus, and 
 Descartes, with the greater Sir Isaac Newton, Locke, and 
 Boyle, had risen in our world in vain. 
 
 "If we ought always to believe whatsoever our parents, 
 or our priests, or our princes believe, the inhabitants of 
 China ought to worship their own idols ; and the savages of 
 Africa ought to beheve all the nonsense, and practise the 
 idolatry of their negro fathers and kings. The British 
 
00 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 More from the solemn injunctions of my father, 
 than from any powerful conviction of his own, 
 Almured evinced peculiar solicitude to impress 
 strongly upon my mind the necessity of implicit 
 faith in the Koran, and in the Divine mission of 
 our Holy Prophet. Although in the Koran there 
 are many points difficult to comprehend, yet the 
 moral precepts in general are so unerring, so 
 truly essential to the well-being of society, that, 
 notwithstanding I have ceased to attach credibility 
 to certain portions of these writings, I have never 
 entertained any serious doubts of the most impor- 
 tant revelations. Thus has a love of literature and 
 science, and an attachment to our religion, been 
 engrafted on my mind by the powerful impress of 
 early associations and by subsequent reflections, 
 equally under the influence of an able philosopher 
 
 nation, when it was heathen, could never have become 
 Christian ; and when it was a slave to Eome, it could never 
 have been reformed."— Dr. Watts. 
 
 " Yet let us ponder boldly — 'tis a base 
 Abandonment of reason to resign 
 Our rig-ht of thought — our last and only place 
 Of refuge ; this, at least, shall still be mine ; 
 Though from our birth the faculty divine 
 Is chain'd and tortured— cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, 
 And bred in darkness, — lest the truth should shine 
 Too brightly on the unprepared mind. 
 
 The beams pour in, — for time and skill will couch the blind." 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 87 
 
 and faithful friend. Almnred has long suspected 
 that there must be something wrong in the consti- 
 tution of Oriental society ; and his researches for 
 many years have been chiefly directed to those 
 authors who have treated of the philosophy of the 
 human mind, and of the influence of political in- 
 stitutions in moulding the character. He is con- 
 vinced that there is a science of government 
 universally applicable, — seeing that the general 
 qualities of human nature are everywhere the 
 same.* The fame of your establishments had 
 
 * " La vraie morale est une : elle droit etre la meme 
 pour tous les habitans de iiotre globe. Si I'liomme est par- 
 tout le meme ; s'il a par-tout la meme nature, les memes 
 penchants, les memes desirs, en etudiant I'homme et ses 
 rapports constans avec les etres de son espece, nous decouv- 
 rirons sans peine ses devoirs envers lui-meme et envers les 
 autres. L'homme sauvag-e et I'homme police; I'homme 
 blanc, roug-e, noir ; I'lnclien, I'Europeen ; le Chinois, le 
 rran9ois ; le JN^egre et le Lapon, ont une meme nature : les 
 differences que I'on trouve entre eux, ne sont que des modi- 
 fications de cette meme nature, produites par le climat, le 
 governement, I'education, les opinions, et par les differentes 
 causes qui agissent sur eux. Les hommes ne different que 
 dans les idees qu'ils se font du bonheur, et dans les moyens 
 qu'ils ont imagines pour I'obtenir. 
 
 "En parlant de I'homme lui-meme, on trouvera facilement 
 la morale qui lui convient. Cette morale sera vraie, si Von 
 voit I'homme tel qu'il est. Ses devoirs seront connu, s'ils 
 sont conformes a sa nature : alors les principes de la morale 
 seront evidents, et formeront un systeme capable d'etre aussi 
 rigoureusement demontre, que I'arithmetique ou la geometric. 
 
«» THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 reached the court of Persia ; and as I had expres- 
 sed a desire to visit the classic regions of Greece 
 and Rome, Almured entreated me to extend my 
 travels to this country, and to examine into the 
 laws and customs of your communities. After 
 passing some time at Rome, I proceeded back to 
 Naples, where, finding a vessel on the point of 
 sailing for Greenock, I engaged a passage, and 
 arrived at that port about a month since. — And 
 now, Douglas, I hope you will enlighten me with 
 some detail of the different laws of your societies." 
 " Our laws," replied Douglas, '' are few and 
 simple ; indeed we have almost forgotten the 
 term : it is only where the institutions themselves 
 generate disorder, that numerous or severe laws 
 become necessary. Examine the ancient European 
 codes, and you will find that nine-tenths of them 
 were framed for the recognition of the rights of 
 private property, or for punishing the violators of 
 those rights. History informs us, that long before 
 the fall of the competitive system in this country, 
 notwithstanding vast numbers of the people were 
 
 " Elle poun'a servir de regie aux nations comme aux 
 individus ; elle pourra guider la politique, et sera sentir a 
 tons les peuples repandus sur la terre, que leurs rapports et 
 leurs devoirs sont absolument les memes que ceux qui sub- 
 sistent entre les citoyens d'un meme etat, ou les membres 
 d'une meme idimiWe J^—Systeme Social, vol. i. p. 38. 
 
THE KEVOLT OP THE BEES. 89 
 
 occasionally unemployed, a superfluity of food 
 and of raiment was produced, yet the great mass 
 of the people were struggling to obtain these 
 necessaries, many suffering great privations, and 
 many tempted to commit depredations to satisfy 
 the calls of nature. The interests of some 
 indiyiduals were opposed to those of others. If, 
 for instance, the wants and condition of the people 
 required that the price of corn should be low and 
 the quantity abundant, it was the interest of the 
 dealer that the supply should be contracted, and 
 the price high. The personal quarrels and 
 assaults also arising out of this chaos, rendered 
 many punitive laws necessary ; to say nothing of 
 those feuds and bickerings of which the laws took 
 no cognizance, prevailing among individuals of 
 dissimilar habits and pursuits dwelling together 
 in the same family.* In fact, there was a per- 
 
 * The following- is an extract of a letter from a man of 
 considerable talent, who has proved himself a powerful and 
 ardent advocate of whatever tends to promote the improve- 
 ment, and consequently the happiness of society : — 
 
 " Can it for a moment be doubted, that to-morrow, if 
 men knew how much they could do for each other, and how 
 effectually they mig-ht promote their own interests, arrange- 
 ments of incalculable utility might be devised and adopted ; 
 but they are so shut and barred out, by this individual system, 
 from each other's notice and knowledge, that they are unable 
 to come together, although in every street and quarter some 
 
 J 
 
9Q THE KEYOLT Or THE BEES. 
 
 petual jarring of interests in every direction; 
 and the longer tlie duration of the system, the 
 more difficult and complicated jurisprudence be- 
 came. Under our arrangements, the private and 
 public interests are incorporated ; and as there are 
 no unsatisfied wants, there can arise no motive 
 for individual appropriation : our storehouses are 
 furnished with two or three years' supply of every 
 imperishable article requisite to the community. 
 It is the obvious interest of every individual that 
 there should be an ample supply for all, — for who 
 is there among them that is not benefited by the 
 preservation of order and contentment, even if he 
 be devoid of common sympathy? and you must 
 have observed in our mode of education, with how 
 much care that valuable quality is cultivated. 
 
 " Each individual member of a family has two 
 private rooms, and is no more compelled to be 
 
 wretch is lang-uishing for the want of that which another ia 
 casting" away. I speak not merely of the means of sub- 
 sistence, but of everything" that conduces to social happi- 
 ness. In one corner you will find a man teasing, annoying, 
 and disturbing his family by the exuberance of qualities, for 
 which, in some other corner, a melancholy wight, preyed 
 upon by the blue-devils, is sighing and languishing. The 
 incontrollable spirits of this pest of quiet industry would be 
 balm and divine cordial to the languid son of Ennui. But 
 there is an impassable gulf between them. And so on, of a 
 thousand other cases which may easily be imagined." 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 91 
 
 with his own family, than with any other indi- 
 viduals of the community ; he is at full liberty to 
 seek for the companionship of congenial minds. 
 Every member in rotation is enabled to travel ; 
 and if he desires to reside in another part of the 
 country, he can dispose of his interest in the com- 
 munity in which he has been educated. While 
 the competitive state of society left individuals 
 separately to procure the necessaries of life, there- 
 by creating innumerable difficulties and evils, — 
 the co-operative state, by supplying with facility, 
 under comprehensive arrangements, the whole of 
 its members with food, raiment, and dwelling, 
 annihilates at once the cause of contention, of 
 anxieties, and of misery, and bestows upon man- 
 kind abundant leisure to improve their higher 
 faculties, and to promote the happiness of the 
 species." 
 
 '^ I must confess," replied Saadi, ^^that I have 
 been much surprised at remarking the full supply 
 of everything essential, not only to comfortable 
 but even luxurious subsistence ; the beauty of 
 your walks, the fertility of your fields, gardens, 
 and parks ; the convenient and elegant accommo- 
 dations of every description; and above all, the 
 extent and magnificence of your buildings, not- 
 withstanding the very temperate labour, or rather 
 employment, of the inhabitants." 
 
92 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 *^ I am not/' rejoined Douglas, ^' well ac- 
 quainted with the state of Persia, where com- 
 petition still prevails ; but I have paid some 
 attention to the history of that period when the 
 present constitution of society was first promul- 
 gated in this country. I have seen a scale of the 
 different ranks and professions at that time, with 
 a statement of the numbers of each ; and at least 
 one-half were either idle or unproductively em- 
 ployed.* These were persons of independent 
 
 * " Sex horas in opere sunt ; id temporis ad 
 
 omnium rerum copiam, quse quidem ad vitsG vel necessitatem 
 requirantur vel commoditatem non sufficiat modo sed supersit 
 etiam ; id quod vos quoque intellig-etis, si vobiscum reputetis 
 apud alias g-entes quam mag-na populi pars iners deg-ifc. 
 Primum mulieres fere omnes totius summee dimidium ; aut 
 sicubi mulieres negotiosse sunt, ibi ut plurimum earum vice 
 viri stertunt. Ad hsec sacerdotum, ac religiosorum quos 
 vocant, quanta quamque otiosa tarba ! Adjice divites omnes, 
 maxime prsediorum dominos, quos vulgo generosos ap- 
 pellant, ac nobiles ; his ad numera ipsorum famulitium, 
 totam videlicet illam cetratorum nebulonum colluviem: 
 robustos denique ac valentes mendicos adjunge, morbum 
 quempiam prsetexentes inertise ; multo certe pauciores esse 
 quam putaras invenies eos quorum labore constant hsec 
 omnia quibus mortales utuntur. Expende nunc tecum ex 
 
 his ipsis quam pauci in necessariis opificiis versantur 
 
 Nam hsec ipsa multitudo quae nunc operatur, si partiretur 
 in tam paucas artes quam paucas commodus naturae usus 
 postulat, in tanta rerum abundantia, quantam tunc esse 
 necesse sit pretia nimirum viliora forent quam ut artifices 
 inde vitam tueri suam possent. At si isti omnes quos nunc 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 93 
 
 fortunes, officers of justice, lawyers, soldiers, 
 shopkeepers, officers, and clerks in the Excise and 
 Customs. There were also many injuriously 
 occupied; as depredators, and other delinquents. 
 There were others who were not only unoccupied, 
 but were a burden to society; such as the 
 vagrants and paupers. If all these had been use- 
 fully employed, the produce or the means of 
 enjoyment might have been more than trebled. 
 There was also immense waste of time and 
 labour from the following causes. Manufacturers 
 were interested in fabricating their wares of frail 
 materials, in order that the demand for them 
 might be speedily renewed. Hence, three articles 
 were required where one more durable would 
 have been sufficient. Loss of time and of laboifr 
 in the transit of articles in the process of manu- 
 facture, in consequence of the various operations 
 
 inertes artes distring-unt, ac tota in super otio ac desidia 
 languescens turba, quorum unus quivis earum rerum quae 
 aliorum laboribus suppeditantur quantum duo earundem 
 operatores consumit, in opera universi atque eadem utilia 
 collocarentur, facile animadvertis quantulum temporis ad 
 suppeditanda omnia quse vel necessitatis ratio ¥el commo- 
 ditatis eflBagitet (adde voluptatis etiam, quae quidem vera 
 sit ac naturalis) abunde satis superque foret." — Sm Thomas 
 More. 
 
 " Full many a flower was born to blush unseen, 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 
 
 J 2 
 
94 THE REYOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 being carried on in places widely separated. Also, 
 in domestic economy, two hundred persons were 
 employed in preparing the meals for two hnndred 
 families ; whereas now, the meals for the same 
 number of families are prepared by ten indi- 
 viduals, leaving the remaining one hundred and 
 ninety persons to be employed in some other 
 occupation. Buildings were erected and pulled 
 down from mere caprice, and numerous useless 
 articles were manufactured to gratify a vacillating 
 taste.* Nor should it be forgotten, that Talent lay 
 too frequently dormant and uncultivated,! or was 
 
 * " jEdificiorum aut structura aut refectio ideo tarn 
 multorum assiduam ubique requirit operam quod quae pater 
 sedificavit, hseres parum frugi paulatim dilabi sinit ; ita 
 quod minimo tueri portuit, successor ejus de integ-ro im- 
 pendio mag-no cogitur instaurare : quin frequenter etiam 
 quse domus alii ingenti sumptu stetit, banc alius delicato 
 animo contemnit, eaque neglecta ideoque brevi coUapsa aliam 
 alibi impensis non minoribus exstruit." — Sir Thomas More, 
 
 t " Yesterday evening" the question was proposed, Why 
 great men are so rare, and only appear at intervals ? The 
 debate on it continued a long- time. Chrysophilus denied 
 the fact, and maintained that Nature does not favour one 
 age or country more than another. ' Would fame/ added 
 he, * ever have celebrated a Lycurg-us, if he had been born 
 a slave? or Homer, if he had lived at a time when the 
 lang-uage of his country was not yet formed? Who can 
 affirm, that in our time, among civilised or barbarous nations, 
 we might not find other Homers or Lycurg-uses employed in 
 the discharg-e of the vilest functions? Nature, ever free 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 95 
 
 found in that sphere the least favourable to its 
 active exertion. Genius, neglected genius, pined 
 in obscurity; the most valuable physical and 
 mental powers were therefore wholly lost to 
 society." 
 
 '' You have," rejoined Saadi, ^' without being 
 conscious of it, drawn a faithful picture of the 
 existing state of Persia. I am no longer sur- 
 prised at the result of moderate employment when 
 aided by scientific machinery, and directed by 
 intelligent and comprehensive regulation ; and I 
 even perceive that there is something analogous, 
 in the superiority of your combination, to that of 
 a small army over an undisciplined multitude. 
 Although you could produce by many degrees a 
 greater quantity of articles than were formerly 
 manufactured, still you have no motives to create 
 a superfluity, or more than is really desirable : 
 having effected that object with ease and pleasure 
 to yourselves, and in a very short period^ you 
 devote the remainder of your time to public 
 embellishments, to literary and philosophical pur- 
 suits, to gymnastic exercises, music, and other 
 recreations. When Almured dilates with en- 
 
 and ever rich in her productions, scatters minds endowed 
 with g-enins over the earth, but circumstances alone can 
 expand and perfect their powers.' " — Anacharsis. 
 
96 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 thusiastic delight upon the adequacy of his 
 theories to accomplish the happiness of mankind, 
 it is retorted by his opponents that his scheme 
 will destroy all motive to exertion; but your 
 members, so far from being indolent, are the most 
 active and cheerful race I ever beheld : — you must 
 inform me whence they derive these energies." 
 
 ^' Most willingly," replied Douglas. " But 
 the moon appears obscured, and a shower is coming 
 on ; let us seek shelter in this cottage, and, while 
 partaking of some refreshment, I will endeavour 
 to answer your inquiries." 
 
CHAPTEE IT. 
 
 "Whence also but from truth, the light of minds, 
 Is human fortune gladden' d with the rays 
 Of virtue ? with the moral colours thrown 
 On every walk, of this our social scene 
 Adorning for the eye of gods and men, 
 The passions, actions, habitudes of life, 
 And rendering earth like heaven." Akbnside. 
 
 Upon the terrace were three cottages equidistant : 
 they were conveniently furnished, with the addi- 
 tion of a select library and a complete collection 
 of instruments applicable to astronomy and 
 natural philosophy. In the principal room were 
 sofas, chairs, and a table with a handsome gas 
 tube rising through the centre. In a small room 
 adjoining were dried fruit, wine, cake, and an 
 apparatus for preparing coffee. Each library was 
 composed of books of a distinct character, — 
 botanical, geological, and works on education and 
 history ; the cottages were thus furnished during 
 the summer months only. Our young Persian 
 and his friend entered that containing the library 
 on education : it was covered with ivy, and a pro- 
 fusion of wild roses was blooming in front and at 
 
98 THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 the sides. Douglas took from the window a small 
 phosphorus-box, and having obtained a light, 
 applied it to the gas tube. He brought from the 
 inner room some coffee, and warmed it over the 
 gas, the strength of which could be increased or 
 diminished at pleasure. In a few minutes they 
 were seated together upon a sofa, enjoying their 
 refreshing beverage. 
 
 " I cannot," observed Saadi, " but admire the 
 ingenuity of your contrivances, and the good taste 
 displayed in all your arrangements. Had I not 
 already spent some days with you, I should 
 have expressed apprehension that these cottages, 
 unprotected, would be stript of their valuable 
 contents." 
 
 Douglas. — " Should I ask you to assign a 
 reason why the nobles of Persia were not addicted 
 to theft, you would naturally observe that they 
 could have no motive to steal, being at all times 
 superabundantly s applied; and had not this been 
 so, their education alone would restrain them. 
 Already you have expressed surprise at the over- 
 flowing abundance of our stores, and borne 
 testimony to our superior mode of education ; — 
 are not the inhabitants of these communities de- 
 prived of every motive to steal equally with your 
 nobles?" 
 
 Saadi. — " I freely admit it. But now for the 
 
THE EEVOLT OE THE BEES. 99 
 
 motives that are deemed so difficult to sustain; 
 those which prompt to action for the general good. 
 How do you contrive to extirpate that formidable 
 obstacle, self-interest?" 
 
 Douglas. — "So far from extirpating self- 
 interest, which would perhaps be impossible, the 
 constitution of our societies is built upon that 
 principle. It is true that mutual co-operation 
 gives it a direction widely different from that 
 which it receives from individual competition ; for 
 under the latter, each member seeks his own 
 gratification, regardless, and generally at the 
 expense, of others. In our community, self- 
 interest prompts me to promote the health, the 
 activity, the good habits, intelligence, and happi- 
 ness of all my fellow-citizens, — and why ? 
 
 " 1st, The pleasures of sympathy are thereby 
 
 enjoyed and considerably heightened. 
 " 2nd, The more generally the qualities I have 
 enumerated prevail, the more will order 
 and good conduct in all the departments 
 occasion less exertion to be required from 
 each individual. 
 " 3rd, As I feel conscious that both the body 
 and mind require exercise for the preser- 
 vation of health, and as my early associ- 
 ations and acquired habits are connected 
 with utility, I am influenced b}^ the union 
 
100 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 of powerful motives to an active promo- 
 tion of the general welfare. 
 *' 4tli, As I am desirous of amiable and intelli- 
 gent companions, I am deeply interested 
 in the improvement of the rising genera- 
 tion. Parents must be doubly anxious 
 that other children should partake, equally 
 with their own, the benefits of instruc- 
 tion ; since they would mutually assist 
 each other, and the characters of their 
 children might be deteriorated by inter- 
 course with inferior minds." 
 Saadi. — " There is an important principle of 
 education which, in Persia, is deemed indispensable, 
 but I do not find it adopted in your colleges ; I mean 
 that of emulation, or an ambition to excel others." 
 Douglas, — " Your remark reminds me of a 
 manuscript volume in this library, in which a 
 youth of our community, about ten years since, 
 inserted all the valuable principles of education 
 that he could find in the works composed prior to 
 the introduction of the co-operative system: and 
 it is curious to observe how long each principle 
 was recognised as true before it was reduced to 
 practice. In this volume are some admirable 
 remarks by St. Pierre, upon the principle of emu- 
 lation, which I will read to you, as conveying our 
 own opinions upon that subject : — 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 101 
 
 " ^ Emulation, we are told, is a stimulant ; for this 
 reason precisely it oug-ht to be reprobated. Men 
 without art and without artifice, leave strong- spices 
 to those whose taste is weakened : present not to the 
 children of your country any aliments but such as are 
 gentle and simple, like themselves and like you. The 
 fever must not be thrown into their blood, in order 
 to make it circulate : permit it to flow in its natural 
 course ; nature has made sufficient provision to this 
 effect at an age of such restlessness and activity. The 
 disquietude of adolescence, the passions of youth, the 
 anxieties of manhood, will one day excite an inflam- 
 mation but too violent to admit of being cooled by all 
 your efforts. 
 
 " ' Emulation fills the whole career of life with 
 solicitude, uneasiness, and vain desires ; and when old 
 age has slackened all our movements, it continues to 
 stimulate us by unprofitable regret. 
 
 " ' Had I any occasion in infancy to surpass my 
 companions in drinking, in eating, in walking, in order 
 to find pleasure in these? Wherefore should it be 
 necessary for me to learn to outstrip them in my 
 studies, in order to acquire a relish for learning ? Have 
 I not acquired the faculty of speaking and of reasoning ' 
 without emulation ? Are not the functions of the soul 
 as natural and as agreeable as those of the body ? If 
 they sadden our children, it is the fault of our mode 
 of education, and not that of science. It is not from 
 want of appetite on their part. Behold what imitators 
 they are of everything which they see done, and of 
 everything which they hear said ! Do you wish, then, 
 to attract children to your exercises ? act as nature 
 does in recommending hers ; draw them with words 
 of love. 
 
 " ' Emulation is the cause of most of the ills of 
 
 human life. It is the root of ambition ; for emulation 
 
 produces the desire of being the first ; and the desire of 
 
 being the first is the essence of ambition, which ramifies 
 
 K 
 
10§ THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 itself conformably to positions from which issue almost 
 all the miseries of society. 
 
 " ' Positive ambition generates the love of applause, 
 of personal and exclusive prerogatives for a man's self, 
 or for his corps, of immense property in dignities, in 
 lands, and in employments ; in a word, it produces 
 avarice — that calm ambition of gold, in which all the 
 ambitious finish their course. But avarice alone drags 
 in its train an infinite number of evils, by depriving 
 multitudes of other citizens of the means of subsist- 
 ence, and produces, by a necessary re-action, robberies, 
 prostitutions, quackery, superstition. 
 
 " ' Negative ambition generates in its turn jealousy, 
 evil-speaking, calumnies, quarrels, litigation, duels, into- 
 lerance. Of all these particular ambitions a national 
 ambition is composed, which manifests itself in a people 
 by the love of conquest, and in their prince by the 
 love of despotism: from national ambition flow im- 
 posts, slavery, tyrannies, and war— a sufficient scourge 
 of itself for the human race. 
 
 "'I was long under the conviction that ambition 
 must be natural to man; but now I consider it as a 
 simple result from our education. We are involved 
 so early in the prejudices of so many whose interest is 
 concerned to communicate them to us, that it becomes 
 extremely difficult to distinguish through the rest of 
 life what is natural to us, and what artificial. In order 
 to form a judgment of the institutions of our societies, 
 we must withdraw to a distance from them.' — 
 St. Pieree. 
 
 " Although we concur generally in these 
 opinions, yet there are some few expressions with 
 wMch we do not accord. The works of St. Pierre 
 were first published in the seventeen-hundred-and- 
 ninetieth year of the Cliristian era ; but it was 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 103 
 
 not until forty years afterwards, when infant 
 schools were first established in this country, that 
 any plan of education was generally adopted in 
 which emulation was excluded. Here is also an 
 extract from the work of an author who was dis- 
 tinguished, both as a senator and as a Christian, 
 for the faithful performance of his duties, to which 
 he made many personal sacrifices, and his opinions 
 were therefore always listened to with respect : — 
 
 " ^ The desire of human estimation, and distinction, 
 and honour, of the admiration and applause of our 
 fellow-creatures, if we take it in its full comprehension, 
 and in all its various modifications, from the thirst of 
 glory to the dread of shame, is the passion of which 
 the empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the 
 authority the most commanding-. Though its power 
 be most conspicuous and least controllable in the higher 
 classes of society, it seems, like some resistless con- 
 queror, to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition ; 
 and, taking ten thousand shapes, insinuating itself 
 under the most specious pretexts, and sheltering itself 
 when necessary under the most artful disguises, it 
 winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow 
 itself, and mixes in all we think, and speak, and do. 
 It is in some instances the determined and declared 
 pursuit, and confessedly the main practical principle ; 
 but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the 
 grand spring of action, and in the Beauty, and the 
 Author, no less than in the Soldier, it is often the 
 master-passion of the soul. 
 
 " ' This is the principle which parents recognise 
 with joy in their infant offspring, which is diligently 
 instilled and nurtured in advancing years, which, under 
 the names of honourable ambition, and of laudable 
 
104 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 emulation, it is the professed aim of schools and col- 
 leges to excite and cherish.' " — Wilberforce's Prac- 
 tical Vie7V of Christianity . 
 
 Saadi. — " If tlie desire of fame is to be 
 expelled from the human breast, — if the spirit- 
 stirring impulse of emulation is no longer to prompt 
 to noble enterprise, we must cease to recur with 
 enthusiastic admiration to the heroic ages. Fare- 
 well to the delights experienced wben, travelling 
 through Greece, I wandered along the classic 
 oorders of the Ilissus, or viewed the magnificent 
 ruins of Athenian greatness. But you must not, 
 Douglas, deprive me of these delightful associa- 
 tions : surely you cannot avoid sympathising in 
 the raptures of one of the sublimest of your poets 
 who, when traversing the eternal city, exclaimed, 
 ' Kome, thy very weeds are beautiful ! ' What 
 have you to ofi'er in exchange for those exquisite 
 feelings inspired by the sight of objects sacred to 
 patriotic bravery, and to exalted virtue?"* 
 
 * The general outhne of the principles of legislation 
 adopted by Lycurgus is very happily drawn in the following 
 passage from Anacharsis : — 
 
 " Natm-e is almost always in opposition to the laws ; be- 
 cause she labours for the happiness of the individual, 
 without regard to the other individuals who surround him, 
 while the laws only direct their attention to the relations by 
 which he is united to them ; and because she infinitely 
 diversifies our character and inclinations, while it is the 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. W5 
 
 Douglas. — ^^ Think not, my friend, tliat we 
 hold in light estimation those noble instances of 
 devotedness to the public good, recorded in the 
 history of the Grecian and Eoman states : on the 
 contrary, we look back to them with exultation, 
 as exhibiting the most triumphant proofs of the 
 all-powerful influence of education, and of national 
 institutions, in moulding the human mind to any 
 predetermined character • to characters preferring 
 torture and even death itself, to a life of ease or 
 of luxury, when unattended with the esteem of 
 their fellow-citizens. But while we admire the 
 magnanimity of Leonidas and his brave associates, 
 let us not be unmindful of the genius of the law- 
 giver whose wisdom produced a nation of heroes. 
 No legislator, either of ancient or modern times, 
 understood better than Lycurgus the principle 
 upon which the human character was formed ; but 
 we must distinguish between this principle and 
 the character formed. However well adapted the 
 
 object of the laws to bring them back to unity. The 
 legislator, therefore, whose aim it is to annihilate, or at least 
 to reconcile these contrarieties, must consider morals as the 
 most powerful spring, and most essential part, of his political 
 institutions. He must take the work of nature almost at the 
 first moment she has produced it, retouch its form and pro- 
 portions, and soften without entirely effacing its great 
 outlines ; till at length he has converted the independent 
 man into the free citizen." 
 
 K 2 
 
106 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 Spartan character was to the circumstances of that 
 isolated state, surrounded by hostile nations, it is 
 far from being worthy of imitation in the present 
 period, enlightened as it is by the accumulated 
 wisdom of succeeding ages. Nevertheless, those 
 means, employed with such extraordinary success 
 by Lycurgus in generating the martial character, 
 we have applied with equal success, and with the 
 certainty of more lasting effect, in producing the 
 intelligent and benevolent. Those means are 
 comprehended in the following principles : — 
 
 *' 1st, An unremitting attention to the early 
 
 association of ideas. 
 *^ 2nd, The formation of good habits. 
 " 3rd, In all our regulations preserving a 
 conformity between the duties of indi- 
 viduals and their most pleasurable and 
 early-imbibed ideas, — thus uniting the 
 agreeable with the useful." 
 Saadi. — ^^ There is much truth in your re- 
 marks ; but I cannot as yet surrender at discretion. 
 You, who so well understand the tenacity of early 
 associations, must allow me to extricate myself 
 by degrees from the fascinations of ancient lore."* 
 
 * " There are few men to be found, among" those who 
 have received the advantag-es of a Hberal education, who do 
 not retain throua^h life that admiration of the heroic asres of 
 
THE EBVOLT OF THE BEES. 107 
 
 Douglas. — " We will then defer any further 
 discussion on this interesting subject for the pre- 
 sent; but before we quit this cottage, I would 
 invite your attention to a most curious relic of the 
 darker ages deposited in the library, and entitled 
 * Eeport from the Select Committee on the Em- 
 ployment of the Poor in Ireland.' " 
 
 Greece and Rome with which the classical authors once 
 inspired them. It is, in truth, a fortunate prepossession on 
 the whole, and one of which I should be sorry to counteract 
 the influence. But are there not others of equal importance 
 to morality and to happiness, with which the mind mig-ht 
 at the same period of life be inspired ? If the first concep- 
 tions, for example, which an infant formed of the Deity, and 
 its first moral perceptions, were associated with the early 
 impressions produced on the heart by the beauties of nature, 
 or by the charms of poetical description, those serious 
 thoughts which are resorted to by most men, merely as a 
 source of consolation in adversity ; and which, on that very 
 account, are frequently tinctured with some degree of gloom, 
 would recur spontaneously to the mind in its best and happiest 
 hours ; and would insensibly blend themselves with all its 
 purest and most refined enjoyments." — Stewart's PJiilo- 
 o/Mind, vol. i. p. 41. 
 
CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 " Train up thy children, England, 
 In the ways of righteousness, — and feed thein 
 
 With the bread of wholesome doctrine. 
 Where hast thou thy mines — but in their industry ? 
 Thy bulwarks where — but in their breasts ? thy might — 
 
 But in their arms ? 
 Shall not their Numbers,* therefore, be thy Wealth, 
 Thy Strength,— thy Power,— thy Safety,— and thy Pride ? 
 
 grief, then — grief and shame, 
 If in this flourisMng land there shoiUd be dwellings. 
 Where the new-born babe doth bring unto its parent's soul 
 
 No joy ! where squalid Poverty receives it at the birth, 
 
 And, on her wither' d knees. 
 Gives it the scanty bread of discontent." Southet. 
 
 Douglas took from tlie library a folio volume, 
 observing, that '' a committee of examination had 
 been appointed in consequence of a dreadful 
 famine t in Ireland, J which destroyed many thou- 
 
 * " When the parent was unable to maintain his child, 
 the State took the charge upon itself, and the infant was 
 educated at the expense of the public : and this law 
 Constantine directed to be engraved on marble, that he 
 might perpetuate it through all successive ages." — 
 Belisarius. 
 
 t This refers to the famine which occurred in Ireland 
 some thirty years since. 
 
 X The miseries of Ireland are not merely of a modern date ; 
 as far back as the year 1729, Dean Swift, in one of his 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 109 
 
 sands of its inhabitants. A few of tlie particulars 
 are related in some letters addressed to persons in 
 England; from eye-witnesses of the scene; and 
 one, still preserved, from the Archbishop of Tuam, 
 after giving a statement of the hideous scenes he 
 had witnessed, adds : ' If thousands (of pounds) 
 are not sent to Mayo and Galway, whole popu- 
 lations must die. On my way to Castlebar I 
 passed a multitude of half-starved men, women, 
 and children, seeking a share of a handful of meal, 
 which could only keep them alive and no more.' 
 But here are extracts from some of the Irish 
 letters put by with the volume : — 
 
 " ' From Bantry. — In a population of 16,250, there 
 are 7,000 totally dependent on a fund of £553. This 
 
 ironical projects for relieving society of the burden of the 
 poor, introduces the following- remarks : — " Some persons of a 
 desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast 
 number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed : 
 and I have been desired to employ my thoughts what course 
 may be taken, to ease the nation of so grievous an incum- 
 brance. But I am not in the least pain upon that matter, 
 because it is very well known, that they are every day 
 dying and rotting by cold and famine, and filth and vermin, 
 as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the younger 
 labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition ! 
 they cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want 
 of nourishment, to a degree, that if at any time they are 
 accidentally hired to common labour, they have not strength 
 to perform it ; and thus the country and themselves are in a 
 fair way of being soon delivered from the evils to come." — 
 See A Modest Projjosal, by Bba^ Swift. 
 
110 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 is a fearful number of famislimg' paupers. It being- 
 impossible to minister to the wants of all, scenes 
 of the most agonising- distress are every day taking- 
 place. 
 
 " '■ The pride of the people adds to the calamity. 
 One woman, ashamed to make her case known, died 
 with her three children of actual starvation. Many are 
 seen to faint through exhaustion during the necessary 
 delay that occurs in administering food ; and it is the 
 opinion of many that, were it not for the benevolent aid 
 of the British public, the local subscriptions would be 
 hardly sufficient to purchase coffins for those who 
 would die of mere want. The Typhus Fever and 
 Dysentery are also prevailing rapidly. 
 
 " ' From Rathkeale.— Of 1,382 persons, 883 were 
 destitute of any means of providing food. Many for a 
 long time had but one meal ; some had been eating 
 remnants of seed potatoes left in the ground since last 
 year ; many had not a morsel to eat. 
 
 " ' From Roscommon. — The sum of £50, remitted 
 for the reUef of the two parishes of D. and K., is very 
 nearly expended. In a few days nearly 3,000 inhabi- 
 tants will again be reduced to a state of starvation. 
 
 " '■ From Clifden. — As to the employment of the 
 poor, a few days more will unfit them for any work. 
 One poor man was employed last week on the roads, 
 was at work on Saturday evening, got up on Monday 
 to work, said he felt languid and sleepy, and lay down 
 again on the ground and died. Four died in Boffin : 
 and if swelled limbs, pale looks, sunken cheeks, and 
 hollow eyes, are the harbingers of death, the work of 
 death will soon be very rapid here.' 
 
 " There are also extracts of letters from Cork, 
 Tarbut, Killarney, Listowel, and several other 
 places, all of a similar tenor." 
 
 Saadi, — ''If I recollect that portion of the 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. Ill 
 
 Englisli history correctly, you were at the very 
 period in question sending immense quantities of 
 your manufactures to Persia, and to the more 
 eastern nations. As there was a scarcity of food, 
 could you not have obtained a supply from other 
 countries in exchange for manufactured articles ?" 
 Douglas. — "So far from there being any 
 scarcity, the report of the committee states : — 
 
 " ' The nature of the late distress in Ireland was pe- 
 culiar. In the districts to which your Committee have 
 already adverted, the potato crop, which furnishes the 
 general food of the peasantry, had failed; but there 
 was no want of food of another description for the sup- 
 port of human life. On the contrary, the crops of g-rain 
 had been far from deficient, and the prices of corn and 
 oatmeal were very moderate. The export of g-rain from 
 ports within the distressed districts of Ireland was con- 
 siderable, during- the entire period from May to August, 
 infinitely exceeding- the imports during- that period ; and 
 those districts in the south and west presented the re- 
 markable example of possessing a surplus of food, whilst 
 the inhabitants were suffering from actual want.' " 
 
 Saadi. — " It seems unaccountable that they 
 could not discover a remedy for such an extraor- 
 dinary state of their affairs. Of whom was the 
 committee composed ?" 
 
 Douglas. — " It was formed of individuals who 
 it was presumed were the most competent to inves- 
 tigate the subject, and the most interested in 
 applying effectual relief. The Commons' House 
 of Parliament was composed of delegates elected 
 
112 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 by the people, to protect their rights and liberties 
 in the enactment of laws, and to redress their 
 grievances. These representatives were chosen, 
 as best qualified, by their ability and love of justice, 
 to discharge faithfully the trust reposed in them. 
 The committee was selected out of this body, and 
 consisted of those most distinguished by their zeal 
 and talent.* One of the remedies proposed for 
 their consideration, was the adoption in Ireland of 
 communities of mutual assistance ; and this docu- 
 ment is rendered highly curious to us, as affording 
 a proof of the incompetency of the most able minds, 
 formed upon the old system, to decide upon the 
 practicability of principles the most simple and 
 obvious. I will read an extract or two : — 
 
 * " It is very remarkable, that the term sapientes, as 
 may be seen in Du Cang-e, in his explanation of it, expressed, 
 in Italy, in ancient times, those who g-overned the aiFairs of 
 cities and communities. When men, therefore, of this sort 
 are uniformly mentioned as a part of the Ang-lo-Saxon 
 Wittenag-emots, it is impossible, but to prejudice, not to see 
 that they must have acted as the representatives of the 
 people, and must have procured this distinction from the 
 opinion entertained of their wisdom or experience. 
 
 " By a curious testimony, it is even obvious that the word 
 sapientes must have meant the Commons." — Stewart's 
 View of Society, p. 273. 
 
 These committees being composed of the wisest of the 
 wise, had they been formed in the times of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, mig-ht have been denominated sapient issimi. 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 113 
 
 " ' Among- the various sug-gestions which have been 
 laid before your Committee, there is one which has at- 
 tracted so much of public attention as to require particular 
 notice. It has been so much canvassed in public, and has 
 excited so much interest in Ireland, that your Committee 
 have felt it their duty to inquire minutely into its details, 
 and consider the tendency of the principles on which 
 it is founded. During- the last year, the promoter of 
 this scheme visited a very considerable part of Ireland ; 
 and at various places explained his plan, both by publi- 
 cation and at meeting-s of the most respectable descrip- 
 tion ; and during- the present session, a petition, sig-ned 
 by many individuals of rank and consideration, has been 
 presented to Parliament, praying- that an experiment 
 mig-ht be tried, on an enlarg-ed scale, to ascertain how 
 far the suggestions in question were applicable to the 
 condition of the Irish people. The public spirit and 
 benevolence of the proposer, in thus devoting- his 
 time and intellig-ence to the amelioration of the people, 
 in a country with which he had no personal connexion, 
 is deserving- of every praise ; but his plan must be 
 discussed with a view to the necessary consequences 
 resulting- from its adoption, and not from any consider- 
 ation of his motives in laying- it before the public. The 
 principles of the plan are so well known, that it is unne- 
 cessary to do more than to refer to them in g-eneral 
 terms ; the details will be found in the evidence sub- 
 joined to this Report. But when it is considered, that 
 the plan is founded upon a principle that a state of per- 
 fect equality can be produced, and can lead to beneficial 
 consequences, your Committee consider this position so 
 irreconcilable with the nature and interests of mankind, 
 and the experience of all ages, that it is impossible to 
 treat this scheme as being practicable. Your Committee 
 concur in the opinion " that a state in which an ine- 
 quality of conditions offers the natural rewards of good 
 conduct, and inspires widely and generally the hopes of 
 
114 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 rising- and the fear of falling in society, is unquestion- 
 ably the best calculated to develop the energies and 
 faculties of man, and is the best suited to the exercise 
 and improvement of human virtue. If these establish- 
 ments could be conducted according to the intentions of 
 the projectors, the idle and profligate would be placed in 
 a situation equal to that which would be a reward to the 
 industrious and virtuous."* True it is, that it is sug- 
 gested that under these new arrangements, idleness and 
 profligacy might be altogether extirpated from society ; 
 but such an opinion is one which appears altogether 
 visionary. Certainly, your Committee feel every dispo- 
 sition highly to estimate the effects of good education 
 and early moral habits ; but to conceive that any " ar- 
 rangement of circumstances " can altogether divest man 
 of his passions and frailities,t as they comprehend prin- 
 
 * We were for some time at a loss to discover from 
 whence this notable passage was extracted, until it was de- 
 tected in the criticisms of Mr. Mai thus upon one of these plans. 
 Truly the committee have placed themselves under a very 
 skilful leader, but who will not, we fear, very speedily extri- 
 cate them from their labyrinth,— if peradventure he does not 
 produce " confusion worse confounded." What have they 
 accomplished under their guide ?— absolutely nothing. Alas 
 for poor Ireland ! to be under the control of men who reject 
 the suggestions derived from a long life of practical expe- 
 rience, for " the theory formed in a closet." 
 
 t If the passions of men are to be extirpated before idle- 
 ness and proflicacy shall cease, what are to become of the 
 promises of the Gospel, which everywhere addresses itself 
 to man, as a being impelled by passions, and furnishes the 
 most salutary and sublime precepts for their government. 
 Let us hope that the new Parliament will send forth a more 
 Christian-like committee, and one that will not insinuate that 
 religion enjoins impossibilities. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 115 
 
 ciples in themselves undeniable, is a result which c" 
 never be anticipated/ 
 
 " This committee appears to have been hindered 
 by their prejudices from giving the subject due 
 consideration. And yet, after the failure of all 
 other remedies, from a host of reformers, pam- 
 phleteers, and political economists ; and consider- 
 ing the magnitude and afflicting nature of the evil, 
 — it is very extraordinary that they should not 
 have acquainted themselves with the true character 
 of the system upon which they were deliberating. 
 * The experience of past ages ' ought to have in- 
 structed the committee that nothing could be more 
 ' irreconcileable with the interests of man,' or more 
 degrading to his 'nature,' than war and bloodshed 
 and the clashing of interests. Yet these had ever 
 proved the bitter fruits of their favourite system ; 
 while a diminution of crime and misery had 
 invariably accompanied a more equitable distribu- 
 tion of property : and in the few recorded instances 
 of communities of joint property, — order, morality, 
 industry, and happiness, had prevailed in a 
 remarkable degree.* Was the futile attempt to 
 
 * The Bunkers, a society of joint property in Penn- 
 sylvania, are thus described : — " Harmony and mutual 
 affection reign surprisingly amongst them ; every person is 
 industrious, and contented with the task assigned him. 
 They are remarkably hospitable to strangers. If a traveller 
 
116 THE REVOLT 01 THE BEES. 
 
 Mi vest man of Ms passions' in contemplation, 
 because lie was to be so trained as to prefer their 
 moderate indulgence, and thereby avoid ' frailties 
 and profligacy ?' The idea was neither expressed 
 nor implied, either in the principles or details of 
 the scheme; and yet the committee state 'they 
 had felt it their duty to consider the tendency of 
 the former, and to inquire minutely into the latter/ 
 Neither were they authorised in asserting that 
 * the plan was founded upon a principle that a state 
 of perfect equality can be produced.' All that was 
 proposed, secured to each individual sufficient food, 
 clothing, shelter, and education, to satisfy the 
 wants of a rational being. It did not preclude 
 any from having more of these things if they 
 desired them, or prevent their devoting a portion 
 of their time in procuring extra quantities, or in 
 the pursuit of any other objects. The plan did not 
 aim at reducing the higher classes, although it 
 
 asks them anything*, they will cheerfully give it him ; and 
 if he happens to be late in the evening-, will ask him to stay 
 all night, but refuse to accept of any recompense." The 
 following" is copied from a &alem Gazette^ July 13, 1834 : — 
 ^'Shaker Societies.— This singular people are rapidly in- 
 creasing in the United States. They have already sixteen 
 different societies. The first society was established at New 
 Lebanon in this State about two miles from Lebanon Springs, 
 now one of the most fashionable resorts for pleasure in our 
 country." 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 117 
 
 was calculated to raise the depressed and destitute 
 to a state of comfort and enjoyment. This, how- 
 ever, would not suit the committee ; for they must 
 have a constitution of society where individuals 
 were to be elated with the hopes of rising, or 
 alarmed by the fears of falling. Hence, it became 
 necessary to retain some portion of mankind in 
 bondage and misery, in order to exhibit to others 
 the evils they were to avoid; or to display in the 
 follies and extravagancies of the rich, the mighty 
 good to which they were to aspire." 
 
 Saadi. — " I apprehend that none of the com- 
 mittee belonged to that portion of society who 
 were in a state of destitution ; or who, to use their 
 own expressions, were in ' fear of falling T " 
 
 Douglas, — '' Not one ; for it appears that men 
 of affluence only were elected as delegates of the 
 people. But, from the vicissitudes that prevailed, 
 often were the wealthy suddenly reduced to want ; 
 and there were few among them who had not some 
 connexions in distress, or whose children were not 
 embarking upon mercantile or other enterprises 
 of doubtful success ; — yet even these considerations 
 failed to weaken their prejudices in favour of esta- 
 blished opinions, however erroneous."* 
 
 * " It were enough to make them wise, if they would but 
 consider the mutabihty of this world, and how it wheels 
 
 L 2 
 
118 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 Saadi. — ^^ Still I cannot but feel surprised that 
 as the committee expressed so favourable an 
 opinion of the benevolence, talent, and practical 
 experience of the projectors of this system, they 
 should not have desired a single experiment, 
 which must have been highly interesting to the 
 scholar and to the man of science, no less than to 
 the moralist and to the senator. Such an experi- 
 ment could not have disturbed any of the existing 
 interests of society : indeed, by removing two 
 thousand destitute individuals to some isolated 
 spot in Ireland, general society would have been 
 relieved from a burden, and perhaps from some 
 depredation, while the little colony itself could not 
 fail to be benefited, unless employment, wholesome 
 food, and good education are more destructive to 
 health and morals, than idleness, want, and ignor- 
 ance. — But I presume the funds of the country 
 were at a very low ebb ?"* 
 
 Douglas. — '' Their funds were not so exhausted 
 
 about, nothing" being- firm and sure. He that is now above, 
 to-morrow is beneath ; he that sate on this side to-day, to- 
 morrow is hurled on the other : and not considering- these 
 matters, they fall into many inconveniences and troubles, 
 coveting thing's of no profit, and thirsting after them, 
 tumbling headlong into many calamities." — Burton's 
 Anatomy. 
 
 * \\'ho that has contemplated the endless benefits that 
 will flow from the establishment of these communities, and 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 119 
 
 as to prevent their fitting out expensive expedi- 
 tions to explore the wilds of Africa, and to trace 
 out a north-west passage in the Arctic regions." 
 
 Saadi. — " But what did the committee mean by 
 ' an inequality of conditions being the best suited 
 to the exercise and improvement of human 
 virtue?'" 
 
 Douglas. — '' Suppose that the cloak I now 
 wear had formed an essential part of their dress, 
 and that, although society had the power of making 
 several cloaks for each, one only was produced 
 for every individual ; but instead of giving to 
 each member of the community his cloak, the 
 whole were thrown together, and a scramble 
 ensued, some carrying away many, and others 
 left totally destitute ; — you smile at the absurdity 
 of the case, nevertheless it is quite analogous to 
 all their proceedings. Those who were destitute, 
 had an opportunity of exercising the virtue of 
 patience ; while those who had many cloaks could 
 exercise the virtue of charity, in giving their 
 
 perceives that capital is all that is required to give the first 
 impetus, will not exclaim, in the language of the Poet, 
 
 " Oh, is tliere not some patriot, in whose power 
 That best, that godlike luxury is placed, 
 Of blessing thousands, thousands yet unborn, 
 Thro' late posterity ? some large of soul, 
 To cheer dejected industry ?" 
 
120 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 superfluous cloaks to such as had been less for- 
 tunate or active in the scramble." 
 
 Saadi. — '' But, according to the elucidations 
 with which you have this night favoured me, the 
 want of a just and equitable distribution of the 
 cloaks would have given rise to theft and duplicity 
 on the one hand, and to indolence, oppression, 
 and arrogance, on the other. It is singular that 
 the penetration of the committee should have 
 enabled them to detect the source of virtue in 
 their institutions, without tracing vice also to the 
 same origin ; — that inequality of conditions, of 
 which they were so much enamoured, was no less 
 calculated for the exercise of human vice than of 
 human virtue. This attachment of the committee 
 to their ancient policy, but more particularly the 
 motives assigned for their preference, brings to 
 my recollection an event in the history of Almured's 
 early life. 
 
 " About thirty years since, one of the provinces 
 on the northern frontier of Persia had been much 
 disturbed by the irruption of the Tartars : the 
 peaceful inhabitants of the villages were frequently 
 plundered of their property, their flocks driven 
 away, and sometimes their whole year's store of 
 corn carried off". Almured, at the age of thirty, 
 was appointed governor of this province, and 
 at a period when the ravages were at their 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 121 
 
 height. There was great difficulty in checking 
 the incursions of these wandering tribes ; for 
 such was the celerity of their movements, that 
 no sooner was it known that they had made their 
 appearance in one place, than they had committed 
 their depredations and were gone. After many 
 fruitless attempts to exterminate the marauders, 
 Almured conceived the idea of inducing them to 
 alter their mode of life. He despatched mes- 
 sengers to a number of their chiefs, inviting them 
 to a conference in the neighbourhood of Kaboo- 
 sham, where he had a small detachment encamped. 
 So renowned was Almured for his unsullied 
 honour, that there was no hesitation with the 
 Tartars in obeying the summons. Desirous of 
 impressing his visitors with a high opinion of the 
 wealth and power of Persia, as the consequence 
 of order and mild government, Almured made 
 preparations to receive the chiefs with extraor- 
 dinary military pomp. 
 
 " He ordered a spacious tent of the most rich 
 and costly materials to be erected : the interior 
 was lined with crimson, with festoons and tassels 
 elegantly disposed, and the exterior was sur- 
 mounted with a golden diadem. A sumptuous 
 banquet was served up, in which there was a 
 gorgeous display of gold dishes and vessels, and 
 the dresses of the attendants were truly magnifi- 
 
122 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 cent. In short, nothing was omitted that could 
 contribute to the splendour of the scene. During 
 the banquet, a numerous band played several 
 martial airs. At the conclusion of the entertain- 
 ment, Almured informed them that he had invited 
 them to a conference, not for the purpose of 
 censuring their mode of life, because he was con- 
 vinced they had been inured to it from their 
 earliest years ; but he exhorted them to consider 
 the superior and more certain advantages of 
 agricultural occupation, both for themselves and 
 for their children. He concluded by offering 
 them large tracts of land ; and he presented to 
 the principal Tartar chief a beautiful model of 
 a plough, carved in cedar-wood and silver, and 
 the handle studded with pearls. They listened to 
 his address like men who anticipated the nature 
 of his proposals, but had resolved to decline 
 them. The chief to whom the plough had been 
 presented, replied, that, highly as they respected 
 the benevolent views and character of Almured, 
 they were still convinced, by '' the experience of 
 past ages," that their mode of life, though attended 
 with some casualties, was best calculated to inspire 
 vigilance, promptitude, and courage ; and that, in 
 the quiet but ignoble pursuit of agriculture, those 
 qualities would die away : for these reasons, they 
 thought that their predatory excursions . . . ." 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 123 
 
 Douglas. — '^ Were best suited to tlie exercise 
 and improvement of human virtue." 
 
 Saadi. — ^^ Their reply was certainly to that 
 effect : and they might with great propriety have 
 taken their seats among your committee, for 
 their arguments were equally cogent. In vain 
 did Almured urge that those enterprising qualities 
 which they so highly esteemed could find in the 
 chase an adequate excitement, without the inflic- 
 tion of misery upon their fellow-creatures. The 
 assembly broke up : and the Tartar chiefs, after 
 cordially thanking Almured for his noble enter- 
 tainment, departed in good humour ; but they 
 soon returned to their former depredations. 
 Almured, however, was delighted to find that his 
 humane endeavours were not altogether thrown 
 away ; for although not one of the chiefs embraced 
 his offer, yet many of the subordinate Tartars, who 
 by accident had heard of the overtures, applied 
 for land, and abandoned for ever their wandering 
 mode of life. 
 
 '^ Now, if the rain is subsided, shall we again 
 walk forth ? I have no desire to hear more of this 
 precious relic, unless you can relate in what man- 
 ner the Report was received by the General Assem- 
 bly of the Delegates." 
 
 Douglas, — " We have no certain information 
 relative to the measures adopted by the House of 
 
124 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 Commons ; but there is a manuscript at the end of 
 the volume containing a narrative of proceedings. 
 This account, however, is so much at variance 
 with the usual forms of their Parliaments, and so 
 much in accordance with the principles of univer- 
 sal justice, that considerable doubts are entertained 
 of its authenticity. It is brief, and I think you 
 may desire to hear it. 
 
 '^ The Speaker, having examined the Report, and 
 discovering the false character that was attributed 
 to the proposed scheme of mutual support, was so 
 much incensed at the unfeeling negligence of the 
 commitee, that he ordered the Serjeant-at-arms to 
 summon the members to the bar of the House. 
 He then addressed them as follows : — 
 
 " ^ In the exercise of those functions 
 
 which belong to my office, it sometimes becomes 
 my painful duty to express the displeasure of this 
 House upon the violation of its ancient and pre- 
 scriptive rights ; but how much more distressing 
 to my feelings must be the present occasion, when 
 it devolves upon me to arraign the conduct of so 
 many of our most distinguished senators, for 
 gross dereliction of their public duty. At a period 
 of profound peace, and of unexampled commercial 
 prosperity, multitudes of the people have been re- 
 duced to the greatest misery, and thousands have 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 125 
 
 been consigned by famine to an untimely grave. 
 You, their elected guardians, liave been called upon 
 to account for this strange anomaly, and to 
 provide an adequate remedy. You have not 
 only failed to give any satisfactory explanation of 
 the cause, or to suggest means for preventing the 
 calamity in future ; but, unmoved by the supplica- 
 ting eloquence of your perishing countrymen, you 
 have dared prematurely to reject a scheme of 
 policy calculated to diffuse the blessings of abun- 
 dance throughout the land, and to gladden the 
 hearts of the poorest cottagers in the empire. — 
 There are those among you who are laudably 
 anxious for the abolition of slavery ; and of such 
 I would ask. What is the slavery of the negro 
 compared with that of the Irish peasant? The 
 negro's master is interested in the preservation of 
 his health; and if prudential considerations, or 
 the sentiments of humanity, should even fail to 
 influence him, he is compelled by the laws of your 
 colonies to provide an ample allowance of food and 
 clothing, and a comfortable habitation to shelter 
 his slave from the inclemencies of the seasons ; — 
 and to this he is bound, whether the produce of 
 his estate will repay him or not. I may also add, 
 that many of the negroes are in possession of 
 independent property. Now, mark the melanchol}^ 
 contrast of the poor peasant of Ireland. No 
 
 M 
 
126 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 sooner does the faint light of reason dawn upon 
 his almost benighted mind, and he looks around 
 for the means of supplying his simple wants, than 
 he is told that the land upon which he is born 
 belongs to some lord, for whom he is to toil. He 
 cultivates the earth, and the corn waves luxuriantly 
 over the fields ; he gathers in the harvest, — but it 
 is swept away by a stranger. In the meantime, 
 the peasant is allowed a small piece of ground, 
 upon which, for the subsistence of himself and 
 family, he grows a few potatoes ; but if the crop 
 fail, they starve : for no helping hand is held out 
 to their succour, either by the representatives of 
 the people, or by the lords of the soil. — But 
 then the Irish peasant is free. Yes, — he is free 
 to submit to his master's terms — or to die. 
 
 " ' You despatch missionaries of various sects 
 to brave the dangers of every quarter of the globe, 
 in propagating the doctrines of our holy religion. 
 What reply can be given to those who ask for some 
 evidence of your good works at home ? They hear 
 of famine and death in a Christian country satu- 
 rated with wealth : — will they not remind you that 
 of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the greatest of these 
 is Charity ? yet, so far from having displayed the 
 spirit of either, — Charity you have renounced, in 
 giving to the members of your own community a 
 stone instead of bread ; Hope you have converted 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 127 
 
 into Despair ; and Faitli has been shaken to its 
 very foundation by the discordance and mnltipli- 
 city of your creeds. 
 
 " * But in what estimation will the character of 
 the country be held by the governors and monarchs 
 of distant nations ?* Will they not think that you 
 have neither humanity nor wisdom in your coun- 
 cils ? From the shores of the Baltic to the Southern 
 Ocean, and from the continents of America to the 
 borders of China, your ships are ploughing the 
 seas, laden with the overflowing riches of the 
 
 * " It is very strang-e that the nations most celebrated 
 for their luxury and police, should be the very countries 
 where the majority of the inhabitants are more unhappy 
 than the savage nations, which are held in such contempt 
 by the civilised. It is a question, whether the condition of 
 a savage be not preferable to that of a peasant ? The savag-e 
 has no prison, no increase of imposts, to fear ; no oppressive 
 lord, no tyrannical sub-delegate ; he is not perpetually 
 mortified and debased , by daily seeing persons infinitely above 
 him in riches and power : without superior, without servi- 
 tude, more healthy and vigorous than the peasant, because 
 happier, he enjoys the satisfaction of equality, especially of 
 that inestimable privilege, liberty, so vainly claimed by most 
 nations. 
 
 " In policed countries, the whole art of g-overnment has 
 often consisted in making an infinite number of men sub- 
 servient to the happiness of a few ; in keeping- for this 
 purpose the multitude under oppression, and in violating all 
 the privileges of humanity they have a right to demand."— 
 Helvetius. 
 
128 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 empire. Witli what astonishment will they hear 
 that thousands of your own citizens are perishing 
 for want of a small pittance of that wealth with 
 which you are overwhelming their markets ! 
 
 " ' Since neither considerations for the dignity 
 of the empire, your own individual characters, the 
 reputation of this Assembly, nor the severe dis- 
 tresses of a suffering people, have inspired you 
 with sufficient perseverance in restoring order and 
 happiness to a perturbed and afflicted community, 
 I must consign you to the chastisement of that best 
 of all tutors, Experience, who will not fail to teach 
 you a salutary lesson, — I banish you for one year 
 to the bogs of Ireland ; there clothed in rags, with 
 the mud cottages for your dwellings, your fare 
 shall in all respects correspond with the present 
 condition of the Irish peasant. At the conclusion 
 of the year you shall again assemble in committee, 
 when, having shared their hard lot, you will be 
 better able to estimate the dreadful extent of their 
 sufferings.'* 
 
 " When this sentence was pronounced, there 
 arose on all sides of the House, murmurs against 
 
 Take physic, Pomp ; 
 
 Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel ; 
 That thou may'st shake the Superflux to Them, 
 And show the Heavens more just." 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 129 
 
 the extreme severity of the punishment. The 
 Speaker called the members to order, and thus 
 reproved them : — 
 
 " ' It appears, gentlemen, that yon are prompt 
 to commiserate the fate of a few individuals of 
 your own rank; and yet the cries of famishing 
 thousands could not awaken your sympathy. In 
 strict justice I ought to have awarded a punish- 
 ment equal in severity to the greatest extent of the 
 evil of which the committee have been too regard- 
 less; but there is no probability that any fatal 
 consequences will result from their temporary 
 banishment, as all accounts agree in stating, that 
 in the ensuing year there is every prospect of an 
 abundant harvest of potatoes.' " 
 
 Saadi. — " There is, as you observe, too much 
 of impartial justice in this address to belong to the 
 Age of Competition ; and I should suspect it was 
 penned by some early disciple of your Commu- 
 nities, who lamented the publication of a report 
 which might have derived unmerited consequence 
 from the character of its authors. — But now to 
 resume our walk." 
 
 M 2 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 '' Along yon glittering sky wliat glory streams ! 
 
 What majesty attends Night's lovely queen ! 
 
 Tair laugh our valleys in the vernal beams ! 
 
 And mountain's rise, and oceans roll between, 
 
 And all conspire to beautify the scene. 
 
 But, in the mental world, what chaos drear ; 
 
 What forms of mournful, loathsome, furious mien ! 
 
 Oh when shall that eternal morn appear. 
 These dreadful forms to chase, this chaos dark to clear ?" 
 
 Beattie's 3Iinstreh 
 
 Saadi. — *^ How sweet the fragrance of these 
 roses after the refreshing shower ! — So interesting 
 was our conversation before we entered the 
 cottage, that I did not observe the aspect of those 
 mountains opposite. The communities below and 
 the form of the lake appear to be altogether 
 different from those which we left." 
 
 Douglas. — '^ You are now looking down upon 
 the waters of Loch Sloy : on ihQ left is Loch Long ; 
 and far beyond the mountains opposite lie the 
 western islands." 
 
 Saadi. — '' And there will be found the spot I 
 have long desired to visit, since the perusal of 
 that eloquent effusion of your great moralist, Dr. 
 Johnson, when travelling through the island of 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 131 
 
 lona. As it is not mucli in unison witli your sen- 
 timents, you may not recollect it." 
 
 Douglas. — '* I must confess that I do not. 
 Will you have the kindness to repeat it ?" 
 
 " ' We were now treading that illustrious island, 
 which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, 
 whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the 
 benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To 
 abstract the mind from all local emotions would be 
 impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, 
 if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the 
 power of our senses, whatever makes the past, the distant, 
 or the future, predominate over the present, advances us 
 in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me, and 
 from my friends, be such frigid philosophy as may 
 conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground, 
 which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. 
 That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would 
 not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose 
 piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona.' 
 
 "You, Douglas, are one of those whom the 
 Doctor would have removed far away from himself 
 and from his friends." 
 
 Douglas. — " I acknowledge that I cannot call 
 to mind those deeds of Marathon, without at the 
 same time recollecting the horrid spectacle of blood* 
 
 * " T' indulge fell Rapine's desolating lust, 
 
 To drench the balmy lawn in streaming gore, 
 To spurn the hero's cold and silent dust — 
 Are these thy joys ? Nor throbs thy heart for more ? 
 
132 THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 and carnage which the indiscriminate admirers of 
 heroism judiciously contrive to conceal." 
 
 Saadi. — '^ Shades of departed heroes, ' ye that 
 at Marathon and Leuctra bled/ who fell fighting 
 in the sacred cause of freedom, and even in the 
 agonies of death exhibiting a confidence in the 
 gratitude of your country ! vainly did ye hope 
 that parents would teach their children to lisp 
 your names, to echo your songs of victory, and, as 
 they advanced to manhood, to emulate their dis- 
 interested and noble sacrifices for your country's 
 liberties; the records of your fame are to be 
 obliterated for ever : and if along the deep glens, 
 or on the mountain's side, the Spirits of the 
 Bruces and the Campbells still linger in the scenes 
 of their former renown, should they bend their 
 course hither to learn who it is that obscures their 
 glory, — with what amazement will they hear 
 pronounced the name of Douglas ! Douglas, the 
 descendant of ancestors illustrious in the annals 
 of Scotland — But hark ! whence proceed those 
 enchanting sounds ! Delighted as I have been with 
 the music accompanying your ceremonies this 
 
 Pleas'd canst thou listen to the patriot's groan, 
 And the wild wail of innocence forlorn ? 
 
 And hear th' abandon'd maid's last frantic moan, 
 Her love for ever from her bosom torn ?" 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 133 
 
 morning, I am infinitely more so with what we 
 now hear : the efiect is heightened by the still- 
 ness of the night, and the calm beauty of this 
 scene ; the melody is well known to the Persians, 
 and is generally played previous to a battle ; — 
 never do they hear it but Hhey long to follow to 
 the field some warlike lord — ' " 
 
 Douglas. — "To destroy their fellow-creatures. 
 And never do we hear it, but we long to join in an 
 expedition to extend more widely the knowledge 
 and practice of those principles which can alone 
 emancipate mankind from the dominion of error.* 
 
 * " The heroism that results," says Montesquieu, " from 
 just morals, interests few ; the heroism that is most destruc- 
 tive, is the admiration of the multitude." — Happily for the 
 interests of humanity, the multitude are rapidly acquiring" 
 the discrimination of the few. 
 
 " If the generous pride, the passion of patriotism and 
 glory, determine citizens to such heroic actions, with what 
 resolution and intrepidity do not the passions inspire thbse 
 who aim at distinction in the arts and sciences, and 
 whom Cicero calls the peaceable heroes ? It is from a desire 
 of glory, that the astronomer is seen on the icy summits of 
 the Cordilleras, placing his instruments in the midst of 
 snows and frost ; which conducts the botanist to the brinks 
 of precipices in quest of plants ; which anciently carried the 
 juvenile lovers of the sciences into Egypt, Ethiopia, and 
 even into the'Indies, for visiting the most celebrated philo- 
 sophers, and acquiring from their conversation the princi- 
 ples of their doctrine. 
 
 " It is from the same desire of glory, that the young 
 
134 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 We have two compositions set to tins tune. In 
 one, tlie pleasures of benevolent exertion are set 
 forth; in the other, the magnificent results that 
 must arise when true knowledge shall be univer- 
 sally diffused. I now recollect that a party of our 
 youth, with some of the neighbouring communities, 
 were to pass a few hours to-night in one of the 
 observatories ; and as they generally associate the 
 amplitude of the idea of universal benevolence 
 with the exalted views of the creation derived from 
 a survey of the heavens, they are performing this 
 favourite air as they descend the mountains. And 
 oh how pure and unalloyed are their associations ! 
 while yours can never be contemplated by an 
 enlightened mind with unmixed delight ; for the 
 march of conquerers is tracked with desolation, but 
 the progress of knowledge and benevolence resem- 
 bles refreshing streams spreading through every 
 country, and dispensing fertility and beauty in 
 
 Pythagoreans submitted to a silence of three years, in order 
 to habituate themselves to recollection and meditation ; it 
 induced Democritus to shun the distractions of the world 
 and retire among* the tombs, to meditate on those valuable 
 truths, the discovery of which, as it is always very difficult, 
 is also very little esteemed:— in fine, it was this that 
 prompted HeracHtus to cede to his younger brother the 
 throne of Ephesus, that he might give himself entirely to 
 philosophy."— Helvetius. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 135 
 
 their course. No, Saadi, as yon glittering stars 
 are absorbed and invisible in the light of day, so 
 must the brilliancy of military renown be lost in 
 the glory that has risen upon the moral world.'"* 
 
 Saadi. — " I perceive you are determined to 
 drive me from every position." 
 
 Douglas. — ^'War and pu.nishment must cease; 
 for as man does not form his own character, it is 
 injustice and cruelty to visit him with punishment. 
 Under those systems alone that are founded in 
 error, the fear of punishment to restrain violence 
 is indispensable, as the body disordered by intem- 
 perance requires remedies which in its healthy 
 state would not only be unnecessary but injurious." 
 
 Saadi. — ^^When you say that man does not 
 form his own character, — do you contend that the 
 robber has it not in his power to govern his own 
 actions ? " 
 
 Douglas. — " The motives which impel the rob- 
 ber have been produced by the circumstances 
 under which he has been placed, acting upon his 
 peculiar organisation ; for the characters of men, 
 without any exception, are formed by their natural 
 
 * " But if there be in glory ought of good, 
 It may by means far different be attain'd, 
 Without ambition, war, or violence ; — 
 By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent." 
 
136 THE BEVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 disposition and by the circumstances in wliich they 
 have been trained from infancy." 
 
 Saadi. — '' But when the individual arrives at 
 adult age, has he not reason and religion to guide 
 his conduct? At Ispahan, where brothers are 
 educated together, they sometimes exhibit in after 
 life characters totally opposite, — they therefore 
 determine for themselves ; how, then, can it be said 
 that man does not form his own character?" 
 
 Douglas. — ^' Imagine that two brothers with 
 equal advantages of education, and alike correct 
 in principle, quit their parent's roof at a mature 
 age ; the one is by nature lively, the other sedate ; 
 the former is captivated with splendid equipages 
 and every gay scene, while the other delights in 
 the quiet enjoyments of literature and retirement. 
 The former, in order to gratify his taste, requires 
 a larger income : this want, together with the com- 
 pany of new associates, exposes him to temptations 
 which ultimately lead to the sacrifice of his princi- 
 ples. Has not his natural disposition been too 
 powerful for the control of reason and religion ?* 
 
 * Pope refers to education in its most comprehensive 
 sense and just definition in the following- lines :— 
 "'Tis education forms the common mind ; 
 Just as tlie twig is bent, the tree's inclined. 
 Boastful and rough, your first son is a squire ; 
 The next a tradesman, meek, and much a liar ; 
 Tom struts a soldier, open, bold, and brave ; 
 Will sneaks a scriv'ner, an exceeding knave." 
 
THE REVOLT 01^ THE BEES. 137 
 
 while that of the other not having exposed him to 
 the like temptations, his principles are preserved. 
 The disposition given at birth, combined with 
 subsequent circumstances, has thus formed the 
 character of each, and in no respect can they be 
 said to have formed their own characters. The 
 circumstances in their domestic circle had been 
 judiciously regulated by their parents ; and if the 
 institutions and customs of general society had 
 not presented to the one injurious excitements, his 
 character would have continued unimpaired. You 
 observe that in our communities the animated and 
 the studious can alike find harmless but exquisite 
 pleasures, useful occupation, and congenial minds ; 
 but in Persia, men are probably doomed to 
 employments for which they are disqualified by 
 nature, or by acquired habits. It follows, there- 
 fore, that they become dissatisfied, and conse- 
 quently negligent and unsuccessful, and that the 
 ultimate consequences are poverty and crime.* 
 
 * "If morahty hitherto has little contributed to the 
 happiness of mankind, it is not owing- to any want of per- 
 spicuity or beauty of style, or propriety and loftiness of 
 sentiment, in the moralists ; but, amidst all their superior 
 talents, it must be owned that they have not often enoug-h 
 considered the different vices of nations as necessarily 
 resulting" from the different form of their g-overnment ; yet, 
 it is only by considering morality in this point of light, that 
 it can become of any real use to men. What have hitherto 
 
138 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 Delay not on your return to Persia to proclaim 
 tlie all-important truth that 
 
 '•' ' Any g-eneral character, from the best to the 
 worst, from the most ignorant to the most enhghtened, 
 may be given to any community, even to the world at 
 larg'e, by the application of proper means ; which 
 means are, to a g-reat extent, at the command, and 
 under the control, of those who have influence in the 
 affairs of men.' " 
 
 Saadi. — ^' But are you aware of the danger of 
 informing the people of Persia that they do not 
 form their own characters, — will they not from 
 thence infer that they are not accountable for their 
 actions ?" 
 
 been the effects of all the splendid maxims of morality ? ' If 
 some individuals have been corrected by them of faults, 
 which perhaps they reproached themselves with, no chang-e 
 in the manners of nations have been produced. What is 
 this to be imputed to ? It is because the vices of a people, if 
 I may presume to say so, always lie at the bottom of its 
 legislation. There he must search, who would pluck up the 
 root whence its vices arise. To attempt extinguishing the 
 vices annexed to the legislation of a people, without making 
 any change in this legislation, is no less than rejecting the 
 just consequence, after admitting the principles." — 
 Helvetius. 
 
 " All who have meditated on the art of governing man- 
 kind, have been convinced that the fate of empires depended 
 on the education given to youth ; and from their reflections 
 we may lay it down as an evident principle, that education, 
 the laws, and manners, ought never to contradict each other. ^' 
 — Anachaesis. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 139 
 
 Douglas. — " The apprehension of danger from 
 the announcement of truth in Persia, proves 
 that your institutions are defective. Whatever 
 temporary evils might result from the supposed 
 premature promulgation of truth, will weigh only 
 as a feather in the balance against the infinity of 
 good that must inevitably arise from the adoption 
 of correct principles : that process of reasoning 
 which convinces the understanding that ^the 
 character is formed for and not hy the individual ' 
 discloses at the same time the means by which 
 valuable characters alone may be formed, and 
 describes an order of society in which the an- 
 nouncement of truths of every description will be 
 universally desired : but in no state of society 
 can the suppression of truth be beneficial.* The 
 self-deceived and conscientious defenders of error, 
 may for a time take alarm, but soon will they be 
 the foremost to hail this truth as one of unequalled 
 value. If Copernicus and Galileo did not hesitate 
 
 * " I look upon the discovery of anything which is true, 
 as a valuable acquisition to society, which cannot possibly 
 hurt, or obstruct the g'ood effect of any other truth what- 
 soever; for they all partake of one common essence, and 
 necessarily coincide with each other ; and, like the drops of 
 rain, which fall separately into the river, mix themselves at 
 once with the stream, and strengthen the general current." — 
 
 MiDDLETON. 
 
140 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 to brave the prejudices of mankind, and to incur 
 the risk of persecution, rather than withhold their 
 discoveries from the world, — how much stronger 
 must be your motives to pursue a conduct equally 
 undaunted. Never was a truth proclaimed of 
 such immeasurable importance and of such exten- 
 sive consequences, — a truth not remotely affecting 
 the interests of society, but one calculated to 
 facilitate the discovery and diffusion of all truths, 
 to promote the rapid advancement of the arts and 
 sciences, and to secure the virtue and happiness 
 of mankind upon an immutable basis. As the 
 mind is the instrument by which all good is ob- 
 tained, — ^whatever enables society to form superior 
 minds, must infinitely transcend all other dis- 
 coveries : and besides, with what pangs of remorse 
 will you behold the poor'criminal dragged to execu- 
 tion, if you neglect to re-model those institutions 
 of your country, to which he has fallen a victim."* 
 
 * It will be highly g-ratifying" to the friends of humanity 
 to learn, that one of the most able, conscientious, and exem- 
 plary defenders of Christianity, declared himself inimical 
 to the present frame of society, upheld as it is by emulation, 
 and by individual competitors. I must candidly confess 
 that the following passage, from the " Practical View of 
 Christianity," is my sole but ample authority, for concluding 
 that the enlightened mind of Mr. Wilberforce renounced the 
 existing vicious system, and approved the co-operative 
 arrangements, as the only plan of social union, in accordance 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 341 
 
 The two friends pursued this train of reasoning 
 as they walked once more round the terrace, and 
 as they descended the mountain : at a short dis- 
 tance from the foot of which they entered a lofty 
 marble colonnade, lighted by lamps suspended 
 
 with practical Christianity. His faithful description of the 
 progress of a competitor^ refers the lamentable change of 
 character, in a manner so convincing-, to erroneous education 
 and defective institutions, that we almost lose sight of the 
 doctrine of original sin, and more especially as the earlier 
 dispositions of his Nero and Timon are represented, as soft 
 and susceptible, generous and beneficent. 
 
 " It may be sufficient to have hinted at a few of the 
 vicissitudes of advancing life ; let the reader's own mind fill 
 up the catalogue. Now the bosom is no longer cheerful and 
 placid ; and if the countenance preserve its exterior cha- 
 racter, this is no longer the expression of the heart. Pros- 
 perity and luxury gradually extinguishing" sympathy, and 
 puffing up with pride, harden and debase the soul. In other 
 instances shame secretly clouds, and remorse begins to 
 sting, and suspicion to corrode, and jealousy and envy to 
 embitter. Disappointed hopes, unsuccessful competitions, 
 and frustrated pursuits, sour and irritate the temper. A 
 little personal experience of the selfishness of mankind, 
 damps our generous warmth and kind affections ; reproving 
 the prompt sensibility and unsuspecting simplicity of our 
 earlier years. Above all, ingratitude sickens the heart, and 
 chills, and thickens the very life's-blood of benevolence ; till 
 at length our youthful Nero, soft and susceptible, becomes 
 a hard and cruel tyrant ; and our youthful Timon, the gay, 
 the generous, the beneficent, is changed into a cold, sour, 
 silent misanthrope."— Wilberforce's Practical View of 
 Christianity. 
 
 N 2 
 
142 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 from a semi-circular roof. This colonnade led 
 directly to their community. They passed on in 
 silence, for Saadi was in a thoughtful mood, and 
 Douglas was unwilling to interrupt his reflections. 
 When they reached the building appropriated to 
 strangers, Saadi took Douglas by the hand and 
 observed: "What you have so eloquently enforced 
 regarding the formation of character, has operated 
 upon my mind almost with the conviction of 
 truth ; but the principle so ill accords with some 
 of my previous impressions, that I must investi- 
 gate further ere I assent to the truth of your 
 proposition." 
 
 " Farewell," replied Douglas ; " but in all 
 your inquiries, permit me to remind you of the 
 consolatory words of John Locke : — 
 
 " ' He that makes use of the lig-ht and faculties God 
 has given him, and seeks sincerely to discover truth by 
 those helps and abilities he has, may have this satis- 
 faction in doing- his duty as a rational creature, that 
 though he should miss truth, he will not miss the 
 reward of it.' "* 
 
 " The man who consecrates his hours 
 
 By vig'rous effort, and an honest aim, 
 
 At once he draws the sting of life and death, 
 
 He walks with nature ; 'and her paths are peace." 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 " When from the lips of Truth one mighty breath 
 Shall, like a whirlwind, scatter in its breeze 
 The whole dark pile of human mockeries ; 
 Then shall the Eeig'n of Mind commence on earth, 
 And starting fresh, as from a second birth, 
 Man in the sunshine of the world's new spring, 
 Shall walk transparent, like some holy thing." 
 
 Moore's Lalla Rookh. 
 
 The apartment occupied by Saadi was spacious 
 and splendidly decorated ; for although the rooms 
 of the community in general were furnished and 
 ornamented in a style of simple elegance, yet, at a 
 very short notice, preparations had been made for 
 the reception of the illustrious Persian, suited to 
 the custom of his country. In an adjoining room 
 was a bed with hangings of rich blue silk lined 
 with straw colour, at the head of which the sun 
 was represented in burnished gold. — Saadi was 
 followed to his apartment by two youths, about 
 ten years of age : he had desired them not to sit 
 up for him ; but they were apprehensive he 
 might be cold and fatigued on his return, and they 
 had prepared some coffee. Saadi was sensibly 
 affected by their attention. The youths observing 
 
144 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 lie was unusually serious, at first attempted to 
 enliven liim by conversation ; but perceiving that 
 be wished to be alone, retired. " Happy youths," 
 observed Saadi, as they closed the door, ''your 
 minds will not be distracted by dogmas before 
 your reasoning powers are sufficiently matured 
 to enable you to examine their foundation.* If 
 the opinions of Douglas regarding the human 
 character be correct, the whole system of rewards 
 and punishments must fall to the ground." — It 
 was customary with Saadi to read a portion of 
 the Koran every night before he retired. He 
 threw himself on the couch, and opened the 
 volume in the sixteenth chapter, entitled " The 
 Bee revealed at Mecca," and read the followino- 
 passage : — 
 
 ^' If God had pleased, he would surely have made 
 you one people : but he will lead into error whom he 
 pleaseth, and he will direct whom he pleaseth ; and ye 
 shall surely give an account of that which ye have done. 
 
 * " What from this barren being* do we reap ? 
 Our senses narrow, and our reason frail. 
 Life short, and truth a gem which loves the deep, 
 And all things weighed in custom's falsest scale ; 
 Opinion an omnipotence, whose veil 
 Mantles the earth with darkness, until right 
 And wrong are accidents, and men grow pale, 
 Lest their own judgments should become too bright, 
 
 And their free thoughts be crimes, and earth have too much 
 hght." 
 
THE KEYOLT OF THE BEES. 14o 
 
 Therefore take not your oaths between you deceitfully, 
 lest your foot slip, after it hath been stedfastly fixed, 
 and ye taste evil in this life, for ye have turned aside 
 from the way of God ; and ye suffer a g-rievous punish- 
 ment in the life to come. And sell not the Covenant of 
 God for a small price : for with God is a better recom- 
 pense prepared for you, if ye be men of understanding-. 
 That which is with you will fail ; but that which is 
 with God is permanent : and he will surely reward 
 those who shall persevere, according" to the utmost merit 
 of their actions." 
 
 " There is mucli perplexity in this passage," 
 observed Saadi, shutting the book; ^'in the 
 former part of it, God is said to govern the actions 
 of men, and at the close, that they are to be re- 
 warded according to their merit. The inhabitants 
 of these happy societies attach no importance to 
 the belief of doctrines that are inexplicable, for 
 justly do they say, ' No man can command his 
 belief, he must be guided solely by the evidence 
 placed before him.' But yet in Persia we are 
 deemed almost criminal for not believing even 
 against the conviction of our understanding." 
 
 Saadi retired; but his mind was so divided 
 between that which appeared to be his duty, and 
 the principles which had been propounded, that it 
 was long ere sleep closed his eyes. — When he 
 awoke, he found himself in the same perturbation 
 of mind. Upon entering his sitting-room, he was 
 gratified to see a letter upon the table with the 
 
146 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 well known superscription of Almured. He 
 hastily broke tlie seal, and read as follows : — 
 
 '' A few days since I received your letter from 
 Naples ; and as an opportunity presents itself of 
 forwarding this by an overland dispatch, it will 
 probably reach Greenock by the time of your 
 arrival : as the messenger is waiting, you must 
 excuse its brevity. 
 
 " I am happy to hear that your health has 
 been preserved in all the variety of climate 
 through which you have passed, and that you 
 were so much delighted with the ruins of Rome. 
 By this time you are upon my classic ground, and 
 I look with great anxiety for an early account of 
 the communities. Should the intelligence I re- 
 ceive from you confirm the previous accounts, my 
 influence in the councils of Persia will be con- 
 siderably augmented. Already are my plans 
 deemed less visionary since the success of the 
 infant schools. You recollect the strenuous oppo- 
 sition I experienced in the introduction of that 
 system ; but now the schools are become very 
 general and popular. Would that it could be 
 perceived that an infant school is the epitome of 
 what the world may one day become ; and that 
 it is only necessary to apply the same simple 
 principles in governing adults, in order to produce 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES, 147 
 
 the happiest results. Let rewards and punish- 
 ments be abolished, — withdraw from society the 
 useless objects of contention and rivalry, — and 
 unite the private with the public interests. But 
 I forget that I am speaking to one who by this 
 time may be deeply initiated, and from whom I 
 am expecting a commentary that is to enlighten 
 me upon the most interesting of all subjects. 
 Adieu ! May the wings of peace hover over you ! 
 And in whatever region you may wander, you will 
 ever be attended by the anxious solicitude of your 
 early preceptor and friend, Almured." 
 
 '' P.S. — ■! saw your father a short time since, 
 and I regret to add that his health is still declining : 
 he desired me to send you his affectionate regards, 
 and earnestly to exhort that in all your pursuits you 
 would never abandon the religion of your country." 
 
 This postscript was but ill calculated to calm the 
 agitated feelings of Saadi ; and he was beginning 
 to debate in his mind whether he should not for 
 ever renounce all further inquiries, when he was 
 interrupted by Douglas, who entered the apart- 
 ment, accompanied by a female, whose intelligent 
 and animated countenance might have enlivened a 
 sadder heart than that of Saadi. She was about 
 eighteen years of age, of an elegant figure, with 
 
148 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 eyes expressive of mildness and intelligence ; lier 
 complexion was fair, displaying a glow of health 
 equally remote from coarseness and from effemi- 
 nacy. She wore a Highland bonnet with black 
 feathers. 
 
 " I come," said Douglas, '^to introduce to you 
 Margaret Mackenzie. We should have been with 
 you earlier, had I not observed that the curtains 
 of your window were undrawn." 
 
 " I have had the pleasure of seeing you 
 before," remarked Saadi, addressing himself to 
 Margaret ; *' for if I mistake not, it was you to 
 whom Douglas yesterday presented a rose as he 
 conducted you to the boat." 
 
 Margaret acknowledged it by a graceful in- 
 clination of the head, and an expressive look at 
 Douglas; who, as he conducted her to a seat, 
 evinced by his manner, that, however his affections 
 were bestowed upon the community in general, 
 he regarded Margaret Mackenzie with more es- 
 pecial favour. 
 
 Douglas. — '* I fear that I detained you long 
 upon the mountain last night, and that you re- 
 tired too late to enjoy a refreshing sleep." 
 
 Saadi. — " No, Douglas, it was not the late- 
 ness of the hour, but the subject of our conver- 
 sation, that has occasioned me some uneasiness of 
 mind. — Head this letter, and mark the postscdpt." 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 149 
 
 Douglas. — " And were any of my propositions 
 at variance witli the Koran ? — if so, and the pro- 
 positions themselves are true, that portion of the 
 Koran which contradicts them may have been 
 erroneously construed. You have been taught to 
 believe that the Koran was revealed by the Deity ; 
 and if it were so revealed, it has been transmitted 
 perhaps with alterations and interpolations which 
 may have perverted the original meaning. But 
 it appears to me that there is nothing contained 
 therein, which is at variance with the evidence of 
 oar experience regarding the formation of charac- 
 ter. Why, then, should you be discomposed, so 
 long as your professions are sincere ? " 
 
 Saadi, — '^ You know not how painful it is to 
 jive amongst those who may diifer from you in 
 religious sentiment, and with whom you have 
 few ideas in common upon subjects the most inter- 
 esting that can engage the human mind; to be 
 severed from the companions of your earliest 
 years, and from those who have been endeared to 
 you by congeniality of mind ; to be pointed at as 
 a sceptic ; to hear children cautioned to shun your 
 society and avoid the contagion of your principles. 
 Yet here lies my choice, — either to practise the 
 hypocrite and secure the good opinion of the 
 Persians, or to avow ingenuously my principles 
 and forfeit their esteem ; but, what is far more dis- 
 
 
 
150 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 tressing, to embitter tlie few remaining years of 
 an affectionate and revered parent." 
 
 Margaret. — " I am not acquainted with the 
 writings of the Koran, but it is very probable that 
 it may contain passages in unison with the prin- 
 ciples to which you have alluded, although other 
 parts may be seemingly opposed to it. About 
 this time last year we were visited by a lady from 
 the Ionian Islands who was of the Greek Church. 
 The delight she evinced in beholding the happi- 
 ness of our communities was quite enthusiastic. 
 But when we conversed together upon the first 
 principle of the co-operative system, that ' the 
 character is formed /or and not by the individual/ 
 she could not for a time comprehend it, but at 
 length she was fully convinced of its truth. Her 
 mind, however, became very uneasy, from the 
 apprehension that it was opposed to Christianity, 
 — for she was sincere and pious. But upon study- 
 ing the Scriptures more carefully, she discovered 
 many passages confirmatory of the truth ;* and 
 
 * " But now, Lord, thou art our Father : we are the 
 clay, and thou our potter ; and we all are the work of thy 
 hand." — Isaiah Ixiv. 8. 
 
 " For who maketh thee to differ from another ? and 
 what hast thou that thou didst not receive 1 now, if thou 
 didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not 
 received it?" — 1 Corinth, iv. 7. 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 151 
 
 slie resolved, upon her ret"urn to the Ionian 
 Islands, to endeavour strenuously to establish com- 
 munities." 
 
 Douglas. — " Before the days of Galileo it was 
 considered impious to doubt that the earth was 
 fixed, and that the sun revolved round it, because 
 the fact was recorded in Scripture. But when it 
 was discovered, and generally understood, that the 
 sun was the centre of the system, a different inter- 
 pretation of the Mosaic account of the creation did 
 not invalidate the valuable part of the Bible. The 
 principle on which the character is formed is so 
 
 " I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in 
 me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for 
 without me ye can do nothing." — John xv. 5. 
 
 " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any- 
 thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." — 2 
 Corinth, iii. 5. 
 
 " For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and 
 to do of his good pleasure." — Philij). ii. 13. 
 
 " Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us : for thou also hast 
 wrought all our works in us."— Isaiah xxvi. 12. 
 
 " Surely your turning of things upside down shall be 
 esteemed as the potters' clay : for shall the work say of him 
 that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed 
 say of him that framed it, He had no understanding ?" — 
 Isaiah xxix. 16. 
 
 " The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea even 
 the wicked for the day of evil." — Proverbs xvi. 4. 
 
 " A man's heart deviseth his way : but the Lord 
 directeth his steps." — Proverbs xvi. 9. 
 
lo2 THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 incontestably true, that whatever in any religion 
 contradicts it, must be either false or misinter- 
 preted. Pursue the course which Margaret recom- 
 mends, and you will most probably find that 
 whatever is truly valuable in the Koran will not 
 be incompatible with the co-operative order of 
 society. — But this morning I wish to exhibit to 
 you a different scene to that you witnessed 
 yesterday. The rain is falling in torrents, and all 
 the members will be engaged in the libraries, the 
 gymnasium, or the manufactories ; for our occu- 
 pations are varied according to the weather or the 
 seasons. During the harvest, when a favourable 
 day occurs, all are engaged in the fields, and the 
 whole of the crop of hay or corn is cut in a single 
 day.* In the depth of winter those manufactures 
 are carried on which require large furnaces, or in 
 which those employed are exposed to heat. But 
 as there is no occupation from which any individual 
 is exempt in rotation, it becomes equally the 
 interest of all to diminish the inconvenience of any 
 irksome or disagreeable employment; and this, 
 through the aid of machinery and scientific 
 arrangements, has to a very great extent been 
 accomplished." 
 
 *...." qu8B multitudo frumentatorum, quum ad ipsum 
 diem opportune adsit, uno prope sereno die tota Immenta- 
 tione defunguntur."— Sir Thomas More. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 153 
 
 The two faitliful attendants upon Saadi now 
 made tlieir appearance with his morning's repast. 
 They inquired if he would require them again 
 before the evening ; if not, they proposed spending 
 a few hours in the printing-rooms. Saadi released 
 them for the day, adding that he should perhaps 
 meet with them during his morning's ramble. 
 Soon after, he walked out with Margaret and 
 Douglas. The hotel being situate at the corner of 
 the square, they entered one of the colonnades 
 diverging from the community, and proceeded 
 about a quarter of a mile before they reached the 
 first manufactory. Along this colonnade, seats 
 were placed at certain distances, and also large 
 stands of flowers and shrubs : there were also 
 several green-houses with curious exotics and 
 rich graperies. They visited a glass manufactory, 
 a type foundry, and a paper manufactory : con- 
 nected with the latter was a printing and binding 
 establishment ; the steam-engine was very power- 
 ful, and shafts in various directions served for 
 many purposes. In passing through the printing- 
 rooms, Saadi recognised his two youthful attend- 
 ants busily employed. He approached them, and 
 saw that they were composing some Persian 
 characters ; but they manifested a desire not to be 
 questioned or particularly noticed. Saadi observed 
 this to Margaret, who replied, that having heard 
 
lo4 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 liim express a wish for a number of tracts, con- 
 taining the rudiments of the co-operative system, 
 in the Persian language, they had obtained a 
 translation from the College, and were preparing 
 a proof. 
 
 Saadi had never seen any manufactories where 
 the buildings and workmen were not dirty ; and 
 although he had expected something very different 
 here, yet the spectacle itself agreeably surprised 
 him. The same attention was paid to the cleanli- 
 ness of the buildings both internally and exter- 
 nally, as to those which were inhabited; and 
 although the different attitudes of those employed, 
 did not allow them to display that grace and 
 dignity so conspicuous when in the act of walking, 
 yet neither their occupation nor the change of 
 dress could disguise that high expression of intelli- 
 gence in the countenance, or conceal from the eye 
 of an observer that they were a people of a supe- 
 rior character. In all the manufactories, children 
 with their attendants were looking on, and learning 
 the different arts theoretically and practically at 
 the same time, or assisting in some subordinate 
 operations. There were several very elderly men 
 and women, incapable of affording any material 
 assistance, yet so strong was their desire to be 
 usefully employed, that they were seated at the 
 machines performing some simple operation, such 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 15.5 
 
 as pulling a string, or adjusting a wire. Saadi 
 was delighted to observe the affectionate attention 
 paid to these elders by the children and young 
 people who were looking on ; they went up to 
 them to inquire after their health, and would then 
 remain and receive instruction in what was going 
 on. The elders appeared gratified with this further 
 opportunity of being useful. After spending 
 nearly two hours in the different manufactories, 
 Douglas proposed that they should visit the large 
 cotton manufactory, carried on by four commu- 
 nities conjointly, and situate at the extremity of 
 their lands, at a point equidistant from all. " We 
 have no particular inducement/' said Douglas, "to 
 establish a cotton manufactory ; but as the article 
 was spun in great abundance in this neighbour- 
 hood under the competitive system, and at the 
 time when communities were first formed, the 
 manufacture was adopted as a source of profit, and 
 to display to society at large the rapid progress 
 that could be made, even in the acquisition of 
 wealth (almost the sole object of the competitive 
 age), under our arrangements; and as all the 
 operations, from spinning the cotton wool to the 
 completion of the article, require a considerable 
 number of hands, this establishment is carried on 
 by four communities, but they frequently receive 
 further aid from neighbouring societies." 
 
156 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 The path leading* to the cotton manufactory 
 was along a wide gravel walk, over which a hand- 
 some awning was erected ; on one side was a 
 railway, and on the other a grass walk bordered 
 with flowers, strawberry-beds, and fruit-trees. 
 Scarcely had they entered this walk, when Douglas 
 requested Saadi to give him his opinion of what 
 he had seen. 
 
 Saadi. — " I must acknowledge that I have 
 never witnessed greater skill and expertness than 
 in the operations going forward, or specimens of 
 more admirable workmanship than in the articles 
 when finished. You certainly falsify the opinion — 
 that a very minute division of labour is neces- 
 sary, and that each individual should be invariably 
 employed in one process only, in order to acquire 
 perfection." 
 
 Douglas. — ^' That division of labour facilitates 
 production is an undeniable fact; and you per- 
 ceive that it is applied here, and more generally, 
 since we adopt it in every occupation, — in domestic 
 offices, in education, &c. ; but it is equally evident 
 that intense and unremitting application to one 
 employment is quite unnecessary. To such an 
 extent was this division of labour formerly carried, 
 that although the mechanic acquired great pro- 
 ficiency in his department, yet his physical and 
 mental powers were materially injured, and his 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 157 
 
 life shortened. With lis, each is engaged in a 
 variety of employments ; but there is generally 
 one to which the individual is more particularly 
 attached, and in which he always excels, and he 
 is far superior to the artisan in the same branch 
 under the competitive system ; for although not so 
 incessantly engaged, yet he has more elasticity 
 and vigour, more intelligence and greater interest 
 in his employment. But even if superior skill 
 were not displayed, we should consider it of much 
 more importance to preserve the health of our 
 friends unimpaired, than to sacrifice it for a little 
 more dexterity in an occupation." 
 
 Margaret. — ^' But one of the worst features in 
 the management of manufactures under the old 
 system, was the employment of children of a 
 tender age in cotton-mills for many hours in the 
 day, allowing no time for their mental improve- 
 ment. I believe the Legislature, after the evil had 
 become very palpable, limited the hours to ten ; 
 but that time was too long for the unhealthy nature 
 of the occupation, and its unsuitableness to the 
 active disposition of children." 
 
 Douglas. — " Machinery, under a proper direc- 
 tion, is a most valuable blessing, and with it almost 
 all our wants are supplied. But there were many 
 calamitous effects attending the commencement 
 and progress of mechanism in manufactures, from 
 
158 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 about the middle of the last century to the close 
 of the Commercial System. Previously, the la- 
 bouring classes, as they were called, lived in neat 
 cottages, surrounded by a garden ornamented 
 with flowers, and in which they cultivated vege- 
 tables; and while the husbandman laboured in 
 the fields, his wife and children were enabled to 
 add to their support by means of the spinning- 
 wheel : of this, however, they were deprived when 
 manufactures began to advance, and wool and 
 cotton were spun in mills ; men and their families 
 were then assembled in large masses under cir- 
 cumstances of great discomfort in particular dis- 
 tricts, while the condition of the agricultural 
 peasantry was greatly deteriorated by a reduction 
 in the value of labour. Whenever improvements 
 were made in this machinery, or it was applied 
 successively to new branches of manufacture, 
 numbers were thrown out of employment and 
 subjected to want and misery." 
 
 Saadi, — ^^ But did not the Government pro- 
 vide some temporary relief or employment in 
 these'times ? " 
 
 Douglas, — '^ None whatever: they always 
 maintained, and with some truth, that the articles 
 manufactured would be reduced in price, and con- 
 sequently become more in demand, and thus in a 
 few years require more hands to work additional 
 
THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. lo9 
 
 machinery;* but, in the meantime, many were 
 reduced to a state of idleness, which is always a 
 state of danger, even to individuals better trained 
 and educated than they were. They sought relief 
 from the parish : this broke their spirit, and too 
 often rendered them less tenacious of their cha- 
 racters. It is obvious that, under this combination 
 of circumstances, the transition to crime was most 
 probable, and accordingly the prisons were always 
 crowded in a dearth of employment. 
 
 '' So extraordinary was the aid derived from 
 the application of science and mechanism in our 
 manufactures, that the power of production 
 became enormous, and produced events in this 
 country unparalleled in the history of mankind. 
 With such rapidity did England pour forth her 
 streams of wealth, that every accessible market in 
 the world was soon saturated with the products of 
 her industry. Whenever this occurred, manufac- 
 turers suspended their works, and distress and 
 sometimes tumult ensued among the labourers. 
 
 * This opinion was advanced by Dr. Adam Smith, with 
 great truth, at a period when machinery had made com- 
 paratively but httle progress: such, however, is now the 
 magnitude of its power, that it pervades every department 
 of manufactures, and, by depriving- surplus capital and 
 labour of profitable employment, has completely disorganised 
 societv. 
 
160 THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 The superabundance in foreign markets occasioned 
 great losses to the merchants ; but the depression 
 in price enabled enterprising purchasers to carry 
 the articles far into the interior of the countries to 
 which they were exported, and thus create an 
 enlarged consumption ; — hence arose a demand for 
 replenishing the old and for supplying the new 
 markets. The manufacturers were then not only 
 induced to renew their former labours, but com- 
 pelled to erect a greater number of establishments. 
 As the dissolution of the Commercial System ap- 
 proached, the intervals between the overstocked 
 markets and the renewed demands became more 
 frequent and distressing in their consequences, and 
 upon one occasion the Government feared that the 
 sufferings of the people would terminate in open 
 rebellion." 
 
 Saadi. — " What a noble example of philanthro- 
 phy was displayed by England, in disfiguring the 
 face of the country with the smoke of steam- 
 engines, by immuring her sons and daughters 
 in cotton-mills and loathsome manufactories, or 
 subjecting them to severe privations of food and 
 raiment, in order that the naked savages of 
 distant climes might wear her cotton and woollen 
 garments ! The commerce of the Phoenicians of 
 Tyre and Sidon, and that of Carthage, appear to 
 have been conducted upon more selfish principles : 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 161 
 
 they continued not to transport their commodities 
 to distant countries, when they could no longer 
 receive equivalents in exchange." 
 
 Douglas. — " By whatever motives the Govern- 
 ment was actuated, certain it is, that it was most 
 anxious that foreign countries should not spin 
 cotton or become manufacturers for themselves ; 
 and they would willingly have given greater 
 encouragement to the cultivation of the vine in 
 France, rather than that England should cease to 
 be the cave of Vulcan."* 
 
 Saadi. — "Were the millions employed in 
 manufactories partial to French wines?" 
 
 * " That country is considered by many as the richest, 
 which abounds most in such things as are g-enerally looked 
 upon as composing" wealth ; and the means, in their opinions, 
 to make a country rich, is to make of the people as many 
 manufacturers as can be made ; and to force these to turn 
 out as many manufactured goods as possible ; and that 
 these manufactured things shall be of that kind of which the 
 manufacturers themselves shall consume the least possible 
 quantity. 
 
 '' But that might, with much more justice, be called the 
 poorest country that can be found, since the great bulk of 
 the people have as little as they can possibly be subsisted on. 
 
 " When, therefore, we talk of the riches and flourishing 
 state of the manufacturing countries, we should limit our 
 representations to the few who enjoy the productions of the 
 manufactures ; and not extend them to those who labour in 
 producing them." — See " Phoenix Library," Dr. Hall's 
 Effects of Civilisation, p. 116. 
 P 
 
162 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 Douglas. — ''Alas! they were compelled to 
 submit to still greater privations ; to partake of 
 more scanty meals, and to drink a less nutritions 
 beverage, to enable the privileged few to enjoy 
 additional luxuries. 
 
 ''As society was at that time constituted, all 
 who were not either landholders or capitalists, 
 depended upon their labour, bodily or mental, for 
 subsistence : and their welfare in general was 
 regulated by the proportion which their numbers 
 bore to the demand for labour, in the most exten- 
 sive signification of that term. The introduction 
 of machinery was so much added to the supply of 
 labour, and of course reduced its value." 
 
 Saadi. — " But how could that species of labour 
 which you term mental, be affected by the substi- 
 tution of machinery for manual labour?" 
 
 Douglas. — " I will explain to you the indirect 
 manner in which every kind of labour was influ- 
 enced by the general introduction of machinery in 
 manufactures. When large numbers were de- 
 prived of employment in any branch of trade, they 
 sought occupation in others, or in agriculture; 
 some, who were better educated, became clerks or 
 teachers, others shopkeepers, so that the supply 
 of labour in general was always increased by every 
 new discovery for its abridgment in particular 
 instances. In like manner, situations under 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 163 
 
 Government were eagerly sought, and the number 
 of candidates for every kind of employment was 
 unprecedented. Nor were the landholder or the 
 capitalist exempt from the general difficulty. 
 Did agriculture evince any symptoms of improve- 
 ment, capital was immediately embarked in cul- 
 tivation, and excess of production rendered it 
 unprofitable ; it was then directed to other chan- 
 nels more promising, where it was soon followed 
 by fresh competitors, and withdrawn with loss. 
 In the meantime, the wealth of the country 
 continued to accumulate, until it became extremely 
 difficult to find any profitable employment, either 
 for capital or labour.* 
 
 * Of late we have frequently heard of the low rate of 
 interest in Holland. The difficulty in employing capital 
 and the people has for several years past rendered it necessary 
 to adopt a system of mutual support in t?ie Overyssel. — A 
 paragraph in a Dutch newspaper of December, 1825, after 
 describing" the number of the establishments, observes : — 
 
 " In general these colonies have succeeded beyond ex- 
 pectation : they have both schools and churches, and present 
 an appearance of contentment. The number of the poor in 
 the Netherlands leads to a remarkable conclusion. If among 
 one hundred individuals, there are twelve paupers, the latter 
 must be nourished by the remaining eighty-eight. But of 
 these not more than forty-four will be males ; but suppose 
 some of the females work, we must still deduct the children 
 and the aged. But we must also deduct the members 
 of administration, with all the subalterns of government, the 
 mihtary, the clergy, &c.: whence v/e may conjecture, that in 
 
164 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 " In this course England proceeded until, at 
 the commencement of the year 1826, a revulsion 
 took place, which in severity of suffering and 
 extensive ruin almost exceeds belief. Thousands 
 of the people were reduced to abject poverty, and 
 distress in some shape or other visited every class. 
 At this period the country abounded in all the 
 means essential to human enjoyment : — our ware- 
 houses were overloaded with the spices, fruits, 
 wines, nay, with the produce of every climate ; 
 corn and cattle, and every description of food 
 superabounded ; our own manufactures, as also 
 the materials for building, exceeded the quantities 
 of any former period ; and there was an immense 
 number of new and unoccupied houses. Under 
 these circumstances, what remedy do you imagine 
 was proposed by the minister for the houseless 
 and destitute population ? " 
 
 Saadi. — "Some plan by which they could 
 enjoy the fruits of their own labour, and exchange 
 their surplus produce with each other. In 
 the possession of so much wealth, he could 
 have no other object in view than a beneficial 
 distribution." 
 
 one hundred persons there are not twenty-two who work, 
 and whose labour suffices, — thanks to the fertiUty of Europe, 
 to industry, and to the perfection of machinery." 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 160 
 
 Douglas. — ^^The minister was busily employed 
 in searching out new markets for Ms silk and 
 cotton ; not perceiving, that whatever increased 
 consumption could be found for these articles 
 abroad, would soon be overtaken and surpassed by 
 the increasing powers of production at home, and 
 again involve them in the like embarrassments. 
 There were many minor evils arising out of, or co- 
 existent with, this fundamental cause of all their 
 miseries; such as a defective banking system, a 
 spirit of speculation, and prohibitory laws. To 
 these subordinate difficulties the Government con- 
 fined its attention, and suitable remedies were 
 proposed. But to hope to correct the disorders of 
 society by such inefficient measures, were as futile 
 as to attempt with a bulrush to stem an over- 
 whelming torrent. 
 
 "But we are now arrived at the cotton-mill; 
 and as our conversation has turned so much upon 
 the Competitive plans, I must beg to direct your 
 attention to a curious extract from an old news- 
 paper hung up on the side of the entrance, and 
 there placed as describing a remarkable contrast 
 to our present arrangements in the manufacture 
 of cotton. It is supposed to have been written 
 about the year 1820." 
 
 Saadi read aload the following : — 
 p 2 
 
166 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 " PROGRESS OP A POUND OF COTTO]:^. 
 
 " The following' account of one pound weight of 
 manufactured cotton will show the importance of the 
 trade to the country, in a very conspicuous manner. 
 There was sent off for London lately, from Paisley, a 
 small piece of muslin, about one pound weight, the 
 history of which is as follows : — The wool came from 
 the East Indies to London ; from London it went into 
 Lancashire, where it was manufactured into yarn ; 
 from Manchester it was sent to Paisley, where it was 
 woven ; it was sent to Ayrshire next, where it was 
 tamboured ; afterwards it was conveyed to Dumbarton, 
 where it was hand-sewed, and again returned to 
 Paisley, when it was sent to a distant part of the county 
 of Renfrew to be bleached, and was returned to Paisley, 
 whence it was sent to Glasgow, and was finished ; and 
 from Glasgow it was sent per coach to London. It is 
 difficult precisely to ascertain the time taken to bring 
 this article to market ; but it may be pretty near the 
 truth to reckon it three years from the time it was 
 packed in India, till in cloth it arrived at the merchant's 
 warehouse in London, whither it must have been con- 
 veyed five thousand miles by sea, and nine hundred 
 and twenty by land, and contributed to reward no less 
 than one hundred and fifty people, whose services were 
 necessary in the carriage and manufacture of this small 
 quantity of cotton, and by which the value has been 
 advanced 2,000 per cent. What is said of this one 
 piece is descriptive of no inconsiderable part of the 
 trade." 
 
 " This, indeed, is a singular instance of the 
 waste of labour under the old system : the pound 
 of cotton appears to have been valued, not ac- 
 cording to its intrinsic worth, but from the expense 
 
THE EEVOLT OP THE BEES. 167 
 
 of time and labour in its production, — as if it had 
 not been desirable to perfect the piece of cotton 
 with less sacrifice of both. The 2,000 per cent, 
 must liave been so much positive loss to the 
 country." 
 
 Douglas. — " Instead of transporting the cotton 
 from one place to another for the different pro- 
 cesses in manufacture, we perform all the opera- 
 tions on the spot : — it is spun, woven, tamboured, 
 hand-sewed, and bleached in contiguous build- 
 ings.* It is received in its raw state from America 
 
 * To give an idea of the power which the first Co- 
 operative Societies will possess, before that system becomes 
 general, of underselling, in the disposal of their surplus 
 produce, whatever is brought to market from the establish- 
 ments of private individuals, we submit the following esti- 
 mate for the consideration of practical men : — 
 
 Two thousand individuals, consisting of families of men, 
 women, and children, occupy suitable buildings upon an 
 estate of a thousand acres : five hundred of the community 
 would be amply sufficient to cultivate the land, and to 
 supply the whole with food and clothing ; the labour of the 
 remaining fifteen hundred would be entire profit, after 
 deducting the interest of capital advanced, and the rent of 
 land ; thus. 
 
 Labour of 1,500 at 20s. per week, or £50 per ann. £75,000 
 
 Rent £2,000 
 
 Interest of capital expended in buildings 3,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 Profit £70,000 
 Perhaps it may be objected, that as many of the fifteen 
 
168 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 and Egypt, and the time consumed, from the 
 shipment to the completion of the article, does not 
 exceed three months ; and the cost, so far from 
 being augmented to 2,000 per cent., scarcely 
 reaches 200 per cent. : so that, if it were our object 
 to manufacture the article to a greater extent than 
 is sufficient to obtain for us all the articles of 
 foreign produce that we require, we could under- 
 sell all the manufacturers of those countries which 
 still retain the principle of individual separate 
 interests ; but we are far more anxious to impart 
 to them a knowledge of our principles, than to in- 
 flict any injury." 
 
 After the various parts of the cotton manu- 
 factory had been visited, the party returned to 
 the community. 
 
 hundred would be women and children, 20s. per week is 
 beyond the average value of their labour : but, on the other 
 hand, there are others whose labour would be worth two or 
 even four and five pounds per week ; and besides, this cal- 
 culation is supposing- that the articles sold yielded no more 
 than the mere cost of raw materials and of labour ; whereas, 
 if they were sold at an addition of 50 per cent., they would 
 still be far below the same articles disposed of in ordinary 
 society, and in that case would give the community a 
 surplus income of more than £100,000. This is without 
 taking into account the saving of the various profits and 
 expenses of carriage in the different processes of manufac- 
 tured goods, which would probably add another £100,000, 
 
CHAPTEE VIII, 
 
 " What neat repast shall feast ns, light and choice, 
 Of Attic taste, with wine, whence we may rise 
 To hear the lute well touch' d, or artful voice 
 Warble immortal notes and Tuscan air? 
 He who of these delights can judge, and spare 
 To interpose them oft, is not unwise." Milton's Sonnets. 
 
 As Saadi had not seen the room where the meals 
 were prepared, Douglas proposed showing him 
 that part of the establishment a short time previous 
 to the hour of dining. The room was very spacious 
 about one hundred feet long and sixty wide, and 
 formed the ground floor of the large building 
 situate in the centre of one of the sides of the 
 square. Aided by machinery, and by means of 
 aqueducts and other scientific arrangements, all 
 disagreeable employments had been superseded. 
 At each end of this room was a large sideboard, 
 upon which the dishes were placed in the same 
 order as they were to be disposed on the table : 
 these sideboards when covered were raised by means 
 of elevators through the ceiling into the first floor, 
 which formed two dining-rooms, so that a sideboard 
 came up at the upper end of each ; when the 
 
170 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 dishes were placed on the table, the sideboards 
 were let down for another set. The whole was 
 conducted in the most orderly and quiet manner. 
 The dining-rooms were just half the size of the 
 lower room ; in the centre of these, two long tables 
 were placed : here the company in general sat ; 
 but the sides of the rooms were fitted up with 
 boxes, so that small parties or families, who wished 
 to dine by themselves, could be accommodated ; 
 these boxes, however, in consequence of the social 
 disposition of the inhabitants, were seldom resorted 
 to. Individuals or families could dine in their own 
 apartments at any hour in the day, by giving notice 
 at the public halls in the morning. The rooms 
 were lofty, with circular ceilings, and in each were 
 suspended two magnificent chandeliers of exqui- 
 sitely cut glass, which in winter were lighted with 
 gas, producing a splendid efifect; the panels of 
 the rooms were fawn-colour with gold beading, 
 and the curtains of a rich crimson, tastefully dis- 
 posed in festoons with deep fringe. The roof was 
 entirely of oak, and carved in imitation of the 
 richest Gothic fret-work. The dinner, though only 
 of one course, consisted of a variety of dishes that 
 were most in season. The choicest fruits formed 
 the dessert. There were wines and liqueurs of 
 various kinds, contained in a large recess or cup- 
 board with folding doors; they were, however. 
 
THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 171 
 
 but seldom asked for. The glass in use was curi- 
 ously cut; and the earthenware was brought to 
 such great perfection as to be superior to that of 
 the Chinese, particularly some large vases which 
 decorated the sides of the room. Between the win- 
 dows were slabs of the finest marble, supported by 
 bronze figures : upon these marbles were placed 
 large vessels of gold,* filled with spring water; 
 and at each corner of the room was a marble figure 
 
 * We often hear the phrase of " man in a state of nature" 
 made use of, by which is meant, a state of ig-norance and des- 
 titution, a condition very httle above that " of the brutes that 
 perish :" but it is as natural for man in the more advanced 
 j)eriods of the world, to make use of those articles which 
 experience has taug-ht him are most convenient, and at the 
 same time more pleasing- to the sig-ht, as it is natural for 
 him in the ruder stag-es of society to drink water out of 
 shells and wooden bowls. It is quite true that men rationally 
 educated would prefer the most simple utensils, if others 
 more g-ratifying* to their taste could not be obtained without 
 the sacrifice of valuable time. But, after the means have 
 been discovered for producing- with facility a superfluity of 
 wealth, the g-old and silver of Mexico and Peru may be pro- 
 cured in profusion at the most insig-nificant cost, while the 
 use being- confined chiefly to public ornaments, the desire 
 for them would probably be circumscribed. 
 
 " But if nature is only opposed to art, in what situation 
 of the human race are the footsteps of art unknown I In 
 the condition of the savag-e, as well as in that of the citizen, 
 are many proofs of human invention ; and in either is not 
 any permanent station, but a mere stage through which this 
 travelling being is destined to pass. If the palace be un- 
 natural, the cottage is so no less ; and the highest refine- 
 
172 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 liolding a Roman lamp suspended by a chain. 
 During the dinner some favourite airs were played 
 by a band of music in the galleries. The repasts 
 were prepared and arranged by boys and girls 
 between the ages of ten and fifteen, who afterwards 
 waited; and, from the number employed, what- 
 ever was required, was obtained with the greatest 
 facility. Saadi recognised many that he had seen 
 in the manufactories in their dress of business ; 
 now, they appeared differently attired. During 
 the dinner he took occasion to remark upon the 
 splendour of the room, and the richness and beauty 
 of the decorations, and of everything in use ; 
 adding, that he was the more surprised when he 
 recurred to the slight effort by which all had been 
 accomplished. 
 
 Douglas. — '^ You perceive that every indi- 
 vidual is interested in calling forth particular 
 talent, as all derive gratification from the result, 
 and it has always been considered useful to render 
 the public rooms as attractive as possible." 
 
 Saadi. — " How delightful to behold so many 
 happy countenances ! — it could almost be ima- 
 gined that each was the sole possessor of all that 
 surrounds him." 
 
 ments of political and moral apprehension are not more 
 artificial in their kind, than the first operations of sentiment 
 and reason." — Ferguson on Civil Society. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 173 
 
 Douglas. — " Is not that remark somewhat at 
 variance with your observation of last night, — 
 that your rich nobles betrayed anxiety in their 
 countenances ? " 
 
 Saadi. — " I acknowledge my error ; but in 
 Persia we are so apt to connect the idea of hap- 
 piness with large possessions, notwithstanding 
 disquietude is their general concomitant, that you 
 must excuse an unguarded expression." 
 
 Douglas. — " I believe there is nothing that 
 w^ould detract more from the happiness of all 
 present, than the idea that a single member of the 
 community was precluded by avoidable causes 
 from an equal participation in all their enjoy- 
 ments. So far from exclusive possession adding 
 to happiness, under the old system it generally 
 impaired the pleasures to be derived from the 
 things possessed. Does this glass, so ingeniously 
 cut, shine with less brilliancy in my eyes, because 
 others are furnished with one of equal beauty 1 
 or do those statues, executed by our best sculp- 
 tors with so much character and life, exhibit less 
 expression because they are exposed to the view 
 of the whole community ? * The paintings in our 
 
 * ^" Though only few possess 
 
 Patrician treasures or imperial state ; * 
 Yet nature's care, to all her children just, 
 With richer treasures, and an ampler state, 
 
 Q 
 
174 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 galleries, as also those in the temple, vying with 
 the productions of the most celebrated masters, 
 lose none of their attractions by being the joint 
 property of the society. On the contrary, the 
 pleasures they yield are multiplied by the number 
 of cultivated minds capable of appreciating their 
 beauties, and of expressing in appropriate language 
 their feelings of admiration." 
 
 Saadi. — " The paintings and curiosities be- 
 lono^ins* to our Persian nobles are seldom seen 
 by others ; nor do they themselves derive much 
 gratification from them after the novelty has worn 
 off, when they begin to sigh for some new addition 
 to their cabinet. For as to the satisfaction they 
 experience in being the only possessors of a rarity, 
 it is far outweighed by the jealousy excited by 
 rival collectors ; and besides, it supplants in the 
 mind the pleasure which the excellence of the 
 object itself would otherwise impart. This effect 
 
 Endows at large whatever happy man 
 
 Will deig-n to use them. His the city's pomp, 
 
 The rural honours his. Whate'er adorns 
 
 The princely dome, the column and the arch, 
 
 Beyond the proud possessor's narrow claim, 
 
 His tuneful breast enjoys. For him the Spring" 
 
 Distills her dews, and from the silken gem 
 
 Its lucid leaves unfolds : for him the hand 
 
 Of Autumn tinges every fertile branch 
 
 With blooming gold and blushes like the morn." 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 175 
 
 of individual property I have noticed in the pro- 
 prietorship of land. Frequently, when directing 
 the attention of a wealthy satrap to a picturesque 
 landscape, he has appeared insensible to the 
 natural beauties of the scene, and his mind has 
 been absorbed in estimating what addition a cer- 
 tain portion of it would make to his annual 
 income." * 
 
 Douglas. — ^' Neither the most wealthy satrap 
 of Persia, nor even the king himself, can enjoy a 
 tithe of the advantages that I derive from a resi- 
 dence in this community. All my wants are 
 readily supplied ; and I have access to libraries, 
 museums, concerts, groves, and gardens, superior 
 
 * How feeling-ly is this truth expressed by Walton : — 
 " I sat down under a willow tree by the water-side, and 
 considered what you had told me, of the owner of that 
 pleasant meadow, in which you then left me, — that he had a 
 plentiful estate, and not a heart to think so ; that he had at 
 this time many law- suits depending", and that they both 
 damped his mirth, and took up so much of his time and 
 thoughts, that he himself had not leisure to take the sweet 
 content that I, who pretended no title to them, took in his 
 fields : for I could there sit quietly, and, looking- on the 
 water, see some fishes sport themselves in the silver streams, 
 others leaping- at flies of several shapes and colours ; looking- 
 on the hills, I could behold them spotted with woods and 
 g-roves ; looking- down the meadows could here see a boy 
 gathering- lilies, there a girl cropping culverkeys and cow- 
 slips, all to make garlands suitable to this present month 
 of May." 
 
176 THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 to those wliich. any private fortune, however 
 ample, conld command. I possess all the benefits 
 of almost unbounded wealth, without any of its 
 cares and anxieties. For, instead of a train of 
 ignorant, servile, and rapacious followers, or a 
 numerous retinue of disorderly or dissipated ser- 
 vants to control, I am surrounded by intelligent 
 and affectionate friends, united to me and to each 
 other by an interchange of kind offices and by 
 mutual sympathy. When I assert that my situ- 
 ation is far, very far, superior in every respect to 
 that of the most potent monarch in the past his- 
 tory of mankind, I utter a truth which is felt, and 
 may with equal propriety be expressed of himself, 
 by each member of our community." 
 
 Saadi. — '' I perceive that the wealth of the 
 Indies under the Competitive System could not 
 obtain for its possessor the enjoyments I have 
 witnessed here. The want of equals between 
 whom there is an identity of interest, is another 
 privation to which our nobles are subject ; and 
 this absence of sympathy is alone sufficient to 
 render wealth unproductive of happiness. And 
 with all your advantages, you are never assailed 
 by the cries of poverty and distress, the never- 
 failing attendant of conflicting interests. — But 
 what do you say, Margaret, to the comparative 
 pleasures of females under the two systems ? " 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES, 177 
 
 Margaret. — '' The education of females, under 
 the old system, was perhaps more neglected, or 
 injudiciously directed, than that of men, from a 
 false idea that their mental capabilities were in- 
 ferior; but I believe that, notwithstanding this 
 neglect, they were more successful in acquiring 
 a taste for the substantial enjoyments of domestic 
 life. Certainly our pleasures are now considerably 
 heightened; since we also have been taught to 
 set a proper value upon all the endearments of 
 family society, and are rendered capable of deriving 
 amusement from scientific and other intellectual 
 pursuits. It would be utterly impossible to induce 
 any of the parents in our communities to allow their 
 children to be educated under any other system." 
 
 The number in each room was about three 
 hundred : there was another similar building on 
 the opposite side of the square, where the same 
 number were accommodated. The dinner, and 
 conversation succeeding it, generally terminated 
 in less than two hours ; and at that time the rooms 
 were cleared, and the afternoon, in fine weather, 
 was spent in riding and walking, and other exer- 
 cises and other amusements in the open air : but 
 if the day was throughout unfavourable, the mem- 
 bers resorted to the riding-houses, museums, and 
 libraries ; and in the evening to the ball, concert, 
 and lecture-rooms, as well as to the large hall for 
 Q 2 
 
178 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 philosopliical experiments, which was a favourite 
 resort. 
 
 After the dinner was over, Margaret went to 
 attend an appointment with some other females 
 in the concert-rooms, while Saadi and Douglas 
 visited the various places of instruction and 
 amusement in succession. But Saadi, whether 
 from the reflections springing up in his mind 
 in consequence of the day's conversation, or 
 from his attachment to reading, devoted more 
 time to the libraries, which consisted of two large 
 rooms, surrounded by books and maps. In one, 
 conversation was permitted, — in the other, it was 
 not. The members were allowed, under certain 
 regulations, to take books to their private apart- 
 ments. A number of reading-stands and tables 
 were placed in diiferent parts of the rooms, which 
 were fitted up in the most convenient manner. 
 The books were printed with uncommon clearness, 
 and were principally bound in russia. Indeed, 
 whatever was found in the communities was the 
 best of its kind, as there existed no motive to 
 deteriorate, but to give beauty and durability to 
 their productions. Saadi was delighted with the 
 engravings, which were the most highly finished 
 that can be imagined. Each room had a dome 
 rising from the centre, and from which hung a 
 large globe of ground glass — the one terrestrial. 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 179 
 
 the other celestial; the geographical delineations 
 and the constellations were painted with un- 
 common beauty : at night, lamps were introduced 
 into these globes, which, with other small and 
 elegant lamps in different parts of the rooms, 
 yielded a mild but ample light. On one side of 
 the library was suspended the " Stream of Time," 
 executed in a superior manner upon a large scale ; 
 and on the opposite side was a chart of the same 
 size, called the ^^ Stream of Knowledge," repre- 
 senting a river rising from the upper part, and 
 gradually widening as it descended. A number 
 of small tributary streams at various distances 
 discharged themselves into the river, and these 
 streams denoted the individuals who, at different 
 periods of the world, had contributed to the 
 increase and extension of knowledge : the names 
 most conspicuous were those of Aristotle, Archi- 
 medes, Galen, Plato, Hippocrates, Bacon, Galileo, 
 Locke, Newton, &c. In a small room adjoining 
 there were some old books printed during the 
 Competitive Age, and retained as works of re- 
 ference, and to show mankind the misery from 
 which they had emerged, and to guard them against 
 future error. After some time had been devoted 
 to the general libraries, they entered this room : and, 
 as Douglas was anxious to leave no means of con- 
 trasting the two systems untried, he invited Saadi's 
 
180 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 attention to a sliort detail of the last efforts of the 
 reformists and advocates of the Competitive System. 
 Douglas. — "About the period of the dissolution 
 of opposing confederacies and the union of indi- 
 vidual interests, the Government of the country 
 was directed by ministers who were extremely 
 popular. From their tried integrity and zeal in 
 the public service, they deservedly possessed the 
 confidence of the country. So far as the Competi- 
 tive System would allow them, they were enlight- 
 ened in their policy and liberal in their sentiments; 
 and indeed they appear in a great degree to have 
 caught the spirit of the age in which they lived. 
 In several instances they had themselves become 
 reformers of abuses ; but their situation was one 
 of great perplexity, arising from the complicated 
 and conflicting interests and views of different 
 parties. Were they urged and disposed to 
 abolish negro slavery, up rose the West India 
 merchant to claim protection for his estates. Was 
 the emancipation of the Catholics proposed, imme- 
 diately a cry was raised that the Church was in 
 danger. Did they advocate a free trade, manufac- 
 turers complained that they would be undersold 
 unless the corn laws were repealed : and if they 
 attempted to alter those very laws, the landholders 
 interposed to prevent a reduction in their rents. 
 The plea of vested rights was always brought 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 181 
 
 forward to retard the progress of truth and justice, 
 which, however, advanced more rapidly, and 
 contested the claims of ancient prescription with 
 greater success, as knowledge became more widely 
 diffused. The Government resigned itself to the 
 guidance of the political economists, who, 
 although they advocated some new and useful 
 opinions in commercial affairs, were too confined 
 in their views regarding some of the most import- 
 ant objects of human society. They adhered 
 with remarkable tenacity to the equivocal advan- 
 tages of individual competition, to which they 
 justly attributed whatever good had been previously 
 discovered. They did not pretend to deny existing 
 evils ; but, because competition had given birth to 
 certain energies and characters, they would not 
 condescend to inquire whether mutual co-oper- 
 ation was not likely to be more ' fertile in every 
 great and good qualification.' By an able and 
 profound contemporary writer they were denomi- 
 nated the ' Mechanical Speculators ; ' for they 
 regarded the bulk of mankind as doomed to inter- 
 minable labour, and concluded that the intellectual 
 powers of man were not to be called into action, 
 or exerted but in a very limited degree, except by 
 a few. 
 
 ''When Philosophy appeared to Boethius, to 
 offer him consolation, she related that Socrates 
 
182 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 triumphed over death, to which he was "unjiistly 
 adjudged, she standing by him and assisting him. 
 ' Of whose inheritance (his opinions and doc- 
 trines)/ she adds, 'when the rout of the Epi- 
 cureans and Stoics, and several of the other sects, 
 snatched a part, as every one pleased ; and I still 
 opposing myself to them, and striving against 
 them, they with one consent fell upon me, as if 
 I had been a part of their prey, and tore this gar- 
 ment, which I had woven with my own hands. 
 Then every one going away with that rag 
 which he had snatched, vainly believed that he 
 had possessed himself of Philosophy, and her 
 whole treasure.' Similar to this appears to have 
 been the conduct of the various reformers at the 
 close of the Competitive Age. The Theologians 
 denounced all attempts at moral improvement 
 unaided by their peculiar creeds. The Moral 
 Philosopher excluded from his considerations all 
 but the influence of precepts. And the Political 
 Economist regarded the bulk of mankind only as 
 instruments for the creation of wealth. Of the 
 mutilated garment of Philosophy, these Political 
 Economists certaiuly picked up the worst rag they 
 could' find.* Philosophers in former ages had 
 
 * ]N'ever had a philosopher greater reason to congratulate 
 himself upon the steady adherence of his disciples, than Mr. 
 
THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. 183 
 
 indulged in the anticipation of the final triumph 
 of truth and virtue over error and vice; but, 
 during the previous century, extraordinary pro- 
 
 Malthus. Althoug-h, as it has been remarked, every new 
 edition of his Essay has chased away some of his old 
 opinions, — whatever new position he may take up, and 
 whatever facts may be brought forward to prove the in- 
 utihty of his speculations, he is still surrounded by that 
 illustrious band, the Political Economists. We have never 
 read this Essay without being- forcibly reminded of the fol- 
 lowing* note of Dr. Purvis, relative to Mr. Malthus : " This 
 author, I am called upon to say, thoug-h he makes general 
 observations of the boldest kind, and with the most decisive 
 tone, contrives, for the most part, when he enters upon the 
 detail, so to limit them or explain them away, that it is 
 difficult to ascertain what is really his opinion."— 6^r«^3/ 
 versus Malthus, by Dr. Purvis. 
 
 However humane the intentions of Mr. Malthus may 
 be, it is impossible to mention any author, the tendency of 
 whose writings has contributed more to reconcile the opulent 
 to injustice, and to retard the progress of truth. As this 
 phantom of over-population cannot much longer deter us 
 from the correction of real evils, so will it fly before suc- 
 ceeding generations; but, should it ever assume a more 
 palpable form, posterity will have acquired a higher degree 
 of intelligence, and will therefore not be more deficient in 
 foresight and superior moral qualities to guard against its 
 evils. 
 
 Lord Liverpool has stated a curious fact to allay the 
 fears of the Malthusians. " Between the year 1801 and 
 the year 1811, there was an increase in the population of 
 Great Britain, from 10,900,000 to 12,590,000 souls, being an 
 increase in the proportion of 14 per cent. And again : that 
 between the year 1811 and the year 1821, there was an 
 increase from 12,590,000 to 14,370,000— being an increase 
 
184 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 gress had been made in the knowledge of the 
 nature of man, and in the science of social happi- 
 ness. Indeed, so closely did many of the theories 
 approximate to our present form of society, and 
 so correct were some of the general principles, 
 that it was expected another generation would 
 perfect the science. 
 
 '' Such were the sanguine hopes of mankind 
 when a clergyman of the Church of England, the 
 Eeverend Mr. Malthus, put forth an ' Essay on 
 the Principle of Population,' to prove that the 
 numbers of mankind had a tendency to increase 
 geometrically, and food arithmetically, so that too 
 rapid an increase in population was checked either 
 by vice and misery arising from want, or by 
 moral restraint. Now, although every individual 
 could produce much more than he consumed, — 
 proving that until no uncultivated spot could be 
 found, subsistence would not only keep pace with, 
 but over-supply, the demand, and that moral or 
 
 in the proportion of about 171 per cent"— SjJeech of Lord 
 Liverpool on Agricultural Distress, February 26, 1822. 
 
 Now, it is rather unlucky for " the theory formed in a 
 closet," that in the year 1800, there was great distress from 
 the scarcity of provisions, as compared with the population ; 
 but in 1822, when the population had increased from eleven 
 to fourteen millions, there was g-reat distress in consequence 
 of the suiierabundance of provisions ! This is " population 
 pressing" against subsistence ! !" 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 185 
 
 prudential restraint, if really necessary, was much 
 more likely to be observed in the improved state 
 of society contemplated, — yet this population- 
 theory was considered as a death-blow to the 
 speculations of the divine Plato, of More, Sidney, 
 Godwin, Dugald Stewart, &c., &g. The Political 
 Economists worshipped at the shrine of Mr. Mal- 
 thus, who had, in their estimation, dissipated the 
 fond expectations of a better order of society ; and 
 all their reasoning proceeded upon this presump- 
 tion, — that the division of mankind into the rich 
 and the poor, the idle and the industrious, would 
 terminate only with their existence. Such ap- 
 peared to be the opinions of Ricardo, Mill, and 
 M'OuUoch. Here is a small work from which I 
 will read you a specimen : — 
 
 " ' Unfortunately, the labourers have very little 
 power over the increase or diminution of the national 
 capital, but they are all-powerful in respect to the 
 increase or diminution of the supply of labour. And if 
 they had only g-ood sense and intellig-ence sufficient to 
 avail themselves of this power, they mig-ht, by under- 
 stocking the market with labour, render their wag-es high, 
 notwithstanding* the demand for their services should 
 happen to be diminished ; while, if they do not avail 
 themselves of this power, but allow the principle of 
 population to exert its natural tendency to overstock the 
 market with labour, wag-es will be low, to whatever 
 extent the demand for labour may be increased. It 
 appears, therefore, that the lower classes are in a very 
 great degree the arbiters of their own fortune. What 
 
186 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 others can do for them is really, to use Mr. Malthus^a^ 
 words, but as the dust of the balance compared with 
 what they can do for themselves.' "*—M'CtJLL0CH's 
 Discourse on Political Economy j 2nd edition, p. 62. 
 
 Saadi. — " Tlien it would appear, that these 
 Political Economists expected the labourers to act 
 with a degree of foresight and regard to the general 
 welfare of their class, to make present sacrifices 
 for a distant good, and to exhibit a conduct de- 
 rived only from a superior education and compre- 
 hensive views ? " 
 
 Douglas. — " And yet the same author observes : 
 
 " ' Where wealth has not been amassed, the mind 
 being constantly occupied in providing- for the imme- 
 diate wants of the body, no time is left for its culture ; 
 and the views, sentiments, and feelings of the people, 
 become alike contracted, selfish, and illiberal. The 
 possession of a decent competence, or the being able to 
 indulge in other pursuits than those which directly 
 tend to satisfy our animal wants and desires, is neces- 
 sary to soften the selfish passions, to improve the moral 
 
 * With a becoming diffidence in perfect accordance with 
 the mutability of his opinions, if not with the boldness of 
 some of his assertions, Mr. Malthus at the conclusion of the 
 third volume observes : " But I shall always be quite ready 
 to blot out any part of the work which is considered by a 
 competent tribunal as having a tendency to prevent the bow 
 from becoming finally straight, and to im[)ede the progress 
 of truth." Secure in the suffrages of the Political Econo- 
 mists, to what other tribunal will he condescend to submit 
 his Protean volumes ? 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 187 
 
 and intellectual character, and to ensure any consi- 
 derable proficiency in liberal studies and pursuits.' " — 
 
 M'CULLOCH, p. 3. 
 
 Saadi.—-" But if Mr. M'Cullocli expected 
 the labourer to be one day in possession of tMs 
 ^ decent competence,' so as to acquire enlarged 
 views, it would be bis first inquiry, — why, as his 
 labour was the source of all wealth, he was to 
 enjoy only one-sixth of its produce ? He would 
 next inquire, — why one or two thousand of his 
 own class could not unite under your system, and 
 consume or exchange all the produce of their own 
 labour, over and above what might be necessary 
 to pay the rent of their land, and the interest of 
 the money advanced, but which could be repaid 
 in a very few years, and the land ultimately pur- 
 chased. They would say. We will no longer, like 
 sheep and cattle, be subject to the fluctuating 
 demands of a market : and, as all capital is but 
 accumulated stock, every year will add to our 
 riches, so long as a desire for producing surplus 
 wealth may prevail ; and, if our numbers increase, 
 we can with ease create a sufficient surplus capital 
 for the purposes of colonisation.''* 
 
 * After an examination of the various systems of equality 
 of Condorcet, Wallace, Godwin, and Owen, through sixty- 
 six pages, Mr. Malthus triumphantly remarks : " The 
 impossibility of checking- the rate of increase in a state of 
 
188 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 Douglas. — ^^ Excellently repeated, my friend. 
 You are already well qualified to advance the good 
 cause on your return to Persia. The Political 
 Economists appear to have overlooked the vast 
 
 equality, without resorting to regulations that are unnatural, 
 immoral, or cruel, forms an argument at once conclusive 
 against every such system." He then commences the fol- 
 lowing chapter in these words : " Although the resource of 
 emigration seems to be excluded from such perfect societies 
 as the advocates of equality generally contemplate . . ." 
 And does it " seem to be excluded," to any one but to Mr . 
 Malthus I who, seeing it was a natural resource that would 
 at once refute his argument, carefully avoided throughout 
 his criticism any allusion to emigration. If Plato in his 
 Republic, which he confined to a limited circumference, 
 suggested means for restricting population that were " un- 
 natural and cruel," why must other systems of equality 
 necessarily adopt the same means 1 But we will venture to 
 say, and we are borne out by facts, that systems of equality 
 are the only constitutions of society in which we can be 
 certain that "the moral restraint," if necessary, can be 
 generally adopted. At this time there is a society called 
 the Shakers, in America, who live together as members of 
 one family. And the same principles prevail in the society 
 of the Harmonists under Eapp, also in America, respecting 
 which a traveller observes : " Harmony is truly the abode 
 of peace and industry. The society, however, possesses one 
 principle of so unsocial and dispiriting a character as to 
 throw a shade over the whole scene in a moral sense, and to 
 fill the mind with commiseration for men who can so con- 
 strue any of the precepts of Christianity into a virtual pro- 
 hibition of the sacred ties of the married state." After these 
 proofs that the passions can be altogether subdued by educa- 
 tion, and earl}^ imbibed opinions, however absui'd, can there 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 189 
 
 accession to our productive powers, during the 
 pre^dous half century : hence they adhered to 
 certain maxims laid down by an able writer, Adam 
 Smith, whose work appeared at a time when 
 mechanism had made comparatively but little 
 progress in aid or in substitution of human labour. 
 The great work of this author, ' An Enquiry into 
 the Nature and the Causes of the Wealth of 
 Nations,' was limited to inquiries regarding the 
 creation of wealth, without embracing the more 
 comprehensive views of its distribution, and moral 
 effects. But, at the commencement of the present 
 century, inquiries into that branch of the subject 
 were unnecessary, as sufficient knowledge had for 
 a time been acquired, and wealth in superfluity 
 abounded. The question which the Political 
 Economists at this period should have solved, 
 was, ' In what manner the abundant wealth which 
 was created with so much facility, could be most 
 beneficially distributed.' I am not at all sur- 
 prised to find the Political Economists complain- 
 ing of the little regard that was paid to them, 
 after the few who had investigated their theories 
 
 remain any doubt of the possibility of their appropriate re- 
 gulation in societies composed of men of superior intellectual 
 attainments ? Happy, indeed, would it have been for man- 
 kind, if all the theories which Mr. Malthus has " formed in 
 a closet," had remained there. 
 
 r2 
 
190 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 were so dissatisfied with the result. The student 
 in other sciences was finally rewarded for his 
 laborious attention, by an accession of wisdom 
 and of new sources of pleasure ; but the Political 
 Economists led through a tedious labyrinth their 
 ill-fated votary, who, when he thought that he 
 had reached the promised land, beheld before him 
 a trackless and barren waste — 
 
 " * Here, where no spring-s in murmurs break away, 
 Or moss-crow n'd fountains mitig-ate the day, 
 In vain ye hope the dear dehghts to know. 
 Which plains more blest, or verdant vales bestow." 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 " Genius has seen thee in her passionate dreams ; 
 And dim forebodings of thy loyelinesSj 
 Haunting the human breast, have there entwined 
 Those rooted hopes of some sweet place of bliss, 
 Where friends and lovers meet to part no more." Shelley, 
 
 On the following morning the heavy clouds had 
 passed away, and the atmosphere was serene and 
 clear. The fields and hanging woods shone with 
 a more vivid green, and the dazzling radiance of 
 the rising sun called forth all the beauties of the 
 surrounding scenery ; while the birds singing in 
 full chorus seemed to hail the return of the glo- 
 rious sun-beams. Such were the attractions that 
 invited Saadi to quit his rooms at an earlier hour 
 than usual. The observations of Douglas and 
 Margaret on the preceding morning, had convinced 
 him that the principles of the communities were 
 not inimical to true religion, and his mind had 
 regained its wonted serenity. As he walked 
 along the borders of the lake, enjoying the fresh- 
 ness of the morning breeze, he felt his spirits 
 unusually exhilarated. '' How inexpressibly dear 
 to me," he exclaimed, " are the persons with 
 
192 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 whom I have formed an acquaintance in these 
 intelligent societies ; seeking to apply the boun- 
 tiful gifts of Providence to the promotion of each 
 other's happiness ? Never can I return to Persia, 
 unattended by a chosen band from the borders of 
 Loch Lomond, to assist in rearing this long- 
 sought temple of felicity." 
 
 Saadi insensibly bent his course towards the 
 public baths, which were fronted with a long 
 raised terrace, covered with a veranda, and having 
 rustic seats and cane sofas. As he entered upon 
 the terrace, he observed a tall venerable man in a 
 plaid cloak, sitting in deep reflection; his hair 
 was white as snow, and though his countenance 
 was furrowed by age, animation still sparkled in 
 his eye. Saadi soon recognised in him the Elder 
 who had delivered the lecture on the Human 
 Character. At the approach of Saadi, he started 
 from his reverie, and invited him to a seat. His 
 first inquiry referred to Saadi's opinion of their 
 communities. 
 
 Saadi having expressed in glowing terms the 
 pleasures he had experienced, begged permission 
 to refer to his lecture, acknowledging that he had 
 since become a convert to the opinion — that " the 
 character is formed /or and not by the individual." 
 '^ But/' he added, " I have often heard it objected 
 to those enlarged views of benevolence inculcated 
 
THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. 193 
 
 in your communities, that they are too apt to 
 overlook the claims of kindred, and to be wanting 
 in sympathy towards those objects near at hand : 
 but certainly what I have witnessed since my 
 arrival is at variance with that opinion." 
 
 '^The decisions/' replied the Elder, '' of lite- 
 rary and speculative men, unaided by practical 
 knowledge,* for a long period held mankind in 
 bondage; and it is remarkable, that, after Lord 
 Bacon had discovered the unerring path of in- 
 ductive reasoning in physics, the world should 
 have been so long perplexed with delusive theo- 
 ries of education and social improvement. — Our 
 great moral poet has justly observed — 
 
 * The science of human nature, or rather that of social 
 union, has experienced the fate which Lord Bacon describes 
 as that of the sciences in general. "Those who have treated 
 the sciences were either empirics or rationalists. The empirics, 
 like ants, only lay up stores, and use them ; the rationalists, 
 like spiders, spin webs out of themselves ; jjut the bee takes 
 a middle course, g-athering* her matter from the flowers of 
 the field and g-arden, and dig-esting- and preparing" it by her 
 native powers. In like manner, that is the true office and 
 work of philosophy, which, not trusting* too much to the 
 faculties of the mind, does not lay up the matter afforded by 
 natural history and mechanical experience, entire or un- 
 fashioned, in the memory, but treasures it, after being first 
 elaborated and digested in the understanding- ; and therefore 
 we have a good ground of hope, from the close and strict 
 union of the experimental and rational faculty, which have 
 not hitherto been united." — Lord Bacon's Novum Organum. 
 
194 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 " ' Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake. 
 As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake : 
 The centre moved, a circle straig-ht succeeds, 
 Another still, and still another spreads ; 
 Friend, parent, neig-hbour, first it will embrace ; 
 His country next, and next all human race.' " 
 
 "The expansive benevolence imbibed under 
 our system regards every object, present or remote, 
 that can be benefited by its sympathies ; as yon 
 glorious luminary, while it invigorates the hardy 
 oak and the lofty pine of the mountain, cherishes 
 the lovely violet that blooms in solitude. This 
 feeling, interwoven with our earliest associations 
 and strengthened by habit, soon becomes the 
 source of the most refined and exquisite pleasures : 
 but it is a feeling not depending solely upon ex- 
 traordinary culture for its development, for even 
 in the age of conflicting interests, and in the most 
 barbarous periods, it was in some degree mani- 
 fested." 
 
 Saadi. — " I must, however, acknowledge that 
 those in Persia who are most devoted to the public 
 welfare, too frequently sacrifice their own interests, 
 and the welfare of their families." 
 
 The Elder. — " That is very likely ; for so 
 numerous are the difficulties and dangers arising 
 from the selfishness, fraud, and duplicity of the 
 Competitive System, that the utmost vigilance is 
 required on the part of each head of a family, to 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 195 
 
 protect his dependents, and to procure for them 
 the necessaries of life. If his mind be enlarged 
 by benevolence, and he is struck with the con- 
 templation of evils flowing from imperfect insti- 
 tutions, he will be apt to neglect that family, to 
 devote himself to the more extended sphere of 
 usefulness.* "We have numerous instances in the 
 biographical history of this country, of patriots 
 and men of ardent minds dedicated to the welfare 
 of their species, themselves experiencing great 
 privation and distress. It was the characteristic 
 of Competitive society to generate a collision 
 not only of individual, but also of collective in- 
 terests. Private considerations would frequently 
 interfere with the claims of patriotism ; and this 
 subdivision of benevolence called patriotism, was 
 generally opposed to the principles of universal 
 benevolence. In Co-operative society all these 
 interests are amalgamated. This I will in part 
 illustrate in my own case. — My favourite study is 
 education, the improvement of which is interesting 
 to my country, and to the world at large ; but 
 my family have not been neglected by this pur- 
 
 * Fenelon was accustomed to say, " I love my family 
 better than myself; my country better than my family; 
 and mankind better than my country : for I am more a 
 Frenchman than a Fenelon, and more a man than a French- 
 man." 
 
196 THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 suit of an object of imiversal interest; they have, 
 in common with the rest of society, participated 
 in the benefit of all useful discoveries, and in the 
 meantime have been supported out of the public 
 store. Neither has my affection for them in any 
 degree been diminished by an ardent desire to 
 promote the general welfare of mankind ; rather 
 has it been increased by the solicitude they express 
 for the successful result of my efforts : — it is ' not 
 that I loved Csesar less, but that I loved Rome 
 more.' " 
 
 Saadi. — " But how can the interests of distant 
 countries be identified with yours ?" 
 
 The Elder. — " Because it is the reciprocal in- 
 terest of all countries that each should be governed 
 by those principles which will promote with fa- 
 cility the production of the largest portion of 
 staple commodities, in order that as much of them 
 should be distributed in exchange as may be 
 necessary for all; and the regulations that will 
 effect this object are such as are most conducive 
 to the happiness of individual communities.* The 
 
 * " Foreig"!! or domestic improvements in machinery will 
 be to such a Community, as they oug-ht to be to all the 
 world, a blessing to the utmost extent. The prosperity of 
 foreig-n nations, and their improvement in every respect, 
 will be to such a Community a source of sincere congratu- 
 lation and joy, affording also, by immediate imitation, the 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 197 
 
 pleasures of sympathy are also heightened to 
 those who visit foreign, countries where correct 
 principles are acted upon, in meeting with an 
 intelligent and friendly people. Time was, when 
 the inhabitants of this country were eager to re- 
 store independence to the Greeks ; while their 
 own citizens were experiencing, under the name 
 of freedom, the worst evils of despotism in the 
 monopoly of wealth." 
 
 Saadi. — ^' Blame them not for those exalted 
 sympathies ; — who would not have been emulous 
 to fight in the ranks of men animated by the 
 remembrance of their ancient glory, and struggling 
 for their dearest liberties ! " 
 
 The Elder. — '^ I censure them not for a con- 
 duct which was the necessary result of the age in 
 which they lived, but I revert to that period as 
 exhibiting the consequences of misapplied zeal. 
 In those days there dwelt in the heart of our 
 metropolis a multitude of people in the lowest 
 state of mental degradation, destitute of the 
 common necessaries of life, clothed in rags, and 
 occupying miserable houses in crowded and dirty 
 
 means of domestic improvement, or lowering- the cost, and 
 thus increasing- the ^supply of such foreig'n produce as may 
 be useful articles of exchange." — Prospectus of the Cork 
 Co-operative Community. 
 
198 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 lanes. Under these distressing circumstances 
 were their children trained, whose career was 
 almost unavoidably one of crime, terminating in 
 a prison, or hastened by an ignominious death. 
 Immediately adjoining this scene of human wretch- 
 edness (which was called St. Giles's) were erected, 
 in airy and spacious squares, houses and palaces 
 of great magnificence. They were inhabited by 
 men of immense riches, who were in the enjoy- 
 ment of every luxury. Now, these individuals 
 sympathised in the fate of the Greeks." 
 
 Saadi. — '^ But still they could not have been 
 unmindful of their destitute neighbours, for whom 
 it must have been most fortunate that such an 
 abundance of wealth was near at hand ?" 
 
 The Elder. — They occasionally relieved them 
 through the medium of others, for never could they 
 come in contact with scenes that would offend the 
 eye : hence they were deterred from any near ap- 
 proach. But when the cause of the Greeks sprang 
 up, an object of benevolence presented itself, wholly 
 divested of the unsightly and repulsive attendants 
 upon abject poverty, and associated with all the 
 charms of literature and of imagination. There 
 was, however, this important difference in the dis- 
 pensation of their bounty, that to the Greeks it 
 might prove unavailing, if it ever reached them ; 
 whereas, had it been administered at home, it would 
 
THE EEVOLT OP THE BEES. 199 
 
 have been directed under their own immediate 
 observation and control." 
 
 Saadi. — '' But we must not be surprised that 
 men of education should feel a deep interest in the 
 descendants of a people so renowned for warlike 
 skill and for the arts of peace^ or that they should 
 wish to revive those institutions which had so long 
 claimed the admiration of the world, and on a spot 
 endeared to philosophy and eloquence." 
 
 The Elder. — '' Are philosophy, eloquence, and 
 the fine arts to be cultivated only in particular 
 countries? If so, let the nations which have once 
 enjoyed those blessings, now in justice yield to 
 others. But it was not the Parian marble only 
 which the hand of a Phidias could have started into 
 life ; and if human nature is everywhere endowed 
 with the same original qualities, to be moulded 
 according to the design of the legislator, the general 
 principles of the best institutions must be applicable 
 in every quarter of the globe. What could have 
 proved more interesting than to have raised the 
 tottering houses in that retreat of misery, and to 
 have beheld rising in their stead an illustrious 
 community, peopled with those inhabitants and 
 children then in training for the worst purposes, 
 and thus to have given them characters far trans- 
 cending those of the ancient Greeks !" 
 
 Saadi. — " But would you not have been satis- 
 
200 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 fied with the inflexible justice of an Aristides, the 
 profound wisdom of a Solon, or the refined taste 
 of a Pericles ?" 
 
 The Elder. — " Those are the distinguished cha- 
 racters which should have re-appeared ; not in the 
 midst of an Athenian rabble, prepared upon the 
 slightest occasions to sacrifice their best friends 
 and their most valuable citizens,* but among an 
 enlightened people, not one of which should have 
 been incapable of justly appreciating their sublime 
 virtues. Nor should the arts and sciences have 
 been held in less estimation ; and sculpture would 
 have rivalled the noblest relics of antiquity : for 
 even in the purlieus of that most degraded spot 
 might have been discovered mindsf to conceive and 
 hands to execute, if the national governors had 
 possessed the faculty of calling them into action." 
 
 Saadi. — " Since my arrival, my companion 
 
 * "The ostracism of the Greeks was a sacrifice of 
 valuable men made to epidemic envy, and often applied as 
 an infallible remedy to cure and prevent the mischiefs of 
 popular spleen and rancour. A victim of State often ap- 
 peases the murmurs of a whole nation, and after-ages fre- 
 quently wonder at barbarities of this nature, which under 
 the same circumstances they would have committed them- 
 selves." M AN DEVILLE . 
 
 f " But knowledge to their eyes her ample page, 
 Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll ; 
 Chill penury repress'd their noble rage. 
 And froze the genial current of the soul." 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 201 
 
 Douglas has shown me the opinions of some of the 
 influential characters of that period, upon a modi- 
 fication of your present system ; and I could not 
 but express my surprise at their unwillingness to 
 make so interesting an experiment. The proposal 
 originated in the distresses of Ireland, and is con- 
 tained in the ' Report of a Committee.' " 
 
 The Elder. — '^ I remember that singular pro- 
 duction : but it was one to be expected from those 
 who considered it their duty to guard against inno- 
 vation,* and more especially an innovation which 
 they falsely imagined would lead to consequences 
 detrimental to their own interests. To submit such 
 a proposition to their decision, was something like 
 sending the physician who had written in dispraise 
 of apple tarts, to be tried before a tribunal com- 
 posed of children. There were, however, some 
 members of the Government who had not given a 
 
 * "If men, during" ag-es of extensive reflection, and em- 
 ployed in the search of improvement, are wedded to their 
 institutions; and, labouring" under many acknowledg"ed 
 inconveniences, cannot break loose from the trammels of 
 custom ; what shall we suppose their humour to have been 
 in the times of Romulus and Lycurgus 1 They were not, 
 surely, more disposed to embrace the schemes of innovators, 
 or to shake off the impressions of habit ; they were not more 
 pliant and ductile, when their knowledge was less ; not more 
 capable of refinement, when their minds were more circum- 
 scribed. "—Fergusg^st on Civil Society. 
 
 s 2 
 
202 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 very decided opinion upon tlie proposed scheme ; 
 and it was tliouglit that they would have been dis- 
 posed to make an experiment, if their colleagues 
 in office had not been unwilling. There must have 
 been some circumstances, with which we are not 
 acquainted, that prevented the distinct avowal of 
 their sentiments." 
 
 Saadi. — '' But is the history of those times 
 silent upon that point? " 
 
 The Elder. — '' The intense interest that was 
 almost universally excited by the change which 
 speedily followed, so occupied the minds of men, 
 that the record of trifling circumstances was not 
 attended to." 
 
 Saadi. — '' But, scanty as the materials of your 
 history at that period may have been, I presume 
 it must be known what were the sentiments of the 
 king, — is it supposed that he was disinclined to the 
 measure ?" 
 
 The Elder. — '' So far as the character of the 
 king was known, he would have derived the most 
 heart-felt pleasure from the adoption of any plans 
 calculated to improve the condition of his people ;* 
 for it appears that upon all occasions he endea- 
 
 * " Rank, station, honours, are nothing- ; but to feel that 
 I live in the hearts of my subjects is to me the most exalted 
 happiness." — George IV., on landing upon the shores of 
 Ireland. 
 
THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 203 
 
 voured to conciliate Ms subjects. No sooner was 
 it intimated ttiat a visit to this part of the island, 
 and to Ireland, would gratify the inhabitants of 
 the two kingdoms, than he made preparations to 
 depart, when State affairs would permit. And at a 
 period when the funds arising from benevolent 
 subscriptions for the relief of the distressed manu- 
 facturers were nearly exhausted, munificent dona- 
 tions from the king were sent to their relief. But 
 with regard to any general system of policy, 
 whether foreign or domestic, the Ministers were 
 responsible : and as they had concluded that the 
 scheme was visionary, they were prevented from 
 detecting their mistakes by further inquiry ; and 
 thus the country was for some time deprived of 
 the only practical measure that could establish 
 permanent and general prosperity." 
 
 At this moment Douglas arrived. "You have," 
 said he, addressing himself to Saadi, after bowing 
 respectfully to the Elder, " quitted your rooms at 
 an earlier hour than usual this morning ; I have 
 been seeking you in various directions, for I have 
 news to tell you. A telegraphic communication 
 announces the approach of about five hundred indi- 
 viduals from distant communities, — they come to 
 visit those who have lately returned from Batavia. 
 They will arrive about mid-day, and the afternoon 
 will be spent in various amusements, which, if the 
 
204 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 day should continue favourable, will be chiefly in 
 the open air. This fine morning can be devoted to 
 the botanic and flower gardens, as also to the 
 museums." — '^And do not omit," said the Elder, 
 "to show our young friend the curious Arabian 
 illuminated Koran in the Oriental cabinet." 
 
 Douglas and Saadi took their leave ; and as they 
 returned to the hall to breakfast, Douglas observed 
 that the interesting old man they had just parted 
 with was Henry Mackenzie, the grandfather of 
 Margaret. " If there is any difference," said he, 
 *'in the ardour with which we seek the extension of 
 our system, the feelings of the venerable Mackenzie 
 are more intensely engaged in that important ob- 
 ject. He has profoundly studied the human mind, 
 and he is generally appealed to upon any difficulty 
 by metaphysical students." 
 
 After breakfast, the two friends proceeded to the 
 gardens : — they were inclosed by thick and lofty 
 hedges of white-thorn, which sheltered them from 
 the cold winds : the hot-houses were extensive and 
 complete ; the gardens were subdivided by dwarf 
 hedges of laurel. A number of girls and boys were 
 busily engaged, the latter with their barrows and 
 spades. The surrounding vegetation was highly 
 luxuriant. In one of the flower gardens they found 
 Margaret Mackenzie with a few of her companions, 
 occupied in the care of some rose trees. " What 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 205 
 
 pursnit/' observed Saadi to her, " can yield more 
 pleasure than the one in which you are engaged, 
 promoting the growth of the tree, until your care is 
 rewarded by the beautiful development of the full- 
 blown flower?" — " Interesting as this occupation 
 is," replied Margaret, " its gratifications fall far 
 short of those which the cultivation of the infant 
 mind affords.* With all our care we cannot pro- 
 duce a flower of surpassing or inimitable beauty ; 
 we know the utmost boundary of our efforts : but 
 in cultivating the rising generation, we are con- 
 scious of the power of forming minds superior to 
 those that have gone before, as every age adds 
 something to the accumulation of knowledge; and 
 the hope of applying this power with success ani- 
 mates us in all our endeavours. f Nor is there a 
 
 * " To aid thy mind's development,— to watch 
 Thy dawn of little joys, — to sit and see 
 Almost thy very growth, — to view thee catch 
 Knowledg-e of objects, wonders yet to thee !" 
 t " Perhaps there is no hig-her proof of the excellency of 
 man than this, — that to a mind properly cultivated, what- 
 ever is bounded is little. The mind is continually labouring- 
 to advance, step by step, through successive gradations of 
 excellence, towards perfection, which is dimly seen, at a 
 great though not hopeless distance, and which we must always 
 follow because we never can attain ; but the pursuit rewards 
 itself : one truth teaches another, and our store is always 
 increasing, though nature can never be exhausted." — 
 Sir Joshua Eeynolds : Qth Discourse. 
 
206 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 more interesting or curious process in nature, than 
 the operations which the minds, display from the 
 early dawn of reason to its gra dual advancement, 
 and in the full expansion of its powers." 
 
 Saadi. — '' And yet one of your poets, in depict- 
 ing the pleasure arising from the various objects 
 in nature, describes them as considerably height- 
 ened by the absence of man himself: — 
 
 " ' There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
 There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
 There is society, where none intrudes. 
 By the deep sea, and music in its roar : 
 I love not man the less, hut nature more, 
 From these our interviews, in which I steal 
 From all I may be, or have been before. 
 To mingle with the universe, and feel 
 
 What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.' " 
 
 Douglas. — " But where in the whole range of 
 the creation do we behold an object ' so wonderful, 
 so complicate' as man. Even as the ^paragon of 
 animals,' he exhibits in the curious mechanism of 
 the eye, and in the faculty of hearing, a specimen 
 of divine workmanship : in common with others, 
 he is endued with senses which enable him to 
 enjoy the fruits of the earth and the freshness of 
 the mountain breeze, but he is the only being 
 capable of contemplating, and of taking delight in, 
 the beauty and order of the universe ; if the inlets 
 of his knowledge are of themselves sufficient to 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 207 
 
 excite our wonder and admiration, how inimitable 
 must be that faculty which enables him to treasure 
 up knowledge for the guidance of his future con- 
 duct, and to transmit the inestimable riches of the 
 mind to succeeding ages : — yet this is the being, 
 'a little lower than the angels,' whom the poet 
 would exclude from his description of the beauties 
 of nature, the only object that could impart intelli- 
 gence and additional interest to his scene. But 
 the poet was right ; for in his days, institutions, 
 the offspring of ignorance, had marred the fairest 
 work in the creation." 
 
 '^ By way of antithesis to your stanza, allow 
 me to repeat an extract in prose from a contem- 
 porary author : — 
 
 " ' Man in a state of simplicity, uncorrupted by the 
 influence of bad education, bad examples, and bad 
 government, possesses a taste for all that is good and 
 beautiful. He is capable of a degree of moral and 
 intellectual improvement, which advances his nature to 
 a participation with the Divine. The world, in all its 
 magnificence, appears to him one vast theatre, richly- 
 adorned and illuminated, into which he is freely ad- 
 mitted, to enjoy the glorious spectacle. Acknowledging 
 no natural superior but the great Architect of the 
 whole fabric, he partakes the delight with conscious 
 dignity, and glows with gratitude. Pleased with him- 
 self and all around him, his heart dilates with benevo- 
 lence, as well as piety ; and he finds his joys augmented 
 by communication. His countenance cheerful, his 
 mien erect, he rejoices in existence. Life is a continual 
 feast to him, highly seasoned by virtue, by liberty, by 
 
208 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 mutual affection. God formed him to be happy, and he 
 becomes so, thus fortunately unmolested by false policy 
 and oppression. Religion, reason, nature, are his g-uides 
 through the whole of his existence, and the whole is 
 happy. Virtuous independence, the sun which irradiates 
 the morning of his day, and warms its noon, tinges the 
 serene evening with every beautiful variety of colour, 
 and on the pillow of religious hope he sinks to repose in 
 the bosom of Providence.' " — Dr. Knox. 
 
 Saadi. — " I know not in what quarter of the 
 globe the author could in this day ha^e found man 
 in that state of superior civilisation he has so 
 beautifully described, — he must have anticipated 
 the formation of your communities. I certainly 
 could not have expected, either from my experience 
 or reading, to have discovered societies so free 
 from crime, and in the enjoyment of so much 
 happiness as yours." 
 
 Margaret. — " Probably you had not investi- 
 gated the subject with much attention, or you 
 would have perceived that the causes of crime 
 were generally inherent in the constitution of 
 societies. By observing what crimes were peculiar 
 to each society, or to each class in a society, the 
 causes could be easily traced. All history, from 
 the creation of the world to the present period, 
 has proved that the character is formed by the 
 united influence of domestic, national, and other 
 circumstances acting upon the disposition imparted 
 by nature to the individual." 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 209 
 
 Douglas. — " In Persia, you would deem us all 
 profound metaphysicians : but we do not build upon 
 mere conjuncture regarding mind ; for the most 
 important facts in this branch of philosophy lie as 
 open to common observation, where interest is 
 excited, as the most obvious laws of nature."* 
 
 After visiting the various gardens, museums, 
 and theatres of anatomy, they returned to their 
 respective apartments. When the sound of the 
 bugle announced the hour of dining, Saadi repaired 
 to the hall. The visitors, on reaching Loch Lo- 
 mond, had divided into parties of fifty each, in order 
 to be conveniently accommodated at the different 
 communities. There were thirty in the dining- 
 room; but the visitors were all separated, and 
 each was seated near those who had been long 
 absent. The dinner over, the inhabitants and 
 their friends began to assemble on the borders of 
 the lake, and upon the islands, as they were 
 attracted by the different diversions. The amuse- 
 ments were of a nature likely to interest strangers, 
 being of a local character. There were several 
 sailing and rowing matches, with a splendid 
 regatta ; but which were instituted with a view of 
 
 * " Physical and mathematical truths," says Dr. Beattie, 
 " are often abstruse ; but facts and experiments relating to 
 the human mind, when expressed in proper words, ought to 
 "be obvious to all." — Introduction to Essay on Truth. 
 
 T 
 
210 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 ascertaining who were most skilful in tlieir par- 
 ticular avocations, and without prospect of reward 
 or distinction. In the narrow part of the lake, 
 and not far from. Rob E-oy's Cave, a band of music 
 was stationed a short distance up the mountain, 
 and another upon the side of a hill on the opposite 
 shore ; these bands played alternately, and some- 
 times together, or responsive to each other. All 
 the neighbouring communities participated in the 
 festivities, which were chiefly confined to the upper 
 part of the Loch. Near Tarbert there was erected 
 a circle with seats, rising one above the other in 
 imitation of the Colosseum at Rome, but upon a 
 smaller scale, with benches for about two thousand 
 persons ; upon these the elders were seated, to 
 see the young people dance in the area, which was 
 a fine turf surrounded by a border of flowers, 
 bounded by dwarf shrubs. The numerous assem- 
 blage of cheerful individuals tastefully attired, of 
 superior manners, together with the vessels deco- 
 rated with colours, and the bands of music at 
 different stations, all contributed to render the 
 scene highly brilliant, and surpassing anything of 
 the kind that Saadi had ever before witnessed. 
 As the sun declined, the music played an air com- 
 mencing, ^' Low sinks the Orb of Day," accom- 
 panied by innumerable voices ; sometimes the 
 voices of females only, then of boys, and afterwards 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 211 
 
 of men, while all appeared to feel the most lively 
 interest in the scene. The leader of the band took 
 a conspicuous station, and with his signal the 
 most exact time was preserved. The effect of the 
 grandeur of the scenery, gilded by the rays of the 
 setting sun, was heightened by the harmonious 
 voices of a happy people, in whom Saadi had 
 become warmly interested. For half an hour 
 after the sun had gone down, the company pro- 
 menaded in the colonnades and groves, when there 
 was a brilliant display of fireworks. Upon one of 
 the islands there was a small wooden structure, in 
 imitation of a temple, erected for the occasion ; it 
 was illuminated with gas in glasses of various 
 colours. At nine o'clock the concerts and balls 
 commenced, and lasted till eleven. — On his return, 
 Saadi found that his two faithful attendants had 
 been before him : they had trimmed his lamp and 
 prepared his coffee, notwithstanding they appeared 
 fatigued with the exertions of the day. Saadi 
 recommended them to retire to rest. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Welcome, ye marshy heaths ! ye pathless woods, 
 Where the rude native rests his wearied frame 
 Beneath the sheltering shade ; where when the storm, 
 As rough and bleak it rolls along the sky, 
 Benumbs his naked limbs, he flies to seek 
 The dripping shelter. Welcome, ye wild plains 
 Unbroken by the plough, undelved by hand 
 Of patient rustic." Southbt. 
 
 The festivities of the preceding day did not inter- 
 rupt the customary pursuits of the communities ; 
 but Saadi, wishing to indulge himself in his occa- 
 sional retirement, spent the chief part of the 
 morning in straying among the mountains, with 
 a volume of poems in his hand, containing, with 
 other of his favourite pieces, '^ Clifton Grove " by 
 Kirke White. — Douglas saw him about mid-day 
 sitting under a branching oak, and watching the 
 gambols of a herd of deer in the valley beneath. 
 He waited his descent, when he invited him to a 
 beautiful alcove close to the margin of the water, 
 and by the side of a mountain stream that fell 
 over a jutting rock into the lake. This was a 
 favourite resort of Margaret Mackenzie, and it was 
 
THE KEVOLT 0]? THE BEES. 213 
 
 indebted to her elegant taste for its cliief embel- 
 lishments. A mirror, with a frame formed of 
 shells fronting the entrance, reflected the opposite 
 mountains and the boats as they passed ; over the 
 mirror was a small marble tablet with the fol- 
 lowing inscription : — 
 
 " Gaze, stranger, here ! 
 
 And let thy soften'd heart intensely feel 
 How g-ood, how lovely. Nature !" 
 
 There were other poetical extracts inscribed on 
 boards encircled with wreaths of flowers beauti- 
 fully painted, some half-concealed by the jessamine 
 that spread itself luxuriantly around the interior 
 of the alcove. The entrance was a rustic portal 
 covered with ivy ; while the mignionette on each 
 side, and a stand of flowers in the centre, yielded 
 a most delicious fragrance. — '' What have you 
 there ? " inquired Saadi, seeing that Douglas held 
 a large scroll in his hand. 
 
 Douglas. — " A letter supposed to have been 
 written by a youth in London, who had been sent 
 there with a deputation from Manchester, during 
 the year 1826, to inquire what relief was in con- 
 templation for the distressed manufacturers. It 
 is, however, in the same handwriting as the manu- 
 script at the end of the Eeport of the Irish Com- 
 mittee ; and, as the narrative is equally at variance 
 T 2 
 
S14 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 in many respects witli the character of those 
 times, it is probable that, with some truth, a con- 
 siderable portion of fiction is blended. — Allusion 
 is made to the Report of an Emigration Com- 
 mittee, which is not extant, but its object may be 
 learnt from the letters themselves." 
 
 Saadi. — '' Believe me, Douglas, I was not 
 very anxious to hear more of these Reports of 
 Committees, but I must confess the subject awakens 
 my curiosity. — Emigration as the means of relief! 
 why I thought their miseries arose from possess- 
 ing too much ? When the Grecian colony was 
 led forth by Miltiades to the Golden Chersonesus, 
 they went to seek a greater extent of territory, 
 their own being insufficient for the supply of their 
 wants. If there is time before the bugle an- 
 nounces the dinner hour, I should be happy to 
 hear it." 
 
 Douglas. — " On the back of the scroll is written 
 as follows : — ' Charles Wansford, the son of poor 
 parents, weavers at Bradford, evinced such pre- 
 cocity of talent, that at the age of sixteen he was 
 sent with a deputation from the artizans to London, 
 to ascertaiQ what measures were in progress for 
 the relief of the unemployed.' The manuscript 
 contains the following letter addressed by him to 
 his brother Henry, disclosing some particulars in 
 the history of that period:" — 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 215 
 
 CHAELES WANSFOED TO HIS EEOTHEE HEMT. 
 
 The melancholy errand that bronght me 
 hither has prevented my noticing, except in a 
 slight manner, the magnificence of this great me- 
 tropolis : but I am so overwhelmed with anxiety 
 for the distresses of our dear parents, that I can 
 scarcely allow myself a moment's relief in the 
 contemplation of any other object. Indeed our 
 condition is truly pitiable ; — to behold an indus- 
 trious family in vain seeking employment ; a 
 father and mother hastening to a premature grave, 
 and their children languishing for food without 
 any prospect of relief, although we are told there 
 is plenty in the land, — are reflections too afflicting 
 for the stoutest heart to bear. — You remember, 
 Henry, that dreadful period before the London 
 Benevolent Society afforded us a seasonable relief, 
 when famine had almost approached our doors, 
 we were prevailed upon to attend a public meet- 
 ing on the Downs. With what horror did we 
 shrink from the insidious and wicked proposal of 
 an appeal to arms ! We suspected at the time 
 that those who would have instigated us to the 
 commission of crimes, the bare mention of which 
 chills me with horror, were actuated by motives 
 widely different from those which had drawn the 
 wretched sufferers to the spot. They told us that 
 the higher classes delighted in oppression, and 
 
216 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 that they were deaf to the cries of hunger and 
 distress. Since our arrival, we have had inter- 
 views with many influential persons, all anxiously 
 inquiring and seeking the means of relief; and at 
 no period has so strong a desire been manifested 
 by all ranks to elevate the labourers in the scale 
 of society. But the different classes are so much 
 unknown to each other, that severe distress is not 
 heard of even in contiguous districts ; and the 
 sufferers of Manchester, or even of London, may 
 be as unheeded as those who are enduring the 
 calamities of an earthquake in the Caraccas. 
 
 Among the various remedies that have been 
 suggested, that of Emigration upon a large scale 
 has excited some attention. The publication of a 
 Report of the Committee has created a strong 
 sensation, and led to remarkable events. Through 
 the interest of one of the County members, our 
 deputation was admitted into the House of Com- 
 mons just as the members of the Committee ap- 
 peared at the bar by order of the Speaker. He 
 informed them, that " while there was such 
 abundance of food, he could perceive no necessity 
 for emigration ; but at a period of general calamity 
 he was not unwilling to try various experiments, 
 if they were not attended with any material sacri- 
 fices, and more especially as there might be some 
 portion of the community whose presence could 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 217 
 
 be dispensed with; — lie chiefly alluded to those 
 who, with the best intentions, had failed in being 
 of any essential service to their country : among 
 those were the Committee themselves ; and, as 
 they had bestowed great attention on the advan- 
 tages of emigration, and were well apprised of its 
 difficulties, they would be better prepared than 
 any other individuals to encounter danger." 
 
 It is impossible for me to convey an ade- 
 quate idea of the consternation and dismay that 
 were depicted in the countenances of the Com- 
 mittee. They replied, that although they had 
 recommended emigration, they were influenced 
 by the opinions of the Political Economists. " If 
 that be the case," rejoined the Speaker, ^' they 
 shall certainly accompany you. In the meantime, 
 let them be called in." 
 
 The Political Economists entered with a re- 
 markable air of self-sufficiency and gaiety, and 
 their countenances displayed a singular contrast 
 to the downcast looks of the Committee. But 
 when the determination of the Speaker was made 
 known to them, they were no longer to be dis- 
 tinguished at a short distance from their partners 
 in distress. They informed the Speaker that 
 '' they were greatly surprised and mortified to 
 find that it was proposed they should emigrate ; 
 as they never contemplated such a measure, ex- 
 
218 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 cept for those wlio were unemployed, and not in 
 possession of a ' decent competence.' They 
 feared that their motives had been misrepresented ; 
 as they had been exposed to much vulgar abuse, 
 notwithstanding they had long laboured for the 
 public good, in prosecuting their profound re- 
 searches. They therefore trusted that the Speaker 
 would allow them to remain at home, and dis- 
 patch those who were totally destitute." — The 
 Speaker rose, and with a voice and manner that 
 reminded me of the descriptions we have read of 
 a Roman senator, addressed them as follows : — 
 
 " What unavailing complaints of persecution 
 do I hear ! They cannot be the voices of men 
 whose minds are congenial with those sublime 
 spirits, devoted even to the termination of their 
 earthly existence in conferring lasting benefits upon 
 mankind ! those who travelled many a weary pil- 
 grimage in rescuing the oppressed, or in adminis- 
 tering succour to the afflicted ! or those who in pro- 
 claiming their valuable discoveries in the sciences, 
 have been exposed to the scoffs of interested pre- 
 judice, and to the contumely and insults of pride 
 and ignorance ! — nor can they proceed from such 
 as are animated by kindred feelings with those 
 immortal reformers, whose unshrinking integrity 
 and unconquerable perseverance triumphed over 
 imprisonment, torture, and even death itself, and, 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 219 
 
 at lengtli, silenced tlie tliunders of the Vatican ! 
 These are the characters with whom you can never 
 hope to rank, until time and circumstances have 
 inspired you with the same zeal in the sacred cause 
 of truth, which you have hitherto displayed in the 
 propagation of error. You have propounded 
 theories flattering to the prejudices of the rich, but 
 which have consigned the people to endless and 
 unrequited toil, to starvation, or to banishment ; 
 your crude theories have been worse than useless ; 
 you have rejected as visionary projects which were 
 capable of restoring prosperity to the country, 
 while you murmur at the epithets applied to your 
 own conflicting opinions. Diligently have I perused 
 the arguments on both sides ; and I must acknow- 
 ledge that your reasoning has been more unintel- 
 ligible, and your expressions less courteous, than 
 those of your opponents. 
 
 '' Never can we banish the producers of wealth. 
 On the contrary, we will enable those who are 
 desirous of employment to supply their mutual 
 wants ; — if you must have emigration, let the idle 
 consumers alone depart from the land of their 
 fathers. Have we not from time immemorial 
 endeavoured to instil into the minds of the people 
 a love of their country ? and, if we offer violence to 
 their most interesting associations, and dispatch 
 them away, will they not reply with the Canadian 
 
220 THE KEVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 chiefs, who, when solicited to emigrate, exclaimed,-^ 
 ' What ! shall we say to the bones of our fathers, 
 Arise, and go with us into a foreign land?' 
 
 '* The reasons which you offer as an excuse for 
 your remaining in England, are with me the most 
 cogent for your departure : for with all the facili- 
 ties that can be afforded to emigrants, unforeseen 
 difficulties may arise ; and who so skilled to over- 
 come them, as those who have drunk deep at the 
 fountains of political wisdom? or who so well armed 
 with the means of carrying their schemes into effect, 
 as those who are at least in possession of a ^decent 
 competence?' I will, however, offer you some 
 advice and local information regarding the countries 
 to which you are destined. 
 
 " Should the fears of a redundant population 
 still annoy you; — should this hobgoblin pursue 
 you across the Atlantic, and drive you breathless 
 into the Shawnee Country, there you will discover 
 no grounds for alarm : for in that thinly peopled 
 continent, population (to use one of your favourite 
 phrases) may 'go on doubling' for many centuries 
 to come; and besides, so interminable are the for- 
 ests of lofty trees and thick underwood, that ages 
 must elapse ere ' the supply of labour can exceed 
 the demand.' Each of you, therefore, may take 
 unto himself a squaw, and cultivate connubial bliss, 
 fearless of the consequences either to himself, to 
 
THE EEVOLT OE THE BEES. 221 
 
 his immediate descendants, or even to a remote 
 posterity. 
 
 " If you should be induced to travel towards the 
 south, you must proceed with the utmost caution, 
 for at every step you will be in danger of treading 
 upon a rattlesnake. — I am, however, happy to in- 
 form you, that there is a remedy recently discovered 
 for this calamity, and which proves, after a pro- 
 tracted but painful illness, an infallible cure for the 
 severest bite. — Among the extensive marshes, the 
 draining of which will yield you constant employ- 
 ment, swarms of musquitos will assail you; but, as 
 philosophers have observed, there is seldom an 
 evil without its attendant good, — the more you are 
 tormented by these pestiferous insects, the more 
 protection you will require ; and thus increased 
 activity will be given to the gauze manufactories 
 of the mother country. 
 
 " In those remote and desolate regions, when far 
 removed from the seductive allurements of society, 
 your minds will be abstracted, and you will view all 
 things with the single eye of truth. Alike subject 
 to those frailties of human nature which you deem 
 incurable, here you may have felt a latent and 
 unconscious bias in favour of the higher classes; — 
 stars, garters, and the glittering coronet, alas ! few 
 can resist : and even the claret and burgundy you 
 have imbibed at the tables of the great, may have 
 u 
 
222 THE REYOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 given to your sentiments a tinge. But when the 
 eye meets nothing but the gloomy forest, or the 
 cheerless vapours of dreary andunboundedmarshes, 
 — then will you fall back upon your own resources; 
 and, still holding us in affectionate remembrance, 
 you will transmit the fruits of your deep musings 
 and solitary cogitations. 
 
 '^ As the first dawning of the sciences arose in 
 Arabia, and from thence passed to the westward 
 through Egypt and Greece, and we are now reflect- 
 ing the light of knowledge upon those who once 
 deemed us barbarians ; so may Europe be destined 
 to receive instruction from the Backwoods-men in 
 the wilds of America. 
 
 '' Preparatory to these achievements, — and, as 
 I am informed that you have affected to despise some 
 of the most able productions of your opponents, 
 which you are unable to refute, or unwilling to in- 
 vestigate, — I recommend you carefully to peruse 
 these works, and pass your judgment upon them, 
 in order that the public may be enabled to decide 
 how far you have emancipated yourselves from the 
 character given of you many years since by D'Israeli, 
 and which for your edification I will repeat : — 
 
 " ' Absorbed in the contemplation of material 
 objects, and rejecting whatever does not enter 
 into their own restricted notions of utility, these 
 cold arithmetical seers, with nothing but millions 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 223 
 
 in their imaginations, and whose choicest works 
 of art are spinning-jennies, have valued the intel- 
 lectual tasks of the library and the studio by '' the 
 demand and the supply." 
 
 '^ ^ In their commercial, agricultural, and manu- 
 facturing view of human nature, addressing so- 
 ciety by its most pressing wants and its coarsest 
 feelings, they limit the moral and physical ex- 
 istence of man by speculative tables of population. 
 Planning and levelling society down in their car- 
 pentry of human nature, they would yoke and 
 harness the loftier spirits to one common and 
 vulgar destination. Man is considered only as 
 he wheels on the wharf, or as he spins in the 
 factory. But man, as a recluse being of medi- 
 tation, or impelled to action by more generous 
 passions, has been struck out of the system of our 
 Political Economists.'* 
 
 " I hope you will earnestly endeavour to profit 
 by these remarks, and henceforward consider 
 man as destined to act a more distinguished part 
 than merely to supply his animal desires, — that 
 you will not display so much laborious trifling in 
 teaching us that which has long been known ; for 
 we require not to be informed how to create wealth, 
 — it exists in superfluity : instruct us rather how 
 
 * " D'Israeli on the Literary Character." 
 
224 THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 
 
 we can best apply it so as to improve our moral 
 and intellectual character." 
 
 A few days afterwards, while standing at the 
 window of my apartment, which is an attic at the 
 lower end of St. Martin's Court, I was surprised 
 to see a procession pass along the Strand to take 
 water at Hungerford Stairs. They proved to be 
 the Political Economists themselves, with a nu- 
 merous body of emigrants. The cavalcade was 
 preceded by a gentleman in black : his hat was 
 slouched over his eyes ; and the brim, which was 
 somewhat broad, appeared to have been once 
 fastened up in a clerical shape, but the loops had 
 given way, and left it doubtful whether the wearer 
 was still a clergyman or not : he held in his hand 
 a large manuscript, which he was perpetually 
 altering ; and I have since been informed by those 
 who stood near, that the words " Principle of 
 Population " was conspicuous, and that there was 
 an astonishing number of corrections : — his coun- 
 tenance was melancholy, and betrayed symptoms 
 of disappointment, — 
 
 " With broken lyre and cheek serenely pale, 
 Lo ! sad Alcseus wanders down the vale." 
 
 The Political Economists followed him at some 
 distance, but with reluctant step ; for they now 
 regarded him as the author of all their calamities ; 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE BEES. 225 
 
 althougli in the zenith of his fame they attended 
 constantly at his levees, and repeated his decisions 
 to the wondering multitude as the oracles of 
 wisdom ; little dreaming into what a labyrinth of 
 error he would lead them. At a short distance 
 from the Economists there was a numerous body 
 of emigrants hastening away, alarmed by the fears 
 of a redundant population. Although their de-' 
 parture was considered as a happy release to the 
 country, and St. Martin's bells rang a muffled 
 yet merry peal, as if participating in the rejoicing 
 tempered by regret, I could not help repeating 
 the lines of Goldsmith, as they descended Hun- 
 gerford Stairs : 
 
 " Even now, methinks, as pondering" here I stand, 
 I see the rural Virtues leave the land. 
 Down where yon anchoring" vessel spreads the sail. 
 That idly waiting" flaps with every g'ale. 
 Downward they move — a melancholy band, 
 Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand." 
 
 Should any plans of practical utility be adopted, 
 you will hear further from me. 
 
 Charles Wansford. 
 
 Saadi. — " They must have had a noble Presi- 
 dent in those days. His power, however, was 
 rather despotic, and not much unlike that of our 
 Oriental monarchs, whose will is the law." 
 
 Douglas, — '' This narrative cannot be true : 
 u 2 
 
226 THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 but that much distress prevailed in those times, 
 we have abundant historical evidence. — As the 
 bugle is sounding, we must obey the summons." 
 
 In the evening, Saadi retired early for the 
 purpose of writing to Almured, as a vessel was on 
 the point of sailing from Greenock. Before the 
 hour of rest was arrived, Saadi had completed the 
 following letter : — 
 
CHAPTEE XL 
 
 The friends of reason, and tte guides of youth ; 
 Whose language breathed the eloquence of truth ; 
 Whose life beyond preceptive wisdom taught 
 The great in conduct and the pure in thought ; — 
 These still exist." Rogeks. 
 
 SAADI TO ALMIJEED. 
 
 Rejoice, my revered friend, — rejoice, Almured, 
 for soon shall Persia be happy under the benig- 
 nity of your councils. Often have I listened with 
 scepticism to your glowing descriptions of the 
 future happiness of man, when his changing poli- 
 cies should be superseded by the invariable prin- 
 ciples of science ; but now I have ceased to wonder 
 at your enthusiasm, and I look back with surprise 
 at my own ignorance, when observing the sim- 
 plicity of the regulations by which these societies 
 are governed. 
 
 The letter I addressed to you within two 
 days of my arrival, conveyed an account of the 
 external appearance and local situation of the 
 communities ; but, as you will be anxious to learn 
 the character of the inhabitants in general, I will 
 now briefly state the result of my observations 
 
228 THE REVOLT OE THE BEES. 
 
 after a few weeks' residence. I confess witli shame, 
 that so little attention had I devoted to this inter- 
 esting subject, that whenever a community upon 
 a system of equal property was mentioned, I 
 always pictured to myself some fanatical or reli- 
 gious society, such as those of the Shakers and 
 Moravians, where peculiar doctrines must neces- 
 sarily prevail, as an indispensable bond of union : 
 judge, then, how great was my surprise to find, 
 instead of a people contracted in their views, a 
 race of men of benevolent and liberal sentiments, 
 of manners elegant, — highly intellectual, and of 
 noble aspect. 
 
 The stranger, on his first arrival, is struck 
 with the solidity and splendour of the edifices, the 
 luxuriance of the fields, gardens, and parks, the 
 profusion of the products of foreign commerce, 
 and of domestic industry ; at the same time re- 
 marking the small portion of time in which the 
 inhabitants are productively occupied. In a few 
 days, however, he discovers the secret, in the 
 judicious appliance of every talent or power, 
 physical or mental, both individually and collec- 
 tively. As the diminutive ants by their united 
 efforts remove in a few hours the enormous weight 
 from their citadel, so do the inhabitants accom- 
 plish Herculean objects with a rapidity which, to 
 those who have not observed the power derived 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. S29 
 
 from the simultaneous and concentrated exertions 
 of large numbers, appears almost incredible. For 
 the more stupendous results of their combination, 
 they are indebted to the mutual aid of several 
 communities, alternately assisting each other, and 
 also to the astonishing power of their machinery, 
 which is brought to the very highest perfection. 
 Chemistry and mechanism, and indeed the general 
 principles of all the sciences, are familiar, theo- 
 retically and practically, to every individual. 
 With such qualifications, united to vigorous health, 
 you will readily conceive them to be most efficient 
 co-operators. 
 
 Besides the vast superiority these people exhi- 
 bit in mental attainments, they differ from all others 
 in the careful and peculiar education of the females, 
 who are equally well informed with the men upon 
 all subjects, to which they subsequently devote the 
 same attention; indeed, the superiority found in 
 either sex appears to arise from the opportunities 
 which their respective avocations afford them, after 
 arriving at an adult age.* In a knowledge of those 
 
 * " That both, sexes are equally capable of being- taught, 
 of comprehending-, appreciating-, and making- their own, all 
 the knowledg-e accumulated on moral and physical subjects, 
 and judging- of that knowledg-e, similar facilities being- 
 afforded to each, the most ample experience has fully 
 proved." — Thompson's Appeal of Women, p. 136. 
 
230 THE REYOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 sciences the practical application of which requires 
 greater strength, the men generally excel ; but in 
 those best suited to the habits of females, their 
 perception is most improved. In the study of the 
 nature and operations of the human mind, from 
 which the Persian ladies are debarred, the females 
 here are the most assiduous ; for, as the care of in- 
 fants and of the earliest instruction of youth belong 
 to them, it is considered of the greatest importance 
 that they should be well grounded in whatever 
 relates to the formation of character; and this 
 knowledge, they say, is acquired less through the 
 medium of metaphysical writings, than by a df^^ly 
 observation of the living subject. The high intel- 
 ligence of the females has entirely dissipated the 
 long prevailing error, that their intellectual powers 
 are inferior to those of men; and while they display 
 an elevation of character that commands admiration, 
 they possess a sweetness of disposition and a kind- 
 ness of manner that win upon the heart. 
 
 But language would fail me were I to attempt 
 a description of the rapid progress made by the 
 children, animated by an insatiable thirst for the 
 acquisition of knowledge, and an enthusiasm in the 
 exercise of benevolent feeling. I have had frequent 
 opportunities of observing with great pleasure their 
 attention to the aged ; but one instance proved so in- 
 teresting to me, that I must relate the particulars. 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 231 
 
 One evening, after wandering alone among the 
 lovely scenery that skirts the lake, I sauntered np 
 a meadow in which there was a gently sloping hill 
 crowned with a wood. As I ascended the hill, my 
 ear was saluted with the sweetest melody, accom- 
 panied by the voices of children. Curiosity 
 prompted me to draw near ; and I seated myself 
 upon a rustic chair, under a hawthorn hedge, suffi- 
 ciently nigh to hear, though the party were 
 obscured from my view. They were singing 
 some stanzas from one of their favourite poems, 
 '^Beattie's Minstrel,^^ and I could distinctly hear 
 the following : — 
 
 " how canst thou renounce the boundless store 
 Of charms which JNature to her votary yields ! 
 The warbling- woodland, the resounding* shore, 
 The pomp of g-roves, and g-arniture of fields ; 
 All that the g-enial ray of morning* gilds, 
 And all that echoes to the song* of even ; 
 All that the mountain's sheltering' bosom shields, 
 And all the dread magnificence of heaven, — 
 
 0, how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven I" 
 
 In a short time the music ceased, when I beheld a 
 venerable old man, blind, with a harp hanging by 
 his side, and a number of young children walking 
 with him. They were relating some of the occur- 
 rences of the day, upon which he appeared to be 
 commenting and deducing useful instruction. 
 
 I must not omit to mention a very striking 
 
232 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 peculiarity in the character of the inhabitants of 
 these happy communities. At every period of life 
 they manifest the same artlessness of manner and 
 ingenuous conduct so interesting in children.* 
 Their countenances are not disfigured by the cor- 
 roding cares of perpetual strife ; they have neither 
 the superciliousness of pride, nor the dejection of 
 poverty : but everywhere you meet with a cheer- 
 ful serenity and a dignity unaffected. 
 
 There is no appearance of that monotony of 
 character of which some have been apprehensive ; 
 
 * "I cannot help considering* all, or almost all, that 
 which is called original corruption, and evil disposition, to 
 be the effects of the s^ystem of civilisation (falsely so called) ; 
 and particularly that prominent feature of it, the great 
 inequality of property. Do we not see in children artless 
 simplicity, pure disinterestedness, and benevolence, so con- 
 stantly, as to be characteristic of that age ; and does not 
 Scripture itself characterise children by those qualities, 
 and, as such, declare them fit for the reception of the Gospel? 
 As they advance in Hfe, the natural dispositions of that age 
 become gradually altered and corrupted. I would ask, 
 whether any other cause whatever is so well adapted to 
 counteract and destroy these good qualities of simplicity, dis- 
 interestedness, and benevolence, as the 7)ii?ie and thine esta- 
 blished in such a rigorous and unrelenting manner ? 
 
 " What so effectually opposes disinterestedness, as the 
 necessity they see, as soon as they can observe anything, 
 their parents are under, of considering themselves onl}'- ; and 
 that, with all the attention to themselves only, and to their 
 wants, they are still so ill provided."— Dr. Hall's Effects of 
 Civilisation, p. 214: "Phoenix Library." 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 233 
 
 as a great diversity of dispositions and pursuits 
 prevails. They are uniform in those qualities only 
 which distinguish men of superior education : hav- 
 ing acquired an early taste for the scenes of Nature, 
 their minds are better prepared to promote and to 
 enjoy a corresponding order and beauty in the 
 moral world. Their love of Nature's works is so 
 general, as to appear almost instinctive: — 
 
 " the love of Nature's works 
 
 Is an ing-redient in the compound man, 
 
 Infused at the creation of the kind. 
 
 And, thoug-h th' Ahuig-hty Maker has throug-hout 
 
 Discriminated each from each, by strokes 
 
 And touches of his hand, with so much art 
 
 Diversified, that two were never found 
 
 Twins at all points, — yet this obtains in all, 
 
 That all discern a beauty in his works, 
 
 And all can taste them : minds that have been form'd 
 
 And tutor'd, with a relish more exact, 
 
 But none without some relish, none unmoved." * 
 
 When I have remarked upon, and extolled, these 
 excellencies, they reply, that if the conduct of their 
 fellow-citizens exhibited not a combination of all 
 
 * It is curious to remark the different arg'uments ag-ainst 
 systems of mutual co-operation : they are even more op- 
 posed to each other than to the constitution of society which 
 the^' join in condemning". The one saying that "itisim- 
 poft^^ible to make all men alike :" the other, that " a dull 
 uniformity of character will be produced." This last attri- 
 butes more power to the principle of Co-operation than its 
 •warmest friends contend for. 
 
234 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 that is really estimable, they would immediately 
 deem their institutions imperfect, and then search 
 for the cause, either in the matter of instruction in 
 their colleges, in the laws of the community, or in 
 some of the minor regulations ; for it has been 
 their constant endeavour to form a union of such 
 circumstances only as experience has proved are 
 most conducive to virtue and to happiness. 
 
 I can observe scarcely any distinction in the 
 deference and attention they pay to each other, 
 excepting that which age or experience commands. 
 I should, however, except those also who are 
 afflicted with any disease or natural infirmity, for 
 they are the objects who chiefly attract the sympathy 
 of the whole community ; and it is truly gratifying 
 to behold to how great an extent their sufferings 
 appear to be alleviated by the assiduous and affec- 
 tionate attention of surrounding friends. 
 
 Such is the delightful result of the application 
 to practice of those invaluable principles of which 
 you have so long been the unwearied and ardent 
 advocate. Proceed, then, Almured, in your enlight- 
 ened and glorious career; sufier not Persia to 
 exhibit those melancholy scenes which once dis- 
 graced this country ; when the light of knowledge 
 and the darkness of ignorance were co-existent ; 
 when the clouds of prejudice intercepted the rays 
 of truth ; when a religion inculcating the sublimest 
 
THE EEVOLT Or THE BEES. 235 
 
 precepts of charity was professed, while a system 
 was upheld, fruitful in all the vices which that 
 religion condemned; when riches and poverty dwelt 
 together in the same land, and, with pampering 
 luxury and wasting famine, shared in the desolation 
 of the human frame. Far different will be the fate 
 of Persia, and of all countries, when science, 
 dawning upon the social economy of man, shall have 
 taught a beneficial appropriation of wealth : then 
 shall health be enjoyed, purer than the lilies of 
 Teflis, and more fragrant than the roses of Cash- 
 mere ; the intercourse of nations shall be harmo- 
 nious as the songs of Mirza; "there shall be no 
 leading into captivity, and no complaining in our 
 streets ;" for then shall the widow cease to mourn, 
 and the orphan no longer need a protector. 
 
 But if, among the splendid results of this tran- 
 scendant change, the alleviation of misery and the 
 banishment of moral evil are the primary objects of 
 our solicitude, we may still be allowed to hail in 
 the approaching era, the rapid advances which 
 mankind will make towards the attainment of that 
 intellectual greatness and elevated character, to 
 which they are evidently destined. When we reflect 
 upon the myriads who have passed their allotted 
 time upon the earth, and observe how small is 
 the number of those who have displayed any mental 
 superiority, they appear to have served merely as 
 
236 THE EEVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 lights to exhibit the extent of the surrounding dark- 
 ness. But if, with the very limited cultivation be- 
 stowed upon the human mind, the world has been 
 enlightened with the profound discoveries of a 
 Kepler and a Newton, — enchanted with the gran- 
 deur and sublimity of a Homer and a Milton, — 
 with the vivid imagery and luxuriant fancy of a 
 Spenser and a Shakspeare, — and with the melody 
 of our own Hafiz ; what may we not expect when 
 ^* knowledge shall cover the earth, as the waters 
 cover the sea ?" 
 
 Never has genius in her happiest hours, or in 
 her most exalted aspirations, conceived the intellec- 
 tual glories that await mankind, on the revival of 
 that prophetic day, ^^when the morning stars sang 
 together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy," 
 and when the globe itself shall become the living 
 temple of virtue and of science, and reflect a 
 brighter efiulgence as it moves onward through the 
 firmament of heaven. 
 
 Saadi. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " See there the olive- grove of Academe, 
 Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird 
 Trills her thick- warbled notes the summer long ; 
 There flowery hill, Hymettus, with the sound 
 Of bees' industrious murmur, oft invites 
 To studious musing." Milton. 
 
 We must now return to our colony upon Ben 
 Lomond, whose bleak atmosphere rendered all tlie 
 magic influence of the wand of Allan Ramsay 
 necessary to preserve them from a torpid state. 
 So effectually, however, was this influence exerted, 
 that the bees were deeply interested in all the 
 proceedings about Loch Lomond. Already had 
 the disaffected lost most of their prejudices, when 
 an event took place, on the morning after the fes- 
 tivities, which entirely dissipated every remaining 
 antipathy to mutual co-operation. Under the 
 brow of a hill which gradually rises above the 
 village of Luss, there was a considerable number 
 of glass hives ; and, as the inhabitants were about 
 to remove a portion of the honey, the Genius 
 directed the attention of his assembly to their 
 operations. Instead of cruelly destroying the 
 bees, as the poet pathetically laments, — 
 Y 2 
 
238 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 " Ah see where robb'd, and murder'd in that pit 
 Lies the still heaving hive ! at evening* snatch'd, 
 Beneath the cloud of g-uilt-concealing* night, 
 And fix'd o'er sulphur : while, not dreaming- ill, 
 The happy people in their waxen cells, 
 Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes 
 Of temperance, for Winter poor ; rejoiced 
 To mark, full flowing round, their copious stores. 
 Sudden the dark oppressive steam ascends ; 
 And, used to milder scents, the tender race. 
 By thousands, tumble from their honey'd domes, 
 Convolved, and agonising in the dust. 
 Ah ! was it then for this you roam'd the spring, 
 Intent from flower to flower ; for this you toiFd 
 Ceaseless the burning summer-heats away ? 
 For this in autumn search'd the blooming waste, 
 ]N'or lost one sunny gleam, — for this sad fate 'I 
 man ! tyrannic lord ! how long, how long, 
 Shall prostrate Nature groan beneath your rage. 
 Awaiting renovation ? When obliged 
 Must you destroy 1 Of their ambrosial food 
 Can you not borrow ; and, in just return, 
 Afford them shelter from the wintry winds ?" 
 
 a small part only of the honey was abstracted, and 
 without the destruction of a single bee.* When 
 this was beheld by the spectators on the mountain, 
 
 * " I esteem Colonna more entitled to the honours of a 
 monument, for having introduced the practice of obtaining 
 honey without destroying the bees, into the vale of Festiniog, 
 than Field Marshal Turenne. Turenne destroyed his thou- 
 sands ; Colonna has preserved his tens of thousands ; — Tu- 
 renne's monument is of marble, — let Colonna's be formed of 
 honeycomb !" — See Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities 
 of Nature, l)y Mr. Bucke. 
 
THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 239 
 
 their joy became unbounded. They flew around 
 the Genius in the greatest ecstasy, and all de- 
 clared that henceforward they would live together 
 in amity. Orpheus and his followers delighted in 
 the anticipation of the happiness that awaited 
 them on their return to the laws of nature, felt no 
 discomfiture in the overthrow of their theories ; 
 and Emilius, disdaining to triumph in a victory so 
 joyous to all, embraced with ardour his former 
 opponents. The Genius finding their conviction 
 complete, prepared to depart ; but, as night came 
 on, the clouds collected in masses mid-way down 
 the mountain, and gave every indication of an 
 approaching storm. Heavy clouds sailed in from 
 the west, and entirely obscured the view of the 
 communities, while the summit of the mountain 
 was perfectly serene. Soon the lightning began 
 to flash, and the thunder to roll : but on the eastern 
 side there was an almost unfathomable precipice, 
 and there the tempest raged with redoubled vio- 
 lence; — nothing could exceed the fury of the 
 elemental strife, the terrific glare of the lightning, 
 and the deafening peals of thunder. Over this 
 frightful scene the Genius waved his wand, and 
 exclaimed, " Behold the demon of discord, ruling 
 paramount over his turbulent empire, the chaos 
 of Competition." And as the vivid flashes illu- 
 minated the dread abyss, there appeared in the 
 
240 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 midst a hideous r^onster of gigantic stature, 
 wearing an iron crown, and seated on a tlirone 
 raised upon the tombs of those who had been 
 consigned to a premature grave, from the sorrows 
 and conflicts of contending interests. Surrounding 
 this throne, but at some distance, were small 
 eminences, with men attempting to climb to the 
 summit ; but when they had got half way up, or 
 even higher, they fell to the bottom, or pulled 
 down others, whom they destroyed, for the sake 
 of supplanting them.* 
 
 Of the millions endeavouring to rise, but a few 
 reached the summits ; which even when attained, 
 disappointment lowered on their brows, for they 
 envied those whose eminences were still higher 
 than their own, while they in turn excited the 
 
 * " Like so many buckets in a well, as one riseth, 
 another falleth, one's empty, another's full ; his ruin is a 
 ladder to the third; — such are our ordinary proceedings. 
 What's the market? A place, according* to Anacharsis, 
 wherein they cozen one another, a trap : nay, what's the 
 world itself? A vast chaos, a confusion of manners, as 
 fickle as the air, domicilium insanorum, a turbulent troop 
 full of impurities, a mart of walking* spirits, g-oblins, the 
 theatre of hyprocrisy, a shop of knavery, flattery, a nursery 
 of villany, the scene of babbhng-, the school of giddiness, 
 the academy of vice ; a warfare uH velis nolis piignandum, 
 aut vincas aut succumhas, in which kill or be killed ; 
 wherein every man is for himself, his private ends, and 
 stands upon his own g-uard." — Burton's Anatomy. 
 
THE KEVOLT OF THE BEES. 241 
 
 envy of all below. The failure of the multitude 
 did not abate this general eagerness to ascend; 
 for the unfortunate, however numerous, were soon 
 lost sight of and forgotten, while the successful 
 few occupied conspicuous stations. Again the 
 Genius waved his wand, and the demon with his 
 throne vanished, '' like the baseless fabric of a 
 vision," and his empire was but dimly seen : the 
 storm began to subside; and, as the lightning 
 played with less intensity, it disclosed in a lower 
 depth, the gulph of oblivion. Hither were hast- 
 ening all the supports and appendages of the Com- 
 petitive System;* — prisons, and the terrible in- 
 
 * " From this principle of individual interest have arisen 
 all the divisions of mankind, the endless errors and mis- 
 chiefs of class, sect, party, and of national antipathies, cre- 
 ating- the ang-ry and malevolent passions, and all the crimes 
 and misery with which the human race has been hitherto 
 afflicted. In short, if there be one closet doctrine more con- 
 trary to truth than another, it is the notion that individual 
 interest, as that term is now understood, is a more advan- 
 tageous principle on which to found the social system, for 
 the benefit of all, or of any, than the principle of union 
 and mutual co-operation. The former acts like an immense 
 weight to repress the most valuable faculties and disposi- 
 tions, and to give a wrong* direction to all the human 
 powers. It is one of those mag-nificent errors (if the ex- 
 pression may be allowed), that, when enforced in practice, 
 bring-s ten thousand evils in its train. The principle on 
 which these economists proceed, instead of adding- to the 
 wealth of nations or of individuals, is itself the sole cause of 
 
242 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 strumentsofpunishment, with books and pamphlets 
 out of number — Puffendorf, Vatel, Coke, Littleton, 
 the Statutes at large, Currency, National Debt, 
 Principle of Population, &c., &c. 
 
 A volume of clouds rolled over the gulf ; and 
 then gradually opening, an immense globe turning 
 on its axis, and representing the earth, emerged 
 from the centre. The seasons, and all the opera- 
 tions of nature, appeared in rapid succession : the 
 seed dropped into the ground, and soon reappeared 
 in the beautiful form of the flower ; the acorn fell, 
 and anon the oak extended its luxuriant branches. 
 Each revolution, instead of describing diurnal 
 changes, exhibited a different era. At the first, 
 mankind were seen in the hunting state, — ^' When 
 first in woods the noble savage ran.'' At the 
 second, shepherds were tending their flocks, and 
 playing on the oaten pipe, — '^ Silvestrem tenui 
 musam meditaris avena'^ At the third revolution, 
 
 poverty ; and but for its operation, wealth would long* ago 
 have ceased to be a subject of contention in any part of the 
 world. If, it may be asked, experience has proved that 
 union, combination, and extensive arrangement among man- 
 kind, are a thousand times more powerful to destroy, than 
 the efforts of an unconnected multitude, where each acts in- 
 dividually for himself, — would not a similar increased effect 
 be produced by union, combination, and extensive arrange- 
 ment, to create and conserve?"— Rejjort to the County of 
 Lanark. 
 
THE RETOLT OP THE BEES. S43 
 
 the plougli was in the ground, and the right of pri- 
 vate property was established. Then commenced 
 usurpation, robbery, and war. At the fourth, 
 science had enabled man to produce riches in abun- 
 dance, but as yet the right use of them was unknown : 
 there might be seen immense masses of wealth in 
 the midst of a starving population, more contention 
 than when less wealth prevailed, and infinitely 
 more disease and crime.* 
 
 At the fifth revolution a far greater change had 
 taken place than in any of the preceding. Wealth, 
 which had before laid in masses, was now beneficially 
 difiused and greatly increased. And now prevailed 
 the invaluable riches of the mind, and all the vir- 
 tues flourished ; — for ignorance, with its train of 
 follies and vices, had fled, never more to return. 
 The lion dwelt in peace with the lamb, the eagle 
 
 * It is a remarkable coincidence, that at the very period 
 when the g-eneral diffusion of knowledge has exposed to the 
 view of all classes the injustice of exclusive privileg-es, their 
 injurious consequences have become more aggravated by the 
 accelerated convergence of property on the one hand, and 
 the wide spread of pauperism on the other. 
 
 " La surcharge rendant la possession des terres onereuse, 
 I'humble proprietaire abandon n a son champ, ou le vendit a 
 I'homme puissant ; et les fortunes se concentrerent en un 
 moindre nombre de mains. Et toutes les lois et les institu- 
 tions se partagerent entre un groupe d'oisifs opulens et une 
 multitude pauvre de mercenaires." 
 
244 THE REVOLT OF THE BEES. 
 
 and the turtle-dove took tlieir flight together. The 
 waters gushed out in the dry places, and the wilder- 
 ness became converted into rich pastures. In the 
 desert bloomed the myrtle and the rose, while the 
 clustering vine sprang up bearing its purple fruit. 
 The lowly hut was supplanted by the convenient 
 and splendid edifice ; and the whole earth exhibited 
 indescribable magnificence and beauty. 
 
 As the storm passed away, these fairy scenes 
 melted into air, and the moon arose in calm and 
 unclouded majesty, casting her mild radiance over 
 the humid plains. The Genius waved his wand, 
 and suddenly a lunar rainbow, rising from the sum- 
 mit of the mountain, extended over the cotintry to 
 the Pentland Hills. A light billowy cloud ap- 
 peared, bearing an aerial chariot, the wheels of 
 which resembled the rich golden colours^ of the 
 setting sun; the body was of a rosy hue, and formed 
 like a hive. The Genius ascended the chariot, 
 while the innumerable silken traces of the finest 
 tenuity were borne by the bees, who thus conducted 
 the Spirit over the iris to their native hills. 
 
 iFmis. 
 
 %