In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

CHAPTER 26 The Liberal Gentleman Once Utilitarianism and Representative Governmentwere out ofthe way, there remained only one more pressing subject to cover-the Subjection ofWomen, which Mill wrote at about the same time as Representative Government, but did not publish until a few years later. For the most part, his duties had been fulfilled. He had had his say on all the vital subjects, and was ready to enjoy being the oracle he had become abroad as well as in England. The old narrowness , he felt confident, was gone; Harriet was no longer by his side to prick him on to new discontents; his step-daughter confined her tutoring more to details. But before he could settle down to a life of ease, Mill spent three years engaging directly, at last, in politics. The old excitement about parliament that he had felt so strongly in the 'thirties, when his job in India House had closed a political career to him, no longer stirred him; he was in a way reluctant to leave his books for debates. When he consented, he did so entirely on his own terms, which were anything but those of a politician. His notion of proper political behaviour was even more unyielding than before. He stood as a Liberal, but he refused flatly to pay any election expenses or even to campaign; he appeared before his constituents only ten days before the election and insisted on making all his opinions perfectly clear without mincing anywords. Somehow, contrary to what his supporters feared, his candour was attractive; the workers declared that they did not mind his saying that they were liars; they preferred truth to flattery. There was a certain appeal in his severe figure, and he gave the impression of authority difficult to resist. His sharp, taut features, the hair curling around in a monk's cap, the high forehead emphasised the intelligence and discipline evident in his face. One might fear his disapproval, or wish he would laugh more easily, or not take it all in such deadly earnestness, but it was impossible not to feel his sincerity, thoughtfulness , and selflessness. 342 John Stuart Mill To tell his constituents what he believed, Mill drew up a declaration of political opinions in ten points, affirming, among other things, that he favoured universal suffrage, that he did not wish any class, even if the most numerous, to swamp all the others. He gave notice that he no longer favoured a secret ballot-voting was a public act, and each voter should be made to take full responsibility for his opinions before the whole public. As voters could now resist being coerced by landlords, employers, or customers, there was no longer any justification for the secret ballot. He advocated greater economy in government, but no disarmament; wished that succession duties on land might be assessed on its full value, not merely on the life interest; and he saw no way in which legislation could help to resolve differences between workers and employers, except by insuring equal liberty to both to combine or not, as they wished. It was not a very startling programme, but a good indication of how he would behave in parliament. There he was neither quite the philosopher many of his admirers expected nor a consummate politician, but a little of both, as he had been all his life. As he was more certain than ever about what was true and false, right and wrong, and no less earnest about pushing his views, his rectitude, which combined oddly with his delicacy and elegance, gave him an air of what Disraeli described unkindly as that of a finishing governess. Yet he was not altogether unsuccessful, even if his success was rather different from what he had dreamt of in his early Radical days. He started off badly, speaking on an unimportant question-whether landowners should be indemnified for losses suffered from a cattle disease. Mill declared himself against this on the orthodox economic ground that they had already been indemnified by the high meat prices, an argument that those less sophisticated in economics found it irritatingly difficult to answer. He spoke in a similar vein on a number of other subjects, pleased no one, and finally, noticing his unpopularity, retired . But he managed to regain the attention of the House with a speech on Mr. Gladstone's Reform Bill, which was probably urged on him by Chadwick at Roebuck's suggestion. Then he spoke more nearly as...

Share