History of American Socialisms Part 19

"These, then, very briefly and imperfectly stated, are the practical, actual results already attained. In the first place we have abolished domestic servitude; in the second place, we have secured thorough education for all; and in the third place, we have established justice to the laborer, and enn.o.bled industry.*** Two or three years ago we began our movement at Brook Farm, and propounded these few simple propositions, which I say are here proven. All declared it to be a scheme of fanaticism. There was universal skepticism. No one believed it possible that men could live together in such relations. Society, it was said, had always lived in a state of compet.i.tion and strife between man and man; and when told that it was possible to live otherwise, no one received the proposition except with scorn and ridicule. But in the experience of two or three years, we maintain that we have by actual facts, by practical demonstration, proven this, viz.: that harmonious relations, relations of love and not of selfishness and mutual conflict, relations of truth and not of falsehood, relations of justice and not of injustice, are possible between man and man."

At noon on Sat.u.r.day the last resolution was adopted, and the Convention was about to adjourn, when Mr. Channing rose and addressed the a.s.sembly, as follows:

"Mr. President and brother a.s.sociationists: We began our meeting with calling to mind, as in the presence of G.o.d, our solemn privileges and responsibilities. We can not part without invoking for ourselves, each other, our friends everywhere, and our race, a blessing. It this cause in which we are engaged, is one of mere human device, the emanation of folly and self, may it utterly fail; it will then utterly fail. But if, as we believe, it is of G.o.d, and, making allowance for human limitations, is in harmony with the Divine will, may it go on, as thus it must, conquering and to conquer. Those of us who are active in this movement have met, and will meet with suspicion and abuse. It is well!

well that critical eyes should probe the schemes of a.s.sociation to the core, and if they are evil, lay bare their hidden poison; well that in this fiery ordeal the sap of our personal vanities and weaknesses should be consumed. We need be anxious but on one account; and that is lest we be unworthy of this sublime reform. Who are we, that we should have the honor of giving our lives to this grandest of all possible human endeavors, the establishment of universal unity, of the reign of heaven on earth? Truly 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings has the Lord ordained strength.' Kings and holy men have desired to see the things we see, and have not been able. Let our desire be, that our imperfections, our unfaithfulness, do not hinder the progress of love and truth and joy."

The Convention then united in prayer, and parted with the benediction, "Glory to G.o.d in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men."

But this was not the end. That last day of the Convention was also the anniversary of Fourier's birthday, and in the evening the members held a festival at the Apollo Saloon. "The repast was plain and simple, but the intellectual feast and the social communion were delightful." The regular toasts, announced and probably prepared by Mr. Channing, were to the memory of Fourier, and to each of the twelve pa.s.sions which, according to Fourier, const.i.tute the active forces of human nature.

"Soul-stirring speeches" followed each toast. Mr. Dana responded to the toast for friendship, and at the close of his speech Mr. Macdaniel proposed that the toast be repeated with clasped hands. "This proposition was instantly accepted, and with a burst of enthusiasm every man rose, and locking hands all round the table, the toast was repeated by the whole company, producing an electric thrill of emotion through every nerve."

Mr. G.o.dwin compared the present prospects of a.s.sociation to the tokens of approaching land which cheered the drooping spirits of the crew of Columbus. The friends from Brook Farm were the birds, and those from other places the flowers that floated on the waves.

Mr. Ripley said, "Our friend has compared us to birds. Well, it is true we have a good deal of singing, though not a great deal to eat; and we have very small nests. (Laughter.) Our most appropriate emblem is the not very beautiful or magnificent, but the very useful and respectable barn-yard fowl! for we all have to scratch for a living!

"Mr. Brisbane p.r.o.nounced an enthusiastic and hearty tribute of his grat.i.tude, esteem and respect for Horace Greeley, for the manly, independent, and generous support he had given to the cause from its infancy to the present day; and closed by saying--

"He (Mr. Greeley), has done for us what we never could have done. He has created the cause on this continent. He has done the work of a century. Well then, I will give [as a toast], 'One Continent and One Man!'"

Mr. Greeley returned his grateful thanks for what he said was the extravagant eulogium of his partial friend, and continued:

"When I took up this cause, I knew that I went in the teeth of many of my patrons, in the teeth of prejudices of the great ma.s.s, in the teeth of religious prejudices; for I confess I had a great many more clergymen on my list before, than I have now, as I am sorry to say, for had they kept on, I think I could have done them a little good.

(Laughter.) But in the face of all this, in the face of constant advices, 'Don't have any thing to do with that Mr. Brisbane,' I went on. 'Oh!' said many of my friends, 'consider your position--consider your influence.' 'Well,' said I, 'I shall endeavor to do so, but I must try to do some good in the meantime, or else what is the use of the influence.' (Cheers.) And thus I have gone on, pursuing a manly and at the same time a circ.u.mspect course, treading wantonly on no man's prejudice, telling on the contrary, universal man, I will defer to your prejudices, as far as I can consistently with duty; but when duty leads me, you must excuse my stepping on your corn, if it be in the way." (Cheers.)

And so they went on with toasts and speeches and letters from distinguished outsiders--one, by the way, from Archbishop Hughes, courteously declining an invitation to attend--till the twelve o'clock bell warned them of the advent of holy time, and so they separated.

A notable thing in this great demonstration was the intense _religious_ element that pervaded it. The Convention was opened and closed with prayers and Christian doxologies. The letters and addresses abounded in quotations from scripture, always laboring to identify Fourierism with Christianity. Even the jollities of the festival at the Apollo Saloon could not commence till a blessing had been asked.

These manifestations of religious feeling were mainly due to the presence of the Ma.s.sachusetts men, and especially to the zeal of William H. Channing. He never forgot his religion in his enthusiasm for Socialism.

It would be easy to ridicule the fervor and a.s.surance of the actors in this enthusiastic drama, by comparing their hopes and predictions with the results. But for our part we hold that the hopes and predictions were true, and the results were liars. Mistakes were made as to the time and manner of the blessings foreseen, as they have been made many times before and since: but the inspiration did not lie.

We have had a long succession of such enthusiasms in this country.

First of all and mother of all, was the series of Revivals under Edwards, Nettleton and Finney, in every paroxysm of which the Millennium seemed to be at the door. Then came Perfectionism, rapturously affirming that the Millennium had already begun. Then came Millerism, reproducing all the excitements and hopes that agitated the Primitive Church just before the Second Advent. Very nearly coincident with the crisis of this last enthusiasm in 1843, came this Fourier revival, with the same confident predictions of the coming of Christ's kingdom, and the same mistakes as to time and manner. Since then Spiritualism has gone through the same experience of brilliant prophecies and practical failures. We hold that all these enthusiasms are manifestations, in varied phase, of one great afflatus, that takes its time for fulfillment more leisurely than suits the ardor of its mediums, but inspires them with heart-prophecies of the good time coming, that are true and sure.

HORACE GREELEY'S POSITION.

The reader will observe that in the final pa.s.sage of compliments between Messrs. Brisbane and Greeley at the Apollo festival, there is a clear answer to the question, Who was next in rank after Brisbane in the propagation of Fourierism in this country? As there is much confusion in the public memory on this important point in the _personnel_ of Fourierism, we will here make a note of the princ.i.p.al facts in the Fourieristic history of the _Tribune_:

A prominent New England journal in an elaborate obituary on the late Henry J. Raymond, after mentioning that he was an efficient a.s.sistant of Mr. Greeley on the _Tribune_, from the commencement of that paper in 1841 till he withdrew and took service on the _Courier and Enquirer_, went on to say:

"It was at the time of Mr. Raymond's withdrawal from it, that the _Tribune_, which was speedily joined by George Ripley and Charles A.

Dana, fresh from Brook Farm, had its Fourieristic phase."

The mistakes in this paragraph are remarkable, and ought not to be allowed any chance of getting into history.

In the first place Ripley and Dana did not thus immediately succeed Raymond on the _Tribune_. The American Cyclopaedia says that Raymond left the _Tribune_ and joined Webb on the _Courier and Enquirer_ in 1843. But Ripley and Dana retained their connection with Brook Farm till October 30, 1847, and continued to edit the _Harbinger_ in New York till February 10, 1849, as we know by the files of that paper in our possession. They could not have joined the _Tribune_ before the first of these dates, and probably did not till after the last; so that there was an interval of from three to six years between Raymond's leaving and their joining the _Tribune_.

But the most important error of the above quoted paragraph is its implication that the "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_ was after Raymond left it, and was owing to the advent of Ripley and Dana "fresh from Brook Farm." The truth is, that the _Tribune_ had become the organ of Mr. Brisbane, the importer of Fourierism, in March 1842, less than a year from its commencement (which was on April 10, 1841); and of course had its "Fourieristic phase" while Raymond was employed on it, and in fact before Ripley and Dana had been converted to Fourierism. Brook Farm, be it ever remembered, was originally an independent Yankee experiment, started in 1841 by the suggestion of Dr. Channing, and did not accept Fourierism till the winter of 1843-4.

During the entire period of Brisbane's promulgations in the _Tribune_, which lasted more than a year, and which manifestly caused the great Fourier excitement of 1843, Brook Farm had nothing to do with Fourierism, except as it was being carried away with the rest of the world, by Brisbane and the _Tribune_. Thus it is certain that Ripley and Dana did not bring Fourierism into the _Tribune_, but on the contrary received Fourierism from the _Tribune_, during the very period when Raymond was a.s.sisting Greeley. When they joined the _Tribune_ in 1847-9, Fourierism was in the last stages of defeat, and the most that they or Greeley or any body else did for it after that, was to help its retreat into decent oblivion.

The obituary writer probably fell into these mistakes by imagining that the controversy between Greeley and Raymond, which occurred in 1846, while Raymond was employed on the _Courier and Enquirer_, was the princ.i.p.al "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_. But this was really an after-affair, in which Greeley fought on the defensive as the rear-guard of Fourierism in its failing fortunes; and even this controversy took place before Brook Farm broke up; so that Ripley and Dana had nothing to do with it.

The credit or responsibility for the original promulgation of Fourierism through the _Tribune_, of course does not belong to Mr.

Raymond; though he was at the time (1842) Mr. Greeley's a.s.sistant. But neither must it be put upon Messrs. Ripley and Dana. It belongs exclusively to Horace Greeley. He clearly was Brisbane's other and better half in the propagation of Fourierism. For practical devotion, we judge that he deserves even the _first_ place on the roll of honor.

We doubt whether Brisbane himself ever pledged his property to a.s.sociation, as Greeley did in the following address, published in the _Harbinger_, October 25, 1845:

"As one a.s.sociationist who has given his efforts and means freely to the cause, I feel that I have a right to speak frankly. I know that the great number of our believers are far from wealthy; yet I know that there is wealth enough in our ranks, if it were but devoted to it, to give an instant and resistless influence to the cause. A few thousand dollars subscribed to the stock of each existing a.s.sociation would in most cases extinguish the mortgages on its property, provide it with machinery and materials, and render its industry immediately productive and profitable. Then manufacturing invention and skill would fearlessly take up their abode with our infant colonies; labor and thrift would flow thither, and a new and brighter era would dawn upon them. Fellow a.s.sociationists! _I_ shall do whatever I can for the promotion of our common cause; to it whatever I have or may hereafter acquire of pecuniary ability is devoted: may I not hope for a like devotion from you?

"H.G."

CHAPTER XX.

THE SYLVANIA a.s.sOCIATION.

This was the first of the PHALANXES. The North American was the last.

These two had the distinction of metropolitan origin; both being colonies sent forth by the socialistic schools of New York and Albany.

The North American appears to have been Mr. Brisbane's _protege_, if he had any. Mr. Greeley seems to have attached himself to the Sylvania. His name is on its list of officers, and he gives an account of it in his "Recollections," as one of the two Phalanxes that issued from New York City. In the following sketch we give the rose-color first, and the shady side afterward. Indeed this will be our general method of making up the memoirs of the Phalanxes.

The first number of Brisbane's paper, the _Phalanx_, (October 5, 1843) gives the following account of the Sylvania:

"This a.s.sociation has been formed by warm friends of the cause from the cities of New York and Albany. Thomas W. Whitley is President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. Operations were commenced in May last, and have already proved incontestably the great advantages of a.s.sociation; having thus far more than fulfilled the most sanguine hopes of success of those engaged in the enterprise. Temporary buildings have been erected, and the foundation laid of a large edifice; a great deal of land has been cleared, and a saw- and grist-mill on the premises when purchased, have been put in excellent repair; several branches of industry, shoe-making particularly, have been established, and the whole concern is now in full operation. Upwards of one hundred and fifty persons, men, women and children, are on the domain, all contented and happy, and much gratified with their new mode of life, which is new to most of the members as a country residence, as well as an a.s.sociated household; for nearly all the mechanics formerly resided in cities, New York and Albany princ.i.p.ally. In future numbers we will give more detailed accounts of this enterprising little a.s.sociation. The following is a description of its location and soil:

"The Sylvania domain consists of 2,300 acres of arable land, situated in the township of Lackawaxen, County of Pike, State of Pennsylvania. It lies on the Delaware river, at the mouth of the Lackawaxen creek, fourteen miles from Milford, about eighty-five miles in a straight line west by north of New York City (by stage route ninety-four, and by New York and Erie Railroad to Middletown, one hundred and ten miles; seventy-four of which are now traversed by railroad). The railroad will certainly be carried to Port Jervis, on the Delaware, only fifteen miles below the domain; certainly if the Legislature of the State will permit. The Delaware and Hudson Ca.n.a.l now pa.s.ses up the Delaware directly across from the domain, affording an unbroken water communication with New York City; and the turnpike from Milford, Pennsylvania, to Owego, New York, bounds on the south the lands of the a.s.sociation, and crosses the Delaware by a bridge about one mile from the dwellings. The domain may be said, not very precisely, to be bounded by the Delaware on the north, the Lackawaxen on the west, the Shoholy on the east, and the turnpike on the south.

"The soil of the domain is a deep loam, well calculated for tillage and grazing. About one hundred acres had been cleared before the a.s.sociation took possession of it; the remainder is thinly covered with the primitive forest; the larger trees having been cut off of a good part of it for timber. Much of it can be cleared at a cost of six dollars per acre. Abundance of timber remains on it for all purposes of the a.s.sociation. The land lies in gentle sloping ridges, with valleys between, and wide, level tables at the top. The general inclination is to the east and south. There are very few acres which can not be plowed after clearing.

"Application for membership, to be made (by letter, post paid), to Thomas W. Whitley, Esq., President, or to Horace Greeley, Esq., New York."

The Executive officers issued a pamphlet soon after the commencement of operations, from which we extract the following:

"This a.s.sociation was formed early in 1843, by a few citizens of New York, mainly mechanics, who, deeply impressed with the present defective, vice-engendering and ruinous system of society, with the wasteful complication of its isolated households, its destructive compet.i.tion and anarchy in industry, its constraint of millions to idleness and consequent dependence or famine for want of employment, and its failure to secure education and development to the children growing up all around and among us in ignorance and vice, were impelled to immediate and energetic action in resistance to these manifold and mighty evils. Having earnestly studied the system of industrial organization and social reform propounded by Charles Fourier, and been led to recognize in it a beneficent, expensive and practical plan for the melioration of the condition of man and his moral and intellectual elevation, they most heartily adopted that system as the basis and guide of their operations. Holding meetings from time to time, and through the press informing the public of their enterprise and its objects, their numbers steadily increased; their organization was perfected; explorations with a view to the selection of a domain were directed and made; and in the last week of April a location was finally determined on and its purchase effected. During the first week in May, a pioneer division of some forty persons entered upon the possession and improvement of the land. Their number has since been increased to nearly sixty, of whom over forty are men, generally young or in the prime of life, and all recognizing labor as the true and n.o.ble destiny on earth. The Sylvania a.s.sociation is the first attempt in North America to realize in practice the vast economies, intellectual advantages and such enjoyments resulting from Fourier's system.

"Any person may become a stockholder by subscribing for not less than one share ($25); but the council, having as yet its head-quarters in New York, is necessarily entrusted with power to determine at what time and in what order subscribers and their families can be admitted to resident membership on the domain. Those who are judged best calculated to facilitate the progress of the enterprise must be preferred; those with large families unable to labor must await the construction of buildings for their proper accommodation; while such as shall, on critical inquiry, be found of unfit moral character or debasing habits, can not be admitted at all. This, however, will nowise interfere with their ownership in the domain; they will be promptly paid the dividends on their stock, whenever declared, the same as resident members.

"The enterprise here undertaken, however humble in its origin, commends itself to the respect of the skeptical and the generous cooperation of the philanthropic. Its consequences, should success (as we can not doubt it will) crown our exertions, must be far-reaching, beneficent, unbounded. It aims at no aggrandizement of individuals, no upbuilding or overthrow of sect or party, but at the founding of a new, more trustful, more benignant relationship between capital and labor, removing discord, jealousy and hatred, and replacing them by concord, confidence and mutual advantage. The end aimed at is the emanc.i.p.ation of the ma.s.s; of the depressed toiling millions, the slaves of necessity and wretchedness, of hunger and constrained idleness, of ignorance, drunkenness and vice; and their elevation to independence, moral and intellectual development; in short, to a true and hopeful manhood. This enterprise now appeals to the lovers of the human race for aid; not for praises, votes or alms, but for cooperation in rendering its triumph signal and speedy. It asks of the opulent and the generous, subscriptions to its stock, in order that its lands may be promptly cleared and improved, its buildings erected, &c.; as they must be far more slowly, if the resident members must devote their energies at once and henceforth to the providing, under the most unfavorable circ.u.mstances, of the entire means of their own subsistence. Subscriptions are solicited, at the office of the a.s.sociation, 25 Pine street, third story.

"THOS. W. WHITLEY, President; J.D. PIERSON, Vice President; HORACE GREELEY, Treasurer; J.T.S. SMITH, Secretary."

After this discourse, the pamphlet presents a const.i.tution, by-laws, bill of rights, &c., which are not essentially different from scores of joint-stock doc.u.ments which we find, not only in the records of the Fourier epoch, but scattered all along back through the times of Owenism. The truth is, the paper const.i.tutions of nearly all the American experiments, show that the experimenters fell to work, only under the _impulse_, not under the _instructions_, of the European masters. Yankee tinkering is visible in all of them. They all are shy, on the one hand, of Owen's flat Communism (as indeed Owen himself was,) and on the other, of Fourier's impracticable account-keeping and venturesome theories of "pa.s.sional equilibrium." The result is, that they are all very much alike, and may all be cla.s.sed together as attempts to solve the problem, How to construct a _home_ on the joint-stock principle; which is much like the problem, How to eat your cake and keep it too.

For the shady side, Macdonald gives us a Dialogue which, he says, was written by a gentleman who was a member of the Sylvania a.s.sociation from beginning to end. It is not very artistic, but shrewd and interesting. We print it without important alteration. The curious reader will find entertainment in comparing its descriptions of the Sylvania domain with those given in the official doc.u.ments above. In this case as in many others, views taken before and after trial, are as different as summer and winter landscapes.