Exeter Hall

I'm used to Windsor chairs, and I should feel the draught horribly.

If I were a preacher, and if I hadn't got more than enough to do in minding my own affairs, and if I could look anyone in the face and deny that I, too, had pursued for nearly forty years the great British policy of muddling through and hoping for the best, in short, if things were not what they are, I would hire the Alhambra Theatre or Exeter Hall of a Sunday night, preferably the Alhambra, because more people would come to my entertainment, and I would invite all men and women over twenty-six.

I would supply the seething crowd with what they desired in the way of bodily refreshment, except spirits.

I would draw the line at poisons.

Though he was as zealous as ever, however, in his attendance to public business, he made fewer great speeches being content to set a wise example to other and less able men in only speaking when he felt it absolutely necessary to do so, and in generally performing merely the functions of a silent member.

in eighteen sixty eight he was if not more active somewhat more prominent on march the sixth on the occasion of mr shawle of favor's motion respecting the alabama claims he forcibly expressed his opinions as to the wrong done by england to the united states during the civil war and the need of making adequate reparation and on the twelfth of the same month he spoke with equal boldness on mr maguire's motion for a committee to inquire into the state of ireland repeating anew and enforcing the views he had lately put forward in his pamphlet on ireland and considerably aiding by anticipation the passage of mr gladstone's two great measures of irish reform he took an important part in the discussion of the election petitions and corrupt practices bill and among a great number of other measures on which he spoke was the married women's property bill of mr shaw soon after that the house of commons was dissolved and mr mill's too brief parliamentary career came to an end the episode however had to some extent helped to quicken his always keen interest in political affairs this was proved among other ways by the publication of his pamphlet on england and ireland in eighteen sixty eight and of his treatise on the subjection of women in eighteen sixty nine as well as by the especial interest which he continued to exhibit in two of the most important political movements of the day all the more important because they are yet almost in their infancy the one for the political enfranchisement of women the other for a thorough reform of our system of land tenure the latest proof of his zeal on the second of these important points appeared in the address which he delivered at exeter hall on the eighteenth of last march and in two articles which he contributed to the examiner at the commencement of the present year we may be permitted to add that it was his intention to use some of the greater quiet that he expected to enjoy during his stay at avignon in writing frequent articles on political affairs for publication in these columns he died while his intellectual powers were as fresh as they had ever been and when his political wisdom was only ripened by experience in this paper we purposely limit ourselves to a concise narrative of the leading events of mr mill's life and abstain as far as possible from any estimate of either the value or the extent of his work in philosophy in economics in politics or in any other of the departments of thought and study to which with such depth and breadth of mind he applied himself but it is impossible for us to lay down the pen without some slight reference however inadequate it may be to the nobility of his character and the peculiar grace with which he exhibited it in all his dealings with his friends and with the whole community among whom he lived and for whom he worked with the self-sacrificing zeal of an apostle if to labour fearlessly and ceaselessly for the good of society and with the completest self-abnegation that is consistent with healthy individuality be the true form of religion mr mill exhibited such genuine and profound religion so permeating his whole life and so engrossing his every action as can hardly be looked for in any other man of this generation great as were his intellectual qualities they were dwarfed by his moral excellences he did not it is true aim at any fanciful ideal or adopt any fantastic shibboleths he was only a utilitarian he believed in no inspiration but that of experience he had no other creed or dogma or gospel than bentham's axiom the greatest happiness of the greatest number but many will think that herein was the chief of all his claims to the honour of all men and the best evidence of his worth at any rate he set a notable example of the way in which a man making the best use of his power of merely his own reason and the accumulated reason of those who have gone before him wisely exercising the faculties of which he finds himself possessed and seeking no guidance or support from invisible beacons and intangible props may lead a blameless life and be one of the greatest benefactors of his race No one who had any personal knowledge of him could fail to discern the singular purity of his character, and to those who knew him best that purity was most apparent.

He may have blundered and stumbled in his pursuit of truth, but it was part of his belief that stumbling and blundering are necessary means towards the finding of truth, and that honesty of purpose is the only indispensable requisite for the nearest approach towards truth of which each individual is capable.

that belief rendered him as charitable towards others as he was modest concerning his own attainments he never boasted and he despised no one the only things really hateful to him were arrogance and injustice and for these he was to say the least as willing and eager to find excuse as could be the most devout utterer of the prayer father forgive them for they know not what they do we had noted many instances coming within our very limited observation of his remarkable almost unparalleled magnanimity and generosity but such details would here be almost out of place and they who need such will doubtless before long receive much more convincing proof of his moral excellence we shall not here dilate on those minor qualities of mind and heart that made mr mills's society so charming to all who were fortunate enough to have any share in it and these especially in recent years were many when the first burden of his grief at the loss of his wife had passed perhaps partly as a relief from the solitude save for one devoted companion that would otherwise have been now forced upon him he mixed more freely than he had done before in the society of all whose company could yield him any satisfaction or by whom his friendship was really valued his genial and graceful bearing towards every one who came near him must be within the knowledge of very many who will read this column and they will remember besides his transparent nobility of character and the genial ways in which it exhibited itself certain intellectual qualities for which he was remarkable we here refer not to his higher abilities as a thinker but to such powers of mind as displayed themselves in conversation without any pedantry without any sort of intentional notification to those with whom he conversed that he was the greatest logician metaphysician moralist and economist of the day his speech was always even on the most trivial subjects so clear and incisive that it at once betrayed the intellectual vigor of the speaker Not less remarkable also than his uniform refinement of thought, and the deftness with which he at all times expressed it, were the grasp and keenness of his observation, and the strength of memory with which he stored up everything he had ever seen, heard, or read.

This was proved, among other ways, by the publication of his pamphlet on England and Ireland in 1868, and of his treatise on the subjection of women in 1869, as well as by the especial interest which he continued to exhibit in two of the most important political movements of the day, all the more important because they are yet almost in their infancy, the one for the political enfranchisement of women, the other for a thorough reform of our system of land tenure.

The latest proof of his zeal on the second of these important points appeared in the address which he delivered at Exeter Hall on the 18th of last March, and in two articles which he contributed to the Examiner at the commencement of the present year.

We may be permitted to add that it was his intention to use some of the greater quiet that he expected to enjoy during his stay at Avignon in writing frequent articles on political affairs for publication in these columns.

He died while his intellectual powers were as fresh as they had ever been.

Carnal Mind Enmity Against God.

Delivered on Sabbath morning, April 22nd, 1855, at the Exeter Hall, Strand.

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