human nature. That is to say, knowledge of the 

 nature of the men it is proposed to enfranchise. I 

 myself have the highest opinion of them as a class. 

 I suspect the uncultivated are as a rule better 

 hearted and more spontaneously unselfish than the 

 cultivated. But the question is as to their fitness for 

 legislation. The leaders of the radical party are some 

 of them men of very great talent, as every one knows. 

 But they often seem to me singularly ignorant of 

 human nature. Take, for instance, Mr. J. S. Mill. 

 What can he know of human nature ? Human nature 

 means love and hate, and passion and violence, and 

 geniality and impulsiveness, and heartiness and jovia- 

 IhVy, and good fellowship and illogical wrong-headed- 

 ness. Now, what can an amiable metaph y sician, who 

 disbelieves in the existence of matter, and thinks 

 women voting, a likely sort of thing to add to the 

 harmony and peace of families what, I say, can 

 such a man possibly know about such things as 

 these ?* Most men who are at all addicted to 

 thinking, find themselves tempted occasionally to 

 disbelieve in the existence of matter, as in fact of 

 every thing, and any thing. They know by expe- 



* Hazlitt says, one objection to metaphysics is, that the 

 study of them tends to destroy geniality, warmth, and enthu- 

 siasm. One day in an argument his antagonist struck him. 

 A third friend who was present immediately interfered to pre- 

 yent a fight, or retaliation in any way. But this was quite 

 unnecessary. Hazlitt had no notion of the kind, all he said 

 was, " I am a metaphysician, nothing but an idea hurts me." 



