The phenomena of the two ends of society, when brought together, give
interesting comparisons: I mean the early beginnings of thought and
literature, and our own high and finished state, as we think it. There is
one very remarkable point. In the early day, the letter was matter of the
closest adherence, and implied meanings were not admitted.
The blessing of Isaac meant for Esau, went to false Jacob, in spite of the
imposition; and the writer of Genesis seems to intend to give the notion
that Isaac had no power to pronounce it null and void. And "Jacob's policy,
whereby he became rich"--as the chapter-heading puts it--in speckled and
spotted stock, is not considered as a violation of the agreement, which
contemplated natural proportions. In {253} the story of Lycurgus the
lawgiver is held to have behaved fairly when he bound the Spartans to obey
his laws until he returned--intimating a short absence--he intending never
to return. And Vishnoo, when he asked the usurper for three steps of
territory as a dwarf, and then enlarged himself until he could bring heaven
and earth under the bargain, was thought clever, certainly, but quite fair.
There is nothing of this kind recognized in our day: so far good. But there
is a bad contrary: the age is apt, in interpretation, to upset the letter
in favor of the view--very often the after thought--of one side only. The
case of John Palmer,[403] the improver of the mail coach system, is
smothered. He was to have an office and a salary, and 2-1/2 per cent for
life on the increased _revenue_ of the Post-Office. His rights turned out
so large, that Government would not pay them. For misconduct, real or
pretended, they turned him out of his _office_: but his bargain as to the
percentage had nothing to do with his future conduct; it was payment for
his _plan_. I know nothing, except from the debates of 1808 in the two
Houses: if any one can redeem the credit of the nation, the field is open.
When I was young, the old stagers spoke of this transaction sparingly, and
dismissed it speedily.
The government did not choose to remember what private persons must
remember, and are made to remember, if needful. When Dr. Lardner[404] made
his bargain with the {254} publishers for the _Cabinet Cyclopaedia_ he
proposed that he, as editor, should have a certain sum for every hundred
sold above a certain number: the publishers, who did not think there was
any chance of reaching the turning sale of this stipulation, readily
consented. But it turned out that Dr. Lardner saw further than they: the
returns under this stipulation gave him a very handsome addition to his
other receipts. The publishers stared; but they paid. They had no idea of
standing out that the amount was too much for an editor; they knew that,
though the editor had a percentage, they had all the rest; and they would
not have felt aggrieved if he had received ten times as much. But
governments, which cannot be brought to book before a sworn jury, are ruled
only by public opinion. John Palmer's day was also the day of Thomas Fyshe
Palmer,[405] and the governments, in their prosecutions for sedition, knew
that these would have a reflex action upon the minds of all who wrote about
public affairs.