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if lie had condescended to study the “ Ideologists ” of his own and earlier times a little. He m ight have thereby discovered, that his fellow men were not fools in concentrating their pow ers o f thought so intensely upon “ T h e I n t e l l e c t .” For, cer- tainly/ according to the Sages of all lands and times, Fourier has lam entably overlooked some of the most profoundly in ter esting elements of human life. A few hints on this sublime topic, m ust for the present suf fice. W hat then, first of all, really is this N eutral Principle, this J u s t i c e , — to use the highest name whereby Fourier described the second term of his T rinity? Is it living or mechanical, conscious or unconscious, free or necessary, simple or compound, personal or impersonal ? The student of Fourier finds no reply; and is forced to conclude e ither that his teacher had from con siderations best known to himself, laid aside the problem as un solved, or else that he purposely withheld his opinion. Let us then ask again, what is this distributive principle? Is it the L iv i n g G od , in his second degree, or person, pro ceeding forth in Sovereign Wisdom to create the N a tural and Spiritual Universes, according to the E ternal Ideal of Perfect Order ? The profound thinkers of all nations give answer to this question in the affirmative. W ith heads bowed in awful rever ence and hearts glowing w ith serenest trust, they say, Yes! verily T h e S on is U n i v e r s a l L a w g i v e r a n d J u d g e . Divine Wisdom, arranging, distributing, regulating, all creatures—by a method of Unity unfolding exhaustively into utm o st possible variety—is the everlasting M ediator between the Infinite and Finite. Surely, my friend P. G. and all fellow associationists, m ust recognize, how much more warm, genial, inspiring, are the practical influences of this doctrine of Reason as a Living Per- son, than those which are legitim ately to be derived from Fou- ria r ’s view of the N eutral Principle. For, what is Reason in H u m anity at large? It is the Divine Word, through direct inspirations from on h igh and reflected sym bols from beneath,—through Revelation and N ature, Ideas and A rt, form ing Free Intelligences, numberless in variety, into a unity of O n e - in - M a n y -M a n h o o d — t h e conscious image of God’s Wisdom. W hat is Reason in Individual Man ? It is the Divine Word, through conscious judgm e n t uttering the command of E ternal Order, D u t y , b y obedience to which alone is freedom gained and authorizing the intelligent w ill to transform all impulses after a Divine Ideal, and to preserve conscious rectitude in the commonwealth of confederated energies, which every Man is designed b y God’s Wisdom to become. W h at is Reason in Collective Man, or Society? It is the Divine Word,—through genius and experience, through flashes of intuition and discoveries of science, through conjectures of many private minds combined into the unanimous judgm e n t of the public m ind—declaring the L a w of R ight Relations, ap pointed by God’s Wisdom as the means of uniting iii conscious justice all members of the body politic. Reason Hum anitary, Individual, Collective, is really then the personal intercommunion of the Infinite Mind with Finite Minds. Man, all Spirits, are passing through a process of information, which is a t once educative and instructive, which develops the receptive soul, by communicating ideas and forms of beauty. Reason is, in the strictest sense, God's W o r d , the medium through which He expresses his Ideal to h is intelligent children and through which they enrich each other by language, law, science, art, and all modes of order. Fourier does not differ in aim from preceding legislators ; for all wise men have sought to conform th e ir social institutions to the Divine Standard of A u thority. Man intuitively recognizes that he cannot make T r u t h , but must find i t ; that he cannot arbitrarily construct J u s t i c e , but m u st accept i t ; th a t his ca pricious ordinance cannot be obligatory, but th a t God’s law is everlastingly sovereign because absolutely R i g h t . F o u r ier’s claim to honor, is that he has been more successful than his forerunners in discovering w h at the O r d e r of E ternal Wisdom actually is. B u t Fourier does differ from most p h ilosophers in the method whereby he asserts that his discovery was made. He used U n i versal Analogy for his sole guide, d iscarding Tradition. In this he was, in disregard of his own rules, simplistic. And it was tru ly a great m isfortune for m ankind, w h en this commanding genius cast behind him as transient expedients, fit only for tho perverse childhood of the Race, the Political, Moral, and R e li gious Usages of Mankind. Had his view of H u m a n Reason been higher, he never could have so slighted Language, as to suppose that the words Conscience, R ight, Duty, M o rality, Law, Government, were the m ere smoke and shadow of hum a n so phistry instead of the radiant image of Divine Wisdom. If with the teachings of N a ture in analogy he had combined the teachings of the Word through Hum anity, w h a t a benefactor m ight he have been ! And again, Fourier differs from most philosophers in his grand characteristic principle th a t A t t r a c t i o n is the sole indi cator of Divine W ill,— ox in other words th a t Im p u l s e is the sole expounder of Divine Larc. B u t this article is already too long, and the consideration of this topic m u st bo reserved. w. h . c. 4 < 2 > * « —*> ---------- C eresco , W isco n s in , N ov . 14, 1849. W. H. CtiaNNiNG: Dear Sir—Will you do your friends here the favor to publish the enclosed Address, and to ask the Tribune, Chronotype, and Gem of the P rairie to copy ? I have been at Ceresco since A p ril last, and expect to rem a in here un*il Spring. It is a beautiful place, and very pleasant for a residence. Should an organization be formed on the Do main, on the plan proposed, I shall p robably m ake this my home. W ith ardent wishes for y o u r welfare and the success of Social Reform, I rem ain tru ly your friend, II. H. V an A m r i n g e . At a m eeting of many of the Members of the Wisconsin P h a lanx, and persons holding stock in the Phalanx, assembled on the Domain, at Ceresco, Nov. 13, 1849, the following Address to the friends of Reform and Association, reported by a Commit tee appointed a t a former meeting, was u n anim o u sly adopted and directed to be signed by the Chairm an and Secretary of the meeting, and published in papers friendly to th e cause. ADDRESS TO THE FRIENDS OF REFORM AND ASSOCIATION. The Members of the Wisconsin Phalanx, who retain the hope of Associative Life, are desirous to communicate to the public, a knowledge of the present condition of the Phalanx, and of the causes which have produced i t ; and to invite the co-opera tion of friends in an attem p t to reconstruct an industrial and social organization on the Domain, on principles practically better adapted to a commencement in Association. The Wisconsin Phalanx was incorporated February, 1845. The original members were chiefly from Southport, W isconsin; they possessed no experience in associative life, and had derived their ideas of the theory of Association, principally from the pam phlets and newspaper w ritings of the school of Fourier. By a clause in the charier of the Phalanx, tho increase in the annual appraisal of all the property, real and personal of the Phalanx, exceeding the cost, was to he y early divided or credit ed one fourth to stock, and the rem a ining three fourths to labor, in such manner as the by-laws should provide.
