PART V
Social and Political Views
"When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are
things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches
and honour are things to be ashamed of."--CONFUCIUS.
In the above sentences, written long before the dawn of Christian
civilisation, we have an apt summary of the social and political views
of Alfred Russel Wallace.
As we have stated in a previous chapter, it was during his short stay in
London as a boy, when he was led to study the writings and methods of
Robert Owen, of New Lanark, that his mind first opened to the
consideration of the inequalities of our social life.
During the six years which he spent in land-surveying he obtained a more
practical knowledge of the laws pertaining to public and private
property as they affected the lives and habits of both squire and
peasant.
The village inn, or public-house, was then the only place where men
could meet to discuss topics of mutual interest, and it was there that
young Wallace and his brother spent some of their own leisure hours
listening to and conversing with the village rustics. The conversation
was not ordinarily of an educational character, but occasionally
experienced farmers would discuss agricultural and land problems which
were beginning to interest Wallace.
In reading his books and essays written more than seventy years later,
we are struck with the exceptional opportunities which he had of
comparing social conditions, and commercial and individual prosperity
during that long period, and of witnessing the introduction of many
inventions.
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