P:GCQ CY/Capaldi-FM  October, : John Stuart Mill A Biography Nicholas Capaldi LoyolaUniversity,NewOrleans iii P:GCQ CY/Capaldi-FM  October, : PUBLISHEDBYTHEPRESSSYNDICATEOFTHEUNIVERSITYOFCAMBRIDGE ThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridge, WestthStreet,NewYork,-, WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,,Australia RuizdeAlarco´n,Madrid,Spain DockHouse,TheWaterfront,CapeTown,SouthAfrica http://www.cambridge.org (cid:1)c NicholasCapaldi Thisbookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica TypefaceEhrhardt./pt. SystemLATEXε [] AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata Capaldi,Nicholas. JohnStuartMill:abiography/NicholasCapaldi. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. --- .Mill,JohnStuart,–. .Philosophers–England–Biography. .Title. .  –dc []  hardback iv P:GCQ CY/Capaldi-FM  October, : Contents Preface page ix Acknowledgments xix  ChildhoodandEarlyEducation:TheGreat Experiment(–)   CompanyManandYouthfulPropagandist (–)   Crisis(–)   TheDiscoveryofRomanceandRomanticism (–)   TheTransitionalEssays   IntellectualSuccess(–)   WorldlySuccess(–)   PrivateYears(–)   TheMemorialEssays   PublicIntellectual(–)   LastYears(–)  Notes  Bibliography  Index  vii P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, :  Childhood and Early Education: The Great   Experiment ( – ) T  most important facts about the life of John Stuart Mill were that he was the son of James Mill and that he fell in love with Harriet Hardy Taylor. We shall begin our story with John Stuart Mill’s(hereinafterreferredtoas“Mill”)relationtohisfather(hereinafter referredtoas“JamesMill”). JamesMillwastheleaderofagroupofthinkers,knownasthePhilo-  sophic Radicals, who were intent upon a vast campaign of social re- form.TheotherkeyfiguresincludedJeremyBenthamandDavidRicardo. Whatpromptedtheirinterestinsocialreform?Duringthelasthalfofthe eighteenthcentury,Britainhadexperiencedtheextraordinaryeconomic transformation of the Industrial Revolution. The revolution succeeded notonlyinspurringeconomicgrowthbutalsoincreatingoruncovering anunprecedentednumberofpolitical,economic,social,moral,andreli- giousproblems.Thehumanandmoralcenterofgravityhadshifted.Just abouteveryfundamentalbeliefhadtoberethought,andmostinstitutions  reformed. ThestoryofMill’slifeisintimatelytiedtothatreformandto therethinkingofliberalculture. JamesMillhadbeenborninScotlandonApril,.Hisfatherhad been a shoemaker. His mother had changed the original family name of Milne. His mother had great ambitions for him, and from the very first Jameswasmadetofeelthathewassuperiorandthecenterofattention. Hisintellectualprowesswasrecognizedatanearlyage,andasaresulthe acquired as patrons Sir John and Lady Jane Stuart. They arranged for him to attend the University of Edinburgh so that he could prepare for theScottishPresbyterianministry,andtheyalsoarrangedforhimtotutor theirdaughter. James Mill was seventeen at the time he served as the tutor of WilhelminaStuart.Aspecialfriendshipdevelopedwiththedaughterof  P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, :  JohnStuartMill:ABiography his patron, Sir John Stuart, a relationship that could never be consum- mated,giventhesocialstructureofthetime.Fromthispointon,James MillwastheimplacableenemyoftheclasssysteminBritain.JamesMill wroteofherthat“besidesbeingabeautifulwoman,[she]wasinpointof intellectanddispositiononeofthemostperfecthumanbeingsIhaveever known.”EvenSirWalterScotthadfalleninlovewithher.Jameswould laternameoneofhisdaughtersWilhelmina.Thisthrowsagreatdealof lightbothonwhyMillwouldlatercherishhisrelationshipwithHarriet andonwhyhewroteofherwithsuchlavishpraise,inamannernotunlike  hisfather’s.ItalsotellsussomethingmoreaboutJamesMill. Among James Mill’s university friendships could be counted Jeffrey Thomson, later editor of the Whig Edinburgh Review, and Henry Brougham, a brilliant political leader who would be allied with James Mill in the Great Reform Bill of . James Mill was influenced by thelecturesofDugaldStewart,thereigningphilosopheroftheScottish schoolofcommonsense,buthealsoread,inadditiontotheology,Plato, Rousseau,DavidHume,Voltaire,andtheworksofCondillacandHartley onthefunctioningofthemind.Thesewereamongtheauthorswhoformed JamesMill’smind,andtheywoulddolikewiseforMill. JamesMillwaslicensedbythePresbyterytopreach.Theparishioners consideredhissermonstobeabittoolearned.Unfortunately,thescripts of the sermons were eventually destroyed when the Mill family moved to Kensington. However, James Mill could not accept the doctrines of any church and abandoned his career in the ministry. In the early years ofhismarriagehecontinuedtoattendchurchandhadallofhischildren baptized. By , under the influence of Bentham and another friend, theSpanishgeneralMiranda,hehadgivenupallreligiousattachments. The other members of his family, including his son John, continued to attend. The young son was even heard to say to his aunt that “the two mostimportantbooksintheworldwereHomerandtheBible.” After briefly considering the possibility of a career in law, James Mill moved to London to pursue a career as a journalist. While in London, he met and married Harriet Burrow (on June , ) when she was twenty-threeandhealmostthirty-two.Harriet’smotherhadtakenover the management and ownership of a residence for “lunatics” from her latehusband;shewasanattractivewomanwhosedaughterhadinherited herbeauty;therewasadowryof£,andthecouplewasgivenahouse byHarriet’smother–RodneyTerrace,Pentonville.Duringthe P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, : ChildhoodandEarlyEducation  family lived briefly in the poet John Milton’s former house. Until his appointment at India House, James Mill was under constant financial pressure,nottheleastofwhichwasthepressureofpayinghisownfather’s debts.Thesedebtshadresultedfromthebankruptcyofhisfather’sshoe repairbusinessfollowingthelossofJamesMill’smotherandbrotherto consumptionandhisfather’ssubsequentparalysis. Despitefatheringninechildrenwithher–fourboysandfivegirls–at  regulartwo-yearintervalsoveratwenty-yearperiod, JamesMillbecame contemptuousofhiswife’slackofintellectandherweaknessofcharacter. Theonereallydisagreeabletraitin[James]Mill’scharacter,andthethingthat hasleftthemostpainfulmemories,wasthe[contemptuous]waythatheallowed himselftospeakandbehavetohiswifeandchildrenbeforevisitors.Whenweread hisletterstofriends,weseehimactingthefamilymanwiththeutmostpropriety, puttinghiswifeandchildrenintotheirdueplace;butheseemedunabletoobserve thispartindailyintercourse. In commenting on James Mill’s book The Analysis of the Human Mind, Bainnotedthat“thesectionontheFamilyaffectionsisrepletewiththe idealofperfectdomestichappiness:and,iftheauthordidnotactuptoit, as he did to his ideal of public virtue, the explanation is to be sought in  humanweaknessandinconsistency.” It was there at Rodney Terrace that Mill was born on May , , andchristenedJohnStuartinhonorofJamesMill’sformerpatron.Al- though James Mill might have been bitter about the class barrier that hadpreventedhimfromcourtingWilhelmina,hewasevermindfulofthe importanceofpatronageforsocialmobility.Anexpandingfamily–they ultimatelyhadninechildren–andgeneraleconomicdifficultiesplagued theMillsuntilthesuccessofJamesMill’sHistoryofBritishIndiain. Despiteburdensandobstaclesthatwouldhavecrushedalesserman,in- cludinghisunorthodoxpoliticalviews,JamesMillachievedbothfinancial securityandasignificantplaceintheemploymentofIndiaHousein.  AlongwithEdwardStrachey andThomasLovePeacock,JamesMillwas oneofthreeoutsidersbroughtintodealwiththeescalatingdemandsof thecorrespondencebetweenthedirectorsinthehomeofficeandIndian officials. James Mill had started writing an essay on India in  in order to prove a specific point, namely, that the East India Company had mis- handled and monopolized foreign trade. He did not realize at the time P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, :  JohnStuartMill:ABiography thattheessaywouldtaketwelveyearstocompleteandbecomeaworkof  ten volumes. The East India Company (“John” Company, in common parlance)wasaquasi-autonomouscommercialenterprisethatwouldrule India in conjunction with the crown until . In , the possibility aroseofgainingthechairofGreekatGlasgowUniversity,butbeingun- willing to sign the confession of faith, James Mill could not pursue an academiccareer.Atthesametime,JamesMillestablishedapersonalrela- tionshipwithseveralmembersoftheboardofgovernorsofIndiaHouse inthehopeofobtainingemployment.ItwashisfriendsJosephHumeand DavidRicardowhocalledtotheattentionofGeorgeCanning,thenpres- identoftheIndiaBoard,thepublicationofthehistory.Thiswasenough tooffsettheoppositionoftheTorymembersoftheboard.JamesMill’s expertiseonIndia,hisorganizationalskills,andhisindustriousnesswould eventuallypermithimtorisetothepositionofchiefexaminerin. InadditiontohiscareeratIndiaHouse,JamesMillbecameoneofthe leaders of the reform movement known as Philosophic Radicalism, and among his political friends were Bentham, Ricardo, Grote, and Francis Place.GrotedescribedJamesMillattheirfirstmeetingasfollows: Heisaveryprofoundthinkingman,andseemswelldisposedtocommunicate,as wellasclearandintelligibleinhismanner.Hismindhas,indeed,allthatcynicism andasperitywhichbelongtotheBenthamianschool,andwhatIchieflydislikein himisthereadinessandseemingpreferencewithwhichhedwellsonthefaults and defects of others – even of the greatest men! But it is so very rarely that a manofanydepthcomesacrossmypath,thatIshallmostassuredlycultivatehis acquaintanceagooddealfarther. One of the most remarkable aspects of the final published version of Mill’sAutobiographyisthathetalksabouthismotheronlyindirectly.One mightsuggestthatthisisnotsurprising,astheAutobiographyisprimarily about Mill’s intellectual and moral development. Even if this is so, it pointstothefactthathismotherplayednomajorroleinhisintellectual andmoraldevelopment.Fromwhatlittleevidencewehave,itappearsas if she conformed to the eighteenth-century notion of women as genteel anduseless.Mill’sindirectcommentabouthismotherishispointingout whatamistakeitwasforhisfathertohavemarriedearlyandhadalarge familybeforebeingcapableofsupportingthem.Millattemptedtodrawa morallessonfromthis,notingthatsuchbehavioronhisfather’spartwas latertobecriticizedbyJamesMillhimself,notonlyasimprudentbutalso P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, : ChildhoodandEarlyEducation  asinconsistentwiththekindofadvicethatthePhilosophicRadicalswere togivemembersoftheworkingclass. Although Mill never directly mentions his mother in his published Autobiography,hedoesgiveusanaccountofherinanunpublisheddraft, anunflatteringreferencethatHarrietTaylorMillhadhimremoveforthe publishedversion. That rarity in England, a really warm-hearted mother would in the first place havemademyfatheratotallydifferentbeingandinthesecondwouldhavemade thechildrengrowuplovingandbeingloved.Butmymotherwiththeverybest intentions only knew how to pass her life in drudging for them. Whatever she coulddoforthemshedid,&theylikedher,becauseshewaskindtothem,but tomakeherselfloved,lookedupto,orevenobeyed,requiredqualitieswhichshe unfortunatelydidnotpossess....Ithusgrewupintheabsenceofloveandinthe presenceoffear:andmanyandindeliblearetheeffectsofthisbringingupinthe stuntingofmymoralgrowth. Thissoundsverymuchlikeapleaforamotherofcharacterwhowould havestoodupforhimagainsthisfather’sharshnessandatthesametime wouldhaveintroducedanelementofaffectionbaseduponstrength.For the rest of his life, and despite the fact that his mother always doted on him,Millwouldremainascontemptuousofhismotherashisfatherhad  been. Whatwedoknowabouthismother,HarrietBarrowMill,isthatwhen she married James Mill at the age of twenty-three she was very pretty, and that Mill inherited her acquiline appearance. She was described by oneofherhusband’sprofessionalassociatesas“good-naturedandgood- tempered,twocapitalqualitiesinawoman,”butalsoas“notalittlevain  of her person, and would be thought to be still a girl.” One of Mill’s sisters,alsonamedHarriet,describeshermotherasfollows: Here was an instance of two persons, as husband and wife, living as far apart, underthesameroof,asthenorthpolefromthesouth;fromno‘fault’ofmypoor mother most certainly; but how was a woman with a growing family and very smallmeans(asintheearlyyearsofthemarriage)tobeanythingbutaGerman Hausfrau?Howcouldshe‘intellectually’becomeacompanionforsuchamindas myfather? A later acquaintance, Mrs. Grote, described the relationship as follows: “He[JamesMill]marriedastupidwoman,‘ahousemaidofawoman’,and leftoffcaringforherandtreatedherashissquahbutwasalwaysfaithful P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, :  JohnStuartMill:ABiography  toher.” Anothervisitordescribedheras“atall,handsomelady,sweet- tempered, with pleasant manners, fond of her children: but I think not  muchinterestedinwhattheelderonesandtheirfathertalkedabout.” Mill offered the following reflection on his father’s relationship with hismother: Personally I believe my father to have had much greater capacities of feeling thanwereeverdevelopedinhim.HeresembledalmostallEnglishmeninbeing ashamedofthesignsoffeeling,andbytheabsenceofdemonstration,starving thefeelingsthemselves.Inanatmosphereoftendernessandaffectionhewould havebeentenderandaffectionate;buthisill-assortedmarriageandhisasperities oftemperdisabledhimfrommakingsuchanatmosphere.Itwasoneofthemost unfavourableofthemoralagencieswhichactedonmeinmyboyhood,thatmine wasnotaneducationoflovebutoffear. The importance of affection and the inability of James Mill to express affectionisarepeatedthemeinMill’s’Autobiography: Theelementwhichwaschieflydeficientinhismoralrelationtohischildrenwas thatoftenderness....Ifweconsiderfurtherthathewasinthetryingposition ofsoleteacher,andaddtothisthathistemperwasconstitutionallyirritable,itis impossiblenottofeeltruepityforafatherwhodid,andstrovetodo,somuch forhischildren,whowouldhavevaluedtheiraffection,yetwhomusthavebeen constantlyfeelingthatfearofhimwasdryingitupatitssource.Thiswasnolonger thecaselaterinlife,andwithhisyoungerchildren.Theylovedhimtenderly:and ifIcannotsaysomuchofmyself,Iwasalwaysloyallydevotedtohim. EarlyEducation James Mill spent a considerable period of time almost every day in ed- ucating his own children. As an example of his father’s commitment to education, the largest part of the first chapter of Mill’s Autobiography focuses on what has become the most famous early childhood reading list of all time. Mill was taught Greek at the age of three. At the age of five,MillaccompaniedGeorgeBenthamonavisittoLadySpencer,the wife of the head of the admiralty, whereupon Mill discoursed on “the  comparativemeritsofMarlboroughandWellington.” MillreadPlatoin Greekbytheageofseven;hereadthehistoriesbyRobertson,Hume,and Gibbonatthesametime;attheageofeight,hestudiedLatin;Newton’s PrincipiaMathematicawasmasteredbytheageofeleven,theclassicsof P:IQR/HGI/GLB c  September, : ChildhoodandEarlyEducation  logicbytwelve,andtherigorsofhighermathematics,AdamSmith’sThe WealthofNations,andDavidRicardo’sPrinciplesofPoliticalEconomyand Taxation by fourteen. At the age of fifteen, Mill was introduced to the writingsofJeremyBentham,andthiswassoonfollowed,atagesixteen, bythephilosophicalworksofLocke,Berkeley,Helve´tius,andCondillac. AmongthemanyauthorsMillcitesarePlutarch,Virgil,Ovid,Lucretius, Cicero,Homer,Sophocles,Euripides,Aristophanes,Thucydides,Tacitus, Juvenal,Polybius,Aristotle,Shakespeare,Milton,Spencer,andDryden. Someindicationoftheextentandrigorofthisregimencanbegathered fromthefollowingsummary.In,attheageofeight,Millwasread- ingThucydides,Sophocles’Electra,Euripides’Phoenisae,Aristophanes’ Plutus and the Clouds, and the Philippics of Demosthenes in Greek; in Latin,hewasreadingtheOrationforArchiasofCicero,aswellastheAnti- Verres. In mathematics, he was studying Euclid and Euler’s Algebra, as wellasBonnycastle’sAlgebraandWest’sGeometry.In,healsobegan readingFerguson’sRomanHistory,Mitford’sGrecianHistory,andLivy (inEnglish).Atthesameageofeighthewashimselfwritingahistoryofthe unitedprovincesfromtherevoltfromSpain,inthereignofPhillipII,to theaccessionoftheStadtholder,WilliamIII,tothethroneofEngland.He alsowroteahistoryofRomangovernmenttotheLicinianLaws.Thelat- terweresignificantinRomanhistoryforpromotingdemocraticreforms, suchasmandatingthatatleastoneconsulhadtobeaplebeian. Thereadinglistincluded(inGreek)theOdyssey,Theocritis,two orationsofAeschines,andDemosthenes’OntheCrown.TheLatinreading listincludedthefirstsixbooksofOvid’sMetamorphoses,thefirstsixbooks ofLivy’sBucolics,thefirstsixbooksoftheAeneid,andCicero’sOrations. TotheworksinmathematicswereaddedSimpson’sConicSections,West’s Conic Sections and Spherics, Kersey’s Algebra, and Newton’s Universal Arithmetic. In , he was reading (in Greek), Xenophon’s Hellenica, Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes, Euripedes’ Medea, and Aristophanes’ Frogs; in Latin, he read Horace’s Epodes and Polybius. In mathematics, hestudiedStewart’sPropositionsGeometricae,Playfair’sTrigonometry,and Simpson’sAlgebra.By,MillwasreadingThucydidesinGreekforthe secondtime,Demosthenes’Orations,andAristotle’sRhetoric(forwhich he made a synoptic table). In Latin, he read Lucretius, Cicero’s Letter to Atticus, Topica, and De Partitone Oratoria. In mathematics, he began anarticleonconicsectionsintheEncyclopaediaBritannica,Euler’sAnal- ysis of Infinities, Simpson’s Fluxions, Keill’s Astronomy, and Robinson’s