Samuel Smiles

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Samuel Smiles (December 23, 1812 - April 16, 1904), was a Scottish writer and government reformer who campaigned on the Chartist platform. But he concluded that more progress would come from a new attitude than from the new law. His master, Self-Help (1859), promotes austerity and claims that poverty is largely due to irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and the laissez-faire government. It has been called "the bible of medieval liberalism", and it raised the Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight.

Video Samuel Smiles

Biography

Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, Smiles is the son of Janet Wilson of Dalkeith and Samuel Smiles of Haddington. She is one of eleven surviving children. While his family members are a strict Presbyterian Reformed, he does not practice. He studied at a local school, leaving at the age of 14. He apprenticed to be a doctor under Dr. Robert Lewins. This arrangement enabled Smiles to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1829. There he continued his interest in politics, and became a strong supporter of Joseph Hume. During this time, Samuel junior suffered from lung disease, and his father was advised to send him on a long sea journey.

His father died in an epidemic of cholera in 1832, but Smiles was activated to continue his studies because he was supported by his mother. He runs a small family shop company with the belief that "God will provide." His unrelenting examples of self-support and his nine younger siblings greatly affected Smiles's future life, although he developed a docile and tolerant outlook that sometimes contradicted his ancestors in Cameronian.

In 1837, he wrote articles for Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle and the Leeds Times, campaigning for parliamentary reform. In November 1838, Smiles was invited to be the editor of the Leeds Times, a position he received and filled until 1842. In May 1840, Smiles became secretary of the Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association, a sixth organization the goal of Chartism: universal suffrage for all men over the age of 21; equivalent electoral districts; vote by secret ballot; ending the needs of parliamentarians to qualify for Parliament, other than by winning elections; to pay members of parliament; and the annual Parliament.

As editor of the Leeds Times, he advocated radical causes ranging from women's suffrage to free trade and parliamentary reform. In the late 1840s, however, Smiles became concerned about the advocacy of physical forces by Chartists Feargus O'Connor and George Julian Harney, although he seems to have agreed with them that the current movement tactics are ineffective, saying that "only political reform will not heal various kinds of crimes that now happen to society. "

On December 7, 1843, Samuel married Sarah Ann Holmes Dixon in Leeds. They have three daughters and two sons.

In 1845, he left the Leeds Times and became secretary to the newly formed Leeds & amp; Thirsk Train. After nine years, he worked for the South East Railway.

In the 1850s, Smiles abandoned his interest in parliament and decided that self-help was the most important place of reform. In 1859, he published his book Self-Help; with Character and Behavior Illustrations .

Smile writing articles for Quarterly . In an article on railroads, he argues that railways should be nationalized and third-class passengers should be encouraged. In 1861 Smiles published an article from Quarterly , renamed Income, Savings, and Working Strikes . He claims poverty is in many ways caused by the habit of persuading:

The period of great prosperity, where the highest wages and factories are running full-time is not the time when Mechanics' Institutes and Schools are flourishing, but the moment where collectors and sellers prosper and grow up... A worker gets 50s. up to 60s. one week (above the average salary of banker employees) is quite satisfied to live in a bad house in a bad neighborhood, one room serves as a living room, kitchen, and bedroom for the whole family, consisting of husband, wife, four sons, two cats, and a dog. Witness asked: Do you think this family can not get a better lodging, or are they careless? They are careless, is the answer.

In 1866, Smiles became president of the National Provident Institution, but left in 1871, after suffering a debilitating stroke. He recovered from a stroke, eventually learning to read and write again.

In 1875, his book Thrift was published. In it, he says that "wealth is not a claim to difference, only an ungracious person who admires wealth as wealth". He claimed that the 1834 Poor Act of Amendment Act was "one of the most valuable that has been placed on law books in modern times". He also criticized laissez-faire :

When typhoid or cholera breaks out, they tell us that No one is to blame. Nothing terrible that! How much he should answer. More mischief done by Nobody than by all the worlds besides. No one is faking our food. Nobody poisoned us with bad drinks. No one gave us dirty water. No one spread fever in the blind alleys and the unkempt track. No one left the city without draining. No one filled the prisons, prisons, and inmate stations. Nothing makes hunters, thieves, and drunks. No one has a theory either - a terrible theory. It is manifested in two words - Laissez faire - Leave it alone. When people are poisoned by plaster Paris mixed with flour, "Let alone" is the cure. When Cocculus indicus is used instead of jumping, and men die prematurely, it's easy to say, "Nobody does it." Let those who can, find out when they are deceived: Caveat emptor . When people live in dirty dwellings, leave them alone. Let the trouble do its job; do not bother death.

In 1877, young Smiles letters wrote home during adolescent sea trips and the logs he saved from his travels to Australia and America between February 1869 and March 1871 were published in London in the form of books, titled A Boy's Voyage Round World .

In 1881 he claimed it,

Labor is tiring and the benefits are slow. Some people decide to live with the work of others, and from the moment they arrive at the decision, become enemies of society. Not often distress encourages men to commit crimes. In nine out of ten cases, it is a choice not a requirement. Moral cowardice is exhibited in public as in private life. Snobbism is not limited to the intoxicating of the rich, but quite often shown in intoxicating the poor... Now that the "mass" exercises the political forces, there is a tendency to caress them, flatter them, speak nothing but subtle words to them. They are credited with the good that they themselves know they do not have. To win the favor sympathy they often pretend to be seen, whose implementation is known without hope. The popular nanny should please who he addresses, and it's always very satisfying of our self-love to be told that others are to blame for what we suffer. So it is rare for these orators to declare that the people they handle themselves are blamed for what they suffer, or that they abuse the ways of happiness within their reach... The capitalist is the one who does not spend all that obtained by working.

When in 1892 Gladstone returned to power and introduced the Second House Regulation of Ireland, Smiles wrote to his son in Ulster: "Do not you rebel.Stay quietly, even though I see your name among the bullies... Your letter is very worrying... Gladstone has come to power and we are threatened with the Civil War.This is not the result of good statesmanship, but there are Liberal members to encourage the maniacs.Unfortunately, for Liberalism!... Should I give you a six-month notice to withdraw my loan to BR Co., because I want to save a little money I have for my wife and bairns, not to arm the Ulstermen ". Smile wrote to Lucy Smiles in 1893, "The House Rule bill is horrible... I was quite surprised at that rowdy dog, the misguided statesman, threw the country into a mess." I can not understand how so many people in this section The British followed that maniac, like a flock of sheep, he just exploded with self-conceit, ouch! Ouch for Liberalism! "

On April 16, 1904, Samuel Smiles died in Kensington, London and was buried at the Brompton Cemetery. Shortly before his death, he reportedly offered a knight, which he rejected. Artist Sir George Reid (1841-1913), was assigned to paint a portrait of Dr. Smiles, which was completed in 1877 and is now in the collection of National Art Gallery, London.

Smile grandchildren include Sir Walter Smiles, member of the Union Ulster Unionist Party. Through this family branch, Smiles is also a great-grandfather of Bear Grylls, a famous adventurer. Copy of Smiles can be found in the East Lothian Council archive.

Maps Samuel Smiles

Self Help

The origins of his most famous book, Self-Help , were in the speech he gave in March 1845 in response to a request by the Mutual Improvement Society, published as, The Education of the Working Class . In it Smiles said:

I would not have anyone here who thinks that, since I have mentioned people who have raised themselves by self-education from poverty to social prosperity, and even wealth, this is a major sign to be aimed at. That would be a big mistake. Knowledge is itself one of the highest enjoyments. This stupid person passes through a dead world for all pleasures, saving them from... Every human being has a great mission to perform, a noble ability to cultivate, a great destiny to achieve. He must have the means of education, and freely exert all power from the nature of his god.

The newly founded Routledge publisher rejected the publication of Self-Help in 1855. Twenty years later Smiles sat next to George Routledge at dinner, and he said to him, "And when, Dr. Smiles, we are have the honor to publish one of your books? "; Smiling replied that Mr. Routledge had the honor to refuse Self Help . Although John Murray was willing to publish Self-Help on a half-profit system, Smiles refused this because he did not want the book to lose his anecdote. In 1859, Smiles published the book himself, defending the copyright, while he paid John Murray a ten percent commission. It sold 20,000 copies in a year from its publication. At the time of Smiles's death in 1904, he had sold over a quarter of a million copies. Self-Help brought [Smiles] to celebrity status: almost overnight, he became a prominent and much-consulted teacher "smile" suddenly became fashionable and he was inundated with requests that he should lay the foundations. stone, sitting for his portrait, present present for orphans, making speeches from the platform. The simple man was happy with this invitation, but of course he could not accept. He has a job to do... his job does not lie in the public platform... It's in his office with his Work ".

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Implement manuscript

Smile is meant to publish a book titled Behavior, in 1896. He submitted it to his publisher, but John Murray refused to publish the book. In 1898 the publication was rejected again.

After Smiles's death in 1904, the manuscript Behavior was found on his desk and, on the advice of John Murray, was destroyed. No known copy exists.

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Legacy

Self-Help has been called "the biblical Mid-Victoria liberalism", and it lifts a smile for celebrity status almost overnight.

The liberal MP J. A. Roebuck in 1862 called Smiles' Income, Strikes, and Workers Saving a "very remarkable book" and quoted parts of it in a speech.

George Bernard Shaw, in his book Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889), calls Smiles "that Plutarch is modern".

American inspirational author Orison Swett Marden was inspired by Samuel Smiles as a result of reading Self-Help during his youth. A few decades later, he wrote Pushing Forward (1894) and became a professional writer as a result of Smiles influence.

The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of New Liberalism, Keynesian economics, and socialism, all of which underestimated unfavorably. The New Liberal Economists J. A. Hobson and A. F. Mummery in their Industrial Physiology (1889) claimed that austerity resulted in underemployment of capital and labor during trade pressures. The General Theory of Labor, Interest, and Money (1936) by John Maynard Keynes, attempted to replace the classical liberal economy.

In 1905, William Boyd Carpenter, Bishop Ripon, praised Smile: "The bishop says that he has noticed little inclination in some circles to underestimate the simple life energy that at some time was so thoughtful." He recalled the apparition of Self-Help >, by Samuel Smiles, who 40 or 50 years ago gave a speech at Leeds to encourage young people to engage in self-development.The books were read with amazing avidity, but there appeared a school that taught the "beautiful and non-existent do nothing. The school underestimates the junk and does not pay much attention to character and, perhaps, does not pay much attention to the task ".

Labor MP David Grenfell, in the Bill Bill Transition Billing Bill, stated that the 1932 Bill "does not discriminate against powerless, lazy, and obsessive, but against diligent and thrifty people who must pay a heavy penalty." The Minister of Labor punishes self-help. He pours out humiliation against Samuel Smiles and all his works ".

The liberals of Ernest Benn invited Smiles in 1949 when commending the kindness of self-help.

In 1962, the director of the British Institute of Management, John Marsh, said that young men entering the industry need a sense of service and duty; they must be "character people who know how to behave well as in the success phase"; they must have self-discipline in thinking and behaving: "There is something to be said for the doctrine of the independent aid of Samuel Smiles".

Liberal economist FA Hayek wrote in 1976 that: "It may be the misfortune that, especially in the United States, popular writers like Samuel Smiles... have defended free companies on the ground that they regularly respect the right, and that bodes bad for the future the market order that seems to have been the only defense against it that is understood by the general public that it has largely been the basis of self-esteem entrepreneurs often give him an air of self-truth that does not make it more popular. "

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Posts

Self help topics

• Self Help , 1859
• Character , 1871
• Used goods , 1875
• Duty , 1880
• Life and Labor , 1887

Biography

• The life of George Stephenson , 1857
• The Story of Life of George Stephenson , London, 1859 (short of the above)
• Short biography , Boston, 1860 (articles reprinted from periodicals such as Quarterly Review )
• The Life of Engineers , 5 vols, London 1862
  • Vol 1, Initial Engineer - James Brindley, Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, Sir Hugh Myddleton, Captain John Perry
  • Vol 2, Harbors, Lighthouse and Bridge - John Smeaton and John Rennie (1761-1821)
  • Vol 3, Road History - John Metcalf and Thomas Telford
  • Vol 4, Steam Machine - Boulton and Watt
  • Vol 5, Locomotive - George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson
• Industrial Biography , 1863

Includes the lives of Andrew Yarranton, Benjamin Huntsman, Dud Dudley, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Clement, etc.

• Vol 4 Boulton and Watt , 1865
• The Huguenots: Their Settlements, Churches and Industries in England and Ireland , 1867
• The Huguenots in France . 1870
• Life of Engineers , ed new. in 5 vols, 1874

(including Stephenson and Boulton and Watt's life)

• The Life of a Scottish Naturalist: Thomas Edward , 1875
• George Moore, Trader and Philanthropist , 1878
• Robert Dick, Baker of Thurso, Geologist and Botanist , 1878
• Men of Discovery and Industry , 1884

Phineas Pett, Francis Pettit Smith, John Harrison, John Lombe, William Murdoch, Frederick Koenig, Walter Family of The Times, William Clowes, Charles Bianconi, and chapters on Industry in Ireland , Shipbuilding in Belfast, Astronomers, and students in a simple life

• James Nasmyth, engineer, autobiography , ed. Samuel Smiles, 1885
• Publisher and Friends. Memoirs and Correspondence from John Murray's End , 1891
• Jasmin. Barbers, poets, philanthropists , 1891
• Josiah Wedgwood, Personal History , 1894
• The Autobiography of Samuel Smiles, LLD , ed. T. Mackay, 1905 - New York Edition

The growth of industrial archeology and history in Britain from the 1960s led to a number of these titles being reprinted, and a number available on the Web from sources such as Project Gutenberg, mentioned below.

References

Note

Bibliography

Further reading

• Christopher Clausen, "How to Join the Middle Class with the Help of Dr. Smiles and Mrs. Beeton", American Scholar , 62 (1993), pp. 403-18.
• K. Fielden, "Samuel Smiles and self-help", Victorian Studies , 12 (1968-69), pp.Ã, 155-76.
• J. F. C. Harrison, "The Victorian gospel of success", Victorian Studies , 1 (1957-58).
• John Hunter, "Self Help Spirit - lives from Samuel Smiles", (Shepheard Walwyn 2017).
• Adrian Jarvis, Samuel Smiles and the Construction of Victorian Values ​​â € (Sutton, 1997).
• Thomas Mackay (ed.), The Autobiography of Samuel Smiles (John Murray, 1905).
• R. J. Morris, "Samuel Smiles and Genesis of Self-Help", Historical Journal , 24 (1981), p. 89-109.
• Jeffrey Richards, "Distributing the Gospel of Self Help: G. A. Henty and Samuel Smiles", Popular Culture Journals , 16 (1982), p. 52-65.
Tim Travers, "Samuel Smiles and The Originals of 'Self-Help': New Reformation and Enlightenment", Albion , 9 (1977), pp.Ã, 161-87.
• Vladimir Trendafilov, "Origin of Self Help: Samuel Smiles and Formative Influence on Ex-Seminal Work", , 1 (2015).

External links

• Works written by or about Samuel Smiles in Wikisource
• Works by Samuel Smiles at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Samuel Smiles in the Internet Archive
• Works by Samuel Smiles at LibriVox (public domain audiobook)
• Characters by Samuel Smiles in html format
• Comments on Self-Help by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Source of the article : Wikipedia