Page:Eminent English liberals in and out of Parliament.djvu/224

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EMINENT LIBERALS OUT OF PARLIAMENT.

in every good work, as they understand good works. Mr. Beesly's labors in connection, for example, with the translation of Comte's "Politique Positive" into English, are enough to make any member of the company of biblical revisers blush for very shame. He is likewise a frequent contributor to the columns of "La Revue Occidentale," the organ of the orthodox positivists, conducted by the primate of the body, Pierre Laffitte,—a personal disciple of Comte.

It may be necessary to explain how it comes to pass that Mr. Beesly is an orthodox, and not a heterodox, positivist. The seamless coat of Comte has, alas! already been rent. Dr. Congreve has disavowed the headship of Laffitte, and so has become schismatic, taking half of the Comtist Church in England and its dependencies with him. He has turned his back on Paris, as Henry VIII. turned his back on Rome. He has set up an independent island Church, and may be regarded as a sort of Comtist Protestant. On the other hand, Mr. Beesly, Dr. Bridges, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Vernon Lushington, Mr. Cotter Morison, and others still remain Ultramontanes, repairing from time to time to Paris to engage in the solemnities which annually take place at Comte' s old abode on the anniversary of his death. The house is kept exactly as when the founder of the new religion died, and is the sacred rendezvous, the kaaba, of the faithful. The meeting- place of the orthodox is the Cavendish Rooms, Mortimer Street, Langham Place, where a course of lectures of an expositional character are delivered on Sunday evenings during the winter months by Mr. Beesly, Mr. Harrison, and other qualified laymen.

It remains to glance at some of Mr. Beesly's political