Mill, John Stuart
John Stuart (1806-1873), a celebrated English philosopher. He was born in London, May 20, 1806. He died at Avignon, France, May 8, 1873. The father, James Mill, was a man of remarkable intellect, well known as a writer and as a man who influenced some of the greatest minds of the century. He took personal charge of John Stuart. He taught him the Greek alphabet in his fourth year, and by the time he was eight had him reading the Greek authors read usually in the high school course. John was a boy of unusual quickness and reasoning power. Probably no child of the nineteenth century had so rigorous an education. His father trained him to think as carefully as any jockey ever trained a horse to speed. Religious matters were never mentioned. Mill went through life without belonging to a church or having any denominational preferences. He was not an irreverent man.
In 1823 he entered the London office of the East India Company as an assistant to his father. He was soon placed in charge of the company's correspondence with its various agents in India, an exceedingly responsible position. Mill appears to have been able to do his work in office hours and to use the rest of his time systematically for reading, thinking, and writing. He contributed a great number of articles to the various reviews. He became the practical proprietor of the Westminster Review in 1837. His Logic was published in 1843, a Political Economy, in 1848; Essay on Liberty, in 1859; on the Subjection of Women, in 1869, etc. Friends persuaded him to stand for Parliament. He consented, but he declined to canvass or to employ anybody to solicit votes for him. He was very reluctant even to address a meeting of voters. He was elected and served for three years. He took a public stand in favor of the poor tenants of Ireland, the representation of women in Parliament, the reduction of the national debt. He was not reelected.
Mill's Autobiography is one of the most interesting books of the sort ever written. It gives the details of his early education, his walks and talks with his father, and his determination to be of some use in the world. As a young man he was bent on reforming society. He was in many respects a socialist. He did not believe in the private ownership of land. He insisted that it was not right to hold land unless one were using it. He believed that the increase in the value of land, arising as it does from the efforts of an entire community, should belong to the community and not to the individual who might hold title. According to his views, no one should be permitted to become wealthy through an increase in the value of wild land or unoccupied town lots.
When about twenty years of age Mill passed through a period of deep despondency. Life seemed to him barren. He came to the conclusion very rationally that his life had been too strictly intellectual, and that he needed more of human society and the diversion of family life. Nevertheless he did not marry until 1851, and then he married a widow whom he had known intimately for twenty years. He was fond of scenery. Throughout his entire life he was an enthusiastic botanist. After retiring from Parliament he settled in a cottage at Avignon, France. He had a comfortable income. He surrounded himself with books and facilities for writing. He had a nook for a cabinet of plants. As spring came on he could hardly wait for the advent of flowers.
Mill was one of the most remarkable men of the century. He was intimately associated with Carlyle and other thinkers of his day. While some of his notions were not practicable, it may be said that very few writers have had a more positive and widespread influence than he. The following sentence is one of many that might be quoted: "The government of a people by itself has a meaning and a reality--but such a thing as government of one people by another does not and cannot exist."
