Edward Spencer Beesly (; 23 January 1831 – 7 March 1915) was an English positivist, trades union activist, and historian.

Life

He was born on 23 January 1831 in Feckenham, Worcestershire, the eldest son of the Rev. James Beesly and his wife, Mary Fitzgerald, of Queen's county, Ireland. After reading Latin and Greek with his father, in the autumn of 1846 Beesly was sent to

King William's College King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...

on the Isle of Man, an evangelical establishment whose inadequate instruction and low moral tone were later depicted in ''

Eric, or, Little by Little ''Eric, or, Little by Little'' is a book by Frederic W. Farrar, first edition 1858. It was published by Adam & Charles Black, Edinburgh and London. The book deals with the descent into moral turpitude of a boy at a boarding school or English publ ...

'', by his school friend F. W. Farrar. In 1849 Beesly entered

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy ...

, another evangelical stronghold and the original centre of the English positivist movement. He held two exhibitions and a Bible clerkship. His flair for quoting scripture yielded to radical rhetoric under the influence of his tutor

Richard Congreve Richard Congreve (4 September 1818 – 5 July 1899) was the first English philosopher to openly espouse the Religion of Humanity, the godless form of religious humanism that was introduced by Auguste Comte, as a distinct form of positivism. Cong ...

, a covert disciple of Auguste Comte's positivism. Along with his Wadham friends

Frederic Harrison Frederic Harrison (18 October 1831 – 14 January 1923) was a British jurist and historian. Biography Born at 17 Euston Square, London, he was the son of Frederick Harrison (1799–1881), a stockbroker and his wife Jane, daughter of Alexa ...

and John Henry Bridges, Beesly actively engaged in the debates of the Oxford Union and became recognised as a Comtist, though his adhesion to the French philosophy was still tenuous. Beesly received his BA in 1854 and proceeded MA in 1857. After failing to secure a first-class (he obtained seconds in classical moderations and literae humaniores) or a fellowship, he became an assistant master at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

. His brother Augustus Henry, a historian and classical scholar, also taught at the school. Beesly left for London in 1859 to serve as principal of University Hall, a student residence in Gordon Square serving

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

. The next year he was appointed professor of history there and professor of Latin at Bedford College for women, with a combined salary of £300. He also had a private income. His tall, willowy figure became a familiar sight in the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

and London drawing-rooms, including that of

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

and

George Henry Lewes George Henry Lewes (; 18 April 1817 – 30 November 1878) was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He was also an amateur physiologist. American feminist Margaret Fuller called Lewes a "witty, French, flippant sort of m ...

, whose '' Fortnightly Review'' welcomed Beesly's articles. Beesly joined Congreve, Bridges, and Harrison, both now in London, in supporting the struggle of the workers in the building trades for shorter hours. He also attacked the economic theories used by critics of the "new model" trade unions of the 1860s. The notoriety he gained culminated in 1867, when he declared in the aftermath of the "Sheffield outrages" that a trade union murder was no worse than any other: he almost lost his post at University Hall and

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

dubbed him "Dr Beastly". His radical agenda included promoting international solidarity among working-class leaders. He helped organise the most important pro-Union demonstration in England during the American Civil War, and he chaired the historic meeting (28 September 1864) advocating co-operation between English and French workers in support of Polish nationalism, which led to the formation of the

International Working Men's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

(the First International), soon dominated by his friend

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. Foreign affairs were always a passion of Beesly's. For ''International Policy,'' a positivist volume published in 1866, he wrote on British sea power, asserting a connection between Protestantism and commercial immorality. A critic of imperialism, he was a member of the committee founded in 1866 to prosecute Edward Eyre, governor of Jamaica ee Jamaica committee Beesly and other positivists incurred hostility for advocating intervention on the side of France in the Franco-Prussian War, and for defending the Paris commune. Their republican views found expression not only in the press but also at the positivist centre in Chapel Street (now Rugby Street) that they opened in 1870 under Congreve's direction. There they introduced sacraments of the Religion of Humanity and published a co-operative translation of Comte's ''Positive Polity''. When Congreve repudiated their Paris co-religionists in 1878, Beesly, Harrison, Bridges, and others formed their own positivist society, with Beesly as president, and opened a rival centre, Newton Hall, in a courtyard off

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

. Beesly headed its political discussion group, which produced occasional papers. Retirement from University College in 1893 (he had left Bedford College in 1889) enabled him to found and edit the ''Positivist Review''. In 1881, Beesly attended the early meetings of the Democratic Federation, but he was soon marginalised, and returned to the Liberal Party by the middle of the decade. In 1869 Beesly married Emily, youngest daughter of

Charles John Crompton Sir Charles John Crompton (12 June 1797 – 30 October 1865) was an English justice of the Queen's Bench. Life Crompton was born in Derby; he was the third son of Dr. Peter Crompton, and his second cousin Mary, daughter of John Crompton of Chorl ...

, justice of the queen's bench, and his wife, Caroline. The Beeslys lived in University Hall until 1882, when they moved to Finsbury Park. Mrs Beesly was not a positivist—as were her brothers Albert and

Henry Crompton Henry Crompton (1836–1904) was an English court clerk and barrister, known as an advocate of positivism and trade unions. Life Born in Liverpool on 27 August 1836, he was the second of five sons of Charles John Crompton and his wife Caroline Fle ...

—but she shared some of her husband's political and historical interests. He unsuccessfully stood for parliament as a Liberal at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

in November 1885 and at Marylebone in July 1886. Emily Beesly became president of the women's liberal association of Paddington after their move to Warrington Crescent in 1886. Both advocated Irish home rule, he in hard-hitting articles, she in new lyrics for ''The Wearing of the Green''. In 1878 he published ''Catiline, Clodius, and Tiberius'', and she brought out her ''Stories from the History of Rome'', written for their four sons. She died in 1889, aged 49. Beesly's later publications included seventy-four biographical entries on military and political figures for the positivists' New Calendar of Great Men, and ''Queen Elizabeth'', both of which appeared in 1892. In 1901 he retired to 21 West Hill, St Leonards, Sussex, where he published translations of Comte and continued to write for the ''Positivist Review''. He died at home on 7 July 1915 and was buried in

Paddington cemetery The North Brisbane Burial Ground was a former cemetery in the Town of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was in the area now known as the suburbs of Milton and Paddington. It was also known as North Brisbane Cemetery, Paddington Cemetery an ...

. He left a name still honoured by labour historians.

Friends

Beesly was not only friendly with Marx, but was well acquainted with his circle. He knew Lafargue, he got to know Engels, and there were mutual acquaintances, such as Eugene Oswald. Among workmen, he was not only the friend of

George Odger George Odger (1813–4 March 1877) was a pioneer British trade unionist and radical politician. He is best remembered as the head of the London Trades Council during the period of formation of the Trades Union Congress and as the first President ...

Robert Applegarth Robert Applegarth (26 January 1834 – 13 July 1924) was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes. Biography Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in England. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a b ...

and Lucraft, but was on close terms with such working-class confidants of Marx as Jung and Eccarius, and to a lesser extent with Dupont. In the sixties he was a familiar figure, not only in the offices of the Carpenters and Joiners, the

London Trades Council The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

or ''

The Bee-Hive ''The Bee-Hive'' was a trade unionist journal published weekly in the United Kingdom between 1861 and 1878. ''The Bee-Hive'' was established in 1861 by George Potter, with professional journalist George Troup as editor and Robert Hartwell as the ...

'', but was also at home in the "Golden Ball" where the most radical of London's workmen talked with continental revolutionaries over a clay pipe and a pot of beer. Here one could get the flavour of European proletarian politics: that other “World of Labour” in whose ideals Beesly was as deeply interested as he was in those of English trades unionism. Indeed, for many years he expressed his desire for the amalgamation of trade unionism – with its implicit recognition of the priority of social questions—, and proletarian republicanism – with its generous enthusiasm and its larger view.

Letter from Marx

Auction lot description of Beesly's copy of ''Das Kapital'': This is an excellent association copy, inscribed to Karl Marx's friend Professor Edward Spencer Beesly (1831–1915), positivist of the Auguste Comte school of thought, historian, and one of the founding editors of the ''Fortnightly Review''. In 1868, when Marx & Engels were trying to develop international momentum for the economic philosophy contained in this work, they contacted the ''Fortnightly Review'' via Beesly to see if it would be interested in publishing a critique of Das Kapital; at the time Marx wrote to Engels: "Prof. Beesly, who is one of the triumvirate which secretly runs this rag, has… declared, he is 'morally certain' (it depends on him!) a criticism would be accepted" January 1868 An eventual review was passed on to the then chief editor John Morley by Beesly, but Morley apparently found the piece unreadable and would not allow publication, even after Beesly had suggested Marx could try to make the article less dry and more popularist in tone. Beesly subsequently suggested Marx & Engels contact ''The Westminster Review'', but nothing seems to have come of this either. The further inscription, possibly by Beesly, reads "Died 14 March 1883", the date of Marx's death. Sold for £115,000, 27 May 2010 File:An_inscribed_copy_of_Das_Kapital_from_Karl_Marx_to_Edward_Spencer_Beesly_2.png, An inscribed copy of Das Kapital from Karl Marx to Edward Spencer Beesly File:An inscribed copy of Das Kapital from Karl Marx to Edward Spencer Beesly.png, An inscribed copy of Das Kapital from Karl Marx to Edward Spencer Beesly File:Letter_from_Karl_Marx_to_Prof._Edward_Spencer_Beesly.jpg, A letter from Karl Marx to Prof. Edward Spencer Beesly File:The_Positivist_Review.png, ''The Positivist Review''

References

Sources

*Bevir, Mark. 2011. ''The Making of British Socialism''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. * *Claeys, Gregory. 2018. "Professor Beesly, Positivism and the International: the Patriotism Issue". In ''"Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth": The First International in a Global Perspective'', edited by Fabrice Bensimon, Quinton Deluermoz and Jeanne Moisand. Leiden: Brill. *Claeys, Gregory. 2010. ''Imperial Sceptics''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Harrison, Royden. 1959. "E. S. Beesly and Karl Marx, IV–VI". ''International Review of Social History'' 4 (1):208–38. *Harrison, Royden. 1959. "E.S. Beesly and Karl Marx, I–III". ''International Review of Social History'' 4 (1):22–58. *Harrison, Royden. 1965. ''Before the Socialists''. London: Routledge. *Harrison, Royden. 1967. "Professor Beesly and the Working-class Movement". In ''Essays in Labour History'', edited by

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

and John Saville, 205–41. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. *Harrison, Royden, ed. 1971. ''The English Defence of the Commune, 1871''. London: Merlin. *Kent, Christopher. 1978. ''Brains and Numbers: Elitism, Comtism, and Democracy in mid-Victorian England''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. *Kent, C. 'Beesly, Edward Spencer', BDMBR, vol. 2 *Liveing, Susan. 1926. ''A Nineteenth-Century Teacher: John Henry Bridges''. London: Paul. *McGee, John Edwin. 1931. ''A Crusade for Humanity: the History of Organized Positivism in England''. London: Watts. *Porter, Bernard. 1968. ''Critics of Empire''. London: Macmillan. *Royle, Edward. 1974. ''Victorian Infidels''. Manchester: Manchester University Press. *''The Times'' (9 July 1915), 11d · ''Positivist Review'', 23 (1915) ith bibliography· *C. L. Davies, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' (17 July 1915), 77–8 · *''Sociological Review'', 8 (July 1915), 187–8 · Foster, Alum. Oxon. *Vogeler, Martha S. 1984. ''Frederic Harrison: the Vocations of a Positivist''. Oxford: Clarendon. *Wilson, Matthew. 2018. ''Moralising Space''. London: Routledge. *Wright, T.R. 1986. ''The Religion of Humanity: the Impact of Comtean Positivism on Victorian Britain''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

External links