The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly
British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the
Philosophical Radicals
The Philosophical Radicals were a philosophically-minded group of English political radicals in the nineteenth century inspired by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) and James Mill (1773–1836). Individuals within this group included Francis Place (177 ...
, it was published from 1824 to 1914.
James Mill
James Mill (born James Milne; 6 April 1773 – 23 June 1836) was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He is counted among the founders of the Ricardian school of economics. He also wrote ''The History of Briti ...
was one of the driving forces behind the
liberal journal until 1828.
History
Early years
In 1823, the paper was founded (and funded) by
,
[I Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (CUP 1995), p. 1008.] who had long pondered the possibility of establishing a journal for propagating Radical views. The first edition of the journal (January 1824) featured an article by James Mill (continued in the second by his son
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
), which served as a provocative reprobation of a rival, more well-established journal, the ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'' ...
'', castigating it as an organ of the
Whig party, and for sharing the latter's propensity for fence-sitting in the aristocratic interest. The controversy drew in a wide public response, much however critical: the ''
Nuttall Encyclopædia'', published in 1907, notes that the ''Breeches Review'' became a nickname for the journal on account of the fact that
Francis Place, a
breeches-maker, was a major shareholder in the enterprise. American critic and activist
John Neal also published many articles in these early years while serving as Bentham's personal secretary.
The review quickly reached a circulation of three thousand, but, despite that, was not able to break even; and when by 1828 the original funding was exhausted it was sold to another proprietor and no longer functioned in the Radical interest.
In 1834
Sir William Molesworth funded a new Radical review, to be edited (informally) by J S Mill, and called the ‘’London Review’’. Shortly after, Molesworth bought the Westminster Review’’ and merged the two; and from April 1836 to March 1840 the journal resulting from the merger was published under the title ''London and Westminster Review''. After March 1840 and for the following decade publication continued under the title ''Westminster Review'', but with
William Edward Hickson in place of Mill as editor. Though financial difficulties continued, Mill concluded of the period that “it is highly creditable to him
icksonthat he was able to maintain, in some tolerable degree, the character of the Review as an organ of radicalism and progress”.
Later developments
In 1851 the journal was acquired by
John Chapman based at 142 the
Strand, London, a publisher who originally had medical training. The then unknown Mary Ann Evans, later better known by her pen name of
George Eliot, had brought together his authors, including
Francis Newman
Francis Newman (circa 1605 – 18 November 1660) was an English colonist in America. He served as Governor of the New Haven Colony from 1658 to 1659.
Early life and career
Newman was born in England in 1605 and married Mary Newman Street Leete ...
,
W. R. Greg
William Rathbone Greg (1809 – 15 November 1881) was an English essayist. Life
Born in Manchester, the son of Samuel Greg, the creator of Quarry Bank Mill, and Hannah Greg, he was brother to Robert Hyde Greg and the junior Samuel Greg. ...
,
Harriet Martineau and the young journalist
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the f ...
who had been working and living cheaply in the offices of ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' opposite Chapman's house. These authors met during that summer to give their support to this flagship of free thought and reform, joined by others including
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
, the physiologist
William Benjamin Carpenter,
Robert Chambers and
George J. Holyoake
George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to J ...
. They were later joined by
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stori ...
, an ambitious young ship's surgeon determined to become a naturalist.
John Oxenford
John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator.
Life
Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. Whilst he was privately educated, it is reported that he was mo ...
's anonymous 1853 article, "Iconoclasm in German Philosophy", was translated and published in the ''
Vossische Zeitung''. This led to a new interest in
Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...
's writings.
Mary Ann Evans (
George Eliot) became assistant editor and produced a four–page prospectus setting out their common beliefs in progress, ameliorating ills and rewards for talent, setting out a loosely defined
evolutionism
Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberat ...
as "the fundamental principle" of what she and Chapman called the "Law of Progress". The group was divided over the work of
Thomas Malthus, with Holyoake opposing it as the principle of the workhouse which blamed the poor for their poverty, while to Greg and Martineau this was a law of nature encouraging responsibility and self-improvement. Chapman asked Herbert Spencer to write about this divisive matter for the first issue, and Spencer's "A Theory of Population, deduced from the General Law of Animal Fertility" actually appeared in the second issue, supporting the painful
Malthusian principle as both true and self-correcting.
After 1853
John Tyndall
John Tyndall FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the ...
joined Huxley in running the science section of the ''Westminster Review'' and formed a group of evolutionists who helped pave the way for
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
's 1859 publication of ''
On the Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
'' and gave evolutionary ideas backing in the ensuing debate. The term "
Darwinism
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...
" was first put in print by Huxley in his review of ''The Origin'', in the April 1860 issue of the ''Westminster Review'', which hailed the book as "a veritable
Whitworth gun in the armoury of
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
", promoting
scientific naturalism over theology and praising the usefulness of Darwin's ideas while expressing professional reservations about Darwin's
gradualism
Gradualism, from the Latin ''gradus'' ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. Uniformitarianism, increment ...
and doubting if it could be proved that
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
could form new species.
In 1886 the Review published an essay by
Eleanor Marx, "The Woman Question: From A Socialist Point of View".
John Chapman died in Paris on the 25th November 1894, from the result of being run over by a cab, and his wife Hannah took over the editorship of the ''Review''. After a change of ownership in 1887, when it converted to a monthly, it ceased to function on the same progressive and intellectual level.
''Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review''
The ''Foreign Quarterly Review'' was an independent London-based quarterly that published from July 1827 to July 1846 (volume 37). In October 1846 the ''Foreign Quarterly Review'' merged with the ''Westminster Review''. Until January 1847 the journal resulting from the merger was simultaneously published under two different titles: the ''Foreign Quarterly and Westminster Review'' and the ''Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review''; after January 1847, the journal was published under the title the ''Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review''.
The last issue under the title ''Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review'' was published in October 1851 (volume 56, no. 2); after that issue the journal was published under the title ''Westminster Review'' and continued thus until it ceased publication in 1914.
Notable contributors
References
Further reading
* Nesbitt, George L. ''Benthamite Reviewing. The First Twelve Years of the Westminster Review, 1824–1836''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1934.
*
External links
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Vol. XI Ch. III §3at
Bartleby.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westminster Review, The
1823 establishments in the United Kingdom
1914 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom
Jeremy Bentham
Magazines published in London
Magazines established in 1823
Magazines disestablished in 1914