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Quotation from Chartism by Thomas Carlyle
“Surely of all ' rights of man,' this right of the ignorant man to be guided by the wiser, to be, gently or forcibly, held in the true course by him, is the indisputablest”
Chartism, Chapter VI (James Fraser, London, 1840 (IA chartism00carluoft))
Carlyle's counter-proposal to the Charter's political rights: the deepest claim of the poor is to be well governed. The phrase 'gently or forcibly' shows the authoritarian edge of his remedy.
Citation: "Surely of all ' rights of man,' this right of the ignorant man to be guided by the wiser, to be, gently or forcibly, held in the true course by him, is the indisputablest" — Thomas Carlyle, Chartism, Chapter VI (James Fraser, London, 1840 (IA chartism00carluoft)). (id chartism-q7)
