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MULTICHOICE
Answer : (D)
Answer : (D)
(C) the adults in the economy between 18 and 65 years old who are able to work
(D) the non-institutionalized population over 15 years old in the economy who hold jobs or are
looking for work
Answer : (D)
(A) Chou, who lost his job and last looked for work three months ago
(B) Stephanie, who holds a Ph.D. in history, but can find only part-time employment at a fast-food
restaurant
(C) Jordan, who would like to work as a stockbroker but is now a househusband
(D) Steffan, who thinks he could easily earn $100,000 per year, despite the opinion of the
psychiatrist at the hospital where he is a resident patient
Answer : (B)
5. Which of the following is a criterion in determining which unemployed individuals are included in
the official unemployment rate?
(C) The unemployed person must be willing to accept a reasonable job offer.
(D) The unemployed person must be willing to accept any job offer.
Answer : (B)
(A) the percentage of people in the economy who do NOT hold jobs
(B) the percentage of the people in the labour force who do NOT have a job.
(C) the number of people in the economy who have given up looking for employment
Answer : (B)
7. Consider an economy made up of 100 people, 60 of whom hold jobs, 10 of whom are looking for
work, and 15 of whom are retired. How many people are in the labour force?
(A) 30
(B) 60
(C) 70
(D) 85
Answer : (C)
8. Consider an economy made up of 100 people, 60 of whom hold jobs, 10 of whom are looking for
work, and 15 of whom are retired. How many people are counted as unemployed?
(A) 10
(B) 15
(C) 40
(D) 90
Answer : (A)
(B) It increases whenever the number of unemployed increases relative to the size of the labour
force.
(D) It increases whenever the size of the labour force decreases and the number of unemployed
decreases.
Answer : (B)
10. Consider an economy with an adult population of 100, 50 of whom hold jobs, 10 of whom are
looking for work, and 15 of whom are retired. What is the labour force participation rate?
(A) 10 percent
(B) 40 percent
(C) 50 percent
(D) 60 percent
Answer : (D)
11. Suppose U = the number of adults who are unemployed, E = the number of adults who are
employed, and NLF = the number of adults NOT in the labour force. Which expression would equal
the unemployment rate?
(B) U/E
(C) U/(U + E)
Answer : (C)
12. Suppose U = the number of adults who are unemployed, E = the number of adults who are
employed, and NLF = the number of adults NOT in the labour force. Which expression would equal
the labour force participation rate?
(A) E/(U + E)
Answer : (D)
(B) one who dislikes his current job but is afraid to quit
(C) one who drops out of the labour force because he CANNOT find a job
(D) one who quits his job because the possibility of advancement is very low
Answer : (C)
(A) a labour force member who has chosen early retirement because he dislikes his work or thinks
the pay is too low
(B) a member of the non-institutional population who says he wants to be employed but is NOT
searching for a job
(C) a member of the labour force who is looking for a job but CANNOT find one
Answer : (B)
(B) a full-time high-school student who does NOT have time for a job
(D) a downhill ski instructor who looks for work only during the winter
Answer : (D)
16. Suppose that top government officials claim that "more people are working now than ever
before." What does this mean?
(A) The unemployment rate is lower now than ever before.
(B) The number of unemployed people is lower now than ever before.
(C) The number of people in the labour force is higher now than ever before.
(D) The number of employed people is higher now than ever before.
Answer : (D)
17. Which of the following explains the labour force participation rate?
(A) When workers become unemployed, the labour force participation rate declines.
(B) When the unemployed become discouraged workers, the labour force participation rate declines.
(C) When workers are NOT fully using their skills, the labour force participation rate decreases.
(D) Since the 1950s the labour force participation rate of women has decreased in Canada.
Answer : (B)
18. Suppose the official unemployment rate is 10 percent. Which of the following can be concluded
without question?
(A) The same 10 percent of the people in the economy were out of work for the entire year.
(B) One of every ten people in the labour force is currently unemployed.
(C) The same 10 percent of the people in the labour force were out of work for the entire year.
(D) Every person in the labour force was out of work for 10 percent of the year.
Answer : (B)
19. Which of the following is NOT a way for a worker to become officially unemployed?
(A) A worker quits his job to look for a better job in another part of the country.
(C) A worker begins looking for a job after being out of the labour force for five years.
Answer : (D)
20. Which of the following people would be counted among the unemployed?
(A) a new college graduate who sells newspaper advertising on a part-time basis while looking for
other work
(B) a new college graduate who sells newspaper advertising on a full-time basis while looking for
other work
(C) a new college graduate who sells newspaper advertising on a part-time basis but is NOT looking
for other work
(D) a new college graduate who is NOT qualified for any of the jobs available in his small town
Answer : (D)
(A) a person who wants a job as a fashion model but CANNOT find work in that field
(B) someone who quits a part-time job to attend school full time
(D) a person who works part time and would rather work full time
Answer : (A)
(B) The number of unemployed decreases relative to the size of the labour force.
(C) The size of the population decreases and the number of persons classified as employed remains
the same.
Answer : (B)
23. Which of the following characterizes the labour force participation rate for women in Canada?
(A) It has fluctuated substantially both upward and downward since the 1950s.
Answer : (B)
24. Which of the following describes the labour force participation rates in Canada since the 1950s?
(A) The rate for men has risen and the rate for women has risen.
(B) The rate for women has fallen and the rate for men has risen.
(C) The rate for men has fallen and the rate for women has increased.
(D) The rate for men has fallen and the rate for women has fallen.
Answer : (C)
(B) the number of people employed divided by the number of people in the labour force
(C) the number of people in the labour force divided by the adult population
(D) the number of people unemployed divided by the number of people in the labour force
Answer : (C)
26. Which of the following best describes what has occurred in Canada's labour force since World
War II?
Answer : (D)
27. Which term refers to workers who are overqualified for their current jobs or can find only part-
time work?
(A) unemployed
(D) underemployed
Answer : (D)
28. Generally, the unemployment rate rises during a contraction. How is the unemployment rate
generally affected during an expansion?
(A) It rises.
(B) It falls.
Answer : (B)
29. How have the male and female labour force participation rates been affected since World War
II?
(A) The rate for males has increased and the rate for females has increased.
(B) The rate for males has decreased and the rate for females has decreased.
(C) The rate for males has increased and the rate for females has decreased.
(D) The rate for males has decreased and the rate for females has increased.
Answer : (D)
30. Suppose that Danny, who has a Ph.D. in physics, is employed in a pizza restaurant because that
is the only work he can find. In terms of employment, how would Danny be classified?
(B) as underemployed
(D) as unemployed
Answer : (B)
31. Suppose Rita is a recent college graduate who is still looking for her first job. In terms of
employment, how would Rita be classified?
(B) as underemployed
(C) as unemployed
Answer : (C)
32. Suppose Kevin, who is an accountant, lost his job in the last recession but gave up looking for
work after 12 months of unsuccessful job searching. In terms of employment, how would Kevin be
classified?
(A) as a discouraged worker
(B) as underemployed
(C) as employed
(D) as unemployed
Answer : (A)
33. Which one of the following categories of workers has a high unemployment rate?
(B) attorneys
Answer : (D)
34. Which metropolitan area in Canada had the lowest unemployment rate in 2015?
Answer : (D)
35. Sharon was being treated unfairly by her boss, so she stormed off the job and two weeks later
she found another position. What type of unemployment did Sharon experience for those two weeks?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (D)
36. Juanita earned a B.A.Sc. in engineering and went to work for a defence contractor. When the
government cut spending, Juanita and 99 others were laid off. The only other business in the town is
a grape-growing firm, but the firm refuses to hire laid-off engineers, knowing they will leave at the
first opportunity. What type of unemployment is Juanita experiencing?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (B)
37. The only job Justin ever holds is preparing income tax forms at H&R Block from January 2 to
April 15 each year. In March, while he is still working, he sends his resume to prospective
employers. In March, what would Justin be counted as?
Answer : (D)
38. Greg recently graduated from law school. Although Greg looked for a job last week, he has NOT
found one. Which of the following terms describes Greg?
Answer : (A)
39. What type of unemployment is a professional ski instructor in Canada most likely to experience?
Answer : (C)
40. What does frictional unemployment refer to?
(B) unemployment that results from taking the time to find the best job
(C) unemployment that results from seasonal decreases in demand for labour
Answer : (B)
(B) unemployment that results from taking the time to find the best job
(C) unemployment that results from decreases in demand for labour at particular times of the year
Answer : (C)
(A) unemployment that results from being in the wrong geographical location
(B) unemployment that results from taking the time to find the best job
(C) unemployment that results from seasonal decreases in demand for labour
Answer : (A)
Answer : (D)
44. Jacqueline, a brilliant new Ph.D. in economics, has turned down many job offers because she
hopes eventually to teach at one of the top ten universities in her field. What type of unemployment
is she experiencing?
(A) frictional
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) cyclical
Answer : (A)
45. Jamal lost his job as a shipbuilder. The shipyard closed and never reopened, and so his very
specialized skills were no longer in demand. What type of unemployment did Jamal experience?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (B)
46. In which of the following industries are workers least likely to suffer from cyclical
unemployment?
(D) education
Answer : (D)
47. What type of unemployment was experienced by most unemployed workers in Canada during the
Great Depression?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (A)
(B) structural
(C) voluntary
(D) involuntary
Answer : (B)
49. What type of unemployment is most likely to help the economy become more efficient?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (D)
50. Which type of unemployment is NOT included in Canada's official monthly unemployment
figures?
(A) cyclical
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) frictional
Answer : (C)
(A) frictional
(B) structural
(C) seasonal
(D) cyclical
Answer : (B)
Answer : (A)
(B) monetary cost and the time it takes to find the best job
Answer : (D)
54. Suppose the official unemployment rate increases due to a downturn in the overall economy.
What type of unemployment would be responsible for this increase?
(A) seasonal
(B) cyclical
(C) structural
(D) frictional
Answer : (B)
55. Suppose the official unemployment rate in January is higher than the December level because
the Christmas shopping rush is over. What type of unemployment would be responsible for this
increase?
(A) seasonal
(B) cyclical
(C) structural
(D) frictional
Answer : (A)
56. Suppose the official unemployment rate in March is higher than the February level because of
sluggish sales in the auto industry. What type of unemployment would be responsible for this
increase?
(A) seasonal
(B) cyclical
(C) structural
(D) frictional
Answer : (B)
57. Suppose Janice is laid off from her office job because new technology has reduced the need for
staff to handle customer-service inquiries. What type of unemployment is Janice experiencing?
(A) seasonal
(B) cyclical
(C) structural
(D) frictional
Answer : (C)
(D) firms having decreased demand for labour at certain times of the year
Answer : (D)
(B) increasing efficiency of the job search by providing applicants with better information about local
job openings
(D) reducing the cost of job loss through enhanced unemployment compensation
Answer : (C)
60. What is the term for workers who are temporarily unemployed but who normally find jobs
quickly?
(A) frictionally unemployed
Answer : (A)
61. What type of unemployment is likely to increase the most during a recession?
Answer : (D)
62. Joel just graduated from college and is looking for a job. How would economists classify Joel?
Answer : (D)
63. Suppose tastes and preferences change. As a result, newspaper journalists are laid off. What
type of unemployment would this be classified as?
Answer : (A)
64. Which of the following is the best example of a frictionally unemployed worker?
(A) a person who is laid off during a recessionary period in the economy
(B) a person who is in the process of voluntarily switching jobs
(D) a person who CANNOT find a job that matches with his skills
Answer : (B)
65. When the economy is at full employment, what types of unemployment may exist?
Answer : (B)
66. Under which of the following conditions does full employment exist?
(A) when there is cyclical unemployment, but no frictional, structural, or seasonal unemployment
(D) when there is no cyclical unemployment, but there is some frictional, structural, and seasonal
unemployment
Answer : (D)
Answer : (C)
(B) because growth can occur only when there is full employment
(C) because the opportunity cost of unemployment is lost production
Answer : (C)
69. Suppose unemployment benefits are increased. Which of the following is the most likely outcome
of the increase?
(A) An unemployed person will have less incentive to look for work.
(C) The need to accept the first available job after becoming unemployed will increase.
(D) It will be more difficult for an unemployed person to take a longer time to search for a job most
appropriate to his skill level.
Answer : (A)
70. Which one of the following people will most likely qualify for unemployment compensation
benefits?
(A) a new college graduate who CANNOT find work despite a desperate job search
(B) an unemployed coal miner who has been receiving benefits for the past six months
(C) a former retail clerk who quit her job because the boss was too demanding
(D) a spot welder who has just gotten his layoff notice in the mail after ten years of continuous
employment
Answer : (D)
71. Why does the official unemployment rate disguise the extent of the unemployment problem?
(D) because people who are overqualified for their current jobs are NOT considered unemployed
Answer : (D)
72. Which of the following is excluded from calculations of the official unemployment rate, leading
to the true extent of unemployment being understated?
Answer : (D)
73. Suppose the total population is 150 million, the labour force is 100 million, and 94 million
workers are employed. What is the unemployment rate?
(A) 4 percent
(B) 8 percent
(C) 6 percent
(D) 10 percent
Answer : (C)
(B) people who work full time although they would rather work part time
Answer : (D)
75. The unemployment rate does NOT measure all unemployed people. Which groups are NOT
counted as unemployed in the official unemployment statistics?
Answer : (B)
76. The official unemployment rate would be higher if it included the existence of hidden
unemployment. Who falls into this category?
(D) people who are unemployed but are looking for work
Answer : (B)
77. Which of the following factors makes the official unemployment rate an overstatement of the
actual level of unemployment in the economy?
(D) inclusion of those who pretend to look for work in order to qualify for welfare programs
Answer : (D)
78. What problem with the official unemployment rate is due to the way discouraged workers and
part-time employment are measured?
(C) The official unemployment rate overstates the size of the labour force.
(D) The official unemployment rate understates the size of the labour force.
Answer : (B)
(C) a general and continuing rise in the money prices of goods and services
Answer : (C)
80. Suppose the inflation rate is higher than expected. Which one of the following groups would be
most likely to gain?
(A) borrowers
(B) lenders
Answer : (A)
Answer : (B)
Answer : (A)
83. During the 1970s, inflation occurred because OPEC increased oil prices. Which term is used to
refer to the inflation experienced at this time?
(B) hyperinflation
Answer : (C)
84. Suppose the aggregate demand curve shifts rightward, causing inflation. What type of inflation
is this?
Answer : (C)
85. Suppose the aggregate supply curve shifts leftward, causing inflation, what type of inflation is
this called?
Answer : (B)
Answer : (D)
87. Which of the following would likely lead to the most inflation?
Answer : (C)
88. What is the difference between demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation?
(A) Cost-push inflation is caused by shifts of the aggregate demand curve, but demand-pull inflation
is caused by cyclical activity in the economy.
(B) Demand-pull inflation is caused by shifts of the aggregate demand curve, but cost-push inflation
is caused by shifts of the aggregate supply curve.
(C) Demand-pull inflation is caused by government deficit spending, but cost-push inflation is caused
by firms.
(D) Demand-pull inflation is caused by foreign demand, but cost-push inflation is caused by domestic
production problems.
Answer : (B)
89.
Answer : (D)
Answer : (B)
Answer : (D)
92. Which of the following was a result of increased oil prices during the 1970s?
Answer : (D)
Answer : (C)
Answer : (D)
95.
Answer : (B)
(B) 1947
Answer : (B)
97. Since the end of World War II, how has the Canadian price level changed?
Answer : (A)
98. Suppose the price levels in four successive years are 100, 120, 133, and 140. Which of the
following is the economy experiencing?
(A) hyperinflation
(B) deflation
(C) reflation
(D) disinflation
Answer : (D)
99. Which of the following would allow a worker to be least hurt by inflation?
(B) The worker has a cost-of-living adjustment clause in his employment contract.
(D) The worker has fixed annual increases in wages and benefits in his employment contract.
Answer : (B)
100. Suppose Corrine received a 3 percent increase in her nominal wage. Over the year, inflation
ran about 6 percent. Which of the following describes how Corrine's nominal and real wages were
affected?
(A) Corrine's nominal wage increased and her real wage decreased.
(B) Corrine's nominal wage decreased and her real wage increased.
(C) Corrine's nominal wage decreased and her real wage decreased.
(D) Corrine's nominal wage increased and her real wage increased.
Answer : (A)
101. Suppose Evelyn received a 5 percent increase in her nominal wage. Over the year, inflation ran
about 2 percent. Which of the following describes how Evelyn's nominal and real wages were
affected?
(A) Evelyn's nominal wage increased and her real wage decreased.
(B) Evelyn's nominal wage decreased and her real wage increased.
(C) Evelyn's nominal wage decreased and her real wage decreased.
(D) Evelyn's nominal wage increased and her real wage increased.
Answer : (D)
102. Suppose Frank received a 5 percent increase in his nominal wage. Over the year, inflation ran
about 2 percent. Which of the following describes how Frank's nominal and real wages were
affected?
(A) Frank's nominal wage increased and his real wage increased.
(B) Frank's nominal wage decreased and his real wage decreased.
(C) Frank's nominal wage increased and his real wage decreased.
(D) Franks' nominal wage decreased and his real wage increased.
Answer : (A)
103. Suppose Flora received a 4 percent increase in her nominal wage. Over the year, inflation runs
about 7 percent. Which of the following describes how Flora's nominal and real wages were
affected?
(A) Flora's nominal wage decreased and her real wage decreased.
(B) Flora's nominal wage increased and her real wage increased.
(C) Flora's nominal wage decreased and her real wage increased.
(D) Flora's nominal wage increased and her real wage decreased.
Answer : (D)
104. What does it mean when a worker experiences a decrease in real wages?
Answer : (A)
105. What does it mean when a worker experiences an increase in real wages?
Answer : (A)
106. Suppose the inflation rate is 5 percent, and Randolph receives a wage increase of 5 percent.
How will Randolph's nominal and real incomes be affected?
(A) His nominal income and his real income will increase by 5 percent.
(B) His nominal income will increase, but his real income declines.
(C) His nominal income and his real income will decrease by 5 percent.
(D) His nominal income will increase by 5 percent, but his real income will stay the same.
Answer : (D)
107. Which of the following best describes how a person's perception of future inflation will affect
the nominal interest rate for borrowers and lenders?
(A) the higher you think the inflation rate is likely to be, the higher the nominal interest rate you will
offer as a borrower, and the higher the rate you will want as a lender
(B) the higher you think the inflation rate is likely to be, the higher the nominal interest rate you will
offer as a borrower, and the lower the rate you will want as a lender
(C) the higher you think the inflation rate is likely to be, the lower the nominal interest rate you will
offer as a borrower, and the higher the real interest rate you will want as a lender
(D) the higher you think the inflation rate is likely to be, the lower the nominal interest rate you will
offer as a borrower, and the lower the rate you will want as a lender
Answer : (A)
108. Suppose the expected inflation rate is 4 percent and the nominal interest rate is 9 percent.
What is the expected real interest rate?
(A) 13 percent
(B) 9 percent
(C) 5 percent
Answer : (C)
109. How is perception about the future inflation rate likely to affect labour markets?
(A) the higher the anticipated inflation rate, the more workers will ask for in wages, and the more
firms will agree to pay to workers
(B) the higher the anticipated inflation rate, the more workers will ask for in wages, and the less
firms will agree to pay to workers
(C) the higher the anticipated inflation rate, the less workers will ask for in wages, and the less firms
will agree to pay to workers
(D) the higher the anticipated inflation rate, the higher the real wage increases firms will offer to
their workers
Answer : (A)
110. What happens in an economy during periods when the inflation rate fluctuates widely?
(A) All relative prices increase at the same rate, leaving money prices constant.
(B) All money prices rise at the same rate, causing relative prices to increase.
(C) Economic efficiency increases because decision makers pay closer attention to changes in money
prices.
(D) Uncertainty about changes in relative prices causes a decrease in economic efficiency.
Answer : (D)
111. Suppose future price changes are perfectly anticipated by both borrowers and lenders. If the
price level changed, how would the future real interest rate be affected?
Answer : (D)
112. Which of the following best describes what occurs in an economy during periods of high
inflation?
Answer : (B)
113. Some economists have argued that inflation during the 1970s contributed to Canada's
relatively slow growth rate during that period. What is the basis for this view?
(A) Inflation usually lowers employment, thus inflation slowed growth at that time.
(B) The inflation was anticipated, which was particularly harmful because cost-of-living increases
were built into wage settlements, which only worsened the problem.
(C) High and variable inflation rates increased uncertainty, which made business decisions more
difficult.
(D) Lenders were less interested in making short-term loans than in making long-term loans.
Answer : (C)
114. During inflationary times, which of the following is NOT likely occur?
(A) People will change their expectations about the inflation rate.
(D) People will buy physical assets as a hedge against rising prices.
Answer : (C)
Answer : (A)
(C) governments
(D) people who are in high-growth industries in which wages are growing faster than prices
Answer : (A)
(A) the cost of all consumer goods and services produced in the Canadian economy
(B) the cost of all consumer goods produced in the Canadian economy
(C) the cost of a fixed market basket of consumer goods and services produced in the Canadian
economy
(D) the cost of a fixed market basket of producer goods and services
Answer : (C)
118. Which country experienced deflation for the first few years of the 21st century?
(A) Canada
(B) France
(C) Germany
(D) Japan
Answer : (D)
Answer : (D)
120. Suppose the nominal interest rate is 5 percent and there is no inflation. What is the real
interest rate?
(C) 5 percent
Answer : (C)
121. Suppose the nominal interest rate is 6 percent, and the inflation rate is 4 percent. What is the
real interest rate?
(A) 10 percent
(B) 2 percent
Answer : (B)
122. Suppose two parties to a loan contract agree that the lender should earn an 8 percent increase
in purchasing power as a result of a loan. The inflation rate is 5 percent. What is the nominal
interest rate?
(A) 13 percent
(B) 8 percent
(C) 5 percent
(D) 3 percent
Answer : (A)
123. Suppose the interest rate increases. Other things constant, how will the loanable funds market
be affected?
(A) The supply of loanable funds curve will shift to the left.
(B) The supply of loanable funds curve will shift to the right.
Answer : (C)
124. Suppose the interest rate decreases. Other things constant, how will the loanable funds market
be affected?
(A) The supply of loanable funds curve will shift to the left.
(B) The supply of loanable funds curve will shift to the right.
Answer : (D)
125. Suppose the interest rate decreases. Other things constant, how will the loanable funds market
be affected?
(A) The demand for loanable funds curve will shift to the right.
(B) The demand for loanable funds curve will shift to the left.
Answer : (C)
126. Suppose the interest rate increases. Other things constant, how will the loanable funds market
be affected?
(A) The demand for loanable funds curve will shift to the right.
(B) The demand for loanable funds curve will shift to the left.
Answer : (D)
127. Unanticipated inflation redistributes income across groups in society. Which of the following
people are among the winners?
Answer : (D)
128. Raul borrowed $1,000 from Marta for a year and agreed to repay her $1,050 at the end of the
year. If the inflation rate was 3 percent, what is the real rate of interest Marta received?
(A) 10 percent
(B) 5 percent
(C) 3 percent
(D) 2 percent
Answer : (D)
129. Tony loaned $1,000 to Dave for one year, with the understanding that Dave would repay
$1,070 to Tony. If the actual inflation rate was 7 percent, what was the real rate of interest Tony
received?
(A) 14 percent
(B) 7 percent
(C) 4 percent
(D) 0 percent
Answer : (D)
130. Which of the following events would be the most likely to cause the nominal interest rate to
fall?
(A) if the supply of loanable funds increases and the demand for loanable funds increases
(B) if the supply of loanable funds decreases and the demand for loanable funds decreases
(C) if the supply of loanable funds increases and the demand for loanable funds decreases
(D) if the supply of loanable funds decreases and the demand for loanable funds increases
Answer : (C)
131. Which of the following is a way of expressing the real interest rate?
(A) as the nominal interest rate minus the real interest rate
Answer : (C)
(B) Inflation reduces the real income of workers when wages increase more than prices do.
(C) Inflation reduces the real income of workers when wages increase less than prices do.
(D) Inflation increases the real income of workers only when wages increase less than prices do.
Answer : (B)
(C) because it reduces the desire to plan and the complexity of planning
Answer : (D)
(D) because it usually results in the public sector growing less rapidly than the private sector
Answer : (B)
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BYRON AND WORDSWORTH
A Fragment
The London Weekly Review.]
[December 6, 1828.
‘If to do were as easy as to teach others what were good to be done, chapels had
been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces.’
Now, was the piety in this case the less real, because it had been
forgotten for a moment? Or even if this motive should not prove the
strongest in the end, would this therefore show that it was none,
which is necessary to the argument here combated, or to make out
our little plump priest a very knave! A priest may be honest, and yet
err; as a woman may be modest, and yet half-inclined to be a rake. So
the virtue of prudes may be suspected, though not their sincerity.
The strength of their passions may make them more conscious of
their weakness, and more cautious of exposing themselves; but not
more to blind others than as a guard upon themselves. Again,
suppose a clergyman hazards a jest upon sacred subjects, does it
follow that he does not believe a word of the matter? Put the case
that any one else, encouraged by his example, takes up the banter or
levity, and see what effect it will have upon the reverend divine. He
will turn round like a serpent trod upon, with all the vehemence and
asperity of the most bigoted orthodoxy. Is this dictatorial and
exclusive spirit then put on merely as a mask and to browbeat
others? No; but he thinks he is privileged to trifle with the subject
safely himself, from the store of evidence he has in reserve, and from
the nature of his functions; but he is afraid of serious consequences
being drawn from what others might say, or from his seeming to
countenance it; and the moment the Church is in danger, or his own
faith brought in question, his attachment to each becomes as visible
as his hatred to those who dare to impugn either the one or the other.
A woman’s attachment to her husband is not to be suspected, if she
will allow no one to abuse him but herself! It has been remarked,
that with the spread of liberal opinions, or a more general scepticism
on articles of faith, the clergy and religious persons in general have
become more squeamish and jealous of any objections to their
favourite doctrines: but this is what must follow in the natural course
of things—the resistance being always in proportion to the danger;
and arguments and books that were formerly allowed to pass
unheeded, because it was supposed impossible they could do any
mischief, are now denounced or prohibited with the most zealous
vigilance, from a knowledge of the contagious nature of their
influence and contents. So in morals, it is obvious that the greatest
nicety of expression and allusion must be observed, where the
manners are the most corrupt, and the imagination most easily
excited, not out of mere affectation, but as a dictate of common sense
and decency.
One of the finest remarks that has been made in modern times, is
that of Lord Shaftesbury, that there is no such thing as a perfect
Theist, or an absolute Atheist; that whatever may be the general
conviction entertained on the subject, the evidence is not and cannot
be at all times equally present to the mind; that even if it were, we
are not in the same humour to receive it: a fit of the gout, a shower of
rain shakes our best-established conclusions; and according to
circumstances and the frame of mind we are in, our belief varies
from the most sanguine enthusiasm to lukewarm indifference, or the
most gloomy despair. There is a point of conceivable faith which
might prevent any lapse from virtue, and reconcile all contrarieties
between theory and practice; but this is not to be looked for in the
ordinary course of nature, and is reserved for the abodes of the blest.
Here, ‘upon this bank and shoal of time,’ the utmost we can hope to
attain is, a strong habitual belief in the excellence of virtue, or the
dispensations of Providence; and the conflict of the passions, and
their occasional mastery over us, far from disproving or destroying
this general, rational conviction, often fling us back more forcibly
upon it, and like other infidelities and misunderstandings, produce
all the alternate remorse and raptures of repentance and
reconciliation.
It has been frequently remarked that the most obstinate heretic or
confirmed sceptic, witnessing the service of the Roman Catholic
church, the elevation of the host amidst the sounds of music, the
pomp of ceremonies, the embellishments of art, feels himself spell-
bound: and is almost persuaded to become a renegade to his reason
or his religion. Even in hearing a vespers chaunted on the stage, or in
reading an account of a torch-light procession in a romance, a
superstitious awe creeps over the frame, and we are momentarily
charmed out of ourselves. When such is the obvious and involuntary
influence of circumstances on the imagination, shall we say that a
monkish recluse surrounded from his childhood by all this pomp, a
stranger to any other faith, who has breathed no other atmosphere,
and all whose meditations are bent on this one subject both by
interest and habit and duty, is to be set down as a rank and heartless
mountebank in the professions he makes of belief in it, because his
thoughts may sometimes wander to forbidden subjects, or his feet
stumble on forbidden ground? Or shall not the deep shadows of the
woods in Vallombrosa enhance the solemnity of this feeling, or the
icy horrors of the Grand Chartreux add to its elevation and its purity?
To argue otherwise is to misdeem of human nature, and to limit its
capacities for good or evil by some narrow-minded standard of our
own. Man is neither a God nor a brute; but there is a prosaic and a
poetical side to everything concerning him, and it is as impossible
absolutely and for a constancy to exclude either one or the other
from the mind, as to make him live without air or food. The ideal, the
empire of thought and aspiration after truth and good, is inseparable
from the nature of an intellectual being—what right have we then to
catch at every strife which in the mortified professors of religion the
spirit wages with the flesh as grossly vicious, or at every doubt, the
bare suggestion of which fills them with consternation and despair,
as a proof of the most glaring hypocrisy? The grossnesses of religion
and its stickling for mere forms as its essence, have given a handle,
and a just one, to its impugners. At the feast of Ramadan (says
Voltaire) the Mussulmans wash and pray five times a day, and then
fall to cutting one another’s throats again with the greatest
deliberation and good-will. The two things, I grant, are sufficiently at
variance; but they are, I contend, equally sincere in both. The
Mahometans are savages, but they are not the less true believers—
they hate their enemies as heartily as they revere the Koran. This,
instead of showing the fallacy of the ideal principle, shows its
universality and indestructible essence. Let a man be as bad as he
will, as little refined as possible, and indulge whatever hurtful
passions or gross vices he thinks proper, these cannot occupy the
whole of his time; and in the intervals between one scoundrel action
and another he may and must have better thoughts, and may have
recourse to those of religion (true or false) among the number,
without in this being guilty of hypocrisy or of making a jest of what is
considered as sacred. This, I take it, is the whole secret of
Methodism, which is a sort of modern vent for the ebullitions of the
spirit through the gaps of unrighteousness.
We often see that a person condemns in another the very thing he
is guilty of himself. Is this hypocrisy? It may, or it may not. If he
really feels none of the disgust and abhorrence he expresses, this is
quackery and impudence. But if he really expresses what he feels,
(and he easily may, for it is the abstract idea he contemplates in the
case of another, and the immediate temptation to which he yields in
his own, so that he probably is not even conscious of the identity or
connexion between the two,) then this is not hypocrisy, but want of
strength and keeping in the moral sense. All morality consists in
squaring our actions and sentiments to our ideas of what is fit and
proper; and it is the incessant struggle and alternate triumph of the
two principles, the ideal and the physical, that keeps up this ‘mighty
coil and pudder’ about vice and virtue, and is one great source of all
the good and evil in the world. The mind of man is like a clock that is
always running down, and requires to be as constantly wound up.
The ideal principle is the master-key that winds it up, and without
which it would come to a stand: the sensual and selfish feelings are
the dead weights that pull it down to the gross and grovelling. Till the
intellectual faculty is destroyed, (so that the mind sees nothing
beyond itself, or the present moment,) it is impossible to have all
brutal depravity: till the material and physical are done away with,
(so that it shall contemplate everything from a purely spiritual and
disinterested point of view,) it is impossible to have all virtue. There
must be a mixture of the two, as long as man is compounded of
opposite materials, a contradiction and an eternal competition for
the mastery. I by no means think a single bad action condemns a
man, for he probably condemns it as much as you do; nor a single
bad habit, for he is probably trying all his life to get rid of it. A man is
only thoroughly profligate when he has lost the sense of right and
wrong; or a thorough hypocrite, when he has not even the wish to be
what he appears. The greatest offence against virtue is to speak ill of
it. To recommend certain things is worse than to practise them.
There may be an excuse for the last in the frailty of passion; but the
former can arise from nothing but an utter depravity of disposition.
Any one may yield to temptation, and yet feel a sincere love and
aspiration after virtue: but he who maintains vice in theory, has not
even the conception or capacity for virtue in his mind. Men err:
fiends only make a mock at goodness.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED
The Atlas.]
[March 8, 1829.
As there are two kinds of rhyme, one that is rhyme to the ear, and
another to the eye only; so there may be said to be two kinds of
poetry, one that is a description of objects to those who have never
seen or but slightly studied them; the other is a description of objects
addressed to those who have seen and are intimately acquainted with
them, and expressing the feeling which is the result of such
knowledge. It is needless to add that the first kind of poetry is
comparatively superficial and common-place; the last profound,
lofty, nay often divine. Take an example (one out of a thousand) from
Shakspeare. In enumerating the wished-for contents of her basket of
flowers, Perdita in the Winter’s Tale mentions among others——
‘Daffodils
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes
Or Cytherea’s breath; pale primroses
That die unmarried ere they can behold
Bright Phœbus in his strength, a malady
Most incident to maids.’
This passage which knocks down John Bull with its perfumed and
melting softness, and savours of ‘that fine madness which our first
poets had,’ is a mystery, an untranslateable language, to all France:
Racine could not have conceived what it was about—the stupidest
Englishman feels a certain pride and pleasure in it. What a privilege
(if that were all) to be born on this the cloudy and poetical side of the
Channel! We may in part clear up this contradiction in tastes by the
clue above given. The French are more apt at taking the patterns of
their ideas from words; we, who are slower and heavier, are obliged
to look closer at things before we can pronounce upon them at all,
which in the end perhaps opens a larger field both of observation and
fancy. Thus the phrase ‘violets dim,’ to those who have never seen
the object, or who, having paid no attention to it, refer to the
description for their notion of it, seems to convey a slur rather than a
compliment, dimness being no beauty in itself; so this part of the
story would not have been ventured upon in French or tinsel poetry.
But to those who have seen, and been as it were enamoured of the
little hedge-row candidate for applause, looking at it again and again
(as misers contemplate their gold—as fine ladies hang over their
jewels), till its image has sunk into the soul, what other word is there
that (far from putting the reader out of conceit with it) so well recals
its deep purple glow, its retired modesty, its sullen, conscious
beauty? Those who have not seen the flower cannot form an idea of
its character, nor understand the line without it. Its aspect is dull,
obtuse, faint, absorbed; but at the same time soft, luxurious, proud,
and full of meaning. People who look at nature without being
sensible to these distinctions and contrarieties of feeling, had better
(instead of the flower) look only at the label on the stalk.
Connoisseurs in French wines pretend to know all these depths and
refinements of taste, though connoisseurs in French poetry pretend
to know them not. To return to our text——
‘Violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes
Or Cytherea’s breath.’
The Atlas.]
[March 15, 1829.