1896 lecky democracy and liberty, vol. 1

8/8/2019 1896 LECKY Democracy and Liberty, Vol. 1

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DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY


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LIBERTY FUNDCLASSICS ON LIBERTY

Essays in the History of LibertyLord Action

The Servile StateHilaire Belloc

Democracy and LibertyWilliam Hartpole Lecky

A Plea for LibertyThomas Mackay, ed.Popular GovernmentSir Henry Maine

Discourses Concerning GovernmentAlgernon Sidney

The Man Versus the StateHerbert Spencer

On Liberty, Society, and PoliticsWilliam Graham SumnerCato's Letters: Essays on Liberty

John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon


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Photograph courtesy of Louis Mercier

William Edward Hartpole Lecky


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DEMOCRACY ANDLIBERTYby WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY

Volume I.

Liberty FundINDIANAPOLIS

_98_


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This book is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a foundation establishedto encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsibleindividuals.

The cuneiform inscription that serves as the design motif for our end-papers is the earliest-known written appearance of the word "freedom"(amagi), or "liberty." It is taken from a clay document written about2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash.

"Introduction" copyright 1981 by William Murchison. All rights re-served, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in anyform. Brief quotations may be included in a review, and all inquiriesshould be addressed to Liberty Fund, Inc., 8335 Allison Pointe Trail,Suite 30o, Indianapolis, Indiana 4625o-1687. This book was manufac-tured in the United States of America.

Photograph from Louis Mercier.

Democracy and Liberty was first published in March 1896 by Longmans,Green and Company in London. During that year it was printed threemore times. This Liberty Fund edition of 1981 is based on the secondedition of 1896 .

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataLecky, William Edward Hart-pole, 1838-19o 3 .Democracy and Liberty.Originally published: London; New York: Longmans, Green, 1896.Includes bibliographical references and index._. Democracy. 2. Liberty. I. Title.JC423.L4 1981 321.8 80-82371ISBN 0-913966-80 (set) AACR2

ISBN 0-913966-82- 7 (v. 1)ISBN 0-923966-83-5 (v. 2)ISBN o--913966-81- 9 (pbk. set)ISBN 0-923966-84- 3 (pbk.: v. _)ISBN o-9_3966-85-1 (pbk.: v. 2)Ol oo 99 98 97 C 6 5 4 3 2ox oo 99 98 97 P 6 5 4 3 2


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CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME

Introduction by William Murchison ............ xxiiiPreface ........................... xxxiiiCHAPTER 1

English Representative Government in the Eighteenth CenturyObjects to be attained .................. 3Taxation and representation .............. 4Power of landed property ................ 4And of the commercial classes ............. 5Aristocratic influence .................. 5Diversities in the size of constituencies and qualifica-tion of electors .................... 7The small boroughs ................... 7

Dislike to organic change ................ 7Merits of English government ............. 9The founders of the American Republic aimed at thesame ends ....................... 9

Judge Story on the suffrage .............. _2Rousseau's conception of government essentiallydifferent ........................ 22Review of the French" constitutions, 2789-183o 23Ascendency of the middle class in France, 183o-1848 _5English Reform Bill of 2832--Its causes ........ 25Fears it excited not justified by the event ....... 29

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viii Democracy and LibertyPlace of the middle class in English government . . . 2oThe period from 1832 to 1867 .............. 2oVotes not always a true test of opinion ........ 22Motives that govern the more ignorant voters .... 22Dangers of too great degradation of the suffrage . . . 23Growth of Rousseau's doctrine in England--The Irishrepresentation ..................... 25University representation ................ 26

The new form of sycophancy ............. 27Attacks on plural voting ................ 28Equal electoral districts ................. 29Taxation passing wholly under the control of num-bers ........................... 29Successful parliaments mainly elected on a highsuffrage ........................ 3o

Instability of democracies ................ 32When they are least dangerous ............ 32

French DemocracyFavourable circumstances under which it has beentried .......................... 32

Manhood suffrage in 1848 ............... 33Restricted in 2852 ........................ 33Re-established by Louis Napoleon--The Coup d'Etatand the plebiscite ...................... 33

Universal suffrage under the Second Empire ..... 34Last days of the Empire ................. 35Democracy and the Franco-German War ....... 36The Third Republic ................... 37Weakness of the President ............... 37Decline of political ideals ................ 38Ministerial instability .................. 39The permanent service ................. 4oThe Republic and liberty ................ 41French Finance, 2824-2878 .................. 43French Finance during the Republic .......... 48Forms of corruption and extravagance ........ 49


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Contents of the First Volume ixGood credit of France .................. 51Financial dangers .................... 52Scherer on French political life ............. 53Lowered political tone ................. 54

American DemocracyCharacteristics of the American Constitution ..... 55Its framers dreaded democracy ............ 57Advantageous circumstances of America ....... 58Growth of democratic influence in the Presidentialelections ........................ 59Elections for the Senate--Characteristics of thatbody .......................... 6o

The lowering of the suffrage .............. 61Elected judges The 'Molly Maguires' . ....... 63Corruption of the judicature .............. 65Growth of the spoils system .............. 67Political assessments on office-holders ........ 7Connection of the spoils system with democracy . . 71American party warfare ................. 73Attempts to restrict the spoils system ......... 75The ballot in America .................. 76Lax naturalisation--The Know-nothing party .... 78The Irish vote ...................... 79Enfranchisement of negroes .............. 80Corruption in New York ................ 81Municipal corruption general in the great cities . . . 83

Measures of ReformJudges made more independent ............ 87Power of local legislatures limited ........... 87Increased authority of the mayors ........... 88Mr. Bryce on American corruption .......... 91American acquiescence in corruption ......... 97The best life apart from politics ............ 97Summary by Mr. Bryce ................. 98Protective strength of the Constitution ........ 99American optimism ................... lOO


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x DemocracyandLibertyInfluence of the separation of Church and State onpolitical morals .................... lOl

Public spirit during the War of Secession ....... lO2And after its conclusion ................. lo3Excellence of general legislation in the United States lO4Tocqueville's judgments--Changes since he wrote lO5Corruption in railroad management .......... lO6Abolition of slavery--Its influence on foreign policy. _o8Intellectual side of American civilisation ....... lO9Democracy not favourable to the higher intellectuallife ........................... 112The prospects of the Republic ............. 113

Protection ........................ 124The Pension List ..................... 225Lessons to be drawn from American experience . . . 226

CHAPTER 2Majorities required in different nations for constitu-tional changes ..................... 217Attempt to introduce the two-thirds majority systemin New South Wales .................... 118Small stress placed in England on legislative ma-chinery ......................... 118

The English belief in government by gentlemen . . . 119Declining efficiency of parliamentary governmentthroughout Europe .................. 122England has not escaped the evil ........... 123

Increasing power and pretensions of the House ofCommons ....................... 124

The Parish Councils Bill of 2894 ............ 225Excess of parliamentary speaking--Its causes .... 125Its effects on public business .............. 126Growth of the caucus fatal to the independence of theHouse of Commons ................. 127The relation of the House to Government--Disinte-gration of parties ................... 128

Results of the group system .............. 129


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Contentsof theFirstVolume xiIncrease of log-rolling .................. 13oAnd of the appetite for organic change ........ 131Both parties have contributed to this ......... 132Conservatism in English Radicalism .......... 132Growth of class bribery ................. 132Rendered easy by our system of taxation ....... 133Sir Cornewall Lewis on the best taxation--Indirecttaxation ........................ 133Remissions of direct taxation sometimes the mostbeneficial ....................... 134

Exaggeration of Free Trade The corn registrationduty--The London coal dues ............ 135The abolition of the income tax made an election cryin 1874--History of this election ........... 136Appeals to class cupidity by the Irish Land League 142Its success has strengthened the tendency to classbribery ......................... 143

Irish Land QuestionPeculiar difficulties to be dealt with in Ireland .... 143Tenants' improvements---Sharman Crawford's pro-posals ......................... 144The Devon Commission ................ 144Abortive attempts to protect improvements ..... _45Land Act of 186o ..................... 146And of 187o--Its merits and demerits ......... 146Paucity of leases and tenants' improvements--Howviewed in Ireland ................... 151

Rents in Ireland before _87o not generallyextortionate ...................... 152But such rents did exist, and most tenancies wereprecarious ....................... 154The Act of 1881 ..................... 155

Absolute ownership of land under the IncumberedEstates Act ....................... 155Circumstances under which this Act had been car-ried--Its nature .................... 155


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xii Democracy and LibertyIt guaranteed complete ownership under a parliamen-tary title ........................ 157

Confiscation of Landlord Rights by the Act of 1881The purchased improvements ............. 158Fixity of tenure given to the present tenant ...... 158Which could not honestly be done without compen-sating the owner ................... 158

Inseparable rights of ownership destroyed ...... 159The New Land Court and its proceedings ...... 159'Judicial decisions' . ................... 162Rights of the Legislature over landed property--MiU 162Dishonest character of Irish land legislation ..... 163The defence of the Act of 1881 ............. 164Misconception of its effects ............... 165The language of Mr. Gladstone ............ 166The Act failed to pacify Ireland--Effects of the HomeRule agitation ..................... 167

The Land Act of 1887 .................. 168Tendency of subversive principles in legislation togrow .......................... 17o

Landlord claim for compensation ........... 171Effects of the land legislation on Irish capital andcontracts ........................ 172

On the ultimate position of tenants .......... 173Moral effects of this legislation ............. 174The Evicted Tenants Bill ................ 175The worst form of robbery, legal robbery ....... 177Dangers of the Irish precedent ............. 178Mr. George's comparison of Irish and Americanlandlordism ...................... 179Where should State intervention stop? ........ 18o

Other Attacks on PropertyTheories of Mr. George ................. 18oMill's doctrine of the 'unearned increment' . ..... 181English land no longer the source of English food . . _83Attacks on national debts ................ 184


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Contentsof theFirstVolume xiiiOn mining royalties ................... 185On literary property ................... 185Nationalisation of railroads, &c ............ _87Cautions in dealing with such questions--Is democ-racy suited to the task? ................ 188

The worship of majorities ............... 18 9Old and New Jesuitism ................. 19oInfluence of philosophical speculation on politics . . 19oCharacter in public life--How far democratic electionsecures it ........................ 192

The Home Rule alliance--Compared with the coali-tion of North and Fox ................. 193

Effects of the lowering of the suffrage on politicalmorality ........................ 195And of the increased hurry of modern life ...... 195Personal and class interests in politics ......... 195Inadequate sense of the criminality of political mis-deeds .......................... 196The ethics of party ................... 197Nonconformist ministers and Mr. Parnell ....... 200

Relative importance of private and public morals inpolitics ......................... 2ol

Growth of the professional politician ......... 202Democratic local government--Its good and evil... 202Place of wealth in modern politics ........... 203Measures that must strengthen the professionalpolitician ........................ 204High standard of political integrity in Great Britain 205Probity of the permanent service ........... 206Better side of the House of Commons ......... 206Competitive examinations Their drawbacks .... 206Their great use in restraining corruption ....... 208The character of a nation not always shown by itspublic life ....................... 209

Evidence that English character has not declined--Itsmoral and philanthropic side ............ 209

Its robuster qualities ................... 2_o


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xiv DemocracyandLibertyThe governing capacity--Egypt and India ...... 211Dangers to India in democratic government . .... 212High character of English municipal government . . 213Political influence of the provincial towns ....... 214Influence of the telegraph on politic5 Provincialpress .......................... 214Modern England not barren in great men ....... 215

CHAPTER 3Democracy an inevitable fact .............. 217Is not uniformly favourable to liberty ......... 217Illustrations from Roman and French history ..... 217Equality naturally hostile to liberty .......... 217Love of democracy for authoritative regulation . . . 218Effects of the increase of State power--Taxation andliberty ......................... 219

Other dangers to liberty ................ 219Party system hastened the transformation ...... 22oSome Suggested RemediesChange in the Irish representation .......... 221Class representation--Its history and decline .... 223Representation of minorities .............. 225An educational franchise ................ 231Mill's suggestions for mitigating dangers of universalsuffrage ........................ 232Repudiated by modern Radicalism The 'fancy'franchises ....................... 233

The Swiss Referendum--Its history and influence . . 234Its recent adoption in the United States ........ 238Attempt to introduce it into Belgium ......... 241Arguments for and against it .............. 242Belief that a low suffrage is naturally conservative . . 248Extension of the power of committees The Americancommittee system ................... 249The French system ................... 253English parliamentary committees---Devolution . . . 253


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ContentsoftireFirst Volume xvProposal that Governments should only resign on avote of want of confidence .............. 253

Arguments against it .................. 253Probability that democratic Parliaments will sink inpower ......................... 254

Democratic local government--Success of Englishlocal government ................... 255

Largely due to property qualifications ......... 255Almost all of them now abolished--Act of 1894 . . . 256This is the more serious on account of the great in-crease in taxation ................... 257The local debt ...................... 258

Increase of State Taxation in Europe--Its CausesMilitary expenditure--Standing armies ........ 258Buckle's prediction of the decline of wars ....... 259The commercial spirit now favours territorialaggrandisement .................... 261Growing popularity of universal military service . . . 261

Arguments in its defence ................ 261Importance of the question to the English race .... 264Arguments against it .................. 264Conscription and universal suffrage connected . . . 266But the military system may come into collision withthe parliamentary system .............. 267National education--Its social and political effects . . 268Primary education assuming the character of second-ary education ..................... 272

Sanitary reform ..................... 272Reformatories and prison reform ........... 277Increased taxation due to increased State regulation--Herbert Spencer's views ............... 278

Necessity for some extension of State control .... 278Advantages of State action in some fields ....... 279Government credit--Enterprises remunerative to theState .......................... 280Unremunerative forms of literature and art ...... 281


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xvi DemocracyandLibertySubsidies to the theatre ................. 281Dangers of State regulation and subsidies ...... 281Change in the character of democracy since JosephHume ......................... 282Motives that have led to State aggrandisement .... 283Mr. Goschen on its extent ............... 283Attempts to push it still further--The Manchesterschool repudiated ................... 284

Tendency to throw all taxation on one class ..... 284Tocqueville and Young on English taxes in the eigh-teenth century ..................... 285Progressive taxes of Pitt ................. 285

Abolition of taxes on the necessaries of life ...... 285Bentham, Mill, and Montesquieu on exempted in-comes ......................... 287Lord Derby's description of English taxation ..... 287

Taxation mainly on the rich and chiefly for the benefitof the poor ....................... 287Adam Smith on the rules for taxation ......... 288

Thiers on the same subject ............... 288Advantages of taxation of luxuries ........... 289Growing popularity of graduated taxation--Its earlyhistory ......................... 29oTaxation in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and NewZealand ........................ 291

In France and the United States ............ 292Arguments against graduated taxation ........ 292Probability that it will increase ............. 295Its effect on the disposition of landed property .... 295On the position and habits of the upper classes . . . 296On personal property .................. 299Wealth dissociated from duties ............. 3ooDemocracy not indifferent to wealth ......... 3o3CHAPTER 4ARISTOCRACIES AND UPPER CHAMBERSDangers of government by a single Chamber .... 3o5Countries where it exists ................ 3o6


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Contents of the First Volume xviiLessons derived from the Commonwealth ...... 307From the United States ................. 307From France ....................... 308

Early History of the House of LordsEffects of the Reformation and the Rebellion ..... 308Of the Revolution of 1688 ................ 3o9Importance of the small boroughs in sustaining itsinfluence ........................ 309The Peerage Bill of Stanhope .............. 31oThe Scotch Union .................... 31oThe Resolution of 1711 ................. 31oCreations of George III.--The Irish Union ...... 311Position of the spiritual peers ............. 312The House of Lords under George III. not un-popular ........................ 313

Power of personal interest on its members before1832 .......................... 314Their influence in the House of Commons ...... 315

Attitude of the peers towards the Reform Bill of 1832 315Change in their position effected by the Bill ..... 316Importance of the House of Lords in making legisla-tion harmonise with the popular will ........ 316

In diminishing the too great influence of party inlegislation ....................... 317In protecting minorities ................. 317Its ecclesiastical policy ................. 318Its general moderation ................. 319Attacks on the Lords after the Reform Bill of 1832 . . 319

The Hereditary ElementAdvantages of special education for politics ..... 32oInfluences that maintain the character of the Britisharistocracy ....................... 321

Their energy and power of adaptation ........ 325Large amount of ability among them ......... 326Advantages the nation derives from an aristocracy 327Representative character of the House of Lords 328Popularity of the aristocracy in England ........ 330


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xviii Democracyand LibertyIts good and evil sides ................. 33_Aristocracy and plutocracy ............... 331Debility and apathy of the House of Lords ...... 336Causes of Its DebilityThe small quorum--Proxies .............. 337Discouraging influences in the House ......... 338Jealousy of the House of Commons of Bills originat-ing in the Lords .................... 339Financial impotence of the Lords ........... 339Sole right of the Commons to originate Money Bills . 340The Lords deprived of their old right of amendingthem .......................... 340Difficulty of maintaining this rule--Its relaxation . . 341The right of rejecting Money Bills ........... 343Repeal of the paper duties in 186o ............ 343The different provisions of the Budget combined inone Bill ............................. 348Connection of taxation and representation ...... 349Powers of foreign Senates over finance ........ 350Dangers of the concentration of all financial power inone House--Its mitigations in England ....... 350The House of Lords cannot overthrow Ministers... 351

Its Judicial FunctionsIts origin and abuses .................. 352Attempts to make lawyers life peers .......... 353The peerage of Lord Wensleydale (1856) ....... 353Later attempts to create life peers ........... 356Lord Selborne's Court of Appeal (1873) ........ 356Lord Cairns's new Appellate Court in the House ofLords .......................... 357

Success of this measure ................. 358Its modification in 1887 ................. 358Excessive and increasing number of new peerages 358Elements from which they are drawn ......... 359Imperfect recognition of non-political eminence . . . 361One-sided political influence in the House of Lords. 363This fact a recent one--Its causes ........... 364


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Contentsof theFirstVolume xixParliamentary history, 1892-1895 ........... 364The crusade against the Lords ............. 365The election of 1895, and its lessons .......... 368The importance of a reform of the House of Lords notdiminished ...................... 369

Foreign Upper HousesThe Roman Senate ................... 370The Senate of the United States ............ 371The French Senate .................... 378The German Bundesrath ................ 379Upper Houses in Prussia, Austria, and Italy ..... 380In Spain and Switzerland ................ 381In the Netherlands ................... 382In Belgium ........................ 383

Colonial ConstitutionsTheir general character ................. 384The Canadian Senate--The Newfoundland Con-stitution ........................ 385Af_can colonial Governments--The island colonies . 385Upper Chambers in Australia and New Zealand . . . 386

Proposals for Reforming the House of LordsAdvantages of retaining a limited hereditary element 387Life peers ......................... 389Proposals for a larger introduction of the representa-tive principle ..................... 389

The limitation of the veto ................ 391Right of ministers to sit in both Houses ........ 393Advantages and disadvantages of carrying unfinishedlegislation into a second session ........... 394This should at least be done in the case of amendmentsin the Lords ...................... 396

CHAPTER 5NATIONALITIESChanges in the basis of international politics ..... 397The rights of nationalities in the French Revolution . 398


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xx Democracy and LibertyCompletely ignored after the fall of Napoleon .... 398Signs of revival before 183o---French Revolution ofthat year ........................ 399And of 1848 ....................... 4oo

Italian writers on nationality .............. 4ooNationality not necessarily a democratic idea ..... 4OlAmbiguities about the elements that constitute it . . 402Plebiscites ........................ 402Good and evil sides of the doctrine of nationalities 4o4Not applicable to uncivilised nations ......... 4o4Plebiscites frequently deceptive ............ 404Dangers of pushing the nationality doctrine to its fullconsequences ..................... 4o6

America a Test CaseIts annexations ...................... 4o7The secession of the South ............... 4o8Analysis of English opinion on the War of Secession 4o9The Northern case for repressing the revolt ..... 413Nearly all European predictions about the war provedfalse .......................... 413

The Italian QuestionImpulse it gave to the doctrine of nationalities .... 414Invasions of Naples and Rome ............. 4_4The Peace of Villafrance and the Roman question . . 415The Italian policy of England .............. 415Lord J. Russell's estimate of the plebiscites ...... 417Success of the English policy .............. 417Policy of Napoleon III.--And of England ....... 418The unity of Italy dearly purchased .......... 419The unity of Germany--The agglomeration of raceelements ........................ 421Conflicting tendencies towards agglomeration andtowards local unities ................. 422Increased value attached to national languages . . . 423The military system accentuates national differences 423


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xxii Democracy and LibertySpain and Portugal ................... 445Limitation or modification of religious liberty .... 446

IndiaEarly religious policy of the East India Company 447Admission of missionaries in 1813 ........... 448Prohibition of infanticide and human sacrifices 448Abolition of the suttee ................. 449Attitude of Government towards caste and idolatrousworship ........................ 451

Measures of 1833 and _838 ............... 452Changes in the laws of inheritance and marriage . . 452Memorandum of Colonel Herbert Edwardes ..... 453Queen's Proclamation in 1858 ............. 454Philanthropic tendencies hostile to the old beliefs . . 454Indian education and its effects ............ 455

MormonismPolygamy not its original doctrine ........... 456Early history of Mormonism .............. 456Murder of Joseph Smith ................ 457Emigration to the Salt Lake ............... 458Utah becomes an American Territory--Its early his-tory ........................... 458

Should polygamy be tolerated? ............ 46oCongress undertakes to stamp it out The Edmundslaw ........................... 462

Other measures against polygamy ........... 464Conflicting opinions about their success ....... 465Influences within Mormonism hostile to polygamy 466Polygamy abandoned by the Mormons ........ 467Utah made a State .................... 469Anglo-Saxon democracy favourable to religiousliberty .............................. 47oThe sentiment of nationality sometimes hostile to it . 47oThe Anti-Semite movement .............. 471

The Russian persecution ................ 472


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INTRODUCTIONby William Murchison

he veil of sentimentality long ago settled snugly over the189os, which have come to be regarded as dear, dead daysof innocence, of straw boaters and bicycles built for two--atime so utterly unlike the depraved present as to horrify sen-sitive consciences.Yet, to not a few of the sensitive consciences which inhab-

ited them, the '9os were themselves an alarming decade. Fora fact, industrial civilization seemed triumphant. Prosperitywas widespread and the world in general at peace. But evenin this blazing noonday, dark shadows seemed to be creeping'round.The underpinnings of 19th century civilization were, in the

century's last decade, coming loose. Property was threat-ened. Crude, broadshouldered democracy was on the rise.The established leaders of affairs seemed about to be bootedfrom the seats of power. What the aoth century would bring,should these trends come to fulfilment, was terrible to con-template.But what is a rigorous scholar to do, just because the world

he esteems is beginning to crumble? Does he fastidiouslyavert his eyes? Or does he instead sound an alarm, to rallyothers around him and beat back the forces of turmoil? Eye-

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xxiv Democracy and Libertyaversion was not for William Edward Hartpole Lecky, theIrish historian and political philosopher. He chose to write--and fight.Lecky was born near Dublin on March 26, 1838. All his lifehe remained a staunch Irish patriot--though a conservative,not a radical, one. He was an ardent foe of Home Rule, as pro-pounded by Parnell and Gladstone. He took degrees fromTrinity College, Dublin, in _859 and 2863. Despite early incli-nations toward theology and politics, he found his niche inhistory after the large success of his History of Rationalism inEurope, published in _865. It was a book that exhibited mostof Lecky's strengths and shortcomings--powerful scholar-ship and a clean, clear literary style, marred by a tendency togo on at infinite length, scattering main points like diamondsin a field too heavily ploughed. The Victorians were un-daunted, however, by large books, and Lecky's career pros-pered. His History of European Morals, from Augustus toCharlemagne, a sort of companion to the study of rationalism,likewise enjoyed success. But it was his 8-volume History ofEngland in the Eighteenth Century, a work that took _9 years toresearch and write, that established Lecky's reputation. Eachvolume, as it appeared, won him new admirers. Lecky wasnot only lucid, but scrupulously objective throughout, evenwhen treating of his beloved Ireland. Deeply interested inpolitics, he went to Parliament in 1895 as the Liberal Unionistmember for Dublin University and sat until _9o2. He becamea privy councillor in 2897 and, in the year of his retirementfrom Parliament, received the Order of Merit. He died in Lon-don, October 22, _9o3.Lecky may have associated himself with the Liberal Party,

but his political philosophy was tenaciously conservative.From his long study of the past, he had divined first principles.He saw how the affairs of men had been regulated before; hesaw what had succeeded and what had failed. Change was nothis enemy; he stood instead against change that went far be-yond the simple righting of wrongs and redressing of griev-ances; wherein he was like his fellow Irishman, Burke, the


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Introduction xxv

arch-foe of metaphysical tinkerings with deeply rooted insti-tutions. Burke maintained that the success of an institution,over years of growth and development, was tolerable proof ofits worthiness and utility. This, too, Lecky affirmed. Burkeasserted that some were fit to govern and others not. LikewiseLecky. A century separated the two Irish philosophers but verylittle else.The revolution that Lecky saw raging around him was, as

revolutions go, a mild and peaceable affair; no lordly estatesplundered, no royal necks laid on the chopping block. Fit-tingly enough, for the most literate age the world had yet seen,the revolution was one more of words than of deeds. Suchdeeds as were performed were normally of ink and paper.They were laws, Acts of Parliament. For all that, the blaze theykindled was brighter, both then and now, than incendiarytorches.Democracy was the late Victorian age's great passion--a

concept not just to profess but to translate into reality. Thedemocracy professed was less radical than that of the Frenchrevolutionaries who, in Burke's day, had cried, "Liberty,Fraternity, Equality!"--and then had decapitated thousandsof their free and equal brethren. Democracy, to the Victorians,meant something relatively high-minded---government bythe majority for the benefit of the majority. The principle wasamiable enough, certainly. It was in the practical applicationthat things began to go wrong, as Lecky and a few others easilydiscerned. The implications of democracy for good govern-ment, for liberty--for precisely the values that democracy wasmeant to assert--were deeply disturbing.It was in 1896 that Lecky published his premonitions. De-

mocracy and Liberty was issued by Longmans, Green, and Co.in March and by October had run through four printings. Thereviews, while attentive and appreciative, were not uniformlyenthusiastic. Lecky's inveterate tendency to wander downinteresting bypaths, never mind how far removed from hiscentral theme, was frequently faulted.In truth, Democracy and Liberty is about a great many things


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xxvi Democracy and Libertybesides democracy and liberty in purest form. To name onlya few of these things: the Irish land question, Indian suttee,Mormonism and polygamy, England's Italian policy, gam-bling, drunkenness as a disease, divorce, and women's rights.(The women's movement of the late 2oth century would findLecky surprisingly sympathetic; he was a powerful advocateof votes for women.) The Dictionary of National Biography callsDemocracy and Liberty "a storehouse of admirable, if somewhatdisjointed, reflection." A. Lawrence Lowell, a future presidentof Harvard University, writing in the American Historical Re-view, chided the author for supposedly blaming "all the illsfrom which we suffer" on democracy alone. Still, like SirHenry Maine's Popular Government and Sir James FitzjamesStephen's Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,--learned, lucid protestsagainst the spirit of the new age---Lecky's two sturdy volumespointedly reminded Victorian England of the disaster it wasstoring up for posterity.The argument of the book is the incompatibility of two con-cepts which, in the late 2oth century, are regarded virtually as

twins---democracy and liberty. The one might seem, at firstglance, to reinforce and invigorate the other. But it was notso, as Lecky proceeded to establish in detail.Democracy demanded easy access to the ballot box, and

the Victorians had gone far toward complying. The electoralreforms of 1867 had enfranchised the industrial workers,those of 1884 the rural classes. Women would not gain theballot until after the First World War, but it could be said oflate Victorian Britain anyway that something like real democ-racy-the rule of The People--was being achieved. Whereasin 1866 only 1.3 million Britons had been privileged to vote,the right was shared by 5.7 million in 1886. The franchise hadin two decades more than quadrupled.Theoretically, all this represented a great advance. ButLecky was not so easy to convince. Like Burke, he never val-

ued abstractions. That a thing worked, worked well, and gaveevery evidence of continuing to do so, was more importantto him than speculative dreams. What had worked best for


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Introduction xxviiBritain, so far as he was concerned, was the electoral systemthat prevailed from the Reform Bill of 1832 until the ReformBill of 1867 . In 1832 , the middle class had been enfranchised.The change had, at the time, split the country asunder, but ithad worked. This was because, in Lecky's view, it had admit-ted to power a class of men solid, trustworthy, educated, andhard-working. Their merits, not their abstract "rights," qual-ified them for the franchise. It was different with the millionsgranted the vote in 1867 and 1884 . Sheer numbers was whatmainly seemed to commend them as voters.But what were mere numbers against intelligence, experi-ence, and wisdom? "In every field of human enterprise," ar-gued Lecky, "in all the competitions of life, by the inexorablelaw of Nature, superiority lies with the few, and not with themany, and success can only be attained by placing the guidingand controlling power mainly in their hands. ''1In speaking of such matters, Lecky refused to mince words.

"As far as the most ignorant class have opinions of their own,they will be of the vaguest and most childlike nature. ,,2 "Oneof the great divisions of politics in our day," he predicted, "iscoming to be whether, at the last resort, the world should begoverned by its ignorance or by its intelligence. ''3 It is a mea-sure of how much ideological water has flowed under thebridge since 1896, that a noted author, soon to become a mem-ber of Parliament, should write so frankly without givingpublic scandal. In the late 2oth century, he would be picketedby college freshmen, pilloried by congressmen and TV talkshow hosts, without anyone's stopping to inquire whetherintelligence might, on the whole, be socially more useful thanignorance.What Lecky feared was that his country's government

would pass out of the hands of gentlemen and "into the hands_W. E. H. Lecky,Democracyand Liberty (Indianapolis: Liberty Classics,1980),Vol. I, pp. 22-23.2Lecky,Vol. I, pp. 19-20.3Lecky,Vol. I, pp. 21-22.


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xxviii Democracyand Libertyof professional politicians'--like those to be found in theUnited States. (Lecky admired the American Constitution andthe American Senate and compared Alexander Hamilton fa-vorably to Burke; yet he winced to see democracy so far ad-vanced in the Republic.) Already in Britain, since democracyhad taken root, there was more bribe-taking, more apostasy,more flouting of principle.Lecky was concerned, accordingly, that gentlemen should

continue to govern. He was concerned especially for the fu-ture of the House of Lords, which fast was coming to be re-garded as a feudal relic, occupying "a secondary position inthe Constitution." "Man for man," he wrote, "it is quite pos-sible that (the Lords) represents more ability and knowledgethan the House of Commons, and its members are certainlyable to discuss public affairs in a more single-minded anddisinterested spirit. ,,4 The peers' "superiority of knowledge"was "very marked." They were more than ornamental; theycontributed, along with the Throne, to the kingdom's "great-ness and cohesion."Do such notions sound snobbish and insufferable to 2oth

century ears? They sounded snobbish, in truth, to many a_9th century ear. Yet Lecky, a man of the middle class, wasno snob. He reasoned that if liberty was to be maintainedagainst the central state, someone other than the politicians,who were watering and nurturing the state, must do the job.The state was in fact putting out roots in every direction,and not by happenstance either. A new kind of radicalism

had arisen during the _87os and _88os. The older sort, thesort in which Englishmen like Lecky rejoiced, had assertedthe rights of the individual against the state; the newer radi-calism, whose voice was Joseph Chamberlain of Birmingham,insisted that to the contrary, individual freedom could onlybe guaranteed by the collective state. This was because indi-viduals were being ground down by the weight of the capi-talistic structure. Only the majesty of the state could rescuethem.4Lecky,Vol. I, p. 329.


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Introduction xxixNumerous rescue missions were launched in the 187os and

'8os. In 1871 and 1872, local government boards were createdand given vast powers over public health and the poor--tra-ditional concerns of the parish and squirearchy. By an act of1888, justices of the peace, who were mostly squires bred ina tradition of public service, were denuded of their broadpowers and replaced by 62 county councils. Education wasmade compulsory in 1876 and in 1891 was made free at theelementary level. The economist, Stanley Jeavons, in wordsthat would have confounded Cobden and Bright, assertedthat "the State is justified in passing any law, or even in doingany simple act, which in its ulterior consequences adds to thesum of human happiness"--with happiness, presumably, tobe defined by the lawmakers themselves.Even firmer in that conviction stood the Fabian Society,organized in 1884 by a coterie of middle-class intellectuals

bent on converting the country, however slowly, to outrightsocialism. "The economic side of the democratic ideal," saidone of the Fabians, Sidney Webb, "is in fact Socialism, itself."Lecky, though the philosophical obverse of Webb, couldnot have agreed with him more. "No fact," he wrote, "is moreincontestable and conspicuous than the love of democracyfor authoritative regulation. ''5 The increase of state powerwould mean "a multiplication of restrictions imposed uponthe various forms of human action." It would mean more bu-reaucracy. It would mean something the 2oth century can un-derstand even better than these--constantly mounting taxesto finance the state. For Lecky, the tax question was "in thehighest degree a question of liberty." The country was nearinga time when one class could impose the taxes and anotherclass pay them. In that unhappy event, taxation would nolonger serve the common good. It would be used "to breakdown the power, influence, and wealth of particular classes;to form a new social type; to obtain the means of class brib-ery. ''6 Lecky, the historian, had shown that his eyes were asLecky,Vol. I, p. 218.Lecky,Vol. I, pp. 219-220.


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xxx Democracy and Libertygood for looking forward as for looking backward. For so itall came to pass in Britian, once the Labor Party finally ac-quired dominion.The likelihood of actual socialist sway over his country,Lecky stoutly refused to admit. Socialism was an abstract,Teutonic program; the English were too sensible to have muchtruck with it, even if it was probable that Marxists might "'insome degree and in more than one direction, modify the ac-tions both of the State and of local bodies.":It happened that the socialists came to power after all, but

that they lacked the doctrinaire convictions necessary to builda thoroughly socialist nation. Though they increased taxesand nationalized key industries, they declined to drive theprivate sector entirely out of business. This was fortunate, foras Lecky had pointed out, "The desire of each man to improvehis circumstances, to reap the full reward of superior talent,or energy, or thrift, is the very mainspring of the productionof the world. Take these motives away; persuade men that bysuperior work they will obtain no superior reward; cut off allthe hopes that stimulate, among ordinary men, ambition, en-terprise, invention, and self-sacrifice, and the whole level ofproduction will rapidly and inevitably sink. ''8Lecky understood not just the practical arguments against

socialism but likewise the theoretical ones. Capital was notrobbery, as Marx alleged; nor was it the working man's enemy.Rather, it was "that portion of wealth which is diverted fromwasteful and unprofitable expenditure to those productiveforms which give him permanent employment. ,,9Capital andlabor were "indissolubly united in the creation of wealth,"each one indispensable to the other.All the eloquence and learning that Lecky mustered was

shouted into the teeth of a gale. The England of his heart--

; Lecky, Vol. II, p. 34 o.s Lecky, Vol. II, p. 31o.9 Lecky, Vol. II, p. 276.


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Introduction xxxiindustrious, rational, above all free and unfettered--waspassing away even as he wrote.The 189os, as one scholar has written, was "the decade ofa thousand 'movements'." The people then living "were con-

vinced that they were not only passing from one social systemto another but from one morality to another, from one cultureto another, and from one religion to a dozen or more! ''1 Lib-erty had been the supreme economic, political, and socialvalue of the mid-Victorians. Nor had it been repudiated en-tirely by the late-Victorians. The term had simply come tomean something different than it meant in the '4os, '5os, and'6os, when the individual was viewed as a thing of wonderand might and endless possibility. In the '9os, liberty wasmore likely to be pursued through collective enterprises suchas trade unions and local government councils, than throughthe removal of obstacles to personal achievement.Lecky saw clearly the fallacy of the new "liberty," so de-

fined. Far from ensuring a higher kind of freedom, collecti-vism-and the democracy that was its driving power--wouldenforce a lower kind of servitude. The democratic mass statewould begin as man's servant and end as his master.For decades after Lecky's death, such admonitions were

muffled, if they were heard at all. The curtain had fallen onhis values with a heavy thud but now and then a fold wouldbe drawn back and a look stolen at the notions of the quaintpast, when it still was possible to doubt that mere numberswas all that mattered.Lecky, it can be more plainly seen now, was a man bothbehind and ahead of his times; which is often the case with

those whose values are rooted in tradition and experience,not pinned precariously to the frenzies of the moment. Hewas a man eminently worth listening to in 1896. If anything,time has only deepened the value and pertinence of his con-versation.,0Holbrook Jackson, The Eighteen Nineties (New York: Knopf, 1927),P. 31.


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DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY


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CHAPTER 1

he most remarkable political characteristic of the latterpart of the nineteenth century has unquestionably beenthe complete displacement of the centre of power in free gov-ernments, and the accompanying changes in the prevailingtheories about the principles on which representative gov-ernment should be based. It has extended over a great partof the civilised world, and, although it has had all the effectsof a profound and far-reaching revolution, it has, in some ofthe most conspicuous instances, been effected without anyact of violence or any change in the external framework ofgovernment. I have attempted in another work to describe atlength the guiding principles on which the English parlia-mentary government of the eighteenth century was mainlybased, and which found their best expression and defence inthe writings of Burke. It was then almost universally held thatthe right of voting was not a natural right, but a right con-ferred by legislation on grounds of expediency, or, in otherwords, for the benefit of the State. As the House of Commonshad been, since the Revolution of 1688, the most powerfulelement of the Constitution, nothing in the Constitution wasdeemed more important than the efficiency of the machine,and measures of parliamentary reform were considered good

3


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4 DemocracyandLibertyor bad exactly in proportion as they conduced to this end.The objects to be attained were very various, and they werebest attained by a great variety and diversity of representa-tion. It was necessary to bring together a body of men ofsufficient intelligence and knowledge to exercise wisely theirgreat power in the State. It was necessary to represent, andto represent in their due proportions, the various forms andtendencies of political opinion existing in the nation. It wasnecessary to represent with the same completeness and pro-portion the various and often conflicting class interests, sothat the wants of each class might be attended to and thegrievances of each class might be heard and redressed. It wasalso in the highest degree necessary that the property of thecountry should be specially and strongly represented. Parlia-ment was essentially a machine for taxing, and it was there-fore right that those who paid taxes should have a decisivevoice, and that those who chiefly paid should chiefly control.The indissoluble connection between taxation and represen-tation was the very mainspring of English conceptions of free-dom. That no man should be taxed except by his own consentwas the principle which was at the root of the American Rev-olution. It was the chief source of all extensions of represen-tative government, and it was also the true defence of theproperty qualifications and voting privileges which concen-trated the chief power in the hands of the classes who werethe largest taxpayers. No danger in representative govern-ment was deemed greater than that it should degenerate intoa system of veiled confiscation--one class voting the taxeswhich another class was compelled to pay.It was also a fundamental principle of the old system of rep-

resentation that the chief political power should be with theowners of land. The doctrine that the men to whom the landbelonged were the men who ought to govern it was held, notonly by a great body of English Tories, but also by BenjaminFranklin and by a large section of the American colonists. Itwas urged that the freeholders had a fixed, permanent, in-alienable interest in the country, widely different from the


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AristocraticInfluence 5migratory and often transient interests of trade and com-merce; that their fortunes were much more indissolublyblended with the fortunes of the State: that they representedin the highest degree that healthy continuity of habit and pol-icy which is most essential to the wellbeing of nations. AsBurke, however, observed, the introduction of the boroughrepresentation showed that the English Legislature was notintended to be solely a legislature of freeholders. The com-mercial and trading interests had also their place in it, andafter the Revolution that place became exceedingly great. Itwas strengthened by the small and venal boroughs, whichwere largely in the hands of men who had acquired great for-tunes in commerce or trade. The policy of the Revolution Gov-ernment was, on the whole, more decidedly directed bycommercial views than by any others, and it was undoubtedlythe small boroughs which, during the first half of the eigh-teenth century, mainly kept the Hanoverian family on thethrone.Aristocratic influence in the Constitution was always verygreat, though it was never absolute. The House of Commonsafter the Revolution was a stronger body than the House ofLords. The most powerful ministers of the eighteenth centurywere commoners. Great popular movements in the countrynever failed to influence the Legislature, though they actedless promptly and less decisively than in later periods. On theother hand, a considerable proportion of the members of theHouse of Commons were returned by members of the Houseof Lords, and nearly every great family had at least one rep-resentative in the Commons. The aristocracy formed a con-necting link between the smaller country gentry and thetrading and industrial interests. Like the latter, but unlike theformer, they were usually supporters of the system of gov-ernment established by the Revolution, of the Whig interest,and of the Hanoverian dynasty. They possessed in manycases great fortunes in money; they had wider interests andmore cosmopolitan tastes than the ordinary country gentle-men; and they shared with the commercial classes the ascen-


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6 Democracyand Libertydency in the boroughs. A few of them had risen from thoseclasses, or were connected with them by marriage; while, onthe other hand, they were the chief landowners, the naturalleaders of the landowning classes.It was contended that this system secured the harmonybetween the two branches of the Legislature, and that aris-tocratic ascendency brought with it many other advantages.The possession of land, more than any other form of property,is connected with the performance of public duties, and thegreat landowner was constantly exercising in his own districtgoverning and administrative functions that were peculiarlyfitted to give him the kind of knowledge and capacity that ismost needed for a legislator. Men of this class may have manyfaults, but they are at least not likely in the management ofpublic affairs to prove either reckless and irresponsible ad-venturers or dishonest trustees. To say this may not appearto be saying very much; but a country which has succeededin having its public affairs habitually managed with integrity,and with a due sense of responsibility, will have escaped evilsthat have wrecked the prosperity of many nations. It wasurged, above all, that the place which the aristocracy exer-cised in the Legislature had at least the advantage of reflectingthe true facts and conditions of English life. In each countya great resident noble is commonly the most important man.He influences most largely the lives and happiness of theinhabitants, takes the leading part in local movements, ex-ercises by general consent a kind of superintendence andprecedence among his neighbours. It was therefore perfectlyin accordance with the principles of representative govern-ment that his class should exercise a somewhat correspondinginfluence in the Legislature.In order to attain these various ends the House of Com-mons was elected in a manner which showed the most com-plete absence of uniformity and symmetry. There were greatdifferences both in the size of the constituencies and in thenature of the qualifications. In many places members werereturned by a single man or by a small group of often venal


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Englishand AmericanConstitutions 9did tacit understandings, traditional observances, illogical butserviceable compromises, bear so great a part.It was claimed for this form of government that, with all itsdefects and anomalies, it had unquestionably worked well. I

may again quote the words of Paley. 'Before we seek to obtainanything more,' he writes, 'consider duly what we alreadyhave. We have a House of Commons composed of 548 mem-bers, in which number are found the most considerable land-holders and merchants of the Kingdom; the heads of thearmy, the navy, and the law; the occupiers of great offices inthe State; together with many private individuals eminent bytheir knowledge, eloquence, and activity. If the Country benot safe in such hands, in whom may it confide its interests?If such a number of such men be liable to the influence ofcorrupt motives, what assembly of men will be secure fromthe same danger? Does any new scheme of representationpromise to collect together more wisdom or to produce firmerintegrity? '2The English Constitution of the eighteenth century mightalso be tested in other ways. It is incontestable that under it

England had enjoyed for a long space of time much prosperity,a far larger measure of steady freedom, and a far more equi-table system of taxation than any of the great States of the Con-tinent. Under this form of government she passed successfullythrough the dangerous internal crisis of a long-disputedsuccession; she encountered successfully foreign dangers ofthe first magnitude, from the time of Louis XIV. to the timeof Napoleon; and although her history was by no means un-chequered by faults and disasters, it was under this systemof government that she built up her vast Indian Empire andlargely extended and organised her colonial dominions.The other great type of free government existing in theworld was the American Republic, and it is curious to observe

how closely the aims and standards of the men who framedthe memorable Constitution of 1787 and 1788 corresponded2MoralPhilosophy,i. 22o-2L


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10 Democracyand Libertywith those of the English statesmen of the eighteenth century.It is true that the framework adopted was very different. Inthe true spirit of Burke, the American statesmen clearly sawhow useless it would be to reproduce all English institutionsin a country where they had no historical or traditional basis.The United States did not contain the materials for foundinga constitutional monarchy or a powerful aristocracy, and agreat part of the traditional habits and observances that re-strained and regulated English parliamentary governmentcould not possibly operate in a new country with the sameforce. It was necessary to adopt other means, but the endsthat were aimed at were much the same. To divide and restrictpower; to secure property; to check the appetite for organicchange; to guard individual liberty against the tyranny of themultitude, as well as against the tyranny of an individual ora class; to infuse into American political life a spirit of conti-nuity and of sober and moderate freedom, were the endswhich the great American statesmen set before them, andwhich they in a large measure attained. They gave an electedpresident during his short period of office an amount ofpower which was, on the whole, not less than that of GeorgeIII. They invested their Senate with powers considerably be-yond those of the House of Lords. They restricted by a clearlydefined and written Constitution the powers of the repre-sentative body, placing, among other things, the security ofproperty, the sanctity of contract, and the chief forms of per-sonal and religious liberty beyond the powers of a mere par-liamentary majority to infringe. They established a SupremeCourt with the right of interpreting authoritatively the Con-stitution and dec.laring Acts of Congress which exceeded theirpowers to be null and void; they checked, or endeavoured tocheck, the violent osdllations of popular suffrage by intro-ducing largely into the Constitution the principle of doubleelection; and they made such large majorities necessary forthe enactment of any organic change that these changes be-came impossible, except where there was an overwhelmingconsensus of public opinion in their favour.


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12 Democracyand Libertyin others, upon the possession of a freehold or some estateof a particular value, or upon the payment of taxes, or per-formance of some public duty, such as service in the militiaor on the highways. In no two of these State constitutionswill it be found that the qualifications of the voters are settledupon the same uniform basis.' A proposal to establish a uni-form system of voting on a common principle was broughtbefore the Convention which framed the Constitution of_787-88, but after full discussion it was resolved to leave theexisting diversities untouched, and to confide to each Statethe power of regulating as it pleased the system of suffrage.All that the Convention established was, that the electors forthe House of Representatives should, in each State, have thequalifications requisite for the electors of the most numerousbranch of the State Legislature. As a matter of fact, for manyyears property qualifications were required in most States forelectors, and a diversity in the system of election prevailedwhich was little, if at all, less than in England. In several ofthe State legislatures, though not in the Federal Legislature,a property qualification was required in representatives andin the Federal Legislature representatives, and direct taxeswere apportioned by the same ratio. 4If we now pass from the two great English-speaking com-

munities to France, we find ourselves in a different region ofthought, over which Rousseau exercised the strongest influ-ence. It is not necessary for me here to enter into a generalexamination of the political theories of Rousseau, or of themany inconsistencies they present. The part of his teachingwhich had most influence, and with which we are now spe-dally concerned, is that relating to the suffrage. He held thatabsolute political equality was the essential condition of po-litical freedom, and that no diversities of power, or represen-tations of classes or interests should be suffered to exist in theConstitution. Every man should have a vote, and a vote ofthe same value; a representative should be nothing more than' Story,ii. 59--66,95, 96, lo6.


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16 Democracyand Libertyform. The Royal prerogative of summoning new centres ofpopulation to send members to Westminster had long sincebecome wholly obsolete. Pitt, with much prescience, had at-tempted in 1783 and 1785 to meet the growing inequalities ofrepresentation and provide for a gradual diminution of thenomination boroughs; but his scheme was defeated, and hehimself abandoned the policy of reform.There can be little doubt that for many years after the hor-

rors of the French Revolution the anti-reform party repre-sented with perfect fidelity the true sentiments of the Englishpeople, and no kind of blame should be attached to the min-isters who resisted parliamentary reform during the contin-uance of the war. After that period, however, home politicswere for some years unskilfully conducted, and the reformparty grew steadily in strength. The reaction which theFrench Reign of Terror had produced had spent its force. Themany forms of misery and discontent produced by the sud-den fall of prices, by the enormous weight of the war taxation,by the growth of the factory system, and by the vast and pain-ful transformation of industry it involved, had all their influ-ence on political opinion. Lord John Russell, dissociatingparliamentary reform from radical schemes of universal suf-frage, electoral districts, and vote by ballot, repeatedlybrought forward the wise policy of disfranchising small bor-oughs which were found guilty of gross corruption, andtransferring their seats to the great unrepresented towns, be-ginning with Leeds, Birmingham, and Manchester. Such apolicy, if it had been adopted in time, and steadily pursued,might have long averted a great and comprehensive change;but it was obstinately resisted. Many mistakes, and perhapsstill more the establishment of peace, had dimmed the rep-utation which the Tory party had justly gained by their con-duct of the war. On the other hand, the no less just discreditwhich had fallen upon the Whig party on account of the pro-foundly unpatriotic conduct of a large section of its membersin the early years of the war had passed away. Most of its newleaders were men who had no part in these errors, who were


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18 Democracy and LibertyCommons seemed destined to ruin the parliamentary systemof England. But the men who chiefly presided over this greatchange were genuine patriots, profoundly imbued with thebest political philosophy of the English school, and as far as-possible from sympathy with the French apostles of liberty. Itis curious to notice how deeply rooted the English sentimentof the necessity to well-ordered and enduring freedom of dis-parities of political power has been, even at the time whenparliamentary government was in its infancy. No one ex-pressed this feeling better than Shakespeare, in the noblewords which he places in the mouth of Ulysses:

Degree being vizarded,Th' unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre,Observe degree, priority, and place.

O ! when degree is shak'd,Which is the ladder in all high designs,The enterprise is sick. How could communities,Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities,Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,The primogenitive and due of birth,Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels,But by degree, stand in authentic place?Take but degree away, untune that string,And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meetsIn mere oppugnancy: the bounded watersShould lift their bosoms higher than the shores,And make a sop of all this solid globe:Strength should be lord of imbecility,And the rude son should strike his father dead:Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong(Between whose endless jar justice resides)Should lose their names, and so should justice too.Then everything includes itself in power,Power into will, will into appetite;And appetite, a universal wolf,So doubly seconded with will and power,


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Middle Class Government 19Must make perforce a universal prey,And last eat up himself. 8Though the Reform Bill undoubtedly changed the centre of

political power in England, it left the leading characteristicsof the old system undestroyed. The constituencies were stillvery different in size and population. The suffrage in differentparts of the kingdom was very variously arranged. All the oldpowers and influences were retained, though their propor-tionate weight was changed. The House of Lords still re-mained an important element in the Constitution. The landedinterest was still powerful in the county constituencies. Prop-erty was specially and strongly represented, and the ReformBill brought great masses of hitherto unrepresented property,as well as great centres of population, into the circle of theConstitution. The middle class, which now became the mostpowerful in the political system, was one which could beexcellently trusted with a controlling power. Aristotle longsince observed, that it is to this section of the community thatthe chief power in government may be most wisely and mostprofitably given. It is not the class most susceptible to newideas or most prone to great enterprises, but it is distin-

8Troilus and Cressida, act i. scene 3. So Milton-'If not equal all, yet free,Equally free; for orders and degreesJar not with liberty, but well consist.'ParadiseLost, Book V.1.79 L

Milton puts these lines in the mouth of Satan, but in his treatise onReformation in England he expresses very similar sentiments in his ownperson. 'There is no civil government that hath been known--no, notthe Spartan nor the Roman... more divinely and harmoniously tuned,more equally balanced as it were by the hand and scale of Justice, thanis the Commonwealth of England, when, under a firm and untutoredmonarch, the noblest, worthiest, and most prudent men, with full ap-probation and suffrage of the people, have in their power the supremeand final determination of highest affairs' (Book II.). On the politicalopinions of English poets, see the interesting preface to Sir Henry Tay-lor's 'Critical Essays' (Works, v. xi-xix).


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20 Democracyand Libertyguished beyond all others for its political independence, itscaution, its solid practical intelligence, its steady industry, itshigh moral average. It also, perhaps, feels more promptly andmore acutely than any other class the effects of misgovern-ment, whether that misgovernment takes the form of recklessadventure and extravagant expenditure, or whether, in thenot less dangerous form of revolutionary legislation, it dis-turbs settled industries, drives capital to other lands, and im-pairs the national credit, on which the whole commercialsystem must ultimately rest.In England, however, this middle class, though it becameafter 1832 the most powerful, had not the same absolute em-

pire as in France. The active administration of affairs waschiefly in the hands of the upper and most cultivated class.The chief controlling power lay with the great middle classes,and followed mainly the bent of their wishes and tendencies.At the same time, the suffrage was so arranged that it was,in some degree at least, within the reach of the skilled arti-sans--a great and intelligent class, who should have a distinctplace and interest in every well-ordered government.It does not appear to me that the world has ever seen a bet-ter Constitution than England enjoyed between the Reform

Bill of 1832 and the Reform Bill of 1867 . Very few parliamentarygovernments have included more talent, or represented morefaithfully the various interests and opinions of a great nation,or maintained under many trying circumstances a higher levelof political purity and patriotism. The constituencies at thistime coincided very substantially with the area of public opin-ion. Every one who will look facts honestly in the face can con-vince himself that the public opinion of a nation is somethingquite different from the votes that can be extracted from all theindividuals who compose it. There are multitudes in everynation who contribute nothing to its public opinion; whonever give a serious thought to public affairs, who have nospontaneous wish to take any part in them; who, if they areinduced to do so, will act under the complete direction of in-dividuals or organisations of another class. The landlord, the


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22 Democracyand Libertypersonal ascendencies are broken down, party colours willoften survive, and they form one of the few elements of realstability. A man will vote blue or vote yellow as his father didbefore him, without much considering what principles maybe connected with these colours. A few strong biases of classor creed will often display a great vitality. Large numbers, also,will naturally vote on what is called 'the turn-about system.'These people, they will say, have had their turn; it is now theturn of the others. This ebb and flow, which is distinct fromall vicissitudes of opinion, and entirely irrespective of the goodor bad policy of the Government, has become of late years aconspicuous and important element in most constituencies,and contributes powerfully to the decision of elections. Intimes of distress the flux or reflux to the tide is greatly strength-ened. A bad harvest, or some other disaster over which theGovernment can have no more influence than over the marchof the planets, will produce a discontent that will often governdubious votes, and may perhaps turn the scale in a nearlybalanced election. In all general elections a large number ofseats are lost and won by very small majorities, and influencessuch as I have described may decide the issue.The men who vote through such motives are often most

useful members of the community. They are sober, honest, in-dustrious labourers; excellent fathers and husbands; capableof becoming, if need be, admirable soldiers. They are alsooften men who, within the narrow circle of their own ideas,surroundings, and immediate interests, exhibit no smallshrewdness of judgment; but they are as ignorant as childrenof the great questions of foreign, or Indian, or Irish, or colonialpolicy, of the complicated and far-reaching consequences ofthe constitutional changes, or the great questions relating tocommercial or financial policy, on which a general election fre-quently turns. If they are asked to vote on these issues, all thatcan be safely predicted is that their decision will not representeither settled conviction or real knowledge.There is another and very different class, who are chiefly

found in the towns. They are the kind of men who may be


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24 Democracyand Libertyparty, the preponderating power should be with educationand property. According to the other, the ultimate source ofpower, the supreme right of appeal and of control, belongslegitimately to the majority of the nation told by the head--or, in other words, to the poorest, the most ignorant, the mostincapable, who are necessarily the most numerous.It is a theory which assuredly reverses all the past experi-

ences of mankind. In every field of human enterprise, in allthe competitions of life, by the inexorable law of Nature, su-periority lies with the few, and not with the many, and successcan only be attained by placing the guiding and controllingpower mainly in their hands. That the interests of all classesshould be represented in the Legislature; that numbers as wellas intelligence should have some voice in politics, is very true;but unless the government of mankind be essentially differentfrom every other form of human enterprise, it must inevitablydeteriorate if it is placed under the direct control of the mostunintelligent classes. No one can doubt that England has oflate years advanced with gigantic strides in this direction. Yet,surely nothing in ancient alchemy was more irrational thanthe notion that increased ignorance in the elective body willbe converted into increased capacity for good government inthe representative body; that the best way to improve theworld and secure rational progress is to place governmentmore and more under the control of the least enlightenedclasses. The day will come when it will appear one of thestrangest facts in the history of human folly that such a theorywas regarded as liberal and progressive. In the words of SirHenry Maine, 'Let any competently instructed person turnover in his mind the great epochs of scientific invention andsocial change during the last two centuries, and consider whatwould have occurred if universal suffrage had been estab-lished at any one of them. Universal suffrage, which to-dayexcludes free trade from the United States, would certainlyhave prohibited the spinning-jenny and the power-loom. Itwould certainly have forbidden the threshing-machine. Itwould have prevented the adoption of the Gregorian Calen-


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28 DemocracyandLibertyends. I do not think that the respect of honest men will formany large part of their reward.It is curious how often in modern England extreme enthu-

siasm for education is combined with an utter disregard forthe opinions of the more educated classes. The movementagainst the influence of property is at least as strong as againstthe influence of education. One of the forms that it nowchiefly takes is the outcry against plural voting. It is de-nounced as an abuse and an injustice that some great landlordwho has property in several counties, or in several towns,should possess a vote for each constituency in which he pos-sesses property. To me, at least, it appears that such an ar-rangement is most natural, expedient, and just. In each ofthese localities the voter has considerable material interests;in each of them he pays taxes; in each of them he dischargespublic duties; in each of them he probably exercises local in-fluence as a landlord or an employer of labour. He takes partin each constituency in local charities, in local movements, inlocal business, and represents in each a clearly recognised,and often very considerable force. Can there be anythingmore reasonable than that he should have in each constitu-ency a voice in the political representation? Can there be any-thing more irrational than to maintain that, in all theseconstituencies except one, he should be denied that minutefraction of political power which is accorded to the poorestday-labourer in his employment? Mill and some other advo-cates of universal suffrage have maintained that while everyone should have a vote, plural voting should be largely ex-tended, giving special privileges to special qualifications. Itwould be difficult to enact, and probably still more difficultto maintain, such privileges under a democratic ascendency;but plural voting connected with property is rooted by long-established custom in the habits of the country, and thoughits influence is not very great, it does something to make theLegislature a true picture and reflection of the forces in thecountry, and to qualify the despotism of simple numbers.


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Democracyand Taxation 29We may take another illustration of a different kind. Let the

reader place himself in imagination at the Guildhall or at St.Paul's, and consider for a moment all that is included withina square mile taken from these centres. Probably no otherspot on the globe comprises so many of the forms and ele-ments of power. Think of all the wealth, all the varieties ofknowledge, all the kinds of influence and activity that areconcentrated in that narrow space. In the most distant quar-ters of the Empire men of enterprise and initiative turn to thecity of London for assistance; each fluctuation of its prosperityis felt to the furthest confines of the civilised world. There isscarcely a Government that does not owe something to it,and its agencies radiate far beyond civilisation, among savagetribes and through unreclaimed deserts. It is the great heartof the Empire, beating in close, constant, active correspon-dence with all its parts. And yet, according to the democratictheory, a square mile of the City should have exactly the sameweight in the political system as a square mile of Stepney orof ShadweU. Can any one suppose that a theory of represen-tation so palpably and grotesquely at variance with the realityof things has any real prospect of enduring?The complete submission of all taxation to the will of a mere

numerical majority is an end which we have not yet fullyattained, but towards which we are manifestly travelling.Every few years something is done in this direction, either bylowering the suffrage, or by abolishing ex-officio guardiansof the poor, or by extinguishing plural voting, or by suppress-ing or weakening property qualifications. The inevitable re-sult is to give one class the power of voting taxes whichanother class almost exclusively pay, and the chief taxpayers,being completely swamped, are for all practical purposescompletely disfranchised. As I have already noticed, it wouldbe difficult to conceive a more flagrant abandonment of thatprinciple about the connection between taxation and votingwhich in former generations was looked on as the most fun-damental principle of British freedom. It is curious to find


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30 Democracyand Libertymen who are steadily labouring for this end declaiming onthe iniquity of the aristocracy of the eighteenth century inattempting to tax America without her consent. Democracypushed to its full consequences places the whole property ofthe country in the hands of the poorest classes, giving themunlimited power of helping themselves. At the same time,under its influence the effect of distant considerations on po-litical action is steadily diminishing. Very naturally, every re-straint of economy under such a system is weakened, and thesphere of Government activity and expense is rapidly in-creased. But evils much graver than mere extravagance andinequitable taxation are impending in a country which has novery extraordinary natural resources, and which owes its al-most unique economical position mainly to its great accu-mulation of movable wealth, and to the national credit whichsecure wealth alone can give.It is a saying of the great German historian, Sybel, that 'therealisation of universal suffrage in its consequences has al-ways been the beginning of the end of all parliamentarism.'I believe that a large majority of the most serious and dispas-sionate observers of the political world are coming steadily tothe same conclusion. Parliamentary government which ismainly directed by the educated and propertied classes is anessentially different thing from parliamentary governmentresting on a purely democratic basis. In all the instances inwhich this form of government has been conspicuously suc-cessful, the representative body was returned on a restrictedsuffrage. This is manifestly.true of the British Parliaments ofthe past. The Italian Parliaments which displayed such emi-nent wisdom and forbearance after the war of 2859 and afterthe death of Cavour; the Austrian Parliaments which carriedthe singularly wise and moderate legislation that has trans-formed Austria from a reactionary despotism into one of thebest-governed countries in Europe; the Belgian Parliamentswhich, in spite of furious religious animosities, establishedamong a French-speaking population constitutional govern-ment which endured without organic change for sixty years,


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Effectsof UniversalSuffrage 31and which their more brilliant neighbours have wholly failedto rival; the Dutch Parliaments, which represent a countrywhere self-government has long been as perfectly attained asin any portion of the globe--were all elected on a very highsuffrage. All these nations have during the last years eitherentered upon the experiment of democracy or are now trem-bling on the verge. The result is already very apparent. InItaly, where the experiment has been longest tried, it has al-ready led to a great and manifest deterioration in public life.In Belgium, its first effect was to break up the Parliament intogroups, and to shatter the power of the Moderate Liberals.In several countries pure democracy has been connected

with extreme instability of government, with rapidly increas-ing taxation and debt, with broken credit, with perpetualmilitary insurrections, with constantly recurring alternationsof anarchy and despotism. In Mexico, it has been computedthat in the thirty-two years between 1821 and 1853 no lessthan forty-eight different forms of government succeededeach other. 11 In Spain, democracy in its most exaggeratedform has been repeatedly adopted. There was an extremelydemocratic constitution established in _812, overthrown in18_4, re-established in 1820, again destroyed in 1823. After along succession of insurrections and constitutional vicissi-tudes, which it is unnecessary to recount, universal suffragewas established by the Republican revolution of 1868 It pre-vailed, in spite of several revolutions of power, till 1877, andduring this time the credit of the country was irretrievablyruined by the immense increase of the debt. In 1877 a highproperty electoral qualification was established. In 1887 it wassomewhat modified. In 189o universal suffrage, chiefly qual-ified by a two years' residence, was re-established. 12In manycases where universal suffrage exists it has been renderednugatory by the success with which the governing power hasbeen able to manage and to drill it. There are said to have" See Burke'sLife ofJuarez, p. 3.,2Dareste, ConstitutionsModernes, i. 6_7, 619, 626.


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UniversalSuffragein France 33enthusiasm it aroused contributed very largely to the Revo-lution. He combined, too, as no one has done before or since,the most splendid literary gifts in poetry and prose with thepower of enthralling assemblies by his spoken words, sway-ing and restraining the passions of vast multitudes of excitedmen. In a great crisis he proved brave, honest, humane, andwell-meaning, and he could judge large social questions withwisdom and moderation; but he had neither the true strengthnor practical talent that are needed in the government of men,and he was apt to be led astray by a childlike and unrestrainedvanity.His popularity was for a time so great that ten departments

and more than two millions of voters simultaneously electedhim to the National Assembly, without any solicitation on hispart. But his star soon faded: socialistic attacks on propertybegan to dominate at Paris, and under the terror of theseattacks the great mass of voters began to turn towards a sav-iour of society. The election, by an enormous majority, ofLouis Napoleon as President in December, 1848, clearly fore-shadowed the future, and the extremely menacing characterwhich the Paris elections assumed led to the law of 185o,which considerably restricted the suffrage. It made threeyears' residence in the constituency necessary for an elector,and it provided precise and stringent rules by which that res-ident must be ascertained. In spite of a furious oppositionfrom the Radical party, this law was carried by 433 to 240, andit is said to have disfranchised more than three millions ofvoters, or about a third part of the electorate.14Universal suffrage had lasted just two years; but in theconflict which ensued between the Legislative Assembly and

the President, the latter clearly saw that it would be his bestweapon. By a stroke of true political sagacity he sent down,in November 1851, a powerfully written presidential mes-sage, calling upon the Assembly to repeal the law of 185o,and to restore their franchise to the three million voters. The_4Clare, pp. 92-96.


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38 Democracyand Libertywas, indeed, essentially his own prime minister; he insistedupon the Chamber carrying out his policy; he correspondeddirectly with foreign ambassadors; he held the threads of for-eign policy so exclusively in his own hands that the wholequestion of the evacuation of the territory was entirely man-aged by him, without reference to his ministers, and it is saidthat no documents relating to it were found in the Ministryof Foreign Affairs. 15His ascendency, however, was mainlydue to his great personality and reputation, and after his res-ignation, and especially after the constitutional laws of 2875,the French President assumed a position very little differentfrom that of a constitutional monarch. Unlike the AmericanPresident, unlike the French Emperor, the President does notowe his position to the direct and independent action of uni-versal suffrage. He is elected by the Senate and Chamber ofDeputies voting together. All his acts have to be counter-signed by a minister. His ministers fall before a vote of theAssembly, and he cannot even dissolve the Ch

1896 lecky democracy and liberty, vol. 1

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