LIBRARY 
 
 OF T1IK 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Receded 
 4 c cessions A T o . 
 
 83 
 
THOUGHTS 
 UPON GOVERNMENT 
 
ARTHUR HELPS'S WRITINGS. 
 
 REALMAH. A novel 82. oc 
 
 CASIMIR MAREMMA. A novel 2.00 
 
 COMPANIONS OF MY SOLITUDE 1.50 
 
 ESSAYS WRITTEN IN THE INTERVALS OF BUSINESS. 1.50 
 
 BREVIA : Short Essays and Aphorisms 1.50 
 
 CONVERSATIONS ON WAR AND GENERAL CULTURE . 1.50 
 
 THOUGHTS UPON GOVERNMENT 2.25 
 
 IVAN DE BIRON. A novel 2.25 
 
 BRASSEY'S LIFE AND LABORS 2.50 
 
 SOCIAL PRESSURE 2.25 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS, 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
THOUGHTS 
 
 UPON GOVERNMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR HELPS 
 
 UNIVEESITY 
 
 BOSTON: 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS. 
 
 1875. 
 
CAMBRIDGE: 
 PRESS WUllK BY JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 DEAR LORD DERBY, 
 
 I dedicate this Work to you. 
 
 We have long been friends, and in former days we were 
 sometimes associates in work. 
 
 I have, however, another motive, independently of 
 friendship or of association in by-gone labours, for 
 dedicating this Work to you. 
 
 I do so mainly because I do not know of any states- 
 man of the present day who will be more inclined to 
 appreciate whatever truth and force there may be, in that 
 chapter of the Work which sets forth the large and fre- 
 quent opportunities for judicious action, in political 
 affairs, which belong to the Improver, in contrast to the 
 Reformer. 
 
 I believe that you will thoroughly sympathize with my 
 views on this subject ; and that you will agree with me in 
 thinking that, without ignoring the largest and deepest 
 political questions, more of the social well-being of the 
 people may be made to depend upon improvement, in 
 
VI DEDICATION. 
 
 the matters which I have alluded to, than even in what 
 are called great reforms. 
 
 If this Work should find some favour with men like 
 yourself, but not otherwise, I propose to give a Second 
 Series of 'Thoughts upon Government,' which I have 
 already prepared in part, and which Series will deal with 
 the action of Government in such matters as Emigration, 
 Education, Recreation, Sanitary Improvement, War, and 
 the Preparation for War. 
 
 Subsequently to this work going to press, it has been 
 suggested to me, that possibly there may be some 
 misconception in regard to what I have written about 
 honours. It was written upon a general survey of the 
 subject, extending over many years. I did not mean 
 to contend, that honours had not often been most 
 worthily conferred upon deserving men, in this and 
 other countries ; but that there were many grievous 
 faults, both of omission and commission; and that the 
 whole subject did not appear to me to have met with 
 due consideration from modern governments. 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Very* faithfully, yours, 
 
 ARTHUR HELP& 
 LONDON : November 1871. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAG 1 * 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS i 
 
 II. THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE FOR 
 
 GOOD GOVERNMENT , .... 8 
 
 III. GOVERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE WANTED AS 
 
 CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. PATERNAL GO- 
 VERNMENT 19 
 
 IV. LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION ... 35 
 
 V. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE POLITICAL AND 
 
 PERMANENT OFFICERS OF STATE. . . 48 
 
 VI. LOCAL GOVERNMENT . . . . . .51 
 
 VII. ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN TO THE SERVICE 
 
 OF GOVERNMENT 61 
 
 VIII. THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS ... 83 
 
 IX COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND OTHER 
 
 SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT ... 96 
 
Vlil CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 X. THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. . 109 
 
 XI. ORGANIZATION ....... 115 
 
 XII. ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT . . .125 
 
 XIII. THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN . . .133 
 
 XIV. THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN (cont.) . . 142 
 XV. ON IMPROVEMENT, IN CONTRAST WITH REFORM . 152 
 
 XVI. THE WANT OF TIME FOR STATESMANSHIP . 161 
 
 XVII. GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS . . . .171 
 
 XVIII. ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT . . . .177 
 
 XIX. DIPLOMACY ....... ^g 
 
 XX. ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS . . .198 
 
 XXI. IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY OF A NATION 
 
 CONSISTS ...... 212 
 
 > 
 
 APPENDIX .......... 233 
 
 INDEX 
 
THOUGHTS 
 
 UPON 
 
 I 
 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 THINK, that there are few studies, CHAP. 
 
 which would conduce more to human ' 
 
 happiness, than a thorough consideration of 
 Government of its duties, its powers, its pri- 
 vileges, and especially of the limits which 
 should be assigned to its interference. Much Functions 
 
 of govern- 
 more is dependent upon government than at mem. 
 
 first sight appears. Its functions do not 
 merely include peace and war, the maintenance 
 of justice and the regulations of police; but 
 they relate to material well-being of all kinds. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 And, what is perhaps of even greater import- 
 ance, the advancement of Art, Science, and 
 Literature depends, much more than is gene- 
 rally imagined, upon the functions of govern- 
 ment being well-defined, well-directed, and 
 judiciously exercised. 
 
 It is also to be observed, that that invalu- 
 able part of the education of grown-up people, 
 which is evoked by political action, should 
 be adequately maintained, and, if possible, 
 Aid to continually extended. Everybody should be 
 
 govern- 
 ment the made to aid in government. 
 
 duty of 
 
 a 11 - It is universally admitted that we live in 
 
 an age of rapid transition. New modes of 
 thought have arisen amongst us ; new elements 
 of political force have been developed ; new 
 branches of science are playing a very signifi- 
 
 ruiiticai cant part in human affairs. Take political 
 
 economy. 
 
 economy, for instance a science so recent, 
 that there are many persons who may almost 
 remember its introduction ; that is, its in- 
 troduction into England, for the great 
 Italian writers already had considered the 
 principal subjects of political economy, which 
 were, for the most part, new to us. We 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3. 
 
 owe much to political economy ; but I do not 
 hesitate to say, that there has been a certain 
 presumptuousness attending its introduction 
 that presumptuousness which belongs to 
 everything that is young which requires to 
 be noted, and made allowance for, when we 
 endeavour to reconcile what may be well 
 called the dictates of political economy, with 
 the functions of civil government 
 
 I am now going to speak somewhat egotis- 
 tically ; but what I shall say is not meant to 
 be egotistical, but merely explanatory, with 
 the view of bringing myself and my readers 
 into closer contact, and conducing to our 
 harmony and understanding. I sincerely Author's 
 
 * claims to 
 
 think I have some especial claims to be heard be heard 
 upon questions relating to government I 
 entered the public service immediately after 
 leaving the university ; I held, in succession, 
 several offices, which ought to have given 
 an observant man great opportunities of re- 
 marking the conduct of business in various 
 Departments. When I ceased to be actively 
 employed in the public service, I was 
 frequently still obliged to entertain grave 
 
 B 2 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 questions relating to government being 
 honoured, from time to time, by having 
 such questions sent to me for consideration. 
 I have since re-entered official life, and held 
 an office which, from its nature, compels its 
 holder to have some insight into the working 
 of all the Offices under the Crown. I should 
 be, therefore, a very inconclusive person, if I 
 had not come to some definite ideas upon 
 the general question of government 
 
 I have, however, one strong reason for 
 dwelling on these circumstances, which affects 
 myself. It is, that if, in the course of this 
 work, I should speak sometimes authori- 
 tatively, it is not to be attributed to any 
 assumption of authority. It is often im- 
 possible to give all the reasons for a con- 
 elusion. One's experience does not alwavs 
 
 ence not 
 
 Embodied em kdy itself in the form of reasoning. A 
 ^ octor cannot always tell you why he has 
 come to certain conclusions about a patient's 
 case. There are subtleties of observation 
 which do not readily take a precise and logi- 
 cal form; but which, nevertheless, are well 
 founded, and are often of extreme significance. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Then again, I have mentioned these circum- CHAP. 
 stances, because, as I mean to be brief in the ^ 
 exposition of my views, I would ask my readers 
 occasionally to give credit to my experience, 
 and to believe that, in some cases, I have 
 reasons which, for the sake of brevity, I do 
 not put forward. 
 
 Above all things, I am anxious to take my Readers 
 
 to be 
 
 readers into council with me. I do not sup- taken into 
 
 council. 
 
 pose that any man (certainly not this writer), 
 can be absolutely right in the views that he 
 brings forward. Nothing is more odious to 
 me than dogmatism, in matters which admit 
 of much discussion, and in which vast numbers 
 of people are interested. I would even have 
 my readers remember that I am an official 
 man, and may have all the prejudices belong- 
 ing to my calling. 
 
 In this introductory chapter, I also think Conclu- 
 sions 
 it right to mention that, though many of the mostly 
 
 conclusions which I come to are of a general the Britis k 
 
 Govern- 
 
 nature, and would apply to the government ment - 
 of other nations, it is the Government of Great 
 Britain, and her dependencies, which is mainly 
 in my mind ; and, only in respect of it should 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 CHAP. I pretend to have the experience which would 
 v justify me in writing, in detail, upon this diffi- 
 cult subject. 
 
 Moreover, whatever I shall say about go- 
 vernment is to be considered as independent 
 of the form of government. I do not go the 
 length of Pope's saying 
 
 For forms of Government let fools contest 
 Whate'er is best administer'd is best ; 
 
 Opinion for I rather partake of the opinion of 
 
 of George 
 
 in. about George III. (not altogether an unprejudiced, 
 Constitu- observer), that the British Constitution is the 
 
 tion. 
 
 best that has yet been devised by man. But 
 I admit that, both in ancient and modern 
 times, there have been other forms of govern- 
 ment, which have fulfilled much of what I 
 think admirable in a governing power. I 
 merely wish my readers to remember, that 
 this work is written by one who has lived 
 under a constitutional monarchy ; has been 
 satisfied with that form of government ; and 
 has it chiefly in mind when he is discussing 
 governmental questions. 
 
 Having now, as I hope, put myself upon an 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 amicable footing with my readers, and espe- 
 cially begging them to consider, that I do not 
 desire to impose upon them my views, but, Author's 
 
 views sug- 
 
 on the contrary, would urge them to regard gestive 
 
 rather 
 
 all that I say as suggestive rather than con- than con- 
 clusive. 
 
 elusive, I will, at once, commence the treat- 
 ment of the subject 
 
British 
 people 
 easy to 
 govern. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE 
 FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 
 
 "T~ DO not think that it is too boastful to say, 
 -*- that the British people, and our near rela- 
 tions in America and the colonies, are the most 
 governable people on the face of the Earth. . 
 It may seem arrogant to enumerate our good 
 qualities in this respect, but I think it must 
 be admitted by other nations, that the British 
 are not given to ferocity ; that we are singu- 
 larly averse to pushing any conclusion to 
 its extreme ; that we are very conservative ; 
 and that we abhor superlatives of any kind, 
 in language, in conduct, and in controversy. 
 I should hardly venture to say all these fine 
 things of ourselves, if history did not amply 
 confirm the statement. 
 
 Consider our two great revolutions ; and it 
 is in revolution, that the nature of a people is 
 

 FITNESS FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 
 
 most tried. How dignified, for the most part, 
 was our conduct in these crises ! They ex- 
 hibit a certain magnanimity, of which every British 
 British reader must be proud. Whether he in their 
 
 i t s~* f revolu- 
 
 is still an ardent sympathizer with Cavalier tions. 
 or Roundhead ; whether he is a devoted 
 partizan of James II. qf of William III. ; he 
 cannot but respect the other side, if he reads 
 history in any spirit of fairness. Our great 
 historical novelist, Sir Walter Scott, a man by 
 no means free from the feelings of partizanship, 
 nevertheless, being essentially a just man, 
 always does ample justice to the other side ; 
 and the feelings of his readers go with him. 
 
 Nay, more : in rebellions, as well as in And even 
 revolutions, the governable nature of the lions. 
 British people has not been less manifested. 
 Anyone, who will carefully investigate the 
 rebellions of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade, will, 
 I believe, be constrained to come to a similar 
 conclusion to that which has impressed itself 
 on my mind, in reference to these rebellions. 
 In short, we are the most cautious people in British 
 the world; if we are to be judged by the limits 
 which we place to political action of all kinds. 
 
 caution. 
 
10 THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH 
 
 The foregoing assertion might be illustrated 
 in several ways. I prefer adopting one illus- 
 tration, and endeavouring to work that out 
 thoroughly ; not presuming to say that it is 
 the best, but it is the bne that has always 
 struck me the most. 
 Habit of It is the mode in which everything is 
 ultimately settled in Great Britain by the 
 
 majority. In the Apology which Plato gives 
 us, as the speech of Socrates before his 
 judges, there is this remarkable passage : c Do 
 not be vexed with me for telling you the 
 
 Plato's truth. There lives not the man who can 
 Apology , . . r 
 
 escape destruction if, as a born antagonist, 
 
 he opposes you, or any other popular major- 
 ity, and endeavours to prevent many unjust 
 and unconstitutional things being done in the 
 State ; but it is necessary that he who will 
 fight this battle for what is righteous, and yet, 
 even for never so short a time, keep himself 
 unharmed, must maintain the privacy of 
 an individual, and take no part in public 
 affairs.' 
 
 Now, in Great Britain there is no such fear 
 for anyone. A man may be in a minority 
 
PEOPLE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. II 
 
 of one ; and amongst so independent, and so 
 original a people as the British, there are many 
 persons who rather like to find themselves in 
 a minority of one. That one may be in some Minorities 
 danger of ridicule, but not in any peril from pressed in 
 persecution. Without, however, taking this Britain. 
 extreme case, it may be observed how excel- 
 lent is the conduct of both majority and mi- 
 nority when once the question in dispute has 
 been put to the vote. It is not by any 
 means taken for granted, by either majority or 
 minority, that the question is finally settled. 
 But it is settled for a time. Each party, 
 as a general rule, behaves handsomely to the 
 other. The majority is seldom offensively Conduct 
 
 of majori- 
 
 triumphant : the minority offensively recal- ties and 
 
 minorities. 
 
 citrant. Sometimes, of course, when party- 
 spirit runs very high as regards the matter at 
 issue, there are a few noisy persons who 
 make a demonstration. But the wiser men, 
 on each side, gather up their strength for 
 future contests ; or if the matter is one which 
 has been carefully canvassed and long de- 
 bated, the beaten party makes up its mind to . 
 accept the new condition of things ; and re- 
 
12 THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH 
 
 CHAP, solves to see how it can best adapt itself to 
 
 ii. 
 - ' them, and work out its own ulterior views 
 
 under them. 
 Goethe's Goethe says, that all greatness and good 
 
 opinion 
 
 on minor- sense are to be found in the minority. 1 An 
 
 ities. J 
 
 Englishman has no fanciful notion of this 
 kind : he thinks that wisdom always rests 
 with that side which he happens to take. 
 Notwithstanding that, he neither despises 
 minorities, nor worships majorities. 
 Majority The history of any great question in po- 
 
 oftena- . 
 
 dopt opi- htics shows, that what may have been at one 
 
 nion of 
 
 minority, time the opinion of a minority, often suc- 
 ceeds in establishing itself ultimately as the 
 opinion of the majority. Take the question 
 of Free-trade, for instance. Experience 
 seems to have proved, that the opinion in 
 
 Free- favour of Free-trade is a sound one has, 
 indeed, with us in England, proceeded from 
 
 ro$e unb efcfteite," fagte er, w ert(lirt in bet 
 SJHnotttdt. $3 $at STOinijier gegefcen, bie SSoIf unb .ftonig 
 gecjen fid) fatten, unb bie ityre grojjen $(ane einfam burdj* 
 flatten. (3 ift nte baran gu benfen, baf bie 3Sernunft 
 ^o^nildr trerbe. eibenfd)aften unb efu^Ie mogcn ))c^uldr 
 rcerben, aBer bie SSernunft wirb immer nut tm 58eft^ eingcl*ier 
 
 lidjer fein." ef^rd^e mit oetiJK, 5?on 
 
 Scfermann. 12 Februar 1829. 
 
PEOPLE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 13 
 
 an opinion to a conclusion. But this opinion CHAP. 
 has gone through a series of stages of de- ' *" ' 
 velopment. It was at first held by two or Deveiop- 
 
 . ment of 
 
 three thoughtful writers, who, perhaps, were opinions. 
 the only persons in the kingdom who tho- 
 roughly believed in it, and were willing to 
 accept all its consequences. The opinion 
 very gradually grew into favour, until it 
 came to be held by an overwhelming ma- 
 jority. It is clear that Goethe's maxim 
 would only have applied to this question 
 during a certain period ; and, therefore, that 
 the maxim is entirely conditional. ^^ u _ 
 
 The British, I maintain, are very little in- 
 fluenced, one way or the other, by the 
 number of persons happening to hold any 
 particular political opinion. But we believe, 
 that questions must be settled somehow ; 
 and that -a most reasonable way of settling 
 them is, to get them put to the vote, and to Willing- 
 
 ness to 
 
 accept the decision of the majority. We ad ?P tde - 
 
 J cisions. 
 
 respect that decision ; not, perhaps, intel- 
 lectually, but physically ; if I may so express 
 it. And that there should be such a respect 
 for the decision of the majority, is an im- 
 
14 THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH 
 
 CHAP, mense advantage to the cause of order, in 
 
 ^- ' any State. 
 
 That almost blasphemous saying, ' The 
 voice of the people is the voice of God/ is 
 not one which would find favour with our 
 fellow-countrymen. But, for all that, the 
 
 Voice of voice of the people, when it is made intel- 
 
 the people ...... , , , . 
 
 to be re- ligible, is greatly respected by us, and is 
 looked at not in a religious, but in a busi- 
 ness-like kind of way as a thing which 
 must be observed, and proved ; and, in some 
 measure, attended to. 
 
 Aids to The greatest aids to good government 
 
 vernment. are those general principles of thought and 
 action which belong to the character of the 
 people ; and which always can be appealed 
 to, and relied upon, even in times of danger 
 and of difficulty. 
 
 I do not believe that I have given too 
 favourable a representation of our political 
 modes of procedure ; and, if my description 
 is a just one, other nations must admit that 
 they cannot appeal to their histories for 
 examples of a similar nature. With us, the 
 beaten party does not hasten to ' descend 
 
PEOPLE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 15 
 
 into the streets ; * does not suppose, for a CHAP. 
 moment, that a matter which has been de- < ' 
 cided by argument, or even by a nice adjust- 
 ment of moral and political forces, is to be 
 varied or recalled by brute force. 
 
 I should not so much insist upon our 
 political history, to prove how well majorities 
 and minorities conduct themselves, if I could 
 not confirm my assertions, in this respect, by 
 our conduct in simpler matters than those of 
 politics. The same obedience to a majority, General 
 
 , ....... . obedience 
 
 and respect for the right of a minority, may to the ma- 
 jority. 
 be seen in the decision of matters which are 
 
 not political ; and even in our recreations. A 
 dispute arises ; the question is put to the 
 vote ; and it is wonderful, and I may say 
 delightful, to observe what thorough ac- 
 quiescence, or at least obedience, is obtained, 
 when once the question has been thus de- 
 cided. 
 
 This may seem inconsistent with what 
 has been said before, touching the conduct 
 of the British in times of revolution, for, at 
 any rate, during those periods they have not 
 been content to abide by any mere vote, but 
 
THE FITNESS OF THE BRITISH 
 
 have had recourse to arms. All that can 
 be said in reply is, that there are certain 
 national questions which cannot be decided by 
 the head or the tongue, but which must be left 
 Force ne- to the arbitrament of physical force. When, 
 
 cessary at . 
 
 times. however, that dire state of things has arisen, 
 the conduct of the British nation has been, as 
 stated before, as little repugnant to justice 
 and humanity as could possibly be expected. 
 One other important circumstance, which 
 renders the British more amenable to govern- 
 
 Britishnot ment than almost any other people, is, that 
 
 addicted 
 
 to envy, they are singularly devoid of envy. Con- 
 sidering the immense display of wealth in 
 Great Britain, there is very little disposition 
 manifested, on the part of those who are 
 entirely without wealth, meanly to envy the 
 possessors of it. There is, notwithstanding 
 some appearances to the contrary, less real 
 evidence of the prospect of a revolution, for 
 social purposes, in Great Britain than else- 
 where. 
 
 Constant Another point, worthy of observation, as 
 
 in their 
 
 attach- regards our fitness for good government, is, 
 
 ments. 
 
 that we are a very constant people very 
 
PEOPLE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 17 
 
 constant in our attachment to our political CHAP. 
 friends and favourites. We are hasty in ' " 
 censure : we pounce down very sharply And 
 
 * , r though 
 
 upon any real or supposed errors of our sharply 
 
 critical, 
 
 political leaders ; but, there is scarcely any 
 mistake that they may make, anything that 
 they can do, short of committing an act 
 of deliberate baseness, which is not invari- 
 ably condoned by the good nature of the 
 public, which those leaders guide and govern. 
 We are not the people to expect perfection 
 in anybody ; and our grave and humourous, tolerant 
 
 in the 
 
 and somewhat unprecise nature, makes us main. 
 very tolerant of short-comings. 
 
 Lastly, and this is an element of fitness for 
 being well governed, which is of a surprising 
 and peculiar value, we have a horror of pres- Averse to 
 
 extremes. 
 
 sing any doctrine to its extreme. We abjure 
 pure science in common life and in politics, 
 and are never fascinated by the desire for 
 completeness. Our proceedings, political and 
 otherwise, are anything but neat, with the 
 neatness of a doctrinaire, but are often very 
 ragged at the edges ; and we really like 
 this raggedness. Hence, we are a people c ? m P r <> 
 
 mises. 
 C 
 
1 8 FITNESS FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, delighting in compromises, and much skilled 
 ' ' in framing these apparently incomplete and 
 unscientific arrangements, which, however, 
 often embody the soundest practical wisdom. 
 I think I have given several valid reasons 
 Fitness for for my belief in the fitness of the British 
 vemment people for good government j 1 which reasons, 
 if true, are a great encouragement to states- 
 men to work with ardour, and without tre- 
 pidation, for a people eminently constant, 
 unenvious, practical, thoughtful, and averse 
 to extremes. 
 
 1 M. Guizot confirms the views expressed in the text, 
 and his testimony, being that of a foreigner, is most 
 valuable : ' En Angleterre aussi, chaque systeme, chaque 
 , principe a eu son temps de force et de succes; jamais 
 
 aussi completement, aussi exclusivement que sur le con- 
 tinent : le vainqueur a toujours ete contraint de tolerer 
 la presence de ses rivaux, et de leur faire a chacun sa 
 part.' ^Guizot, Civilisation en Europe. 
 
 -xo 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOVERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE WANTED 
 
 AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 
 
 PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 I 
 
 T is an opinion of some people, but, as I CHAP. 
 contend, a wrong and delusive opinion, * ' 
 
 A wrong 
 
 that, as civilization advances, there will be opinion. 
 less and less need for government I main- 
 tain that, on the contrary, there will be 
 more and more need. It is a melancholy 
 fact, but it is a fact, that civilization is mostly 
 attended by complication. And, moreover, individual 
 
 effort less 
 
 it is attended by a diminution of power, as powerful 
 regards individual effort. I always like to 
 strengthen an abstract statement by some 
 concrete illustration. Now, take lighting for 
 instance. There was but little occasion for 
 government regulations when the lighting of 
 each particular house, in great cities, entirely 
 depended upon the owner of that house. But 
 now, when the lighting, not only of public 
 
 now. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 GOVERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE 
 
 streets, but of private dwellings, is chiefly ef- 
 fected by four or five great centres of lighting 
 in a town, the whole of this function has 
 entered into the domain of government, for 
 no one private person has power enough to 
 regulate the matter for himself, or can in 
 any way insure that the quality of his 
 light shall be what he desires. A similar 
 Subjects course of argument applies to several of 
 
 requiring % . . ' it V 
 
 govern- the primary requisites lor the well-being 
 
 ment inter- 
 ference, and comfort of human life. Water supply, 
 
 drainage, sewerage, means of locomotion, all 
 enter the same category. I maintain, that the 
 wisest and the richest man amongst us, the 
 man too who shall have the most leisure, is 
 perfectly incompetent, especially if he lives in 
 a great town, to provide for himself some of 
 these primary requisites of life. Having once 
 thrown in his fate and his fortunes amongst 
 an agglomerated mass of people, it is to the 
 government alone that he can look for pro- 
 tection. 
 Massing One of the results of advancing civili- 
 
 ot the po- 
 pulation, zation has been an agglomeration of indi- 
 viduals in particular spots, peculiarly suited 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 21 
 
 for commerce or for manufactures. That CHAP. 
 agglomeration always takes power out of the *- -^ 
 hands of the individual. It makes a thing 
 too bigL ibr him to deal with. The govern- 
 ment is the only body that can control the 
 fierce conflict of contending individual in- 
 terests. 
 
 One of the principal consequences of civil- 
 ization is the division of labour; and that Division 
 
 of labour. 
 
 division, though no doubt a great benefit to 
 the commonwealth, deprives each labourer of 
 power over those departments of labour in 
 which he is not concerned as a labourer. His 
 interest, therefore, in those other departments, 
 properly and legitimately goes to the State. 
 And practically he will find, that his only 
 influence over them will be through the 
 influence he can exercise upon the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 It is not only in these material things that 
 
 the same law applies. The individual will Diminu- 
 tion of 
 find, that in the greater matters of government, personal 
 
 power. 
 
 advancing civilization has uniformly deprived 
 him of some personal power and influence ; 
 and that he has, it may be unconsciously, 
 
22 GO VERNMENT NO T LESS, B UT MORE 
 
 CHAP, surrendered some of those functions, which 
 
 ' would have been his under a simpler form of 
 
 life and manners, to this absorbing creature 
 
 called government. If he wishes Art or 
 
 Advance- Science to advance, not being an artist or a 
 
 ment of 
 
 Art and scientific man, he will find that the only mode, 
 
 Science. 
 
 or, at least, the chief mode of action that he 
 can adopt, is through government. 
 
 Again ; advancing civilization has not ren- 
 dered it easier for the individual to deal with 
 Foreign the foreign or colonial matters which concern 
 
 and colo- 
 nial affairs, him. Throughout the world, its progress has 
 
 only tended to complicate these matters, and 
 rendered it more necessary that those bodies, 
 called governments, should give ever-increas- 
 ing attention to those interests which they 
 
 alone can deal with. 
 
 
 
 Moreover, the holding of property has 
 
 not become more simple in its nature as 
 
 Tenure of civilization has advanced, and has not given 
 
 property 
 
 more com- government less to do, but more to do, 
 
 plicated. 
 
 in order to protect the various interests to 
 which it should give fair play. Property, 
 as great jurists declare, is but a creature of 
 the State : it must not be allowed to become 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 23 
 
 a noxious creature to the general community. CHAP. 
 I am persuaded, that any man, who will give ' *- 
 a large circumspection to this branch of the 
 subject, will be ready to admit that advancing 
 civilization has provided, and will continue to 
 provide, more work to be done by the govern- 
 ment of each nation. 
 
 I am well aware that the foregoing remarks 
 may be held to indicate the advantage of a 
 form of government, which is not approved of Paternal 
 
 govern- 
 by many persons, who, moreover, think we m it 
 
 have outgrown it ; but which, on the contrary, 
 I hold to be one that we must advance into, 
 rather than recede from. This form of govern- 
 ment is called ' paternal government* 
 
 I freely admit that this phrase has an evil Has an 
 
 ill name 
 
 sound with many people, even of those who 
 have given much thought to the general sub- 
 ject of government. They will persist in 
 connecting the idea of unreasonable interfer- 
 ence, with that of a paternal government. It 
 is rather hard upon us fathers of families, 
 that this view should be taken, but I do admit 
 that we are sometimes apt to forget our 
 children have come to, what are called ' years 
 
24 GO VERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE 
 
 CHAP, of discretion;' and are wont to impose upon 
 * ' them, somewhat unreasonably, our own opi- 
 nions, our own objects, our own desires. 
 This, of course, results from our great affection 
 for them, and our anxiety to enrich them with 
 our own experience, forgetting that experience 
 is a thing which cannot be bought with other 
 people's money, but must be paid for in the 
 coin of individual suffering. 
 
 Now the State is in no great danger of 
 
 going wrong from an excess of affection, on 
 
 the part of those who govern, for those who 
 
 are governed ; and, instead of repudiating a 
 
 Patemai paternal government, I believe it would be 
 
 meat good our best policy to claim it with all the force 
 
 policy. 
 
 we have. 
 
 We are now brought face to face with the 
 
 nice and difficult question, of what is justly 
 
 ' paternal ' action in government, and what is 
 
 unreasonable interference. I admit that the 
 
 True li- moment this paternal government does any- 
 
 mits of 
 
 paternal thing for any individual which he can do as 
 
 govern- % 
 
 ment. we lJ for himself, it is needlessly interfering, 
 and tends to dwarf his powers of action, and of 
 self -improvement. But if, on the other hand, 
 
WA NT ED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 25 
 
 it neglects to do that which cannot be done CHAP. 
 
 in. 
 by its children, as individuals, it inevitably " 
 
 cripples the well-being and improvement of 
 the individual, and so far tends to render him 
 a stunted creature. 
 
 It was a very droll idea of that great wit, 
 Aristophanes, to represent, in one of his plays, Aristo- 
 
 phanes: 
 
 a good peaceful citizen who, in time of war, his peace- 
 
 ful citizen. 
 
 wished to make a separate peace with the 
 enemy. This excellent person had no desire 
 for conquest, and could not see why he should 
 not come to terms with the enemy, on his own 
 account. We smile at this comical attempt, 
 on the part of an insignificant individual, at 
 reconciliation with a huge adverse Power. 
 Perhaps, however, we do not see, that an at- 
 tempt similar to that which this good citizen 
 was intent to make, for self-preservation from 
 the horrors and injuries of war, would have to 
 be made by each of us who should endeavour, 
 without the aid of a paternal government, to 
 relieve himself and his family from the horrors 
 and injuries of bad drainage, foul air, or adul- 
 terated food. It does not enter into the power 
 of any individual to deal, as an individual, 
 
2 6 GO VERNMENT NO T LESS, B UT MORE 
 
 with those potent associations called gas 
 companies, or water companies, or even with 
 individual tradesmen, who, being in a state of 
 prosperous warfare with the community, can- 
 not afford to enter into special terms of peace 
 with a private individual. 
 
 Need of I knew a person who, in the innocence and 
 ment in- confidence of youth, somewhat presumptously, 
 
 terference 
 
 illustrated, took upon himself the endeavour to abate a 
 great public nuisance ; namely, an open ditch 
 which had, originally, been nothing more than 
 a well-meaning outlet for draining some fields, 
 but which, in the progress of building, had be- 
 come a sewer of intense malignity. This enter- 
 prising young reformer soon found that no- 
 thing less than the power of the State could 
 abate this nuisance. One person was willing, 
 but not able to do any good in the matter ; 
 another was able, but not willing ; a third had 
 only a life, or leasehold interest, and had, 
 therefore, no hearty care for improvement. 
 Occasionally, the property, through which this 
 foul sewer ran, belonged to some corporation 
 which was a most difficult body to move. In 
 some instances the owner of the property was 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 2 7 
 
 not to be discovered, or when discovered was CHAP. 
 found to be incompetent to manage his own v - ^ ' 
 affairs. In other cases the ownership was the 
 subject of legal controversy. Altogether, it 
 was soon manifest that nothing could be done 
 in the matter without State interference. 
 
 Now here is an instance in which advancing 
 civilization, carrying with it a rapid increase 
 of population in particular localities, caused 
 an evil, for which the remedy was only to be interfer- 
 
 r . . ence iust 
 
 found in a just and necessary interference on and neces- 
 the part of government, which interference 
 was not less needed because it may be called 
 1 paternal/ 
 
 There have been many short and trenchant 
 maxims, the currency of which has been very 
 mischievous to mankind. I doubt whether 
 any one of tnese maxims has been so mis- 
 chievous as the saying Caveat emptor. If it caveat 
 
 T i emptor a 
 
 does mean, as generally applied, * Let the very mis- 
 chievous 
 community have nothing to do with the wares saying. 
 
 which the purchaser wishes to buy,' it is a 
 most cruel maxim. And if it only means, 
 * Let the buyer beware/ it is almost equally 
 cruel, for his wariness will only make him un- 
 
28 ' GOVERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE 
 
 CHAP, comfortable, seeing that it cannot assist him 
 > ' in getting the goods that he wants for the 
 money that he is prepared to give. To do 
 this he must call in the aid of the community, 
 as expressed and directed by government ; 
 and he is, in my judgment, a very foolish 
 person if he hesitates to do so from the fear 
 of putting himself in the hands of a paternal 
 government. 
 
 Ground- There are many people who are frightened 
 ofatfu- by the word Bureaucracy. They think, 
 
 reaucracy. 
 
 perhaps, that there are a number of official 
 men anxious to get into their hands the direc- 
 tion and management of the business of the 
 world. But these frightened persons do not 
 make sufficient allowance for that indolence 
 of nature, which besets official men as well as 
 the rest of mankind. In this country, how- 
 ever it may be in other countries, there is 
 not any restless body of official men desirous 
 of bringing great accretions of work upon their 
 respective Offices. 
 NO dan- In considering this most important subject 
 
 ger of it ..... 
 
 in En g . of governmental interference, it is always to 
 
 land. 
 
 be recollected, that the common sense of the 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 29 
 
 community will be for ever employed in re- CHAP. 
 straining this interference within due limits. s ' 
 There will also be two great causes which Forces 
 will tend to make these limits within, rather toKmit itf 
 than beyond what is requisite. In the first 
 place; there will be the individual interest, 
 often most powerful in Parliament, which is 
 injured or menaced by any interference with 
 its action on behalf of the public good. In 
 the second place, there is the immense desire 
 in every human breast to be allowed to act 
 as freely as possible ; which desire often 
 militates against, and absolutely conquers 
 the most manifest considerations of self- 
 interest and welfare. People do not like to 
 be controlled, or to lose any freedom of 
 action, even for what they know to be for 
 their good. Amongst a free people, the Danger 
 
 i i r i- i i from to 
 
 danger always is of too little governmental little in- 
 terference. 
 interference, rather than of too much. 
 
 Then there comes in that powerful agent, Ridicule, 
 ridicule, which will always be a secure friend safeguard. 
 on the side of those who are fearful of too much 
 governmental interference. Ridicule will not 
 allow governmental interference in small 
 
30 GOVERNMENT NOT LESS, BUT MORE 
 
 Adultera- 
 tion of 
 drugs. 
 
 Sale of 
 poisons. 
 
 matters, even though it might be justified by 
 very good reasons derived from general 
 principles. 
 
 I will give an instance of what I mean. 
 The adulteration of drugs is a very serious 
 evil. It has before now proceeded to such 
 an extent, that if prescriptions had been made 
 up from unadulterated drugs they would 
 have been perniciously strong ; whereas, on 
 the other hand, if the drugs were adul- 
 terated more than usual, the prescription 
 became ineffectually weak. Now most people 
 would admit that this was a very serious 
 evil, and one which demanded legislation, 
 and subsequent supervision, on the part of 
 government. The word * paternal ' is always 
 dropped in such cases, though, in reality, 
 the action in question is that of a paternal 
 government, which, in hearty concert with 
 the public, has thrown the maxim Caveat 
 emptor to the winds. Here is an admitted 
 case for governmental interference, as also is 
 the sale of known poisons. 
 
 Now take another instance wherein, upon 
 general principles, government might perhaps 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZA TION AD VANCES. 3 1 
 
 be called upon to interfere ; but, respecting CHAP. 
 which, no person of common sense would ' - ' 
 probably desire its interference. There are 
 certain dyes which, when introduced into 
 textures that are to come next to the skin, 
 are decidedly injurious to health. But no Certain 
 
 . cases unfit 
 
 one would wish government to interfere for inter- 
 ference. 
 in this matter, for, in the first place, De 
 
 minimis non curat lex might fairly be ap- 
 plied. And then, which is much more to the 
 point, the buyer has it in his power, not only 
 to beware, but to act according to his wari- 
 ness, and not to purchase these dyed goods. 
 He is in a far different position from the man 
 who can only get water from a certain water 
 company, and who cannot, however wary he 
 may be, insure, without government aid, pure 
 water for himself and for his family. 
 
 Pursuing this illustration still further, for it Non-in- 
 
 terference 
 
 may be made a very fruitful one, I would say on behalf 
 
 of the pur- 
 
 that a government need not interfere on be- chaser. 
 ha If of the purchaser. A nd so far my readers, 
 I think, will go with me. But the question 
 becomes a very different one, if it is found 
 that, in the preparation and application of 
 
32 GO VERNMENT NO T LESS, B UT MORE 
 
 CHAP, some dye, great injury is done to the work- 
 
 * ' people, and especially to the children who are 
 
 employed in making and applying certain 
 
 highly noxious substances. Here paternal 
 
 government has, according to my view of it, 
 
 a right to step in, and to say to the wearers of 
 
 certain ornamental appendages : ' You may 
 
 wear these noxious and absurd things if you 
 
 interfer- like ; but you shall not make use of our children 
 
 ence on 
 
 behalf of to manufacture them/ One of the first duties 
 
 work- 
 people, of a State is to have a regard to the health 
 
 of its people, and especially of those who 
 are least able to protect themselves, namely, 
 its young children ; and it may decidedly 
 decline to allow them to have any dealings 
 with that detestable substance known as 
 * Scheele's Green.' If this interference is ad- 
 mitted, it certainly may be classified under the 
 head of paternal interference. 
 Paternal Paternal government prevents revolution. 
 
 govern- . . 
 
 mentpre- What socialists are always aiming at is a 
 
 vents revo- t t "i 
 
 lution. paternal government under which they are to 
 be the spoilt children. But a government 
 which should give considerable attention to 
 the wants, and even to the pleasures, of the 
 
WANTED AS CIVILIZATION ADVANCES. 33 
 
 governed, would satisfy the reasonable part of CHAK 
 the population, and make them very averse ' ' ' 
 to revolution. When government limits 
 itself, as regards the executive, to the main- 
 tenance of order, and to the administration of 
 justice, it is not likely to have a very strong 
 hold on the affections of the people. There are 
 persons who theoretically declare, that they 
 desire the least possible of governmental inter- 
 ference in all their affairs ; but when any cala- interfer- 
 ence de- 
 mity occurs, or when any great evil, socially manded 
 
 when any 
 
 speaking;, comes to the surface and is much great 
 
 calamity 
 
 talked about, these same persons will be found occurs - 
 joining in the cry that government ought to 
 have foreseen this ought to look to that ; and 
 in short, all of a sudden (often when it is too 
 late), they are willing greatly to extend their 
 views with regard to the proper functions of 
 government. 
 
 I mean the conclusion, from all that I have Paternal 
 
 govern- 
 
 said in this chapter, to be, that paternal ment to be 
 
 welcomed. 
 
 government, as it is called, should be wel- 
 comed rather than abjured ; and that we may 
 be certain, in a free country, that limits will 
 be put to its action, falling short of rather 
 
 D 
 
34 PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, than exceeding those which are required for 
 
 ' the welfare of the people governed. 
 
 Those who are afraid lest we should have 
 
 * 
 
 too much paternal government, should re- 
 member that, in default of paternal govern- 
 Fraternal ment, we may have fraternal government ; a 
 
 govern- 
 ment, form of rule which has always partaken largely 
 
 of the relations which subsisted between those 
 two brothers, of whom we have the earliest 
 record. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 I SUPPOSE it will be admitted by every- CHAP. 
 IV. 
 one, who has considered the subject of * ' 
 
 government, that these two functions legis- Difference 
 
 between 
 
 lation and administration are totally dif- legislation 
 
 and admi- 
 
 ferent in character. And, moreover, it must nistration. 
 be observed that the same body which will 
 perform one of these important functions 
 well, is seldom or never so constituted as to 
 fulfil the other equally well. 
 
 Then there arises the difficult question, of 
 how far a legislative body should interfere Limits of 
 
 interfer- 
 
 with the administrative body, to insure that ence. 
 the legislation it has enacted should be tho- 
 roughly carried out. I submit that this inter- 
 ference should be the least possible. It is to 
 be carefully remembered, that there are various 
 sources of temptation attaching to a legislative 
 
 D 2 
 
36 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 body, prompting them to interfere unreason- 
 ably with administration. There is, first, the 
 natural suspicion pervading the whole body, 
 meats" ^^ ^ * ts l e gi s l at i on ^ oes not answer, it is 
 toped?* 8 b ecause its yoke-fellow the administrative 
 fovem- body has not acted in full accordance with 
 the letter, or the spirit, of the enactments in 
 question. Then there is the vanity, or the 
 diseased activity, or the desire for prominence, 
 which induces members of the legislature to 
 busy themselves needlessly in interference 
 with the executive. The action caused by 
 these motives should be steadily resisted, 
 otherwise great mischief may ensue, and 
 indeed does take place at the present time. 
 Evils of Needless returns are called for, occupying the 
 
 much 
 
 question- time and attention of public Offices which 
 
 ing in 
 
 pariia- ought to be otherwise employed ; needless 
 
 ment. 
 
 questions are asked in Parliament which sadly 
 waste the time of the Ministers who have to 
 answer them ; and, what is a far more serious 
 evil, the public Offices are hampered, worried, 
 and weakened by a sense of their double re- 
 sponsibility : to their chiefs and their country 
 on the one hand, and to Parliament on the 
 other. 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 37 
 
 Now a marked evil of the present Age, as CHAP. 
 of all Ages in which criticism has risen to a ' ' 
 great height, is, that everyone has to think, Effect of 
 
 excessive 
 
 not only what he shall do, but how his deed criticism, 
 shall appear to be done how, in short, it will 
 stand the test of a never-sleeping criticism. 
 
 At first sight this may seem to be a good 
 thing, but in reality it is not so. In the 
 first place there is not time enough in the 
 world for it ' Wretched would be the pair 
 above all names of wetchedness,' as Dr. John- Saying of 
 
 Dr. John- 
 
 son well says, ' who should be doomed to son. 
 adjust by reason every morning all the minute 
 detail of a domestic day/ And something of 
 the same kind applies to all forms of social 
 life. There is not time, and certainly there is 
 not energy enough, for those persons who 
 have to decide, to direct, and to govern, also 
 to have to explain their reasons and motives 
 for all that they do. We see this in the 'case 
 of great commanders ; and a similar rule holds 
 good almost universally. Ask the men who 
 have been most successful in what are called 
 private affairs the captains of industry 
 whether they would have been equally sue- 
 
38 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 cessful had they been obliged to work under 
 the harrow of perpetual supervision and cri- 
 ticism. One of the delusions of the world 
 has been the notion that there is any wonder- 
 ful dissimilarity in the conduct of public and 
 of private affairs, whereas, the general laws, 
 which should regulate all human transactions, 
 are the same in both cases. One of the most 
 Trust ne- important of these laws is, that you should give 
 
 cessary to 
 
 vigorous a large amount of trust and confidence to your 
 
 action. 
 
 agents, if you wish that they should act for you 
 with any of the vigour, promptitude, and com- 
 parative fearlessness with which you would act 
 for yourself. 
 
 Necessity It is inevitably requisite, when treating the 
 second subject of this chapter, to consider the neces- 
 chamber. sity for a second Chamber of legislature. It 
 is a question, which deeply agitates the minds 
 of men in the present day, and it cannot be 
 held to be other than one of vital importance. 
 In order, however, to consider it carefully, 
 some general remarks may well be intro- 
 duced. 
 
 Time and occasion are the two important 
 circumstances in human life, as regards which 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 39 
 
 the most mistaken estimates are made. And 
 the error is universal. It besets even the most 
 studious and philosophic men. This may 
 
 notably be seen in the present day, when Common 
 
 i -11 i 1-11 errors re " 
 
 many most distinguished men have laid down gaming 
 
 time 
 
 projects for literature and philosophy, to be 
 accomplished by them, in their own lifetime, 
 which would require several men, and many 
 lifetimes to complete ; and, generally speak- 
 ing, if any person, who has passed the me- 
 ridian of life, looks back upon his career, he 
 will probably own, that his greatest errors have 
 arisen from his not having made sufficient 
 allowance for the length of time, which his 
 various schemes required for their fulfilment. 
 Now, is this an error which is less likely to 
 occur in a popular assembly, than with indi- 
 vidual men ? 
 
 The same statements hold good as regards and occa- 
 sion. 
 occasion. Of that, too, a popular assembly 
 
 is by no means more likely, than an indivi- 
 dual, to form a just estimate. On the con- 
 trary, the danger which always threatens, 
 and often prevents calmness of thought, and 
 justness of action, when these have to be 
 
40 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 CHAP, exercised in the presence of a numerous body, 
 *- ~" is likely to be very prominent and very fatal 
 in matters which involve a just estimate both 
 of time and occasion. 
 
 These general reflections cannot be held 
 to be out of place, when we are considering 
 the subject of legislation and administration. 
 Men do not cease to have the common 
 faults of mankind because they are elected to 
 serve in a popular assembly. And this is 
 true wherever man is placed he having, 
 always, great difficulty, as Goethe has re- 
 marked, ' in jumping off from his own 
 shadow.' 
 Defects Now, let us apply the foregoing remarks to 
 
 likely to 
 
 prevail in the legislation that is likely to occur when there 
 
 a single 
 
 Chamber, is only one, and that one an elected legis- 
 lative assembly. Such a body will naturally 
 partake of whatever impulses are predomi- 
 nant with the people. The immediate ques- 
 tions of the day will naturally pre-occupy the 
 minds of its members ; and those questions 
 will assume a disproportionate value in their 
 eyes. They will be eager to attempt what 
 they have not time to accomplish, and will be 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 prone to exaggerate the urgency 
 occasion. 
 
 Occasion is not opportunity. Occasion 
 
 is not op- 
 Let us apply this maxim to the great 
 
 subject of peace and war. There may fre- 
 quently be a Casus belli which affords any- 
 thing but a good opportunity of going to war. 
 In dealing with such a case, the tendency of 
 a popular assembly, or, indeed, of any single 
 assembly, is, to give too much weight to the 
 occasion. And therein appears the great 
 advantage of having a second legislative 
 assembly. It would be a very coarse way 
 of putting it to say, that it enables us to 
 make an appeal from ' Philip drunk to Philip 
 sober.' But certainly there is something in 
 this common phrase which is justified by the 
 universal experience of mankind. The man 
 who has not found out, that in serious matters 
 it is well to address himself to the con- 
 sideration of them, in various moods of mind, 
 is either very inexperienced, or very un- 
 observant 
 
 There is not anything which, if a prudent 
 man had to choose the Country in which he 
 
42 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 CHAP, would reside and cast his fortunes, would 
 
 IV. 
 
 ^" r ~" ' more justly influence his choice than the 
 fact whether a country possessed, or not, 
 a second Chamber. Men can accommo- 
 date themselves to nearly any set of cir- 
 cumstances, and continue to carry on * life 
 tolerably, except under sudden changes of 
 legislation which affect their dearest interests. 
 It is taking an extreme case, but not an un- 
 fruitful one for observation, to notice what 
 
 Action of was done by the Commune in the late dis- 
 
 the French 
 
 Commune, turbances in France. In two or three weeks 
 they passed laws affecting religion, property, 
 freedom of speech, and freedom of action of 
 every kind. To show to what an extent this 
 wild and tumultuous legislation was carried, 
 there came a telegram one day to this 
 country, which stated, for the satisfaction of 
 mankind, 'that no material alteration in the 
 laws of France had been made by the Com- 
 mune on the preceding day.' As I have said 
 before, the conduct of the Commune is an 
 extreme case ; but something distantly similar 
 to it may be observed throughout history in 
 the conduct of every government that has 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 43 
 
 relied upon a single legislative assembly CHAP. 
 King's Council, Council of Ten, Council of ' ' 
 Three Hundred, or whatever name and form 
 the one ruling body may have assumed. 
 
 As bearing upon the necessity of a second De TOC- 
 
 queville on 
 
 Chamber, the following words of De Tocque- a second 
 
 Chamber. 
 
 ville are closely to the point : 
 
 ' Je pense done qu'il faut toujours placer 
 quelque part un pouvoir social superieur a 
 tous les autres ; mais je crois la liberte en 
 peril lorsque ce pouvoir ne trouve devant lui 
 aucun obstacle qui puisse retenir sa marche, 
 et lui donner le temps de se moderer lui-m&ne.' 
 
 Now, I would not have it supposed, from 
 anything that has been said, that I am in the 
 least degree pledged to maintain, that any 
 second Chamber, that may exist in any part 
 of the world, is the best fitted for correcting 
 the evils, which I believe would, inevitably, 
 be caused by the existence of one legislative 
 body only, in any given State. It would be 
 presumptuous to attempt to declare, what 
 would be the best form of constitution for 
 this second Chamber in any foreign country. 
 I think, however, that it would be pusillani- 
 
44 
 
 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 CHAP, mous not to attempt to say what, in my 
 " ' judgment, might be the best constitution for 
 such a Chamber in our own. 
 
 House of 
 Lords. 
 
 I confess, that I think that it is impossible, 
 or, at least, that it would be very unwise, if 
 it were possible, to maintain the House of 
 Lords as a second Chamber for Great Bri- 
 tain, without considerable modifications in 
 the constitution of that legislative body. As 
 it is at present constituted, it does not do the 
 work, or even provide the restraint, which a 
 second Chamber should do, and should pro- 
 vide. It is more completely the victim of 
 popular impulses than even the Lower House ; 
 its defects, which, indeed, can hardly be called a victim 
 at all, as, for the most part, it fairly reflects 
 and shares those popular impulses. But, 
 that body may justly be called a victim to 
 popular impulses, which eventually is always 
 sure to sacrifice, even its convictions, to the 
 predominating influence of the other house ; 
 whereas, looking across the Atlantic for an ex- 
 ample, we have often seen that the American 
 Senate has most wisely and patriotically re- 
 sisted popular impulses, especially in the con- 
 duct of foreign affairs. 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 45 
 
 It is always a most difficult thing for a re- CHAP. 
 former, who perceives that a reform is wanted ' - ' 
 in a great institution, to lay down the exact Difficulties 
 
 of reform. 
 
 lines upon which his reform should be con- 
 structed. He perceives, as I do at this 
 moment, that a reform is needed in the par- 
 ticular matter of which he is treating ; but he 
 knows, that so soon as he submits some par- 
 ticular suggestions for that reform in question, 
 he abandons the abstract for the concrete, 
 and often is liable to seem to be answered 
 upon the general question, because he himself 
 has not been able to satisfy the world as to 
 the wisdom or prudence of the particular sug- 
 gestions he offers. 
 
 There are four changes which I venture Reforms 
 
 suggested 
 
 tO propose : to increase 
 
 its 
 
 ist. That there should be life-peerages strength. 
 
 Life peer- 
 granted by the Crown. a s es - 
 
 2ndly. That certain offices, when held for 
 a certain term of years, should entitle the Special 
 man who has held them to a seat in the 
 House of Lords. 
 
 3rdly. That no hereditary peer should be 
 able to take his seat in the House of Lords, 
 
46 LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 CHAP, until he had reached the age of thirty ; or had 
 >s " " sat in the House of Commons for five years. 
 Quaiifica- 4thly. That an hereditary noble should not 
 
 tions of 
 
 hereditary be obliged to take his seat in the House of 
 
 peers. 
 
 Peers, until ten years had elapsed from his 
 succession to the peerage. 
 
 I do not pretend to say, that these are the 
 wisest methods for procuring an efficient 
 second Chamber, and also for strengthening 
 the first Chamber. I am not enamoured 
 of any of them ; but they are those which 
 have occurred to me as having some feasibi- 
 lity in them. All that I am convinced of 
 is, that if the government of this country is 
 to proceed in the rational and harmonious 
 manner, in which it has hitherto proceeded ; 
 gathering towards it all those influences, all 
 that knowledge, and all that experience, which 
 are so rife in a nation of free men ; a reform 
 Reform in of the House of Lords must be instituted, 
 
 the House 
 
 of Lords, which shall tend to attract and to combine 
 these great qualifications for central govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In this way, or in some other way, adopt- 
 ing similar principles, we shall be able to 
 
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION. 47 
 
 make due use of the men amongst us who 
 have received most culture, and have profited 
 most from their experience. 
 
 I think, moreover and this with me is a 
 most potent thought that we should, by some 
 of the means I have indicated above, be able to 
 obtain the immense advantage of bringing into 
 our legislature, men of special acquirements, 
 and of special knowledge. We should also Colonists 
 
 in Parlia- 
 
 be able to provide a place in our legislature for ment. 
 the most distinguished citizens in our colonies ; 
 and, in fine, I believe that we should thus 
 attract to a legitimate centre, the ruling 
 minds which are scattered throughout our vast 
 dominions. At present there is always the 
 danger of our legislation becoming local (or, 
 as a satirist might say, parochial) of our 
 dominion over this multitude of mixed races, 
 whom we very loyally and kindly seek to 
 govern with insufficient information, being 
 provincial and vice-regal, instead of im- 
 perial and, in short, of our being a kingdom 
 with semi-subject realms and loosely-held 
 colonies, instead of a united empire. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Political 
 and per- 
 manent 
 officers. 
 
 The per- 
 
 manent 
 
 official. 
 
 THE RELATION BETWEEN THE POLITICAL AND 
 PERMANENT OFFICERS OF STATE. 
 
 A KINDRED subject to legislation and 
 -*-* administration, is that of the relative 
 position and conduct of the principal legisla- 
 tive and administrative functionaries. It is 
 an interesting point connected with govern- 
 ment, to consider how permanent officers, 
 and transitory political officers of a higher 
 grade, should act together. It might natu- 
 rally be expected, that this conjoint action 
 would be somewhat difficult. 
 
 The permanent officer a permanent 
 under-secretary, for instance is generally 
 chosen with great care. He is often a person 
 who is distinguished for general knowledge 
 and ability. And then, he is likely to have 
 an amount of special knowledge which it 
 would take many years of official drudgery 
 
POLITICAL AND PERMANENT OFFICERS. 49 
 
 for the political chief to attain. In fact, to CHAP. 
 use a common phrase, he is the master of ' " 
 
 the situation ; and he may be inclined to The po- 
 litical 
 make an ungenerous use of his advantages, chiefs. 
 
 On the other hand, a political chief, con- 
 scious that all power really rests with him, 
 that he has to undertake the defence of 
 the Department in Parliament, and that 
 he may be misled or overpowered by the 
 special knowledge of the permanent func- 
 tionary, would naturally, if he were a small- Their dim- 
 minded man, be a little tempted to be captious 
 and over-bearing. Moreover, he is tempted 
 to think, that unless he makes many comments 
 and objections to the proposals of the per- 
 manent officer, he may be supposed not to 
 understand the business at all. In short, 
 there are temptations .on both sides to in- 
 judicious conduct. But whether, to use a Their 
 word which is a great favourite with the relations. 
 French people, there is so little that is sinister 
 in the nature of the public men of this country, 
 or whether it is, that men holding office be- 
 come almost immediately attached to their 
 Department, and identified with its interests, 
 E 
 
5O POLITICAL AND PERMANENT OFFICERS. 
 
 CHAP. th e practical result is, that these high per- 
 ' ' ' manent officers, and these still higher political 
 personages, as a rule, get on very well to- 
 gether. I have uniformly found, that these 
 two classes of official men speak well of one 
 Mostly another ; become attached to one another ; 
 
 sincere 
 
 friends. and, in short, generally end by becoming 
 sincere friends. There is not, indeed, a 
 better basis for lasting friendship, than that 
 which is elicited, among public men, by work- 
 ing together for the same purpose namely, 
 the public good. 
 
 I have thought it right to allude to this 
 subject, because, though the apparent dif- 
 ficulties are got over in the smoothest way in 
 the Government of Great Britain, the matter 
 is one which should be carefully looked to, 
 and considered in other governments, where 
 the political difficulties are much greater, as 
 the political world is divided very harshly 
 into fiercely-contending parties. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 IOCAL GOVERNMENT, by which is 
 -^ meant the government exercised by 
 local authorities, in any particular locality, is 
 a good measure of the freedom and indepen- 
 dence of the individuals composing a State. 
 Many of its advantages are obvious such, for 
 instance, as the use to be made of special local 
 knowledge ; which kind of knowledge can 
 hardly ever be mastered by a central authority. 
 
 But there are also great indirect advan- 
 tages attendant upon any system of political 
 government, in which local government has 
 a large sphere of action. 
 
 In the first place, it compels men who 
 would not otherwise be versed in the func- 
 tions of government, to learn and exercise the 
 art of governing. Again, it furnishes employ- 
 ment for those busy, and somewhat restless, 
 
 Advan- 
 tages of 
 local go- 
 vernment. 
 
 It forms 
 adminis- 
 trators. 
 
 2 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Occupies 
 
 restless 
 
 spirits. 
 
 Brings 
 different 
 classes 
 together. 
 
 Teaches 
 the diffi- 
 culties of 
 govern- 
 ment. 
 
 persons, who, if they do not find something 
 to occupy their talents in local affairs, are apt 
 to become agitators in Imperial affairs and 
 that too, with knowledge very dispropor- 
 tionate to their energy. Moreover, it tends 
 to bring men of different classes together in 
 the conduct of business ; and there is hardly 
 any way by which men can become better 
 acquainted, and more readily learn the re- 
 spective worth of each other, than by being 
 thus associated. 
 
 Again and this is a point of very great 
 importance it tends to make men tolerant in 
 their judgments as to the conduct of Imperial 
 affairs. Let a man's sphere of governing be 
 ever so limited, he learns to appreciate some 
 of the difficulties of government in general. 
 He finds how hard a thing it is to make men 
 of one mind, and to get real business of any 
 kind carried forward, when there is great 
 freedom of discussion and of action. Also, 
 he becomes cognizant of some of those mat- 
 ters connected with government, which only 
 experience can teach. For example, he 
 learns the value, and somewhat even of the 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 53 
 
 money worth, of a good agent. You will CHAP. 
 find, that almost every man who has been * ^ 
 concerned in governing, is much more liberal 
 as regards the payment, and the other re- Value 
 
 of good 
 
 w r ards of agents, than the man who has had agents. 
 no experience in that direction. You will 
 not find such a man joining in a senseless 
 outcry against liberal payment for good work. 
 He has discovered, that the first thing is to 
 get good work done ; and for this he will 
 not grudge its adequate reward. 
 
 In few words, the man who has interested 
 himself in local government, is likely to be- 
 come a good judge of the proceedings of 
 imperial government. 
 
 Now, there is one point connected with Higher 
 
 classes 
 
 this matter to which I must advert, as being should 
 
 take part 
 
 that which relates to v the very essence of in local 
 
 govern- 
 
 good local government. It is, that men of ment 
 the higher classes should not refuse any op- 
 portunity of connecting themselves with 
 local government, however humble may be 
 the sphere of action proposed for them. 
 They should not lay themselves out for 
 election to offices connected with local go- 
 
54 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, vernment ; but they should never abstain 
 ^ ' from serving, when elected. Surely every 
 man's neighbourhood may very fitly be an 
 important centre of his action ; and nothing, 
 however minute, connected with the well- 
 being of that neighbourhood, is beneath his 
 notice, or unworthy even of his utmost at- 
 tention. Besides, he will never have a 
 better opportunity of acting in concert with 
 Advan- those placed in a humbler position than him- 
 locaigo- self, and learning what they think and wish 
 
 vernment. 
 
 for, than he will when dealing with matters 
 relating to local government. 
 
 It would be premature, and it would be 
 somewhat pedantic, to attempt to define, be- 
 fore there is any occasion for defining, the 
 exact extent of the areas over which se- 
 
 Limitsof parate local governments should have go- 
 local go- 
 vernment, vernance. 
 
 It would also be difficult to form an exact 
 
 list of the subjects of local welfare, which 
 
 should be submitted to local control. One 
 
 subject, however, there certainly is, which 
 
 Subjects especially belongs to local government, and 
 
 control. that is the sanitary well-being of the local 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 community. This may be taken as an un- CHAP. 
 doubted case, in which local government is ' 
 desirable ; and I proceed, in reference to it, 
 to say what should, in my judgment, be 
 the relations between local and central au- 
 thority. 
 
 It is almost needless to observe that, 
 if these relations are to be useful to the 
 community, they should be thoroughly har- 
 monious. At any rate, they should not, by 
 their nature, be antagonistic. 
 
 There is no doubt that, in a country like 
 Great Britain, possessing a metropolis to 
 which all the highest intellect, and the 
 greatest experience gravitate, there will be 
 a mass of hoarded knowledge, which would 
 be invaluable even for the conduct of minute 
 local affairs. This is especially to be seen 
 in the application of sanitary science. I have 
 spoken of the great advantage to be derived Advan- 
 from special local knowledge, and from a iocd 
 familiarity with local affairs possessed by the ledge. 
 people of any locality. But, as in all human 
 affairs there is a drawback attendant upon 
 any advantage, so, from this very familiarity 
 
56 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 with their own neighbourhood, the local 
 authority sometimes fails to recognise a local 
 danger, or disadvantage. I am not now 
 making this statement upon a mere abstract 
 view of the question. I have over and over 
 again observed, that some important cause of 
 sanitary ill-being has not been discovered by 
 persons interested in the locality, when a 
 skilled person, sent down into the neigh- 
 Local bourhood by central authority, has at once 
 
 knowledge . . . .. 
 
 aided by conjectured what was the disturbing cause, 
 thority. and has afterwards proved that he was right 
 in his conjecture. I have even known, that 
 something, which was considered by the 
 inhabitants of the district to be a thing of 
 beauty or of usefulness, has been the cause 
 of great sanitary mischief a cause easily 
 discerned by a skilled person, accustomed 
 to consider every variety of sanitary derange- 
 ment. Nay more, I have known a town to be 
 suffering under great mortality, produced by 
 causes, which all the local skill was unable 
 to discern, which causes were immediately 
 detected by an eminent London physician, 
 who happened accidentally to have two or 
 
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 three cases of illness among the inhabitants CHAP. 
 of that town, brought up to him for consul- * 
 tation. 
 
 The object of the preceding sentences has 
 been, to show how great may be the value of 
 central knowledge, brought to bear upon any value of 
 
 , . -.-.., .. central au- 
 
 local difficulty or danger, connected with thority. 
 sanitary affairs. A similar argument will 
 probably hold good, to a certain extent, as 
 regards all local affairs. 
 
 It would be very desirable, that the local 
 authority should be on such good terms with TO be re- 
 
 cognised 
 
 the central authority, that it should not hesi- as a friend. 
 tate to ask for aid and advice in any difficulty. 
 At the same time it must be remembered, 
 that the duty of the central authority is 
 of an Imperial nature ; and that, whether its 
 aid is asked for, or not, it must not, know- 
 ingly, allow the existence of dangerous centres 
 of disease in any particular locality. Its main 
 duty must ever consist in inspection. And inspecting 
 
 not super- 
 
 here I come to another point, which I regard seding io- 
 
 cal autho- 
 
 to be one of the utmost importance. I do rit y- 
 not think that it is the duty of the central 
 authority to take upon itself, except in cases 
 
58 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, of extreme urgency, the task of executing 
 1 ~ local works, and of raising local taxation for 
 Except in the purpose of executing those works. I 
 
 extremity. 
 
 am, therefore, constrained to say that some 
 of our recent legislation was not well-con- 
 sidered in this respect ; and I think that the 
 result has shown that this was the case. 
 When the local authority has proved itself 
 recalcitrant, it has been found almost impos- 
 sible for the central authority to carry out 
 the works, which, in their judgment, were 
 Defects in requisite ; and for the execution of which, 
 gisktion. they were left to provide the funds by local 
 taxation. 
 
 There remain, however, the cases of ex- 
 treme urgency, where the central authority 
 is convinced that, both for the locality and 
 for the State in general, certain things should 
 be done, which the local authority resolutely 
 Exception- refuses to do. These cases will be rare. 
 
 al cases. 
 
 They should be met, as I think, by laying all 
 the facts before Parliament, and demanding a 
 local Act for the special purpose in question. 
 
 If Parliament is not sitting, power might 
 be given to the Privy Council, or to any 
 
.LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 59 
 
 office under which sanitary matters may ul- CHAP. 
 timately be placed, 1 to take the necessary * ' " 
 steps for executing the works required, and 
 providing the requisite funds. But I do not 
 think that, as a general rule, it should be in- HOW to 
 cumbent upon the central authority to remedy 
 the laches of the local authority, by under- 
 taking functions for the exercise of which 
 the central authority is singularly unfit 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the words 
 ' central authority ' are very ' prave 'ords,' what cen- 
 as Fluellen would have said ; but that, when nty really 
 
 is. 
 
 you come to look at the thing closely, ' cen- 
 tral authority ' means four or five clever and 
 able men, with a staff of secretaries and 
 clerks ; and perhaps with a body of inspectors, 
 who are skilled persons in their several depart- 
 ments of knowledge. But, taken altogether, 
 an office which has perhaps a great name and 
 great authority, is, after all, not a body com- 
 petent to rule or manage local affairs in 
 detail, and can only give judicious advice, 
 and, in rare cases, judicious aid, to the local 
 
 1 This was written before the passing of the Act con- 
 stituting the Local Government Board. 
 
60 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, authority, which must do the work that 
 ' ' properly belongs to it. 
 
 It is also to be remembered, that any 
 government Office which has now, or here- 
 after may have, the control of sanitary affairs, 
 will have not only those affairs entrusted to 
 its supervision, but many other affairs ; and 
 that sufficient time and energy will, for the 
 most part, be altogether wanting for its 
 general business, if it is called upon to carry 
 out those details of work which strictly belong 
 to local authority, and in which it should, 
 at the utmost, have had only the duties of 
 advice, aid, and supervision, imposed upon it 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN TO THE 
 SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THIS, and several of the following chap- CHAP. 
 ters, will be devoted to considering 
 some of the chief aids that may be obtained 
 for government. Among the foremost of Aids need- 
 
 ed by go- 
 
 these aids, may surely be placed the attrac- vemment. 
 tion of able men to the government service. 
 
 There is an absolute need for men. Machi- 
 nery will not do their work : in fact, the more Abie men 
 refined, and the more potent the machinery, 
 the more intelligent must be the men to guide 
 it. Government is not exempt from this 
 general rule ; and, as its affairs are more im- 
 portant than those of any private individual, 
 it mostly requires men of especial ability to 
 conduct those affairs. ' I have two hundred 
 millions in my coffers/ exclaimed Napoleon, 
 ' and I would give them all for Ney.' It is 
 
62 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, not often that a Napoleon is in desperate need 
 
 ' " ' of a Ney; but the great conqueror's opinion 
 
 of the value of a man is well indicated by the 
 
 above saying ; and it is an opinion which ought 
 
 to have great weight with all persons who 
 
 have anything to do with the choice of men 
 
 to fill offices of any kind. 
 
 Especially j wou ld especially notice, that there is more 
 
 in present J 
 
 *%* need now of good men in government em- 
 
 ployment than there ever was because other 
 entities are so strong. In these days Litera- 
 ture, Science, Art criticism of all kinds, and 
 interests of all kinds are more powerful than 
 they ever were : and as government has 
 occasionally to combat with, or to protect 
 itself against these powers, it is desirable that 
 it, too, should proportionately increase in 
 power. 
 
 In Great Britain we have, of late, adopted 
 
 Competi- the system of competitive examination, as a 
 
 tem. means of discerning men's qualifications for 
 
 office. In my judgment, although the system 
 
 has long been adopted in China, it is a most 
 
 inadequate one for its purpose. It detects 
 
 qualifications which are little needed, while, 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 63 
 
 it fails, inevitably, to discover those which are CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 most needed. It is a bringing back of the ' ' 
 
 world to the schools. The main reasons itsadvan- 
 
 r . , . , ta s es - 
 
 given for its adoption are, that it prevents 
 
 jobbery, relieves men in power from importu- 
 nity, and encourages education. 
 
 These may be very good objects ; but, Foreign 
 
 to main 
 
 unfortunately, they are foreign to the main object 
 object, which is to choose fit men, and, if 
 possible, the fittest men, for certain employ- 
 ments. Competitive examination is mainly a 
 mode of relieving those persons, who ought to 
 have the burden of making a choice, from 
 the responsibility of so doing. 
 
 How ineffective this mode of procedure is itsineffi- 
 likely to be, may be inferred from the follow- 
 ing statement. You wish to ascertain that a 
 man will be zealous, faithful, true, reticent, 
 cautious, and capable of dealing rapidly with 
 current business ; and, also, as he advances in 
 office, of taking a certain amount of responsi- 
 bility upon himself. You think that you have 
 accomplished this end by ascertaining that he 
 can construe Latin, and has been crammed 
 with a certain knowledge of the facts of 
 
64 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, history, which facts, having been devoured 
 
 ' ' rather than digested, stand very little chance 
 
 of being well used by him for the future, and 
 will probably be entirely forgotten. 
 Proposal As a humorous person, I know, is wont to 
 
 of a hu- 
 morous sa y < jf y OU W ere to try the candidates in 
 
 person. 
 
 whist, there might be a chance of discerning 
 whether they would be capable of dealing 
 with the real business of the world/ 
 
 There is one very important point to be 
 considered in reference to this question ; and 
 tKat is, not only is the talent for acquir- 
 ing knowledge not a talent of imperative 
 Talent for necessity, as regards the conduct of the busi- 
 
 acquiring ....... 
 
 knowledge ness of the world, but it is absolutely mju- 
 
 not always 
 
 necessary, rious in some respects. Young people very 
 often manifest a readiness to acquire know- 
 ledge merely from a certain docility of mind, 
 which makes few enquiries, is easily satisfied 
 with what the teacher tells it, and never cares 
 to take an original and independent view of 
 what it is taught. These qualifications are 
 exactly opposed to those which are wanted in 
 the conduct of business. Putting aside, how- 
 ever, for the moment, any conjectures about 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the matter, I venture to assert that much of CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 the greatest and the best work in the world ^-^^> 
 has been done by those who were anything but 
 docile in their youth. This bold statement 
 applies, I believe, not only to the greatest men 
 in Science, Literature, and Art, but to the 
 greatest men in official life, in diplomacy, and 
 in the general business of the world. If I Great men 
 were asked to point out the men who, in my 
 
 experience of public affairs, have shown the C1 
 most remarkable competency for the conduct 
 of business, they would, in several instances, 
 prove to be men of very limited education. 
 One of the principal qualifications for the con- 
 duct of business is decisiveness ; and surely 
 no one will contend that decisiveness is, of 
 necessity, promoted by the acquisition of much 
 knowledge in youth. 
 
 What I have said above applies principally Highest 
 
 education 
 
 to men who are to be chosen for the per- beneficial 
 
 . . to states- 
 
 manent Civil Service of the country. The men. 
 statesmen who have to take a more pro- 
 minent part, whose business it is to argue, to 
 explain, if possible to be eloquent, may doubt- 
 
66 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, less be greatly benefited by an education of 
 
 VII. J 
 
 v - ' the highest kind. 
 
 Certain There is also another point on which I 
 
 primary 
 
 tests re- would guard my previous statements. When 
 I say that I entirely object to competitive 
 examination, I do not mean that there should 
 be no examination at all for the candidates 
 for office ; but it need not be competitive. 
 There are certain primary requisites, the 
 existence of which may be perfectly ascer- 
 tained by examination. For example, there 
 are qualifications of the most elementary 
 kind in reading, writing (alas ! how seldom 
 attained), and arithmetic, which may well be 
 insisted upon. I would also add, 'that the 
 digesting of documents, and the making 
 abstracts from them, are real tests of the 
 fitness of men for official life. But when you 
 insist upon acquirements in history, or Latin, 
 or mathematics, the question is entirely 
 different. 
 
 There is another point I would urge. Some 
 of the greatest men never do their best until 
 they have realities to deal with. It is in vain 
 to tell them that the acquisition of knowledge 
 
TO -THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 67 
 
 is a reality. They will persevere in being CHAP. 
 
 playful, indolent, and disinclined to acquire < ' 
 
 knowledge. Once, however, bring these men 
 into real life : once show them that what they 
 do, may have serious consequences, and they 
 are sobered as it were. They exert all their 
 powers, and are often found to be the most 
 consummate managers of human affairs. 
 
 The foregoing remarks have been directed 
 against the system of competitive examination. 
 That system has, however, prevailed. The 
 only thing now to be done, is to implore all 
 those who have power in the matter to resist 
 this system being carried to its utmost extent ; Exceptions 
 
 . . t - to be made 
 
 to make exceptions wherever they can, and when pos- 
 sible. 
 to reserve for themselves some power of 
 
 choice. 
 
 I feel it but right to say here, something 
 respecting the motives of the eminent men 
 who have introduced the system of competi- 
 tive examination. They saw before them a Motives 
 great evil not exactly the evil of what is petitiye 
 
 examina- 
 
 called jobbery but they found that parlia- tion. 
 mentary influence was used to an excessive 
 extent, and that appointments were given, 
 
 F 2 
 
68 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, not according to merit, but according to pure 
 ' ""-" favour, and it seemed to them that anything 
 
 Abuse of J 
 
 Pariiamen- WO uld be better than that. 
 
 tary influ- 
 ence. 5 0) as O ften happens, the pendulum went 
 
 from one extreme to the other. It was 
 held, that because a good choice was pre- 
 vented by reason of imperious and un- 
 welcome solicitation, it would be desirable to 
 take away all power of choice from those 
 persons who, it must be admitted, if left 
 perfectly free to choose, would have been the 
 best persons to make the selection. Other 
 motives also influenced the promoters of the 
 Further- new system ; as, for example, that education 
 
 ance of 
 
 education, would be greatly furthered by the institution 
 of competitive examination. Moreover, it 
 seemed to fall in with the democratic ten- 
 dencies of the day, and was so far attractive 
 as a political measure. 
 
 All I contend for is, that it will be found 
 to fail quite as much as, if not more, than 
 the previous system did : notwithstanding 
 all the sinister influences which were brought 
 to bear upon that. The endeavour to get rid 
 of these influences was a worthy one. But 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 69 
 
 it was not desirable that the old system CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 should be made to give way to one of such * ' 
 a mechanical character as that which is at 
 present in force. After all, if you wish men 
 in power to be enabled to choose their agents Choice of 
 and subordinates wisely, you must free them 
 from the necessity of yielding to claims, 
 based solely upon education and acquirements, 
 as well as from the imperious demands of 
 political expediency. 
 
 Almost all rules are bad which tend to Limita- 
 limit the choice of men for employments of any choice 
 kind. Any rule, for instance about excess of 
 age, is injudicious. The powers of different 
 men are so various, that it is not too much to 
 say, that men are often twenty years younger, 
 or older, than their age according to years. If Of age. 
 we look at the great events, not only in ancient 
 history, but at those of the last few years, we 
 shall see that the greatest of these events 
 have been carried to a prosperous issue by 
 men who were anything but young. 
 
 Now, why should we confine our view in 
 this matter to generals, and kings, and states- 
 men ? If the view is good for anything, it 
 
70 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, applies to all men ; and a more foolish thing 
 
 ' ' is seldom done by any government, by any 
 
 minor body of men, or by any individual, than 
 in fixing a limit of age as regards the employ- 
 ment of its or his agents. 
 other dis- Similar statements might be made as re- 
 
 qualifi- 
 
 cations. gards several of the disqualifications, which 
 are frequently set out in the shape of rules 
 and bye-laws, and which prevent men from 
 choosing those of their fellow-men who would 
 be most capable of conducting their affairs. 
 
 Pecuniary Pecuniary disqualification is an instance of 
 what I mean. You think to gain a good man 
 to manage your affairs, because he happens 
 to have a small share in your undertaking. 
 It is a great error. You want him to do some- 
 thing well which you are going to tell him to 
 do. If he has been wisely chosen, and is an 
 able man, his pecuniary interest in the matter 
 will be mere dust in the balance, when com- 
 pared with the desire which belongs to all 
 such men to do their work well. On the other 
 hand, by insisting upon a pecuniary qualifica- 
 tion, you may easily prevent yourself from 
 being able to choose the best man. Rules of 
 
 tests. 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 71 
 
 this kind generally punish most the men who CHAP. 
 make them. The real reason why men, even v ' 
 of great ability, whether in government or in 
 other public bodies, have circumscribed them- 
 selves by these rules and these disqualifica- The rignt 
 
 placing of 
 
 tions is, that they are not sufficiently pene- men. " 
 trated by the idea of the value of having the 
 right man in the right place. The advantage 
 to the world of having men rightly placed is 
 almost inconceivable. All success depends 
 upon it It is a thing which cannot be over- 
 estimated. Through the most adverse circum- 
 stances, the able man will form a path for him- 
 self and others. 
 
 There are certain people who will do, and 
 do very well, almost anything that you bring 
 them to do. They must, however, be fed 
 with work. They will not find work for them- 
 selves. They are the very persons who do 
 well in competitive examinations, but they 
 are not capable / of originating anything. 
 
 Now the business of the world is continu- Need for 
 ally taking new forms. The troubles of the originating 
 
 minds. 
 
 world are also continually taking new aspects. 
 Nothing, therefore, is more needed in public 
 
72 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP. Offices, than that there should be at least a 
 
 VII. 
 
 ' ' few men of originating minds, who perceive 
 
 and recognise the changes in human affairs, 
 and are perpetually on the watch to make the 
 working of their respective offices capable of 
 coping with these changes of thought, of 
 opinion, or of action in the outer world. 
 Such men, I contend, must be looked out for, 
 by methods very different from those which 
 are at present in vogue. 
 
 The foregoing have been general considera- 
 tions, but they are peculiarly applicable to the 
 conduct of government. 
 
 put and I have been always very much struck by the 
 way in which the elder Pitt chose Wolfe to 
 command the expedition to Canada. Wolfe 
 had not the military standing which might 
 alone have justified Pitt in choosing him 
 as the leader of that expedition. But Pitt 
 had heard of this man. The business of every 
 statesman is to know a good deal about men. 
 Pitt sent for Wolfe, and noted well his answer 
 to the question, whether he could do the work 
 that had to be done. The great Minister 
 understood men ; and by that electric sym- 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 73 
 
 pathy which enables one great man to judge CHAP. 
 almost instantaneously about another, saw ^ * 
 that this was the right man to be a leader, 
 and that he might safely intrust him with 
 the conduct o/ a hazardous expedition. 
 
 It is such insight, on the part of statesmen, 
 that I would trust to in our times, believing 
 that it would be far more valuable, and lead 
 to much better results, than the limitation, by 
 nice rules of forethought, of the choice made 
 by statesmen of those agents who, though ob- 
 scure, and even rarely known by name to the 
 public, form, as it were, the back-bone of the 
 administration of every country in the world. 
 
 In answer to the foregoing, it will at once Fear of 
 
 jobbery. 
 
 be said, * If statesmen are to be thus, with 
 scarcely any limit or rule, intrusted with the 
 choice of subordinates, how are we to provide 
 against jobbery ?' 
 
 Now, with respect to this ugly term * job- 
 bery,' I must say a few words which merely 
 embody my own personal experience. I have 
 served under many political chiefs. I suppose 
 I must have been very fortunate, that is, if 
 this accusation of jobbery is a just one, for, if 
 
74 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP. I were put in a witness-box, and asked upon 
 
 VII. 
 
 ' ' oath, to disclose any particular instance of 
 
 jobbery of which I had been cognisant, I 
 should be unable to name a single one. I 
 have known my chiefs give anxious hours to 
 the consideration of the appointments they 
 
 Practical had to make. They have sometimes con- 
 care in 
 choosing suited me upon these matters, showing me 
 
 men. 
 
 various letters of recommendation and testi- 
 monials. I have never had to protest against 
 Personal 'jobbery/ All that I have generally had to 
 
 interviews 
 
 desirable, say was, ' See the man of whom you at present 
 have the most favourable opinion : see him 
 before you make up your mind finally to 
 appoint him. For there is something in the 
 aspect of a man, which letters of recommen- 
 dation and testimonials will not tell you.' 
 
 Occasional I do not mean to maintain, that under any 
 
 errors of 
 
 choice in- system of choice great mistakes will not be 
 
 evitable. * 
 
 made, for it is one of the most difficult pro- 
 blems of life to ascertain, beforehand, how a 
 man will conduct himself when he is placed 
 in any particular office. Strangely enough, 
 some of the greatest errors, as regards the 
 choice of men, which I have known to be 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 75 
 
 committed under the old system, were com- CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 mitted by too much attention being given to ' ' 
 those supposed qualifications which are now 
 being crystallized into the main system for 
 official appointment. I will give an instance 
 of what I mean, which I can without reserve, 
 as the persons principally concerned are 
 dead. An office requiring great capability Anxiety 
 
 to make 
 
 in dealing with business, fell vacant. The gopd ap 
 
 point- 
 political chief was extremely anxious to 
 
 make a good appointment. He instituted 
 careful enquiries about the rising young men 
 of the day. One morning, when I came into 
 his room to receive instructions, he said to 
 me with great glee, ' I have found a good man 
 for this office. His name is . Double- 
 first at Oxford ; and, as you know, has dis- 
 tinguished himself since.' The man in ques- 
 tion was appointed to the office. He really 
 was an able man in his way, but he had one 
 fatal defect. He was slow. To speak in the 
 language of men who are versed in horse- 
 manship, he ' could not go the pace ' that was 
 required. There were, for example, about 
 ten matters of business which had to be 
 
7 6 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, brought to him in the course of the day. He 
 
 * " was an exacting, fastidious kind of man, and 
 
 could never be persuaded to settle more than 
 
 three of them. The consequence was, that 
 
 Slowness the business in question fell off from him, and 
 
 a fatal 
 
 defect. was carried to a man in another department, 
 of very limited education, but who was a 
 fine reasoner, a master of expression, and 
 altogether an admirable man of business. 
 Now the error of my chief, and, I must con- 
 fess, my error too, for I believed that our office 
 was most fortunate in securing the services 
 of this young man, was in giving too much 
 credence to that ' double-first,' and to con- 
 sequent distinction in matters which had 
 nothing whatever to do with promptitude 
 in business. 
 
 What now is a most valuable aid in the 
 choice of a man to fill up any office is, the 
 
 Valuable opinion, if you can get it honestly given, of 
 older and more experienced men, about the 
 
 oinions 
 
 rienced 
 
 men - qualifications of a candidate. Here, again, I 
 will give a practical instance of what I mean. 
 There was a rising young statesman, whose 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 77 
 
 merits, however, had hitherto only been ac- CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 knowledged by making him Master of the ' 
 
 Buckhounds an office not necessarily requir- 
 ing much skill in statesmanship. Two elderly 
 statesmen were discussing the merits of this Example 
 
 of the non- 
 
 young: man. They agreed that there was the competi- 
 
 J live sys- 
 
 stuff in him, to make a man of the utmost tem 
 eminence in statesmanship. They are both 
 dead now, or they might have seen how 
 amply their prognostications have been ful- 
 filled. For they would see him acting, under 
 most difficult circumstances, as the leader of 
 his party in one of the Houses of Parliament. 
 With all respect for that % eminent personage, 
 I am by no means sure that he would have 
 arrived at his present position if he had had 
 to attain it through a series of competitive 
 examinations. How should we have been 
 able to ascertain, by the means of such 
 examinations, his tact, his keen appreciation 
 of the weight of argument on the other 
 side, as well as on his own side, his for- 
 bearance in debate, and, which is one of the 
 most remarkable qualifications he possesses, 
 
7 8 ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN 
 
 CHAP, his skill in eliciting most rapidly, from a 
 ' ' large mass of facts submitted to him, those 
 which are essential to the subject, and 
 which will suit his purpose ? And yet, I fear 
 this statesman is one of those who believes 
 in, or least consents to, this system of com- 
 petitive examination, not seeing that what he 
 feels and knows would be inapplicable to 
 men in his position, is also inapplicable as 
 regards the choice of men to fill inferior offices 
 in the State. 
 
 A man, who has had large and long ex- 
 perience of the public service, when speaking 
 of the choice of men to fill public Offices, has 
 been heard to say, ' All would go well in the 
 A novel way of choice, if only each man were allowed 
 to choose his own immediate inferior/ This 
 novel proposition is not likely ever to come 
 into vogue ; but it has great merits to recom- 
 mend it, and there are occasions in which 
 it might be partially adopted. For instance, 
 when a Department of the State is divided 
 into several sections, and a vacancy occurs 
 in any one of them, it is probable that 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 79 
 
 there is no one who would take such pains 
 in making, or recommending a good appoint- 
 ment, as the person who has the charge of 
 the work of that section, as the head of it. 
 
 The man who made this original sugges- Depen- 
 dence on 
 tion might have urged, as a potent motive inferiors. 
 
 for its adoption, that each one of us is more 
 dependent upon his immediate inferior, than 
 even upon his immediate superior. 
 
 It is the inferior who can most surely make 
 one's life miserable, by tiresomeness, or mis- 
 conception, or inactivity. 
 
 Finally, when by any process of selection, impor- 
 
 tance of 
 
 you are fortunate enough to have got good keeping 
 
 men con- 
 men to serve you, you must take care to tent 
 
 keep them satisfied. As Sir Henry Taylor 
 has well remarked in h'is * Statesman,' that 
 most men are disheartened if they do not, 
 in the course of a certain period, say ten 
 years, obtain a distinct rise in their positions. 
 This I believe to be true ; and it requires 
 considerable care to provide for this desirable 
 object on behalf of your best servants, whether By due 
 
 i_r T* J -11 P rom - 
 
 public or private. 1 o do so is especially tion. 
 
8O ON ATTRACTING ABLE MEN. 
 
 CHAP, difficult in public offices, because the rate of 
 "~^ ' promotion must greatly depend upon the num- 
 ber of persons employed in the office, and 
 also upon various accidental circumstances. 
 Absolute It is impossible to lay down any precise rules 
 
 rules im- . . . ...... , T 
 
 possible, for the attainment of this object ; and I can 
 only remark, that it is one which, from time to 
 time, requires attention from those political 
 personages who are placed at the head of 
 public Departments. 
 
 It must be remembered, that the work of 
 the permanent civil servants of the Crown is 
 necessarily of an obscure character. It is not 
 
 Absence rewarded in the manner in which other ser- 
 
 of public . 
 
 applause, vice is often rewarded in the outer world, 
 namely, by increasing fame and reputation. 
 The merits of the most eminent of the per- 
 manent civil servants are known to very few 
 persons ; which makes their position especially 
 dependent upon the discriminating kindness 
 of their chiefs. There are but two modes of 
 
 Rewards rewarding eminent public service of the kind 
 
 available. 
 
 alluded to, namely, increase of pay, and the 
 conferring of honours. The consideration of 
 
TO THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 8 1 
 
 this last mode of reward naturally brings me CHAP. 
 
 VII. 
 
 to the discussion of the general subject of ' - ' 
 honours, which I shall deal with in the next 
 chapter. 
 
 Before, however, commencing that subject, 
 I must add something which, to my mind. 
 has a certain appropriateness in regard to 
 many things that have been said in the 
 foregoing pages. 
 
 In one of Schiller's plays there is a Moor The Moor 
 
 and his 
 
 who has done good service to his master, master. 
 That master has the folly, more than once, 
 to dismiss the Moor somewhat abruptly, and 
 to intimate that there will soon come a time 
 when he will not need his services any more. 
 This rankles in the heathen's breast, and 
 when alone, he more than once shows what 
 his feelings are, by such words as these : * The 
 Moor has done his work : the Moor can 
 go.' 1 Before going, however, he resolves to 
 undo all his work, by betraying his master, 
 who is at the head of a conspiracy. 
 
 1 ,,5>er SWo^r at fcine 5lrfceit gct^an: ber 2fto$r farm . 
 en." 
 
 G 
 
82 ABLE MEN SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP. Now, there is no danger in Great Britain 
 
 VII. 
 
 ' of betrayal on the part of public servants ; 
 
 but the reflection contained in those few 
 simple words, ' The Moor has done his 
 work : the Moor may go/ is a very chilling 
 and depressing one ; and it is not desirable 
 that it should enter largely into the minds 
 of those who are connected with the public 
 service. 
 
T 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS, 
 
 HE conferring of honours is a most im- CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 portant function of government; and, - ' 
 throughout the world, it is a function in import- 
 which there is much abuse. In George III.'s conferring 
 time there was a man who had rendered rightly. 
 some political service to the government, 
 (political service in those days not being a 
 thing of the highest merit), and this man 
 wished to be allowed to drive through the 
 park. ' No, no,' said the King, ' we cannot do 
 that ; but you may make him an Irish baron A case of 
 
 abuse. 
 
 if you like ;' and an Irish baron he was made. 
 This is a ludicrous instance of the abuse of 
 honours ; but, without descending into particu- 
 lars, which would be a very invidious mode of 
 procedure, we may admit that the British 
 government has not, for several generations, 
 distinguished itself by the way in which it 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 CHAP. ha exercised the high prerogative of confer- 
 " ' ring honours. 
 Honours There is a foolish notion that, as civilization 
 
 not less 
 
 wanted as advances, honours are less coveted, and are 
 
 civilization 
 
 advances. l ess potent This is an entire mistake. 
 
 The first Napoleon, whatever his demerits 
 may have been, was a man who, it must be 
 admitted, knew something of the world. 
 
 There is a memorable observation of his, 
 Napo- on one Sunday afternoon, when he heard the 
 
 Icon's opi- 
 nion on church bells ringing 1 , and when he said that 
 
 honours. 
 
 * Religion and honours were the two things 
 by which mankind may be governed ' an 
 assertion which, I think, will not be disputed 
 by those who have had much converse with 
 their fellow-men. 
 Abuse of I shall take a peculiar mode of expressing 1 
 
 them illus- 
 trated. a ll l think with regard to the abuses at present 
 
 existing in the distribution of honours, illus- 
 trating my meaning by four fables. The first 
 will be from that eminent fabulist, the Rus- 
 sian Krilof. 1 he other fables are from a 
 very inferior hand. 
 
 Krilof s Krilof tells us, that the eagle promoted a 
 
 cuckoo to the rank of nightingale. The 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 85 
 
 cuckoo undertook its part, and sang accord- CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ingly. The other birds fled away in disgust, s 
 
 1111 Cuckoo 
 
 or were convulsed by that twittering which and 
 corresponds to human laughter. 
 
 The cuckoo complained to the eagle, and 
 said, ' I have been appointed nightingale to 
 these woods, and yet the birds dare to twitter 
 at my singing/ 
 
 The eagle replied, ' I am a king, but I am 
 not God. I can order a cuckoo to be styled 
 a nightingale, but to make a nightingale out 
 of a cuckoo that I cannot do/ l 
 
 I now proceed to give some fables of the The 
 English author. There was a boar who some boar, 
 rooted up his master's pastures. The farmer 
 resolved to put a stop to this, by putting a 
 ring in the nose of the boar. This was soon 
 done; and though the animal made a great 
 noise about the operation, it was not more 
 painful than putting ear-rings into a girl's 
 ears a common practice in nations not sup- 
 posed to be barbarous. 
 
 The boar was very proud of his nose- ring, 
 
 1 Krilof and his Fables, by W. Ralston, of the British 
 Museum. Strahan and Co.. 1871. 
 
86 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 CHAP, and told the other denizens of the farmyard 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ^ f ~ ' that he was the only animal among them 
 worthy of being thus decorated. 
 
 When, however, the boar was driven into 
 the open pastures, he found that he was un- 
 able to get at the sweet roots, and must 
 content himself with what he found on the 
 surface. 
 
 Now swine are very clever creatures, and 
 the boar said to himself, ' I see why they 
 gave me this odious nose-ring. It was not 
 for honour, but to prevent me from rooting in 
 the fields so much/ 
 
 Therein he was wiser than many men, who 
 
 do not perceive that honours are conferred 
 
 upon them, to prevent them from continuing 
 
 to be as troublesome and mischievous as they 
 
 have hitherto proved themselves to be. 
 
 Fable of The next fable is this. On an island, which 
 
 and his has been a long time discovered, but of which 
 
 counsel- 
 lors. I forget the name, there was a simpleton, 
 
 who had been blessed with a clever grand- 
 father, and a prudent father ; so, that when the 
 father died, that simpleton possessed many 
 bags of gold. Whereupon the king of the 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 87 
 
 island said, ' Bring me the pebble that shines CHAP. 
 like a star, and I will tie it on his arm, and he ^~ ' 
 shall be one of my counsellors.' ' Nay, but 
 his wisdom is of little account/ said one of 
 the wisest and the most daring of the king's 
 counsellors. ' Who am I,' replied the king, 
 ' that I should contend with Providence ? 
 It is wise to favour those whom the gods 
 favour. Besides, if I do not sometimes call 
 a simpleton to my councils, how shall I know 
 what the other simpletons think ? And they 
 are numerous in my kingdom, and must be 
 cared for.' 
 
 The fourth fable is this. In remote Thibet The wan. 
 
 dering 
 
 there was a wandering tribe. As they lived tribe. 
 chiefly on milk and honey, and moved ever 
 into fresher air, they lived very long lives. 
 They had also a great respect for old age. 
 But the destroyer, Time, is not to be baulked 
 of his labours; and, even in this wandering 
 tribe, as men grew old, they became less 
 vigorous, or less wise, or less able to express 
 their wisdom. 
 
 Their wanderings were confined to a nar- 
 rower circle. They trod over again the same 
 
88 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 CHAP, ground ; and there was scarcity in the camp 
 ' for them and their herds. 
 
 A secret council was held by the young and 
 the middle-aged members of the tribe, where- 
 upon a shrewd man arose and said, ' Let us 
 always pay honour to our grandfathers, but 
 let us not be starved by them. There is a 
 herb in the plains, from which a beautiful 
 blue juice may be extracted. Let us make 
 long robes, from the wool of our flocks, and 
 colour them with the juice of this herb. Then 
 let us put these robes of honour on the old 
 men of the tribe whose wisdom is failing, or 
 who can only mutter forth their wisdom indis- 
 tinctly, so that we do not know what it means. 
 When they have their long blue robes, they 
 will not like to go through the bushes and the 
 brambles, but will stay at home, with the 
 women in the camp ; and when we have found 
 a new camping place, we can come back for 
 them. Thus they will receive all due honour, 
 and will not be an incumbrance upon our 
 Common movements/ 
 
 for be- These four fables indicate the spirit in 
 
 honours, which honours have too often been granted by 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 89 
 
 all modern governments. There is honour CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 given to one man from pure favour, without ' - - " 
 any pretence of merit on his part, as when Favour. 
 the cuckoo was appointed by the eagle to 
 be nightingale of the woods ; but notwith- 
 standing the favour of the eagle, the cuckoo 
 could not sing. 
 
 There is honour conferred upon another Fear. 
 because he is tiresome, and, like the boar in 
 the fable, is apt to injure his master by 
 rooting too much. 
 
 There is honour conferred upon a third, Riches. 
 however small may be his deserts, merely 
 because he is rich. Now when Reynard 
 the Fox said that * Gold lends mighty force to 
 words,' 1 there was great truth in the remark, 
 as in most of Reynard's sayings. But what 
 he meant was, that gold should accompany 
 the words, and not merely be uttered by 
 those who profess much gold, and retain it. 
 
 To a fourth, an honour is given because Age. 
 he is old and worn out, and his place is 
 wanted for a wiser and stronger man ; or, as 
 
 1 
 
 9Zarf;brurf fottte bag elb ben SBorten fcerletyen. 
 
90 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 CHAP, it often happens, not for a wiser and stronger 
 
 ' ' man, but for one who can adapt himself to 
 
 the new creed, whatever that may be. 
 
 To such a length has this last mode of 
 giving honour gone, that a humorous person 
 whom I know is wont to say * Though a 
 sickly man, I think I have some twenty years 
 of life and work in me ; but if the govern- 
 ment, of the day were to offer me an honour, 
 I should go home to bed, and prepare for 
 death ; for I should know that my physician 
 had betrayed me to them, and that he had 
 discerned in me a likelihood of rapid failure 
 of the vital p'owers. Otherwise, this honour 
 would not have been offered to me. I am a 
 meek man, and not willing to resist, when a 
 decision, almost as sure as fate, has been 
 pronounced upon me/ 
 
 I have dealt with this subject somewhat 
 playfully ; for, though it is a Very serious 
 matter, it will insist upon presenting itself to 
 me in a somewhat ludicrous light. I might 
 have given another instance, in which some 
 great personage being received as a guest at 
 a banquet, given by one who is accustomed to 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 91 
 
 give good cheer, forthwith rewards his en- CHAP. 
 r . , . , VIIL 
 
 tertamer by conferring upon him an honour. - , - 
 
 Now to speak most seriously, all these 'Detri- 
 mental 
 modes of conferring honour are a thorough honours. 
 
 detriment, and an abiding disgrace to govern- 
 ment. The disgrace will be easily perceived 
 by all thoughtful people ; but the detriment 
 is not quite so clear. What, however, we 
 want in the award of honours is, that it 
 should be an aid and an encouragement to 
 men in the full possession of their powers of 
 mind and body ; should be made without 
 fear or favour ; should not be used as a gag How 
 
 honours 
 
 to silence the tiresome, or as a clog to slacken should not 
 
 be used. 
 
 the pace of those who are prone to be too 
 swift in their recklessness ; should not be 
 employed as a bribe, to make men pleasantly 
 resign offices, for which, from age or other 
 causes, they are unfit or are supposed to be 
 unfit ; but that it should be made according 
 to some principles of justice, and be so widely 
 as well as impartially granted, that it should 
 tend to adorn, dignify, and combine together, 
 for the public good, the most deserving men 
 throughout this vast empire. 
 
92 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 CHAP. I do not mean to say that the recognition 
 ' ' of a man's services, however tardy, is not 
 a good and desirable thing, as being an ex- 
 pression of gratitude. Looking, however, at 
 the matter from the point of view that a 
 statesman should take, it seems, that an 
 honour should not only be a recognition of 
 past services, but that it should also give 
 increased weight and influence to a man, who 
 will continue to be of service to the State. 
 Advantage I cannot conclude this chapter without 
 
 of a right 
 
 system. mentioning two important indirect advan- 
 tages which would follow from a liberal and 
 judicious system of awarding honours. 
 
 The first advantage would be, that due en- 
 couragement would be given to various kinds 
 of merit and eminence. At present, that 
 qualification which is chiefly rewarded and 
 honoured in this country is the power of 
 public speaking. 
 
 Evils of a Two evils proceed from this narrow system 
 
 system. of reward and honour. 
 
 In the first place, this talent of public 
 speaking is inordinately encouraged ; and 
 men rise to power who do not possess some 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 93 
 
 of the most important qualifications for mak- CHAP. 
 ing a good use of power. The second evil ^~ ' 
 is, that other qualifications are discouraged, 
 and that many men are led to undertake a 
 career for which they are not fitted; while 
 they neglect a career in which they might 
 have done good service to the world. 
 
 The other great advantage, which would 
 accrue from a more judicious mode of distri- 
 buting honours, is of a thoroughly indirect 
 character, but not on that account of less 
 importance. It were to be wished, that a Seats in 
 
 T i- 1*11 Parlia- 
 
 seat in Parliament were not so desirable an ment. 
 object, from a social point of view, as it cer- 
 tainly has become. There are some men 
 who have attained to eminence in pursuits 
 very foreign to Parliamentary life, but are 
 not, on that account, unfitted for it. They 
 are men who take a very wide interest in 
 human affairs, and bring all their special 
 knowledge to bear upon questions of legisla- 
 tion. They seldom shine in debate ; but 
 they are pre-eminent in committees ; and, 
 though not ' to the manner born/ they often 
 prove to be most valuable members of Parlia- 
 
94 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 
 
 ment. But, on the other hand, there are 
 those who, whether from the possession of 
 large tracts of land, or great riches, or 
 perhaps by the exercise of qualities, which in 
 no respect fit them to become legislators, 
 have become notable, and who seek a seat in 
 Parliament, merely in order to put a seal, as 
 it were, upon the position they have attained 
 in other pursuits. They would, probably, 
 not be so ardent in the pursuit of this form 
 of distinction, if other forms were open to 
 them. 
 Political Very serious political consequences follow 
 
 evils cre- 
 ated, upon this state of things. A number of men 
 
 are introduced into Parliament, who, accord- 
 ing to the hypothesis, have no especial claim 
 to be there^ and who occupy the place, we 
 will not say of better men, but of men better 
 trained to fill that position. 
 Demand A still graver consequence follows. The 
 
 for seats 
 
 in Pariia- demand for seats in Parliament becomes ex- 
 
 inent ex- 
 cessive, cessive in reference to the supply. It in- 
 evitably follows, that the person wishing to 
 be elected is prone to make unreasonable 
 concessions to every wish of the electors, and 
 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF HONOURS. 95 
 
 not only of the electors as a body, but to any CHAP. 
 * m * vin. 
 
 small section of electors which has any par- *- ' 
 
 ticular crotchet to further, or self-interest to 
 serve, thereby the candidate is in imminent 
 danger of becoming a delegate rather than 
 representative. 
 
 I suppose that it will be admitted by all The true 
 those persons who have studied representa- between 
 
 . . . electors 
 
 tive government, that there is, speaking in and eiec- 
 the abstract, a certain relation which might 
 subsist between the electors and the elected, 
 which would be perfect of its kind. Such a 
 relation would give a due influence to the 
 electors, while it would preserve the enormous 
 benefit to be derived by the comparatively 
 unfettered thought of an able man, being 
 brought to bear upon political questions. 
 
 It may well be doubted whether the elector 
 has not now too potent an influence over the 
 candidate, or over the elected person ; and 
 whether, thereby, there is not some fear lest 
 we should dwarf the reasonable independence 
 of thought and action which is essential to 
 the making of a good representative ? 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND OTHER 
 SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP. r I "HERE is hardly a more difficult thing 
 "- * JL connected with government, than to 
 The use of make good use of these aids to administra- 
 
 councils. . . 
 
 tion. I here are certain matters which are 
 best treated by the clear decisiveness of one 
 man, while there are others which are 
 decidedly best treated by conjoint counsel, 
 or after having been submitted to a council. 
 
 In affairs of much perplexity and variety 
 of circumstances, it very rarely happens that 
 any one man is master of all the facts, and 
 all the circumstances, which are needful to 
 be known in order to arrive at an exhaustive 
 result 
 
 Moreover, in matters wherein there is 
 danger of much odium, whatever determina- 
 tion may be arrived at, it certainly elicits 
 
AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. 97 
 
 boldness of decision to act by means of a 
 council or commission. The well-known 
 passage in the Bible, * In a multitude of A text 
 
 P , . r . often mis- 
 
 COUnsellorS there is safety, has frequently appre- 
 hended, 
 been misconstrued. It does not allude to 
 
 the safety of the counsel, but of the coun- 
 sellors. 
 
 In a council, a timid man will be bold, or, 
 at any rate, so far bold that he will be willing 
 to take his full share of responsibility as one 
 of a number ; whereas, if he were the sole 
 person to decide, he might be oppressed by 
 the sense of responsibility, and endeavour to 
 evade coming to any decision at all. 
 
 There are two principal heads under which TWO kinds 
 
 1 11 i /~\ ! i of council: 
 
 councils may be classed. One in which the executive 
 council is executive, and has not only a final 
 decision in any matter submitted to it, but 
 subsists as a permanent body ; the other in and om- 
 which the council is purely consultative, and 
 has only to give advice. 
 
 Moreover, there are other characteristics 
 which tend to cause considerable differences 
 in the constitution and functions of council, 
 
98 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND 
 
 whether executive or consultative. A council 
 may be representative as well as executive. 
 Again, it may only have to decide upon some 
 particular act to be done by it, but may not 
 have to continue as an executive body in 
 directing all the work that has to follow from 
 that one act. 
 Special Great attention should be paid to the 
 
 nature to 
 
 be noted, special nature of the council, by those who 
 have to call it together, and to profit by its 
 counsels. For example, in a purely consul- 
 tative council, it will be found that the 
 counsellors will be prone to ignore difficul- 
 ties in action, and will recommend courses of 
 conduct, which they might hesitate to recom- 
 mend if they were the persons who would 
 have to carry into effect their own recom- 
 mendations. 
 
 Tendency Again, a representative council will natu- 
 
 of repre- 
 sentative rally have (whether consciously or uncon- 
 
 councils. 
 
 sciously) an inclination to accommodate its 
 proceedings to the state of knowledge and 
 opinion of the outer world ; and each coun- 
 sellor will be prone to give advice, of such a 
 
OTHER SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT.. 99 
 
 nature as those whom he represents would 
 wish him to give. Doubtless this leaning 
 towards the outer world will be greater or 
 smaller, according to the more or less pub- 
 licity given to the proceedings of the council. 
 
 In any council, you will have a great chance 
 of hearing, not only what is best to be done, 
 but what can be done with reference to the 
 state of public feeling and opinion. You will 
 have the opportunity of hearing what unwise 
 persons may think, or have to say about the 
 matter in question ; and therein even a fool- 
 ish, obstinate, argumentative, or perverse 
 person may be very useful, and his presence 
 in the council may be of much worth and 
 significance. 
 
 Altogether, there are immense advantages Advantage 
 to be derived from councils ; but these ad- from 
 
 11 11 1-11 councils. 
 
 vantages will only be derived by those per- 
 sons who know how to make the proper use 
 of them. It is a sign of great weakness in a 
 government, when it submits too much of its 
 current business to councils, commissions, or 
 bodies of a like nature ; and it should be 
 
 H 2 
 
100 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND 
 
 CHAP, carefully noted what kind of business is fit 
 
 IX. 
 
 v ~~ ~" to be submitted to the arbitrament of a 
 council. The business should rather be of 
 that nature which involves principles to be 
 considered or rules to be determined. A 
 council is a very unfit body to determine 
 questions of language or expression ; and will 
 waste any amount of time in vain attempts 
 to insure great nicety and accuracy of expres- 
 sion. That kind of work is seldom well 
 done except by one man ; and even the great 
 masters of language require, while they are 
 working, to be undisturbed and unfettered by 
 criticism, and to be able to deal with the 
 matter as a whole. No man expresses any- 
 thing exactly like another man ; and if you 
 wish a document to have a certain clearness 
 and completeness in its expression, it should, 
 if possible, be drawn up by one person, or at 
 least be finally submitted to one person, as 
 far as the language is concerned. 
 
 Charac- In the conduct of councils there are several 
 
 teristics to 
 
 be noted, things to be observed by those who -would 
 make judicious use of such bodies, and espe- 
 cially by those who are placed at the head 
 
ment. 
 
 OTHER SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. IOI 
 
 of them. In this world so many things are CHAP. 
 decided by fatigue. The council, if not s -' 
 guided by a skilful person in its discussions, Fatigue 
 
 an impor- 
 
 will waste its time upon minor points, and in 
 combating the unreason or the argumenta- 
 tiveness, of some one or more of its members ; 
 and then, at the last, a hasty decision has to 
 be formed, which may be anything but the 
 wisest which could be formed. Lord Bacon 
 has given the world an essay on councils, 
 full, as might be expected, of valuable 
 thought, and not disdaining to discuss points 
 apparently somewhat insignificant, such as 
 the shape and size of the council table ; but 
 he does not notice the effect of weariness. 
 This omission may be accounted for by the 
 greater powers of endurance of our ancestors, 
 who, moreover, were trained to listen to long 
 discourses patiently, and were not so much 
 oppressed by a variety of business as we, the 
 men of the present generation, are. With us 
 I doubt not that the effect of weariness is 
 one of the main elements of decision in any 
 assemblage of men. 
 
 Then, there is always the difficulty of eli- 
 
102 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND 
 
 CHAP, citing the opinions of those members of the 
 "- ' council, who are very reserved and modest 
 in the expression of their opinions. I have 
 known instances in which the man, most fitted 
 to direct the council, has not once had an 
 opportunity of fairly bringing forward what 
 he has thought and felt upon the matter in 
 question. And that, too, in a council, com- 
 mission, or board, which has sat for many 
 days to consider the particular question. A 
 man of the kind I mean, has strong and clear 
 opinions ; but is of a modest and retiring 
 nature. In the course of the discussions he 
 ascertains, or rather thinks that he ascertains, 
 that his views will not meet with any response 
 from his colleagues ; and, accordingly, he is 
 entirely silent about them. It is especially 
 the business of the chairman, or leading person 
 in the council, to take care that the views 
 and opinions of these reserved persons should 
 Choice of not fail to be brought forward. It often 
 man. happens that the best choice of a chairman is 
 to be made by selecting one who, perhaps, 
 is not particularly cognizant of the matter in 
 hand ; but who is skilful in discerning charac- 
 
OTHER SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. 103 
 
 ter, and has the tact and judgment necessary 
 for eliciting fully the opinions of all those 
 over whom he presides. This is especially 
 necessary when the councils or such like 
 bodies are of a temporary character ; but it is 
 also requisite in permanent Boards. A man 
 may have had a place in such a Board for 
 many years, and yet never have given an 
 entirely unreserved opinion upon the matters 
 that have come before him in that conjoint 
 capacity. 
 
 There is another point of practice to be Sections 
 
 of councils 
 
 considered in reference to permanent Boards, should in- 
 
 m terchange 
 
 In order to facilitate the transaction of busi- duties, 
 ness, special matters are entrusted to par- 
 ticular sections of these Bodies. If this 
 practice is made absolute, and there is no 
 interchange of duties, much of the value of 
 a council, or other governing body, may be 
 lost The head of the Department should 
 take care to vary the duties of these sections, 
 and occasionally to contrive to obtain that 
 diversity of opinion upon important matters, 
 which prevents their falling into a course of 
 abject routine, as will be the case if the same 
 
104 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND 
 
 CHAP, class of subjects is always submitted to the 
 
 IX. 
 
 ' ' same section of the Board. 
 
 In the construction of councils there is a 
 practice frequently to be observed which 
 seems to me most objectionable, and that is, 
 
 Ex-offido the placing a number of ex-officio counsellors 
 
 members 
 
 of council on the council. 1 suppose there must be 
 
 of little 
 
 advantage, some advantage in this proceeding, as it has 
 been adopted in all ages, and by most nations. 
 But it seems to me to be one of those timid, 
 insincere modes of action, which are sure to 
 lead to unfavourable results, even though it 
 may be difficult to point out the exact nature 
 of the injury done. There are, however, 
 two manifest objections to this mode of pro- 
 cedure. One is, that the responsibility of the 
 acting few must thereby be diminished ; and 
 the other is, that fit men are kept out of the 
 council, because it appears already to be 
 sufficiently large. 
 
 There is another remark which I will ven- 
 ture to make in reference to almost all 
 councils, and other similar Bodies, called to- 
 gether to deliberate or direct. This is, that, 
 as a general rule, these Bodies should not be 
 
OTHER SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. 105 
 
 unpaid. Payment, even of very small sums, CHAP. 
 inevitably carries with it an increase of re- ' - 
 sponsibility. In some great central sun it 
 may be possible to get the best work done 
 gratuitously; but in the minor planetary 
 bodies, such as our Earth, I doubt whether 
 this can ever be accomplished. I have said 
 ' the best work ' advisedly, for I do not doubt 
 that work can often be moderately well done 
 without any payment being made for it 
 
 In fine, the utility of councils maybe divined Special 
 
 utility 
 
 from this one fact that no one man is as of coun- 
 cils. 
 wise as all other men, or even as any four or 
 
 five other men. He may be swifter, he may 
 be more decisive, but he is never so compre- 
 hensive and so various. From the earliest 
 ages to the present time there have always 
 been councils and similar aids to government ; 
 and there never will be any form of govern- 
 ment, to the aid and enlightenment of which 
 such bodies will not be summoned. He 
 who knows how to make good use of them, 
 and how, as much as possible, to avoid a 
 certain weakness and dilatoriness inherent in 
 them, will show forth one of the greatest 
 
IO6 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS, AND 
 
 CHAP, merits which a statesman can possess. He 
 
 IX. 
 
 "- ' cannot see and listen to the whole world ; 
 but, by making use of councils, he may attain 
 to something of a cosmopolitan view, or, at 
 any rate, may learn the views, wishes, and 
 opinions of large bodies of his fellow-men. 
 If he is very skilful, he may combine the 
 advantages of varied thought and conjoint 
 action, with somewhat of the singleness of 
 purpose, and the directness of executive 
 action, which are the property of an individual 
 ruler. 
 
 Machia- There is a chapter in Machiavelli's 
 ciassifiea- ' Prince/ in which he treats, in his lucid 
 
 tion of 
 
 intellects, manner, of the qualifications which should 
 be found in the secretaries and ministers of 
 princes. In the course of that chapter he 
 makes the following general remark : 
 * There are three kinds of intellects : one 
 kind understands by its own insight; the 
 second discerns those things which another 
 understands ; and the third neither under- 
 stands of its own accord, nor by the demon- 
 stration made by another person : the first 
 kind of intellect is most excellent, the second 
 
OTHER SIMILAR AIDS TO GOVERNMENT. 107 
 
 excellent, the third useless/ x The foregoing CHAP. 
 
 IX. 
 
 is not an ill-arranged division of intellects ; " ~~ r ~~ 
 but I venture to think that certain additions 
 might be made to it, or, at any rate, certain 
 sub-divisions might be introduced. For in- Might 
 stance, there is the intellect which combines enlarged. 
 the advantages of the two former of Machia- 
 velli's classes namely, the intellect which 
 can discern very well, by its own force and 
 insight, but is also equally skilled in seizing 
 at once, and benefitting by what Machiavelli 
 calls the * demonstration ' of others. Again, 
 there is, certainly, the intellect which, however 
 powerful, and justly coming within the first 
 class, is affected by that peculiar want of 
 sympathy which makes it prone to reject, 
 at once, whatever is offered by another mind. 
 The former of these two subdivisions of 
 intellect will make the proper use of coun- 
 cils as of the individual intellects with which 
 
 1 E perche sono di tre generazioni cervelli : Tuno 
 intende per se ; T altro discerne quelli che altri intende ; 
 e il terzo non intende per se stesso, ne per dimostrazione 
 di altri : quel primo e eccellentissimo, il secondo eccel- 
 lente, il terzo inutile. // Principe, cap. xxii., De' segre- 
 tarj de' principi. 
 
108 COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS, BOARDS. 
 
 CHAP, it may be brought in contact. The latter is, 
 ' for the most part, incapable of making a due 
 use of other men's intellects ; and, in the pre- 
 sent day, when the range of a statesman's 
 vision is required to be so extensive, and 
 when there are so many more demands upon 
 his time, than there were upon the time 
 of statesmen in former days, this defect will 
 be found to be a defect of the most serious 
 nature. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 IT seems possible that, as the world ad- 
 vances, new forms of government, or, as I 
 should rather say, newly-constituted bodies of 
 men assembled for governing,- may be devised 
 or adopted according to the needs which, 
 from time to time, may arise for fresh govern- 
 ment material. 
 
 Now there is in Great Britain a most ser- 
 viceable body of men, which has extensive 
 functions thrown upon it, and which I con- 
 ceive has hardly ever been sufficiently noted 
 by constitutional historians. I mean the 
 Privy Council. I do not know that in any 
 other country there is anything exactly ana- 
 logous to the Privy Council of England ; and 
 there have been occasions of danger in the 
 histories of most nations, when the existence 
 of such a body would have been a great 
 
 New 
 modes of 
 govern- 
 ment pos- 
 sible. 
 
 Privy 
 Council 
 of Great 
 Britain, 
 
110 THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHAP, safeguard to the State while in ordinary 
 x. 
 
 r ' times, it would have been of great service to 
 
 the State. If we look at the constitution of 
 
 its consti- the Privy Council, it must be owned, that it 
 
 tution. 
 
 is a very felicitous one ; and, speaking in 
 the abstract, gives promise of high utility. 
 Doubtless its constitution was not designed 
 to be what it is now.; but the thing has 
 grown up to be what it is, 1 as indeed has 
 happened in regard to several of the most 
 important governing bodies in Great Britain. 
 The peculiar felicity of the constitution of the 
 
 1 The functions of the Privy Council in ancient times 
 were not very dissimilar from those which are performed 
 by it at the present time. Those functions were legis- 
 lative, judicial, and administrative. Sometimes, as Mr. 
 Hallam mentions, the Privy Council made ordinances 
 ' upon request of the Commons in Parliament, who felt 
 themselves better qualified to state a grievance than to 
 provide a remedy.' It was in the constitution of the 
 Board that it differed from the Council of modern times. 
 It was entirely the creature of the King. For example, 
 under Edward the First, the Privy Council consisted of 
 his Ministers for the time being, including the King's Ser- 
 jeant, the Attorney-General, and some of the Judges. 
 It was not a Council retaining in its body those persons 
 who had filled high offices of State, and who, in its 
 present constitution, are not displaced because theii 
 party is gone out of power. 
 
THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. ill 
 
 Privy Council consists in its including almost CHAP. 
 
 .X.. 
 
 all those persons who have borne high office " ' ' 
 in the country. We have in it, therefore, a 
 body which attaches and assimilates to itself 
 the most tried, if not the most capable, men 
 of all parties that have in turn predominated 
 in the State. 
 
 Of the matters that come before govern- Adminis- 
 ment to be decided, there is perhaps not one rarely con- 
 
 cerned 
 
 in a hundred that is of a purely party nature, with party 
 
 questions. 
 
 I speak, of course, of administration, and not 
 of legislation. But, notwithstanding that the 
 immense majority of the matters in question 
 have nothing to do with politics, party spirit 
 would often be suspected to be concerned in 
 the decision of them. It is, therefore, most 
 useful that there should be a body, formed of Benefit of 
 
 r r 11 r mixed 
 
 the best men of business of all parties, from commit- 
 tees, 
 amongst whom committees may be chosen to 
 
 hear and decide upon many of the vexed 
 questions of the day. 
 
 The power of calling such committees into They are 
 
 , r 11 i i st iH used. 
 
 being, has by no means fallen into desuetude ; 
 and, no doubt, it must give much satisfaction 
 to those persons whose claims are decided by 
 
112 THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHAP, the Privy Council, to perceive that their cases 
 
 /La 
 
 ' *" ' are heard before committees composed of men 
 of different political opinions. 
 
 This, however, is not the only use of a 
 Power of Privy Council. It is in times of emergency 
 
 the Privy 
 
 Council, that its merits are most fully tested. The 
 great art of government would be, to com- 
 bine the power of despotic action in times of 
 emergency, with great latitude of freedom in 
 ordinary times. A State is very poorly off 
 for governing power which, on any emer- 
 gency, has to resort to the cumbrous expe- 
 dient of summoning legislative assemblies, 
 and waiting to act in accordance with their 
 views. On the other hand, it is hardly to 
 be expected, especially in these times, when 
 responsibility is dreaded more than anything, 
 that 'the Executive/ as it is called, should 
 act with the necessary speed and vigour on 
 occasions of great danger and difficulty. 
 
 its high It is then, that, before all things, you want 
 
 a consultative body, not of large numbers, 
 not of one form of politics, not inexperienced 
 in business ; but which has the power to 
 direct the immediate execution of the mea- 
 
THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. 113 
 
 sures it may resolve to take. Such a body CHAP 
 Great Britain is fortunate enough to possess "* ' 
 in her Privy Council a body, as I have said 
 before, unknown elsewhere ; and it is to be 
 hoped that amidst the many changes which 
 are to be seen in these times, if any change 
 is to be made in the Privy Council, it may 
 be such as will tend to strengthen, rather 
 than to weaken that important body. 
 
 There is an improvement which might be Sugges- 
 tions for 
 made in the constitution of the Privy Council ; its im- 
 
 prove- 
 
 and that is, that men of tried capacity among ment - 
 the permanent officers of government should 
 more frequently be made Privy Councillors. 
 And, moreover, I venture to think that emi- 
 nent men from our Colonies, and those who 
 have distinguished themselves in colonial ad- 
 ministration as civil servants of the Crown, 
 should occasionally be added to the Privy 
 Council. 
 
 It is a curious thing to note, to how many 
 of our Sub-departments the Privy Council 
 has been the nursing mother. As civilization 
 has advanced, new objects for governmental 
 effort and governmental direction have arisen. 
 
 I 
 
114 THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHAP. The matters connected with these objects 
 have been, in the first instance, submitted to 
 the Privy Council or a Committee of the 
 Council. As the objects aimed at have be- 
 come more extensive, and have been found 
 to be in consonance with the wishes of the 
 public, the business relating to them has 
 greatly increased. Ultimately it has been 
 Origin of found advisable to form separate Departments 
 
 some De- . 
 
 partments. to deal with, and control the various matters 
 in question. This is the origin of several 
 Departments. Doubtless it has been a very 
 advantageous origin, for the new Depart- 
 ment has come to the management of the 
 subject in question with much of the expe- 
 rience that has been gained by the Privy 
 Council, and yet with that freshness of thought 
 and vigour of action which naturally belong 
 to a new Department, chosen for a special 
 purpose. 
 
 In what I have said above respecting the 
 Privy Council, I have only given an instance 
 of the existence of a governing body which 
 is happily to be found in our own country, 
 and which I think might most profitably be 
 adopted in other countries. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
 AM ON GST 'the talents imperatively re- 
 quired for the service of Government, 
 first and foremost is the talent of organization, sidii m 
 
 organ iza- 
 
 This talent, in its various degrees, is wanted tion. 
 for all kinds of government from the govern- 
 ment of a family to that of an empire. In its 
 highest degree it is exceedingly rare. There 
 is a delusion, as I think, prevailing amongst Supposed 
 mankind, that this talent belongs, in an es- to certain 
 
 . races. 
 
 pecial degree, to certain races. Each nation, 
 perceiving and feeling the want of organiza- 
 tion in its own affairs, is apt, with becoming 
 modesty, to suppose, that the talent in ques- 
 tion exists, in a high degree, amongst its 
 neighbours, and is exemplified in the conduct 
 of their affairs. We were wont to imagine, 
 and boldly to state, that the French were 
 especially skilled in organization. 'They 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 ORGANIZA TIGN. 
 
 manage these things much better in France/ 
 was a common phrase with us. But when the 
 day of trial came, this phrase did not appear 
 to be founded on fact. We are no w v perhaps, 
 inclined to believe, that the Germans are the 
 great masters of this art. I maintain, how- 
 Suppo- ever, that skill in organization does not belong 
 
 sit ion erro- 
 neous, especially to any race ; and that, when any 
 
 nation, at a crisis of its fortunes, manifests 
 great organizing skill, it is in consequence 
 of individuals, blessed with the possession of 
 such skill, being brought into positions of 
 great power and sway. It would probably 
 be as unwise to conclude, that any race of 
 men will of necessity produce great poets as 
 that it will produce skilful organizers. 
 Qualities For, consider what a rare combination of 
 
 of a great 
 
 organizer, qualities must exist in any person who is to 
 show forth great skill in organization ! He 
 must have the imaginative faculty developed 
 in equal proportion with the practical faculty. 
 He has, at the same time, to be apprehensive 
 and courageous ; fond of details and keen in 
 discerning principles ; a subtle observer of 
 his fellow-men, who withal does not permit 
 
ORGANIZATION. 117 
 
 his subtlety of observation to lead him away CHAP. 
 from the sure conclusion, that men chiefly act < ~~ 1 
 upon the most common-place and ordinary 
 motives. He must look far forward, and 
 must be thoroughly aware, that men are very 
 trying and provoking beings ; and that, in 
 any long course of action which he may 
 design for them, they will be sure to do 
 something which it was intended they should 
 not do, or to omit doing something which it 
 was intended they should do. Again, and 
 this is perhaps the rarest combination of all, 
 he who has to become a skilful organizer, 
 must be familiar with the state of facts he 
 has to work upon, and yet keep himself free 
 from that dangerous inadvertence, and that 
 easy contentment with the customary mode 
 of doing things, both of which evils naturally 
 belong to this familiarity. 
 
 This combination of qualities will not be Their 
 
 combina- 
 
 found common in any race of mankind, and tionmost 
 
 rare. 
 
 can only be looked for, in any high degree, 
 in certain gifted individuals. 
 
 How rare these individuals are, may be 
 inferred from the fact that defects in orga- 
 
T 1 8 ORGANIZA TION. 
 
 nization are equally to be discerned in the 
 management of men's pleasures, as in the 
 conduct of their business. This is a most 
 important fact to notice. If, on the contrary, 
 it were to be seen that men were clever in 
 making arrangements for their pleasures 
 in organizing these well and yet, at the 
 same time, their national affairs were ob- 
 served to be ill-organized, we might then 
 conclude, that organizing skill was plentiful, 
 but that, somehow or other, the government 
 failed to attract that skill to itself. 
 
 But this is not the case, I believe, in any 
 
 country, and certainly not in our own country. 
 
 its want Take, for instance, a very familiar example ; 
 
 seen in 
 
 places of and such a statement as I have made above 
 
 entertain- 
 ment, may most convincingly be illustrated by some 
 
 familiar example : observe what utter want 
 of organization is shown in the dispersion of 
 any large number of persons, after an enter- 
 tainment of any kind. And yet I presume 
 to think that to a person of organizing skill 
 many modes occur at once by which this 
 dispersion might be rendered most facile. 
 If I am right in this assertion, it shows how 
 
ORGANIZA TION. \ \ 9 
 
 rare are those persons who can claim to CHAP. 
 possess organizing skill or how rarely they ^- 
 come to the front 
 
 A similar remark may be made, as regards And in 
 the conduct of railway business. I imagine it traffic. 
 would astonish the world, if it could see how 
 a master of organization would deal with the 
 conduct of railway business, at some compli- 
 cated railway station, where now all is hurry, 
 doubt, confusion, and bewilderment 
 
 Now, the people who direct railway busi- 
 ness, are mostly very clever men ; far above 
 the average of mankind in cleverness, and 
 probably in organizing skill ; but they have 
 not had the apprehensive foresight which dis- 
 cerns future difficulties and provides against 
 them, or they have become too familiar with 
 the present state of things to appreciate what 
 there is in it that requires alteration. 
 
 My object, as far as I have hitherto gone 
 in this chapter, has been to indicate how few 
 and far between are the men who are skilled 
 in organization. In a former work, 1 treating 
 of this subject solely, I maintained that skill 
 
 1 Essay on Organization. 
 
1 20 ORGANIZA TION. 
 
 CHAP, in organization is a thing which might be 
 
 "- ^ ' taught. Further consideration has led me to 
 
 believe, that this assertion was not well 
 
 founded ; and at any rate, if accepted at all, 
 
 it must be accepted with considerable limits, 
 
 and modifications. For how are you to teach 
 
 a man to be apprehensive and bold ? This 
 
 Organ- happy combination of opposing qualities is, I 
 
 not teach-' conceive, hereditary; and the boy who does 
 
 fiolc* 
 
 not manifest it in the playground will seldom, 
 I conjecture, be found to have it, as a man, in 
 his converse with the world. 
 
 I now proceed to the main drift of this 
 chapter on organization. I would not have it 
 thought that my previous remarks are solely of 
 a discouraging nature.. Hitherto I have chiefly 
 had in my mind that high degree of organiz- 
 ing power which is required for the conduct 
 its great of the greatest affairs. A similar power, in 
 
 import- 
 ance, a lower degree, is shown to some extent in 
 
 every well- managed household ; and in every 
 branch of public and private business which is 
 tolerably well managed. In fact, without this 
 power being exercised extensively in its lower 
 degrees, the world could not get on at all, and 
 
ORGANIZATION. T2T 
 
 we should relapse into barbarism. Women CHAP. 
 
 XI 
 
 often possess the talent of organization in a ' ' 
 
 considerable degree, and, whenever they do 
 possess it, their households, their entertain- 
 ments, and their control of expenditure, show 
 at once in the most marked manner that they 
 do possess this talent. 
 
 If the foregoing views respecting organiza- 
 tion are just, and if they can be applied at all, 
 it is to the conduct of government that they 
 are most applicable. For if organizing skill is organ- 
 
 ... . izing skill 
 
 needed anywhere, it is in those great national most 
 
 rr i - i /- 11 wanted 
 
 affairs in which, if errors are made, the mere in govern- 
 
 ment. 
 
 money loss may amount to millions, and the 
 ruin, or at least the degradation, of a nation 
 may ensue. In the conduct of a nation's affairs, 
 men of organizing power should be sought 
 for with the keenest avidity, and be retained 
 at almost any price. They are not to be dis- 
 covered by any mode of previous examina- 
 tion. Indeed that very docility, and that 
 readiness to accept whatever is taught them 
 for a purpose the purpose, namely, of success 
 in competition are qualities which tend to 
 smother and deface, rather than to develop, 
 
I 2 2 ORGANIZA TION. 
 
 organizing power. Strange to say, it is often 
 a somewhat indolent and thoughtful man who 
 has much of this power, but who remains very 
 deficient in the mere acquisition of knowledge 
 of any kind. 
 
 Another point, to be carefully considered 
 
 with reference to this matter, is, that there are 
 
 no two things more entirely dissociated than 
 
 the power of argumentation and the power of 
 
 Powers of arranging with forethought, and manifesting 
 
 argumen- 
 tation and s kill m organization. The man, who can see 
 
 organi- 
 zation, what ought to be done, and lay down a plan 
 
 for doing it, is often totally unable to argue 
 about that which he can design most skil- 
 fully. In these days, our principal rewards are 
 given to the men of arguing powers, who may 
 be absolutely inept in administrative power. 
 
 Lastly, if by any means a man of organ- 
 izing power is attached to any branch of the 
 Executive, care should be taken, by his 
 superiors, not to allow him to be ground down 
 Routine in the mill of routine ; lest even he, too, 
 to organ- should be subdued by over-much familiarity 
 
 izing 
 
 powers. with the subjects he has to manipulate, and 
 should thereby lose the power of discerning 
 
ORGANIZA TION. I 2 3 
 
 in what way the current treatment of matters, 
 in his Department, requires to be entirely 
 altered or amended. 
 
 I must add, that I cannot lay down any 
 rule, nor do I believe anybody else can, for 
 the discovery of men possessed with a singu- 
 lar aptitude for organization. All I can say 
 is, that those who are placed in the highest 
 positions, and who, therefore, have large op- statesmen 
 
 r i - i r i Should 
 
 portunity for observing the work of other lookout 
 
 for men of 
 
 men, should be always on the alert to dis- organizing 
 cover, and to attach to themselves and to their 
 government, those men whom they have 
 reason to believe possess this aptitude for 
 organization. Statesmen must not be de- 
 ceived by the manifestation of large powers of 
 criticism, in those whom they are inclined to 
 consider as men of organizing talent Criti- 
 cism, as well as argumentation, has but little, 
 if anything, to do with this organizing talent. 
 The man, who possesses it, is nearly sure to 
 manifest it in some practical way ; and if that 
 way is observed by some person in power, 
 that person may fairly infer, that if he can 
 attach this worker and thinker (not criticiser, 
 
I 24 ORGANIZA TION. 
 
 CHAP, not talker) to the public service, he has so 
 
 XI. 
 
 "7"- " far fulfilled one of the chief functions of a 
 statesman. 
 
 In great crises you constantly hear such 
 words as these : * Oh, that there were a man ! 
 What a difference one great man would 
 make ! ' But it is forgotten that there must 
 be the wise men to choose the man ; for the 
 greatest man finds a difficulty in choosing 
 himself and putting himself forward 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 WOULD that there were more of this CHAP. 
 valuable quality shown in every go- " r 
 vernment that governs, or pretends to govern, Foresight 
 
 much 
 
 throughout the world. Never was this quality needed 
 
 in govern- 
 more needed than in an age justly called an 
 
 age of transition when there is immense 
 diversity of opinion ; when the world of 
 thought is more than ever divided into sects ; 
 and when that most dangerous form of 
 thought, which is best described by the French 
 word doctrinaire, is remarkably prevalent. 
 
 As it is, even the bystander most favour- Yet very 
 able to the governments which exist, must 
 admit, however reluctantly, that the action of 
 government chiefly consists in a series of 
 surprises. 
 
 All observant people must agree in recog- 
 nising this evil, which it will be desirable to 
 
 rare. 
 
126 ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, examine minutely, in order to discover the 
 
 XII. 
 
 ' causes, and, if possible, suggest some remedy. 
 A cause One of the main causes why government, 
 
 for this in \ . 
 
 England, even in this country, which justly claims to 
 be the best governed country in the world, 
 is still a government that acts in a faltering, 
 hap-hazard, and uncertain manner, is the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Ministers The persons, who are chiefly entrusted with 
 
 absorbed 
 
 by daily carrying on the government, are so much 
 immersed in the difficulties of the present 
 hour their work from day to day so fully 
 occupies them (especially in this age of un- 
 limited correspondence) that they have 
 neither the leisure, nor the heart, nor the 
 spare intellectual energy, to devote to a large 
 
 Their consideration for the future. This work, 
 
 CriticS r '11 
 
 often un- therefore, is done mainly by writers, uncon- 
 
 practical. 
 
 nected with government. Now, with all 
 their merits, we cannot expect these writers 
 to be eminently practical. The views and 
 wishes, which they put forward, often lack 
 that consideration of the circumstances sur- 
 rounding them, that knowledge of practical 
 difficulties, and that experience of men, which 
 
ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 12 J 
 
 are only gained by converse with active CHAP. 
 life. 
 
 What is wanted, in every State, is a body 
 of philosophic no, I am afraid of that word Need for 
 
 ministers 
 
 of thoughtful statesmen ; who, though par- less over- 
 taking of some of the active duties of states- 
 men, should not be overweighted by their 
 having too much of the conduct of ordinary 
 business imposed upon them. 
 
 I know that this proposal is a very difficult 
 one to realise in action. But, then, the whole 
 matter we are discussing namely, the provid- 
 ing foresight for government is confessedly 
 a very difficult one, and we cannot expect the 
 remedy to be facile. Moreover, such a 
 remedy as is proposed, is rather contrary to 
 what is called the spirit of the age. A single 
 illustration will show what I mean. There Some sine- 
 
 cure offices 
 
 are certain offices, in the Cabinet of Great useful. 
 Britain, to which no onerous duties are 
 attached, and indeed, to speak frankly, 
 scarcely any duties at all. The present out- 
 cry is, * Let those offices be abolished, or let 
 onerous duties be attached to them/ In a 
 word, let every man engaged in the highest 
 
128 ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, branches of statesmanship, be oppressed by 
 
 ' ' the severe and urgent routine of office, which 
 
 already prevents so many of the greatest 
 men from being able to give due foresight to 
 Their abo- the affairs of the future. Well, be it so ; only 
 wise. remember, that if the miller and his men are 
 always employed in grinding for the necessi- 
 ties of the day, and there is no one left, a little 
 outside, to watch the course of the stream, it 
 may fail some day when it is most wanted ; 
 or it may come down in one tumultuous over^ 
 flow, sweeping away the mill, the miller and 
 his men, broadening, as it goes, into one vast 
 torrent of destruction. 
 Foresight Not, however, that I would confine the 
 
 not to be 
 
 confined acquisition of this foresight merely to states- 
 
 to states- 
 men and men and philosophers. It is comparatively 
 
 philoso- 
 phers, but little service to the world, that a Chester- 
 field, or a Burke, should foresee the political 
 evils coming upon a generation of unobserv- 
 ant men. We must, in order to insure wise 
 government for the future, contrive that con- 
 siderable numbers of persons should try to 
 gain some foresight in political affairs. 
 
 It may seem a pedantic thing to say, but I 
 
ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 129 
 
 am persuaded, that to effect this great good, CHAP. 
 much reference must be made to history. 
 There are certain principles, as to the pro- The high 
 bable conduct of men, and as to the results tory. 
 of measures, which can only be evolved from 
 some study of those historical events, which 
 have an application to our own times. If I were 
 asked, what would be the most fruitful subject 
 for study that could be devised for giving 
 foresight in political action, it is the history of 
 
 the Girondins. There never, perhaps, was an The Gi- 
 
 , i i i i i ronclins - 
 
 instance in the world, in which so many good 
 
 men, having really great designs for the welfare 
 of mankind, were so utterly deluded and de- 
 ceived. The same error, which misled these 
 good men, stands eternally in the way of im- 
 provement, and has to be most carefully 
 guarded against. That error was the sup- 
 position that they (the Girondins) could 
 place the limits of movement, at that precise 
 line of demarcation which seemed to them to 
 be the wisest and the best. The man who par- 
 takes this fatal error of the Girondins forgets, 
 as they did, that there is a fierce crowd be- 
 hind him, who do not limit themselves to his 
 
 K 
 
130 ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, views and are not contented with his objects, 
 
 XII. 
 
 ^~~ ' but are rushing down the hill to achieve 
 their own whom he can never hope to stay 
 till they get to the bottom of that perilous 
 descent. 
 
 Not the less danger is there, from want of 
 foresight, in a totally different direction. The 
 history of the Girondins is certainly a most 
 fruitful subject for the contemplation of poli- 
 ticians. A kindred subject, namely, the 
 
 Louis xv. conduct of Louis XV. and his Ministers, is 
 equally fruitful. 
 
 I fear that the contemplative bystander 
 would find much to blame, on account of 
 want of foresight, even .in our own time. It 
 
 Benefits must, however, be acknowledged, that much 
 
 resulting 
 
 tb Great o f the security and good order that we pos- 
 
 Britain ' 
 
 from fore- sess, is the result of a foresight which gene- 
 rally comes rather late in Great Britain, but 
 which frequently does come at last, and is 
 the salvation of us politically, as a State. 
 That our people have, at this moment, so few 
 purely political grievances, is an inestimable 
 blessing. What we have to consider as the 
 main objects for foresight in government, are 
 
ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 131 
 
 the questions of social difficulty which at CHAP. 
 
 present threaten us, and which are looming ' 
 
 large in the distance. 
 
 There is also another class of subjects 
 which especially call for the exercise of fore- 
 sight on the part of government. It relates 
 to panics of all kinds, sudden and ill-considered Foresight 
 
 in regard 
 
 resolves of all kinds, which most nations are to panics. 
 seldom free from, for any length of time. For 
 example, a nation has a sudden fit of severe 
 economy, or, on the other hand, of recklessness 
 in matters of expense. Or it has a wild panic 
 as regards invasion ; or, on the other hand, it 
 indulges in a fit of sublime, but most unwar- 
 rantable confidence, as regards the mainten- 
 ance of peace, and the needlessness of warlike 
 preparation. All these fits and humours of 
 a nation require great foresight on the part of 
 statesmen, to know how to bear with them ; 
 to prevent their doing mischief; and to. make 
 use of them for some good purpose, which, 
 at other times and seasons, might not be so 
 easily effected. 
 
 I cannot better conclude this chapter, than 
 by giving a very remarkable quotation from 
 
 K2 
 
132 ON FORESIGHT IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP. Montesquieu, or rather from Gravina, whom 
 
 ' Montesquieu quotes, whereby it may be seen 
 
 what is the true definition of a State, as a 
 being which combines in itself the forces of 
 all the individuals who compose it. That 
 those forces should be well directed for the 
 True defi- benefit of the individuals, and should be well 
 
 nition of 
 
 a State. combined for the common welfare of the 
 State, is the principal subject-matter for fore- 
 sight in this Country, especially considering 
 that the social questions before alluded to 
 are those which now concern us most : 
 
 ' Outre le droit des gens, qui regarde toutes 
 les societes, il y a un droit politique pour 
 chacune. Une soci6t ne sauroit subsister 
 sans un gouvernement. " La reunion de toutes 
 les forces particulieres," dit tres-bien Gravina, 
 41 forme ce qu'on appelle 1'Etat politique/ " 1 
 
 1 L Esprit des Lois, par Montesquieu, liv. i. chap. iii. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 7E have now to concern ourselves CHAP 
 
 -IT r i XIIL 
 
 with the education of the governors, . 
 not of the governed, which education ought special 
 
 , . * i r i t education 
 
 obviously to be of a somewhat special O f a states 
 
 man. 
 
 character. 
 
 An admirable work, before referred to, has 
 been written on the training and conduct of 
 statesmen by Sir Henry Taylor. It is called 
 * The Statesman.' This work of mine will 
 not allow of my dealing elaborately with 
 the subject, as Sir Henry Taylor has done. 
 I shall attempt only to set down those points 
 which have particularly engaged my thoughts 
 with regard to the education of statesmen. 
 
 In all times, but especially in these times, 
 it is needful for a statesman to have a great Mastery 
 
 r , .. rr* . , of details 
 
 mastery of details. To use an expression I needful. 
 have used elsewhere, he should have * an 
 
134 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, almost ignominious love of details/ The 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ' ' questions that come before him partake of 
 Love of the complication which must exist in highlv- 
 
 detail. 
 
 civilized communities. These questions will 
 be cumbered with details ; and a statesman, 
 at any rate if he is acting under a constitu- 
 tional government, will not carry to a pros- 
 perous i;:sue any large measure by the aid of 
 a few great principles, unless he have the 
 knowledge, and the skill, which will % enable 
 him to put the details into their right places, 
 and to adapt them to these principles. If we 
 consider the eminent statesmen of recent 
 times we shall find that, with very few excep- 
 tions, they have been men who, to use a 
 Eminent phrase of Talleyrand's, are * avid of facts/ 
 
 statesmen 
 
 'avid of They would have been good men of business 
 
 facts.' 
 
 in any department of life. 
 
 Now, how are this avidity for facts, and 
 this skill in selecting and arranging them, to 
 be acquired ? I would not be so presump- 
 tuous as to attempt to lay down, authorita- 
 tively, any special rules for acquiring these 
 necessary aids to statesmanship. This is a 
 matter which must mainly be left to the dis- 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 '35 
 
 cretion of those persons who are training CHAP. 
 youths likely to be concerned in statesman- ^ 
 ship. One youth will, by the peculiar bent Rules to 
 
 r be left to 
 
 of his mind, indicate to his instructor one the in- 
 structor. 
 
 way of attaining this desirable object ; another 
 youth will indicate another. All that can be 
 said to an instructor is, * Whenever you see 
 an opportunity of making a youth follow any 
 particular study, which involves dealing with 
 large masses of facts, encourage him in it, 
 and keep him to it/ 
 
 One thing I must remark, and herein my HOW 
 
 . . . statesmen 
 
 opinion entirely coincides with that of Sir should 
 
 study his- 
 
 Henry Taylor, that the way to make a stu- tory. 
 dent, who is to become a statesman, read 
 history, is, to confine his attention to a par- 
 ticular period, and make him know that in 
 its minutest detail, demanding from him, not 
 essays, but elaborate statements of facts. It 
 is astonishing what strength and minuteness 
 of observation, and what power of comparing 
 and marshalling significant facts, may be 
 given to an intelligent youth, by severely ex- 
 ercising his mind in this peculiar way. 
 
 The next branch of education to be culti- Power of 
 
 expression. 
 
136 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, vated is expression. This is one of the prin- 
 
 .A. 111., 
 
 cipal arts of life, and is most needful for any 
 An art man who would influence his fellow-men. It is 
 
 to be cul- 
 tivated, essentially the art of artists whose excellence 
 
 is mainly to be seen in their powers of expres- 
 sion, which include that of representation. 
 It is an art which, if not to be acquired 
 by one who has no natural gifts in that direc- 
 tion, may, at any rate, -be greatly enlarged 
 and furthered in anyone who has the 
 smallest natural faculty for it. As a nation 
 we do not excel in the power of expression, 
 and therefore it is peculiarly valuable amongst 
 us. Of necessity, skill in expression includes 
 includes logic and method. It may be well taught at 
 
 logic and 
 
 method. home in our earliest years ; and it is an art, in 
 which an observant man may go on improv- 
 ing to the end of his life. 
 
 Especially For a statesman, nothing is more requisite 
 for a than that he should be able to narrate accu- 
 rately, to explain succinctly, to answer clearly 
 and logically, and, in short, to deliver all that 
 he knows, or has to say, with the greatest 
 force, the least apparent effort, and the least 
 irrelevancy. This appears to be a large de- 
 
 statesman. 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 137 
 
 mand to make upon any man ; but it is not CHAP. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 beyond the scope of teaching. 
 
 It is surprising what keenness of observa- its want 
 
 obvious 
 
 tion even an unlearned bystander has of de- to ail. 
 fects in expression. He perceives where 
 the tale is ill told, or the statement insuffi- 
 ciently made ; he detects redundancies of 
 phrase, needless parentheses, want of method 
 in the narrative, and all that movement back- 
 wards and forwards telling too much too 
 soon, and too little too late ; which result in 
 making a story, or a statement, inconsequent, 
 confused, and deficient in force and interest. 
 He may be a good general critic, although, 
 from want of practice, he would himself com- 
 mit the faults which he detects and condemns. 
 He may, therefore, instruct the young in 
 amending these faults, if only he comments 
 upon them. And anyone who is concerned 
 in bringing up a statesman, can hardly do 
 more service to his charge than by endeavour- 
 ing to make him attend carefully to the just 
 expression of whatever he has to express. 
 This may at first sight appear likely to pro- 
 duce pedantry, and to make a young person 
 
138 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, think less of what he has to say, than of how 
 
 XIII. 
 
 he should say it. But if any such pedantry 
 is acquired, it soon wears off in the urgency 
 of the real business of life ; and the youth, 
 well taught in this respect, becomes a man 
 who, unconsciously, has the power of express- 
 ing what he thinks and feels, without having 
 to think of the mode and manner of this ex- 
 pression. 
 Everyone Of course a statesman, and indeed most 
 
 should be 
 
 taught to other persons, should be taught how to speak. 
 Respecting this accomplishment there are 
 certain rules that have been ascertained to be 
 imperative, if a man would command the at- 
 tention of his audience. There is also some- 
 thing that practice alone can give. It is that 
 a man should be able to think while he is in 
 the act of speaking while he is on his legs, 
 and has a number of eager eyes looking up at 
 
 Art .f him. He should be able to change the order 
 
 speaking. 
 
 of his speech ; to dwell much upon that part 
 of the subject as regards which he discovers 
 i that his audience requires enlightenment, or 
 
 is ready with sympathy ; and to withhold, or 
 shorten that part of his prearranged discourse 
 
THE EDUCATION OP A STATESMAN. 139 
 
 which he finds it is needless, or, perhaps, offen- CHAP. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 sive, to dilate upon. In short, he should be * " 
 able to use his mind in a dual capacity, speak- 
 ing what he is determined to say, and at the 
 same time determining what he will say next. 
 
 This accomplishment cannot be perfected Debating 
 
 societies. 
 
 without practice ; and though debating socie- 
 ties at schools and universities may appear 
 to be mere play, they are not without great 
 use in the training of statesmen. 
 
 I have not spoken of the higher matters Love of 
 
 justice and 
 
 which belong to the education of statesmen ; truth. 
 of the love of justice and of truth ; of the care 
 for the well-being of their fellow -men ; of the 
 sense of the responsibility for power, which 
 should be inculcated during youth. The chief 
 part of this great work must be done by their 
 mothers, or, at any rate, by those who are 
 nearest to them in relationship, or who come 
 into the closest contact with them. It is Great 
 
 example 
 
 seldom that a character is developed into fosters 
 
 greatness. 
 
 greatness, unless a great example has been 
 furnished to it by those who have had the 
 care of its early training. 
 
 I have said how needful it is to give the 
 
140 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, nascent statesman a habit of dealing with 
 
 XIII. 
 
 N ' details, and of expressing well whatever he 
 has to express. But there is a branch of his 
 education which must never be neglected ; it is 
 to insert into his mind some interest in all that 
 is going on around him. Other men may not 
 
 Extended be injured by narrowness of mind or I 
 
 sympathies 
 
 needed should rather say by narrowness of purpose 
 for narrowness of mind must be a great 
 detriment to any man who is bounded by it. 
 But, in so far as it may produce a certain 
 fixedness of purpose, and concentration of 
 effort in one direction, it may have some 
 value in rendering its possessor successful in 
 his particular calling, if that be one of a 
 limited nature. Such, however, is not the 
 And calling of a statesman, which requires ex- 
 cultivated, tended sympathies, varied knowledge, and a 
 certain catholicity of thought. To the man 
 whose business it is to rule, no knowledge 
 no information can come amiss any more 
 than to the poet or the man of letters. He 
 has hereafter to be a keen observer of all 
 that he may see, especially of all that has a 
 human interest. This will hardly be the case 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 141 
 
 unless, in youth, he is induced to take a keen CHAP. 
 
 J XIII. 
 
 interest in all the occupations and proceedings ' ' 
 of those that surround him. Now this general 
 interest in human affairs is a feeling which interest 
 
 in human 
 
 can be educed and enlarged by early training ; ^ rs ma y 
 and a skilful instructor, having to educate q uired - 
 those who are likely to become statesmen, 
 can insinuate, as it were, into the minds of 
 his pupils somewhat of that large-minded and 
 sympathetic interest in all that is going on 
 around them, which will be so valuable to 
 them in after life. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN 
 continued. 
 
 
 
 C xrv P ' r I ^HE education of a statesman should 
 
 never end. This indeed may be said 
 
 Education of any other man ; but the maxim peculiarly 
 
 should * 
 
 never end. applies to statesmen, who have continually to 
 cultivate a very difficult branch of self-educa- 
 tion, namely, that of educating themselves in 
 the knowledge of what those whom they guide 
 and govern are thinking, hoping, expecting, 
 and wishing for. It is a strange thing to say, 
 but statesmen are, for the most part, peculi- 
 arly unfortunate as regards the company they 
 keep unfortunate, I mean with a view to 
 gain this requisite knowledge respecting their 
 
 statesmen own people. In reality their lives are much 
 
 too much 
 
 isolated, more isolated than would at first sight appear. 
 They see a great deal of their colleagues, 
 their private secretaries, and their official 
 subordinates ; and they occasionally have to 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 143 
 
 meet large numbers of their fellow-citizens at CHAP. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 public meetings. But all the knowledge they 
 thus gain is stamped with an official charac- Their 
 
 . r i i knowledge 
 
 ter. 1 here is a vast amount of other know- mostly 
 ledge, respecting the thoughts and wishes of 
 their fellow-countrymen, which these states- 
 men are peculiarly ill-placed for obtaining. 
 It is true that they read the newspapers. 
 There is, however, a large field of thought 
 which is not to be found even in the news- 
 papers. It is a common belief, often ex- 
 pressed very cynically, that the people of this 
 and other countries are entirely guided by 
 the public press, and that each man does but 
 talk his favourite newspaper. This is a total People not 
 delusion, as anybody may verify for himself, guided by 
 who will take the trouble to watch the con- 
 versation which takes place in public convey- 
 ances. There is hardly any man of ordinary 
 intelligence, who will be bound down by what 
 his newspaper says ; and you may frequently 
 observe, that a newspaper article is discussed 
 in one of these public conveyances, and is AS proved 
 
 , . , . . ... by conver- 
 
 subjected to very searching criticism, and sationin 
 
 ,. T r ! public con- 
 
 very direct oppugnancy. In fact, as civiliza- veyances. 
 
144 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, tion has advanced, the great mass of the 
 
 & 1 V . 
 
 ' ' world has become much more critical ; and, 
 
 at any rate, in what is called the Anglo-Saxon 
 
 Anglo- race, there is an immense amount of indivi- 
 
 race very duality of opinion. At the moment at which 
 
 critica1 ' T i i r r 
 
 I am writing, the subject of army reform is 
 prominently in the minds of my fellow-country- 
 men. I have listened to discussions on this 
 subject in railway carriages, which it would 
 have been very desirable for any statesman 
 to hear. 
 And much It is moreover to be recollected, that we 
 
 given to 
 
 tra--ei. and our American relations, are the people 
 who indulge most in travelling ; and we are 
 too intelligent a people not to have made 
 many shrewd observations upon the conduct 
 of other nations, whom we have visited. 
 Again, as regards ourselves, we have vast 
 colonial possessions ; and so extensive has been 
 our employment in those colonies, and perhaps 
 I should say, in those empires which are sub- 
 
 Advan- ject to us, that you will hardly find yourself 
 
 tages of r . . - 
 
 this habit, in a company of eight or ten people, brought 
 by chance together, in which there will not 
 be one or more persons who can give you, 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 145 
 
 from his own personal experience, interesting CHAP. 
 
 XIV 
 
 facts relating to India, or to Australia, or to - ^~- 
 the West India islands. 
 
 Facts, such as these, statesmen ought to be More than 
 
 11 i T T^I ordinary 
 
 able to get at and to verify. I hey want to informa- 
 
 i i 1 tion re- 
 
 knOW, or at least they ought to want to know, quired, 
 
 much more than the ordinary class of political 
 facts. 
 
 This knowledge is not to be acquired at 
 public meetings. It is astonishing what men 
 will assent to, in large assemblages of their Public 
 
 meetings. 
 
 fellow-men, when carried away by the excite- 
 ment of the moment ; and how erroneously 
 their opinions may be represented, if deduced 
 only from what takes place at public meetings. 
 A statesman wants to know what are the real 
 feelings of the people he guides and governs. 
 This knowledge can only be obtained by 
 much and intimate converse with the people : intimate 
 
 converse 
 
 and if a statesman cannot obtain this for with the 
 
 people 
 
 himself, (and indeed it is a very difficult matter needed. 
 for him, with his pressing occupations,) he 
 should aim at doing so through other trust- 
 worthy persons. 
 
 I doubt much whether the condition of 
 
146 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CHAP, large numbers of the lower classes of this 
 ' ' country is intimately known to many states- 
 men. Yet this, as all will admit, is a kind of 
 Condition knowledge that demands to be known by 
 
 of lower 
 
 classes statesmen. There was a tax proposed, some 
 known. time ago, which, however much it was ridiculed, 
 had a great deal to recommend it. It was 
 condemned mainly by the appearance, in the 
 streets, of those persons who were likely to 
 be injured by the imposition of this tax. 
 Now when people blame and ridicule the 
 proposer of this tax, may I ask them, and 
 especially the statesmen among them, whether 
 they had any adequate idea of the condition 
 of those miserable persons who were to be 
 the first to bear the injury to employment 
 that would, or might be, created by the im- 
 position of that tax ? 
 Popular I would carefully guard myself from being 
 
 ideas not , ... 111 
 
 always to supposed to maintain, that a statesman should 
 out. look upon himself as bound to carry out the 
 
 wishes of the people, when he has ascertained 
 them. In general it will be found, that with 
 the utmost research he will only be able to 
 ascertain the views and wishes of certain 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 147 
 
 sections of the people. He has also to con- 
 sider imperial interests ; and it may be his 
 duty, as possessing a wider survey, to oppose imperial 
 
 interests 
 
 the wishes not only of large classes of his being pa- 
 ramount. 
 fellow-countrymen, but even of the whole 
 
 Country at large. 
 
 Still, it is of the utmost advantage for a 
 statesman to make himself thoroughly master 
 of the views and wishes of any one class. Know- 
 As I have been desirous, throughout this class 
 
 views 
 
 work, of giving individual examples, with, 
 regard to the general propositions which I 
 may lay down, I will give an instance in 
 point. 
 
 Many years ago, it was determined, by the 
 government of the day, to bring in a measure 
 to amend and consolidate all the Acts relating 
 to an important branch of taxation. The A case in 
 
 point. 
 
 Minister, who was to have charge of the 
 measure, was well aware that he had very 
 little personal experience of the troubles, 
 vexations, and inequalities caused by the 
 incidence of this branch of taxation. He 
 took occasion to declare, in the most public 
 manner, that he wished for information on 
 
 L2 
 
148 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 C xiv P ' 
 
 Result. 
 
 su kJ ect ' an d> on tne P art f tne Govern- 
 ment, he invited communications by letter, 
 from all persons in the kingdom, who had 
 peculiar knowledge or experience of this 
 much-entangled matter. He was one of 
 those men who have the good sense to know 
 that, in such a position as his, he could not 
 do everything for himself, but must make 
 great use of his subordinates. He appointed 
 one person, a secretary in his Department, to 
 deal with the whole of this correspondence, 
 desiring the secretary to furnish him with a 
 complete report of the whole matter. 
 
 The letters poured in by hundreds. At 
 first the mass was bewildering ; but gradually, 
 after abstracting and studying a great number 
 of these communications, (which sometimes, 
 by the way, required further correspondence 
 and interviews,) the secretary was enabled to 
 lay before his chief such a digest, as showed 
 where needless pressure and inconvenience 
 were occasioned by that branch of taxation, 
 as it was then imposed or collected ; also to 
 show where it could be made most fruitful, 
 with the least inconvenience and irritation to 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 149 
 
 the public ; and, in short, to get at the ruling CHAP. 
 
 .X.1 V 
 
 principles of the whole matter. ' ' 
 
 A Bill was framed accordingly, which was Working 
 most successful, and which endured in full 
 force for many years without any complaints 
 against its manifold prohibitions. By this 
 instance I very much desire to show, by 
 reference to a transaction of which I had 
 
 personal knowledge, how much advantage is Public ad- 
 
 vantage. 
 to be gained by large communication with 
 
 the public in the preparation of any measure 
 which greatly affects their interests. 
 
 It is also an instance of how a statesman Mode of 
 
 dealing 
 
 should execute certain kinds of work. There with 
 
 things 
 
 is no point in which the continuous education 
 of a grown-up statesman an education he 
 must provide for himself is more surely 
 manifested, than in the way in which, as he 
 grows older and wiser, he superintends rather as a states- 
 
 . i * .j . * i man grows 
 
 than works out matters in detail; judges and 
 
 controls, rather than elaborates ; and, in short, 
 learns to make the amplest use of his subor- 
 dinates. 
 
 A statesman, who is admitted by all parties 
 to have been one of the best administrators 
 
150 THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 
 
 CH^P. of a great Department whom this country 
 
 * ' has ever possessed, told me, that days, and 
 
 even weeks, sometimes passed without his 
 
 A minis- ever writing a line himself. He was, never- 
 
 ter's ex- 
 perience, theless, one of the most industrious of men ; 
 
 and he added : * I am all .day long engaged 
 in seeing what other people are doing and can 
 do.' Now that man had gone far to attain, in 
 this respect, the self-education, which I would 
 insist upon as pre-eminently requisite for a 
 statesman. One of the great arts of all per- 
 sons placed in authority is, to multiply them- 
 selves, as it were, by a judicious and trustful 
 employment of other men's intelligence and 
 abilities. 
 Work Lastly, in reference to the subject of this 
 
 should be . . 
 
 thorough, chapter, it may not be amiss to suggest to 
 statesmen, that, of all people in the world, they 
 are those who will find their greatest reward 
 in doing their work thoroughly. To do that 
 work thoroughly, it is especially requisite 
 that they should not undertake too much. 
 
 andju- It may be a commonplace remark to make 
 
 diciously "... 
 
 limited. but observe wherein lies the success of the 
 most successful men in every condition of 
 
THE EDUCATION OF A STATESMAN. 151 
 
 life. It results more from the limitation of CHAP. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 their efforts, than from almost anything ' ** 
 else. The truth of this maxim is to be 
 
 observed in the Arts, in Commerce, in Lite- The max- 
 im general. 
 
 rature, in Science ; and it is not less true in 
 statesmanship. To follow up this maxim 
 requires great courage ; but it is a courage 
 that meets with almost instantaneous reward. 
 Let a statesman only have the courage to 
 say, ' I 'will not deal with this proposed mea- 
 sure now. The world is full of grievances. Grievances 
 
 to be dealt 
 
 They must, however, be dealt with one by with 
 
 i 11 r 
 
 one ; and no semblance of pretentious states- 
 manship shall make me depart from my resolve 
 to deal with these grievances individually, but 
 forcibly, rather than to give an ineffective 
 acknowledgment, by some imperfect measures, 
 of all the grievances which may be brought 
 before me/ 
 
 The multiplicity of the measures which, in 
 weak moments, a statesman has consented to 
 introduce, has often been the cause which has 
 ruined his reputation as a statesman. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ON IMPROVEMENT, IN CONTRAS7 WITH 
 REFORM. 
 
 CHAP. T T is a sad thing to say, but no less true 
 -i ' A than sad, that one can seldom succeed, as 
 an author, in putting forward in the strongest 
 and best manner that which one cares for 
 most When the great actor produces the 
 most impression upon his audience, it is not 
 because, at the moment, he has the most 
 sympathy with his part. The intensity of 
 feeling has, perhaps, long gone by ; and what 
 moves them most is the result of high art, 
 that has, to some extent, dissociated itself 
 from the original feeling which was not ade- 
 quately expressed at the time when it was 
 first and most deeply felt. An author has no 
 such chance of improving, by repetition, his 
 expression of what he feels; and often that 
 which he is most deeply anxious to impress 
 
IMPROVEMENT IN CONTRAST WITH REFORM. 153 
 
 upon his readers, he fails in expressing, from CHAP. 
 his profound care for the subject 
 
 I feel this in entering upon the considera- 
 tion of the subject of the present chapter ; for 
 I greatly fear that I may not be able to convey 
 adequately to the reader my sense of its high 
 importance. 
 
 One of the great evils attendant upon poli- Political 
 
 ambition 
 
 tical life is, that it is connected so closely with an evil, 
 ambition, and with the love of fame. And 
 yet in politics some of the most useful, if not 
 the greatest achievements which remain to be 
 accomplished, will not gratify ambition, nor 
 ensure fame. These achievements lie in the 
 way of improvement. How rarely men are 
 contented with mere improvement in political 
 affairs may be inferred from the names which 
 political parties have received, or have as- 
 sumed. We hear of Whigs, Tories, Conser- 
 vatives, Reformers, and Destructives. In Party 
 
 names. 
 
 America, too, the names for political parties, 
 however strange and varied, are never such as 
 show that the partisans condescend to limit 
 themselves to anything so humble as mere im- 
 provement The word Reformer approaches 
 
154 ON IMPROVEMENT, 
 
 CHAP, most nearly to that of Improver, but yet is 
 ' ' essentially different, as it implies reconstruc- 
 tion. Whereas, to carry out the greatest 
 improvement, there is frequently not the 
 slightest necessity to change the form of things. 
 It would, perhaps, surprise the world to 
 Lar s e find how much could be done, and done with 
 
 scope for 
 
 improvers, comparative ease, in the way. of improvement, 
 which is now left to be done in the way 
 of reform. There are, for instance, scores of 
 Acts of Parliament now inoperative, or only 
 partially operative, that might be rendered 
 largely effectual by slight alterations and ex- 
 tensions. For example, an Act has been 
 passed providing some remedy for some evil 
 in a town, probably of a sanitary kind. As 
 population has become more dense in the 
 suburbs of that town, the evil in question 
 has extended to them, and the remedy ought 
 also to be extended. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, no one thinks it worth his while to 
 attack, by means of legislation, this new evil. 
 There is neither name nor fame to be gained 
 by such a humble, though most useful, under- 
 taking. It is merely making the most, and 
 
IN CONTRAST WITH REFORM. 155 
 
 the best, of another man's previous work ; CHAP . 
 
 xv 
 and each man proposes to himself to do some- ' " 
 
 thing larger and better than that, if he have 
 the capability of doing anything. 
 
 The principal cause of this misplaced Cause of 
 
 misplaced 
 
 ambition is, that in all our schemes of action, ambition. 
 we take such delight in beginning anew in 
 imagining for ourselves a tabula rasa in any 
 branch of human affairs that we wish to 
 meddle with ; and we think, that it will be 
 so pleasant to inscribe, as it were, upon blank 
 leaves whatever we desire to indite. The 
 misfortune, however, is, that there remains 
 hardly anything in human life which can be 
 begun again, in this trenchant manner. As 
 an example, it may be noticed that several 
 socialistic schemes, for equalising conditions, 
 would require a total demolition of most of 
 the buildings which are at present on the 
 earth. Now these buildings represent the 
 work of ages ; and the humble improver 
 does not by any means desire to demolish 
 them. 
 
 To convince a statesman of what good 
 might be done by the improvement of that 
 
156 ON IMPRO VEMENT, 
 
 CHAP, which already exists, I have sometimes thought 
 
 ' that if one could persuade him to take a 
 
 walk with one in London, and its suburbs, or 
 
 in any other thickly populated town, what 
 
 Need of opportunities one might show him for im- 
 
 improve- 
 
 ment in provement of the kind that I mean, both in 
 
 London. 
 
 legislation and in administrative action. 
 
 There are huge factories rising up on the 
 banks of rivers, the refuse of which will, for 
 certain, whether openly or furtively, be shot 
 down into the stream, and will thereby in- 
 evitably cause great mischief to all those who 
 dwell on its banks and have to drink of its 
 waters. This statesman would see portions 
 of land about to be occupied by mean and 
 unhealthy dwellings, which land ought to be 
 under the control of the government for the 
 public good. He would see volumes of 
 smoke issuing from factories, and begriming 
 great public buildings for which he has con- 
 sented that the nation should pay large sums 
 of money ; and it might be suggested to him, 
 that this smoke, though one of the greatest 
 evils of modern civilization, is at the same 
 time one of the most easily preventable One 
 
IN CONTRAST WITH REFORM. 157 
 
 might then take him into the most densely CHAP. 
 
 populated parts of the town ; and show him ' 
 
 how absolutely abominable are all the primary 
 arrangements for habitation, which have to be 
 endured by thousands, and tens of thousands, 
 of his poorer fellow-countrymen. The re- Remedies 
 medies for these evils need not be sought for reach of 
 in forms of legislation, which will encounter 
 much opposition by evoking political passions 
 or prejudices. They lie within the placid realm 
 of the improver. 
 
 I do not undervalue the great political 
 measures which remove political disabilities, 
 and are framed with a view to making large improve- 
 
 ' mentvery 
 
 masses of our fellow-countrymen more con- desirable. 
 tented with imperial rule. But it is improve- 
 ment in those minor matters before enu- 
 merated, which will make life more comely, 
 and which will create good citizens as well as 
 good men. 
 
 There are, at this moment, vast schemes for Schemes 
 
 brought 
 
 change and reform, brought forward by men forward. 
 who have, as yet, but little political standing 
 or political weight in the State. Without 
 undervaluing the labours of these men, or 
 
158 ON IMPRO VEMENT, 
 
 CHAP, depreciating the objects they have in view, 
 
 .X. V 
 
 * ^ ' one can hardly doubt, that practised states- 
 men look upon these outsiders somewhat 
 as quacks, while they consider themselves 
 to be the regular practitioners. But let 
 statesmen take this fact to heart ; that it 
 is only from their failures, that these men, 
 whom perhaps they affect to despise, derive 
 their chief influence ; and I contend that these 
 failures are mainly to be attributed to the 
 negligence of statesmen, in improving the 
 condition of the poorer classes by measures, 
 not of great political, but of immense social 
 urgency. 
 
 wherein The statesmen of almost every Country 
 
 lies the 
 
 strength of might afford to despise the efforts of the most 
 
 democratic 
 
 agitation, democratic agitators, if the welfare of the 
 common people, in what are regarded as com- 
 paratively minor matters, had been sufficiently 
 attended to. That man is seldom inclined 
 to be clamorously destructive, who has a 
 comfortable home, and who finds that the 
 legislation of his country is directed, not 
 merely to the redress of political grievances, 
 
IN CONTRAST WITH REFORM. I 59 
 
 but concerns itself with all that can free his CHAP. 
 
 XV 
 
 condition from whatever is ignoble, unhealthy, ' ' 
 
 and unbecoming. 
 
 If these minor improvements, when tried, 
 had been found to fail if experience had 
 proved that men whose homes had been made 
 more comfortable, and whose well-being had 
 been looked after in every way by their 
 superiors, had still continued to be agitators, 
 or the prey of agitators we might conclude 
 that that was not the way to satisfy mankind. 
 'But the experiment has been tried and proved 
 
 to be successful. Wherever, and whenever a wise be- 
 nevolence 
 great manufacturer, or other large employer of some 
 
 employers. 
 
 of labour, has had somewhat of the spirit of 
 the true statesman in him, and has striven to 
 create a happy and contented population in 
 the neighbourhood of his works, he has 
 uniformly, as far as my knowledge goes, 
 succeeded in doing so. Now, if statesmen 
 would place a similar object in view, for the 
 whole of the labouring population, they also 
 might meet with similar success. And the 
 means by which they might attain that 
 
1 60 IMPR VEMENT IN CONTRA ST WITH REFORM. 
 
 CHAP, success lie rather in the way of improving 
 ' "" the legislation that has already been begun 
 with that view, than in bringing forward great 
 measures of political or social change. 
 
 I am by no means anxious to contend that 
 there are not many subjects for political 
 action, which need the reformer in preference 
 to the improver. But I maintain, that an 
 enormous field of mere improvement lies be- 
 immense fore those who would have the modesty to 
 
 field for 
 
 the im- limit their political action to improvement. 
 
 prover. 
 
 That * last infirmity of noble minds/ the desire 
 for fame, which, however, I would character- 
 ise as the first infirmity of minds ignoble as 
 well as noble, has, in no branch of human life, 
 effected more mischief than in politics. I 
 haVe scarcely a hope of increasing the num- 
 ber of improvers ; but I think that they might 
 be consoled for the want of fame attendant 
 upon their labours, by their fully appreciating 
 what an extensive sphere of usefulness lies 
 before them. 
 
CHAP. 
 XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 WANT OF TIME FOR STATESMANSHIP. 
 
 r~P|HIS want of time is one of the most 
 -*- serious evils .affecting the government 
 of this country; an evil which is steadily in- 
 creasing. No sooner does a man attain to any Time of 
 
 . ministers 
 
 eminence, in whatever calling it may be, than needlessly 
 he is forthwith molested by constant demands ed upon ; 
 upon the time, which should be reserved to 
 maintain that eminence, and to make it useful 
 to the world. It must be noted too, that these 
 demands are made mostly in matters which 
 are extraneous to the calling, in which the 
 unfortunate man has arrived at distinction. 
 
 It would be well, if it were only his time 
 which is thus unreasonably encroached upon, and their 
 
 T r 11111 -i energies 
 
 But we are often deluded by vague ideas weakened, 
 about that word time. It is energy which is 
 thus lowered and absorbed. People forget, 
 that the energy of their fellow-men is a 
 
 M 
 
1 62 THE WANT OF TIME 
 
 CHAP, limited quantity, and that a certain amount of 
 ' ' energy is exhausted, even by that which may 
 
 appear to be but a small demand upon time. 
 Moreover, and this is a most important 
 
 consideration, when frequent demands are 
 
 by small made upon the time of any great man, in re- 
 matters 
 intruded gard to small matters, which ought never to 
 
 upon 
 
 them. have keen brought before him at all, he is apt 
 to be satisfied with the exertions which he 
 has made in reference to these small matters, 
 and to put aside those things, which require 
 severe and continuous thought. 
 
 instance I shall here refer to a fact which, I believe, 
 
 in point. 
 
 I have mentioned elsewhere ; but which may 
 serve to convey, to any reader who has not 
 much experience of official life, what pressure 
 is put, in this respect, upon the foremost 
 statesmen of the day. Going into the office 
 of one of these statesmen, early one morning, 
 I found his private secretary packing up the 
 letters, that had arrived for the Minister by 
 that morning's post. This Minister, whose 
 enforced absence from official life we have 
 now to deplore, was then failing in health, 
 and had gone, for a day or two, into the 
 
FOR STATESMANSHIP. 163 
 
 country, to obtain some rest I remarked to CHAP. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 the secretary, that it was a large batch of ' - ' 
 letters. * Yes/ he replied, * I had the curiosity 
 to count them ; there are a hundred and private 
 eight These are only the private letters ^*fof. 
 that have arrived this morning. The official 
 letters are first opened, and seen by us in the 
 office. Then there will be another batch of 
 private, as well as of public letters, to be for- 
 warded in the afternoon. 1 
 
 Now, it is very well to say that a large 
 proportion of these letters were, doubtless, of 
 a comparatively insignificant character ; and 
 that they might have been disposed of in a 
 few words of direction, and without much 
 expenditure of thought But the number Their 
 
 TVT 11 i. ill-effect 
 
 tells. No man deals, even in the most per- 
 functory manner, with a hundred and eight 
 letters, without undergoing considerable exer- 
 tion of mind. There are sure to be, amongst 
 them, letters from colleagues, from subor 
 di nates, from political or personal friends, 
 which will require careful answering. 
 
 I have illustrated above only one branch 
 of the subject If the Minister had been in 
 
 M2 
 
1 64 THE WANT OF TIME 
 
 CHAP, town, there would have been a constant suc- 
 
 XVI 
 
 " ' cession of visitors, perhaps of deputations 
 requiring interviews ; and, considering the 
 responsible position of a Minister, each of 
 these interviews would oblige him to be upon 
 his guard, and would require a certain tension 
 
 statesmen of the mind. Statesmen are, for the most 
 
 hardened 
 
 to labour, part, hardened to labour, before they rise to 
 any eminence, otherwise their health would 
 almost certainly break down at an early 
 period after their taking high office. 
 
 It is not, however, their health that I am 
 now considering, but their time and their 
 energy. I have forborne dwelling upon the 
 large amount of time, and, occasionally, of 
 energy which is consumed, often very fruit- 
 Ministers lessly, in the attendance of Ministers in Par- 
 
 in Parlia- ,. 
 
 ment . hament. 
 
 After this partial insight into a Minister's 
 daily life, is it to be wondered at, if, except 
 in rare instances, he does not give that 
 minute, continuous and patient consideration 
 to the preparation of great measures, which 
 they imperatively require ? 
 
 But this is not the whole of the evil. There 
 
FOR STATESMANSHIP. 105 
 
 is great danger, that a man so occupied, will CHAP. 
 not be able to give the requisite attention to ' - - 
 
 the current work of his Office. And, after Adminis- 
 tration as 
 all, careful administration is a duty incum- important 
 
 as legisla- 
 
 bent on a Minister, of quite as important a tion - 
 nature as judicious legislation. 
 
 It is very desirable, that men, holding the 
 highest offices in the State, should, whatever 
 other labours they may undertake, reserve 
 sufficient time for the duties of administration. 
 The Office should not be sacrificed, as it were, Depart- 
 
 T^I i- -11 i i mentsnot 
 
 to Parliament : still less to any other claims to be 
 
 sacrificed 
 
 which may be made upon the Minister's time to Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 and attention. 
 
 I believe, that if the chief permanent 
 officers of the British Government were 
 called together, and were asked, what it is 
 they most desire, they would say, even in 
 preference to their official salaries being 
 raised, that what they most wish is, that more More time 
 
 needed for 
 
 time should be given to them by their Par- office 
 
 work. 
 
 liamentary chiefs. No amount of ability, not 
 even of that special ability which consists in 
 rapid seizing of the points of a case, makes 
 up for this deficiency of time. For my own 
 
1 66 THE WANT OF TIME 
 
 CHAP, part, I have often said that, in submitting a 
 ' difficult matter for decision, I would rather 
 have twenty minutes with a man, not, per- 
 haps, of the highest ability, than ten minutes 
 only with a man of supreme ability. 
 Time This view may be illustrated by what hap- 
 
 needed to 
 
 master pens when any suit is brought into Court. 
 We are often told, and justly, that we, who 
 have not been present in Court, cannot 
 thoroughly judge of the case. There is some- 
 thing of the same kind in all cases, whether 
 legal or official. 1 1 will not always do to present 
 an abstract of a document. Often it should 
 be read through, by the man who has to give 
 a final decision upon the case to which it 
 refers. Few people, especially in an age in 
 which there is a great aversion to respon- 
 sibility, convey directly their full thought upon 
 any great matter they write about ; but 
 something, if not much, is left to be inferred. 
 And the right inference can only be drawn, 
 by very careful attention to the wording of the 
 document itself. 
 
 Before concluding this part of the subject, 
 I must observe, as I believe I have previously 
 
FOR STATESMANSHIP. 167 
 
 observed, that in the best permanent officials, CHAP. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 there is always a great desire to be in perfect ' ' 
 accord with their chiefs. These permanent and to 
 officers are well aware that their duty is subordi- 
 
 . nates tho- 
 
 merely to carry out exactly the views and roughly. 
 wishes of those chiefs ; and, when they fail to 
 do so, it is, in nine instances out of ten, from 
 having imperfectly gathered, (by reason of the 
 shortness of the interview,) the views of their 
 superiors, and not from indulging in any 
 crotchets of their own. 
 
 We have seen something of the nature of A 
 a Minister's work during the Session, and holidays 
 while he is administering his Department ; 
 but his holidays are often very joyless, cer- often very 
 tainly very peaceless, when compared with 
 those of other men. The British people keep 
 their < chief statesmen well in public view, at 
 all times. And, unless a Minister quits the 
 country, which he is seldom able to do, his 
 vacation is frequently as full of work, as other 
 men's busiest time. 
 
 It is always an ungrateful task to comment Remedies 
 
 . proposed. 
 
 upon an evil, without suggesting any reme- 
 
1 68 THE WANT OF TIME 
 
 CHAP, dies for it. In this matter I have three reme- 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ' ' dies to propose. 
 
 The first, and greatest, is one which can 
 only succeed if it meet with a just appreci- 
 ation on the part of the public, to whose 
 considerateness I would appeal. 
 
 It is, that people in general should exercise 
 great forbearance, as regards taking up the 
 time of Ministers, by communications which 
 need not be addressed to them. I am sure, 
 if it were only from pity, the public would be 
 more careful than they are in this matter, 
 
 Unneces- could they but know how constant and severe 
 
 sary com- 
 
 munka- is the necessary pressure upon the time and 
 attention of those men who have to conduct 
 the affairs of this great and growing Empire. 
 The second remedy which I propose, can 
 only be made effectual, if it is fully appre- 
 ciated, and generously acted up to, by Mem- 
 bers of Parliament. 
 
 Number It is, that, as regards Parliamentary work, 
 iunsfasiced there should be more consideration for Minis- 
 
 in Parlia- , . ,-p,., , 
 
 ment. ters, than there is at present. I he number 
 of questions asked in Parliament, in the 
 present day, is most unreasonable. A man 
 
FOR STATESMANSHIP. 169 
 
 whose experience of Parliamentary proceed- CHAP. 
 ings is of very long standing, was asked, in v - < ' 
 my presence, whether Pitt was careful and 
 elaborate in answering questions in the House 
 of Commons. ' Yes/ was the reply, ' he was ; 
 but then, you know, questions in Parliament 
 were rare things ; never more than three or 
 four at a sitting/ 
 
 There are other matters, also, in which 
 a Minister's time and attention might be 
 spared. In the conduct of a Bill of many Conduct 
 
 of a Bill in 
 
 clauses through Committee, there is often 
 great waste of a Minister's time, by the at- 
 tempt, on the part of persons who have not 
 really studied the Bill, to introduce amend- 
 ments and interpolations, which go far to 
 destroy the Bill as a whole. This practice 
 calls upon the Minister to exercise the utmost 
 dexterity, to prevent his Bill from becoming 
 an inconsistent mass of crude legislation. 
 
 My third remedy is purely- of an official 
 character, and can be applied by Ministers 
 themselves, if they should coincide with me 
 in thinking, that it is worth while to take 
 some pains in doing so. 
 
 ment. 
 
I 70 WANT OF TIME FOR STATESMANSHIP. 
 
 CHAP. It is to provide, in every Department, some 
 
 <X. V 1, 
 
 1 """ person, or persons, who shall not be absorbed 
 by the current business of the Department 
 who should not be concerned so much with 
 what is being done, as with what should be 
 done, and with what should be provided for 
 in the future. This is the person with whom 
 the Minister should have much converse 
 during that period of time which is facetiously 
 called his holidays. This third remedy is, 
 to a certain extent, a new proposal. But it 
 must be remembered, that as the nation 
 rapidly increases in numbers, and as civili- 
 zation advances, more and more subjects of 
 interest, requiring either government inter- 
 ference or government abstinence, have to 
 be considered ; and that our chief public 
 servants have need of every aid that can 
 be given them, to meet the ever-increasing 
 demand upon their time and upon their 
 energies. 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 
 
 T would be ridiculous to suppose, that a CHAP. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 free press will not have great power in 
 whatever country it may exist, or under p ow er 
 whatever government. This power will be Press. 
 due, not only to the skill which the press 
 may show in advocacy, but also to the fact, 
 that it has, in general, the opportunity of 
 commencing the discussion of great political 
 affairs, thereby anticipating the views and 
 intentions of the Government and the Op- 
 position, and, in short, of gaining the public 
 ear in the first instance. If any part of the Alliance 
 
 with 
 
 press enters into close alliance with any great political 
 
 parties. 
 
 political party, that part of the press loses 
 much of its influence ; for the public desires 
 the press to represent its views and wishes, 
 and does not delight in manifest advocacy 
 on behalf of political parties. 
 
172 GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 
 
 CHAP. Such a power, as that of the press, can- 
 
 XVII. 
 
 ' not be ignored ; at least it would be senseless 
 
 on the part of any government to ignore it. 
 Relations Then comes the question, as to what 
 press and should be the relations between the press and 
 
 govern- 
 
 ment. government. Before all things, these rela- 
 tions should not be slavish on either side. 
 They should, if possible, be friendly ; and, at 
 any rate, should be just By 'just,' I mean, 
 that communications from government, upon 
 matters respecting which the public may fairly 
 claim early information, should be imparted 
 simultaneously to all the principal organs of 
 the press. 
 
 Motives It would, also, be very desirable, I think, 
 
 sometimes t */ i 
 
 to be com- that not merely information, but the mo- 
 
 municated 
 
 to the tives for action on the part of government, 
 
 press. 
 
 should, on some occasions, be communicated 
 to the leading newspapers. This may, at 
 first sight, appear to be an undignified mode 
 of proceeding, but it would often prevent 
 error, and obviate misunderstanding. The 
 press, not knowing what are the motives 
 which influence government in regard to 
 any course which government proposes to 
 
GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 173 - 
 
 take, begins to write upon the subject with CHAP. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 very imperfect knowledge ; and then, having ' 
 once taken up a line of argument, continues 
 to support that line for the sake of consist- 
 ency, and somewhat in the spirit of partizan- 
 ship. 
 
 The advantage of making such communi- Such in- 
 formation 
 
 cations as are here proposed to be made, will, should ** 
 doubtless, be greatest in those affairs (and they 
 are many) which are not, or, at least ought 
 not to be, connected with party feeling. When 
 government is resolved to take, or is in- 
 clined to take action in respect to some 
 matter of a complicated nature, not involving 
 great political questions, nor perhaps indeed 
 any political questions at all, there would, in 
 my judgment, be a great advantage in allow- 
 ing the press to be very fully informed by 
 Ministers as to the motives for that action. 
 There is one point, relating to this subject, int 
 
 tual power 
 
 which requires to be fully considered, and of a De- 
 partment 
 
 which is very rarely considered at all. It 
 has regard to the relative intellectual power, 
 at the command of any particular Department 
 of government, and at the command of the 
 
174 GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 
 
 CHAP, press. Most people never know, or if they 
 
 ^x \ 1 1, 
 
 "~ f ~~ ' do know are apt to forget, what is the intel- 
 lectual power at the service of any Department 
 of the State. A Department consists, for the 
 most part, of a high political officer, in one or 
 the other of the Houses of Parliament. To 
 aid him there is a political Under-Secretary, 
 a permanent Under-Secretary, a chief clerk, 
 and, perhaps, four or five senior clerks. As 
 a general rule, all of these men are men of 
 ability, at least of an ability above the ave- 
 rage. Moreover, they have the advantage 
 of a large command of information ; but they 
 are very busy men, and they have very little 
 time to spare for defending what they do. 
 
 Literary On the other hand, the press has the means 
 
 power of 
 
 the press, of engaging in its service the cleverest writers 
 of the day ; and it can change them from time 
 to time. The power, therefore, that it has 
 of bringing into the field good argument, 
 expressed in good language, in hostility to 
 any Department, is very great ; and is some- 
 times absolutely oppressive. 
 
 It is also to be borne in mind, that men in 
 office are under great restraint. It is not 
 
GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 175 
 
 allowed to them to give explanations, except CHAP. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 at the time, and in the place, when and ' ' 
 where, as it is supposed, it is fitting to give 
 such explanations. 
 
 I do not think I have exaggerated these 
 relative conditions of power, which at times 
 are very adverse to government Depart- 
 ments ; they seem to me to point to three 
 conclusions. 
 
 First : That the public, keeping in mind Public 
 
 should 
 
 that the government Office, which is subject reserve 
 
 opinion. 
 
 to hostile criticism, may have a great deal to 
 say for itself, but which it cannot say or 
 cannot say it then and there should en- 
 deavour to reserve its final opinion on the 
 matter in question, whatever that may be. 
 
 Secondly : That the press, keeping in mind Advan- 
 tages of 
 the advantage which it has over the govern- the press 
 
 not to 
 
 ment Office, in regard to the conditions before be used 
 
 ungene- 
 
 mentioned, should endeavour not to employ rousl y- 
 that advantage ungenerously. 
 
 Thirdly : That the government Office, informa- 
 tion to be 
 when it can with propriety do so, should dis- 
 
 close, at an early date, those facts, motives, 
 and objects, respecting which it feels, that if 
 
176 GOVERNMENT AND THE PRESS. 
 
 CHAP, the public knew all, the public would probably 
 
 .X. V 11. 
 
 ' r ~~ be on its side. 
 
 Of course this could not be done in any 
 government where the proceedings are of a 
 sinister kind ; but the Government of this 
 country is so honestly administered, and with 
 so much care for the public welfare, that it 
 could often afford to act in this open and 
 candid manner. 
 
 Public It has been said, and said truly, that the 
 
 working ... . 
 
 of the working of government in this country is 
 
 British 
 
 govern- like that of bees in a glass hive. There are 
 
 ment 
 
 certain disadvantages in this mode of work- 
 ing ; but in a free country, with a free press, 
 I do not see how they are to be obviated. 
 All I would desire is, that the glass should 
 not be coloured or stained, or, in less meta- 
 phorical language, that from the first there 
 should be the least opportunity given for mis- 
 understanding, and misrepresenting the wishes 
 and intentions of any government Depart- 
 ment 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 T is a favourite maxim with many of the CHAP. 
 
 - , , XVIII. 
 
 governing persons oi the day, and notably ' r- 
 with economical reformers, that ' you must not 
 be generous with other people's money/ 
 
 That I deny. When you are in an office Gene- 
 
 rosity. 
 
 of great trust, and have to deal with other 
 people's money, it is your business to try to 
 deal with it as though it were your own ; and 
 the highest functions of your trust may, in 
 the interest of those for whom you have to 
 act, compel you to be generous. In fact, if 
 you are not generous with their money, you 
 are often doing them a great injustice and 
 a manifest dis-service. 
 
 An error of the kind alluded to has crept Lawyers' 
 
 advice. 
 
 into men's minds, and may be well exempli- 
 fied by the advice lawyers sometimes give to 
 their clients. How many lasting family feuds 
 N 
 
1 78 ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 have arisen, because a client has listened to 
 his lawyer, ignoring his own feelings ; and 
 all the while the lawyer has given advice qua 
 lawyer, and if he had not been advising a 
 client, if it had been purely his own affair, he 
 would have acted with a spirit of generosity, 
 which he now contends is not, for a moment, 
 to be listened to. 
 False I am in general much disinclined to indulge 
 
 economy 
 
 may in prophecy ; but, for once, I will break 
 
 cause a 
 
 great through the rule, and will venture to say that, 
 
 disaster, 
 
 I shall not be surprised if some small economy 
 should, on some great emergency, prove to 
 be a pregnant cause of disaster to the nation 
 in which that small economy has been prac- 
 tised, causing fatal detriment to some im- 
 portant national force. 
 yet ofte,n It is to be remembered, that all economy, 
 
 a very 
 
 plausible judicious or injudicious, is a wonderfully 
 
 thing. 
 
 plausible thing ; and, moreover, it has this 
 specious advantage, that it can be stated so 
 undeniably in black and white, as we say. 
 For example, the holder of an office dies. 
 The rigid economist, who has power in the 
 matter, sees that here is an opportunity for 
 effecting a saving to the public, as he calls 
 
ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 I 79 
 
 it. We will say, that the late holder of the CHAP. 
 
 xvm. 
 office, received 8oo/. a-year, and did good ser- * 
 
 vice for it The economist abolishes the office A case 
 altogether, throwing the duties of it upon some economy, 
 other holder of office, with a slight increase of 
 his salary. The public is saved, perhaps, 
 7oo/. a-year, according to the figures. But 
 (and I am not drawing upon my fancy for the 
 facts) the new duties are imposed upon a man 
 who, though intelligent and clever enough in 
 other respects, is wofully unfit to perform 
 these new functions. He is, for instance, well 
 versed in calculation, and has gained much 
 credit by the advice which he has given to 
 government upon matters of finance. He 
 is now to have by this addition to his duties, a 
 function to perform which requires, perhaps, 
 much knowledge of men, and much skill 
 in managing them. It is to be expected, 
 that he will fail in the performance of the 
 new duties, and thereby a pecuniary loss to 
 the public may be occasioned, in comparison 
 with which the saving that has been effected 
 by the abolition of the office is wholly incom- 
 mensurable. 
 
 N2 
 
l8o ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP. There is not anything which rewards the 
 
 .A. V J. 1 J.. 
 
 individual employer of labour better than 
 Trust in supreme trust in his agents. For once that 
 
 agents. 
 
 this trust is abused, it is used, nay it is made 
 remunerative, in a hundred instances. If you 
 do not trust your agents thoroughly, even in 
 matters of expense, you must organize a sys- 
 tem of checking, which is of itself expensive ; 
 and, what is much worse, is a hindrance that 
 tends to efface responsibility, and to prevent 
 rapidity of action. 
 Distrust As I am, however, dealing with the ques- 
 
 false 
 
 economy, tion of economy, pure and simple, it is, as 
 regards that question alone, that I maintain 
 that the economy, which is sought to be 
 obtained by a system of distrust, is likely to 
 result in increased expense. For example, 
 take any one of the great Offices of State. 
 If every item of their expenditure is to be 
 supervised by other Departments, there is 
 great expense in this supervision ; and there 
 is no impulse given to the heads of the office 
 to regard economy in their expenditure, as a 
 thing for which they are responsible, and for 
 effecting which they are to have the entire 
 
ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. l8l . 
 
 credit. If, on the other hand, they are in- CHAP. 
 
 xvui. 
 trusted, to a certain extent, with the control "~ - ' 
 
 of their own expenses, they are more likely to 
 have a pride in keeping those expenses within 
 due bounds, and at the same time they will 
 always have a great care not to impair the 
 efficiency of their respective offices, which is, 
 naturally, the first thing that a Department 
 looks to, and ought to look to. 
 
 No person, who has not had any expe- Ridiculous 
 rience of the effect of ridiculous supervision vision. 
 as regards small matters of expense in public 
 Offices, can imagine how much loss of valu- 
 able time, and increase of worry are occasioned 
 by this interference as for instance, when it 
 descends into such particulars (not imaginary) 
 as this Whether, in the opinion of one 
 office, a broom is sufficiently worn out by use 
 in another office to make it necessary that a 
 new broom should be provided. Moreover, 
 and this is no small point, men's dignity is 
 hurt by being obliged to deal with these 
 absurdly trivial questions ; and a man, per- 
 haps one in high authority, curses in his heart 
 the having taken service with an employer 
 
1 82 ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, who thinks fit to vex him, and take up his 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 ^- ^ ' time with questions of this nature. 
 
 True Hitherto we have been considering the 
 
 economy, . 
 
 errors of a false and spurious economy, but 
 there is a real and true economy, which the 
 public servants of our own, or any other 
 country, may be educated to regard as one of 
 their highest and best functions. 
 
 In private life, in works executed by the 
 agents of any large and wise employer of 
 labour, you will mostly find a devotion to 
 their master in matters of expense, which 
 makes them more careful and saving of his 
 a result money than he is himself. That man has 
 
 of trust. 
 
 seen but little of the world, or has been very 
 unobservant, who has not noticed many in- 
 stances of this, the highest, the best, and the 
 most continuous economy ; and it is one which 
 can be elicited by judicious trust, and by im- 
 posing upon agents that responsibility which 
 is a source of enlightenment, as well as of 
 the most unselfish and dutiful action. \ 
 
 Before dismissing this subject, I must re- 
 turn to that branch of public economy, which 
 consists in the abolition of offices. In what 
 
ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 183 
 
 I have before said, this question was treated CHAP. 
 
 ^ m XVIIL 
 
 in reference only to the duties of the office, "- ^ 
 which has been abolished, being committed to Abolition 
 
 of offices. 
 
 persons who are unfitted to perform them. 
 But there is a question of a very different 
 nature which requires like consideration. If 
 you wish government to be conducted in 
 such a manner, that there is much hopefulness 
 left for the persons who are employed under 
 it, you must have offices which should be the Reward 
 reward of long, or of special service, but vices, 
 which should not in themselves be offices of 
 excessive work, though not mere sinecures. 
 
 For example : there shall be some Board 
 or Commission consisting of five members. 
 The work, we will suppose, could really be 
 done by four, if each one of those four worked 
 at the full stretch of his power. With a large- 
 sighted view of the public service, it may be 
 most desirable to retain that fifth place, con- 
 sidering it only as a reward for public service. 
 There are many persons employed in the 
 civil service of this country, who cannot 
 otherwise be fitly rewarded. 
 
 There is scarcely a more important office, 
 
184 ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP, under government, than that of private secre- 
 
 .X. V 111. 
 
 * ' tary to a Cabinet Minister. The Minister, for 
 Private his own sake, generally takes care to make a 
 
 secretaries, 
 
 very good choice in this matter. The choice, 
 in the first instance, mostly, falls upon a very 
 young man. The relation of parties in this 
 country, unlike that of other countries, has ' 
 in it, on the whole, so little of hostile bit- 
 terness, that this private secretary is very 
 frequently recommended by the out-going 
 to the in-coming Minister; and the recom- 
 mendation is accepted. Thus it happens, 
 that a man is often employed for many years 
 as a private secretary to successive Ministers. 
 How is this man to be rewarded ? The 
 reward has generally been found for him by 
 appointing him, after many years of hard 
 and anxious service, as a member of some 
 government Board. 
 
 What I have said, with regard to private 
 secretaries, applies to other official persons. 
 how to be Now, there is an answer, at first sight 
 
 rewarded. 
 
 plausible, which may be given to this line 
 of argument. It might be said, always pay 
 a man at once exactly for the service he does, 
 
ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 185 
 
 ~ . . __ 
 
 and leave hope out of the question. Mv CHAP. 
 
 * xvni. 
 answer is, that you would not get such good ' ' 
 
 work, and that you would put a young man 
 quite out of his place in the Civil Service, and 
 probably do him a great deal of harm, if you 
 were to reduce his expectancy to an imme- 
 diate money payment. 
 
 To put the matter in a more general form, Proposal 
 
 for 
 
 you must have some offices in the public rewarding 
 
 service. 
 
 service corresponding to the Deaneries and 
 Canonries in the Church, to which you may 
 appoint men whom you have tried in subor- 
 dinate employments ; and to reward whom 
 you will find no better way than by conferring 
 upon them appointments of more dignity and 
 more pay, though perhaps involving less ex- 
 acting work. No service of the State will Hope of 
 
 reward 
 
 be conducted well, in which you cut off the should 
 
 always 
 
 sources of hope. And, with regard to the exist. 
 severest economy, it will be found that the 
 abolition of an office, such as I have de- 
 scribed, is ultimately a very bad bargain for 
 the public. 
 
 It was a very bold saying, in which I ven- 
 tured to declare, at the beginning of this 
 
1 86 ECONOMY iti GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAP. Essay, that it was necessary sometimes to be 
 *- ' generous with the public money. This say- 
 ing may, however, be thoroughly justified, if 
 we acknowledge the fact that the first thing 
 to be aimed at by the government, or by any 
 employer, is to get the best service. Good 
 
 Best service, good paid service (I am one of those 
 
 service 11- -i \ 
 
 how who do not believe in unpaid service), must 
 
 obtained. 
 
 be handsomely remunerated, whether the em- 
 ployer of labour is a private individual or 
 the State. I would have the State to be 
 considered as the most generous employer of 
 labour, so that it should ever have the best 
 name for liberality in the labour market, and , 
 be able to attract to itself whatever form of 
 talent it may wish to command. 
 
 It may be a somewhat subtle and Machia- 
 vellian way of looking at the matter ; but I 
 have ever observed, that occasional acts of 
 extreme generosity on the part of an em- 
 ployer have an almost disproportionate effect 
 in inducing men to seek for work under that 
 man ; and that, to express the matter vulgarly, 
 nothing pays better than these occasional 
 acts of generosity. 
 
ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT. 187 
 
 In fine, while pursuing a system of just CHAP. 
 
 yv \ 111. 
 
 economy, a government should always avoid " ' 
 such a lowering of salaries and rewards of all 
 kinds as would render its service less than it 
 ought to be to men of talent and education, 
 of whom, happily, there is no lack in this 
 country. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 DIPLOMACY. 
 
 CHAP. WE hardly ever give credit enough to in- 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ^r ' venters. Custom has rendered dull our per- 
 ception of the audacity of their enterprizes, 
 and of the difficulty they must have had in 
 persuading other people to adopt their inven- 
 tions. The wheel seems a simple thing ; but, 
 doubtless, ages passed away before a man 
 was found skilful enough to invent a wheel, 
 and persevering enough to induce his fellow- 
 men to make use of this new and strange 
 invention. The fork is an implement of 
 comparatively recent invention ; and it gives 
 almost a new view of the great men of the 
 world to think that, except in China, up to the 
 sixteenth century, they chiefly employed their 
 
 Diplomacy fingers in eating. 
 
 invention. Now, though we hardly ever consider diplo- 
 
DIPLOMACY. 189 
 
 macy as a new invention, it certainly is so. CHAP. 
 If we turn to the history of savage nations, ' 
 or of nations in a partial state of civilization, 
 we do not find that any such thing as di- 
 plomacy existed amongst them. Ambassa- Ambas- 
 
 * sadors 
 
 dors were frequently sent from one people to originally 
 
 special 
 
 another (the word ambassador originally envoys. 
 meant only messenger), and it was a very 
 great invention, in the progress of national 
 life, when ambassadors became resident 
 diplomatists, and permanent representatives 
 of Sovereigns, or of sovereign States. It 
 may be wondered how any nation was 
 induced to allow certain men from another 
 nation, to come and reside amongst them, 
 and to enjoy privileges of immunity, when 
 their functions were somewhat of the nature 
 of espial ; and when they were expected to 
 give information to their own government, 
 of much that might be prejudicial to the 
 people amongst whom they were to reside. 
 I seem to hear all the remarks, that the 
 extreme conservatives in any nation must 
 have made, when it was first proposed that 
 ambassadors should not merely come with 
 
190 
 
 DIPLOMACY. 
 
 Misunder- 
 standing 
 the main 
 cause of 
 quarrels. 
 
 CHAP. a message and return with an answer, but 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ~~*~~~ ' that they should take up their abode at 
 some central place in a foreign dominion. 
 Ultimately, however, the uses of diplomacy 
 have been discerned by almost all nations ; 
 and these uses are very great. 
 
 I suppose it would be generally admitted, 
 that one of the main causes of quarrels, 
 whether domestic or national, is misunder- 
 standing. Now, resident diplomatists cer- 
 tainly have great opportunities of removing 
 misunderstandings between nations. Some 
 persons have accused diplomatists of having 
 furthered rather than prevented wars. This, 
 however, is a most unjust accusation ; and I 
 think it can hardly be doubted that if the 
 negotiations of nations in regard to the 
 great matters of peace and war, were car- 
 ried on by ambassadors (using the word in 
 its strict sense), who went and returned 
 with messages, there would be far more mis- 
 understanding than there is at present. 
 
 Moreover, it is a great advantage to know 
 what is going on in a foreign State with 
 respect to all the arts of peace, including 
 
DIPLOMACY. 191 
 
 legislation and administration. How desir- CHAP. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 able it is, for instance, for one nation to ' -* 
 be speedily and accurately informed of the 
 special laws and facts relating to commerce, 
 in another nation also as to its management 
 of infectious and contagious diseases affecting 
 men or cattle. 
 
 If nations are kept in harmonious inter- 
 course by means of diplomacy, they are per- 
 petually borrowing from each other's wisdom 
 and experience. An interchange of thought 
 between nations on many of the great sub- 
 jects of human life and endeavour is most 
 valuable ; and this interchange is best ac- 
 complished through diplomatic agents. The Vague 
 
 views of 
 
 traveller's view of any country is apt to travellers. 
 be very vague and incomplete, especially in 
 regard to those subjects concerning which 
 it is most desirable that people at home 
 should be informed. The merchant, even 
 if resident in a foreign country, naturally 
 takes but a very limited view of the gene- 
 ral affairs of that country, his observations 
 being, for the most part, restricted to those 
 matters which chiefly affect his own business. 
 
192 DIPLOMACY. 
 
 CHAP. Even the consular agent has a much nar- 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ""^ ' rower sphere than the diplomatic agent, who 
 may be expected not only to inform his own 
 government of facts, but of the view of the 
 foreign government to which he is accre- 
 dited, and of the general disposition of the 
 people, in "reference to those facts. 
 
 You do not want to know merely the laws 
 
 that have been passed in any other country 
 
 to avert, or control, any evil which exists in 
 
 your own country, or threatens it. You want 
 
 to know how those laws have been received, 
 
 utility of and whether they are acted up to. If you 
 
 tion in obtained information of this kind only from 
 
 foreign 
 
 countries, the foreign government itself, the informa- 
 tion would justly be very suspect ; for no 
 government is fond of speaking frankly about 
 its failures. From your resident diplomatist, 
 however, you may learn not only what has 
 been sought to be done by legislation or 
 otherwise ; but what is really effected ; and if 
 there is any failure in this respect there will be 
 no scruple on his part in giving you due in- 
 formation of its nature and extent, and of the 
 reasons, in his opinion, which have caused it. 
 
DIPLOMACY. 
 
 193 
 
 The British are the greatest travellers in CHAP. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 the world ; they have the largest commercial -" 
 
 marine ; and they are by far the most vigor- British 
 
 , . . r r~, the most 
 
 ous and enterpnzmg of colonists. 1 hey are, enter- 
 therefore, more interested than the men of colonists. 
 any other nation in learning all that is going 
 on in foreign countries. 
 
 Some may say, that the foregoing are the 
 lesser uses of diplomacy. It may be doubted 
 whether they are the lesser ; but, supposing 
 them to be so, I think it may be shown that 
 what are called the great objects of diplomacy, 
 those which chiefly relate to peace or war, 
 are also much facilitated by diplomacy, and 
 especially by maintaining the highest class of 
 diplomatic agents abroad. 
 
 It must be admitted, that on any occasion war, the 
 when war takes place, it is the failure, though diplomacy. 
 it may not be the fault, of diplomacy. Diplo- 
 matists must therefore be even more anxious 
 than other men to avert war. It is certainly 
 an advantage for the rest of the world, that 
 there should be a body of men, for the most 
 part highly cultivated, and having- the ear of 
 
 o 
 
194 DIPLOMACY. 
 
 CHAP. Courts and Cabinets, whose main interests 
 
 Jvl^X.. 
 
 " T ' compel them to desire peace. 
 
 Now, take the most recent case in which 
 
 diplomacy has failed, and the peace of the 
 
 A failure world has been largely disturbed. This may 
 
 of diplo- 
 macy, be owing to one or other of two causes or, 
 
 as is more probable, to the two causes being 
 combined. Either diplomacy failed to give 
 one of the principal combatants a just repre- 
 sentation of the power that was about to be 
 arrayed against him ; or he and his Ministers 
 failed to give due heed to the representations 
 of their diplomatic agents. 
 Probable If I might hazard a conjecture, which 
 
 cause. 
 
 neither I, nor anyone else, have the means at 
 present of verifying, partial information was 
 given to that Government. But the informa- 
 tion in question did not, perhaps, fully convey 
 all that was to be learnt about the disposition 
 of the minor Powers, and especially of the 
 common people. 
 
 On the other hand, it may be conjectured 
 that sufficient attention was not given to that 
 information which was received. If, how- 
 ever, in any particular case, diplomatists have 
 
DIPLOMACY. 195 
 
 failed to give all the information which they CHAP. 
 
 xix 
 ought to have given ; or if the suggestions of - ' 
 
 diplomatists have not been sufficiently at- 
 tended to, it is by no means proved that 
 diplomacy is useless, because it has not been 
 made due use of. * 
 
 There is a very difficult and delicate matter 
 connected with diplomacy, and that is, the p u biica- 
 
 , , . r , . . tion of 
 
 publication of diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic 
 There is always some danger, in a free spondence 
 country, of this publication being made so 
 frequently, and so unreservedly, as to destroy 
 much of the benefit that might be derived 
 from diplomacy. I will give an instance of 
 what I mean, which, though not exactly a 
 publication of diplomatic correspondence, was 
 a transaction of a similar nature. It occurred 
 many years ago. 
 
 There was a law proposed by the Home Sometimes 
 
 ~ r T-i i T injurious. 
 
 Government for a certain Dependency. It 
 was a very good law both for the Depen- 
 dency and for the Imperial Government. The 
 people, however, whom it was mainly meant 
 to benefit, did not receive the proposition in 
 a favourable manner : indeed, were entirely 
 
 O 2 
 
DIPLOMACY. 
 
 CHAP, recalcitrant. The Governor wrote home a 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ' ' confidential letter to the following effect. 
 There was no hope of carrying the measure 
 now, he said, but he foresaw that in time 
 it might be carried. He should keep the 
 matter constantly in view ; and he indicated 
 various ways by which he hoped in time to 
 persuade those persons who were now op- 
 posed to the measure to be reconciled to it. 
 Certain correspondence, connected with this 
 Dependency, was called for in Parliament, 
 and this letter was published. 
 
 The Governor soon after came to England, 
 and did not fail to express his vexation at 
 finding that this confidential letter of his had 
 been made public. The first news he had 
 received of its publication was from his own 
 people, who naturally taunted him by re- 
 counting the means by which he intended to 
 persuade them. Now, in no branch of human 
 affairs is it very desirable to tell people 
 beforehand all the ways by which you in- 
 tend to persuade them to consent to some- 
 thing, even though it may be greatly for their 
 own interest that they should consent, and 
 
DIPLOMACY. 197 
 
 even though your intended modes of persua- CHAP. 
 
 A 1 A. . 
 
 sion may not indicate anything that is wrong ' ' 
 
 or sinister. 
 
 I would guard myself from being held to 
 maintain, that diplomacy has never done 
 any mischief; but what I do maintain is 
 that, upon the whole, it has been greatly 
 serviceable in preventing, or at least in post- Diplomacy 
 
 . apreventa- 
 
 ponmg (and the latter is no mean advantage), tive of 
 the commencement of hostilities. Diplo- 
 macy does not pretend to eradicate human 
 passions and ambitions, but it tends to miti- 
 gate their consequences. The main point is, 
 whether a resident diplomatist is not much 
 more serviceable, in this respect, than an am- 
 bassador, according to the ancient acceptation 
 of the term. 
 
 There is a notion among- some people that The future 
 
 ofdiplo- 
 
 the days of diplomacy have gone by ; but I 
 would rather contend that there is a brighter 
 future opening before it, and that, as the world 
 grows wiser and better, diplomacy will be 
 found to be more and more effectual in pre- 
 venting, or postponing, that greatest of cala- 
 mities war. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP. npHERE is very little to be said on this 
 
 xx. 
 ' * -A- great subject, which is not essentially 
 
 of a commonplace character. In fact, it might 
 almost be written by stringing together a 
 series of proverbs. Men have not been for 
 many thousand years upon the earth, without 
 finding out their own faults, or rather those 
 of other people, in the common affairs of life, 
 and expressing their sense of these faults in 
 pregnant sentences, which have met with 
 universal acceptation. The worst, however, 
 Proverbs of proverbs is that, when you have a proverb 
 
 to be con- 
 
 sidered in embodying one phase of thought, you gene- 
 pairs. 
 
 rally want an exactly opposite proverb to 
 
 correct it. 
 
 In considering this subject, it will be well 
 to take a particular instance, and endeavour 
 to work it out thoroughly. Let us suppose 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 199 
 
 a case of considerable magnitude ; not of a CHAP. 
 
 XX. 
 
 legal character, but into which law enters, as 
 it does into most human affairs ; which in- 
 volves questions of general policy, and of Case sub- 
 administration. This case is submitted to a Minister, 
 a Minister by his immediate subordinate. 
 
 The first thing for the Minister to do, is to 
 begin at the beginning. This of course ap- 
 pears a self-evident remark, but it is an essen- 
 tial one. It will not do for him to be satisfied 
 in taking up any great affair at a certain stage 
 of .the proceedings, upon the assumption that 
 he has a perfect account from his subordinate 
 of all that has happened up to that time. He 
 will almost always have his reward in begin- 
 ning at the beginning, and keeping carefully to 
 dates, which are the backbone, as it were, of 
 every long series of transactions. 
 
 The need for this somewhat laborious mode The study 
 
 of history. 
 
 of procedure may be aptly illustrated by 
 what often happens in reading history. I 
 strongly suspect, that when conclusions from 
 history are falsely drawn, it generally results 
 from the enquirer neglecting his dates ; and 
 having present to his mind numbers of facts, 
 
200 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP, which were not present to the minds of those 
 
 XX 
 
 ^ ' who were enacting considerable parts in 
 history. The student, for example, is aware 
 of what was the ultimate result in history, of 
 some long conflict of contending principles 
 brought into action ; he knows that Pro- 
 testantism ultimately prevailed in this country ; 
 and does not reflect, that to the promoters of 
 that great work, that final result was anything 
 but self-evident. In few words, he has not 
 the right set of facts before him, at the right 
 dates. 
 
 Exactly a similar thing occurs in minor 
 matters in the current business of daily life ; 
 and therefore it is needful, not only to begin 
 at the beginning ; but at each stage of the case, 
 to consider what was then the exact state of 
 facts, including also the arguments that had 
 then been brought forward on all sides. 
 
 References A practice, that should be universally 
 
 and quota- - . 
 
 tions to be adopted in matters of business is not to ac- 
 
 verified. ... 
 
 cept a reference, or even quotation, without 
 verification. In this heavy case, which I 
 have imagined to be brought before a Minister, 
 reference will perhaps be made to Acts of 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 2O1 
 
 Parliament, Orders in Council, letters of a CHAP. 
 
 xx 
 former Minister, and other documents. Not 
 
 only the exact words, but the context, must 
 be looked to in all these references. It is not 
 that men mean to deceive, but that they are 
 terribly prone to inaccuracy, and that in- 
 accuracy is likely to be greatly increased, 
 perhaps unconsciously, by their own preju- 
 dices and desires. 
 
 There then enters the question of the aid, The aid 
 
 that pre- 
 
 and direction that are to be gained by ore- cedent 
 
 affords. 
 
 cedent. The aid that precedent affords is 
 not to be despised, especially as all mankind 
 are apt to have a great respect for it ; but, 
 at the same time, it is a power to which no 
 man, who has any faith in himself, will permit 
 himself to be made a slave. 
 
 In the conduct of this case, and in the con- Advice of 
 
 others. 
 
 elusions which the Minister will have to arrive 
 at, from time to time (for I imagine it to be 
 a case of largeness and continuity), he will 
 probably not act without the advice and 
 suggestions of others, especially his subordi- 
 nates. It becomes, therefore, a matter of 
 great importance for him to understand the 
 
202 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP, general bent of the characters of those per 
 
 .X..X.. 
 
 sons, whom he must take into council. Every 
 
 man has some such bent ; and he is seldom, 
 
 Characters if ever, free from the inclinations of thought 
 
 of advisers 
 
 to be ai- which that bent of character determines. One 
 
 lowed for. 
 
 man is nearly sure to take a harsh, or at any 
 rate a severe view, both of persons and of 
 conduct. Being also an accurate and pains- 
 taking man himself, he is apt to conclude that 
 other men (the men, for instance, involved in 
 this case) are as accurate and painstaking as 
 he is, and will attribute to other motives, 
 those statements of theirs which merely arise 
 from the ordinary inaccuracy of mankind. 
 There is, of course, the character of an exactly 
 opposite tendency. And indeed, without 
 going further into this matter, it may be laid 
 down as a maxim for the Minister's consider- 
 ation, that whatever he receives in the way 
 of suggestion or comment, whether from a 
 colleague or a subordinate, is always to be 
 fined down, as it were, by keeping in mind 
 the peculiar character of the man by whom it 
 is made. Moreover, he can thus arrive at the 
 appreciation of an average of thought, and 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 203 
 
 feeling by balancing the views of men of CHAP. 
 opposite character. With very few men is ^ ' 
 the dry light of the intellect the only light 
 which they look up to. 
 
 Doubtless, too, the Minister or deciding Bent of his 
 
 " own mind 
 
 person has to beware of indulging too to be 
 
 guarded 
 
 much the bent of his own character ; but against 
 here a considerable subtlety of observation 
 should enter. Every man should be aware, 
 that he will, ultimately, act in accordance 
 with the bent of his character ; and therefore 
 that it is useless for him to assume, by fits 
 and starts, another form of character which 
 does not belong to- him. He may resolve to 
 act in direct oppwgnancy to what he knows 
 to be the natural inclination of his mind, but 
 if he does so, he must do it handsomely and 
 consistently, and must not play two differ- 
 ent parts, in the course of the same trans- 
 action. 
 
 Then, in any important case, of the kind General 
 
 T . , . . . , , . . considera- 
 
 I am supposing, which is to involve admims- tions. 
 tration, there are certain general considera- 
 tions, as regards the conduct of mankind, 
 which should ever be present to the mind of 
 
204 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP, the man who has to take action in the case. 
 
 XX 
 
 *- ' ' To enumerate these considerations would be 
 a lengthy and laborious task : it will suffice 
 to point out two of the most serious. 
 
 Allowance In the first place ; the administrator can 
 
 for indo- 
 
 lence. hardly ever make too much allowance for the 
 indolence of mankind. Where his adminis- 
 tration will fail, is in people omitting to do, 
 from indolence, that which he supposes he has 
 given them sufficient means and instructions 
 for doing. Hence, in all matters of adminis- 
 tration, continuous supervision and inspection 
 are most needful, and as in also great pre- 
 ciseness of instruction. 
 
 Fordis- In the next place, he must calculate upon 
 
 obedience. 
 
 a large amount of disobedience, resulting, not 
 from wilfulness, but from misunderstanding, 
 or from the subordinate ' thinking/ as he is 
 pleased to call it, for himself, when he has 
 received precise directions from his superior. 
 There is one memorable instance of this kind, 
 The Duke which happened to the late Duke of Wel- 
 
 ofWel- ,. . 
 
 lington. lington. It was in the retreat from Burgos. 
 * Knowing the direct road was impassable, 
 he ordered the movement by another road, 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. ^0 
 
 . . f 
 
 longer and apparently more difficult ; this CHAP. 
 seemed so extraordinary to some general ' 
 officers, that, after consulting together, they 
 deemed their commander unfit to conduct 
 the army, and led their troops by what 
 appeared to them the fittest line of retreat ! 
 He had before daylight placed himself at an 
 important point on his own road, and waited 
 impatiently for the arrival of the leading di- 
 vision until dawn ; then suspecting what had 
 happened he galloped to the other road and 
 found the would-be commanders stopped by 
 water. The insubordination and the danger 
 to the army were alike glaring, yet the prac- 
 tical rebuke was so severe and well-timed, 
 the humiliation so complete and so deeply 
 telt, that with one proud sarcastic observa- 
 tion, indicating contempt more than anger, 
 he led back the troops, and drew off all his 
 forces safely.' 1 
 
 I now come to that which is perhaps, after 
 all, the most important point in dealing with 
 this considerable case, which I have imagined 
 
 1 Napier : Peninsular War^ iv. 386. 
 
2O6 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP, as laid before a Minister. It especially relates 
 
 XX 
 
 ' to expression, and will illustrate what I had 
 in my thoughts, when I suggested that ex- 
 pression should be made one of the main 
 objects of the education of a statesman. The 
 particular form of expression, which is now 
 wanted by my imaginary Minister, is con- 
 cerned with limitation. He will generally find, 
 that when he goes wrong in the expression 
 of his views, or his decisions, it is because 
 the form of expression used has been need- 
 
 , lessly wide in matters, too, where a single 
 
 extraneous word may pledge him to actions, 
 which he has no intention of undertaking. 
 That the words should exactly clothe the 
 subject-matter dealt with, is one of the greatest 
 aids and safeguards in the conduct of all busi- 
 ness, whether it appertains to the high art of 
 statesmanship, or to the work-a-day business 
 of the world. 
 
 Kuies not Another point to be carefully watched in 
 
 fused with the conduct of business is, not to confuse rules 
 
 principles. . 
 
 with principles, and especially, that no man 
 should needlessly lay down rules which may 
 hamper himself. His principles may be ever 
 
O.Y THE COXDUCT OF BUSINESS. 2OJ 
 
 so strict: the rules he lays down should be CHAP. 
 
 xx. 
 very elastic, and certainly he should not be ' -* 
 
 prone to communicate to others, needlessly, 
 those rules which he may have instituted as 
 guides to himself. Hence, in making com- 
 munications upon the subject of the business 
 allutied to, it is seldom wise to say, 'We Not to be 
 
 communi- 
 
 never do this, or that, or the other it is con- cated 
 
 . needlessly. 
 
 trary to our rules, or our practice. Perhaps, 
 in a few weeks or months, there may come a 
 case in which it is necessary to violate the 
 rule, or depart from the practice ; and then 
 there is an appearance of lamentable incon- 
 sistency. The circumstances and conditions 
 of life in any community, where high civili- 
 zation prevails, are so numerous, various, 
 and difficult to be imagined, even by men 
 of fertile imaginations, that no prudent man 
 shuts himself up in rules made by himself, 
 like a silkworm winding itself up in its own 
 cocoon. 
 
 Then there is the general correspondence 
 about the matter to be considered. Herein 
 there must be much continuity of aim and 
 purpose, and, therefore, clearness of expres- 
 
208 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP. sion. If we could trace up some of the 
 xx. 
 
 ' ' greatest errors to their source, we should pro- 
 bably find, that many a decision which has 
 failed to decide, and has, indeed, failed to con- 
 vey its exact meaning in any way, has been 
 thus made inefficient by its language, in some 
 of the principal sentences, being thorough 
 
 Failure patchwork : designed by one man ; corrected 
 
 patch- by another ; revised by a third, while some 
 little point, merely of diction, has at the last 
 been interlineated by a fourth. The final draw- 
 ing of any important document should be one 
 man's work, embodying the various correc- 
 tions made by other men's minds, but having 
 that unity and force which can only be the 
 outcome of a single mind. 
 
 Another important point in the transaction 
 of business, and especially in such a case as I 
 
 Division have been considering, is to divide the sub- 
 
 of subject 
 
 into ject-matter into several sections. One of the 
 
 sections. 
 
 chief arts in mastering any subject consists in 
 subdivision. It is an art which presupposes 
 the existence of method. In a previous chap- 
 ter on education, I was able to make only a 
 few suggestions as to how this supreme effort 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 209 
 
 of division and classification, called method, CHAP. 
 
 xx. 
 could be taught. It is a thing, however, of ' ' 
 
 inestimable value, and must, somehow or 
 other, be acquired by any man who has to 
 deal promptly with business of much pressure 
 and magnitude. Referring to the case in ques- 
 tion, there may be scores of arguments apply- 
 ing- to different sections of the case. If these Argu- 
 ments of 
 
 arguments are left as separate forces, as it respective 
 
 r sections to 
 
 were, and are not brought, as a mathema- b f c ? n ~ 
 
 o elusions. 
 
 tician would say, to ' resultants ' in their re- 
 spective sections, the man who has to decide, 
 wanders about in a jungle of unsettled thought, 
 and is perpetually taking up his facts and argu- 
 ments at wrong times, in the course of forming 
 his determination. Whereas, if the various 
 facts and arguments had been brought to 
 their conclusions in their respective sections, 
 the Minister's labour, in coming to a deter- 
 mination upon the whole subject, would have 
 been almost indefinitely facilitated. 
 
 This supposed case has now been con- 
 sidered in much detail ; and it has been shown 
 that there are many ways by which the labour 
 of dealing with it may be lightened, while 
 
 p 
 
210 ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 
 
 CHAP, the issue is rendered more felicitous and con- 
 
 XX 
 
 - r ' elusive. The same methods which are applied 
 to great matters of statesmanship are, no 
 doubt, applicable to all kinds of business. 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter with a 
 remark, which also applies to all kinds of 
 business indeed to almost all forms of 
 
 import- human endeavour. It is that the indirect 
 
 ance ot 
 
 tlll^t, Wi 1 /* /* 1 
 
 indirect results of any course of action are nearly 
 
 results, . . 
 
 always the most important. Hence it is, 
 that what we call worldly wisdom is so 
 difficult to attain ; for hardly any man is 
 sagacious enough, or has that breadth of 
 knowledge, which would enable him to see 
 all the indirect consequences of any course of 
 action he decides upon ; although he may 
 perceive very clearly the direct result of that 
 course. 
 
 For example, he discerns an evil ; he re- 
 Remedies solves to provide a remedy ; but the mode by 
 
 fraught 
 
 with great which he does so is, perhaps, one which in- 
 indirect 
 conse- directly shall be fraught with good or evil 
 
 quences. 
 
 consequences, far exceeding in magnitude 
 those direct results that he distinctly fore- 
 sees, and is resolved to accomplish. 
 
ON THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 211 
 
 We may turn to natural science for an CHAP 
 
 xx. 
 
 illustration. There are rays of heat and of N 
 actinism, which are not revealed by the spec- 
 trum, but which play a vital part in the 
 operations of nature. The statesman who 
 does not take note of the probable conse- 
 quences of his actions, other than those which 
 are their direct result, resembles the philoso- 
 pher who should treat the visible light-rays 
 as though they were not accompanied by 
 other rays, for the effects of which he must 
 not fail to make wide allowance, and far-seeing 
 calculation. 
 
 P2 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 National 
 and indi- 
 vidual 
 pros- 
 perity. 
 
 Not 
 identical. 
 
 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY OF A NATION 
 CONSISTS. 
 
 WHILE we are considering the various 
 functions and modes of government, 
 it is desirable, from time to time, to bring 
 back our minds to a consideration of what 
 should be the main objects of government. 
 
 In the first place; it must be recollected, 
 that the prosperity of a nation is a thing 
 somewhat different from the prosperity even 
 of all the individuals who constitute it. To 
 begin with, there is this main element of dif- 
 ference namely, that the life of a nation is 
 of so much longer duration than that of an 
 individual. It might so happen, that a great 
 majority of the individuals, composing a na- 
 tion, should at any time be singularly unpros- 
 perous should, indeed, be going through 
 a phase of unprosperousness which might, 
 
PROSPERITY OF A NATION. 
 
 after all, conduce largely to the ultimate wel- CHAP. 
 
 .A. A.1 . 
 
 fare of the nation, and be, in fact, a necessary 
 
 form of that nation's continuous prosperity. 
 It can hardly be said, that the individuals of 
 a nation are prosperous, while it is in the 
 agony of a revolution, and when every peace- 
 ful citizen is crippled in his resources, as also 
 
 in the profitable use of his labour. But, for Revoiu- 
 
 11- r i i tionsina y 
 
 the ultimate prosperity of the nation, this he neces- 
 sary. 
 revolution may be absolutely essential. 
 
 Another aspect of this matter may be 
 obtained by the consideration of what takes A nation 
 
 of slaves 
 
 place in a nation, consisting chiefly of slaves and of 
 
 - ^ slave- 
 
 and slave-owners. This is a very simple owners, 
 form of human society. It has immense 
 disadvantages, as we all know, in regard to 
 the social relations of master and man. But 
 it has also another enormous disadvantage. 
 As the great bulk of the nation requires food, 
 clothing, and habitation of the same kind and 
 pattern, the arts of life must languish ; diver- 
 sity of culture will be wanting ; and skill in 
 artizanship cannot be educed in such a com- 
 munity. No man, with any foresight, can call 
 that a prosperous nation, for though there 
 
214 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP may be considerable material comfort for the 
 XXL 
 
 * * ' slaves, as well as the masters, that nation 
 must be at the mercy of any nation of free- 
 men, simply because of the diversity of pro- 
 duct and of culture, which belong to the one, 
 and are so greatly wanting in the other. 
 
 Now, I would ask my readers to apply 
 their reflections on this slave State to other 
 
 * 
 
 States, which are not infested with slavery. 
 They will perceive, I think, how much ad- 
 vantage is to be gained by great diversity in 
 the conditions of the various classes consti- 
 tuting any State. 
 
 At the present time there is a dead set 
 made against all privileges, and against any- 
 thing which tends to make diversity in rank 
 and fortune in the State. This is the tendency 
 of what is called the democratic movement of 
 Demo- the world. This democratic movement has 
 
 cratic 
 
 movement, its origin in some of the noblest aspirations of 
 our nature ; but we must take care that it does 
 not dwarf the highest forms of culture and 
 well-being, while it tends to raise, politically 
 speaking, the lowest class of our fellow-subjects. 
 
 made of it. We should avail ourselves of this force 
 
OF A NA TION CONSISTS. 2 1 5 
 
 to raise the lowest class of the community, CHAP. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 but should be very careful not to make the * ~~^^ 
 movement a destructive, instead of a con- 
 structive, one. 
 
 There is no doubt that if, having the world 
 to deal with as a new thing, we could begin 
 by initiating a social system, which should 
 prevent all poverty, and protect all help- 
 lessness, much might be said in favour of 
 endeavouring to institute such a system. It Social 
 
 T T- system of 
 
 is manifest, I think, that the ancient Peru- Penman* 
 vians, under the rule of the Incas, approached 
 more nearly to the adoption of that social 
 system than any other nation which, as far 
 as we know, has ever appeared on the face 
 of this earth. But even if we had, with 
 our present knowledge, to begin again the 
 peopling of this world, it would, still remain 
 somewhat doubtful, whether the social system 
 indicated would be the best one possible 
 namely, that which would lead to the highest 
 development of mankind. 
 
 But we must, in fact, look at the world 
 as it is before us a world bearing on its sur- 
 face enormous diversity of habitations ; great 
 
2l6 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP, variety of agriculture ; various races and or- 
 
 .X, -X.J . 
 
 ** ' ders of men differently educated ; in short, 
 a world transmitted to us, stamped with the 
 result of all the work of our ancestors work 
 intellectual, moral, and physical and we have 
 to make the best of it. But we shall fail in 
 doing so, if we omit to take into consideration 
 those enlarged views for the good of the 
 people in general, which were often sadly 
 absent from their labours. 
 
 A nation is really in a hideous state of 
 difficulty and danger, which has its feet sunk 
 in the mire of ignorance, to use a bold meta- 
 phor, while its body is of somewhat noble 
 aspect, and its head may seem to tower 
 towards the skies. I cannot look at its situ- 
 ation as otherwise than one of extreme diffi- 
 culty and of great danger. I can no more 
 call that a prosperous nation, than I could call 
 that nation happy, which exists at a dead 
 level of attainment physical, intellectual, and 
 moral and which gives but little hope of fur- 
 ther advancement towards the highest aims 
 of life. 
 
 There is a great delusion, which, I fear, 
 besets us all, and which often daunts our best 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 217 
 
 hopes and noblest aspirations, which delusion CHAP. 
 
 .A..X. X. 
 
 is mainly fostered by an ill-considered appli- ^~ ' 
 cation of history. We are apt to fancy that 
 the fate of a nation necessarily resembles that 
 of a single human being that it has its boy- 
 hood, its youth, its maturity of manhood, and 
 its senility. I believe, that if we were bolder The seve- 
 
 . . . . ralagesof 
 
 in our hopes, our aspirations, and our endea- a nation, 
 vours, we should resolutely refuse to consider 
 nations in this limited manner ; but should 
 resolve, that we would consider the nation, to 
 which we may belong, as capable of rein- 
 vigo rating itself by returning to any of the fore- They do 
 
 not neces- 
 
 mentioned epochs of its national life, to which, saniy tend 
 
 to deca- 
 
 for the time, it would be most advantageous dence. 
 to return. This I admit is an enthusiastic 
 view ; but if many men partook of it, it would 
 be capable of being realized. Despondency 
 and indolence are the two main agents that 
 restrain the progress of mankind, both in 
 material and in social well-being. Our en- 
 lightenment should lead us continually into 
 reconstruction of all that is fruitful as well 
 as into destruction of all that is harmful. 
 
 Many years ago, when elaborate researches Dangerous 
 
 classes. 
 
 were being made into the condition of the 
 
2l8 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP, lowest classes in London, it was stated that it 
 
 XXI. 
 
 ' ' contained about 350,000 persons belonging to 
 what may well be called the dangerous classes. 
 Now, this word 'dangerous' is not meant 
 to apply merely to the politically dangerous. 
 It is meant to include those who, from their 
 miserable condition of life, are dangerous to the 
 well-being of the State from the means they 
 afford for the promotion of disease ; ignorance ; 
 crime ; and the example of evil living of all 
 kinds. A State cannot be called prosperous, 
 which contains a very large body in such a 
 condition as I have just described. 
 Action Of late years, however, not only has our 
 
 British Government devoted itself to the effort (an 
 
 govern- 
 
 ment. entirely new effort, by the way, and the 
 highest duty of a government) of ameliora- 
 ting the condition and promoting the well- 
 being of its lowest class, upon which the whole 
 superstructure rests, but there have been 
 found individuals who, highly placed them- 
 selves, have given their lives and fortunes to 
 this same great object. 
 
 In few words, the prosperity of a nation 
 consists in combining the highest culture 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 2IQ 
 
 which must always be somewhat connected CHAP. 
 
 XXI 
 
 with privilege with a due consideration for ' ' 
 
 the lowest section of the community, which Prosperity 
 
 for ever deserves, and will amply repay, our 
 
 utmost regard for its well-being. The object 
 
 of statesmen should very much resemble that 
 
 of a good schoolmaster, who, while he keeps 
 
 an eye upon the most prominent and hopeful 
 
 of his scholars, is yet worth nothing, as a 
 
 schoolmaster, if he does not care more for the 
 
 far larger number, who can only be expected 
 
 to attain to mediocrity of culture. 
 
 It would be a sad thing, and in no way 
 conduce to our national prosperity, if we 
 could only raise the lowest by the depression 
 of the highest; and it would be unwise to 
 ignore the danger, always to be apprehended 
 and guarded against, of the tendency to lower 
 the highest development of a nation, by an 
 ill-considered destruction of means, oppor- 
 tunities, and privileges, which would in no 
 way promote the grand object of raising the 
 lowest class to a state of political efficiency, 
 and of unenvious and hopeful well-being. 
 
 In order to consider my subject with the 
 
220 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP, care that it deserves, it is requisite to dwell 
 
 XXI. 
 
 ' r ~~" somewhat upon the fate and fortunes of those 
 nations which have distinguished themselves 
 in the world's history, but "which have sub- 
 Decadence sequently fallen into decadence. I doubt 
 
 through 
 
 exhaus- whether any of the reasons, which have been 
 
 tion. 
 
 assigned for that decadence, reach to the real 
 cause the ca^l,sa causans, as the metaphy- 
 sicians would call it. I doubt, for instance, 
 whether luxury, or whether the irruption of 
 barbarian hordes, has been the true cause 
 of the downfall of nations. I think it would 
 be found in the exhaustion of hope and pur- 
 pose an exhaustion to which bad Govern- 
 ment must very greatly contribute. Take 
 Rome. the Romans for instance. They had done 
 almost everything that a nation could do ; and 
 had done it well. They had colonized ; they 
 had conquered ; they had, to a certain de- 
 gree, assimilated other peoples to themselves. 
 They had tried all forms of government. 
 But there came a time when they became 
 hide-bound, as it were ; and there was a total 
 want of hope and faith in the nation. This, 
 I believe, may be perceived throughout the 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 221 
 
 literature of the Lower Empire. Men had CHAP. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 ceased to believe, that there was anything ' < ~~ 
 
 good to be done in respect of political and 
 social life. And men are so constituted, that 
 they cannot work well, or even fight well, 
 when their minds are in this state of stag- 
 nation. 
 
 Now, there may be a state of stagnation stagnation 
 
 i i i r 1 i fatal to 
 
 which is not in this way fatal, because it prosperity 
 arises from something which can be removed. 
 Take, for instance, the superincumbent 
 weight of slavery. That may cause a nation 
 to stagnate as long as it exists. But once re- 
 move it, or begin to remove it, the ener- 
 gies of the nation are unfettered, and it 
 springs up again with renewed life. Again, 
 take a nation which, from some circum- 
 stances, has not hitherto engaged in com- 
 merce. Let there be an outlet made for 
 
 commercial enterprise, and this nation will Com- 
 merce. 
 revive. The Romans, however, had tried 
 
 everything ; had succeeded to a certain extent 
 in their various endeavours, but had not after- 
 wards found any new outlet for hope, en- 
 deavour, and perseverance. The fate of the 
 
222 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP. Roman Empire would, in all probability, have 
 
 .X..A.-L. 
 
 4 ' been very different, and it might have sub- 
 How the sisted for many generations longer, if the 
 Empire New World had been discovered by a Roman. 
 been pro- The vast undertakings, which this discovery 
 
 longed. 
 
 would have occasioned, would have infused 
 new life throughout the Roman Empire, and 
 would have given exactly that stimulus, and 
 that hopefulness, which I hold to be the main- 
 springs of a nation's prosperity. 
 Spain and In answer to this, it will be said: that 
 
 the New ^ . ... r , p , 
 
 World. ^pain did not profit by her conquest of the 
 New World. I contend that she did profit, 
 and very largely, and that the conquest of 
 the New World was not the cause of the de- 
 cadence of Spain. That was occasioned by 
 far other causes. Any limitation of thought 
 in anything in which humanity is deeply con- 
 cerned, is a cause for decadence in a nation. 
 Now, Spain with her Inquisition, and with 
 the continuous bigotry of successive kings, 
 was limited in religious thought. The phy- 
 sical result of this limitation is most con- 
 spicuous. The power of Spain broke itself, 
 as it were, upon the Protestantism of the 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 22$ 
 
 Netherlands. The character of the people CHAP. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 was such as to give the greatest weight to ' "-- 
 
 monarchical institutions, and the greatest 
 effect to the character of the reigning mon- 
 arch. The Spaniards, from the accession 
 of Philip II., in 1556, to the present time, Political 
 have been, with the sole exception of tunes of 
 Charles III., exceedingly unfortunate in this 
 respect They were also singularly unfortu- 
 nate in their relations with other countries, 
 which had, notably in the case of the War of 
 Succession, pretexts for interfering in the 
 internal affairs of Spain. Doubtless other 
 causes for her downfall might be adduced by 
 anyone well skilled in Spanish history ; but 
 I am only concerned, at this moment, to show, 
 that the discovery and conquest of the New 
 World, by Spain, was not the compelling 
 cause of its temporary decadence ; and, cer- 
 tainly, I do not know how .it can be main- 
 tained that an increase of enterprize, an 
 enlarged field for adventure, great addition 
 of material products, and an immense exten- 
 sion of commerce (all which good things 
 accrued to Spain by the conquest of the 
 
224 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 Indies), can be deemed to be hurtful to a 
 
 nation's prosperity. 
 Prosperity At the same time, I must own, for this is 
 rather than part of my main argument, that all these good 
 
 physical. . . 
 
 things might exist in a nation which yet 
 should be hastening to its downfall. For, 
 after all, I consider the prosperity we are 
 now discussing, to depend upon what is men- 
 tal and moral rather than upon what is 
 physical. It is not present prosperity, it is 
 not even growth ; it is, to use a big word of 
 which Dr. Johnson was very fond, poten- 
 tiality ; and we may even recall a memorable 
 occasion on which he used that word, which 
 will amply illustrate my present use of it. 
 ' We are not selling a parcel of tubs and 
 vats/ he exclaimed, when he was acting as 
 Mr. Thrale's executor; 'we are selling the 
 Saying of potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams 
 
 Dr. John- .... 
 
 son. of avarice. Now it is this potentiality, not 
 
 merely of growing rich, but of being some- 
 thing more or other, of doing something more 
 or other, than it has hitherto been or done, 
 which constitutes the essential and assured 
 prosperity of a nation. There should be 
 
A NATION CONSISTS. 225 
 
 growth, or at least the power of growth ; CHAP. 
 
 ^vyvl. 
 
 there must be hope ; there must be consider- "- ' 
 able freedom of thought, and action, in any Power of 
 nation that claims to be considered prosperous, essential. 
 
 In any endeavour to show in what the 
 prosperity of a nation consists, and how the 
 decadence of nations has often been precipi- 
 tated, it may not be inappropriate to make 
 
 some allusion to the subject of mob-govern- Mob go- 
 vernment* 
 ment I suppose it will be admitted that 
 
 there is no surer sign, if not of the decadence 
 of a nation, at any rate of the weakness of its 
 legislative government, than if mob-rule is 
 permitted, though only occasionally, to prevail. 
 
 I have elsewhere l described at large what Danger 
 
 from it. 
 
 I think to be the peculiar evil of a mob, and 
 the danger to be apprehended from a mob 
 governing. It is, briefly, that a mob differs in 
 its composition from day to day nay, from 
 hour to hour. It cannot well, therefore, have 
 experience, or conscience, or consistency to 
 appeal to. 
 
 Conversations on War and Culture. Smith, Elder 
 & Co. London, 1871. 
 
 Q 
 
226 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP. The subject, however, which I am going to 
 
 .A. -A.!. 
 
 "~ ~* treat, is of a much wider nature. It has refer- 
 
 ence to those principles and practices that 
 
 Principles lead to, and initiate mob-government which 
 
 which lead ... 
 
 to mob principles and practices are often encouraged 
 by men of considerable powers of thought 
 and understanding. 
 
 As a preliminary, I would ask such men to 
 consider, what a serious thing it is to incul- 
 cate principles which tend to revolutionize a 
 State. It is like disturbing virgin earth, which 
 it would take unknown ages to compress again 
 into its original form. It was not without 
 some show of reason, that our ancestors de- 
 creed the most fearful punishments for high 
 treason. Consider the labour of untold gene- 
 rations, that has gone to make a State, even if 
 that State be one which has many faults of 
 government, and much that requires to be 
 remedied or improved. There is an admi- 
 
 Passage rable passage in Montesquieu's ' Grandeur 
 
 Montes- des Remains ' : * C'est ici qu'il faut se donner 
 
 quieu. 
 
 le spectacle des choses humaines. Qu'on 
 The case voie dans 1'histoire de Rome tant de guerres 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 entrepnses, tant de sang repandu, tant de 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 22 7 
 
 peuples detruits, tant de grandes actions, CHAP. 
 
 Jv.A.1* 
 
 tant de triomphes, tant de politique, de sagesse, 
 
 de prudence, de Constance, de courage ; ce 
 projet d'envahir tout, si bien form, si bien 
 soutenu, si bien fini, a quoi aboutit-il qu'a 
 assouvir le bonheur de cinq ou six monstres ? ' 
 
 In this case, all these labours, this thought, its dis- 
 astrous 
 these sufferings, went to create the power of a fate. 
 
 brutal emperor ; but the same thing may hap- 
 pen in the creation of the power of a brutal 
 mob. 
 
 Now, there are several aims and principles 
 which tend to produce a tyrant power of this 
 description, which aims and principles are 
 somewhat rife in the present day. These Rifeness 
 
 . . t . of revo- 
 
 have been already touched upon, but not lutkmary 
 
 principles 
 
 exactly with the same object One of them 
 is the abandonment of privilege. Another is 
 the endeavour to do away with differences of 
 station, education, and position of all kinds. 
 Whereas, it will uniformly be found that the 
 highest civilization co-exists with, and even 
 depends upon, the existence of these dif- 
 ferences. A State is never in more danger 
 of some rude disturbance, in the way of 
 
 Q2 
 
228 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP, revolution, than when it is composed of a 
 XXL r 
 
 *" ' few classes, the circumstances of each being 
 Landor. nearly similar. The eloquent Landor says 
 1 The greatest power on earth, or that ever 
 existed on earth, is the power of the British 
 public ; its foundation morals, its fabric wis- 
 dom, its circumvallation wealth.' But even 
 this mighty British public, with all its wisdom, 
 Its morals, and its wealth, is not safe from 
 being imposed upon by ragged and dangerous 
 ideas, mainly put forward by men of that 
 smallness of purview, and narrowness of sym- 
 pathy, that their minds can only entertain 
 a few incomplete dogmas. If you observe, 
 closely, the course of thought of any one of 
 Men of these fanatical thinkers, you will mostly find 
 
 one idea . . 
 
 dangerous, it to be subjected to one predominant idea. 
 This one idea generally has some plausibility 
 in it, and is nearly sure to be well put forward : 
 for the man who has but one idea to manage, 
 can manage that well, as he is not troubled"* 
 by inconvenient exceptions or circumscrip- 
 tions of any kind. And so the idea gets 
 vogue especially among the class that it is 
 supposed to favour and then you have the 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 229 
 
 thinking in mobs, and the acting in mobs, CHAP. 
 
 / xxi 
 
 which are so prejudicial to a State. 
 
 Now, turning to a very different source of Perils from 
 
 misgovern- 
 
 danger, which may end in mob-government, 
 I would remark that the only weight which 
 socialist theories of the wildest kind intrin- 
 sically possess, is derived from that mis-go- 
 vernment which has led to such degraded 
 modes of existence, among the poorest of our 
 people, especially in great cities. And yet I 
 should hardly say mis-government, so much 
 as absence of government of that paternal 
 government which is so much misappre- 
 hended, and so much contemned by doctri- 
 naires. Government neglect leads to mob 
 interference, and perhaps revolution. 
 
 How admirable are the words of Schiller, 
 applied by the poet to war, but which are 
 applicable to all violence, whether of thought 
 or of action ! I subjoin Coleridge's transla- 
 tion of the passage : 
 
 My son ! of those old narrow ordinances 
 Let us not hold too lightly. They are weights 
 Of priceless value, which oppressed mankind 
 Tied to the volatile will of their oppressors. 
 For always formidable was the league 
 
230 IN WHAT THE PROSPERITY 
 
 CHAP. And partnership of free power with free will. 
 
 The way of ancient ordinance, though it winds, 
 Is yet no devious way. Straight forward goes 
 The lightning's path, and straight the fearful path 
 Of the cannon-ball. Direct it flies, and rapid, 
 Shattering that it may reach, and shattering what it 
 
 reaches. 
 
 My son ! the road, the human being travels, 
 That on which blessing comes and goes, doth follow 
 The river's course, the valley's playful windings, 
 Curves round the corn-field and the hill of vines, 
 Honouring the holy bounds of property ! 
 And thus secure, though late, leads to its end. 
 
 As I have said before ; differences of con- 
 dition co-exist with, and probably tend to, 
 high civilization. It may seem inconsistent, 
 that I should be dissatisfied with the differ- 
 ence of condition indicated above. But here, as 
 elsewhere, every maxim that is laid down has 
 to be interpreted by the aid of common sense. 
 There are differences, and differences of con- 
 dition. The one set wholesome and en- 
 couraging; the other dangerous, if not de- 
 structive. 
 
 In fine, if we wish to avoid the perils of 
 mob-government, which even, in a short time, 
 can put back for generations the hand upon 
 the dial of civilization, there is not anything 
 
OF A NATION CONSISTS. 
 
 231 
 
 we should more attend to than counteracting CHAP. 
 the prevalence of those mischievous ideas and * r ' 
 theories which tend to the decomposition of Prevention 
 
 of mob- 
 
 a State a thing so hard to re-compose, the govern- 
 ment 
 
 result of so much patience, of so much endur- 
 ance, and, upon the whole, of so much magna- 
 nimity. For no great State was ever built up 
 without the toil, self-sacrifice, and renunci- 
 ation of many noble persons, in many gene- 
 rations. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 SUBSEQUENTLY to writing these * Thoughts upon Govern- APP. 
 ment,' my attentiorf has been drawn to a work of Wilhelm 
 
 Von Humboldt, defining the limits of the action of a Baron 
 
 State. 1 I do not know that any other writer has devoted von Hum- 
 
 a whole work to the consideration of this important sub- 
 ject : and the writer in question was a man of great 
 eminence \ and of large practical experience. The object 
 of the work is indicated by the motto on the Title-page, object of 
 which is taken from the writings of Mirabeau the elder s work * 
 * Le difficile est de ne promulguer que des lois ne'ces- 
 saires, de rester a jamais fidele a ce principe vraiment 
 constitutionnel de la societe, de se mettre en garde 
 contre la fureur de gouverner, la plus funeste maladie 
 des gouvernemens modernes.' 2 
 
 Here, therefore, if anywhere, we might expect to find 
 propositions laid down, which would contain fatal objec- 
 tions to the views which I have put forward with respect 
 to Paternal Government. One of Von Humboldt's 
 
 1 //3bccn ju etncm SSerfudj/ bic rdngcn ber 2Btr!famfeit beg 
 (Stoats ju bejlimmen." 
 
 2 Mirabeau 1'aine, sur P Education publique, p. 6l. 
 
234 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 APR 
 
 The citizen 
 and the 
 man. 
 
 The State 
 not to 
 influence 
 character 
 of the 
 nation. 
 
 maxims is, that it is a most unhealthy state of things 
 when the Man is sacrificed to the Citizen: the writer's 
 object being to protect, in every way, the individual 
 action of the Man. It may, on the other hand, be fairly 
 contended, that it is an evil thing to sacrifice the Citizen 
 to the Man. 
 
 The general proposition which Von Humboldt lays 
 down is as follows : * that the State must altogether 
 and absolutely abstain from all endeavour, whether direct 
 or indirect, to influence the customs and the character 
 of a nation, except in so far as this is unavoidable from 
 a natural and self-originating consequence of its own 
 absolutely necessary measures ; and that everything 
 which has a tendency to promote this end, notably all 
 special supervision of education, of religious institutions, 
 or of sumptuary laws, should lie entirely beyond the 
 limits of its action.' 1 
 
 This is a very severe limitation of the action of a 
 State, more especially as by the words * necessary mea- 
 sures ' the Author there means, as may be discerned from 
 the context, only those measures of legislation and ad- 
 ministration which refer to matters of justice and of war. 
 
 Now it should be observed how even this writer, 
 whose main object is to protect the free action of the 
 individual, is obliged to limit his own limitation. In a 
 succeeding chapter he says, ' The State, indeed, should 
 
 1 ,,)afj bee @taot fid) fd)led)terbing6 atteg S5effcreben$/ btreft 
 ober tnbtreBt auf bte ttten unb ben G>t)ara!ter ber Nation anberS 
 $u ttrirfen, alg infofern bief al eine narurlicfye/ oon felbfl ent* 
 ftefyenbe" $olge fetner librtgen fcfylecfyterbtncjg notfyroenbigen SDlaajJ* 
 re.eln unoermeiblid) ifl, gdnjltd) entfyalten niufie/ unb bafj alle/ 
 reaS btefe 2Cbjtd)t beforbevn fann/ ootugttd) aUe befonbve #uffid)t 
 auf (Srstefyung/ 3ReUgtonanftalten, SumSgefe^e u.f.f. 
 bet: (SdjranEen [einec SBSir![am!eit liege." 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 in no wise provide for the positive welfare of the citizens, APP. 
 therefore also not for their life and health unless, indeed, 
 these are threatened with danger by the actions of others 
 but certainly for their security. And only in so far as 
 this security itself may suffer, for as much as fraud takes 
 advantage of ignorance, could such supervision come 
 within the sphere of action of the State. 1 
 
 This single exception, with regard to * the actions of Energy, 
 others,' appears to me to justify most of what I have * n ^ ^ 
 said respecting Paternal Government. Von Humboldt virtue of 
 contends that energy is ' the first and only virtue of man- 
 kind ; ' and the reason why he deprecates governmental 
 interference is lest it should diminish this energy. But 
 still he is compelled to make the important foregoing 
 exception to his general proposition. 
 
 The whole subject of governmental interference is a 
 very thorny one very difficult to deal with by exact 
 rules or principles, and rather requiring the application 
 of common sense in each particular instance where such 
 interference is proposed. When we consider the out- 
 rageous interference with personal liberty, in those 
 matters wherein personal liberty is most required, that 
 has entered into the legislation of most countries : when 
 we perceive how difficult it is to get such legislation 
 repealed, as may be seen from one notable instance 
 respecting the laws of marriage in our own country : 
 we are almost inclined to adopt the strict limitations 
 
 1 //)er Otaat foil nemltd) auf feine SBeife fur bag pofitfoe SQBofyl 
 bcr burger forgen/ bafyer aurf) nid>t fur ibr fieben unb ifyre efunb* 
 fyett eg mujjten benn anblungen anbrer ifynen efatjr broken 
 aber roofyl fiir ifyre idjerfjdr. Unb nur/ infofern bte <3i*erfyeit 
 felbft fetben tann/ inbem SSetrugerei bte UmtriJTenfyeit benu$t, frwnte 
 etne fold)e ftufficfyt innerfyalb bee r&njen bee SSMrJfamfeit beg 
 itegen." 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 A PP. proposed by Wilhelm Von Humboldt. On the other 
 
 T ' 
 
 hand, when we fully perceive what enormous benefits to 
 the public may accrue from the restriction of liberty, as 
 regards those ' actions of others ' which are noxious to 
 the welfare of the community, we are prone to call loudly, 
 sometimes, perhaps, too loudly, for governmental inter- 
 ference. 
 
 Von Humboldt, as quoted above, has said that 'energy 
 is the chief virtue of mankind.' These general statements 
 about virtues or vices can seldom be absolutely admitted. 
 But if one were obliged to make any statement at all 
 about them, it might perhaps be more truly said, that 
 indolence is the chief vice of mankind and moderation 
 the principal virtue at any rate the virtue which is most 
 rarely practised. To avoid this vice and cultivate this 
 virtue, are the two things mainly required in order to 
 deal justly and wisely with this great matter of inter- 
 ference, on the part of the State, in behalf of the public 
 welfare. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABO 
 
 ABOLITION of offices, 183 
 
 of sinecures, 128 
 Abuse of honours, 84 
 Act, local, 58 
 
 Act of Parliament, 147 
 
 working of a good, 149 
 
 inoperative, 154 
 
 Action of the British Government, 
 
 218 
 t of a State, 233 
 
 of others, 235 
 
 of American Senate, 44 
 Administration and legislation, 35, 
 
 165 
 
 Adulteration of drugs, 30 
 Advantages of local government, 5 1 
 
 - Advice of lawyers, 177 
 
 of others, a minister acting with, 
 
 201 
 Affection, State not going wrong 
 
 from excess of, 24 
 Age, limitations as to, 69 
 
 of transition, 125 
 Agents, value of good, 55 
 
 choice of, 69 
 
 trusting, 180 
 Ages of a nation, 217 
 
 Aids to government, 2, 14, 61, 96 
 
 Ambassadors, origin of, 189 
 Ambition, an evil, 153 
 
 BRI 
 
 Ambition, cause of misplaced, 155 " 
 American Senate, 44 
 Americans, a governable people, 8 " 
 Anglo-Saxon race very critical, 144 
 Anxiety of Ministers to make good 
 
 appointments, 75 
 Apology of Plato, 10 
 Applause, absence of public, 80 
 Appointments, making good, 75 
 Argumentation, power of, 122 A*- 
 Aristophanes. The Peaceful Citizen, 
 
 25 
 
 Art, advancement of, 2, 22 
 Authority, central, 57, 59 
 local, 57 
 
 Author's claims for being heard, 3 
 Average of thought, 202 
 'Avid of tacts,' Talleyrand, 134 
 
 BACON, Lord, 101 
 
 Benevolence of certain employers, 
 
 159 
 Bent of one's mind to be guarded 
 
 against, 203 
 British, easy to govern, 8 
 
 moderate in rebellion, 9 
 
 cautious, 9 
 
 not envious, 16 
 
 constant, 16 
 
2 3 8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 BRI 
 
 British, critical, 17 
 
 tolerant, 17 
 
 averse to extremes, 17 
 
 Boar, fable of the troublesome, 84 
 Boards, 102, 103, 183 
 Broom, economy about a, 181 
 Buckhounds, master of the, 77 
 Bureaucracy, fear of a, 28 
 
 ^ CABINETS, sinecures in, 127 
 
 Captains of industry, 37 
 "-Care, practical, in choice of men, 74 
 Case submitted to a Minister, 199 
 Causa causans, a, 220 
 Cauticn, British, 9 
 Caveat emptor, 27, 30 
 *"" Central authority, imperial nature 
 
 of, 57 
 
 ~~ what it really is, 59 
 -^ inspecting, not superseding, local 
 
 authority, 57 
 ~~ Chairman, choice of a, 102 
 
 Chamber, a second, 38 
 
 defects of a single, 40 
 
 De Tocqueville on, 43 
 
 *-~ Character of advisers to be consi- 
 dered, 202 
 
 China, competitive examinations in, 
 
 62 
 
 Citizen and the man, 234 
 Coleridge's translation of Schiller, 
 
 229 
 
 Colonial affairs, dealing with, 22 
 Colonies, knowledge of, 144 
 Colonists, British the best of, 193 
 
 in Parliament, 47 
 Commerce, 221 
 
 Commercial enterprise, outlet for, 
 
 221 
 
 Commune of Paris, 42 
 Communications, to the press, 172 
 
 DAN 
 
 Communications unnecessary, 168 
 Competitive examinations, 62 
 
 adopted in China, 62 
 
 advantage of, 63 
 
 inefficiency of, 63 
 
 motives for, 67 
 
 1 example of an opposite system, 77 
 -^Compromises, 17 
 Conclusions of author mostly apply 
 
 to Great Britain, 5 
 Condition of lower classes, 146 
 Conduct of majorities, 1 1 
 ^Conservatives, first opinion on Am- 
 bassadors, 189 
 -Constitution, of a Department, 174 
 
 of the Privy Council, 109 
 
 George III. on British, 6 
 
 M. Guizot on British, 18 
 
 "|" Correspondence, publishing diplo- 
 matic, 195 
 Council, Privy, 109 
 Councils, various, 43 
 
 use of, 96 
 
 two kinds of, 97 
 
 special nature, 98 
 
 tendency of representative, 98 
 
 advantages to be derived from, 
 
 99 
 
 characteristics of, loo 
 
 fatigue in, 101 
 
 choice of chairman for, 102 
 
 ! sections should interchange du- 
 ties, 103 
 
 special utility of, 105 
 Counsellors, ex officio, 104 
 
 'multitude of, '97 
 Criticism, 37, 62, 123 
 
 British, 17 
 
 DANGEROUS classes, their number, 
 217 
 
INDEX. 
 
 239 
 
 DEB 
 
 Debating societies of some use, 139 
 Decadence of nations, 220 
 
 of Rome, 220 
 
 of Spain, 222 
 
 Defence of a Department, 49 
 Definition, of a State, true, 132 
 Democratic agency, 158 
 
 movement, use to be made of, 
 
 214 
 
 Departments not to be sacrificed to 
 Parliament, 165 
 
 defence of, 49 
 
 attachment to, 49 
 
 origin of some, 114 
 
 officers in a, 174 
 
 extra officers for a, 1 70 
 
 intellectual power of a, 1 73 
 Despondency, 217 
 
 Details, love of, 134 
 
 mastery of, 133 
 
 De Tocqueville's opinion on a se- 
 cond Chamber, 43 
 Detrimental honours, 91 
 Development of opinions, 13 
 Diplomacy, 188 
 
 a new thing, 188 
 
 failure of, 194 
 
 failure of, a cause of war, 193 
 
 a preventative of war, 197 
 
 the future of, 197 
 Diplomatic correspondence pub- 
 lished, 195 
 
 Disobedience to be allowed for, 204 
 Distrust, false economy, 180 
 Division of labour, 21 
 Doctrinaire, 17, 125, 229 
 Double-first, the, 75 
 Drugs, adulteration of, 30 
 
 ECONOMY, political, 2 
 false, 178 
 
 FOR 
 Economy, alse, a disaster, 178 
 
 a plausible thing, 178 
 
 broom, 181 
 
 private, 181 
 
 true, 182 
 
 Eckermann's conversations with 
 
 Goethe, reference to, 12 
 -Education of statesmen never ends, 
 
 142 
 
 - special, of a statesman, 133 
 Electors and elected, 95 
 Energy, the first and only virtue of 
 
 mankind, 235, 236 
 Examinations, non-competitive, 77 
 Ex-offido counsellors, 104 
 Experience not always in the form of 
 reason, 4 
 
 of a minister, 150 
 Experienced men, 76 
 Expression, power of, 135 
 
 national power of, 136 
 
 includes logic, 136 -<~ 
 
 an art to be cultured, 136 
 
 includes method, 136 
 
 want of, obvious to all, 137 
 Evils, political, created, 94 __ 
 
 FABLE of the cuckoo and eagle, 
 
 85 
 
 troublesome boar, 85 
 
 king and counsellors, 86 
 
 wandering tribe of Thibet, 87 
 Failure through patchwork, 208 
 False economy, disastrous, 1 78 
 
 a plausible thing, 178 
 
 a case of, 179 
 
 Fanatical thinkers, dangerous, 228 
 Fatigue in councils, 101 - 
 Fluellen, saying of, 59 
 Foresight needed, 125 
 
 very rare, 125 
 
240 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 FOR 
 
 Foresight, not to be confined to 
 
 statesmen, 128 
 
 benefits resulting from, 130 
 in regard to panics, 131 
 Fraternal government, 34 
 Free-trade, 12 
 
 Friendship between officials, 50 
 Functions of government, I 
 
 GAS WORKS in large cities, 19 
 Generosity, 177 
 
 George III.'s opinion of British con- 
 stitution, 6 
 
 and the Irish baron, 83 
 Girondins, the, 129 
 
 Glass hive, government like bees in 
 
 a, 176 
 Goethe on minorities, 12 
 
 a saying of, 40 
 
 * Gdld lends mighty force,' 89 
 Good appointments, anxiety to 
 
 make, 75 
 Government, its functions, I 
 
 aids to, 2, 14, 61, 96 
 
 interference, 20, 26 
 central, 57 
 
 relations with the press, 172 
 
 organizing skill required in, 121 
 
 working of British, 176 
 
 mob, 231 
 
 paternal, 23 
 
 perils from bad, 229 
 
 fraternal, 34 
 
 local, 51 
 Gravina, 132 
 
 Grandeur des Remains, 226 
 Grievances to be dealt with singly, 
 
 151 
 
 Gui/ot's, M., opinion of England, 
 18 
 
 INT 
 
 HALLAM on the Privy Council, 1 10 
 Health ought to be the care of go- 
 vernment, 32 
 Hereditary peers, 45 
 History, high use of, 129 
 
 study of, 199 
 
 how statesmen should study, 135 
 Honours, conferred rightly, 83 
 
 a case of abuse, 83 
 
 not less wanted as civilization ad- 
 
 vances, 84 
 
 bestowal of, from fear, favour, 
 
 riches, age, 89 
 
 detrimental, 90 
 
 how not to be used, 91 
 
 recently conferred on civil ser- 
 
 vants, 
 
 Napoleon on, 84 
 House of Lords, 44 -"""" 
 
 defects of, 44 
 
 proposed reforms for, 45 
 Human affairs, interest in, to be cul- 
 tivated early, 141 
 
 IMPERIAL interests must outweigh 
 
 popular clamour, 147 
 Improvement, in contrast with re- 
 form, 152 
 
 Improvements in London, 1 56 
 Improvers, scope for, 154, 160 
 Indirect results, importance of, 210 
 Indolence, allowance for, to be made, 
 
 204 
 
 Inferiors, choice of, 79 
 dependence on, 78 
 Infirmity of noble minds, 160 
 Information for the press, 172, 175 
 Intellects, Machiavelli's classifica- 
 tion of, 1 06 
 
 Intellectual power of Departments,- 
 173 
 
INDEX. 
 
 2 4 l 
 
 INT 
 Intellectual powers of the public 
 
 press, 171 
 Interference, government, 20, 26 
 
 just and necessary, 27 
 
 danger from too little, 29 
 
 cases unfit for, 31 
 
 limits of, 35 
 
 on behalf of workpeople, 32 
 
 on behalf of purchaser, 31 
 Inquisition in Spain, 222 
 Interviews, personal, desirable, 74 
 
 JOBBERY, 67 
 fear of, 73 
 Johnson, Dr., 37, 224 
 Justice, love of, 139 
 
 KING George II I. 's opinion of Bri- 
 tish Constitution, 6 ; making an 
 Irish baron, 83 
 
 Louis XV., 130 
 
 and his counsellors, fable of the, 
 
 8 5 
 Knowledge of class views, 147 
 
 of facts, 1.34 
 Kriloi's fable, 84 
 
 LABOUR, division of, 21 
 Landor, 228 
 Lawyers' advice, 177 
 Legislation and administration, 35, 
 
 165 
 
 Letters addressed to a minister, 163 
 Life peerages, 45 
 Limits of interference, 35 
 Local Act, 58 
 Local authority, not superseded by 
 
 central authority, 57 
 Local government, 51 
 
 MIS 
 
 Local government forms adminis- \ 
 trators, 51 
 
 occupies restless spirits, 52 
 
 brings classes together, 52 
 
 teaches difficulties, 52 
 
 higher classes should take part 
 
 in, 53 
 
 advantages of, 54 
 
 limits of, 54 
 
 Local knowledge, advantage of, 66 
 
 Lois, V esprit des, 132 
 
 London, need of improvement in, 
 
 156 
 
 Lords, House of, 44 
 Louis XV., 130 
 Love of detail, 134 
 Lower classes, condition of, 146 
 
 MACHIAVELLI'S classification of in- 
 tellects, 106 
 Majorities, 10 
 
 Majority, general obedience to, 15 
 Massing of population, 20 
 Mastery of details, 133 
 Meetings, public, 145 
 Minister absorbed in work, 126 
 
 critics of, often impracticable 
 
 126 
 
 need for less work, 127 
 
 education of, 133 
 
 case submitted to a, 199 
 Minister's experience, 150 
 
 knowledge mostly official, 143 
 
 time, 161 
 
 private letters, 163 
 
 holidays, 167 
 
 Ministers in Parliament, 164 
 Minorities, Goethe's opinion on, 
 
 12 
 
 Mire of ignorance, 216 
 Misgovernment, peril from, 229 
 
242 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 MIS 
 Misunderstanding, a cause of quarrel, 
 
 190 
 Mob -government, 225 
 
 danger from, 225 
 
 principles which lead to, 226 
 - preventative of, 231 
 
 Montesquieu, 132, 226 
 Moor, Schiller's, 8 1 
 
 NAPIER, quotation from, 205 
 Napoleon I. on honours, 84 
 Nation of slaves and slaveowners, 
 
 213 
 National prosperity, 212, 219 
 
 age, 217 
 
 decadence, 220 
 New world, 222 
 
 OCCASION, errors concerning, 39 
 Occasion, not opportunity, 41 
 Offices, abolition of, 183 
 Opinions of George III. on the 
 Constitution, 6 
 
 of De Tocqueville on the same, 
 
 43 
 
 of Goethe on minorities, 12 
 
 Guizot on England, 18 
 
 Napoleon I. on honours, 84 
 
 development of, 13 
 
 Von Humboldt on paternal go- 
 
 vernment, 233 
 Organizing minds, 71 
 
 should be sought, 123 
 Organization, skill in, 115 
 
 not a gift peculiar to any race, 1 1 6 
 
 of a Department, 1 74 
 
 want of, at entertainments, 118 
 
 want of, at railways, 119 
 
 its importance, 1 20 
 
 not teachable, 1 20 
 
 POI 
 
 Organization wanted in government, - 
 
 121 
 
 powers of argumentation and, 122 
 Organizer, qualities of a, 116 
 Origin of some departments, 114 ^, 
 
 PANICS, 131 
 Paris, the commune, 42 
 Parliament impeding good govern- 
 ment, 36 
 
 questions in, 36, 168 
 
 seats in, 93, 94 
 
 colonists in, 47 
 
 conduct f a Bill in, 169 
 Parliamentary influence, abuse of, 
 
 68 
 Party, political and press, 153 
 
 names, 153 
 Patchwork, 208 
 
 Paternal government, 23, 233 
 
 good policy, 24 
 
 its limits, 24 
 
 prevents revolution, 32 
 
 to be welcomed, 33 
 
 Von Humboldt on, 233 
 Peaceful citizen, the, 25 
 Pecuniary tests, 70 
 Peerages, life, 45 
 
 hereditary, 45 
 
 special, 45 
 People, voice of the, 14 
 
 massing of, 20 
 
 not guided by press, 143 
 Permanent officers, 48 "~ 
 Personal interviews, 74 
 Peruvians, social system of, 215 
 ' Philip drunk,' 41 
 
 Pitt in Parliament, 169 
 
 and Wolfe, 72 
 Plato's Apology, 10 
 Poisons, sale of, 30 
 
INDEX. 
 
 243 
 
 POL 
 Political economy, 2 
 
 misfortunes of Spain, 223 
 
 officers, 48 
 
 evils created, 94 
 Pope, quotation from, 6 
 Popular ideas, 146 
 
 Powers of organization and argu- 
 
 mentation, 122 
 ' Prave ords,' 59 
 Precedent, its value, 201 
 Press, powers of, 171 
 
 alliance with a party, 171 
 
 relations of, with government, 
 
 172 
 
 literary power, very great, 1 74 
 Primary tests, 66 
 
 'Prince,' quotation from Machia- 
 velli's, 107 
 
 Private Secretaries, 184 
 Privileges, 214 
 
 r Privy Council, 109 
 
 its constitution, no 
 
 Hallam on the, no 
 
 not concerned with any party, 
 
 ill 
 
 sub-departments of, 113 
 
 powers of, 112 
 
 high utility, 112 
 
 suggestions for the improvement 
 
 of, 113 
 
 Promotion, 79 
 
 -Property, a creature of the State, 
 
 22 
 
 Prosperity, of a nation, 219 
 
 moral rather than physical, 224 
 Proverbs, to be considered in pairs, 
 
 198 
 Public, meetings, 145 
 
 working of British government, 
 
 I 7 6 
 
 should reserve opinion, 175 
 
 applause, absence of, 80 
 
 REF 
 
 Public speaking, 92 
 Publication of diplomatic correspon- 
 dence, 195 
 
 QUACKS, '158 
 Qualifications for Peers, 46 
 Questions in Parliament, 36, 168 
 Quotations from Coleridge's 
 'Schiller,' 229 
 
 De Tocqueville, 43 
 
 Eckermann, 12 
 
 F Esprit des Lois, 132 
 
 Goethe, 12, 40, 89 
 
 Grandeur dcs Romains, 226 
 
 Guizot, 18 
 
 Hallam, no 
 
 Johnson, Dr., 37, 222 
 
 - Krilof, 84 
 
 Landor, 228 
 
 Machiavelli's ' Prince,' 107 
 
 Mirabeau, 233 
 
 Montesquieu, 132, 226 
 
 Napier, 205 
 
 Pope, 6 
 
 - Ralston, W., 84 
 
 Schiller, 81, 229 
 
 Shakespeare, 59 
 
 Talleyrand, 134 
 
 Taylor, Sir H., 79 
 
 Von Humboldt, 233 
 
 RACE, organization not a peculiar 
 
 gift of any, 116 
 Railways, want of organization at, 
 
 119 
 References and quotations to be 
 
 verified, 200 
 
 Reformer, efforts of a young, 26 
 Reforms proposed for the House of 
 Lords, 45, 46 
 
244 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 REP 
 Representative council, tendency 
 
 of, 98 
 Representatives in foreign lands, 
 
 value of, 192 
 Revolution necessary at times, 16, 
 
 213 
 
 principles of, rife, 227 
 Rewards, for services, 183 
 
 for private secretaries, 184 
 
 hope of, should always be held 
 open, 185 
 
 evils of narrow system of, 92 
 Ridicule, a safeguard, 29 
 Right placing of men, 71 
 Rome, 220 
 
 how its empire might have been 
 
 prolonged, 222 
 
 its fate, 227 
 Routine, mill of, 122 
 
 like miller and his men, 128 
 Rules and principles, 206 
 
 not to be made heedlessly, 207 
 
 SANITARY matters, 55 
 
 powers, 59 
 Scheele's green, 32 
 Schiller's Moor, 8 1 
 
 on war, 229 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, his justice to 
 
 opposite factions, 9 
 Seal, putting a, to fame, 93 
 Seats in Parliament, 93 
 \ excessive demand for, 94 
 Second Chamber, 38, 40, 43 
 Secretaries, private, 184 
 ^Senate, American, action of, 44 
 Service, best, how to be obtained, 
 
 1 86 
 
 Shadow, jumping off one's own, 40 
 Sinecures, usefulness of, 127 
 
 abolition of, 128 
 
 TES 
 
 Skill in organization, 1 20, 121 
 Slaves and slave-owning States, 213 
 Slowness, a fatal defect, 76 
 Social system of Peruvians, 215 
 Socialists, aim of, 32 
 Societies for debating, of some use, 
 
 139 
 
 Socrates' speech, 10 
 Spain and New World, 222 
 
 political misfortunes of, 223 
 Speaking, the art of, 138 
 
 in public, chiefly rewarded, 92 
 Spirits, restless, work for, 52 
 Stagnation, fatal to prosperity, 221 
 State, true definition of the, 132 
 Statesman, special education, 133 
 
 'avid of facts,' 134 
 
 should study history, 135 
 
 expression requisite for, 136 
 
 much isolated, 142 
 Stateman's knowledge, mostly offi 
 
 cial, 143 
 
 Study of history, 199 
 how statesmen stand, 135 
 Sub-departments of Privy Council, 
 
 H3 
 
 Subjects for government interfer- 
 ence, 20 
 Sun's rays, 21 1 
 Supervision, ridiculous, 181 
 
 Talmla Rasa, 155 
 
 Talleyrand, 134 
 
 Taxation, knowledge required for, 
 
 M7 
 Taylor, Sir H., reference to his 
 
 'Statesman,' 79, 133, 135 
 Telegram from Paris, 42 
 Tenure of property, 22 
 Tests, primary, 66 
 pecuniary, 70 
 
INDEX. 
 
 245 
 
 THI 
 
 Thinking, 204 
 Time, error respecting it, 39 
 
 of ministers, 1 6 1 
 
 more, wanted for office work, 165 
 
 needed to master facts, 1 66 
 Timidity, aided by good chairman, 
 
 102 
 
 in a council, 97 
 Transition, age of, 125 
 Travel, English liking for, 144 
 Travellers, vague views from, 191 
 Tribe, the wandering, fable of, 87 
 
 -Trust, in agents, 1 80 
 
 necessary to vigorous action, 38 
 
 UNDER-SECRETARIES, 48, 174 
 VALUE of good agents, 53 
 
 YEA 
 
 Value, Napoleon's, of Ney, 61 
 
 of precedent, 201 
 
 of representatives abroad, 192 
 Verification, 200 
 
 Voice of the people, 14 
 Von Humboldt, 233 
 
 WAR prevented by diplomacy, 197 
 
 caused by failure of diplomacy,. 
 
 193 
 
 preparations for, 131 
 Waterworks, 20 
 Wellington, Duke of, 204 
 Whist proposed as a test, 64 
 Wolfe, Pitt's choice of, 72 
 
 } YEARS of discretion, 23 
 

 
 AN 
 
 FINK 
 
 OVERDUE.