have been for some time in the air, and I | vious elections, it had not been Lord have seen a great deal about the subject Derby, or Lord John Russell, or even Sir in the newspapers, even since I began to Robert Peel, that had been mentioned, or put my thoughts together for the purpose in earlier days Lord Melbourne, or Lord of writing this article. Before it is printed Grey, or the Duke of Wellington, but the its remarks may have been forestalled, or Reform Bill or. the Corn Laws, or other they may already have been answered. I matters of public importance. This, howwill however complete it. The worst that ever, was at the time attributed to the can happen to me is that it should be cast recent Russian war, and to gratitude on aside by the reader as one more of the the part of the nation to the old statesman many fantastic and fanciful productions to whose disinterestedness and magnanimity which the recent political excitement has had seemed to furnish so strong a congiven birth. But if anybody should show trast to the intrigues and the selfishness my apprehensions to be groundless, I shall around him, who had so fearlessly taken be thankful. the helm in the very middle of the storm, when so many others seemed to shrink from it, and under whose auspices the good ship had been taken safely into port. Though Lord Palmerston remained in a high position to the end of his life, this exaggerated personal popularity soon passed away, and the spectre of Cæsarism for a time disappeared. Have we not, however, since his death, and particularly since Lord Beaconsfield's Reform Bill, seen very marked signs of its return? Did not party conflict during a few years almost assume the aspect of a duel between two men? There had been nothing like this in previous history. The names of Pitt and Fox may occur to us, but it was only in the House of Commons that political warfare assumed the appearance of personal rivalry between them. In the country it was a question not between Pitt and Fox, but between war and peace. Since Lord Beaconsfield has been removed, has not the weakness of the Conservative party been owing more than anything else to the fact that they have no name which they can put forward with the least chance of success against that of Mr. Gladstone? Mr. Gladstone's position in his party and in the country is the object of so much invective, and has been made to point so many morals, that it may seem as if I had been leading up to something of the same sort.

I have not, I am happy to say, any fears at all of Cæsarism in its worst and commonest shape, that established by an able and unscrupulous general at the head of a victorious army. There has never been much danger of this, and all modern changes in our army, by separating the soldier in a less marked manner than formerly from the citizen, tend to diminish what little danger there was. But there is another kind of Cæsarism, founded not upon arms but upon the affections of the people, which, though far preferable to the first, is not pleasant to contemplate. It would, to my mind, be a great evil that everything requiring sudden and immediate action should depend upon the judg. ment and perhaps even the caprice and temper of a single man. I have great belief in the proverb that in a multitude of councillors there is wisdom. I do not like to feel that everything depends upon a single brain, even in its soundest and healthiest condition, and the possession of unlimited power is apt after a time to turn the strongest head. I do not like, either, to see those who are trusted with political power sytematically shirking thought, abandoning all attempt to grap ple in their own minds with even the simplest questions, not even putting themselves into the hands of those whom they personally know and trust, but confining their political action to voting blindly for whoever will promise to support the favorite of the hour.

The first faint symptom of the approach of this mitigated but still pernicious form of Cæsarism that I can recollect was when Lord Palmerston appealed to the country in 1857. It struck me at the time, and it strikes me still more in looking back, that the manner in which nothing more was then required of a candidate for almost every constituency than to pronounce one magic name was unlike anything I had read of as happening before—that in pre

Not so. If I did feel impelled to attack him, it would be not that I loved Cæsar less, but Rome more, and it would be with the greatest reluctance; for few people have, in this instance, a greater regard and admiration for Cæsar than I have. But I do not think there is any danger from Mr. Gladstone. If he has been invested with the purple, it is at the end of a long career in the service of the republic. He has reached that point in the life of a statesman which is perhaps the most beautiful of all to contemplate, when, though the faculties are still in full vigor,

ambition has burnt itself out. The habits | much prefer it when it is directed towards of a lifetime, and a modest humility of the great men of other days instead of nature which is rarely to be found united towards any contemporary however emiwith such transcendent abilities, have never allowed him to be unmindful of the opinion of those whom he has gathered round him. Long may he live to enjoy the popularity which he bears with such simple dignity! If I see something to inspire alarm in the exaggerated worship of so large a part of the nation, and in the tremendous power which it might place in the hands of an individual, it is not that I think him likely to make a bad use of it, but because I dislike and distrust the spirit which inspires such worship.

nent. But there is surely a false heroworship, chiefly distinguished from the true by the badness of its choice, and by the excess to which it is carried. The more glittering and superficial beauties of platform eloquence, one-sided passion, even mere scurrilous personality, may some day become terribly prominent among the means by which this pernicious idolatry may be obtained. In short, among the dangers in front of us may be the too great concentration of authority in the hands of one man, which I consider in itself an evil; and the evil may be aggravated by that man being injudiciously selected.

It must be remembered that the individual must pass away, but not so the spirit. It is not easy for men to stand alone who have been once accustomed to It remains to consider what safeguards lean upon another for support. The there are against this danger. I will bepower of judging for themselves about gin by repeating the apparent paradox public matters, and of grasping all parts of each question before coming to a decision, is supposed to be engendered among the people by a free government; by philosophers it has been considered one of the chief advantages of a free government that it does this; and people are fitted for a free government according to the degree in which they possess this power. It is, however, only by long training that this power can be developed, and it is easily lost. Will our present electors retain as much of it as they now have, and will the new electors ever acquire it? The object, I have said, of popular worship must in the course of nature disappear, but the spirit that prompts that worship will remain. If the British public has really been de. bauched, successor after successor will take advantage of the fact.

A man may arise with all Mr. Gladstone's popular talents, but less real ability, far less scrupulous and more ambitious of personal rule, not immediately perhaps, for I am not particularly alluding to any one yet living, but when self-reli ance and discrimination and all the qualities that are necessary for forming an independent opinion have gradually disappeared from among the people. Such a man, by taking advantage of the false hero-worship which I conceive to be on the increase, may obtain far more power than can be safely lodged in the hands of any single human being. True heroworship may be a very fine quality, though I always rather distrust it and dread its being carried to an excess; but it should be accompanied by great care and great insight in the choice of a hero, and I very

that one of the chief bulwarks of our liberty is the crown. I do not lay much stress upon any actual remnants of its former power with which it is still invested. I allude rather to the indirect effect which it has, and which we may hope that it will continue to have, in drawing to itself much of the popular enthusiasm which would otherwise be accumu lated upon the favorite of the moment. The very strong and deep-seated feeling which there is for the queen and royal family is of unmixed advantage. It is by a most fortunate combination of circumstances that this feeling has arisen. He reditary association and high personal qualities have combined in producing it. May no short-sighted economy dim the lustre of the institution towards which so much loyalty exists! Let us thoroughly distrust any ambitious man who may seek to weaken its hold upon the affections of the people, and let us feel sure that any aspirant to inordinate authority will make it the first object of his attack.

Side by side with loyalty to the crown as a preservative against the too great power of an individual is the spirit of patriotism. Patriotism may be defined as an earnest desire for the welfare of the community. This is the greatest virtue that a statesman can have, but we want something warmer and more vivid than this to influence the masses in the direc tion I have indicated. We may perhaps find it in that patriotism of the good oldfashioned sort which personified England as the ancient Romans personified Rome, and erected her into an object of enthu siastic devotion. This may be called

EX

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sentiment, but it must be remembered | present position it may be looked upon as
that we are pitting one sentiment against a very valuable check upon the too ex-
another. What I am anxious to keep orbitant ambition of an individual. As it
within bounds is the undue amount of is the goal towards which all our politi-
sentiment likely to be entertained towards cians are striving, it may be considered in
the popular favorite, and I would do so general to consist of all the most capable
by substituting an ideal idol for a real one. men of the majority. As it deliberates in
And my ideal idol is one that in the days secret, and as there is no report of its
of our forefathers has inspired many a proceedings, the opinions and the pas-
bold deed as well as many a stirring song. sions of the outside world have only an
When Nelson signalled England ex- indirect influence upon its councils. It is
pects every man to do his duty," he knew too small to be affected by eloquence.
well that he was appealing to a very strong The abilities which carry weight in so
motive for exertion. Campbell's "Mari- select a circle are very different from
ners of England " has made many a heart those which dazzle the multitude; and if
beat in his own country as well as south ever the same man who has dazzled the
of the Tweed. And here let me in pass-multitude can establish a complete control
ing express a hope that other Scotchmen
will some day imitate his example in
adopting the name of England for our
common country, and that the grotesque
and unpoetical appellation of Great Brit-
ain may be gradually dropped. This is a
small matter, but there is something in a
name. Let us retain that round which so
many sacred associations have been gath-
ered.

I now proceed to consider a more prac
tical safeguard. I mean the institution
called the Cabinet. This part of our po-
litical system is of recent growth, and is,
I believe, by some writers not even yet
allowed to be, strictly speaking, a part of
our Constitution. It has, however, taken
such firm root, that it may be expected to
endure for a long time. Many things in
this country were deliberately started or
developed with the intention of preserving
and extending our liberties, but this is
not among the number. In its beginning
it was the result of the consolidation of
factions, and was closely connected with
the establishment of a regular system of
party government. It gradually became
the rule during what I have called our
aristocratic period that each of our public
departments should be administered by
one of a circle of political allies who
among them were possessed of the control
of the House of Commons. The heads
of these departments with their most
powerful friends were in the habit of
meeting privately to discuss their meas-
ures, and what we now call the Cabinet
was the result. It might then in its com-
mencement have been considered as a
means of concentrating authority rather
than a safeguard against its monopoly, as
it has now become. But it is an old ob-
servation that an institution very often
ends by having a totally opposite effect to
that for which it was designed. In our

over the Cabinet, we shall at all events have a master of varied and consummate powers, solid as well as brilliant; but it is not probable that such different qualities will be found united in a single man.

The effect of the Cabinet in preserving us from the despotism of a single man may possibly in the future be something faintly resembling that of the Council of Ten at Venice. Perhaps the comparison will be thought odious. We have been accustomed to dwell too much upon the dark side of the Council of Ten its assassinations and the terrorism which it exercised. We forget that these were common to the whole of Italy at the time, and that the only difference between Venice and other States was, that in the latter these crimes were perpetrated by an individual against his private enemies, and that in Venice they were generally directed against those who were likely to endanger the republic. The bright side of the Council of Ten was that for century after century it absolutely averted individual tyranny, and it is in this respect that I picture the institution of the Cabinet as possibly destined to present some small resemblance to it. One hopeful sign to those who look to the Cabinet as a check is, that its independence, so far as an outsider can judge, has steadily increased during the last hundred years. probably at its lowest in the days of the second Pitt, who had filled it with nonentities whom he scarcely deigned to consult.

It was

But circumstances are very different now. It has ever since those days been growing more and more impossible for the prime minister to exercise any real supervision over the different departments. The overwhelming and steadily increasing amount of labor which each department involves makes it every year

more independent, and increases the ne- | is my hope more certain of there being as cessity for a man of first-rate ability to be good a chance in the future as now of the at the head of it. A prime minister who worthiest candidates being selected. The has acquired such control over the con- choice seems every day to depend more stituencies as to be sure of a personal and more upon the single quality of elomajority whenever Parliament is dis- quence. And the spirit of exaggerated solved, will indeed be powerful enough to admiration for the one man who has once choose his Cabinet very much at his own succeeded in getting his head up above discretion; but he will always, as I have the rest the mixture of indolence and shown, be compelled to place very able passion which shirks detail, and for con. men at the head of the different depart-venience concentrates all political action ments, in order to make it possible for into shouting for a single name - this him to carry on the business of the coun- pernicious tendency, which is one of the try. His power of choice, therefore, will diseases to which democracy is liable, and not be altogether unrestrained. of which the symptoms are already maniMy fears for the future have been some-fest - this very evil, which I have all this what mitigated by these thoughts about the Cabinet, but they come back to me when I turn my attention to the House of Commons, and reflect that it is upon the independence of that assembly that any hopes that we can really entertain of resisting Cæsarism must ultimately rest. The independence of the House of Commons will be decided by how far our strongest and most intellectual men continue to have seats in it. For these are the men to whom we must look as the most likely to resist becoming mere instruments in registering the decrees of an individual. Will, then, our best men become candidates to the same extent as up to the present moment, and will they have the same chance of success? Experience only will enable us to give an answer, but I do not always feel very sanguine as to what that answer will be.

As to the first part of the question, there is no doubt that the life of an ordinary member of Parliament has become very wearisome, partly owing to obstruc tion, which we may hope is only a temporary evil; partly owing to another evil originally connected with obstruction, but which will long survive it - the increased number of dull, empty, commonplace speeches which have to be endured. The obstructionists contributed to this evil by breaking down the old traditional defence against bores and bad speakers, but the increased brilliancy and activity of journalism would, under any circumstances, have diminished the interest of Parliamentary debates. The best men of all may still be attracted into the House of Commons by ambition, and a very valuable class may seek admission from a sense of duty; but the average quality of candidates will, I fear, deteriorate, partly because the life is so wearisome, and partly because an increasingly good field for ability is to be found elsewhere. Nor

time been endeavoring to call attention to, will have as one of its most immediate effects the keeping out of independent men from the House of Commons. In other words, the faults and weaknesses from which Cæsarism may be expected to result will begin by undermining what we must look upon as our principal defence against it.

There is one other safeguard in the shape of a strong second chamber, which I have omitted to notice, and on which I lay no stress; for though useful in mod. erating personal power when it is only beginning to be exorbitant, it would be of no use whatever against it if it once passed a certain point.

My hopes, then, of resisting Cæsarism are very small, if the disease which produces it once becomes deeply seated in the country. Let us trust, however, that this may, after all, perhaps not be the case. The Americans are at present almost entirely free from it, though they are of the same race as ourselves, and are more advanced into democracy than we are. It may be only a passing ailment. The next few years will perhaps enable us to judge. We are no doubt on the eve of a crisis in our national life. It may be confidently predicted that the addition to our constituencies of two million voters belonging to the most ignorant and impulsive of our population will for the moment intensify the evil of which I have spoken. But there may prove to be something in the Anglo-Saxon blood which will only allow the poison to act in a mild and mitigated manner, and our vitality may be strong enough to throw it off before it has taken real hold of us.

There are, I believe, some who do not consider Cæsarism a disease. With such I do not argue. I only address those who are in favor of a free government. Surely it is of the essence of a free government

that people should think for themselves. | jects of man's art which are not unworthy
Of course it is not to be expected that each of their natural surroundings. Even the
unit of our vast population should form an wondrous beauty of the lake which washes
original and independent opinion. All the western wall of the city, is held to be
we can wish is that there may be as many heightened by the temples, palaces, and
different centres of thought as possible, pavilions which adorn the islands scat
and that every man of vigor and intelli- tered over its surface; while all around
gence may have his due weight, to the end it, in the words of the Venetian traveller,
that as much as possible of the brain- which are as true now as they were in
power contained in the nation may be the thirteenth century, "are erected beau-
brought to bear, directly or indirectly, tiful palaces and mansions, of the richest
upon the making of her laws and the and most exquisite structure that you can
management of her affairs. The country imagine, belonging to the nobles of the
should be in so sound a condition, and city."
should have such an abundance of ability
to draw upon, that she should hardly feel
the difference if at any moment she lost
not only her prime minister, but her whole
official staff. Her safety and her glory
should be entirely independent of even
the greatest of her statesmen. This has
been our proud boast during many periods
of our history. But we shall be able to
boast of this no longer if democracy takes
a wrong direction and ends in a repetition
of the old story. On the other hand, if
democracy takes a right direction and
keeps clear of Cæsarism, it ought, by
bringing more ability into the field, to
make our position better than it is now,
or than it has ever yet been.

COWPER.

From Blackwood's Magazine.
WITHIN HIS DANGER:

On summer evenings it is the habit of these noble citizens to take their pleasure on the lake in barges, which reflect in their bright decorations and luxurious fittings the meretricious beauty of their surroundings. In such a galley, one glorious evening in early autumn, the magistrate of Hang-chow was taking his ease at the close of a hard day's work, and by contact with the fresh breezes of heaven, was seeking to rid himself of the taint of chicanery, bribery, and intrigue which infected every nook and corner of his yamun. His compagnon de voyage was a Mr. Tso, an old resident at Hang-chow, and one in whose judgment the magistrate placed much confidence. Being rich and independent, he could afford to hold his own opinions, even when they clashed with those of his present host; and accustomed as the magistrate was to the society of toadies, it was refreshing to find a man who did not hesitate to contradict him to his face. The evening was one rather for still enjoyment than for much talking, and for some minutes not a word had been spoken between the friends, when, on rounding a point in the lake, the boat sailed into view of the house and grounds, famed in local history as being the most beautiful among the beautiful, and as hav. ing descended in the Ts'èng family from father to son through countless generations.

A TALE FROM THE CHINESE, "You stand within his danger, do you not?" (Merchant of Venice.) "HENCE it comes to pass that when men return home [from Hang-chow] they say they have been to the city of Heaven, and their only desire is to get back thither as soon as possible." Thus wrote Marco Polo. The modern Chinaman, breathing the same enthusiastic admiration for the most beautiful city in eastern Asia, says, "Well," said the magistrate, after gaz"See Hang-chow and die;" and unless ing long and admiringly at the landscape, we are to suppose that every traveller "if I were not the magistrate of Hang. who has visited the town has been a vic- chow, I would be Mr. Ts'èng. What an tim to hallucinations, there are few spots enviable lot his is!-young, rich, talenton the surface of the earth which surpassed, the husband of a charming wife, if in bright beauty the city and neighborhood of Hang-chow. Earth, sky, and wa ter there combine to form one of the most lovely pieces of landscape gardening on a gigantic scale that it is possible to imagine; while the colored roofs of the yamun and pagodas, the countless bridges and splendid temples of the city, present ob

report speaks truly, and the owner of such a lovely house and gardens as those yonder. That willow clump is just the spot where Su Tungp'o would have loved to have written sonnets; and that mass_of waving color is enough to make Tsau Fu hing rise from his grave and seize his paintbrush again."