existing authority. But on the other hand, where there is a germ of freedom to begin with, there are strong influences on the Democratic side. For the influence of the past becomes constantly weaker by the lapse of time; and the balance, which at first was kept steady by the weight of old families, is disturbed by the rise of new men, who grow in wealth, or in some other form of power. And as the love of power on the one side, so the love of freedom on the other, may become a craving for more. Thus there are tendencies which may produce a struggle between Aristocracy and Democracy; such a struggle has taken place in most old countries, and has occupied many centuries.

947. In the contest between Aristocracy and Democracy, the Aristocracy represents the Principle of Order; for the authority of the existing laws is the inheritance of the past, and belongs to the heirs of the past. But the Principle of Order may also be embodied in a line of Kings, as well as in families of Nobles; or in the two conjointly. In this case, the Monarchy derives its force from the actual past, as well as from the Idea of a National Will and a National Justice. On the other hand, where the people have already acquired Political Rights, the Democracy represents, not only the Principle of Liberty, but the Principle of Order also; for they assert their Rights, as fixed by existing Laws. Hence we do not find in the History of Nations, the Cause of mere Order and of mere Liberty opposed to each other. The Democratical party assert the necessity both of Order and of Liberty: the opposite party, whether Monarchical or Aristocratical, respect Liberty, so far as it is established by Law. Yet still there is an opposition; the one party make a stand for Order combined with Liberty, as it is by Law established; the other party contend for an extension of Liberty, which they hold to be reconcileable with

Order. The one is the Cause of Authority, the other of Relaxation. The one Party are a Conservative Party, who contend for the position of equilibrium of Order and Liberty, which already exists: the other are a Movement Party, who seek a new position, in which a larger share of Liberty enters.

948. The forms which such struggles take, and the means which are employed in them, are very various. Popular Rights are embodied and protected by Laws, which give to the people security of person and of property; by a share in the election of Magistrates; by Magistrates who are the special defenders of such Rights (as the Roman Tribunes of the Plebeians); by men of the People holding Magistracies; by the People having a share in making the Laws; and the like. The Assemblies, whether Senates or General Assemblies, in which such questions are discussed and decided;-in which Laws are passed, Magistrates elected, the National Acts determined upon;-are the especial scenes of the struggles of Parties either of the Conservative and the Movement party, which universally exist in such cases; or of Parties, which, without being guided by any fundamental Principle, have for their object Power; namely, the Power of directing the national acts. If such Assemblies be moderately numerous, and if the citizens who take part in them, really aim at Order, Liberty and Justice, the balance of the Constitution may long subsist. And if, on the increase of wealth and intelligence in the People, a large share of Popu lar Rights is pressed for, the Conservative Party may, by yielding slowly and yet holding steadily, find the new position of equilibrium which is suited to the new condition of the community.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.

949. WHEN a nation becomes very large, such a balanced Constitution, as we have just spoken of, in its simple form, becomes difficult or impracticable. The General Assemblies of the citizens become too numerous and too mixed, to deliberate and act with order, freedom, and virtue. When freedom has existed in large nations, it has existed under more complex Constitutions; and the struggle between Estab lished Authority and the demands for Enlarged Liberty have assumed corresponding forms. Sometimes the struggle has been between the King and the Nobles, the Nobles contending for Liberty for themselves; while the question of Liberty between their dependents and them is left to be settled afterwards. Thus the Barons of England, as the assertors of English Liberty, obtained Magna Charta. Or the struggle may be between the King, and certain Classes of the Community, collected (they or the principal persons of them) in Assemblies, Class by Class. Such Assemblies are the Estates of the Realm: thus in England the three Estates were anciently, the Spiritual Body, the Temporal Lords, and the Commons. The Members of the Estate of the Commons, the Third Estate, may be appointed by the People in various ways; but in all its modifications, this Estate is a Representative Assembly. And in nations where Classes of Society with broad historical distinctions have never existed, or where the distinctions have been abolished, the whole body of the people may be divided into Electoral Districts; and the Representatives of these Districts may form assemblies by which free government may be exercised for a territory, perhaps, of unlimited extent.

950. The Principle of Representation in Government is entirely of modern origin. In the ancient world we nowhere find it brought into play. As we have just said, it is a necessary condition of the freedom of a great nation; for the whole body of the citizens could not, in any other way have their share in the Government. But the conduct of national business by Representative Assemblies, has advantages much beyond its making freedom merely possible for an extensive and populous country. It prevents the tumultuous meetings and rash proceedings of large popular assemblies. It also, by reducing the number of the deliberative assembly, increases the calmness and reasonableness of their discussions and decisions. The members of the assembly, not having found their place into it by chance, but being chosen for their real or supposed merits, act with a greater sense of responsibility; and will be, really, a wiser and more trustworthy set of men, than the citizens taken at hazard. Their being few in number, selected for merit, the object of public notice, makes them more likely to act for right ends, and less likely to be seduced by the prospect of personal advantage to oblique and selfish courses. The Members of such an assembly also attend to their public business more regularly and carefully than the people at large would do or could do. The Members of the Assembly become statesmen by profession, and attend to their work with a professional care and skill. They guard both order and liberty, the Rights of the State and of all citizens, more watchfully and better than the citizens would guard their own Rights.

951. On the other hand, in the Representative System, the people at large are liberated from the task of managing the Government, which they could not execute well; and are charged only with a business to which they are fully competent, that of elect

ing those who are to govern. The citizens who would be wholly unfit to be trusted with the decision of a question of foreign polity, or domestic economy, or jurisprudence, may be qualified to choose a person as their Representative. In this manner, the whole people have a share in the government: both the masses of population in the towns, too numerous and too ignorant to rule directly; and the people of the country, too scattered otherwise to act at all in public business. For these two may be brought together without difficulty on such occasions as the choice of a Representative.

952. We see, then, that this Modern Step in Polity, the introduction of the Representative System, makes a combination of Liberty and Order possible upon any scale however large, and brings with it other vast advantages. But for this purpose, the Representative must not be merely a Delegate, who reports to the Central Assembly what his constituents have directed him to say; nor must be a Sena. tor for life, who, once elected, is no further responsible to the electors; nor must be a Patron, who has the people whom he represents, not for his Electors, but for his Clients; and finally, he must be a Representative in an Assembly which acts for the Nation; for it is of national Government that we are speak. ing. Hence it has been rightly stated* as essential to Representation, that in electing him the power of the People must be parted with, and given over, for a limited time, to Deputies chosen by the People; the Deputies fully and freely exercising Power instead of the People.

953. After the Representative System is fully established, the Struggles of Parties, and especially the Struggles of the Conservative and the Movement Party in each Country, are mainly carried on by

* Lord Brougham, Polit. Phil. Part. 111., 33.