American Constitution, if they will, a balancing element of conservatism that should not be lost to sight. The American loves liberty, but liberty regulated by precedent and law. In an age when democratic and socialistic theories are threatening the foundations of the political and social fabric of the civilized world, it can scarcely be unprofitable for earnest thinkers to pause and consider, that the great republic possesses in its method of government the result, not merely of a philosophy, but of an historical upgrowth.

And it is proper to observe, that there are Americans who regard with dismay the tendency of those in England who seem in haste to modify or destroy old English institutions, appearing to believe that America sets the example of such destructiveness, and that such a road is the way of progress. England would do well to realize that the American institutions which have proved the most successful have been, very often at least, the working out of ancient English principles of free government. If the case of America is to count for anything, it may count, certainly in some respects, on the side of a careful handling of those old principles. There is many a true-hearted and loyal American who would deplore the spectacle of Englishmen breaking with their own great past.

The author would be justly deemed ungrateful, if he failed to express sincere appreciation of the important aid given him by distinguished legal and historical scholars in Europe and America. Special mention

should be made of the earnest help and interest accorded by the late Sir Henry Maine. Thanks are also due to many kind friends, among them the Rev. Henry B. Ensworth, who has supplied a number of valuable works; and a lady who has aided materially in the task of final revision for the press. Despite carefulness, the author is fully conscious that he has not improbably fallen into mistakes, — for all which he begs a generous indulgence. He has tried to see the facts clearly, fairly, fearlessly, and to let the facts tell their tale.

JANUARY 1, 1894.

power of what, for want of a better term, may be called instinct. This error appears notably in the writings of Grotius, Hobbes, Spinoza, Puffendorf, Locke, Rousseau, in fact, in all writings where the origin of government is explained by the hypothesis, now exploded, of an original social contract, based upon the element of intelligent selection. A safer course is adopted by some recent writers, who may be said to incline to the view believed to have been first advanced by Aristotle, which regards government as a result of natural social growth.1

1 Aristotle says: "It is evident that a state is one of the works of nature, and that man is naturally a political animal, and that whosoever is naturally and not accidentally unfit for society must be either inferior or superior to man.". Welford's translation of Aristotle's Politics and Economics, 6. Mr. Hannis Taylor gives modern expression to this old thought: "The cityless man (äπoλɩs) — the natural man of Hobbes and Rousseau- must be more or less than

either superhuman or a monster." the English Constitution, 5. "He is the

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