some principle, or to act out some idea, those who hold to the same principles will naturally, and must necessarily, urite in some degree and combine their endeavors, strength and energy. Without it, it would be as impossible in many cases, to remove some impediments in the course of civilisation, or to introduce some truth into practical life, as it would be to remove a physical obstacle without a union of several forces. Parties exist not only where there is political liberty, but, as was just observed, wherever there is freedom of action. Thus, so soon as an absolute monarch does not, with a superior mind and iron will, force all around him to walk steadily upon his prescribed paths, we shall find divisions, parties, factions of the court. We may lay it down then as a principle, that in the same degree as there is room for combined and self-directing action in any sphere, do likewise parties exist.

Nor is it, thirdly, upon many grounds, desirable that no parties should exist. Without parties there could be no loyal, steady, lasting and effective opposition, one of the surest safeguards of public peace, as we shall see hereafter, and for the want of which parties became, in antiquity and the middle ages, so much more frequently factions than in modern times with those nations who best understand the practical operation of civil liberty. Without parties many of the wisest measures could never be carried, and many of the best intended measures would remain harsh, unmodified, absolute; the polity of a free commonwealth would greatly lose its hamacratic character. Without parties well understood, those restless, shallow, ambitious theorists, the mischievous appendages of modern liberty, would worry society in a manner which, in many cases, would lead to serious reactions. Each vain, loud and inexperienced individual would harass society far more than they are now capable of doing. Lastly, the freedom of action in which civil liberty consists, must leave a great degree of combination at the option of the citizens, which liberty will naturally be made use of in many cases by men, misguided either by error, evil design, or fanaticism. How then are we to counteract them otherwise than by counter-combination? how is it possible to displace a vicious administration except by a combination of efforts.

Yet, let us always, and at every stage of this inquiry remember, that parties themselves are exposed, and expose others to much danger. This consideration and that, on the other hand, they are, both unavoidable and useful for there are many things dangerous, which yet cannot be avoided, must prompt us the more honestly, manfully and practically to inquire into the very essence of the matter, so the subject may become the more and more justly understood. (2)

(1) If they act overtly and physically, they become either insurgents or rebels, as the case may be.

(2) In this respect, the subject of parties only resembles a thousand others, for instance, that of power, of punishment, of all the primary impulses, such as the desire of property, the wish to convince others of what we hold to be true ourselves, the union of the sexes, the partiality for our kindred, the very love of our country, nay, the first physical impulses, of eating and drinkingall are unavoidably necessary, yet expose to moral or physical danger.

XII. There are two great classes of parties-historical and passing ones. By historical parties I understand those which are founded in the history of their country through a long series of years, parties which adhere to certain political ideas, handed down from generation to generation, developed and modified by repeated practical application, and expanded into a certain system and doctrine, having taken root in the practical life of the nation. They become the more especial representatives of their respective ideas, and the nation at large become. well acquainted with their actions and operations, not their professions only; the nation knows how to appreciate them. Such, for instance, are the tories and whigs in England. It is a great advantage for a free state, if its history has been propitious to the growth of such parties. They greatly aid in the steady development of substantial liberty.

Passing parties on the other hand, are those formed for momentary purposes only, for instance, for the carrying of some single measure, or merely the displacing of an administration, to which species, coalitions generally belong; or for the sole object of "getting in," not in order to obtain power for the purpose of carrying out some principles or plan, but only to obtain power and emolument. It is one of the worst political accidents if the parties are merely divided into "ins" and "outs." They can hardly ever escape becoming factions. There are, moreover, two traits which generally, and especially in modern times, although we can discern them very frequently in antiquity, particularly in Rome and Athens, distinguish one or the other party. There are those that adhere to what exists, who strive to maintain, to preserve, and who represent the necessary stability of the state, without which no society can exist; and those who look forward, desire to change, improve, and

develop; they represent the movement, without which it is, on the other hand, impossible for any society to exist. The former frequently carry their endeavors too far, and wish to preserve indiscriminately, so that conservation alone becomes the watchword. But that which is bad, inconvenient or mischievous, ought not to be retained, and Raumer, the historian, justly observes, that it has been frequently as revolutionary to preserve as to destroy. The others often go too far, in their turn, disregarding the gradualness of all development, the necessity and unavoidableness of one generation's always growing out of the other, and desire change without experience or modification; change for its own sake. We do not observe these two distinctive traits in politics only; they appear in religion, in science, in philosophy, in taste-they appear more or less clearly every where.

XIII. A sound party, which the conscientious citizen may join, ought to have the following characteristics : Its principle, upon which it exists, or claims to act, or its object, ought to be an enlarged and great one, a noble principle worthy of moving masses; its numbers ought to be, if possible, large, or, at least, the ground on which it is formed ought to be such that the party may have the power of becoming national; its consistency and mutual adherence ought to be chiefly a moral or mental one, and it should have its strength in physical organization; its members ought to feel, and as if they felt that before all they are citizens of their country, and that their position as such is not changed by the party, consequently that the party does not treat itself as if it were the country, or a sort of privileged aristocracy to which the others are to be made passive subjects only, and the party does not show a spirit of bitter persecution so soon as a member feels himself bound conscientiously to dissent on some measure or other.

Without the first, an enlarged principle or worthy and great object, parties become only the supporters or promoters of meanness, intrigue, or cabals. (1) All paltriness in matters of union among men lowers the mind, depresses the moral standard, and in politics leads to factiousness. The second is likewise important; it prevents, in a great degree, intriguing; for large masses cannot easily be intrigued with, and, as Napoleon said, "the true guilty ones are the intriguers of all colors and all doctrines." (2) Every party must act in some sort of uniformity, otherwise its object of united action would be lost; public meetings and the meeting of delegates as well as a certain mutual support in what is considered of general advantage, and, with regard to members of legislatures; preparatory and devising meetings for questions of great import are indispensable, and have at all times been held, in ancient and modern. In fact without them very little business of importance or advantage would be transacted. But nothing is more to be shunned than regular party organizations, with lists of admission, and erasures of expelled members, with regular party assessments, and distinct party obligations, with absolutely dependent papers dictated to by a leading paper, which is servilely reëchoed by the other papers. Parties so organized are factions, or stand at any moment on the point of becoming such, and gather strength, from the two facts that they are removed out of the common politico-legal operation of the state, and yet are close societies, so that they easily super