| Show WILLIAMS UNWIEE BREAK One alone is master this country Its i It-s I None other shall I suffer near me uch was the remark made by the young Emperor of Germany quite recently In a speech Dusseldorf The remark is said t o have been made in consequence of the prospective opposition t the government hat will likely be formed under tho leadership leader-ship of Prince BISMARCK who i is expected ex-pected will form a coalition conserva I ivo and national liberals against the government gov-ernment The Emperor sees the trend of affairs in this movement and either meant t to sound a note of warning to those having the temerity to oppose him or what is more likely gave vent to his halfsmoulder ing l vexation that the man whom he had retired re-tired to private lifo should be chosen by the people to a seat in tho imperial parliament parlia-ment of Germany where he may be a thorn in i the side of his former master to plague him While wo think BISMARCK with bet ter grace could have remained in the political po-litical retirement to which he had been relegated by the action of the young Emperor I Em-peror still his return to the roich tag by the vote of the people of Geestemundo Is an illustration of the progress the world is making I reminds us that the flat of kings and emperors is no longer absolute and final It tells us that kings may bo overruled by the people and hence that they have found their masters lu view of these facts tho speech of the German Emperor at Dusseldorf sounds strangely out of tune in these democratic times Both language and sentiment might have I been tolerated two centuries ago the I parties to whom the remarks were IL threat I i might have then turned pale and trembled I as the vision of the headsman stalking behind be-hind them might have been conjured up as I the monarch spoke but vvo have outgrown I those times and the fear of angry kings Such sentiments as the Emparor uttere and the expression of them belong to the times of the Tudor monarchs of Enzland and indeed areaiark not unlike the Gorman Emperors is accredited to EMZADETII tho last of the Illustrious Tudor line of English sovereigns When her favorite ROBEHT DODLcr Earl of Leicaater presumed too much upon his sovereigns indulgence and assumed airs warranted in the English monarch only she chastised him roundly with her tongue and told him thatEnglan had a mistress that she was that mistress I and that she would tolerate no master But now to have a man Emperor though he be assuming to be alone the master of a of country and that ho will suffer none other near him sounds strongly out of joint with the spirit of tee age Wo have passed that period when the divine right of kings is das upon d-as orthodox political doctrine and when to deny it is regarded not only as B political heresy but treason The monarch who undertakes to lord it over any portion of GODS heritage will find himself on dangerous dan-gerous ground The world is rapidly loam big the political doctrines taught by the fathers of the fathers American government over one hundred years ago viz that govern meats derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and that to live to be free and to pursue happiness are in alienable rights of man that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men and when any form of government gov-ernment fails to accomplish this chief end of its existence it is the right of the peoplii to i alter or abolish it Such are the ideas which are fast porme ting the minds of tho people all nations and of late a number of revolutions have ccurred which are significant and nhonld warn even the Gorman Emperor secure as he may deem himself on his throne that he IS not invincible nor the government of which he is the head incapable of being overthrown Within a recent period the empire ot Brazil has passed through 0 revolution olution practically banishing her Emperor and instituting on the ruins of the empire a republic which has been recognized by all the principal nations of the earth The empire of Japan only a year or two before I that passed through a revolution no less remarkable though somewhat different to I bat of Brazil The Emperor in recognition of the principle that governments derive their just powers from I he consent of the governed gave up very many of the ancient prerogatives held by the sovereigns of Japan prerogatives I which made the form of government abso lute and the Emperor the government In Australia the British provinces have been recently converted into a commonwealth common-wealth for all practical purposes into an independent republic modeled on the principles prin-ciples of our own government Thus tho march of democratic principles is steadily forward Democracy is the spirit of the age and monarchs anxious to retain seats upon their tottering thrones will do well not to talk too rashly or loudly about bang ba-ng masters and their determination not to suffer others near them or the people stung by such annoyance may suddenly discover their own power and that they and not kings are the real masters and that whatever form of government subsists sub-sists does so b T their by suffrance The mon marchies which will be most secure in tho future are those which like England lke permit per-mit the people through their representatives representa-tives to constitute the real governing power while the crown contents itself in the forms of royalty and in interfering as little l as possible in the affairs of administration adminis-tration Under these circumstances the people may tolerate kings and emperors for a season until they become convinced that they are luxuries too expensive and then they will go Meantime while we rejoice in the advancement ad-vancement made by democratic principles and in the rule by tho people so characteristic character-istic i of our age our joy is not without alloy al-loy but upon the horizon of our hopes linger tho clouds of fear The notion that the people have no need to limit their power over themselves says Jon STUART MILL in his assay on liberty might seom axiomatic when popular gov eminent was a thing only dreamed about or read of as having existed at some distant I dis-tant period of the past Neither was that notion necessarily dls I turbed by such temporary aberrations turbed aberrtons as those < of the French Revolution the worst of Revoluton ort which were tho work Of an usurping few and which in any case belonged not to tho permanent workingof popular institutions but to a sud den and convulsive outbreak against I mon archlcal and aristocratic despotism In time however a democratic republic came to occupy oc-cupy a large portion of the earths surface and made itself felt as one of the most powerful members of the community of nations and elective and responsible government became subject to the observations and criticism which wait upon a great existing fact I was now perceived that such phrases as self government and tho power of the people over themselves do not express the true state of the case The people who exercise the power are not always the same people with those over whom it is exorcised and the selfgovern ment spoken of Is not tho government of each by himself but of each by all the rest Tho will of the people moreover practically means the willof the most numerous or the most active part of tho people the majority or i those who succeed In making themselves accepted as the majority the peonlo con scquontly may desire to oppress part ot their number and precautions are a much needed against this as against any other abuse of power The limitation therefore of the < power of government individuals losos mno of its importinco when tho holders of power are regularly accountable to the community I I com-munity thai Is to the strongest party therein This view of things recommending itself equally to tho Intelligence of thinkers and toe I th to-e inclination of those Important classes In European society to who e real or supposed I i interests JJeinocracjr Is adverse has bad no difficulty in asia ItChing itself and in political speculations the of tho speculatpns tyranny majority is now generally included among the evils against which society requirs to be on its guard I is to guard against the evils and dangers dan-gers pointed out by MR MILL that constitutions consti-tutions are formed in republics and by them the powers of the irovernment which is no less nor more than the power of the I majority of the people or those who succeed suc-ceed in making themselves accepted as the majority are limited Truly then the constitution of a republic is Indeed the sheet anchor of tuqjliberties of the people and constitutional morality by which we moan a strict adherence t constitutional principles the onlj means of insuring the perpetuity of lillorbyin connection with lI o muchvaunted lule of tho people I Is the tendency t constitutional immorality manifested in occasionally some quarters that will ever give rise to fears in the hearts of patriots and it should never be forgotten that nojva well a in former times eternal vigilanca is the price or liberty |
