332 



GOVERNMENT 



GOWER 



which in practice came to something like military 

 government. It should be observed that the word 

 ' timocracy ' is also used to denote the system of 

 distributing honours and offices according to wealth, 

 a state of things to which the title of a plutocracy 

 would perhaps be more appropriate. Next in 

 Plato's list came Oligarchy, with its attendant evils 

 of avarice and corruption ; then Democracy, de- 

 scribed as ' a pleasing lawless and various kind of 

 government ; ' and lastly, Despotism, the ' disease 

 and death of government.' Polybius (book vi. 

 extr. 3, chap. 1 ) mentions the states of Lacedtemon, 

 Mantinea, Crete, and Carthage as those which 

 were praised by all writers of antiquity. He differs 

 from Plato as to the fact of resemblance between 

 the governments of Crete and Sparta, not perceiving 

 that they were alike in their balance of power, 

 though their laws and institutions were different. 

 The laws of Lycurgus appeared to him to be rather 

 the ' work of some divinity ' than the effort of a 

 human mind. The government of Carthage was 

 praised as being limited in much the same way, the 

 king, senate, and people all having a share of 

 power ; but his highest commendation was reserved 

 for the Roman Republic. Of this he has left an 

 interesting account, of which Cicero afterwards 

 made considerable use in his treatise De Republicd. 



Passing to modern times, we find that the exist- 

 ing kinds of government are still in many cases 

 much influenced by traditions of the empire, and 

 to some extent by the usages of feudalism. The 

 autocratic form of government still survives, though 

 the ruler's apparently absolute power is generally 

 limited by a 'bureaucracy.' In the greater part of 

 Europe we find constitutional monarchies, in which 

 the powers of the crown and the various classes in 

 the community are supposed to be balanced against 

 each other. The tendency of most of these limited 

 monarchies is apparently towards democracy. 

 The democratic republic has been most successful 

 in the United States of America and in the old- 

 established Swiss Confederation. We have also 

 seen the establishment of empires of a medieval 

 type, as well as governments founded on a prin- 

 ciple called Cresarism, in which a democracy is 

 supposed to have delegated its powers to a dicta- 

 tor. Various circumstances have led to the forma- 

 tion of dual and complex monarchies, and to the 

 placing of various communities in dependent and 

 subordinate positions. The most important feature 

 in modern governments is the extension of the 

 representative system, which can be best studied 

 in the history of Great Britain, justly praised as 

 the ' Mother of Parliaments. ' Mr Mill's work on 

 Representative Government should be consulted on 

 the question whether our modern societies ought to 

 make provision for protecting the minority. The 

 problems of government are continually changing, 

 and new remedies will be required as fresh diffi- 

 culties arise, but the main object of all govern- 

 ments, under whatever forms they exist, must be 

 the fulfilment of the laws and the preservation of 

 order and liberty. 



What is the best form of government is a ques- 

 tion which every one will answer according to his 

 own disposition, if a specific answer can be given 

 without reference to the varying circumstances of 

 states and communities. Some aid in the matter 

 may be obtained by the study not only of treatises 

 dealing directly with the art of government, but 

 also of political satires and the numerous writings 

 upon the ideal state and the first principles of 

 society. Among these may be mentioned the 

 Utopia of Sir Thomas More, the De Monarchid of 

 Dante, the sketch of a new government in Burton's 

 Anatomy of Melancholy, Harrington's Oceana, and 

 Lord Bacon's New Atlantis, besides Dr Jowett's 

 Introductions to the Republic and Politics, and the 



other treatises upon the subject which have already 

 been mentioned. 



Among the multitude of modern writings which deal 

 with the abstract principles of government particular 

 notice is due to Sir G. C. Lewis's treatises on the Best 

 Forms of Government and the Methods of Observation 

 and Reasoning in Politics ; Mr Herbert Spencer's works 

 on Social <S' tatics and the Principles of Sociology; Hum- 

 boldt on the Sphere and Duties of Government; and 

 Guizot's Histoirc des Oriyints du Gouvernement Repre- 

 sentative en Europe. Among the treatises which deal 

 with the growth of governments by the methods of com- 

 parative history Sir H. S. Maine's work on Early Insti- 

 tutions is one of the most important. A general view of 

 the rise of the governments of Europe is to be found in 

 Mr Hallam's View of the State of Europe during the Middle 

 Ages, with which should be compared Guizot's Histoire 

 Generate de la Civilisation en Europe. With respect to 

 the growth of the British constitution the reader shoulJ 

 refer to the general essays and histories of Hume, Mac- 

 aulay, and Freeman, and for more special information to 

 the constitutional histories of England by Mr Hallam and 

 Dr Stubbs, Earl Russell's English Government and Con- 

 stitution, Earl Grey's Parliamentary Government, and 

 Bagehot's essay on the English Constitution. On the 

 important subject of political institutions in America the 

 fullest information may be found in Storer's Commcntar/r 

 on the Constitution of the United States, and in the valuable 

 work of Professor Bryce on the American Commonwealth. 

 See the articles ARISTOCRACY, AUTOCRACY, CABINET, 

 CENTRALISATION, CIVIL SERVICE, COMMUNISM, CONGRESS, 

 DEMOCRACY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OLIGARCHY, PARLIA- 

 MENT, PRIVY COUNCIL, SOCIALISM, &c. 



Governor, the supreme executive magistrate 

 of a state or colony. The varying functions of 

 governors, governors-general, and lieutenant-gover- 

 nors are explained in the articles UNITED STATES, 

 INDIA, &c. For the governor of a steam-engine, 

 see STEAM-ENGINE. 



Gow NEIL, a famous Scotch violin-player, was 

 born at Inver, near Dunkeld, 22d March 1727, and 

 before he reached manhood had become the best 

 performer of reels and strathspeys in Perthshire. 

 Through the notice of the DuKe of Athole, with 

 whom he was a life-long favourite, he was intro- 

 duced to the patronage of the principal nobility 

 and gentry throughout Scotland ; and such was 

 the kindly esteem in which he was held that Sir 

 Henry Raeburn was several times employed to 

 paint his portrait for his patrons. He died 1st 

 March 1807. Gow composed nearly a hundred 

 tunes, mostly of a lively character ; but it is chiefly 

 to the tradition of his singular skill with the bow 

 that his name owes its survival almost as a house- 

 hold word in Scotland. His youngest son, NATH- 

 ANIEL, born 28th May 1766, was trained as a 

 violin-player in Edinburgh, where in 1782 he be- 

 came one of the king's trumpeters for Scotland, 

 and subsequently was leader of a fashionable band, 

 and a successful teacher. His first venture as a 

 musicseller (1796-1813) was not successful, and a 

 second attempt ended in bankruptcy in 1827 ; but 

 his admirers came to his aid, and his few remain- 

 ing years, though darkened by sickness, were not 

 distressed by actual want. He died 17th January 

 1831. He published numerous and very full collec- 

 tions of Scotch airs and songs ; and his own com- 

 positions number over two hundred among them 

 ' Caller Herring. ' 



Gower, part of Glamorganshire (q.v.). 



Gower, JOHN, English poet, was born probably 

 about 1330, and seems to have belonged to a 

 family that owned land both in Suffolk and in 

 Kent! But little is known of his life save that he 

 was rich and well educated, did not marry till late 

 in life (probably in 1397), became blind about 1400, 

 and died in the later half of 1408. His tomb is 

 still to be seen in St Saviour's, Southwark. He was 

 a personal friend of Chaucer, who, in dedicating to 



