124 SHEMITIC CIVILIZATION. 



the morrow a chief who takes off their 

 heads at pleasure. And when that happens, 

 iio one complains of violated rights. David 

 attained his kingdom by means of a sort 

 of energetic brigandage (condottiere), which 

 was not inconsistent with his being a very 

 religious man, and a king after God's own 

 own heart ; Solomon succeeded to and main- 

 tained the throne by the same means as 

 are used by Sultans in every age, which 

 did not prevent his passing for the wisest 

 of kings. When the Prophets attacked 

 royalty, it was not in the name of a political 

 right ; it was in the name of the Theocracy. 

 Theocracy, anarchy, despotism — such, gen- 

 tlemen, is, in few words, the epitome of 

 Shemitic political economy ; happily it is 

 not ours. Political economy deduced from 

 Holy Scripture (very imperfectly deduced, it 

 is true) by Bossuet, is a detestable S3^stem. 

 In politics as in poetry, in religion, and 

 in philosophy, the duty of the Indo-Euro- 

 pean nations is to search out subtleties, to 

 reconcile antagonistic claims, and that com- 



