CONTENTS xxi 



but we cannot draw any conclusions from the hypothesis of labour 



ceasing ; . . . . . . . 205 



for the labourer would have to labour whether the great men were 



there or no . . . . . . . 206 



The cessation of the great man's influence is a practical alternative ; the 



cessation of labour is not, ...... 206 



as we see by frequent examples ..... 206 



Thus the great man, in the most practical sense, produces what labour 



would not produce in his absence ..... 208 

 An analysis of practical reasoning as to causes generally will show us 



the truth of this ....... 208 



For practical purposes the cause of an effect is that cause only which 



may or may not be present ;..... 209 

 as we see when men discuss the cause of a fire, . . . 210 



or of the accuracy of a chronometer, ..... 210 

 or the causes of danger to a man hanging on to a rope . . 21 1 



But there is another means of discriminating between the products of 



exceptional men and ordinary men . . . .212 



This is by an analysis of the faculties necessary to produce the product 213 

 Are these faculties possessed by all, or by a few only? . . 213 



CHAPTER II 



THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF PURELY DEMOCRATIC ACTION, 

 OR THE ACTION OF AVERAGE MEN IN CO-OPERATION 



Carlyle was wrong in his claim for the great man because he failed to 

 note that his powers were conditioned by the capacities of the 

 ordinary men influenced by him . . . . .215 



The socialists are wrong because, seeing that the many do something, 



they argue that they do everything . . . .215 



What the many do is limited. We must see precisely what the 



limits are ........ 216 



If a Russian conspirator employs a hundred workmen to dig what they 



think is a cellar, but is a mine for blowing up the Czar, . . 216 



the conspirator contributes the entire criminal character of the enter- 

 prise ........ 217 



When a choir sings Handel's music, Handel contributes the specific 



character of the sounds sung by them . . . .217 



