1 90 



ARISTO CRA C Y AND E VOL UTION 



Book ii 



NOW in reality 



the few are 



never mere 



hundred would be diminished by one ninety-ninth 

 only ; but if the one superior were subtracted, it 

 would collapse altogether. Thus the presence of 

 the superior, and the terms on which his services 

 can be secured, would even in this case be sub- 

 jects on which the sociologist would be bound to 

 bestow the same attention as he bestows at present 

 on the activities of the ordinary men ; and unless 

 he should do this, his conclusions would be wholly 

 valueless. 



As a matter of fact, however, the hypothesis that 



. . - 



the superior few are ever the mere passive agents 

 3 'which the democratic theory assumes them to be is 

 false ; and it is as a rule false in exact proportion to 

 the difficulty and importance of the cases to which 

 it is applied. The qualities which enable men to 

 organise the opinions of others are usually qualities 

 which endow them with strong opinions of their 

 own ; and in addition to their own opinions, these 

 men, with their exceptional vigour, have usually 

 their own purposes also; and the popular will, as put 

 into execution by them, is always modified, and very 

 often metamorphosed, by what they themselves add 

 to or subtract from it. Still it must be admitted 

 that, in spite of their dependence on the few, the 

 many can, and do to a great extent, impress their own 

 but neverthe- genuine will the will and wishes of the average 

 man as distinct from the will and wishes of the man 

 w ^ * s ' m anv wav exceptional on the exceptional 

 men to whom their power is surrendered. The acts 

 of the governing few may never entirely represent 



