Govern- 
ment. 
342 
instruments of their own controul, and the vaineglarions 
yet submissive dependants of the soyereign, Without a 
“suffrage in the enactment of laws, and deriving from the 
constitution little power of restraint over the direction 
of affairs, they are almost necessarily unconscious of any 
principle of a pure and disinterested patriotism, The 
envied distinction of the prince’s approbation,—prefer- 
ment, emoluments, honours, become the chief incitement 
to their public exertions: and if thus they are not the 
legitimate objects of moral, approbation, they often 
achieve deeds at once illustrious in themselves and be- 
neficial to their country, as the proper means of ac- 
uiring the royal distinctions to which they aspire.— 
he government which has been so lately annihilated in 
France, as well as the more ancient monarchy, and se- 
veral of the other governments of the continent of Eu- 
rope, sufficiently illustrate and justify this description. 
Fear, on the part of the people, is the dismal princi- 
‘ple by which a Despotism must be maintained: nor 
need any thing further be added to indicate that system 
of sanguinary and incessant cruelty, which, on the 
of the prince, becomes necessary to uphold his unhal- 
lowed empire. 
These observations, as well on the primary forms of 
government, as on the principles on which they chiefly 
depend for their maintenance, are elementary, and 
could not with propriety, in a work of this nature, be 
passed over in silence. But, in contemplating the sub- 
ject further, we are at a loss to determine under what 
particular aspect to regard it. When the various com- 
binations of which these primary forms are susceptible, 
both with one. another, and with their respective prin- 
-ciples, are considered ; the infinite varieties in the mo- 
dification of the most simple as well as complex system 
of government,—arising from a narrower or more extend- 
ed territory,—from insular or continental, maritime or 
inland situation,—a thinly scattered or crowded popu- 
lation,—the religious ceremonies and dogmas of the 
people, and the nature of their ecclesiastical establish« 
ment,—the constantly progressive or retrograde state 
of their morals, manners, and intellectual habits,— 
their warlike or peaceful, commercial or agricultural 
genius,—-the character of the political institutions of 
the neighbouring states with which they have their 
principal. intercourse,—the accidents of talent or imbe=: 
cility, disinterested purpose or selfish emolument. and 
aggrandisement, which may influence alike the conduct 
of the executive and legislative members of the govern- 
ment,—and the innumerable other circumstances which 
conspire to the same infinite variety of modification,— 
Span is bewildered in the complexity of the subject, 
and finds all attempt at detail utterly overwhelming and 
impracticable. To deduce, with any degree of exact- 
ness, the particulars which truly and accurately cha- 
racterize even the most celebrated governments of an- 
cient or of modern times, would bean undertaking suf- 
ficiently appalling from its magnitude, and sufficiently 
hazardous from the obscurity in which the information 
to be derived on such subjects seems inevitably to be 
involved. Nay, to attempt a clear and satisfactory de-~ 
lineation of our own government, om the nature of 
which full and accurate information might be supposed. 
to be the most accessible, would be bold, perhaps pre- 
sumptuous. For how has it fluctuated, by a thousand 
munute or more extensive gradations, throughout the 
‘greater period of its history ! and though, since the days 
GOVERNMENT. 
of William III. it. has acquired a more balanced mo- 
tion, and assumed an infinitely more lar and ma- 
jestic form, yet how great the diversity of which 
it is composed ! how varied, and often delicate, the ma« 
chinery by which it is impelled! and how numerous _ 
the interfering considerations necessary for giving it a 
safe and steady direction!* =, tatant 
But amidst a speculation so complex and embarrass= 
ing, some general views present themselves of a more 
manageable nature, and of a universal and paramount 
interest. Of these, an investigation of the rule by 
which the legitimacy of all rnments shall be tried, 
which shall serve at once as measure of lawful au« 
thority on the part of the sovereign, and of obedience 
on that of the people, seems the most i Itis 
a subject unquestionably of some delicacy, but infinite. 
ly less so than, in some countries, the mercenary parti« 
zans of usurped power,—and, in others, the mistaken 
and narrow-sighted zeal of many sincere friends to or= 
der,—would represent it ; whilst the advantages to lis 
berty of preserving it constantly in the public view, are’. 
incalculable. Under arbitrary governments, such dis- 
cussions (when, indeed, they can be avowed at all) are 
justly alarming to the existing authorities; but un- 
der a constitution like that of Great Britain, they are 
its worst enemies, and but little acquainted with its real 
nature, who would regard the subject as dangerous. 
In pursuing this inquiry, we will avoid, as much as 
possible, the metaphysical abstractions of mere general’ 
reasoning. We will endeavour, rather, to consider the’ 
subject through the medium of some of the principal 
events in the een of our own government; and with’ 
these we will at the same time combine, (whilst we. 
shall take care to indicate sufficiently our own senti- 
ments, ) the opinions which the nation at large, as well 
as some of the most distinguished individuals in it, have 
from time to time entertained on a topic so interesting. 
We shall thus, besides blending historical fact with the 
less edifying deductions of bare ora rg ae 
the political br of 
sent also the outlines, at least, 
our literary history. 
Except the close of the eighteenth century, no period 
in the British history appears to have been more ahs 
ductive of political discussion than about the time of the 
civil wars, in the reign eae ¥ Before that pe- 
riod, political inquiry bad made little progress among: 
the ound Onpaine claims to the crown had di« 
vided their efforts in favour of. the different eompetitors,’ 
and changes in the religious establishment had very’ 
deeply engaged their attention; but no question had 
arisen calculated to lead the public mind, by an a 
and obvious connection, to an investigation of the R 
ginal principles upon which all government is founded, 
or to a comparison of one species of government with 
another. The two Houses of Parliament were the only 
place in which political discussion was at all to he 
found; and, even there, it had scarcely ever dared to 
trespass the safe boundaries prescribed to it by the exe= 
cutive authority. A few speculative and learned men 
alone had indulged in inquiries of this nature To them 
exclusively the fragments of political science: which 
the general ruins of antiquity presented, were accessi- 
ble; and, fired with the seemly ideas which these had 
excited, they were naturally led to emulate their own 
conceptions of the superstructure. The performances, 
however, which some of these men thus produced, were 
* We could not. with propricty, under, this general article, have introduced even. the outlines of our own government, the theory of. 
which, the more it is studied cannot fail to be the 
and, for still more detailed information, Black 
more admired. The reader may consult the more.appropriate article, ENGLAND, p. 25. . 
st. Comm. b. i. 3° Montesq. De L’ Esprit des Lois, 1. xi, & G. &6 5 a De Lolne, For 
ssher individual governments, see their appropgiate articles, SPARTA, ROME, &e. 
