viii PREFACE. 



knowledge of each order; since, to acquaint himself ex 

 haustively with any one order, demanding, as it would, ex 

 clusive devotion of his days to it, would negative like devo 

 tion to any of the others, and much more would negative 

 generalization of the whole. Either generalization of the 

 whole ought never to be attempted, or, if it is attempted, it 

 must be by one who gives to each part such time only as is 

 requisite to master the cardinal truths it presents. Believ 

 ing that generalization of the whole is supremely important, 

 and that no one part can be fully understood without it, 

 I have ventured to treat of Political Institutions after the 

 manner implied: utilizing, for the purpose, the materials 

 which, in the space of fourteen years, have been gathered 

 together in the Descriptive Sociology, and joining with 

 them such further materials as, during the last two years, 

 have been accumulated by inquiries in other directions, 

 made personally and by proxy. If errors found in this vol 

 ume are such as invalidate any of its leading conclusions, 

 the fact will show the impolicy of the course I have pursued ; 

 but if, after removal of the errors, the leading conclusions 

 remain outstanding, this course will be justified. 



Of the chapters forming this volume, the first seven 

 were originally published in the Fortnightly Review in 

 England; and, simultaneously, in monthly periodicals in 

 America, France, and Germany. Chapters VIII and IX 

 were thus published abroad but not at home. Chapters 

 XVII and XVII I appeared here in the Contemporary Re 

 view; and at the same time in the before-mentioned foreign 

 periodicals. The remaining chapters, X, XI, XII, XIII, 

 XIV, XV, XVI, and XIX, now appear for the first time; 

 with the exception of chapter XI, which has already seen 

 the light in an Italian periodical La Rivista diFilosofa 

 Scientifica. 



London, March, 1882. 



