modern as the reign of George III. He in truth followed a course
which that act not only allowed but rather suggested.... I am not
one of those who condemn Mr. Gladstone's conduct in this matter;
still I grant that the thing had an ill look. The difference I
take to be this. Mr. Gladstone had two courses before him: he
might abolish purchase by a royal warrant--that is, by using the
discretion which parliament had given to the crown; or he might
bring a bill into parliament to abolish purchase.... What gave the
thing an ill look was that, having chosen the second way and not
being able to carry his point that way, he then fell back on the
first way. I believe that it was better to get rid of a foul abuse
in the way in which it was got rid of, than not to get rid of it
at all, especially as the House of Commons had already decided
against it. Still, the thing did not look well. It might seem that
by electing to bring a bill into parliament Mr. Gladstone had
waived his right to employ the royal power in the matter.... I
believe that this is one of those cases in which a strictly
conscientious man like Mr. Gladstone does things from which a less
conscientious man would shrink. Such a man, fully convinced of his
own integrity, often thinks less than it would be wise to think of
mere appearances, and so lays himself open to the imputation of
motives poles asunder from the real ones.(237)

These last words undoubtedly explain some acts and tendencies that gave a
handle to foes and perplexed friends.

II

Next let us turn to reform in a different field. All the highest abstract
arguments were against secret voting. To have a vote is to have power; as
Burke said, "liberty is power, when men act in bodies"; but the secret
vote is power without responsibility. The vote is a trust for the
commonwealth; to permit secrecy makes it look like a right conferred for a
man's own benefit. You enjoin upon him to give his vote on public grounds;
in the same voice you tell him not to let the public know how he gives it.
Secrecy saps the citizen's courage, promotes evasion, tempts to downright
lying. Remove publicity and its checks, then all the mean motives of
mankind--their malice, petty rivalries, pique, the prejudices that men
would be ashamed to put into words even to themselves--skulk to the polling
booth under a disguising cloak. Secrecy, a