to the people was made by John Lilburne, and it was defeated. The
Whig theory that an aristocratic House of Commons, elected by a handful of
people, and mainly at the dictation of the landowners, was "the People,"
triumphed. The bulk of the English people were left out of all account in
the political struggles of Whigs and Tories, and democracy was not dreamed
of till America was free and France a republic. The industrial revolution
compelled the reform of the British House of Commons, and democracy has
slowly superseded aristocracy, not from any enthusiasm for the "sovereign
people," but from the traditional belief that representative government
means the rule of the people.

Precedent, not theory, has been the argument for democracy in England.

THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)

The writings of Hobbes are important, because they state the case for
absolute rule, or "a strong government," as we call it to-day. Hobbes was
frankly rationalist and secular. Holding the great end of government to be
happiness, he made out that natural man lived in savage ill-will with his
fellows. To secure some sort of decency and safety men combined together
and surrendered all natural rights to a sovereign--either one man, or an
assembly of men--and in return civil rights were guaranteed. But the
sovereignty once established was supreme, and to injure it was to injure
oneself, since it was composed of "every particular man." The sovereign
power was unlimited, and was not to be questioned. Whether monarchy,
aristocracy, or democracy was the form of government was unimportant,
though Hobbes preferred monarchy, because popular assemblies were unstable
and apt to need dictators. Civil laws were the standard of right and wrong,
and obedience to autocracy was better than the resistance which led to
civil war or anarchy--the very things that induced men to establish
sovereignty. Only when the safety of the state was threatened was rebellion
justifiable.

At bottom, the objection to the theories of Hobbes is the same objection
that must be taken to the theories of Locke and Rousseau. All these writers
assume not only the fiction of a social contract, but a _static_ view of
society. Society is the result of growth: it is not a fixed and settled
community. Mankind proceeds experimentally in forms of government. To
Hobbes and his followers, security of life and property was the one
essential thing for mankind--disorder and social insecurity the things t