ich spring from it are part of the cement of Toryism. The
solemn abjuration which is now proposed in the name of Neo-conservatism
resembles a charge of dynamite.

But in abandoning Tory principles the leaders of the new movement hope
perhaps to drive a roaring trade by defending Tory institutions. They
will say that they have been obliged to shift their ground, but that
they hope to work with better results from their new position. The
business of the party is to prevail upon Household Suffrage to accept
the survivals of feudalism, and a verdict in the new court of appeal
that shall ratify the old creed. It is a creditable enterprise. Will it
succeed? It seems but too likely that the efforts contemplated will only
serve to weaken the institutions they are meant to defend, and that
whatever is practicable or desirable in the objects aimed at will be
secured most easily and most effectually by the Liberal party.

Among the political institutions of an old country there are some which
certainly would not be set up if the past were obliterated, and the
nation were beginning afresh. They were suitable to the times in which
they originated, but they are out of harmony with the tendencies of the
present day. Perhaps they do some good; at any rate they do not do much
harm, and the people tolerate them for the sake of old associations.
From this point of view a great deal may be said in their behalf. They
make visible the continuity of our national existence, they connect us
with a distant and romantic past, they lend to the State something of
dignity and poetic charm. Institutions of this sort may be held in
veneration by those who can trace them to their origin, and see them in
perspective from the beginning. But there is one test they will not
stand. They will not pass unscathed through the crucible of modern
criticism. They are disfigured by anomalies, they shelter many abuses,
they involve an expenditure of public money out of proportion to the
services rendered in return, they consecrate a privileged descent, in
the transmission of property they violate the rules of natural equity,
while the principles on which they rest need only to be developed and
applied with logical consistency to overthrow the fabric of political
freedom. The best service that can be rendered to such institutions is
to say as little as possible about them. A wise friend will not utter a
word in their defence unless they are assailed, and the ground s