IV.--Digressive, and may be skipped without mutilating the History.

I stop here to address any of the following characters, should he
perchance read these memoirs:

You, Mr. Statesman--if there be such;
Mr. Pseudo-Statesman, Placeman, Party Leader, Wirepuller;
Mr. Amateur Statesman, Dilettante Lord, Civil Servant;
Mr. Clubman, Litterateur, Newspaper Scribe;
Mr. People's Candidate, Demagogue, Fenian Spouter;

or whoever you may be, professing to know aught or do anything in
matters of policy, consider, what I am sure you have never fairly
weighed, the condition of a man whose clearest notion of Government is
derived from the Police! Imagine one who had never seen a polyp trying
to construct an ideal of the animal, from a single tentacle swinging out
from the tangle of weed in which the rest was wrapped! How then any more
can you fancy that a man to whose sight and knowledge the only part of
government practically exposed is the strong process of police, shall
form a proper conception of the functions, reasons, operations, and
relations of Government; or even build up an ideal of anything but a
haughty, unreasonable, antagonistic, tax-imposing FORCE! And how can
you rule such a being except as you rule a dog, by that which alone
he understands--the dog-whip of the constable! Given in a country a
majority of creatures like these, and surely despotism is its properest
complement. But when they exist, as they exist in England to-day, in
hundreds of thousands, in town and country, think what a complication
they introduce into your theoretic free system of government. Acts
of Parliament passed by a "freely-elected" House of Commons, and an
hereditary House of Lords under the threats of freely-electing citizens,
however pure in intention and correct in principle, will not seem to
him to be the resultants of every wish in the community so much as
dictations by superior strength. To these the obedience he will render
will not be the loving assent of his heart, but a begrudged concession
to circumstance. Your awe-invested legislature is not viewed as his
friend and brother-helper, but his tyrant. Therefore the most natural
bent of his workman-statesmanship--a rough, bungling affair--will be to
tame you--you who ought to be his Counsellor and Friend. When he
finds that your legislative action exerts upon him a repressive and
restraining force he will curse you as its author, because he sees not
the springs you are