boast of having read Le Play have not observed that bis conception of the conditions of social peace was quite different from that of his imbecile successors. He supposed the existence of a middle class of serious moral habits, imbued with the feelings of its own dignity, and having the energy necessary to govern the country without recourse to the old traditional bureaucracy. To those men, who held riches and power in their hands, he professed to teach their social duty towards their subjects. His system supposed an undisputed authority; it is well known that he deplored the licence of the press under Napoleon III. as scandalous and dangerous; his reflections on this subject seem somewhat ludicrous to those who compare the newspaper of that time with those of to-day.[1] Nobody in his time would have believed that a great country would accept peace at any price; his point of view in this matter did not differ greatly from that of Clemenceau. He would never have admitted that any one could be cowardly and hypocritical enough to decorate with the name of social duty the cowardice of a middle class incapable of defending itself.
Middle-class cowardice very much resembles the cowardice of the English Liberal party, which constantly proclaims its absolute confidence in arbitration between nations: arbitration nearly always gives disastrous results for England.[2] But these worthy progressives prefer to
- ↑ Speaking of the elections of 1869, he said that there had been "violences of language which France had not till then heard, even in the worst days of the Revolution" (Organisation du Travail, 3rd ed. p. 340). Evidently, the revolution of 1848 was meant. In 1873 he declared that the Emperor could not congratulate himself on having abrogated the system of restraint on the press, before having reformed the morals of the country (Réforme sociale en France, 5th ed. tome iii. p. 356).
- ↑ Sumner Maine observed a long while ago that it was England's fate to have advocates who aroused very little sympathy (Le Droit international, French translation, p. 279). Many Englishmen believe that by humiliating their country they will rouse more sympathy towards themselves; but this supposition is not borne out by the facts.
