The disposition of property in England throws the government of the
country into the hands of its natural aristocracy. I do not believe that
any scheme of the suffrage, or any method of election, could divert
that power into other quarters. It is the necessary consequence of our
present social state. I believe, the wider the popular suffrage, the
more powerful would be the natural aristocracy. This seems to me an
inevitable consequence; but I admit this proposition on the clear
understanding that such an extension should be established on a fair,
and not a factious, basis.
Here, then, arises the question of the ballot, into the merits of which.
I shall take another opportunity of entering, recording only now my
opinion, that in the present arrangement of the constituencies, even the
ballot would favour the power of the natural aristocracy, and that, if
the ballot were simultaneously introduced with a fair and not a factious
extension of the suffrage, it would produce no difference whatever in
the ultimate result.
Quitting, then, these considerations, let us arrive at the important
point. Is there any probability of a different disposition of property
in England--a disposition of property which, by producing a very general
similarity of condition, would throw the government of the country into
the hands of any individuals whom popular esteem or fancy might select?
It appears to me that this question can only be decided by ascertaining
the genius of the English nation. What is the prime characteristic
of the English mind? I apprehend I may safely decide upon its being
industry. Taking a general but not a superficial survey of the English
character since the Reformation, a thousand circumstances convince me
that the salient point in our national psychology is the passion for
accumulating wealth, of which industry is the chief instrument. We
value our freedom principally because it leaves us unrestricted in our
pursuits; and that reverence for law and for all that is established,
which also eminently distinguishes the English nation, is occasioned
by the conviction that, next to liberty, order is the most efficacious
assistant of industry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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