History of the Origin of Representative Government in Europe, by M. Guizot [pp. 199-211]

ORIGIN OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN EUROPE. 199
tion and dcliscovery —we love her for Shatkspeare-Nwe love her
for constitutional liberty. We klnowv she has her faults-we
know we have ours; but let not an uncharitable judgment of
these imakle us enemies.
ART. III.-HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
IN EUROPE. BY M. GUIZOT.
The secret of social life, of animal life, anld'of veg,etable life,
elu(le all analysis. AIuch as men have thought and written and
experin-iented on these subjects, they are as fiar to-day from
knowingi hown to create a man, a society, or the minutest vegetable, as they w-ere at the earliest daw-n of history or tradition.
Vital forces are hid(dlen, IanId ever will be hidden, firoom mortal
ken. Societ- is as old as man; it is a consequence of his natnrIe, of' his necessities, and of his instincets. Reason and design
have notliing to do with its origin, and very little wNith its
fgrowth.' Its imiprovetment is always the result of accident or
usurpation, and its dlecay and dissolution proceed fiom causes
too subtle, too various, too complex or too profound, to be
reache(l, detected, analyzed and expounded by human intellect.
Society implies governmenet: for there can be no government
withlout one or many societies, and no society without govern-lCIent.
Tliese truthls were well understood in the days of Aristotle;
blout now-a-days men have grownI rash, cliarlatanic and presnmpl)tiuous, and are in a fair way to forget the art of government in the illusive Utol)ian pursuit of' its science. There is
inot, tnd never can be, a science of medicine, of agriculture, or
of overnment. They should be, and are, pursued by all wise
and practical men as sefutil arts, not sciences.
Tler'e miay be an imperfect system or science of law, but
law is not all of government; and no system of law, or of governi,-iient. was ever tolerated by a people unless it grew up
insensibly, and witlhout plan or design amongs,st them, or was
imposed upon them by-.superior external force.
Law-makei.trs see this, and meet once a year: not to make law,
)but to accept such changes as nature and circumstances require.
WAere there a science of legislation, they might make laws like
the fiabled ones of the 3ledes and Persians, never to be changed.
Legi.slation is pathlological; it discovers no general, exact or
universal truths, and hence adapts itself to varying, circumstanees as they arise, without the wisdom or the prescience to
foresee themi, and provide for them before they have arisen.
Juirisprudence is equally pathlological, and equity has often to
restrain or dispense with the imperfect and harsh provisions of
the law. MIan can tell what is right under present circum