Governments and Parties in Continental Europe: Volume I: Lowell, A. Lawrence: Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Volume I

THE State has bsen represented at sundry times under different figures. In the frontispiece to Hobbes' Leviathan, in the edition of 1651, it is given the form of a gigantic prince whose body is composed of minute human beings of every kind. A more common symbol is that of a ship sailing the trackless ocean, with a venerable pilot at the helm, steering by the light of the everlasting stars. To the writer the State sometimes presents itself under the figure of a stage-coach with the horses running away. On the front a number of eager men are urging the most contrary advice on the driver, whose chief object is to keep his seat; while at the back a couple of old gentlemen with spy-glasses are carefully surveying the road already traversed. Now, useful as all these persons undoubtedly are, there ought to be room also for the quiet observers, who watch the movements of the horses, and note the strain on the wheels, axles, and bolts; who listen to the hubbub on the front seat, and the grave conversation at the rear. To drop the simile and speak directly, there is a real need to-day of a thorough examination into the actual working of modern governments, and in one PREFACE. For the convenience of students, the constitutions of all the nations dealt with that have written constitutions have been added in an appendix; and they have been given in their original languages, because they are more valuable in this form than in a translation. In the case of Switzerland, where the constitution is officially printed in German, French, and Italian, the French text has been selected. PREFACE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER IIΙ. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER VI.