366
THE
ENGLISH
IN
THE
WEST
INDIES
him the very language of which is as full of application to our own larger world as if it was written yesterday. It throws light on small things as well as large, and inter prets alike the condition of the islands which I had left, the condition of England, the condition of all civilised countries in this modern epoch. The chief characteristic of this age, as it was the chief characteristic of Plato's, is the struggle for what we call the ‘ rights of man.’ In other times the thing insisted on was that men should do what was ‘ right’ as something due to a higher authority. Now the demand is for what is called their ‘ rights’\as something due to themselves, and among these rights is a right to liberty ; liberty meaning the utmost possible freedom of every man consistent with the freedom of others, and the abolition of every kind of authority of one man over another. It is with this view that we have introduced popular suffrage, that we give every one a vote, or aim at giving it, as the highest political perfection. We turn to Plato and we find : ‘ In a healthy community there ought to be some authority over every single man and woman. No person— not one — ought to act on his or her judgment alone even in the smallest trifle. The soldier on a campaign obeys his commander in little things as well as great. The safety of the army requires it. But it is in peace as it is in war, and there is no difference. Every person should be trained from childhood to rule and to be ruled. So only can the life of man, and the life of all creatures dependent on him, be delivered from anarchy.’ It is worth while to observe how diametrically opposite to our notions on this subject were the notions of a man of the finest intellect, with the fullest opportunities of observa tion, and every one of whose estimates of things was con firmed by the event. Such a discipline as he recommends never existed in any community of men except perhaps among the religious orders in the enthusiasm of their first