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Page 29
These are the words of a gentleman in politics, and express a beautiful
ideal. But they hardly describe the present situation. As to waving a
courteous salutation to the people on the other side,--that depends on
who the people are. If you know them and have been long familiar with
their good qualities, the courteous salutation is natural. They are, as
you know, much better than their opinions.
But it is different when they are people whom you do not know, and with
whom you have nothing in common. You suspect their motives, and feel a
contempt for their abilities. They are not of your set. The word
"gentleman" is derived from the word _gens_. People of the same _gens_
learn to treat each other in a considerate way. Even when they differ
they remember what is due to gentle blood and gentle training.
It is quite evident that the challenge of the new democracy to the old
ruling classes has everywhere produced exasperation. It is no longer
easy to wave courteous salutations across the chasms which divide
parties. Political discussion takes a rude turn. It is no longer
possible to preserve the proprieties. We may expect the minor moralities
to suffer while the major moralities are being determined by hard
knocks.
Good manners depend on the tacit understanding of all parties as to
their relations to one another. Nothing can be more brutal than for one
to claim superiority, or more rude than for another to dispute the
claim. Such differences of station should, if they exist, be taken for
granted.
Relations which were established by force may, after a time, be made so
beautiful that their origin is forgotten. There must be no display of
unnecessary force. The battle having been decided, victor and vanquished
change parts. It pleases the conqueror to sign himself, "Your obedient
servant," and to inquire whether certain terms would be agreeable. Of
course they would be agreeable. So says the disarmed man looking upward
to his late foe, now become his protector.
And the conqueror with grave good will takes up the burden which
Providence has imposed upon him. Is not the motto of the true knight,
_Ich dien_? Such service as he can render shall be given ungrudgingly.
Now, this is not hypocrisy. It may be Christianity and Chivalry and all
sorts of fine things. It is making the best of an accepted situation.
When relations which were established by force have been sanctioned by
custom, and embodied in law, and sanctified by religion, they form a
soil in which many pleasant things may grow. In the vicinity of Vesuvius
they will tell you that the best soils are of volcanic origin.
Hodge and Sir Lionel meet in the garden which one owns, and in which the
other digs with the sweat of his brow. There is kindly interest on the
one hand, and decent respect on the other. But all this sense of ordered
righteousness is dependent on one condition. Neither must eat of the
fruit of the tree of knowledge that grows in the midst of the garden. A
little knowledge is dangerous, a good deal of knowledge may be even more
dangerous, to the relations which custom has established.
What right has Sir Lionel to lay down the law for Hodge? Why should not
Hodge have a right to have his point of view considered? When Hodge
begins seriously to ponder this question his manners suffer. And when
Sir Lionel begins to assert his superiority, instead of taking it for
granted, his behavior lacks its easy charm. It is very hard to explain
such things in a gentlemanly way.
Now, the exasperation in the tone of political discussion in Great
Britain, as elsewhere in the world, is largely explained by the fact
that all sorts of superiorities have been challenged at the same time.
Everywhere the issue is sharply made. "Who shall rule?"
Shall Ireland any longer submit to be ruled by the English? The Irish
Nationalists swear by all the saints that, rather than submit, they will
overthrow the present Government and return to their former methods of
agitation.
If the Home Rule Bill be enacted into law, will Ulster submit to be
ruled by a Catholic majority? The men of Ulster call upon the spirits of
their heroic sires, who triumphed at the Boyne, to bear witness that
they will never yield.
Will the masses of the people submit any longer to the existing
inequalities in political representation? No! They demand immediate
recognition of the principle, "One man, one vote." The many will not
allow the few to make laws for them.
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