, at
least, greatly augments the chances against the durability of a
government. In proportion as the machine is unmanageable and
complex, the embarrassment of those who have the conduct of it will
be great, and the enemies will be proportionately bold and audacious.
In all such conflicts, much depends on the spirit of the combatants,
and more still on that of those who, at first, are lookers on, who act in
consequence of the opinion they have of the force or feebleness of
either party. {145}

The tendency that a nation has to decline is not, then, in general,
counteracted, by the government; but, on the contrary, is pushed on by
it, and precipitated into the gulf. No wonder, then, that the career is
rapid, and the fall irretrievable.

It is, nevertheless, to the government, and to it alone, that we must
look for that counteracting force that is to stay the general current.
Individuals can only look to their own conduct, and they neither can

---
{145} Not only when the French revolution began, but a hundred
times afterwards, did the party triumph that appeared the strongest,
merely because it appeared so. All those who stand neutral at first,
take a side the moment they have fixed their opinion as to the strength
of the contending parties, and this decision is always in favour of the
party they think the strongest.
-=-

[end of page #171]

be expected to have time nor inclination to study the public welfare,
and, even if they had, they would want the means.

Government can never be better employed than in counteracting this
tendency to decay. It has the means, and is but performing its duty in
doing so. The previous step to all this, however, is a knowledge of
what is to be done, a full sense of the necessity of doing it, and a
disposition to submit to the regimen necessary.

For this purpose, both the government and the people must give up
something. The people must allow government to interfere in the
education of children, and, in that, give up a little of their liberty;
{146} and those who govern must attend to many things which are
generally neglected. To do the routine business of the day is the
occupation of most of the governments of Europe, whether in war or
at peace; they therefore habitually become agents of necessity, and
what can be procrastinated is never done; that is to say, what is good
is very seldom done, and what is necessary to prevent immediate evil,
is always the chief, and sometimes t