ial domination in South Africa and to prove the value of
the old Gladstonian trust in the recuperative force of political
freedom. It may be added that, if cynicism has since appeared to hold
the field in international politics, it is the cynicism of terror rather
than the cynicism of ambition. The Scare has superseded the Vision as
the moving force in our external relations, and there are now signs that
the Scare in turn has spent its force and is making room at last for
Sense.

In other respects, Gladstone was a moral rather than an intellectual
force. He raised the whole level of public life. By habitually calling
upon what was best in men, he deepened the sense of public
responsibility and paved the way, half unconsciously, for the fuller
exercise of the social conscience. Mill was also a moral force, and the
most persistent influence of his books is more an effect of character
than of intellect. But, in place of Gladstone's driving power and
practical capacity, Mill had the qualities of a life-long learner, and
in his single person he spans the interval between the old and the new
Liberalism. Brought up on the pure milk of the Benthamite word, he never
definitely abandoned the first principles of his father. But he was
perpetually bringing them into contact with fresh experience and new
trains of thought, considering how they worked, and how they ought to be
modified in order to maintain what was really sound and valuable in
their content. Hence, Mill is the easiest person in the world to convict
of inconsistency, incompleteness, and lack of rounded system. Hence,
also, his work will survive the death of many consistent, complete, and
perfectly rounded systems.

As a utilitarian, Mill cannot appeal to any rights of the individual
that can be set in opposition to the public welfare. His method is to
show that the permanent welfare of the public is bound up with the
rights of the individual. Of course, there are occasions on which the
immediate expediency of the public would be met by ignoring personal
rights. But if the rule of expediency were followed there would be
neither right nor law at all. There would be no fixed rules in social
life, and nothing to which men could trust in guiding their conduct. For
the utilitarian, then, the question of right resolves itself into the
question: What claim is it, in general and as a matter of principle,
advisable for society to recognize? What in any given relation are the