elow the king the social hierarchy
extending from the great territorial lord to the day-labourer. There is
one point gained as compared to earlier forms of society. The base of
the pyramid is a class which at least enjoys personal freedom. Serfdom
has virtually disappeared in England, and in the greater part of France
has either vanished or become attenuated to certain obnoxious incidents
of the tenure of land. On the other hand, the divorce of the English
peasant from the soil has begun, and has laid the foundation of the
future social problem as it is to appear in this country.

The modern State accordingly starts from the basis of an authoritarian
order, and the protest against that order, a protest religious,
political, economic, social, and ethical, is the historic beginning of
Liberalism. Thus Liberalism appears at first as a criticism, sometimes
even as a destructive and revolutionary criticism. Its negative aspect
is for centuries foremost. Its business seems to be not so much to build
up as to pull down, to remove obstacles which block human progress,
rather than to point the positive goal of endeavour or fashion the
fabric of civilization. It finds humanity oppressed, and would set it
free. It finds a people groaning under arbitrary rule, a nation in
bondage to a conquering race, industrial enterprise obstructed by social
privileges or crippled by taxation, and it offers relief. Everywhere it
is removing superincumbent weights, knocking off fetters, clearing away
obstructions. Is it doing as much for the reconstruction that will be
necessary when the demolition is complete? Is Liberalism at bottom a
constructive or only a destructive principle? Is it of permanent
significance? Does it express some vital truth of social life as such,
or is it a temporary phenomenon called forth by the special
circumstances of Western Europe, and is its work already so far
complete that it can be content to hand on the torch to a newer and more
constructive principle, retiring for its own part from the race, or
perchance seeking more backward lands for missionary work? These are
among the questions that we shall have to answer. We note, for the
moment, that the circumstances of its origin suffice to explain the
predominance of critical and destructive work without therefrom
inferring the lack of ultimate reconstructive power. In point of fact,
whether by the aid of Liberalism or through the conservative instincts
of the race, th