e work of reconstruction has gone on side by side with
that of demolition, and becomes more important generation by generation.
The modern State, as I shall show, goes far towards incorporating the
elements of Liberal principle, and when we have seen what these are, and
to what extent they are actually realized, we shall be in a better
position to understand the essentials of Liberalism, and to determine
the question of its permanent value.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] This is, of course, only one side of mediaeval theory, but it is the
side which lay nearest to the facts. The reverse view, which derives the
authority of government from the governed, made its appearance in the
Middle Ages partly under the influence of classical tradition. But its
main interest and importance is that it served as a starting-point for
the thought of a later time. On the whole subject the reader may consult
Gierke, _Political Theories of the Middle Age_, translated by Maitland
(Cambridge University Press).

CHAPTER II

THE ELEMENTS OF LIBERALISM

I cannot here attempt so much as a sketch of the historical progress of
the Liberalizing movement. I would call attention only to the main
points at which it assailed the old order, and to the fundamental ideas
directing its advance.

1. _Civil Liberty._

Both logically and historically the first point of attack is arbitrary
government, and the first liberty to be secured is the right to be dealt
with in accordance with law. A man who has no legal rights against
another, but stands entirely at his disposal, to be treated according to
his caprice, is a slave to that other. He is "rightless," devoid of
rights. Now, in some barbaric monarchies the system of rightlessness has
at times been consistently carried through in the relations of subjects
to the king. Here men and women, though enjoying customary rights of
person and property as against one another, have no rights at all as
against the king's pleasure. No European monarch or seignior has ever
admittedly enjoyed power of this kind, but European governments have at
various times and in various directions exercised or claimed powers no
less arbitrary in principle. Thus, by the side of the regular courts of
law which prescribe specific penalties for defined offences proved
against a man by a regular form of trial, arbitrary governments resort
to various extrajudicial forms of arrest, detention, and punishment,
depending on their own will and