on. And the ruler, regarded as divine,
really has in relation to his people the power of a god. Once that people
becomes educated in the modern sense, their ideas regarding their ruler
and their duties to their ruler necessarily undergo modification. But does
this mean that the sentiment is weakened in the educated class? I should
say that this depends very much upon the quality of the individual mind.
In a mind of small capacity, incapable of receiving the higher forms of
thought, it is very likely that the sentiment may be weakened and almost
destroyed. But in the mind of a real thinker, a man of true culture, the
sense of loyalty, although changed, is at the same time immensely
expanded. In order to give a strong example, I should take the example not
from a monarchical country but from a republican one. What does the
President of the United States of America, for example, represent to the
American of the highest culture? He appears to him in two entirely
different capacities. First he appears to him merely as a man, an ordinary
man, with faults and weaknesses like other ordinary men. His private life
is apt to be discussed in the newspapers. He is expected to shake hands
with anybody and with everybody whom he meets at Washington; and when he
ceases to hold office, he has no longer any particular distinction from
other Americans. But as the President of the United States, he is also
much more than a man. He represents one hundred millions of people; he
represents the American Constitution; he represents the great principles
of human freedom laid down by that Constitution; he represents also the
idea of America, of everything American, of all the hopes, interests, and
glories of the nation. Officially he is quite as sacred as a divinity
could be. Millions would give their lives for him at an instant's notice;
and thousands capable of making vulgar jokes about the man would hotly
resent the least word spoken about the President as the representative of
America. The very same thing exists in other Western countries,
notwithstanding the fact that the lives of rulers are sometimes attempted.
England is a striking example. The Queen has really scarcely any power;
her rule is little more than nominal. Every Englishman knows that England
is a monarchy only in name. But the Queen represents to every Englishman
more than a woman and more than a queen: she represents England, English
race feeling, English love of country, English