The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-07-08
SOME NEW BOOKS.
A History of Democracy.

our surprise that the author. the Rev. DR.. Ma
HUM CApfS. President Of Tufts College. in Mas
suohusrtts should have put his nHmc to a book
which can only Toe regarded rs Il ryramidal
monument of intellectual crudity. In this vast
repository of facts. more or less authentic. hut
almost always il-digcstcd and " hasty general
cations from defective promises. there il
scarcely prctcnce Of coherent thinking or Of
literary workmanship.
From the preface we should expect method
ical discussion of an interesting topic. but in
This bulky volume method IA So utterly ignored
that thcrc tx not even "a division into chapters
Instead " sucha distribution cOrrcs pondng to
logical de-, eopmont of the theme. We have at
least u thousand random headings. with no
more interdapcndcnce or relation 10 central
aim than the captions sci above the rambling
pages Of a travellers note book. What DR.. Ca
pm has really bestowed on us is nothing moro
or less than commonplace book. in which he
has iottcd down during the last twenty-five
years thc admits that part of this work WAS con-
structcd at least a quarter Of century a-ol
Whatever facts. notions and quotations seemed
t. have any bearing on the general subject II
popular government. and the successive phases
through which the conception Of it has
passed
The evolution Of that modern idea to which
we attach the term democracy" though our
notion of wha, the people or demos Is diners
widely from that OF Plato or Arst0tc-the his
tOrical manifestation u it in divers aspects and
approximations by the conference.-the and
parliamentary regimes OF ancient and modern
fimcs-a candid scrutiny Of the defects and
pcrils incident to popular government. and an
npprais mcnt Of It's relative fitness TO certain
stages Of social growth-all these topics do. in
deed. mako up one large aud fruitful theme.
But ii s plain that only men Of trained intellect.
md wide yet accurate requirement. can even
tentatively treat it, Herbert Spencer could, and
probably will. do it. Walter Bagehot possibly
might have done. and We might. perhaps. say as
much Of Lccky and of the author Of The De-
vclopmcnt of the English Constitution" Edward
Freeman. But We shall not have such treatise
from Dr. Capen. and We are bound to say that
the present congcrcs Of data does not even
attest his compel nee as Il mere collector and
sitter Of raw material.
We can see that the writer has never formu-
lated and held up before his mental eye the
fundamental questions TO which the reader Of
this book will expect an answer. lie nowhere
Offers us definition Of democracy unless we
are to accept as such ,hc somewhat supcrauous
statement Of the dictionary equivalents for the
Greek roots which figure in the word. H. does
not sketch for us, as Freeman has shctrhcd.
that simplest and pur' st type Of existing de-
HlN'thNl'H MAll'n - 20 Dc ltunl III inc SWISS
canton Of Ur. whore all the male Inhabitants
who have reached mans estate conyokcd in
their national Assembly then and there directly
exercise the legislative power and delegate
their executive authority TO certain individuals.
Neither does he attcmpttO analy2c and discrim-
mate the several complex representative form
which the application Of the simple idea Of
popular sovereignty to large populations has
necessitated. lie is not alive to the growing
divergence and multiplied differences some
papablc and some suite. Of those approXima-
tons TO the democratic ideal which now divide
the homage OF imitation. viz. the Presidential
and the Parliamentary system. When such OBJ
yious distin lions are overlooked. We need not
wonder that DR.. Capen fails to illuminate those
difficult questions which even the purest form
of democracy now cXtant leaves unsolved.
namely. the rights OF ninorites and the rights
OF women.
There is no doubt that Dr. Capcn has read
great quantity Of books and this thick octave
which seems to be only the first volume of his
- History Of Democracy is fairly loaded with
citations. many Of which are very lengthy. Yet
II is certain that suggestions more pertinent
and useful TO the business in hand might have
been drawn from hnlf a dozen sentences OF
Aristotle, Monies lueu and Burke. with per-
haps a page or two from Grote's Greece"
Mommscn's Rome" Sismondis Italian Re-
Dubcs,' and Turner'S or Frcemans work on
the Anglo-SaXons. DR.. Capen has much To say.
for instance. about the Athenian polity. hut he
does not point out the limited basis Of the suf-
frage. he does not call attention to the partial
fusion Of legislative and Judicial functions in
the popular assembly which met in the Aeora,
neither are we told OF those couseryatiy" re-
straints. ~ IA rs the Senate OF the Arcopaeus.
which trammclled. even in the Athens Of Gloon.
ba all fa Of lao
n good deal of space is devoted to Sparta. but
the author docs not attempt TO account for the
extraordinary stability oi the sO-caliel Lycur-
gan Constitution. nor does he perceive. appa-
rently. the curious analogy between the spartan
Government and that phase Of monarchy which
obtained in England between 1855 and tie fist
Reform bill.
great many pages. likewise. are given 10
the republican institutions OF Rome, but here
again some capital l,c's are strangely missed.
Tho Roman Goynruu MT was MT even repre-
sentatN' d'n1rrn- ior the vast majority Of
the population iu 'Ar dellior.unuu world never
had any r.prr- nf4t.uu ~ al. ANT even the
Italians. non-re-id"nt- of thr ruling city. w,rr
for the most pant unable to avail tl,.usoycs ia
practice OF the suffrage which julius Caesar
gave them. When We come % The Middle Ae.s
W. llni no detailed refer n 'e 90 the oNpericn'
Of Florence although In That city a typo ~ de-
mo IA s.. as direct and uu iHlih 81 Nl SO except
the Status 1i the apprrn'.t ina the guilds us
any the world Aa- -o far known, existed for 70
limited period. Neither las Dr.. Cpon any
thing to tell as about Venice. in whose uu0nlnl-
Gus history the precise converse Of ordinary
revolutions took pllce dono.rary hDIus
gradually -uppluutrd boy an olsur,hicM booty.
Ii j.. however, in his account al the English
Constitution, 10 which ho as- gins the larger
Iurt nf N-. iI.ls fu which fI!rt0ii.r- d III ...n-