Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-11-07
MIR. sarhOur,,s Lecture.

Barbour, on the subject Of the Par
liamentary history of England.
The paragraphist of the Com
naerci0L takes issue with Mr.. Bar
bour and pronounces "carelessn the
statement made by that gentle
man to the effect that monarchies
are the results of war, and says that
on the contrary wars give rise to re-
pnblics rather than monarchies.
The spirit and scope of the lecture
seem to have been miseonceived
by the critic. Doubtless uninten-
tlonally, he does injustice to a mas.
terly effort as conspicuous for ac.
curacy and truthfulness of concep.
tion of the genius OF English his
tory as it was for force and felicity
of action.
Mr.. Barbour used the language
in question with regard TO the
early periods in the national exist
enca of various countries. Refer
ence to any reliable works on such
topics will show not only that he
was correct, but that had the re-
mark been comprehensive even of
modern timers it would have Leeu
SUSTAINED " the facts.
Let us take a rapid glance at
some portions of history. The gov
ernment of the Jews, after their
coming out of Egypt, became, from
a Theocratic Republic, o monarchy
through the pressure of war-like
circumstances which rendered it
necessary to make fighting King
out of Saul. The numerous petty
Grecian kingdoms became such in
troublous times of war. Athens it
self, with all its culture and adj
vancement, never had republican
form of government save in peace.
The wars of Cesar, Pompey, Brutus,
Marcus Antony and Augustus
Cesar precipitated the crumbling
edifice of Rome's republican insti-
tutions into absolute monarchy.
After the Hegira, it was chiefly the
military policy OF MohGm med and
his Successors which converted the
patrlarchal and nomadic tribes of
A alba into subjects of Caliphate.
In England ths battle OF Hast
ings only served to change the
temperate govern mant Of Edward
the confessor and of his brief sue.
cessor, Harold, into the feudal des-
potIsm OF William the Norman.
Further down, did the wars of the
houses of York AMI lancaster re-
suit in aught save the tightening of
the monarchical bonds of the Eng
lish people? The temporary over
throw of the house of Stuart only
caused the erection or more Wig
orous monarchy, or one man pow
er, in the person of Oliver Crom-
well. When the imbecility of
Richard Cromwell illustrated the
saying herouns .fIii, stutti in those
perllons days of great public dis,
cord, all the people turned their
eyes to Charles H., then on the
continent, and implored his return,
thinking the restoration of alb
solute monarchy their best pro-
lection. from internecine strife.
When in 1858, James IL. fled from
England, he trembled for his head,
but no Republic was born from the
tremendous travail of Great Brit
ain. William of Orange (whose
character was so incisiveiy sketch
ed by Mr.. Barbour), took vigorous
hold of the reins of government
while they were still warm from
the unsteady grasp of his saturnine
predecessor
Turning to France, we find that
upon the beheading of Louis XIV.
the despotism Of Napoleon follow
ed Immediately. [ say immsdi-
ately, because in history the faith
ful and delirious fever of the reign
of terror is to be reckoned only as a
national bacchanalian orgie of
blood and madness and is in no
wise to be regarded as an epoch. 1t
may be said that the Franco-Prus-
sian war made q Republic of Impe-
rial France, but the reply is this:
"The mills of the gods grind slow
ly, but they grind exceeding fine,n
and we have right to ask that so
mercurial race as the French
should preserve in their present
Republic q decade or two before
they ask us to consider them per-
manently cured of their hereditary
devotion to regal sway
The trouble with the critic of The
Commercial is that his idea of gen.
eral history is derived from Fourth
of July orations about eagles and
things of that "hifalutin' descrip-
tion aud our ancestors battles for
the Republican usages we now en-
Joy. The real fact is that two
causee combine to keep US in this
form of government. One reason
is this: We are SO cosmopolita
and heterogeneous a mass that
there exists among US, as people,
no common traditional reverence
for any one set of ideas, politically,
and this lack of unanimity of pre-
judice in favcr of any ono form of
government prevents efforts to es-
tablish q monarchy. This is spe-
cially the case because our climate
and productions are so diverse and
our territorial area so great that
the various sections are not fully
in sympathy with each other, and
on any proposition of innovation
the centripetal and centrifugal
forces are too evenly balanced to
admit of violent changes. The
great reason why we will probably
remain a long time a Republic is
our geographical isolation from the
great European powers. The bar
riers OF the seas prevent danger of
our being engaged in great wars
with foreign powers, ana wars are
the parent of monarchy.
Much can be said on this subject,
but space is too valuable in your
paper.
1 will conclude by addressing to
the ambitious young critic who at
tempted to snub the lecture of MIR.
Barbour the words which Ovid
represents Jove as saying to Pb@-
ton: "Paroe, 41uer, ShonauLjs CT for
tius Utere Goris." FAIR PLAY.