The morning call., 1890-08-31
PERSONAL GOVERNMENT.

The court-martial which tried Lieutenant
1turbiGe on charges of using insulting Ian
guq-e respecting the Government whose
uniform he Wore found the prisoner guilty,
and sentenced him to dismissal from the
army, nearly years Imprisonment, and
derivation of civil rights for ten years.
Perhaps the harsh sentence may be explained
10y the fact that young Iiurbide's family
Joined the foreign usurper Macmillan, and
that this very lieutenant was chosen to sue
coed the Austrian as Emperor in the event Of
his death.
Republican nations seem to be coming to
the conclusion that an end must be put to
conspiracies by members of families which
once reigned. People are getting tired OF
plots " hich break out under the lead of some
pretender whenever a government happens
TO be embarrassed. Experience teaches that
these outburSts of counter-TeYolution can
always win some popular backing, and may
prove very annoying before they are sup
pressed. 1heY appear, too, to enjoy ever
lasting life The Stuarts lost The throne of
England in 1889; but the Earl Of Mars,
rising to reinstate them, attracted large
following twenty-four years later. and the
young Pretender was not finally vanquished
TIL the battle Of CuloGen, IN 1746. Even
then, the old Jacobite feelingdid not die out:
the Pretender's brother, Cardinal York,
called himself King of England to the day
of his death. in 1907, lis years after James
ii was drive into exile. So in France.
Louis Philippe fed in 1913, but all through
the imperial era, and the subsequent period
of the republic, his sons kept necessarily
intriguing, and only the other day his grand
son tried to stir the heart of France by
demonstration which meant mischief to the
Government. Nor have the Bonapartists
been behindhand. Napoleon was sent to St
Helena in 1915. Thirty-three years later, a
nephew traded so successfully on his fame
that he overturned the republic; and at the
present moment collateral relatives are
holding meetings and concOeting plots look
ing TO the restoration of the Bonapartes.
All these schemes and hopes rest on the
personal theory of government. They are
offsho,ts Of the cd doctrine that monarchs
reign by the grace of Coda proposition
which is impressed on the public mind to
this day by the inscriptions on the British
coinage and that Of many other European
nations. That notion is so deeply rooted in
the minds Of members of families which
were once royal that it appears absolutely
necessary to deal severely with them In or
der to preserve the public peace.
1t is singular how slight hold the hered-
itary craze seems to have taken of mems
minds in this country. With us, to have
been the son of a great man has often been
an obstacle rather than help to success.
John Quincy Adams was probably assisted
by being the son of his father. Such has
also been the case with President Harrison,
who is the grandson of w. II. Harrison.
| The sons of Webster, Clay, Seward and
| Grant fill no place in the public eye. Ham,
| ilton's sons led obscure lives. The same
may be said of his compeers in the work of
| founding this nation. The United States
has seldom asked of any family the services
of more than one generation. Our Govern
ment, unfettered by traditions, has been
from the first and is still essentially imper-
sonal