Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-08-30

M q
AlTSAC7 be- the twilight
&e6I of the kings ha:
U set in The out
come cannot bt
safely predicted. but there is no doub
that the march of democracy which be
gan a century and half ago ane
which has continued since on battle
fields and in legislative halls Will &c
or.
In that time the world has seen the
rise of our own republic. the establsh
uent of firm republican government
in France after century marked b!
Napoleonic conquest and revolution
the downfall of the Portuguese
monarchy, the fixing of the Swiss con
federation the unification Of Italy. the
spread of republican institutions
throushout Central and South Amer
lea, the growth of constitutional gov
eminent in place of autocracy in mos,
European countries. and the real1za-
ton of suffrage. practically universal
among many peoples previously living
under absolutsm.
Some of these radical. changes were
accomplished peacefully, but as rule
violent internal and external distrub-
aces accompanied them. Geograph-
ical lines were effaced. political theories
rose and fell diplomacy and military
noIicies beheld themselves become OBJ
so1ete. and new forces arose not here
tofore dreamed of.
The setting up of the great Ameri-
can republic no doubt gave wonderful
impetus to the desire of other peoples
to realize their dream of political free
dom The Declaration of independence
rang out as rallying cry to democracy
wherever there were responsive ears
But even then the Seeds of democacy
were stirring in the sterile fields OF
France and Germany. although it was
to take years of watering with blood
of patriots before the blossoming time
should come.
1t was France the country in which
monarchical government reached its
finest flower. where absolutism touched
its zenith and its nadir. which wa
fated to be the experiment station fol-
democracy in Europe.
The revolution there which shook tn
world proclaimed to the old dynastie:
the fallacy of the divine right of kings
and asserted rights of the governed
not before imagined. The echo of tina
revolution was heard in many lands
The Germans rose to it and later ever
hailed Napoleon liberator more
desirable than their autocratic rulers
AS the nineteenth century progressed
the harvests of democracy were otter
trampled out by the feet of militarisn
in the wars of conquest and reprisal
hut the seed never died 1t sprane
No again in such years as 1s4S, ant
afterward in the days of Italian unity
II is true Poland and other states had
already been blotted out. but constitu
tiCnaIism stood firm. and it's advocates
made great gains against privilege III
every legislative hall where freedom
of speech was not abridged
But il is with the French revolution
that modern European democracy be-
gins
u II diitioS' iihp'ssioie III inns age vi
hooks to conceive that such stupen-
dous event as the French revolution
sbouId oue r,ucb of it's imne,us TO 3
49,. - 49, nm 400.
NIUE pa NO. i','i man wv pae.
in length, II would be ridiculous te
say that the French revolution would
never have taken place if il had moi
hoa,, eor po,sse.rts .contra+ social,
.s.s,,,o =,
but II would De equally rlolcuious tt
deh! ,he tremendous iiliIuehce IN.
before the revolution. and its effect wa.
not Immediately seen. but this ant
othef WORKS against ieuoaisfh oS tn'
- ot r. 1;nodn,n ia sug
cested means to a way ont of the mo
lass in which the country was involved
Nearly everything in the book hat
'e,h sdlo put the man Ind,
md his integrity and Observation-Disclosures,
carried conviction to every one wht
read il. and in time 1t became the gos
pei of the revolution. The readers dis
Covered In its pages every argumen
IN favor of the moral basis OF democ
FICy, They read that the FAMILY pre-
"cdeS the state; they beheld the argu
went that authority mas It's basis II
strength cast to the winds. They wer'
told that moral authority of men in
community arises from conscious au
'hor1ty-a social contract. They fount
III the arguments against democrac!
clearly given, and yet Rousseau STATED
"iearIy why and how democracy wa
tisnt, ne disposed OF the theory that
representative method was democratic
and he held. no matter how democrati
me form OF the state, the particular
81 law must oe concerned TO ana tina
IN exceptional tunes dictatorship wa
Necessary fuil democracy. ne SAID
might 90 LOT ahseis, nut not Tor men.
x
In 11Ss a stout COMMONPLACE lool,ip,
-, -, - ",
" >He VI iahee' houis -AN
the last or the Capetian monarchs, wa
not only commonplace as to looks