102 
THE SOCIALISM OF TO-DAY. 
peasants and working men. In ancient Greece, the “ tyrants,” 
that is to say, the dictators, usually got possession of power 
by placing themselves at the head of the poor against the rich. 
It was thus that Cæsar, at Rome, hoped to establish absolute 
power. In the Middle Ages, in France, the king was looked 
upon as the protector of the people and the communes against 
the feudal lords. To-day the Monarchical Socialists invite the 
sovereign to fulfil a similar mission, but this time against the 
financial and industrial middle classes who exercise the privileges 
of the landed aristocracy. They invoke the authority of Lorenz 
von Stein, the eminent professor at Vienna : “ Every monarchy,” 
he said, “ will be no more than an empty shadow, and will 
give place to a republic, or be transformed into a military 
despotism, unless, imbued with the moral dignity of its rôle, 
it takes the initiation in the matter of social reforms.” What 
good can a constitutional sovereign do, when he is at the 
mercy of the parties who in turn dispose of the majority? 
And what are these parties ? Coalitions of interests, groups oí 
cliques, representatives and agents of selfish class interests, 
who make use of power only to work to their own advantage 
the making of the laws and the framing of the budget. The 
king alone can rise superior to this conflict of ambitions and 
greedy desires, so as to represent the permanent interests of 
the nation ; he alone can take in hand the cause of the 
oppressed, because he alone draws no profit from their degra 
dation. Such is the language of the Christian Socialists in 
Germany. 
This ideal of a good despot, assuring to each his share of 
terrestrial happiness, has a certain Messianic charm about it, 
which may allure, especially when the parliamentary machine 
becomes effete or breaks up. But who will guarantee that the 
despot shall not be a fool, an idiot, or a vicious wretch? 
Cæsarism was too unsuccessful to induce men to return to it, 
at least voluntarily. However, the Christian Socialists certainly 
express very well the idea that the Emperor William himself 
has conceived of his mission. He has a horror of government 
by majorities; he readily listens to the grievances of the 
labourers ; and, as we have seen, he spends money out of his