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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  degradation. ­
  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