第 6 节
作者:公主站记      更新:2021-04-30 17:05      字数:9322
  right or authority  to govern; is a question of ethics。  Whether a certain territory  and its population are a sovereign state or nation; or  notwhether the actual ruler of a country is its rightful ruler;  or notis to be determined by the historical facts in the case;  but whence the government derives its right to govern; is a  question that can be solved only by philosophy; or; philosophy  failing; only by revelation。
  Political writers; not carefully distinguishing between the fact  and the right; have invented various theories as to the origin of  government; among which may be named I。 Government originates in the right of the father to govern his  child。 II。 It originates in convention; and is a social compact。 27 III。 It originates in the people; who; collectively taken; are  sovereign。 IV。 Government springs from the spontaneous development of nature。 V。 It derives its right from the immediate and express  appointment of God; VI。 From God through the Pope; or visible head of the spiritual  society; VII。 From God through the people; VIII。 From God through the natural law。
  I。 The first theory is sound; if the question is confined to the  origin of government as a fact。  The patriarchal system is the  earliest known system of government; and unmistakable traces of  it are found in nearly all known governmentsin the tribes of  Arabia and Northern Africa; the Irish septs and the Scottish  clans; the Tartar hordes; the Roman qentes; and the Russian and  Hindoo villages。  The right of the father was held to be his  right to govern his family or household; which; with his children;  included his wife and servants。  From the family to the tribe the  transition is natural and easy; as also from the tribe to the  nation。  The father is chief of the family; the chief of the  eldest family is chief of the tribe; the chief of the eldest  tribe becomes chief of the nation; 28                                    and; as such; king or monarch。   The heads of families collected in a senate form an aristocracy;  and the families themselves; represented by their delegates; or  publicly assembling for public affairs; constitute a democracy。   These three forms; with their several combinations; to wit;  monarchy; aristocracy; democracy; and mixed governments; are all  the forms known to Aristotle; and have generally been held to be  all that are possible。
  Historically; all governments have; in some sense; been developed  from the patriarchal; as all society has been developed from the  family。  Even those governments; like the ancient Roman and the  modern feudal; which seem to be founded on landed property; may  be traced back to a patriarchal origin。  The patriarch is sole  proprietor; and the possessions of the family are vested in him;  and he governs as proprietor as well as father。  In the tribe;  the chief is the proprietor; and in the nation; the king is the  landlord; and holds the domain。  Hence; the feudal baron is  invested with his fief by the suzerain; holds it from him; and to  him it escheats when forfeited or vacant。  All the great Asiatic  kings of ancient or modern times hold the domain and govern as  proprietors; they have the authority of the father and 29                                                        the owner;  and their subjects; though theoretically their children; are  really their slaves。
  In Rome; however; the proprietary right undergoes an important  transformation。  The father retains all the power of the  patriarch within his family; the patrician in his gens or house;  but; outside of it; is met and controlled by the city or state。   The heads of houses are united in the senate; and collectively  constitute and govern the state。  Yet; not all the heads of  houses have seats in the senate; but only the tenants of the  sacred territory of the city; which has been surveyed and marked  by the god Terminus。  Hence the great plebeian houses; often  richer and nobler than the patrician; were excluded from all  share in the government and the honors of the state; because they  were not tenants of any portion of the sacred territory。  There  is here the introduction of an element which is not patriarchal;  and which transforms the patriarch or chief of a tribe into the  city or state; and founds the civil order; or what is now called  civilization。  The city or state takes the place of the private  proprietor; and territorial rights take the place of purely  personal rights。
  In the theory of the Roman law; the land owns the man; not the  man the land。  When land was transferred to a new tenant; the  prac… 30     tice in early times was to bury him in it; in order to  indicate that it took possession of him; received; accepted; or  adopted him; and it was only such persons as were taken  possession of; accepted or adopted by the sacred territory or  domain that; though denizens of Rome; were citizens with full  political rights。  This; in modern language; means that the state  is territorial; not personal; and that the citizen appertains to  the state; not the state to the citizen。  Under the patriarchal;  the tribal; and the Asiatic monarchical systems; there is;  properly speaking; no state; no citizens; and the organization is  economical rather than political。  Authorityeven the nation  itselfis personal; not territorial。  The patriarch; the chief  of the tribe; or the king; is the only proprietor。  Under the  Graeco…Roman system all this is transformed。  The nation is  territorial as well as personal; and the real proprietor is the  city or state。  Under the Empire; no doubt; what lawyers call the  eminent domain was vested in the emperor; but only as the  representative and trustee of the city or state。
  When or by what combination of events this transformation was  effected; history does not inform us。  The first…born of Adam; we  are told; built a city; and called it after his son 31                                                     Enoch; but  there is no evidence that it was constituted a municipality。  The  earliest traces of the civil order proper are found in the Greek  and Italian republics; and its fullest and grandest developments  are found in Rome; imperial as well as republican。  It was no  doubt preceded by the patriarchal system; and was historically  developed from it; but by way of accretion rather than by simple  explication。  It has in it an element that; if it exists in the  patriarchal constitution; exists there only in a different form;  and the transformation marks the passage from the economical  order to the political; from the barbaric to the civil  constitution of society; or from barbarism to civilization。
  The word civilization stands opposed to barbarism; and is derived  from civitascity or state。  The Greeks and Romans call all  tribes and nations in which authority is vested in the chief; as  distinguished from the state; barbarians。  The origin of the word  barbarian; barbarus; or 。。。。。。。。; is unknown; and its primary  sense can be only conjectured。  Webster regards its primary sense  as foreign; wild; fierce; but this could not have been its  original sense; for the Greeks and Romans never termed all  foreigners barbarians; and they applied the 32                                             term to nations that  had no inconsiderable culture and refinement of manners; and that  had made respectable progress in art and sciencesthe Indians;  Persians; Medians; Chaldeans; and Assyrians。  They applied the  term evidently in a political; not an ethical or an aesthetical  sense; and as it would seem to designate a social order in which  the state was not developed; and in which the nation was personal;  not territorial; and authority was held as a private right; not  as a public trust; or in which the domain vests in the chief or  tribe; and not in the state; for they never term any others  barbarians。
  Republic is opposed not to monarchy; in the modern European  sense; but to monarchy in the ancient or absolute sense。   Lacedaemon had kings; yet it was no less republican than Athens;  and Rome was called and was a republic under the emperors no less  than under the consuls。  Republic; respublica; by the very force  of the term; means the public wealth; or; in good English; the  commonwealth; that is; government founded not on personal or  private wealth; but on the public wealth; public territory; or  domain; or a Government that vests authority in the nation; and  attaches the nation to a certain definite territory。  France;  Spain; Italy; Holland; Belgium; Denmark; even Great 33                                                     Britain in  substance though not in form; are all; in the strictest sense of  the word; republican states; for the king or emperor does not  govern in his own private right; but solely as representative of  the power and majesty of the state。  The distinctive mark of  republicanism is the substitution of the state for the personal  chief; and public authority for personal or private right。   Republicanism is really civilization as opposed to barbarism; and  all civility; in the old Sense of the word; or Civilian in  Italian; is republican; and is applied in modern tiles to  breeding or refinement of manners; simply because these are  chara