In a speech delivered in last October before the actual beginning of the
recent crisis, but in anticipation of its near approach, I recommended
the members of both Houses of Parliament and of both political parties
to lay to heart the subjoined passage in one of Mr. J.S. Mill's works:
"One of the most indispensable requisites in the practical conduct of
politics, especially in the management of free institutions, is
conciliation, a readiness to compromise, a willingness to concede
something to opponents, and to shape good measures so as to be as little
offensive as possible to persons of opposite views, and of this salutary
habit the mutual 'give and take' (as it has been called) between two
Houses is a perpetual school; useful as such even now, and its utility
would probably be more felt in a more democratic constitution of the
Legislature." Nor have I ever ceased to urge the adoption of such
principles as those laid down by Mr. Merivale when he wrote "Moderation
in success, self-denial in the exercise of power, habitual consideration
for the opinions and feelings of others, readiness to compromise
differences, love of justice and fair play, reluctance to push
principles to extremes, the moral courage which will dare to stand up
against a majority, the habit of constantly, and, as it were
instinctively postponing self to the public interest, and this whether
arising from moral choice or from the constraint imposed by public
opinion; these are the balancing qualities which prevent the misuse of
political freedom.
Pages:
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378