Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/50

 8 OIUGIN OF THE WAIl OF 1853 chap, actor of public business. He is in close inter- _____ course with those labourers of high worth and ability who in all great States compose the per- manent staff of the public office ; and in this way, even though lie be newly come to affairs, he is brought into acquaintance with the great traditions of the State, and comes to know and feel what the interests of his country are. Above all, a ministry really charged with affairs will be free from the personal and family motives which dellect the state policy of a prince who is his own minister, and will refuse to merge the interests of their country in the mere hopes and fears of one man. On the other hand, a monarch governing for himself, and without responsible ministers, must always be under a set of motives which are laid upon him by his personal station as well as by his care for the people. Such a prince is either a hereditary sovereign or he is a man who has won the crown with his own hand. In the fust case, the contingency of his turning out to be a man really qualilied for the actual governance of an empire is almost, though not quite, excluded by the bare law of chances ; and, on the other hand, it may be expected that the prince who has made his own way to the throne will not be wanting in such qualities of mind as fit a man for business of state. In some respects, perhaps, he will be abler than a council. He will be more daring, more resolute, more secret ; but these are qualities con- ducive to war, and not to peace. Moreover, a prince who has won for himself a sovereignty