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350 ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, ETC.till then, had constituted a state, neither has, nor ever couldhave taken place.All the three, then, thus at once forsookreality,and struck into paths which threatened new dangersat every step which carried them away from The it. political principlesof Hobbes were, however, less exposed thanthose of the other two, because the absolute power whichhe sought to establish upon rightful grounds, cares little forsuch support, and can maintain itself without it.Moreover,the course of events in his own country deprived themalike of authority and of practical adoption there.The doctrines of Locke, on the contrary, had for the mostpart been already applied in England, and only had theeffect of supplying other countries with philosophical reasons for that attachment to the British constitution whichhad become almost universal throughout Europe previousto the late revolutions. As a contrast to this, the system ofRousseau floated like Aristophanes' City of the Birds, freeand without support in the air. For while Rousseau assertsthat the will of the community is always just,and has for itsobject the general good of the community, he is undoubtedlyright that the common will, as far as it is the result of purereason, will be directed towards that which is best for thecommunity. But then, this common will must remain toall practical purposes an empty vision, unless it has someorgan by which it may be clearly and surely expressed.This Rousseau would have done by the voice of the assembled people itself, but he neither can, nor does deny thatthis method is often fallacious, or, to use his own worcls^that the will of all does not always express the commonwill. The people may be often deceived and led astray, andRousseau knows no expedient against it, except that weought to be on our guard. 1None, then, of these metaphysical speculations on government can be said to have done much for the practical application of the science. But even if we were disposed to agreewith Rousseau as to the organ by which the common will isto be expressed, no great harm would be done, for his system could not possibly take effect in a state of any considerable size.By denying all transfer of the sovereign will torepresentatives, he requires, at the outset, that there shouldThis important chapter is to be found in the Contmt Social, ii. 3.