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OF POLITICAL THEORIES. 57own, otherwise they cannot deal with him with any safety ;should it be done only" sub spe rati," they will no longerconsider him as sovereign, but as the delegate of a superiorpower. The maintenance of the monarchical principle requires, therefore, according to our views, that not only alltreaties of commerce and alliance, but that all declarationsof war and conclusions of peace, should be absolutelyin thehands of the prince. This, however, does not by any meansexclude the chambers from debating upon foreign policy,and from giving their opinion either in praise or blame ofthe measures which the government may have adopted.How fer such proceedings may be advisable is a questionwith which we have nothing to do, as it does not bear uponthe maintenance of the monarchical principle.The sphere of the chambers, then, as a body, sharing thepower of ultimate decision with the prince, is confined tothe internal affairs of legislationand taxation. In these thereis no third party concerned : but in the dealings between thetwo the monarchical principleis sustained by the veto, whichmust be allowed unconditionally to the prince. In compliance with the favourite notion of the sovereignty of thepeople, frequent attempts have of late been made to restrictthe veto, by determining that the prince may refuse his approval once, or even twice, but that after this the law shallbe valid without it.It is evident that this arrangement is wholly incompatible with the principle of monarchy, and, moreover, absurdin itself. It isincompatible with monarchy, because itassumes that a law may pass without the will of the sovereign.It is absurd, because there can be no reason whythe monarchical principle should not rather be done awaywith at once, than after the lapse of two or three years.There is no doubt that the use of the veto is an evil ineach case to which it is applied, because it presumes thatthere is a difference between the prince and the chambers :but even thoughit should become, as in England, a mereform, it is yet important that the prince should possess theright, since circumstances may render it valuable.It remains that we should consider the relations in whichthe prince stands to the chambers with respectto the influence which he should exercise over them. The monarch-