Republican Superstitions. By Moncnre D. Conway. (H. S. King.) —The
title-page adds, "as illustrated in the political history of America." Mr. Conway's readers, therefore, will not be surprised to hear that the superstitions which he denounces are "the double chamber" and the Presidential office. For the latter he would substitute an Executive Committee. On both points his argument is powerful, though it is to be regretted that it is disfigured by an invective against President Grant. Other thinkers before Mr. Conway have come to the same conclusion— the rule of one man has many things to be said against it, the worst of them being that you must have a man, a being, that is, who has prejudices, passions, interests, relatives, and other hampering surround- ings. He that puts a man to rule, says Aristotle, frpool-ihe, ugc■
i.e., introduces a set of lower motives into the purely rational influences which should direct the course of government. And yet mankind, having had the best possible reasons for hating the system, has always carried it on. Committees, in truth, have been found to be aimless and helpless. It might be well to have them with the power of reverting to the one-man system in case of necessity. Mr. Conway's volume may be read with advantage by English, and a fortiori by American readers. There is no little plain-speaking in it, and if gentle- men of the Hannibal Chollop class are to be found in America, it is perhaps as well that the author has his residence on this side of the Atlantic.
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