A Backward Step
As William Lecky watched the rapid spread of socialism across the European Continent, he was struck by a powerful sense of déjà vu.
1913
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
As William Lecky watched the rapid spread of socialism across the European Continent, he was struck by a powerful sense of déjà vu.
1913
Queen Victoria 1837-1901
For William Lecky, a contemporary of Karl Marx, ‘Socialism’ meant a politics in which the things that were properly the responsibility of individuals and families were snatched away and dictated by the supposedly wiser Government. Such a politics, he said, was no different to the tyrannies of the past; it merely replaced the arrogance of king or sultan with the arrogance of the politburo.
abridged
IN the brilliant days of Louis XIV,* the Sorbonne formally declared ‘that all the goods of his subjects belonged to the King in person, and that in taking of them he took only what belonged to him.’ ‘The King,’ said Louis XIV, ‘represents the whole nation. All power is in his hands. ... Kings are absolute rulers, and have naturally a full and entire right of disposing of all the goods both of Churchmen and laymen.’
The rights of the individual and the rights of the family to property have from the very dawn of civilisation been opposed to this claim, and they form the first great foundation of human liberty. They rest on the strongest and deepest instinct of human nature — the love of the individual for his family; and the most powerful of all the springs of human progress is the desire of men to labour and to save for the benefit of those who will follow them. Through countless ages, religion and long-established custom have consecrated and fortified these nobler elements of human nature.
* Louis XIV (1638-1715) reigned over the Kingdom of France from 1643 until his death. Lecky speaks of the ‘brilliant days’ of Louis not out of approval but because Louis liked to style himself ‘the Sun King’ in recognition of his standing in Europe. Louis’s reign is remembered for his glittering court, his patronage of fine arts, his persecution of the Huguenots and the spread of French political control throughout Europe by frequent wars.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Louis XIV was King of France. He said he owned everything in the country. He said there were no exceptions.
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IEveryone. IIGoods. IIIPossess.