London:
WATTS & CO.,
17 JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.
1912
"The sociologist has three main quests—first, he must try to discover the conditions that determine mere aggregation and concourse. Secondly, he must try to discover the law that governs social choices—the law, that is, of the subjective process. Thirdly, he must try to discover also the law that governs the natural selection and the survival of choices—the law, that is, of the objective process."
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||||||
| Preface | [vii] | |||||
| Part I. | ||||||
| POLITICAL FORCES IN ANCIENT HISTORY | ||||||
| Chap. | I. | —The Subject-Matter | [1] | |||
| II. | —Roman Political Evolution | [8] | ||||
| III. | —Greek Political Evolution | [36] | ||||
| IV. | —The Laws of Socio-Political Development | [54] | ||||
| Part II. | ||||||
| ECONOMIC FORCES IN ANCIENT HISTORY | ||||||
| Chap. | I. | —Roman Economic Evolution | [75] | |||
| II. | —Greek Economic Evolution | [98] | ||||
| Part III. | ||||||
| CULTURE FORCES IN ANTIQUITY | ||||||
| Chap. | I. | —Greece | [121] | |||
| II. | —The Saracens | [146] | ||||
| III. | —Rome | [158] | ||||
| Epilogue | —A General View of Decadence | [170] | ||||
| Part IV. | ||||||
| THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS | ||||||
| Note on Literature | [181] | |||||
| Chap. | I. | —The Beginnings | [183] | |||
| II. | —The Social and Political Evolution | [209] | ||||
| III. | —The Political Collapse | [233] | ||||
| Part V. | ||||||
| THE FORTUNES OF THE LESSER EUROPEAN STATES | ||||||
| Chap. | I. | —Ideas of Nationality and National greatness | [257] | |||
| II. | —The Scandinavian Peoples | [264] | ||||
| III. | —The Hansa | [286] | ||||
| IV. | —Holland | [291] | ||||
| § 1. | The Rise of the Netherlands | [293] | ||||
| § 2. | The Revolt against Spain | [301] | ||||
| § 3. | The Supremacy of Dutch Commerce | [310] | ||||
| § 4. | Home and Foreign Policy | [318] | ||||
| § 5. | The Decline of Commercial Supremacy | [321] | ||||
| § 6. | The Culture Evolution | [325] | ||||
| § 7. | The Modern Situation | [328] | ||||
| V. | —Switzerland | [331] | ||||
| § 1. | The Beginnings of Union | [332] | ||||
| § 2. | The Socio-Political Evolution | [338] | ||||
| § 3. | The Modern Renaissance | [347] | ||||
| VI. | —Portugal | [355] | ||||
| § 1. | The Rise and Fall of Portuguese Empire | [355] | ||||
| § 2. | The Colonisation of Brazil | [361] | ||||
| Part VI. | ||||||
| ENGLISH HISTORY TILL THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD | ||||||
| Chap. | I. | —Before the Great Rebellion | [369] | |||
| II. | —The Rebellion and the Commonwealth | [414] | ||||
| III. | —From the Restoration to Anne | [436] | ||||
| IV. | —Industrial Evolution | [458] | ||||
| Conclusion | [468] | |||||
| Index | [473] | |||||
PREFACE
The following treatise is an expansion, under a new title, of one originally published (1900) under the name of An Introduction to English Politics. Several friendly reviewers of that work objected, not unjustly, that its title was something of a misnomer, or at least an imperfect indication of its contents. It had, as a matter of fact, originated remotely in a lecture delivered as preliminary to a course on "Modern English Politicians" (from Bolingbroke to Gladstone), the aim of the prefatory address being to trace in older politics, home and foreign, general laws which should partly serve as guides to modern cases, or at least as preparation for their scientific study; while the main course dealt with modern political problems as they have arisen in the careers and been handled by the measures of modern English statesmen. It was that opening exposition, developed into an essay, and published as a series of magazine articles, that had been further expanded into this treatise, by way of covering the ground more usefully; and the original name is therefore retained as a sub-title.