406 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

and generosity of which man is capable. The "laws of nature"
direct the events of the physical world, but they do not ordain
that the causes which man thinks right must necessarily triumph.
They are 'as likely 'to produce famine and flood as to produce
fertility and plenty; if it were appropriate to apply human
standards to - diem, they would be judged arbitrary and cruel.
All the happiness there is, and all the success that justice has had,
is the laborious work of man, conquering his own ignorance and
selfishness. For if he does not find virtue in the order of nature,
neither does he find it unmixed in himself. Government begins
in the desire for domination rather than for justice; but as man
learns to think, he can transform the State from a tyranny over
his fellows into an administration of the world's resources.

Two facts about this building of civilisation are apparent.
First, that it must be a ceaseless task. The idea that civilisation,
and justice and kindness with it, can vanish, is not easily grasped
by those who have spent their lives in a peaceful and democratic
State. Yet past and present events alike show that this can
happen. Civilisation is man's work; it survives only through his
continued efforts to adapt the forms of Government to new
discoveries and new ways of life.

Secondly, it is a task in which all men should share. In the
framing of appropriate forms of Government, the British have
had notable success, and have made a distinguished contribution
to the political advancement of mankind. This success has
occurred because, for a multitude of historical reasons, British
Government has ccime to rely increasingly on the consent and
active co-operation of the common people. When the whole,
machinery of that Government is surveyed, it is dear that the
laws and the administrative provisions would be lifeless if large
'numbers of ordinary people failed to give, not merely obedience
but thought, interest and help. Some men have exceptional power
t$ influence their fellows; they can appeal to the good or evil in
human nature and achieve results which are accordingly good
or evil. But the ordinary person, by accepting or rejecting new