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The time has come when the fact ought to be generally admitted that the amount of government , that is of coercion , of individuals or classes by the state , which is necessary to the welfare or even to the existence of a civilised community , cannot permanently co-exist with the effective belief that deference to public opinion is in all cases the sole or the necessary basis of a democracy . The delusion that democracy when it has once had all things put under its feet , is a progressive form of government , lies deep in the convictions of a particular political school ; but there can be no delusion grosser . The grounds for this opinion are , firstly , that the King and the two Houses acting together can most certainly enact or repeal any law whatever without in any way contravening the Parliament Act ; and , secondly , that the House of Lords , while it cannot prevent the House of Commons from , in effect , passing under the Parliament Act any change of the constitution , provided always that the requirements of the Parliament Act are complied with , nevertheless can , as long as that Act remains in force , prohibit the passing of any Act the effectiveness of which depends upon its being passed without delay . Introduction , as in the writing of every book which I have published , untold aid from suggestions made to me by a large number both of English and of foreign friends . England and the whole British Empire with her have taken up the sword and thereby have risked the loss of wealth , of prosperity , and even of political existence . He remained Premier with the support of the vast majority of the electors till his death in 1865 . The one is the advance towards democracy resulting from the establishment , 1867 to 1884 , of Household Suffrage ; the other is the increasing rigidity of the party system . Markham , one of the judges , says : " In a writ of covenant one must be privy to the covenant if he would have a writ of covenant or aid by the covenant . I am far from certain , that if several laws which I know had fallen under the stroke of that sceptre , the public would have had a very heavy loss .