His first political work, a new edition of which was recently reviewed in The Popular Science Monthly, is an analysis and explanation of that elaborate piece of mechanism—or rather, of that complex organism—"The English Constitution." He dispels many illusions and corrects many misconceptions concerning constitutions generally, and demonstrates the impossibility of framing a written document that will fulfill the functions discharged by the unwritten Constitution of England—the inevitable defects and weaknesses of made-to-order instruments being illustrated by examples drawn from the workings of our own much-vaunted ordinances, and the more recent instrument under which France is now governed.
In "Physics and Politics," Mr. Bagehot's first American book, the the growth of societies and states is treated according to the method of the evolution philosophy; it is a book which could only have been written by a man having a thorough knowledge of practical affairs, and' a firm hold upon the theories of Spencer and Darwin. It is pronounced "clever" by the critics who do not accept those theories, but it is much more.
"Lombard Street," as its name indicates, deals with that abstruse and wayward subject, the "money-market," and is one of the best sources from which to learn the differences which exist between the realities of the "street" and the hypotheses of economists.
At the time of his death, March 24, 1877, he was engaged upon a book, some of the earlier chapters of which were published in the Fortnightly Review (February and May, 1876) under the title of "The Postulates of Political Economy;" they were able and timely, and it is to be hoped that the surmise that other of the chapters were so far forwarded as to warrant publication is correct.
Since his death his articles in the Economist upon the silver question have been reprinted, making a thin octavo volume; they lack completeness and finish, but are still the most valuable contribution to the subject, for he was the first to seek out and correctly correlate the causes that led to the decline and fluctuations in the price of silver.
This brief list comprises all that will be remembered as his "works," for, though a busy writer, his labor was mostly given to the leading articles in his paper. It is as a journalist that he will be chiefly missed. Though dealing with abstruse and technical topics, he never failed to make himself understood by men of ordinary cultivation and intelligence. His knowledge was so accurate and his grasp so strong as to command the respect of specialists, and yet his articles had the attention and interest of men whose only concern in or knowledge of the subjects was that obtained from Mr. Bagehot himself. In the abstract science with which he dealt he had the rare combination of a conversancy with the abstractions and a knowledge of the facts. He had the guessing faculty and the solid judgment of the man of business, and the trained reasoning power with which to test his guesses and value his conclusions.
