‘Not only a Bad Metaphor’: Classes, Masses and Races in Late Victorian Politics

Abstract

But the matter [of self-government] assumes an entirely different aspect, when we come to apply the word to a community which is not homogenous. If it consists of different elements that have not been fused together; if large masses of citizens are separated into jealous or hostile sections, by deep divisions of creed or race, or even by interest, the word ‘self-government’ is not only a bad metaphor, but becomes flagrantly deceptive.