XI  THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  GOVERNMENT  163

sion  by  a  governmental  officer  than  it  is  in  the  case  of
private  aggression,  since  the  private  aggressor  may  escape.
On  the  whole,  then,  it  would  seem  expedient  that  the  legal
right  of  self-defence  against  aggressions  of  governmental
officials  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  limited  to  cases  in  which
the  illegitimacy  of  the  official's  attack  is  manifest  and  un-
mistakable, or  the  injury  threatened  irreparable.
I  have  been  speaking  above  of  strictly  legal  rights  of
resistance,  as  conceivably  exercised  against  subordinate  offi-
cials. The  consideration  of  the  constitution  aP  or  moral  right
of  private  persons  to  resist  oppressive  action  on  the  part  of
a  supreme  organ  of  government  will  come  more  properly  at  a
later  stage  of  the  discussion;  for  which  I  also  reserve  the
important  question  how  far  special  restraints  should  be
imposed  on  freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  association  of
private  individuals  in  order  more  completely  to  guard  against
the  danger  of  seditious  resistance  to  the  supreme  govern-
ment.
Leaving  the  question  of  open  resistance  and  incitement
to  resistance,  it  may  be  laid  down  further  that  any  attempt
to  prevent  or  pervert  the  exercise  of  any  governmental
powers  by  bribing  or  in  any  way  threatening  the  officials
concerned  should  be  severely  repressed ;  and,  generally,  any
dangerous  attempt  to  throw  obstacles  directly  or  indirectly
in  the  way  of  the  discharge  of  governmental  functions
should  be  prohibited  under  penalties,  unless  for  special
reasons  it  should  appear  that  such  penal  interference  would
be  likely  to  be  attended  with  evils  outweighing  its  ad-
vantages. The  most  difficult  question  under  this  latter
head  relates  to  the  assistance  that  relatives  and  friends  are
prompted  to  render  to  criminals  desirous  of  escaping  justice.
