The history of England proves the same truth. The revolution of the Barons
in 1215 took away or purported to take away the power from the King but
the power fell into the hands of the aristocracy, and democracy did not
share in the triumph of the Barons. Thus the great Charter, as a great
historian has observed, was thus not a Charter of Liberty but of
liberties. The revolution in the reign of Charles I. produced a new
dictator who suppressed freedom. The work which the Long Parliament began
was interrupted by the Revolution which followed the execution of the
King, and it required another Revolution, this time a bloodless
Revolution, to complete the work. I deny that the work is yet complete.
The continual class war and the obvious economic injustice do not proclaim
that freedom which England claimed for herself. I maintain that no people
has yet succeeded in winning freedom by force and violence. The truth is
that love of power is a formidable factor to be reckoned with, and those
who secure that power by violence will retain that power by violence. The
use of violence degenerates them who use it and it is not easy for them,
having seized the power, to surrender it. And they find it easier to carry
on the work of their predecessor, retaining their power in their own
hands. Non-violence does not carry with it that degeneration which is
inherent in the use of violence.