The utmost difficulty exists in reconciling the various opinions expressed by different authors concerning the origin of the terms Whig and Tory. And yet, if we but consider the reasons why these nicknames were first bestowed upon the two great political factions of this country during the reign of Charles II., we may possibly attain a much-desired end. In the year 1648 (temp. Charles I.) there occurred a rising, or sally, of the peasantry inhabiting the south-western districts of Scotland against the Royalists. This was known as the Whigamore Raid, the term whigamore being applied to the teamsters and ploughmen of those parts because they used the twin-syllabic cry of “Whi-gam!” to drive their horses. When, therefore, in the early days of the Restoration, the ultra-Protestant party opposed certain measures of the Government, the Catholics reproached them with favouring the fanatical opinions of the Scottish Covenanters and Whigamores, and styled them Whigs. In return the Protestants bestowed upon their opponents the nickname of Tories, the familiar designation of a band of Irish outlaws who sought refuge in the bog districts of Ireland. The word Tory, or rather Toree, is Irish, signifying a robber. From that time down to the present Toryism has been considered to denote a steadfast adherence to constitutional principles and the maintenance of royalty and the peerage, as opposed to the progressive and more liberal views appertaining to Whiggism, which advocates constitutional reform and a moderate extension of democratical powers. The word Liberal was first employed by Lord Byron and his friends as the title of a periodical intended to set forth the political aims of the advanced Whig party in 1828. The term Conservative (derived from the Latin con, together, and servare, to keep, to preserve) first appeared in an article in The Quarterly Review, January, 1830, and was permanently adopted by the Tory party on the passing of the Reform Bill two years afterwards. The still more advanced section of the Whig party which came into prominence in 1816 were styled Radicals, or Radical Reformers, from their desire to institute a thorough reformation in the national policy. In our own day the Radicals and the Democrats may be set down as one and the same party; while the Socialists eminently carry out the principles of the primitive Radicals of the time of Charles I., who styled themselves Levellers because they strove to reduce society to a common level. The word Democrat is derived from the Greek demos, people, and kratein, to govern; therefore denoting one who upholds the principle of government by the people themselves, and diametrically opposed to an Aristocracy (Greek, aristos, best, and kratein, to govern), or government by the bravest and best. These terms were first brought into notice by the French Revolutionists of 1790.

Adverting to the protracted struggle between the Royalists under Charles I. and the Parliamentarians under the Cromwellian Parliament, no two nicknames could have been more suggestive of their origin than those respectively of the Cavaliers and the Roundheads. The latter arose out of the Puritan fashion of cropping the hair close round the head, the former from the cavalier manner in which a number of gentlemen offered themselves as a permanent escort to the King after he had been subjected to insult in December, 1641. The word Cavalier is synonymous with the French chevalier, a mounted knight, from cheval, a horse, derived from the Latin caballus, and the Greek kaballes, an inferior horse.

The Protestants in Ireland received the name of Orangemen owing to their adherence to William III., Prince of Orange, while the Roman Catholics were styled Jacobites from their adhesion to James II., Jacobus being the Latin form of the King’s name. The Peep o’ Day Boys were so called because they broke into the houses of the people at dawn of day in quest of arms; and the White Boys, from the white smocks they wore over their clothing. The depredations of both these insurgents were finally put an end to by the Insurrection Acts, passed in 1786-7. The secret brotherhood of the Fenians, organized for the overthrow of the English rule in Ireland, derived its name from Fiona Mac Cumhal, better known as Fingal, after whom Fingal’s Cave is designated. The correct interpretation of the Gaelic word Fenian is “a hunter.” Another secret society of quite recent origin is that of the Irish Invincibles, established, as was publicly stated by Carey the Informer, for the “making of history by killing tyrants.” Their title is due to the boast that they defy extermination. The Ribbonmen take their name from the distinctive badge which they wear. Emergency Men are the more active members of the Irish Defence Association. The Separists and the Parnellites are one and the same, sworn to support the measures of Mr. Parnell and the Irish National Party in promoting Home Rule for Ireland. The now familiar word Boycotting, in connection with Irish affairs, arose out of the troubles experienced by Captain Boycott, of Lough Mask Farm, near Ballinrobe, County Mayo, the land agent of Lord Erne. His house was besieged, his labourers were threatened, his crops remained ungathered, and tradesmen refused to supply him with goods. This occurred on the 11th and 12th of November, 1880, after which the military was despatched to his aid, and a “Boycott Fund” subscribed for his benefit. The expression “to boycott” a man practically means to place him beyond the pale of civilization.

The lowest order of the French Revolutionists were denominated Sansculottes, literally, “without breeches,” because they rejected those very serviceable articles of attire as being emblematical of the aristocracy. The same term was also applied to the Republican leaders as a reproach for the negligence of their dress; but after a time they themselves adopted the title with pride. The Red Republicans were so called for a two-fold reason. In the first place, they did not hesitate to steep their hands in human blood to accomplish their political aims; and, secondly, they wore the red cap, symbolical of Liberty from the days of the Romans downwards. The two antagonistic parties of the Revolution were styled The Mountain and The Plain for the reason that the former sat upon the most elevated benches in the Hall of Assembly, while the latter occupied the ground floor. The Plain was for the most part composed of the Girondists, or deputies from the Department of the Gironde.

The Hats and the Caps were the two great political factions in Sweden, so called on account of the French chapeaux worn by the partisans of the French interest on the one side, and the Russian caps worn by the partisans of the Russian interest on the other. Apropos of Russia, the word Nihilist (derived from the Latin nihil, nothing), originally denoted a social rather than a political party opposed to the tyranny of custom. Its significance is well expressed by Turgeneff, who first introduced it in his novel “Fathers and Sons,” published in 1862:—“A Nihilist is a man who bows before no authority, who accepts no principle without examination, no matter what credit the principle has.” At the present day a Nihilist is a revolutionary Socialist of the most pronounced degree.

The Italian Carbonari, being the plural of carbonaro, a coal-man, a charcoal-burner, who first came into notice in 1820, assumed their designation from the fact of their meetings being originally held in the huts of the charcoal-burners, and because they held charcoal to be the symbol of purification. The Black Cloaks were the upper classes of Naples, distinguished by the colour and quality of their cloaks from the Lazzari, or beggars. Regarded as a political party, the Neapolitan Black Cloaks no longer exist; but the Lazzaroni, so called from the Hospital of St. Lazarus, which serves for their refuge, are still to be met with in all quarters of the city. Then, again, we must not omit mention of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, names of two powerful families whose rival partisanship of the Papal and the Imperial supremacy in Italy threatened the peace of Europe during the long period embraced between the years 1250 and 1500.

The word Federal comes from the Latin foedus, a league or compact. A federal form of government is one under which a number of States, while retaining their individual institutions and autonomy, unite together for purposes of defence and for a larger national existence, delegating to a representative national government certain specified powers. The most noteworthy examples in history of this form of government are the Achaean League, the Swiss Republic, and the United States of America. In the early history of the United States the term “Federal” was applied to that one of the two great political parties which was supposed to be more particularly in sympathy with English standards and to favour an English alliance, and which desired a strong central government. Their opponents, who preferred a French alliance, and who opposed a strong central government, were then termed “Republicans.”

About 1830 the “Federals” became Whigs, and in 1856 they assumed the name of Republicans (from res publica, the State), the States-rights party having in the meantime taken the name of “Democrats” (from demos, the people). During the civil war of 1861-1865 the Northerners were all termed “Federals” (or by their opponents “Yankees” or “Yanks”), while the Southerners had taken the name of Confederates, because their Constitution instituted a weaker central government and favoured the independent action of the several States.

The Southerners were also given the nickname of “Corn-feds,” in allusion to the chief article of their diet. The term Yankee above alluded to dates back to the seventeenth century, and is a modification of the name “Yengees,” an attempt by the Massachusetts Indians to pronounce the name “English.”

By the residents of the Northern States, the term is limited to the inhabitants of the six States of New England. During the civil war of 1861-1865, the members of a political faction in the North received the name of Copperheads, because they were regarded as secret foes to the national cause. The allusion was to the poisonous copperhead serpent, which gives no warning of its approach. The Know-nothings were a secret political party in the United States (1848-1860), whose chief aim was the checking of foreign immigration and the political influence of foreigners by the repeal of the Naturalization Laws, and the reserving of public appointments for native-born Americans. The answer given by its members to all questions about the party organization was, “I don’t know.”

The Tammany Ring was the name used to designate an organization among certain officials and their backers in the city of New York in 1870-1871, who succeeded for a time in enriching themselves at the expense of the city. The ring was overthrown in 1871, and its leaders imprisoned or banished. The name of the ring arose from Tammany Hall, the headquarters of a society originally founded (in 1805) for benevolent purposes, but which had become a political power, and which is again (1892) controlling the government of New York.

The term Mugwump first came into political use in 1884. It was then applied to voters who had been “Republicans,” but who, on various grounds, preferred the Democratic candidate Cleveland to the Republican Blaine, and who succeeded in electing the former. It has since been given generally to citizens, who, while actively interested in politics, refuse to be bound closely by party ties, considering causes such as free trade, civil service reform, honest money, &c., as more important than party labels or party success. The name “Mugwump” is said to be derived from an Indian word signifying “wise chief.”

The Chartists constituted an enormous body of the people of this country who, soon after the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, loudly clamoured for “The People’s Charter,” of which the six principal points were these:—Universal Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, Annual Parliaments, Payment of the Members, Abolition of the Property Qualification, and the Equalization of Electorial Rights. William Lovett, the author of this document, died in August, 1877. The English war party, who sided with the Turks in the Russo-Turkish struggle of 1878 received the nickname of Jingoes, or The Jingo Party, from the chorus of Macdermott’s famous music-hall song, commencing—

“Jingo” is a corruption of Jainko, the Basque term for God. Hence the expression, “By Jingo!” is properly a direct appeal to the Deity. A Protectionist is one who advocates the protection of home-produce and manufactures against foreign competition by the imposition of import duties.