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HY H E N I^L Y R !«: K V E , \l s (,. . KDITF.n, WITH NOTES, TIIF TKAN-^I.ATION RKVISKI) AND IN (,KKAT I'AHT KKWKII Tr.N. AXl. IIIK AUDI IIONS MADK TO lUK KI-XKNT I'Al;!-. KmilnNS NOW I-IKsT 1 K ANPI. ATKl). By FRANCIS BOWEN, AI.FORD PKOFKSSOR OK MORAL PIIII.OSOPHY IN HARVARD UMVKFSITY. VOL. I. SI. ( 0\I) r. HIT ION. I ; CAMBRIDGE: SEVER AND FRANCIS. 1 8 6 ^ Enteri'ii acconliiig to Act of Congress, in the year 1SG2, by John I! a k t i. i: r i , In the nerk's Olfice of the District ("ourt of the District of MnssachuaeUs. a> i U y I VK R s iTY Pn E s a .- Welch. B i o e l o w . and C o m p a s t , CAMliHlDlit:. PREFACE OF THE AMETUCAN EDITOR. TTIE present pu])lication has been ninde to con- form as nearly as possible to the twelffh edition of the original work, the latest whieh appeared at Paris under the direct supervision of the author. De Tocciueville jq)pended to this edition, published in 1850, his essay, written three years before, for the Academy of the Moral and Political Sciences, on Democracy in Switzerland ; a full report of his remarkable Speech in the Cham- ber of Deputies predicting the devolution of 1(S48 just a month before its occurrence ; and a feel- ing and eloquent Advertisement, addressed to his countrymen, pointing them to the example of the United States, and urging the study of American institutions as affordinu; the most instructive les- sons for the orffiinization and conduct of the new French republic. These three additions are here tor the first time translated, both because they have an intimate connection with the body of the ■work, and because they reflect much light upon the character and opinions of the writer towards the close of his life. The first of them is specially interesting to American readers, as it contains an able analysis and criticism of the republican in- stitutions of Switzerland, illustrated by frequent 'J IV KDiToirs n;r.i Aci: coiM|)iirlson witli tljo constitutiuiis and liiws of tlio American rcjjiihlic.'s. Tlio writci's coiiCkIlmicc in tlic nltiniatc success and ])('act't\il cstal)lislnncnt oi' dcnKJciacy, as the contrtjlliiii;' prir-iple in the "jiovcrnnient ol' all nations, seems t(j have been not only not im])aired, hut strengthened, in the latter ])art of his life, hy the observations which he continuecl to mnke of the trial that it was undergoing in the United States, and of the progress and i)rosperity of this counlry in the years subsecpient to the lii'st pub- lication of his great work. And it' his life had been spared to witness the terrible ordeal to which the ])rovidence of (Jod is now subjecting us, it may confidently be believed that this trust on his ])art would not have been shaken, even if he should have been com})elled to admit, that the Federal tie which once bound our large I'amily of democratic States together would probably never be reunited. JTe would clearly have seen, what most of the politicians of Europe seem at present incapable of perceiving, that it is not re])resenta- tive democracy, but the Federal principle, which is now on trial, and that the only question is, whether any bond is strong enough to hold to- gether a confederacy so populous and extensive as to form in the ay:ij!:regate the largest and most ])owerful empire that the world has ever known. lie who would attempt to mtdvc up his own opin- ion on this great question can find no better guide than in the present work. De Tocqucville is the friend, but Ijy no means the indiscriminate eulo- gist, of American institutions ; and his criticisms, which are shrewd and searching, ought to be even more welcome than his commendations, for they are more instructive. He foresaw, if not the im- KDiKdis i'i;i;i Aci;. iiiiiK'nci', ill li'iist i\w i)i()l);il»ilit V, of the ••rriit com iilsioii wliicli the cuuiitry is now uikIcilio- iiii:' ; i<M(l tlicit* ciiii !)(» MO (jlfiiriT iiidicMt ioii ol' tlir cimsos wliicli lijivc Ml l;is1 iiiduciMl it. tliiin tliiit wliich wjis UMuU' \)y this wise and iiiipin'tial I'oiciLincr lu'iirlv tliictx' scars au'o. TliL' notes wliicli I iia\o made, tlioiioli somc- wluit numerous, are u'enei-allv very bricl'. Tlii'V are notes, and not disciuisitions, mv o)»ieet heiii'j: ojdy to (dueidate or eoireet the text, and not to coiitiovert or su])})lement it by foist in;L^' my own oj)inions upon the reader's notice. Most oi' tliem (U'e only corrections ol' sliLilit errors o!i points of detail, sucli as a stranuei' mIio made lait a short stay in the country couhl not he expected to a\()id, or noti(!es tliat some statements now I'c- (piire to ho limited or modified, in conse(pience of the changes that have taken })lace duriuLi,' the last ((uarter of a century. An outline sketch of l)e Toc(juevillc's life is designed only to satisfy curiosity as to the chief points in his career, Avith- out entering into any analysis of his character and labors. Those who seek further information can ol)tain it from the Memoirs and Correspondence that have recently been published by his lile-long friend, M. de Beaumont. In accepting an invitatioi. to become the editor of this work, I .supposed that it would only be necessary for me to translate the new matter that had been appended to the recent editions of the original, and to sui)ply such brief annotations as a careful revision of the text might show to be ne- cessary. It was intended to fiu'nisli an exact re- print of the English translation, which passed to a second edition in Lon(h)n, a year ago, under the respectable name of Mr. Henry Keeve. But a VI i;i>iroi!s i'i:i:iA(i; coiiipiiiisoM (((' it ^vitll tlic oiiuiiiiil w;is liiirdly hi'^im, hd'orc I IuuikI to iiiv disiiuiy that tliis tnnisl.'ition wjis iittcii}- iiia(l(j(|uati' and untriiht- woitliv. As a j)i('tty tlioroii^h t'Xposurc of its (leiiicrits lias reccntlv Itt'cii made in an Kni^Iisli ])('ri()di(.'al, wlicro tliciv can hu iiu snspiciDii of an \inlav()ial>U' bias, 1 can liavc no scrn])lc in spcakiiii^ ol' it as it deserves. It is ucnerallv I'eehle, inele- i^ant, and verbose, and too often «)l)scnre and in- correct. On coinnariiiii; everv line of it \\\\\i the original, the .'dtei'ations which were foniid to he iiecessarv were so iiiinierons and sweeniiiLi-. that j)erhaps the present edition, of the first vcduine at least, niiu'ht more fitly 1)0 called a new translation than an amende(l one. The second volume, 1 omrht to sav, is somewhat lietter done ; as it was ])uhlished several years (d'ter the appearance of the first, formini,^ in lact a distin(;t work, the trans- lator had found time to increase his Jamiliaritv with the French languaue, and even to mjd'ie some i)roi!:res.s in his knowled<'e of Enulish. This is plain speakinii", and 1 feel hound to vin- dicate it. \)y olferin<^ some specimens of the tians- lation, hoth in its ])rimitive and its amended state. The followiu!'' extra(;ts are taken almost at random from the body of the book, and the original is ])re- iixed to facilitate the labor of comparison. The citations are all from the first volume, and the references for Mr. lleeve's translation are to the second London edition, Lonirmans, 1862. Dl's lioninies sacrifient h, unc opinion roli^ieusc Iciirs amis, lour faiiiille ct li'ur pntrii' ; on jx'Ut les croirc ul)sorl)e.s dans la poursuite de co 1)ii'n inti-l- lectui'l qu'ils sont vciuis aclietcr ii si liaut prix. On ics voit (I'pcnilant ro- clierclior d'une ardour proscjue o'^'ale ics rioiiossos matorielies ct los jouissaiioos morales, lo liol dans I'autro moudo, le iiion-otre ot la lihorti' dans colui ci. Sous Icur main los prin(i])os politi(pios, les lois ot los institutimis linniainos semblent clioscs malloables, ciui pcuvent se tourner et sc combiner ii volonte. EDITOR'S rRi:r.\cK. VII T)i'vinit f'tix "i'lilmix-;'!!! los ImrriJ'rt'S (\\i\ umpri-onnuiciit la «o(it't<' an Mm A*' la(|ii('lli' iU Koiit '.UM ; K's vifilles (ipiiiiDiis, i|iii (li'|iiii> ih-" su'cli'x iliii^i'aiciit Ic inurnic, H't'vaiioiiisstnt ; mu' nirrit-ro pnsiiiu' nans iKtriu's, un diainp sans hori/oii M' ilt'Vonvre : I'tsprit Iniiiiain s'y |p|f(ipitt' ; il Ifs panoiirt tii tiMw sftis , iiiai>, arrivt' aiix liiniti'-i ilii imiiidc puliiii|tii>, 11 >'airt*li' ili- Iiiiini'iiu' ; il (i('p')-io I'll tri'iiilil.mt I'li^am' iK' sc^ pin-; rcilinitalilt^ fariilii's ; il alpiurf K- floiitf ; ii rt'tKincc an lusriin (rinnuviT ; il ■"'alx.tifiit itii'inc lic ^uuIimt ji- voile tiu sriK'tiiairL' ; i! s'incliiu' avic nsju'it ilevaiil lU's viiitcs cpi'il adiiirt sans lvv< <li<iiJtt'i'. — ]'. .")-'. RkEVK's 'rUANSLATION. It mij^lit lie iii.a'^iiH'il tliaf tin'ii wlio sai'iitii'i'd iliiir (rii'iiils, their t'atiiily, Hinl tlifir native laiul to a it'liLiiiuis ('(nivictidii, wiTi" ali»(>rlicil in the pur- suit of the iiiti'ilfctnal advantai;!'-. wliicli tlii'v punliMsrd at x) dear a rate. Tlu' I'lU'rL'v, li(i\vi'\('r, with \vhirli they strove tor the aeipiiri'- inuiit (if wi'aitli, moral I'lijuyiiieiit, and llie eomfDrt-i a^ well a'* hheriie-; of the wiirld, is scarcely inferior to that wiih wiiieh they de\uted tlK'in- Helves ti) liea\'en. Toiitieal principles, and all human laws and institutions were moulded and alteroil at their pleasure ; the harriers of the society in wliidi they were horn were hrnken liown hefore thcin ; the oM jirinciplcs which had jjovi'rned the world for ai_a's were lu) more ; a path without a tirm, and a lielil witlmtit an horizon wi're opened to the expliirinL' and ardent curiosity of man : hut at the limits of tlu' po- litical World he checks his resi'archcs, he discreetly lay^ aside tin.' use of his most formidahle faeulties.he no loHL'er consents to doubt or to imiovati'. hut carefully ahstainiiiL'' from rai-in;; the curtain of the .sanctuary, he yields with sulimissive re-iicct to truths which he will not discuss. — j). M.'3. IIeviskd Ti{.\Nsr,.vTH)\. One woidd think that men who hail sacriliccil their tVicniU, their fannly, ami their native land to a reliuiuiis ('•mvii'tioii Would he wholly aliMH'lii d in the pursuit of the treasure which they had just puriha«ei| at so lii^h a price. And yet we lind them seeking; with nearly eipial zeal for matcn.d wealth ami tmiral ;:ood, — tor wdl- hein^ and freedom on earth, ami sal- vation in heaven. They moulded and alteri'd at plea-iin' all political prm- eiples. ami all human laws and insti- tutions ; they hroke down the haniers of the society in wliiili they were horn ; they disretrarded thi' (dd |irin- ciples which had i:overned the world for aecs ; a career without lioumls, :i tield without a horizon, was opened hefove them : they precipitate them- s(dves into it. ami traverse it in every direction. Hut, havin;.'' reached the limits of the political world, they stoji of their own accord, and lay a-id*! with awe the use of ilu'ir most formi- dalile faculties; they no loiii^er douht or inmnatc ; they ahstain from rais- ing even the veil of the' sanctmiry, and how with snhmissive respect he- fore truths which they admit without discussion. — p. 54. Chez les jictites nations, Pieil de la societe penetre partout ; Tesjirit tl'amelioration descend Ju<iiue dans les moindros details : I'amliition du |ieu- l)le etant fort temjiere'e par sa faihlessc, ses cfft)rts et ses rcssouree.s se tour- nent jire^iiue eiitierement vers son hieii-etre interieiir, et tie sont jioiiit sujets a se dissiper en vaine funiee de jrloirc. I)e plus, les faeult('S de cliacun y otant <:c'n('ralement hornecs, U'S de'sirs le sont e;_Mlement. La mediocritc' des fortunes y rend les eonditioiis ii pen pres eirales ; les imenrs y ont une allure simjile et paisihie. Ainsi, a tout prendre et en faisant etat dcs divers ilegres Mil r.itiToiis i'iM:r.\rK. I r •1"' inonililr rf lie linnitTc, on rciuoiitn plus il'iii-iiiticf, lie |iii|)ulatiiiii it ili- t |>. I'Ji). 1{i;i;vi:'m Tiianmlatimn. Ill siiiJill nutiuiis till' siriitiiiy of .M)(iilv |priii'liali-< iiilo I'M!)' |i;iil, mill till- >i|iii'it of iiii|iriivi'iTii'iit ciiirri into till- iiio«t trilling' liitail^ ; a^ tin* iiiiiliiiinn of till- |ii'o|ili' is niri'>Mirily rlicrkcci liy its wi'iiktli'ss, III! till' ri- fiirts anil nsoiirri'S of the citi/i'iis an' tniiii'il to till' intrrnal ln'iiilit of tlif I'oininnnity, ami an' not likely to t'Va|ioial<' ill till- lii'clin;,' liiratli of ^lol•y. 'i'hr i|i'»irrs nf I'M'iy inili\iil- iial arc liiniliil, ln'cansi' ■xirannlinary fai'iillii's ail' ranly to lie incl with. 'I'lir yifl.H of an r(|iial foitnin' rciiilrr till- various cuniliiions of lift' iiniforni ; anil till' nianiit'i's of tlic inlialiitaiils art' onli'iiy ami siiii|ilc. 'I'liiis, if niic istiinatt' till' ;;iailatiuns of |io|iiiiar morality ami riili^^lilininriit, wi' sliall ;:onei'ally timi that in small nations tliiTc arc more persons in easy i ir- eiimstunees, a more nnmerons pojni- lation, ami a more ti'am|iiil state of Koeiefv, than in [j;reat empires. — p. 17*;. ' onlinuiremeiit eliez los pctitcs nations raiHpiillite' ipic ehez |es (;ran<K'i». — I{|;V|H|.I» 'i'ltwst. \TIOX. In small states, the watehfiilnefitt III soeii ly pi iietrales into e\ery part, ami the spirit of improvement enters into the smallest details ; the ainhi- lion of the people lieiny iieees-arilv ehei'keil hy its wiilklli'^s, all the ('}■- fnrt> ami resmirees i,t the eiti/eiis are tiiiiieil to the internal wcll-heiny of the eommiiniiy. ami are not likely to evaporate in tin; tleeiiiiy hii'ath of ;.'lory. The powers of iMry imliviil- nal heia;: ;:enerally liniiteil, his i|(>. sires are propuitioiially >inall. Me- ilioerity oi' fortune makes the various eoiiililions of life nearly eipial, ami the manners of the inlialiilaiits arc oiileiiy ami >imple. 'I'liu^, all thiii;:s eiiii^iili'i'eil, ami allowanei' liein^ made for the Miiioiis (le;;rei's of morality and i'idi;:hteiiim'iit, wi; shall ireiierally find in small iiatiniis more ease, popii- laiion, and trampiiliity than in larj^u ones. — 11. 'J()2. On lie rencontrera jamais, fpioi (pi'on fassc, do n'ritahle pnissaneo parnii lew hoinmes, (pie dans lo eonconrs lihre des voloiiK'S. Or, il n'y a an moiide (liie le patriotisme, on la reli;;ion, ipii pnisse faire marcher pendant loiij;- teiiips vers nil nieiiic hut riini\('i>aliti' des eitoyeiis. 11 lie depend pas dcs lois dc raninier des einyanees (pii s'c'tci;:ni'iit ; niais il depend dos lois d'inte'rosscr les hommes anx destinecs dc leur jiays. II depend des lois de reveiller et ilc diriLrcr ect instinct vamie de la patric qui ii'ahandonne jamais Ic eu'iir dc rhomiiu', et, en le liant anx pensccs, aux pa>sioiis, anx hahitiidcs dc ehaipic jour, d'l n fairc uii sentiment retleehi ct dnrahlc. Et (lu'on nc djsi. point (;u'il est trnp tard ])onr le tenter ; Ics na- tions no vicillisscnt jioint dc la mcine maniere que les homines, ("haipie f^'oneration (|ni nait dans Icnr sein est eomtne un peuple nouvcaii qui vieiit s'olVrir a la main du le^i>lateiir. — pp. ll.'J, 114. ItEEVE's TlJANSLATION". RlCVISKl) TjlANSLATIOX. Whatever exertions may he made, Do what yon may, there is no true no true power can he founded amoiiL: jiuwer anion;; men except in the iVee men which docs not depend upon the union of their will; and jiatriotisni op free union of their inclinations; and nliuion are the only two motives in patriotism or religion arc the only the world which can loii;,Miriro all the two motives in the world which can people towards the same end. F.DiTons rnriACE. IX Ix'rmiincntly iliroct tin' whole of ii luily |i()liii(' to Olio tnii. I.aw* caiiiiiit Mnfr.'il in rfkiinlliii^ tht' iUilur of an cxtiii^ui-licil tailli ; 1)111 iiii'ii may In' iiitirt'>tt il iii tlif late ol' their lomiiry hy tlir hiws. Hy this^ iiitlucnci', the vu>;iie iinpulst' of pa- tiii>ii>iii, whiili iifvcr aiianihms the hum. Ill licait, may he iliiected ami VfviMil; ami if it lie riiiiiiecteil with the lliiiii^ht^, the pa>^iniis, ainl the daily haliits of life, it may he eoii^oli- (lateil into a tliirahle ami rational m'II- tiinent. Let it not he ^aid that the time for the expeiimeiit i^ already past ; fur the idd a;;e of nalions is not like the old au'e of men, and every froli generation is a new peo- tile ready for tlio cure of the Icyiti- utor. — p. yS. Laws cannot nkindie nn e\tin- Ciii'<lied faith ; hut men may he iii- teiv>|rd hy the law> in the fate of their eoiititry. It depends nprni ilie laws to awaken ami ihieci the vauiii) impulse of patriotism, wliieli iie\er iihiimlon.s the human heart ; and if it lie eoniieeted with the thoughts, the passions, and the daily lialut" of lite, il may he euiisolid.ited into a diiraMo and raiional sentiment. Let it not he said that it is too late to make the experiment ; for nations do not ;:iow old as tneti do, and every fresh mu- eiation is ii new people read\ lor the care of the leyi>lator. — p. 1 18. La <'oinmnne, prise en masse ct jiar rapport nil (jouverncinent central, n'est qii'iin iiidividii eomnie uii autre, auipiel s'appliipie la tlaiorie (pic je viens d'indiipier. La liherte eommnnalo deeoule doiie, aiix Ktais-L'nis, du dojjiiie mOme. de la Huuverainetu du jieuple ; toute.s les repuhliqiies anierieaines unt plus ou moins rcconnu cette indqieiidanee ; inais ehuz les pouples do la Nouvelle- Aiijileterre, les circoiislances eu ont partieulierenient favorise le dcfveloppe nient. Datis cette partio de I'Union, la vie politiiiuc a pris naissaneo au sein memo des communes ; on i)ourrait presque dire qu'ii son ori;,Mne cliaeune d'elles etait nne nation inde'peiidante. Lorsipic ensuite les rois d'An^'leterre reelamereiit leur part de la souveiainete, ils se horrierent a premlre la puis- sance ccntrale. Ils laissercnt la commune dans I'ctat oil ils la trouverent ; luaintonant les communes de la Nouvelle-Angleterro sont sujettes ; iiiais dans le prineipe dies ne r(^taient point ou I'etuiont ii peine. Klles n'ont done pas rceu leurs pouvoirs ; ce sont elles au tmitraire (pii semhieiit s'etii! des- saissics, en favcur de I'fjtat, d'une portion de leur inde'pendanee : distinction importantc, et qui doit rcster jM-esente a I'esprit du leeteur. Les communes nc sont en j;e'n('ral soumises a I'Ktat que quand il s'aj^it d'un interet que j'appellerai social, e'est-ii-dirc qu'elles partagent avcc d'autres. Pour tout cc qui n'a rapport qu'ii ellcs scales, les communes sont rcstces des corps independants ; et parmi les habitants do la Nouvelle-Angleterre, il ne s'en rencontre aucun, je pense, qui rcconnaisso au gouvcrneinent dc i'iitat le droit d'intervenir dans la direction des interets purement communaux. On voit done les communes do la NouvcUe-Anglctorre vemlre et aclicter, attaquer et se defendrc devant les tribunaux, charger leur budget ou le de'grever, sans qu'aucuno autorite' administrative quelconquc songe h, s'y opposcr. ' i ■ J H X EDITOR'S PPvKFACE. Quant mix devoirs sociaux, dies sont tenucs d'y satisfaire. Ainsi, I'foat a-t-il besoin d'arf,'cnt, la commune n'est pas libre do lui aroordcr ou dc lui refuser son concours. L'Etat veut-il ouvrir une route, la commune n'est pas maitressc dc lui fern)cr son territoire. Fait-il un reglcment de police, la commune doit I'executer. Veut-il organiser I'instruction sur un jjlan uni- formc dans toute I'etenduc du pays, la commune est tenuc de creer les ecoles voulucs par la loi. — pp. 77, 78. Keeve's Translatiov The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to tlie government of tlie country, may he looked upon as an individual to wiioni the theory 1 have just alluded to is applied. Mu- nicipal independence is therefore a natural conse<|ucnce of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in the United States : ail the American republics recogni/e it more or less ; but circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in New England. In tliis part of the Union, the im- pulsion of political activity was given in the townships ; and it may almost he said that each of them originally formed an independent nation. Wlien the kings of England asserted their supremacy, they were contented to assume tiie central power of the State. Tiic townships of New England re- mained as they were before ; and al- though tliey are now subject to the State, tliey were at first scarcely de- pendent upon it. It is important to rememl)er that they have not been invested with privileges, but that tiiey have, on the contrary, forfeited a por- tion of their independence to the State. The townsliips are only subordinate to the State in those interests which I shall term social, as they are com- mon to all tiie citizens. They are independent in all tliat concerns them- selves ; and amongst the inhabitants of New England I believe tliat not a man is to be found who Avould ac- knowledge that the State has any right to interfere in their local inter- ests. The towns of New England buy and sell, prosecute or arc indicted, augment or diminish their rates, with- out the slightest opposition on the part of the administrative authority of the State. They are bound, however, to cora- Revisfd Traxslatiojt. The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to the central govern- ment, is only an individual like any otiier to wiioin tiie theory I huve ju>t d('scril)cd is applical)le. Municipal independence in the United States is, therefore, a natural consetpience of this very principle of the sovereign tv of the people. All the American re- publics recognize it more or less ; i)ut circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in New England. In this pait of the Union, political life has its origin in the townships ; and it may almost be said that each of them originally formed an inde- pendent nation. When tlie kings of England afterwards asserted their supremacy, they were content to as- sume the central power of the State. They left the townships where they were before ; and although they are now subject to the State, they 'were not at first, or were hardly so. They did not receive their powers from the central authority, but, on the contrary, they gave up a portion of their inde- pendence to the State. This is an important distinction, and one which the reads-r must constantly recollect. The townships are generally sui)ordi- nate to the State only in those inter- ests which I shall tenn social, as they are common to all the others. They are independent in all that concerns themselves alone ; and amongst the inhabitants of New England I believe that not a maii is to be found who would acknowledge that the State has any right to interfere in their town affairs. The towns of New England buy and sell, prosecute or are indicted, augment or diminish their rates, and no administrative au- thority ever thinks of offering any opposition. . I M EDITOR'S TRKFACE. XI ply with the ('('mands of the cntnmii- iiity. If the State is in need of itidiu'v, a town can neither (.'ive nor witliiiold the snpplies. If tiie State projects a road, tiie township cannot refuse to let it cross its territory ; if n police repuhition is made hy the State, it must l)e enforced hy the town. A nnifortn system of instruction is orpi- nized all over the country, and every town is hound to cstahlish the schools which the law ordains. — pp. 60, Gl. There nro certain social duties, however, which they are hound to fidtil. If the State is in need of money, a town cannot withhold the snpplies; if the State priij(!cts a road, the township cannot refuse to let it cross its territory ; if a police regula- tion is made hy the State, it must he enforced hy the town ; if a uniform system of puhlic instruction is enact- ed, every town is hound to cstahlish the schools which the law ordains. — pp. 80, 81. they ey are were They om the trary, inde- is an which ollect. hordi- inter- i they They )ncerns ;st tlie helievo id who State their New ■ute or minish ive au- any J T)'une autre part, je doute fort qu'un vetement particulier porte les hommes puhlics Ji se respecter eux-memes, quand ils ne sont pas natu- rellement dispose's "i Ic faire ; car je ne saurais croire qu'ils aient plus d'eyard pour leur habit cjue pour leur personne. Quand je vols, parmi nous, certains magistrats hrusquer les parties ou leur adrcsser des hons mots, lever les I'paides anx moyens de la defense et sourire avcc complaisance a Tenumeration des charges, je voudrais qu'on essayat de leur oter leur rohe, afin de de'couvrir si, se trouvant vetus commo les simples citoycns, cela ne les rappellerait pas a. la dignite naturclle do I'espece humaine. Aucun des fonctionnaires publics des fetats-Unis n'a de costume, mais tons recoivent un salairc. Ceci decoule, j)lus naturellement encore que ce qui precede, des prin- cipes democraticiues. Une democratic peut environner de ponipe ses ma- gisirats et les couvrir de sole et d'or sans attaquer directement le principo de son existence. De pareils privile'ges sont passagers ; ils tiennent a la place, et non ii riiomnie. Mais etahlir des fonctions gratuites, c'est cre'er une classe de fonctionnaires riches et independants, c'est former le noyau d'une aristocratic. Si le peujjle conserve encore le droit du choix, rcxercice de ce droit a done des homes ne'cessaires. Quand on voit une re'puhlique democratique rendre gratuites les fonc- tions re'tribuees, je crois qu'on peut en conclure qu'elle marche vers la monarchic. Et quand une monarchie commence a retribuer les fonctions gratuites, c'est la marcjue assuree qu'on s'avancc vers un e'tat despotique ou vers un e'tat re'publicain. — pp. 245, 246. Reeve's Tilvkslatiox. Revised Translation. On the other hand, it is very doubt- On the other hand, it is very doubt- ful whether a peculiar dress contrih- ful whether a peculiar dress induces utes to the respect which public char- public men to respect themselves, acters ought to have for their own when they are not otherwise inclined position, at least when they are not to do so. When a magistrate (and otherwise inclined to respect it. When in France such instances are not rare) a magistrate (and in France such snubs the j)arties before him, or in- instances aro not rare) indulges his dulges his wit at their expense, or » I i i 1 ' Xll EDITOR'S PREFACE. trivial wit at the expense of the pris- oner, or derides the predieament in which a eulprit is placed, it would he well to deprive him of his rohes of ortiee, to see whether he would recall some i)i)rtion of the natural dignity of mankind when he is reduced to the apparel of a private citizen. A democracy may, however, allow a certain show of maj;isterial ])omp, and clothe its officers in silks and iiold, without seriously compromising its principles. Privileges of this kind are transitory ; they helonf; to the ))lacc, and are distinct from the indi- vidual : but if puhlie otHeers are not uniformly remunerated by the State, the public charijes must be intrusted to men of opulence and independence, who constitute the basis of an aris- tocracy; and if the people still retains its right of election, that election can only be made from a certain class of citizens. When a democratic republic ren- ders offices whieli had formerly been remunerated, gratuitous, it may safely be believed that that state is advan- cing to monarchical institutions ; and when a monarchy begins to remuner- ate such officers as had hitherto been unpaid, it is a sure sign that it is approaching towards a despotic or a republican form of government. — pp. 238, 239. shrugs his shoulders at their pleas of defence, or smiles complacently as the charges aie enumerated, I should like to deprive him of his robes of office, to see whetlier, when he is re- duced to the garb of a private citizen, he would not recall some ])ortion of the natural dignity of mankind. No public officer in the United States has an official costume, but every one of them receives a salary. And this, also, still more naturally than what precedes, results from dem- ocratic j)rinciples. A democracy may allow some magisterial pomj), and clothe its officers in silks and gold, without seriously compromising its principles. Privileges of this kind are transitory ; they belong to the place, and not to the man : but if public officers are unpaid, a <'lass of rich and independent puldic functionaries will be created, who will constitute the basis of an aristocracy ; and if the people still retain their right of election, the choice can be made only from a lertain class of citizens. When a democratic republic ren- ders gratuitous offices which had for- merly been remunerated, it may safely be inferred that the state is advancing towards monarchy. And when a monarchy begins to remunerate such officers as had hitherto been unpaid, it is a sure sign that it is approaching a despotic or a republican form of government. — pp. 263, 264. Ce qu'ils aperccvaient d'abord, c'est que le conseil d'Etat, en France, etant un grand tribunal fixe au centre du royaume, il y avail uno sorte de tyrannic h, renvoyer preliminairement devaut lui tous les plaignants. — p. 126. Reeve's Traxslatiok. Reviskd Translation. They were at once led to conclude that the Conseil d'Etat in France was a great tribunal, established in the centre of the kingdom, which exer- cised a preliminary and somewhat tyrannical jurisdiction in all political causes. — p. 108. They at once perceived that, the Council of State in France being a great tribunal established in the cen- tre of the kingdom, it was a sort of tyranny to send all mplainants be- fore it as a prelimina step. — p. 1 3 1 . Les pcuples entre eux ne sont quo des individus. C'est surtout pour paraitro avec avantage vis-a-vis des ctrangers qu'uno nation a besoin d'un gouveruement unique. — pp. 137, 138. 1 i- f t EDITOR'S rUKFACE. XI II "Rekvk's Transf-ation'. RkVISI.K TiJ iNSt.ATION. Tlif extprniil relations of a jjcople The poopK' in tliciii'-clvcs arc only may Uc coinpared to tliose ot private iiKiividuals ; ami the special reason individuals, and they cannot he ad- why tlicy need to be united under vantafceously maintained witliout the one government is, that they may a^'ency of the sin),de head of a Gov- aj)pear to advanta<;e hetbre foreij^n- erument. — p. 121. ers. — p. 144. paid, •hinj: rm of 6 11 V a des pens en France qui considercnt les institutions repuhlicaincs romnie i'instrument passaj,'er de leur grandeur. lis mesurent des yeux I'espace immense (jui separe leurs vices et leurs miseres do la puissance et des richesses, ct its voudraient entasser des mines dans cct ahime pour cssayer de le comhler. Ceux-15i sent a la lihertc ce que les compngnies franehes du moyen age ctaicnt nux rois ; ils font la guerre pour leur propre compte, alors meme qu'ils portent ses couleurs : la repul)li([ue vivra toujours assez longtemps pour les tirer de leur basscssc presente. Ce n'est pas a eux que je parlc. — p. 3.56. Reeve's Traxslatiox. Revised Translation'. There are persons in France who look upon republican institutions as a temporary means of power, of wealth, and distinction ; men who are the r.omlottii-ri of liberty, and who tight for their own advantage, whatever be the colors they wear : it is not to these that I address myself. — p. 364. There arc persons in France who look upon republican institutions only as a means of obtaining grandeur ; they measure the immense space which separates their vices and mis- ery from |)ower and riclies, and they aim to fill up this gulf with ruins, that they may pass over it. These men are the condottieri of liberty, and fight for their own advantage, what- ever be the colors they wear. The republic will stand long enough, they think, to draw them up out of their present degradation. It is not to the.se that I address myself. — p. 393. pour d'un Perhaps it is not too much to say of a work which has hitherto been before the Enghsh and American pubhc only in such a translation as this, that it still remains to be perused by them for the first time in a form in which it can be under- stood and appreciated. I have bestowed a good deal of labor upon it, in the hope of aiding the circulation of a book of which it has been justly said by the highest living authority on the science of general politics, Mr. John Stuart Mill, that it is XIV EDITOR'S PREFACE. " such as Montesquieu might have written, if to his genius he had superadded good sense, and the hghts which mankind have since gained from the experiences of a period in which they may be said to have hved centuries in fifty years." Especially ought it to be generally studied here in the United States, where no thinking man who exercises the privileges of a voter can fail to derive from it profitable information respecting the nature of the institutions under which he lives, together with friendly warnings and wise counsels to aid him in the proper discharge of his political duties. Cambridge, August 5, 1862. AUTHOR'S ADVERTISEMENT TO THE TWELFTH EDITION* HOWEVER sudden and momentous the events which we have just beheld so swiftly accom- plished, the author of this book has a right to say that they have not taken him by surprise.f His work was written fifteen years ago, with a mind constantly occupied by a single thought, — that the advent of democracy as a governing power in the world's affiiirs, universal and irre- sistible, was at hand. Let it be read over again, and there will be found on every page a solemn warning, that society changes its forms, humanity its condition, and that new destinies are impend- ing. It was stated in the very Introduction of the work, that " the gradual development of the prin- ciple of Equality is a providential fact. It has all the chief characteristics of such a fact; it is uni- versal, it is durable, it constantly eludes all human * The twelfth edition of this work appeared at Paris in 1850, and this Advertisement was prefixed to it by De Tocquevillc in reference to the French Revolution of 1848. — Am. Ed. t The writer here alludes to a speech which he made in the Chamber of Deputies, on the 27th of January, 1848, just one moutli before the Revolution was accomplished. He annexed a report of this speech to the twelfth edi- tion of his work, and a translation of it will be found at the end of the second volume. — Am. Ed. , L:. n .' i XVI AUTHOR'S ai)Vi;rtisi:mi:nt. interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its progress. Would it be wise to imagine that a social movement, the causes of which lie so far back, can be checked by the ef- forts of one generation ? Can it be believed that the democracy, which has overthrown the feudal system and vanquished kings, will retreat before tradesmen and capitalists? Will it stop now that it is grown so strong and its adversaries so weak?" He who wrote these lines in the presence of a monarchy which had been rather confirmed than shaken by the Revolution of 1830, may now fear- lessly ask again the attention of the public to his work. And he may be permitted to add, that the present state of affairs gives to his book an imme- diate interest and a practical utility which it had not when it was first published. Royalty was then in power; it has now been overthrown. The in- stitutions of America, which were a subject only of curiosity to monarchical France, ought to be a subject of study for republican France. It is not force alone, but good laws, which give stability to a new government. After the combatant, comes the legislator ; the one has pulled down, the other builds up ; each has his office. Though it is no longer a question whether we shall have a monarchy or a republic in France, we are yet to learn whether we shall have a convulsed or a tranquil republic, — whether it shall be regular or irregular, pacific or warlike, liberal or oppres- sive, — a republic which menaces the sacred rights of property and family, or one which honors and P t I I'. AUTHOR'S ADVKRTISKMF.XT. XVII protects them both. It is a fearful problem, the solution of which concerns not France alone, but the whole civilized world. If we save oiu'selves, we save at the same time all the nations which surround us. If we perish, we shall cause all of them to perish with us. According as democratic liberty or democratic tyranny is established here, the destiny of the world will be different ; and it may be said that this day it depends upon us, whether the republic shall be everywhere finally established, or everywhere finally overthrown. Now this problem, which among us has but just been proposed for solution, was solved by America more than sixty years ago. The prin- ciple of the sovereignty of the people, which we enthroned in France but yesterday, has there held undivided sway for over sixty years. It is there reduced to practice in the most direct, the most unlimited, and the most absolute manner. For sixty years, the people who have made it the common source of all their laws have increased continually in population, in territory, and in opu- lence ; and — consider it w^ell — it is found to have been, during that period, not only the most pros- perous, but the most stable, of all the nations of the earth. Whilst all the nations of Europe have been devastated by war or torn by civil discord, the American people alone in the civilized world have remained at peace. Almost all Europe w^as convulsed by revolutions ; America has not had even a revolt.'^ The republic there has not been * Thank God tliat this is liistory, thougli it is not the present fact. TJic i1 ■1 1 i'f XVI 11 AUTHOR'S ADVKRTISKMKXT. tlie assailant, but the guardian, of all vested rights; the property of individuals has had better guaran- ties there than in any other country of the world ; anarchy has there beer, as unknown as despotism. Where else could we find greater causes of hope, or more instructive lessons ? Let us look to America, not in order to make a servile copy of the institutions which she has established, but to f^ain a clearer view of the polity which will be the best for us; let us look there less to find examples than instruction; let us borrow from her the j^rinciples, rather than the details, of her laws. The law^s of the French republic may be, and ought to be, in many cases, different from those which govern the United States ; but the principles on which the American constitutions rest, — those principles of order, of the balance of powers, of true liberty, of deep and sincere respect for right,*— are indispensable to all republics; they ought to be common to all ; and it may be said beforehand, that wherever they shall not be found, the republic will soon have ceased to exist. 1848. record of what our country lias been, and of what she accomplished during three quarters of a century, is beyond the power even of a gigantic rebellion to blot out. Let only the faint-hearted, on looking into the past, exclaim, with the great Italian, " Nessun tnagglor dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria." Nobler spirits will say, though the memory of what has been be the only star which shines in the thick darkness that now surrounds us, it shall light us on to mightier eflTorts, and kindle in our hearts a surer hope of the re- appearance of the day, — of a day whose sunshine sliall not be broken even by the one dark cloud that dimmed our former prospcritv Am. Ed. {'» H-. CONTENTS OF VOL. 1. during 10 only U light the re- !u even Tntkoduction CHAPTER I. ExTERiou FonM OF North America . PAoa 1 19 CHAPTER II. Origix of tub Anglo-Americans, and Importance of this Origin in relation to their Future Condition . . 31 Reasons of certain Anomalies which the Laws and Customs of the Anglo-Americans present ....... 55 CHAPTER III. Social Condition op the Anglo-Americans . . . .57 The striking Characteristic of the Social Condition of the Anglo- Americans is its essential Democracy ..... 57 Political Consequences of the Social Condition of the Anglo-Amer- icans 67 CH \PTER IV. The Principle of the SovEit'iiONTT of the People in America 69 CHAPTER V. Necessity of Examining the Condition of the States be- fore that of the Union at Large 73 The American System of Townships ..... 74 Limits of the To\vnship ........ 77 Powers of tlie Township in New England . .^ . . 77 Life in the Township 80 Spirit of the Townships of New England .... 83 The Counties of New England 86 XX CONTEXTS. The Administration of rirovomTnont in New England . General Hcinari^.s on the Administration in the United States 87 99 Of the State 104 Lofjislative Power of tlie State ...... 104 The Executive I'owcr of the State . . . . . .106 Political Ert'ects of decentralized Administration in the United States 107 CHAPTER VI. Judicial Poweu in the United States, and its Influence ON Political Society 123 Other Powers granted to American Judj^es . . . . 130 t li I 1 1 ji! i I » i CIIAPTEll VII. Political Jurisdiction in the United States , . . 133 CHAPTER VIII. The Federal Constitution 140 History of the Federal Constitution . . . , . 140 Summary of the Federal Constitution ..... 143 Powers of the Federal Government . . . . . 144 Legislative Powers of the Federal Government . . . .147 A further Difference between the Senate and the House of Repre- sentatives . . . . . . . . . .150 The Executive Power . . . . . . . . 151 In what the Position of a President of tiie United States differs from that of a Constitutional King of France . . . 153 Accidental Causes which may increase the Influence of the Execu- tive Government . . . . . . . . 158 Wliy the President of the United States does not need a Majority in the two Houses in Order to carry on the Government . 159 Election of tlie President . . . . . . . .160 Mode of Election 166 Crisis of the Election . . . . . . . .170 Re-election of the President 172 Federal Courts of Justice . . . . . . . .175 Means of determining the Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts . 179 Different Cases of Jurisdiction ....... 181 Procedure of the Federal Courts 187 High Rank of the Supreme Court amongst the great Powers of State 190 |t t CONTI'.NTS. XXI . 87 99 . 104 104 . 106 States 107 DENCE 123 130 . 133 • • 140 • 140 • • 143 • 144 , • 147 Rcprc- , • 150 , 151 differs . 153 Exccu- . 158 lajority It . 159 . 160 , 166 , , 170 , 172 ^ , 175 s 179 a • 181 • 187 of State 190 I In what respects the Fodcnil Constitution is superior to that of tho States 193 Characteristics of tho FccU'ral (.'oustitutiou of the I'liited States of America as compared with all otiier l-Vderal Constitutions . 198 Advantai^es of the Federal System in j;enerul, and its special Util- ity in America 202 Why the Federal System is not practicahlc for all Nations, and how tho Anglo-Americans were cnahled to adopt it . . . 209 CHAPTER IX. How IT CAN HE STKICTLY SAID THAT THE PEOrLE GOVEUK IN THE United States 219 CHAPTER X. Parties in the United States 221 Remains of the Aristocratic Party in the United States , . 227 CHAPTER XI. Liberty of the Press in the United States , . . 230 CHAPTER XII. Political Associations in the United States . , . 242 CHAPTER XIII. Government op the Democracy in America . . . 252 Universal Suffrapo ...... . 252 Tho Choice of the People, and the Instinctive Preferences of the American Democracy ....... 253 Causes which may partly correct these Tendencies of the Democracy 257 Influence which the American Democracy has exercised on tho Laws relatinj? to Elections 261 Puhlic Officers under the Control of the American Democracy , 262 Arhitrary Power of Magistrates under the Rule of the American Democracy ......... 265 Instability of the Administration in the United States . . 268 Charges levied by tlie State under the Rule of the American Democ- racy 270 Tendencies of the American Democracy as regards the Salaries of public Officers 275 Difficulty of distinijuishing the Causes which incline the American Government to Economy 279 XXll CONTKNTS. I'll K 11 Whotlicr tlio Expcndituro of the United Sfntos van lie rompjircd with tlint of Kiiinco 280 Corru|)ti()M ami tho VicoH of tlic Hiiiois iti a DcinoiTiicy, nnd con- Ht'(iiii'iit Ktli;i'tH ui)Oii Tuhhc Morality .... 286 I^fforts of which a DcmotTucy iti caiiai)!*? ..... 28U Sclf-Control of the Atuuricuii Duiiiocrucy .... 29.'l Coiuluct of Foreign AflUirs hy the Aiiiericttn Denioeracy . . 21)6 CII A I'T i: 11 XIV. What auk the real Advantauks which Ameuican Society DERIVES KKOM A DkMOCHATIC GOVERNMENT . . . .302 General Tendency of the Laws under the American Democracy, and Instincts of those who apply them .... .102 I'uhlie Sjjirit in the United States ...... 308 Notion of Rights in the United States . . . . .311 Iles])ect for the Law in the United States . . . . 315 Activity which pervades all Parts of the Body Politic in the United States; Influence wlilch it exercises upon Society . .317 CHAPTER XV. Unlimited Power of the Majority in the United States, AND ITS Consequences 324 How the Omnijjotence of the Majority increases, in America, the Instal)iiity of Legislation and Administration inherent in De- mocracy .......... 327 Tyranny of the Majority 330 Effects of the Omnipotence of the Majority upon the arhitrary Au- thority of American Public OtHcers ..... 335 Power exercised hy the Majority in America upon Opinion , . 336 Effects of the Tyranny of the Majority upon the National Character of the Americans. — The Courtier-spirit in the United States 340 The greatest Dangers of the American liepublies proceed from the Omnipotence of the Majority ...... 343 CHAPTER XVI. Causes which mitigate the Tyranny of the Majority in the United States 346 Absence of Centralized Administration ..... 346 The Profession of the Law in the United States serves to counter- poise the Democracy 348 Trial by Jury in the United States considered as a Political Institu- tion 358 COSTKXTS. XXlll m pared 280 1(1 ron- 286 . 28'J 29.1 . 21)6 . 302 . .'J()2 3(18 . 311 315 317 . 324 tlio I)c- . 327 330 Au- 335 . 336 ractcr iitos 340 rn the . 343 THE . 346 346 nter- itittt- CII A I'Ti: U XVII. riiiNCiPAL CAtHKS wiiicii ti;mi H) mvimain mm: I)k.m»)(Hatic ItEl'LtlLIC IN TIIK I'n;!!.!* SrATK."* . . . . . Aceidelitul '>i" rruviiUiit il Cuiim's wliicli cniitrilnitt' to iiiaiiitaiii tlic IViiKtirntir I\i'|iulilic in the I'liitcd StaHS .... Inthhii ' of tlie Liiws ii|m»ii tin.' Maiiittiiaiicc of the Di'iiiocratii- Wv- |iiil>li<' ill tlic I'liitcd States ...... IiiHiU'tuT of MaiimTS upon the Mainttnaiu c of the Dcmm ralic l{f- puMic in thi! riiittd Statts ....... I{t'li}j;ioii coiisich'ivd a.s a rolilittii Iii>titiitioii, which powcifnily (•(intriliiitcs to tlie Maiiitciiaiue of tho Dciiiocratic I{f|iiilplic umoiiyst tlic Ainericans ....... Indirect Inthuiice of Heii^nous Opiiiioii.s upon I'olitical Society in the United States ........ Priiici|ial Causes wiiieh render Hi'iiuioii powerful in Anu'rii'u How the I'.diication, the Iluhits, and the practical F.xperieiice of the American.'* promote the Success of their Democratic Institutions The Laws contrilmte more to the Maintenance of the Deinocratic KepiiMic in the United Stafe.s than tlic Physical Circuinstances of the Country, and the Manners more than the Laws . Whether Laws and Manners arc sudieient to maintain Democratic Institutions in other Countries hesides America . Importance of what precedes with Kespeet to the State of Europe . CHAPTER XVIII. The PiiESENT AND pnouAiJLE FirruRE Condition of the Tiihke Races which inhauit the Tekimtouv of the United States The Present and prohahlc Future Condition of the Indian Trilies which inhahit the Territory possessed hy the Union Situation of the Black Population in the United States, and Dan- gers with which its Presence threatens the Whites . What are the Chances of Duration of the American Union, and what Daiijicrs threaten it ...... . Of the liej)ublican Institutions of the United States, and what their Chances of Duration are ....... Some Considerations on the Causes of the Commercial Prosperity of the United States ........ 3«H 3t'>*.i 382 ;i8;t 383 387 31>4 4113 4oy 414 418 348 358 Conclusion . 424 431 456 491 535 543 552 ( I s I n ' 1 m m 'tiii i It ' • :ii I f I N T R D U C T I IV . A]\IOXGST the novel objects tliat attracted my atten- tion duriniii; my stay in the United States, notliing struck me more forcibly tlian the oeneral equality of con- dition amoiiu' the people. I readily discovered the jirodi- o'ious iuHuencc Avhicli this primary fact exercises on the wliole course of society; it gives a peculiar direction to ])ublic ()})inion, and a peculiar tenor to the laws ; it imparts new maxims to the governing authorities, and peculiar habits to the o;overned. I soon perceived that the influence of this fact extends far beyond the political character and the laAvs of th3 coun- try, and that it has no less empire over civil society than over the government ; it creates opinions, gives birth to new sentiments, founds novel customs, and modifies ■what- ever it does not produce. The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I perceived that this equahtv of condition is the fundamental fact from wliicli all others seem to be derived, and the central point at wliich all my observations constantly terminated. I then turned my thoughts to our own hemisphere, and thought that I discerned there something analogous to the s|)('ctacle which the New World presented to me. I ol)ser\rd that e(piality of condition, though it has not there reached the extreme limit which it seems to have attained in tlie United States, is constantly approaching I 2 INTRODUCTION. it ; and tliat tlio democrary which governs the American communities appears to be rapidly rising into poAver in Europe. Hence I conceived the idea of tlie book -wliich is now before tlie reader. It is evident to all alike that a jxreat democratic revolu- lion is fjoino; on amongst us : but all do not look at it in the same light. To some it appears to be novel but acci- dental, and, as such, they hope it may still be checked ; to others it seems irresistible, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history. I look back for a moment on the situation of France seven hundred years ago, when the territory was divided amongst a small number of fomilies, who were the owners of the soil and the rulers of the inhabitants ; the right of governing descended with the family inheritance from gen- eration to generation ; force was the only means by which man co\dd act on man ; and landed property was the sole source of power. Soon, liowever, the political power of the clergy was founded, and began to increase : the clergy opened their ranks to all classes, to the poor and the rich, the vassal and the lord ; through the Church, equality penetrated into the Government, and he who a& a serf must have vea-etatcd in per})etual bondage took his place as a priest in the midst of nobles, and not unfrequently above the heads of kings. The different relations of men with each other became more complicated and numerous as society gi'adually be- came more stable and civilized. Hence the want of civil laws was felt ; and the ministers of law soon rose from the obscurity of the tribunals and their dusty chambers, to appear at the court of the monarch, by the side of the feudal barons clothed in their ermine and their mail. Whilst the kings were ruining themselves by their great INTnODrCTION. 3 ^Lmerican power in li Is now c revolu- at it in but acci- 3cked ; to ; uniform, icy which of France IS divided he owners c Yis\\t of from gen- by which s the sole ergy was ■ned their vassal and d into the kctatcd in Ithe midst if kings, ■r became ually be- ,t of civil from the mbers, to fie of the mail. Iheir o-reat 'M ontcrprises, and the nobles exhausting their resources by ])riv;ite wars, the loAver orders Avere enriching themselves 1)V commerce. The influence of money began to 1)0 per- ceptible in state affairs. The transactions of business oj)ened a new road to power, and the financier rose to a station of ])olitical influence in which he was at once flat- tered and despised. Gradually the diffusion of Intelligence, and the increas- ing taste for literature and art, caused learning and talent to become a means of o;overnment ; mental al)ilitv led to social power, and the man of letters took a part in the affairs of the state. The value attached to hio;h birth declined iust as fast as new avenues to power were discovered. In the eleventh century, nobility was beyond all price ; in the thirteenth, it might be purchased. Nobility was first conferred by gift in 1270 ; and equality was thus introdnce'd into the govern- ment by the aristocracy itself. In the course of these seven hundred years. It sometimes happened th;it the nobles, in order to resist the authority of the crown, or to diminish the power of their rivals, granted some political influence to the common })eople. Or, more frequently, the king permitted the lower orders to have a share in the government, with the Intention of depressing the aristocracy. In France, the kin^s have alwavs been the most active and the most constant of levellers. When thev were strono; and ambitious, they spared no pains to raise the peojde to the level of the nobles ; when tliey were temperate and feeble, they allowed the peo])le to rise above themselves. Some assisted the democracy by their talents, others bv their vices. Louis XI. and J^ouis XIV. reduced all ranks beneath the throne to the same degree of subjection ; and, finally, Louis XV. descended, himself and all his court, into the dust. if' K „ '^i St u 4 INTRODUCTION. As soon as land began to be held on any other than a feudal temn-e, and personal property in its turn became able to confer influence and power, every discovery in the arts, every improvement in commerce or manniactures, created so many new elements of cfpiality among men. Henceforward every new invention, every new want which it occasioned, and every new desire Avhich craved satisfac- tion, was a step towards a general levelling. The taste for luxury, tlie love of war, the empire of fashion, and the most su])erticial as well as the deepest passions of the human heart, seemed to co-operate to enrich the poor and to im- poverisli the rich. From the time when the exercise of the intellect became a source of strenn;th and of wealth, we see that every addi- tion to science, e\ery fresh truth, and every new idea became a germ of power placed within the reach of the peo])le. Poetry, *eloquence, and memory, the graces of the mind, the glow of imagination, depth of thought, and all tlie gifts which Heaven scatters at a venture, turned to the advantage of the democracy; and even when they were in the possession of its adversaries, they still served its cause by throwing into bold relief the natural great- ness of man. Its conquests spread, therefore, with tliose of civilization and knowledge ; and hterature became an arsenal o})en to all, where the poor and the weak daily resorted for arms. In running over the pages of oiu* history for seven hun- dred years, Ave shall scarcely find a single great event which has not promoted equality of condition. The Crusades and the English wars decimated the no- bles and divided their possessions : the municipal corpora- tions introduced democratic liberty into the bosom of feudal monarchy ; the invention of tii'e-arms equalized the vassal and the noble on the field of battle ; the art of printin<T opened the same resources to the minds of all classes ; the •1 INTUOnrOTION. r than a became y in the uictures, ng men. lit which satisfac- taste for the most e human id to im- ;t became -ery addi- new idea 3h of the graces of io;1it, and turned to len they 11 served al great- th those ccame an ak daily e;. ven hun- iat event 1 the no- corpora- of feudal the vassal printing isses; the post-offi(>e brought knowledge alike to the d >or of tlio cottaire and to the gate of the palace ; and ProtesiMutism ])r()claimed that all men are alike able to find the road to heaven. The discovery of America opened a thousand new ])aths to l()rtune, and led obscure adventurers to wealth and power. ]f, begiiniing witli the eleventh century, we examine what has liaj)pened in France from one half-century to another, we shall not fiiil to jierceive, at the end of each of these ])eriods, that a twofold i\'Volution has taken ])lace in the state of society. The noble has gone down on the social ladder, and the comuKmer has gone up ; the one dcv scends as the other rises. Every haltk'entury brings them nearer to each other, and they will soon meet. Nor is this peculiar to France. Whithersoever Ave turn our eves, we ix-rceive the same revolution coinii: on throughout tlie Christian world. The various occiu*- rences of national existence have everywhere turned to tlio advantage of democracy : all men have aided it bv their exertions, both tliose who have intentionally labored in its cause, and those who have served it tmwittingly ; those who have fought for it, and those who have declared themselves its opponents, have all been driven along in the same track, have all labored to one end ; some ignorantly and some unwillingly, all have been blind instruments in the hands of God. The gradual development of the principle of equalitv is, therefore, a Providential fact. It has all the chief charac- tci'istics of such a fact : it is imiversal, it is durable, it con- stantly eludes all human interference, and all events as well as all men contrihute to its progress. Would it, then, be wise to imagine that a social move- ment, the causes of which lie so far back, can be checked by the efforts of one generation ? Can it be believed that the democracy which has overthrown the feudal system, INTRODUCTION. and vaiKiuisliofl kings, ^vill retreat before tradesmen ana ca[)italists ? Will it stop now that it has grown so strong, and its adversaries so weak ? Whitlier, then, arc we tending? No one can say, for terms of comparison already fail ns. The condIti(ins of men are more eqnal in Christian conntries at the i)resent day than they have been at any previous time, or in any part of the world ; so that the magnitude of what already has been done prevents us from foreseeing what is yet to be accom})lished. The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written under the impression of a kind of religious terror ju'oduced in the author's mind by the view of that irresistible revolution which has advanced for centuries in spite of every obstacle, and which is still advancing in the midst of the ruins it has caused. It is not nec^3ssary that G od himself should speak in or- der that we may discover the uncpiestionable signs of his will. It is enough to ascertain what is the habitual course of nature and the constant tendency of events. I know, without a special revelation, that the planets move in the orbits traced by the Creator's hand. If the men of our time should be convinced, by attentive observation and sincere reHection, that the gradual and progressive development of social equality is at once the past and the future of their history, this discovery alone would confer the sacred character of a Divine decree upon the change. To attempt to check democracy would be in that case to resist the will of God ; and the nations would then be constrained to make the best of the social lot awarded to them by Providence. The Christian nations of our day seem to me to present a most alarming spectacle ; the movement which impels them is already so strong that it cai'^ot be stopped, but it is not yet so rapid that it cannot be guided. Tlieir fate is INTKODUCTIOX. en ana strong, >^J^^K say, f<3r ■i(;ns of j)resent ■ ';'JS • in any already is vet to iblic lias religious ^ V of that -« ituries in ig in the ak in or- ns of his al course ■< I know, ve in the attentive dual and once the iry alone •ree upon uld be in US would social lot present h impels ed, but it eir fate is still in thfir own hands ; yet a Httle while, and it may be so no longer. The tirst of the duties which arc at this time imposed )()n ihose who direct our aH'airs, is to educate the dcnioc- ^11 racv ; to renovate, if possible, its religious belief; to purity its morals ; to regulate its movements ; to substitute by dciiives a knowledge of business lor its inexperience, and an accpiai ntance with its true interests tl)r its l)lind i n- it to time and pi: 1 stnicts ; to adapt its government to time ana jjiacc, and to make it conform to the occurrences and the men of the times. A new science of politics is needed for a new world. This, however, is what we think of least ; placed in the middle of a rapid stream, we obstinately fix our eyes on the ruins which may still be descried upon the shore we have left, whilst the current hurries us away, and drags us backwartl toward the gulf. In no country in Europe has the great social revolution which I have just described made such ra})id progress as in France ; but it has always advanced without guidance. The heads of the state have made no preparation for it, and it has advanced without their consent or without their knowledge. The most powerful, the most intelligent, and the most moral classes of the nation have never attempted to take hold of it in order to guide it. The democracy has consequently been abandoned to its wild instincts, and it has grown up like those children who have no parental guidance, who receive their education in the public streets, and who are acquainted only with the vices and wretched- ness of society. Its existence was seemingly unknown, when suddenly it acquired supreme power. Every one then submitted to its caprices ; it was worshipped as the idol of strength ; and when afterwards it was enfeebled by its own excesses, the legislator conceived the rash project of destroying it, instead of instructing it and correcting its ii I H; I i I , '1 8 INTRODUCTION. vioos. No attempt was made to fit it to govern, but all were bent on excludiui!; it from the o;ovornnient. The consequence has been, tliat tlic democratic revolution has taken place in the body of society, without tliat con- (;omitant cliangc in the laws, ideas, customs, and inaiuiers, wliicli was necessary to render such a revolution beneliciai. Thus we have a democracy, without anything to lessen its vices and brinjT out its natural advantajies : and ahh()U<>h we ah'eady perceive tlie CA'ils it brings, we are ignorant of the benefits it may confer. Wliile the power of the crown, supported by the aris- tocracy, peaceably governed the nations of Euro})e, society, in the midst of its wretchedness, had several sources of happiness which can now scarcely be conceived or ai)pre- ciated. Tlie power of a part of his subjects was an insur- mountable barrier to the tyranny of the prince ; and the monarch, who felt the almost divine cliaracter which ho enjoyed in the eyes of the multitude, derived a motive for tlie just use of his power from the respect which he in- spired. The nobles, high as they were placed above the people, could not but talce that calm and benevolent interest in their fate which the shepherd feels towards his flock ; and without acknowledging the poor as their equals, they watched over the destiny of those whose wel- fare Providence had intnisted to their care. The people, never havino- conceived the idea of a social condition dif- ferent from their own, and never expecting to become equal to tlieii' leaders, received benefits from them without discussing their rights. They became attached to them when they were cl«>ment and just, and submitted to their exactions without resistance or servility, as to the inevitable visitations of the Deitv. Custom and the manners of the time, moreover, had established certain limits to oppression, and put a sort of legal restraint upon violence. As the noble never suspected that any one would at- •H INTRODUCTION. 9 but all •olution :dt coii- liiuuers, iiL'tic'ial. .'sscn its iltlioujj^U umnt of the ai'ls- , society, urces of ir ai>i)re- m insiir- uikI the A-hich he lotive for ■h he in- .bove the ncvok'iit towards as their lose Avel- e pco})h% itioii thf- bccomc li without to them tl to their nevi table rs of the )prcssion, kvoukl at- tempt to (li'privc him of tlie ])riviK\ij;('s wlilch lie licllcvcd to 1)0 leiiitiinate, and as the serf looked upon his own inferiority as a consequence of the '-Minutabli! order of nature, it is easy to imagine that soni , mutual exclian<j;o of o'ood-wiil took i)lace hctwcen two classes so dillerentlv «nfred by fiite. Ine(Mialitv and wretchedness wwv then to he found in society ; hut the souls of ni'ither I'aid^ of men were denraded. Men are not corrupted by the exercise of power, or debased by the hahit of obedience; but by the exercise of a j)ower which they believe to be iIK';;'itiniate, and by obedience to a ruJL' which they consi(K>r to be usur])ed and oppressive. On the one side were wealth, streno-th, aiul leisure, accom])anied by the reHnements of luxury, the elegance of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the cultivation of the arts ; on the other, were labor, clownishness, and igno- rance. But in the midst of this coarse and ionoi'ant multi- tude it was not uncommon to meet with energetic passions, ffenerous sentiments, profound religious convictions, aiul wild virtues. The social state thus organized might boast of its sta- bility, its power, and, above all, its glory. Ijut the scene is now chann-ed. Gradiiallv the distinc- tions of rank are done away; the barriers which once severed mankind are falling down ; property is tlivided, power is shared by many, the light of intelligence s})reads, and the capacities of all classes are e(pially cultivated. The State becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into the institutions and the manners of the nation. I 'an conceive of a society in whicli all men would feel an equal love and respect for the laws of which they con- sider themselves as the authors ; in which the authority of the government would be respected as necessary, thoufTli 1* 10 INTIJODUCTIOX. I i ft l! ■T-l 'J Is! : ''i Vh not ns divine; and in wliicli tlio loyalty of the suhjuct to tliu cliic'f mM;j;i.strato wonld not bo a i)as-,i()ij, but a (|uiot and rational jK'rsuasion. Evory individual being in the possession of rights ■wliicli he is sure to retain, a kind of manly confidence and reciprocal courtesy would arise between all classes, alike removed from j)ride and serWlity. The ])e()ple, well ac(iuainted with their own true interests, would understand that, in order to profit by the advantages of society, it is necessary to satisfy its requisitions. The voluntary association of the citizens might then take the })lace of the individual exertions of the nobles, and the community would be alike protected from anarchy and from o})})ression. I admit that, in a democratic state thus constituted society would not be stationary. But the impulses of the social body might there be regidated and made progressive. If there were less splendor than in the midst of an aris- tocracy, the contrast of miseiy would also be less frequent ; the pleasures of enjoyment might be less excessive, but those of comfort would be more general ; the sciences might be less perfectly cultivated, but ignorance would be less common ; the im^itnuosity of the feelings would be repressed, and the habirs of the nation softened ; there woidd be more vices and fewer great crimes. In the absence of enthusiasm and an ardent faith, great sacrifices may be obtained from the members of a conunon- wealth by an appeal to their understandings and their ex- perience ; each individual will feel the same necessity of union W'itli his fellows to protect his own weakness ; and as he knows that lie can obtain their help only on condition of helping them, he will readily perceive that his personal interest is identified witli the interests of the whole commu- nity. The nation, taken as a whole, will be less brilliant, less glorious, and jierhaps less strong ; but the majority of the citizens will enjoy a greater degree of prosperity, and 1 c ixruoDucrio. 11 l)jcct to a ([iiict I- ill the ji kind lid arise servility. Inteivsts, \aiitn<2;cs IS. The take the and the •cliy and nstitutcd ses of the oo'ressive. f an aris- f rcquont ; ssive, but sciences cc ^vollld cfs "vvould ed; there lith, great conunon- tlicir ex- cessity of ncss ; and condition personal |e commu- brilliant, kajority of lerity, and the people will remain quiet, not \i> uise the despair •!' a (•liiin"e for the better, but because they are eoiiM-im' uat tlu'V are well otf already. If all the conseipieiices of this state of things a\ iit)t ^ood or useful, society would at least have aj)j>ropriated all such as were useful and good ; and having oni-e and tor ever ri'noiii\ced the social advantiiges of aristocracy, niiui- kind would enter into })Osse.ssiou of all the beiielits which democracy can afford. r»ut here it may he asked what we have adopti'd in the j)lace of those institutions, those ideas, and those customs of our foreliithers which we have abandoned. The spell of royalty is broken, but it has not been suc- ceeded by the majesty of the laws. The ])eople have learned to dopise all authority, but they still fear it ; and fear now extorts more than was formerly paid from rever- ence and love. 1 perceive that we have destroyed those iiuVn idual pow- ers which were able, single-handed, to cope with tyranny ; but it is the government that has inherited the ])rivileges of which families, cor})oratioiis, and individuals have been dei)rived ; to the jjower of a small number of })ersons — which, if it was sometimes o})pressive, was often conserva- tive — has succeeded the weakness of the whole commu- nity. The division of property lias lessened the distance which separated the rich from the poor ; but it would seem that, the nearer they draw to each other, the greater is their mutual hatred, and the more vehement the envy and the dread with which they resist each other's claims to power ; the idea of Right does not exist for either party, and Force aifords to both the only argument for the })resent, and the only guaranty for the future. The poor man retains the prejudices of his forefathers without their faith, and their ignorance without their 12 ixTiJonrcTiox. f. ! B I I ' I'l; i!u, iiiii I ii 'tiilli virtues ; lie lias addptcd the doctrino of scll-intorost as tlio rule of Ills actions, witliout uiKliTstandiii^ tlie scictico \\ liicli puts it to use ; and liis scKisIincss is no loss blind tliau was t'di-nicrly iiis dcvotodncss to others. If society is trauiniil, it is not because it is conscious of its streuiitli and its well-heinjx, but Ix^'ause it ii'ars its weakness and its inlii-niities ; a siuL;;le ellort may cost it its lite. Everybody feels the evil, i)ut no one has coui'a;j;e or onei'uv enoui-h to seek the cure. 'J1ie di'sii'es, the renin- in^s, the sorrows, and the joys of tlie present time lead to no visible or ])ermanent result, like the passions of oKl n\en, which terminate in im|)otence. Wc liave, then, abandoned whatever advantao'os the old state of thiuiis ailbi'ded, without receiving' any comjx'usa- tion from our present condition ; we have di'stroyed an aristocracy, and wo seem inclined to sur\ey its ruins with comj)lacency, and to fix our abode in tlu> midst of them. The jdienomena which the intellectual world presents arc not less deplorable. The; democracy of France, ham- pered in its course or abandoned to its lawless passions, has overthi'own whatever crossed its ])ath, and has shaken all that it has not destroyed. Its empire has not been onul- ually introduced, or peaceably established, but it has con- stantly advanced in the midst of the disorders and the aii'itations of a conflict. In the heat of the struii'iile, each partisan is hurried beyond the natural limits of his opinions by the doctrines and the excesses of his o])])onents, until he loses si<2;ht of the end of his exertions, and holds a lauo-uao-e wliicli does not express bis real sentiments or secret in- stincts. Ilence arises the strauiJi-e confusion wliich we are compelled to witness. I can recall nothing in history more worthy of sorrow and l>ity, than the scenes which are passino; luider our eyes. It is as if the natural bond which imites the o])ini()ns of man to his tastes, and his actions to his principles, was -^ M i vest ns ■; l)lin(l lous of .'iirs its )st it its ira^(! or ' ri'i>in- . Iciid to lUl incn, the oltl -oyi'il :"i lins with tlu'iu. presents ee, hnm- ions, luis liiken all lias eon- aiul tlie i-ivU', each opinions , nntil he Iani2;nai2;e (>cret in- h Ave are )f sorrow o\n* eyes. kinions of [pies, was INTIfODrcTIOX. 18 now lirnkiMi ; the ^ym|)atlly wliich has always been oIh servcil lictween the tet'HuLjs and tim ideas of niaiddnd aj)|»ears to i)e dissolved, and all the laws of moral aiial- on;v to Ik' al)i»li>he(l. Zealons Christians are still found amongst ns, whoso minds are nnrtni'ed on tlu^ thonyhts which pertain to a hitnre lile, ami who readily espouse the cause of human lihertv r.s the source of all moral •••reatness. Christianity, which has declared that all men are eijual in the sioht of (Joil, will not ivfuse to acknowledni^ that all citi/i'iis are ('(pial in the eye of the law. iJut, hy a singular concourse of cNcnts, reliii'ion has been for a time entangled with those institutions which democracy assails ; and it is not unfrc- (luently bronn'ht to reject the eipiality which it loves, and to curse that cause of liberty as a I'oe, whose etforts it miu'lit hallow by its alliance. I'.y the side of these reliifions men, I discern others whose looks are turned to earth rather <lian to heaven. These are the ])artisans of liberty, not only as the source of the noblest virtues, but more especially as the root of all solid advanta<2;es ; and they sincerely desire to secnre its authority, and to im])art its blessinn-s to mankind. It is natural that they should hasten to invoke the assistance of reliuion, for thev must know that liberty cannot be estal)- lished withont morality, nor morality without faith. But they have seen religion in the ranks of their adversaries, and they inqnirc no further ; some of them attack it openly, and the remainder are afraid to defend it. In ibrmer an;es, slavery was advocated by the venal and slavish-minded, whilst the independent and the warm- hearted were strnixulinif withont hope to save the liberties of mankind. But men of hiifli and o;enerous characters are now to be met with, whose opinions are at variance with their inclinations, and who praise that servility which they have themselves never known. Others, on the con- H ' 5 iHJi * t !i i< ' li'f 14 INTRODUCTION. tr.iiy, spcfik of liberty as if tliey were al)lc to feci its sanc- tity and its majesty, and loudly claim for humanity those rights which they have always refused to acknowledge. There are virtuous and peaceful individuals Avhosc pure morality, quiet habits, opulence, and talents fit them to be the lea(l<>rs of the surrounding population. Their love of country is sincere, and they are ready to make the greatest sacrifices for its welfare. But civilization often finds them among its opponents ; they confound its abuses with its benefits, and the idea of evil is inseparable in their minds from that of novelty. Near these I find others, whose object is to materialize mankind, to hit upon what is expedient without heeding W'hat is just, to acquire knowledge without faith, and pros- perity apart from virtue ; claiming to be the champions of modern civilization, they place themselves arrogantly at its head, usurping a place which is abandoned to them, and of which they are wholly unworthy. Where are we, then ? The religionists are the enemies of liberty, and the friends of liberty attack religion ; the high-minded and the nol)le advocate bondage, and the meanest and most servile preach independence ; honest and enlightened citi- zens are opposed to all progress, whilst men without patri- otism and without principle put themselves forward as the a})ostles of civilization and intelligence. Has such been the fate of the centuries which have pre- ceded our own ? and has man always inhabited a Avorld like the present, where all things are out of their natural connections, where virtue is without genius, and genius without honor ; where the love of order is confounded with a taste for oppression, and the holy rites of freedom with a contempt of law ; where the light thrown by con- science on human actions is dim, and where nothing seems to be any lono;er forbidden or allowed, honorable or shame- ful, false or true ? IXTi:01)l'CTI(JN. 15 ts sanc- ty those Igc. )S0 pure n to be • love of greatest ids them with its lir minds aterialize heeding md pros- iiplons of itly at its hem, and and the iided and and most eiied citi- )ut patri- rd as the [liave prc- a world [ir natural kl scnius )n founded If freedom ^1 by con- lino- seems lor sharae- I cannot believe tliat the Creator made man to leave him in an endless struggle with the intellectual miseries which surround us. God destines a calmer and a more certain future to the comnv.inities of Eur()})e. I am igno- rant of his desisins, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather mistrust my own capacity than his justice. There is a country in the world where the great social revolution which I am speaking of seems to have nearly reached its natural limits. It has been effected with ease and quietness ; say rather that this country is rea})ing the fruits of the democratic revolution wliich we are under- Soino;, without havinii" had the revolution itself. The emiii'rants who colonized the shores of America in the beginning of the seventeentli century somehow sep- arated the democratic principle from all- the principles which it had to contend with in the old conununities of Europe, and transplanted it alone to the New World. It has there been able to spread in j)erf(.'ct freedom, and peaceably to determine the character of the laws by in- fluencing the maimers of the country. It appears to me beyond a doubt that, sooner or later, we shall arrive, like the Americans, at an almost complete equality of condition. But I do not conclude from this, that we shall ever be necessarily led to draw the same po- litical consequences which the Americans have derived from a similar social organization. I am far from sup- posing that they have chosen tlie only form of government which a democracy may adopt; but as the generative cause of laws and manners in the two countries is the same, it is of immense interest for us to know what it has jiroduced in each of them. It is not, then, merely to satisfy a legitimate curiosity that I have examined America ; my wish has been to find there instruction by wliich we may ourselves profit. Who- ^1 r if \> ■■I • ■; ■I a i: E; ( m (fl ill! ■1 :ii'i: liiH 16 INTRODUCTION, ever should iiniiglne tliat I have iiiteiidod to write a pan- egyric.' Avould be strangely mistaken, and on reading this hook, he will perceive that such was not my design : nor has it been my object to advocate any form of government in particnlar, for I am of opinion that absolute excellence is rarely to be found in any system of laws. I have not even pretended to jndge whether the social revolution, which I believe to be irresistible, is advantageous or preju- dicial to mankind. I have acknowledged this revolution as a fact already accomplished, or on the eve of its accom- plishment ; and I have selected the nation, from amongst those which have undergone it, in which its development has been the most peaceful and the most complete, in order to discern its natural consequences, and to find out, if possi- ble, the means of rendering it profitable to mankind. I con- fess that, in America, I saw more than America ; I sought there the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its progress. In the first part of this Avork, I have attempted to show the direction given to the laws by the democracy of Amer- ica, which is abandoned almost without restraint to its instinctive propensities ; and to exhib t the course it pre- scribes to the government and the influence it exercises on affairs. I have sought to discover the evils and the advan- tages which it brings. I have examined the precautions used by the Americans to direct it, as well as those which they have not adopted, and I have undertaken to point out the causes which enable it to govern society. I do not know whether I have succeeded in making known Avhat I saw in America, but I am certain that such has been my sincere desire, and that I have never, knowingly, moulded facts to ideas, instead of ideas to facts. Whenever a point could be established by the aid of written documents, I have had recour I'se to tl le on (Tin al :f INTHODUCTION. 1 1 text, and to the most uiitlientic and approved works.* I Jiave cited ly autliorities in the notes, and any one may refer to tliem. AVlienever opinions, poHtieal customs, or remarks on tlie manners of tlie country were concerned, I liave endeavored to consult tlie most en!ii;htened men I met with. ]f the point in question was important or douhtful, I was not satisfied with one testimony, but I formed my opinion on the evidence of several witnesses. Here the reader must necessarily rely upon my word. I could frequently have quoted names which are either known to him, or which deserve to be so, in proof of what I advance ; but I have carefully abstained from this prac- tice. A stranger frequently hears important truths at the fireside of his host, which the latter would ]>erha])s con- ceal from the ear of friendship ; he consoles himself with his guest for the silence to which he is restricted, and the shortness of the traveller's stay takes away all fear of his indiscretion. I carefully noted every conversation of this nature as soon as it occurred, but these notes will never leave my writing-case. I had rather injure the success of my statements than add my name to the list of those stran- gers ^\]\o repay the generous hospitality they have received by subsequent chagi'in and annoyance. I am aware that, notwithstanding my care, nothing will be easier than to criticise this book, if any one ever chooses to criticise it. * Lcirislative and executive docunients have been furnislied to me with a kindness wiiieh I shall always reineniher with {iratitude. Anion<i: tlio Anier- ican statesmen who have thus helped my researches, I will mention particu- larly Mr. Edward Livingston, then Secretary of State, afterwards Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris. Durin;:^ my stay at Wasliington, lie was kind enough to give me most of the documents which 1 possess relating to the Federal Government. Mr. Livingston is one of the k'W men whose writings cause us to conceive an aifoction for them, wiiom we admire and respei't even liefore we come to know them personally, and to whom it is a pleasure to owe a debt of gratitude. ^ll Uf nrr » . ^ I < iili I \M I I: i 1 it i| iiti 18 INTPwODUCTION. Tliose readers wlio may examine it closely will discover, I think, in the whole work, a dominant thought which binds, so to speak, its several parts together. But the di- versity of the subjects I have had to treat is exceedingly great, and it will not be difficult to oppose an isolated fact to the body of facts which I cite, or an isolated i*lea to the body of ideas I put forth. I hope to be read in the spirit which has guided my labors, and that my book may be judged by the general impression it leaves, as I have formed my own judgment not on any single reason, but upon the mass of evidence. It must not be forgotten that the author who wishes to be understood is obliged to push all his ideas to their ut- most theoretical consequences, and often to the verge of what is false or impracticable ; for if it be necessary simie- times to depart from the rules of logic in action, such is not the case in discourse, and a man finds it almost as diffi- cult to be inconsistent in his language, as to be consistent in his conduct. I conclude by myself pointing out what many readers will consider the principal defect of the work. This book is written to favor no particular views, and in composing it, I have entertained no desirni of serving or attackino- any party. I have undertaken, not to see diffiirently from others, but to look further than others, and whilst they are busied for the morrow only, I have turned my thoughts to the whole fixture. i'iii;! DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER I. EXTERIOR FORM OF NORTH AMERICA. North America divided into two vast Eepjiona, one inelininj^ toward the Pok', tlic other toward the E(iuator. — Valley of tlic Mississippi. — Traces found tJiere of the Kevolutions of tlie Glolie. — Shore of tlic Atlantic Ocean, on which the Enjilisli Colonics "were founded. — Different Aspects of North and of South America at the Time of their Discovery. — Forests of North America. — Prairies. — Wandering Tribes of Natives. — Their outward Appearance, Planners, and Lan- guages. — Traces of an unknown People. NORTH AjMERICA presents in its external form certain general features which it is easy to discrim- inate at the first glance. A sort of methodical order seems to have re<xulated the separation of land and water, mountains and valleys. A simple but grand aiTangement is discoverable amidst the confusion of objects and the prodigious variety of scenes. This continent is divided almost equally into two vast regions, one of which is bounded on the north by the Arc- tic Pole, and by the two great oceans on the east and west. It stretches toward the south, forming a triangle, whose irregular sides meet at leno;th above the fji'eat lakes of Canada. The second region begins where the other ter- minates, and includes all the remainder of the continent. The one slopes gently toward the Pole, the other toward the Equator. t llll mil 5f; ■I I ! ill] HI J ill II Hi {! |i: ' rid 1 1 111 I !i: i ! I i m 1*1)' i; 20 DEMOt'UACY IN AMKKICA. The territory comprcliended in tlie first reo-joii descends toward tlie north with so imperceptible a slope, that it may almost be said to form a ])lain. Within the bounds of this immense level tract there are neither hiij;h moun- tains nor dee}) valleys. Streams meander through it irreg- ularly ; great rivers intertwine, separate, and meet again, sj)read into vast marshes, losing all trace of t'- -ir channels in the labyrinth of waters they have themselves created, and thus at leno-th, after innumeral)le ■svindiiiiis, fall into the Polar seas. The great lakes which bound this first region are not walled in, like most of those in the Old World, between hills and rocks. Their banks are flat, and rise but a few feet above the level of their waters, — each of them thus formino; a vast bowl filled to the brim. The sliiihtest chano-e in the structure of the olobe Avould cause their waters to rush either towards the Pole or to the tropical seas. The second region has a more broken surface, and is bet- ter suited for the habitation of man. Two lono; chains of mountains divide it, from one extreme to the other : the one, named the Alleghany, follows the direction of the shore of the Atlantic Ocean ; the other is parallel with the Pacific. The sjiace which lies between these two chains of moun- tains contains 1,841,049 square miles.* Its surface is therefore about six thnes as great as that of France. This vast territory, however, forms a single valley, one side of which descends from the rounded summits of the Alleghanies, while the other rises in an uninterrupted course to the tops of the Rocky Mountains. At the bot- tom of the valley flows an immense river, into which the various streams issuing from the mountains fall from all parts. In memory of their native land, the French for- merly called tliifl river the St. Louis. The Indians, in * Darby's View of the United States, p. 499. EXTERIOR FOIJM OF XOUTIl AMERICA. 21 tlu'ir pompous laiin;nao;e, have named it the Fatla-r of Waters, or the ]\lississi})pi. The Mississippi takes its source at the boundary of tlie two oreat reirions of Avliich I have; spoken, not far from the hi'diest iKjint of the table-land wliert^ tliev unite. Near the same sj)Ot rises another river [tlie lied River of the North], Avhicli empties itself into llie Polar seas. The course of the jNIississippi is at first did)ious : it wiuds sev- eral times towards the north, whence it rose ; and only at len^'th, after liavinu: been delayed in lakes aud marshes, does it assume its definite direction, and flow slowly on- ward to the south. Sometimes quietly gliding along the argillaceous bed which nature has assigned to it, sometimes swollen by freshets, the Mississippi waters over 2,500 miles in its course. At the distance of l,-j()4 miles from its month, this river attains an average dej)th of fifteen feet ; and it is navigated by vessels of oOO tons burden for a course of nearly oOO miles. Fifty-seven large navigable rivers con- trllaite to swell the waters of the jNIississippi ; amongst others, the jSlissouri, which traverses a s])ace of 2,000 miles, the Arkansas, 1,300 miles, the Red River, 1,000 miles, the Ohio, 9")9 miles ; four whose course is from 800 to 1,000 miles in length, viz. the Illinois, the St. Peter's, the St. Francis, and the Des Moines ; besides a countless multitude of rivulets which unite from all parts their trib- utary streams. The valley which is watered by the Mississippi seems to have been created fcr it alone, and there, like a god of an- tiquity, the river dispenses both good and exW. Near the stream, natiu'e displays an inexhaustible fertility ; iu pro- portion as you recede fi'om its banks, the powers of vegeta- tion liuiguish, tlie soil becomes poor, and the plants that sui'vd\'e have a sickly growth.* Nowhere have the great * This statcmeut is exaggerated, or gives a false impression. The fertile JtlMilfc Ifclb-MUl .-^■.■. . ..^ '-f ' ii- 22 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 11 m convulsions of tlic n-loLe loft more evident traces than in the valley of the Mississippi. The whole aspect of the country shows the powerful effects of water, hoth by its fertility and its barrenness. The waters of the primeval ocean accumulated enonnous beds of vecjetable mould in the valley, which they levelled as they retired. Upon the right bank of the river are found immense plains, as smooth as if the husbandman had passed over them with his roller. As you approach the mountains, the soil be- comes more and more unequal and sterile ; the ground is, as it were, pierced in a thousand places by primitive rocks, which appear like the bones of a skeleton whose flesh has been consumed by time. The surface of the earth is cov- ered with a granitic sand, and huge, irregular masses of stone, among which a few plants force their growth, and give the appearance of a green field covered with the ruins of a vast edifice. These stones and this sand discover, on examination, a perfect analogy with those which compose the arid and broken summits of the Rocky jNIountains. The flood of waters which washed the soil to the bottom of the valley, afterwards carried away portions of the rocks themselves ; and these, dashed and bruised against the neifjhborino; cliffs, were left scattered like wrecks at their feet.* The valley of the Mississippi is, upon the whole, the most magnificent dwelling-place prepared by God for man's abode ; and yet it may be said that at present it is but a mighty desert.f On the eastern side of the Alleghanies, between the base of these mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, there lies land " near the stream " is often over five hundred miles broad, and only on the western side, and at a greater distance than this, is found a great sterile tract to which this description is applicable. — Am. Ed. * See Appendix A. t The population of the valley is now nearly thrice as great as it was when this was written. — Am. Ed. EXTKHIOR FORM OF NOinil AMKRICA. 23 a lono- ridixo of rocks and sand, Avhicli tho soa appears to have left holiind as it retired. The mean breadtli of this territory does not exceed one luindred miles ; but it is al)out nine liundred miles in lenn;tli. This part of tho American continent has a soil which offers every obstacle « to the husbandman, and its vegetation is scanty and un- varied. Upcm this inhospitable coast the first united efforts of human industry were made. This tongue of arid land was the cradle of those English colonies which were des- tined one day to become the United States of America. The centre of power still remains here ; whilst in the rear of it the true elements of the great people to whom the future control of the continent belouiis are. natjicrino; al- most in secrecy together. When the Europeans first landed on the shores of the West Indies, and afterwards on the coast of South Amer- ica, they thought themselves transported into those fabu- lous regions of wdiicli poets had sung. The sea sj)arkled with phosphoric light, and the extraordinary transparency of its waters discovered to the view of the naviirator all the depths of the abyss.* Here and there appeared little islands perftimed wnth odoriferous plants, and resembling baskets of flowers floating on the tranquil surface of the ocean. Every object which met the sight, in this en- chanting region, seemed prepared to satisfy the wants or contribute to the pleasures of man. Almost all the trees were loaded with nourishing fruits, and those which were useless as food delighted the eye by the brilliancy and variety of their colors. In groves of fragrant lemon-trees. * Maltc Brun tells tis (Vol. III. p. 726) that the water of the Caribbean Sea is so transparent, that corals and fish arc discernihle at a depth of sixty fathoms. The ship seemed to float in air, the naviuator became jriddy as his eye penetrated through the crystal flood, and beheld submarine jrardens, or beds of sliells, or gilded fishes gliding among tufts and thickets of sea- weed. ■2[ DEMOCKAiJV IN AMKIilCA. wild fi«i;s, floworiii;^; iiiyrtlt's, aciU'Ias, and olciuiders, wlilcli wtTc Imiiii; witli iostooiis of various cliniltiiio-pliints, covorod with ilowciN, a multitude of l»irds uidxiiown in Kiin>[)C? displayed their hiM^ht plmuajio, o;litteriiii;' with jmrple and azure, and niin<;led their warblino; with the haruujuy of a world teemiuo- witli life and motion.* Undt-rneatli this hi'illiant exterior, death was concealed. But this fact was uot then known, and the air of these (Tunates had so enervating an influence, that man, ab- sorbed l)j present enjoyment, was rendered regardless of the future. Nortli America appeared under a very different aspect : there, everything was grave, serious, and solemn ; it seemed created to be the domain of intelligence, as the South was that of sensual delight. A turbulent and foggy ocean washed its shores. It was girt round by a belt of granitic rocks, or bv wide tracts of sand. The foliajxe of its woods was dark and gloomy ; for they were composed of firs, larches, evergreen oaks, wnld oli\e-trees, and laurels. f Beyond this outer belt lay the thick shades of the central foi.^^'^s, where the largest trees which are })roduced in the two hemispheres grow side by side. The jdane, the catalpa, the sugar-maple, and the Virginian ])oplar mingled their branches with those of the oak, the beech, and the lime. In these, as in the forests of the Old World, destruction was perpetually going on. The ruins of vegetation were heaj^ed upon each other ; but there was no laboring hand to remove them, and their decay was not rapid enough to make room for the contimial work of reproduction. Climbing plants, grasses, and other herbs forced their way through the mass of dying trees ; they crept along their bending trunks, found nourishment in their dusty cavities, * Sec Appendix B. t Tliese are not good specimens of the trees on our Atlantic coast. Firs, pines, cypresses, wliite and live oaks, would have been a better enumeration. — Am. Ed. - •,!fH r.xTi:Ki(»u i"<)i;m or noimh ami:i:i«;a. 25 iiUi] i\ itijssa;j;i' lu'iu'iith the lit'cK'ss l);irk. 'IMiii-; (U'cny '^a\x* its assistiiiico to lili', and tlu'ir respective' productions were niiiii;led tou'etlier. 'Die dej)tlis of these forests were i;'loonjy and ohscuri', and a thousand rivulets, inidirected in tiieir conrsi' hy lunnan industry, preserved in tiieni a constant moisture. It was rare to meet with Mowers, wild I'ruits, or birds, beneath their shades. The fall of a trei' overthrown by a<ii>, the rushinii; torrent of a cataract, tlie lowini^ of the l)ufi'alo, and the howlin;;- of the ■wind, were the only sounds which broke the silence of nature. To the east of the great river, tbe woods almost dis- ai)peared ; in their stead were seen prairies of immense extent. Whether Nature in her infinite \ariety liad denied the germs of trees tj these fertile ])lains, or whether they had once been covered with forests, subs(M|uently destroyed by the hand of man, is a question which neither tradition nor scientific research lia.s been able to answer. These immense deserts were not, however, wholly un- tenanted by men. Some wandi ring tribes liad been for ages scattered among the forest shades or the green pas- tures of the prairie. From tlie mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Delta of the Mississippi, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, these savages possessed certain points of resemblance which bore witness of their common origin : but at the same time, they differed from all other known races of men ;* they were neither Avhito hke tlie Europeans, * With the prorfrcss of discovery, some rosemI)lnncc has l)een foiuid to exist between the ])liysieal eoiiforination, the laii<j;uaLj;e, and tlie liahits of tlic Indians of North America, and those of the Tonj^ous, Mantihous, Mo;iuls, Tatars, and other wanderinj^ trihes of Asia. Tlie land occnjiied hy these trihes is not very distant from Behrinj^'s Strait ; which i.liows of the suppo- sition, that at a remote jicriod they gave inliahitants to the desert continent of America. But this is a point which has not yet been clearly elucidated by science. Sec IMaltc Brun, Vol. V. ; the works of Humboldt ; Fisclier, " Conjecture sur rOrigiue dc8 Americaius " ; Adair, " History of the Amer- ican ludii. IS." ;i , 20 DKMOCRACY IN AMFJMCA. nor yt*ll*>w like most of tlic Asnitics, nor Itliick like tlio lu'ixrocs. Tlicir skin was rcildisli hrown, tlicir liaii' loiii; jiiid sliiiiino;, tlicii" li])s fliin, and tlicii* cIu'cklMdH's very jiromiiu'iit. 'I'lu' l;innnjiM;e's sj)ok('ii l)y the North Ameri- can trihos won; viirious as iiir as rcirai'diMl tlicir words, but tlu'V were stdtieet to tlie sam(! m'nmmatieal rules. Tiieso rules (littered in several jioints from sueli as liad been observed to i^overn the orii^in of latiixuaixe. The idiom of the AniiMMcans seeme(l to be; the ])rodu('t of new com- binations ; and bespoke an effort of tbe imderstandino;, of which tbo Indians of our days would be incapable.* Tlie social state of these tribes (lifferi'(l also in manv respects from all that was seen in the ( )l(l World. They seem to have multij)lied freely in the midst of their deserts, without cominji in contact witli other races more civilized than their own. Accordingly, they exhibited none of those indistinct, incoherent notions of ritrhr arid wronn;, none of that deep corruption of manners, Avhich is usually joined with ignorance and rudeness amono; nations who, after advancino; to civilization, have relapsed into a state of barbarism. The Indian was indebted to no one but him- self; his virtues, his vices, and his prejudices were his own work ; he had ^'own up in tlie wild independence of his nature. If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and uncivil, it is not merely because they are poor and i(^norant, but that, being so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlifjlitencd men. The sijiht of their own liard lot and their weakness, which is daily contrasted witli the happiness and power of some of their fellow-creatures, excites in their hearts at the same time the sentiments of anger and of fear: the consciousness of their inferiority and their dependence irritates while it humiliates them. This state of mind displays itself in their manners and language •, * See Aijpeudix C. V EXTKiMoi: rui!M or N(»i;in ammimca. 27 tliov nro nt onco insolent and scrxilc 'I'lic truth of fliis is ciisilv proved 1)V oltscrvatioii : tlie people are more v\u\v in aristocratic countries than els(>where ; in opulent cities than in rural districts. In those places where tl>e rich and ])0\vei't'nl are assenihled to^'ether, the weak and thi' in<H- •Xcnt feci themselves oppressed hy thi'ir infei'ior condition. IJnahU' to perceive a single chance of retrain itiij; their ecpial- ity, thev <xive np to despair, and allow themselves to fall below tile dignity of human nature. This nnforttniate etl'ect of the disparity of conditions is not ol)serval)le in savage life: the Indians, altliough they are ignorant and poor, arc ecpial and free. When Europeans first came among them, the natives of North America were ignorant of the value of riches, and indifferent to the enjoyments which civilized man procures to himself by their means. Nevertheless there was nothing coarse in their demeanor ; they practised an habitual re- serve, and a kind < aristocratic politene^ss. Mild and hospitable when at peace, though merciless in war beyond any known degree of human ferocity, the Indian wonld expose himself to die of hunger in order to succor the stranger who asked admittance by night at tlie door of his hut ; yet he could tear in pieces with his hands the still quivering limbs of his prisoner. The famous re- publics of anti([uity never gave examples of more unslMken courage, more haughty spirit, or more intractable love of independence, than were hidden in former times among the. wild forests of the New World.* The Europeans pro- * We learn from President Jefferson's "Notes u])on Vir;;inia," (p. 148,) that ainon<j the Iroquois, when attacked by a superior tone, a<red men re- fused to fly, or to survive tlie destruction of their country ; and they i)raved death lilce tlic ancient Romans when tlieir capital was sacked hy the Gauls. Further on, (p. 150,) lie tells us that there is no example of an Indian, who, liaving fallen into the hands of liis enemies, hcfrfred for liis life; on the contrary, the captive sought to ohtain deatii at the liands of his conquerors by the use of insult and provocation. I m jui B ijinnmLw y n f* 28 DEMOCRACY IN AJIERICA. if ' duoed no (iroixt impression when tliey landed upon the shares of North America ; their presence engendered nei- ther envy nor fear. What influence could they possess over such men as we have described ? The Indian could live without wants, suffer without complaint, and pour out his death-sono; at the stake.* Like all the other members of the great human family, these savages believed in the existence of a better world, and adored, under different names, God, the Creator of the universe. Their notions on the great intellectual truths were in general simple and philosophical, f Although we have here traced the character of a prim- itive })e(jj)le, yet it cannot be doubted that another people, more civilized and more advanced in all respects, had pre- ceded it in the same rejj-ions. An obscure tradition which prevailed among the Indians on the borders of the Atlantic, informs us that these very tribes formerly dwelt on the west side of the jMississippi. Alonn; the banks of the Ohio, and throun;liout the central valley, there are frequently found, at this day, tiiinuU raised by the hands of men. On exploring these heaps of earth to their centre, it is usual to meet with human bones, strange instruments, arms and utensils of all kinds, made of metal, and destined for purposes unknown to the pres- ent race. The Indians of our time are unable to give any infor- mation relative to the history of this unknown people. Neither did those who lived three hundred years ago, when America was first discovered, leave any accounts from * Sec " Histoire dc la Lonisiane," by Lepage Dujiratz ; Charlevoix, " Histoire de la Nouvclle Franec " ; " Lettrcs dii Rev. G. Heckeweldcr " ; " Transactions ol' the American Philosophical Society," Vol. I. ; Jeflei-son's "Notes on Virj^inia," pp. 135-190. What is said by Jefferson is of es- pecial weiji'ht, on account of the personal merit of the writer, of his peculiar position, and of the matter-of-fact age in which he lived. t Sec Appendix D. EXTERIOR FORM OF NORTH AMERICA. 29 wliich even an liypothesis could be formed. Tradition — that ])erislial>le yet ever renewed monument of the pristine ■^vorld — throws no light upon the subject. It is an un- doubted fact, however, that in this part of the globe thou- sands of our f«.llow-beings once lived. When they came hither, what was their origin, their destiny, their history, when and how they perished, no one can tell. How strange does it appear that nations have existed, and afterwards so completely disappeared from the earth that the memory cAen of their names is effaced ! their lan- n;uaa'es are lost ; their olory is vanished like a sound with- out an echo ; though })erhaps there is not one which has not left behind it some tomb in memory of its passage. Thus the most durable monument of human labor is that which recalls the wretchedness and nothinones's of man. Although the vast country which we have been de- scribing was inhabited by many indigenous tribes, it may justly be said, at the time of its discovery by Europeans, to have formed one great desert. The Indians occupied, without possessing it. It is by agricultural labor that man appropriates the soil, and the early inhabitants of North America li\ed by the produce of the chase. Their impla- cable prejudices, their uncontrolled passions, their vices, and still more, perhaps, their savage virtues, consigned them to inevitable destruction. The ruin of these tribes began from the day when Europeans landed on their shores : it has proceeded ever since, and we are now wit- nessing the completion of it. They seem to have been placed by Providence amidst the riches of the New World only to enjoy them for a season ; they were there merely to wait till others came. Those coasts, so admirably adapted for commerce and industry ; those wide and deep rivers ; that inexhaustible valley of the Mississip])i ; the whole continent, in short, seemed prepared to be the abode of a great nation yet unborn. , ■.iii i n.ii | Bi.) i mni i Mj.i i j i 30 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. In that land the great experiment was to be made, by civihzed man, of the attempt to construct society upon a new basis ; and it was there, for the first time, that theo- ries hitherto unknown, or deemed impracticable, were to exliibit a spectacle for which the world had not been pre- pared by the history of the past. h lil ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMEKICANS. 31 CHAPTER II. ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS, AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS ORIGIN IN RELATION TO THEIR FUTURE CONDITION. Utility of knowing the Origin of Nations, in order to understand their So- cial Condition and their Laws. — America the only Country in which the Scarting-Point of a great People has been clearly observable. — In what Respects all who emigrated to British America were similar. — In what they diifercd. — Remark applicable to all the Europeans who estab- lished themselves on the Shores of the New World. — -Colonization of Virginia. — Colonization of New England. — Original Character of the first Inhabitants of New England. — Their Anlval. — Their first Laws. — Their Social Contract. — Penal Code borrowed from the Hebrew Legislation. — Religious Fervor. — Republican Spirit. — Intimate Union of the Spirit of Religion with the Spirit of Liberty. AFTER the birth of a human being, his early years are obscurely spent in the toils or pleasures of child- hood. As he grows up, the world receives him, when his manhood begins, and he enters into contact with his fel- lows. He is then studied for the first time, and it is imagined that the germ of the vices and the virtues of his maturer years is then formed. This, if I am not mistaken, is a great error. "We must begin higher up ; we must watch the infant in his mother's arms; we must see the first images which the external world casts upon the dark mirror of his mind, the first oc- currences which he witnesses ; we must hear the first words which awaken the sleeping powers of thought, and stand by his earliest efforts, — if we would understand the prejudices, the habits, and the passions which will rule his mi m 1 1 iJlli Hi '11 •I ' I lit! ! m il i ! !|! m 111 32 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. life. The entire man is, so to speak, to be seen in the cra- dle of the cliild. The growth of nations presents something analogous to this : they all bear some marks of their origin. The cir- cmnstances which accompanied their birth and contributed to their development affect the whole tenn of their being. If we were able to go back to the elements of states, and to examine the oldest inomunents of their history, I doubt not that we should discover in them the primal cause of the prejudices, the habits, the niling passions, and, in short, of all that constitutes what is called the national character. We should there find the explanation of certain customs which now seem at variance with the prevailing manners ; of such law^s as conflict with established principles ; and of such incoherent opinions as are here and there to be met with in society, like those fragments of broken chains which we sometimes see hano-ino- from the vaults of an old edifice, and supporting nothing. This might explain the destinies of certain nations which seem borne on by an un- known force to ends of which they themselves are igno- rant. But hitherto facts have been wanting to researches of this kind: the spirit of inquiry has only come upon communities in their latter days ; and when they at length contemplated their origin, time had already obscured it, or ignorance and pride adorned it with truth-concealing fables. America is the only country in which it has been possi- ble to witness the natural and tranquil growth of society, and where the influence exercised on the future condition of states by their origin is clearly distinguishable. At the period wdien the peoples of Europe landed in the New World, their national characteristics were already completely .formed ; each of them had a physiognomy of its own ; and as they had already attained that stage of civilization at which men are led to study themselves, they ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. 33 cra- is to i cir- luted ng. , and loubt so of diort, aoter. stoms mcrs ; ,ik1 of )e met chains an old in the an un- ; iorno- arches upon length ed it, teahng possi- lociety, iidition in the [il ready )my of la<Te of Is, they I liave transmitted to us a faithful picture of their opniions, tlieir manners, and their laws. The men of the sixteentli century are almost as well known to us as our contcm})ora- ries. America, consequently, exhibits in the broad light of day the phenomena which the ignorance or rudeness of ciu'lier jiijes conceals from our researches. Near enouoh to tlie time when the states of America were founded, to be accurately acquainted with their elements, and sufficiently removed from that period to judge of some of their results, the men of our own day seem destined to see further than their predecessors into the series of human events. Provi- dence has given us a torch which our forefathers did not possess, and has allowed us to discern fundamental causes in the history of the world which the obscurity of the past ( oncealed from them. If we carefully examine the social and political state of America, after having studied its history, we shall remain perfectly convinced that not an opinion, not a custom, not a law, I may even say not an event, is upon record which the origin of that people will not explain. The readers of this book will find in the present chapter the germ of all that is to follow, and the key to almost the whole work. The emigrants who came at different periods to occupy the territory now covered by the American Union differed from each other in many respects ; their aim was not the same, and they governed themselves on different principles. These men had, however, certain features in common, and they were all placed in an analogous situation. The tie of language is, perhaps, the strongest and the most du- rable that can unite mankind. All the emigrants spoke the same tongue ; they were all offsets from the same peo- ple. Ijorn in a country which had been agitated for cen- turies by the struggles of faction, and in which all parties had been obliged in their turn to place themselves under the protection of the laws, their political education had 2* c f irari MHy* ; 't>-^''».->M-->- •■y^^r,-^' 34 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i?' ^M nil vi, 'y\Vv'\ \ I ] \'%\\\n been i)erfecte(l in tliis rude school ; and they -svcro more conversant Avitli the notions of right, and the principles of true freedom, than the greater part of their Euro})ean con- temporaries. At the period of the first emigrations, the township system, that fraitful germ of free institutions, was deeply rooted in the habits of the English ; and with it the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people had been in- troduced into the bosom of the monarchy of the house of Tudor. The religious quarrels which ha\ e agitated the Christian world were then rife. England had plunged into the ncAV order of thino;s with headlong vehemence. The character of its inhabitants, which had always been sedate and reflec- tive, became arijumentative and austere. General informa- tion had been increased by intellectual contests, and the mind had received in tliem a deeper cultivation. Whilst religion was the topic of discussion, the morals of the people became more pure. All these national features are more or less discoverable in the physiognomy of those English- men who came to seek a new home on the opposite shores of the Atlantic. Another remark, to which we shall hereafter have occa- sion to recur, is applicable not only to the English, but to the French, the Spaniards, and all the Europeans who successively established themselves in the New World. All these European colonies contained the elements, if not the development, of a complete democracy. Two causes led to this result. It may be said generally, that on leaving the mother country the emigrants had, in general, no notion of superiority one over another. The happy and the powerful do not fjo into exile, and there are no surer guaranties of equality among men than poverty and misfortune. It hap- pened, howev • on several occasions, tijat persons of rank were driven to nerica by political and religious quarrels. Laws \vere m' le *^o establish a gradation of ranks : but it ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. 35 more los of 11 con- is, the IS, was vith it icn in- house hristian he new laractcr :l reflcc- intonna- aiul the Whilst ic people fire move English- te shores was soon found that the soil of America was opposed to a territorial aristocracy. To bring that refractory land into cultivation, the constant and interested exertions of the owner himself were necessary ; and when the ground wiis prepared, its produce was found to be insufficient to enrich a proprietor and a former at the same time. The land was then naturally broken up into small portions, which the proprietor .,, ted for himself. Land is the basis of an aristocracy, wlu. . clings to tl -^ "^il that su})ports it; for it is not by privileges alone, Uui by birth, but by landed property handed down from generation to generation, that an aristocracy is constituted. A nation may present im- mense fortunes and extreme wretchedness ; but unless those fortunes are territorial, there is no true aristocracy, but simply the class of the rich and that of the poor. All the British colonies had then a c;reat decree of family likeness at the epoch of their settlement. All of them, from their beginning, seemed destined to witness the growth, not of the aristocratic liberty of their mother country, but of that freedom of the middle and lower orders of which the histor} of the world had as yet furnished no complete example. In this general uniformity, however, several sti"iking differences were discernible, which it is necessary to point out. Two branches may be distinguished in the great Anglo-American family, which have hitherto grown uj) without entirely commingling ; the one in the South, the other in the North. Virginia received the first English colony ; the emigrants took possession of it in 1007. The idea that mines of gold and silver are the sources of national wealth was at that time singularly prevalent in Europe ; a fatal delusion, which has done more to impoverish the European nations who adopted it, and has cost more lives in America, than the united influence of war and bad laws. The men sent to 11 ■k :.i:;m ij I 111 I I'll ^11 30 DEMOCRACY IN A.MKUICA. Virginia* were seekers of gold, adventurers witliout re- sources and witliout character, whose turbulent and rest- less spirit endangered th" infant colony,f and rendered its progress uncertain. Artisans and agriculturists arrived afterwards ; and, although they were a more moral and orderly race of men, they were liardly in any respect above the level of the ipferi^r classes in England. J No lofty views, no spiritual conception, presided over the foundation of these new settlements. The colony was scarcely established when slavery was introduced ; § this was the capital fact which was to exercise an immense in- fluence on the character, the laws, and the whole future of the South. Slavery, as we shall afterwards show, dis- honors labor ; it introduces idleness into society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distress. It ener- vates the powers of the mind, and benum^ he activity of man. The influence of slavery, united to the English * The diarter granted by tlie crown of England in 1609 stipulated, amongst other conditions, that the adventurers should pay to the crown a fifth of the produce of all gold and silver mines. See Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. I. pp. 18-66. t A large portion of the adventurers, says Stith (History of Virginia), were unprincipled young men of family, whom their i)arents were glad to ship ort' in order to save them from an ignominious fate, discharged ser- vants, fraudulent bankrupts, debauchees, and others of the same class, peo- ple more apt to pillage and destroy than to promote the welfare of the settlement. Seditious leaders easily enticed this band into every kind of extravagance and excess. See for the history of Virginia the following works : — "History of Virginia, from the First Settlements in the Year 1624," by Smith. " History of Virginia," by William Stith. " History of Virginia, from the Earliest Period," by Beverley. J It was not till some time later that a certain number of rich English capitalists came to establish themselves in the colony. § Slavery was introduced about the year 1620, by a Dutch vessel, which landed twenty negroes on the banks of the James River. See Ciialmers. "•■ !■:;' ORIGIN OF TIIK ANGLO- AMKRICANS. 87 character, explains the manners and the social condition of the Southern States. In the North, the same English character as the ground received totally different colors. Here I may be allowed to enter into some details. In the English colonies of the North, more generally known as the States of New England,* the two or three main ideas which now constitute the basis of the social theory of the United States were first combined. Tlie principles of New England sjtread at first to the neigh- boring States ; they then passed successively to the more distant ones ; and at last, if I may so speak, they inter- penetrated the whole confederation. They now extend their influence beyond its limits, over the whole American world. The civilization of New England has been like a beacon lit upon a hill, which, after it has diffused its warmth immediately around it, also tinges the distant horizon with its glow. The foundation of New England w^as a novel spectacle, and all the circumstances attending it were singular and original. Nearly all colonies have been first inhabited, either by men without education and without resources, driven by their poverty and their misconduct from tlie land which gave them birth, or by speculators and adven- turers greedy of gain. Some settlements cannot even boast so honorable an orimn ; St. Domingo was founded by buccaneers ; and, at the present day, the criminal courts of England supply the population of Australia. The settlers who established themselves on the shores of New England all belonged to the more independent classes of their native country. Their union on the soil of Amer- * Tlic States of New England are those situated to the cast of the Hud- son. They are now six in number: — 1. Counectieut ; 2. Rhode Island ; 3. Massachusetts ; 4. New Hampshire ; 5. Vermont ; 6. Maine. [The last two, as distinct States, are of comparatively recent origin.] I m i 1 I'll 'I iili.i:'!^.,t 88 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ica at once presented tlie .siii<^ular plienomenon of a society containinj^ neither lords nor conunon people, and we nuiy almost .say, neither rich nor poor. These men possessed, in pr<)i)ortion to their number, a greater mass of intelli- geiK'o than is to ]je found in any European nation of our own time. All, ))erhaps without a single exception, had received a good education, and many of them were known in Europe for their talents and their accpiirements. The other colonies had been founded by adventurers without families; tiic^ emigrants of New England broui-lit with them the best elements of order and morality ; they landed on the desert coast acconi})aiiied by their wives and chil- dren. But what especially distinguished them from all others was the aim of their imdertaking. They had not been obliged by necessity to leave their country ; the social position they abandoned was one to be regretted, and their means of subsistence were certain. Nor did they cross the Atlantic to improve their situation or to increase their wealth ; it was a purely intellectual craving, which called them from the comforts of their former homes ; and in facing the inevitable suiferings of exile, their object was the triumph of an idea. The emigrants, or, as they deservedly styled themselves, the Pilgrims, belonged to that English sect the austerity of whose principles had acquired for them the name of Puritans. Puritanism was not merely a religious doctrine, but it corresponded in many points with the most absolute democratic and republican theories. It was this tendency wdiich had aroused its most dangerous adversaries. Perse- cuted by the government of the mother country, and dis- gusted by the habits of a society which the rigor of their ow^n principles condemned, the Puritans went forth to seek some rude and unfrequented part of the world, where they could live according to their own opinions, and worship God in freedom. ORIGIN OK TIIF. AN(iLO-AMI.I!ICAXS. 39 A f'ow quotations will throw nioiv lii;ht upon the spirit of thcsi' ])ious advcnturors than all that we can say of theni. Nathanii'l Morton,* the historian of the first years of the scttU'nu'nt, thus o[)t'ns Km suhji'ct : — "(n'litle Reader, — 1 have for some it'uotli of time looki'd upon it as a duty hicund)ent especially on tlio im- mediate successors of those that have had so lar^e cx})e- rience of those many memorable and signal demonstrations of God's goodness, viz. the first beginners of this Planta- tion in New Enii'land, to commit to writing liis <>raeious dispensations on that bi'luilf ; having so many in(hicenients tliereuuto, not only otherw^ise, but so plentifully in the Sacred Scriptures : that so, what we liave seen, and what our fathers have told us (^Psalm Ixxviii. :>, 4), we may not liide from our children, showing to the generations to come the pi'aises of the Lord ; that especially the seed of Abra- ham his servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen (Psalm cv. 5, 0), may remember his marvellous works in the beginning and progress of the planting of New Eng- land, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth ; how that God brought a vine into this wilderness ; that he cast out the heathen, and planted it ; that ho made room for it and caused it to take deep root ; and it filled the land (Psalm Ixxx. 8, 9). And not only so, but also that he hath guided his people by his strength to his holy habita- tion, and planted them in the mountain of his inheritance in respect of precious Gospel enjoyments : and that as especially God may have the glory of all unto whom ii is most due ; so also some rays of glory may reach the names of those blessed Saints, that were the main instruments and the beginning of this happy enterprise." It is impossible to read this opening paragraph without an involuntary feeling of religious awe ; it breathes the * " New England's Memorial," p. 13 (Boston, 1826). See also Hutch- iiisou's History, Vol. II. p. 440. r . , i il h 40 DKMOCrtACY IN AMI'.FJrCA. very snvor of Gospel !mti(niity. The sinrcrity of tlu? juitlior licin;litons liis j)o\vc'r (»f Iiini!;u;i;i;(\ In our cyt-s, us well as ill his own, it was not a mere party of advi'iiturcrs ^oiK' forth to seek their fbrtune beyond seas, but tin; <;erm of a orejit nation wafted by Providenoo to a predestined shore. T\ni author continuos, and thus describes the departure of the first pilfiirims : — " So they left that pjoodly and j)leasant city of Leyden,* which had been their restin<^-place for above eleven years ; but they kni'w that they were pilgrims and strangers hero below, and looked not much on these things, but lifted \\\) their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, where God hath prepared for them a city (Ileb. xi. 10), and therein quieted their spirits. When they came to Delts-IIaven they found the ship and all things ready ; and such of their friends as could not come with them followed after them, and sundry came from Amsterdam to see them shi])t, and to take their leaves of them. One night was spent with little sleep with the most, but with friendly entei-tainment and Christian discourse, and other real expressions of true Christian love. The next day they went on board, and their friends with them, where trnly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound amongst them ; what tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each * The cmif^mnts were, for the most part, godly Cliristians from tlio northern [central] part of England, who had quitted their native country he- cause they were " studious of reformation, and entered into covenant to walk •with one another according to the primitive pattern of the Word of God." They emigrated to Holland, and settled in the city of Leydeu in 1610, where they abode, being lovingly respected by the Dutch, for many years : they left it in 1G20 for several reasons, the last of which was, that their pos- terity would in a few generations become Dutch, and so lose their interest in the English nation ; they being desirous rather to enlarge his Majesty's do- minions, and to live under their natural prince. — Translator's Note. :i:l OniGIN OF Tlir AXr.LO-AMKniCAN'S. 41 (•tiler's lu'iirt, tliiit Kuiidrv of tlic Diitcli stniiiLicrs that stood oM till' Ki'y as spoctators could not refrain rr(»iii ti'ars. IJiit the tide (which stays tor no man) calling; them away, that were thus loth to depart, their Reverend I*a«<tor, tiilliiiii; down on his knees, and they all with him, with wati'iy cheeks commended them with most fervent ])i'ayers unto the Lord and his hlessino; ; and then with mutual emhraces and many tears they took their leaves one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them." The eiuiiirants were about 150 in number, includin<i; the women and the children. Their object was to plant a col- ony on the shores of the Hud: m ; but after iiavin<f been driven about for some time in the Atlan/ie Ocean, they were forced to land on the arid coast of I' ew Eiiuland, at the spot which is now the town of riyni'^uth. .he rock is still shown on which the pilgrims disembarked.' " But before we pass on," continues our historian, ' Vt the reader with me make a pause, and se loiisly consider niis poor peo})le's present condition, the more to be raised np to admiration of God's goodness towards them in their pres- ervation : for being now passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before them in expectation, they had now no friends to welcome them, no inns to entertain or refresh them, no houses, or much less towns, to repair imto to seek for succour : and for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of the country know them to be sharp and violent, subject to cruel nd fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, muul; more to search unknown coasts. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and * This rock has become an ol^joct of veneration in the United States. I have seen hits of it carefully preserved in several towns of the Union. Docs not this sufficiently show how all human power and yrearness are entirely in the soul ? Here i^- a stone which the feet of a few poor fuyilives pressed for an instant, and this stone becomes famous ; it is treasured l)y a ereat nation, a fragment is prized as a relic. But wli.at is become of the dooi'steps of a thousand palaces ? Who troubles himself about them ? 42 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ■:'A e«i I'll nil:!: m ■ -i t-l. desolate Avildorncss, full of wildo beasts, and wilde men ? and what multitudes of them there were, they then knew not : for Avhich way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace or content in res])ect of any outward object ; for summer being ended, a^' things stand in appearance with a weather- beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hew ; if they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now as a main bar or gulpli to separate them from all the civil parts of the world." * It must not be imagined that the piety of the Puritans was merely speculative, or that it took no cognizance of the course of worldly affairs. Puritanism, as I have al- ready remarked, was scarcely less a political than a relig- ious doctrine. No sooner had the emigrants landed on the barren coast described by Nathaniel Morton, than it was their first care to constitute a society, by subscribing the following Act : — " In the name of God. Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, &c. &c.. Having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and the honour of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia ; Do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering and pres- ervation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid : and by * Tliough the work from whicli tlie forcfroing extracts are taken appeared under the title of " New En<!^land's Memorial," as written by Nathaniel Morton, it was compiled by him chiefly from the manuscripts of William Bradford, who wiis one of the leaders of the Pilgrims during their stay in Holland, and was elected the governor of their settlement at Plymouth, whicli ofiice he continued to hold for many years. Tlie language in these extracts is almost entirely that of Bradford. — Am. Ed. '■■^ ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO- AMKRICANS. 43 men? knew (save .ce or mmer atlier- s and they wliicli \\)\i to [."* iritans lice of ive al- L relig- ied on than it cribing names rereign or the th, and xnt the these f God )o;ether 1 pres- nd by ippcared fiithaniel iWilliara stay in rTnouth, I ia these virtue liereof do enact, constitute, and frame sucli just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony : unto Avhich we prom- ise all due submission and obedience," &c.* This happened in 1G20, and from that time forwards the emigi'ation went on. The religious and political passions which ravao'cd the British emjtire durino; the whole reion of Charles I. drove fresh crowds of sectarians every year to the shores of America. In Enoland, the stroiiiihold of I'uritanism continued to be in the middle classes ; and it was from the middle classes that most of the emi<i:rants came. The poj)ulation of New England increased ra})idly ; and whilst the hierarchy of rank despotically classed the inhabitants of the mother country, the colony approximated more and more the novel spectacle of a community homo- geneous in all its parts. A democracy, more perfect than antiquity had dared to dream of, started in full size and pano})ly from the midst of an ancient feudal society. The English government "was not dissatisfied with a larce emiivration which removed the elements of fresh discord and further revolutions. On the contrary, it did eveiything to encourage it, and seemed to have no anxiety about the destiny of those who sought a shelter on the soil of America from the rigor of their laws. It appeared as if New England was a region given np to the dreams of fancy, and the unrestrained experiments of innovators. The English colonies (and this is one of the main causes of their prosperity) have always enjoyed more internal freedom and more political independence than the colonies * The emigrants who founded tlic State of Rhode Island in 1638, tliosc wlio landed at New Haven in 1637, the first settlers in Connecticut in 163'.>, and the founders of Providence in 1640, began in like manner by (h'awing up a social contract, whidi was acceded to by all the interested parties. See Pitkin's History, pp. 42 aud 47. 1 li i| ' 1 M ■ir 'I 4 I ijuj ^ i. U!i:l 2 i j!; Jl i,iil 11 « I u i 44 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. of other nations ; and this principle of liberty was nowhere more extensively applied than in the States of New Eng- land. It was generally allowed at that period, that the territo- ries of the New World belonged to that European nation which had been the first to discover them. Nearly the whole coast of North America thus became a British pos- session towards the end of the sixteenth century. The means used by the English government to people these new domains were of several kinds : the kino- sometimes appointed a governor of his own choice, who ruled a por- tion of the New World in the name and under the imme- diate orders of the crown ; * this is the colonial system adopted by the other countries of Europe. Sometimes, grants of certain tracts were made by the crown to an in- dividunl or to a company,! in which case all the civil and political power fell into the hands of one or more persons, who, under the inspection and control of the crown, sold the lands and governed the inhabitants. Lastly, a third system consisted in allowing a certain number of emigrants to form themselves into a political society under the pro- tection of the mother country, and to govern themselves in whatever was not contrary to her laws. This mode of colonization, so favorable to liberty, was adopted only in New England. $ * This was the case in the State of New York. t JSIaryland, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were in this situation. See Pitkin's History, Vol. I. pp. 11-31. t See the work entitled " Historical Collection of State Papers and other authentic Documents intended as Materials for an History of the United Stu'os of America, by Ebciiczcr Hazard," (Pliiladelphia, 1792,) for a great number of documents rclatinj^ to the commencement of the colonics, which are valuable from their contents and their .luthenticity : amongst them are the various charters granted by the king of England, and the first acts of the local governments. See also the analysis of all these charters given by Mr. Story, Judge of .■■e3 ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. 45 In 1028,* a cliartor of tliis kind was granted by Charles I. to the emigrants wlio went to form the eolony of Massa- clnisetts. But, hi general, charters were not given to the coloMies of New England till their existence had become an established fact. Plymouth, Providence, New Haven, Connecticut, and Rhode Island f were founded without the liel}>, and almost without the knowledge, of the mother coinitry. The new settlers did not derive their powers from the head of the empire, although they did not deny its supremacy ; they constituted themselves into a society, and it was not till thirty or forty years afterwards, under Charles II., that their existence was legally recognized by a royal charter. This frequently renders it difficult, in studying the ear- liest historical and legislative records of New England, to detect the link wliich connected the emigrants with the land of their forefathers. They continually exercised the rights of sovereignty ; they named their magistrates, con- cluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted laws, as if their allegiance was due only to God. J Nothing can be more curious, and at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of that period ; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now present to the world is to be found. the Supreme Court of the United States, in the Introduction to his " Com- mentaries on the Constitution of the United States." It is proved by these documents, that the principles of representative {government and the external forms of political liberty were introduced into all the colonies almost from their orijrin. These principles were more fully acted upon in the North than in the South, but they existed everywhere. * See Pitkin's History, p. 3^. Also, the " History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay," by Hutchinson, Vol. I. p. 9. t Sec Pitkin's History, pp. 42, 47. X The inhabitants of Massachusetts had deviated from the forms which are preserved in the criminal and civil procedure of England ; in ICiO, the name of the kinji^ was not yet put at the head of the decrees of justice. See Hutchinson, Vol. I. p. 452. i \ |i 1 i;' 3: -y I ii!i ! >;i 4G DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ! ■ V Amono;st tliosc tlocnmcnts we shall notice, as especially characteristic, the code of laws promulgated by the little state of Connecticut in 1G50.* The legislators of Connecticut! begin with the penal laws, and, strange to say, they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ. " Whosoever shall worship any other God than the Lord," says the preamble of the Code, " shall surely be put to death." This is followed by ten or twelv enact- ments of- the same kind, copied verbatim from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy, sor- cery, adultery, J and rape were punished with death ; an outrage offered by a son to his parents was to be expi- ated by the same penalty. The legislation of a rude and half-civilized people was thus applied to an enlightened and moral community. The consequence was, that the punish- ment of death was never more frequently prescribed by statute, and never more rarely enforced. § The chief care of the legislators, in this body of penal Ir .vs, was the maintenance of orderlv conduct and o;ood morals in the community: thus they constantly invaded ;:i' * Code of 1650, p. 28 (Hartford, 1830). t See also in Ilutoliinson's History, Vol. I. pp. 43,'5, 456, tlie analysis of the penal code adopted in 1648 by the colony of Massachusetts: this code is drawn up on the same principles as that of Connecticut. \ Adultery was also punished with death by the law of Massachusetts : and Hutchinson (Vol. I. p. 441) says that several persons actually suffered for this crime. He quotes a curious anecdote on this subject, of what took ])lace in the year 1663. A married woman had had criminal intercourse with a younj; man ; her husband died, and she married the lover. Several years had elapsed, when the public lic|?au to suspect the previous intercourse of this couple : they were thrown into prison, put ui)on trial, and very nar- rowly escaped capital punishment. § Except in Enn:laud, up to the beginning of tlie present century, where more than one hundred crimes were statutably punishaiile with death, but not more tlian one out of a hundred convicted persons were actually exe- cuted. — Am. Ed. ; :l ORIGIN OF TIIK ANGLO-AMKRICANS. 47 the domain of conscience, and there Avas scarcely a sin which was not snhject to magisterial censnre. The reader is aware of the rigcn' with Avhich these laws pnnislied rape and adultery ; intercourse between unmarried persons was likewise severely re})ressed. The judge was emj)()wered to inflict either a pecuniary penalty, a whip})ing, or mar- riage,* on the misdemeanants ; and if the records of the old courts of New Haven may be believed, prosecutions of this kind were not unfrequent. We find a sentence, beariug date the 1st of May, lOGO, inflicting a fine and reprimand on a young woman who was accust'd of using improper language, and of allowing herself to be kissed. f The Code of 1G50 abounds in preventive measures. It punishes idleness and drunkenness with severity. ^ Inn- keepers were forbidden to furnish more than a certain quantity of liquor to each consumer ; and sim})le lying, whenever it may be injurious,^ is checked by a fine or a flogging. In other places, the legislator, entirely forget- ting the great principles of religious toleration which he had himself demanded in Europe, makes attendance on divine service compulsory, || and goes so far as to visit with severe punishment,^ and even with death, Christians who * Code of 1650, p. 48. It appears sometimes to have liappcned that tho judges inflicted these punisliments cumulatively, as is seen in a sentence pronounced in 1643 (New Haven Antiquities, p. 114), by which Margaret Bedford, convicted of loose conduct, was condemned to be wliipt, and after- wards to marry Nicolas Jemmings, her accomplice. t New Haven Antiquities, p. 104. Sec also Hutchinson's History for several causes equally extraordinary. t Code of 1650, pp. 50, 57. § Ibid., p. 64. || Ibid., p. 44. IT This was not peculiar to Connecticut. See, for instance, the law which, on the 13th of September, 1644, banished the Anal)a]jtists from Massachusetts. (Historical Collection of State Papers, Vol. I. p. 538.) See also the law against the Quakers, passed on the 14tli of October, 1656. " Whereas," says the preamlde, " an accursed race of heretics called Quakers has sprung up," etc. Tiie clauses of the statute inflict a heavy fine on all captains of ships who should import Quakers into the coun? ry. The Quakers I I li^^ ; 'ft "!l M !■ i:;;i mm t t' ,«,' 1,!" I k i ! ) m ^1 -.^iri 48 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. chose to worship God according to a ritual differing from his own.* Sometimes, indeed, the zeal for regulation in- duces him to descend to the most frivolous particulars : thus a law is to he found in the same code which })rohibits the use of tobacco, f It must not be forgotten that these fantastical and vexatious laws were not imj)osed by au- thority, but that they were freely voted by all the persons interested in them, and that the manners of the commu- nity were even more austere and puritanical than the laws. In 1G49, a solemn association was formed in Boston to check the worldly luxury of long hair. ^ These errors are no doubt discreditable to human rea- son ; they attest the inferiority of our nature, which is incapable of laying firm hold upon what is true and just, and is often reduced to the alternative of two excesses. In strict connection with this penal legislation, which bears such striking marks of a narrow, sectarian spirit, and of those religious passions which had been warmed by perse- cution and were still fermenting among the people, a body of political laws is to be found, which, though written two hundred years ago, is still in advance of the liberties of our a<j;e. The general principles which are the groundwork of modern constitutions — principles which, in the seven- teenth century, were imperfectly known in Europe, and who may be found there shall be whipt and imprisoned with hard labor. Those members of the sect wlio should defend their opinions shall be first fined, then imprisoned, and finally driven out of the province. Historical Col- lection of State Papers, Vol. I. p. 630. * By the penal law of Massachusetts [1647] any Catholic priest who should set foot in the colony after having been once driven out of it was liable to capital punishment. [This act had a political rather than an eccle- siastical purpose, and was of a piece with the penal legislation of England at al)out the same period, and long afterwards, against the Catholics, — Am. Ed.] t Code of le.'JO, p. 96, X Xcw England's JMcmorial, p. 316. See Appendix E. ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. 49 not ('<)mj)lotely triumpliant even in Great Britain — were all rec'o^iii/ed and established by the laws of New En<j;- lund : the intervention of the people in public atfairs, the free voting of taxes, the responsibility of the agents of power, personal liberty, and trial by jury, were all posi- tively established without discussion. These fruitful principles were there aj)i)lied and devel- oped to an extent such as no nation hi Eui'ope has yet ventured to attempt. In Connecticut the electoral body consisted, from its origin, of the whole number of citizens ; and this is read- ily to be understood,* when we recollect that in this young connnunity there was an almost perfect equality of fortune, and a still greater uniformity of opinions. f In Connecti- cut, at this period, all the executive functionaries were elected, including the Governor of the State. J The citi- zens above the age of sixteen were obliged to bear arms ; they formed a national militia, which appointed its own officers, and was to hold itself at all times in readiness to march for the defence of the country. § In the laws of Connecticut, as well as in all those of New England, we find the germ and gradual development of that township independence, which is the life and main- spring of American liberty at the present day. The polit- ical existence of the majority of the nations of Europe commenced in the superior ranks of society, and was gradually and imperfectly communicated to the different members of the social body. In America, on the contrary, * Constitution of 1638, p. 17. t In 1G41 the General Assembly of Rhode Island unanimously declared that the government of the state was a democracy, and that the power was vested in the body of free citizens, who alone had the right to make the laws and to watch their execution. Code of 1650, p. 70. t ritkin's History, p. 47. § Constitution of 1638, p. 12. 3 D |iig i 'fl ;! i! Mi U \\n ,i ; ill 60 DEMOCRACY IN AMKIJICA. it may be said tliat the township was organized before the county, the county before the State, the State before the Union. In New Enoland, townsliips were conn)k>tely and defini- tively constituted as early as 1050. The independence of the township was the nucleus round which the local inter- ests, passions, rights, and duties collected and clung. It gave scope to the activity of a real political life, thoroughly democratic and republican. The colonies still recognized the suj)remacy of the mother country ; monarchy was still the law of the State ; but the republic was already estab- lished in every township. The towns named their own magistrates of every kind, rated themselves, and levied their own taxes.* In the New England toAvn, the law of representation was not adopted ; but the affairs of the community were discussed, as at Athens, in the market-place, by a general assembly of the citizens. In studying the laws which were promulgated at this early era of the American republics, it is impossiVle not to be struck by the remarkable acquaintance with the science of government, and the advanced theory of legislation, which they dl.^play. The ideas there formed of the duties of society towards its members are evidently much loftier and more comprehensive than those of European legislators at that time : obligations were there imposed upon it Avhich it elsewhere slio;lited. In the States of New Eno;land, from the first, the condition of the poor was provided for ; f strict measures were taken for the maintenance of roads, and surveyors were appointed to attend to them ; | records were established in every town, in which the results of public deliberations, and the births, deaths, and marriages of the citizens, were entered ; § clerks were directed to * Code of 1650, p. 80. t Il)i<l., p. 78. § See Ilutchinsou's History, Vol. I. p. 455. t Ibid., p. 49. OIJKIIX OK TIIK AXGLO-AMKHICAXS. T)! koop these rorords ; * officers were cliar«f(Hl with the ad- ministration of vacant inlioritanccs, and witli tlio arhitra- tion of litigated landmarks ; and many otlicrs were cre- ated, wliosc chief functions were the maintenance of puhlic order in the conununity.f The law enters into a thou- sand vari(ms details to anticipate and satisfy a crowd of social wants which are even now very inadequately felt in France. But it is by the mandates relatin<»; to Puhlic Education that the onVinal character of .\merican civilization is at once placed in the clearest lioht. '-'■ It 1)eiii<j;," says the law, " one chief proje(;t of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledr^e of the Scri])ture hy j)ersuadiii<i; them from the use of tonmies, to the end that learnini; may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our en- deavors." J Here follow clauses establishing schools in every township, and obliging the inhabitants, under pain of heavy fines, to support them. Schools of a superior kind were founded in the same manner in the more ])opu- lous districts. The municipal authorities were bound to enforce the sendmg of children to school by their parents ; they were empowered to inflict fines u])on all who ref ^.sed compliance ; and in cases of continued resistance, society assumed the place of the j)arent, took possession of the child, and deprived the fiither of those natural I'ights wliich he used to so bad a purpose. The reader will undoubt- edly have remarked the preamble of these enactments : in America, religion is the road to knowledge, and the obser- vance of the divine laws leads man to ciN'il freedom. If, after having cast a rapid glance over the state of American society in 1050, we turn to the condition of Europe, and more especially to that of the Continent, at the same period, we cannot faU to be struck "virli astonish- "■S * Code of 1G50, p. 86. t Ibid., p. 40. I Ibid., p. yo. m 'f' I ,'tlt 52 DKMOrnACV IN AMKKICA. I mcnt. On tlio contiiiont of Europe, at tlio booinninof of tlio sovciiti'ciith c'ontury, absoluto iiKMiarchy had c c-ry- wliorc triiimplu'd over tlic ruins of tlii^ oli^arcliical and I'l'udal lihcrtics of tlic Middle A;j;c's. Never perhaps wore the ideas of ri^'ht more couipleti'Iy overlooked, than in the midst of the splendor and literature of Europe ; never was there less ])()litieal aetivity among tlie peoj)le ; never were the principles of true freedom less widely circulated ; and ut that very time, those princij)les, Avhich were scorned or ludvuown by the nations of JMU'ope, were proclaimed in the deserts of the New World, and were accepted as the i'uture creed of a <j;reat pet)ple. The boldest theories of the Innnan mind were reduced to practice by a community so humble, that not a statesman condescended to attend to it ; and a system of legislation without a precedent was })ro(luced oii'hand by the natural originality of men's imaginations. In the bosom of this obscure democracy, which had as yet brought forth neither generals, nor phi- losophers, nor authors, a man might stand up in the face of a free i)eople, and pronounce with general applause the following tine definition of hberty.* " Concerning liberty, I observe a gi'eat mistake in the country about that. There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man with beasts and other crea- tures. By this, man, as he stands in relation to man simply, hath liberty to do what he lists ; it is a liberty to evil as well as to good. This liberty is incompatible and inconsistent with authority, and cannot endure the least restraint of the most just authority. The exercise and * Matlicr's "Miifrnalia Christi Americana," "Vol. II. p. 13. This speech was made by Winthrop ; lie was accused of liaving committed arbitrary ac- tions (luring'' his magistracy, but after having made tlie speech, of wliich the above is a fragment, he was acquitted by acclanuition, and from tliat time forwards lie was always re-elected Governor of the State. See Rlarshall, Vol. 1. p. 166. :LLLiilk. ORIGIN OF Tin: ANCILO-AMKRICAXS. 58 ni;iint:iiiiln<i; of tliis liberty makes lueti ^n'ow more evil, and in time to be worse than brute beasts : oinne.H nuntus lici'iitlf Jdt'i'iorrii. This is that oreat enemy of truth and ]»eaee, that wild beast, which all the ordinances of (mxI are bent a"ainst, to restrain and subdue it. The other kind of lib- erty I call civil or federal ; it may also be termetl moral, in reference to the covenant between (i(;(l and man, in the moral law, and the politic covenants anil constitutions, amongst men themselves. This liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it ; and it is a liberty to that only wiiich is ^ood, just, and lu)nest. This liberty you are to stand for, with the hazard not only of your goods, but of your lives, if need be. Whatsoever crosseth this, is not authority, but a distem[H'r .hereof. This liberty is maintained and exercised in a way of sub- jection to authority ; it is of the same kind of liberty wherewith Christ liatli made us free."* T have said enough to put the character of Anglo- American civilization in its true light. It is the result (and this should be constantly present to the mind) of tAvo distinct elements, which in other places liave been in fre- quent hostility, but which in America have been admirably incorporated and combined with one another. I allude to the spirit of Religion and the spirit of Liberty. The settlers of New England were at the same time ardent sectarians and daring innovators. Narrow as the limits of some of their religious opinions were, they were free from all political prejudices. Hence arose two tendencies, distinct but not opposite, which are eveiywhere discernible in the manners as w^ell as the laws of the country. * Dc To((iiicville f'opieil from tlie "Magnalia" Cotton Matlier's imper- fect and faulty report of this speech. I have suljstituted Wintlirop's own report of it, as he inserted it at tlic time in his " Journal," a corrected edition of which has been recently published by Mr. James Savage. — Am. Ed. it 0: 1 A • n 11 1 ; 1 :*l ! 1 ! / ( i ' ■, "t; 1 54 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. Ono would tliiiik tliat iiu'ii wlio ]vm] sarriric.'d tlicir irii'iids, tlioir tiimilv, and tlu'ir native ':»> d to a rrlliiious conviction would he wholly ahsorhed in i-u pnisuit of the treasure which they luid just j>urchased at so lii^li a jn'ice. And yet we find them seekiu;!; with nearly c(iual /.eal lor material wi-alth and m(»ral ;^o<id, — for well-l)ein<;' and fi'ee- dom on I'arth, and salvation m heaven. Tlu'V moulded an<l altered at pleasure all ])olitical i)rinciples, ;uid all hu- man laws and institutions ; they hroko down the harriers of the society in which they were horn ; they disrc'uarded the old principK's which had o()verned the world for a<;es ; a career without hounds, a lii'ld without a horizon, was opened hefore them: they j)recipitate themselves into it, and traverse it in every direction. But, having reached the limits of the political world, they stop of their own accord, and lay aside with awe the use of their most for- midahle faculties; they no longer doubt or innovate; they abstain from raising even tlu; veil of the sanctuary, and bow with submisjsive respect before truths which they ad- mit without discussion. Thus, in the moral world, everything is classified, sys- tematized, foreseen, and decided beforehand ; in the politi- cal world, everything is agitated, disputed, and uncertain. In the one is a j)assive though a voluntary obedience ; in the other, an independence scornful of experience, and jealous of all authority. These two tendencies, appar- ently so discrepant, are far from conflicting ; they advance together, and mutually support each other. Religion perceives that civil liberty affords a noble exer- cise to the faculties of man, and that the political worhl is a field prepared by the Creator for the eflbrts of mind. Free and powerful in its own sphere, satisfied with the ])lace I'cserved for it, religion never more surely establishes its empire than when it reigns in the hearts of men unsup- ported by aught beside its native strength. OHKJIX OK THK AN(JLO-AMi:Pf<'AN'S. 00 LiluTty i>'^;ii'(ls ri'li^ion us its coinpairKdi in ;ill its hattli's and its triiiiii|iiis, — as tlio cradle of its infancy, ami tin- divine soni'cc of its claims. Jt considers relijj-ion as tlie Hufeynai'd of morality, and morality as the hest security of luNV, and thu siu'est pledge of the duration of treedoni.* REASON'S OF CKKTAIN ANOMM.IF,?^ WHnil Til 11 I,\W8 AM) CLSTOMS OF Tllli ANGI.O-AMKUIC.VNS rUKSKNT. Roniiiiiis of Arirttocratic IiKxtitiitimis ainidiit tlio most coiuplftt! Dcinocnicy. — Why '. — Ciiicriil Distinction to lie drawn iu'twfcn uliat i.s of I'uri- tanical and what of Knj;li,sh Uri;iiu. TiiM reader is cautioned not to draw too n-eneral or too absolute an inference from what has been said. The social condition, tlie relioion, and the manners of the first emi- grants nudouhtedly exercised an immense influence on the destiny of their new country. Nevertheless, they could not found a state of things originating solely in them- selves : no man can entirely sliake off the influence of the past ; and the settlers, intentionally or not, mingled habits and notions derived from their education and the traditions of tlieir country with those habits and notions which were exclusively tlieir own. To know and to judge the Anglo- Americans of the present day, it is therefore necessary to dis- tinjiuisli what is of Puritanical and what of Eniilish orioin. Laws and customs are frecpiently to be met with in the United States wliicli contrast strongly with all that sur- rounds them. These laws seem to be drawn up in a spirit contrary to the prevailing tenor of American legislation ; and these customs are no less opposed to the general tone of society. If the English colonies had been founded in an age of darkness, or if their origin was already lost in the lapse of years, the problem would be insoluble. I shall quote a single example to illustrate my meaning. The civil and criminal procedure of the Americans has * See Appendix F. i 'I . i . k ^. 'hi I! I 'HA 50 DEJIOCRACY IN AMERICA. only two means of action, — committal or bail. The first act of the magistrate is to exact security from the defend- ant, or, in case of refusal, to incarcerate him : the ground of tlie accusation and the importance of the charges against him are then discussed. It is evident that such a legislation is hostile to the poor, and favorable only to the rich. The poor man has not always a security to produce, even m a civil case ; and if he is obliged to wait for justice in prison, he is speedily reduced to distress. A wealthy person, on the contrary, always escapes imprisonment in civil cases ; nay, more, if he has committed a crime, he may readily elude punish- ment by breaking his bail. Thus all the penalties of the law are, for him, reduced to fines.* Nothing can be more aristocratic than this system of legislation. Yet in America, it is the poor who make the law, and they usually reserve the gi'eatest advantages of society to themselves. The ex- planation of the })henomenon is to be found in England ; the laws of which I speak are English, and the Americans have retained them, although repugnant to the general tenor of their legislation and the mass of their ideas. Next to its habits, the thing which a nation is least apt to change is its civil legislation. Civil laws are familiarly known only to lawyers, whose direct interest it is to main- tain them as they are, whether good or bad, simply because they themselves are conversant with them. The bulk of the nation is scarcely acquainted with them ; it sees their action only in particular cases, can with difficulty detect their tendency, and obeys them without thought. I have quoted one instance where it would have been easy to adduce many others. The picture of American society has, if I may so speak, a surface-covering of de- mocracy, beneath which the old aristocratic colors some- times peep out. * Crimes no doubt exist for which bail is inadmissible, but they are few in number. SOCIAL CONDITION OF TUE ANGLO-AMKIUCANS. 57 CHAPTER III. SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS. SOCIAL condition is commonly the result of cii'cum- stances, sometimes of laws, oftenor still of these two causes united ; but when once established, it may jnstly be considered as itself the source of almost all the laws, the usages, and the ideas which reondate the contluct of na- tions : whatever it does not produce, it modifies. If we would become acquainted with the lep;islation and the manners of a nation, therefore, we must begin by the study of its social condition. THE STRIKING CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS IS ITS ESSENTIAL DEMOCRACY. The first Emifrrants of New Eng:lanfl. — Their Equality. — Aristocratic Laws introduced in the South. — Period of the Revolution. — Cliuiioe in the Laws of Inheiitance. — Effects produced hy this Ciianye. — Democracy carried to its utmost Limits in the new States of the West. — Equality of Mental Endowments. Many important observations suggest themselves upon the social condition of the Anglo-Americans ; but there is one which takes precedence of all the rest. The social condition of the Americans is eminently democratic ; this was its character at the foundation of the colonies, and it is still more strongly marked at the present day. I have stated in the preceding chapter that great equal- ity existed among the emigrants who settled on the shores 3* ili Ml ^ililj 58 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. of New Eiigliind. Even the germs of aristocracy were never })lanted in tliat part of the Union. The only influ- ence which obtained tliere was that of intellect ; the people were used to reverence certain names as the emblems of knowledoe and virtue. Some of their fellow-citizens ac- quired a power over the others which might truly have been called aristocratic, if it had been capable of trans- mission from father to son. This was the state of things to the east of the Hudson : to the soutliwest of that river, and as far as the Floridas, tlie case was diflPerent. In most of the States situated to the soutliwest of the Hudson some great English propri- etors had settled, who had imported with them aristocratic principles and the English law of inheritance. I have ex])lained the reasons why it was impossible ever to es- tablish a powerful aristocracy in America ; these reasons existed with less force to the southwest of the Hudson. In the South, one man, aided by slaves, could cultivate a great extent of country ; it was therefore common to see rich landed proprietors. But their influence was not alto- gether aristocratic, as that term is understood hi Europe, since they possessed no privileges ; and the cultivation of their estates being carried on by slaves, they had no ten- ants depending on them, and consequently no patronage. Still, the great proprietors south of the Hudson constituted a su[)erior class, having ideas and tastes of its OAvn, and forming the centre of political action. This kind of aris- tocracy sympathized with the body of the people, whose passions and interests it easily embraced ; but it was too weak and too short-lived to excite either love or hatred. This was the class which headed the insurrection in the Soutli, and furnished the best leaders of the American Ke volution. At this period, society was shaken to Its centre. The people, in whose name the struggle had taken place, con- wi' SOCLVL CONDITION OF THE ANGLO-AMKKICANS. 50 ceivod the desire of exercisinjj!; the authority whieli it luid acquired ; its democratic tendencies were awakened ; and liavinc tin-own oiF the yoke of tlie mother country, it as- pired to independence of every kind. The influence of individuals gradually ceased to be felt, and custom and law united to produce the same result. But the law of inheritance was the last step to c(piality. I am surprised that ancient and modern jurists have Jiot attributed to this law a greater influence on Innnan ati'airs.* * I undprstaiul hy tlie law of inlicritiuioe iill tliose laws wliosc ])riii(i|ii>l object it is to vogulate tlie distril iitiou of j)ro])('rty after tlio ileatli of its owner. Tlie law of entail is ci this iiuiiilier ; it certainly ])revents the owner from (lis|)Osiiig of his possessions before his death ; hut this is solely witli the view of preserving them entire for the lieir. 'The principal object, therefore, of the law of entail, is to rcj;u!ate the descent of property after the death of its owner : its other provisions are merely means to this end. [\Ve have had one modern jurist, Daniel Welister, who anticii)ated l)e Tocqucville in pointing out the i)n)iliL;ious influence, upon so( ial and politi- cal affairs, of laws regulatinf;' the tenure and inheritance of property. In his oration delivered at riymouth, December 22, 1820, Mr. Webster said: "The character of the jiolitical institutions of New England was determined by the fundamental laws respecting property." He enumerated the abolition of the right of j)rimogeniture, the curtailment of entails, long trusts, and other processes for fettering and tying up lands, and the facilities offered for the alienation of estates through subjecting them to every species of debt, througli i)ublic registries and the sini|ilicity of our forms of conveyance, as acts which "Ji.red iJw future frmneiiiid foi .. • f the (jovernmmt ." ' Tl.e con- sequence of all these causes," he said, "ha.- '■ -^ <.\ a L'rcat subdivision of the soil and a groat equality of comlition, — the Uiii' bus!; , most certainly, of a popular government." In alluding to the law in France which r nders compulsory an equal di- vision of estates on the death of the;" owners, jNLr. 'V jbster ventured to predict that, "if the government do not (hange the law, the law, in half a century, will change the government; aiul this change will ;:oc be in favor of the ]K)wer of the crown, as some European writers have supposed, but against it." This remarkable prophecy, tittered in Deccml)cr, 1820, was fulfilled first by the Revolution of July, 1830, and then, iu a still moie nuvrked degree, by that of February, 1848. —Am. Ed.] (1 V B ill :l .! <:'f<\ ;,! ■ .1 iv. :lr 60 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. It is true that these laws helong to civil affairs ; but they f)un;lit, nevertheless, to be placed at the head of all political institutions ; for they exercise an incredible influence upon the social state of a people, whilst political laws only show what this state already is. They have, moreover, a sure and uniform manner of operating upon society, affecting, as it were, generations yet unborn. Through their means, man acquires a kind of pretern.itiu'al poAver over the future lot of his fellow-creatures. When the leo-islator has once regulated the law of inheritance, he may rest from his la- bor. The machine once put in motion will go on i'or ages, and advance, as if self-guided, towards a point indicated beforehand. When franu'd in a })articular manner, this law unites, <lraws together, and vests property and power in a few hands ; it causes an aristocracy, so to speak, to spring out of the ground. If formed on opposite princi- ples, its action is still more ra})id ; it divides, distributes, and disperses both property and power. Alarmed by the rapidity of its progress, those svho despair of arresting its motion endeavor, at least, to obstruct it by difficulties and impediments. They vainly seek to counteract its effect by contrary efforts ; but it shatters and redur>es to powder every obstacle, imtil we can no longer see anything bvit a moving and imj>alpable cloud of dust, which signals the coming of the Democracy. When the laAv of inheritance permits, still more wLon it decrees, the equal division of a flither's property amxongst all his children, its effects are of two kinds : it is important to distinguish them from each other, although they tend to the same end. In virtue of the law of partible inheritance, the death of every proprietor brings about a kind of revolution in the property ; not only do his possessions change hands, but their very nature is altered, since they are parcelled into shares, which become smaller and smaller at each division. Tills is the direct, and as it were the physical, effect of the Li m- SOCIAL CONDIIION OF TIIK ANGLO-AMKIUCANS. 01 law. It fijllows, tlion, tlmt, in countries wliero equality of inlieritanee is estal)lislied by law, property, and especially landed j)roperty, nuist constantly tend to division into smaller and smaller })arts. The efiects, however, of such leoislation would only be perceptible after a lapse of time, if the law were abandcmed to its own workini"; ; for, su})- j)osin<i; the family to consist of on^y two children, (and, in u country peo])led as France is, the averaf^e niunber is not above three,) these children, sharing among-st them the fortune of both parents, would not be poorer than their father or mother. But the law of equal division exercises its influence not merely upon the property itself, but it affects the minds of the heirs, and brings their })assi(ms into ])lay. These indi- rect consequences tend powerfully to the destruction of large fortunes, and especially of large domains. Among nations whose law of descent is founded upon the right of primogeniture, landed estates often pass from ii'eneration to generation without underiioinii; division, — the consequence of which is, that family feeling is to a cer- tain degree incorporated with the estate. The family rep- resents the estate, the estate the famil}, — whose name, together with its origin, its glory, its poAver, and its vir- tues, is thus perpetuated in an imperishable memorial of the ])ast and a sure pledge of the future. When the equal partition of property is established by lav/, the intimate (lonnection is destroyed between family feeling and the preservation of the paternal estate ; the })roperty ceases to re})resent the family ; for, as it must inevitably be divided after one or two generations, it has evidently a constant tendency to diminish, and must in the end be completely dispersed. The sons of the great land- ed proprietor, if they are few in number, or if fortun befriends them, mav indeed entertain the hone of beins as wealthy as their father, but not of possessing the same w. TO m w I 1 1) '\ , ,'. , 1 4 5i' r i i i 1 li . : i ■,' 'li ,1! ,1 im ■■i4 C)2 DEMornACY IN A:\rEnirA. property that lie did ; tlit'ir riclios must lie coinpo'^ofl of otlicr olemiMits than liis. Now, as soon as yon dixcst the land-owner of tliat interest in tlie preservation of liis estate wliicli lie derives from assoeiation, from tradition, and from finiiily pride, you may he certain that, sooner or later, he will disj)()se of it ; for there is a strong pecuniary interest in favor of sellino-, ns floating; capital produces hio;her inter- est than real property, and is more readily available to gratify the passions of the moment. Great landed estates which have once been divided never come together again ; for the small })roprietor draws from his land a better revenue, in proportion, than the large owner does from his ; and of course, he sells it at a higher rate.* The calculations of gain, therefore, which decide the rich man to sell his dovnnin, will still more powerfully influence him against buying small estates to unite them into a large (me. What is called family pride is often fmnded upon an illusi(m of selt-love. A man wish 's to perpetuate and im- mortalize himself, as it, were, in his great-grandchildren. AVhere family pride ceases to act, individual selHshness comes into play. When the idea of family becomes vague, indeterminate, and uncertain, a man thiidss of his pivsent c(mvenience ; he provides for the establishment of his next succeedin<r ireneration, and no more. Either a man n;ives up the idea of ])erpetuating his family, or at any rate, he seeks to accomplish it by other means than by a landed estate. Thus, not only does the law of partible inheritance ren- der it difficult for families to })reserve their ancestral do- mains entire, but it deprives them of the inclination to attempt it, an I < ompels them in some measure to co-operate I:! ''I * I do not moiui \o isiiy tliat rJiK' snifiil proprietor cultivatos his land better, liiit he cultivates it with more ardor auil care : so that he makes uj) hy his lui)or fur his want ot skill. 1 «\. SOCIAL ("oNDnioX OF TIIK AXdI.o-AMKl.'ICANS. r,3 with tlio law ill tlu'ir own extinction. Tlic law of equal flistril)iiti(»n proccn-ds l>y two inetliods : Ity actiiiii; u})oii tliinii's, it acts upon persons ; by iuHiienciiiLi; ])ersoiis, it aft'ects tliini^s. By both these means, the law succeeds in strikinu!; at the root of landed j)roperty, and disj)ersing rap- idly both families and fortunes.* Most certainly it is not for us, Frenchmen of the nine- teenth century, who daily witness the ])olitical and social chaniies which the law of partition is briiioino; to pass, to question its influence. It is perpetually cons|»icuous in our country, overthrowing the walls of our dwelliuiis, and re- movinu!; the landmarks of our fields, liut ahhouiih it has produced great effects in France, much still remains for it to do, (^ur recollections, opinions, and habits present powerful obstacles to its progress. In the United States, it has nearly completed its work of destruction, and there we can best study its results. The English laws concerning the transmission of [)roi)erty were abolished in almost all the States at the time of the Revolution. The law of entail was so modified as not ma- terially to interrupt the free circulation of })rf)perty.f The first generation having passed away, estates began to be parcelled out ; and the change became more and more * Liuid lii'iiit; tlio most stable kind of projiorty, we find, from to time, ricli individuals wlio arc disposed to iiuike fiTcat sacrifiees in order to ol>taiu it, atid who willingly forfeit a eonsiderahlc jiart of tlieir iiieome to make sure of the rest. But these are accidental cases. The ])refi'rei;ce for landed prop- erty is no lonf!:cr found hahitually in any class hut amoi ••• the poor. The small laud-owner, who has less information, less ima<iinatioi,, and fewer pas- sions thati the ureat one, is <renerally occupied with the d<iire of increasing his estate : and it often happens that by iniieritance, hy marriaiic, or by the clmTU'CS of trade, he is <rrailually furnished with the means. Tims, to balance the tendency which leads men to divide their estates, there exists another, which incites them to add to them. 'JMiis tendency, which is suflicient to pre- vent estates from beinuj divided ad injim'litm, is not stpjiiir enoui:h to create great tei-ritorial possessions, certainly not to keep them up in the same family. t See Ai)peudix G. 64 DK.MOCUACY IN \MKKICA. ■| . '^\'^\ raj)iil with \]\v |)i'();;res.s of time. And now, after a lapse of a little ni(jre than sixty years, the asj)ect of society is totally altered ; the fiunilies of the great landed |)ropri(Jtors are almost all eonnningled with the general mass. In the State of New York, which formerly contained many of these, there are but two who still keep their heads above the stream ; and they nmst shortJy disappear. The sons of these opulent citizens have become mer'-hants, lawyers, or ])hysicians. Most of them have lapsed into obscurity. The last trace of hereditary ranks and distinctions is de- stroyed, — the law of partition lias reduced all to one level. 1 do not mean that there is any lack of wealthy individ- uals in the United States ; I know of no country, indeed, where tlie love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where a profounder contempt is exj)ressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property. But Avealth circulates with inconceivable ra- pidity, and experience shows that it is rare to find two succeeding generations in the full enjoyment of it. This picture, which may, perhaps, be thought to be over- charged, still gives a very im])erfect idea of what is taki)ig place in the new States of the West and Southwest. At the end of the last century, a few bold adventurers began to penetrate into the valley of the Mississipj)! ; and the mass of the i)opulation very soon began to move in that direction : communities nnheard of till then suddenly ap- })eared in the desert. States wdiose names were not in existence a few years before, claimed their place in the American Union ; and in the Western settlements we may behold democracy arrived at its utmost limits. In these States, founded off-hand, and as it were by chance, the inhal)itants are but of yesterday. Scarcely known to one another, the nearest neio;libors are ijinorant of each other's ' Oct history. In this part of the American continent, therefore, the population has escaped the influence not only of great SOCIAL CON'DITION OF TIIH AXdl.O-AMKlMC.VNS. At lone ler's L-eat niinu's and ^ri'ut wi'altli, but even of tlu' nat\iral aristocracy ot* kiiowU'iliie and virtue. Noni; are tlu're aliK; to wield that respectable power wliich nieii willingly o;rant to tlio renieuibrauee of a life s[)ent in doin^ ^rood befoi-e their eyes. The new States of the West are already inhabited ; but society has no existence anion<^ them. It is not only the fonunes of men wliicli are equal in America ; even tlieir ac(|uirements })artal<:e in some degree of the same nnitbrmity. I do not believe that there is a country in the world where, in jjroportion to the p()[)ula- tion, there are so few ignorant, and at the same time so few learned, individuals. Primary instruction is within the reach of everybody ; superior instruction is scarcely to be obtained by any.* This is not surj)rising ; it is, in fact, the necessary consequence of what we have advanced above. Almost all the Americans are in easy circumstances, and can, therefore, obtain the first elements of human knowl- edge. In America, there are but few wealthy persons ; nearly all Amci leans have to take a profession. Now, every [)ro- fession requires an apprenticeslii[). The Americans can devote to general education only the eai'ly years of life. At fifteen, they enter upon their calJing, and thus their education generally ends at the age wdien ours begins. f * Tliis was au cxaggoi'ated statement oven wlieii Dc Tocqueville wrote, tliirry years a<::o. But now, in tlie Atlantic States, throuj^h tlic intluenee of tlie Universities and of seientitic ami literary associations, there are prohalily, in pr()]Mn'tion to the population, as many scholars, men nf science, and high- ly educated men, as in any country of Euro]»e. — A.'m. Ed. t Mcni!)ers of what are called the learned professions — law, physic, and diviniiy — do not usually begin practice in .Vmerica before they are twenty- two or twenty-three years old. The average age of the graduates of Ameri- can Colleges is over twenty years, and two or three years after graduation must lie devoted to professional studies. Boys become apprentices to the mechanic trades, it is true, at fourteen years ; but this is the usual age for tho beginning of apprenticeship in England and on the continent of Europe. A8 K >■ r. t &■ "I QQ iu:m<»(racv in ami;im(ja. I i WIiMtc'ver is dono af'tcrwiuvls is with i virw to some special and liicnitive oljji'ct ; a science is taken up as a matter of business, and the only branch of it wliidi is attended to is sucli as admits of an innnediatc; [)ractical a|>|)licatiuii. In Ami'rica, most of tlie rich men were formerly i)oor; most of those who now enjoy leisure were absorbt-d in business (lurin<j; their youth ; the consequence of which is, that, when they mi<:;ht have had a taste for study, they had no time for it, and when the time is at their dispi- .d, they have no longer the inclination. There is no class, then, in America, ' Avliich the taste for intellectual pleasures is transmitted with here(htary or- tune and leisure, and by which the labors c. the inti ilect are held in honor. Accordinirly, there is an equal want of the desire and the power of aj)plication to these ol)ject A middlini; standard is fixed in America for ! uman knowledge. All ajjproach as near to it as they can ; some as they rise, others as they descend. Of course, a multi- tude of persons are to be found who entertain the same number of ideas on religion, history, science, political econ- omy, legislation, and government. The gifts of intellect proceed directly from God, and man ctmnot })revent their unequal distribution. But it is at least a consecpience of ^^hul we have just said, that although the capacities of men are different, as the Creator intended they should be, Americans find the means of putting them to use are ecpial. In America, the aristocratic element has always been feeble from its birth ; and if at the present day it is not actually destroyed, it is at any rate so completely ilisabled, that we can scarcely assign to it any degree of influencf on the course of afiliir.'^. a general rule, children of the poorest parents are not compelled to begin hard labor at so early an age in the United States as in Great Britain. De Tocquevillo's statement is conliisod, because he does not sufficiently indicate which "professions" or "callings" he is speaking of. — Am. Ed. SOCIAL LUNDIilON 01" TllK ANtil.O-A.MKlMr ANS. 07 Tilt' (U'lnocriitii- priiiciplt', on tlie contrarv, liii-; nuiiu'd so much stivnu'tli l»y tiiiu-, hy events, and by Iciiisliition, as to luivc iK'coniu not only jjivdoniinant, l)nt all-jiowert'id. Tlioiv is no i'aniily or corporate autliority, and it is rare to finil even tiie influence of individual character enjoy any durability. .Vnierica, tlien, exhibits in her social state an extraor- dinary phenomenon. Men are there seen on a «j;reater e(iuality in point of fortune and intellect, or, in other words, more eipial in their stren^'lh, than in any other country of the world, or in any a^e- of whicli history luis preserved the remembrance. POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE SOCIAL CONDITION OP TIIE ANGLO-AMERICANS. The pohtical consequences of such a social condition as this are easily deducible. It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventu- ally find its way into the political world, as it does every- where else. To conceive of men remaining forever unecjual upon a single point, yet ecjual on all others, is impossible ; they must come in the end to be equal upon all. Now I know of (mly two methods of establishing equality in the political world ; every citizen must be put in posses- sion of his rights, or rights must be granted to no one. For nations which are arrived at the same stage of social existence as the /V nglo-Americans, it is, theivfore, very difficult to discover a medium between the sovereignty of all and the absolute power of one man : and it would be vain to deny that the social condition which I ha\e been describing is just as liable to one of these conseipiences as to the other. There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for eijuality . 1 . ii vi m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ISO 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 6" m ■ 1.6 ^ 'z '/2 ^}. y /(S^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ :1>^ C\ \ ^^^ <^'^ % ! I U 1 I t;s DEMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. wliicli incites men to wisli all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great ; but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for ecjuality, which imj)els the weak to attempt to lower the })owerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer etpiality in slavery to inecpiality with freedom. Not that those nations whose social condition is democratic naturally despise liberty ; on the contrary, they have an instinctive love of it. But liberty is not the chief and "onstant object of their desires ; equality is iheir idol : they make rapid and sudden efforts to obtain liberty, and, if they miss their aim, resic^n themselves to their disappointment ; but nothing can satisfy them without equality, and they would rather perish than lose it. On the other hand, in a state where the citizens are all nearly on an e([uality, it becomes difficult for them to pre- serve their indej)enuence against the aggressions of power. No one amono; them beinn; stronfj enouiih to eno-affe in the struiiixle alone with advantage, nothincj but a general com- bination can protect their liberty. Now, such a union is not always possible. From the same social position, then, nations may derive one or the other of two great political results ; these re- sults are extremely different from each other, but they both proceed from the same cause. The Ano;lo-Americans are the first nation who, havincp been exposed to this formidable alternative, have been ha})py enough to escape the dominion of absolute power. They have been allowed by their circumstances, their ori- gin, their intelligence, and especially by their morals, to c;stablish and maintain the sovereignty of the people. i!! SOVKRLIGNTV Ol" TllK i'KOl'Li:. uy CHAPTER IV. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SOVEKKKiNTY OF THE PEOPLE IN AMKP.ICA. It predominates over the whole of Society in America. — Application made of this Principle liy the Americans even liefore their Hcvointion. — De- velopment ^'iveii to it l)y that Revolution. — Gradual ami irresistihle Extension of the Elective (Qualification. WHENEVER tlie political laws of the Unitotl States are to be discussed, it is with the doctrine of the sovereignty of the })eople that we nuist boifin. The principle of the sovereignty of the peoj)le, which is always to be found, more or less, at the bottom of almost all human institutions, generally remains there concealed from view. It is obeyed without being recognized, or if for a moment it be brought to light, it is hastily cast back into the gloom of the sanctuary. " The will of the nation " is one of those phrases which have been most largely abused by the wily and the despotic of every age. Some have seen the expression of it in the purchased suffrages of a few of the satellites of ])ower ; others, in the votes of a timid or an interested minority ; and some have even discovered it in the silence of a j)eople, on the supposition that the fact of submission established the right to command. In America, the principle of the sovereignty of the peo- )»le is not either barren or concealed, as it is Avith some other nations ; it is recognized by the customs and pro- claimed by ihe laws ; it spreads freely, and arrives without i' i' , r iiii 'Mi.i' i'\ • i ^h' ro DF.MOCHACY IN AMKRICA. iin)ie(liiiuMit at its most remote coii.soquonccs. If tliorc be a couiitrv ill the world -where the doctrine ol' the sov- ereiixiity of tlie people can be fairly appreciated, where it can be studied in its a])plication to the affairs of society, and where its dangers and its advantages may be judged, that country is assuredly America. I have already observed that, from their origin, the sov- ereignty of the j)eople was the fundamental j)rinci])le of most of the British colonies in America. It was far, how- ever, from then exercising as much influence on the gov- ermnent of society as it now does. Two obstacles — the one external, the other internal — checked its invasive progress. It could not ostensibly disclose itself in the laws of col- onies which were still constrained to obey the mother country ; it w as therefore obliged to rule secretly in the ])rovincial assemblies, and especially in the townshi})s. American society at that time was not yet pre])ared to ado})t it with all its consequences. Intelligence in New England, and wealth in the country to the south of the Hudson, (as I have shown in the preceding chapter,) long exercised a sort of aristocratic influence, which tended to keep the exercise of social power in the hands of a few. Not all the public functionaries were chosen by })opular vote, nor were all the citizens voters. The electoral fran- chise was everywhere somewhat restricted, and made de- })endent on a certain qualification, which was very low in the North, and more considerable in the South. The American Revolution broke out, and the doctrine of the sovereignty of the ]>eo[)le came out of the townships, and took possession of the State. Every class was enlisted in its cause ; battles were fought and victories obtained for it ; it became the law of laws. A change almost as rapid was effected in the interior of society, where the law of inheritance completed the abo- lition of local influences. SOVERKIGXTY OF TIIK rr.OPLE. 71 As soon as this vfiWt of the laws and of the Ri'voliition bc'canu' ajuiaivnt to every eye, victory was irrevocably i)ro- noiinced in fiivor of the deinocntic canse. All j)ower was, in fjict, in its hands, and resistance was no longer j»ossible. The higher orders submitted without a nun'nnn* and with- out a struggle to an evil which was thenceforth inevitable. The ordinary fate of falling powers awaited them : each of their members followed his own interest ; and as it was impossible to wring the power from the hands of a peo[)lo Avhom they did not detest sufficiently to brave, their only aim was to secure its good-will at any price. The most democratic laws were consequently voted by the very men whose interests they imi)aired : and thus, although the higher classes did not excite the })assions of- the people against their order, they themselves accelerated the tri- umph of the new state of things ; so that, by a singular change, the democratic impulse was found to be most irre- sistible in the very States where the aristocracy had the firmest hold. The State of Maryland, which had been founded by men of rank, was the first to proclaim univer- sal suffrage, and to introduce the most democratic forms into the whole of its oovernment. When a nation begins to modify the elective qualifica- tion, it may easily be foreseen that, sooner or later, that qualification will be entirely abolished. There is no more invariable rule in the history of society : the further elec- toral rights are extended, the greater is the need of extend- ing them ; for after each concession the strength of the democracy increases, and its demands increase with its strength. The ambition of those who are below the ap- pointed rate is irritated in exact proportion to the great number of those who are above it. The exception at last becomes the rule, concession follows concession, and no stop can be made short of universal suffrage.* * See Appendix H. 72 Dr.MOClIACV IN AMKiaCA. At tlio present day tlic j)rinc'iple of tlic sovori'ignty of the })(.'oj)lu lias actjiiiivd, in the Unitid States, all the j)rac- tieal (levi'lopinent which the imaoinatioii can c(niceive. It is unencumbered hy those fictions which are tlu'own over it in other countries, and it appears in every possible form, according to the exigency of the occasion. Some- times the laws are made l»y the people in a body, as at Athens ; and sometimes its representatives, chosen by uni- versal suffrage, transact business in its name, and under its innnediate su})ervision. In some countries, a poAvor exists "which, though it is in a degree foreign to the social body, directs it, and forces it to pursue a certain track. In others, the ruling force is divided, being })artly within and })artly without the ranks of the people. l]ut nothing of the kind is to be seen in the United States ; there society governs itself for itself. All power centres in its bosom; and scarcely an individual is to be met with who would venture to conceive, or, still less, to express, the idea of seeking it elsewhere. The nation participates in the making of its laws by the choice of its leiii slaters, and in the execution of them bv the choice of the agents of the executive government ; it may almost be said to govern itself, so feeble and so restricted is the share left to the administration, so little do the au- thorities forget their po})ular origin and the power from which they emanate. The people reign in the American political world as the Deity does in the universe. They are the cause and the aim of all things ; everything comes from them, and everything is absorbed in them. ;i;::.i:.l::i 'i ,■ ,1 EXAMINATION OF THK CONDITION OF TIIF. STATKS. 73 CHAPTER V. NECESSITY OF EXAMINING THE CONDITION OF THE STATES BEFORE THAT OF THE UNION AT LARGE. IT is proposed to examine, in the foUowinn; chapter, what is tlie form of o;overnment estahhslied in America on the principle of tlie sovereiomty of the peo})le ; wliat are its means of action, its liindrances, its advanta<2;es, and its dangers. The first difficnlty which presents itself arises from the complex natnre of the Constitution of the United States, which consists of two distinct social structures, con- nected, and, as it were, encased one within the other ; two governments, completely separate and almost independent, the one fulfilling the ordinary duties, and responding to the daily and indefinite calls, of a comminiity, the other cir- cumscribed within certain limits, and only exercising an exceptional authority over the general interests of the country. In short, there are twenty-four small sovereign nations, whose agglomeration constitutes the body of the Union. To examine the Union before we have studied the States, would be to adopt a method filled with ob- stacles. The form of the Federal Government of the United States was the last to be adopted ; and it is in fact nothing more than a summary of those republican prin- ciples which were current in the whole community before it existed, and independently of its existence. ]\Ioreover, the Federal Government is, as I have just observed, the exception ; the government of the States is the rule. The author who should attempt to exhibit the pictmvi as a I'f II 74 DKMOCUACV IN A.MKHICX. ( : « whole, liL'fort' lie liad cxidaiiu'd its details, would necessa- rily (iill into ol)si('urity and repetition. The <rreat politieal ))nnci))les which now fjovern Ameri- can society undoubtedly took their oi'i^in and their <j;rowth in the State. AV'^e nuist know the St >te, then, in order to o;ain a clew to the n-st. The States which now compose the American Union all present the same features, as I'ar as regards the external aspect of their institutions. Their ])olitical or administrative life is centred in three focuses of action, which may he comi)ared to the different nervous ci'ntres which give motion to the human body. The town- ship is the first hi order, then the county, and lastly the State. THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF TOWNSHIPS.* Why the Author begins the Examiiuition of tlie Political Institutions with the Township. — Its Existence in all Nations. — Ditliculty of cstahlishing and preserving Municipal Independence. — Its Importance. — Why the Autlior has selected tlic Townsliip System of New England as the mala Topic of Ids Discussion. It is not undesignedly that I begin this subject with the Township. The village or township is the only association which is so perfectly natiu'al, that, wherever a number of men are collected, it seems to constitute itself. The town or tithing, then, exists in all nations, whatever their laws and customs may be : it is man who makes mon- archies and establishes republics, but the township seems to * It is by this periphrasis that I attempt to render the French expressions Commune and Si/sthne Communal. I am not aware that any English word l)recisely corresponds to tiic general term of the original. In France, every association of human dwellings forms a commune, and cvciy commune is gov- erned by a Maire and a Conscil vmnicipal. In other words, the vmncipium, or mutiicipal privilege, which belongs, in England, to chartered corporations alone, is alike extended to every commune into which the cantons and depart- ments were divided at the Revolution. Theuce the different applicatiou of TOWNSllIl'S ANU MlNIta'AL llODIlvS. 75 come (llri'c'tlv iVoin the luuul of God. But altli()u<rli tlie oxistoiice of till' towiisliip is coeval with that of man, its froc'doin is an iiifri'([iuMit and fragile tiling. A nation can always I'stahlish ^ivat ])olitical assemblies, because it habit ualiy contains a certain number of individuals fitted by tlu'ir talents, if not by their habits, for the direction of affairs. The township, on the contrary, is composed of coarser materials, which are less easily fashioned by the li'^islator. The difficulty of estal)lishing its indepciulence rather aujiments than diminishes with the increasino; intelli- gence of the people. A higldy civilized conmuuiity can hardly toh rate a local independence, is disgusted at its numerous blunders, and is apt to despair of success before the experiment is completed. Again, the immunities of townshii)s, which have been obtained with so much diffi- culty, are least of all protected against the encroachments of till! supreme power. They are unable to struggle, single-handed, against a strong and enterprising govern- ment, and thev cannot defend themselves with success unless they are identified with the customs of tlie nation and supported by ])ublic opinion. Thus, until the inde- pendence of townships is amalgamated with the manners of a people, it is easily destroyed ; and it is only after a lonn existence in the laws that it can be thus amaljxamato^.. IMunicipal freedom is not the fruit of human efforts ; it is rarely created by others ; but is, as it were, secretly self- ju'oduced in the midst of a semi-barbarous state of society. The constant action of the laws and the national habits, the exi)rcssion, which is general in one country and restricted in the other. In America, the counties of the Northern States are divided into townships, those of the Soutlicrn into parishes ; besides which, nninicipal bodies, bear- ing the name of corporations, exist as cities. I shall ai)ply these several expressions to render the term commune. The word " parish," now com- monly used in England, belongs exclusively to the ecclesiastical division ; it denotes the limits over which a parson's {persona ecclmm, or perhaps parO' diianus) rights extend. — Translator's Note. )!': I 1?,! 3 ; '. ; ■ ■; *\ ' ^1 ; H Kn 76 Dr.MocnAcv in amkhica. r. I U. jK'culinr circmnstaMci's, mikI, aliovc all, time, mnv oonsoli- (liitc it; luit tlicrc is ci-rtiiinly no iiutioii on tiio continent of lOnropc wliicli lias experienced its advantages. Vet inu- iiicipal institntions constitute the strenii;tli of tree nations. To\vn-nieetin;;s an* to lihiTty what primary schools are to science; they hrin^- it within the pei)ple's reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation mav estaln lish a tree ^((vernment, hut without municipal institutions, it caniu>t havi' the spirit of liherty. 'i'ransient passions, till' interests of an hour, or the chance of circumstances, may create the external forms of independence ; hut the despotic tendency which has l)een driven into the interior of the social system, will, sooner or later, reap[)ear on the surfiicc. To make the reader undi-rstand the n;eneral principles on which the ])olitical oryani/ation of the counties and townshii)s in the United States rests, I have thought it expedient to choose oni' of the States of New En<j;land as an exami)le, to examine in detail the mechanism of its constitution, and then to cast a general glance over the rest of the country. The township and the connty are not organized in the same manner in every part of the Union ; it is easy to perceive, however, that nearly the same principles have ijuided the formation of both of them throuiihout the Union. I am inclined to believe that these principles have been carried furtlier, and have produced greater results, in New England than elsewhere. Conseipiently, they stand out tliere in higher relief, and offer greater facilities to the observations of a stranger. The township institntions of New England form a com- plete and regular whole ; they are old ; they have the suj)})ort of the laws, and the still stronger snp[)ort of the manners of the community, over which they exercise a prodigious influence. For all these reasons, they deserve our special attention. TOWNSIIII'S AND Ml NK'II'AI, UODIKS. «7 MMITS OF Tin; TOWNSHIP. TilF. townsliip of Xcw Iji<;1jim(1 holds a middle placo be- tween the foiiuimm' mid the ruiihiH of Fraiici'. Its avcriiii*' population is irom two to tlirec thousand ; * so that it is not so Iar<i;i', on the one hand, that the interi'sts of its in- liahitants would lu* likely to conflit-t, and not so small. <>u the other, hut that mi'U cajtahle of conduetin*; its atl'airs may always he I'ound amon;^; its citi/.ens. the to lavo tllG des ater 'tly, ater om- the tlio e a trve POWERS OF TFIF, TOWN'SJllP I\ NKW ENGLAND. Tlie I'coitlc till" Source iif all Power in tlii' Towiisliip iis rlM-wlierc. — Miin- iifit's its o-.vii AHiiJrs. — \o Miiiii('i|iiil ( 'oiiiirjl. — The ^retitc'r Part of tlic Aiitliority vested in tlie Selectiiieii. — How the Seleetiiieii act. — 'I'owii- Meetin;:. — Kmiiiieratioii of the Ollieers of the 'lownship. — Ohiipitory mill reimineratetl Fimetioiis. In the township, as wcW as ovcrywhero else, the jteople are the source of power; but nowhere do they exercise their j)ower more immediately. In America, the i)eoj)le i'orm a master wlio must he oheyed to the utmost limits of j)()ssihility. In New England, the majority act l)y representatives in conductin*; the <>eneral business of the State. It is neces- sary that it should be so. But in the townships, where the leiiislative and administrative action of the government is nearer to the <foverned, the system of rej)resentation is not adopted. There is no municij)al council ; but the body of voters, after ]iavin<i; chosen its maiiistrates, directs them in everythiner that exceeds the simple and ordinary execution of the laws of the State.f * In 1S.30 there were 805 towiisliips in the State of Massachusetts, and 610,014 inhabitants ; wliich j^ives an averap;e of about 2,000 inliahitants to each townsliip. [Some liave over 10,000 inliahitants each, and some have less tlian 500. — Am. Ed.] t The same rules are not applicable to the cities, which generally have a II lii 1 14- 78 DDMOCIJACV IN AMKIMCA. Tlii^ stntc (»r tliiiiiis Is so contniry to our I(l«'ns, mikI so diircrciit from our ciistoins, that I niiist fiirnisli some •'Xiunjtli's to immInc it iiitclliiiihli'. Tlic j)ul)Ii(' (Intii's ill tlio townsliip arc oxtrcincly nuTnor- 0U8, and nilmitciv divided, as wv sliall sco fiirtlicr (»ii ; l)ut most of tlic administrative ])ower is vested in a lew j)er- sons, rliosen annually, cailefl " tlio Selectmen."* The ijeneral laws of tlu; State im|)ose certain duties on the selectineti, which they may fulHI without the authority of their townsmen, hut wiiich thev can ni'iilect oidv on their own responsihility. The State law re(|uires them, for instance, to di'aw u]» the list of voters in their townships ; and if they omit this duty, they arc fi'uilty of a misde- meanor. In all the alfairs, however, which are voted in town-meetinn;, the selectmen carry into efiect the popular mandate, as in Fi'ance the Maire executes the decree of the municij)al council. They usually act ui)on their own responsihility, and merely ])ut in practice ])rinciples which have heen ])revionsly recoouized by the majority. I>ut if they wish to make any chanjie in the existini; state of things, or to undertake any new enter] )rise, they nmst re- fer to the source of their power. If, for instance, a school is to be established, the selectmen call a meetino; of the voters on a certain day, at an a])j)ointed place. They ex]>lain the urfrency of the case ; they make known the means of satisfying it, the probable expense, and the site which seems to be most favorable. The meetino; is con- iimyor, and a corporation divided into two l)odies ; this, however, is an ex- ception wiiiili retpiires the sanction of a hiw. — Sec tlie Act of the 2:2d Feliruary, 1822, re}i:ulating tlie jxnvers of tlic city of IJoston. It frcqnently happens that small towns, as well as cities, are suhject to a peculiar adminis- tration. In 1832, 104 townships in the State of New York were governed in this numncr. — U7///(j/«a''s Rci/istcr. * Three selectmen are apjjointed in the small townships, and nine in the large ones. — See " The Town Officer," p. 186. Sec also the Revised Stat- utes of Massachusetts. '1 TOWNSHIPS AND MINFCIIVM, nODIKS. 79 suited »»n tliosc scvorul points ; it !i(l(»|>ts tlic ]»i'incij>lt', marks out tlu' sito, votes the tax, and confides tlu" execu- tion of its resolution to the seK'ctnu'U. The selectnu'U alone have the ri<jht ^A' calling n towu- meetinir; hut thev nia\ he nMiuired to do so. It' tcii citizens wish to suhniit a new |»roject to the assent of the town, thev may demand si town-meetine; ; the si'Iectmeii nri' ol)li;j;ed to comj)ly, and have only the ri«j;ht of ]tre>idinif at the meetiiif:;. These jxditical forms, thesi' social cus- toms, doid)tU'ss seem stran<j;e to us in Fi-ance. I do not here undertake to Jud^e tht-m, or to make known the secret causes by which they are jtroduced and maintained. I only descrihe them. The selectmen arc elected every yi'ar, in the month of March or April. The town-meeting chooses at the same time a multitude of other town ofHcers, who are intrusted with important administrative functions. Tlu; assessors rate the townshij) ; the collectors receive th(> tax. A constable is ap])ointetl to keep the peace, to wtitch the streets, and to execute the laws ; the town cli'rk records the town votes, orders, and f^rants. The treasurer keeps the funds. The overseers of the poor pei*forui the difKcult task of carrying out the poor-laws. Committee-men aro appointed to attend to the schools and public instruction ; and the surveyors of hio;hwavs, who take care of the greater and lesser roads of the township, complete the list of the principal functionaries. But there are other petty officers still ; such as the parish-committee, who audit the expenses of public worship ; fire-wards, who direct the efforts of the citizens in case of fire ; tithinij-men, hoix- reeves, fence- viewers, timber-measurers, and sealers of weifflits and measures.* * All these magistrates actually exist ; their different functions are all detailed in a hook ealled " The Town Officer," by Isaac Goodwin, (Wor- cester, 1827,) and in the Revised Statutes. ■■]•' V- ii m i^i t ■i :':! iU 1 i :| 1 1 B ilii H i H i?| , ^ 1 ! 1; 1 f If' ! i • 80 DEMOCRACY IX AMKltlCA. Tliciv arc, in all, iiinctoon jji'i'iicipal offices in a township. Every inhabitant is constrained, on the i)ain of beinj^ fined, to undertake these different functions ; which, however, are almost all })aid, in order that the })oorer citiy.ens may give time to them without loss.* In general, each official act has its price, and the officers are remunerated i.i proportion to what they have done. LIFE IX THE TOWNSHIP. Every one the best Judge of his own Interest. — Corollary of the Princi- ple of tiie Sovereignty of tlie People. — Aj)plioation of these Doetrines in the To\\iisliips of America. — Tlic Townsiiii) of New England is Sov- ereign in all that ooneerns itself alone, and Sulyect to the State in all other Matters. — Duties of the Township to the State. — In France, the Government lends its Agents to the Commune. — In America, it is the reverse. I HAVE already observed, that the principle of the sov- ereignty of the people governs the whole political system of the Anglo-Americans. Every page of this book will afford new applications of the same doctrine. In the na- tions by which the sovereignty of the people is recognized, every individual has an equal share of power, and })artici- pates equally in the government of the state. Why, then, does he obey the government, and what are the natural limits of this obedience ? Every individual is always sup- posed to be as well informed, as virtuous, and as strong as any of his fellow-citizens. He obeys the government, not because he is inferior to those who conduct it, or because he is less capable than any other of governing himself; but because he acknowledges the utility of an association with his fellow-meri, and he knows that no such association can exist without a regulating force. He is a subject in all * This is an en-or : most of then are performed gratuitously ; and when pay is given, it is so small as to be almost nominal. — Am. Ei>. TOWNsmrs and muxicital hodiks. 81 kvhcn that conconis tlio duties of citizens to Oiicli otlior ; he is free, mid responsible to (rod alone, for all that concerns himself. Hence arises the maxim, that every one is the best and sole judiie of his own })rivate interest, and that society has no right to control ;) man's actions, unless they are prejudicial to the common weal, or unless the common weal demands liis help. This doctrine is universally admitted in the United States. I shall hereafter examine the general in- fluence which it exercises on the ordinary actions of life : I am now speaking of the municipal bodies. The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to the central government, is only an individual, like any other to whom the theory I have just described is applicable. Municipal independence in the United States is, .therefore, a natural consecpience of this very principle of the sov- ereignty of the people. All the American republics rec- ognize it more or less ; but circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in Xew Eiiixland. In this part of the Union, political life had its origin in the townships ; and it may almost be said that each of them originally formed an independent nation. When the kings of England afterwards asserted their supremacy, they were content to assume the central power of the state. They left the townshi))s where they were before ; and although they are now sul)Ject to the state, they were not at first, or were hardly so. They did not receive their powers from the central authority, but, on the con- trary, they gave up a portion of their inde})endence to the state. This is an important distinction, and one which the reader must constantly recollect. The townships are generally subordinate to the state only in those interests which I shall term social, as they are common to all the others. They are independent in all that concerns them- selves alone : and amongst the inhabitants of Xew England, I believe that not a man is to be found who would acknowl- 4* F I 1« -41 82 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. edrro that the state lias any rio;ht to interfere in their town affairs. Tlie towns of New England bny and sell, prose- cute or are indicted, augment or diminish their rates, and no administrative authority ever thinks of offering any opposition. There are certain social duties, however, which they are hound to fulfil. If the State is in need of money, a town cannot withhold the supplies ; if the State projects a road, the township cannot refuse to let it cross its territory ; if a police regulation is made by the State, it must be enforced by the town ; if a uniform system of public instruction is enacted, every town is bound to establish the schools which the law ordains. "When I come to speak of the administra- tion of the laws in the United States, I shall point out how, and by what means, the townships are compelled to obey in these different cases : I here merely show the existence of the oblio;ation. Strict as this oblii^ation is, the o-overnment of the State imposes it in principle only, and in its per- formance the township resumes all its inde])endent rights. Thus, taxes are voted by the State, but they are levied and collected by the township ; the establishment of a school is obligatoiy, but the township builds, pays, and superintends it. In France, the state collector receives the local im- posts ; in America, the town collector receives the taxes of the State. Thus the French o;overnment lends its aixents to the commune; in America, the township lends its agents to the government. This fact alone shows how widely the two nations differ. ! Towxsinrs and :\irNirTPAL rodiks. 83 SPIRIT OF THE TOWNSinrS OF NEW ENGLAND. How tho Townsliij) of New England wins the Aftectioiis of its Iiiliabitants. — Diflioulty of crcatini; local I'uMic Spirit in Europe. — The Hi^'hts and Duties of the American Township favoralile to it. — Sources of local Attachment in the United States. — How Town Sj)irit shows itself in New England. — Its happy EtK-cts. In America, not only do municipal bodies exist, but they are kept alive and supported, by town spirit. The town- ship of New England possesses two advaritaiivs, which strongly excite the interest of mankind, — namely, inde- pendence and authority. Its sphere is limited, indeed ; but within that sphere, its action is unrestrained. This inde- pendence alone gives it a real importance, Avhicli its extent and population would not insure. It is to be remembered, too, that the affections of men generally turn towards power. Patriotism is not durable in a conquered nation. Tho New-Englander is attached to liis township, not so much because he was born in it, biit because it is a free and strong community, of which he is a member, and which deserves the care spent in man- aging it. In Europe, the absence of local public spirit is a frequent subject of regret to those who are in }))wer ; every one agrees that there is no surer guaranty of order and tranquillity, and yet nothing is more difficult to create. If the municipal bodies were made powerful and indepen- dent, it is feared that they Avould become too strong, and expose the state to anarchy. Yet, without power and in- dependence, a town may contain good subjects, but it can have no active citizens. Another important fact is, that the township of New England is so constituted as to excite the warmest of human affections, without arousing the ambitious passions of the heart of man. The officers of the county are not elected,* and their authority is veiy * This is a mistake ; they are chosen by popular vote. — Am. Ed. I ii ..iif m t;. 84 DKMOCRACY IX AMKIilCA. ■ N liinitcfl. Even the State is only a second-rate community, nliose tran(|uil and obscure administration offers no induce- ment sufHcient to draw men away from the home of their interests into the turmoil of j)ul)lic affairs. The Federal Government confers power and honor on the men who con- duct it ; hut these individuals can never be ver}' numerous. The high station of the Presidency can only be reached at an adxanced period of life ; and the other Federal function- aries of a high class are generally men who have been favored by good luck, or have been distinguished in some other career. Such cannot be the permanent aim of the ambitious. But the township, at the centre of the ordi- nary relations of life, serves as a field for the desire of public esteem, the want of exciting interest, and the taste for au- thority and popularity ; and the passions which commonly embroil society change their character, when they find a vent so near the domestic hearth and the family circle. In the American townships, power has been disseminated with a<lmirable skill, for the puq^ose of interesting the greatest possible number of persons in the common weal. Indejiendently of the voters, who are from time to time called into action, the power is divided among innumerable functionaries and officers, "who all, in their several s})heres, represent the powei'fiil community in whose name they act. The local administration thus affords an unfailing source of profit and interest to a vast number of individuals. The American system, which divides the local authority among so many citizens, does not scruple to multiply the functions of the town officers. For in the United States, it is believed, and with truth, that patriotism is a kind of devotion which is strengthened by ritual observance. In this manner, the acti\'ity of the township is continually per- ceptible ; it is daily manifested in the fulfilment of a duty, or the exercise of a right ; and a constant though gentle motion is thus kept up in society, which animates without 11 I Sit ll TOWNSHIPS AND MUNICIPAL BODIES. 85 disturbino; it. The American attaches himself to liis httle community for the same reason tliat tlie mountaineer chngs to his liills, because tlie characteristic feat ".res of his coun- try arc there more distinctly marked ; it has a niiire strik- ing physiognomy. The existence of the townships of New England is, in general, a happy one. Their government is suited to their tastes, and chosen by themselves. In the midst of the profound peace and general comfort which reign in Amer- ica, the commotions of municipal life are luifreciuent. The conduct of local business is easy. The political education of the people has long been complete ; say rather that it was complete, when the people first set foot uj)on the soil. In New England, no tradition exists of a distinction of ranks ; no portion of the community is tempted to o})press the remainder ; and the wrongs which may injure isolated individuals are forootten in the general contentment which prevails. If the government has faults, (and it would no doubt be easy to point out some,) they do not attract notice, for the government really emanates from those it governs, and whether it acts ill or well, this fact casts the protecting spell of a parental pride over its demerits. Be- sides, they have nothing wherewith to compare it. Eng- land formerly governed the mass of the colonies ; but the people was ahvays sovereign in the township, where its rule is not only an ancient, but a primitive state. The native of New England is attached to his township because it is independent and free : his co-operation in its affairs insures his attachment to its interest ; the well- being it affords him secures his affection ; and its welfare is the aim of his ambition and of his future exertions. He takes a part in every occurrence in the j)lace ; he practises the art of government in the small sphere within his reach ; he accustoms himself to those forms without wdiicli liberty can only advance by revolutions ; he imbibes their spirit ; 86 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. he acquires a taste for order, comprelientls tlie balance of powers, and collects clear practical notions on the nature of his duties and the extent of his rights. THE COUNTIES OF NE:\V ENGLAND. The division of the counties in America has considerable analogy with that of the arromUifsenients of France. The limits of both are arbitrarily laid down, and the various districts which they contain have no necessary connection, no common tradition or natural sympathy, no conununity of existence ; their object is simply to facilitate the ad- ministration. The extent of the township was too small to contain a system of judicial institutions ; the county, therefore, is the first centre of judicial action. Each county has a court of justice, a sheriff to execute its decrees, and a prison for criminals. There are certain wants which are felt alike by all the townships of a county ; it is therefore natural that they should be satisfied by a central authority. In Mas- sachusetts, this authority is vested in the hands of several magistrates, who are appointed by the Governor of the State, with the advice of his council.* The County Com- missioners have only a limited and exceptional authority, which is applicable to certain predetermined cases. The State and the townships possess all the power requisite for ordinary public business. The budget of the county is only drawn up by its Commissioners, and is voted by the legislature ; there is no assembly which directly or indi- rectly represents the county. It has, therefore, properly speaking, no political existence. A twofold tendency may be discerned in most of the * Tlie council of the Governor is an elective body. [The County Com- missioners are now elected by popular vote. See Eevised Statutes. — Am. Ed.] il I 1 TOWNSHIPS ANU MUNICIPAL BODIKS. 87 Amcrit-an constitutions, wliicli inipols the legislator to con- centrate the legislative, and to divide the executive power. The township of New England has in itself an indestructi- ble principle of life ; but this distinct existence could only be fictitiously introduced into the county, where the want of it has not been felt. All the townships united have but one representation, which is the State, the centre of all national authority : beyond the action of the townshij) and that of the State, it may be said that there is nothing but individual action. m It THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT IN NEW ENGLAND. Administration not perceived in America. — ^Vliy ? — Tlie Enropcans be- lieve tliat Lil)erty is promoted by deprivinff the Social Autiiority of some of its Rights ; the Americans, by dividing its Exercise. — Almost all the Administration confined to the Townsliip, and divided amongst the Town-Officers. — No Trace of an Administrative Hierarchy perceived, cither in tlie Township or above it. — The Keason of tliis. — How it happens that the Administration of the State is uniform. — Who is em- powered to enforce the Obedience of the Township and tlie County to the Law. — Tiie Introduction of Judicial Power into the Administration. — Consequence of the Extension of the Elective Principle to all Func- tionaries. — Tiic Justice of the Peace in New England. — By whom ap- pointed. — County Officer: insures the Administration of the Townships. — Court of Sessions. — Its Mode of Action. — Who brings Matters before this Court for Action. — Right of Inspection and Indictment parcelled out like the other Administrative Functions. — Informers en- couraged by the Division of Fines. Nothing is more striking to a European traveller in the United States, than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration. Written laws exist in America, and one sees the daily execution of them ; but although everything moves regularly, the mover can no- where be discovered. The hand which directs the social machine is invisible. Nevertheless, as all persons must I Ijii 88 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. V ! MMlil^' ! ■ i: ^f! liiivo recourse to cortuin grammatical forms, which arc the foundation of human language, in order to express their thougiits ; so all connnunities are obliged to secure their existence by submitting to a certain amount of authority, without Avhich they fall into anarchy. This autho"ity may be distributed in several ways, but it must always exist somewhere. There are two methods of diminishing the force of au- thority in a nation. The first is to weaken the supreme power in its very principle, by forbidding or preventing society from acting in its own defence under certain cir- cumstances. To weaken authority in this manner is the European way of establishing freedom. The second manner of diminishing the influence of au- thority docs not consist in stripping society of some of its rights, nor in paralyzing its efforts, but in distributing the exercise of its powers among various hands, and in multi- plying fiinctionaries, to each of whom is given the degree of power necessary for him to perform his duty. There may be nations whom this distribution of social powers might lead to anarchy ; but in itself, it is not anarchical. The authority thus divided is, indeed, rendered less irre- sistible and less perilous, but it is not destroyed. The Revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and reflecting preference of freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving for independence. It con- tracted no alliance with the turbulent passions of anarchy ; but its course was marked, on the contrary, by a love of order and law. It was never assumed in the United States, that the citi- zen of a free country has a right to do whatever he pleases ; on the contrary, more social obligations were there imposed upon him than anywhere else. No idea was ever enter- tained of attacking the principle or contesting the rights of society; but the exercise of its authority was divided, iiai TOWN'SIIIPS AND MUNICIPAL BODIKS. 89 in onli'i tlial. the offir-e ini<:;lit be powi'H'ul and tlio uftici-r insiM;niKc'iuit, aiul that the coinmimity slioukl be at once regulated and free. In no country in tlie world does the law hold so absolute a lauiiuatie as in America; and in no country is the rio;ht of! Jijtplying it vested in so many hands. The administrative j)ower in the United States presents nothino- cither centralized or liierarchical in its con- stitution ; this accoiuits for its passing luiperceived. The power exists, but its representative is nowhere to be seen. We have already mentioned, that the indej)endent town- ships of New England were not under guardianship, but took cjire of their own })rivate interests ; and the nuniici}>al magistrates are the persons who either execute the laws of the State, or see that they are executed.* liesides the gen- eral laws, the State sometimes passes general police.! regu- hitions ; but more commonly, the townsliij)S and town officers, conjointly with the justices of the peace, regulate the minor details of social life, according to the necessities of the different localities, and promulgate such orders as concern the health of the comnuuiity, and the peace as well as morality of the citizens. f Lastly, these town magistrates provide, of their own accord and without any impulse from without, for those unforeseen emergencies which frequently occur in society.:}: * Sec " The Town-Officer," especially at the words Sklectmen, Asses- sors, Collectors, Schools, Surveyors op Highways. I take one example in a thousand • the State prohibits travelling on Sunday without good reason ; the tythhuj-mm, who arc town-officers, are required to keep watch and to execute the law. The selectmen di'aw up the lists of voters for the election of the Governor, and transmit the result of the ballot to the Secretary of the State. t Thus, for instance, the selectmen authorize the construction of drains, and point out the proper sites for slaughter-houses and other trades which are a nuisance to the neighborhood. X For example, the selectmen, conjoinly with the justices of the peace, take measures for the security of the public in case of contagious diseases. 4^' IH 1 it':. 1 ! i' ' ; ■ 1 ' 1 . 1 r ! i ■: I; i f. I,- .'^ i , 1 i -1 \ i ,|' i! 1 1 1 yo Dr.MocnAcv in amkrica. It results i'roiu ^vllilt wo luive said, that, in tlu' State of iMassacliiist'tts, the ailministnitivu authority is ahnost entin'ly restricted to the township,* and tliat it is tlierc distributed anion;:; a iiivat inunber of individuals. Jn tiio Fi'enelj conDiiutie^ there is j)ro})erly but one official func- tionary, — namely, the Maire ; and in Kew England, we have seen that then; are nineteen. These nineteen func- tionaries do not, in general, depend one upon another. The law carefully prescribes a circle of action to each of these ina;;isti-ates ; within that circle, they are all-j)owerful to j)i'rtbrni their functions independently of any other au- thority. Above the townsliip, scarcely any trace of a liierarchy of official dignities is to be found. It sometimes hap[)ens, that tbe county officers alter a decision of the townships, or town magistrates;! but, in general, the au- thorities of the county have no right to interfere with the auth(jrities of the township,^ except in such matters as concern the county. The magistrates of the township, as well as those of the * I say almost, for there are many incidents in town-life vliicli arc regu- lated I)y the justiees of peace in their individual capacity, or by an assenil)ly of them in tlie chief town of the county ; thus, licenses arc granted by the justices. t Thus, licenses are gi'anted only to such persons as can produce a certif- icate of good conduct from the selectmen. If the selectmen refuse to give the ccrtilicate, the party may appeal to the justices assembled in the Court of Sessions ; and they may grant the license. The townships have the right to make by-laws, and to enforce them by tines, which are fixed by law ; but these by-laws nmst be approved by the Court of Sessions. [In several re- spects, these laws and customs have been altered by general legislation since the time when De Tocqueville wrote. But I do not tliink it necessary to specify all these alterations, as generally it is not the principle, but only the details, of the law that have been changed. — Am. Ed.] t In Massachusetts the county magistrates are frequently called upon to investigate the acts of the town magistrates ; but it will be shown farther on that this investigation is a consequence, not of their administrative, but of their judicial power. TOWNSnil'S AND MlXICIl'AI. HoDIKS. 91 Court |right but il re- biuce \y to the in to |r on of county, nrc Ixmiid, in a small mnnluT of pri'dcti'nniiu'd cases, to conununicatt' their acts to tlu; central govern- ment.* lint the central govHTiinient is not repri'sented Lv an au'ent mIioso bnsiness it is to pnhlish police I'eo- ulations and ordinances for the execution of the laws, or to keej) nj) a re^idar communication with the othcers of the township and the county, or to insjx'ct their conduct, direct their actions, or reprimand tiieir fiudts. There is 110 point M'hich serves as a centre to the radii of the ad- ministration. IIow, then, can the government be conducted on a uni- form i)lan ? and how is the com[)liance of the counties and their magistrates, or tlie townshi})s and their officers, enforced ? In the New Enoland States, the lemslativo authority embraces more subjects than it does in France ; the legislator penetrates to the very core of the administra- tion ; the law descends to minute details ; the same enact- ment prescribes the principle and the method of its apj)lica- tion, and tlms imposes a multitude of strict and rigorously defined obligations on the secondary bodies and functiona- ries of the State. The consequence of this is, that, if all the secondary functionaries of the administration conform to the law, society in all its branches proceeds with the greatest uniformity. The difficulty remains, how to compel the secondary bodies and functionaries of the administra- tion to conform to the law. It may be aflfirmed, in general, that society has only two methods of enforcing the execu- tion of the laws : a discretionary power may be intrusted to one of them of directino; all the others, and of removing them in case of disobedience ; or the courts of justice may be required to inflict judicial penalties on the offender. But these two methods are not always available. The right of directing a civil officer presupposes that of * Thus, tlie town committees of schools are obliged to make an annual report to the Secretary of the State on the condition of the schools. <l-) Hi I>1;M(»( IJACV IN AMKIMCA. lu \\ I 1^ (•nsliii-riiio; liiin if lit- docs not olx'V orders, jiiid of I'cward- iii^' liiiii l»y j)i'oinotioii it' lie tullils his duties w itli j»r()j)riety, I'mt ail elected iiiaiiistrate cannot l»e ca^Iiiered or |ii'oiMot- ed. All elective t'linctioiis ai'e iiialieiiaMc until their tei'ni I'Xpires. In liict, the elected n»a;^istrate has nothing' to expect or to fear, except from his constituents; and when all puhlic otKces are filled hy hallot, there can he no serii'S of oflicial dignities, because the <lonhle ri;j;ht of connnand- iny; and of enforcinj'' obedience can never be vested in the same person, and because the power of issuiui:; an order can never be joined to that of inflicting a punishnu'ut or bestowing a reward. The conmumities, therefore, in whicli the secondary functionaries of the government arc elected, are perforce obliged to make great use of judicial pi-nalties as a nu>ans of administration. This is not evident at first sight ; for those in ])ower are apt to look upon the institution of elec- tive functionaries as one concession, and the subjection of the elected niairistrate to the iudirt's of the land as another. They are ecjnally a\ erse to both these innovations ; and as they are more jiressingly solicited to grant the former than the latter, they accede to tlie election of the magistrate, and leave him independent of the judicial power. Neverthe- less, the second of these measures is the only thing that can possibly counterbalance the first ; and it will be found that an elective authority which is not subject to judicial power will, sooner or later, either elude all control or be destroyed. The courts of justice are the only possible medium between the central power and the administrative bodies ; they alone can compel the elected functionary to obey, without violating the rights of the elector. The extension of judicial power in the political world ought, therefore, to be in the exact ratio of the extension of elec- tive power: if these two institutions do not go hand in hand, the State must fall into anarchv or into servitude. TOWN'snil'S AND MINICfrM, nODFKS. 98 It li:i.s nlwiiys Ihhmi n'lnai'kiMl tliiit jiidii-ial li:»l»its do not rt'iidi'i- iiu'ii apt to the cxiTci^r "f adiniuisti'Mtixt' aiitliority. Tlic AiMcricaiH liavc l)on'o\vt'<l troiii tlicir fathers, tlic ICii^- lisli, the idea of an institution which is unknown upon the continent of Europe: I alhide to tliat of Justices of the Peace. Tiie Justice of tlio Peace is a sort of middle term be- twoon the majiistrate and tlie man of the world, hetween the civil oflicer and tlie judui'. A justici' of thi' peace is a well-intormed citizen, tliouiih he is not neoossarilv learned iu the law. His ofhce simply ol)lii;-es him to execute th(^ police re;j;ulations of society, a task in which oood sense and intenritv are of more avail than Ici-al scienct'. The justice introduces into the administration, when he takes j)art in it, a certain taste for estahlished forms and puln lieity, which renders him a most unserviceahh' instrument for desj)otism ; and, on the other hand, he is not a slave of those lee;al sni)erstitions whicli render judij;es unfit mem])ers of a jjjovernment. The Americans have adopted the Eng- lish system of justices of the })eace, dej)riviniT it of the aristocratic character which distinmiishes it in the mother coimtry. The Governor of ]Massa(diusetts appoints a cer- tain number of justices of the peace in every county, whose functions last seven years. He furtlicr desirrnates three individuals from the wliole body of justices, who form in each county what is called the Court of Sessions.* The justices take a personal share in tlie public administration ; they arc sometimes intrusted with administrative functions in conjunction with elected officers ; f they sometimes cou- * Tlic Court of Sessions no longer exists as such ; its functions have been inerpjed iu those of tlie ordinary legal trii)unals. — Am. Ed. t Thus, for example, a stranger arrives in a township from a country where a contagious disease prevails, and he falls ill. Two justices of the peace can, with the assent of the selectmen, order the sheriff of the county to remove and take care of him. In general, the justices interfere in all the im[)ortaiit acts of the administration, and give them a semi-judicial character. i' •M ill ! ■IP t* I §■ i i it ; ; ,, f; H ill 94 DK.MOCRACY IN AMERICA. stitute a tribunal, befo 'hich the ly ifjistrates summar prosecute a refractory citizen, or tlie citizens inform against the abuses of tlie majiistrate. But it is in the Court of Sessions that they exercise tlieir most important functions. This court meets twice a year, in the county town ; in Massacliusetts, it is empowered to enforce the obedience of 'Host* of the pubhc officers. f It must be observed that, in ]\Iassacliusetts, tlie Court of Sessions is at the same time an administrative body, properly so called, and a political tribunal. It has been mentioned that the county is a purely administrative division. The Court of Sessions presides over that small number of affairs which, as they concern several townships, or all the townships of the county in common, cannot be intrusted to any one of them in particular. J In all that concerns county business, the duties of the Court of Sessions are purely administra- tive ; and if in its procedure it occasionally introduces judi- cial forms, it is only with a view to its own information, § or as a guaranty to those for whom it acts. But when the administration of the township is brought before it, it acts * I say most of them, because certain administrative misflomcanors are brought before tlie ordinary tril)unals. If, for instance, a to\v-iisliip refuses to make the necessary expenditure for its schools, or to name a school-com- mittee, it is liable to a heavy tine. But this penalty is pronounced by the Supreme Judicial Court or the Court of Common Pleas. t In their individual capacity, the Justices of the Peace take a part in the busmess of the counties and townships. In general, the most important acts of the town can be performed only with the concurrence of some one of them. J These affairs may be brought under the following heads : — 1. The erec- tion of prisons and courts of justice. 2. The county budget, which is after- wards voted by the State legislature. 3. The distribution of the taxes so voted. 4. Grants of certain patents. 5. The laying down and repairs of the county roads. [Most of these acts are now performed by the County Commissioners. — Am. Ed.] § Thus, when a road is under consideration, almost all difficulties are dis- posed of liy the aid of the jury. V . <iJ TOWNSHIPS AND JIUXICirAL BODIKS. Oo Irec- ftcr- so lairs Lnty lilis- as a judicial body, and only in some few cases as an admin- istrative body. The first difficulty is, to make the township itself, an almost independent power, obey the general laws of the State. We have stated, that assessors are annually named by the town-meetings to levy the taxes. If a townshij) attempts to evade the payment of the taxes by neglecting to name its assessors, the Court of Sessions condemns it to a heavy fine. The fine is levied on each of the inhabitants ; and the sheriff of the county, who is the officer of justice, executes the mandate. Thus, in the United States, gov- ernment authority, anxious to keep out of sight, hides itself under the forms of a judicial sentence ; and its influence is at the same time fortified by that irresistible power Avhich men attribute to the formalities of law. These proceedings are easy to follow and to understand. The demands made upon a township are, in general, plain and accurately defined ; they consist in a simple fact, or in a principle without its application in detail.* But the diffi- culty begins when it is not the obedience of the township, but that of the town officers, which is to be enforced. All the reprehensible actions which a public functionary can commit are reducible to the followino; heads : — He may execute the law without energy or zeal ; He may neglect what the law requires ; He may do what the law forbids. Only the last two violations of duty can come before a legal tribunal ; a positive and appreciable fact is the indis- * There is an indirect metliod of enforcing tlic obedience of a township. Suppose that the funds which the law demands for the maintenance of the roads have not been voted ; the town surveyor is then authorized, ex officio, to levy the supplies. As he is personally responsible to private individuals for the state of the roads, and indictable before the Court of Sessions, he is sure to employ the extraordinary ri<iht which the law jrives him agaiiist the to\vnship. Tlius, by threatening the officer, the Court of Sessions exacts compliance from tlie town. Hi 00 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. , I 11 : III 'i; 2)ensal)lc foundation of an action at law. Thus, if the selectmen omit the legal formalities usual at town elections, tlu^y may ho fined. But when the officer performs his duty unskilfully, or oheys the letter of the law without zeal or energy, he is out of the reach of judicial interference. The Court of Sessions, even when clothed with administrative powers, is in this case unahle to enforce a more satisfactory obedience. The fear of removal is the only check to these quasi-offences, and the Court of Sessions does not originate the town authorities ; it cannot remove functionaries whom it does not appoint. oNIoreover, a perpetual supervision v.'ould he necessary to convict the officer of negligence or lukewarmness. Now the Court of Sessions sits but twice a year, and then only judges such offences as are brought to its notice. The only security for that active and enlight- ened obedience, which a court of justice cannot enforce upon public functionaries, lies in the arbitrary removal of them from office. In France, this final security is exer- cised by the heads of the administration ; in America, it is obtained through the principle of election. Thus, to recapitulate in a few words what I have de- scribed : — If a public officer in New England commits a crime in the exercise of his functions, the ordinary courts of justice are always called upon to punish him. If he commits a fault in his administrative capacity, a purely administrative tribunal is empowered to punish him ; and, if the affair is important or urgent, the judge does what the functionary should have done.* Lastly, if the same individual is guilty of one of those intangible offences which human justice can neither define nor appreciate, he annually appears before a tribunal from t ■' * If, for instance, a townsliip persists in refusing to name its assessors, tiie Court of Sessions nominates tliem ; and tlic magistrates thus appointed are invested with the same autiiority as elected officers. TOWNSHIPS AND MUNICIPAL P.ODIKS. 01 m dee L a lisli )se me )in Itlie arc wliic'li tlicre is no ap[)eal, wliicli can at once reduce liim to insiniiificance, and deprive liiin of his charge. This system undouhtedly possesses great advantages, but its execution is attended with a })ractical difficuUy, wliich it is important to point out. I liave already observed, that the administrative tribunal, wliich is called the Court of Sessions, has no right of in- spection over the town officers. It can only interfere when the conduct of a magistrate is specially brought under its notice ; and this is tlie delicate part of the system. The Americans of New England have no public prosecutor for the Court of Sessions,* and it may readily be perceived that it would be difficult to create one. If an accusino; magistrate had merely been appointed in the chief town of each comity, and he had been unassisted by agents in the townships, he would not have been better actpiainted with what was ijoino; on in the county than the members of the Court of Sessions. But to a})point his agents in each township would have been to centre in his person the most formidable of powers, that of a judicial administration. Moreover, laws are the children of habit, and nothing of the kind exists in the legislation of Eno;land. The Amer- icans h?ve, therefore, divided the offices of inspection and complaint, as well as all the other functions of the adminis- tration. Grand-jurors are bound by the law to apprise the court to which they belong of all the misdemeanors which may have been committed in their county. f There are certain great offijiices which are officially prosecuted by the State ; | but, more frequently, the task of punishing * I say the Court of Sessions, liecause, in common courts, tliere is an offi- cer [the district attorney] who exercises some of tiie functions of a public prosecutor. t Tiic Grand-jurors are, for instance, bound to inform tlie court of the bad state of the roads. } If, for instance, tiie treasurer of the county holds back his accounts. 5 o iff ■■1.L 98 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. c 'I ' U' delinquents clevi)lves upon the fiscal officer, avIiosc prov- ince it is to receive the fine : thus, the treasurer of the township is charged with the prosecution of such adminis- trative offences as fall under his notice. But a more espe- cial appeal is made by American legislation to the private interest of each citizen ; * and this great principle is con- stantly to be met with in studying the laws of the United States. American legislators are more apt to give men credit for intelligence than for honesty ; and they rely not a little on personal interest for the execution of the laws. When an individual is really and sensibly injiu'ed by an administrative abuse, his personal interest is a guaranty that he will prosecute. But if a legal formality be re- quired, which, however advantageous to the community, is of small importance to individuals, plaintiffs may be less easily found ; and thus, by a tacit agreement, ilie laws may fall into disuse. Reduced by their system to this extremity, the Americans are obliged to encourage informers by be- stowing on them a portion of the penalty in certain cases ; f and they thus insure the execution of the laAvs by the dan- gerous expedient of degrading the morals of the people. * Thus, to take one example out of a thousand, if a private individual breaks his carriage, or is wounded, in consequence of the badness of a road, lie can sue the township or the county for damages at the sessions. t In cases of invasion or insurrection, if the town officers neglect to fur- nish the necessary stores and ammunition for the militia, the township may be condemned to a fine of from 200 to 500 dollars. It may readily be im- agined that, in such a case, it might happen that no one would care to pros- ecute; hence the law adds, that any citizen may enter a complaint for offences of this kind, and that half the fine shall belong to the prosecutor. See Act of 6th March, 1810. The same clause is frequently to be met with in the Laws of Massachusetts. Not only are private individuals thus incited to prosecute the public oflicers, but the public officers arc encouraged in the same manner to bring the disobedience of private individuals to justice. If a citizen refuses to perform the work which has been assigned to him upon a road, the road-surveyor may prosecute him, and, if convicted, he receives half the penalty for himself. TOWNSHIPS AND MUNICIPAL BODIES. 00 Above the county magistrates, there is, properly speak- ing, no administrative power, but only a power of gov- ernment. 'fl It ■ fur- may e im- )ros- it for ■utor. with K'itcd 11 the If lion a leivcs GENERAL REMARKS ON THE ADMINISTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES. DifFerences of the States of the Union in their Systems of Administration. — Activity and Perfection of tlie Town Authorities decreases towards the South. — Power of tlie ISIayistrates increases; tliat of tlie Voter dimin- ishes. — Administration passes from the Township to the County. — States of New Yorlc : Oliio : Pennsylvania. — Principles of Administra- tion applicable to the whole Union. — Election of PuMic OtHcers, and Inalienability of their Functions. — Absence of Gradation of Hanks. — Introduction of Judicial Procedures into the Administration. I HAVE already said that, after examining the constitu- tion of the township and the county of New England in detail, I should take a general view of the remainder of the Union. Townships and town arrangements exist in every State; but in no other part of the Union is a township to be met with precisely similar to those of New England. The farther we go towards the South, the less active does the business of tlie township or parish become ; it has fewer magistrates, duties, and rights ; the population (ex- ercises a less immediate influence on affiiirs ; town-meetings are less frequent, and the subjects of debate less numerous. The power of the elected magistrate is augmented, and that of the voter diminished, whilst the public spirit of the local communities is less excited and less influential.* These differences may be perceived to a certain extent in the State of New York ; they are very sensible in Penn- * For details, see the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, Part I. Sec, in the Dijxest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, the words Assessors, Collector, Constakles, Overseer of tjie Poor, Scpervisors of Highways : and in the Acts of a general nature of the State of Ohio, the Act of the 25th of February, 1834, relating to townships, p. 412. ■■ r> < m ill f^ :ii * ■ ! i'l? .1. '' '}■ ]■ a :,'\ too DEMOCRACY IN AMEIUCA. sylvniiia ; but tlicy become less striking as we advance to tlie Nortliwcst. Tlie majority of tlie emigrants wlio settle in the Xortliwestern States are natives of New England, and they carry the administrative habits of their mother country with them into the country which they adopt. A township in Ohio is not unlike a township in Massa- chusetts. We have seen that, in INIassachusetts, the mainspring of ])ublic administration lies in the township. It forms the conmion centre of the interests and affections of the cit- izens. But this ceases to be the case as we descend to the States in which knowledge is less generally diffused, and where the townsliip consequently offers fewer guaranties of a wise and active administration. As we leave New England, therefore, we find that the importance of the town is gradually transferred to the county, which becomes the centre of administi'ation, and the intermediate power between the government and the citizen. In Massachu- setts, the business of the county is conducted by the Court of Sessions, which is composed of a quorum appointed by the Governor and his Council ; but the county has no rep- resentative assembly, and its expenditure is voted by the State legislature. In the great State of New York, on the contrarv, and in those of Ohio and Pennsvlvania, the in- habitants of each coimty choose a certain number of repre- sentatives, who constitute the assembly of the county.* The county assembly has the right of taxing the inhab- itants to a certain extent ; and it is, in this respect, a real * See tlie Revised Statutes of the State of New York, Part I. cliap. xi. Vol. I. p. 340, Id., chap. xii. p. SCG ; also, in the Acts of the State of Ohio, an act relating to county commissioners, 25fh Fehruary, 1824, p. 263. See the Diirest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, at the words County-kates and Levies, p. 170. In the State of New York, each township elects a representative, who has a share in the adniinistiaiion of the county as well as in that of the town- ship. in- Ipre- ]iab- ireal xi. of 1263. has jwn- TOWNSHirS AND MUNICIPAL DODIKS. 101 legislative body : at the same time, it exercises an exec- utive power in the county, frequently directs the admin- istration of the townsliips; and restricts their autliority ^vitllin much narrower bounds than in iMassachusetts. Such are the principal differences which the systems of county and town administration present in the Federal States. Were it my intention to examine the subject in detail, I should have to point out still further differences in the executive details of the several communities. But I have said enough to show the general principles on which the administration in the United States rests. These prin- ciples are differently applied : their consequences are moi'e or less numerous in various localities ; but they are al- ^^ays substantially the same. The laws differ, and their outward features change ; but the same spirit animates them. If the township and the county are not everywhere organized in the same manner, it is at least true that, in the United States, the county and the township are always based upon the same princijjle ; namely, that every one is the best judge of what concerns himself alone, and the most proper person to supply his own wants. The town- ship and the county are therefore bound to take care of their special interests : the State governs, but does not execute the laws. Exceptions to this principle may be met with, but not a contrary principle. The first consequence of this doctrine has been to cause all the magistrates to be chosen either by the inhabitants, or at least from among them. As the officers are every- where elected or appointed for a certain period, it has been impossible to establish the rules of a hierarchy of author- ities ; there are almost as many independent functionaries as there are functions, and the executive poAver is dissem- inated in a multitude of hands. Hence arose the necessity of introducing the control of the courts of justice over the administration, and the system of pecuniary penalties, by 102 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ir K'l wlilch the secondary Ixxlies and their representatives are constrained to obey the laws. Tliis system obtains from one end of the Union to the other. The power of pmi- ishing a(hninistrative misconduct, or of performing;, in urgent cases, achninistrative acts, has not, however, been bestowed on the same iudo;es in all the States. The Anglo-Americans derived the institution of justices of the jK'ace from a conmion source ; but although it exists in all the States, it is not always turned to the same use. The justices of the peace everywhere })articipate in the ad- ministration of the townships and the counties,* either as public officers, or as the judges of public misdemeanors ; but in most of the States, the more important j)ublic offences come under the cognizance of the ordinary tri- bunals. Thus, the election of public officers, or the inalienability of their functions, tlie absence of a gradation of powers, and the introduction of judicial action over the secondary branches of the administration, are the principal and uni- versal characteristics of the American system from INIaine to the Floridas. In some States (and that of New York has advanced most in this direction) traces of a centralized administration beo;in to be discernible. In the State of New^ York, the officers of the central government exercise, in certain cases, a sort of inspection or control over the secondary bodies. f At other times, they constitute a sort * In some of the Southern States, tlie county courts arc charj^ed with all the detail of the administration. See the Statutes of the State of Tennessee, Art. JuDiciAKT, Taxes, &c. t For instance, the direction of public instniction is centralized in the hands of the government. Tiie legislature names the members of the Uni- versity, who are denominated Kegents ; tlie Governor and Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of the State are necessarily of the number. The Regents of the University annually visit the colleges and academies, and make their report to the Icgislatiu'e. Their superintendence is not inefficient, for several rea- sons : the Colleges, in order to become corporations, stand in need of a char- TOWNSHIPS AND iMUNICIPAL HODIF.S. 103 of court of ;ip))i';il for the decision of affiiirs.* In tlie State of New York, judicial penalties arc less used than in other places as a means of administration ; and the right of prosecuving the offences of j)ublic officers is vested in fewer hands. f The same tendency is tliintly observable in some other States ; J but, in general, the prominent feature of the administration in the United States is its excessive decentralization. kth all lessee, the Uni- -Gov- If the report ll rea- char- ter, wliicli is only jrrantnl on the rcoommcmlation of the Ilcpents : every year, funds are distrilmted by tlie State for the cncoiiraffomcnt of learnin}», and the IJej^eiits arc the distril)Utors of tliis money. The school-commis- sioners are ohli^ed to send an annual report to the general Su])erintendent of the Schools. A similar report is annually made to the same person ou the number and condition of the poor. * If any one conceives himself to be wronped by the scliool-commission- ers (who arc town officers), he can appeal to tlie Superintendent of the Pri- mary Schools, whose decision is final. Provisions similar to those above cited are to be met with from time to time in the laws of the State of New York ; but, in general, these attempts at centralization are feeble and unproductive. The great axithorities of the State have the riglit of watchin,'^ and controlling the subordinate agents, without that of rewarding or punishing them. The same individual is never empowered to give an order and to punish disobedience ; he has, there- fore, the right of commanding, without the means of exacting compliance. In 1830, the Superintendent of Schools, in his aimual report to the legis- lature, complained that several school-commissioners had neglected, notwith- standing his application, to furnish him with the accounts which were due. He added that, if this omission continued, he should be obliged to prosecute them, as the law directs, before the proper tribunals. t Thus, the district-attorney is directed to recover all fines below the sura of fifty dollars, unless such a right has been specially awarded to another magistrate. J Several traces of centralizat'on may be discovered in Massachusetts ; for instance, tlie committees of the town schools are directed to make an annual report to the Secretary of State. 104 If llm iu DKMOCUACY IN AJIKUICA. OF THE STATE. I HAVE (It'scrihed the townslnjjs iiiul the adiuiiiistratlon ; it now reiuaiiis tor iiic to spcuk of tlic Statu and tlio ^ov- ommuiit. Tliis i.s nroiind 1 may pass over rapidly, wirlioiit iear of beiii^- misunderstood; for all I have to say is to be found in the vai'ious written constitutions, eo[)ies of which are easily to he procured. These constitutions rest upon II shnple and rational theory ; most of their forms have been adopted by all constitutional nations, and are become familiar to us. Here, then, I have only to give a brief account ; I shall endeavor afterwards to pass judgment upon what 1 now describe. LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE STATE. Division of the Lc<;islative Body into two Houses. — Senate, — House of Representatives. — Different Functions of these two Bodies. The legislative power of the State is vested in two assemblies, the first of which generally bears the iiumc of the Senate. The Senate is commonly a legislative body ; but it some- times becomes an executive and judicial one. It takes part in the government in several Avays, according to the con- stitution of tlie different States ; * but it is in the nomina- tion of public functionaries that it most commonly assumes an executive po"\ver. It partakes of judicial power in the tiial of certain political offences, and sometimes also in the decision of certain civil cases. f The number of its mem- bers is always small. The other branch of the legislature, which is usually * In Massachusetts, the Senate is not invested with any administrative functions. t As in the State of New York. Tin: STATE. t»» 1 he 11- h called the IIouso of Roprcsontatlvos, luis no sliaro what- ever ill the adiu'mistration, and takes a part in the jiidii-ial ])Ower only as it iuipeaehes pnbHc functionaries before the Senate. The members of the two houses are nearly eM'rywhere subject to the same conditions of eli<j;ibility. They are chosen in the same manner, and by the same citizens. The only difference which exists between them is, that the term for which the Senate is chosen is, in general, lonrrer than that of the House of Rej)resentatives. The latter seldom remain in otHce longer than a year ; the former usually sit two or three yeai's. By granting to the senators the privilege of being chosen for several years, and being renewed ftcriatliti^ the' law takes care to preserve in the legislative body a nucleus of men already accustomed to public business, and capable of exer- cising a salutary influence upon the new-comers. The Americans plaiidy did not desire, by this se})aration of the legislative body into two branches, to make one house hereditary and the other elective, one aristocratic and the other democratic. It was not their object to ere- ate in the one a bulwark to power, whilst the other rej)re- sented the interests and passions of the people. The only advantages which result from the ]»resent constitution of the two houses in the United States are, the division of the legislative power, and the consecpient check upon political movements ; too-ether with the creation of a tribunal of appeal for the revision of the laws. Time and experience, however, have convinced the Americans that, even if these are its only advantages, the division of the legislative power is still a principle of the greatest necessity. Pennsylvania was the only one of the United States which at first attempted to establish a single House of Assembly ; and Franklin himself was so far car- ried away by the logical consequences of the principle of 5* i-\ 100 DKMOCRACV IX AMKHICA. the sovoivI;j;Mty of tlio people, as to liavo concunvd in the iiu'iisuri' : hut the I'ennsvlvanijiiis were soon ohlin;cMl to clianoe the hiw, and to create two houses. Tlius the ]»riMcipK' of tlie (hvision of tlie k';;islative powi'i' "was Inially estahhslu-d, and its necessity may lienceforward ho n';;ai'(U'd as a (U'nionstrated trutli. Tin's theory, nearly unknown to the ri'pnhlics of anticpiity, — first introduced into the world ahnost hy accident, like so many other ^reat truths, and misunderstood by several modern nations, — is at length become an axiom in the political science of the present age. THE EXECUTIVE POWER OF THE STATE. Office of Governor in im Aniericim State. — His Ilclatiou to the Legislature. — His lliglits and his Duties. — His Dcpeudeuco ou the reoplo. The executive power of the State is represented by the Governor. It is not by accident that I have used this word; the Governor represents this power, although he enjoys but a portion of its rights. The supreme magis- trate, under the title of Governor, is the official moderator and counsellor of the legislature. He is armed with a veto or suspensive power, which allows him to stop, or at least to retard, its movements at pleasure. He lays the wants of the country before the legislative body, and points out the means which he thinks may be usefully employed in providing for them ; he is the natiu'al executor of its decrees in all the undertakings which interest the nation at large.* In the absence of the legislature, the Governor is bound to take all necessary steps to guard the State against violent shocks and unforeseen dangers. * Practically speaking, it is not always the Governor who executes the plans of the Legislature ; it often happens that the latter, in voting a meas- ure, names special agents to superintend the executiou of it. I -U THE STATE. 107 Tlio wlioli' inilitai'v power of tlio State is at tlu' disposal of tlio (Jovonmr. llu is tlic couimaiulor of tlie militia, and lu'ad of the armed force. When tlie antliority, whicli is by <j;eneral consent luvurded to tlie hiws, is disreu;ardi'd, the Governor puts himself at the liead of tlie anneil foreo of the State, to (pu'll resistance and restore order. I^astlv, the (Jovernor takes no share in the administra- tion of the townships and eountii's, except it be indirectly in the nomination of Justices of the Peace, which nomina- tion he has not the power to cancel.* The Governor is sin elected magistrate, and is n;enerally chosen for one or two years only ; so that he always con- tinues to be strictly dependent upon the majority who re- turned hun. POLITICAL EFFECTS OF DECENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Necessary Distinction between a Centralized Government and a Centralized Administration. — Administration not Centralized in the United States : great Centralization of the Government. — Some bad Consequences re- sultiuj:; to the United States from the extremely decentralized Adminis- tration. — Administrative Advantajics of this Order of Tiiin<;s. — Tiio Power which administers is less Ucyular, less Knlighteiied, less Learned, but much greater than in Europe. — l'oliti<'al Advantages of this (Jrder of Things. — In the United States, the Country makes itself felt every- where. — Support given to the Government by the Community. — Pro- viucial Institutions more necessary in Proportion as the social Condition becomes more Democratic. — Reason of this. Centralization is a word in general and daily use, without any precise meaning being attached to it. Never- theless, there exist two distinct kinds of centralization, which it is necessary to discriminate with accuracy. * In some of the States, justices of the peace are not appointed by the Govcruor. 108 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Certain interests are common to all ])arts of a nation, sncli as the enactment of its general laws, and the main- tenance of its forei irn re lat ions. Otl ler interests arc pe- culiar to certain parts of the nation ; such, for instance, as the business of the several townships. When the power which directs the former or general interests is concen- trated in one place or in the same persons, it constitutes a centralized government. To concentrate in like manner into one place the direction of the latter or local interests, constitutes what may be termed a centralized adminis- tration. Upon some points, these two kinds of centralization co- incide ; but by classitying the objects which fall more par- ticularly within the province of each, they may easily be distinouished. It is evident that a centrahzed government acquires immense power when united to centralized administration. Thus combined, it accustoms men to set their own will habitually and completely aside ; to submit, not only for once, or upon one point, but in every respect, and at all times. Not only, therefore, does this union of power sub- due them compulsorily, but it affects their ordinary habits ; it isolates them, and then influences each separately. These two kinds of centralization mutually assist and attract each other ; but they must not be supposed to be inseparable. It is impossible to imagine a more comj)letely centralized government than that which existed in France under Louis XIV. ; when the same individual was the author and the interpreter of the laws, and the representa- tive of France at home and abroad, he was justified in asserting that he constituted the state. Nevertheless, the administration was much less centralized under Louis XIV. than it is at the present day. In England, the centralization of the government is caiTied to great perfection ; the state has the compact THE STATE. 101) he IS lict vigor of one man, and its will pnts immense masses in motion, and turns its whole power where it pleases. But Eno-land, which has done so o;reat thino-s for the last fifty years, has never centralized its administration. Indeed, I cannot conceive that a nation can live and prosper without a powerful centralization of government. But I am of opinion that a centralized administration is fit only to ener- vate the nations in which it exists, by incessantly dimin- ishing their local spirit. Although such an administration can bring together at a given moment, on a given j)oint, all the disposable resources of a people, it injures the re- newal of those resources. It may insure a victory in the hour of strife, but it gradually relaxes the sinews of strength. It may help admirably the transient' greatness of a man, but not the durable prosperity of a nation. Observe, that whenever it is said that a state cannot act because it is not centralized, it is the centralization of the government which is spoken of. It is frequently asserted, and we assent to the proposition, that the German empire has never been able to bring all its powers into action. But the reason was, that the state was never able to en- force obedience to its general laws ; the several members of that great body always claimed the right, or found the means, of refusing their co-operation to the representatives of the common authority, even in the affairs which con- cerned the mass of the people ; in other words, there was no centralization of government. The same remark is applicable to the jNIiddle Ages ; the cause of all the mis- eries of feudal society was, that the control, not only of administration, but of crovernment, was divided amono;st a thousand hands, and broken up in a thousand different ways. The want of a centralized government prevented the nations of Europe from advancing with energy in any straightforward course. We have shown that, in the United States, there is no m 110 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. h 1.1 ' I ■• i I' r e 1 centralized administration, and no hierarchy of public func- tionaries. Local authority has been carried farther than any European nation could endure without great incon- venience, and it has even produced some disadvantageous consequences in America. But in the United States, the centralization of the government is perfect ; and it would be easy to prove that the national power is more concen- trated there than it has ever been in the old nations of Europe. Not only is there but one legislative body in each State, — not only does there exist but one source of political authority, — but numerous assemblies in districts or counties have not, in general, been multiplied, lest they should be tempted to leave their administrative duties and interfere w^ith the government. In America, the legisla- ture of each State is supreme; nothing can impede its authority, — neither privileges, nor local immunities, nor personal influence, nor even the empire of reason, since it represents that majority Avhicli claims to be the sole organ of reason. Its own determination is, therefore, the only limit to its action. In juxta])Osition with it, and under its immediate control, is the rej)resentative of the executive power, whose duty it is to constrain the refractory to sub- mit by superior force. The only symptom of weakness lies in certain details of the action of the government. The American republics have no standing armies to in- timidate a discontented minority ; but as no minority has as yet been reduced to declare open war, the necessity of an army has not been felt. The State usually employs the officers of the township or the county to deal with the citi- zens. Thus, for instance, in New England, the town assessor fixes the rate of taxes ; the town collector receives them ; the town treasurer transmits the amount to the pub- lic treasury ; and the disputes which may arise are brought before the ordinary courts of justice. This method of col- lecting taxes is sIoav as well as inconvenient, and it would I m It lip THE STATE. Ill prove a perpetual liiiulrance to a government -vvliose pecu- niary demands were large. It is desirable that, in what- ever materiallv affects its existence, the government should be served by officers of its own, appointed by itself, re- movable at its pleasure, and accustomed to raj)id methods of proceeding. But it will always be easy for the central government, organized as it is in America, to introduce more enero-etic and efficacious modes of action according to its wants. The want of a centralized government will not, then, as has often been asserted, prove the destruction of the re- publics of the New World ; far from the American gov- ernments being not sufficiently centralized, I shall prove hereafter that they are too much so. The legislative bodies daily encroach upon the authority of the govern- ment, and their tendency, like that of the French Conven- tion, is to appropriate it entirely to themselves. The social power thus centralized is constantly changing hands, because it is subordinate to the power of the people. It often forgets the maxims of wisdom and foresioht in the consciousness of its strength. Hence arises its danger. Its vigor, and not its impotence, will probably be the cause of its ultimate destruction. The system of decentralized administration produces several different eff^ects in America. The Americans seem to me to have outstepped the limits of sound policy, in isolating the administration of the government : for order, even in secondary affairs, is a matter of national impor- tance.* As the State has no administrative functionaries * si' * The authority wliich represents the State ought not, I tliink, to waive the right of inspecting the local administration, even when it docs not itself administer. Suppose, for instance, that an agent of the government was stationed at some appointed spot in each county, to prosecute tiic misde- meanors of the town and county officers, would not a more uniform order be the result, without in any way compromising the indopendonce of the }12 DEMOCRACY IN AMKIJICA. of its own, stationed on different points of its territory, to fi '■■ k; h )ulse, til common ]m})uise, tne conse(iuence is, that it rarely attempts to issue any f^eneral police regula- tions. The want of these regulations is severely felt, and is frefjuc'itly observed by Europeans. The appearance of disoi'der which prevails on the surface leads him at first to imagine that society is in a state of anarchy: nor does he perceive his mistake till he has gone deeper into the sub- ject. Certain undertakings are of importance to the whole State ; but they cannot be put in execution, because there is no State administration to direct them. Abandoned to the exertions of the towns or counties, under the care of elected and temporary agents, they lead to no result, or at least to no durable benefit. The partisans of centralization in Europe are wont to maintain that the government can administer the affairs of each locality better than the citizens could do it for them- selves : tljs may be true, when the central power is en- lightened, and the local authorities are ignorant; when it is aleit^ and they are slow ; when it is accustomed to act, and they to obey. Indeed, it is evident that this double tendency must augment with the increase of centralization, and that the readiness of the one and the incapacity of the others must become more and more prominent. But I deny that it is so, wIk i the people are as enlightened, as awake to their interests, and as accustomed to reflect on township ? Nothing of the kind, however, exists in America : there is noth- ing above tlie county courts, wliicli liavc, as it were, only an incidental cog- nizance of the administrative oftencos they ought to repress. [Mr. Spencer properly remarks, that " such an agent as tlic author liere suggests would soon come to be considered a public informer, the most odi- ous of all characters in the United States ; and he would lose all efficiency and strength." Whereas, as it is, the constant presence of the district attor- ney, and the meeting of a ^rand jury three or four times a year in every county, to whom every aggrieved poison lias free access, are sufficient pre- cautious against the misconduct or neglect of the local otHccrs. — Am. Ed.] THE STATE. 113 or Loth- Icog- pcrc lodi- picy ttor- [•eiy CD.] tlicm, as the Americans are. T am persuaded, (^n the con- trary, that, ill this ease, the collective strength of the citi- zens will always conduce more efficaciously to the i)ul)lic welfare than the authority of the government. I know it is difficult to point out with certainty the means of arous- ing a sleeping population, and of giving it passions and knowledge which it does not possess ; it is, I am well aware, an arduous task to persuade men to busy themselves about their own affiiirs. It would frecjuently be easier to interest them in the punctilios of court etiquette, than in the repairs of their common dwelling. But whenever a central administration affects completely to supersede the persons most interested, I believe that it is eitlu r misled, or desirous to mislead. However enlio-htened and -skilful a central power may be, it cannot of itself embrace all the details of the life of a great nation. Such vigilance ex- ceeds the powers of man. And when it attempts unaided to create and set in motion so many complicated springs, it must submit to a very imperfect result, or exhaust itself in bootless efforts. Centralization easily succeeds, indeed, in subjecting the external actions of men to a certain uniformity, which we come at last to love for its own sake, inde})endently of the objects to which it is applied, like those devotees who Avor- ship the statue, and forget the deity it represents. Cen- tralization imparts without difficulty an admirable regular- ity to the routine of business ; provides skilfully for the details of the social police ; represses small disorders and petty misdemeanors ; maintains society in a ^iatii quo alike secure from improvement and decline ; and perpetuates a di'owsy regularity in the conduct of affiiirs, which the heads of the administration are wont to call good order and pub- lic tranquillity ; * in short, it excels in prevention, but not * China appears to me to present the most perfect instance of that spe- cies of well-being which a highly centraUzed administration may furnish to H v\ i ■,- ' 'If i. Ill DEMOCRACY IX AMKUICA. in action.* Its force deserts it, wlien society is to be pro- foundly moved, or accelerated in its course ; and if once the co-operation of private citizens is necessaiy to the fur- therance of its measures, the secret of its impotence is dis- closed. Even whilst the centrahzed power, in its des])air, invokes the assistance of the citizens, it says to them: "You shall act just as I please, as much as I j)lease, and in the direction which I please. You are to take charge of the details, without aspiring to guide the system ; you are to work in darkness ; and afterwards you may judge my work bv its results." These are not the conditions on wliicli the alliance of the human will is to be obtained ; it must be free in its gait, and responsible for its acts, or (such is the constitution of man) the citizen had rather remain a passive spectator, than a dependent actor, in schemes with whicli he is unacquainted. It is undeniable, that the want of those unifonn rcgida- tions which control the conduct of every inhabitant of France, is not unfrequently felt in the United States. Gross instances of social indifference and neo;lect are to be met wath ; and from time to time, disgi'aceful blemishes are seen, in complete contrast with the surrounding civili- zation. Useful undertakings, which cannot succeed with- out perpetual attention and rigorous exactitude, are fre- quently abandoned ; for in America, as well as in other countries, the people proceed by sudden impulses and momentary exertions. The European, accustomed to find a fiinctionary always at hand to interfere with all he un- its subjects. Travellers assure us that the Chinese have tranquillity without happiness, industry without improvement, stability without strength, and public order without public morahty. The condition of society there is always tolerable, never excellent. I imagine that, when China is opejied to European observation, it will be found to contain the most perfect model of a centralized administration which exists in the universe. * This is a lively and faithful description of the system which Dickens has taught U8 to stigmatize by the name of "red-tape." — Am. Ed. TIIK STATE. 115 Hnd lun- has clertakos, rocoiicik's liimsolf witli (lifficnlty to tlio connilcx mcflianisin of the administration of the townslii])s. In general, it may be affii'med that the kisser details of tlu' police, which render lite easy and comfortal)le, are ne«j;k«ct- ed in America, hut that the essential ijuaranties of man in society are as strong there as elsewhere. In America, the power which conducts the administration is far less regidar, less enlightened, and less skilful, hut a hundred-fold greater, than in Europe. In no country in the world, do the citi- zens make such exerti(ms for the common weal. I kn(tw of no j)eople who have established schools so numerous and efficacious, j)laces of public worship better suited to the wants of the inhabitants, or roads kept in better re])aii'. Uniformity or permanence of design, the mimite arrange- ment of details,* and the perfection of administrative sys- tem, must not be sought for in the United States : what * A wTitcr of talent, who, in a comparison of the finances of France witli those of the United States, lias proved tliat in<:enuity cannot always supply the place of t' t knowledge of facts, justly reproaches the Americans for the sort of confi^ion which exists in the accoiuits of the ex|)enditiirc in the town- ships ; and after givinj^ the model of a Departmental Biidiret in France, he adds : " We are indehted to centralization, that admirable invention of a great man, for the order and method which prevail alike in all the municipal budgets, from the largest city to the humblest commune." Whatever may be my admiration of this result, when I see the communes of France, with their excellent system of accounts, plunged into the gros'icst ignorance of their true interests, and abandoned to so incorrigible an apathy that they seem to vegetate rather than to live ; when, on the other hand, I observe the activity, the information, and the spirit of enterprise in those American townships whose liudgetsare neither methodical nor uniform; I see that society there is always at work. I an struck by the spectacle ; for to my mind, the end of a good government is to insure the welfare of a people, and not merely to estab- lish order in the midst of its misery. I am therefore led to suppose, that the prosperity of the American townships and the apparent confusion of their finances, the distress of the French communes and the perfection of their budget, maybe attributalile to the same cause. At any rate, I am suspicious of a good which is united with so many evils, and I am not averse to an evil which is compensated by so many benefits. n \ i<i 110 DKMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. I ; M we find tlioro is, tlio proscncu of a power wlncli, if it Is somowliat wild, is at least robust, and an existence elieek- ered with accidents, indeed, but full of animation and ef- fort. Grantino;, for an instant, that the villaii-es and counties of the United States would be more usefully governed by a central authority, which they had never seen, than by func- tionaries taken from among them, — admitting, for the sake of argument, that there would l)e more security in Amer- ica, and the resources of society would be better employed there, if the whole administration centred in a single arm, — still the j'j'>Z//«m/ advantages which the Americans derive from their decentralized system would induce me to prefer it to the contrary plan. It profits me but little, after all, that a vigilant authority always j)rotects the tranquillity of my pleasures, and constantly averts all dangers from my ])ath, without my care or concern, if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life, and if it so monopolizes movement and life, that when it languishes everything languishes around it, that when it sleeps every- thing must sleep, and that when it dies the state itself must perish. There are countries in Europe, where the natives con- sider themselves as a kind of settlers, indifferent to the fate of the spot which they inhabit. The greatest changes are effected there without their concurrence, and (unless chance may have apprised them of the event) without their knowl- edge ; nay, more, the condition of his village, the police of liis street, the repairs of the church or the parsonage, do not concern him ; for he looks upon all these things as un- connected with himself, and as the property of a powerful stranger whom he calls the government. He has only a life-interest in these possessions, without the spirit of owner- ship or any ideas of improvement. This want of interest in his own affairs goes so far, that if his own safety or that THE STATE. 117 of his cliildivn is at last endan^ored, instead of trying to avert the peril, lie will fold his arms, and wait till the whole nation comes to his aid. This man, who has so completely saeriHced his own free will, does not, more than any other person, love ohedience ; lie cowers, it is true, before the pettiest ofiici'r ; hut he braves the law with the s[)irit of a conquered foe, as soon as its superior force is withdrawn: he perpetually oscillates between servitude and license. When a nation has arrived at this state, it must either chanoe its customs and its laws, or j)erish ; for the source of [)ublic virtues is dried u}) ; and tliouoh it may contain subjects, it has no citizens. Such communities are a natu- ral prey to foreign coiKpiests ; and if they do not wholly disa])])ear from the scene, it is only because they are sur- rounded by other nations similar or inferior to themselves ; it is because they still have an indetinable instinct of patriotism ; and an involuntary i)ride in the name of their country, or a vague reminiscence of its bygone fame, suffices to give them an impulse of self-preservation. Nor can the prodigious exertions made by certain nations to defend a country in which they had lived, so to speak, as strangers, be adduced in favor of such a system ; for it will be found that, in these cases, their main incitement was religion. The permanence, the glory, or the prosperity of the nation were become parts of their faith ; and in de- fending their country, they defended also that Holy City of which they were all citizens. The Turkish tribes have never taken an active share in the conduct of their affairs ; but they accomplished stupendous enterprises, as long as the victories of the Sultan were triumphs of the Mohammedan faith. In the present age, they are in rapid decay, because their religion is departing, and despotism only remains. Montesquieu, who attributed to absolute power an author- ity peculiar to itself, did it, as I conceive, an undeserved * IM '! Ill I 118 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 'Iirl '|!|| honor ; for (U'S{)f)tlsin, taken by itself, can maintain notliing durahie. On close inspection, we shall find that religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived })ros|)erity of an absolute government. Do what yon may, there is no true power among men except in the free unic^n of their will ; and patriotism or religion are the only two motives in the world which can long urge all the people towards the same end. Laws caimot rekindle an extinguished faith ; but men may be interested by the laws in the fate of their country. It de])ends upon the laws to awaken and direct the vague im})ulse of patriotism, which never abandons the human heart ; and if it be connected with the thoughts, the pas- sions, and the daily habits of life, it may be consolidated into a durable and rational sentiment. Let it not be said that it is too late to make the experiment ; for nations do not grow old as men do, and every fresh generation is a new people ready for the care of the legislator. It is not the administrative, but the political effects of decentralization, that I most admire in America. In the United States, the interests of the country are everywhere kept in view ; they are an object of solicitude to the })eople of the whole Union, and every citizen is as warmly attached to them as if they were his own. He takes pride in the glory of his nation ; he boasts of its success, to which he conceives himself to have contributed ; and he rejoices in the general prosperity by which he profits. The feeling he entertains toward the state is analogous to that which unites him to his family, and it is by a kind of selfishness that he interests himself in the welfare of his country. To the European, a public officer represents a superior force ; to an American, he represents a right. In America, then, it may be said that no one renders obedience to man, but to justice and to law. If the opinion which the citizen entertains of himself is exaggerated, it is at least salutary ; -• ■ 'A jwwrtvf?- fflt jutt. jnor L'ica, liiaii, tizen THE STATE. 119 he unlK'.sitatin;j;ly confides In liis own powors, which appear to liim to lu' aii-suMicicnt. Wiicn a private indivithial meditates an nn(h'i'takinii-, however directly contiected it may he with tlie welfiu'e of society, lie ni'ver thinks of solicitin;^' the eo-operation of the o()verinnent ; hut he puh- hslies his plan, ofl^'ers to execute it, courts the assistance of other hidividuals, and struggles manfully a<2;ainst all obsta- cles. Un(U)ul)tedly he is often less successful than the state might have been in his position ; but in the end, the sum of these private undertakings far exceeds all that the gov- ernment could have done. As the administrative authority is within the reacli of the citizens, whom in some degree it represents, .it excites neither their jealousy nor hatred: as its resources are limit- ed, every one feels that he must not rely solely on its aid. Thus, when the administration thinks fit to act within its own limits, it is not aband(med to itself, as in Europe , the duties of privai;e 'citizens are not sui)posed to have lapsed because the state has come into action ; but every one is ready, on the contrary, to guide and support it. This action of individuals, joined to that of the public authori- ties, frequently accomplishes what the most energetic cen- tralized administration would be unable to do.* It would be easy to adduce several facts in proof of what I advance, but I had rather give only one, with which I am best acquainted. In America, the means which the authorities have at their disposal for the discov- ery of crimes and the arrest of criminals are few. A state police does not exist, and passports are unknown. The criminal police of the United States cannot be compared to that of France ; the magistrates and public agents are not numerous ; they do not always initiate the measures for arresting the guilty ; and the examinations of prisoners are rapid and oral. Yet I believe that in no country does * See Aipcndix I. l!:i! 120 Dli.MUCHACV IN AMIIKICA. n ■ 'm™ 1 4 i ,'1 ■- crime more rarely elude ))unislimetit. The retison is, that every one coiu'elves himself to l)e interested in tin'nishin^j; evidence of the crime, and in seizin}^ the dfliii(|in'nt. Durin^i; my •'^ti'y in the United States, I witnessed the spontaneous formation of connnittees in a county foi* the jtursuit and prosecution of a man who had coinmitti'd u ^reat crime. In Kurope, a criminal is an unhappy man who is stru^<;lino; for his lite against the agents of j)o\ver, whilst the peoj)le are merely a spectator of the conflict : in America, he is looked ujjou as an enemy of the human race, and the whole of maid^ind is anainst him. I believe that provincial institutions are usefid to all nations, but nowhere do they apj)ear to me to be more necessary than amonost a democratic people. In an aris- tocracy, order can always be maintained in the midst of liberty ; anci as the rulers have a great deal to lose, order is to them a matter of great interest. In like manner, an ai'istocracy protects the })('0])le from the excesses of des- potism, because it always possesses an organized })ower ready to resist a despot. But a democracy without j)ro- vincial institutions has no security against these evils. How can a populace, unaccustomed to freedom in small concerns, learn to use it temperately in great aftairs ? What resistance can be offered to tyranny in a country where each individual is weak, and where the citizens are not united by any common interest? Those who dread the license of the mob, and those who fear absolute power, ought alike to desire the gradual development of pro\'incial liberties. I am also convinced, that democratic nations are most likely to fall beneath the yoke of a centralized administra- tion, for several reasons, amongst which is the following. The constant tendency of these nations is to concentrate all the strength of the e;overnment in the hands of the only power which directly represents the people ; because. Tin: siATE. 121 I are ?ad XT, :ial lost ra- late the beyond till' j)('()nl(', iiotliln^ is to !)»• [KTci'lvctl hut a mass of i'(|iijil iiidis idiials. Hut wlicii the same jiower already lias all the attrihutes of nijvonuiK'nt, it can seai'eejy re- iVaiu iVoiu peiietratinn- iuto tlie details of the aduiinis- tratioii, and an o|i|»ortuuity of {h)iu^ so is sui'e to presi-ut itself in tile Ion;;' riui, as was the ease in France. Jn the French Uevolution, there were two iinpulst's in opposite directions, which nnist never he confounded ; the one was favorahle to lil)erty, tlie otlier to despotism. Under the ancient monarchy, the kini"- was the sole author of the lawh ; and below the powei" of the sovereifjjn, certain ves- ti«j;es of j)rovincial institutions, half desti'oyed, were still dis- tinyjuishable. 'i'hese ])rovincial institutions were incohe- rent, ill arran^^ed, and fretpiently absurd; in the hands of the aristocracy, they had sometimes been convert-ed into instruments of ojjpression. The Revohitiou declared itself the enemy at once of royalty and of pt incial institutions; it confounded in iiuUscriminate hatred all that had pre- ceded it, — despotic power and the checks to its abuses ; and its tendency was at once to republican ize and to cen- tralize. This double character of the French Revolution is a fact which has been adroitly handled by the friends of absolute })ower. Can they be accused of laboring in the cause of despotism, when they are def.'udino; that central- ized administration Avhich Avas one of the great iiniovations of the Revolution ? * In this manner, popularity may be united with hostility to the rights of the people, and the secret slave of tyranny may be the professed lover of freedom. I have visited the two nations in wlilcli the system of provincial liberty has been most perfectly established, and I have listened to the opinions of different parties in those countries. In America, I met with men who secretly aspired to destroy the democratic institutions of the Union ; * See Appendix K. I ; 1 I r.; If 1 I, i'lH' 122 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. in England, I found others who openly attacked the aris- tocracy ; but I found no one who did not regard provincial independence as a great good. In both countries, I heard a thousand different causes assigned for the evils of the state ; but the local system was never mentioned amongst them. I heard citizens attribute the power and prosperity of their country to a multitude of reasons ; but they all placed the advantages of local institutions in the foremost rank. Am I to suppose that when men, wdio are naturally so divided on religious opinions and on political theories, agree on one point, (and that one which they can best judge, as it is one of which they have daily experience,) they are all in error ? The only nations which deny the utility of pro- vincial liberties are those which have fewest of them ; in other words, those only censm'e the institution who do not know it. JUDICIAL POWER IN THE UNITED STATES. 123 CHAPTER VI. JUDICIAL POWER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS INFLU- ENCE ON POLITICAL SOCIETY. The Anglo-Americans have retained the Characteristics of Judicial Power wluch are common to other Nations. — They have, however, made it a powerful political Organ. — How. — In what the Judicial System of the Anglo-Americans differs from that of all otlicr Nations. — Why the American Judges have the Right of declaring Laws to he unconstitu- tional. — How they use this Right. — Precautions taken hy the Legisla- tor to prevent its Abuse. I HAVE thouglit it r\g\\t to devote a separate chapter to the judicial authorities of the United States, lest their great political importance should be lessened in the reader's eyes by a merely incidental mention of them. Confederations have existed in other countries beside America ; I have seen republics elsewhere than upon the shores of the New World alone : the representative system of government has been adopted in several states of Eu- rope ; but I am not aware that any nation of the globe has hitherto organized a judicial power in the same man- ner as the Americans. The judicial organization of the United States is the institution which a stranjier has the greatest difficulty in understanding. He hears the au- thority of a judge invoked in the political occurrences of every day, and he naturally concludes that, in the United States, the judges are important political functionaries : nevertheless, when he examines the nature of the tribu- nals, they offer at the first glance nothing which is con- trary to the usual habits and privileges of those bodies; III ^i '■'■}.i Ell I tf if i Ji\ ■ El 1 li ^i; 'Mi;.: nil f]:i * 124 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. and the magistrates seem to him to interfere in pubh'c atf'airs only ))y chance, but by a chance which recurs every day. When tlie Parliament of Paris remonstrated, or refused to register an edict, or when it summoned a functionary accused of malversation to its bar, its political influence as a judicial body was clearly visible ; but nothing of the kind is to be seen in the United States. The Americans have retained all the ordinary characteristics of judicial author- ity, and have carefully restricted its action to the ordinary circle of its functions. The first characteristic of judicial power in all nations is the duty of arbitration. But rights must be contested in order to warrant the interference of a tribunal ; and an action must be brought before the decision of a judge can be had. As long, therefore, as a law is uncontested, the judicial authority is not called upon to discuss it, and it may exist without being perceived. When a judge in a given case attacks a law relating to that case, he extends the circle of his customary duties, without, however, step- ping beyond it, since he is in some measure obliged to decide upon the law in order to decide the case. But if he pronounces upon a law without proceeding from a case, he clearly steps beyond his sphere, and invades that of the legislative authority. The second characteristic of judicial power is, that it pronounces on special cases, and not upon general princi- ples. If a judge, in deciding a particular point, destroys a general principle by passing a judgment which tends to reject all the inferences from that principle, and conse- quently to annul it, he remains within the ordinary limits of his functions. But if he directly attacks a general prin- ciple without having a particular case in view, he leaves the circle in which all nations have ao;reed to confine his authority ; he assumes a more important, and perhaps a ■■i: JUDICIAL PCn'KR IN THE UNITED STATES. 12.') if more usefiil influonco, tliaii tlmt of the maoistrate ; but he ceases to represent the judicial power. Tlie tliird cluiracteristic of tlie judicial power is, that it can only act when it is called uj)on, or when, in legal phrase, it has taken cognizance of an atfair. This charac- teristic is less general than the other two ; but, notwith- standing the exceptions, I think it may be regarded as essential. The judicial power is, by its nature, devoid of action ; it must be put in motion in order to produce a result. When it is called upon to repress a crime, it pun- ishes the criminal ; when a wrong is to be redressed, it is ready to redress it ; when an act requires interpretation, it is prepared to interi)ret it ; but it does not pursue criminals, hunt out wrongs, or examine evidence of its own accord. A judicial functionary who should take the initiative, and usurp the censureship of the laws, would in some measure do violence t, he passive nature of his authority. The Ann. ■ • have retained these three distinguishing characteristic j. the judicial power : an American judge can only r)ronounce a decision when litigati(m has arisen, he is conversant only with special cases, and he cannot act until the cause has been duly brought before the court. His position is, therefore, perfectly similar to that of the magistrates of other nations ; and yet he is invested with immense political power. How comes that about? If the sphere of his authority and his means of action are the same as those of other judges, whence does he derive a power which they do not possess ? The cause of this difference lies in the simple fact, that the Americans have acknowledged the right of the judges to found their decis- ions on the ConMitution rather than on the laws. In other words, they have not permitted them to apply such laws as may appear to them to be unconstitutional. I am aware that a similar rioht has been sometimes claimed — but claimed in vain — by courts of justice in ii \i ' ; M i^; '! 1 ^ J J :iil i pr i II il'H; :ll ; ■ I i I- 1 ■ ■ J ■ 126 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. otlior countries ; but in America it is recoo;nizo(I })y all the authorities ; and not a party, not so much as an individual, is found to contest it. This fact can be explained only by the principles of the American constitutions. In France, the constitution is * — or, at least, is supposed to be — im- mutable ; and the received theory is, that no power has the right of changing any part of it. In England, the consti- tution may change continually ; f or rather, it does not in reality exist ; the Parliament is at once a legislative and a constituent assembly. The political theories of America are more simple and more rational. An American consti- tution is not supposed to be immutable, as in France ; nor is it susceptible of modification by the ordinary powers of society, as in England. It constitutes a detached whole, which, as it represents the will of the whole peo}>lo, is no less binding on the legislator than on the private citizen, but which may be altered by the will of the people in pre- determined cases, according to established rules. In Amer- ica, the constitution may therefore vary ; but as long as it exists, it is the origin of all authority, and the sole vehicle of the predominating force. It is easy to perceive how these diflPerences must act upon the })osition and the rights of the judicial bodies in the three countries I have cited. If, in France^, the tribunals were authorized to disobey the laws on the ground of their being opposed to the constitution, the constituent power Avould in fact be placed in their hands, since they alone would have the right of interpreting a constitution, of which no author- ity could change the terms. They would, therefore, take the place of the nation, and exercise as absolute a sway over society as the inherent weakness of judicial power would allow them to do. Undoubtedly, as the French judges are incom})etent to declare a law to be unconstitu- tional, the power of changing the constitution is indirectly * See Appendix L. t See Appendix M. JUDICIAL VOWEll IN THE UNITED SIATES. 127 l>ing given to the legislative body, since no legal barrier would oppose the alterations which it might prescribe. But it is still better to grant the power of changing the constitution of the people to men who represent (however imperfectly) the will of the people, than to men who represent no one but themselves. It would be still more unreasonable to invest the English judges Avith the right of resisting the decisions of the legis- lative body, since the Parliament which makes the laws also makes the constitution ; and consequently, a law ema- nating; from the three estates of the realm can in no case be unconstitutional. But neither of these remarks is appli- cable to America. In the United States, the constitution governs the legis- lator as much as the private citizen: as it is the first of laws, it cannot be modified by a law ; and it is therefore just that the tribunals should obey the constitution in pref- erence to any law. This condition belongs to the very essence of the judicature ; for to select that legal obligation by which he is most strictly bound, is in some sort the natural right of every magistrate. In France, the constitution is also the first of laws, and the judges have the same right to take it as the ground of their decisions ; but were they to exercise this right, they must perforce encroach on rights more sacred than their own, namely, on those of society, in whose name they are acting. In this case, reasons of state clearly prevail over ordinary motives. In America, where the nation can always reduce its magistrates to obedience by changing its constitution, no danger of this kind is to be feared. Upon this point, therefore, the political and the logical reason agi'ee, and the people as well as the judges preserve their privileges. Whenever a law which the judge holds to be unconsti- tutional is invoked in a tribunal of the United States, he m !■ N ''It;;'' t"; m ■;!:■;-! « i;ii ... 128 DEMOCRACY IN AJIEKICA. may refuse to admit it as a rule ; this power is the only one which is peculiar to the American magistrate, hut it gives rise to immense })olitical influence. In truth, few laws can escape the searching analysis of the judicial power for any length of time, for there are few which are not prejudicial to some private interest or other, and none which may not be brought before a court of justice by the choice of par- ties, or by the necessity of the case. But as soon as a judge has refused to apply any given law in a case, that law immediately loses a portion of its moral force. Those to whom it is prejudicial learn that means exist of overcom- ing its authority ; and similar suits are multiplied, until it becomes powerless. The alternative, then, is, that the people must alter the constitution, or the legislature must repeal the law. The political power which the Americans have intrusted to their courts of justice is therefore im- mense ; but the evils of this power are considerably dimin- ished by the impossibility of attacking the laws except through the courts of justice. If the judge had been em- powered to contest the law on the ground of theoretical generalities, — if he were able to take the initiative, and to censure the legislator, — he would play a prominent politi- cal part ; and as the champion or the antagonist of a party, he would have brought the hostile passions of the nation into the conflict. But when a judge contests a law in an obscure debate on some particular case, the importance of his attack is concealed from public notice ; his decision bears upon the interest of an individual, and the law is slighted only incidentally. Moreover, although it is cen- sured, it is not abolished ; its moral force may be dimin- ished, but its authority is not taken away ; and its final destruction can be accomplished only by the reiterated attacks of judicial functionaries. It will be seen, also, that by leaving it to private interest 1 --ensure the law, and by intimately uniting the trial of :; law with the JUDICIAL rOWKU IN Till-: UNITKD SIATKS. 129 feiion is \en- lin- mal Ited >o, hv, the trial of an individual, legislation is protected from Avanton ass.aults, and from tlie daily aggressions of party s])irit. The errors of the legislator are exposed only to meet a real want ; and it is always a positive and appreciable liict which must serve as the basis of a prosecution. I am inclined to believe this practice of the American courts to be at once most favorable to liberty and to public order. If the judge could on'" r'' ': the legislator o})enly and directly, he would sometimes b, fraid to opjxjse him ; and at other times, party spirit might encourage ' m to brave it at every turn. The laws would consecpiently be attacked when the power from which they emanated was weak, and obeyed when it was strong ; — that is to say, when it would be useful to respect them, they would often be contested ; and when it would be easy to convert them into an instrument of oppression, they would be respected. But the American judge is brought into the political arena independently of his own will. He only judges the law because he is obliged to judge a case. The political ques- tion which he is called upon to resolve is connected with the interests of the parties, and he cannot refuse to decide it without a denial of justice. He performs his functions as a citizen, by fulfilling the precise duties which belong to his profession as a magistrate. It is true that, upon this system, the judicial censorship of the courts of justice over the legislature cannot extend to all laws indiscrimi- nately, inasmuch as some of them can never give rise to that precise species of contest which is teraied a lawsuit ; and even when such a contest is possible, it may happen that no one cares to bring it before a court of justice. The Americans have often felt this inconvenience ; but they have left the remedy incomplete, lest they should give it an efficacy which might in some cases prove dangerous. Within these limits, the power vested in the American courts of justice, of pronouncing a statute to be unconsti- 6* I i « <!Ml. I 130 DKMOCKACY IN AMKRICA. • 1 !■ tutioiial, forms ono of tlic most powerful biirriers whicli lias ever been devised against the tyranny of political as- semblies. OTHER POWERS GRANTED TO AMERICAN JUDGES. In the United States, all the Citizens have the Right of i: 'ttiiif,' the Puhlic Functionaries helbrc the ordinary Triliunals. — llow they use this Right. — Art. 75 of the French Constitution of the Year VIII. — The Ameri- cans and the Englisli cannot understand the Purport of this Article. It is hardly necessary to say that, in a free country like America, all the citizens have the right of indicting public functionaries before the ordinary tribunals, and that all the judges have the power of convicting public officers. The right granted to the courts of justice of punishing the agents of the executive government, when they violate the laws, is so natural a one, that it cannot be looked upon as an extraordinary privilege. Nor do the springs of govern- ment appear to me to be weakened in the United States, by rendering all public officers responsible to the tribunals. The Americans seem, on the contrary, to have increased by this means that respect whicli is due to the authorities, and at the same time, to have made these authorities more careful not to offi^nd. I was struck by the small number of pohtical trials which occur in the United States ; but I had no difficulty in accounting for this circumstance. A prosecution, of whatever nature it may be, is always a difficult and expensive undertaking. It is easy to attack a public man in the journals, but the motives for bringing him before the tribunals must be serious. A solid ground of complaint must exist, before any one thinks of prosecut- ing a public officer, and these officers are careful not to furnish such grounds of complaint, when they are afraid of being prosecuted. I m .ii |ys a ttack )und pcut- it to of JUDICIAL POWER IN THK UNITKD STATKS. 101 This does not depend upon the republican form of Amer- ican institutions, for tho same thing happens in England. These two nations do not regard the impeachment of the principal ofHcers of state as the guaranty of their indepen- dence. But they hold that it is rather by minor pros(^cu- tions, which the humblest citizen can institute at any time, that liberty is ])rotected, and not by those great judicial procedures, which are rarely employed luitil it is too late. In the ]\Iiddle Ages, when it was very dithcult to reach offenders, the Judges inflicted fi'ightful j)unishnients on the tew who were arrested ; but this did not diminish the num- ber of crimes. It has since been discovered that, when justice is more certain and more mild, it is more eflica- uious. The English and the Americans hold that. tyranny and oppression are to be treated like any other crime, by lessening the penalty and facilitating conviction. In the year VIII. of the French Republic, a constitution was drawn up in which the following clause was intro- duced : " Art. 75. All the ajxents of the o;overnment below the rank of ministers can be prosecuted for offences relating to their several functions only by virtue of a decree of the Council of State ; in which case, the prosecution takes place before the ordinary tribunals." This clause survived the " Constitution of the year VIII.," and is still maintained, in spite of the just complaints of the nation. I have always found a difficulty in explaining its meaning to Englishmen or Americans, and have hardly understood it myself. They at once perceived that, the Council of State in France being a c;reat tribunal established in the centre of the kino-- dom, it was a sort of tyranny to send all complainants before it as a preliminary step. But w^hen I told them that the Council of State was not a judicial body, in the common sense of the term, but an administrative council composed of men dependent on the Crown, — so that the king, after having ordered one of his servants, called a 132 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. ^\> : Prefect, to commit an injustice, has the power of com- mandini: another of liis servants, called a Councillor of State, to prevent the former from being punished, — when I showed them, that the citizen who lias been injured ')y an order of the sovereign is obliged to ask the sovereign's per- mission to obtain redress, they refused to credit so flagrant an abuse, and were tem})tcd to accuse me of falsehood or ignorance. It frequently happened, before the Revolution, that a Parliament * issued a warrant against a })ublic officer wlio liad committed an offence. Sometimes the royal au- thority intervened, and quashed the proceedings. Despot- ism then sliowed itself openly, and men obeyed it only by submitting to superior force. It is painful to perceive how much lower we are sunk than our forefathers ; since we allow things to pass, under the color of justice and the sanc- tion of law, which violence alone imposed upon them. ' i * A French "Parliament" was a judicial body. — Am. Ed. ! i roLiiicAL .luuisuicTiuN IN iiiK r.srn;i) siAir.s. li] CHAPTER VII. POLITICAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED STATES. Definition of Politirul Jurisdiction. — What is understood by Political Juris- diction in France, in En<^Iaiul, and in the United States. — In America, tlie Political Jud^'c has to do only with I'uhlic Officers. — lie more fre- quently decrees Itemoval from OiHco than an ordinary IVnalty. — Polit- ical Jurisdiction as it exists in the United States is, notwitiistandiu}; its Mildness, and perhaps in Conseciuence of that Mildness, a most Power- ful Instrument in the Hands of the Majority. I UNDERSTAND by political jurisdiction, that tem- porary right of pronouncing a legal decision with which a pohtical body may be invested. In absolute governments, it is useless to introduce any extraordinary forms of procedure ; the prince, in whose name an offender is prosecuted, is as much the sovereign of the courts of justice as of everything else, and the idea whicli is entertained of liis power is of itself a sufficient security. The only thing he lias to fear is, that tlie ex- ternal formalities of justice should be neglected, and tliat liis authority should be dishonored, from a wish to strenirthen it. But in most free countries, in which tlie majority can never have the same influence over the tri- bunals as an absolute monarch, the judicial power has occasionally been vested for a time in the representatives of the peo])le. It has been thought better to introduce a temporary conftision between the functions of the different authorities, than to violate the necessary principle of the unity of government. England, France, and the United States have established ll 184 I)KM()CnA(;V IN AMKKICA. this political jurisdiction l»v liiw ; juul it is curious to sec tlio (lill'cri'nt use which these three <jrent natious have made of it. lu FiU;j;lau(l and in 1'' ranee, the ITouso of Lords and the Chaniher of Peers constitute the hinhost criminal court of their respective nations ; and although they do not hahitually try all ])olitical offences, they arc cotnpetent to trv them all. Another ixditical hodv has the riiiht of l)rin«iin<i; the accusation hefore the Peers: the onlv dim \\ liich 'XI its het wetMi the two niti in th « I cout respect is, that in Eui^land the Commons may ini])eacli whomsoever they please hefore the Lords, wdiilst in France, the Deputies can only employ this mode of pros- ecution ai^ainst the ministers of the Crown. In both countries, the U[)per House may make use of all the ex- istinn; ])enal laws of the nation to punish the delincpients. In the United States, as well as in Europe, one branch of the le<^islature is authorized to impeach, and the other to judf^e: the House of Representatives arrai<i;ns the offender, and the Senate punishes him. But the Senate can only try such j)ersons as are brought before it by the ILmse of Representatives, and those })ersons must beloni^ to the class of public functionaries. Thus the jiu'isdiction of the Senate is less extensive than that of the Peers of France, Avhilst the riiiht of impeachment by the Rejiresentatives is more general than that of the Deputies. But the great difference which exists between Europe and America is, that, in Europe, the political tribunals can apply all the enactments of the penal code, whilst in America, wlitn they have deprived the offender of liis official raidv, and have declared him incapable of filling any political office for the fiiture, their jurisdiction terminates, and that of the ordinary tribunals begins. Suppose, for instance, that the President of the United States has committed the crime of high-treason ; tlie House of Representatives impeaches him, and the Senate de- B au-a-fiwwi ror.iiK AL iriMsinciioN in tiii: r\rir,i> siatks. 1:»") led Ise le- pradcs Iiiiii (Voui otlico ; hv must tlicii Itc tv'u-A l»y a Jury, wliicli aloiie I ail (IcjuMvi' liitri of lihcrty or lill'. 'I'liis ac- ruratcly illustrates tlic suliji'ct we are treatiu;;;. 'I'lie ])olit- ical jiu'isdictiou whicli is estal)lislied 1)V tlie laws ot' I'iUnnui is iuteiidcd to reach i^reat ort'euders, wliatever may 1)0 tlieir l)irth, tlu'ir raid\, or their power in the State; and to this end, all the |)ri\ileo;L's of .'i court of justice ai'e temporarily f^iven to a <:;reat political assembly. The len;islator is then transformed into a magistrate ; he is called upon to prove, to classily, and to ])unish the offence ; and as he exercises all the authority of a jud<;i', the law im[)os(>s upon him all the duties of that higli othce, and requires all tl:< foi'mal- ities of justice. When a puhlic functionary is impeached before an Enn;lish or a French political tribunal, and is found jj;uilty, the sentence deprives him ipso faoto of his functions, and may pronounce him incapable of resuminif; them or any others for the future. But in this case, tin political interdict is a consequence of the sentence, and nrt the sentence itself. In Europe, then, the sentence of a political tribunal is a judicial verdict, rather than an ad- ministrative measure. In the United States, the contrary takes place ; and although the decision of the Senate is judicial in its form, since the Senators are obliged to com- ply with the rules and formalities of a court of justice ; although it is judicial, also, in respect to tlu? motives on which it is founded, since the Senate is o;^Mierallv obliged to take an offence at common law as the basis (f its sen- tence ; yet the political judgment is rather an administra- tive than a judicial act. If it had been the intention of the American legislator really to iiivest n political body with great judicial authority, its action would not have been limited to public functionaries, since the most danger- ous enemies of the state may not have any public functions ; and this is especially true in republics, where party influ- ence has the most force, and where the strength of many a leader is increased by his exercising no legitimate power. i ■' •I'.i •'^ 1' 136 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. If tlie American legislator had wished to give society itself the means of preventing great offences by the fear of pnnislnnent, according to the practice of ordinary justice, all the resources of the penal code would have been given to the political tribunals. But he gave them only an imperfect weapon, which can nt v^^r reach the most dan- gerous offenders ; since men who aim at the entire sub- version of the laws are not likely to murmur at a political interdict. The main object of the political jurisdiction which ob- tains in the United States is, therefore, to take away the power from him who Avould make a bad use of it, and pre- A'ent him from ever acquiring it again. This is evidently an administrative measure, sanctioned by the formalities of a judicial decision. In this matter, the Americans have created a mixed system ; they have surrounded the act which removes a public functionary with all the securities of a political trial, and they have deprived political con- demnations of their severest penalties. Every link of the system may easily be traced from this point ; we at once perceive why the American constitutions subject all the civil functionaries to the jurisdiction of the Senate, whilst the military, whose crimes are nevertheless more formi- dable, are exempted from that tribunal. In the civil ser^ A-ice, none of the American functionaries can be said to be removable ; the j)laces which some of them occupy are inalienable, and the others are chosen for a tenu which cannot be shortened.* It is, therefore, necessary to try them all in order to deprive them of their authority. But military officers are dependent on the chief magistrate of * This is a great mistake. In no country in the world do civil officers lioid their posts by so short and uncertain a tenure as in tiie United States. This is true l)oth of the Federal and tlie State governments, rotation in ofHco being now held up (falsely and injuriously, as we believe) to he a rcpuhlican principle. Every change of administration, every election of a new Gover- nor or a new President, leads to the appointment of a new set of officers, fsem POLITICAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 137 Ites. Ilic'o Iciin t'cr- 3r8, the State, who is himself a civil functionary ; and the de- cision which condemns him is a blow upon them all. If we now compare the American and the European systems, we shall meet with differences no less striking in the eifects which each of them produces or may produce. In France and England, the jurisdiction of political bodies is looked upon as an extraordinary resource, which is only to be employed in order to rescue society from unwonted dangers. It is not to be denied that these tribunals, as they are constituted in Europe, violate the conservative principle of tlie division of powers in the state, and threaten inces- santly the lives and liberties of the subject. The same political jurisdiction in the United States is only indirectly hostile to the division of powers ; it cannot menace the lives of the citizens, and it does not hover, as in Europe, over the heads of the whole community, since it reaches those only who have voluntarily submitted to its authority by accepting office. It is, at the same time, less formidable and less efficacious ; indeed, it has not been considered by the legislators of the United States as an extreme remedy for the more violent evils of society, but as an ordinary means of government. In this respect, it probably exercises more roal influence on the social body in America than in Europe. We must not be misled by the apparent mildness of American legislation in all that relates to political juris- diction. It is to be observed, in the first place, that in the United States, the tribunal which passes judgment is com- posed of the same elements, and subject lo the same in- fluences, as the body which impeaches the offender, and that this gives an almost irresistible impulse to the vin- down even to the lowest clerks in the several departments. Tlie country thus loses all the benefit of experience in the conduct of its affairs, the of- fices heing all iield at any one time by a set of raw hands. The only ex- ception is in the case of the Judges of the Supreme Court, who are now the only functionaries that cannot be removed except by impeacliment. — Am. Ed. 138 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ! :*i dictivc passloiw of parties. If political judges in the United States cannot inflict so heavy penalties as those in Europe, there is the less chance of their acquitting an offender ; the conviction, if it is less formidahle, is more certain. The principal object of the political tribunals of Europe is to punish the offender ; of those in America, to deprive him of his power. A political sentence in the United States may, therefore, be looked upon as a preventive measure ; and there is no reason for tying doAvn the judges to the 'exact definitions of criminal law. Nothinjx can be more alarming than the vagueness with which political offences, properly so called, are described in the laws of America. Article II. Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States runs thus : — " The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, brib- ery, or other ld<jh crimes and misdemeanors.'''' Many of the constitutions of the States are even less explicit. " Public officers," savs the Constitution of Massachusetts, " shall be impeached for misconduct or maladministration." The Constitution of Viro-inia declares that " all the civil officers who shall have offended against the State bv maladmlnis- tration, coiTuption, or other high crimes, may be imj)eached by the House of Delegates." In some of the States, the constitutions do not specify any offences, in order to sub- ject the public functionaries to an unlimited res})onsibility.* I venture to affirm, that it is precisely their mildness which renders the American laws so formidable in this respect. We have shown that, in Europe, the removal of a function- ary and his political discpialification are the consecpiences of the penalty he is to undergo, and that, in America, they constitute the penalty itself. The consequence is, that in Europe, political tribunals are invested with terrible powers which they are afraid to use, and the fear of punishing too * See tlie Constitutions of Illinois, Maine, Connecticut, and Georgia. ft. )f [y ['S io POLITICAL JURISDICTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 189 much lilnders tliem from punishing at all. Cut in Amer- ica, no one hesitates to inflict a penalty from which human- ity does not recoil. T* i )n(lemn a political opponent to death, in order to deprive- liim of his power, is to commit what all the world would execrate as a horrible assassina- tion ; but to declare that opponent unworthy to exercise that authority, and to deprive him of it, leaving him un- injured in life and limb, may seem to be the fair issue of the struggle. But this sentence, which it is so easy to pronounce, is not the less fatally severe to most of those upon whom it is inflicted. Great criminals may undoubt- edly brave its vain rigor; but ordinary oftenders will dread it as a condemnation which destroys their position in the world, casts a blight upon their honor, and condemns them to a shamefld inactivity worse than death. The influence exercised in the United States upon the progress of society by the jurisdiction of political bodies is the more powerful in proportion as it seems less frightful. It does not directly coerce the subject, but it renders the majority more abso- lute over those in power ; it does not give an unbounded authority to the legislature which can only be exerted at some great crisis, but it establishes a temperate and regular influence, which is at all times available. If the power is decreased, it can, (m the other hand, be more conveniently employed, and more easily abused. By preventing political tribunals from inflicting judicial punishments, the Americans seem to have eluded the worst consequences of legislative tyranny, rather than tyranny itself; and I am not sure that political jurisdiction, as it is constituted in the United States, is not, all things considered, the most tomnidable weapon which has ever been placed in the grasji of a ma- jority. When the American republics begin to degenerate, it will be easy to verify the truth of this observation, by remarking whether the number of political impeachments is increased.* * See Appendix N. 140 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER VIII. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. I HAVE hitherto considered each State as a separate whole, and have explained the different springs which the people there put in motion, and the different means of action which it employs. But all the States which I have considered as independent are yet forced to submit, in cer- tain cases, to the supreme authority of the Union. The time is now come to examine the portion of sovereignty which has been granted to the Union, and to cast a rapid glance over the Federal Constitution. HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. ■: i' f ^ Origin of the first Union. — Its "Weakness. — Congress appeals to the Con- stituent Au<^'^<"'-ity. — Interval of two Years between this Appeal and the Promulgation of the new Constitution. The thirteen Colonies, which simultaneously threw off the yoke of England towards the end of the last century, had, as I have already said, the same religion, the same language, the same customs, and almost the same laws ; they were struggling against a common enemy ; and these reasons were sufficiently strong to unite them one to an- other, and to consolidate them into one nation. But as each of them had always had a separate existence, and a government within its reach, separate interests and peculiar customs had sprung up, which were opposed to such a com- pact and intimate union as would have absorbed the indi- -,.^ ■ — ■ ^1^.^- > se n- as a ir THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 141 vidiial importance of each in the general importance of all. Hence arose two opposite tendencies, — the one prompting the Anglo-Americans to unite, the other to divide, their streno-tli. As long as the war with the mother country lasted, the principle of union was kept alive by necessity ; and al- though the laws which constituted it were defective, the common tie subsisted in spite of their imperfections.* But no sooner was peace concluded, than the faults of this legis- lation became manifest, and the state seemed to be sud- denly dissolved. Each Colony became an independent re- public, and assumed an absolute sovereignty. The Federal government, condemned to impotence by its Constitution, and no longer sustained by the presence of a common dan- ger, witnessed the outrages offered to its flag by the gi'eat nations of Europe, whilst it was scarcely able to maintain its ground against the Indian tribes, and to pay the interest of the debt which had been contracted during the war of independence. It was already on the verge of destruction, when it officially proclaimed its inability to conduct the government, and appealed to the constituent authority.f If America ever approached (for however brief a time) that lofty pinnacle of glory to which the proud imagination of its inhabitants is wont to point, it was at this solemn moment, when the national power abdicated, as it were, its authority. All ages have furnished the spectacle of a peo- ple struggling with energy to win its independence ; and the efforts of the Americans in throwing off the English yoKe have been considerably exaggerated. Separated from * See the Articles of the first Confederation, formed in 1778. Tiiis Con- stitution was not adopted by all the States until 1781. Sec also the analy- sis ffiveu of this Constitution in the Federalist, from No. 15 to No. 22 inclu- sive, and Story's " Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States," pp. 85-115. t Congress made this declaration on the 21st of February, 1787. I i'Eii ) ■ w i '■■-■!! 1 l!^ii : ■'',■' 'f i ■■i ■ ■ ! !' ■' l-i 1 142 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. their enemies by three thousand miles of oc^ean, and backed by a powerful ally, the United States owed their victory much more to their geographical position than to the valor of their armies or the patriotism of their citizens. It would be ridiculous to compare the American war to the wars of the French Revolution, or the efforts of the Americans to those of the French, when France, attacked by the whole of Europe, without money, without credit, without allies, threw forward a twentieth part of lier population to meet her enemies, and with one hand curried the torch of revo- lution beyond the frontiers, whilst she stifled with the other a flame that was devouring the country within. But it is new in the history of society, to see a great people turn a calm and scrutinizing eye upon itself, when apprised by the legislature that the wheels of its government are stopped, — to see it carefully examine the extent of the evil, and patiently wait two whole years until a remedy is discov- ered, to which it voluntarily submitted without its costing a tear or a drop of blood from mankind. When the inadequacy of the first constitution was dis- covered, America had the double advantage of that calm which had succeeded the effervescence of the Revolution, and of the aid of those great men whom the Revolution had created. The assembly which accepted the task of composing the second constitution was small ; * but George Washington was its President, and it contained the finest minds and the noblest characters which had ever appeared in the New World. This national Convention, after Ions and mature deliberation, offered to the acceptance of the people the body of general laws which still rules the; Union. All the States adopted it successively.! The new Federal * It consisted of fifty-five members ; Washington, Madison, Hamilton, and the two Morrises were amongst the number. t It was not adopted by tlie legislative bodies, l)ut representatives were elected by tiie people for tliis sole purpose ; and tlie new Constitution was discussed at length iu each of these assemblies. "irn FT THE FEDKIUL COXSriTUTlON. 143 government commenced its functions in 1780, after an interregnum of two years. The Revolution of America terminated precisely when that of France began. SUMMARY OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. pe in. lal K [re las Division of Authority between the Federal Govcrnincnt and the States. — The Goveruiiieut of tlic States is the Rule, tiic Federal Govermnent the Exeeption. The first question which awaited the Americans was, so to divide the sovereignty that each of the different States which composed the Union should continue to govern itself in all that concerned its internal prosj)erity, whilst the entire nation, represented by the Union, sh.ould con- tinue to form a comj)aci body, and to provide for all gen- eral exigencies. The problem was a complex and difficult one. It was as impossible to determine beforehand, with any degree of accuracy, the share of authority which each of the tw^o governments w^as to enjoy, as to foresee all the incidents in the life of a nation. The obligations and the claims of the Federal govern- ment were simple and easily definable, because the Union had been formed with the express purpose of meeting cer- tain great ojeneral wants ; but the claims and obligations of the individual States, on the other hand, were complicated and various, because their government had penetrated into all the details of social life. The attributes of the Federal government %vere therefore carefully defined, and all that was not included among them was declared to remain to the governments of the several States. Thus the gov- ernment of the States remained the rule, and that of the Confederation w^as the exception.* * It is to be observed, that, whenever the exclusive right of regulating cer- tain matters is not reserved to Congress by tlie Constitution, the States may w 144 DK.MOCRACY IX AMKRICA. ' '.'.J't \- '\ 1 1 ! ,: It' 1 r: ': : : ^ip'^t' . ■ *r i '\ 11 ;] .|- ; ' b u ■■•a \ ■ -, But as it was foreseen that, in practice, (juestions mi<j;lit arise as to the exact limits of tliis exceptional authority, and it would be dangerous to submit these (juestions to the decision of the ordinary courts of justice, established in the different States by the States themselves, a high Federal court was created,* one of whose duties was to maintain the balance of power between the two rival governments, as it had been established by the Constitution.! POWERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Power of (Icclarinfj War, making Peace, and levyinj:^ General Taxes vested in the Federal Government. — Wliat Part of tlic Internal Policy of the Country it may direct. — The Government of the Union in soum Re- epccts more centralized than the Kiny's Government in the old Prench Monarchy. The people in themselves are only individuals ; and the special reason why they need to be imited under one gov- ernment is, that they may appear to advantage before for- eigners. The exclusive right of making peace and war, of legislate concerning them till Congress sees fit to take up the affair. For instance, Congress has the right of making a general law on bankruptcy, which, however, it neglects to do. Each Str.te is then at liberty to make such a law for itself. This point, Iiowcver, has been established only after discussion in the law courts, and may be said to belong more properly to jurisprudence. * The action of this court is indirect, as we shall hereafter show. t It is thus that the Federalist, No. 45, explains this division of sover- eignty between the Union and the States : " The powers delegated by the Constitution to the Federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former ■will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, nego- tiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the internal order and prosperity of the State." I shall often have occasion to quote the Federalist in this work. ^Vlien THE FEDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 145 concliuling troatios of coinmorcG, niislno; armies, and oqnip- pin>i; fleets, was tlieret'ore o;rante(l to tlie Union. The ne- cessitv of a national jiovernnient was less imi)enonslv t'l'lt in the condnet of the internal affairs of soeiety ; but there are ct-rtain general interests which can only he attended to with jidvantaiio hy a ueneral anthoritv. The Union was invested with the nower of controUino; the monetary sys- tern, carrying the mails, and openin<jj the o-reat roads which were to nnite the different parts of the conntry.* The independence of the government of each State in its sphere was recognized ; yet the Federal govermnent was anthorized to interfere in the internal affairs of the States f hi a few predetermined cases, in which an indiscreet use of their independence might compromise the safety of the whole Union. Thus, whilst the power of modifying and changing their legislati<m at pleasure was ])rese)"ved to each of the confederate republics, they are forl)idden to enact ex-pod-fado laws, or to grant jiny titles of nobility. Lastly, as it was necessary that the Federal government should be al)i^' to fulfil its enffagements, it has an unlim- ited power of levying taxes. In examining the division of powers, as established by the bill, which has since become the Constitution of tlie United States, was hefoii e people, and the discussions were still pending, three men, who had already acquired a portion of that celebrity which they have since enjoyed, — John Jay, Hamilton, IMadison, — undertook together to explain to the na- tion the advantages of the measure which Avas proposed. "With this view, they published in a journal a series of articles, which now form a complete treatise. They entitled their journal " The Federalist," a name which has been retained in the work. The Federalist is an excellent book, which ought to be familiar to the statesmen of all countries, though it specially concerns America. * Several other powers of the same kind exist, such as that of legislating on bankruptcy, and grunting patents. The necessity of confiding such mat- ters to the Federal government is obvious enough. t Even in these cases, its interference is indirect. The Union interferes by means of the tribunals, as will be hereafter shown. 7 J 140 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ■ I the Fedonil Constitution, remarking on tlie one liand tlio p(trtIon of sovereignty whicli liiis been reserved to tlie sev- eral States, and on the other, the sliare of power wlilch has been given to the Union, It is evident tliat tlie Federal legislators entertained very clear and accurate notions re- S])ectlng the centralization of government. The United States form not only a republic, but a confederation ; yet the national authority is more centralized there than it , was in several of the absolute monarchies of Europe. I will cite only two examples. Thirteen supreme courts of justice existed in France, whicli, generally speaking, had the right of interi)retlng tlie law without appeal ; and those provinces which were styled paya d'JEtat were authorized to refuse their assent to an Imjjost whicli had been levied by the sovereign, wdio represented the nation. In the Union, there is but one tribunal to interpret, as there is one legislature to make, the laws ; and an impost voted by the representatives of the nation is binding upon all the citizens. In these two essential points, therefore, the Union is more centralized than the French monarchy, although the Union is only an assemblage of confederate republics. In Spain, certain provinces had the right of establisliing a system of custom-house duties peculiar to themselves, although that privilege belongs, by its very natm-e, to the national sovereignty. In America, Congress alone has the right of regulating the commercial relations of the States with each other. The government of the confederation is therefore more centralized in this respect, than the kingdom of Spain. It is true, that the power of the cro^vn in France or Spain was always able to obtain by force what- ever the constitution of the country denied, and that the ultimate result was consequently the same ; but I am here discussing the theory of the constitution. TMK ir.DKRAL CONSTITUTION'. 14: Aftor liMviiii; settled tlio limits within wliicli the Fed- eral governnient was to act, the next point was to deter- mine how it should be put in action. LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Division of the Legislative Body into Two Brnnclies. — DitU'riiHc in the Manner of fonnin;; the Two Houses. — Tiic Principle of the Imlenen- dence of tlio St.'itc;^ pvedominatcs in the Korination of 'he Senate. That of the Sovcrei^rnty of the Nation in the Composition of the Honso of Representatives. — Siiifrular Ktlect of the Faet that a Constitution can be Logical only when the Nation is Young. The plan which had been laid down beforehand in the constitutions of the several States was followed,' in many respects, in the organization of the powers of the Union. The Federal legislature of the Union was composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. A spirit of com- promise caused these two assemblies to be constituted on different principles. I have already shown that tAvo inter- ests were opposed to each other in the estaljlishment of the Federal Constitution. These two interests had given rise to tw^o opinions. It was the wish of one party to convert the Union into a league of independent States, or a sort of congress, at which the representatives of the several nations would meet to discuss certain })oints of common interest. The other party desired to unite the in- habitants of the American Colonies into one and the same people, and to establish a government, which should act iis the sole representative of the nation, although in a limited sphere. The practical consequences of these two theories were very different. If the object was, tliat a league should be established instead of a national government, then the majority of the States, instead of the majority of the inhabitant^ of the Union, would make the laws : for every State, great I. ■ ! n \n if i! 148 DKMOCKACV IN AMKIMCA. or small, would tlu-n remain in full indcpc'iuU'iice, aii«] outer \\iv L'nion ii|i()n a footin*^ of jx'rtl'ct «■ jiality. U\ liowcvc!', till' iiilialiitaiits of the United States wove to be considert'd as lK'lou<:;in^ to oiio and the same nation, it would he natural that the majority of tlie citi/A'Us of the Union should make the law. Of course, the U'sser States could not suhscrihe to the application of this doctrine with- out, in tact, al)dicatin«jj their existence in respect to the sovereit^nty of the C^onfecK'ration ; since they would cease *to be a co-eipial and co-authoritative j)ower, and become an insioiiitic'iiit fraction of a oivat people. The former sys- tem would have invested them with excessive authority, the latter wcmld have destroyed their influence altogether. Under these circumstances, the result was, that the rules of Ionic were broken, as is usually the case when interests are op[)osed to areuments. A middle course was hit u})on by the legislators, whi(di brought together by force two systems theoretically irreconcilable. The princi[)le of the independence of the States tri- umphed in the formation of the Senate, and that of the sovereignty of the nation iri the composition of the House of l{ej)resentatives. Each State was to send two Senators to Congress, and a number of Representatives proportioned to its population.* It results from this arrangement that * Every ten years, Congress fixes anew the number of Representatives which each State is to furnish. Tlie total number was 69 in 1789, and 240 in 18.33. Tiie Constitution decided that there sliould not be more tlian one Repre- sentative for every 30,000 persons ; but no minimum Avas fixed on. Con- gress lias not thouglit fit to augment the number of Representatives in i)ro- portion to the increase of popidation. The first Act which was passed on the subject (14th of April, 1792) decided that there should 1)C one Represent- ative for every 33,000 inhabitants. Tlie Act which was passed in 18.52 fixes tlie proportion at one for 93,423, and made the House consist of 234 mem- bers. The population represented is composed of all the freemen, and of three fil'tlis of the slaves. n TIIK FKDKIiAl, CONSTmmOX. 141) rea NO re- lu- ro- [)U |it- es thu Stati' of New York lias at the j)iV!*ont day tliirty-tliriM^ Representatives, and only two Senators ; the State of Del- aware lias two Senators, and oidy one lle|iresentative ; tho State of Delaware is therefore e([nal to tlii' State of New York in tlu' Senate, whilst the latter has thirty-three times t».c inHiience of the former ii' tho llonse of Representa- tives. Thns, the minority of the ..:'Hon in the Stiuito may i)araly/e the decisions of the majority ivpresented in the other Housi', which is contrary to the spirit of coiisti tutional jj-overnment. These fiicts show how rare and dirtienlt it is i-atioiudly and loy;ieallv t(» comhiiu' all the several i)arts of leoislation. The conrse of time always o;ives hirth to diti'erent inti'rests, and sanctions different ])rinciples, amon^j; the same people; and when a <<;eneral constitntion is to be cstahlished, tlu'se interests and princij)les are so many natnral obsta(des to the riooi'ons application of any political system with all its consecinences. The early stages of national existence are the only periods at whicdi it is possible to make legislation strictly logical ; and when we perceixe a nation in the en- joyment of this advantage, we should not hastily con(dude that it is wise, but only remember that it is young. When the Federal Constitution was formed, the interest of inde- pendence for the separate States, and the interest of union for the whole peo})le, were the only two conflicting inter- ests which existed amongst the Anglo-Americans ; and a com])romise was necessarily made between them. It is, however, j st to acknowledge, that this part of the Constitution has not hitherto produced those evils which miii'ht liave been feared. All the States are youno; and contiguous ; their customs, their ideas, and their wants are not dissimilar ; and the diflferences which result from their size are not enough to set their interests much at variance. The small States have consequently never leagued them- pelves together in tlie Senate to oj)pose the designs of the U' V 150 DEMOCRACY IN A.MERICA. h larger ones. Besides, there is so irresistible an authority in the legal expression of the will of a people, that the Senate could offer but a feeble opposition to the vote of the majority expressed by the Plouse of Representatives. It must not be forgotten, moreover, that it Avas not in the power of the American legislators to reduce to a single nation the peo})le for whom they were making laws. The object of the Federal Constitution was not to destroy the independence of the States, but to restrain it. By acknowl- edging the real power of these secondary communities, (and it was impossible to deprive them of it,) they disavowed beforehand the habitual use of constraint in enforcino- the decisions of the majority. This being laid down, the intro- duction of the influence of the States into the mechanism of the Federal government was by no means to be won- dered at ; since it only attested the existence of an acknowl- edged j>ower, which was to be humored, and not forcibly checked. A FURTHER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SENATE AND THB HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The Senate named by tlie State Legislatnres ; tlie Representatives by the People. — DouI)le Election of the former ; single Election of the latter. — Term of the different Otiices. — Peculiar Functions of each House. The Senate differs from the other House, not only in the very principle of representation, but also in the mode of its election, in the term for which it is chosen, and in the nature of its functions. The Hoise of Representatives is chosen by the people, the Senate by the legislatures of each State ; the former is directly elected, tlie latter is elected by an elected body ; the term for which the Rep- resentatives are chosen is only two years, that of the Sena- tors is six. The functions of the House of Representatives ai'e purely legislative, and the only share it takes in th<» m f ItH jl \ \ f9f if ''Vf1!fS. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 151 judicial power is in the impeacliinent of puljlic officers. The Senate co-operates in the work of legishition, and tries those political offences wliicli the House of Representatives submits to its decision. It also acts as the great executive council of the nation ; the treaties which are concluded by the President must be ratified by the Senate ; and the appointm(ints he may make, in order to be definitive, must be approved by the same body. I THE EXECUTIVE POWER. Dcpemloucc of the President. — He is Elective and Responsible. — Free ia liis own Spliere, under tlie Inspection, but not under the Direction, of tlie Senate. — His Salary fixed at liis Entry into Olfiee. — Suspensive Veto. The American legislators undertook a difficult task in attempting to create an executive power dependent on the majority of the people, and nevertheless sufficiently strong to act without restraint in its own sphere. It was indis- pensable to the maintenance of the republican form of government, that the representative of the executive power should be subject to the will of the nation. The President is an elective magistrate. His honor, his property, his liberty, and his life are the securities which the people have for the temperate use of his power. But in the exercise of his authority, he is not perfectly indepen- dent : the Senate takes coiinizance of his relations with foreign powers, and of his distribution of public appoint- ments, so that he can neither corrupt nor be corrupted. The leo;islators of the Union acknowledge that the exec- utive power could not fulfil its task with dignity and advantage, unless it enjoyed more stability and strength than had been granted it in the separate States. The President is chosen for four years, and he may be re-elected ; so rliat the chances of a future administration I «'i J t fi- ! ; 152 DKMOCRACY IN AMKIIICA. i I ! ! may Inspire liim witli hopeful undertakings for tlie public good, and give liim tlie means of carrying them into execu- tion. Tlie President was made the sole representative of the executive power of the Union ; and care was taken not to render liis decisions subordinate to the vote of a council, — a dan<i;erous measure, wliich tends at the same time to clon; the action of the government and to diminish its responsi- bility. Tlie Senate has the right of annulling certain acts of the President ; but it cannot compel him to take any steps, nor does it participate in the exercise of the executive })ower. The action of the legislariire on the executive power may be direct, and we have just shown that the Ameri- cans carefidly obviated this influence ; but it may, on the other hand, be indirect. Leo-islative assemblies which have the j)Ower of depriving an officer of state of his sal- ary encroach upon his independence ; and as they are free to make the laws, it is to be feared lest they should gradu- ally appropriate to themselves a portion of that authority which the Constitution had vested in his hands. This dependence of tlie executive power is one of the defects inherent in republican constitutions. The Americans have not been able to counteract the tendency which legislative assemblies have to get possession of the governmen.^ but they have rendered this propensity less irresistible. The salary of the President is fixed, at the time of his enterino; upon office, for the whole period of his magistracy. The President is, moreover, armed with a suspensive veto, which allows him to o})])ose the passing of such laws as might destroy the portion of independence which the Con- stitution award;-: him. Yet the strugi^le between the Presi- dent and the legislature must always be an uneipial one, since the latter is certain of bearing down all resistance by persevering in its plans ; but the suspensive veto forces it, at least, to reconsider the matter, and, if the motion be jlL fcl PHI THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 153 persisted in, it must then Le 1)a('ke(I by n majority of two thirds of the wliole house. The veto is, moreovei", a sort of appeal to the people. The executive power, which, M'ithout this security, might have been secretly ()j)[)resscd, ado})ts this means of pleading its cause and stating its mo- tives. But if the legislature })erseveres in its design, can it not always overpower all resistance? ] reply that in the constitutions of all nations, of whatever kind they may be, a certain point exists at Avhich the legislator must have recourse to the n-ood sense and the virtue of liis fellow-citi- zens. This point is nearer and more jjromineiit in repub- lics, whilst it is more remote and more carefully concealed in monarchies ; but it always exists somewhere. 'J'liere is no country in which everything can be provided for by the laws, or in which political institutions can prove a substi- tute for common sense and p iblic morality. IN WHAT Til'': POSITION OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DIFFERS FROM THAT OF A CONSTITUTIONAL KING OF FRANCE. Executive Power in the United States as limited and cxcejitional as tlic Sovereif^nty wliicli it represents. — Executive I'cjwcr in I'ran ;', like tlic State Sovereifj;nty, extends to everythinfj^. — Tiie Kin*;: a l?rai" i: ^^f tiie Lcfrislature. — Tiie President tlie mere Executor of tlic I a-.v. — ! itlie; Ditierences resulting;' from the Duration of the two Powi'rs. — T' c i'res- ident checked in the Exercise of tlie Executive Autliority. — 'llie King Independent in its Exercise. — In si)ite of these Ditlerences, France is more akin to a Republic than the Union to a Monarchy. — Cvunporisor of the Nunrher of Public, Officers depending upon the Executive Pover iu the two Countries. The executive power has so important an influence on the destinies of nations, that I wish to dwell for an instant on this portion of my subject, in order more clearly to ex- plain the part it sustains in America. In order to form a clear and precise; idea of the position of the President of ifi! M |i:! i ill is Pi 31 i ;; i/) fli:!::,.| I;-, I ' 154 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. the United States, it may be well to compare it witli that of one of the constitutional kings of Europe. In this com- parison, I shall j)ay but little attention to the external signs of power, which are more apt to deceive the eye of the observer than to guide his researches. When a monarchy is being gradually transformed into a republic, the execu- tive power retains the titles, the honors, the etiquette, and even the funds of royalty, long after its real authority has disappeared. The English, after having cut off the head • of one king, and expelled another from his throne, were still wont to address the successors of those princes only upon their knees. On the other hand, when a republic falls under the sway of a single man, the demeanor of the sovereign remains as simple and unpretending as if his au- thority was not yet paramount. When tlie Emperors ex- ercised an unlimited control over the fortunes and the lives of their fellow-citizens, it was customary to call them Cicsar in conversation ; and they were in the habit of supping without formality at their friends' houses. It is therefore necessary to look below the surface. The sovereignty of the United States is shared between the Union and the States, whilst, in France, it is undivided and compact : hence arises the first and most notable dif- ference which exists between the President of the United States and the King of France. In the United States, the executive poAver is as limited and exceptional as the sover- eignty in whose name it acts ; in France, it is as universal as the authority of the State. The Americans have a Fed- eral, and the French a national government. This cause of inferiority results from the nature of things, but it ie not the only one ; the second in impor- tance is as follows. Sovereignty may be defined to be the right of making laws. In France, the King really exercises a portion of the sovereign power, since the laws have no weight if he refuses to sanction them ; he is, moreover, the hi he le r |o THE FEDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 155 executor of all they ordain. The President is also the ex- eciit(jr of the laws ; but he does not really co-operate in making them, since the refusal of his assent does not pre- vent their passage. He is not, therefore, a part of the sov- ereign power, but only its agent. ]5ut not only does the King of France constitute a portion of the sovereign power ; he also contributes to the nomination of the legis- lature, which is the other portion. ITe })articii)ates in it through appointing the members of one chamber, and dis- solving the other at his pleasure ; whereas the President of the United States has no share in the formation of the legislative body, and cannot dissolve it. The King has the same right of bringing forward measures as the Chambers, — a right which the President does not possess. The King- is represented in each assembly by his ministers, who ex- plain his intentions, support his opinions, and maintain the principles of the government. The President and his ministers are alike excluded from Congress, so that his influence and his o])ini(ms can only })enetrate indirectly into that great body. The King of France is, therefore, on an equal footing with the legislature, which can no more act without him than he can without it. The President is placed beside the legislature like an inferior and dependent poAver. Even in the exercise of the executive power, properly so called, — the ] cint upon which Ills ])0:>ition seems to be most analogous to that of the King of France, — the Pres- ident labors under several causes of inferiority. The au- thority of the King, in France, has, in the first place, the adA'antage of duration over that of the President ; and durability is one of the chief elements of streno;th ; noth- ing is either loved or feared but what is likely to endure. The President of the United States is a magistrate elected for four years. The King, in France, is an hereditary sov- ereign. ni I I 'S Vi lUlii ii 1^ ■jir ! ;. s: < i I'v i ii 156 DEMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. Ill tlie exercise of the executi\'e power, the President of the United States is constantly sulyect to a jeahjus super- vision. He may prepare, but lie cannot conclude, a treaty ; lie may nominate, but he cannot a])poiiit, a public officer.* The King of France is absolute within the sphere of exec- utive power. The President of the United States is responsible for liis actions ; but the person of the King is declared invi- olable by French huv. Nevertheless, public opinion as a directing power is no less above the head of the one than of the other. This power is less definite, less evident, and less sanctioned by the laws in Fraii'^'e than in America ; but it really exists there. Iv America,- it acts by elections and decrees ; in France, iv p^'oceeds by revolutions. Thus, notwithstanding^ the diftcriMit constitutions of these two countries, public opinii^n is \\)V predominant authority in both of them. The fiuuhi'iicntal principle of legislation — a prijici])lv^ essentiall^" re? ublican — is the same in both countries, although its developments may be more or less free, and its consequ^'iices different. Whence I am led to conclude, * The Constitution has left it doubtful wliether tiie President is ol)li;j;'('d to consult the Senate in tlie removal as well as in the apiiointinent of lY-d- cral officers. The Federalist (No. 77) seemed to estalilish the affirmative; but in 1789, Congress formally decided, tliat, as the President was responsil)lo for his actions, he ouo-ht not to be forced to employ acents who had forfeited his esteem. Sec Kent's Commentaries, Vol. I. p. 289. [See also Daniel Webster's speech on the Appointing and liemoving Power, Webster's Works, IV. 185; Marshall's Washin.!,'on, V. I'JG; Sergeant & Kawle's Keports, V, 451. The decision of Congress upon this sul)jcct in 1789 was by a very small majority in tlie House, and in the Senate it passed only by tiie casting vote of the Vice-President. And this decisi •" is oiiiy by iiifrtr-nre from the Act thus passed, which provides, that, when the Secretary of ilio Treasury should be removed by the President, his assistmU shall disciiarge the duties of the office. Mr. Spencer rightly observes, that the power has been " repeatedly denied iu and out of Congress, am* snust be conside: ed as yet an unsettled question." — Am. Ed.] ilr (I 1 ;c(l •y le V la i't TIIK FKDKHAL COXSTITUTION. 157 that Franco with its Kini>; is nearer akin to a repiihlie, than the Union with its President is to a monareliy. In all that ju'ecedes, I have tonched only npon the main points of distinction ; it* T conld have entered into details, the contrast wonld have heen still more strikino-. I have remarked that the anthoritv of the President in the United States is oidy exercised within the limits of a partial sovereignty, whilst that of the King in France is undivided. I miiiht ha\e gone on to show that tlie ])ower of the Kino-'s tvovernment in France exceeds its natiiral limits, however extensive these may he, and ])enetrates in a thousand different ways into the administration of pri- vate interests. Amongst the examj)les of this influence may ))e quoted that wliicli results from the great numher of public functionaries, who all derive their appointments from the executive govcrmnent. This numher now ex- ceeds all previous limits ; it amounts to lo8,000 * nomina- tions, each of which may be considered as an element of power. The President of the United States has not the exclusiA^e right of making any public appointments, and their whole number scarcely exceeds 12,000. f * The sums aTniually ])ai(l by the state to these ofKocrs amount to 200,000,000 tVaiR'S (ei-rlit inillioiis sttrlinj,'). t Tliis uuml)er is extracted from tlie "National Calendar" for 1833. It results from iiiis eomparison, tliat the King of France has eleven times as many places at his disposal as the President, altliouf^h the po|)ulution of France is not much more than double that of the Union. [The vast increase of tlie population of the United States, since Dc Tocqueville wrote, from thirteen millions to nearly thirty millions, and the conseciuent necessary eularjxcment of the machinery of <j,overnment, has nearly reversed these jiroportions. The patronafje of the President of the United States is now enormous, and has l)ecome a domiiumt feature in the operation of our national j^overnment. Reckoninj^ tlie subordinate officers in the Post-OfHce and C\istoms departments, all of wlu)m derive their ap- pointments eitiier directly or indirectly from thj President, and continue in office only duvintr liis i)leasure, and most of -.vhom, in fact, j^ive i)lace to new incumbents at every cluin^e of administration, it i.^ easy to see that the iu- I' !i « !i I: ) m in ill t I' !ili J^'^k^ I ( 158 DEMUCKACY IN AMERICA. I i ACCIDENTAL CAUSES WHICH MAY INCREASE THE INFTUENCE OF THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT. External Security of the Union. — Army of six thousand Men. — Few Ships. — The President has i^reat rrero<,'atives, but no Opportunity of cxereising tliem. — In the Preroyatives which he does exercise, lie is Weak. If the executive government is feebler in America than 'in France, the cause is perhaps more attributable to the circumstances than to the laws of the country. It is chiefly in its foreign relations that the executive power of a nation finds occasion to exert its skill and its strength. If the existence of the Union were perpetually threatened, if its chief interests were in daily connection with those of other powerful nations, the executive gov- ernment would assume an increased importance in propor- tion to the measures expected of it, and to those which it would execute. The President of the United States, it is true, is the commander-in-chief of the army, but the army is composed of only six thousand men ; he commands the fleet, but the fleet reckons but few sail ; he conducts the foreign relations of the Union, but the United States are a nation Avithout neighbors. Separated from the rest of the world by the ocean, and too weak as yet to aim at the dominion of the seas, they have no enemies, and their in- terests rarely come into contact with those of any other nation of the globe. This proves that the practical opera- tion of the government must not be judged by the theory of its constitution. The President of the United States possesses almost royal prerogatives, which he has no op- portunity of exercising, and the privileges which he can at flucncc of the executive government, through tlie number of places at its disposal, has become excessive, and imperils both the moral character and the stability of our republican institutions. — .\m. Ed.] I '■ ~1 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 109 present use arc very circumseril)ccl. Tlic laws allow him to 1)0 strong, but circumstance ^ keep him weak. On the other hand, the great strength of the royal pre- rogative in France arises from circumstances flu* more than from the laws. There the executive government is con- stantly struggling against immense obstacles, and has im- mense resources in order to overcome them ; so that it is eidarged by the extent of its achievements, and by the importance of the events it controls, without modifying its constitution. If the laws had made it as feeble and as circumscribed as that of the American Union, its influence would soon become still more preponderant. WHY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT NEED A MAJORITY IN THE T^VO HOUSES IN ORDER TO CARRY ON THE GOVERNMENT. It is an established axiom in Europe, that a constitution- al king cannot govern when opposed by the two branches of the legislature. Rut several Presidents of the United States have been know^i to lose the majority in the legisla- tive body, Avithout being obliged to abandon the su])reme power, and without inflicting any serious evil upon society. I have heard this fact quoted to prove the indejiendence and the power of the executive government in America : a moment's reflection Avill convince us, on the contrary'', that it is a proof of its weakness. A king in Europe recpiires the support of the legislature to enable him to peiform the duties imposed upon him by the constitution, because those duties ure enormous. A constitutional king in Europe is not merely the executor of the laAV, but the execution of its provisions devolves so completely upon him, that he has the power of paralyzing its force if it opposes his designs. He requires the assist- ance of the legislative assemblies to make the law, but those I 111: 'i! 4. i li'tl I (i ■t i I im H '■ 1 1 . 1 i ■ 100 DEMOCRACY IN A.MKUICA. assi'iuMios noi*(l his aid to i-xecuto it. Those two iiuthor- itic'S caiinot subsist witliout oacli otluT, niul ihe nicrlmn- ism ot' <^ovt'riiineiit is stoj)pL'd as soon as tiny are at variance. In Aincrica, the President cannot prevent any law from beiu^- passed, nor can lu" evade the obligation of enforcinf]j it. His sincere and zealous co-oj»eration is no doubt useful, but is not indisj)ensal>le, in carryiiiii; on public affairs. In all his important acts, he is directly or indirectly subject to 'the legislature ; and of his own free authority, he can do but little. It is tlierefore his weakness, and not his power, which enables him to remain in opposition to Couifress. In Euroj)e, harmony must reign between the crown and the legislature, because a collision between them may prove serious ; in America, this harmony is not indispensable, because such a collision is impossible. ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. The Dangers of the Elcptivc Syst(>m increase in Proportion to the Extent of tlie IVoro^ative. — This System possil)le in America, becanse no powerful Executive Auuiority is required. — IIow Circumstances favor the Estiil)lisliment of the Elective System. — Wliv tlie Election of the President does not clian},^e the i'rinciples of the Uovcrnuient. — Intlu- enee of the Election of the President ou Secondary Functional ics. The dangers of the system of election, applied to the chief of the executive government of a great ])eople, have been sufficiently exemplified by experience and by his- tory. I wish to speak of them in reference to America alone. These dangers may be more or less formidable in pro- portion to the place which the executive power occupies, and to the importance it possesses in the state ; and they may vary according to the mode of election, and tlie cir- le le THK I'KDKRAL CONSTITUTIOX. 161 cnnistiinrcs in wlilcli tlio electors are [ilaced. Tlio most welirlity ar;j;unu'nt aoaitist tlie election of a cliifl' niat!;istrate is, tliat it otK'rs so splendid a lure to privjite anihltion, and is so a})t to inllanu' men in the })nrsnit of power, lli- , when leoitimate means are wantin^j;, force may not unfre<piently seizi' wliat ri<;ht denie<l. It is cK-ar tiiat, thi' greai m* tiie ])rei'o;;ativi's of execntive antliority ari', the ^I'l'ater i.' the temptation ; the more the amitition of the candidates is ex- cited, the more warmly are their intei'csts esj>onsed by a tln'onf;; of j)artisans, who hope to shai'c the power when their patron has won the }»rize. 'J'he danu' is of the elec- tive system increase, therefore, in the i-xn atio of the inflnence exercised hy the cxecuti\e power , . ihe atlairs of the state. The revolutions of Poland are not solely attrib- II table to the elective system in general, Imt to the flict that the elected monarch was the sovereign of a powerful kinodom. Before we can discuss the absolute advantages of tlie elective system, we must make ])reliminary in([uii'ies as to Avhether the geographical position, the laws, tlie habits, the manners, and the opinions of the j)eoj)le, amongst wdiom it is to be introduced, will admit of the establishment of a weak and dependent executive govenuiient ; for to attempt to render the representative of the state a powerful sover- eign, and at the same time elective, is, in my o{)ini()n, to entertain two incompatible designs. To reduce hereditary royalty to the condition of an elective authority, the only means that I am acquainted with are to circumscribe its ^. lere of action beforehand, gradually to diminish its pre- rogatives, and to accustom the ])e()ple l)y degrees to live without its protection. But this is what the rej)ublicans of Euroi)e never think of doino; : as manv of them hate tyranny only because they are exposed to its severity, it is opj)ression, and not the extent of the executive power, which excites their hostility ; and they attack the former, '1 I !i' u ^ ,%. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) h A ^.^^<^ J A f/j 1.0 I.I ■ 56 I^i2 ||U I- 1^ 2.2 L8 IL25 i 1.4 1.6 ^. '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 i\ -^^ ^ ^\ .V ■A -fi'L*^ 6^ '9.^ Si' 162 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. witliout perceiving liow nearly it is connected with the latter. Hitherto, no citizen has cared to expose his honor and his life in order to become the President of tlie United States, because tlie power of that office is temporary, limited, and subordinate. The prize of fortune must be great to en- courage adventurers in so desperate a game. No candi- date has as yet been able to arouse the dangerous enthusi- asm or the passionate sympathies of the people in his favor, for the simple reason that, when he is at the head of the government, he has but little power, little wealth, and little glory to share amongst his friends ; and his influence in the state is too small for the success or the ruin of a faction to depend upon his elevation to power. The great advantage of hereditary monarchies is, that, as the private interest of a family is always intimately connected with the in<^erests of the state, these state inter- ests are never neglected for a moment ; and if the affiiirs of a monarchy are not better conducted than those of a republic, at least there is always some one to conduct them, well or ill, according to his capacity. In elective states, on the contrary, the wheels of government cease to act, as it were, of their own accord, at the approach of an election, and even for some time previous to that event. The laws may, indeed, accelerate the operation of the election, which may be conducted with such simplicity and rapidity that the seat of power will never be left vacant ; but, notwith- standing these precautions, a break necessarily occurs in the minds of the people. At the approach of an election, the head of the execu- tive government thinks only of the strufffjle which is com- ing on ; he no longer has anything to look forward to ; he can undertake nothing new, and he will only prosecute with indifference those designs which another will perhaps terminate. " I am so near the time of my retirement from H ;' M 'S •h It 1- n le le THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 163 office," said President Jefferson, on the 21st of Jiiniiary, 1809, (six weeks before tlie election,*) " tliat I feel no passion, I take no part, I express no sentiment. It appears to me just to leave to my successor the commencement of those measures which he will have to prosecute, and for which he will be responsible." On the other hand, the eyes of the nation are centred on a single point ; all are watching the rrradual birth of so important an event. The wider the influence of the executive power extends, the greater and the more necessary is its constant action, the more fatal is the term of suspense ; and a nation which is accustomed to the goverimient, or, still more, one used to the administration of a powerful executive authority, would be infallibly convulsed by an election. In the United States, the action of the government may be slackened with impunity, because it is ahvays weak and circumscribed. One of the principal vices of the elective system is, that it always introduces a certain degree of instability into the internal and external policy of the state. But this disad- vantage is less sensibly felt if the share of power vested in the elected magistrate is small. In Rome, the principles of the government underwent no variation, although the Consuls were changed every year, because the Senate, which was an hereditary assembly, possessed the directing authority. In most of the European monarchies, if the kino; were elective, the kingdom would be revolutionized at every new election. In America, the President exercises a certain influence on state affairs, but he does not conduct * De Tocqucville is in error here. The election was really determined three months before, in November, 1808; and Jefferson, writing: six weeks before his successor, already chosen, was to come into office, merely ex{)resses liis intention to leave Mr. Madison to initiate his own ])olicy, instead of em- barrassing him by leaving projects or measures begun, I)ut not completed. — Am. Ed. 1(U DKMOCUACY IN AMKHICA. them ; the projJoiKlc'ratiiiii; power is vested in tlic represent- atives of tlie whole niition. The j)olitieal maxims of the country <lepen(l, tlierefore, on the mass of the })eoj)le, not on tlie President alone ; and consequently, in America, the elective system has no very prejudicial influence on the fixity of the oovernment. But the want of fixed principles is an evil so inherent in the elective svstem, that it is still very ])erceptil)le in the narrow sphere to which the author- ity of the President extends. The Americans have admitted that the head of the exec- utive power, in order to discharge liis duty and bear the whole weight of responsibility, ought to be free to choose his own agents, and to remove them at pleasure : the legis- lative bodies watch the conduct of the President more than they direct it. The consec^uence is, that, at every new election, the fate of all the Federal })ublic officers is in suspense. It is sometimes made a subject of complaint, that, in the constitutional monarchies of Europe, the fate of the humbler servants of an administration often depends upon that of the ministers. But in elective governments this evil is far greater ; and the reason of it is very obvious. In a constitutional monarchv, successive ministries are rapidly formed ; but as the principal representative of the executive power is never changed, the spirit of innovation is ke})t within bounds ; the changes which take place are in the details, rather than in the principles, of the adminis- trative system : but to substitute one system for another, as is done in America every four years by law, is to cause a sort of revolution. As to the misfortunes which may fidl upon individuals in consequence of this state of things, it must be allowed that the uncertain tenure of the public offices does not produce the evil consequences in America which might be expected from it elsewhere. It is so easy to acquire an independent position in the United States, that the public officer who loses his place may be de- THE FEDKUAL CUN'STITUTION. IGo prived of tlie comforts of life, but not of the means of subsistence. I remarked at the beginning of this cliapter, that tlie dangers of the elective system, aj)[)lied to the head of the state, are auijmented or decreased by the i)eculiar circum- stances of the people which adopts it. llcnvevi'i- the func- tions of the executive power may be restricted, it nuist always exercise a great influence u}ton the foreign policy of the country; for a negotiation cannot be oju-ned, or successfully carried on, otherwise than by u single agent. The more precarious and the more }>erilous the position of a people becomes, the more absolute is the want of a flxed and consistent external policy, and the metre dangerous does the system of electing the chief magistrate become. The policy of the Americans in relation to the whole world is exceedingly simple ; and it may almost be said that nobody stands in need of them, nor do they stand in need of anybody. Their independence is never threat- ened. In their })resent condition, therefore, the functions of the executive power aie no less limited by circum- stances than by the laws ; and the President may fre- quently change his policy, without involving the state in difficulty or destruction. Whatever the prerogatives of the executive power may be, the period which immediately precedes an election, and that during which the election is taking ])lace, must always be considered as a national crisis, which is perilous in pro- portion to the internal embarrassments and the external dangers of the countiy. Few of the nations of EiM'o})e conld escape the calamities of anarchy or of con([uest every time they might have to elect a new sovereign. In America, society is so constituted that it can stand without assistance, upon its own basis ; nothing is to be feared from the pressure of external dangers ; and the election of the President is a cause of agitation, but not of ruin. 160 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. MODE OF ELECTION. Skill of the American Le^^islutors shown iu tlio Mode of Election adopted by them. — Creation of a special Electoral Body. — Separate Votes of these Electors. — Case in wliich the Ilonse of l{ei)resentativcs is called upon to clioose the President. — llesults of the twelve Elections which have taken place since the Constitution has been estal)lishe<l. Besides tlie dangers ^vliicli are inherent in the system, in: my otl lers nii ly ar ise from tlie mode of election : but tliese may be obviated by the precautions of the leoislator. Wlien a i)eoi)le met in arms, on some pubhc s})ot, to clioose its head, it ^vas exposed to all the chances of civil war re- sultiuii' from such a mode of ])roceedino;, besides the dan- gers of the elective system in itself. The Polish laws, which subjected the election of the sovereign to the veto of a sinole individual, suooested the murder of that indi- vidual, or pre})ared the way for anarchy. In the examination of the institutions, and the political as well as social condition of the United States, we are struck by the admirable harmony of the gifts of fortune and the efforts of man. That nation possessed two of the main causes of internal peace ; it Avas a new country, but it was inhabited by a peo})le grown old in the exercise of free- dom. Besides, America had no hostile neighbors to dread ; and the American legislators, pio.iting by tliese favorable circumstances, created a weak and subordinate executive powder, which could without danger be made elective. It then only remained for them to choose the least dan- gerous of the various modes of election ; and the rules which they laid down upon this point admiribly correspond to the securities which the physical and political constitu- tion of the country already aftbrded. Their object was to find the mode of election which would best express the choice of the people with the least possible excitement and suspense. It was admitted, in the first place, that the THE FKDKUAL CUN6iri'UHUN. 167 sini])le majority should decide tlic point ; Lut the difficulty was, to obtain this majority \vithout an interval of delay, which it was most imi)ortant to avoid. It rarely lia|)[)ens that an individual can receive at the first trial a majority of the sulfrages of a great j)e()j)le ; and this ilitHculty is enhanced in a re])ublic of confederate states, where local influences are far more develcjped and more powerful. The nn'ans by which it was j)r()j)osed to obviate this sec- ond obstacle was, to delegate the electoral powers of the nation to a body which should represent it. This mode of election rendered a majority more j)robab!e ; for the fewer the electors are, the greater is the chance tA' tlieir coming to an agreement. It also ottered an additional i)robaijility of a judicious choice. It then remained to be -decided whether this right of election was to be intrusted to the legislature itself, the ordinary representative of the nation, or whether a special electoral college should be formed for the sole purpose of choosing a President. The Americans chose the latter alternative, from a belief that those who were chosen only to make the laws would represent but imperfectly the wishes of the nation in the election of its chief magistrate ; and that, as they are chosen for more than a year, the constituency they represented might have changed its opinion in that time. It was thought that, if the legislature was empowered to elect the head of the executive power, its members would, for some time before the election, be exposed to the manceuvres of corruption and the tricks of intrigue ; whereas the special electors would, like a jury, remain mixed up with the crowd till the day of action, when they would appear for a moment only to give their votes. It was therefore determined that every State should name a certain number of Electors,* who in their turn * As many as it sends members to Congress. Tlie number of Electors at the election of 1833 was 288. 168 DEMOCRACY IX AMKIMC \. !■! sliould t'loc't the I'rcsidi'iit ; and as it liad Ix't'ii observed, that the assembhes to which tlie choice ot" a chief maiiistrato had been intrusted in elective countries ine vital »ly became the centres of })assion and cabal ; that 'hey sonietinies iisurpeil powers which did not belon<f to them ; and that their proceedings, or the uncertainty which icsulted from them, were sometinu'S j)rolon<j;ed so nnich as to endanner the welliu'e of the state, — it was determined that the I'^lec- tors should all vote uj)on the same da\ , without beinu; con- voked to the same place.* This doid)le election rendered a majority })robable, though not certain ; for it was possible that the Electors might not, any more than their constituents, come to an agreement. In this case, it would hi' necessary to have recourse to one of three measures ; either to appoint new Electors, or to consult a second time those already ap- pointed, or to give the election to another authority. The first two of these alternatives, inde})endently of the uncer- tiiinty of their results, were likely to delay the final de- cision, and to perpetuate an agitation which must always be accompanied with danger. The third expedient was therefore adopted, and it was agreed that the votes should be transmitted, sealed, to the President of the Senate, and that they should be opened and counted on an appointed day, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Rep- resentatives. If none of the candidates has received a majority, the House of Representatives then proceeds im- mediately to elect the President ; but with the condition that it must fix upon one of the three candidates who have the highest number of votes in the Electoral College. f * The Electors of the same State assemble, but they transmit to the cen- tral government the list of their individual votes, and not the mere result of the vote of the majority. t In this case, it is the majority of the States, and not the majority of the members, which decides the question ; so that New York has not more influ- ence in the debate than Rhode Island. Thus the citizens of the Union are first consulted as members of one and the same community ; and, if they TIIK FKDKKAL CONSllTUTION. 1G9 Thus, it is only in ruse of an event wliich cannot often happen, and which can never be foreseen, that the i-li'ction is intrusted to the ordiiuiry Representatives of tlu' nation ; and even then, \]\vy are ohlim'd to dioose a citi/cu who lias ahvadv l>eeu designated l)y a ixiwerful niinorifv (tf tlie special I'^lectors. It is by this happy expedient that the respect which is due to the popular voice is coud)inetl with the utmost celerity of execution, and >vith those jtrecautions which the interests of the c(»untry demand. Hut the de- cision of the (piestion by the House of Keprescntativi's does not necessarily oH'er an inunediate solution of the difficultv ; for the maioritv oi' that assi'mblv may still be doubtfid, and in this case the Constitution prescribes no remedy. Nevertheless, l)y restricting the number of can- didates to three, and by referring the matter to the judg- ment of an enlightened public body, it has smoothed all the obstacles * which are not inherent in the elective svs- tern itself. In the forty-foiu' years which have elapsed since the pro- mulgation of the Federal Constitution, the United States have twelve times chosen a President. Ten of these elec- tions took i)lace at once by the simultaneous votes of the special Electors in the different States. The House of Re[)resentatives has only twice exercised its conditioi >! privilege of deciding in cases of uncertainty: the first time was at the election of Mr. Jefferson in 1801 ; the second was in 1825, when Mr. J. Quincy Adams was named.f cannot agree, recourse is liad to the division of the States, each of which has a sc[)arate and independent vote. This is one of the singularities of the Federal Constitution, which can bo explained only by the jar of conflicting interests. * Jcfll-rson, in 1801, was not elected until the thirty-sixth time of bal- loting. t Seventy-two years having now elapsed, there have been nineteen Presi- dential elections, and still the House of Keprescntatives has been rcciuircd to act in the election only twice. — Am. Ed. 8 170 DKMOCHACY IN AMKRICA. CRISIS OF THE ELKCTION. I i The Election may lie coiisiilcrcd ua a MonieiU of Nutioiml Crisis. — Wliy. — l'a».>ioiis of tlio IVopic. — Aiixii-ty of tlic I'rcsiJcut. — Culm which Buccccdtj the A^itutioii of the ICIection. I TiAVF, sliown what tlie cirenmstancos arc wliicli favored the a(l()j)ti()ii of tlie elcctivo system iii tlic United States, and wliat precautions were taken by the len;islators to ob- viate its (hinii'ers. The Americans are accustomed to all kinds of elections ; and they knew by experience the ut- most deo;rco of excitement which is compatible with securi- ty. Tlie vast extent of the country and the dissemination of the inhabitants render a collision between parties less probable and less dangerous there than elsewhere. The })olitical circumstances under which the elections have been carried on have not, as yet, caused any real danger. Still, the epoch of the election of the President of the United States may be considered as a crisis in the affairs of the nation. The influence which the President exercises on public business is no doubt feeble and indirect ; but the choice of the President, though of small importance to each individ- ual citizen, concerns the citizens collectively ; and however trifling an interest may be, it assumes a great degree of importance as soon as it becomes general. The President possesses, in comparison with the kings of Europe, but few means of creating partisans ; but the places whicli are at his disposal are sufficiently numerous to interest, directly or indirectly, several thousand electors in his success.* Moreover, political parties in the United States are l.ed to rally round an individual in order to acquire a more tangi- * Owing to the increase of patronage already referred to as necessarily produced by the vast increase of the population, this influence has now be- come excessive, and very dangerous. — Am. Ed. ! TIIK IKDKUAL CONSTIHTIoN. 171 Lie shape in tin- eyes of the crowd ; an*! tlic name of tlio candidate for tlu- Pri'sidency is jtut forwanl as the symbol and personipH-ation of tlicir theories. For these reasons, j)arties are strongly interested in gainin*;; the election, not so nnich with a view to the trinniph of tlicir j)rinci|>li's under the anspices of the President eli'ct, as to show, hy liis eU'c- tion, that the snpporters of those principh's now I'orni the majority. For a lonj:; while hefore thi- appointed time is conu', tlio election becomes the imj)ortant, and (so to speak) the all- enii'rossino;, topic of discnssion. The ardor of fiction is redoubled ; and all the ai'tiHcial passions which the imagi- nation can create in a happy and peaceful huid are agitati-d and bntuirht to lioht. The President, moreover, is ab- sorbi'd by the cares of self-defence, lie no longi'r governs for the interest of tlie state, but for that of his re-election ; he does homage; to the maioritv, and instead of checkinij its passions, as his duty connnands, he freijuently courts its worst caprices. As the election draws near, the activity of intrigue and the agitation of the j)opulace increase ; the citizens are divided into hostile camps, each of which as- sumes the name of its favorite candidate ; the whole nation glows with feverish excitement ; the election is the daily theme of the public jjapers, the subject of private conver- sation, the end of every tlujught and every action, the sole interest of the present. It is true, that, as soon as the choice is determined, this ardor is dispelled ; the calm re- turns ; and the river, which had nearly broken its banks, sinks to its usual level : but who can refrain from astonish- ment that such a storm should have arisen ? 172 nr.MOCRACY IN AMKRICA. i{i;-i;T,r.(Tio\ of thk puksidknt. Wlii'ii tlic \ln\i\ nl' ilif K\4'( iitivc INiwtr is iv-t'li;;ililf, it is tln^ Stiitc which it* thi- Sdiifif (if Iiitii;:ii(! mill Cinrii|iti()ii. — 'V\\v Dcsiir of liciiij; rc- clectni is the rhiff Aim nf a I'ri'siih'iit of the I'liiltMl States. — Disail- vaii(a),'t' of the l{f-<'h'<tioii |H>ciiliiir to Amcricn. — Tlic Natural Kvil of Di'mo(ra<y is, that it ^'radmiliy Hiilionliiiatt's all Aiitiiority to tlio sliyht- CHt Desires of tlic Majority. — Tiic Kc-cloilioii of llio rn-sidoiit eiicour- u;4i'!i tiiiii Evil. Wi'H' tlio Icmslators of tlic TTiiItcd Stiitcs riolit or wronjj in allowiiiij; the rc-t'lrction of tlio Pri'sidriit ? It seems, at first slolit, ooiitrary to all rejison, to prevent the liead of the exeeiitive power from Leino; eleeti'd a second time. The iiifliienee which the talents and the character of a sinolc indixidtial may exercise upon the fate of a whole j)e()pl(», esj)ecially in critical circtunstances or ardtious times, is well known. A law preventinjj; the re-election of the chief map'strate would deprive the citizens of their best means of insurin<ji; the prosj)erity and the security of the conunonwealth ; and, by a sini:fular inconsistency, a man would be excluded from the government at tlie very time when he had proved his ability to govern well. But if these arguments arc strong, perhaps still more poweiful reasons may be advanced against them. Intrigue and corruption are the natural vices of elective govern- ment ; but when the head of the state can be re-elected, these evils rise to a great height, and compromise the very existence of the country. When a simple candidate seeks to rise by intrigue, his mana?uvres must be limited to a very narrow sphere ; but when the chief magistrate enters the lists, he borrows the strensth of the covernment for his own purposes. In the former case, the feeble resources of an individual are in action ; in the latter, the state itself, with its innuense influence, is busied in the work of corruption and cabal. The private citizen, who employs Tin; riKKKAL CUNSIIirilttN. 17:3 rnl|t!il)l(» ]»ra('tI<'os to acriuiiv power, can net In a marinor only iiMlIrcctly prcjiidiiial to tlic j»iil)li(' pro^iKTity. JJnt it' tile nprt'sciitativt' nt' tlu; executive dt'sccnds into tin* com- bat, tiic cares of ;;ovcnnncnt dwindK' for iiiin into second- rate importance, and tlie success of jiis I'K-ction is liis fnst concern. All pnlilic neeotiations, ns well as all laws, are to him n(»tliin^ m(»re than I'lectioneei'inu; schemes; jdaces lu'come the rewanl of services rendered, not to tlie nation, bnt to its chii'f ; and the inlhu'nce of the lioxci'innent, it' not ininrions to tlie conntrv, is at least no longer benelicial to the conunnnity for which it was created. Jt is imj)ossil»le to consider the ordinary conr«ie of all'airs in the L'nited States withont perceivini; that the desire of hein^ re-elected is the chief aim of the I'resident ; that tho Avhole j)olicy of his administration, and even his most in- ditferent measnres, tend to this object ; and that, especially as till' crisis apjjroaches, his personal interest takes tho j)lace of his inteivst in the pnblic oood. The principle of re-elii:ibilitv renders the corrnittini; infhience of elective i^overnments still more extensive and j)ernicions. It ti'iids to derrrade the political morality of tlie ju'ople, and to snb- stitnie mana<iement and intrigne for i)atriotisni. In America, it injnres still more directly the very sources of national existence. Every <j;overnment seems to be atHicted by some evil wliich is inherent in its nature, and the iienius of the lemslator consists in liaviuijj a clear view of this evil. A state may survive the inHuence of a host of bad laws, and the mischief they cause is fretiuently ex- ajTo-erated ; but a law which encourae;es the j^rowth of the canker within must prove fatal in the end, althouiih its bad consequences may not be immediately perceived. The princijde of destruction in absolute monarcliies lies in the unlimited and unreasonable extension of the royal power ; and a measure tending to remove the constitutional provisions wliich counterbalance this influence would be 174 DEMOCRACY IN a:\ii:rica. radically Lad, even if its immediate consequences were unattended with evil. By parity of reasoning, in coun- tries governed by a democracy, where the people is per- petually drawing all authority to itself, the laws Avhich increase or accelerate this action directly attack the very principle of the government. The greatest merit of the American legislators is, that they clearly discerned this truth, and had the courage to act up to it. They conceived thai a certain authority above the body of the people was necessary, which should enjoy a degree of independence in its sphere, without being entirely beyond the popular control ; an authority which would be forced to comply with the p6'rwa?*('n^ determina- tions of the majority, but which would be able to resist its caprices, and refuse its most dangerous demands. To this end, they centred the whole executive power of the nation in a single arm ; they granted extensive prerogatives to the President, and armed him with the veto to resist the en- croachments of the leo-islature. But by introducing the principle of re-election, they partly destroyed their work ; they conferred on the Presi- dent a great power, but made him little inclined to use it. If inelio-ible a second time, the President would not be in- dependent of the people, for his responsibility would not cease ; but the favor of the people woidd not be so neces- sary to him as to induce him to submit in every respect to its desires. If re-eligible, (and this is especially true at the present day, when political morality is relaxed, and when gi'eat men are rare,) the President of the United States becomes an easy tool in the hands of the majority. He adopts its likings and its animosities, he anticipates its wishes, he forestalls its complaints, he yields to its idlest cravings, and instead of guiding it, as the legislature in- tended that he should do, he merely follows its bidding. Thus, in order not to deprive the state of the talents of an THE I'EDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 17o individual, tliosc talents have been rendered almost useless ; and to keep an expedient for extraordinary perils, the country has been exposed to continual dangers. FEDERAL COURTS OF JUSTICE. * Political Importance of the Judiciary in the United States. — Difficulty of treating this Sulijcct. — Utility of Judicial Power in Ci>nfctk'rations. — "What Triliunals could l)c introduced into the Union. — Necessity of cs- tahlisliinj^ Federal Courts of Justice. — Orj:aTii/,ation of tlie NatioTial Judiciary. — The Supreme Court. — In what it diflers from all known Tribunals. I HAVE examined the legislative and executive power of the Union, and the judicial power now remains to be considered ; but here I cannot conceal mv fears from the reader. Their judicial institutions exercise a great influ- ence on the condition of the Anglo-Americans, and they occupy a very important place amongst political institu- tions, properly so called : in this respect, they are pe- culiarly deservino; of our attention. But I am at a loss how to explain the political action of the American tribu- nals without entering into some technical details respecting their constitution and their forms of proceeding; and I cannot descend to these minutijn without wearying the reader by the natural dryness of the subject, or falling into obscurity through a desire to be succinct. I can scarcely hope to escape these diiferent evils. Ordinary readers will complain that I am tedious, lawyers that I am too concise. But these are the natural disadvantages of my subject, and especially of the point which I am now to discuss. Ihe great difficulty was, not to know how to constitute the Federal government, but to find out a method of en- forcing its laws. Governments have generally but two * See Cliapter VI., entitled "Judicial Power in the United States." This chapter explains the general principles of the American judiciary. 170 DKMOCUACY IN AMKRICA. i''; means of overcoming tlio opposition of the governed ; namely, tlie j)liysical force wliicli is at their own disposal, and the moral force which tliey derive from the decisions of the courts of justice. A government which should have no other means of exacting obedience than open war, must he very near its ruin, for one of two things would then probably happen to it. If it was weak and tem})erate, it would resort to vio- lence only at the last extremity, and would connive at many partial acts of insubordination ; then the state would gradually fall into anarchy. If it was enterprising and powerful, it would every day have recourse to physical strength, and thus would soon fall into a military despot- ism. Thus its activity and its inertness would be equally prejudicial to the community. The great end of justice is, to substitute the notion of right for that of violence, and to place a legal barrier be- tween the government and the use of physical force. It is a strange thing, the authority which is accorded to the in- tervention of a court of justice by the general opinion of mankind! It clings even to the mere formalities of justice, and gives a bodily influence to the mere shadow of the law. The moral force which courts of justice possess ren- ders the use of physical force very rare, and is frequently substituted for it ; but if force proves to be indispensable, its power is doubled by the association of the idea of law. A federal government stands in greater need than any other of the support of judicial institutions, because it is naturally weak, and exposed to formidable opposition.* If * Federal laws arc those which most require courts of justice, and those, at the same time, wliich have most rarely established them. The reason is, that confederations have usually been formed by independent states, which had no real intetition of obeying the central government ; and though they readily ceded the right of cominand to the central government, they care- fully reserved the right of non-compliance to themselves. » THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. I i it Avorc always ol)lin;c(l to resort to violence in the first in- stance, it conld not fulfil its task. The I'nion, therefore, stood in special need of a judiciary to make its citizens ohcv the laws, and to renel the attacks which niiiiht bo rej directed against tliem. But what tribunals were to exer- cise tliese privileges ? Were they to be intrusted to the courts of justice which were already organized in every State ? Or was it necessary to create Fedei'al courts ? It may easily be proved that the Union could not adajtt to its wants the judicial power of the States. The separation of the judiciary from the other powers of the state is neces- sary f()r the security of each, and the liberty of all. But it is no less important to the existence of the nation, that the several powers of the state should have the same origin, follow the same principles, and act in the same s])liere ; in a word, that they should be correlative and ho- mogeneous. No one, I presume, ever thought of causing offences committed in France to be tried by a foreign court of justice, in order to insure the impartiality of the judges. The Americans form but one people in relation to their Federal government ; but in the bosom of this people di- Acrs political bodies have been allowed to subsist, which are dependent on the national government in a few points, and independent in all the rest, — which have all a distinct origin, maxims peculiar to themselves, and special means of carrvino; on their affairs. To intrust the execution of the laws of the Union to tribnnals instituted by these political bodies, would be to allow foreign judges to preside over the nation. Nay, more ; not only is each State for- eign to the Union at large, but it is a perpetual adversary, since whatever authority the Union loses turns to the ad- vantage of the States. Thus, to enforce the laws of the Union by means of the State tribunals would be to allow not only foreign, but partial, judges to preside over the nation. 8* ti u i !.i tm ' 178 DEJIOCKACY IN A:\IERICA. But the numbor, still more than tlic mere cliaractor, of th'' State tribunals, made them unfit for tlie service of the nation. When tlie Federal Constitution was formed, tliere were already thirteen courts of justice in the United States, wliicli decided causes without appeal. That number is now increased to twenty-four [thirty-four]. To suppose that a state can subsist, when its fundamental laws are subjected to four-and-twenty different interpretations at the same time, is to advance a proposition alike contrary to reason and to experience. The American leojislators therefore agreed to create a Federal judicial power to apply the laws of the Union, and to determine certain questions affecting general interests, which were carefully defined beforehand. The entire judi- cial power of the Union was centred in one tribunal, called the Supreme Court of the United States. But, to facili- tate the expedition of business, inferior courts were ap- pended to it, which were empowered to decide causes of small importance without appeal, and, with appeal, causes of more magnitude. The members of the Supreme Court are appointed neither by the people nor the legislature, but by the President of the United States, acting Avith the advice of the Senate. In order to render them indepen- dent of the other authorities, their office was made inalien- able ; and it was determined that their salary, when once fixed, should not be diminished by the legislature.* It was easy to proclaim the principle of a Federal judiciary, but difficulties multiplied when the extent of its jurisdiction was to be determined. * Tlie Uiiiou was divided into districts, in cadi of whicli a resident Fed- eral judge was appointed, and the <.'ourt in wliich he presided was termed a " District Court." Each of the judges of the Supreme Court annually visits a certain portion of the country, in order to try the most important causes upon the spot : the court jiresided over by this magistrate is styled a " Cir- cuit Court." Lastly, all the most serious cases of litigation are brought, either primarily or by appeal, before tiie Supreme Court, which holds a •*■ TIIK FEDKRAL CONSTI lUTION. 17i> MEANS OF DETERMINING THE JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL COURTS. Am Difficulty of determining the Jurisdiction of the different Courts of Justice in Confederations. — The Courts of the Union obtained tlie Ri^^iit of fixing their own Jurisdiction. — In what respects tliis Kulc attacks the Portion of Sovereignty reserved to tlie several States. — The Sover- eignty of these States restricted by the Laws and by the Interi)retation of the Laws. — Danger thus incurred by tlie several States more ajipar- ent than real. As the constitution of the United States recocrnized two distinct sovereignties, in presence of each otlier, repre- sented in a judicial point of view by two distinct classes of courts of justice, the utmost care taken in dcfiniiio; their separate jurisdictions would have been insufficient to ])re- vent frequent collisions between those tribunals. Tlie question then arose, to whom the right of deciding the competency of each court was to be referred. In nations which constitute a single body politic, when a question of jurisdiction is debated between two courts, a third tribunal is generally within reach to decide the dif- ference ; and this is effected without difficulty, because, in these nations, questions of judicial competency have no connection with questions of national sovereignty. But it was impossible to create an arbiter between a superior court of the Union and the superior court of a se])arate State, which would not belong to one of these two classes. It was therefore necessary to allow one of these courts to solemn session once a year, at which all the judges of the Circuit Courts must attend. The jury was introduced into the Federal courts, in the same manner, and for the same cases, as into the courts of the States. It will be observed tliat no analogy exists between the Supreme Court of the United States and the French Conr de Cassation, since the latter only hears appeals. Tiie Supreme Court judges of the fact, as well as the law, of the case ; the Cour de Cassation does not pronounce a decision of its own, but refers the cause to another tril)unal. It 180 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. «■ jii(lii;(> its own cause, aiifl to take or to retain rop;ni/.anre of the ])(>iiit wliicli was contested. To grant tliis privilege to tlio different courts of tlio States would have heen to de- stroy the sovereignty of the Union de fdcto^ after having estahlished it ih jure; for the interpretation of the Consti- tution would soon have restored to the States that portion of indej)endence of which the terms of the Constitution dej)iMved them. The ohject of creating a Federal trihunal Avas to prevent the State courts from deciding, each after its own fashion, questions affecting the national interests, and so to form a uniform body of jurisprudence for the interj)retation of the laws of the Union. This end would not have been attained if the courts of the several States, even while they abstained from deciding cases avowedly Federal in their nature, had been able to decide them by pretending that they were not Federal. The Supreme Court of the United States was therefore invested with the right of determining all questions of jurisdiction.* This was a severe blow to the sovereignty of the States, M'hich was thus restricted not only by the laws, but by the interpretation of them, — by one limit which was know- n, and by another which was dubious, — by a rule which was certain, and one which was arbitrary. It is true, the Con- stitution had laid down the precise limits of the Federal supremacy ; but whenever this supremacy is contested by one of the States, a Federal tribunal decides the question. Nevertheless, the dangers with which the independence of the States is threatened by this mode of proceeding are less serious than they appear to be. We shall see hereafter, * In order to diminish tiie number of these suits, however, it was decided that, in a great many Federal causes, the courts of the States should be em- powered to decide conjointly with those of the Union, the losing party hav- ing then a right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Tiie Supreme Court of Virginia contested the right of the Supreme Court of the United States to judge an appeal from its decisions, but unsuccessfully. See Kent's Commentaries, Vol. I. pp. 300, 370, et seq. fl y THE ri:i)i:uAL constitution. 181 that, in America, tlie real ])0\ver is vested in tlie States far more than in the Federal (government. The Federal iudfes are conscious of the rehitiw weakness of tlie power in whose name they act ; and tliey are more in- cHned to abandon the right of juris(Uction, in casi's wliere the law gives it to them, than to assert a })rivilege to which they have no legal claim. DIFFERENT CASES OF JUIIISDICTION. The Matter aud the Party arc tlic First Conditions of tlic Federal Jurisdic- tion. — Suits iu wiiicli Amlia.ssadurs are ciij;aj.'eil. — Or the Union. — Or a separate State. — I}y whom tried. — Causes resuhin;: from tiie Laws of the Union. — Wiiy jncljied \)y the FeiU'ral Trilmnals. — Causes relating to the Non-performaiiee of Contracts tried l)y the Federal Courts. — Couscquences of this ^\j.'ranf;eincnt. After establishing the competency of the Federal courts, the legislators of the Union defined the cases which should come within their jim.sdiction. It was determined, on the one hand, that certain parties must always be brought before the Federal courts, without regard to the .special natnrc of the suit ; and, on the other, that certain causes must always be brought before the same courts, no mat- ter who were the parties to them. The party and the canse were therefore admitted to be the two bases of Fed- eral jurisdiction. Ambassadors represent nations in amity with the Union, and whatever concerns these personages concerns in some degree the whole Union. When an ambassador, therefore, is a party in a suit, its issue affects the welfare of the nation, and a Federal tribunal is naturally called upon to decide it. The Union itself may be involved in legal proceedings, and, in this case, it w^ould be contrary to reason and to the customs of all nations to appeal to a tribunal representing 182 DKMOCRACY IN AMKUU'A. I I !^^ any other soveroirrnty than its own : tlie Federal courts alone, therefore, tiike cognizance of these affairs. When two parties belonging to two difierent States are engaged in a suit, the case cannot with jjropriety bo brouglit before. a court of either State. The surest expe- dient is to select a tribunal wliicli can excite the suspicions of neither party, and this is naturally a Federal court. When the two parties are not private individuals, but States, an important political motive is added to the same consideration of equity. The quality of the parties, in this case, gives a national importance to all their disputes ; and the most trifling litigation between two States may be said to involve the peace of the whole Union.* The nature of the cause frequently prescribes the rule of com])etency. Thus, all questions which concern mari- time affairs evidently fall under the cognizance of the Fed- eral tribunals.! Almost all these questions depend on the interpretation of the law of nations ; and, in this respect, they essentially interest the Union in relation to foreign powers. Moreover, as the sea is not included within the limits of any one State jurisdiction rather than another, only the national courts can hear causes which originate in maritime affairs. The Constitution comprises under one head almost all the cases which, by their very nature, come before the * Tlic Constitution also says tliat the Federal courts shall decide " con- trovcrsies between a State and the citizens of another State." And here a most important question arose, — -.vhether the jurisdiction given by the Con- stitution, in cases in which a State is a party, extended to suits brought tujainst a State as well as hi) it, or was exclusively confined to the latter. The question was most elaliorately considered in the case of Chishohn v. Gcorrjin, and was decided by the majority of the Supreme Court in the af- firmative. The decision created general alarm among the States, and an amendment was proposed and ratified, by which the power was entirely taken away so far as it regards suits brought a<jamst a State. t As, for instance, all cases of piracy. J R THE I'EDKRAL CONSTITl ilOX. 183 » Fedeiu- courts. The rule ■svliicli it lays dowu is simple, but pre(^nant with nu entire system of ideas, and with a multitude of facts. It declares that the judicial power of the Supreme Court shall extend to all cast's in law and equity arislmj niitlr the lutvs of (he United IStittes. Two examples will put the intention of the legislator in the clearest lijilit. The Constitution prohibits the States from making laws on the value and circulation of money. If, notwithstand- ing this prohibition, a State jiasses a law of this kind, with which the interested i)arties refuse to comply because it is contrary to the Constitution, the case must come before a Federal court, because it arises mider the Lnvs of the United States. Again, if difficulties arise in the levying of import duties which have been voted by Congress, the Federal court must decide the case, because it arises under the interpretation of a law of the United States. This rule is in perfect accordance with the fundamental principles of the Federal Constitution. The Union, as it was established in 1789, possesses, it is true, a limited sov- ereignty ; but it was intended that, within its limits, it should form one and the same people.*' Within those limits, the Union is sovereign. When this point is es- tablished and admitted, the inference is easy ; for if it be acknowledged that the United States, w^ithin the bounds prescribed by their Constitution, constitute but one people, it is impossible to refuse them the rights which belong to other nations. But it has been allowed, from the origin of society, that every nation has the right of deciding by its own courts those questions which concern the execution * Thia priuciple was, in some measure, restricted by the introduetion of the several States as independent powers into the Senate, and l»y allowing them to vote separately in the House of Representatives when the President is elected i)y that body. But these are exceptions, and the contrary principle is the rule. 184 DKMOCKACY IN AMKUICA. of its own laws. To this it is unswcivd, tliut the Union is s: in .so sin;j;iihir a ])osition tluit, in relation to sonic matters. it constitntc's hut one people, and in relation to all the rest, it is a nonentity. lUit the inference to be drawn is, that, in the laws relating to these matters, the Union possesses all the rights of absolute sovereignty. The dilKeulty is to know what these matters are ; and when once it is re- solved, (and we have shown how it was resolved, in speak- ino; of the means of determining; the iurisdietion of the Federal courts,) no further doubt can arise ; for as soon as it is established that a suit is Federal, that is to say, that it belongs to the share of sovereignty reserved by the Consti- tution to the Union, the luitural consequence is, that it should come within the jurisdiction of a Federal court. Whenever the laws of the United States are attacked, or whenever they are resorted to in self-defence, the Fed- eral courts must be a])pealed to. Thus the jurisdiction of the tribunals of the Union extends and narrows its limits exactlv in the same ratio as the sovereignty of the Union augments or decreases. We have shown that the pi'incipal aim of the legislators of 1789 was to divide the sovereign authority into two parts. In the one, they placed the con- trol of all the general interests of the Union, in the other, the control of the special interests of its component States. Their chief solicitude was, to arm the Federal government with sufficient power to enable it to resist, within its sphere, the encroachments of the several States. As for these communities, the general principle of independence within certain limits of their own was adopted in their behalf; there the central government cannot control, nor even inspect, their conduct. In speaking of the division of au- thority, I observed that this latter principle had not always been respected, since the States are prevented from passing certain laws, which apparently belong to their own partic- ular sphere of interest. When a State of the Union passes T ,1 • Tin: iLi)i:i{AL conshtuiton. 185 a law of tliis kind, the citi/cns who aiv iiijuivtl by its cx- ecutiim can appeal to the Ft-deral courts. Thus the jurisiliction of the Federal eourts extends, not only to all the cases which uise undiT tlu' laws <»f the Union, but also to those which arisi- under laws inadi' by the several States in op[)()sition to the Ctinstitution. The States are prohibited from making cx-jioxt-l'itcto laws in criminal cases ; and any person condi'unied by \ irtue of a law of this kind, can appeal to the judicial powi'r of the Union. The States are likewise |)rohibiti'(l from makin;^ laws -which mav impiiir tlu' obligation of contracts.* If iv citizen thiidvs that an obliij;ation of this kind is impairi'tl by a law passed in his State, he may refuse to obey it, and may a}>pe;d to the Federal courts. f ♦ It is perfectly clfftr, says Mr. Story, (Commentaries, p. 50.1, or in tlio larpc edition § l.'J7'J,) tliat any law wliieli eniar;ies, aliridjios, or. in any man- ner elian^es tho intention of the i)artie!), resulting from llie siipulations in the contract, Jiecessariiy impairs it. lie gives in tlie same i)lace a very care- ful (lellnitioii of what is understood l>y a contract in Federal jurisprudence. The definition is verv hroad. A craut made liv tla^ Siatc to a privat(! indi- vidua), and accei»tod hy him, is a contract, and caimot lie revoked hy any future law. A charter uninti'd hy the State to ii company is a cfintract, and eipially hindin;; on the State as on the grantee. The clause of the Constitu- tion here referred to insures, therefore, tho existence of a great part of ac- quired rights, hut not of all. Property may legally lie held, though it may not have jiassed into tho possessor's hands hy means of a contract ; and its possession is an ac([uired right, not guaranteed hy the Federal Constitution. t A renuu'kal)le instance of this is given hy Mr. Stor\' (p. .^OS, or in tho large edition § 1388). "Dartmouth College in New l[anii)shire had heeii founded hy a charter granted to certain individuals hefore the American lievolution, and its trustees formed a corporation under this charter. Tho legislature of New llami)shire had, without the consent of tliis corjioration, passed an act changing the terms of the original charter of the College, and transferring all the rights, privileges, and franchises derived from the old charter to new trustees appointed under the act. The constitutionality of the act wa^ contested, and the cause was carried n\) ro the Supremo (Fed- oral) Court, wiicre it was held, that the Provincial charter was a contract within the meaning of the Constitution, and that tho amendatoiy act was utterly void, as impaiiing the ohligatiou of that charter." i )!,. 18G DKMOCKACY IN AMKKlCA. Tills provision a))|)i':irs to mc to 1k' tlie most sorioiis attack upon tliu iiKli-pondiMicc of tliu States. Tin; ri;;lit.s accorded to the Fi'diTal ^"ovcnnucnt for purposes obviously natiouid arc definite and easily understood : l)ut those n itii >vliicli tliis clause invi'sts it are neither clearly api)reciablo nor accin'ately defined. For there are many political laws ■which allcct the existence of contracts, which mioht thus i'lu'uish a pretext for the encroachments of the central au- thority.* * Tlic npprclipnsions cxprossod in tliis pnrnfrmph seem to Itc unfoundofl. The ol)j('ct of till! cliiusi! in the Constitution rospiictiiij; contracts is not so niudi to sticii;;tiicii tlic Federal {;ovci'nincut us to protect j)rivate individuals against hurnit'ul and unjust State le^^isiation. It duos not limit the power of tlio States, except by pruhiliitin;^ thcin from couimittin;,' positive wrong. Thoy can still Icj^ishito ujion the suliject of future contracts; tliey can pre- Bcrilio what contracts shall ho forniiMl, and liow ; hut they cannot imjiair any that are alrtrnJij made. Any law which shouiil autiiorize the lircach of a con- tract already nuule, or in any way impair its obligation, would bo obviously unjust. Moreover, as Mr. Si)encer observes, tlic author is in error " in supposing the judiciary of tlie United States, and particularly the Supreme Court, to be a ])art of the political Federal government, and a ready instrument to ex- ecute its desifriis upon tlic State authorities. Altl)ou,<j;li the jud^^os arc in form commissioned by the United States, yet they are in fact appointed by the delofiates of the States, in the Senate of the United States, concurrently with and acting upon the uomiiuitiou of the President. In truth, the ju- diciary have no political duties to perform ; they arc arbiters chosen by the Federal and State governments jointly, and, when appointed, as indei)cndent of one as of the other. They cannot be removed without the consent of the States represented in the Senate ; and they can be removed without tho consent of the President, and against his wishes. Such is the theory of the Constitution. And it has been felt practically, in the rejection by the Senate of persons nominated as judges by a President of the same political party with a majority of the Senators. Two instances of tliis kind occurred dur- ing the administration of Mr. Jefferson." — Am. Ed. THK IKDKIJAL CONSTITl'TION. 187 rnOCKDURE OP THE FIOKUAL COURTS. Natural Wciikiirss of tlic Juiliciiil Powit in CDiiri'dtTiitiiiiis. — Lcyi.slatora ou;^lit, Its iiiticli a.s pussihlc, to I riiii; I'rivatu Iiidiviiliials, and not StatoD, before tlic Fetli-ral Courts. — llow tlio Amcrirans have sucrfCfU-il in thin. — Dirt'ft I'rosocution of I'rivato IndiviiluaLs in tlio I'Vdcral (ourl.i. — Indirect I'rostM ution of tin* States wliidi violate tlie I.invs of the Union. — 'I'he Decrees of tlie iSuprenie Court enervate, hut do not distroy, the Stato Lawd. I HAVK .shown what tlic rlolits of tlio FihUmmI coiirt.s are, and it is no k'ss ini})()ftant to sliow liow they are exiTcisctl. The invsistible autliurity of justit'o in coiinti'ios in wliich the sovc'ivio;nty is undivided, is derived from the lact, that the tril)inials of those countries I'epresi'ut the entire nation at iss'ie with the intUvidual auainst whotn their decree is directed ; and tlie idea of power is thus introduced to cor- roborate the idea of ri^lit. But it is not always so in countries in which the sovereignty is divided ; in them, the judicitd power is more frequently oj)})osed to a fraction of the nation, than to an isolated individual, and its moral authority and physical strength are conse(|uently dimin- ished. In Federal states, the power of the judge is natu- rally decreased, and that of the justiciable parties is aug- mented. The aim of the legislator in confederate states ought therefore to be, to render the position of the courts of justice analogous to that which they occupy in coun- tries where the sovereignty is undivided ; in other words, his efforts ought constantly to tend to maintain the judi- cial power of the confederation as the representative of the nation, and the justiciable party as the representative of an individual interest. Every government, whatever may be its constitution, requires the means of constraining its subjects to discharge their obligations, and of protecting its privileges from their assaults. As far as the direct action of the government on 1.88 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. the community is conceriiod, the Constitution of the United States contrived, by a niaster-stroi^e of policy, tluit the Federal courts, acting in the name of the ^aws, should take cognizance only of parties in an individual capacity. For, as it had been declared that the Union consisted of one and . the same people within the limits laid down by the Con- stitution, the inference was that the government created by tins constitution, and acting within these limits, was in Nested with all the privileges of a national government, one of the princi})al of which is the right of transmitting its injunctions directly to the private citizen. When, for instance, the Union votes an impost, it does not apply to the States for the levying of it, but to every American cit- izen, in proportion to his assessment. The Supreme Court, which is empowered to enforce the execution of this law of the Union, exerts its influence not upon a refractory State, but upon the private tax-payer ; and, like the judi- cial power of other nations, it acts only upon the person of an individual. It is to be observed that the Union chose its own antagonist ; and as that antagonist is feeble, he is naturally worsted. But the dirticulty increases when the proceedings are not brought forward bi/, but against^ the Union. Tlie Consti- tution recognizes the legislative power of the States ; and a law enacted by that power may violate the rights of the Union. In this case, a collision is unavoidable between that body and the State which has passed the law : and it only remains to select the least dangerous remedy. The general principles which I have before established show what this remedy is.* It may be conceived that, in the case under considera- tion, the Union might have sued the State before a Federal court, which would have annulled the act ; this would have been the most natural proceeding. But the judicial power * See Chapter VI., on Judieuil Tower in America. THE FEDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 189 would tlins have been placed in direct oi)position to the State, and it was desirable to avoid -this predicament as much as possible. The Americans hold that it is nearly impossible that a new law should not injure some private interests by its provisions. These private interests are as- sumed by the American legislators as the means of assail- ing such measures as may be prejudicial to the Union, and it is to these interests that the protection of the Supreme Court is extended. Su])pose a State sells a portion of its public lands to a com})any, and that, a year afterwards, it passes a law by which the lands are otherwise disposed of, and that clause of the Constitution Avhich ju'ohibits laws impairing the obligation of contracts is thereby violated. When the pur- chaser under the second act aj)pears to take possession, the possessor under the first act brings his action before the tribunals of the Union, and causes the title of the claimant to be pronounced nvdl and void.* Thus, in point of fact, the judicial ])Ower of the Union is contesting tlie claims of the sovereignty of a State ; but it acts only indirectly, and vipon an application of detail. It attacks the law in its consequences, not in its principle, and rather weakens than destroys it. The last c^asc to be provided for was, that each State formed a corporation enjoying a separate existence and dis- tinct civil rights, and that it could therefore sue or be sued before a tribunal. Thus, a State could bring an action against another State. In this instance, the Union was not called uj)on to contest a State law, but to try a suit in wliich a State was a party. This suit was perfectly sim- ilar to any other cause, except that the quality of the par- ties was ditferent ; and here the danger j)ointed out at the beo-innino- of this chai)ter still exists, with less chance of being avoided. It is inherent in the very essence of Fed- * See Kent's Coniinentaries, Vol. I. p. .387. ■JN IDO DKMOCRACY IN AMKIIICA. eral constitutions, that tliey slumld create parties in the bosom of the nation, Vv-hich present powerful obstacles to the free course of justice. HIGH RANK OF THE SUPREME COURT AMONGST THE GREAT POWERS OF STATE. No Nation ever constituted so great a Judicial Power as the Americans. — Extent of its Prerogatives. — Its Political Influence. — Tiic Tranquillity and the very Existence of tlie Union depend on the Discretion of the seven Federal Judges. When we have examined in detail the oro-anization of the Supreme Court, and the entire prerogatives which it exercises, we shall readily admit that a more imposing judicial power was never constituted by any people. The Supreme Court is placed higher than any known tribunal, both by the nature of its rights and the class of justiciable parties which it controls. In all the civilized countries of Europe, the government has alwavs shown the greatest reluctance to allow the cases in which it was itself interested to be decided by the ordi- nary course of justice. This repugnance is naturally greater as the government is more absolute ; and, on the other hand, the privileges of the courts of justice are ex- tended with the increasing liberties of the people : but no European nation has yet held that all judicial controversies, without regard to their origin, can be left to the judo-es of common law. In America, this theory has been actually put in prac- tice ; and the Supreme Court of the United States is the sole tribunal of the nation. Its power extends to all cases arising under laws and treaties made bv the national au- thorities, to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and, in general, to all points which affect the law of nations. i ■M THE FEDI-RAL COXSTITUTION. 191 It may even be affirmed that, although its cdustitutlon is essentially judicial, its prerogatives are almost entirely })o- litical. Its sole object is to enforce the execution of the laws of the Union ; and the Union only regulates the rela- tions of the government with the citizens, and of the na- tion with foreign powers : the relations of citizens amongst themselves are almost all regulated by the sovereignty of the States. A second and still greater cause of the preponderance of this court may be adduced. In the nations of Europe, the courts of justice are only called upon to try the con- troversies of private individuals ; but the Supreme Court of the United States summons sovereign powers to its bar. When the clerk of the court advances on the ste})s of the tribunal, and simply says, " The State of New York versus The State of Ohio," it is impossible not to feel that the court which he addresses is no ordinary body ; and when it is recollected that one of these parties represents one million, and the other two millions of men, one is struck by the responsibility of the seven judges, whose decision is about to satisfy or to disappoint so large a number of their fellow-citizens. The peace, the prosperity, and the very existence of the Union are vested in the hands of the seven Federal judges. Without them, the Constitution would be a dead letter : the Executive appeals to them for assistance against the encroachments of the legislative power ; the Legislature demands their protection against the assaults of the Exec- utive ; they defend the Union fi-om the disobedience of the States, the States from the exaggerated claims of the Union, the public interest against private interests, and the con- servative spirit of stability against the fickleness of the de- mocracy. Their power is enormous, but it is the power of public o})inion. They are all-poweiful as long as the people respect the law ; but they would be impotent against pop- 4 < .h 192 DEMOCRACY IN AMKl.'ICA. ular noi^lcct or contempt of the law. Tlic force of public opinion is the most intractable of agents, because its exact limits cannot be defined ; and it is not less danoerous to exceed, than to remain below, the boundary prescribed. The Federal judges must not only be good citizens, and men of that information and integrity Avhieh are indispen- sable to all magistrates, but they must be statesmen, wise to discern the signs of the times, not afraid to brave the obstacles which can be subdued, nor slow to turn away from the current when it threatens to sweep them off, and the su])remacy of the Union and the obedience due to the laws along with them. The President, who exercises a limited power, may err without causing m'eat mischief in the state. Cono;ress may decide amiss without destroying the Union, because the electoral botly in which the Congress originates may cause it to retract its decision by clianging its members. But if the Supreme Court is ever com})osed of imprudent or bad men, the Union may be plunged into anarchy or civil war. The original cause of this danger, however, does not lie in the constitution of the tribunal, but in the very nature of federal governments. We have seen that, in confed- erate states, it is especially necessary to strengthen the judi- cial power, because in no other nations do those indepen- dent persons who are able to contend with the social body exist in greater power, or \a a better condition to resist the physical strength of the government. But the more a power requires to be strengthened, the more extensive and independent it must be made ; and the dangers which its abuse may create are heightened by its independence and its strength. The source of the evil is not, therefore, in the constitution of the power, but in the constitution of the state Avhich renders the existence of such a power necessary. i fi THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. loa IN WHAT RESPECTS THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 13 SUPE- IlIOR TO THAT OE THE STATES. 11- How the Constitution of the Union can be compari'd with that of the States. — Superiority of tiie Constitution of tl>e Union attrihutalile to tlie Wis- dom of the Federal LegisUitors. — Legislature of tiie Union less depen- dent on the IV'ople than that of the States. — Executive Power more independent in its Spliere. — Juilicial Power less suIijccU'd to the Will of the Majority. — Practieal Consequence of these Facts. — The Dan- gers inherent in a Democratic Government diminished hy the Federal Legislators, lUid increased by the Legislators of tiie States. The Federal Constitution diflers essentially from that of the States in the ends whieh it is intended to acconij)lish ; but in the means by whieh these ends are attained, a greater analogy exists between them. The objects of the governments are different, but their forms are the same ; and in this special point of view, there is some advantage in com})aring them with each other. I am of opinion, for several reasons, that the Federal Constitution is superior to any of the State constitutions. The present Constitution of the Union was formed at a later period than those of the majority of the States, and it may have profited by this additional experience. But we shall 1)0 convinced that this is only a secondary cause of its superiority, when we recollect that eleven [twenty-one] new States have since been added to the Union, and that these new re})ublics have almost always rather exaggerated than remedied the defects which existed in the former con- stitutions. The chief cause of the superiority of the Federal Con- stitution lav in the character of the lemslators who com- posed it. At the time when it was formed, the ruin of the Confederation seemed imminent, and its danger was univer- sally known. In this extremity, the people chose the men who most deserved the esteem, rather than those who had 9 M m 1 I it tl ' ; !i 194 DEMOCRACY IX AMKIIICA. ountiy. I liavo already ob- most all tlio k'ii'islators of the gained the affections, of tlie served, that, distinguished as al Union were for their intelligence, they were still more so for their patriotism. They had all been nurtured at a time when the spirit of liberty was braced by a contiiuial strug- gle against a powerful and dominant authority. \\'hen the contest was terminated, whilst the excited passions of the po])nlace persisted, as usual, in warring against dangers which had ceased to exist, these men stopped short ; they cast a calmer and more penetrating look upon their coun- try ; they perceived that a definitive revolution had been accomplished, and that the only dangers which America had now to fear were those which miolit result from the abuse of freedom. They had the courage to say what they believed to be true, because they were animated by a warm and sincere love of liberty ; and they ventured to ])ropose restrictions, because they were resolutely opposed to de- struction.* Most of the State constitutions assign one year for the duration of the House of Representatives, and two years for that of the Senate ; so that members of the lemslative body are constantly and narrowly tied down by the slight- * At this time, Alexander Hamilton, who was one of the principal found- ers of the Constitution, ventured to express the following sentiments in the Federalist, No. 71 : — " There are some who would be inclined to regard the servile pliancy of the Executive to a prevailing current, either in the community or in the legislature, as its best recommendation. But such men entertain very crude notions, as well of the purposes for which government was instituted, as of tlie true means by which the public happiness may be promoted. The re- publican principle demands, that the deliberative sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to ^vhom they intrust the management of their affairs ; but it does not rcipiire an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion, or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men Avho flatter their prejudices lo betray their interests. It Is a just observation, that the people commonly intend tlt< public good. This often applies to thcii- very errors. But their good sense would THK FKDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 195 bv of the I'rudc IS of he re- [iiiity lent ivcry pnjile their luhlic 3uld est (losiros of their ooiistituonts. The legislators of tlio Union wore of opinion that this excessive dejx'ndence of the legislatnre altered the natnre of the main eonsefpienecs of the representative system, since it vested not oidy the source of authority, hut the o;overnment, in the j)eople. Thev increased the lenjxth of the term, in order to »'ive the re])resentatives freer scope for the exercise of their own judii'ment. I'he Federal Constitution, as well as the State constitu- tions, divided the legislative body into two branches. IJut in the States, these two hrnnches avimv composed of the same elements, and elected in the same maimer. The consequence was, that the ])assions and inclinations of the populace were as rapidly and easily represented in one chamber as in the other, and that laws were made with violence and precipitation. By the Federal Constituticm, the two houses orimnate in like manner in the choice of the people ; but the conditions of elirribility and the mode of election were changed, in order that, if, as is the case in certain nations, one branch of the legislature should not represent the same interests as the other, it might at least represent more wisdom. A mature age was necessary to despise the adulator who should pretend that they always irasnn riijht about the means of promotin<j it. They know from experience that they some- times err ; and the wonder is, that they so seldom err as they do, beset, as they continually are, by the wiles of parasites and sycophnnts ; by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate ; by the artifices of men who possess their confidence more than they deserve it, and of tliose who seek to possess rather than to deserve it. When occasions present themselves iu which the interests of the people arc at variance with tiieir inclinations, it is the duty of the persons whom they have appointed to be the tjuardians of those interests to withstand the temporary delusion, in order to pive them time and opportunity for more cool and sedate reflection. Instances miuht be cited, in which a conduct of this kind has saved tlie ])eople from very fatal consequences of their own mistakes, and has procurcil hustin;; monu- ments of their jjratitudc to the men who had courajxe and ma^^ianimity enough to serve them at the peril of their displeasure." It ■ i' il i II' li! 19(3 DEMOCRACV IN AMKHICA. i ! become a Senator, and tlie Senate was chosen by an elect- ed assembly of a limited number of members. To concentrate the whole social force in the hands of the legislative body is the natural tendency of democracies ; for as tliis is the })ower which emanates the most directly from the j)eople, it has the greater siiare of the people's over- whelming power, and it is naturally led to monopoH/.e every species of influence. This concentration of power is at once very })rejudicial to a well-conducted administra- tion, and favorable to the despotism of the majoi'ity. Tlie legislators of the States fre(]uently yielded to these demo- cratic propensities, which were invariably and courageously resisted by the founders of the Union. In the States, the executive power is vested in the hands of a magistrate, who is apparently placed upon a level with the legislature, but who is in reality only the blind agent and the passive instrument of its will. He can derive no ])ower from the duration of his office, which terminates in one year, or from the exercise of prerogatives, for he can scarcely be said to have any. The legislature can condemn him to inaction by intrusting the execution of its laws to special committees of its own members, and can aniud his temporary dignity by cutting down his salary.* The Federal Constitution vests all the privileges and all the responsibility of the executive power in a single individual. The duration of the Presidency is fixed at four years ; the salarv cannot be altered durino- this term ; the President is protected by a body of official dependents, and armed with a suspensive veto : in short, every effort was made to con- fer a strong and independent position upon the executive authority, within the limits which were prescribed to it. * Not always. In several of the States, tlie compensation of the Governor cannot be lessened during his term of office. So, also, the Governor's term is not always for a single year. In many of the States it is two, in some it is three, years. — Am. Ed. fii I THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 191 In tlio State constitutions, tlio judicial power is that whicli is tlie most independent of the leoislative autliorlty ; nevertheless, in all the States, the legislature has reserved to itself the right of rei;-ulating the emoluments of the jud'Tcs, a practice which necessarily suhjects them to its immediate influence. In some States, the judges are ap- ])ointed only temjiorarily, which deprives them of a great portion of their })Ower and their freedom. In others, the legishitive and ju<licial powers arc entirely confounded. The Senate of New York, for instance, constitutes in cer- tain cases the superior court of the State. The FecK'ral Constitution, on the other hand, carefully separates the judicial power from all the others ; and it ])rovides for the independence of the judges, by declaring that their salary shall not be diminished, and that their functions shall be inalienable. The practical consequences of these different systems may easily be perceived. An attentive observer will soon remark that the business of the Union is incomjtarably bet- ter conducted than that of any individual State. The conduct of the Federal government is more fair and tem- perate than that of the States ; it has more prudence and discretion, its projects are more durable and more skilfully combined, its measures are executed with more vioor and consistency. I recapitulate the substance of this chapter in a few words. The existence of democracies is threatened by tw^o prin- cipal dangers, viz. the complete subjection of the legisla- ture to the will of the electoral body, and the concentration of all the other powers of the government in the legislative branch. The development of these evils has been favored by the leo;islators of the States ; but the legislators of the Union have done all they could to render them less formidable. 198 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. oharactkuistics of the fiidkhai, constitution of thk unitj:i) statks of amkkiua as comi'aukd with all OTIIKR FKDKUAL CONriTlTLTIOXS. The American Union api)ears to resemble uU otiier Confederations. — Yet its Ktleets are dillerent. — Heuson of tiiis. — In what this Union (litlers from all other ContiMlerations. — Tiie American Govenuncnt not a i'eil- cnil, i)Ut an iinjierfeet National Government. The United States of Anu'ricu do not aft'ord the first or tlie oiilv instance of a confederation, several of wliich liave existed in modern Europe, without advertino' to tlioso of anti(juity. Switzerland, the Germanic Em]»ire, ami tlie Republic of the J^ow Countries, eitlier have been, or still are, confederations. In studying the constitutions of these difleivnt countries, one is surprised to sec that the powers with which they invested the federal govermnent are nearly the same with those awarded by the American Con- stitution to the government of the United States. They conter upon the central power the same rights of making j)eace and war, of raising money and troops, and of pro- vi(Uni>- for the general exioencies and the common inteiests of the nation. Nevertheless, the federal government of these different states has always been as remarkable for its weakness and inefHciencv as that of the American Union is for its vigor and capacity. Again, the first American Confederation perished through the excessive weakness of its government ; and yet this weak government had as large rights and privileges as those of the Federal govern- ment of the present day, and in some respects even larger. But the present Constitution of the United States contains certain novel })rinciples, which exercise a most important influence, although they do not at once strike the observer. This Constitution, which may at first sight be con- founded with the federal constitutions which have preceded it, rests in truth upon a wholly novel theory, which may THE FKDKKAL CUNSTITLTIUX. in> be consldorc'd as a ^rrat discovery in inodoni political sii- ence. In all tlic contcdcnitions which preceded the iVnier- ican Constitution of 1T!S!>, tiie alhed states tor a connnoii object a;j;reed to obey tiie injunctions of a I'cdci'a! govern- ment ; but they reserved t(j themselves tlie ri^ht of oi'dain- inji and enforcin<i the execution of the laws of the union. The American States which combined in ITS'.) auri'ed, that the Federal <Tovernment should not only dictate the laws, but should execute its own enactnu-nts. In both cases, the rii;ht is the same, but the exercise of the rii;ht is dit- ferent ; and this ditference produced tlu' most momentous conse(picnces. In all the confederations which preceded the American Union, the federal government, in order to })rovide for its wants, had to a])))ly to the separate governnients ; and if what it })rescril)ed was disagreeable to any one of them, means were found to evade its claims. If it was power- ful, it then had recourse to arms ; if it was weak, it con- nived at the resistance which the law of the iniion, its sovereign, met with, and did nothing, under the plea of inability. Under these circumstances, one of two results invariably followed : either the strongest of the allied states assumed the privileges of the federal authority, and ruled all the others in its name ; * or the federal government was abandoned by its natural sui)porters, anarchy arose between the confederates, and the union lost all power of action. f In America, the subjects of the Union are not States, * This was the rase in Greece, when Piiilip undertook to oxeeutc the de- crees of the Aniphictyons ; in the Low Countries, wlicre the province of Holland always ftave the law ; and, in our own time, in the Germanic Con- federation, in which Austria and Prussia make themselves the agents of tlie Diet, and rule the wiiole confederation in its name. t Such lias always been tlie situation of the Swiss Confederation, which would have perished ages ago but for the mutual jealousies of its neigh- bors. 200 DKMOCRACY IN' AMI'.HICA. 1 ,1 !l ! Iml piMNiitc citi/ciis : tlic national ^ovcrnnu'nt lovics a tax, rtot u|M)n till' State til' Massacluisi'tts, l»ut npoii cadi inlial)- itant (il Mas>aclnisi'tts. The oM coMfldiTatc ;j;()\(.'riniu'nts jtri'sidcil over coinnuinitii's, but that ot' the Union pri'sidcs over in(li\ idiials. Its forco is not horrowi'd, hut srlt-dc- rivi'd ; and it is served hy its own civil and military otHciTs, its own arniv, and its own courts of" iustice. It cainiot he douhted that the national spirit, the passions of the niulti- tuile, and the provincial prejudices of each Stati', still ti'ud sin^iularly to diminish tlu' extent of the Federal authority thus constituted, and to facilitate resistance to its nian(hiti's; but the comparati\e weakness of a restricted sovereiiiiity is an evil inhei'ent in the Federal system. In AnuM'ica, each State has fewer opportunities and tem[»tations to resist: nor can such a (lesi;j;n be put in execution, (if indeed it be entertained,) without an open violation of the laws of the Union, a direct inti'rrui)tion of the ordinary course of jus- tice, and a bold declaration of revolt ; in a word, witlu)ut taking the decisive step wliieli men always hesitate to adopt. In all former confederations, the privileges of the Union furnished more elements of discord than of power, since they multiplied the claims of the nation without augment- ing tlie means of enforcino; them : and hence the real we.ik ness of federal governments has almost always been in the exact ratio of their nominal power. Such is not the case in the American Union, in which, as in ordinary govern- ments, the Federal power has the means of enforcing all it is empowered to demand. The human understanding more easily invents new things than new words, and we are hence constrained to employ many improper and inadequate expressions. When several nations form a permanent league, and establish a supreme authority, which, although it cannot act upon pri- vate individuals, like a national government, still acts upon -r ') TIIF, FF'.DKKAI- fOXSTITrTIOX. 201 lew to Ihen eacli of tlie coiiKMK'nitc states in a Ixxly, this ;;<)vt'rnin(>Mt, which is so i'>-<tiifialiy ditlrfi'iit from all othrrs, is called Federal. Another foi'ni of society is afterwards discoxci'ed, in whicii several states are fnsed into one with regard to certain connnoii interests, althon;j;h they remain di>tinct, or only confederate, with I'e^ard to all other concerns. In this case, the central power acts directly ujioii the <j;ov- erned, whom it rules and judges in the same uunnu'r as a national crovennnent, but in a more* limite(l '-ircle. ICvi- dently this is no longer a tederal e;()vt'rnmi'nt, hut an incomj)lete national govermnent, which is m-ither exactly national nor exactly fe<leral ; but the new woi'd which ouiiht to exiiress this novel thinn; does not vet exist. Ignorance of this new species of confederation has been the cause which has brought all nnions to civil wai", to ser- vitude, or to inertness ; and the states which formed these leagues have been either too dull to discern, or too })usil- lanimous to apply, this givat remedy. The first American confederation ])erished by the same defects. But in America, the confederate States had been long accustomed to form a portion of one empire before they had won their independence ; they hiul not contracted the habit of governing themselves comj)letely ; and their na- tional prejudices had not taken deep root in their minds. Superior to the rest of the world in political knowledge, and sharing tliat knowledge e(pially amongst themselves, they were little agitated by the passions which generally o|>pose the extension of federal authority in a nation, and those passions were checked by the wisdom of their great- est men. The Americans applied the remedy with firm- ness, as soon as they were conscious of the evil ; they amended their laws, and saved tiie country. 9* f I f h 'I ■ li I I ill; • 'if 202 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ADVANTAGES OF THE FEDERAL SYSTEM IN GENERAL, AND ITS SPECIAL UTILITY IN AMERICA. Happiness and Freedom of small Nations. — Power of great Nations. — Great Empires favorable to tlio Growl' of Civilization. — Strength of- ten tlic first Element of National Prosperity. — Aim of the Federal Sys- tem to nnite the twofold Advantages resulting from a small and from a large Territory. — Advantages derived by the United States from this System. Tiic Law adajjts itself to the Exigeneies of the Population ; Population does not conform to the Exigencies of the Law. — Activity, Progress, the Love and Enjoyment of Freedom, in American Commu- nities — Public Spirit of the Union is only the Aggregate of Provincial Patriotism. — Principles and Things circulate freely over the Territory of the United States. — The Union is happy and free as a little Nation, and respected as a grcac one. In small states, the watclifulness of society penetrates into every part, and the spirit of improvement enters into the smallest details ; the ambition of the people being necessarily checked by its weakness, all the efforts and resources of the citizens are turned to the internal well- being of the community, and are not likely to evaporate in the fleeting breath of glory. The powers of every individ- ual being generally limited, his desires are proportionally small. jMediocrity of fortune makes the various conditions of life nearly equal, and the manners of the inhabitants are orderly and simple. Thus, all things considered, and al- lowance being made for the various degrees of morality and enlightenment, we shall generally find in small na- tions more persons in easy circumstances, more content- ment and tranquillity, than in large ones. When tyranny is established in the bosom of a small state, it is more galling than elsewhere, because, acting in a narrower circle, everything in that circle is affected by it. It supplies the place of those great designs which it cannot ent'jrtain, by a violent or exasperating interference in a multitude of minute details ; and it leaves the political :li. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 203 world, to wliicli it properly belongs, to meddle with the arrangements of private lite. Tastes as well as actions are to be reo-ulated : and the families of the citizens, as well as the state, are to be governed. This invasion of rights occurs, however, but seldom, freedom being in truth the natural state of small communities. The temptations which the government offers to ambition are too weak, and the resources of private individuals are too slender, for the sovereign power easily to fidl into the grasp of a single man ; and should such an event occur, the subjects of the state can easily unite and overthrow the tyrant and the tyranny at once by a common effort. Small nations ha\e therefore ever been the cradle of political liberty ; and the fact that many of them have lost their liberty by becoming larger, shows that their freedom was more a consequence of their small size than of the character of the people. Tlie history of the world affords no instance of a great nation retaining the form of republican government for a long series of years ; * and this has led to the conclusion that such a thing is impracticable. For my own part, I think it imprudent to attempt to limit wdiat is possible, and to judge the future, for men who are every day deceived in relation to the actual and the present, and often taken by surprise in the circumstances with which they are most familiar. But it may be said with confidence, that a great republic will always be exposed to more perils than a small one. All the passions which are most fatal to republican insti- tutions increase with an increasing territoiy, whilst the virtues which favor them do not augment in the same proportion. The ambition of private citizens increases with the power of the state ; the strength of parties, with * I do not speak of a confederation of small republics, but of a f^reut con- solidated republic. ' i i ' '■ i 204 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. the importance of the ends they have in A'iew ; but the love of country, which ouo'ht to check tlicse destructive agencies, is not stronger in a harge tlian in a small repidjlic. It might, indeed, he easily proved that it is less powerfid and less developed. Great wealth and extreme poverty, capital cities of la.'ge size, a lax morality, selfishness, and antagonism of interests, are the dano;ers which almost in- variably arise from the magnitude of states. Several of these evils scarcely injure a mo.iarchy, and some of them even contribute to its streniith and duration. In monarch- ical states, the government has its peculiar strength ; it may use, but it does not depend on, the comnnniity ; and the more numerous the people, the stronger is the j)rince. But the oidy security which a republican government pos- sesses against these evils lies in the support of the majority. This support is not, however, proportionably greater in a large republic than in a small one ; and thus, whilst the means of attack perpetually increase, both in number and influence, the power of resistance remains the same ; or it may rather be said to diminish, since the inclinations and interests of the people are more diversified by the increase of the population, and the difficulty of forming a compact majority is constantly augmented. It has been observed, moreover, that the intensity of human passions is height- ened not only by the importance of the end which they propose to attain, but by the multitude of individuals who are animated by them at the same time. Every one has had occasion to remark, that his emotions in the midst of a sympathizing crowd are far greater than those which he would have felt in solitude. In great republics, political passions become irresistible, not only because they aim at gigantic objects, but because they are felt and shared by millions of men at the same time. It may, therefore, be asserted as a general proposition, that nothing is more opposed to the well-being and the Tin: rKDERAL COXSTITUTION. 205 freedom of men tli;in vast empires. Xevcrtlieless, it is important to acknowledge the pecidiar advantages of great states. For tlie very reason tliat the desire of power is more intense in these connnunities tlian amongst onhnary men, tlie love of glory is also more developed in the hearts of certain citizens, who regard the applause of a gi'eat peo- ple as a reward worthy of their exertions, and an elevating encourajxement to man. If \ve Avonld learn whv ^I'eat na- tions contrihute more powerfully to the increase of knowl- edge and the advance of civilization than small states, we shall discover an adequate cause in the more rapid and eneroetic circulation of ideas, and in those o;reat cities which are the intellectual centres where all the rays of human genius are reflected and combined. To this it may be added, that most im})ortant discoveries demand a use of national })ower which the government of a small state is unable to make : in great nations, the government has more enlarged ideas, and is more completely disengaged from the routine of precedent and the selfishness of local feeling ; its designs are conceived Avith more talent, and executed with more boldness. In time of peace, the well-being of small nations is un- doubtedly more general and complete ; but they are apt to suffer more acutely from the calamities of Avar than those great empires wdiose distant frontiers may long avert the presence of the danger from the mass of the pcoj)le, wdio are therefore more frequently afHicted than ruined by the contest. But in this matter, as in many others, the decisive argu- ment is the necessity of the case. If none but small na- tions existed, I do not doubt that mankind w-ould be more hap})y and more free ; but the existence of gre^it nations is unavoidable. Political streno;th thus becomes a condition of national prosperity. It profits a state but little to be affluent and 206 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. M' 131 Ml: free, if it is perpetuiilly exposed to be pillaged or subju- gated ; its manufactures and commerce are of small ad- vantage, if another nation lias the emj)ire of the seas and gives the law in all the markets of the globe. Small na- tions are often miserable, not because they are small, but because they ai'e weak ; and great empires prosper, less because they are great, than because they are strong. Phvsical strenn;th is therefore one of the first conditions of the happiness, and even of the existence, of nations. Hence it occurs, that, unless very peculiar circumstances intervene, small nations are always united to large empires in the end, either by force or by their own consent. I know not a more deplorable condition than that of a people unable to defend itself or to provide for its own wants. The Federal svstem was created with the intention of combinino; the different advantages which result from the man;nitude and the littleness of nations ; and a glance at the United States of America discovers the advantages wliich they have derived from its adoption. In m'cat centralized nations, the leoislator is oblioed to give a character of uniformity to the laws, Avhich does not always suit the diversity of customs and of districts ; as he takes no cognizance of special cases, he can only proceed upon general principles ; and the population are obliged to conform to the exigencies of the legislation, since the legislation cannot ada] t itself to the exigencies and the customs of the population ; which is a great cause of trouble and misery. This disadvantage does not exist in confederations ; Congress regulates the principal measures of the national government ; and all the details of the ad- ministration are reserved to the provincial legislatures. One can hardlv imagine how much this division of sov- ereigntv contributes to the well-being of each of the States which compose the Union. In these small communities, which are never agitated by the desire of aggrandizement ■l-'\ TIIK FEDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 207 or the c.ire of self-defence, all public aiitliority niul j)rivate enero;y are turned towards internal improvements. The central «>-overnment of each State, which is in innnediate juxtaposition to the citizens, is daily apprised of the wants which arise in society ; and new projects are proposed every year, which are discussed at town-meetings or by the legislature, and which are transmitted hy the press to stimulate the zeal and to excite the interest of the citizens. This spirit of improvement is constantly alive in the Amer- ican republics, without compromising their tranquillity ; the ambition of power yields to the less retined and less dangerous desire for well-being. It is generally belicAed in America, that the existence and the permanence of the republican form of government in the New World di'pend upon the existence and the duration of the Federal system ; and it is not unusual to attribute a laro;e share of the mis- fortunes which have befillen the new States of South America to the injudicious erection of great republics, instead of a divided and confederate sovereignty. It is incontestably true, that the tastes and the habits of republican government in the United States were first created in the townships and the provincial assemblies. In a small State, like that of Connecticut, for instance, where cutting a canal or laving down a road is a (vreat political question, where the State has no army to })ay and no w'ars to carry on, and where much wealth or much honor cannot be given to the rulers, no form of govern- ment can be more natural or more a})})ropriate than a re- public. But it is this same republican sjiirit, it is these manners and customs of a free people, which have been created and nurtured in the different States, which must be afterwards applied to the country at large. The public spirit of the Union is, so to speak, nothing more than an aggregate or summary of the patriotic zeal of the se])arate provinces. Every citizen of the United States transports, 208 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i'^: SO to speak, liis attacliniont to his little republic into the common store of ^Vmerlcun patriotism. In defending the Union, he defends the increasing prosperity of his own State or county, the right of conducting its affairs, and the hope of causing measures of improvement to he adopted in it which may be favorable to his own interests ; and these are motives which are wont to stir men more than the gen- eral interests of the coimtry and the glory of the nation. On the other hand, if the temper and the manners of the inhabitants especially fitted them to promote the wel- fare of a great re})ublic, the federal system renders their task less difficult. The confederation of all the American States presents none of the ordinary inconvenienees re- sultini}; from great ago-lomerations of men. The Union is a great republic in extent, but the paucity of objects for which its oovernment acts assimilates it to a small State. Its acts are important, but they arc rare. As the sov- ereignty of the Union is limited and incomplete, its exer- cise is not dangerous to liberty ; for it does not excite those insatiable desires of fame and power which have proved so fatal to great republics. As there is no common centre to the country, great capital cities, colossal wealth, abject pov- erty, and sudden revolutions are alike unknown ; and polit- ical passion, instead of spreading over the land like a fire on the prairies, spends its strength against the interests and the individual passions of every State. Nevertheless, tangible objects and ideas circulate through- out the Union as freely as in a country inhabited by one people. Nothing checks the spirit of enterprise. The government invites the aid of all who have talents or knowdedo-e to serve it. Inside of the frontiers of the Union, profound peace prevails, as within the heart of some great empire ; abroad, it ranks with the most power- ful nations of the earth : two thousand miles of coast are open to the connnerce of the world ; and as it holds the ^■1 THK FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 209 keys of a New World, its fla<^ is rospocted in the most remote seas. The Union is lui])})y and free as a small peo- ple, and glorious and strong as a great nation. WHY THE FEDERAL SYSTEM 13 NOT PllACTICABLE FOR ALL NATIONS, AND HOW THE ANGLO- AMERICANS WERE EN- ABLED TO ADOPT IT. Every Federal Sj'stcin has inherent Faults wliieh baffle the EtVurts of tlie Legislator. — The Federal System is complex. — It demands a daily Exercise of the Intelli^^ence of the Citizens. — I'racticul Knowledge of Government common amongst the Americans. — Hclative Weakness of the Government of the Union another Defect iidierent in the Federal System. — The Americans have diminished without remedying it. — Tlie Sovereignty of the separate States apparently weaker, hut really strong- er, than that of the Union. — Why. — Natural Causes of Union then must exist between Confederate Nations beside the Laws. — What these Causes are amongst the Anglo-Americans. — Maine and Georgia, sepa- ••ated by a Distance of a tliousand Miles, more naturally united than Nor- mandy and Brittany. — W^ar the main Peril of Confederations. — This proved even by the Example of the United States. — The Union has no great Wars to fear. — Why. — Dangers which Europeans would incur if they adopted the Federal System of the Americans. When ^ lemslaior succeeds, after manv efforts, in exer- cising an indirect influence upon the destiny of nations, his genius is lauded by mankind, whilst, in point of fact, the geographical position of the country which he is unable to change, a social condition which arose without his co-oper- ation, manners and opinions which he cannot trace to tlieir source, and an origin with which he is unacquainted, exer- cise so irresistible an influence over the courses of society, that he is himself borne away by the current after an inef- fectual resistance. Like the navigator, he may direct the vessel which bears him, but he can neither chaufje its structure, nor raise the winds, nor lull the waters which swell beneath him. I have shown the advantages which the Americans de- N 210 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I t : !i rive from tlioir Federal system ; it remains for mc to point out tlie circumstances wliich enabled them to adopt it, as its benefits cannot be enjoyed by all nations. The acci- dental defects of the federal system which originate in the laws may be corrected by the skill of the legislator, but there are evils inherent in the system which cannot bo reiaedied by any eilfbrt. The people must therefore find in themselves the strength necessary to bear the natural im- perfections of their government. The most prominent evil of all federal systems is the complicated nature of the means they employ. Two sov- ereignties are necessarily in presence of each other. The legislator may simplify and equalize, as far as possible, the action of these two sovereignties, by limiting each of them to a sphere of authority accurately defined ; but he cannot combine them into one, or prevent them from coming into collision at certain points. The federal system, therefore, rests upon a theory which is complicated, at the best, and which demands the daily exercise of a considerable share of discretion on the part of those it governs. A proposition must be plain, to be adopted by the under- standing of a people. A false notion which is clear and precise will always have more power in the world than a true principle which is obscure or involved. Hence it happens that parties, which are like small communities in the heart of the nation, invariably adopt some principle or name as a symbol, which very inadequately represents the end they have in view and the means which they employ, but without which they could neither act nor subsist. The governments which are founded upon a single principle or a single feeling, which is easily defined, are perhaps not the best, but they are unquestionably the strongest and the most durable in the world. In examining the Constitution of the United States, which is the most perfect federal constitution that ever (Hi m THE FEDKRAL CONSTITUTION. 211 existed, one is startled at the variety of information and the amount of discernment wliich it presupposes in the people whom it is meant to govern. The government of the Union depends almost entirely upon legal fictions ; the Union is an ideal nation, which exists, so to speak, only in the mind, and whose limits and extent can only be dis- cerned by the understanding. After the general theory is comprehended, many difHcul- tles remain to be solved in its application ; for the sover- eignty of the Union is so involved in that of the States, that it is impossible to distinguish its boundaries at the first glance. The whole structure of the government is arti- ficial and conventional ; and it would be ill adapted to a people which has not been long accustomed to conduct its own affairs, or to one in which the science of politics has not descended to the humblest classes of society. I have never been more struck by the good sense and the practical judgment of the Americans, than in the manner in which they elude the numberless difficulties resulting from their Federal Constitution. I scarcely ever met with a i)lain American citizen who could not distinguish with surprising facility the obligations created by the laws of Congress from those created by the laws of his ow^n State, and who, after having discriminated between the matters wliich come under the cognizance of the Union and those Avhich the local legislature is competent to regulate, could not point out the exact limit of the separate jurisdictions of the Federal courts and the tribunals of the State. The Constitution of the United States resembles those fine creations of human industry which insure wealth and renown to their inventors, but wliich are profitless in other hands. This truth is exemplified by the condition of Mex- ico at the present time. The Mexicans were desirous of establishing a federal system, and they took the Federal Constitution of their neighbors, the Anglo-Americans, as ff. 212 DKMO'KACY IN AMIJUCA. ihcir iiKxK'l, inid copit d it almost t'litiivly.* But, altliouo;!! tlicy liad l){)iTo\ve(l the letter of the law, they could not in- troduce the spirit and the sense which ^ive it life. They were involved in ceaseless eniharrassnients by the mechan- ism of their douhle ^(jvernment ; the sovereignty of the States and that of the Union perpetually exceeded their resj)ective })rivile«i;es, and came into collision ; and to the j)resent day jNIexico is alternately the victim of anarchy and the slave of military desj)otisni. The second and most fatal of all defects, and that which I believe to be inherent in the federal system, is the rel- ative weakness of the government of the luiion. Tho princij)le u[)on which all confederations rest is that of a divided sovereignty. Legislators may render this partition less perceptible, they may even conceal it for a time from the i)ublic eye, but they cannot prevent it from existing ; and a divided must always be weaker than an entire sov- ereignty. The remarks made on the Constitution of the United States have shown with what skill the Americans, while restraining the power of the Union within the nar- row limits of a federal government, have given it the sem- blance, and to a certain extent the force, of a national government. By this means, the legislators of the Union have diminished the natural danger of confederations, but have not entin-ly obviated it. The American government, it is said, does not address itself to the States, but transmits its injunctions directly to the citizens, and compels them by isolation to comply w^ith its demands. But if the Federal law were to clash with the interests and the prejudices of a State, it might be feared that all the citizens of that State would conceive themselves to be interested in the cause of a single indi- vidual who should refuse to obey. It all the citizens of the State were aggrieved at the same time and in the same * See the Mexican Coastitution of 1824. m1 ii S 1' TIIE FKDKRAL COXSTITirriOX. 213 manner hy tin* aiitliority of tlie Union, tlic Frdcral i^ovcrn- inent would vainly attempt to subdue tliem individually ; tliev would instinctively unite in a coniuion defence, and would find un organization already ])re|)ared for them in the sovereignty which their State is allowed to enjoy. Fic- tion would give way to reality, and an or>iani/ed portion of the nation might then contest the central authority. 'J'he same observation holds <>()()d with i-ei-ard to the Federal jurisdiction. ]f the courts of the Union violated an important law of a State in a private case, the real, though not the apparent contest, would be between the aggrieved State represented by a citi/en, and the Union re])resented by its courts of justice.* Ho would have but a partial knowledge of the world who should imagine that it is possible, by the aid of legid fictions, to prevent men from finding (-ut and emj)loying those means of gratifying their passions which have been left open to them. The American legislators, though they have rendered a collision between the two sovereignties less probable, have not destroyed the causes of such a mis- fortune. It miy even be affirmed, that, in case of such a collision, they have not been able to insure the victory of the Federal element in a case of this kind. The Union is possessed of money and troops, but the States have kept * For instance, the Union possesses by the Constitution tlie ri<;lit of sell- ing anoccnpied lands for its o\vn profit. Suppose that the State of Ohio should claim the same right in behalf of certain tracts lying within its own boundaries, upon the plea that the Constitution refers to those lands alone which do not belong to the jurisdiction of any particular State, and consequently should choose to dispose of them itself. The litigation would be carried on, it is true, in the names of the purchasers from the State of Ohio and the purchasers from the Union, and not in the names of Ohio and the Union. But what would become of this legal fiction, if the Fed- end purchaser was confirmed in his right by the courts of the Union, whilst the other competitor was ordered to retain possession by the tribunals of the State of Ohio ? 214 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I i i the affoctions nnd the pivjutlices of the people. The sov- efeio;iity of the Union is an abstract being, which is con- nected with hut few external objects ; the sovereitrnty of the States is perceptible by the senses, easily understood, and constantly active. The former is of recent creation, the latti'r is coeval with the ])eople itself. The sovereio;nty of tile Union is factitious, that of the States is natural and selt-existent, without etlbrt, like the authority of a parent. Tiie sovereignty of the nation affects a few of the chief interests of society ; it represents an immense but remote country, a vague and ill-defined sentiment. The authority of the States controls every individual citizen at every hour and in all circumstances ; it protects his property, his freedom, and his life ; it affects at every UKMnent his well- being oi Ills misery. When we recollect the traditions, the customs, the prejudices of local and familiar attachment with which it is connected, we cannot doubt the superiority of a power which rests on the instinct of patriotism so nat- ural to the human heart. Since legislators cannot prevent such dangerous collis- ions as occur between the two sovereignties which coexist in the federal system, their first object must be, not only to dissuade the confederate states from warfare, but to encourage such dispositions as lead to peace. Hence it is that the federal compact cannot be lasting unless there exist in the communities which are leaffued together a certain number of inducements to union which render their common dependence agreeable, and the task of the govern- ment light. The federal system cannot succeed without the presence of favorable circumstances added to the in- fluence of good laws. All the nations which have ever formed a confederation have been held together by some common interests, which served as the intellectual ties of association. But men have sentiments and principles, as well as mate- THE Fl'DKHAL CONSTITUTION. 215 rial intoivsts. A certain uniformity of civiliziition is not less necc'ssiiry to tlic dni'iibility of ti confotU'rution, than a uniformity of interests in tiiu states wliieli compose it. In Swit/A'rland, tlie (litt'erenco between tlie civilization of the Canton of Uri and that of the Canton of Vaud is like tlio ditference between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centu- ries ; therefore, })roj)erly s])eakln<j;, Switzerland has never had a federal government. The union between these two Cantons subsists only upon the map ; and this would soon be i)erceived if an attempt were made by a central author- ity to i)rescribe the same laws to the whole territory. The circumstance which makes it easy to maintain a Federal government in America is, that the States not only have similar interests, a common origin, and a common language, but that they are also arrived at the same stage of civilization ; which almost always > uders a union fea- sible. I do not know of any European nation, however small, which does not present less uniformity in its ditFerent })rovinces than the American people, which occupies a ter- ritory as extensive as one half of Europe. The distance from ]\Iaine to Georgia is about one thousand miles ; but the difference between the civilization of Maine and that of Georgia is sliohter than the difference between the habits of Normandy and those of Brittany. Maine and Georgia, which are placed at the o])posito extremities of a great em])ire, have therefore more real inducements to form a confederation than Normandy and Brittany, which are separated only by a brook. The geographical position of the country increased the facilities which the American legislators derived from the manners and customs of the inhabitants ; and it is to this circumstance that the adoption and the maintenance of the Federal system are mainly attributable. The most important occurrence in the life of a nation is the breaking out of a war. In war, a people act as one 216 DEMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. man against foroiirn nations, in defence of their very ex- istence. Tlie skill of the government, the good sense of the community, and the natural fondness which men al- most always entertain for their country, may be enough, as long as the only object is to maintain peace in the interior of the state, and to fiivor its internal prosperity ; but that the nation may carry on a great war, the people must make more numerous and painful sacrifices ; and to suppose that a great number of men will, of their own accord, submit to these exigencies, is to betray an ignorance of human nature. All the nations which have been oblio;ed to sus- tain a long and serious warfare have consequently been led to augment the power of their government. Those who have not succeeded in this attempt have been subjugated. A long war almost always reduces nations to the wretched alternative of being abandoned to ruin by defeat, or to des-- potism by success. War therefore renders the weakness of a government most apparent and most alarming ; and I have shown that the inherent defect of federal govern- ments is that of being weak. The federal system not only has no centralized adminis- tration, and nothing which resembles one, but the central government itself is imperfectly organized, which is always a great cause of weakness when the nation is opposed to other countries which are themselves governed by a single authority. In the Federal Constitution of the United States, where the central government has more real force than in any other confederation, this evil is still extremely sensible. A single example will illustrate the case. The Constitution confers upon Congress the right of *' calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions " ; and another article declares that the President of the United States is the commander-in-chief of th.e militia. In the war of 1812, the President ordered the militia of the Northern . iisi!;. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 217 ^iiiillc States to march to the frontiers ; but Connecticut and Massachusetts, wliose interests were impaired by the war, reflised to obey the command. They argued that the Con- stitution authorizes the Federal government to call forth the militia in case of inaurredion or invasion ; but in the present instance, there was neither invasion nor insurrec- tion. They added, that the same Constitution which con- ferred upon the Union the right of calling the militia into active service, reserved to the States that of naming the officers ; and consequently (as they understood the clause) no officer of the Union had any right to command the miUtia, even during war, except the President in person : and in this case, they were ordered to join an army com- manded by another individual. These absurd and perni- cious doctrines received the sanction not only of the Gov- ernors and the legislative bodies, but also of the courts of justice in both States ; and the Federal government was constrained to raise elsewhere the troops which it re- * quired. How happens it, then, that the American Union, with all the relative perfection of its laws, is not dissolved by the occurrence of a great war ? It is because it has no great wars to fear. Placed in the centre of an immense continent, ■'A'liich offers a boundless field for human indus- try, the Union is almost as much insulated from tlic world as if all its frontiers were girt by the ocean. Canada con- * Kent's Commentaries, Vol. I. p. 244. I have selected an example wliicli relates to a time lonj^ after the promulgation of the present Constitu- tion, If I had gone back to the days of the Confederation, I might liavo given still more striking instances. The wliolc nation was at that time in a state of entlnisiastic excitement ; the Revohition was represented by a man wlio was the idol of the people ; hut at that very period, Congress li.id, to say the truth, no resources at all at its disposal. Troops and supplies Wv^re perpetually wanting. The best-devised projects failed in the execution, and the Union, constantly on the verge of destruction, was saved by the weak- ness of its enemies far more than by its own strength. 10 " "■ 1,11 " 1 IP^ 218 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. \ 1 tains only a million of inhabitants, and its population is di- vided into two inimical nations. The rigor of the climate limits the extension of its territory, and shuts up its ports during; the six months of winter. From Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a few savage tribes are to be met with, which retire, perishing in their retreat, before six thousand soldiers. To the south, the Union has a point of contact with the empire of Mexico ; and it is thence that serious hostilities may one day be expected to arise. But for a long while to come, the uncivilized state of the Mexican people, the depravity of their morals, and their extreme poverty, will prevent that country from ranking high amongst nations. As for the powers of Europe, they are too distant to be formidable.* The great advantage of the United States does not, then, consist in a Federal Constitution which allows them to carry on great wars, but in a geographical position which renders such wars extremely improbable. No one can be more inclined than I am to appreciate the advantages of the Federal system, which I hold to be one of the combinations most favorable to the prosperity and freedom of man. I envy the lot of those nations which have been able to adopt it ; but I cannot believe that any confederate people could maintain a long or an equal con- test with a nation of similar strength in which the eov- ernment is centralized. A people which should divide its sovereignty into fractional parts, in the presence of the great military monarchies of Europe, would, in my opin- ion, by that very act abdicaL its power, and perhaps its existence and its name. But such is the admirable posi- tion of the New World, that man has no other enemy than himself; and that, in order to be happy and to be free, he has only to determine that he will be so. * See Appendix O. TUE PEOPLE GOVERN IN THE UNITED STATES. 219 CHAPTER IX. hitjh THUS far, I have examined the institutions of the United States ; I have passed their legislation in re- view, and have described the present forms of political society in that country. But above these institutions, and beyond all these characteristic forms, there is a sovereign power — that of the people — which may destroy or mod- ity them at its pleasure. It remains to be shown in what manner this power, superior to the laws, acts ; what are its instincts 'wv. its passions, what the secret springs which retard, acc< ' » j, or direct its irresistible course, what the effects of kn unbounded authority, and what the destiny which is reserved for it. HOW IT CAN BE STRICTLY SAID THAT THE PEOPLE GOVERN IN THE UNITED STATES. e gov- ■ ^ide its of the i r opin- aps its 1 } posi- Y than •ee, he ■'\r In America, the people appoint the legislative and the executive power, and furnish the jurors who punish all in- fractions of the laws. The institutions are democratic, not only in their principle, but in all their consequences ; and the people elect their representatives directly^ and for the most part annually^ in order to insure their dependence. The people are, therefore, the real directing power ; and although the form of government is representative, it is evident that the opinions, the prejudices, the interests, and even the passions of the people are hindered by no perma- nent obstacles from exercising a perpetual influence on [1 220 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. the daily conduct of affairs. In tlie United States, the majority governs in the name of the people, as is the case in all countries in which the people are supreme. This majority is principally composed of peaceable citizens, who, either by inclination or by interest, sincerely wish the wel- fare of their country. But they are surrounded by the incessant agitation of parties, who attempt to gain their co-operation and support. I ') I'AliTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 901 CHAPTER X. PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. Great Distinction to be made between Parties. — Parties which are to each other as rival Nations. — Parties properly so called. — Difference be- tween great and small Parties. — Epochs which produce them. — Their Characteristics. — America has had prcat Parties. — They are extinct. — Federalists. — Republicans. — Defeat of the Federalists. — Difficulty of creating Parties in the United States. — What is done with this Inten- tion. — Aristocratic or Democratic Character to be met with in all Par ties. — Struggle of General Jackson against the Bank. A GREAT distinction must be made between parties. Some comitries are so large that the different pop- ulations which inhabit them, although united under the same government, have contradictory interests ; and they may consequently be in a perpetual state of opposition. In this case, the different fractions of the people may more properly be considered as distinct nations than as mere parties ; and if a civil war breaks out, the struggle is car- ried on by rival states rather than by factions in the same state. But when the citizens entertain different opinions upon subjects which affect the whole country alike, — such, for instance, as the principles upon which the government is to be conducted, — then distinctions arise which may cor- rectly be styled parties. Parties are a necessary evil in free governments ; but they have not at all times the same character and the same propensities. At certain periods, a nation may be oppressed by such li 222 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. !i! insupportable evils as to conceive the design of effecting a total change in their political constitution ; at other times, the mischief lies still deeper, and the existence of society itself is endangered. Such are the times of great revolu- tions and of great parties. But between these epochs of misery and confusion there are periods during which hu- man society seems to rest, and mankind to take breath. This pause is, indeed, only apparent ; for time does not stop its course for nations any more than for men ; they are all advancing every day towards a goal with whicli they are unacquainted. We imagine them to be stationary only when their progress escapes our observation, as men who are going at a foot-pace seem to be standing still to those who run. But however this may be, there are certain epochs at which the changes that take place in the social and politi- cal constitution of nations are so slow and insensible, that men imagine they have reached a final state ; and the human mind, believing itself to be firmly based upon sure foundations, does not extend its researches beyond a cer- tain horizon. These are the times of small parties and of mtrigue. The political parties which I style great are those which cling to principles rather than to their consequences ; to general, and not to special cases ; to ideas, and not to men. These parties are usually distinguished by nobler features, more generous passions, more genuine convic- tions, and a more bold and open conduct, tlian the others. In them, private interest, which always plays the chief part in political passions, is more studiously veiled under the pretext of the public good ; and it may even be some- times concealed from the eyes of the very persons whom it excites and impels. Minor parties, on the other hand, are generally deficient in political good faith. As they are no. stained or digni- PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 223 fied by lofty purposes, they ostensibly display the selfish- ness of their character in their actions. They glow with a flictitious zeal ; their language is vehement ; but their conduct is timid and irresolute. The means which they employ are as wretched as the end at which they aim. Hence it happens, that, when a calm state succeeds a violent revolution, great men seem suddenly to disappear, and the powers of the human mind to lie concealed. So- ciety is convulsed by great y" *^' *t is only agitated by minor ones ; it is torn by the for r, by the latter it is degraded; and if the first sometimes save it by a '^airy perturbation, the last invariably disturb it to no good end. America has had great parties, but has them no longer ; and if her happiness is thereby considerably increased, her morality has suffered. When the war of independence was terminated, and the foundations of the new govern- ment were to be laid down, the nation was divided be- tween two opinions, — two opinions which are as old as the world, and which are perpetually to be met with, under different forms and various names, in all free communities, — the one tending to limit, the other to extend indefinitely, the power of the people. The conflict between these two opinions never assumed thui degree of violence in America which it has frequently displayed elsewhere. Both parties of the Americans were agreed upon the most essential points ; and neither of them had to destroy an old consti- tution, or to overthrow the structure of society, in order to triumph. In neither of them, consequently, were a great number of private interests affected by success or defeat : but moral principles of a high order, such as the love of equality and of independence, were concerned in the struggle, and these suflSced to kindle violent passions. The party which desired to limit the power of the people, endeavored to apply its doctrines more especially to the Constitution of the Union, whence it derived its i y m 224 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 4 1 ! name of Federal. The otlior party, wliicli affected to bo exclusively attached to the cause of liberty, took that of llepuhliean. America is the land of democracy, and the Federalists, therefore, were always in a minority ; but they reckoned on their side almost all the great men whom the war of indej)endencc had produced, and their moral power was very considerable. Their cause was, moreover, favored by circumstances. The ruin of the first Confedcn-ation bad impressed the people witb a dread of anaichy, aiid the Federalists profited by this transient disposition of the mul- titude. For ten or twelve years, tliey were at the bead of affairs, and they were able to apply some, tliougb not all, of their principles ; for the hostile current was becoming from day to day too violent to be checked. In 1801, the Republicans got possession of the government : Thomas Jefferson was elected President ; and he increased the in- fluence of their party by the weight of his great name, the brilliancy of his talents, and his immense popularity. The means by which the Federalists had maintained their position were artificial, and their resources were tem- porary : it was by the virtues or the talents of their leaders, as well as by fortunate circumstances, that they had risen to power. When the Republicans attained that station in their turn, their opponents were overwhelmed by utter defeat. An immense majority declared itself against the retiring party, and the Federalists found themselves in so small a minority, that they at once despaired of future suc- cess. From that moment, the Republican or Democratic party has proceeded from conquest to conquest, until it has acquired absolute supremacy in the country. The Fed- eralists, perceiving that they were vanquished without re- source, and isolated in the midst of the nation, fell into two divisions, of which one joined the victorious Republicans, and the other laid down their banners and changed their name. Many years have elapsed since they wholly ceased to exist as a party. r.^r.TIKS IN THE UNITED STATES. 225 iaders, risen tion in utter ist the in so e suc- ocratic it has Fed- ut re- ;o two icans, their eased The accession of the Federahsts to power was, in my opinion, one of tlie most fortunate incidents wlilch accom- panied the formation of the j^reat American Union : they resisted tlie inevitable ])ropensities of tlieir country and tiieir aije. But Avliether their theories were good or bad, tliey had the fludt of bein<^ inappHcabh', as a whole, to the society which they wished to govern, and that which occurred under the auspices of Jefferson must theivfore have taken place sooner or later. But their government at least gave the new republic time to acquire a certain stability, and afterwards to sup})ort without inconvenience the raj)id growth of the very doctrines which they had combated. A considerable number of their principles, moreover, were embodied at last in the political creed of their opponents ; and the Federal Constitution, which sub- sists at the present day, is a lasting monument -of their patriotism and their wisdom. Great political parties, then, are not to be met with in the United States at the present time. Parties, indeed, may be found which threaten the future of the Union ; but there are none which seem to contest the present form of government, or the present course of society. The parties by which the Union is menaced do not rest upon principles, but upon material interests. These interests constitute, in the different provinces of so vast an empii'e, rival nations rather than parties. Thus, upon a recent occasion [1832], the North contended for the system of commercial prohibition, and the South took up arms in favor of free trade, simply because the North is a manufac- turing and the South an agricultural community ; and the restrictive system which was profitable to the one, was prejudicial to the other. In the absence of great parties, the United States swarm with lesser controversies ; and public opinion is divided into a thousand minute shades of difference upon questions 10* o i 22G DEMOCRACV IN AMKUICA. of detail. The pains wliicli aro taken to create parties are inconceivable, and at the present day it is no easy task. In tlie United States, tliere is no religious animosity, be- cause all religion is respected, and no sect is predonrnant ; tliere is no jealousy of rank, because the people are every- tliing, and none can contest their authority ; lastly, there is no i)ultlic misery to serve as a means of agitation, hecause the }»liysical position of the country opens so wide a field to industry, that man only needs to bo let alone to be able to accomplish prodigies. Nevertheless, amljitious men will succeed in creating parties, since it is difficult to eject a person from authority upon the mere ground that his place is coveted by others. All the skill of the actors in the political world lies in the art of creating parties. A })olit- ical as[)irant in the United States begins b^ diseerning his own interest, and discovering those other interests which may be collected around, and amalgamated with it. lie then contrives to find out some doctrine or princij)le which may suit the purposes of this new association, and which he adopts in order to bring forward his party and secure its popularity : just as the inqyrimatnr of the king was in for- mer days printed upon the title-page of a volume, and was thus incorporated with a book to which it in no wise be- longed. This being done, the new party is ushered into the political world. All the domestic controversies of the Americans at first appear to a stranger to be incomprehensible or puerile, and he is at a loss whether to pity a people who take such ar- rant trifles in good earnest, or to envy that happiness which enables a community to discuss them. But when he comes to study the secret propensities which govern the factions of America, he easily perceives that the greater part of them are more or less connected with one or the other of those two great divisions which have always existed in free communities. The deeper we penetrate into the inmost # I ^t ^lJ. .1 TARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 227 thou^lit of those parties, the more do we jx'rcoive that tlio ohject of tlie one is to limit, aiid tliat of the otlior to ex- tend, tiie autliority of tlie people. I do not assert that the ostensible pin'pose, or even that the secret aim, of Amer- ican ])arties is to promote the nde of aristocracy or de- mocracy in the country ; but I affirm tliat aristocratic or democratic passions may easily be detected at the bottom of all i)arties, and that, although they escape a superficial observation, they are the main point and soul of every tac- tion in the United States. To quote a recent exam[)le : — when President -Tackson aiiiicked the Bank, the country was excited, and parties were fonned ; the well-informed classes rallied round the Bank, the common people round the President.. But it must not be imagined that the pco])le had formed a rational opinion upon a question which offers so many difticulties to the most experienced statesmen. By no means. The Bank is a great establishment, which has an indej)endent existence ; and the people, accustomed to make and un- make whatsoever they please, are startled to meet with this obstacle to their authority. In the midst of the perpetujd fluctuation of society, the community is irritated by so permanent an institution, and is led to attack it, in order to see whether it can be shaken, like everything else. 1. REMAINS OF THE ARISTOCRATIC PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES. Secret Opposition of wealthy Individuals to Democracy. — Their Retire- ment. — Their Taste for exclusive Pleasures and for Luxury at Home. — Their Simplicity abroad. — Their affected Condescension towards the People. It sometimes happens, in a people amongst whom various opinions prevail, that the balance of parties is lost, and one of them obtains an irresistible preponderance, overpoAvers I ir|p> 4 i J !' ■ l^ s I ' i If i li ii 228 nKMoriJACV IN AMKKICA. all olistacK's, .itmiliiliitc's its opponents, and appropriates all the resources of society to its own use. The van(piislu'(l {lesj)air of success, hide their heads, and are silent. The nation seems to be governed by a sin<fU^ princi])le, univer- sal stillness prevails, and the prevailin;^ pi^i'^y assumes the credit of havin<^ restored j>eace and unanimity to the coun- try. But under this apparent unanimity still exist pro- found differences of oj)inion, and real oppositicm. This is what occurred in America ; when the democratic party <^ot the upper hand, it took exclusive possession of the conduct of aftliirs, and from that time, the laws and the customs of society have been adapted to its caprices. At the present day, the more affluent classes of society have no iuHuence in political affairs ; and wealth, far from con- ferring a right, is rather a cause of unj)opularity than a means of attaining power. The rich abandon the lists, through unwillingness to contend, and frequently to con- tend in vain, against the poorer classes of their fellow-citi- zens. As they cannot occupy in public a position equiva- lent to what they hold in private life, they abandoii the former, and give themselves up to the latter; and tliey constitute a private society in the state, which has its own tastes and pleasures. They submit to this state of things as an irremediable evil, but they are careful not to show that they are galled by its continuance ; one often liears them laud the advantages of a republican government and democratic institutions when they are in public. Next to hating their enemies, men are most inclined to flatter them. Mark, for instance, that opulent citizen, who is as anx- ious as a Jew of the Middle Ages to conceal his wealth. His dress is plain, his demeanor unassuming ; but the in- terior of his dwelling glitters with luxury, and none but a few chosen guests, whom he haughtily styles his equals, are allowed to penetrate into this sanctuary. No European noble is more exclusive in his pleasures, or more jealous of PARTIKS IX TIIF-: INITKn STATF.S. 229 the smjilK'st advantnjjcs wliicli a j>rlvlK'<i;»'(l station conft'rs. But tlie same individual crosses tho city to rcacli a dark count inu-liouse in tlic centre of traffic, where every one may accost him who pleases. If he meets his cohhler upon the way, tliey stop and converse ; tlie two citizens discuss the attairs of the state, and shake hands before they part. lint herieath this artificial enthusiasm, and these ohsecpii- ous attentions to the preponderating power, it is easy to perceive that the rich have a hearty dislike of the demo- cratic institutions of their country. The pe()|)le lonn a power which they at once tear and desj)ise. It' • le mal- administration of the democracy ever brings about a revo- lutionary crisis, and monarchical institutions ever bccduie practicable in the United States, the truth of what I ad- vance will become obvious. The two chief weapons which parties use in order to ob- tain success are the newspapers and public associations. ', T li ! J i i 1 1 1 ! ll 1 ^ i :! 'r 1 ; !l 1 i !l I I ! 230 DEMOCKACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER XI. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. Difficulty of restraining tlie Liberty of the Press. — Particular Reasons which some Nations have for cherishing this Liberty. — The Lil)erty of the Press a necessary Consei^uence of the Sovereignty of the People as it is understood in America. — Violent Language of the Periodical Press in tlie United States. — The Periodical Press has some peculiar Instincts, proved by the Example of the United States. — Opinion of the Americans uj)on the Judicial Repression of the Abuses of the Pres.s — Why tlie Press is less powerful in America than in France. T!HE influence of the liberty of the press does not affect political opinions alone, but extends to all the opinions of men, and modifies customs as well as laws. In another part of this work, I shall attempt to determine the degree of influence which the liberty of the press has exercised upon civil society in the United States, and to point out the direction which it has given to the ideas, as well as the tone which it has imparted to the character and the feel- ings, of the Anglo-Americans. At present, I purpose only to examine the effects produced by the liberty of the press in the political world. I confess that I do not entertain that firm and complete attachment to the lioerty of the press which is wont to be excited by things that are supremely good in their very nature. I approve of it from a consideration more of the evils it prevents, than of the advantages it insures. If any one could point out an intermediate and yet a tenable position between the complete independence and the entire servitude of opinion, I should, perhaps, be in- LIBEKTY OF THE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. 231 cliiied to adopt it ; but the difficulty is, to discover tliis in- teniicdiate positiou. luteudiuo; to correct the hcentiousuess of tlie press, aud to restore the use of orderly lauguage, you first try the offender by a jury ; but if ti;? jury accjuits him, the opinion which was that of a single individual be- comes the opinion of the whole country. Too much and too little has therefore been done ; go farther, then. You bring the delinquent before permanent magistrates ; but even here, the cause must be heard before it can be decid- ed ; and the very princi})les which no book would have ventured to avow are blazoned forth in the pleadings, and what was obscurely hinted at in a single com})osition is thus repeated in a multitude of other ])ul)lications. The language is only the expression, and (if I may so sj)eak) the body, of the thought, but it is not the thought itself. Tribunals may condemn the body, but the sense, the spirit, of the work is too subtile for their authority. Too nmch has still been done to recede, too little to attain your end ; you must go still farther. Establish a censorship of the ])ress. But the tongue of the public speaker will still make itself heard, and your purpose is not yet accom- plished ; you have only increased the mischief. Thought is not, like physical strength, dependent upon the number of its agents ; nor can authors be counted like the troops which compose an army. On the contrary, the authority of a princi})le is often increased by the small number of men by whom it is expressed. The words of one strong- minded man, addressed to the passions of a listening assem- bly, have more power than the vociferations of a thousand orators ; and if it be allowed to speak freely in any one public place, the consequence is the same as if free speak- ing was allowed in every village. The liberty of speech must therefore be destroyed, as well as the liberty of the press. And now you have succeeded, everybody is re- duced to silence. But your object was to repress the £!3 232 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. !l ill abuses of liLorty, iiiul you are brought to the feet of a despot. You have been led from the extreme of indepen- dence to the extreme of servitude, without finding a single tenable position on the way at which you could stop. There are certain nations which have peculiar reasons for cherishing the liberty of the press, independently of the general motives which I have just pointed out. For in certain countries which profess to be free, every indi\idual agent of the government may violate the laws with impu- nity, since the constitution does not give to those who are injured a right of complaint before the courts of justice. In this case, the liberty of the press is not merely one of the guaranties, but it is the only guaranty, of their liberty and security which the citizens possess. If the rulers of these nations proposed to abolish the independence of the press, the whole people might answer, Give us the right of prosecuting your offences before the ordinary tribunals, and perhaps we may then waive our right of appeal to the tribunal of public opinion. In countries where the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people ostensibly prevails, the censorship of the press is not only dangerous, but absurd. When the right of every citi- zen to a share in the government of society is acknowl- edged, every one must be presumed to be able to choose between the various opinions of his contemporaries, and to appreciate the different facts from which inferences may be drawn. The sovereignty of the people and the liberty of the press may therefore be regarded as correlative ; just as the censorship of the press and universal suffrage are two things which are irreconcilably opposed, and which cannot long be retained among the in titutions of the same people. Not a single individual of the [thirty] millions who inhabit the United States has, as yet, dared to propose any restric- tions on the liberty of the press. The first newspaper over which I cast my eyes, uptm my arrival in America, contained the following article : — \i LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. 233 " In all tliis affair, the language of Jackson [the President] has been that of a heartless despot, solely occu[)ie(l with the preservation of his own authority. Ambition is his erinie, and it will be his punishment, U'>: ntrigue is his native element, and intrigue will confound his i/loKs, and deprive him of his jjower. He governs by means of corrui)tion, and his immoral [)ractices will redound to his shame and confusion. His conduct in the political arena has been tliat of a shameless and lawless game- ster. He succeeded at the time ; but the hour of retribution ap- ])roaches, and he will be obliged to disgorge his winnings, to throw aside his false dice, and to end his days in some retirement, where he may curse his madness at his leisure ; for repentance is a virtue with which his heart is likely to remain forever unac- quainted." Many persons in France think, that the violence of the press originates in the instabihty of the social state, in oui political passions, and the general feeling of uneasiness Avliich consequently prevails ; and it is therefore supposed that, as soon as society has resumed a certain degree of composure, the press will abandon its present vehemence. For my own part, I would willingly attribute to these causes the extraordinary ascendency which the press has acquired over the nation ; but I do not think tliat they do exercise much influence upon its language. The periodi- cal press appears to me to have passions and instincts of its own, independent of the circumsttmces in which it is placed ; and the present condition of America corroborates this opinion. America is perhaps, at this moment, the country of the whole world which contains the fewest germs of revolu- tion ; but the press is not less destructive in its principles there than in France, and it displays the same violence without the same reasons for indignation. In America, as in France, it constitutes a singular power, so strangely composed of mingled good and evil, that liberty could not iM 234 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i't :!:| I !l' I! 1 M Hi J! »;i I " live witliout it, and public order can hardly bo maintained against it. Its power is certainly much greater in France than in the United States ; though nothing is more rare in the latter country than to hear of a prosecution being insti- tuted against it. The reason of this is perfectly simple : the Americans, having once admitted the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, apply it with perfect sincerity. It was never their intention out of elements which are changing every day to create institutions which should last forever ; and there is consequently nothing criminal in an attack upon the existing laws, provided a violent infraction of them is not intended. They are also of opinion that courts of justice are powerless to check the abuses of the press ; and that, as the subtilty of human language perpet- ually eludes judicial analysis, offences of this nature some- how escape the hand which attempts to seize them. They hold that, to act with efficacy upon the press, it would be necessary to find a tribunal, not only devoted to the exist- ing order of things, but capable of surmounting the influ- ence of public opinion ; a tribunal which should conduct its proceedings without publicity, which should pronounce its deci. -J witliout assigning its motives, and punish the intentions, even more than the language, of a writer. Whoever should be able to create and maintain a tribu- nal of this kind, would waste his time in prosecuting the liberty of the press ; for he would be the absolute master of the whole community, and would be as free to rid him- self of the authors as of their writings. In this question, therefore, there is no medium between servitude and license ; in order to enjoy the inestimable benefits which the liberty of the press insures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils which it creates. To expect to acquire the former, and to escape the latter, is to cherish one of those illusions which commonly mislead nations in their times of sickness, when, tired with faction and exhausted LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. 235 by effort, tlioy attempt to make hostile opinions and con- trary principles coexist upon the same soil. The small influence of the American journals is attrib- utahle to several reasons, amono;st which are the foUowinii. The liberty of writing, like all other liberty, is most for- midable when it is a novelty ; for a people who have never been accustomed to hear state atfairs discussed before them, place im})licit confidence in the first tribune who presents himself. The Anglo-Americans have enjoyed this liberty ever since the foundation of the Colonies ; moreover, the press cannot create human passions, however skilfully it may kindle them where they exist. In America, political life is active, varied, even agitated, but is rarely affected by those deep passions which are excited only when material interests are impaired: and in the United States, these interests are prosperous. A glance at a French and an American newspaper is sufficient to show the difference which exists in this respect between the two nations. In France, the space allotted to commercial advertisements is very limited, and the news-intelligence is not considerable ; but the essential part of the journal is the discussion of the politics of the day. In America, three quarters of the enormous sheet are filled with advertisements, and the re- mainder is frequently occupied by political intelligence or trivial anecdotes: it is only from time to time, that one finds a corner devoted to passionate discussions, like those vhich the journalists of France every day give to their readers. It has been demonstrated by observation, and discovered by the sure instinct even of the pettiest despots, that the influence of a power is increased in proportion as its direc- tion is centralized. In France, the press combines a two- fold centralization ; almost all its power is centred in the same spot, and, so to speak, in the same hands ; for its organs are far from numerous. The influence of a public ^IWI wis 23G DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Ml I I ,' i:l; ";! lii ! press thus constituted, upon a sceptical nation, must be al- most unbounded. It is an enemy with whom a government may sign an occasional truce, but which it is difficult to resist for any length of time. Neither of these kinds of centrali/^ation exists in Amer- ica. The United States have no metropolis ; the intel- ligence and the power of the people are disseminatetl through all the parts of this vast country, and instead of radiating from a common point, they cross each otlier in every direction ; the Americans have nowliere established any central direction of opinion, any more than of the conduct of affairs. This difference arises from local cir- cumstances, and not from human power ; but it is owing to the laws of the Union that there are no licenses to be granted to printers, no securities demanded from editors, as in France, and no stamp duty, as in France and. Ejigland. The consequence is, that nothing is easier than to set up a newspaper, as a small number of subscribers suffices to de- fi'ay the expenses. Hence the number of periodical and semi-periodical pub lications in the U:'iited States is almost incredibly large. The most enlijxhtened Americans attribute the little in fluence of the press to this excessive dissemination of its power ; and it is an axiom of political science in that coun- try, that the only Avay to neutralize the effect of the public journals is to multiply their mnnber. I cannot see how a truth which is so self-evident should not already have been more generally admitted in Europe. I can see why the persons who hope to bring about revolutions by means of the press, should be desirous of confining it to a few power- fiil organs ; but it is inconceivable that the official partisans of the existing state of things, and the natural supporters of the laws, should attempt to diminish the influence of the press by concentrating its power. The governments of Europe seem to treat the press with the courtesy which i' : 'iiUL^ LIBERTY OF THE TRESS IN THE UNITED STATES. 207 llOW a e been liy tlie ;in.s of )owei'- tisans )orters of the its of which the kniiilits of old showed to their opponents ; having found from tlieir own experience that centralization is a powerful weapon, they have furnislied tlieir enemies with it, in order doubtless to have more glory for overcoming them. In America, there is scarcely a hamlet which has not its newspaper. It may readily be imagined, that neither dis- cipline nor unity of action can be established among so many combatants ; and each one consequently tights under his own standard. All the political journals of the United States are, indeed, arrayed on the side of the administration or against it ; but they attack and defend it in a thousand different ways. They cannot form those great currents of opinion which sweep away the strongest dikes. This di- vision of the influence of the press produces other conse- quences scarcely less remarkable. The fu iUty with which newspapers can be established produces a multitude of them ; but as the competition prevents any considerable profit, persons of much cai)acity are rarely led to engage in these undertakings. Such is the number of the public prints, that, even if they were a source of wealth, writers of ability could not be found to direct them all. The jour- nalists of tlie United States are generally in a very humble position, with a scanty education and a vulgar turn of mind. The will of the majority is the most general of laws, and it establishes certain habits to which every one must then conform ; the assreo-ate of these common habits is what is called the class-spirit (esprit de corps) of each profession ; thus there is the class-spirit of the bar, of the court, &c. The class-spirit of the French journalists con- sists in a violent, but frequently an eloquent and lofty, manner of discussing the great interests of the state ; and the exceptions to this mode of writing are only occasional. The characteristics of the American journalist consist in an open and coarse appeal to the passions of his readers ; ill M 238 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i I Jit I m « 1 1 ' ho abandons principles to assail the characters of individ- uals, to track them into private life, and disclose all their weaknesses and vices. Nothing can be more deplorable than this abuse of the powers of thought ; I shall have occasion to point out here- after the influence of the newspapers upon the taste and the morality of the American people ; but my present sub- ject exclusively concerns the political world. It cannot be denied, that the political eflfects of this extreme license of the press tend indirectly to the maintenance of public or der. The individuals who already stand high in the esteem of their fellow-citizens are afraid to write in the newspa- pers, and they are thus deprived of the most powerful in- strument which they can use to excite the passions of the multitude to their own advantage.* The personal opinions of the editors have no weight in the eyes of the public : what they seek in a newspaper is a knowledge of facts, and it is only by alteiing or distorting those facts, that a journalist can contribute to the support of his own views. But although the press is limited to these resources, its influence in America is immense. It causes political life to circulate through all the parts of that vast territory. It» eye is constantly open to detect the secret springs of polit ical designs, and to summon the leaders of all parties in turn to the bar of public opinion. It rallies the interests of the community round certain principles, and draws up the creed of every party ; for it affords a means of inter- course between those who hear and address each other, without ever coming into immediate contact. When many organs of the press adopt the same line of conduct, their influence in the long run becomes irresistible ; and public * They only write in the papers when they choose to address the people in their o^^^^ name ; as, for instance, when they are called upon to repel calumnious imputations, or to correct a misstatement of facts. 1 I LIBERTY OF THE TIMiSS IX THE UNITED STATES. ioO oj)ini()n, perpetually assailed from the same side, eveiituallv" yields to the attack. In the United States, eaeh separate journal exercises but little authority ; but the power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people.* The Opinions established in the United States, under the Influence of the Lilierty of the Press, arc frequently more tinnly rooted than those wliich are formed elsewhere under the ISunetioa of a Censor. In the United States, the democracy perpetually brinn;3 new men to the conduct of public affairs ; and the ad- ministration consequently seldom preserves consistency or order in its measures. But the general princii)les of the government are more stable, and the chief opinions which regulate society are more durable, there than in many other countries. When once the Americans have taken up an idea, whether it be well or ill founded, nothing is more difficult than to eradicate it from their minds. The same tenacity of ( ^ anion has been observed in England, where, for the last century, greater freedom of thought and more invincible prejudices have existed than in any other coun- try of Europe. I attribute this to a cause Avhich may, at first '^ight, appear to have an opposite tendency, namely, to the liuerty of the press. The nations amongst whom this liberty exists cling to their opinions as much from pride as from conviction. They cherish them because they hold them to be just, and because they chose them of their own free Avill ; and they adhere to them, not only because they are true, but because they are their OAvn. Several other reasons conduce to the same end. It was remarked by a man of genius, that " ignorance lies at the two ends of knowledge." Perhaps it would have been more correct to say, that strong convictions are found only at the two ends, and that doubt lies in the middle. * See Appendix P. t iJ«E \l )) i II i! Ki ')!l II! I i ' I i i ii! V I. i :f! 240 DKMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. Tlio linnian Intellect, in truth, may l)e coiisuleri'd In three distinct states, which fre(juently succeed one anotlior. A man believes firmly, because he adopts a proposition ■without inquiry. He doubts as soon as objections })resent themselves. But he fre(iuently succeeds in satisfying these doid)ts, and then he begins ajiain to believe. This time, he has not a dim and casual glim})se of the truth, but sees it clearly before liim, and advances by the light it gives.* AVhen the liberty (jf the press acts upon men who are in the first of these three states, it does not immediately dis- turb their habit of believing imj)licitly without investigation, but it changes every day the objects of their unreflecting convictions. The human mind continues to discern but one poijit at a time upon the whole intellectual horizon, and tliat point is constantly changing. This is the j)eriod of sudden revolutions. Woe to the generations which first abruptly adopt the freedom of the press. The cii'cle of novel ideas, however, is soon travelled over. Experience comes to undeceive men, and plunges them into doubt and general mistrust. We may rest assured that the majority of mankind will always stop in one of these two states, will either believe they know not wherefore, or will not know what to believe. F'ew are those who can ever attain to that other state of rational and independent conviction, which true knowledge can produce out of the midst of doubt. It has been remarked that, in times of great religious fervor, men sometimes change their religious opinions ; whereas, in times of general scepticism, every one clings to his old persuasion. The same thing takes place in politics under the liberty of the press. In countries where all the theories of social science have been contested in their turn, * It may, liowever, be doubted whether this rational and self-guiding con- viction arouses as much fervor or enthusiastic devotedness in men, as their first dogmatical belief. I.II5KRTY OF Tin: TRKSS IN THK UNUKI) STATKS. 241 men who hii\c iidoptcd one of tlioiii stick to it, not so much bociiuso thuy uro suro of its triitli, us because tliey are not sure that there is any better to be luid. In the present a^e, men are not very ready to die for tlieir opin- ions, but tliey are rarely inclined to change them ; there are tew martyrs, as well as few apostates. Another still more valid reason may be adduced : w lien no opinions are looked upon as certain, men cliuff to the mere instincts and material interests of their position, wliicli are naturally more tajigible, dehnite, and permanent than any o})inions in the world. It is a very difiicult (juestion to decide, whether an aris- tocracy or a democracy governs the best. But it is certain that democracy annoys one part of the community, and that aristocracy oppresses another. It is a truth which is self-established, and one which it is needless to discuss, that " you are rich and I am poor." n f*J V 'I- Mo- ^f 242 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER XII. POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Daily Use which tho Aii(;Io-Amoriciin8 tmiice of the Ripht of Association. — Tlircc Kinds of I'olitical Assoi'iations. — How tlic Americans apply the Representative System to Associations. — I)an};er!j resultinj; to the State. — Great Convention of IS.'Jl relative to the Tarilf. — Lef^islative Character of this Convention. — Why tlie unlimited Exercise of the Rijfht of As- sociation is less danjierous in the United States .han elsewhere. — Why it may be looked upon as necessary. — Utility of Associations among a democratic People. IN no country in the world lias the principle of associa- tion beer more successfully used, or ap])lied to a jjjreater multitude of objects, than in America. Besides the per- manent associations, which are established by law, under the names of townships, cities, and counties, a vast number of others are formed and maintained by the agency of pri- vate individuals. The citizen of the United States is taught from infancy to rely upon his own exertions, in order to resist the evils and the difficulties of life ; he looks upon the social author- ity with an eye of mistrust and anxiety, and he claims its assistance only when he is unable to do without it. This habit may be traced even in the schools, where the children in their games are wont to submit to rules which they have themselves established, and to punish misdemeanors which they have themselves defined. The same spirit pervades eveiy act of social life. If a stoppage occurs in a thor- oughfare, and the circulation of vehicles is hindered, the neighbors immediately form themselves into a deliberative 1 '■:• PI! POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE UXITKD STATKS. 243 assoc'ia- liody ; and this cxte'inporaiicous ahsoml)Iy gives riso to aii executive power, whieli remedies the iueoiiveuience before anyl)ody hiis thought of recurring to a pre-existing autiior- ity superior to tliat of tiie persons iunuediately concerned. If some puUic i)Ieasure is concerned, an association is formed to give more sjilendor and I'eguhu'ity to tlie enter- tainment. Societies are formed to ri'sist evils wlu(;li are exclusively of a moral nature, as to (limini>h the vice of intempi-rance. In the United States, associations are es- tablished to promote the public sal'ety, coinnicrce, industry, morality, and religion. There is no end which the human Avill despairs of attaining through the combined power of individuals united into a society. I shall have occasion hereafter to show the effects of asscw'iation in civil life ; I confine myself for the present to the political world. When once the right of association is recognized, the citizens may use it in different ways. An association consists simply in the public assent which a number of individuals give to certain doctrines ; and in the engagement which they contract to promote in a cer- tain manner the s})read of those doctrines. The right of associating with such views is very analogous to the liberty of unlicensed printing ; but societies thus formed possess more authority than the press. When an opinion is rep- resented by a society, it necessarily assumes a more exact and explicit form. It numbers its partisans, and compro- mises them in its cause : they, on the other hand, become acquainted with eacl other, and their zeal is increased by their number. An association unites into one channel the efforts of diverging minds, and urges them vigorously towards the one end which it clearly points out. The second decree in the exercise of the right of asso- ciation is the power of meeting. When an association is allowed to establish centres of action at certain important points in the country, its activity is increased, and its in- 244 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. |: liil' Ih '■'; iiii J' f^ fliionce cxtendod. Men have the oppoi'tunity of seeing each other ; means of execution are combined ; and opin- ions are maintained with a warmth and energy which written huimia<j!;e can never attain. Lastly, in the exercise of the right of pohtical associa- tion, there is a tliird degree : the partisans of an opinion may unite in electoral bodies, and choose delegates to repre- sent them in a central assembly. This is, properly speak- ing, the application of the representative system to a party. Thus, in the first instance, a society is formed between individuals professing the same opinion, and the tie which keeps it together is of a purely intellectual nature. In the second case, small assemblies are formed, which represent only a fraction of the party. Lastly, in the third case, they constitute, as it Avere, a separate nation in the midst of the nation, a government witlnn the government. Their delegates, like the real delegates of the majority, represent the whole collective force of their party ; and, like them, also, have an appearance of nationality and all the moral power which results from it. It is true that they have not the right, like the others, of making the laws ; but they have the power of attacking those which are in force, and of drawing up beforehand those which ought to be enacted. If, among a people who are imperfectly accustomed to the exercise of freedom, or are exposed to violent political passions, by the side of the majority who make the laws be placed a minority who only deliberate and get laws ready for adoption, I cannot but believe that public tran- quillity would there incur very great risks. There is doubtless a wide difference between proving that one law is in itself better than another, and proving that the former ought to be substituted for the latter. But the imagina- tion of the multitude is very apt to overlook this differ- ence, which is so apparent to the minds of thinking men. ii; :;i,h POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 245 It somotimos linppens that a nation is divided into two nearly e(|ual parties, each of whieli affects to represent tlie majority. If, near the directing power, anotlier power he estahlished, wliich exercises ahiiost as mncli moral autlior- ity as tlie former, we are not to fjelieve that it will long he content to speak without acting ; or that it will always he restrained hy the ahstract consideration that associations are meant to direct opinions, but not to enforce them, — to suggest, hut not to make, the laws. The more I consider tlie indejiendence of tlie press in its princii)al consequences, the more am I convinced that, in the modern world, it is the chief, and, so to speak, the con- stitutive element of liherty. A nation which is deterniiiied to remain free is therefore riglit in dem.anding, at any })rice, the exercise of this independence. But tlie unUmifed lil>- crty of political association cannot be entirely assimilated to the liberty of the press. The one is at the same tim*^ less necessary, and more dangerous, than the other. A nation may confine it Avithin certain limits without forfeiting any part of its self-directing power ; and it may sometimes bo obliged to do so, in order to maintain its own authority. In America, the liberty of association for political pur- poses is unlimited. An example will show in the clearest light to what an extent this privilege is tolerated. The question of a tariff or free trade has much agitated the minds of Americans. The tariff was not only a sub- ject of debate as a matter of opinion, but it affected some great material interests of the States. The North attrib- uted a portion of its prosperity, and the South nearly all its sufferings, to this system. For a long time, the tariff was the sole source of the political animosities which agi- tated the Union. In 1831, when the dispute was raging with the greatest violence, a private citizen of Massachusetts proposed, liy means of the newspapers, to all the enemies of the tai'ilV, HI |i.if 1 1' ill 24G DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. . I m i 1 1 M m' V to send (It>len;ates to Philadelphia, in order to consult to- gether upon the best means of restoring freedom of trade. This proposal circulated in a few days, by the power of the press, from IMaine to New Orleans : the opponents of the tariff adopted it with enthusiasm ; meetings were held in all quarters, and delegates were appointed. The majority of these delegates were well known, and some of them had earned a considerable degree of celebrity. South Car- olina alone, which afterwards took up arms in the same cause, sent sixty-three delegates. On the 1st of October, 1831, this assembly, which, according to the American custom, had taken the name of a Convention, met at Phil- adelphia ; it consisted of more than two hundred members. Its debates were public, and they at once assumed a legis- lative character ; the extent of the powers of Congress, the theories of free trade, and the different provisions of the tariff were discussed. At the end of ten days, the Convention broke up, having drawn up an address to the American people, in which it declared: — 1. That Con- gress had not the right of making a tariff, and that the ex- isting tariff was unconstitutional. 2. That the prohibition of free trade was prejudicial to the interests of any nation, and to those of the American people especially. It must be acknowledged that the unrestrain 'I liberty of political association has not hitherto produced, in the United States, the fatal results which might perhaps be expected from it elsewhere. Tlie right of association was imjjorted from England, and it has always existed in America; the exercise of this privilege is now incorpo- rat'^d with the manners and customs of the j><'0[)le. At the present time, the liberty of association has become a necessary guaranty against the tyranny of the majority. In the United States, as soon as a party has become dom- inant, all public authority passes into its hands : its private supporters occupy all the offices, and have all the force of ■ft POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN ITIE UNITED STATES. 247 the administration at their disposal. As the most distin- gnislu'd members of the opposite party cannot surmount tlie l)arrier which exckides them from power, tliey must estahlish themselves outside of it, and oppose tlie whole moral authority of the minority to the j^liysical power which domineers over it. Thus a dangerous expedient is used to (jbviate a still more formidable dano;er. The omnipotence of the majority appears to me to be so full of peril to the American republics, that the dangerous means used to bridle it seem to be more advantageous tlian prejudicial. And here I will express an opinion which mav remind the reader of wdiat I said when speakino- of tlie freedom of townships. There are no countries in Avhich associations are more needed, to prevent the despot- ism of faction or the arbitraiy power of a prince, than those which are democratically constituted. In aristocratic nations, the body of the nobles and the wealthy are in themselves natural associations, which check the abuses of power. In countries where such associations do not exist, if private individuals cannot create an artificial and tem])o- rary substitute for them, I can see no permanent })rotection against the most galling tyranny ; and a great people may be oppressed with impunity by a small faction, or by a sino;le individual. The meeting of a great political convention, ffor +Jk re are conventions of all kinds,) which may frequently bei-orrie a necessary measure, is always a serious occurrence, r'von in America, and one which judicious patriots canii' !" regard without alarm. This was very percej)tible in tlie r()nven- tion of 1881, at which all the most distinguished members strove to moderate its language, and to restrain its objects within certain limits. It is probable that this Convention exercised a great influence on the minds of the malcon- tents, and prepared them for the open revolt against the commercial laws of the Union which took place in 1832. I ' il. in i 'k I 1 ; : 1 : ■ 1 ■'■ ■ 1 !■'! •1; '''' li'ii ■r ; '4 1 ! 1 II '\ 1 •/. 'i 1 !■ '' ' '.I 1 1 ■ .' 1 '■ ii! i: 1 ■-' 1 i ii il ■! i- \i: n r V 248 DEMOCRACY IN AMKHICA. It cannot Lo denied that the unrestrained liherty of asso- ciation for political purposes is the privilege whicli a people is longest in learnino; how to exercise. If it does not throw the nation into anarchy, it perpetually augments the chances of that calamity. On one point, however, this ]:)orilous liberty offers a security against dangers of another kind ; in countries where associations are free, secret soci- eties are unknown. In America, there are factions, but no conspiracies. Different Ways in wliieh the Right of Association is understood in Europe and in the United States. — Different Use which is made of it. The most natural privilege of man, next to the riglit of acting for himself, is that of combininci: his exertions with those of his fellow-creatures, and of actino; in common with them. The right of association therefore apj)ears to me almost as inalienable in its nature as the riglit of per- sonal liberty. No legislator can attack it without im})airing the foundations of society. Nevertheless, if the liberty of association is only a source of advantage and pros])erity to some nations, it may be perverted or carried to excess by others, and from an element of life may be changed into a cause of destruction. A comparison of the differ- ent methods which associations pursue, in those countries in which liberty is well understood, and in those where liberty degenerates into license, may be useful both to gov- ernments and to parties. Most Europeans look upon association as a weapon which is to be hastily fashioned, and immediately tried in the conflict. A society is formed for discussion, but the idea of impending acti(m prevails in tlie minds of all those who constitute it. It is, in fact, an army ; and the time given to speech serves to reckon up the strength and to animate the courage of the host, after which they march POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 240 against the enemy. Resources which He -within the homifls of law may suggest themselves, to the persons who com- pose it, as means, but never as tlie only means, of success. Such, however, is not the manner in whicli the right of association is understood in the United States. In Amer- ica, tlie citizens who form the minority associate, in order, first, to show their numerical strength, and so to diminish the moral power of the majority ; and, secondly, to stimu- late competition, and thus to discover those arguments which are most fitted to act upon the majority : for they ahvays entertain hopes of drawing over the majority to their own side, and then disposing of the supreme power in its name. Political associations in the United States are therefore peaceahle in their intentions, and strictly legal in the means whicli they employ; and they assert with ])erfect truth, that they aim at success only Ly lawful expedients. The difference which exists in this respect between Americans and Europeans depends on several causes. In Europe, there are parties which differ so much from the majority, that they can never liope to acquire its support, and yet they think they are strong enough in themselves to contend against it. When a party of this kind forms an association, its object is, not to convince, but to fight. In America, the individuals who liold opinions nuich opposed to those of the majority can do nothing against it ; ami all otlier parties hope to win it oxer to their own principles. The exercise of tb- iio;ht of association becomes dangerous, then, in proportion as great parties find themselves wholly unable to acquire the majority. In a country like the United States, in which the differences of o])inion are mere diflferences of hue, the right of association may re- main unrestrained without evil consequences. Our inex- perience of liberty leads us to regard the liberty of associa- tion only as a right of attacking the government. The first notion which })resents itself to a party, as well as to II* I.. 1- i ■f i i it- '"'I Mil I I I I :| I ii; li? i'ii \ \ .'5' !i^ 'I •:Xi I i'lli, if 51 ■■;:;:(' !! n i i I:' t ' ; |i i^ i.i' ni 250 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. an individual, when it has acquired a consciousness of its own strength, is that of violence : the notion of persuasion arises at a later period, and is derived from exj)erience. The English, who are divided into parties which differ es- sentially from each other, rarely abuse the right of associa- tion, because they have long been accustomed to exercise it. In France, the passion for war is so intense, that there is no undertaking so mad, or so injurious to the welfare of the state, that a man does not consider himself honored in defendino; it at the risk of his life. But perhaps the most powerful of the causes which tend to mitigate the violence of political associations in the United States is universal suffrage. In countries in Avhich universal suffrage exists, the majority is never doubtful, becau-c neither party can reasonably pretend to represent th:it } ,>rt (iU of the community which has not voted. The qssiJciatioTis know as well as the nation at large, that they do ni!t rf;j>resent the majority. This results, indeed, from the voy ■ : 't of their existence; for if tliey did represent the pre|.:-!!derating power, they would change the law in- stead of soliciting its reform. The consequence of this is, that the moral influence of the , government which they attack is much increased, and their own power is much enfeebled. In Europe, there are few associations which do not affect to re])resent the majority, or which do not believe that they represent it. This conviction or this pretension tends to augment their force amazingly, and contributes no less to legalize their meosares. Violence may seem to be ex- cus! ble, in defence of the cause of oppressed right. Thus it is, in the vast comphcation of ]mm;u laws, that extreme liberty sometimes corrects the abuses of liberty, and that extreme democracy obviates t!)e dangers of democracy. In Europe,) associirtions consider themselves, in some de- gree, as the legislative and executive council of the people, POLITICAL ASSOCTATIOXS IN THE T'NITF.D STATES. 2")1 wliieli is unal)le to speak for itself; moved l)y this lK>lief, tliev aet and they command. In America, wliere they represent in tlie eyes of all only a minority of the nation, thev argue and petition. The means which associations in Europe employ, are in accordance with the end which they propose to obtain. As the princi])al aim of these bodies is to act, and not to debate, to fio;ht rather than to convince, thev are naturally led to adopt an organization which is not civic and peace- able, but partakes of the habits and maxims of mihtary life. They centralize, also, the direction of their forces as much as possible, and intnist the power of the whole party to a small number of leaders. The members of these associations respond to a watch- word, like soldiers on duty ; they profess the doctrine of passive obedience ; say rather, that in uniting together they at once abjure the exercise of their own judgment and free will : and the tyrannical control which these societies exer- cise, is often far more insupportable than the authority pos- sessed over society by the government which they attack. Their moral force is much diminished by these proceedings, and they lose the sacred character which always attaches to a struggle of the oppressed against their oppressors. He who in given cases consents to obey his fellows with ser- vility, and who submits his will, and even his thoughts, to tlieir control, how can he pretend that he wishes to be free ? The Americans have also estabHshed a gOMH'nment in their associations, but it is invariably borrowed fi'om the forms of the civil administration. Th'^ independence of each individual is formally recognized ; as in society, all the members advance at the same time towards the same end ; but thev are not all oblio;ed to follow the same track. No one abjures the exercise of his reason and fr^e will ; but every one exerts that reason and will to promote a common undertakino". 1 1 1\ fci Mf . . . ul ' .i; . \ . ^n •^■f';^ ■ 'ft J <: 1 \ ' ' 'ii"3SJ*5 I'i 1 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. li CHAPTER XIII. GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I AM well aware of the difficulties which attend this part of my siihject ; but although every expression which I am about to use may clash, upon some points, with the feeh'no;s of the different j)arties which divide my country, I shall still speak my whole thought. In Europe, we are at a loss how to judge the true char- acter and the permanent instincts of democracy, because in Europe two conflicting principles exi^t, and we do not know what to attribute to the principles themselves, and what to the passions which the contest produces. Such, however, is not the case in America ; there the people reign without impediment, and they have no perils to dread, and no injuries to avenge. In America, democracy is given up to its own propensities ; its course is natural, and its activity is unrestrained ; there, consequently, its real character must be judged. And to no people can this inquiry be more vitally interesting than to the French nation, who are blindly driven onwards, by a daily and irresistible impulse, towards a state of things which may prove either despotic or republican, but which will assur- edly be democratic. UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. I HAVE already observed that universal suffrage has been adopted in all the States of the Union : it conse- GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 253 <iuently exists in ooinmunities which oc('uj)y very different j)()sitions in the social scale. I have had o})portunitios of ohservino; its effects in different localities, and amonsst races of men who are nearly strangers to eacli otlier in their language, their religion, and their modes of life ; in Louisiana as well as in New England, in Georgia as in Canada. I have remarked that universal suffrage is far from producing in America either all the good or all the evil consequences which may be expected from it in En- rope, and that its effects generally difl'er very much from those which are attributed to it. THE CHOICE OF THE PEOPLE, AND THE INSTINCTIVE PREF- ERENCES OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. In the United States, the ablest Men are rarely placed at the Head of Affairs. — Reason of this Peculiarity. — The Envy which prevails in the lower Orders of France against the higher Classes is not a French, but a purely democratic Feeling. — Wliy the most distinguished Men in America fre- quently seclude themselves from public Affairs. Many people in Europe are apt to believe without say- ing it, or to say without believing it, that one of the great advantages of universal suffrage is, that it intrusts the direction of affairs to men who are worthy of the public confidence. They admit that the people are unable to govern of themselves, but they aver that the people always wish the welfare of the state, and instinctively designate those who are animated by the same good wishes, and who are the most fit to wield the supreme authority. I confess that the observations I made in America by no means coin- cide with these opinions. On my arrival in the United States, I was surprised to find so much distinguished talent among the subjects, and so little among the heads of the government. It is a constant fact, that, at the present day, the ablest men in the United States are rarely placed at the ■Hi 1 1 Ui 'I'i-i DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. lu'iid of affairs ; jind it must be acknowled^od tliat such has been the result, in projiortiun as democracy has out- stcjjped all its former limits. The race of American states- men has evidently dwindled most remarkably in the course of the last fifty years. Several causes may be assigned for this phenomenon. It is impossible, after the most strenuous exertions, to raise the intelligence of the people above a certain level. Whatever may be the facilities of ac(piiring information, whatever may be the profusion of easy methods and cheap science, the human mind can never be instructed and developed without devoting considerable time to these )bjects. The greater or the less possibility of subsisting without labor is therefore the necessary boundary of intellectual inij)rovement. This boundary is more remote in some countries, and more restricted in others ; but it nnist exist somewhere, as long as the peojile are constrained to work in order to procure the means of subsistence, that is to say, as long as they continue to be the ])eople. It is therefore quite as difficult to imag'ae a state in which all the citizens should be ^ery well informed, as a state in which they should all be wealthy ; tliese two difficulties are correlative. I readily admit that the mass of the citizens sincerely wish to promote the welfare of the country ; nay, more, I even allow that the lower classes mix fewer considerations of personal interest with their patriotism than the higher orders ; but it is always more or less difficult for them to discern the best means of attaining the end which they sincerely desire. Long and patient observation and much acquired knowledge are requisite to form a just estimate of the character of a single individual. Men of the greatest genius often fiiil to do it, and can it be supposed that the vulgar will always succeed ? The people have neither the time nor the means for an investigation of this kind. Their GOVKliNMKNT OF TIIK DEMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. 1^55 conclusions are liastily fonned I'roni a suj)orH('iul insj)octi()U of the nioru })r()niint'nt features of a ([uostion. Hence it often ha^jpens that niomitebanks of all sorts are able to please the j)e()|)le, wiiilst their truest friends frc([uently fail to gain their confidi'nce. ISIoreover, the democracy not only lack that soundness of judgment ^vhicll is necessary to select men really de- servino; of their confidence, but often have not the desire or tJif inclination to find them out. It caimot be denied that democratic institutions strongly tend to promote the feeling of envy in the human heart ; not so i h because they afford to every one the means of rising >* tiie same level Avith others, as because those means per}>etually disap- point the persons who emi)loy them. Democratic institutions awaken and foster a passion for equality which they can never entirely satisfy. This complete equality eludes the grasp of the people at the very moment when they think they have grasped it, and " flies," as Pascal says, " with an eternal flight " ; the peo])le are excited in the pursuit of an adA'antage, which is more precious because it is not suf- ficiently remote to be unknown, or sufficiently near to be enjoyed. The lower orders are agitated by the chance of success, they are irritated by its uncertainty ; and they pass from the enthusiasm of pursuit to the exhaustion of ill-success, and lastly to the acrimony of disapi)ointment. Whatever transcends their own limits appears to be an ob- stacle to their desires, and there is no superiority, however le^^ timate it may be, which is not irksome in their sight. It has been supposed that the secret instinct, which leads the lower orders to remove their superiors as much as pos- sible from the direction of public affairs, is peculiar to France. This, however, is an error ; the instinct to which I allude is not French, it is democratic ; it may have been heightened by peculiar political circumstances, but it owes its origin to a higher cause. '"l 1 $ I ' I M' m i\: m If M .[^■b Mm iHI ll IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) h /. {/ Z y^:\' f/ I? C//- ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^ 118 12.5 |5o "^^ IMi^E " liS lllllio 12.2 U IIIIII.6 vQ ^ 'ri % Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 873-4503 m \ :\ \ 4 V ^ rf m "!',{ V> 2oG DKMOCRACY IN AilKKICA. In tilt' United States, tlio j)('oj)lo do not liato the ]ii<j;lier classes of society, but are not favorably inclined towards tlu in, and carefully exclude them from the exercise of au- thority. 'J'hey do not dread distinguished talents, but are rari'ly fond of them. In <j;eneral, every one who rises without their aid seldom obtains their favor. AVhilst the natural instincts of democracy induce the ])eoj)le to ri'ject distinguislied citizens as their rulers, an instinct not less strouij induces able men to retire from the political arena, in Avhich it is so difficult to retain their inde})endence, or to advance without becomin<i; servile. This opinion has been candidly expressed by Chancellor Kent, who says, in speaking with high praise of that part of the Constitution which empowers the executive to nom- inate the judges : " It is indeed probable that the mi'U who are best fitted to discharge the duties of this hii-h office would have too much reserve in their manners, and too much austerity in their jn'inciples, for them to be returned by the majority at an election where universal suffrage is adopted." Such were the opinions which were printed without contradiction in America in the year I80O ! I hold it to be sufficiently demonstrated, that universal suffrage is by no means a guaranty of the wisdom of the popular choice. AVliatever its advantages may be, tliis is not one of them. I:;l GOVKUNMF.NT OF TlIK DKNKJCHACY IN AMKIMCA. OAUSKS WllU'H MAY I'AHTI.Y COKUKCT THK.SF TJ;NI)KN( 1K3 OF THK DEMOCRACY. Contrary Elll-cts produced on Nati(»ns as on Individiuils \>y f,'rcat Dan^'ors. — Why so many distiii^,niisli('d -Men stood at flic Head of AHiiirs in America fifty Years apt. — Iiitiuciicc wliicli Intc!ii;:<'ncc and Morality exercise upon the popular Choice. — F.xamjile of New l'',n_i:lund. — States of the Southwest. — How certain Laws intiiu'iice the Choice of the IVo- j)le. — Fileetiou hy an elected Body. — Its Fltlccts upon the Composition of the Senate. WiiF.N' serious (lnnn;t'rs tliroatcn tlie stati>, the j)ec)[)le fre- (piently suereecl in selecting; the eitizens who are tlie most ahle to save it. It has been observed that man rari-ly re- tains liis customary level in very critical circumstances ; lie rises above, or sinks below, his nsii;il condition, and the same tiling is true of nations. Extreme jierils sometimes <|iit'iich the enertry of a ])eoj>le, instead of stiimdatinif it ; they exeite, without direetinn; its j)assi()ns ; and instead of clearinii, they confuse its powers of ))ercej)tion. The Jews f()uo;ht and killed each other amid the smokiiiii; ruins of their temple. But it is more common, both with na- tions and individuals, to find extraordinary virtues devel- o]u'd from the very imminence of the danger. Great chnracters are then brouoht into relief, as the edifices which are usiiallv concealed bv the jtIoo"^ of niclit are illuminated b\- the rjlare of a conflaoration. At those dan- oerous times, genius no longer hesitates to come forward ; an<l the people, alanned by the j)erils of their situation, buiT their envious passions in a short oblivion. Great names may tben be drawn from the urn of election. I have already observed, that the American statesmen of the present day are very interior to those who stood at the head of affairs fifty years ap;o. This is as much a consefjuence of the circumstances, as of the laws, of the countrv. Wlicn America was strujxo-lina; in the liish Q It ;■' fM^; 'il V 'v:i 258 DKMOCRACY IX AMKHICA. cause of iii(lt'j)Cii(l('ncc, to throw off' the yoke of another country, and when it was about to uslier a now nation into tlie world, the s})irits of its inhabitants were roused to tlie liei^^lit which their great objects required. In tliis general excitement, distinguished men were ready to anticipate tlie call of the community, and the people clung to them for support, and placed them at their head. But such events are rare ; and it is from the ordinary course of affiiirs that our judgment must be formed. If passing occurrences sometimes check the passions of democracy, the intelligence and the morals of the commu- nity exercise an influence on them which is not less power- ful, and far more permanent. This is very perceptible in the United States. In New England, wliere education and liberty are the daughters of morality and religion, — where society has ac- quired age and stability enough to enable it to form princi- ples and hold fixed habits, — the common peoj)le are accus- tomed to respect intellectual and moral su{)eriority, and to submit to it without com})laint, although they set at naught all those privileges which wealth and birth have introduced among mankind. In New England, consequently, the de- mocracy makes a more judicious choice than it does else- wliere. But as we descend toAvards the South, to those States in ■which the constitution of society is more recent and less strong, where instruction is less general, and the principles of morality, religion, and liberty are less happily combined, we perceive that talents and virtues become more rare among those who are in authority. Lastly, when we arrive at the new Southwestern States, in which the constitution of society dates but from yester- day, and presents only an agglomeration of adventurers and speculators, we are amazed at the persons who are m- vested with public p.uthority, and we are led to ask by what GOVEKN.Mr.NT UV TMK DK.MOCHACV IN AMKKILA. 2i')0 torce, iiuk'poiident of the legislation and of the men who (liri'ct it, the state can be protected and society be made to flourisli. There are certain laws of a democratic nature which contribute, nevertheless, to correct, in some measure, these dani^erous tendencies of democracy. ^n ejitcrini; the House of Representatives at Washino;ton, one is struck bv the vulgar demeanor of that great assembly. ( )ften there is not a distin<iiiished man in the whole number. Its members are almost all obscure individuals, whoso names brinir no associations to mind. Thev are mostlv villaire lawyers, men in trade, or even persons belonging to the lower classes of society. In a country in which education is very general, it is said that the represi-ntatives-of tiie people do not always know how to write correctly. At a few yards' distance is the door of the Senate, which contains within a small space a large proportion of the celebrated men of America. Scarcely an individual is to be seen in it who has not had an active and illustrious career: the Senate is com})Osed of eloquent advocates, dis- tinijuished generals, wise mamstrates, and statesmen of note, whose arsnunents would do honor to the most re- markable parliamentary debates of Europe. How comes this strange contrast, and why are the ablest citizens found in one assembly rather than in the other? Why is the former body remarkable for its vulgar elements, whilst the latter seems to enjoy a monopoly of intelligence and talent? Both of these assemblies emanate from the ])e<)ple ; both are chosen by universal sutfrage ; and no voice has hitherto been heard to assert, in America, that the Senate is hostile to the interests of the peo))le. From what cause, then, does so startling a difference arise ? The only reason w^hich apjiears to me adequately to account for it is, that the House of Representatives is elected by the people directly, while the Senate is elected by elected '4 200 DKMOCKACY IN AMKKllA. i' nil i'\ Itodit's. Tlio wlioli' l)o(lv of tlie citi/ens name tlio lo<rislature of t'ucli State, and tlie Fetleral Constitntion converts tliese li'jiiislatuivs into so many electoral botlies, which return the members oi' the Senate. The Senators are elected by an indirect aj)|>lication of the jtopular vote: for the legisla- tures which aj)])oint them are not aristocratic or j»rivile<»;ed bodies, which elect in their own rioht ; but they are chosen by the totality of the citizens ; they are generally elected every year, and new mi'mbers may be chosen every year enough to determine the Senatorial ai)[)ointments. But this transmission of the popular autlu)rity through an as- sembly of chosen men operates an important change in it, by refining its discretion and improving its choice. Men who are chosen in this manner accurately represent the majority of the nation which governs them ; but they rej> I'esent only the elevated thoughts which are current in the conununity, and the generous propensities which prompt its nobler actions, rather than the petty passions which disturb, or the vices which disirrace it. The time must come when the American republics will be obliged more frequently to introduce the j)lan of elec- tion by an elected body into their system of representation, or run the risk of i)erishing miserably amongst the shoals of democracy. I do not hesitate to avow, th.at i look upon this pecuhar system of election as the only means of brinfjino; the exer- cise of political power to the level of all classes of the peo- ple. Those who hope to convert this institution into the exclusive weapon of a party, and those who fear to use it, seem to me to be equally in error. 1. i: M J i! \ i !i ioi!;Islaturo crts these eturn tlie ted l)y an le le<fisla- l)ri\ile«ji;ed ire cliosen lly elected very year iits. IJut Li'li an as- iige in it, ce. Men •esent the tliey re})- 3nt in the li j)rompt ns wliich bhcs will I of olec- sentation, le shoals peculiar le exer- the peo- into the use it, G0VEI{NM1:NT of THIC DEMOCHACV IX AMKIIICA. 2(J1 IN'IIX'KNCE WHICH THK AMKKICAN DKMOCUACY HAH KXKR- (I.SKI) ON THE LAWS RELATING TO ELECTIONS. Wliiii Klcctions nrt' rare, they expose tlie State to a violets Crisis. — Wlirii they are frp<iuoiit, they keep up a feverisli Exriteinent. — The Americans have preferred the second of these two Kvils. — Miitaliility of the Laws. — Ui)inions of Hamilton, Madison, and Jetlerson on this Suiijeet. When elections recur only at lon<^ intervals, the state is exposed to violent a<:;itation every time they take ])lace. Parties then exert themselves to the utmost, in onU'r to gain a prize which is so rarely within their reach ; and as the evil is almost irremediahle for the candidates who tail, evervthino; is to be feared from their disap])ointed ambition. If, on the other hand, the Ico-al stnioole is soon to .be re- peated, the defeated parties take patii'uce. When elections occur frequently, their recurrence keeps society in a feverish excitement, and gives a c "iitinnal in- stability to public affairs. Thus, on the one hand, the state is ex})osed to the perils of a revolution, — on the other, to perpetual mutability ; the fonner system threatens the very existence of the government, the latter prevents any steady and consistent policy. The Americans have preferred the second of these e^ils to the first ; but thev were led to this conclusion by instinct more than by reason, for a taste for variety is one of the characteristic passions of democracy. Hence their legislation is strangely mutable. ]\Ianv Americans consider the instaljility of their laws as a necessary cousequence of a system whose general results are beneficial. But no one in the United States affects to deny the fact of this instability, or contends that it is not a ffreat evil. Hamilton, after having demonstrated the utility of a power which might prevent, or at least impede, the pro- midgation of bad laws, adds: "It may perhaps be said, that the power of preventing bad laws includes that of prevent- ^ \ 'A I 'I 2<;2 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. iii<r n;()()(l oiu's, ;ui(l may l)o used to tlic one ])ur])().s(.' jis well as to the otiuT. IJut this objection will have little wei<:;ht with those who can properly estimate the mischief's of that inconstancy lyul mutahility in the laws vhich form the ij-reatest blemish in the character and jienius of our ifovern- ments." ( Federalist, No. T*).) And an;ain, in No. 02 of the same work, he observes : " The tiicility and excess of law-makin<i seem to be the dis- e«ses to which our i;overnments are most liable." Jefferson himself, the greatest democrat whom the de- mocracy of America has as yet produced, pointed out the same danj^ers. " The instability of our laws," said he, " is really a very serious inconvenience. I think that we ouijht to have ob- viatetl it by deciding that a whole year should always be allowed to elaj^se between the bringing in of a bill and the final ])assing of it. It should afterwards be discussed and put to the vote without the possibility of making any al- teration in it ; and if the circumstances of the case recpiired a more sjieedy decision, the question should not be decided by a simjjle majority, but by a majority of at least two thirds of both houses." ii.'. iji: ^-^b I"' 'I i^ ^r. L k PUBLIC OFFICERS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. Simple Exterior of American public Officers. — No official Costume. — All pul)lic Officers are remuuerated. — Political Consequences of this Sys- tem. — No public Career exists in America. — Results of this Fact. Public officers in the United States are confounded with the crowd of citizens ; they have neither palaces, nor guards, nor ceremonial costumes. This simple exterior of persons in authority is connected, not only with the pecu- liarities of the American character, but with the funda- mental principles of society. In the estimation of the govi;hnmi:xt of thf: dk.mociiacy ix ammkica. 2tvl VIERICAN ik'Hiocracy, ;v iiovc'riuncnt is not a benefit, l)Ut a noccssarj* evil. A certain <le<^i'ec of j)o\ver nuist be oranted to \ni\)~ lie (tllicers, tor they would be of no use without it. liut tJie ostensible semblance of authority is by n<» means in- (lisjtensable to the conduct of alfairs ; and it is needlessly ofl'ensive to the susceptibility of the j)ul)lic. The public officers themselves are well aware, that they enjoy the su- periority over their fellow-citizens which they derive from their authority, only on condition of j)uttinf; themselves on a level with the whole community by their manners. A })ublic officer in the United States is uniforndy simple in his manners, accessible to all the world, attentive to all re- quests, and obliging in his replies. I was pleasetl by these characteristics of a democratic government ; I admired the manly independence which respects the office more than the officer, and thinks less of the emblems of author- ity than of the man who bears them. I believe that the influence which costumes really exer- cise, in an age like that in which we live, has been a good deal exaggerated. I never perceived that a public officer in America was the less respected, whilst in the discharge of his duties, because his own merit was set oflf by no ad- ventitious signs. On the other hand, it is very doubtful whether a pecuhar dress induces public men to respect themselves, when they are not otherwise inclined to do so. AVhen a magistrate (and in France such instances are not rare) snubs the parties before him, or indulges his wit at their expense, or shrugs his shoulders at their pleas of de- fence, or smiles complacently as the charges are enumer- ated, I should like to deprive him of his robes of office, to see Avhether, when he is reduced to the garb of a private citizen, be would not recall some portion of the natural dignity of mankind. No public officer in the United States has an official cos- tume, but every one of them receives a salary. And this, l\ till I '» i \ II ' It i I Mi; I'i I !i; 1 2«;4 DKMOCWACV IN A.Mi;iU(JA. also, still nioro naturally than what })ivce(K's, results from (U'Uiocratic priucipk's. A dcuiocracy may allow souk- uia;;- istcrial pouij), and clotlic its ofKixTs in silks and ^'old, with- out seriously ('onipi'oniisin;:; its |)rin('i|»U's. l*ri\ilrocs of this kind are transitory ; they helono- to the jdaco, and not to the man. IJut it' puhlic olKcers are nnjiaid, a elass of rieh and independent |)ui)Iie funetionaries will he created, who will constitute the basis of an aristoeraey ; and if the people still retain their ri^ht of election, the choice can be made otdy from a certain class of citizens. When a democratic republic renders gratuitous offices which had formerly been renuuierated, it may safely be inferred that the state is advancing towards njonarchv. And when a monarchy begins to remunerate such officers as had hitherto been uni)aid, it is a sure sign that it is a})- j»roaching a despotic or a republican form of '.';overnment. The substitution of ])aid for unpaid functionaries is of it- self, in my opinion, sufficient to constitute a real revolution. I look uj)on the entire absence of uni)aid offices in America as one of the most prominent signs of the abso- lute dominion which democracy exercises in that country. All pulvUc services, of whatsoever nature they may be, are paid ; so that every one has not merely a right, but also the means, of performing them. Although, in democratic states, all the citizens are qualified to liold offices, all are not tempted to try for them. The number and the capaci- ties of the candidates, more than the conditions of the can- didateship, restrict the choice of the electors. In nations where the principle of election extends to everything, no political career can, properly speaking, be said to exist. Men arrive as if by chance at the post Avhich they hold, and they are by no means sure of retain- ing it. This is especially true when the elections are held annually. The consequence is, that, in tranquil times, public functions offer but few lures to ambition. In the CJOVKirNMKN'T OF TIIK l)i;M<)CllAt:\ IN AMKKICA. _•».) T'liiti'"! States, tlioso who c'npa<i;o in tlic pen ii'xitics of political lite are jK'rsoiis of very moderate id'eti'iisions. Till- pursuit of wealtli n;enerally diverts men of ;i;reat tal- ents antl stron^f passions from tiie jxM'suit of power ; and it trt'ipiently liappens tluit a man dot.- not nndi'rtak*' to direct the fortunes (tf tliu state nntil he hiis shown himself incompetent to conduct liis own. The vast nunilter of very ordinary men who occuj)y puhlic stations is (piitu as attrihutahle to these causes, as to tlie bad choice of the democracv. In tlie United States, I am not sure that thc^ peoj)le would clioose men of superior abilities, even if they wished to be elected ; but it is certain that cancUdates of this description do not come forward. ARHITRARY POWER OF MAGISTRATES* UNDER TIIE RULE OP THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. |nds to ing, bo le ])ost •etain- re lield [times, 'n the For what Reiisou the arbitrary Power of Mairislruti-s is frrcater in Absolute ^loiiarcliit'S and in DLMUocratic llepulilics than it is in Uniited Monar- chies. — i^jhitrary Tower of the Magistrates in New Knyhmd. In two kinds of government the magistrates exercise considerable arbitrary power, — namely, under the abso- hite government of an indivi(hial, and under tliat of a de- mocracy. This identical resuh proceeds from very simihu* causes. Ill despotic states, tlie fortune of no one is secure ; pub- lic officers are not more safe than private persons. The sovereign, who has under his control the lives, the proper- ty, and sometimes the honor, of the men whom he employs, thinks he has nothing to fear from them, and allows them great latitude of action, because he is convinced that they will not use it against him. In despotic states, the sover- * I here use the word vuujistnUes in its widest sense ; I apply it to all oflBccrs to whom the execution of the laws is intrusted. 12 r h« n I 1 m i 1 2tJ0 DKMOCKACY IN AMKIJItA. fi^;!! is so iiuH'li attiiclu'tl to Ills |)ow('r, tlint lu; dislikosi tlie (•oll^tnliIlt »'\i'U of liin own n';j;ul;ilions, ami likus to si'c his ti^cnts iH'tin;; irrt'i;iilarly, and, as it were, Ity cliaiici', in order to l»' siirt' tliat tlicir actions will luniT couiittTact lii.s desires. In di'inorraeies, as tho majority lias every year the ri«;ht of takini; away tliu j)ower of the oflieers >vh(tiM it had ap- pointed, it has no reason to fear any ahuse of their anthor- ity. As the |»eoj)lc are always ahio to sin;nity their will to those who eondnet the e()vernnient, they prefer leaving them to their own free action, instead of prescrihing an invariable rule of conduct, which would at onco fetter their activity and the popular authority. It may even he ohserved, on attentive consideration, that, under the rule of a democracy, the arhitrary action of tho ma;j;istrate must he still greater than in despotic states. In the latk'r, tho sovereign can immediately punish all the faults with which he becomes acipiainted, hut he cannot hoj)e to become ac(juainted with all those which are com- mitted. In democracies, on the contrary, the sovereign power is not only supreme, but universally present. The American functionaries are, in fact, much more free in the sphere of action wliich the law traces out for them tlian any public officer in Europe. Vciy frequently, the object which they are to accomplish is simply pointed out to them, and the choice of the means is left to their own discretion. In New England, for instance, the selectmen of each township are bound to draw up the list of persons who are to serve on the jury ; the only rule wliich is laid down to guide them in their choice is, that they are to select citizens possessing the elective franchise and enjoying a fair repu- tation.* In France, the lives and liberties of the subjects would be thought to be in danger, if a public officer of any * It sliould be added, that the jurors are afterwards drawn from these lists by lot. il GOVi,HNMi:Nr oi nil; in:M(Xi!Arv in a.mi;i:i»a. iJix kind was iiitrustfd witli so junnidalilf a riiilit. In Xrw Kn;;laii(l, till" saiiK' ina^iistratcs nvc iiniiowi'iiMl to post tlio iiaiMcs of liaititual (Ininkai'ds in |iu1)li<' lioiiscs, and to |iro- liiljit till' inhabitants of a town fVoni Mi|i|>lyin;j; tlu-in uitli li<jUor.* Sncli a censorial j)o\vcr would In- I'l-voltin;^ to tin? |io|inlation of tlie most ahsolutc inonarcliii's ; In-iv, liow- t'ViT, it is snhmitti'd to without ditlicultv. Nowhere has so nincli Ikh'H left hv the law to the arhi- trary determination of tho ma;;istrate as in demoeratic re- ])ul)li(s, heeause they have nothini:' to tear I'roni arhitrarv power. It may even he asserted that the freedom of the ma<;istrate increases as the elective lranchi>e is extended, and as the duration of the time of othce is shortened. Ileiici' arises the i>reat ditlicultv of convi'rtinii a tK-mo- cratic ri'j>ul)lic into a monarchy. The mai^isti'ate ceases to be elective, but lie retains the ri;;hts and thi' habits of an elected officer, which lead directly to despotism. It is only in limited monarchies tliat the law, which pro- scribes the sphere in which p\iblic officers are to act, super- intends all their measures. The cause of this may be easily detected. In limited monarchies, the power is divided be- tween the kinn and the ])eople, both of whom are interest- ed in the stability of the mnoistrate. The kinrr doe>« not venture to place the public officers under the control of the people, lest they should be temi)ted to betray his interests ; on the other hand, the peo])le fear lest the magistrates should serve to oppress the liberties of the country if they were entirely dependent upon the crown : they cannot, * Sec Aft of 28th Feliniaiy, 1787. [But tliis luw is obsolete. And M. do Tocciueville's other instuiuc is not liaiipily chosen. In Kn;:hiiid, wliieli is a limited monarcliy, the jury lists arc drawn up by tlio sheritt", and such a power is more formidable in the hands of one man than of several. In truth, the doctrine of the author here is a very questionable one. Alaj^is- trates in America do not have so much trusted to their discretiou a^ iu England or Trance. Their modes of action are prescribed beforehand by law, and defined with jealous care. — Asi. Ed.] 2G8 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 1 1 i ^^ i -1 :;^' ^H W '' '• '' ' '' li . : 1 1 ' ^ 1^ 1 |hm : ii IH 1 i :: 1 III i H:l 1 |f( !' ^ ! t ! ■ ^ ^ 1 , i i i ■ : ' n 1 III ■ :i J H 1 pi 1 Ii Ml ■ 1 1 m , i,.; |M f;i 1 :h \ i : Ii 4 f '^ r i lli :i! 1^ ■ i; ^ i 1- ' 'i : PHi [| ^ Hi B ' ' i ;; r ■ pm ■ I '■ n B > ■I ir' ! ! 11 i : '!l i' ■ ' li B 'fli 1 fc ■ - B :lB r ?■ ; * ,■ .1, 1 ||8 1 f ; ■rl H ''IH ' 1 ' - , |;| i ■i i i| 1 '' ^H i :'l:; therofore, be said to depend on either the one or tlie other. Tlie same cause which induces the king and tlie people to render public officers independent, suggests the necessity of such seciu'ities as may prevent their independence from encroaching upon the authority of the former, or upon the liberties of the latter. They consequently agree as to the necessity of restricting the functionary to a line of conduct laid doAvn beforehand, and find it for their interest to im- pose upon him certain regulations Avhich he cannot evade. INSTABILITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES. In America, tlie Public Acts of a Community frequently leave fewer Traces .than the Occurrences in a Family. — Newspapers the only Historical Eemains. — lustahility of the Administration prtjudicial to the Art of Government. The authority which public men possess in America is so brief, and they are so soon commingled with the ever- changing population of the country, that the acts of a community frequently leave fewer traces than the ev^ents in a private family. The public administration is, so to speak, oral and traditionary. But little is committed to writing, and that little is soon wafted away forever, like the leaves of the Sibyl, by the smallest breeze. The only historical remains in the United States are the newspapers ; if a number be wanting, the chain of time is broken, and the present is severed from the past. I am convinced that, in fifty years, it will be more difficult to collect authentic documents concernino; the social condition of the Americans at the present day, than it is to find re- mains of the administration of France durino; the Middle Ages ; and if the United States were ever invaded by barbarians, it would be necessaiy to have recourse to the GOVERXMKN'T OF THE DEMOCRACY IX AMERICA. 2(j0 history of other nations, in order to learn anything of the peoj)le wlio now inluibit them. Tlie instabihty of the administration has penetrated into the luibits of tlie people ; it even appears to suit the general taste, and no one cares for what occurred before his thne ; no methodical system is pursued ; no archives arc formed ; and no documents are brouo;lit tooetlier when it would be very etisy to do so.* Where they exist, little store is set upon them. I have amongst my papers several original public documents, which were given to me in the public otlices, in answer to some of my inquiries. In America, society seems to live fi'om hand to mouth, like a)i army in the field. Nevertheless, the art of administration is undoubtedly a science, and no sciences can be im})roved if the discoveries and observations of successive generations are not connected together, in the order in which they occur. One man, in the short space of his life, remarks a fact, another conceives an idea ; the former invents a means of execution, the latter reduces a truth to a formula ; and mankind gather the fruits of individual experience on their way, and gradually fonn the sciences. But the per- sons who conduct the administration in America can sel- dom afford any instruction to each other ; and when they assume the direction of society, thev simply possess those * One would think that M. de Tocqucvillc had never seen tlic vohimi- nous documents which are printed every year, here in America, by the order of the State legislatures and of Congress. In the aggregate, they already f;rni a respe('tal)le hbrary, so that the future historian will suH'er rather from tlic eniharrassment of riches than from the want of materials. Instead of complaining that " little is committed to v.-riting," in America, and that " that little is soon wafted away forever," he ought to censure the inordi- nate loquacity of Presidents, Governors, legislators, and other public of- licers, whose interminable messages, reports, and supplementary documents arc preserved by the public printers in many huge volumes, which nobody, indeed, ever thinks of perusing, but which are even difficult to consult on account of their number and magnitude. — Am. Ed. \ '4 ill \ ii 270 DEMOCRACY IN AMITJCA. attainments wliich are wicloly disseminated in tlie commu- nity, and no knowledge peculiar to themselves. Democ- racy, pushed to its furthest limits, is therefore prejudicial to the art of government ; and, for this reason, it is better adapted to a people already versed in the conduct of ad- ministration, than to a nation which is uninitiated in public affairs. This remark, indeed, is not exclusively applicable to the science of administration. Althouo;h a democratic jrovern- ment is founded u|)on a very simple and natural principle, it always presupposes the existence of a high degree of culture and enlightenment in society.* At first, it might be supposed to belong to the earliest ages of the world ; but maturer observation will convince us that it could only come last in the succession of human history. CHARGES LEVIED BY THE STATE UNDER THE RULE OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. In all Communities, Citizens are divisible into certain Classes. — IlaMts of each of these ("lasses in the Direction of Public Finances. — "Why Pub- lic Expenditure must tend to increase when the People povern. — What renders the Extravagance of a Democracy less to be feared in America. — Public Expenditure under a Democracy. Before we can tell whether a democratic government is economical or not, we must establish a standard of com- parison. The question would be of easy solution, if we were to draw a parallel between a democratic republic and tax absolute monarchy. The public expenditure in the for- mer would be found to be more considerable than under the latter ; such is the case with all free states compared with those which are not so. It is certain that despotism * It is needless to observe, that I speak here of the democratic form of goveriuneut as applied to a people, and not merely to a tribe. GOVERNMKNT OF THK DKMOCRACV IN AMKRICA. 271 ruins Individuals by preventing,!; them from produeing wealth, nnicli more tlian by dej)rivin<]; tliem of what they liave ah'eady j)roduced ; it dries up the source of rielies, whilst it usually respects acquired property. Freedom, on the contrary, produces far more goods than it destroys ; and the nations which are favored by free institutions in- variably find that their resources increase even more ra|)- idly than their taxes. ]My i)resent object is to compare free nations with each other, and to point out the influence of democracy upon the finances of a state. Communities, as well as organic bodies, are subject in their formation to certain fixed rules, from which they can- not depart. They are comj)Osed of certain elements which are common to them at all times and under all circum- stances. The people may always be mentally divided into three classes. The first of these classes consists of the wealthy ; the second, of those who are in easy circum- stances ; and the third is composed of those who have little or no property, and who subsist by the work which they perform for the tw^o superior orders. The [)roportion of the individuals in these several divisions may vary accord- ing to the condition of society ; but the divisions them- selves can never be obliterated. It is evident that each of these classes will exercise an influence peculiar to its own instincts upon the administra- tion of the finances of the state. If the first of the three exclusively possesses the legislative power, it is probable that it will not be sparing of the public funds, because the taxes which are levied on a large fortune only diminish the SI m of superfluities, and are, in fiict, but little felt. If the si ()nd class has the power of making the laws, it will cer- tainly not be lavish of taxes, because nothing is so onerous as a large impost levied upon a small income. The goA^- ernment of the middle classes appears to me the most eco- I : ' I . • 272 DKMOCUACY IN AMF.KICA. uUm noniical, I will not say the most enliglitoned, and cortaliily not ihe most <|enc'rous, of free govern monts. Let us now suj)poso that the le<^islative authority is vested in tlie hiwest order: there are two strikiu"; reasons whicli sliow tliat tlie tendency of the expenditures will be to increase, not to diminish. As the great majority of those who create the laws have no taxable pro})erty, all the money which is spent for the conmiunity ai)pears to be spent to their advantage, at no cost of their own ; and those who have some little prop- erty readily find means of so regulating the taxes, that they weigh upon the wealthy and profit the poor ; although the rich cannot take the same advantage when they are in pos- session of the tiovernment. In countries in which the poor * should have the exclu- sive power of making the laws, no great economy of pub- lic expenditure ought to be expected : that expenditure will always be considerable ; either because the taxes can- not weigh upon those who levy them, or because they are levied in such a manner as not to reach these poorer classes. In other words, the government of the democ- racy is the only one under which the power which votes the taxes escapes the payment of them. In vain will it be objected, that the true interest of the people is to spare the fortunes of the rich, since they must suffer in the long run from the general impoverishment which will ensue. Is it not the true interest of kings, also, to render their subjects happy, and of the nobles to admit recruits into their order on suitable grounds ? If remote advantages had power to prevail over the passions and the i * Tlie worrl pooi- is used here, and tliroughout the remainder of this chap- ter, in a relative, not in an absolute sense. Poor men in America would often appear rich in comparison with the poor of Europe ; but they may >vith propriety be styled poor in comparison with their more affluent coun- trvmcn. i GOVKIJNMKXT OF THE DEMOCRACY IX AMEIMCA. 273 exiLionc'ics of the moment, no siicli tliino; as a tyrannical Koveivioii or an exclusive aristocracy could ever exist. Again, it may be objected that the poor never havf the sole ])Ower of making the laws ; but I reply, that, wlu'rever universal suffrage has been established, the majority un- questionably exercises the legislative authority ; and if it be proved that the poor always constitute the majority, may it not be added, with perfect truth, that, in the coun- tries in which they possess the elective franchise, they pos- sess the sole power of making the laws ? It is certain that, in all the nations of the world, the greater number lias always consisted of those persons who hold no property, or of those whose property is insufficient to exempt them from the necessity of working in order to procure a com- fortable subsistence. Universal suffrage does, therefore, in point of fact, invest the poor with the government of societv. The disastrous influence which popular authority may sometimes exercise upon the finances of a state was clearly seen in some of the democratic republics of antiquity, in which the public treasure was exhausted in order to relieve indigent citizens, or to supply games and theatrical amuse- ments for the populace. It is true, that the representative system was then almost unknov»n, and that, at the present time, the influence of popular passions is less felt in the conduct of public affairs ; but it may well be believed that, in the end, the delegate will conform to the principles of his constituents, and favor their j)ropensities as much as their interests. The extravagance of democracy is, however, less to be dreaded in proportion as the people acquire a share of property, because, on the one hand, the contributions of the rich are then less needed, and, on the other, it is more difficult to impose taxes which shall not reach the imposers. On this account, universal suffrage would be less dangerous 12* R I' I li -i !r 'i ii V'i I tjjjv ITT rl ; If . |i i|: 1. 274 DKMOCRACY IN AMI-RICA. in FnincG tlian in England, whoro nearly all the taxable property is vested in tlie hands of a few. America, where the great majority of the citi/.ens possess some fortune, is in a still more favorable position than France. There are further causes which may increase the amount of j)ublic expenditure in democratic countries. When an aristocracy governs, those who conduct the affairs of state are exemj)ted, by their very station in society, from any want : content with their lot, power and renown are the only objects for which they strive ; placed far above the obscure crowd, they do not always clearly perceive how the well-being of the mass of the people will redound to their own grandeur. They are not, indeed, callous to the sufferings of the poor ; but they cannot feel those miseries as acutely as if they were themselves partakers of them. Provided that the people appear to submit to their lot, the rulers are satisfied, and demand nothino; further fi'om the government. An aristocracy is more intent upon the means of maintaining than of improving its condition. When, on the contrary, the people are invested with the supreme authority, they are perpetually seeking for some- thing better, because they feel the hardships of their lot. The thirst for improvement extends to a thousand different objects ; it descends to the most trivial details, and especial- ly to those changes which are accompanied with considera- ble expense, since the object is to improve the condition of the poor, who cannot pay for the improvement. More- over, all democratic communities are agitated by an ill- defined excitement, and a kind of feverish impatience, that creates a multitude of innovations, almost all of which are expensive. In monarchies and aristocracies, those who are ambitious flatter the natural taste which the rulers have for power and renown, and thus often incite them to very costly undertakings. In democracies, where the rulers are poor GOVF.r.NMKNT OF THK DEMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. 275 and In want, tlicy ci\n he courted only by such mcnis as will improve their well-bcino;, and these improvements can- not take place without money. When a [)eople hi'ijin to reflect on their situation, they discover a nndtitude of wants which they had not before been conscious of, and to satisfy these exio;cncies recourse must be had to the cotters of the state. Hence it happens that the public charges increase in proportion to the civilization of the country, and imposts are augmented as knowledge becomes more diffused. The last cause which renders a democratic government dearer than any other is, that a democracy does not always lessen its expenditures even when it wishes to do so, be- cause it does not understand the art of beinjx economical. xVs it frequently changes its purposes, and still more fre- quently its agents, its undertakings are often ill conducted or left unfinished : in the former case, the state spends sums out of all proportion to the end which it })roposes to accomplish ; in the latter, the expense brings no return. TENDENCIES OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AS REGARDS THE SALARIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. In Democracies, tliose who cstablisli lii}i:h Salaries have no chance of profit- ing by them. — Tendency of the American Democracy to increase the Salaries of subordinate Officers, and to lower those of the more impor- tant Functionaries. — Reason of this. — Comparative Statement of the Salaries of Public Officers in the United States and in France. There Is a powerful reason which usually induces de- mocracies to economize upon the salaries of public officers. Those who fix the amount of the salaries, being very nu- merous, have but little chance of obtainino; office so as to be in receipt of those salaries. In aristocratic countries, on the contrary, the individuals who ap})oint high salaries have almost always a vague hope of profiting by them. 1 iiiii ! . I 270 DKMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. Tliose ai)j)()intiu('nts may bo looked upon as a capital which they create for their own use, or at least as a resource for their cliilch'en. It must l)e allowed, moreover, that a democratic state is most parsimonious towards its princij)al agents. In Amer- ica, the secondary officers are much better, and the higher functionaries much worse paid, than elsewhere. These oj)posite efi'ects result from the same cause : the peoj)le fix the salaries of the public officers in both cases ; and the scale of rennmeration is determined by the com- parison of their own wants. It is held to be fiiir, that the servants of the public should be placed in the same easy circumstances as the public themselves ; * but when the question turns ui)on the salaries of the great officers of state, this rule fails, and chance alone guides the popular decision. The poor have no adequate conception of the wants which the higher classes of society feel. The sum which is. scanty to the rich appears enormous to him whose wants do not extend beyond the necessaries of life ; and in his estimation, the Governor of a State, with his twelve hundred or two thousand dollars a year, is a fortu- nate and enviable being.f If you try to convince him that the representative of a great people ought to appear with some splendor in the eyes of foreign nations, he will at first assent to your assertion ; but when he reflects on * Tlie easy circumstances in which secondary functionaries are placed in the United States result, also, from another cause, which is independent of the general tendencies of democracy : every kind of private business is very lucrative, and the state would not be served at all if it did not pay its servants well. The country is in the position of a commercial house, which is obliged to sustain a costly competition, notwithstanding its tastes are eco- nomical. t The State of Ohio, which contains a million of inhabitants, gives its Governor a salary of only 1 ,200 dollars a year. [Now that its population exceeds two millions, the Governor's salary has been raised to 1,800 dollars — Am. Ed.J GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IX AMERICA. lit I higher liis own humble u .<]hn<2;, iiiid tlie small earniniiis of his jianl toil, he remembers all that he could do with a salary which you judge to be insufficient, and he is startled and almost t'riiihtened at the view of so nuich wealth. He- sides, the secondary public officer is almost on a level with the people, whilst the others are raised above them. The former may therefore excite his symi)athy, but the latter begin to arouse liis envy. This is clearly seen in the United States, where the sal- aries seem, if I may so speak, to decrease as the authority of those who receive them is auiiniented.* Under the rule of an aristocracy, on the contrary, the hiiih officers receive munificent salaries, while the inferior * To render tliis assertion perfectly evident, it will sutlice to examine the Bcalc of salaries of tlic a;^ents of the Federal },'ovennnent. I have added the salaries of the eorresponding offieera in France, to complete the eora- parisou. UNITED STATES. Trea<mry Department. Messenger, $ 700 Clerk with lowest salary, . . 1,000 Clerk with hi;,fhest salary, . 1,600 Chief Clerk, 2,000 Secretary of State, . . . 6,000 The President, 25,000 FRANCE. Miiii'stire de Finances. Huissier, . . . 1,500 fr. (S300) Clerk with lowest sala- ry, 1,000 to 1,800 fr. ($200-360) Clerk with hij^hest sala- ry, 3,200 to 3,600 fr. (S 640 - 720) Seeretaire-yeneral, 20,000 fr. (S 4,000) The INIinistcr, 80,000 fr. (S 16,000) The King, 12,000,000 fr. ($2,400,000) [Since M. de Tocquevillc wrote, all these salaries of American officers, except that of the President, have been somewhat enlarged ; but the addi- tion made to them is not more than enough to make up for the increased expenses of living. — Am. Ed.] I have perhaps done wrong in selecting France as my standard of com- parison. In France, as the democratic tendencies of the nation exercise an ever-increasing influence upon the government, the Chambers show a dispo- sition to raise the low salaries, and to lower the principal ones. Thus, the Minister of Finance, who received 160,000 fr. under the Empire, receives 80,000 fr. in 1835; the Directeurs-G^ne'raux of Finance, who then received 50,000 fr., now receive only 20,000 fr. •■i 278 DKMOCRACY IN AMF.RICA. ones often have not more tlian enouf^li to procure the iiecessiu'ieis of life. Tlio reason of tliis fact is easily dis- coverable from causes very analogous to those wlii(;h I have just pointed out. As a democracy is unable to con- ceive the pleasures of the ricli, or to witness them without envy, so an aristocracy is slow to understand the })rivation3 of the poor, or rather is unaccpiainted with tliem. The poor man is not, properly speaking, of the same kind as the rich one ; but he is a beino; of another s])ecies. An aristocracy therefore cares but little for the condition of its subordinate agents ; and tlieir salaries are raised only when they refuse to serve for too scanty a remuneration. It is the ))arsimonious conduct of democracy towards its princij)al ofhcers, wliich has caused more economical i)ro- pensities to be attributed to it tlian it really j)ossesses. It is true that it scarcely allows the means of decent main- tenance to those who conduct its affairs ; but it lavishes enormous sums to succor the wants or facilitate the enjoy- ments of the people.* The money raised by taxation may be better emjjloyed ; but it is not economically used. In general, democracy gives largely to the people, and very sparingly to those who govern them. The reverse is the case in aristocratic countries, where the money of the state profits the persons who are at the head of affairs. * See the American budgets for tlie support of paupers, and for gratui- tous instruction. In 1831, over $250,000 were spent in the State of New York for tlie maintenance of the poor ; and at least $ 1 ,000,000 were de- voted to pultlic instruction. [In 1858, the total expenditure for the relief of the poor in the State of New York was $1,491,391; and for coramoa eohools, $ 3,653,995. — Aji. Ed.] The State of New York contained ouly 1,900,000 inhabitants in the year 1830, which is not more than double the amount of population in the De'partement du Nord iu France. [lu 1855, the population of New York was 3,466,212.] GOVKHNMKNT OF Till: DKMOCKACY IN AMI.IMCA. '2~\) DIFFICULTY OF mSTINfJUISHIXO THE CAUSES WHTCII INCLINE THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT TO ECONOMY. We are liablo to ti'e(iiient errors iii seeking; anion*; tacts for tlio real inHuencc wliieh laws exercise u[)on the late of mankind, since nothing is more dilHcult to appreciate than a liK't. (Jne nation is naturally fickle and enthusiastic ; another is sober and calculatino; ; and these characteristies originate in their physical constitution, or in remote causes with which we are unaccjuainted. There are nations which are fond of })arade, bustle, and festivity, and which do not regret millions s})ent u})on the gayeties of an hour. Others, on the contrary, are attached to more quiet enjoyments, and seem almost ashamed of aj)pearing to be pleased. In some countries, high \alue is set upon the beauty of public edifices ; in others, the pro- ductions of art are treated with indifference, and every- thing which is un})roductive is regarded with contempt. In some, renown, in others, money, is the ruling passion. Independently of the laws, all these causes exercise a powerful influence upon the conduct of the finances of the state. If the Americans never spend the money of the })eople in public festivities, it is not merely because the taxes are under the control of the peo})le, but because the people take no delight in festivities. If they repudiate all ornament from their architecture, and set no store on any but j)ractical and homely advantages, it is not because they live under democratic institutions, but because they are a commercial nation. The habits of private life are con- tinued in public ; and we ought carefully to distinguish that economy which depends upon their institutions fi*om that which is the natural result of their habitudes and manners. rii m H 280 DEMUCUACV IN AMllUCA. M j 1 ^ \\i\ 1 ']'■' ■'v ^ ' WIIETHKIl TIIK KXPFNDITURK OK TUV. T'MTF.D STATK3 CAN UK COMrAUKl) WITH THAT OK KIIANCK. Two I'oiiitH to Iw fstiildislied in onUsr to cstiiiiato the KxU'fit of the I'ulilic Cliarj;c.s, viz. tlio Nutioiml VVniltii, iind tliu Hutu of Taxation. — Tlio Wcallli anil tlio Char^a-H of Fiance not accurately known. — Why the Wciillh ami f!linrp'S of the riiioii cannot \<i' aciiiratciy known. — Uo scaii'hcs of the Author to di.scovcr the Amount of Taxation of IVnn.><yl- vania. — (iencral Syinptoins which may hcvo to indicate the Amount of the I'uhlic Charges in a |;iven Nation. — Kcsult of tlii.s Investigation for the Union. Maxy attempts liavo recently been made in Franco to compare the jmhlic e.xpenilitni'e of that country witli tlie expenditure of the United States. All these attempts have, however, been fruitless ; and a few words will suffice to show that they could not have a satisfactory result. In order to estimate the amount of the public charoes of a peoi)le, two pri'liminaries are indispens;d)le : it is neces- sary, in the first ])lace, to know the wealth of that people ; and, in the second, to learn what portion of that wealth is devoted to the expenditure of the state. To show the amoinit of taxation without showino; the resources which are destined to meet it, would be a futile task ; for it is not the expenditure, but the relation of the expenditure to the revenue, which it is desirable to know. The same rate of taxation which may easily be supported by a wealthy con- tributor will reduce a poor one to extreme misery. The wealth of nations is composed of several elements ; real property is the first of these, and personal property the second. It is difficult to know precisely the amount of cultivable lan'l in a country, and its natural or acquired value ; and it is still more difficult to estimate the whole personal property which is at the disposal of a nation, and which eludes the strictest analysis by the diversity and the number of shapes under which it may occur. And, in- in- GOVKHN'MKN'T OF TIIK DKMOCKACY IN AMlilUCA. 281 (1('»'(1, wi> find tli;it tlic iiati()n>< (tf Kiiropo ulilcli luivf Im-ch tlic IfdiLTt'^t civili/.iMl, incliidiii^' even tli(c>o in wiiifii the ml- ministnition is most criitriili/i'd, have not succcidtMl, as yet, in (Icti'rniinino; tlio exact amount of tiu'ir wealtii. In /Vmerica, tiie atteinj»t has never been nii'le; tor liow would bucli an investi<j;ation hi' |tossil)li' ii a new oiuitry, where society has not yet settled into tixed and tran<|uil liMl)its, — where the national i;overnnient is not a>si>ti'd hv a Muiltitude of aijents whose exertions it can connnand and direct to one end, — and wheri^ statistics an* not studied, hecause no one is al»K' to collect the lU'cessarv <locumi'nts, or find timi' to peruse them ? Thus the j»i-iniary eli'jnents of the calculations w hich have heen niadi' in France can- not be obtained in the Union ; the relatixc wealth of the two countries is unknown : the property of the former is not yet accurately determined, and no means exist of com- putiuLi' that of the latter. I consent therefore, for tlio moment, to al»andon this necessary term of the comparison, and I confine myself to a computation of the actual amount of taxation, without investiiiatino; the ratio of tlie taxation to the revenue. But the reader will perceive that my task lias not been facilitated bv thus narrowini; the cinde (»f mv researches. It cannot be doubted that the central administration of France, assisted ])y all the public otttcers w ho are at its dis- posal, might determine precisely the amount of the direct and indirect taxes levied u})on the citizens. But this in- vestigation, which no })rivate individual can inidertake, has not hitherto been C(mipleted by the French government, or, at least, its results have not been made public. We are acquainted with the sum total of the charges of the state ; we know the amonnt of the departmental expendi- ture ; but the expenses of the communes have not been computed, and the total of the public expenses of F'rance is consequently unknown. \y-i 1!:' m ' i nJMi i HI; n;|. :!,!. i I'm. : ! ill i 1' it t^ [1 ii I iSil'^lii lip 4 iifijii "^ 282 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. If we now turn to America, we perceive that the diffi- culties are multiplied and enhanced. Th . Union publishes an exact return of the amount of its expenditure ; the brtlgets of the four and twenty States publish similar re- turns ; but the expenses of the counties and the townships are unknown.* * The Americans, as we have seen, have four separate budgets, — the Union, the States, the counties, and the townships liaving each severally their own. During my stay in America, I made every endeavor to dis- cover tlie amount of the public expenditure in the townships and counties of the principal States of the Union ; and I readily obtained the budget of the larger townships, but found it quite impossible to procure that of the smaller ones. I possess, however, some documents relating to county ex- penses which, although incomplete, are still curious. I have to thank Mr. Richards, former Mayor of Philadelphia, fur the budgets of thirteen of the counties of Pennsylvania, — viz. Lebanon, Centre, Franklin, Fayette, Mont- gomery, Luzerne, Dauphin, Butler, Alleghany, Columbia, Northampton, Northumberland, and Philadelphia, — for the year 1830. Their population at that time consisted of 495,207 inhabitants. On looking at the map of Pennsylvania, it will be seen that these thirteen counties are scattered in every direction, and so generally affected by the causes which usually influ- ence the condition of a country, that they may fairly be supposed to turuish a correct average of the financial state of the counties of Pennsylvania in general. The expenses of these counties amounted, in the 3, ear 18.30, to about $ 342,900, or nearly 69 cents for each inhabitant ; and, calculating that each of them contributed in the same year about $ 2.43 towards the Union, and about 72 cents to the State of Pennsylvania, it appears that they each contril)utcd, as their share of all the public expenses (except those of the townships), the sum of $3.84. This calculation is doubly incomplete, as it applies only to a single year and to one part of the public charges ; but it has at least the merit of not being conjectural. [This estimate probably errs by excess. In the American Almanac for 1847, a careful computation, founded on numerous returns, makes the aggre- gate of national expenditure for each inhabitant 97 cents ; of State expen- diture, 50 cents ; of town or city, including county, expenditure, 92 cents ; — making the total cost of government for each person $ 2.39. Mr. Liv- ingston, in a calculation made in 1832, estimated the cost of government ia the United States at an average of $2.15 for each person. In 1838, Mr. H. C. Carey of Philadelphia estimated it at $2.19. Allowing for the dif- ferences created by the lapse of years, these three estimates, founded oa in- dependent data, agree remarkably well. — Am. Ed.] GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 283 The Foderiil authority cannot oLhge the State govern- ments to throw any hght upon this point ; and even if these o;ovcrnments were inclined to oive their simultaneous aid, it may be doubted whetlier they are able to furnish a satisfactory answer. Independently of the natural difficul- ties of the task, the })olitical organizjition of the country would hinder the success of their efibrts. The county and town magistrates are not appointed by the authorities of the State, and are not subjected to their control. It is therefore allowable to suppose, that, even if the State was desirous of obtaining the returns which we re(][uire, its de- siiin would be counteracted by the neglect of those subor- dinate officers whom it would be obliged to employ.* It is * Tliose wlio have attempted to compare tlie expenses of France and America have at once perceived, tliat no sucii comparison could he drawn hutwcen tiie total expenditm-cs of tlie two countries ; hut they have endeav- ored to contrast detached portions of this expenditure. It may readily ho shown, that this second system is not at all less defective than the first. If I attempt to compare the French hudjret with the hudf^et of the Union, it must he rcinemhered that the latter cmhvaces much fewer ohjects than the centralized government of the former country, and that the American expen- diture must consequently he much smaller. If I contrast the hudgets of the departments with those of tlie States wliich constitute the Union, it must he ohserved, that, as the States have the supervision of more numerous and important interests tlian the departments, their expenditure is naturally more considcrahle. As for the hudgets of the counties, nothing of the kind occurs in the French system of finances ; and it is douhtful whether the cor- responding expenses in France should he referred to the hudget of the state, or to those of the municipal divisions. ISIunicipal expenses exist in hotli countries, hut they are not always analo- gous. In America, the townships discharge a variety of ofKces which are rcscn'cd in France to the departments, or to the state. It nuiy, moreover, l)e asked what is to he understood hy the municipal expenses of America. The organization of the municipal hodies or townships dift'ers in the several States. Are we to he guided by what occurs in New England or in Georgia, in Pennsylvania or in Illinois 1 A kind of analogy may very readily he perceived between certain budgets in the two countries ; but as the elements of which they are composed al- ways ditler more or less, uo fair comparison can be instituted between them. i :[i; ii i m . * If !!' !,:t' Ilirti 28-1 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. in fact useless to inquire what tlie Americans might do to forward this incjuiry, since it is certain that they liave hith- erto done notliino;. Tliere does not exist a single individ- ual at the present day, in America or in Europe, Avho can inform us what each citizen of the Union annually con- tributes to the public charges of the nation.* Hence Ave must conclude, that it is no less difficult to coni[)are the social expenditure, than it is to estimate the relative wealth, of France and America. I will even add, that it would be dangerous to attempt this comparison ; for when statistics are not based upon computations which * Even if we knew the exact pecuniary contrihutions of every French and American citi/en to the coffers of the state, we slioukl only come at a portion of tiie trutli. Governments not only demand su))plies of money, but call for personal services, which may he looked upon as equivalent to a given sum. When a state raises an army, besides the pay of tiie troops which is furiiislied by the entire nation, each soldier must give up his time, the value of which depends on the use he might make of it if he were not in the service. Tlie same remark applies to the militia ; the citizen who is in the militia devotes a certain portion of valuable time to the maintenance of the public security, and in reality surrenders to the state those earnings which he is prevented from gaining. Many other instances might be cited. Tlie governments of France and America both levy taxes of this kind, which weigh upon the citizens ; but who can estimate with accuracy their relative amount in the two countries 1 This, however, is not the last of the difficulties which prever., us from comparing the expenditure of the Union with that of France. The French government contracts certain obligations which are not assumed by the state in America, and vim vcrsu. The French government pays the clergy ; in America, the voluntary principle prevails. In America, there is a legal pro- vision for the poor ; in France, they are abandoned to the charity of the public. The French public officers are paid by a fixed salary ; in America, they are allowed certain perquisites. In France, contributions in labor take place on very few roads, — in America, upon almost all the thoroughfare? : in the former country, the roads are free to all travellers ; in the latter, turn- pikes abound. All these differences in the manner in which taxes are levied in the two countries enhance the difficulty of comparing their expenditure ; for there are certain expenses which the citizens would not be subject to, or which would at any rate be less considerable, if the state did not undertake to act in their name. _w^j. A- * GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 28-") are strictly accurate, they mislead instead of guiding aright. The mind is easily imposed upon by the affectation of ex- actitude which marks even the misstatements of statistics ; and it adopts with confidence the errors which are appar- elled in the forms of mathematical truth. AVe abandon, therefore, the numerical investigation, with the hoj)e of meeting with data of another kind. In the absence of positive documents, we may form an oj)inion as to the ])roportion which the taxation of a ])eople bears to its real wealth, by observing whether its external appear- ance is flourishing; whether, after having paid the dues of the state, the poor man retains the means of subsistence, and the rich the means of enjoyment ; and whether both classes seem contented with their })osition, seeking,- how- ever, to ameliorate it by perpetual exertions, so that industry is never in want of capital, nor capital unemployed by in- dustry. The observer who draws his inferences from these signs w^ill, undoubtedly, be led to the conclusion, that the American of the United States contributes a much smaller portion of his income to the state than the citizen of France. Nor, indeed, can the result be otherwise. A portion of the French debt is the consequence of tw^o invasions ; and the Union has no similar calamity to fear. The position of France obliges it to maintain a large stand- ing army ; the isolation of the Union enables it to have only six thousand soldiers. The French have a fleet of three hundred sail ; the Americans have [18o2] only fifty- two vessels. How, then, can the inhabitant of the Union be taxed as heavily as the inhabitant of France ? No i)ar- allel can be drawn between the finances of two countries so differently situated. It is by examining what actually takes place in the Un- ion, and not by comparing the Union with France, that we can judge whether the American government is really economical. On casting my eyes over the different re- 1 i I; f\ if 11 ! I fi ' 286 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. m ilii f ii "ill publics which form the confederation, I perceive that their governments often lack perseverance in their undertakings, and that they exercise no steady control over the men whom they employ. I naturally infer that they must often spend the money of the people to no purpose, or consume more of it than is really necessary for their enterprises. Faithful to its popular origin, the government makes great efforts to satisfy the wants of the lower orders, to open to them the road to power, and to diffuse knowledge and comfort among them. The poor are maintained, immense sums are annually devoted to public instruction, all services are remunerated, and the humblest agents are liberally paid. This kind of government appears to be useful and rational, but I am constrained to admit that it is expensive. Wherever the poor direct public affairs, and dispose of the national resources, it appears certain that, as they profit by the expenditure of the state, they will often augment that expenditure. I conclude, therefore, without having recourse to inaccu- rate statistics, and without hazarding a comparison which might prove incorrect, that the democratic government of the Americans is not a cheap government, as is sometimes asserted ; and I fear not to predict that, if the United States are ever involved in serious difficulties, taxation will speed- ily be raised as high there a 5 in most of the aristocracies or the monarchies of Europe. CORRUPTION AND THE VICES OF THE RULERS IN A DEMOCRA- CY, AND CONSEQUENT EFFECTS UPON PUBLIC MORALITY. Iq Aristocracies, Rulers sometimes endeavor to corrupt the People. — In Democracies, Rulers frequently show themselves to be corrupt. — In the former, their Vices are directly prejudicial to the Morality of the People. — In the latter, their indirect Influence is still more pernicious. A DISTINCTION must be made, when aristocracies and democracies mutuallv accuse each other of facilitatino; cor- •acies or GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 287 riiption. In aristocratic governments, those wlio are placed at tlie lieatl of affairs are rich men, wlio are desirous only of power. In democracies, statesmen are poor, and have tlieir fortunes to make. The consequence is, that, in aris- tocratic states, the rulers are rarely accessihle to corrup- tion, and have little craving for money ; whilst the reverse is the case in democratic nations. But in aristocracies, as those who wish to attain the head of affairs possess considerable wealth, and as the number of persons by whose assistance they may rise is compara- tively small, the government is, if I may so speak, put up at auction. In democracies, on the contrary, those who are covetous of power are seldom wealthy, and the number of those who confer power is extremely great. Perhaps, in democracies, the number of men who miMit be bouiiht is " or? not smaller, but buyers are rarely to be found ; and, be- sides, it would be necessary to buy so many persons at once, that the attempt would be useless. Many of the men who have governed France during the last forty years have been accused of making their fortunes at the expense of the state or its allies ; a reproach which was rarely addressed to the public men of the old mon- archy. But in France, the practice of bribing electors is almost unknown, whilst it is notoriously and publicly car- ried on in England. In the United States, I never heard any one accused of spending his wealth in buying votes ; but I have often heard the probity of public officers ques- tioned ; still more frequently have I heard their success attributed to low intrigues and immoral practices. If, then, the men who conduct an aristocracy sometimes endeavor to corrupt the people, the heads of a democracy are themselves corrupt. In the former case, the morality of the people is directly assailed ; in the latter, an indirect influence is exercised which is still more to be dreaded. As the rulers of democratic nations are almost always i-S !1 r I w I m 288 DKMOCRACY IX AMEIHCA. i ■^^^B ^^^^^H l^lH^^H I HhH^^hI < H 1 :i i^l ;ii in suspected of dislionorable coiuluct, they in some measure lend tlie autliority of tlie government to tlie base practices of wliicli they are accused. They thus afford dangerous exanij)les, wliicli discourage the struggles of virtuous inde- pendence and cloak with authority the secret designs of wickedness. If it be asserted that evil passions are found in all raid-cs of society ; that they ascend the throne by hereditary right ; and that we may find despicable charac- ters at the head of aristocratic nations, as well as in the bosom of a democracy, — the plea has but little weight in my estimation. The corruption of men who have casually risen to power has a coarse and vulgar infection in it, which renders it dangerous to the multitude. On the con- trary, there is a kind of aristocratic refinement, and an air of grandeur, in the depravity of the gi-eat, which frequently prevent it from spreading abroad. The people can never penetrate into the dark labyrinth of court intrigue, and will always have difficulty in detect- ing the turpitude which lurks under elegant manners, re- fined tastes, and gracefld language. But to pillage the public pui'se, and to sell the favors of the state, are arts which the meanest villain can understand, and hope to practise in his turn. Besides, what is to be feared is, not so much the immo- rality of the great, as the fact that immorality may lead to greatness. In a democracy, private citizens see a man of their own rank in life, who rises from that obscure position in a few years to riches and power ; the spectacle excites their surprise and their cnvj ; and they are led to inquire how the person who was yesterday tlieir equal, is to-day their ruler. To attribute his rise to his talents or his vir- tues is unpleasant ; for it is tacitly to acknowledge that they are themselves less virtuous or less talented than he was. They are therefore led, and often rightly, to im])ute his success mainly to some of his vices ; and an odious GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 280 connoetion is thus formed between the ideas of turpi- tude and power, unwortliiness and success, utility and disl)onor. EFFORTS OF WHICH A DEMOCllACY IS CAPABLE. The Union lias only had one Struf.'<;le hitiicrto for its Existence. — Knthu- siusin at the Comment'cnicut of the War. — Iiiditference towards its Close. — Difficulty of cstahlishinj^ Military Conscription or Iniprcss- nieiit of Seamen in America. — Why a Democratic I'eople is less capa- ble than any other of sustained Etibrt. I WARN the reader that I here speak of a government wliich follows the real will of the people, and not of a gov- ernment which simply commands in their name. Nothing is so irresistible as a tyrannical power commanding in the name of the peo})le, because, whilst wielding the moral ]K)wer Avhich belongs to the will of the greater number, it acts at the same time with the quickness and persistence of a single man. It is difficult to say what den;ree of effort a democratic government may be capable of making on the occurrence of a national crisis. No great democratic republic has hitherto existed in the world. To style the oligarchy wl.'i^'h ruled over France in 1793 by that name, woidd be an insult to the republican form of government. The United States afford the first example of the kind. The American Union has now subsisted for half a cen- tury, and its existence has only once been attacked, namely, during the War of Independence. At the com- mencement of that long war, extraordinary efforts were made with enthusiasm for the service of the country.* ♦ One of the most singular, in my opinion, was the resolution which the Americans took of temporarily abandoning the use of tea. Those who know that men usually cling more to their habits than to their life, will doubtless admire this great though obscure sacrifice, wliich was made by a whole people. 13 B I': 'M i;'i ! ^1 ■»i i I t 1 j :i ' 1 1 •1 1 MUX I ■m a III illii 290 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. But as the contest was prolonged, private selfishness began to reappear. No money was brought into the public treas- ury ; few recruits could be raised for the army ; the jjcople still wished to acquire independence, but would not em- ploy the only means by which it could be obtained. "Tax laws," says Hamilton, in the Federalist (No. 12), "• have in vain been multi})lied ; new methods to enforce the collec- tion have in vain been tried ; the public expectation has been uniformly disappointed ; and the treasuries of the States have remained empty. The popular system of ad- ministration inherent in the nature of popular government, coinciding with the real scarcity of money incident to a languid and mutilated state of trade, has hitherto defeated every experiment for extensive collections, and has at length taught the different legislatures the folly of attempt- ing them." Since that period, the United States have not had a shi- gle serious war to carry on. In order, therefore, to know what sacrifices democratic nations may impose upon them- selves, we must wait until the American people are obliged to put half their entire income at the disposal of the gov- ernment, as was done by the English ; or to send forth a twentieth part of its population to the field of battle, as was done by France. In America, the conscription is unknown, and men are induced to enlist by bounties.* The notions and habits of the people of the United States are so opposed to compul- sory recruiting, that I do not think it can ever be sanc- tioned by the laws. What is termed the conscription in France, is assuredly the lieaviest tax upon the people ; yet how could a great Continental war be carried on without * It is not entirely correct to say that the conscription is unknown in the United States. Troops were drafted from the militia occasionally during the Revolution, and in the course of the war with England in 1812. — Am. Eo. GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IX AMERICA. 201 it ? The Americans liave not adoptovl tlio Britisli practice of impressing seamen, and tliey liave notliing wliicli cor- responds to the French system of maritime conscription ; tlie navy, as well as the merchant service, is sui)[»hed by volnnteers. But it is not easy to conceive liow a ju-ople can sustain a great maritime W!ir, witliout having recourse to one or tlie other of these two systems. Indeed, the Union, which has already fought with honor u})on tlie seas, has never had a numerous fleet, and the ec^uipment of its few vessels has always been very expensive. I have heard American statesmen confess, that the Un- ion will with difficulty maintain its power on tlie seas, without adopting the system of impressment or maritime conscription; but the difficulty is to induce the people, who exercise the supreme authority, to submit to such measures. It is incontestable that, in times of danger, a free people display far more energy than any other. But I incline to believe that this is especially true of those free nations in which the aristocratic element preponderates. Democracy appears to me better adapted for the conduct of society in times of peace, or for a sudden effort of remarkable vigor, than for the prolonged endurance of the great storms which beset the political existence of nations. The reason is very evident ; enthusiasm prompts men to expose them- selves to dangers and privations ; but without reflection, they will not support them long. There is more calcula- tion even in the imi)ulses of bravery, than is generally supposed ; and although the iirst eftbrts are made by pas- sion alone, perseverance is mainiained only by a distinct view of Avhat one is fighting for. A portion of what is dear to us is hazarded, in order to save the remainder. But it is this clear perception of the future, founded upon judgment and experience, which is freipiently want- ing in democracies. The people are more apt to feel than :|i II: V(l m m m 1 ■ '^' '' I'll I i:\\ (5 11 202 DKMOCUACV IN AMKHICA. to reason ; and if tlieir prosent sufforinrjs are gi'cat, it is to be feared tliat tlio still greater sufferings attendant upon defeat will be foro-otten. Anotlier cause tends to render tbe efforts of a demo- cratic government less persevering than tliose of an aris- tocracy. Not only are the lower less awake than the higher orders to the good or evil chances of the future, but they suffer more acutely from j)resent privations. The U'tble exposes his life, indeed, but the cliance of f^lory is ecjual to the chance of liarm. If lie sacrifices a large por- tion of his income to the state, he deprives himself for a time of some of tlie pleasures of affluence ; but to the poor man, death has no glory, and the imposts which are merely irksome to the rich often deprive him of the neces- saries of life. This relative weakness of democratic republics in critical times is, perhaps, the greatest obstacle to the foundation of such a republic in Europe. In order that one such state should exist in the European world, it would be necessary that similar institutions should be simultaneously intro- duced into all the other nations. I am of opinion that a democratic government tends, in the long run, to increase the real strength of society ; but it can never combine, upon a single point and at a given time, so much power as an aristocracy or an absolute mon- archy. If a democratic country remained during a whole century subject to a republican government, it would prob- ably, at the end of that period, be richer, more populous, and more prosperous, than the neighboring despotic states. But during that century, it would often have incurred the risk of being conquered by them. GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 1^1)3 SELF-CONTROL OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. The American People accjuiescc slowly, and sometimes do not acquiesce, in wliat is benciicittl to its Interests. — Tiio Faults of tlio Anicriean De- mocracy are, for the most part, reparal)le. The difficulty which a democracy finds in conqiu'rini; tlie passions and subduing the desires of the moment fnjm a view to tlie future, is obsei'vable in the United States in the most trivial things. Tiie [)eo]>le, surrounded l)y flat- terers, find great difficulty in surmounting their inclina- tions ; whenever they are required to undergo a jtrivation or any inconvenience, even to attain an end sanctioni-d by their own rational conviction, they almost always refuse at first to comply. The deference of the Americans' to the laws has been justly applauded ; but it must be added, that, in America, the legislation is made by the peoi)le and for the people. Consequently, in the United States, the law favors those classes which elsewhere are most interested in evading it. It may therefore be supposed, that an offen- sive law, of which the majority should not see the imme- diate utility, would either not be enacted or not obeyed. In America, there is no law against fraudulent bank- ruptcies, not because they are few, but because they are many. The dread of being prosecuted as a bankrupt is greater in the minds of the majority than the fear of being ruined by the bankruptcy of others ; and a sort of guilty tolerance is extended by the public conscience to an offence which every one condemns in his individual capacity. In the new States of the Southwest, the citizens generally take justice into their own hands, and murders are of fre- quent occurrence. This arises from the rude manners and the io;norance of the inhabitants of those deserts, who do not perceive the utility of strengthening the law, and who prefer duels to prosecutions. ;:1' < 1 ' i'l m 2i)4 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. Soino Olio ()bsorvt!(l to mo ono diiy, in Phihulolpliiji, tliat almost all (rimes In Amorica aro causod by tho abiiso of intoxicating liijuors, wliicii the; lowor olasso.s can procnro in ^roat abundance from tlioir clieapness. " How comes it," said I, " tliat you do not put a (hity upon brandy V " "■Our leo;islators," rejoined my informant, " liave fre- (juently thoun;lit of this expedient ; l)ut tiie task is dilH- cuit : a revolt mi^lit bo ap[)reliended ; and the members who should vote for such a law would bo sure of losinu- their seats." " Whence I am to infer," replied I, '' that drunkards aro tho majority in your country, and that tem- ])oranco is unpopular." AVlien these thin<;s are pointed out to tho American statesmen, they answer, " Leave it to time, and experi- ence of tho evil will teach tho people their true interests." This is frequently true : though a democracy is more liable to error than a monarch or a body of nobles, the chances of its regaining tho right path, when once it has acknowl- edged its mistake, are greater also ; because it is rarely embarrassed by interests which conflict with those of the majority, and resist tho authority of reason. But a de- mocracy can obtain truth only as the result of experience ; and many nations may perish whilst they are awaiting tho consequences of their errors. The great privilege of the Americans does not consist in being more enlightened than other nations, but in being able to repair the faults they may commit. It must be added, that a democracy cannot profit by past experience, unless it has arrived at a certain pitch of knowledge and civilization. There are nations whose first education has been so vicious, and whose character pre- sents so strange a mixture of passion, ignorance, and erro- neous notions upon all subjects, that they are unable to discern the causes of their own wretchedness, and they fall a sacrifice to ills of which they are ignorant. «itiii GOVr.nNMKXT OF THE DKMOCKACY IN AMKIMCA. 295 I liavi' crossi'd vast tracts of country foriuci'ly iiiliahitcd hy ]M>\vcrrul Indian nations wlio ai'i' now extinct ; I liave passed sonic time anion;^ rcnniants of tril)cs, wliicli wit- ness tlie daily decline of tlieir iiunilxTs, and of tlie ;:;lory of tlieii* indei>i'ndcnce ; and I have lu-ard these Indians tiienisi'lves anticipate the imp* iidin;:; doom of their race. Every lOuropean can ])erceive means which would rescue tlieso unfortunate heings from tlu» destruction otherwises inevitahle. They alone are insensihle to the ri'mcdy ; they Icel the woes which year after year hca]»s uj)on their heads, but they will pi-rish to a man without accepting the cure. Force wcjuld liave to bo employed to compel them to live. Tiie incessant revohitions whicli have convulsed the South American states for the last quarter of a century are regarded with astonishment, and we are constantly jiopino; that, erelong, they will retiu'n to -what is called their natural state. But who can affirm tbat revolutions arc not, at the present time, the most natural state of the South American Spaniards ? In that country, society is struofilino; in the dei)ths of an abyss wlience its own efforts are insufficient to rescue it. The inhabitants of that fliir portion of the Western hemisphere seem obstinately bent on the work of destroying each other. If they fall into momentary quiet, from exhaustion, that repose soon pre- pares them for a new frenzy. When I consider their con- dition, alternating between misery and crime, I am tempt- ed to believe that despotism itself would be a blessing to them, if it were possible that the words despotism and blessing could ever be united in my mind. li'? (1 29G DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I IJV fi i 'a iin ii'^' iiii :iilii!i CONDUCT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS BY THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. Direction jfivcn to tho Foreign Policy of tlic Uiiltcd States by Wasliinfrton and Jefferson. — Almost all the Defects inherent in Democratic Institu- tions arc hroug-ht to Lijiht in the Conduct of Foreign Aflairs; their Ad- vantages are less perceptible. We liave seen that the Federal Constitution intrusts the permanent direction of tlie external interests of the nation to the President and the Senate,* Avhicli tends in some de- gree to detach the general foreign jiolicy of the Union from the direct control of the people. It cannot, therefore, be asserted with truth, that the foreign affairs of the state are conducted by the democracy. The jiolicy of America received a direction from two men, — Washington and Jefferson, — which it observes to the present day. Washington said, in the admirable Fare- well Address which he made to his fellow-citizens, and which may be regarded as his political testament : — " Tho oreat rule of conduct for us in reo-ard to foreion nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little ^)t>?«V/ca? connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful- filled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. " Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artifi- cial ties, in the ordinaiy vicissitudes of her politics, or the * " The President," says the rionstitution, Art. II. sect. 2, § 2, " sliall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators prcscnt concur." The reader is reminded that the Senators arc returned for a term of six years, and that they arc chosen by the legislature of each State. GOVERXMKXT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 297 orcHnaiy combinations vind collisions of licr friendships or enmities. " Onr detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a dift'erent course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoy- ance ; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected ; Avhen bellio-erent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, Avill not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. " Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Eu- I'ope, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? " It is our true policy to steer clear of j)ermanent alli- ances with any portion of the foreign world, — so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be T- iderstood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to j)ub- lic than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense ; but in my opinion it is unnecessary, and would be unwise, to extend them. " Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable es- tabliohments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer- gencies." In a previous part of the same Address, Washington makes this admirable and just remark : " The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habit- ual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its 13* i .'« T i 1 ■ 1 1 1 ^11 1 ■1 1 i ' 1 :,. w m ; I I* 298 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. animosity or to its affection, either of wliicli is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest." Tiie political conduct of Washington was always guided by these maxims. Ho succeeded in maintaining his coun- try in a state of peace whilst all the other nations of the globe were at war ; and he laid it down as a fundamental doctrine, that the true interest of the Americans consisted in a i)erfect neutrality with regard to the internal dissen- sions of the European powers. Jefferson went still further, and introduced this other maxim into the policy of the Union, — that "the Amer- icans ought never to solicit any privileges from foreign nations, in order not to be obliged to grant similar privi- leges themselves. These two principles, so plain and just as to be easily understood by the people, have greatly simplified the for- eign policy of the United States. As the Union takes no part in the affairs of Europe, it has, properly speaking, no foreign interests to discuss, since it has, as yet, no powerful neighbors on the American continent. The country is as much removed from the passions of the Old World by its position as by its wishes, and it is neither called upon to repudiate nor to espouse them ; whilst the dissensions of the New World are still concealed within the bosom of the future. The Union is free from all pre-existing obligations ; it can profit by the experience of the old nations of Europe, without being obliged, as they are, to make the best of the past, and to adapt it to their present circumstances. It is not, like them, compelled to accept an immense inheritance bequeathed by their forefathers, — an inheritance of glory mingled with calamities, and of alliances conflicting with national antipathies. The foreign policy of tlie United States is eminently expectant ; it consists more in abstain- ing than in acting. GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 299 It is therefore very difficult to ascertain, at present, what degree of sagacity the American democracy will display in the conduct of the foreign policy of the country ; u})on this point, its adversaries as well as its friends must sus- pend their judgment. As for myself, I do not hesitate to say that it is especially in the conduct of their foreign rela- tions that democracies appear to me decidedly inferior to other governments. Experience, instruction, and habit al- most always succeed in creating in a democracy a homely species of practical wisdom, and that science of the l)etty occurrences of life which is called j>ood sense. Good sense may suffice to direct the ordinary course of society ; and amongst a people whose education is comjjleted, the advan- tages of democratic liberty in the internal affiiirs of the country may more than compensate for the evils inherent in a democratic government. But it is not always so in the relations with foreign nations. Foreign politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which are peculiar to a democracy ; they require, on the contrary, the perfect use of almost all those in which it is deficient. Democracy is favorable to the increase of the internal resources of a state ; it diffuses w^ealth and com- fort, promotes public spirit, and fortifies the respect for law in all classes of society : all these are advantages which have only an indirect influence over the relations which one people bears to another. But a democracy can only with great difficulty regulate the details of an important undertaking, persevere in a fixed design, and work out its execution in spite of serious obstacles. It cannot combine its measures with secrecy, or await their consequences with patience. These are qualities which more especially be- long to an individual or an aristocracy ; and they are pre- cisely the qualities by which a nation, like an individual, attains a dominant position. If, on the contraiy, we observe the natural defects of IV; 300 DEMOCRACY IN AJIKRICA. 11 M l aristocracy, we shall find that, comparatively speaking, they do not injure the direction of the external affairs of the state. The capital fault of which aristocracies may be accused is, that they work for themselves, and not for the people. In foreign politics, it is rare for the interest of the aristocracy to be distinct from that of the people. The propensity which induces democracies to obey im- I)ulse rather than prudence, and to abandon a mature de- sign for the gratification of a momentary passion, was clearly seen in America on the breakino; out of the French Revolution. It was then as evident to the simplest capaci- ty, as it is at the present time, that the interest of the Americans forbade them to take any part in the contest which was about to deluge Europe with blood, but which could not injure their own country. But the sympathies of the people declared themselves with so much violence in favor of France, that noining but the inflexible character of Washington, and the immense popularity which he en- joyed, could have prevented the Americans from declaring war against Englar.d. And even then, the exertions which the austere reason of that great man made to repress the generous but imprudent passions of his fellow-citizens near- ly deprived him of the sole recompense which he ever claimed, — that of his coi iitry's love. The majority rep- robated his policy, but it was afterwards approved by the whole nation * * See the fifth volume of Marshall's " Life of Washington." " In a government constituted Uke that of the United States," he says, "it is im- possible for tlie chief magistrate, however firm he may be, to oppose for any length of time the torrent of popular opinion ; and the prevalent opinion of that day seemed to incline to war. In fact, in the session of Congress held at the time, it was frequently seen that Washington had lost the majority in the House of Representatives." The violence of the language used against him in public was extreme, and, in a political meeting, they did not scruple to compare him indirectly with the traitor Arnold. " By the opposition," says Marshall, " the friends of the administration were declared to be an GOVERNMENT OK THE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. 30l If the Constitution and the flivor of the puhlic liad not intrusted the direction of the forei<^n afi'airs of tlie country to Wasliington, it is certain tliat the American nation would at that time have adopted the very measures which it now condemns. Almost all the nations which have exercised a powerful influence upon the destinies of the world, by conceivino;, followino; out, and executincj vast desio;ns, from the Romans to the Enolish, have been governed bv aristocratic insti- lutions. Nor will this be a subject of wonder, when we recollect that nothing in the world has so absolute a fixity of puri)0se as an aristocracy. The mass of the people may be led astray by ignorance or passion ; the mind of a king may be biassed, and made to vacillate in his designs', and, besides, a king is not immortal. But an aristocratic body is too numerous to be led astray by intrigue ; and yet not numerous enough to yield readily to the intoxication of unreflecting passion. An aristocracy is a firm and en- lightened individual that never dies. % *, aristocratic and corrupt faction, who, from a desire to introduce monarchy, were hostile to France, and under the influence of Britain ; that they were a paper nobility, whose extreme .sensibility at every measure which thi'cat- cned the funds induced a tame su])mission to injuries and insults which the interests and honor of the nation required them to resist." 302 DEMOCRACY IN AMKIilCA. ■I if II 1 I i h'i ■ ' [ 1 ■♦■;■ J, it . CHAPTER XIV. WHAT ARE THE REAL ADVANTAGES WHICH AMERICAN SOCI- ETY DERIVES FROM A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. BEFORE entering upon the present cliapter, I must remind tlie reader of what I have more than once ob- served in tliis book. The pohtical constitution of the United States appears to me to be one of tlie forms of government which a democracy may adopt ; but I do not regard the American Constitution as the best, or as the only one, which ii democratic people may establish. In showing the advantages which the Americans derive fi'om the govern- ment of democracy, I am therefore very far from affirming, or believing, that similar advantages can be obtained only from the same laws. GENERAL TENDENCY OF THE LAWS UNDER THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, AND INSTINCTS OF THOSE WHO APPLY THEM. Defects of a Democratic Government easy to be discovered. — Its Advan- tages discerned only by long Observation. — Democracy in America often inexpert, but the general Tendency of tlie Laws is advantageous. — In the American Democracy, Public Officers have no Permanent In- terests distinct from those of the Majority. — Results of this State of Things. The defects and weaknesses of a democratic govern- ment may readily be discovered ; they are demonstrated by flagrant instances, whilst its salutary influence is insensible, and, so to speak, occidt. A glance suffices to detect its ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCIiACY. 803 faults, but its good qualities can bo cliscorned only by lono- observation. The laws of the American democracy are frequently defective or incomplete ; they sometimes attack vested rin;lits, or sanction others which are dangerous to the community ; and even if they were good, their fre- quency would still be a great evil. How comes it, then, that the American republics prosper and continue ? In the consideration of laws, a distinction must be care- fully observed between the end at which they aim, and the means by which they pursue that end ; between their txh- solute and their relative excellence. If it be the intention of the legislator to favor the interests of the minority at the expense of the majority, and if the measures he takes are so combined as to accomplish the object he has in view with the least possible expense of time and exertion, the law may be well drawn up, although its purpose is bad ; and the more efficacious it is, the more dangerous it will be. Democratic laws ':enerally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest po&sible number ; for they emanate from the majority of the citizens, who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to their own advan- tage. The laws of an aristocracy tend, on the contrary, to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the minority ; because an aristocracy, by its very nature, con- stitutes a minority. It may therefore be asserted, as a general proposition, that the purpose of a democracy in its legislation is more useful to humanity than that of an aristocracy. This is, however, the sum total of its ad- vantages. Aristocracies are infinitely more expert in the science of k^gislation than democracies ever can be. They are pos- sessed of a self-control which protects them from the errors of temporary excitement ; and they form far-reaching de- signs, which they know how to mature till a favorable s 1 ml ' 304 DK.MOCKACY IX AMl'.IilCA. opfjortuiilty arrives. Aristocratic <j;()verninent proceeds witli tliu dexterity of art; it understands liow to make tlie collective force of all its laws convero;e at the same time to a given point. Such is not the case with democracies, whose laws are almost always ineti'ective or inop])ortune. The means of democracy are therefore more imperfect than those of aristocracy, and the measures which it unwittingly adopts are frequently opposed to its own cause ; but the object it has in view is more useful. Let us now imagine a community so organized by na- ture, or by its constitution, that it can sup])ort the transi- tory action of bad laws, and that it can await, without destruction, the (jeneral tendenci/ of its legislation : we shall then conceive how a democratic government, notwithstand- ing its faults, may be best fitted to produce the })rosperity of this community. This is precisely what has occurred in the United States ; and I repeat, what I have before remarked, that the great advantage of the Americans con- sists in their being able to commit faults which they may afterAvards repair. An analogous observation may be made respecting pub- lic officers. It is easy to perceive that the American de- mocracy frequently errs in the choice of the individuals to whom it intrusts the power of the administration ; but it is more difficult to say why the state prospers under their rule. In the first place, it is to be remarked, that if, in a democratic state, the governors have less honesty and less capacity than elsewhere, the governed are more enlight- ened "nd more attentive to their interests. As the people in democracies are more constantly vigilant in their affiiirs, and more jealous of their rights, they prevent their repre- sentatives from abandoning that general line of conduct which their own interest prescribes. In the second place, it must be remembered, that, if the democratic magistrate is more apt to misuse his power, he possesses it for a shorter ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY. 005 by na- tinic. But tliero is yet anotlior reason wliicli is still more gviienil iiiul conclusive. It is no doubt of importance to the welfare of nations that they should be ^^overned l)y men of talents and virtue; but it is perhaps still more im- portant for tliem tbat the interests of those men sliould not (litfer from the interests of the community at laro;t' ; for if such were the case, their virtues might become almost use- less, and their talents might be turned to a bad account. I have said that it is important that the interests of the per- sons in autliority sliould not differ from or oppose the in- terests of the community at large ; but 1 (h) not insist upon tiieir having the same interests as the ivhole ponulation, becaiise I am not aware that such a state of things ever existed in any country. No poHtical form lias hitherto been discovered wliich is equally favorable to the prosperity and the development of all the classes into which society is divided. These classes continue to form, as it were, so many distinct communities in the same nation ; and experience has shown that it is no less dangerous to place the fate of these classes exclusively in the hands of any one of them, than it is to make one people the arbiter of the destiny of another. When the rich alone govern, the interest of the poor is always endan- gered ; and when the poor make the laws, that of the rich incurs very serious risks. The advantage of democracy does not consist, therefore, as has sometimes been asserted, in favoring the prosperity of all, but simply in contributing to the well-being of the greatest number. The men who are intrusted with the direction of public affairs in the United States are frequently inferior, both in capacity and morality, to those wdiom an aristocracy would raise to power. But their interest is identified and con- founded with that of the majority of their fellow-citizens. They may frequently be faithless, and frequently mistaken ; but they will never systematically adopt a line of conduct T ■M W: li -;*■ Ill 'i lis im m ':(' n 30G DKMOCKACV IX AMKUICA. ^ ii' JW: III m m m ■ I r:i I ! liostilo to tlie majority ; and tlu-y cannot give a tlangcrous or exclusivo tonclt'iicy to tlie governniunt. Tlic nialathninistration of a democratic magistrate, more- over, is an isolated fact, whidi lias influence only durinn- the short period for Avhich he is elected. Corruption and incapacity do not act as common interests, which may con- nect men permanently with one another. A corrupt or incapable magistrate will not concert his measures with another magistrate, simply because the latter is as corru])t and incapable as himself; and these two men will never unite their endeavors to promote the corrujjtion and inap- titude of their remote posterity. The ambition and the manoeuvres of the one will serve, on the contrarv, to un- mask the other. The vices of a magistrate, in democratic states, are usually wholly personal. But under aristocratic governments, public men are swayed by the interest of their order, which, if it is some- times confounded with the interests of the majority, is very frequently distinct from them This interest is the com- mon and lastino; bond which unites them together ; it in- duces them to coalesce and combine their efforts to attain an end which is not always the happiness of the greatest number : and it serves not only to connect the persons in authority with each other, but to unite them with a consid- erable portion of the commurity, since a numerous body of citizens belong to the aristocracy, without being invested with official functions. The aristocratic majxistrate is there- fore constantly supported by a portion of the community, as well as by the government of v/hich he is i member. The common purpose which, in aristocracies, connects the interest of the magistrates with that of a portion of their contemporaries, identifies it also with that of future genera- tions ; they labor for the future as well as for the present. The aristocratic magistrate is urged at the same time, tow^ards the same point, by the passions of the community, ADVANTAGKS OF DKMOC'RAin'. no: 1,\ Ills own. Mild, I mny almost ;ul(l, l»y tliosc* of liis postcr- itv. Is it, then, woiidci'tul tliat ho docs not resist such repeated im[)ulses? And, indeed, aristocracies are ol'tcn carried away hy tlicir class-spirit, witiiout heinj^ corrui>ted by it ; and they unconsciously fashion society to their own ends, and preyiare it f()r their own descendants. The En<xlis]i aristocracy is ])erhaps the most liheral wiiich has over existed, and no body of men has ever, unintorruptodly, furnisliod so many honorable and onliixht- ened individuals to the government of a country. It can- not, however, escape observation, that, in the leiiislation <»f England, the interests of tb.o poor have boon often sacri- ficed to the advantage of the rich, and the riirhts of the majority to the privileges of a few. The conse(pu'nce is, that England, at the present day, combines the extremes of good and evil fortune in tlie bosom of her society ; and the miseries and privations of her poor almost equal lior power and renown. In the United States, where the public officers have no class-interests to promote, the general and constant influ- ence of the government is beneficial, altbon<:!;li the individ- uals who conduct it are frequently nnskilfiil, and sometimes contemptible. There is, indeed, a secret tendency in dem- ocratic institutions, which makes the exertions of the citi- zens subservient to the prosperity of the community, in spite of their vices and mistakes ; whilst in aristocratic institutions, there is a secret bias, which, notwithstanding the talents and virtues of those who conduct the o-overn- ment, leads them to contribute to the evils wdiich oppress their fellow-creatures. In aristocratic governments, public men may frequently do harm without intending it ; and in democratic states, they bring about good results which they never thought of. ^ 1 m iii 808 DKMOCKACY IN AMKIMCA. rUHIJC SPIRIT IN THK UNITMI) STATKS. Iii>tinrtivo Patriotism. — T'atriotiHtn of HcflcctiDn. — 'I'licir ilifliicut Cliiir- acferihticH. — Nations ()ii;;lit to strive to aifiiiiro tlio sccoiiil wlicii tlic first lias (lisappcarcMl. — Kllorts of tlio Atncricaiis to aci|iiiro it. — Interest of tlic Individual intimately eonneeted with tliat of the Country. Tiir.UK is one sort of patriotic Jittncliuicnt, wliicli princi- piilly arises from tliat itistiiictivc, (iisiiitcivstt'd, and nndi'- liiiahlc ft'i'Iitiff wliicli coiniocts the jiH'octioiis of man with his hirthplace. Tliis natural foiKhiess is united witli a taste for ancient customs, and a reverence for traditions of the piist ; those wlu) clierish it love tlieir country as they love tlie mansion of tlieir fathers. They love the tranquillity which it affords them ; they clinn; to the ])eaceful hahits which they luv • contracted within its bosom ; they are attached to the reminiscences Avhich it awakens ; and they are even pleased by living there in a state of obedience. This ])atriotisni is sometimes stinuilated by relioious enthu- siasm, and then it is capable of makini; prodiii;ious efforts. It is in itself a kind of relin;ion : it does not reason, but it acts from the impidse of faith and sentiment. In some na- tions, the monarch is rej^arded as a personification of the country ; and, the fervor of patriotism being converted into the fervor of loyalty, they take a sympathetic pride in his conquests, and glory in his power. There was a time, under the ancient monarchy, when the French felt a sort of satisfaction in the sense of their dependence upon the arbitrary will of their king ; and they were wont to say with pride, " We live under the most powerful king in the world." But, like all instinctive passions, this kind of patriotism incites great transient exertions, but no continuity of effort. It may save the state in critical circumstances, but often al- lows it to decline in times of peace. Whilst the manners of a people are simple, and its faith unshaken, — whilst AI)VANiA(ii;.S OF I)i;M(t(KA(;V. 801) society is stciulily based ujioii traditioniil iii>titiitinti«;, wIkisc K'lritiinacv lias lu'vei* been coiitcstt'd, — tills instin(ti\t' pa- tri(»tisin is wont to fiidurc. IJut tlicMV is aiiotiior species of attacliiiuiit to cnunti'v, uliicli is mon' rational tlian *lu' one wc liavi- lu'cn dcscril)- in^. It is, jicrliaps, less generous and less ai'dent. hut it is more f'ruitt'isl and more lastin<j;: it sj)rin;j;s from knowled;;*' : it is nnrtnred by the laws ; it n;rows by the exercisi' «)f ci\il rights; and, in the end, it is confonnded with the ju'rsonal interests of tlu' citizen. A man coinprelu'iids the intlnence which the well-bein^ of his conntry has n])on his own ; he is aware that the laws permit him to contribnte to tiiat ])ros- perity, and he labors to promote it, at first becanse it Itene- fits him, and secondly bi-canse it is in i)art his own work. But epochs sometimes occur in the life ol' a natio!), wlien the old customs of a })eople are chanued, pnbli<- mo- rality is destroyed, reli<^ious belief shaken, and tli >j»ell of tradition broken, whilst the diffusion of knowlediic is vet imperfect, and the civil rij^hts of the connnunity are ill secured, or confined within narrow limits. The country then assumes a dim and dubious shape in the eves of the citizens ; they no lonjj;er behold it in the soil which they inhabit, for that soil is to them an inanimate clod ; nor in the usages of their forefathers, which they have learned to regard as a debasing yoke ; nor in religion, for of that they doubt ; nor in the laws, which do not originate in their own authority ; nor in the legislator, whom they fear and despise. The country is lost to their senses ; they can neither discover it under its own nor under borrowed fea- tures, and they retire into a narrow and unenlightened selfishness. They are emancipated from prejudice, with- out having acknowledged the empire of reason ; they have neither the instinctive patriotism of a monarchy, nor the reflecting patriotism of a republic ; but they have stopped between the two in the midst of confusion and distress. h p (i * M %• iM 310 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i% WM ill In tliis predicament, to retreat is impossible ; for a people cannot recover the sentiments of their youth, any more than a man can return to the innocent tastes of childhood : such things may be regretted, but they cannot be renewed. Tliey must go forward, and accelerate the union of private with public interests, since the period of disinterested pa- triotism is gone by forever. I am certainly far from affirming, that, in order to obtain this result, the exercise of political rights should be imme- diately granted to all men. But I maintain that the most powerful, and perhaps the only, means which we still pos- sess of interesting men in the welfare of their country, is to make them partakers in the government. At the pres- ent time, civic zeal seems to me to be inseparable from the exercise of political rights ; and I think that the number of citizens will be found to augment or decrease in Europe in proportion as those rights are extended. How happens it that in the United States, w^liere the inhabitants arrived but as yesterday upon the soil which they now occupy, and brought neither customs nor tradi- tions with them there ; where they met each other for the first time with no previous acquaintance ; where, in short, the instinctive love of country can scarcely exist ; — how happens it that every one takes as zealous an interest in the affairs of his township, his county, and the whole State, as if they were his own ? It is because every one, in his sphere, takes an active part in the government of society. The lower orders in the United States understand the influence exercised by the general prosperity upon their own welfare ; simple as this observation is, it is too rarely made by the people. Besides, they aie wont to regard this prosperity as the fruit of their own exertions. The citizen looks upon the fortune of the public as his own, and he labors for the good of the State, not merely from a sense of pride or duty, but from what I venture to term cupidity. !,-ii| «l:p|i!i: ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY. 311 It is unnecessary to study the institutions and the history of the Americans in order to know tlie truth of this re- mark, for their manners render it sujfficiently evident. As the American participates in all that is done in his country, he thinks himself obliged to defend whatever may be cen- sured in it ; tor it is not only his country which is then attacked, it is himself. The consequence is, that his na- tional pride resorts to a thousand artifices, and descends to all the petty tricks of personal vanity. Nothing is more embarrassing, in the ordinary inter- course of life, than this irritable patriotism of the Ameri- cans. A stranger may be well inclined to praise many of the institutions of their country, but he bogs permission to blame some things in it, — a permission which is inexorably refused. America is therefore a free country, in which, lest anybody should be hurt by your remarks, you are not allowed to speak freely of private individuals, or of the state ; of the citizens, or of the authorities ; of public or of private undertakings ; or, in short, of anything at all, except, perhaps, the climate and the soil ; and even then, Americans will be found ready to defend both, as if they had concurred in producing them. In our times, we must choose between the patriotism of all and the government of a few ; for the social force and activity which the first confers are irreconcilable with the pledges of tranquillity which are given by the second. i fi NOTION OF RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES. No p:reat People witliout a Notion of Eight. — How the Notion of Eight cau be given to a People. — Eespect for Eight in the United States. — Whence it arises. After the general idea of virtue, I know no higher principle than that of right ; or rather these two ideas are united in one. The idea of right is simply that of virtue ' I 312 DEMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. m%'i\ <ir't introduced into the political "world. It was tlie idea of right which enabled men to define anarchy and tyranny ; and which taught them how to be independent without arro- gance, and to obey without servility. The man who sub- mits to violence is debased by his compliance ; but when he submits to that right of authority which he acknowl- edges in a fellow-creature, he rises in some measure above the person who gives the command. There are no great men without virtue ; and there are no great nations, — it may almost be added, there would be no society, — without respect for right ; for what is a union of rational and in- telligent beings who are held together only by the bond of force ? I am persuaded that the only means which we possess, at the present time, of inculcating the idea of right, and of rendering it, as it were, palpable to the senses, is to en- dow all with the peaceful exercise of certain rights : this is very clearly seen in children, who are men without the strength and the experience of manhood. When a child begins to move in the midst of the objects which surround him, he is instinctively led to appropriate to himself every- thing which he can lay his hands upon ; he has no notion of the property of others ; but as he gradually learns the value of things, and begins to perceive that he may in his turn be despoiled, he becomes more circumspect, and he ends by respecting those rights in others which he wishes to have respected in himself. The })rinciple whicli the child derives from the possession c ' his toys is taught to the man by the objects which he may call his own. In America, the most democratic of nations, those complaints against property in general, which are so frequent in Europe, are never heard, because in America there are no paupers. As every one has property of his own to defend, every one recognizes the principle upon which he holds it. The same thing occurs in the political world. In Amer- ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY. 01 o oLo ica, the lowest classes have conceived a very liigli notion of political rights, because they exercise those riglits ; and they refrain from attacking the rights of others, in order that their own may not be violated. Whilst in Euro})e, the same classes sometimes resist even the supreme power, the American submits without a murmur to the authority of the pettiest magistrate. This truth appears even in the trivial details of national life. In France, few pleasures are exclusively reserved for the higher classes ; the poor are generally admitted wher- ever the rich are received ; and they consecpiently behave with propriety, and respect whatever ])rom()tes the enjoy- ments which they themselves share. In England, where wealth has a monopoly of amusement as well as of ])ower, complaints are made, that, whenever the poor happen to enter the places reser"':d ^or the })leasures of the rich, they do wanton mischiet * ■ i this be wondered at, since care has been taken that t. t " liould have nothino; to lose ? The government of the democracy brings the notion of political rights to the level of the humblest citizens, just as the dissemination of wealth brings the notion of property within the reach of all men ; to my mind, this is one of its greatest advantages. I do not say it is easy to teach men how to exercise political rights ; but 1 maintain that, when it is possible, the effects which result from it are highly im- portant ; and I add, that, if there ever was a time at which such an attempt ought to be made, that time is now. Do you not see that religious belief is shaken, and the divine notion of right is declining ? — that morality is debased, and the notion of moral right is therefore fading away ? Argument is substituted for faith, and calculation for the impulses of sentiment. If, in the midst of this general disruption, you do not succeed in connecting the notion of right with that of private interest, which is the only immutable point in the human heart, what means will you «p. I f yi 11 1 ' i; 1 li ij i 314 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. have of governing the world except by fear ? Wlien I am told that the laws are weak and the peojjle are turbulent, that passions are excited and tlie authority of virtue is par- alyzed, and therefore no measures must be taken to increase the rights of the democracy, I reply, that, for these very reasons, some measures of the kind ought to be taken ; and I believe that governments are still more interested in tak- ing them than society at large, for governments may perish, but society cannot die. But I do not wish to exaggerate the example which America furnishes. There the people were invested with political rights at a time when they could not be abused, for the inhabitants were few in number, and simple m their manners. As they have mcreased, the Americans have not augmented the power of the democracy ; they have rather extended its domain. It cannot be doubted that the moment at which political rights are granted to a people that had before been without them is a very critical one, — that the measure, though often neces&ary, is always dangerous. A child may kill before he is aware of the value of hfe ; and he may de- prive another person of his property, before he is aware that his own may be taken from him. The lower orders, when first they are invested with political rights, stand, in relation to those rights, in the same position as the child does to the whole of nature ; and the celebrated adage may then be applied to them. Homo puer robustus. This truth may be perceived even in America. The States in which the citizens have enjoyed their rights longest, are those in which they make the best use of them. It cannot be repeated too often, that nothing is more fer- tile in prodigies than the art of being free ; but there is nothing more arduous than the apprenticeship of liberty. It is not so with despotism : despotism often promises to make amends for a thousand previous ills ; it supports the ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY. 315 right, It protects the oppressed, and It maintains public or- der. The nation Is lulled by the temporary prosperity which It produces, until it Is roused to a sense of its mis- ery. Liberty, on the contrary, Is generally- established with difficulty In the midst of storms ; it is perfected by civil discord ; and Its benefits cannot be appreciated until It is already old. RESPECT FOR THE LAW IN THE UNITED STATES. Respect of the Americans for the Law. — Parental Affection which they entertain for it. — Personal Interest of every one to increase the Power of the Law. It Is not always feasible to consult the whole people, either directly or Indirectly, in the formation of the law ; but It cannot be denied that, when this is possible, the au- thority of the law Is much augmented. This popular ori- gin, which impairs the excellence and the wisdom of legis- lation, contributes much to Increase Its power. There is an amazing strength in the expression of the will of a whole people ; and when It declares Itself, even the Imagi- nation of those who would wish to contest it is overawed. The truth of this fact Is well known by parties ; and they consequently strive to make out a majority whenever they can. If they have not the greater number of voters on their side, they assert that the true majority abstained from voting ; and If they are foiled even there, they have re- course to those persons who had no right to vote. In the United States, except slaves, servants,* and pau- pers supported by the townships, there is no class of per- sons who do not exercise the elective franchise, and who do not Indirectly contribute to make the laws. Those * This is a strange mistake ; in the United States, servants liave as goixl a right to vote as tlicir employers, and often vote against them. — Am. Ed. tigpi 1?' ■ i': iM I: ■>'' »:l '1^ H; 111 11 III : § ^^ : \M 316 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. who wisli to attack the laws must consequently either change tlie opinion of the nation, or trample upon its decision. A second reason, which is still more direct and weighty, may he adduced : in the United States, every one is per- sonally interested in enforcing the ohedience of the whole community to the law ; for as the minority may shortly rally the majority to its principles, it is interested in pro- fessing that respect for the decrees of the legislator which it may soon have occasion to claim for its own. However irksome an enactment may he, the citizen of the United States complies with it, not only because it is the work of the majority, but because it is his own, and he regards it as a contract to which he is himself a party. In the United States, then, that numerous and turbulent multitude does not exist, who, regarding the law as their natural enemy, look upon it with fear and distrust. It is impossible, on the contrary, not to perceive that all classes display the utmost reliance upon the legislation of their country, and are attached to it by a kind of parental af- fection. I am wrong, however, in saying all classes ; for as, in America, the European scale of authority is inverted, the wealthy are there placed in a position analogous to that of the poor in the Old World, and it is the opulent classes who frequently look upon the law with suspicion. I have already observed that the advantage of democracy is not, as has been sometimes asserted, that it protects the inter- ests of all, but simply that it protects those of the majority. In the United States, where the poor rule, the rich have always something to fear from the abuse of their power. This natural anxiety of the rich may produce a secret dis- satisfaction ; but society is not disturbed by ^or the same reason which withholds the confidence of the .h from the legislative authority, makes them obey its r .^nuates : their ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY, 317 wealtli, Avhioli prevents tliem from makino; the law, pri'- vents tliem from witlistaiuliiiix it. Amono-st civili/A'd nsi- tions, only those who have nothing to lose ever revolt ; and if the laws of a democraey are not always worthy of respect, they are always respected ; for those who usually infringe the laws cannot fail to ohey those which they have themselves made, and by which they are benefited ; whilst the citizens who mio;ht be interested '" \^' ^ 'nf ruction of them are induced, by their character anu str n, to submit to the decisions of the legislature, whatever they may be. Besides, the people in America obey the law, not only be- cause it is their work, but because it may be changed if it be harmful ; a law is observed because, first, it is a sell- imposed evil, and, secondly, it is an evil of transient dura- tion. ACTIVITY WHICH PERVADES ALL PARTS OF THE BODY POL- ITIC IN THE UNITED STATES ; INFLUENCE WHICH IT EX- ERCISES UPON SOCIETY. More difficult to conceive the Political Ac. 'ity which pervades the United States, than the Freedom and Equality which reign there. — The great Activity which perpetually agitates the Legislative Bodies is only an Epi- sode, a Prolongation of the general Activity. — Difficult for an Ameri- can to confine himself to his own Bu.siness. — Political Agitation extends to all social Intercourse. — Commercial Activity of the Americans partly attributable to this Cause. — Indirect Advantages which Society derives from a Democratic Government. On passing from a free country into one which is not free, the traveller is struck by the change ; in the former, all is bustle and activity ; in the latter, everything seems calm and motionless. In the one, amelioration and pro- gress are the topics of inquiry ; in the other, it seems as if the community wished only to repose in the enjoyment of advantages already acquired. Nevertheless, the country §4 ^'1 I I h n i iiiii^ I I ^ J 318 DEMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. wliich exerts itself so strenuously to become liappy, is gen- erally more wealthy and prosperous than that wliich aj)- pcars so contented with its lot ; and when wo ( )in[)are them, we can scarcely conceive how so many new wunts are daily felt in the former, whilst so few seem to exist in the latter. If this remark is aj)plicable to those free countries ,.hich have preserved monarchical forms and aristocratic institu- tions, it is still more so to democratic republics. In these States, it is not a portion only of the j)eo[)le who endeavor to improve the state of society, but the whole community is engaiied in the task ; and it is not the exioencies and convenience of a single class for which provision is to be made, but the exigencies and convenience of all classes at once. It is not impossible to conceive the surprising liberty which the Americans enjoy ; some idea may likewise be formed of their extreme equality ; but the political activity which pervades the United States must be seen in order to be understood. No sooner do you set foot upon American ground, than you are stunned by a kind of tunndt ; a con- fused clamor is heard on every side ; and a thousand simul- taneous voices demand the satisfaction of their social wants. Everything is in motion around you ; here, the people of one quarter of a town are met to decide upon the build- ing of a church ; there, the election of a representative is going on ; a little further, the delegates of a district are posting to the town in order to consult upon some local improvements ; in another place, the laborers of a village quit their ploughs to deliberate upon the project of a road or a public school. Meetings are called for the sole pur- pose of declaring their disapprobation of the conduct of the government ; whilst in other assemblies, citizens salute the authorities of the day as the fathers of their coun- try. Societies are formed which regard drunkenness as the v.- !!!:-'"' ADVANTAGKS OF DKMOCRACY. 319 principal cause of the evils of tlic state, and solennily bijid themselves to give an example of tem[)erance.* The great political agitation of American k'gislativo bodies, which is the only one that attracts the attention of foreigners, is a mere episode, or a sort of continuation, of that universal movement which oriiiinates in tlie lowest classes of the people, and extends successively to all the ranks of society. It is impossible to spend more effort it\ the pursuit of happiness. The cares of politics engross a prominent place in the occupations of a citizen in the United States ; and almost the only pleasure which an American knows is to take a part in the government, and to discuss its measures. This feeling pervades the most trifling habits of life ; even the women frequently attend public meetings, and listen to political harangues as a recreation fi'om their household labors. Debating clubs are, to a certain extent, a substi- tute for theatrical entertainments : an American cannot converse, but he can discuss ; and liis talk falls into a dis- sertation. He speaks to yon as if he was addressing a meetino; ; and if he should chance to become warm in the discussion, he Avill say " Gentlemen " to the person with whom he is conversing. In some countries, the inhabitants seem unwilling to avail themselves of the political privileges which the law gives them ; it would seem that they set too high a value upon their time to spend it on the interests of the commu- nity ; and they shut themselves up in a narrow selfishness, marked out by four sunk fences and a quickset hedge. But if an American were condemned to confine his activity to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half of his ^ ■; I * At the time of my stay in the United States, the Temperance Societies already consisted of more than 270,000 members ; and their ettect had been to diminish the consumption of strong liquors by 500,000 gallons per annum in Pennsylvania alone. y2o DEMOCRACY IN AMlilMCA. 'ilfi i m: :if existence ; he would feel an immense void In tlie life wliieli lie is accustomed to leacl, and his wretchedness would be unbearable.* I nm persuaded, that, if ever a des- ])otism should be established in America, it will be more difficult to overcome the habits which freedom has formed, than to conquer the love of freedom itself. This ceaseless a<!;itation which democratic ffovernmont has introduced into the political world, influences all social intercourse. I am not sure that, upon the whole, this is not the greatest advantage of democracy ; and I am less inclined to applaud it for what it does, than for what it causes to be done. It is incontestable that the people frequently conduct public business very ill ; but it is impossible that the lower orders should take a part in public business without ex- tending the circle of their ideas, and (putting the ordinary routine of their thoughts. The humblest individual who co-operates in the government of society acquires a certain degree of self-respect ; and as he possesses authority, he can command the services of minds more enlightened than his own. He is canvassed by a multitude of applicants, and, in seeking to deceive him in a thousand ways, they really enlighten him. He takes a part in political under- takings which he did not originate, but which give him a taste for undertakings of the kind. New improvements are daily pointed out to him in the common property, and this gives him the desire of improving that property which is his own. He is perhaps neither happier nor better than those who came before him, but he is better informed and more active. I have no doubt that the democratic institu- tions of the United States, joined to the physical constitu- * The same remark was made at Rome under the first Caesars. Mon- tesquieu somewhere alhides to the excessive despondency of certain Roman citizens, who, after the excitement of political life, were all at once flung back into the stagnation of private life. ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCUACV. 321 tion of tho country, are the cause (not the direct, as is so often asserted, but the indirect cause) of the prodigious conunercial activity of the inhabitants. It is not created by the laws, but the people learn how to promote it by the experience derived from leoislation. When the op})onents of democracy assert that a single man performs what he undertakes better than the u;overn- ment of all, it appears to me that they are right. Tho oovernment of an individual, suj)posing an equality of knowledge on either side, is more consistent, more perse- vering, more uniform, and more accurate in details, than that of a multitude, and it selects w ith more discrimination the men whom it employs. If any deny this, they have never seen a democratic government, or have judged upon partial evidence. It is true that, even when local circum- stances and the dispositions of the })eople allow democratic institutions to exist, they do not display a regular and me- thodical system of government. Democratic liberty is far from accomplishing all its projects with the skill of an adroit despotism. It frequently abandons them before they have borne their fruits, or risks them when the conse- quences may be dangerous ; but in the end, it produces more than any absolute government ; if it does fewer things well, it does a greater number of things. Under its sway, the grandeur is not in what the public adminis- tration does, but in what is done without it or outside of it. Democracy does not give the people the most skilful gov- ernment, but it produces what the ablest governments are frequently unable to create ; namely, an all-pervading and restless activity, a superabundant force, and an energy which is inseparable from it, and which may, however un- favorable circumstances may be, produce wonders. These are the true advantages of democracy. In the present age, when the destinies of Christendom seem to be in suspense, some hasten to assail democracy as u* u 822 DKMOCUACY IN AMERICA. I Hi i| '1 a hostile powor, wliilst it is yet o;rowin«T ; and others al- ready adore this new deity which is spriii^inj^ forth from chaos. But both parties are imperfectly accpiainted with the ol)je(!t of their liatred or their worship ; they strike in the dark, and distribute their blows at random. We must first understand what is wanted of society and its government. Do you wish to give a certain elevation to the human mind, and teach it to regard the things of this world with generous feelings, to inspire men with a scorn of mere temporal advantages, to form and nourish strong convictions, and keep alive the spirit of lionorable devotedness ? Is it your object to refine the habits, embel- lish the manners, and cultivate the arts, to promote the love of poetry, beauty, and glory ? AVould you constitute a })eople fitted to act powerfully upon all other nati(ms, and l)repared for those high enterprises which, whatever be their results, will leave a name forever famous in history ? If you believe such to be the principal object of society, avoid the government of the democracy, for it would not lead you with certainty to the goal. But if you hold it expedient to divert the moral and in- tellectual activity of man to the production of comfort, and the promotion of general well-being ; if a clear understand- ing be more profitable to man than genius ; if your object be not to stimulate the virtues of heroism, but the habits of peace ; if you had rather witness vices than crimes, and are content to meet with fewer noble deeds, provided of- fences be diminished in the same proportion ; if, instead of living in the midst of a brilliant society, you are contented to have prosperity around you ; if, in short, you are of opinion that the principal object of a government is not to confer the greatest possible power and glory upon the body of the nation, but to insure the greatest enjoyment, and to avoid the most misery, to each of the individuals who compose it, — if such be your desire, then equal- ADVANTAGKS OF DEMOCRACY. 82a izp the oonJitions of men, unJ establish democratic in- stitutions. But if tlic time ho past at whicli such a choice was pos- sible, and if souk; power superior to that of man already Imrries us, without consulting our wishes, towards one or the other of these two govenunents, let us endeavor to make the best of that which is allotted to us, and, by find- ing out both its good and its evil tendencies, be able to fos- ter the former and repress the latter to the utmost. il II :,:^i I I ■iMi 324 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER XV. UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 1 Natural Strength of the Majority in Democracies. — Most of the Americiin Constitutions have increased tliis Strength by artificial Means. — How this has been done. — Pledged Delegates. — Moral Power of the Ma- jority. — Opinion as to its Infallibility. — Respect for its Eights, how augmented in the United States. THE very essence of democratic government consists in the absolute sovereignty of the majority ; for there is nothing in democratic states which is capable of resisting it. Most of the American constitutions have souo;ht to increase this natural strength of the majority by artificial means.* The legislature is, of all political institutions, the one which is most easily swayed by the will of the majority. The Americans determined that the members of the legis- lature should be elected by the people directly^ and for a very brief term, in order to subject them, not only to the general convictions, but even to the daily passions, of their constituents. The members of both houses are taken fi'om the same classes in society, and nominated in the same manner ; so that the movements of the legislative * We have seen, in examining the Federal Constitution, that tlie eflforts of the legislators of the Union were directed against this absolute power. The consequence has been, that the Federal government is more independ- ent in its sphere than that of the States. But the Federal government scarcely ever interferes in any but foreign affairs ; and the governments of the States in reality direct society in America. iiifi THE UXLIMITKD POWKR OF TIIK MAJORITY. 325 bodies are almost as rapid, and quite as irresistible, as those of a single assembly. It is to a legislature thus constituted, that almost all the authority of the government has been intrusted. At the same time that the law increased the streno;th of those authorities which of themselves were strong, it enfee- bled more and -more those which were naturally weak. It deprived the representatives of the executive power of all stability and independence ; and, by subjecting them com- pletely to the caprices of the legislature, it robbed them of the slender influence which the nature of a democratic jTOvernment mijiht have allowed them to exercise. In several States, the judicial power was also submitted to the election of the majority ; and in all of them, its existence was made to depend on the pleasure of the legislative au- thority, since the representatives were empowered annually to regulate the stipend of the judges. Custom has done even more than law. A proceeding is becoming more and more geperal in the United States, which will, in the end, do away with the guaranties of representative government : it frequently happens that the voters, in electing a delegate, point out a certain line of conduct to him, and impose upon him certain positive obli- gations which he is pledged to fulfil. With the exception of the tumult, this comes to the same thing as if the major- ity itself held its deliberations in the market-place. Several other circumstances -concur to render the power of the majority in America not only preponderant, but ir- resistible. The moral authority of the majority is partly based upon the notion, that there is more intelligence and wisdom in a number of men united than in a sinole indi- vidual, and that the number of the legislators is more im- portant than their quality. The theory of equality is thus applied to the intellects of men ; and human pride is thus assailed in its last retreat by a doctrine which the minority 326 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ill Mil li^'i hesitate to admit, and to which they will bnt slowly assent. Like all other powers, and perhaps more than any other, the authority of the many requires the sanction of time in order to appear legitimate. At first, it enforces obedience by constraint ; and its laws are not respected until they have been lono; maintained. The right of governing society, which the majority sup- poses itself to derive from its superior intelligence, was in- troduced into the United States bv the first settlers ; and this idea, which of itself would be sufficient to create a free nation, has now been amalgamated with the manners of the people and the minor incidents of social life. The French, under the old monarchy, held it for a maxim that the kino; could do no wrono; : and if he did do wrong, the blame was imputed to his advisers. This notion made obedience very easy ; it enabled the subject to complain of the law, without ceasing to love and honor the lawgiver. The Americans entertain the same opinion with respect to the majority. The moral power of the majority is founded upon yet another principle, which is, that the interests of the many are to be preferred to those of the few. It will readily be perceived that the respect here professed for the rights of the greater number must naturally increase or diminish according to the state of parties. When a nation is divided into several great irreconcilable interests, the privilege of the majority is often overlooked, because it is intolerable to comply with its demands. If there existed in America a class of citizens whom the legislating majority sought to deprive of exclusive privi- leges which they had possessed for ages, and to bring down from an elevated station to the level of the multitude, it is probable that the minority would be less ready to submit to its laws. But as the United States were colonized by men holding equal rank, there is as yet no natural or perma- THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY. 327 nent cUsaoreemciit between the in*r^rests of its different in- habitants. There are communities in which the members of the minority can never hope to draw over the majority to their side, because they must then give up the very point which is at issue between tliem. Thus, an aristocracy can never become a majority whilst it retains its exclusive privileges, and it cannot cede its privileges without ceasing to be an aristocracy. In the United States, political questions cannot be taken up in so general and absolute a manner ; and all parties are willing to recognize the rights of the majority, because they all hope at some time to be able to exercise them to their own advantage. The majority, therefore, in that country, exercise a prodigious actual authority, and a power of opinion which is nearly as great ; no obstacles exist which can impede or even retard its progress, so as to make it heed the complaints of those whom it crushes upon its path. This state of things is harmful in itself, and dangerous for the future. ^ I HOW THE OMNIPOTENCE OF THE MAJORITY INCREASES, IN AMERICA, THE INSTABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND ADMIN- ISTRATION INHERENT IN DEMOCRACY. The Americans increase the Mutability of Law which is inherent in a Democ- racy by changinjj the LcfrisUiture every Year, and invcstinp; it with almost unbounded Authority. — The same Effect is produced upon the Admin- istration. — In America, the Pressure for social Improvements is vastly greater, but less continuous, than in Europe. I HAVE already spoken of the natural defects of dem- ocratic institutions ; each one of them increases in the same ratio as the power of the majority. To begin with the most evident of them all, the mutability of the laws is an m % 1 P QtK i ' !i 328 DEMOCRACY IX AMERICA. evil inherent in a democratic government, because it is nat- ural to democracies to raise new men to power. But this evil is more or less sensible in proportion to the authority and the means of action which the legislature possesses. In America, the authority exercised by the legislatures is supreme ; nothing prevents them from accomplishing their wishes with celerity, and with irresistible power, and they are supplied Avith new representatives every year. That is to say, the circumstances which contribute most power- fully to democratic instability, and which admit of the free application of caprice to the most important objects, are here in full operation. Hence America is, at the present day, the country of all others where laws last the shortest time. Almost all the American constitutions have been amended within thirty years : there is therefore not one American State which has not modified the principles of its legislation in that time. As for the laws themselves, a sino-le o-lance at the archives of the different States of the Union suffices to convince one, that in America the activity of the legislator never slackens. Not that the American deniocracy is naturally less stable than any other, but it is allowed to follow, in the formation of the laws, the natural instability of its desires.* The omnipotence of the majority, and the rapid as well as absolute manner in which its decisions are executed in the United States, not only render the law unstable, but exercise the same influence upon the execution of the law and the conduct of the administration. As the majority is * The legislative acts promulgated by the State of Massachusetts alone, from the year 1780 to the present time, already fill three stout volumes ; and it must not be forgotten that the collection to which I allude was revised in 1823, when many old laws whicli had fallen into disuse were omitted. The State of Massachusetts, which is not more populous than a department of France, may be considered as the most stable, the most consistent, and the most sagacious in its undertakings, of the whole Union. THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY. 329 the only power whicli it is important to court, all its pro- jects are taken up with the greatest ardor ; but no sooner is its attention distracted, than all this ardor ceases ; whilst in the free states of Europe, where the administration is at once independent and secure, the projects of the legislature continue to be executed, even when its attention is directed to other objects. In America, certain improvements are prosecuted with much more zeal and activity than elsewhere ; in Eiu'ojje, the same ends are promoted by much less social eftbrt more continuously applied. Some years ago, several pious individuals undertook to ameliorate the condition of the prisons. The public were moved by their statements, and the reform of criminals be- came a popular undertakhig. New prisons were built ; and, for the first time, the idea of refonning as well as punishing the delinquent formed a part of prison disci])line. But this happy change, in which the public had taken so hearty an interest, and which the simultaneous exertions of the citizens rendered irresistible, could not be completed in a moment. Whilst the new penitentiaries were being erected, and the will of the majority was hastening the work, the old prisons still existed, and contained a great number of offenders. These jails became more unwhole- some and corrupt in proportion as the new establishments were reformed and improved, forming a contrast which may readily be understood. The majority was so eagerly employed in founding the new prisons, that those which already existed were forgotten ; and, as the general atten- tion was diverted to a novel object, the care which had hitherto been bestowed upon the others ceased. The sal- utary regulations of discipline were first relaxed, and after- wards broken ; so that, in the immediate neighborhood of a prison which bore witness to the mild and enlightened spirit of our times, dungeons existed which reminded one of the barbarism of the Middle Ages. ^A'J i 111 ill 330 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY. How the Principle of the Sovereignty of tlie People is to be understood. — Impossil)ility of conceiving a Mixed Government. — The Sovereign Power must exist somewhere. — Precautions to be taken to control its Action. — These Precautions have not been taken in the United States. — Consequences. I HOLD it to be an impious and detestable maxim, that, politically speaking, the people have a right to do any- thing ; and yet I have asserted that all authority originates in the will of the majority. Am I, then, in contradiction with myself? A general law, which bears the name of justice, has been made and sanctioned, not only by a majority of this or that people, but by a majority of mankind. The rights of every people are therefore confined within the limits of what is just. A nation may be considered as a jury which is empowered to represent society at large, and to apply justice, which is its law. Ought such a jury, which rep- resents society, to have more power than the society itself, whose laws it executes ? When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right of the majority to command, but I simply appeal from the sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind. Some have not feared to assert that a people can never outstep the boundaries of justice and reason in those affairs which are peculiarly its own ; and that conse- quently full power may be given to the majority by which they are represented. But this is the language of a slave. A majority taken collectively is only an individual, whose opinions, and frequently' whose interests, are op- posed to those of another individual, who is styled a minority. If it be admitted that a man possessing abso- lute power may misuse that power by wronging his adver- saries, why should not a majority be liable to the same I\ THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY. has reproach? Mon do not change their characters by uniting with eacli other ; nor does their patience in tlie presence of obstacles increase with their strength.* For my own part, I cannot beheve it ; the power to do everytliing, which I should refuse to one of my equals, I will never grant to any number of them. I do not think that, for the sake of preserving liberty, it is possible to combine several principles in the same gov- ernment so as really to oppose them to one another. The form of government which is usually termed mixed has al- ways appeared to me a mere chimera. Accurately sj)eak- ing, there is no such thing as a mixed government., in the sense usually given to that word, because, in all comnumi- ties, some one principle of action may be discovered which preponderates over the others. England, in the last cen- tury, — which has been especially cited as an example of this sort of government, — was essentially an aristocratic state, although it comprised some great elements of democ- racy ; for the laws and customs of the country were such that the aristocracy could not but preponderate in the long run, and direct public affairs according to its own will. The error arose from seeino; the interests of the nobles perpetually contending with those of the people, without considering the issue of the contest, which was really the important point. When a community actually has a mixed government, — that is to say, when it is equally divided between adverse principles, — it must either expe- rience a revolution, or fall into anarchy. I am therefore of opinion, that social power superior to all others must always be placed somewhere ; but I think i^n M * No one \y\\\ assort that a people cannot forcibly wrong another })eople ; but parties may be looked upon as lesser nations within a {^reat one, and they are aliens to each other : if, therefore, it be admitted tliat a nation can act tyrannically towards another nation, it cannot be denied that a party may do the same towards another party. : i 11 i 332 DKMOCHACV IN AMKKMCA. that lilK'i'ty is endangered wlicn tins power finds no obsta- cle which can retard its course, and give it time to moder- ate its own vehemence. Unlimited power is in itself a bad and dangerous thing. Unman beings are not competent to ex'ercise it with dis- cretion. God alone can be omnipotent, because his wisdom and his justice are always equal to his power. There is no j)ower on earth so worthy of honor in itself, or clothed with rights so sacred, that I would admit its uncontrolled and all-predominant authority. When I see that the right and the moans of absolute command are conferred on any power whatever, be it called a people or a king, an aristoc- racy or a democracy, a monarchy or a republic, I say there is the germ of tyranny, and I seek to live elsewhere, under other laws. In my opinion, the main evil of the present democratic institutions of the United States does not arise, as is often asserted in Europe, from their weakness, but from their irresistible strength. I am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country, as at the in- adequate securities which one finds there against tyranny. When an individual or a party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he apply for redress ? If to public opinion, public opinion constitutes the majority ; if to the legislature, it represents the majority, and implicitly obeys it ; if to the executive power, it is appointed by the major- ity, and serves as a passive tool in its hands. The public force consists of the majority under arms ; the jury is the majority invested with the right of hearing judicial cases ; and in certain States, even the judges are elected by the majority. However iniquitous or absurd the measure of which you complain, you must submit to it as well as you can. * * A striking instance of the excesses wliich may be occasioned by the despotism of the majority occurred at Baltimore during the war of 1812. - ^^:!| THE UNLIMITKD TOWKR OF THE MAJORITY. If, on the other hand, a legislative power could he so constituted as to represent the majority without necessarily being the slave of its passions, an executive so as to retain a proper share of authority, and a judii-iary so as to i-e- main independent of the other two powers, a government At that time, the war was very i)Oj)ular in Bahiinoro. A journal which hud taken tlio other side excited by its oi)i)osition the indij,'nation of tiic inliabitants. The mob asbcnibled, broive the j)rintinj,'-i)rcsse6i, and attatked tlie iiouse of the editors. Tlie militia was called out, but did not t)bcy the call ; and the only means of savinp: the wretches who were threatened by the frenzy of the mob, was to throw them into prison as common male- factors. But even this precaution was ineftectual ; the mob collected again during the night; the magistrates again made a vain attemi)t to call out the militia; the prison was forced, one of the newspaper editors wus killed upon the spot, and the others were left for dead. The guilty parties, when they were brought to trial, were acfjuitted by the jury. I said one day to an inhabitant of Pennsylvania, " Be so good as to ex- plain to me hoAV it happen> that in a State founded by Quakers, and cele- brated for its toleration, free Blacks are not allowed to exercise civil rights. Thjy pay taxes; is it not fair that they should vote?" " You insult us," replied my informant, " if you imagine that our leg- islators could have committed so gross an act of injustice and intoler- ance." " Then the Bi -s possess the right of voting in this country ? " "Without doubt." " How comes it, then, that at the polling-booth, this morning, I did not perceive a single Negro in the meeting 1 " " This is not the fault of the law : the Negroes liave an undisputed right of voting ; but they voluntarily abstain from making their appearance." " A very pretty piece of modesty on their part! " rejoined I. " Why, the truth is, that they are not disinclined to vote, but they aro afraid of being maltreated ; in this country, the law is sometimes unable to maintain its authority, without the support of the majority. But in this case, the majority entertains very strong prejudices against the Blacks, and the magistrates are unable to protect them in the exercise of their legal rights." " Then the majority claims the right not only of making the laws, but of breaking the laws it has made ? " [In Massachusetts, and some other States, free Blacks vote as regularly as any other class of citizens. — Am. Ed.] ii-f jf iii i if V. ' 334 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. m would 1)0 foriTipd wliicli would still bo democratic, without incurring hardly any risk of tyranny. I do not say that there is a frecjuent use of tyranny in Amerif'a at the present day ; but I maintain that there is no sure barrier a;jjalnst it, and that the causes which miti- gate the government there are to be found in the circum- stiiiices and the manners of the country, more than in its laws.* * Tliis whole chapter is a glowing description of tiie evils which are to be feared in the United States from an abuse of the immense jjower of the majority. In the main, it is a truthful pirture ; and yet the author allows himself to he so far licatcd hy his own rliotoric i\s to forget the chocks and limitations of this dominant power which he lias himself elsewhere noticed. The very complexity of our frame of government enables us to set off and balance the strength of one majority against another. Thus the Federal and the State governments mutually restrain and limit each other, while each is restricted hy many provisions in its o\vn written Constitution, which are of the nature of a Bill of Rights. No law can be passed by the Federal Legislature without the concurrence of a majority of tlie States represented in the Senate, wherein little Delaware, with only one hundred tliousand inhabitants, has as poter a voice as the Empire State of New York, with, its three and a half millions. Even the sturdy little New England town- ship, so admirably described elsewhere by M. (h; Tocquevillc, succeeds iu causing its rights to be respected in the State Legislature, where it is im- mensely outnumbered, because the other to^vnships would make common cause with it against any crying injustice, fearing that its case may become their own at some future day. Moreover, the majority in a State, or even in the United States, though a mighty, is also au unwiehly power, acting only at long intervals, once a year, or once in four years, and then tlirough 80 many agents, and so much machinery, that the force of its blows is greatly impaired before they reach their object. It is only a figure of speech to say that the majority of the people make tiie laws, because they choose the members of the Legislature. The delegates thus chosen respect their constituents, it is true, and strive in the main to conform to their wishes ; and yet they act very differently from what those constituents would do, if allowed to come together whenever they pleased, and directly enact any law that pleased them, upon any subject. The necessary delays in law-mak.ng, the compliance with established forms, the suspensive veto of a Governor or a President, the fear which each individual legislator entertains lest the proposed enactment, though it may gratify his present TIIK UNLIMITKD TOWKR Of THK MA.IOItlTV. 335 EFFECTS OF THE OMNIPOTENCE OF THE MAJORITY UPON THE AlimTllARY AUTHOllITY OF AMERICAN rUHEIC OP- FICEUS. Liberty left by the American Laws to Public Officers withiu a cortaiu Sphere. — Their Power. A DISTINCTION must be drawn between tyranny and arbitrary power. Tyranny may be exercised by means ol the law itself, and in that case it is not arbitrary ; arl)itrary power may be exercised tor the })ublic ^ood, in which case it is not tyraimical. 'lyranny nsually employs arbitrary means, bnt, if necessary, it can do without them. In the United States, the omnij)otence of the majority, which is favorable to the lecjal despotism of the le«:;islature, likewise favors the arbitrary authority of the mairistrate. passion or tlio present passions of his constituents, may work harm to him or them in the long run, — all these are salutary sjafcj^uards against tho abuse of a mighty power. Again, it is only a figure of speech to represent tho majority and the minority as two individuals contending with each other, though very un- equally matched. A majority is not one man, but a nmltitude of men, and a multitude which cannot, by any degree of political skill and discijilinc, be made to think or act as one man. The individuals who compose it are the majority only on this or that subject ; on half a dozen other subjects, every one of them may be a member of a minority ; on some points — his own private interests, for example — he may stand alone. Thus situ- ated, he is not at all likely to make an unscrupulous use of the vast strength of the greater number, but will generally favor moderate and conciliatory counsels. He will also reflect, that the change of a very few votes may place the majority on the other side in respect to the very subjects on which it is now with him ; and any violent expedient which he may now adopt will then be a formidable precedent to be used against him. As to the riots in Baltimore and elsewhere, or the prejudice which so generally operates in America to the disadvantage of the Negroes, M. de Tocqueville forgets that such things are not peculiar to democracies. Wit- ness the No-Popery riots of 1780, the Bristol riots on occasion of tho Reform Bill, the frequent emeutes at Paris, and a thousand other historical cases. — Am. Ed. iM[ 1 I !< fl i p . t- \t'<;' , li'i '' 830 DKMOCIJACY IN AMKIJICA. Tlu' majority lias altsoluto powor botlj to make the law and to wutcli over its (.'xccutioii ; and as it lias ('(iiial authority over those who are in power, and the coinnmnity at lar^c, it considers puhlic ofKcers as its passive agents, and readily confides to them the task of carryinj^ out its desio;iis. The details of their otKce, and the })rivileyes which they are to enjoy, are rarely defined beforehand. It treats them as a master does his servants, since they arc always at work in his sight, and he can direct or reprimand them at any instant. In p;eneral, the American functionaries are far more in- dependent within the sjjhere which is prescribed to them than the French civil officers. Sometimes, even, they are allowed by the popular authority to exceed those bounds ; and as they are protected by the opinion, and backed by the power, of the majority, they dare do thino;s which even a European, accustomed as he is to arbitrary ])ower, is astonished at. liy this means, habits arc formed in the heart of a free country which may some day prove fatal to its liberties. POWER EXERCISED BY THE MAJORITY IN AMERICA UPON OPINION. i ! In America, wlicn tlic JMajority lias once irrevocably dccidccl a Question, nil Discussion censes. — Reason of this. — Moral Power exercised by the Majority upon Opinion. — Democratic Republics have applied Desnot- ism to the Minds of Men. It is in the examination of the exercise of thought in tlie United States, that we clearly perceive how far the power of tiie majority surpasses all the powers with which we are acquainted in Europe. Thought is an invisible and subtile power, that mocks all the efforts of tyranny. At the present time, the most absolute monarchs in Europe cannot prevent certain opinions hostile to their authority THE UNMMITKl) I'oWT.U OF Til!'. MArttlMTY. from clnMiliitln;; in si'civt tliroiiifli tlicir (lominions, and ('I'M ill tlu'ir ('(Hirts. It is not so in Anu'ricii ; as lon^; as tiu' niiii(»ritv if* still undccidi'd, discnssidii is cjiiTicd on : hnt as soon as its decision is irivvocaltly iminonnccd, I'vory ono is silent, and the friends as well as tlie o|H»onents of tlio nieasnre nnito in assenting!; to its jn'opriety. Tlie reason of tins is perfectly clear : no nionareli is so nUsoInte in to combine all tlu' powers of society in liis own hands, and to coiKjner all o]»position, as a majority is ahle to do, wliicli has the riiiht both of makinjj; and ot" execiitinu the laws. The authority of a kini; is jthysical, and controls tlio actions of men without sul)(luin<; their will, lint the ma- jority possesses a power which is pliysical and moral at the same time, wliicli acts upon tlie will us nuicli as u})on the actions, and represses not oidy all contest, but all con- troversy. I know of no country in which there is so little inde- })endence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. In any constitutional state in Europe, every sort of relig'ious and })olitical theory may be freely preached and disseminated ; for there is no coujitiy in Europe so subdued by any sino;lo authority, as not to protect the man who raises his voice in the cause of truth from the conse- (piences of his hardihood. If he is unfortunate enough to live under an absolute government, the peoi)le are often upon his side ; if he iidiabits a free country, he can, if necessary, find a shelter b( 'lind the throne. The aristo- cratic part of society supports him in some countries, and the democracy in others. But in a nation where demo- cratic institutions exist, organi/x'd like those of the United vStates, there is but one authority, one element of strcnfjth and success, with nothing beyond it. In America, the majority raises formidable baiTiers arounil the liberty of opinion : w ithin these barriers, an author may write what he pleases ; but ^yoe to him if he 15 V ' f. >! ' 1 i . Ji 1 i •If ■4\ 33 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. goes beyond them. Not that he is in danger of an auto- da-fe, hut lie is exposed to continued obloquy and per- secution. His pohtical career is closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able to open it. Every sort of compensation, even that of celebrity, is refiised to him. Before publishing his opinions, he im- agined that he held them in common with others ; but no sooner has he declared them, than he is loudlv censured bv his opponents, whilst those who think like him, without having the courage to speak out, abandon him in silence. He yields at length., overcome by the daily effort which he has to make, and subsides into silence, as if he felt remorse for having spoken the truth. Fetters and headsmen were the coarse instniments which tyranny formerly employed ; but the civilization of our age has perfected despotism itself, though it seemed to have nothing to learn. Monarchs had, so to speak, materialized oppression : the democratic republics of the present day have rendered it as entirely an affair of the mind, as the will Avhicli it is intended to coerce. Under the absolute sway of one man, the body was attacked in order to sub- due the soul ; but the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it, and rose proudly superior. Such is not the course adopted by tyranny in democratic republics ; there the body is left free, and the soul is enslaved. The master no longer says, " You shall think as I do, or you shall die " ; but he says, " You are free to think differently from me, and to retain your life, your property, and all that you possess ; but you are henceforth a stranger among your people. You may retain your civil rights, but they will be useless to you, for you will never be chosen by your fellow-citizens, if you solicit their votes ; and they will affect to scorn you, if you ask for their esteem. You will remain among men, but you will be deprived of the rights of mankind. Your fallow-creatures will shun you like an THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE MAJORITY, 339 impure ueinfi; , rio-lits ike an beinji; : and even those ^v]lo believe in vonr inno- cence Avill abandon yon, lest they shonid be shunned in their turn. Go in peace ! I have given you your life, but it is an existence worse than death." Absolute monarchies had dishonored despotism ; let us beware lest democratic republics should reinstate it, and render it less odious and degrading in the eyes of the many, by making it still more onerous to the few. Works have been published in the proudest nations of the Old World, expressly intended to censure the vices and the follies of the times: l^abrnyere inhabited the pal- ace of Louis XIV., when he composed his chapter n[)()n the Great, and Moliere criticised the courtiers in the pieces which were acted before the court. But the ruliivg power in the United States is not to be made oanie of. The smallest reproach irritates its sensibility, and the slightest joke which has any foundation in truth renders it iudig- nant ; from the forms of its language up to the solid vir- tues of its character, evervthino; must be made the subject of encomium. No writer, whatever be his eminence, can escape paying this tribute of adulation to his fellow-citizens. The majority lives in the perpetual uUerance of self-ap- plause; and there are certain truths which the Americans can only learn from strangers or from expoi'ience. If America has not as yet had any great writers, the reason is given in these facts : there can be no literarv genius without freedom of opinion, and freedom of o})inion does not exist in America. The Inquisition has never been able to prevent a vast number of anti-religious books from circulating in Spain. The em[)ire of the majority succeeds much better in the United States, since it actually removes any wish to publish them. Unbelievers are to be met with in America, but there is no public organ of infidelity. Attempts have been made by some govern- ments to protect molality by prohibiting licentious books. \ B:'' '■' y &'-^~. JVi-ts '■m n -.A- :}40 Df:MOCRACY IN AMERICA. In the Unitofl States, no one is pnnlslied for this sort of books, but no one is induced to write them ; not because all the citizens are inunaciilate in conduct, but because the majority of the connnunity is decent and orderly. In this case the use of the power is unquestionably good ; and I am discussing the nature of the power itself. This irresistible authority is a constant fact, and its judicious exercise is only an accident.* EFFECTS OF THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY UPON THE NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. THE COUR- TIER-SPIRIT IN THE UNITED STATES. !.i ': ? Eftbcts of tlic Tyranny of the Majority more sensibly felt liitlierto on the Manners than on the Conduct of Society. — They dicck the Develop- ment of f^rcat Characters. — Democratic Repuhlics, or<j;anize(l like the United States, infuse the Courtier-spirit into the Mass of the People. — Proofs of this Spirit in the United States, — Why there is more Patriot- ism in the People than in those who govern in their Name. The tendencies which I have just mentioned are as yet but slightly perceptible in political society ; but they already exercise an untiivorable influence upon the national character of the Americans. I attribute the small number of distinguished men in political life to the ever-increasing despotism of the majoi'ity in the United States. When the American Revolution broke out, they arose in great numbers ; for public opinion then ser>^ed, not to tyrarmize over, but to direct the exertions of individuals. Those celebrated men, sharino; the agitation of mind com- * De Tocqneville's remarks on this subject arc rhetorical, and altogether too highly colored. It is notorious, that, in politics, morality, and religion, the most ortcnsive opinions are preached and printed every week liere in America, apparently for no other j)urpose than that of shocking the senti- ments of the great bulk of the community. Instead of complaining of tho bondage of thought, the judicious observer will rather grieve at the extreme licentiousness of the rostrum and the press. — Am. Ed. THE UXLLMITKI) TOWKIt OF TlIK MAIORITV. 841 mon at that period, had a grandcMir })C'c'uliai' to thoiusolvos, whicli was reflected back upon the nation, but was by no means borrowed from it. In absolute goverinnents, the great nobles who are neat- est to the throne flatter the passions of the sovereign, and voluntarily truckle to his cajjrices. lint the mass of the nation does not degrade itself bv servitude ; it often sub- mits from weakness, from habit, or from ignorance, and sometimes from loyalty. Some nations have been known to sacrifice their own desires to those of the soMTcign with pleasure and i)nde, thus exhibiting a sort of indi'pcndence of mind in the very act of submission. 'I'hese nations are miserable, but thev are not deo-raded. There is it civat ditference betweer^ doing what one does noi approxc, and feigning to approve what one does ; he one is the weakness of a feeble person, the other befits the temjx'r of a lackev. In free countries, where every one is more or less called upon to give his o[)inion on afl^'airs of state, — in (h'mocratic republics, where public life is incessantly mingled witli (h)- mestic affairs, where the sovereion authoritv is accessible on every side, and where its attention can always be at- tracted by vociferation, — more persons arc to be met wiili who speculate upon its weaknesses, and live u])ou minis- tering to its passions, than in absolute monarchies. Not because men are naturally worse in these states than e!s.>- Avhere, but the temptation is stronger and of easier access at the same time. The result is a more extensive dL-'jas«'- ment of character. Democratic republics extend the practice of currying favor with the many, and introduce it into all classes at once : this is the most serious reproach that can be addressed to them. This is especially true in democratic states organized like the American republics, where the power of the majority is so absolute and irresistible that one must give up his rights as a citizen, and almost abjure mvU^ f4 '' i *■ i ■bl n 342 DEMOCRACY IN AMKUICA. IM ii; m Itfci %:'( his qualities as a man, if lie intends to stray from the track which it })rescribes. In that immense crowd which thrones the avenues to power in the United States, I found very few men who dis])laved that manly candor and masculine independence of opinion wiiich trecjuently distinguished the Americans in former times, and which constitutes the leading feature in distinguished characters wheresoever they may l>e found. It seems, at first sight, as if all the minds of the Ameri- cans were formed upon (me model, so accurately do tluy follow the same route. A stranger does, indeed, sometimes meet with Americans who dissent from the rigor of these fonnularies, — with men who de})lore the defects of the laws, the nmtahility and the ignorance of democracy, — who even 2:0 so far as to observe the evil tendencies Avhich impair the national character, and to point out such reme- dies as it might be possible to api)ly ; but no one is there to hear them except yourself, and you, to whom these secret reflections are confided, are a stranger and a bird of pas- sage. They are very ready to communicate truths which are useless to you, but they hold a different language in public. If ever these lines are read in America, I am well as- sured of two things ; — in the first place, that all who peruse them will raise their voices to condemn me ; and, in the second place, that many of thom will acquit me at the bottom of their conscience. I have heard of patriotism in the United States, and I have found true patriotism among the people, but never among the leaders of the people. This may be explained by analogy : despotism debases the oppressed much more than the oppressor : in absolute monarchies, the king often has great virtues, but the courtiers are invariably servile. It is true that Anv^rican courtiers do not say " Sire," or " Your ]\Iajesty," — a distinction without a difference. THE UNLIMITKD POWKR OF THE JIAJOKITY. 343 They are forever talking of the natural intelligence of the people whom they serve : they do not debate the question which of the virtues of their master is pre-eminently wor- thy of admiration, for they assure him that he possesses all the virtues without having acquired them, or without caring to acquire them ; they do not give him their daughters and their wives to he raised at his pleasure to the rank of his concubines ; but, by sacrificing their opinions, they prosti- tute themselves. Moralists and philoso})hers in America are not obliged to conceal their opinions under the veil of allegory ; but before they venture upon a harsh truth, they say, " We are aware that the people whom we are address- ing are too superior to the weaknesses of human nature to lose the connnand of their temper for an instant. We should not hold this language if we were not speaking to men whom their \ irtues and their intelliiicnco render more worthy of freedom than all the rest of the world." The syc- ophants of Louis XIV. could not flatter more dexterously. For my part, I am persuaded that, in all governments, whatever their nature may be, servility will cower to force, and adulation will follow power. The only means of pre- venting men from degrading themselves is to inv^est no one with that unlimited authority which Is the sure method of debasino; them. m- \ THE GREATEST DANGERS OF THE AMERICAN RErUBLTCS PROCEED FROM THE OMNIPOTENCE OF THE MAJORITY. ; : I- Democratic Republics liable to perish from a Misuse of their Power, and not from Impotence. — The Governments of the American ltci)uljlic& are more Centralized and more Enerfretic than those of the Monarchies of Europe. — Dangers resulting from this. — Opinions of Madison and Jefferson upon this Point. Governments usually perish from impotence or from tyranny. In the former case, their p<.)\\cr escapes from 'ill m « 544 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. : I r n > ' i ' i il ;ii them ; it is wrested from their <^rasp in the latter. ]\Iany observers who have witnessed the anarcliy of democratic states, have imagined that the government of tliose states was naturally weak and impotent. The truth is, that, when war is once begun between parties, the government loses its control over society. But I do not think that a democratic power is naturally without force or resources ; say, rather, that it is almost always by the abuse of its force, and the misem})loy)nent of its resources, that it be- comes a failure. Anarchy is almost always produced by its tyranny oi- it.-^ mistakes, but not by its want of strength. It is im})L'itant not to confound stability with force, or the greatn<.->s -f a thing with its duration. In democratic republic'^-, the j.ower which directs* society is not stable; for it often c.i mges hands, and assumes a new direction. But, wiiich^-ivv • way it turns, its force is almt> ;t irresistible. The govermw:ui;s of the American republics appear to me to be as much centralized as those of the absolute monarch- ies of Euro})e, and more energetic than they are. I do not, therefore, imagine that they will perish from weakness. f If ever the free institutions of America are destroyed, that event may be attributed to the omnipotence of the majority, which may at some future time urge the minor- ities to desperation, and oblige them to have recourse to physical force. Anarcliy Avill then be the result, but it will have been brought jiuout by despotism. Mr. Madison expresses the same opinion in the Federal- ist, No. 51. " It is of great importnjice iv. a republic, not * Tl'is power may be t'eiitnilizcd iu an asscnibly, in which case it will be strong without being stable ; or it may be centralized in an individual, iu ■which case it v/ill bo less strong, but more stable. t I presume that it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader here, as well as throughout this chapter, that I am speaking, not of the Federal govern- ments, but of the several governments of each State, which the majority controls at its pleasure. I ;!. THE UNLDnTKD TOWKR OF TIIK MAJORITY. 04 o only to rriiard tlic society against the oppression of its rul- ers, but to guard one part of the society against the injus- tice of the other part. Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever ■will be, pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society, under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily imite and o])[)ress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reig ' as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger: and as, in the lattm* state, even the stronger individuals are prompted by the uncertainty of their condition to submit to a government which may protect the weak as well as themselves, so, in tlie former state, will the more powerful factions ])(• gi'ad- uallv iiiduced bv a like motive to wish for a government Ashich will protect all parties, the weaker as well as the more powerful. It can be little doubted, that, if the State of Rhode Island was se|)arated from the Confederacy and left to itself, the insecurity of right under the popular form of ovvernmeiit within such narrow limits would b(» dis- played by such reiterated op])ressions of the factious major- ities, that some power altogether inde})ondent of the people would soon be called for by the voice of tiie very factions whose misrule had proved the necessity of it." Jefferson also said : " The executive power in our gov- ernment is not the only, perhaps not even the ])rincij)al, object of my solicitude. The tyranny of the legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come. The tjTanny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant ])eriod." I am glad to cite the opinion of Jefferson upon this sub- ject rather than that of any other, because I consider him the most powerflil advocate democracy has e\ er had. 15* 'id !■ V il: ■■! niN c. ■ 540 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. CHAPTER XVI. CAUSES WHICH MITIGATE THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES. ' ABSENCE OF CENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATION. lf>' I The National Majority does uot pretend to do cverytliing. — Is obliged to employ the Town and County Magistrates to execute its sovereign Will. I HAVE already pointed out the distinction between a centralized government and a centralized adminis- tration. The former exists in America, hut the latter is nearly unknown there. If the directing power of the American communities had both these instruments of gov- ernment at its disposal, and united the habit of executing its commands to the rifjht of commandino; ; if, after havino; established the general principles of government, it de- scended to the details of their application ; and if, having regidated the great interests of the country, it could de- scend to the circle of individual interests, freedom would soon be banished fi'om the New World. But in the United States, the majority, which so fre- quently displays the tastes and the propensities of a despot, is still destitute of the most perfect instruments of tyranny. In the American republics, tlie central government has never as yet busied itself but with a small number of objects, sufficiently prominent to attract its attention. The secondary affairs of society have never been regulated by its authority ; and nothing has hitherto betrayed its desire of even interfering in them. The majority is become MITIGATIONS OF THE TYRANNY OF TIIK MAJOUITY. o47 more and more absolute, but lias not increased the prerog- atives of the central government ; those great prerogatives have been confined to a certain s})here ; and, although the desi)otism of the majority may be galling upon one point, it cannot be said to extend to all. However the j)redomi- jiant party in the nation may be carried away by its j)as- sions, however ardent it may be in the })ursuit of its j)rojects, it cannot oblige all the citizens to comply with its desires in the same manner, and at the same time, through- out the country. When the central government which represents that majority has issued a decree, it nuist in- trust the execution of its will to agents, over whom it fre- quently has no control, and whom it cannot per})etually direct. The townshi})S, municipal bodies, and counties form so many concealed breakwaters, which check or part the tide of popular determination. If an 0})pressive law were passed, liberty would still be protected by the mode of executing that law ; the majority cannot descend to the details and what may be called the puerilities of adnn'nis- trative tyranny. It does not even imagine that it can do so, for it has not a full consciousness of its authority. It knows only the extent of its natural powers, but is unac- quainted with the art of increashig them. This })oint deserves attention ; for if a democratic re- public, similar to that of the United States, were ever founded in a country where the power of one man had previously established a centralized administration, and had sunk it deep into the habits and the laws of the people, I do not hesitate to assert, that, in such a republic, a more insufferable despotism would prevail than in any of the absolute monarchies of Europe ; or, indeed, than any which could be found on tliis side of Asia. iV^i M ^ir mi ift f' ■B- 11 ll 1 348 DI'MOCUACY IN AMKHICA. THE PROFESSION OF THE LAW IN IIIK UNITED STATES SERVES TO COUNTERPOISE THE DEMOCRACY. I liijli ! Utility of lusccrtiiiniii^x wliiit urc tlic imtural Instincts of tlic Legal Pro- fciision. — Tlii'sc Mi-n arc to act a iPioiniiicnt i'art in future SiMJcty. — How the peculiar I'ursuit.s of Lawyers >;ive an aristocratic Turn \(P their Ideas. — Accidental l.'auses wiiich nu>y clicck this Tench'iicy. — Euso with whidi tiie Aristocracy coalesces witii Lv<s,a[ Men. — Use of Lawyers to a Despot. — Tiie I'rotessiou of the l^asv constitutes the only aristocratic Klenieut witii which the natural Elements of Democracy will comhine. — Peculiar Causes wiiich tciul to j^ive an arislocratic J'urn of JMind to En^^lish and American Lawyers. — Tlie Arist(}iracy of /.merica is on the IJench and at tlie liar. — Inliuenee of Lawyers upon American Society. — Tlieir j)eeuliar Magisterial Spirit alll'cts the Legis- lature, the Administration, and even tiie I'eople. In visiting the Aiiiei'icans and studying tlieir liiws, we perceive that the authority they have intrusted to members of tlie legal j)ro{ession, and the iiiflnence which these indi- viduals exercise in the government, is the most ])Owei'ful existing security against the excesses of democracy. This effect seems to me to result- from a general cause, which it is useful to investigate, as it may be reproduced elsewliei'e. The members of the legal profession have taken a ])art in all the movements of political society in Euro})e i'uv the last five hundred years. At one time, they have l)een the iistruments of the political authorities, and at another, they have succeeded in converting the political authorities into their instruments. In the jNIiddle Ages, they afforded a powerful support to the Crown ; and sin(,'e that period, they have exerted themselves effectively to limit the royal prerogative. In England, they have contracted a close alliance with the aristt)cracy : in France, they have shown themselves its most dangerous enemies. Under all these circumstances, have the members of the legal profession been swayed by sudden and fleeting impulses, or have ihey been more or less impelled by instincts which are natural MlTKiATlUNS OF Till: IVKANNV uF IIIK MAMJlUTY. .'UO to tlu'm, juk! uliicli will iilways ivciir in history? I am iiiciti'd to tills invc'sti^^iitioii, lor pcrliiips this [)articiiliir cltiss of iiu'ii will [Any a promiiiriit part in the })«)litical society which is soon to ou created. !Men who have made a special stndy of the laws derive ironi this occupation certain hahits of order, a taste f!)r for- malities, and a kind of instincti\e regard tor the I'eoular connection of ideas, which naturally render them very hos- tile I') the revolutionary spirit and the unrellectin^ passions of the nndtitude. 'J he special information which lawyers derive I'roi 'leir stu- lies insures them a separate rank in society, ai liey constitute a sort of privileged hody in the scale of intellect. This notion of their superiority })erj)etually recurs .to them in the })ractice of their profession : they are the masters of a science which is necessary, but which is not very <|en- erally known : iliey serve as arbiters between the citizens ; and the habit of directing to their })urpose the blind [»as- sions of parties in litigation, ins})ires them with a certain contempt for the judgment of the nndtitude. Add to this, that they naturally constitute a hotly ; not by any previous understanding, or by an agreement which directs them to a common end; but the analogy of their stuilies and the uni- formity of their methods connect their minds together, as II common interest might unite their endeavors. Some of tlie tastes and the habits of the aristocracy may conseq""ntly be discovered in the characters of lawyers. They participate in tlie same instinctive love of order and tbrmalities ; and they entertain the same repugnance to the actions of the multitude, and tlie same secret contempt of the government of the people. I do not mean to say that the natural propensities of lawyers are sufficiently strong to sway them irresistibly ; for they, like most other men, are governed by their private interests, and especially by the interests of the moment. ■!(f- I i: w Wii ^V .0^. \^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) h // A #.>^ f/, & ^ .> 1.0 I.I l^|2^ 12.5 |50 ■^™ MHB IL25 i u Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 1.6 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 ; i: i ! 1 if : ■I I. '3" 350 DK.MOCnACY IN AMKI.'KA. In a state, of society in wliicli the meniluTs of tlie IciXid profession cannot hold tliat rank in tlie j>oHtical world wliich they enjoy in ])rivate Hfe, we may rest assured that tliey will he the foremost agents of revolution. Jiut it must then be in({uired, whether the cause which then induces them to iiniovate and destroy results from a per- manent disposition or from an accident. It is true that lawyers mainly contributed to the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1781); but it remains to be seen whether they acted thus because they had studietl the laws, or because they were prohibited from makhig them. Five hundred years ago, the English nobles lieaded the people, and spoke in their name ; at the present time, the aristocracy su})port the throne, and defend the royal pre- rogative. But aristocracy has, notwithstanding this, its peculiar instincts and })ropensities. We must be careful not to confound isolated members of a body with the body itself. In all free iiovernments, of whatsoever form thev may be, members of the legal })rotession will be found in the front ranks of all parties. The same remark is also api)licable to the aristocracy ; almost all the tlemocratlc movements wliich ht.ve amtated the world have been di- rected by nobles. A privileged body can never satisfy the ambition of all its members : it has always more tal- ents and more passions than it can find places to content and employ ; so that a considerable number of individuals are usually to be met with, who are inclined to attack those very privileges which they cannot soon enough turn to their own account. I do not, then, assert that all the members of the legal profession are, at all times, the friends of order and the opponents of innovation, but merely that most of them are usually so. In a comnumity in which lawyers are allowed to occupy without opposition that high station which natu- rally belongs to them, their general spirit will be eminently MITIGATIONS (»F TIIK TYRANNY OF Till: MA.KMMIY. '■)•'>[ conservative nnd imti-deiiioerntlc. AVlicii an aristctcracy excludes tlie leaders of tliat })r(»fessi()n iVoni its i-anks, it excites enemies wlio are the more formidaMe as tln-y are independent of the nobility by their lahors, and feel tlu-m- selves to be their equals in intelligence, though inferior in opulence and power. But wlu-ncver an aristocracy con- sents to impart some of its privilet^es to these same individ- uals, the two classes coalesce very readily, and assume, as it were, family interests. I am, in like manner, inclined to believe that a monarcli will always be able to convert le<i;al practitioners into tlu; most serviceable instruments of his authority. 'I here is a far greater affinity between this class of persons and the executive power, than there is between them and the peo- ple, thougli they have often aided to overturn the former ; just as there is a greater natural affinity between the nobles and the monarch, than between the nobles and tlu' people, althouo;h the hicjlier orders of society have often, in con- cert with the lower classes, resisted the prerogative of the crown. Lawyers are attached to public order beyond every other consideration, and the best security of public order is au- thority. It must not be forgotten, also, that, if they prize freedom much, they generally value legality still more: thev are less afraid of tyranny than of arbitrary power; and, provided the legislature undertakes of itself to deprive men of their independence, they are not dissatistied. I am therefore convinced that the })rince who, in pres- ence of an encroachinii democracy, should endeavor to impair the judicial authority in his dominions, and to diminish the political influence of la\\Tt'rs, would commit a great mistake : he would let slip the substance of au- thority to grasp the shadow. He would act more wisely in introducinrr lawyers into the o;overnment ; and if he intrusted despotism to them under the form of violence, 1: m m ^ ■ ^ I w o.-o DKMOCKACY IN' AMKIMCA. I pcrlijips In* would find it iiii;aln in tlieir hands under the extciMial features of justico and law. The <|ov('rninent of democracy is favorable to tno polit- ical power (jf lawyers ; for when the wealthy, the noble, and the prince are excluded from the government, the law- yers take possession of it, in their own right, as it were, since thev are the oidy men of information and sao;ficitv, beyond the sphere of the ])eople, who can be the object of the popular choice. If, then, they are led by their tastes towards the aristocracy and the prince, they are brought in contact with the people by their interests. They like the government of democracy, without participating in its pro[)ensities and without imitating its weaknesses ; whence they derive a twofold authority from it and over it. The people in democratic states do not mistnist the members of the legal profession, because it is known that they are in- terested to serve the popular cause ; and the people listen to them without irritation, because they do not attribute to them any sinister designs. The lawyers do not, in- deed, svish to overthrow the institutions of democracy, but they constantly endeavor to turn it away from its real direction by means which are foreign to its nature. Lawyers belong to the people by birth and interest, and to the aristocracy by habit and taste ; they may be looked upon as the connecting link of the two great classes of society. The profession of the law is the only aristocratic element which can be amalgamated without violence with the nat- ural elements of democracy, and be advantageously and permanently combined with them. I am not ignorant of the defects inherent in the character of this body of men ; but without this admixture of lawyer-like sobriety with the democratic principle, I question whether democratic uistitutions could long be maintained ; and I cannot be- lieve that a republic could hope to exist at the present MITIGATIONS OF Tlir: TYRANNY OF Till; MA.IOIMTY. 3o3 time, if the iiifliionce of lawyers in j)iil)lic l)usliies.s did not increase in ])r()])orti()n to tlie power of tlie j)LM)|)le. Tiiis aristocratic character, whicli 1 liold to be connnon to the legal })rofession, is nuich more distinctly mai'ked in the United States and in England than in any other conn- try. This i)roceeds not only from the legal stndies of the English and American lawyers, but from the nature of the law, and the position which these interpreters of it occupy, in the two countries. The Endish and the Americans have retained the law of precedents ; that is to say, they continue to found their legal oj>inions and the decisions of their courts upon the ojiinions and decisions of their j)rede- cessors. In the mind of an Englisli or American lawyi'r, a taste and a reverence for what is old is almost always united with a love of reiadar and lawi'ul i)ro(ei'dinus. This predisposition has another effect upon the character of the legal ])rofession and u})on the general course of soci- ety. The Englisli and American lawyers investigate what has been done ; the French advocate incpiires what should have been done : the former j)roduce precedents ; the lat- ter, reasons. A French observer is sur})rised to hear how often an English or an American lawyer quotes the opin- ions of others, and how little he alludes to his own ; whilst the reverse occurs in France. There the most triflinff liti- gation is never conducted without the introduction of an entire system of ideas peculiar to the counsel emphwed ; and the fimdamental princi})les of law are discussed in order to obtain a perch of land by the decision of the court. This abnegation of his own o[)inion, and this im- plicit deference to the opinion of his forefathers, which are common to the English and American lawyer, this servi- tude of thought which he is obliged to profess, necessarily give him more timid habits and more conservative inclina- tions in England and America than in France. The French codes are often difficult of comprehension, w ■■ ( iii I' A ■ i '\ '' 354 UI.MOCKACY IN AM1;KIlA. I:- ' 1 but tlu'V ciin be read by every one; notliiii^s on tlie otlicr lianJ, can be more obscure and strange to tlie uninitiated, than a li'gislation f'()un<led upon jtrecedents. The absohite need of legal aid wliich is telt in England and the United States, and the high o])ini()n which is entertained ot" the ability of the legal profession, tend to separate it nioiv and more From the people, and to erect it into a distinct class. The French lawyer is simi»ly a man extt'iisivciy acfjuainted with the statuttis of his country ; but the Eng- lish or American lawyer resembles the hieronhants of Egypt, for, like them, he is the sole interpreter of an occult science. The position which lawyers occu})y in England and America exercises no less influence upon their habits and opinions. The English aristocracy, which has taken care to attract to its sphere whatever is at all analogous to itself, has conferred a high degree of importance and authority upon the members of the legal profession. In English society, lawyers d<j not occupy the first rank, but they are contented with the station assio;ncd to them : tliev consti- tute, as it were, the vouno;er branch of the Enolish aris- tocracy ; and they are attached to their elder brothers, although they do not enjoy all their privileges. The Eng- lish lawyers consequently mingle the aristocratic tastes and ideas of the circles in which they move, with the aristo- cratic interests of their profession. And, indeed, the lawyer-like character which I am en- deavoring to depict is most distinctly to be met with in England : there, laws are esteemed not so much because they are good as because they are old ; and if it be neces- sary to modify them in any respect, to adapt them to the changes which time operates in society, recourse is had to the most inconceivable subtUties in order to uphold the traditionary fabric, and to maintain that nothing has been done which does not square with the intentions, and com- MITIGATIONS OF TIIK TYRANNY OF TIIK MAIOIMTY. ><M plc'te tlie labors, of former <i;ont'r!itioiis. 'J'lu' vimt iiull- vicluuls wlio ('onduct tlu'se chaiiiics disclaim any (K-sire ot" imiovation, and had ratiiur resort to absurd exjiedients than j)lead f^uilty to so ^reat a crime. This spirit apjii-rtains more es])ecially to the Eniilisii lawyci's ; they appear indif- ferent to the real meaning; of \\ hat they treat, and they direct all their attention to the letter, — sccmino; inclined to abandon reason and humanity, rather than to swerve one tittle from the law. Endish lejj;islation mav bi' com- pared to the stock of an old tree, u[)on which lawyers have inirrafted the most dissimilar shoots, in the hope that, althoun;h their fruits may dilfer, their f()liaLje at least will be confounded with the venerable truidv which su])port.s them all.* In America, there are no nobles or literary men, and the people are apt to mistrust the wealthy ; lawyers conse- quently form the highest political class, and the most cul- tivated portion of society. They have therefore uothing to gain by innovation, wliich adds a conservative interest to their natural taste for public order. If I were asked where I place the American aristocracy, I should rej)ly, without hesitation, that it is not among the rich, who are united by no common tie, but that it occupies the judicial bench and the bar. The more we reflect upon all that occurs in the United States, the more shall we be persuaded that the lawyers, as a body, form the most powerful, if not the only, counter- poise to the democratic element. In that country, we easily perceive how the legal profession is qualified by its attributes, and even by its faults, to neutralize the vices * All this is the criticism of a lively and intelligent Frenchman, unfa- miliar with the principles and modes of procedure peculiar to the English Common Law, and exaggerating these very peculiarities of it, because they are so unlike the legal maxims and methods in which he has himself been nurtured from childhood. — Am. Ed. N P If' !": • m V II [I m % A m ii iij 35(3 DKMOCUACY IN AMKKICA. iiiliiTi'iit in |)()jtular <4<)venmu'nt. Wlion tlie AnK'i'icaii jK'oplu are intoxicated l)y passion, or carried away by tlie inipetnosity (»t" their ideas, they are checked and sto|)|)ed hy tile almost invisible infhience of their le<^al counsellors. Tlu'se secri'tly opjxjse their aristocratic pro})ensities to the nation's denioi-ratie instincts, their superstitious attachment to what is old to its love of novelty, their narrow views to its innnense desiirns, and their liabitual procrastination to its ardent impatience. The courts of justice are the visible organs by which the lejxal i»rofession is enabled to control the democracy. 'J'he judiie is a lawyer, who, independently of the taste for re;>- ularity and order which he has contracted in the study of law, derives an additional love of stability from the inalien- ability of his own functions. Ilis lejral attainnu'uts have already raised him to a distinguished rank amongst his fel- lows ; his political power completes the distinction of his station, and gives him the instincts of the privileged classes. Armed with the power of declaring the laws to be un- constitutional,* the American magistrate per})etually inter- fere;-: in political atlairs. He cannot force the peoj)le to make laws, but at least ho can oblige them not to disobey their own enactments, and not to be inconsistent with themselves. I am aware that a secret tendency to dimin- ish the judicial power exists in the United States ; and by most of the Constitutions of the several States, the gov- ernment can, upon the demand of the two houses of the legislature, remove the judges from their station. Some other State Constitutions make the members of the judi- ciary elective, and they are even subjected to frequent re-elections. I venture to predict that these innovations will sooner or later be attended with fatal consequences ; and that it will be found out at some future period, that, by thus lessening the independence of the judiciary, they have * Ste Chapter VI. p. 125, ou the Judicial Power in the United States. MITIGATIONS OF TIIK TYI5.\XNV 0|" TIIi: MAIOIMTV. .".)( )tates. attacked not onlv tlic judicial power, hut tlie dt'm()crati<' rej)ul>Iic itself. Jt must not, moreover, be supposed that tlie le;^al sj)irit is confined, in the United States, to tlie courts of justice ; it extends flir beyond them. As the lawyers form tlie oidy enliiihtened class whom the people do not mistiMist, they are naturally called upon to o'ccupy most of the puhlic stations. They fill the leo;islative assemhiies. and are at the head of the administration ; tliev conseciuentlv exercise a poweiful influence upon the formation of the law, and njxm its execution. The lawyers are, however, ohiin-eil to yield fo the current of puhlic opinion, which is too sti-cii*^ for them to resist ; but it is easy to find indications of what thev would do, if they were free to act. The Americans. Avho have made so many innovations in their political laws, have introduced verv sparinui: alterations in their ci\il laws. and that with ijreat difficult v, althoush niauv of these laws are repugnant to their social condition. The reason of this is, that, in matters of civil law, the majority are oblin;cd to defer to the authority of the leo;al profession, and the American lawyers are disinclined to innovate when thev are left to their own choice. It is curious for a Frenchman to hear the comj)laints which are made in the United States, aujainst the stM'.onary spirit of legal men, and their prejudices in favor of ex stinj; institutions. The influence of leixal habits extends beyond the ])recisp limits I have pointed out. Scarcely any j)olitical question arises in the United States wdiich is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question. Hence all parties arc oblicred to borrow, in their daily controversies, the ideas, and even the lano;uao;e, peculiar to judicial proceediutis. As most public men are, or have been, leo;al j^ractitioners, they introduce the customs and technicalities of their profession into the maiiaoement of public affairs. The jury extends ^T: ;:! i J{;3H DllMOCUACY IN AMKIJICA. this liahitudc to all classes. Tiu- lanixiiaijic of tlio law thus ht'comcs, ill some mcasuri', a vulnai- toiiniic ; tlio sj>int of tilt' law, which is jjroduccd in the sciiools ami court,s of justice, o^i-adiiaily penetrates l)ey<»nd tlicii" walls into the hosoni of society, where it descends to the lowest classes, so that at last the whole people ctjiitract the habits and the tastes of the Judicial nia<xistrate. The lawyers of the United States form a l)arty which is but little feared and scarcely jierceived, which has no bad<i;e peculiar to itself, which adajits itself with ^reat Hexibility to tlie exifjeucies of the time, and acconnnodates itself without resistance to all the movements of the social body. I>ut this J)arty extends over the whole community, and penetrates into all the classes which compose it ; it acts upon the coun- try imperceptibly, but finally fashions it to suit its own purposes. TRIAL 1$Y JURY IN THE UNITED STATES CONSIDERED AS A POLITICAL INSTITUTION. Trial l)y Jury, which is one of the Forms of tlie Sovereignty of the People, OH;:^l,t to I)C compared with tlie other Laws which estal)lish that Sov- crcif^nty. — Composition of the Jury in the United States. — Effect of Trial hy Jury upon the National Character. — It educates the People. — How it tends to estal)lish the Influence of the Magistrates, and to extend the Le^jal Sjjirit amoii<; the People. Since my subject has led me to speak of the administra- tion of justice in the United States, I will not pass over it without adverting to the institution of the jury. Trial by jury may be considered in two separate points of view ; as a judicial, and as a political institution. If it was my pur- pose to inquire how far trial by jury, especially in civil cases, insures a good administration of justice, I admit that its utility might be contested. As the jury was first estal)- lished when society was in its infancy, and when courts of MITICIATIONS OF TIIK TVKANNV W TIIK MAIOKHV. o'jO justice merely decided simple (juestioiis of Hut, it is not :in ea>y ta>k to iidapt it to tlie wants of a liiifidy civili/ed cou)- munity, when the mutual relations (»t' im-n an- nudtiplietl to a surprising; extent, and have assumed an enli<^iiti'ned and intellectual character.* My present purj)ose is to cojisider the jury as a political institution ; any other course would divert me t'r(»m mv suhject. ( )f' trial by jury, considered as a judicial insti- tution, I shall here sav but little. When tiie Ijinlish adopted trial by jury, they were a semi-barbai'ous peoj)le ; thev have since become one of the most enli'diti'iied na- tions of the earth ; and their attachmt'iit to this institution seems to have increased with their increasiuL:; cultivation. They have emigrated and coloni/ed every part of the habitable globe ; some have formed colonies, others inde- jH'iident states ; the mother country has msuntained its monarchical constitution ; many of its offspring have founded powerful republics ; but everywhere they have boasted of the privilege of trial by jury.f They have established it, or hastened to re-establish it, in all their settlements. A judicial institution whicli thus obtains the * Tlie consideration of trial by jury as a Judicial institution, and tho appreciation of its etfects in the United States, tof^etlier with an inquiry into the manner in which the Americans have used it, would suflice to form a hook, and a hook upon a very useful and curious suliject. The State of Louisiana would throw the most li^^ht upon the suhject, as it has a minirled population of French and Enfrlish. The two systems of law, as well as the two nations, are there found side hy side, and are gradually coml)ininff with each other. The most useful hooks to consult would he the Ditjixle din Loi'i de In Louisiana ; and the Traite sitr les Rhjh-.s dis Actions civilts, jjriiited in French and Enjrlish at New Orleans, in 18.'U). t All the Enfrlish and American jtu-ists arc unanimous upon this head. Mr. Story, Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, speaks, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, of the advantages of trial hy jury in civil cases : " The inestimahlc privilege of a trial by jury in civil cases," says he, " a privilege scarcely inferior to that in criminal cases, which is counted by all persons to be essential to political and civil liberty." > i' m '4 ijr mi\ ■it Hi ^i: 1 1 I :m h ! Mi". I Vf Is 3(10 lU'.MOCRACY IN AMKRICA. Rufrnj;^('S of a «^r('at people for so loiirr a sories of n^^cs, wlilclj is /caloiislv r('|»r(t(lu('«'(l at t'\t'rv staixo of civili/ation, in all the cliinalc"* ol' tlic earth, and under ov«'rv form of Imnian government, cannot lie contrary to tlie spli'it of justice.* liut to leave tliis part of the suljject. Tt would l)e a very narrow view to look upon the jury as ji iniMV Judicial institutioti ; for, however jjreat its infliuMice may he ujton the decisions of the courts, it is still n;reater on the desti- * If it were our province to point out the utility of tlic jury ns a Judicial institution, mnny nr{.Mimonts nii<;ht l>e hroujjht fonvanl, and ninon},'St others the followinfr : — In j)rop()rti()n us you introduce the jury into the business of the courts, you arc eutiMcd to diniiuisli the nunilicr of judj,a's , which is a peat advau- taf^e. When ju(l;;cs are very numerous, tleath is perpetually thinning the ranks of the judicial functionaries, and leaviiij; places vacant for new-comers. The amtiifion of the ma^^istrates is therefore continually excited, and they are naturally made dependent upon the majority, or the person who fills up the vacant appointments : the ollicers of the courts then rise like the officers of an army. This state of tliin);s is entirely contrary to the sound admin- istration of justice, and to the intenticuis of the lcj;islator. The office of a judfre is made inalienable in order that lie may Remain independent; but of what advantafro is it that his independence should l)c protected, if he be tempted to sacrifice it of his own accord ? When jud{.'es are very numer- ous, many of them must necessarily be incapable ; for a jireat ma^ristratc is a man of no common jiowers : I know not if a half-enlit:htened tril>unal is not the worst of all combinations for attaining those objeits which it is the purpose of courts of justice to accomplish. For my own jiart, I had rather submit the decision of a ca.sc to ignorant jurors directed by a skilful judge, than to judges a majority of whom are imperfectly acquainted with jurisprudence and with the laws. [I venture to remind the reader, lest tliis note should appear somewhat redundant to an English eye, that the jury is an institution which has only been naturalized in France within the present century ; that it is even now exclusively applied to those criminal causes which come before the Courts of Assize, or to the prosecutions of the public press ; and that the judges and counsellors of the numerous local tribunals of France — forming a body of many thousand judicial functionaries — try all civil causes, appeals from criminal causes, and minor offences, without the jury. — English Translator's Note] MIIICATKtNS OK TIIK TVKANNY (H* Till: MAForMTV. 3»ll nil's of society at lar^o. Tin* jury is, al)ovi' mII, a politicjil institiitiofi, and it must be iv<far(K'(l in tliis lin-lit in order to })(• duly a|i|ii'e«'iated. liv the jury, I mean n certain numluT of citizens cliosen ])V lot, and invested witli a ti'mpovarv riirlit of Indiriin'. 'I'rial l>y jury, as aj)|»lied to the repression of crime, appears to me an eminently repul)lican element in the <joverinnetit, for the tolI()\vin(r reasons. The institution of the jury may he aristocratic or (K-mo- ei'atie, accordiuif to the class from which the jurors are taken ; but it always preserves its repJiblican character, in that it places the real direction of society in the hands (»f the ^ovei'iH'd, (»r of a jiortion of the <2;overned, and not in that of the o;overnment. Force is never more than a tran- sient element of success, and after force, comes the notion (»f riiiht. A iiovcrmnent which should be able to reach its enemies only upon a field of battle would soon bo de- stroyed. The true sanction of political laws is to be found in penal legislation ; and if that sanction be wantini;, the law will sooner or later lose its corjoncy, ?Ie who pun- ishes the criminal is therefore the real master of society. Now, the institution of the jury raises the people itself, or at least a class of citizens, to the bench of judixes. The institution of the jury conse([uently invests the ])eople, or that class of citizens, witli tlie direction of society.* In Enjrland, the jury is returned from the aristocratic portion of the nation ; f the aristocracy makes the laws, ♦ An important remark must, however, 1)C made. Trial by jury does uiiquo!stional)ly invest the people with a general control over the actions of tlie citizens, hut it docs not furnish means of exercising this control in all cases, or with an absolute authority. When an absolute monarch has the right of trying offences by his representatives, the fate of the prisoner is, as it were, decided beforehand. But even if the peojde were jjredisposed to convict, the composition and the non-responsibility of the jury would siiil afford some chances favorable to the protection of innocence. t In France, the qualification of the jurors is the same as the electoral 16 w\ i!t; 11 ) r ■m DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. t , ! ap[)li('s tlie laws, and puiiislics infriK'tions of the laws evorvtliin<^ is established upon a consistent footing, and I'^ndiind may with truth be said to constitute an aristo- c'i'atic republic. In the United States, the same system is aj)j)lied to the whole })eoi)le. Every American citizen is (pialified to be an elector, a juror, and is eligible to office.* The system of the jury, as it is understood in America, ai)i)ears to me to be as direct and as extreme a consequence of the sovereignty of the people as universal suffrage. They are two instruments of equal power, which contrib- ute to the supremacy of the majority. All the sovereigns who have chosen to govern by their ow^n authority, and to direct society instead of obeying its directions, have de- stroyed or enfeebled the institution of the jury. The Tudor monarchs sent to prison jurors who refused to convict, and Napoleon caused them to be selected by his awnts. However clear most of these truths may seem to be, they do not command universal assent ; and, in France at least, the trial by jury is still but imperfectly understood. If the question arises as to the proper qualification of jurors, it is confined to a discussion of the intelligence and knowl- edge of the citizens who may be returned, as if the jury was merely a judicial institution. This appears to me the qualification, namely, the payment of 200 francs per annum in direct taxes : they are chosen by lot. In Enjjland, they are returned by the sherifl^"; the qualifications of jurors were raised to £10 per annum in England, and j£6 iu Wales, of freehold lands or copyhold, by the statute W. and M., c. 24 ; leaseholders for a time determinable upon life or lives, of the clear yearly value of £20 per annum over and at)Ove the rent reserved, are qualified to serve on juries ; and jurors in the courts of Westminster and City of London must be householders, and possessed of real and personal estate of the value of £100. The qualihcations, however, prescribed in different statutes vary accordinf^ to the object for which the jury is impanelled. See Blackstone's Commentaries, Book III. c, 23. — English Translator's Note. * See Appendix Q. MITIGATIONS OF THE TYRANNY OF THK MAJORITY. 868 k'ast important part of the subject. The jury is pre-emi- nently a nohtieal institution ; it sliould be rejiarded as one form of the sovereignty of tlie people : wlien that sover- eignty is repudiated, it must be rejected, or it must be adapted to the laws by -svhich that sovereignty is estab- lished. The jury is that portion of the nation to wliieh the execution of the laws is intrusted, as the legislature is that part of the nation which makes the laws ; and in or- der that society may be governed in a fixed and uniform manner, the list of citizens qualified to serve on juries nnist increase and diminish with the list of electors. This I hold to be the point of viev^ most worthy of the attention of the legislator ; all that remains is merely accessory. I am so entirely convinced that the jury is pre-eminently a political institution, that I still consider it in this light when it is applied in civil causes. Laws are always unsta- ble unless they are founded upon the manners of a nation : manners are the only durable and resisting ])Ower in a peo- ple. When the jury is reserved for criminal offences, the people only witness its occasional action in particular cases : they become accustomed to do without it in the ordinary course of life ; and it is considered as an instrument, but not as the only instrument, of obtaining justice. This is true a fortion^ when the jury is applied oidy to certain criminal causes. When, on the contrary, the jury acts also on civil causes, its application is constantly visible ; it affects all the inter- ests of the community ; every one co-operates in its work : it thus penetrates into all the usages of life, it fashions the human mind to its peculiar fonns, and is gradually associ- ated with the idea of justice itself. The institution of the jury, if confined to criminal causes, is always in danwr : but when once it is intro- duced into civil proceedings, it defies the aggressions of time and man. If it had been as easy to remove the jury :i J M I '! \\\ J 'f! ;!l i III 'S^. t 7 i I 'iH I n I % m .« WM i ! :^!'!;";'! ' "i'r ti.l 3G4 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. from the manners as from the laws of England, It would have perished under the Tudors ; and the civil jury did in reality, at that period, save the liberties of England. In whatever manner the jury be applied, it cannot fail to exer- cise a j^owerful influence upon the national character ; but this influence is prodigiously increased when it is intro- duced into civil causes. The jury, and more especially the civil jury, serves to communicate the spirit of the judges to the minds of all the citizens ; and this spirit, Avith the halv its which attend it, is the soundest preparation for free institutions. It imbues all classes with a respect for the thing judged, and with the notion of right. If these two elements be removed, the love of independence becomes a mere destructive passion. It teaches men to practise equity ; every man learns to judge his neighbor as he would himself be judged. And this is especially true of the jury in civil causes ; for, whilst the number of persons who have reason to apprehend a criminal prosecution is small, every one is liable to have a lawsuit. The jury teaches every man not to recoil before the responsibility of his own actions, and impresses him with that manly confidence without which no political virtue can exist. It invests each citizen with a kind of magistracy ; it makes them all feel the duties which they are bound to discharge towards society, and the part which they take in its gov- ernment. Bv oblio-ing men to turn their attention to other affairs than their own, it rubs off that private selfishness which is the rust of society. The jury contributes powerfully to form the judgment and to increase the natural intelligence of a people ; and this, in my opinion, is its greatest advantage. It may be regarded as a gratuitous public school, ever open, in which every juror learns his rights, enters into daily communica- tion with the most learned and enliffhtened members of the upper classes, and becomes practically acquainted with the MITIGATIONS OF THE TYRANNY OF TUK MAJUKITY. oho laws, wliicli are brought within the reach of his cajjacity Ly the efforts of the bar, tlie advice of the judge, and even by the passions of the parties. I think that the practical intelligence and political good sense of the Americans are mainly attributable to the long use which they have made of the jury in civil causes. I do not know whether the jury is useful to those who have lawsuits ; but I am certain it is highly beneficial to those who judge them ; and I look upon it as one of the most efficacious means for the education of the people which society can onij^loy. What I have said applies to all nations ; but the remark I am about to make is peculiar to the Americans and to democratic communities. I have already observed that, in democracies, the members of the legal profession, and the judicial magistrates, constitute the only aristocratic body which can moderate the movements of the people. This aristocracy is invested with no physical power ; it exercises its conservative influence upon the minds of men : and the most abundant source of its authority is the institution of the civil jury. In criminal causes, when society is con- tending against a single man, the jury is apt to look upon the judge as the passive instrument of social power, and to mistrast his advice. Moreover, criminal causes turn en- tirely upon simple facts, which common sense can readily appreciate : upon this ground, the judge and the jury are equal. Such, however, is not the case in civil causes ; then the judge appears as a disinterested arbiter between the conflicting passions of the parties. The jurors look up to him with confidence, and listen to him with respect, for in this instance, his intellect entirely governs theirs. It is the judge who sums up the various arguments which have wearied their memory, and who guides them through the devious course of the proceedings ; he points their atten- tion to the exact question of fact, which they are called 366 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I^i.: ■ ■ .' upon to decide, and tells them how to answer the question of law. His influence over them is almost unlimited. If I am called upon to explain why I am but little moved by tho arguments derived from the ignorance of jurors in civil causes, I reply, that in these proceedings, whenever the question to be solved is not a mere ques- tion of fact, the jury has only the semblance of a judi- cial body. The jury only sanctions the decision of the judge ; they sanction this decision by the authority of society which they represent, and he, by that of reason and of law.* In England and in America, the judges exercise an in- fluence upon criminal trials which the French judges have never possessed. The reason of this difference may easily be discovered ; the English and American magistrates have established their authority in civil causes, and only transfer it afterwards to tribunals of another kind, where it was not first acquired. In some cases, and they are frequently the most important ones, the American judges have the right of deciding causes alone.t Upon these occasions, they are accidentally placed in the position which the French judges habitually occupy : but their moral power is much greater; they are still surrounded by the recollection of the jury, and their judgment has almost as much authority as the voice of the community represented by that institu- tion. Their influence extends far beyond the limits of the courts ; in the recreations of private life, as well as in the turmoil of public business, in public and in the legislative assemblies, the American judge is constantly surrounded by men who are accustomed to regard his intelligence as superior to their own ; and after having exercised his power in the decision of causes, he continues to influence * See Appendix K. t The Federal judges act alone upon almost all the questions most impor- tant to the government of the country. km- JHTIGATIONS OF THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY'. 367 tlio liabits of tlioiiirht, and even the liaracters, of those wlio acted witli liini in his official capacity. The jury, then, which seems to restrict the rights of the judiciary, does in reality consolidate its power ; and in no country are the judges so powerful as where the jjcople share their i)rivileges. It is especially by means of the jury in civil causes, that the American magistrates imbue even the lower classes of society with the spirit of their profession. Thus the jury, which is the most energetic meaps of making the people rule, is also the most effica- cious means of teachinjx it how to rule well. ■i Ml in most impor- 3G8 UKMOCHACY IX AMERICA. CHAPTER XVII. PRINCIPAL CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN THE DEMO- CRATIC REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES. J Ji..,, 1 ^ m f •fi A DEMOCRATIC republic exists in the United States ; and the principal object of this book has been to explain the causes of its existence. Several of these causes have been involuntarily passed by, or only hinted at, as I was borne along by my subject. Others I have been unable to discuss at all ; and those on which I have dwelt most are, as it were, buried in the details of this work. I think, therefore, that, before I proceed to speak of the future, I ought to collect within a small compass the reasons which explain the present. In this retrospective chapter I shall be brief; for I shall take care to remind the reader only very summarily of what he already knows, and shall select only the most prominent of those facts which I have not yet pointed out. All the causes which contribute to the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States are reducible to three heads : — I. The peculiar and accidental situation in which Prov- idence has placed the Americans. II. The laws. III. The manners and customs of the people. CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 3GD '< X 'HE DEMO- \rrTT)KNTAL OR PROXqDENTIAL CAUSES WTlirH CONTRTBUTE TO MAINTAIN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES. Tlie Union has no Ncighl)ors. — No Metropolis. — The Americans have liad tiie Chance of Birth in their Favor. — America an empty C(>untry. — How this Circumstance contril)Utes powerfully to iiuiintain the Demo- cratic Repuhlic in America. — How the American Wilds are peo|)le(l. — Avidity of the Anglo-Americans in takinj^ I'ossession of the Solitudes of the New World. — Influence of Physical Prosperity upon the Politi- cal Opinions of the Americans. A THOUSAND circumstances, independent of the will of man, facilitate the maintenance of a democratic- republic in the United States. Some of these are known, the others may easily be pointed out ; but I shall confine myself to the principal ones. The Americans have no neighbors, and consequently they have no great wars, or financial crises, or inroads, or con- quest, to dread ; they require neither great taxes, nor large armies, nor great generals ; and they have nothing to fear from a scourge which is more formidable to republics than all these evils combined, namely, military glory. It is im- possible to deny the inconceivable influence Avhich military glory exercises upon the spirit of a nation. General Jack- son, whom the Americans have twice elected to be the liead of their government, is a man of violent tcm})er and very moderate talents ; nothino; in his whole career ever })roved him qualified to govern a free people ; and in- deed, the majority of the enlightened classes of the Union has always opposed him. But he was raised to the Pres- idency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recol- lection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans ; a victory which was, lujuever, a very ordinary achievement, and which could only be remembered in a country where battles are rare. 16* X m I ' si'''"'. H til 370 DKMOrRACY IN AMKRK'A. v\ ": Now tlic |)(M>|)1(> wlu) arc tlnis carrlcci away by tlic illusioTis of j^lory arc iiiKiucstionaUly the most cold and calculatin*;, tlu' most mimilitary, if I may so speak, and tlic most pro- saic, of all the nations of the earth. America has no <ireat capital * city, whose direct or indirect inHncnce is felt over the wliole extent of the conn try ; this I held to be one of the first canses of the main tcnance of re])nhlican institntions in the United States, In cities, men cannot he prevented from concerting to- gether, and awakening a mntnal excitement which prompts sndden and passionate resolntions. Cities may he looked upon as large assemblies, of which all the inhabitants are members ; their populace exercise a prodigious influence upon the magistrates, and frequently execute their own wishes without the intervention of public officers. * The United States liave no metropolis ; but they nlrcndy contain sev- eral very lar^re cities. Philadelphia reckoned 161,000 inhal)itants, and New York 202,000, in the year 1830. The lower orders which inhabit these cities constitute a ral)l)lc even more formidable than tiie populace of Euro- pean towns. They consist of freed blacks, in the first place, who are con- demned by the laws and by pul)lic opinion to an hereditary state of misery and de<rradation. They also contain a multitude of Europeans, wlio have been driven to the shores of the New World by their misfortunes or their misconduct ; and these men inoculate the United States with all our vices, without bringin<5 with them any of those interests which counteract their baneful influence. As inhabitants of a country where they Iiave no civil ri<;^hts, they arc ready to turn all the passions which ajxitate the community to their own advantage ; thus, within the last few months, serious riots have broken out in Philadelphia and in New York. Disturbances of this kind are unknown in the rest of the country, which is nowise alarmed by them, because the population of the cities has hitherto exercised neither power nor influence over the rural districts. Nevertheless, I look upon the size of certain American cities, and especially on the nature of their population, as a real danger which threatens the future security of the democratic republics of the New World ; and I venture to predict that they will perish from this circumstance, unless the government succeeds in creating an armed force, which, while it remains under the con- trol of the majority of the nation, will be independent of the town-popula- tion, and able to repress its excesses. CAUSES WHICH TKNl) TO MAINTAIN DKMuCKACY. ol\ To siil)jc('t tlie })r()viiu't'S to tlio in('tro|H»Iis is, tlici-crorc, to place tlie destiny of tlie eini)iiv in tlic liaiuls, imt only of a portion of tlie connnunity, which is unjust, hut in the luuuls of a populace carrying; out its own impulses, whicli is very dan<ferous. The preponderance of ca|)ital cities is therefore a serious injury to the repri'sentatixe system ; and it exjuises modern ri'j)ul)lics to the same defect as tin* re]»ul>Iics of antitpiity, whch all perished from not having known this system. It would he easy tor mc to enumerate many secondary causes which have contributed to establish, and now con- cur to maintain, the democratic republic of the United States. But amon<f these favorable circum.>*tances I dis- cern two principal ones, which I hasten to point out. I have already observed that the origin of the Americans, or what I have called their i)oint of departure, may be looked upon as the first and most efficacious cause to which the ])resent prosperity of the United States may be attributed. The Americans had the chances of birth in their favor; and their forefathers imported that equality of condition and of intellect into the country whence the democratic republic has very naturally taken its rise. Nor was this all ; for besides this republican condition of society, the early settlers bequeathed to their descendants the customs, manners, and opinions which contribute most to the suc- cess of a republic. When I reflect ujxm the consequences of this primary fact, methinks I see the destiny of America embodied in the first Puritan who landed on those shores, just as the whole human race was represented by tlie first man. The chief circumstance which has favored the establish- ment and the maintenance of a democratic republic in the United States, is the nature of the territory whicli the Americans inhabit. Their ancestors o-ave them the love of eipiality and of freedom ; but God himself gave them the Ml i' •.■ ■': J I I'" ^1 872 DKMOCHACY IN' AMKKU A. means of I'diiiiiiiiiio; chjiuiI and free, l)y placiiij^ tlicm upon a l)ouii(lli'ss coiitiiK'iit. General prosperity is favorable to the stahility of all j^overnnients, but more jjarticularly of a (lemoeratie one, >vliieh depeiuls upon the wilT of the majority, and esj)eeially upon the will of that portion of the eonnnunity which is most e.\j)osed to want. When the people rule, they must be rendered hapi)y, or they will overturn the state : and misery stimulates them to tliose excesses to which ambition rouses kin<5s. The physical causes, independent of the laws, which }>romote general ])rosj)erity, are more numerous in America than they ever have been in any other country in the world, at any other })eriod of history. In the United States, not only is legis- lation democratic, but Nature herself favors the cause of the people. In what part of human history can be found anything similar to what is passing before our eyes in North Amer- ica? The celebrated communities of antiquity were all founded in the midst of hostile nations, which they were obliged to subjugate, before they could flourish in their place. Even the moderns have found, in some parts of South America, vast regions inhabited by a people of infe- rior civilization, but who had already occupied and culti- vated the soil. To found their new states, it was necessary to extirpate or subdue a numerous poj)ulation, and they made civilization blush for its own success. But North America was inhabited only by wandering tribes, wdio had no thought of profiting by the natural riches of the soil ; that vast country was still, properly speaking, an empty continent, a desert land awaiting its inhabitants. Everything is extraordinary in America, the social con- dition of the inhabitants, as well as the laws ; but the soil upon which these institutions are founded is more extraor- dinary than all the rest. When the earth was given to men by the Creator, the earth was inexhaustible ; but men CAUSKS WHICJI TKN'I) TO MAINTAIN DF.MOrHACV. f> t •} were wciik smd li;norant ; and wlicn tlii'V li:ul learned to take a<l\aiita<j;(' of tlic tivasurt's which it ('((iitaiiicd. thcv ah'i'ady covered its surface, and were soon ohhiicd to earn l)y tlic sword an asyhnn for repose and freedom. Jnst tlien Nortii Anu'rica was (lisco\-ered, as if it lia<l lu'cn i\e|»t in reserve hv tlie Deity, and luid just risen from heni'atii the waters of tlie dehiLje. That continent still presents, as it did in tlu' primeval time, ri\ers which rise from ni'ver-fiiilin;:; sources, ereen and moist solitudes, and limitless fields which the jilou^h- share of the hushandman has never turned. In this state, it is otfert'd to man, not Karliarous, iiiuorant, and isolated, as lie was in the early anx's, Imt ah'eadv in- i»ossession of the most important seeri'ts of nature, united to his fellow- iiieu, and instructed Ijy the experience of fifty centuries. At this very time, thirteen [twenty-five] millions of civil- ized Euro})eans are })eaceaLly spreading over those fertile j)lains, with whose resources and extent they are not yet themselves accurately acciuainted. Three or four thousand soldiers drive before them tlie wandering races of the abo- rigines ; these are followed by tlie j)ioneers, who pierce the ■woods, scare off the beasts of prey, explore the courses of the inland streams, and make ready the triumphal march of civilization across the desert. Often, in the course of this work, I have alluded to the favorable influence of the material prosperity of America upon the institutions of that country. This reason had already been given by many others before me, and is the only one which, being palpable to the senses, as it were, is familiar to Europeans. I shall not, then, enlarge upon a subject so often handled and so well understood, beyond the addition of a few facts. An erroneous iiotiim is cen- erally entertained, that the deserts of America are i)eopled by European emigrants, who annually disembark ujx>n the coasts of the New World, whilst the American population i I ;.*F fiy mi . I'M 1 ; ) : a74 DKMOCKACY IN AMKUICA. iiK r(';is»' iiiid iiiiiltl|tlv upoi) tlio soil wliicli tln'ir forffatluTH till('«l. Tilt' iMiropfim srttlcr usually arrivi's in the United States witliuiit iVieiuls, and often witlioiit resources; in order to subsist, lie is ohlinjcd to work for hire, an<l ho rai'ely |»i'oeeeds ln'y«»n<l that helt of industrious pojtulatioii which adjoins the ocian. The desert cannot be explored without capital or cre(lit ; and tlie body must he aecus- tonied to the i"i;iors of a new climate, before it can be exjjosed in the midst of the tltri'st. It is thi' Americans themsel\t's who daily (juit the spots which ^ave tliem birth, to acquire extensive (h)mains in a ri-mote re;;ion. Thus tile European leaves liis cottage tor the Transatlantic shori's, and the American, who is born on tiiat very coast, plunjiies in liis turn into the wilds of central America. This double emiiii'ation is incessant ; it be«fins in the middle of Ein'oj)e, it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, and it advances over the soli- tudes of the New World. ^lillions of men arc marchinjj at once towards the same horizon : tlieir ]an;i;uage, their reli*2;ion, their manners ditt'er ; their object is the same. Fortune lias been ])romised to tluni somewdiere in the West, and to the West thev j;o to find it. No event can be compared with this continuous removal of the human race, except perhaps those irruptions which caused the fall of the Roman Empire. Then, as well as now, crowds of men were impelled in the same direction, to meet and struggle on the same spot ; but the designs of Providence were not tlie same. Then, every new-comer brought with him destruction and death ; now, each one brings the elements of prosj)erity and life. The future still conceals from us the remote conse([uences of this mi- gration of the Americans towards the West ; but we can readily aj)])reliend its immediate results. As a portion of the inhabitants annually leave the States in which they were born, the population of these States increases very slowly, although they have long been established. Thus, \rn CAL'SKS WllK'fl TKXU 10 MAINTAIN lUi.MOi KACV. '6^>} Ml Ccuinfcticut, wlilcli vi't ('((iita'ms omIv fil'tv-iiiiK' iiili;il)it- ;iiits to tlic M{ii:ii'(> mill the popiil.itloii has not lirtii iii« (•ivasi'd l)v iiioi't' tliaii one uiiarttr in Hdtv vi-ars, wliilst tliat ot' lCii;:laii<l lias liccii aii<:iiii'iit«'(l 1»\- uiu' tliif'l in tlio saiiK' |)i'rit«l. I'hi' IlnroiK-au ciui^ii'ant always lands, tlu-fc- f'oiv, ill a country wliicli is hut halt' lull, and whcff hands arc in rc(|uc>t : he hccoincs a woikinan in easy cii'cnni- .staiiccs ; his son eoes to sci'k his t'ortniu' in un|»eo|(led re^iions, and heconies a rich land-owner. The lorincr amasses the capital which the latter invests ; and the stran^Xcr as well as the natixc is unaccpiainted with want. 'IMk' laws of tlu' I'nited States are extremely tavorahle to tlu' di\ isioii of property ; hut a cause more j)owerful than the laws pre\ents jtrojierty from lieinn' di\i(|ed to excess.* This is very perci-ptihle in the States which iiro at hist heiiinninii to be thickly peopled ; Massachusetts is the most jtopulous ])art of tlic Union ; hut it contains oidy ci;;hty inhabitants to the s([uare mile, which is nuich less than in France, where one lumdred and sixty-two are reckoned to the same extent of country. But in jMassu- chusetts, estates are very rarely divided ; the eldest son generally takes the land, and the others go to seek their fortune in tlieir desert. The law lias abolished the riiilit of primogeniture, but circumstances liave concurred to re- establisli it under a form of wliich none can coni[)lain, and by which no just rights are impaired. A single fact will suffice to show the prodigious number of individuals who thus leave New England to settle in the w ilds. We were assured in I80O, that thirt3^-six of the members of Couiiress were born in the little State of Con- necticut. The po})ulation of Connecticut, which consti- tutes only one forty-third part of that of the United States, thus furnished one eighth of the whole body of representa- * In New England, estates are very small, but they are rarely sulyeeted to further division. ! il ■It ti 370 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. i! i ;> < ' lives. Tlje State of Conivctlcut of itself, however, sends only five delegates to Congress ; and the thirty-one others sit for the new Western States. If these thirty-one indi- vidnals had remained in Connecticut, it is probable that, instead of becoming rich land-owners, they would have remained humble laborers, that they would have lived in obscurity without being able to rise into public life, and that, far fivmi becomino; useful lemslators, thcv might have been uiu'ulv citizens. These reflections do not escape the observation of the Americans any more than of ourselves. " It cannot be doubted," says Chancellor Kent, in his Treatise on Amer- ican Law, " that the division of landed estates must pro- duce great evils, when it is carried to such excess as that each parcel of land is insufficient to support a family , but these disadvantaijes have never been felt in the United States, and many generations must elapse before they can be felt. The extent of our inhabited tei'ritory, the abun- dance of adjacent land, and the continual stream of emi- ijration flowino; from the shores of the Atlantic towards the interior of the country, suffice as yet, and will long suffice, to prevent the parcelling out of estates." It would be difficult to describe the avidity with which the American rushes forward to secure this immense booty which fortune offers. In the pursuit, he fearlessly braves the arrow of the Indian and the diseases of the forest ; ht is unimpressed by the silence of the woods ; the approach of beasts of prey does not disturb him ; for he is goaded onwards by a passion stronger than the love of life. Be- fore him lies a boundless continent, and he urges onward as if time pressed, and he was afraid of finding no room for his exertions. I have s])oken of the emigration from the older States ; but how shall I describe that which takes place from the more recent ones? Fifty years have scarcely elapsed since that of Ohio was founded ; the CAUSES WHICH TKXD TO MAINTAIN Dl'.MOCKACV. 'j< < greater part of its inliabitants were not born witliin its confines ; its capital has been built only thirty years, and its territory is still covered by an immense extent of uncultivated fields ; yet already the population of ( )hio is proceeding westward, and most of tlie settlers who de- scend to the fertile prairies of Illinois are citizens of Ohio. Tliese men left their first country to improve tlieir condi- tion ; they quit their second, to ameHorate it still more ; fortune awaits them everywhere, but not hai)piness. The desire of })rosperity is become an ardent and restless pas- sion in their minds, which «»;rows by what it feeds on. They early broke the ties wliich bound them to their natal earth, and they have contracted no fresh ones "on their way. Emigration was at first necessary to them ; and it soon becomes a sort of game of chance, which they pursue for the emotions it excites, as much as for the gain it procures. Sometimes the progress of man is so rapid that the des- ert reappears behind him. The woods stoop to give him a passage, and spring up again when he is past. It is not uncommon, in crossing the new States of the AVest, to meet with deserted dwellings in the midst of the wilds ; the traveller frequently discovers the vestiges of a log- house in the most solitary retreat, which bear witness to the power, and no less to the inconstancy, of man. In these abandoned fields, and over these ruins of a day, the primeval forest soon scatters a fresh vegetation ; the beasts resume the haunts which were once tlieir own ; and Na- ture comes smilino; to cover the traces of man with iireen branches and flowers, which obliterate his ephemeral track. I remember, that, in crossing one of the woodland dis- tricts which still cover the State of New York, I reached the shores of a lake which was embosomed in forests co- eval with the world. A small island, covered with woods whose thick foliage concealed its banks, rose from the centre of the waters. Upon the shores of the lake, no if!' ■s . i: ■ i ' M t ■H!. I( nut Yi mi' I lli ::'l'i^ ■ ;in jij I i I ; :' ^T8 Oi DEMOCRACY IN AMEUICA. object attested the presence of nuiii, except a column of smoke, wliicli mio;lit be seen on the horizon risin<'- from the to])s of tlie trees to the ck)U(ls, and seeming to liang from lieaven ratlier than to be mountinij; to it. An Indian canoe was liauled up on tlie sand, which tempted me to visit tlie islet that had first attracted my attention, and in a few minutes I set loot u])o;i its banks. The whole island formed one of those delicious solitudes of the Xew World, which almost lead civilized man to reo;ret the haunts of the savaoe. A luxuriant veo-etation bore witness to the incom- parable fruitfulness of the soil. The deep silence, which is common to the wilds of North America, was only broken by the mcjnotonous cooing of the wood-pigeons, and the ta})])ing of the woodpecker upon the bark of trees. I was far from sup})osing that tliis spot had ever been inhabited, so completely did Nature seem to be left to herself; but when I reached the centre of the isle, I thought that I dis- covered some traces of man. I then proceeded to examine the surrounding objects with care, and I soon perceived that a European had undoubtedly been led to seek a refuge in this place. Yet what changes had taken place in the scene of his labors ! The logs which he had hastily hewn to build himself a shed had sprouted afresh ; the very props w^ere intertwined with living verdure, and his cabin was transformed into a bower. In the midst of these shrubs, a few stones w^ere to be seen, blackened with fire and spriidded with thin ashes ; here the hearth had no doubt been, and the chinmey in falling had covered it with rubbish. I stood for some time in silent admiration of the resources of Nature and the littleness of man ; and when I was obliged to leave that enchanting solitude, I exclaimed with sadness, " Are ruins, then, already here ? " In Europe, we are wont to look upon a restless disposi- tion, an unbounded desire of riches, and an excessive love of independence, as propensities very dangerous to society. CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCHACY. 379 Yet these are the very elements whieli insure a long and peaceful future to the republics of America. Without these unquiet passions, the population would collect in cer- tain spots, and would soon experience wants like those of the Old World, which it is difficult to satisfy ; for such is the i)resent good fortune of the New World, that the vices of its inhabitants are scarcely less favorable to society than their virtues. These circumstances exercise a iiivat inHu- ence on the estimation in which human actions are hold in the two hemispheres. W^hat we should call cupidity, the Americans frequently term a laudable industry ; and they blame as faint-heartedness what we consider to be the vir- tue of moderate desires. In France, simple tastes, orderly manners, domestic aft'ections, and the attachment which men feel to the place of their birth, are looked upon as great guaranties of the tranquillity and happiness of tlie state. But in America, nothing seems to be more prejudicial to society than such virtues. The French Canadians, who have faithfully pre- served the traditions of their ancient manners, are already embarrassed for room upon their small territory ; and this little community, which has so recently begun to exist, will shortly be a prey to the calamities incident to old nations. In Canada, the most enlightened, j)atriotic, and humane inhabitants make extraordinary eftbrts to render the peo- ple dissatisfied with those simple enjoyments wliicli still content them. There the seductions of wealth are vaunt- ed with as much zeal as the charms of a moderate compe- tency in the Old World ; and more exertions are made to excite the passions of the citizens there, than to calm them elsewhere. If we listen to their accounts, we shall hear that nothing is more praiseworthy than to exchange the })ure and tranquil jjleasures which even the poor man tastes in his own country, for the sterile delights of pros})erity under a foreign sky ; to leave the patrimonial hearth, and # i mi ;'. r 'i 380 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. the turf beneatli wliicli one's forefatliers sleep, — in short, to abandon tlie hving iind tlie dead, in quest of fortune. At tlie present time, America presents a field for human effort far more extensive than any sum of labor whieh can be applied to work it. In America, too much knowledge cannot be diffused ; for all knowledge, whilst it may serve him who possesses it, turns also to the advantage of those who are without it. New wants are not to be feared there, since they can be satisfied without difficulty ; the growth of human passions need not be dreaded, since all })assions may find an easy and a legitimate object ; nor can men there be made too free, since they are scarcely ever tempt- ed to misuse their liberties. The American re])ublics of the present day are like com- panies of adventurers, formed to explore in common the waste lands of the New World, and busied in a flourishino- trade. The passions which agitate the Americans most deeply are not their political, but their commercial, pas- sions ; or, rather, they introduce the habits of business into their political life. They love order, without which affairs do not prosper ; and they set an especial value upon regu- lar conduct, which is the foundation of a solid business. They prefer the good sense which amasses large fortunes to that enterprising genius which frequently dissipates them ; general ideas alarm their minds, which are accus- tomed to positive calculations ; and they hold practice in more honor than theory. It is in America that one learns to understand the influ- ence which physical prosperity exercises over political ac- tions, and even over opinions which ought to acknowledge no sway but that of reason ; and it is more especially among strangers that this truth is perceptible. Most of the European emigrants to the New World carry with them that wild love of independence and change which our calamities are so apt to produce. I sometimes met CAUSKS WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DKMOCRACY. nsi u'itli Europeans in tlie United States, who had heen ohli^ed to leave tlieir country on account of their jxditical ojtinions. Tliey all astonished me by the lan<j;uaii;e they held, hut ono of them surprised mo more than all the rest. As I was crossino; one of the most remote districts of Pennsylvania, I was benin-hted, and obliiied to beo; for hospitality at the mite of a wealthy i)lanter, who was a Frenchman by birth. He bade me sit down beside his fire, and we beoan to talk Avith that freedom which l)efits persons who meet in the backwoods, two thousand leafjnes from tlieir native coun- try. I was aware that my host had been a frwut leveller and an ardent demaffofjue forty years aiio, and that his name was in history. I was therefore not a little surprised to hear him discuss the rights of })ro})erty as an economist or a land-owner might have done : he s})oke of the neces- sary gradations which fortune establishes among men, of obedience to established laws, of the influence of o-ood morals in conmionwealths, and of the su])port which relig- ious opinions give to order and to freedom ; he even went so far as to quote the authority of our Saviour in sui)port of one of his political opinions. I listened, and marvelled at the feebleness of human rea- son. How can we discover whether a proposition is true or false, in the midst of the uncertainties of science and the conflicting lessons of experience ? A new fact disperses all my doubts. I was poor, I have become rich ; and I am not to expect that prosperity will act upon my conduct, and leave my judgment free. In truth, my opinions change with my fortune ; and the haj)py circumstances which I turn to my advantage furnish me with that deci- sive aro-ument which was before wantino;. The influence of prosperity acts still more freely upon Americans than upon strangers. The Amei'ican has al- ways seen public order and public prosperity intimately united, and proceeding side by side before his eyes ; he D A ml I ; r 382 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. cannot ovon iman-ino that one can subsist without tlie other : lie has tlierefore nothing to forget ; nor lias he, like so many Europeans, to unlearn the lessons of his early education. influp:nce of the laws upon the maintenance of the democratic republic in the united states. Three principal Ctuiscs of the Maintcnanre of the Dcmorratic Republic. — Federal Union. — Township Institutions. — Judicial I'owor. The principal aim of this book has been to make known the laws of the United States ; if tliis purpose has been accomplished, the reader is already enabled to judge for himself which are the laws that really tend to maintain the democratic republic, .ind which endanger its existence. If I have not succeeded in explaining this in the whole course of my work, I cannot hope to do so in a single chapter. It is not my intention to retrace the path I have already pursued ; and a few lines will suffice to recapitu- late what I have said. Three circumstances seem to me to contribute more than all others to the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States. The first is that federal form of jjovernment which the Americans have adopted, and which enables the Union to combine the power of a great republic with the security of a small one ; The second consists in those township institutions which limit the despotism of the majority, and at the same time impart to the people a taste for freedom, and the art of being free ; The third is to be found in the constitution of the judicial power. I have shown how the courts of justice serve to repress the excesses of democracy, and how they check and direct the impulses of the majority without stop- ping its activity. CAUSKS Wllirir TKXn TO MAIXTAIX l>i:MOfnACY. 883 NCE OF THK INFLUENCE OF MANNF,T18 UPON THE MAINTENANCE OF THE DEMOCRATIC IIEI'UIJLIC IN THE UNITED SIATES. I HAVE previously remarked tliat tlie manners of tlio people may be considered as one of tlio p'eat ii;eneral causes to wliieh the maintenance of a democratic rej)ul»lic in the United States is attrii)ntable. I liere use the word manners with the meanino; which the ancients attached to tlie word mores ; for I apply it not only to manners proper- ly so called, — that is, to what might be termed tlte habits of the hearty — but to the various notions and opinions cur- rent amono; men, and to the mass of those ideas which con- stitute their character of mind. I comprise under this term, therefore, the whole moral and intellectual condition of a people. j\Iy intention is not to draw a })icture of American manners, but simply to point out such features of them as are favorable to the maintenance of their politi • cal institutions. RELIGION CONSIDERED AS A POLITICAL INSTITUTION, WHICH POWERFULLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC AMONGST THE AMERICANS. North Amerifa peopled l)y Men wlio professed a Democratic and Republican Christianity. — Arrival of the Catholics. — Why the Catholics uow form the most Democratic and most Republican Class. By the side of every rehgion is to be found a political opinion, which is connected with it by affinity. If the human mind be left to follow its own bent, it will regulate the temporal and spiritual institutions of society in a uni- form manner ; and man will endeavor, if I may so speak, to harmonize earth with heaven. The greatest part of British America was peoj)led by men who, after having shaken off the authority of the ^ 1\ , fi ; i m I III ,1'i I'i ' . ia ■i-i 384 I)i:mo( racy i\ ami:i.mca. P(t|K% acl<n()wl('(lo;('(l no other roliojions sii]»romnoy: tliey brought w itli them into tlu' New AVorld a t'oi'in of Cliris- tiaiiitv, wliicli I cannot bottor dcsoribo tlian by stylinii; it a (Icnioci'atic and republican reli;:;ion. Tliis contributed powerfully to the establishment of a republic and a de- mocracy in public affairs ; and from the beginning, politics and religion contracted an alliance which has never been dissolved. About fifty years ago, Ireland began to pour a Catholic j)oj)Tdation into the United States ; and on their part, the Catholics of America made ])roselytes, so that, at the j)res- ent moment, more than a million of Christians, professing the truths of the Church of Rome, are to be found in the Union. These Catholics arc faithful to the observances of their religion ; they are fervent and zealous in the belief of their doctrines. Yet they constitute the most repub- lican and the most democratic class in the United States. This fact may surprise the observer at first, but the causes of it may easily be discovered upon reflection. I think that the Catholic religion has erroneously been regarded as the natural enemy of democracy. Amongst the various sects of Christians, Catholicism seems to me, on the contrary, to be one of the most favorable to equality of condition amonrj men. In the Catholic Church, the religious community is composed of only two elements ; the priest and the people. The priest alone rises above the rank of his flock, and all below him are equal. On doctrinal points, the Catholic fliith places all human capacities upon the same level ; it subjects the wise and io-norant, the man of o-enius and the vulgar crowed, to the details of the same creed ; it imposes the same observances upon the rich and needy, it inflicts the same austerities U])on the strong and the weak ; it listens to no compromise with mortal man, but, reducing all the human race to the same standard, it confounds all the distinctions of society CAUSES WHICH TKND TO MAINTAIN' DKMOCRACV. o8;") at the foot of tlie same altar, ovon as tliov are oonf(»uii'' ' in the siolit of God. If Catliolicisni j)ri'(lisj)oses tlu' tiiitn- fiil to ohodicnce, it certainly docs not prepare them lor in- equality : but the contrary may be said of Protestantism, which <j;enerally tends to make men in<le|)endent, more thau to render them eipial. Catholicism is like an abso- lute monarchy ; if the sovereio;n be removed, all the other classes of society are more ecpial than in rej)nblics. It has not unfrequently occurred that the Catholic priest has left the service of the altar to mix with the oovcrninjjj powers of society, and to take his ])lace amongst the civil ranks of men. This relioious influence lias sometimes been used to secure the duration of that political state of thin<rs to which he belouijed. Thus we have seen Cath- olics takino; the side of aristocracy from a relio-ious motive. But no sooner is the priesthood entirely separated from the government, as is the case in the United States, than it is found that no class of men are more naturally disposed than the Catholics to transfer the doctrine of the equality of condition into the political world. If, then, the Catholic citizens of the United States are not forcibly led by the nature of their tenets to adopt dem- ocratic and republican princij)les, at least they are not necessarily opposed tt) them ; and their social position, as well as their limited nundjer, obliges them to adopt these o})inions. Most of the Catholics are })Oor, and they have no chance of taking a part in the government unless it be o|>en to all the citizens. They constitute a minority, and all rights must be respected in order to insnre to them the free exercise of their own privileges. These two causes induce them, even unconsciously, to adopt political doc- trines which they would perhaps support with less y.eal if they were rich and preponderant. The Catholic clergy of the United States have never attempted to oppose this political tendency ; but they seek 17 Y '!»' 380 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ! ! f ii ii ratlier to justify it. The Catliolic i)ri('sts in Amcncii liave dividc'tl tlio intt'llt'ctual world into two parts: in tlic one, they place the doctrines of revealed religion, wliicli they assent to without discussion ; in the other, they leave those political truths, which they believe the Deity has left open to free incpiiry. Thus the Catholics of the United States are at the same time the most submissive believers and the most independent citizens. It may be asserted, then, that in the United States no relio;i()us doctrine dis})lays the slightest hostility to demo- cratic and repul)lican institutions. The clergy of all the different sects there hold the same language ; their opinions are in agreement wn'tli the laws, and the human mind rlaws onwards, so to speak, in one undivided current. I happened to be staying in one of the largest cities in the Union, when I was invited to attend a public meeting in favor of the Poles, and of sending them sup})lies of arms and money. I found two or three thousand persons collected in a vast hall, which had been prepared to receive them. In a short time, a priest, in his ecclosiastical robes, advanced to the front of the platform : the spectators rose, and stood uncovered in silence, whilst he spoke in the fol- lowing terms : — " Abnighty God ! the God of armies ! Thou who didst strengthen the hearts and guide the arms of our fathers when they were fighting for the sacred rights of their national independence ! Thou who didst make them tri- umph over a hateful oppression, and hast gi'anted to our people the benefits of liberty and peace ! turn, () Tjord, a favorable eye upon the other hemisphere ; pitifully look down upon an heroic nation which is even now struggling as we did in the former time, and for the same rights. Thou, who didst create man in the same image, let not tyranny mar thy work, and establish inequality upon the earth. Almighty God ! do thou watch over the destiny i« CAUSF.S WHICH TKNI) TO MAINTAIN IH.MOCHACV. • )0( t Cities 111 of tlio Pol«'s, and inako tliom wortliy to be freo. Mwy tlir wisdom diivc't their councils, may tliy stivn^tli sustain tlicir arms I Slicd forth thy tvrror over tlicir enemies ; scatter tlie ])oweiN wliicli take counsel ap;ainst tliem ; and permit not tlie injustice wliich the worhl has witnessed tor fifty years to he consummated in our tiini>, O Lord, who lioltk'st ahke the hearts of nations and of men in thy pow- erful hand, raise up allies to the sacred cause of rii^ht : arouse the French nation from the apathy in which its rulers retain it, that it may go forth again to tight for the liherties of the world. " Lord, turn not thou thy fiice from us, and grant that we may always be the most religious, as wei.l as the freest, people of the earth. Almighty God, hear our supplica- tions this day. Save the Poles, we beseech thee, in the name of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross for the salvation of all men. Amen." The whole meeting responded, " Amen ! " with devotion. INDIRECT INFLUENCE OF KELIGIOUS OriNIONS UPON POUT- ICAL SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES. Christian Morality common to all Sects. — Influence of Kclijjion upon the Manners of the Americans. — Respect for the Marriapc Tie. — How Religion confines the Imafiination of the Americans within certain Lim- its, and checks tlie Passion for Innovation. — Opinion of the Americans on the political Utility of Religion. — Their Exertions to extend and secure its Authority. I HAVE just shown what the direct influence of religion upon politics is in the United States ; but its indirect in- fluence appears to me to be still more considerable, and it never instructs the Americans more fully in the art of being free than when it says nothing of freedom. The sects which exist in the United States are innu- :; ? i . ) '!f i* f »■ i i w ;j«8 miMOCltACY IN AMKIJICA. iiuTuhK'. 'I'lu-y ill! dim r in ri'spccL to the worslilp wlilch is (liii- to till' Creator; l)Ut tlioy all a^jivo in n'spect to the (lutii's which aiv iliic from man to man. Each sect adori's till' Di'ity in its own peculiar maniu'r; hnt all socts preach the same nioi'al law in the nanu' of (lod. li' it he of the highest iin|iortance to man, as an individual, that his reli<f- ion slioidd he true, it is not so to society. Society has no I'nture life to hope lor or to tear; and j)rovideil the citizi-ns jirofess a reli<;;ion, the peculiar tenets of that religion are of little importance to its interests. Moreover, all the sects of the I'nited States are comprised within the (fi'eat unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same. It may fairly he helieved, that a certain numher of Americans pursue a peculiar form of worship from habit more than from conviction. In the United States, the sovereign authority is relitrious, and consecjuently hypocrisy nuist he common ; hut there is no country in the world where the Christian relijiion retains a mvater influence over the souls of men than in America ; and tliere can be no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enliu-htened and free nation of the earth. I have remarked that the American clero;y in general, without even excepting those who do not admit religious liberty, are all in favor of civil freedom ; but they do not su})port any })articular political system. They keep aloof from parties, and from public affairs. In the United States, religion exercises but little hifluence upon the laws, and u})on the details of public opinion ; but it directs the manners of the community, and, by regulating domestic life, it regulates the state. I do not question that the great austerity of manners which is observable in the United States arises, in the first instance, from religious faith. Religion is often unable to CAUSES WHICH TKNI) TO MAINTAIN DUMOCRACV. ;5hl» restrain man from tlio nnmlH-rlcss tiini»tiiflon«< which ciianci' (tVcrs ; n»>r can it check tliat passion for ;;ain which cvcrvtiiinir contril)Utcs to aronsi' : hnt its inlhicn i'i' over tlic mni( I of \\ oman is snprcinc, and women are the pro ti'ctors of morals. There is cei'tainly no conntry in the world where the tie of marriani' is more respected than in America, or where conjnual iiapi)iness is more hiiihiv or wortiiily ai)preeiated. In I'lnrop(>, almost all the tlistnrln ances of society arise from the irreunlarities of domestic life. To derpise the natural honds and legitimate jde.isnres of home, is to contract ii taste lor excesses, ji restlessness of heart, and Hnctnatini]; (U'sires. A^'itated hy the tnnnil- tnons passions which frecpiently distnrh his dwellini:', the Enntpean is «j;alled by the obedience which tlu' Iciii^lative powers of the state exact. lint when the American retires from the turmoil of pnblic life to the bosom of liis family, he finds in it the imau;e of order and of peace. There his ])leasnn'S are simple and natnral, his joys are intiocent and calm ; and as he finds thtit an orderly lite is the snrest path to ha])j)iness, lie acenstoms himself easily to moderate his opinions as well as his tastes. A\'hilst tlio Enroijcan endeavors to forjiet his domestic tronbles bv aiii- tatinn; society, the American derives from his own home that love of order whicli he afterwards carries with him into public affairs. In the United States, the influence of relii^ion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelliifence, of the people. Amoncrst the Aniilo-Americans, some ])r(H less the doctrines of Christianity fi'om a sincere belit'f in them, and others do the same because they fear to l)e sus- pected of unbelief. Christiaiiity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent ; the consetpience is, as I have before observed, that every principle of the moral world is fixed and determinate, althouoh the political world is abandoned to the debates and the experiments of men. ':• ■ ' ii:W: .' i 'i ' 390 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. :tr' % Tlius the human mind is never left to wander over a boundless field; and, whatever may be its pretensions, it is checked from time to time by barriers whi(;li it can- not surmount. Before it can innovate, certain primary princi])les are laid down, and the boldest conceptions are subjected to certain forms Avliich retard and stop their conipleti(jn. The imaiiination of the Americans, even in its o;reatest filo'hts, is circumspect and undecided ; its impulses are checked, and its works unfinished. These habits of re- straint recur in political society, and are singularly favora- ble both to the tranquillity of the people and the durability of the institutions they have established. Nature and cir- (;umstances have made the inhabitants of the United States bold, as is sufficiently attested by the enterprising spirit with which they seek for fortune. If the mind of the Americans were fi'ee from all trammels, they would shortly become the most daring innovators and the most persistent disputants in the world. But the revolutionists of Amer- ica are obliged to profess an ostensible respect for Christian morality and equity, which does not permit them to violate wantonly the laws that oppose their designs ; nor woulr. they find it easy to surmount the scruples of their ])arti- sans, even if they were able to get over their own. Hith- erto, no one in the United States has dared to advance the maxim that everything is permissible for the interests of society, — an impious adage, wliich seems to have been invented in an aoe of freedom to shelter all future tyrants. Thus, whilst the law permits the Americans to do what they please, religion prevents them from conceiving, and forbids them to commit, what is rash or unjust. Religion in America takes no direct part in the govern- ment of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions ; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 391 this same pi)iiit of view that the inliahitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all the Amerieans have a sincere faith in tlieir relin-ion, — for who can search the human heart? — hut T am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens, or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation, and to every rank of society. In the United States, if a politician attacks a sect, this may not prevent the partisans of that very sect from sup- porting him ; but if he attacks all the sects together, every one abandons him, and he remains alone. AVhilst I was in America, a witness, wlioliappened to be called at the Sessions of the county of Chester (State of New York), decUired that he did not beheve in the exist- ence of God, or in the hnmortahty of the soul. The judge refused to admit his evidence, on tlie o-round that the wit- ness had destroyed beforehand all the confidence of the court in what ho was about to say.* The newspapers related the fact without any further comment. * The New York Spectator of August 2,3, 1831, relates the fact in the following terms : " The Court of Common Pleas of Chester County (New York) a few days since rejected a witness who declared his disl)elief in the existence of God. Tlie presiding judge remarked, that he had not before been aware that there was a man living who did not believe in the existence of God ; that this belief constituted the sanction of all testimony in a court of justice ; and tliat he knew of no cause in a Christian country where a witness had been permitted to testify without such belief." [The exclusion of the testimony of atheists is not a peculiarity of Amer- ican jurisprudence, but is a principle of the English Conmion Law, which is still enforced in England as well as in this country. It is not upheld as a Tnavk of respect for the Christian religion, or because an atheist is unwor- thy of belief, but because no man is allowed to testify in a court of justice except he is under oath, and an oath has no meaning, because it has no sanction, in the mouth of one who does not believe in a just God and a future retribution. The atheist is excluded, therefore, not because he does not believe what others believe, but because he cannot be sworn. — Am. Ed.] ili f 1 ci Vi ; 'iiLilMjll f, ;i I- ■) i r 392 DE.MUCKACY IN A.MKKICA. The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of hberty so intimately in tlieir minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other ; and with them, this conviction does not spring from that bar- ren, traditionary faith which seems to vegetate rather than to live in the soul. I have known of societies formed by tlie Americans to send out ministers of the Gospel into the new Western States, to found schools and churches there, lest religion should be suffered to die away in those remote settlements, and the rising States be less fitted to enjoy free histitutions than the people from whom they came. I met with w^eal- thy New-Englanders who abandoned the country in which they were born, in order to lay the foundations of Chris- tianity and of freedom on the banks of the Missouri, or in the prairies of Illinois. Thus religious zeal is perpetually warmed in the United States by the fires of patriotism. These men do not act exclusively from a consideration of a future life ; eternity is only one motive of their devotion to the cause. If you converse with these missionaries of Christian civilization, you will be surprised to hear them speak so often of the goods of this world, and to meet a politician where you expected to find a priest. They w ill tell you, that " all the American republics are collectively involved with each other ; if the republics of the West were to fall into anarchy, or to be mastered by a despot, the republican institutions which now flourish upon the shores of the Atlantic Ocean would be in great peril. It is therefore our interest that the new States should be re- ligious, in order that they may permit us to remain free." Such are the opinions of the Americans : and if any hold that the religious spirit which I admire is the very thing most amiss in America, and that the only element wanting to the freedom and happiness of the human race on the other side of the ocean is to beheve with Spinoza in CAUSES WHICH TKXD TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 893 the eternity of the Avorkl, or with Cabiinis thut thouglit is secreted by the bruin, I can only re])ly, that those who hold this language have never been in iVmerica, and that they have never seen a religions or a free nation. When they return from a visit to that country, we shall hear what they have to say. There are persons in France who look uj)on republican institutions only as a means of obtaining grandeur ; they measure the immense space which separates their vices and misery from power and riches, and they aim to fill up this gulf with ruins, that they may pass over it. These men are the cotuhttieri of liberty, and fight for their own advantage, whatever be the colors they wear. The re- public will stand long enough, they think, to draw them up out of tlieir present degradation. It is not to these that I address myself. But there are others who look forward to a republican form of government as a tranquil and last- ing state, towards which modern society is daily impelled by the ideas and manners of the time, and who sincerely desire to prepare men to be free. When these men attack religious opinions, they obey the dictates of their passions, and not of their interests. Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. Religion is much more necessary in the republic which they set forth in glowing colors, than in the monarchy which they attack ; it is more needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible that society should escape destruction, if the moral tie be not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is re- laxed ? and what can be done with a people who are their own masters, if they be not submissive to the Deity ? ^;ri m 17* 894 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. PRINCIPAL CAUSES WHICH RENDER IN AMERICA. REIJGION POWERFUL ii Care taken by tlie Americans to separate tho Cliureli from the State. — The Laws, Public Opiuion, and even tiic Exertions of tlic Clergy, concur to promote tliis End. — Influence of Religion upon the ^lind in the United States attributable to this Cause. — Reason of this. — What is the Nat- ural State of Men with regard to Religion at the Present Time. — Wiiat arc the Peculiar and Incidental Causes wliich prevent Men, in certain Countries, from arriving at this State. The pliilosophers of the eigliteenth century explained in a very sini})le manner the gradual decay of religious faith. Keligious zeal, said they, must necessarily fail the more generally liberty is established and knowledge diffused. Unfortunately, the facts by no means accord with their theory. There are certain populations in Europe whose unbelief is only equalled by then' ignorance and debase- ment ; whilst in America, one of the freest and most enlightened nations in the world fulfil with fervor all the outward duties of religion. On my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention ; and the lo; ger I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America, I found they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. My desire to discover the causes of this phe nomenon increased from day to day. In order to satisfy it, I questioned the members of all the different sects ; I sought especially the society of the clergy, who are the depositaries of the different creeds, and are especially in- terested in their duration. As a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I was more particularly brought into OWERFUL CAUSKS WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 39o contact with several of its priests, witli whom I became Ultimately acquainted. To each of these men I expressed my astonishment and ex])lained my doubts : I found that they differed upon matters of detail ahme, and that they all attributed the peaceful dominion of religion in their coun- try mainly to the se[)aration of church and state. I do not hesitate to affirm, that, during my stay in America, 1 did not meet a single individual, of the clergy or the laity, who was not of the same opinion upon this point. This led me to examine more attentively than I had hitherto done the station which the American clergy oc- cupy in political society. I learned with sur})rise that they filled no public aj)pointnients ; * I did not see one of them in the administration, and they are not even represented in the legislative assemblies.! In several States,^ the law excludes them from political life, ])ublic opinion in all. And when I came to inquire into the prevailing spirit of the clero;v, I found that most of its members seemed to retire of their own accord from the exercise of power, and that they made it the pride of their profession to abstain from politics. * Uiilcss this term be applied to the functions which many of them fill in the schools. Almost all education is intrusted to the clergy. [This is tuo sweeping. Clergymen often serve upon school committees, or fill professor- ships in colleges, as tlicy frecjuently do in Europe. But they arc not so numerous as the laity iii cither of these offices. — Am. Ed.] + They are not represented as such. But they are often elected to repre- sent their townships, or even their States in Congress. — Am. Ed. t See the " Constitution of New York," Art. VII. § 4 : — " And whereas the ministers of the Gospel are, by their profession, dedi- cated to the service of God and the care of souls, and ought not to be di- verted from the great duties of their functions ; therefore no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall at any time here- after, under any pretence or description whatever, be eligible to, or capable of holding, any civil or military office or place within this State." Sec also tlic Constitutions of North Carolina, Art. XXXI. ; Virginia ; South Carolina, Art. I. § 2.3 ; Kentucky, Art. II. § 26 ; Tennessee, Art. Vm. § 1 ; Louisiana, Art. II. § 22. IS ' m f iiiil flip ' 1 3 I 1 ill p ' K \h 1; j ■L_L ' J:! Hni I,, i ct:;- ! ■ i-1 396 DEMOCRACA' IN AMKRICA. I hoard them invoiiili against am])iti()ii and deceit, under whatever })oliti('al oj)inions tliese vices miglit cliafice to lurk ; but I learned from tlieir discourses that men are not guilty in tlie eye of God for any opinions concerning political governmcMit which they may profess with sincer- ity, any more than they are for their mistakes in builvimg a house, or in driving a furrow. I perceived that these ministers of the Gospel eschewed all parties, with the anxi- ety attendant upon ])ersonal interest. These facts con- vinced me that what I had been told was true ; and it then became my object to investigate their causes, and to intpiiro how it ha])pened that the real authority of religion was increased by a state of things which diminished its aj)par- ent force : these causes did not long escape my researches. The short space of threescore years can never content the imagination of man ; nor can the imperfect joys of this world satisfy his heart. Man alone, of all created beings, displays a natural contempt of existence, and yet a bound- less desire to exist ; he scorns life, but he dreads annihila- tion. These ditferent feelings incessantly urge his soul to the contemplation of a future state, and religion directs his musings thither. Religion, then, is simply another form of hope ; and it is no less natural to the human heart than hope itself. Men cannot abandon their religious faitli without a kind of aberration of intellect, and a sort of ^ io- lent distortion of their true nature ; they arc invincibly brought back to more pious sentiments. Unbelief is nn accident, and faith is the only permanent state of mankind. If we consider religious institutions merely in a human point of view, they may be said to derive an inexhaustible element of strength from man himself, since they belong lo one of the constituent principles of human nature. I am aware that, at certain times, religion may strengthen this influence, which originates in itself, by the artificial power of the laws, and by the support of those teinj»oral CAUSKS WHICH TF.NI) TO MAINIAIN DF-MOCnACY. o'JT institutions wliifli cliroct society. Ki-liiiions intimately united with tlie ixovernments of tlie eartli liave heeii known to exercise sovereinn power founded on terror and faitli ; but wlien a religion contracts an alliance of this nature, I do not hesitate to affirm that it connnits the same error as a man who sliould sacrifice his future to his pres- ent welfare ; and in ol)tainino; a })ower to whicli it has no claim, it risks that authority wliich is rightfully its own. "When a religion founds its em])ire only u])on tlie desire of immortality which lives in every human heart, it may aspire to universal dominion ; but when it coiuiects itself witli a o()vernment, it must ado])t maxims whicli are appli- cable only to certain nations. Thus, in forming an alliance with a political power, religion augments its authority over a few, and forfeits the hope of reigning over all. As long as a religion rests only upon those sentiments whicli are the consolation of all affliction, it may attract the affections of all mankind. But if it be mixed up with fl ^ bittei passions of the Avorld, it may be constrained to defend allies whom its interests, and not the princi})le of love, have given to it ; or to repel as antagonists men who are still attached to it, however opposed they may be to the powers with which it is allied. The church cannot share the temporal power of the state, without being the object of a portion of that animosity which the latter excites. The political powers which seem to be most firmly estab- lished have frequently no better guaranty for their duration than the opinions of a generation, the interests of the time, or the life of an individual. A law may modify the social condition which seems to be most fixed and determinate ; and with the social condition, everything else must chanire. The powers of society are more or less fugitive, like the years which we spend upon earth ; they succeed each other with rapidity, like the fleeting cares of life ; and no government has ever yet been founded upon an invariable -r M '^ 398 DKMOCIiACY IN AMKItlCA. '1!t i t^~..'' !i:P I tu disposition of tlic liumaii heart, or' upon an imperishable interest. As lonrr as a reh'gion is sustained by those feehno;s, pro- pensities, and passions which are found to occur vmder tlie same forms at all periods of history, it may defy the efforts of time ; or, at least, it can be destroyed only by another relio;ion. But when reliixion clino:s to the interests of the world, it becomes almost as fragile a thing as the powers of enrth. It is the only one of them all which can ho])e for immortality ; but if it be connected with their ephem- eral power, it shares their fortunes, and may fall with those transient passions which alone supported them. The alli- ance which religion contracts with political powers must needs be onerous to itself, since it does not require their assistance to live, and by giving them its assistance it may be exposed to decay. The danger which I have just pointed out always exists, but it is not always equally visible. In some ages, govern- ments seem to be imperishable ; in others, the existence of society appears to be more precarious than the life of man. Some constitutions plunge the citizens into a lethargic som- nolence, and others rouse them to feverish excitement. When governments seem so strong, and laws so stable, men do not perceive the dangers which may accrue from a union of church and state. When governments appear weak, and laws inconstant, the danger is self-evident, but it is no longer possible to avoid it. We must therefore learn how to perceive it from afar. In proportion as a nation assumes a democratic condition of society, and as communities display democratic propen- sities, it becomes more and more dangerous to connect religion with political institutions ; for the time is coming when authority vv^ill be bandied from hand to hand, when political theories Avill succeed each other, and when men, laws, and constitutions will disappear or be modified from CAUSES WHICH TKNl) TO MAINTAIN DKMOCRACV. noo day to (lay, and tliis not for a sca'ion only, Imt nnr'(>asino;ly. Agitation and miitahility are inlieront in tlu' natnro of doniorratic, roi)ul)li('s, just as stagnation and sleepinoss are the law of absolute monarcliies. If the Americans, who clianiie the head of the <xovern- ment once in four years, who elect new legislators eveiy two years, and renew the State officers everv twelve- t' A. month, — if the Americans, who have given up the pohtical world to the attempts of innovators, had not j)]a('ed relig- ion beyond their reach, where could it take firm hold in the ebb and flow of human opinions ? where would be that respect which belongs to it, amidst the struggles of fac- tion ? and what would become of its immortality, in the midst of universal decay ? The American clergy were the first to perceive this truth, and to act in conformity with it. They saw that they must renounce their religious influence, if they were to strive for political power ; and they chose to give up the support of the state, rather than to share its vicissitudes. In America, religion is perhaps less powerfiil than it has been at certain periods and among certain nations ; but its influence is more lasting. It restricts itself to its own resources, but of these none can deprive it : its circle is limited, but it pervades it and holds it under undisputed control. On every side in Europe, we hear voices complaining of the absence of religious faith, and inquiring the means of restoring to religion some remnant of its former authority. It seems to me that we must first attentively consider what ought to be the natural state of men, with regard to relig- ion, at the present time ; and when vre know what we have to hope and to fear, we may discern the end to which our efforts ought to be directed. The two great dangers which threaten the existence of religion are schism and indifference. In ages of fervent t ': J). it; ^if m M:J 400 DKMOCHACY IX AMKKICA. iii : devotion, men somotlmcs abandon tlicir rdii^ion, l)ut tlicy only shako one aW in ovdvv to ado[)t another. Their tliith changes its ohiects, but sufft'rs no decline. The old reliy;- ion then excites enthusiastic attachment or bitter enmity in either party; some leave it with an^-cr, others cling to it with increased devotedness, and although persuasions dif- fer, irreligion is unknown. Such, however, is not the case when a religious belief is secretly undermined by doctrines which may be termed negative, since they deny the truth of one religion without alKrming that of any other. Pro- digious revolutions then take place in the human mind, ■without the ai)parent co-o])eration of the passions of man, and almost without his knowledge. Men lose the objects of their fondest hopes, as if through forgetfulness. They are carried away by an imperceptible current, Avhich they have not the courage to stem, but which they follow with regret, since it boars them away from a faith they love, to a scepticism that plunges them into despair. In ages A\b::'h answer to this description, men desert their religious opinions from lukewarmnoss rather than from dislike ; they are not rejected, but they fall away. But if the unbeliever does not admit religion to be true, ho still considers it useful. Regarding religious institutions in a human point of view, he acknowledges their influence upon manners and legislation. He admits that they may serve to make men live in peace, and prepare them gently for the hour of death. He regrets the faith which he has lost ; and as he is deprived of a treasure of which he knows the value, he fears to take it away from those who still possess it. On the other hand, those who continue to believe are not afraid openly to avow their faith. They look upon those who do not share their persuasion as more worthy of pity than of opposition ; and they are aware, that, to acquire the esteem of the unbelieving, they are not obliged CAUSES wmcii ti:ni) TU MAINIAIN DKMOCIJAL'V, 401 leve are to follow tlu'ir C'XiimpK'. Tlicy are not lio>tilt', tlicii, to any one ill till' world; and us tlicy do not consider tin* society in which they live as an arena in which religion is honnd to face its tlionsand deadly foes, they love their contem- poraries, whilst they condemn their weaknesses and la- ment their ei-rors. As tliose who do not believe conceal tlu'ir incredulity, and as those who believe display their fiiith, public opinion j)ronounces itself in favor of reliuion : love, support, and liouor are bestowed upon it, and it is oidy by searchiiii;' the human soul that we can detect the wounds which it has received. The mass of mankind, wlio are ne\t'r without the feelint^ of religion, do not })erceive anything- at variance with the established liiith. Tiie instinctive desire of a future life brings the crowd about the altar, and opens the hearts of men to the precepts and consolations of religion. Bv.t this picture is not a[)})licable to us ; for there are men amongst us who have ceased to believe in Christianity, without adopting any other religion ; others are in the perplexities of doubt, and already affect not to believe ; and others, again, arc afraid to avow that Christian faith which they still cherish in secret. Amidst these lukewarm partisans and ardent antagonists, a small number of believers exists, who are ready to brave all obstacles, and to scorn all dangers, in defence of their faith. They have done violence to human weakness, in order to rise superior to public opinion. Excited by the effort they have made, they scarcely know where to stop ; and as they know that the first use which the French made of independence w^as to attack religion, they look upon their contemporaries with dread, and recoil in alarm from the liberty which their fellow-citizens are seeking to obtain. As unbelief appears to them to be a novelty, they comprise all that is new in one indiscriminate animosity. They are at war with their age and country, and they look upon :;i Wv MW 40: DKMOUUACY IN AMKKICA. I ( I ' evory opinion wliicli is put fortli tlit're as the nefossuiy I'Mt'iny of faitli. Sucli is not the natural state of men witli ivjiard to re- ]'\i^uu\ at tlie [)resent day ; and some extraordinary or inci- dental cause nnist he at work in France, to prevent the human mind from foUowin*;- its natural inclination, and drive it heyond the limits at which it ought naturally to sto]». 1 am I'ully convinced that this extraoi'dinary and inci- dental cause is the close connection of politics and religion. The uidjelievers of Euroi)e attack the (Christians as their political opj)()nents, rather than as their religious adversa- ries ; they hate the Christian religion as the opinion of a i)arty, much more than as an error of belief; and they ]\'ject the clergy less because they are the representatives of the Deity, than because they arc the allies of govern- ment. In Europe, Christianity has been intimately united to the powers of the earth. Those powers are now in decay, and it is, as it were, buried under their ruins. The living body of religion has been bound down to the dead corpse of superannuated polity ; cut but the bonds which restrain it, and it will rise once more. I know not what could re- store the Christian Church of Europe to the energy of its earlier days ; that power belongs to God alone ; but it may be for human policy to leave to faith the full exercise of the strength which it still retains. CAUSES WHICH tkxd to maintain m:.M(>ci{acy. 408 HOW Tin; F.nrcsTioN, 'iiir. iiAiUTrt, and tin; 1'ua(ti(;al i;xim;uii;n(k of tiik amkkk'ans pkomotk tiik auccKss OF TIIFIU DFMOCRATIC INriTITUTIONd. What is to i»o lUKltTHtood liy tlui KiliKiUion (if tlio Aiiicrican IVoplc. — Tlio Iluiniiii ISIiml inoro .siipiTticially iiiHtnictL'tl in tli<- IJiiitcMl States than ia Kuropc. — No one cuniiilt'tfiy uniiihtnittud. — Hnisnii of this. — Hapid- ity with which Opinions art; ditVuscd I'vun in tiic half-cultivated .Staled of the West. — Tractical Kxpericncc more scrviceuidc to the Americana tiian nnok-Leari\in;;. I havf: but littler to add to wliat I liuve alivady said, coii- (•erniiiif the iiiHiu'iico which tlic instruction and tlie habits of tlic Americtins exercise u[)on the niaintenan{;e of their political institutions. Americii hits hitherto produced very tew writers of dis- tinction ; it possesses no ^reat liistorians, anil not a sinj^lo eminent poet.* The inhabitii is of that coinitry look uj)on literature proi)erly so called with a kind of disa))i)robation ; and there are towns of second-rate importance in Eurojie, in which more litertuy works are anniudly published than in the twenty-four States of the Union put tooether.f Tlie spirit of the Americans is averse to general ideas ; it * This statement was rather too sweeping; even in 18.3.3, wFTcn M. do Tocqueville wrote. But now, when tlic list of our historians contains the names of Prcscott, Sparks, Bancroft, Motley, I'alfrey, and Ilildreth, and that of our poets includes those of Lonj;fellow, Bryant, Dana, Spraj^ue, Lowell, and a crowd of others, our author's remark is only curious as evincing the suddenness and rapidity with which literary talent has hecn developed in the United States. — Am. Ed. t It is not too much to say, tliat as many books arc now annually printed and sold in the United States as in England. Certainly, what is now called " the reading public " is larger in America, in proportion to the jjopulation, than in any other country in the world. This is a conse(iuence partly of the wide diffusion of education, wliich enables so many to read books, and partly of the general prosperity of the people, which enables still more to buy them. Literary pursuits arc also held in high honor in society ; a suc- cessful author is second to no one in estimation with the upper classes, or ia favor with the common people. — Am. Ed. Ill 11 ■ i 404 DEMOCRACY IN A^IERICA. docs not seek tlicoretical discoveries. Neither politics nor manufactures direct tliem to such speculations ; and al- though new laws are per[)etually enacted in the United States, no great writers there have hitherto inquired into the general principles of legislation. The Americans have lawyers and commentators, but no jurists ; and they fur- nish examples rather than lessons to the world. The same observation applies to the mechanical arts. In Am.erica, the inventions of Europe are adopted with sagacity ; they are perfected, and adaj)ted with admirable skill to the wants of the country. Manufactures exist, but the science of manufacture is not cultivated ; and they have good workmen, but very few inventors.* Fulton was obliged to proffer his services to foreign nations for a long time, before he was able to devote them to his own country. The observer who is desirous of forming an opinion on the state of instruction amoufjst the Anolo-Americans must consider the same object from two diflt'erent points of view. If he singles out only the learned, he will be astonished to find how few they are ; but if he counts the ignorant, the American people will appear to be the most enlightened in the world. The whole population, as I observed in another place, is situated between these two extremes. In New England, every citizen receives the elementary notions of human knowledge ; he is taught, moreover, the doctrines and the evidences of his religion, the history of his country, and the leading features of its Constitution. In the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it is ex- tremely rare to find a man imperfectly acquainted with all these things, and a person wholly ignorant of them is a sort of phenomenon. * This assertion is the very reverse of the truth. In no country in the world, during the hist tifty years, lias inventive industry becu so far devel- oped or so successful as in America. Europe copies and adopts American inventions, but furnishes very '"•jw comparatively in return — Am. Ed. CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 105 When I ('oin]>aro the Greek ami Roman repuhhcs wltli these American States ; tlie manuscript lihraries of the former, and tlieir rude popuhition, witli the imunnerahle journals and the enh<j;litened people of the latter ; when I rememher all the attem})ts wliich are made to judge the modern republics by the aid of those of antitpiity, and to infer what will happen in oin* time from Avhat took })laco two thousand years ago, — I am tempted to burn my books, in order to api)ly none but novel ideas to so novel a condition of society. What I have said of New England must not, however, be applied indistinctly to the whole Union : as we advance towards the West or the South, the instruction of the peo- ple diminishes. In the States which border on the Gulf of ]Mexico, a certain number of individuals may be found, as in France, who are devoid even of the rudiments of in- struction. But there is not a single district in the United States sunk in complete ignorance, and for a very simple reason. The nations of Europe started from the darkness of a barbarous condition, to advance towards tlie light of civilization : their progress has been unequal ; some of them have improved apace, whilst others have loitered in iheir course, and some have stopped, and are still sleeping upon the way. Such has not been the case in the United States. The Anglo-Americans, already civilized, settled upon that terri- tory which their descendants occujiy ; they had not to beo;in to learn, and it w%as sufficient for them not to foro;et. Now the children of these same Americans are the persons who, year by year, transport their dwellings into the wilds, and, with their dwellings, their acquired informaticm and their esteem for knowledo-e. Education has tauoht them the utility of instruction, and has enabled them to transmit that instruction to their posterity. In the United States, society has no infancy, but it is born in man's estate. Ill b ■n 406 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i' Tlip Amorlcans never use the word " peasant," because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes • the ignorance of more remote ages, the simplicity of rural life, and the rusticity of the villager, have not been pre- served amongst them ; and they are alike unacquainted with the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the sim- ple graces of an early stage of civilization. At the extreme borders of the Confederate States, upon the confines of society and the Avilderness, a population of bold adventur- ers have taken up their abode, who pierce the solitudes of the American woods, and seek a country there, in order to escape the poverty which awaited them in their native home. As soon as the pioneer reaches the place which is to serve him for a retreat, he fells a few trees and builds a log-house. Nothing can offer a more miserable aspect than these isolated dwellings. The traveller who approaches one of them towards nimitfall sees the flicker of the hearth- flame through the chinks in the walls ; and at night, if the wind rises, he hears the roof of boughs shake to and fro in the midst of the great forest-trees. Who would not sup- pose that this poor hut is the asylum of rudeness and igno- rance ? Yet no sort of comparison can be drawn between the pioneer and the dwelling which shelters him. Every- thing about him is primitive and wild, but he is himself the result of the labor and experience of eighteen centuries. He wears the dress and speaks the language of cities ; he is acquainted with the past, curious about the future, and ready for argument upon the present ; he is, in short, a highly civilized being, who consents for a time to inhabit the backwoods, and avIio penetrates into the wilds of the New World with the Bible, an axe, and some newspapers. It is difficult to imagine the incredible rapidity with which thoucrht circulates in the midst of these deserts.* I do not * I travelled along a portion of the frontier of the United States in a sort of cart, whi'.h was termed the mail. We passed, day and night, with CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 407 think that so much intellectual activity exists in the most enlightened and populous districts of France.* It cannot be doubted that, in the United States, the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the suj)port of the democratic republic ; and such must always be the case, I believe, where the instruction which en- lightens the understanding is not separated from the moral education which amends the heart. But I would not exag- gerate this advantage, and I am still further from thinking, as so many people do think in Europe, that men can be instantaneously made citizens by teaching them to read and write. True information is mainly derived from exju-ri- ence ; and if the Americans had not been o;raduallv accus- tomed to govern themselves, their book-learning would not help them much at the present day. i ^inve lived much Avith the people in the United States, ai . ■ annot express how much I admire their experience and their crood sense. An American should never be led to speak of Europe ; for he will then probal)ly display great rapidity, alonj; the roads, wliidi were scarcely marked out tiirou<i;h immense forests. Wlieu the gloom of the woods hecanie iiiipciictralile, the driver lighted hranches of i)iiic, and we journeyed along hy the light they cast. From time to time, we came to a hut in tlic midst of the forest ; this was a post-office. The mail dropped an enormous l»undle of letters at the door of this isolated dwelling, and we pursued our way at full gallop, leav- ing the inhabitants of the neighboring log-houses to send for their share of the treasure. * In 1832, each inhabitant of ^Michigan paid 23 cents to the post-office revenue ; and eadi inhabitant of the Floridas paid 20 cents. (Sec National Calendar, 1833, p. 244.) In the same year, each inhal)itant of the Ih'partp- ment du Nord paid not quite 20 cents to the revenue of the French post- office. (Sec the Compte rendu de I' Administration des Finances, 1833, p. 623.) Now the State of Michigan only contained at that time 7 inliaiiitants per square league, and Florida only 5. The instruction and the commercial activity of these districts are inferior to those of most of the States in the Union ; whilst the Departement du Nord, which contains 3,400 inhabitants per square league, is one of the most enlightened ai»'^ manufacturing parts of France. 'r* If. ii . . II ': 'im v. ■" I'-W i\ ■i:dH ilill II m IB ' im m if ■: ■!l. *. HI -: • i : ■> r ^^ \ • i t 408 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. much presumption and very foolish pride. He will take up with those crude and vague notions which are so useflil to the ignorant all over the world. But if you question him respecting his own country, the cloud which dimmed his intelligence will immediately disperse ; his language will become as clear and precise as his thoughts. He will inform you what his rights are, and by what means he exercises them ; he will be able to point out the customs which obtain in the political world. You will find that he is well acquainted with the rules of the administration, and that he is familiar with the mechanism of the laws. The citizen of the United States does not acquire his practical science and his positive notions from books; the instruc- tion he has acquired may have prepared him for receiving those ideas, but it did not furnish them. The American learns to know the laws by participating in the act of legislation ; and he takes a lesson in the forms of govern- ment from governing. The great work of society is ever going on before his eyes, and, as it were, under his hands. In the United States, politics are the end and aim of education ; in Europe, its principal object is to fit men for private life. The interference of the citizens in public afftiirs is too rare an occurrence to be provided for before- hand. Upon casting a glance over society in the two hemispheres, these differences are indicated even by their external aspect. In Europe, we frequently introduce the ideas and habits of private life into public affairs ; and as we pass at once from the domestic circle to the government of the state, we may frequently be heard to discuss the great interests of society in the same manner in which we converse with our friends. The Americans, on the other hand, transport the habits of public life into their manners in private ; in their country, the jury is introduced into the games of schoolboys, and parliamentary forms are observed in the order of a feast. CAUSES WHICH TKND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY, 409 THE LAWS CONTRIBUTE MORE TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES THAN THE PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE MANNERS MORE THAN THE LAWS. All the Nations of America liave a Democratic State of Society. — Yet Democratic Institutions are supported only ainonj; the Anirlo-Amcri- oans. — The Spaniards of South America, as mucli favored l)y Pliysical Causes as the Anj^lo-Americans, unable to maintain a Democratic Ue- public. — Mexico, which has adopted tiie Constitution of the United States, in tiie same Predicament. — The Anglo-Americans of tiie West less able to maintain it than those of the East. — Reason of these Dif- ferences. I HAVE remarked that the maintenance of democratic institutions in the United States is attributable to tlie cir- cumstances, the laws, and the manners of that country.* INIost Europeans are acquainted with only the tirst of these three causes, and they are apt to o;ive it a preponderant importance which it does not really possess. It is true that the Ano;lo-Americans settled in the New World in a state of social equality ; the low-born and the noble were not to be found amongst them ; and profes- sional prejudices were always as unknown as the preju- dices of birth. Thus, as the condition of society was democratic, the rule of democracy was established without difficulty. But this circumstance is not peculiar to the United States ; almost all the American colonies were fdunded by men equal amongst themselves, or who became so by inhabiting them. In no one part of the New World have Europeans been able to create an aristocracy. Never- theless, democratic institutions prosper nowhere but in the United States. * I remind the reader of the general signification which I give to the word manners, — namely, the moral and intellectual characteristics of men in society. 18 V : '\ n,\iW. 'i 410 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. Tlie American Union has no enemies to contend with ; it stands in the wilds like an island in the ocean. But the Spaniards of South Americ^a were no less isolated by na- ture ; yet their position has not relieved them from the charge of standin<^ armies. They make war upon each other when they have no foreign enemies to oppose ; and the Anglo-American democracy is the only one which has hitherto been able to maintain itself in per\ce. The territory of the Union presents a boundless field to human activity, and inexhaustible materials for labor. The passion for wealth takes the place of ambition, and the heat of faction is mitigated by a consciousness of prosperity. But in what portion of the globe shall we find more fertile plains, mightier rivers, or more unexplored and inexhaust- ible riches, than in South America ? Yet South America has been unable to maintain democratic institutions. If the welfare of nations depended on their being placed in a remote position, with an unbounded space of habitable teri'itory before them, the Spaniards of South America would have no reason to complain of their fate. And although they might enjoy less prosperity than the inhab- itants of the United States, their lot might still be such as to excite the envy of some nations in Europe. There are, however, no nations upon the face of the earth more miser- able than those of South America. Thus, not only are physical causes inadequate to produce results analogous to those wdiich occur in North America, but they cannot raise the population of South America above the level of European states, where they act in a contrary direction. Physical causes do not therefore aflPect the destiny of nations so much as has been supposed. I have met with men New Eno-land who were on the point of leaving a cf a. ♦^ry where they might have re- mained in easy circum? ances, to seek their fortune in the wilds. Not far from . iiat region, I found a French popu- CAUSES WHICH TKND TO MAINTAIN DKMOCKACY. 411 lation in Canada, closely crowded on a narrow territory, a]thou(^h the same wilds were at hand ; and whilst the emio;rant from the United States purchased an extensive estate with the earnings of a short term of labor, the Canadian paid as much for land as he would have done in France. Thus Ni'*- »" Ters the solitudes of the New World to Europeans ah hut they do not always know how to make use of her gifts. Other ink "' ..rnts of Amer- ica have the same physical conditions of prosperity as the Anglo-Americans, but without their laws and their man- ners ; and these people are miserable. The laws and manners of the Anglo-Americans are therefore that special and predominant cause of their greatness which is the object of my inquiry. I am far from supposing that the American laws are pre- eminently good in themselves : I do not hold them to be applicable to all democratic nations ; and several of them seem to me to be dangerous, even in the United States. But it cannot b' denied that American lemslation, taken as a whole, is extreinely well adapted to the genius of the peo- ple and the nature of the country which it is intended to govern. The American laws are therefore good, and to them must be attributed a large portion of the success which attends the government of democracy in America : but I do not believe them to be the princijial cause of that success ; and if they seem to me to ha\e more influence than the nature of the country upon the social hap])iness of the Americans, there is still reason to believe that their effect is inferior to that produced by the manners of the people. The Federal laws undoubtedly constitute the most impor- tant part of the legislation of the United States. ^Mexico, which is not less fortunately situated than the Anglo- American Union, has adopted these same laws, but is un- able to accustom itself to the government of democracy. <'M i[ 412 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. m Soiiu' other cause is tlierefor'^ at work, independently of j)liysi('al circumstances and peculiar laws, which enables tlie democracy to rule in the United States. Another still more striking proof may be adduced. Al- most all the inhabitants of the teriitory ot the Union are the descendants of a common stock ; they speak the same language, they worship God in the same manner, they are affected by the same physical causes, and they obey the same laws. Whence, then, do their characteristic differ- ences arise ? Why, in the Eastern States of the Union, does the republican government display vigor and regular- ity, and proceed with mature deliberation ? Whence does it derive the wisdom and the durability which mark its acts, whilst in the Western States, on the contrarv ciety seems to be ruled by chance ? There, public busiiiess is conducted with an irregidarity, and a passionate, almost feverish excitement, which do not announce a long or sure duration. I am no longer comparing the Anglo-Americans with foreign nations ; but I am contrasting them with each other, and endeavoring to discover why they are so un- like. The arguments which are derived from the nature of the country and the difference of legislation are here all set aside. Recourse must be had to some other cause ; and what other cause can there be, except the manners of the people ? It is in the Eastern States that the Anglo-Americans have been longest accustomed to the government of de- mocracy, and have adopted the habits and conceived the opinions most favorable to its maintenance. Democracy has gradually penetrated into their customs, their opinions, and their forms of social intercourse ; it is to be found in all the details of daily life, as well as in the laws. In the Eastern States, the book instruction and practical education of the people have been most perfected, and religion has CAUSES WHICH TKXI) TO MAINTAIN DKMOCRACY. 4U' been most thoroughly amalgamated with lihcrty. Now, these habits, o[)inioiis, customs, aud convictions arc pre- cisely what I have denominated manners. In the Western States, on the contrary, a portion of the same advantages are still wanting. Many of the Ameri- cans of the West were born in the woods, and they mix the ideas and customs of savage life with the civilization of their fathers. Their passions are more intense, their religious morality less authoritative, and their convictions less firm. The inhabitants exercise no sort of conh'ol over their fellows, for they aie scarcely ac(juainted with each other. The nations of the West display, to a certain extent, the inexperience and the rude habits of a people in their infancy ; for, although they are composed of old elements, their assemblage is of recent date. The manners of the Americans of the United States are, then, the peculiar cause which renders that people the oidy one of the American nations that is able to support a dem- ocratic government ; and it is the influence of manners Avhich produces the different degrees of order and pros- perity that may be distinguished in the several Anglo- American democracies. Thus the effect which the jjeo- graphical position of a country may have upon the duration of democratic institutions is exaggerated in Europe. Too much importance is attributed to legislation, too little to manners. These three great causes serve, no doubt, to regulate and direct the American democracy ; but if they were to be classed in their proper order, I should say that physical circumstances are less efficient than the laws, and the laws infinitely less so than the manners of the people. I am convinced that the most advantajieous situation and the best possible laws cannot maintain a constitution in spite of the manners of a country ; whilst the latter may turn to some advantage the most unfavorable positions and the worst laws. The importance of manners is a common !'■' ill' i: :■■■ i' t '.'{ I.- 'Mm 4U DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. tnitli to which study and expcrioncu inoossantly direct our attention. It may be rej^arded as a cen'^ral point in the ranoi' of o])sei'vation, and tlie common termination of all my iuijuiries. So seriously do I insist upon tliis head, that, it' I liave liitherto failed in makinj; the reader feel the im- portant influence of the practical experience, the luibits, the o})lnions, in short, of the manners of the Americans, upon the maintenance of their institutions, I have tailed in the i)rincij)al object of my work. ii :i WHKTHER LAWS AND MANNERS ARE SUFFICIENT TO MAIN- TAIN DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN OTHER COUNTRIES BESIDES AMERICA. iy S ' !': h 1 Tlic Aiif^lo-Ainuricuns, if transported into Eurojjc, would be obliged to modify tlieir Laws. — Distinction to be made between Democratic In- stitutions and American Institutions. — Democratic Laws may be con- ceived better tiian, or at least ditferent from, tliose wbidi the American Democracy has adopted. — The Example of America only proves tiiat it is possible, by the Aid of Manners and Legislation, to regulate De- mocracy. I HAVE asserted that the success of democratic institu- tions in the United States is more attributable to the laws themselves, and the manners of the j)eople, than to the nature of the country. But does it follow that the same causes would of themselves produce the same results, if they were put in operation elsewhere ; and if the country is no adequate substitute for laws and manners, can laws and manners in their turn take the place of a country? It will readily be understood that the elements of a reply to this question are wanting: other inhabitants are to be found in the New World besides the Anglo-Americans, and, as these are affected by the same physical circumstan- ces as the latter, they may fairly be compared with them. CAUSKS WHICH TKND TO MAINTAIN DLMOCKACV. 41.J But tlicrc arc no natiDns out of Aiucricii wliii-li liavo iulopti'd tlu' siUUL' laws and niainnTs, thouu'li (K'stitute of till' physical a(l\anta«;i'S peculiar to the An^lo-Ainericans. No standard of comparison therefore exists, and we <'aii only hazard an o[)ini()n. It appears to nie, in the first }>lace, that a careful distinc- tion must he made l)etw(>en the institutiojis of the U'uted States and democratic institutions in general. When I reHect upon tlie state of KunnK-, its mighty nations, its j)oj»ulous cities, its formidahle armies, and the complex nature of its politics, I caiuiot supj)ose that even the Annlo- Amei'icans, if they were transported to our hemisphere, witli their ideas, their religion, and tlu'ir .maimers, could exist without considerahly alteriuii" tlu'ir laws. l>ut a democratic nation mav he imaiiined, oriiani/ed diiferi'utlv from the American peo])le. Is it then impossihle to con- ceive a government really estahlished upon the will of tlie majoi'ity, hut in which the majority, repressing- its natural instinct of equality, should consent, with a view to t'.c order and the stahllity of the state, to invest a family or an indi- vidual with all the attributes of executive ])ower ? Might not a democratic society be imagined, in which the forces of the nation woukl be more centralized than they are in the United States ; where the j)eople would exercise a less direct and less irresistible influence upon public affairs, and yet every citizen, invested with certain rights, would par- tici})ate, within his sphere, in the conduct of the govei'u- ment. What I have seen amongst the Ann-lo-Americans induces me to believe that democratic institutions of this kind, prudently introduced into society, so as gradually to mix with the habits, and to be interfused with the opin- ions of the people, might exist in other countries besides America. If the laws of the United States were the only imaginable democratic laws, or the most perfect which it is possible to conceive, I should admit that their success , « 410 DEMOCBACY IN AMLKICA. m'' :t\ t. i: f i I \:;ii :i in AiiU'ricji iitlurcls no proof of the success of ilcnKK^'iitic iiislitutioiis in j:;cm'nil, in a country less liivorcd hy nutare. Hut as the laws of America a[>|)ear to \nv, to he defective in several respects, and as I cau readily imagine others, the j)ecidiar advaiita«:;es of that country do not prove to me that democratic institutions cannot succeed in a na- tion less favored by circumstances, if ruled by better laws. If human nature were different in America from what it is elsewhere, or if the social condition of the Anuricans created habits and opinions amon<j;st them different from those which oriy;inate in the same social condition in the Old AVorld, the American democracies would affoi'd no means of predicting what may occur in other democracies. If the Americans displayed the same propensities as all other democrratic nations, and if their legislators had relied uj)on the nature of the country and the favor of circum- stances to restrjiin those ])ropensities within due limits, the prosperity of the United States, being attributable to purely physical causes, would afford no encouragement to a peo- ple inclined to imitate their example, without sharing their natural advantages. But neither of these suppositions is borne out by facts. In America, the same passions are to bo met with as in Europe, — some originating in human nature, others in the democratic condition of society. Thus, in the United States, I found that restlessness of heart which is natural to men when all ranks are nearly equal, and the chances of elevation are the same to all. I found there the demo- cratic feeling of envy expressed under a thousand different forms. I remarked that the people there frequently dis- played, in the conduct of affairs, a mixture of ignorance and presumption ; and I inferred that, in America, men are liable to the same failings and exposed to the same evils as amongst ourselves. But, upon examining the state M CAUSKS WIIK'M TKNl) iO MAINTAIN DliMOlKACV. 41' )ositions IS of socii'tj moiv Jitti'iitivfly, I sptrdily (li.scovcri'tl tliat tlio Ann'ricaiis liad tiiiidi' orcat and succi'ssriil ctlurts to coiin- WviU't these iin|)i'i'l'i'('ti(»iis of luiiiiaii nature, and to correct tho natnral detects of democracy. Their divers nuniicii)al laws a|)[)earod to nie so many means of resti'ainintr the rest- less amhition of the citizens within a nari'ow spheri', and of tnrninii; tjjoso same passions wiiicli mi^ht Iiave workeil havoc in tlie state, to the nood of the townsliip or tliu ])arisli. The American le<^isIators seem to iiavo sncceoc'ed to some extent in opposin<2; the idea of rijdit to the feelini^s of envy ; the permanence of religions inoi-ality to th- con- tinnal sliifting of politics; the ex])erience of the j)e »|ile to tlieir theoretical ignorance; and their pra('ical kN'>vvK'dgc, of hnsiness to tho impatience of their desires. Tho Americans, then, have not relietl npon the natiTy of tlieir country to counterpoise those dangers w'.ich origi- nate in their Constitution and their political 1 jws. To evils which are common to all democratic nations, they have applied remedies which none hut themselves had ever thought of; and, although they were the first to make the experiment, they have succeeded in it. The manners and laws of the Americans are not the only ones which may suit a democratic people ; but the Americans have shown that it would be wrong to despair of regulating democracy bv the aid of manners and laws. If other nations slumld borrow this general and pregnant i.^ ;• from the Ameri- cans, without, however, intending to imitate them in the peculiar application which they lune made of it; if they should attempt to fit themselves for that social condition which it seems to be the will of Providence to inij)ose upon the generations of this age, and so to escajie from the despotism or the anarchy which threatens them, — what reason is there to suppose that their efforts would not be crowned with success ? The organization and the establishment of democracy in Christendom is the great 18* AA 'I I '»iM; i j; • '• f' I 1 '^ 418 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. 1 ' f ! b I* ■ political problem of our times. Tlie Americans, unques- tionably, have not resolved this problem, but they furnish useful data to those who undertake to resolve it. IMPORTANCE OF WHAT PRECEDES WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE OF EUROPE. It may readily be discovered with what intention I undertook the foregoing inquiries. The question here dis- cussed is interestincr not onlv to the United States, but to the whole world ; it concerns, not a nation only, but all mankind. If those nations whose social condition is demo- cratic could remain free only while they inhabit uncultivated regions, we must despair of the future destiny of the human race ; for democracy is rapidly acquiring a more extended sway, and the wilds are gradually peopled with men. If it were true that laws and manners are insufficient to main- tain democratic institutions, what reftige would remain open to the nations, except the despotism of one man ? I am aware that there are many worthy persons at the present time who are not alarmed at this alternative, and who are so tired of liberty as to be glad of repose far from its storms. But these persons are ill acquainted with the haven towards which they are bound. Preoccupied by their remembrances, they judge of absolute power by what it has been, and not by what it might become in our times. If absolute power were re-established amongst the demo- cratic nations of Europe, I am persuaded that it would as- sume a new form, and appear under features unknown to our fathers. There was a time in Europe when the laws and the consent of the people had invested princes with almost unlimited authority, but they scarcely ever availed themselves of it. I do not speak of the prerogatives of the nobility, of the authority of high courts of justice, of r TO THE CAUSKS WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DKMOCRACY. 419 corporations and their cliartcrorl ri<i;lits, or of pr.o^^n^ial privileges, which served to break tlie Idows of* sovereign autliority, and to kecj) np a spirit of resistance in tlie na- tion. Independently of these political institutions, — Avhich, however opposed they might be to personal liberty, served to keep alive the love of freedom in the mind, and which may be esteemed useful in this respect, — the manners and opinions of the nation confined the royal authority within barriers which were not less powerful because less conspic- uous. Religion, the affections of the people, the benevo- lence of the prince, the sense of honor, family ])ride, })rovincial prejudices, custom, and pidjlic opinion limited the power of kings, and restrained their authority within an invisible circle. The constitution of nations was des- potic at that time, but their manners were free. Princes had the right, but they had neither the means nor the de- sire, of doing whatever they pleased. But what now remains of those barriers which formerly arrested tyranny ? Since religion has lost its empire over the souls of men, the most prominent boundary which divided ffood from evil is overthrown ; evervthino; seems doubtful and indeterminate in the moral world ; kings and nations are guided bv chance, and none can sav where are the natural limits of despotism and the bounds of license. Long revolutions have forever destroyed the resj)ect which surrounded the rulers of the state ; and, since they have been relieved from the burden of public esteem, })rinces may henceforward surrender themselves without fear to the intoxication of arbitrary power. When kings find that the hearts of their subjects are turned towards them, they are clement, because they are conscious of their strength ; and they are chary of the affection of their people, because the affection of their ])eople is the bulwark of the throne. A mutual inter- change of good-will then takes place between the prince :■ !! ;ii ■ill'!. J! i ii II f ... ■! 1!: :: fill ■ ¥ ill II I:; 420 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. h^'v:-' I' , ii; • "1 !i! Hi 'i\ ii M and tlie people, which resembles the gracious Intercourse of domestic life. The sul)jects may murmur at the sover- eign's decree, but they are grieved to displease him ; and the sovereign chastises his subjects with the light hand of parental affection. But when once the spell of royalty is broken in the tumult of revolution, — when successive monarchs have crossed the throne, so as alternately to display to the peo- ple the weakness of their right, and the harshness of their power, — the sovereign is no longer regarded by any as the father of the state, and he is feared by all as its master. If he is Aveak, he is despised ; if he is strong, he is detested. lie is himself full of animosity and alarm ; he finds that he is a stranger in his own country, and he treats his sub- jects like conquered enemies. When the provinces and the towns formed so many dif- ferent nations in the midst of their common country, each of them had a will of its own, which was opj)Osed to the general spirit of subjection ; but, now that all the parts of the same empire, after having lost their immunities, their customs, their prejudices, their traditions, and even their names, have become accustomed to obey the same laws, it is not more difficult to oppress them all together than it was formerly to oppress one of them separately. Whilst the nobles enjoyed their power, and indeed long after that power was lost, the honor of aristocracy con- ferred an extraordinary degree of force upon their personal opposition. Men could then be found who, notwithstand- ing their weaki. ss, still entertained a high opinion of their personal value, and dared to cope single-handed with the public authority. But at the present day, when all ranks are more and more confounded, — when the individual dis- a})pears in the throng, and is easily lost in the midst of a common obscurity, when the honor of monarchy has almost lost its power, without being succeeded by virtue, CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 421 and when nothing can enable man to rise above hiuiseU*, — who shall say iv what point the exigencies of power and the servility of weakness will stop ? As long as family feeling was kept alive, the antagonist of o})pression was never alone ; he looked about him, and found his clients, his hereditary friends, and his kinsfolk. If this support was wanting, he felt himself sustained by his ancestors, and animattvd by his posterity. But \\\\vn patrimonial estates are divided, and when a few years suf- fice to confound the distinctions of race, where can familv feelino- be found ? What force can there be in the customs of a country which has changed, and is still })ei*petually changing, its aspect, — in which every act of tyranny al- ready has a precedent, and every crime an exam})le, — in which there is nothing so old that its antiquity can save it from destruction, and nothing so unparalleled that its n(}v- elty can prevent it from being done? What resistance can be offered by manners of so pliant a make that they have already often yielded ? What strength can even public opinion have retained, when no twenty persons are connected by a common tie, — when not a man, nor a family, nor chartered corporation, nor class, nor free insti- tution, has the power of representing or exerting that opin- ion, — and when every citizen, being equally weak, equally poor, and equally isolated, has only his personal impotence to oppose to the organized force of tlie government? The annals of France furnish nothing analooous to the condition in which that country might then be thrown. But it may more aptly be assimilated to the times of old, and to those hideous eras of Roman oppression, when the manners of the people were corrupted, their traditions obliterated, their habits destroyed, their opinions shaken, and freedom, expelled from the laws, could find no refuge in the land ; when nothing protected the citizens, and the citizens no longer protected themselves ; when human «f '-••ntJ; f I m I 422 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. II '!ii ili ill nature was the sport of man, and princes wearied out the clemency of Heaven before tliey exhausted the patience of their subjects. Those wlio hope to revive the mon- arc;]iy of Henry IV. or of Louis XIV. appear to me to be aflBicted with mental blindness ; and when I consider the present condition of several European nations, — a condition to which all the others tend, — I am led to 'je- lieve that thev will soon be left with no other alternative than democratic liberty or the tyranny of the Ctesars. Is not this deservino; of consideration ? If men must really come to this point, that they arc to be entirely emanci})ated or entii'ely enslaved, — all their rij^hts to be made equal, or all to be taken away from them ; if the rulers of society were compelled either gradually to raise the crowd to their own level, or to allow all the citizens to fall below that of humanity, — would not the doubts of many be resolved, the consciences of many be con- firmed, and the community prepared to make great sac- rifices with little difficulty ? In that case, the gradual 2;rowth of democratic manners and institutions should be regarded, not as the best, but as the only means of pre- serving fi'eedom ; and, without liking the government of democracy, it might be adopted as the most applicable, and the fairest remedy for the present ills of society. It is difficult to make the people participate in the gov- ernment ; but it is still more difficult to supply them with experience, and to inspire them with the feelings which they need in order to govern well. I grant that the wishes of the democracy are capricious, its instruments rude, its laws imperfect. But, if it were true that soon no just medium would exist between the rule of democ- racy and the dominion of a single man, should we not rather incline towards the former, than submit voluntarily to the latter ? And if complete equality be our fate, is it not better to be levelled by free institutions than by a despot ? mt CAUSES WHICH TEND TO MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. 423 Those who, after havino; read this book, should iinao-lno that my intention in writing it was to propose tlie hiws and manners of the Anolo-Americans for the imitation of all democratic communities, would make a great mistake ; they must have paid more attention to the form than to the substance of my thought. My aim has been to show, by the example of America, that laws, and es})eeially man- ners, may allow a democratic people to remain free, lint I am very i'ar from thmking that we ought to follow the example of the American democracy, and copy the means which it has employed to attain this end ; for I am well aware of the influence which the nature of a country and its political antecedents exercise upon its political consti- tution ; and I should regard it as a great misfortune for mankind if liberty were to exist all over the world under the same features. But I am of opinion that, if we do not succeed in gradu- ally introducing democratic institutions into France ; if we despair of imparting to all the citizens those ideas and sen- timents which first prepare them for freedom, and after- wards allow them to enjoy it, — there will be no indepen- dence at all, either for the middling classes or the nobility, for the poor or for the rich, but an equal tyranny over all ; and I foresee that, if the peaceable dominion of the majority be not founded amongst us in time, we shall sooner or later fall under the unlimited authority of a single man. .:A ,.:>| m ^ >t.;iis. ii mi ■'{■■ !n -^ "!■ :!• -'"I^ ■i.>ii f h\ . Ml .!.1B! 424 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PRESENT AND PROBABLE FUTURE CONDITION OF THE THREE RACES WHICH INHABIT THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES. THE principal task which I had imposed upon myself is now performed : I have shown, as far as I was able, the laws and the manners of the American democracy. Here I might stop ; but the reader would perhaps feel that I had not satisfied his expectations. An absolute and immense democracy is not all that we find in America ; the inhabitants of the New World may be considered from more than one point of view. In the course of this work, my subject has often led me to speak of the Indians and the Negroes : but I have never had time to stop in order to show what place these two races occupy in the midst of the democratic people whom I was engaged in describing. I have shown in what spirit and according to what laws the Anglo-American Union was formed ; but I could give only a hurried and imperfect glance at the dangers which menace that confederation, and could not furnish a detailed account of its chances of duration in- dependently of its laws and manners. When speaking of the united repviblics, I hazarded no conjectures upon the permanence of republican forms in the New World ; and when making frequent allusion to the commercial activity which reigns in the Union, I was unable to in- quire into the future of the Americans as a commercial people. THE THREE RACES IN THE UNITED STATES. 4-25 Tlicse topics are collaterally connected with my sul)ject without forming a part of it ; they are American, without being democratic ; and to portray democracy has heen my principal aim. It was therefore necessary to j)ostpone these questions, Avhich I now take up as the proper termi- nation of my work. The territory now occupied or claimed by the American Union spreads from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific Ocean. On the east and west, its limits are those of the continent itself On the south, it advances nearly to the Tropics, and it extends u})ward to the icy regions of the North. The human beings who are scattered over this space do not form, as in Eurojie, . o many branches of the same stock. Three races, naturally distinct, and, I might almost say, hostile to each other, are discoverable amongst them at the first glance. Almost insiu'mountable barriers had been raised between them by education and law, as well as by their origin and outward characteristics ; but fortune has brought them together on the same soil, where, although they are mixed, they do not amalgamate, and each race fulfils its destiny a])art. Amongst these widely differing families of men, the first which attracts attention — the superior in intelligence, in power, and in enjoyment — is the White, or European, the MAN pre-eminently so called ; below him appear the Negro and the Indian. These two unhappy races have nothing in common, neither birth, nor features, nor language, nor habits. Their only resemblance lies in their misfortunes. Both of them occupy an equally inferior position in the country they inhabit ; both suffer from tyranny ; and if their wrongs are not the same, they originate from the same authors. If we reasoned from what passes in the world, we should 1 fir: r; :I'. !• I'-l- T'' ! ;.M 1^ I' j'i^,U 42G DKMOCUACY IN AMERICA. i?.ii ■ ,!.;> ": i: almost say tliat the European is to tlie other races of man- kind wliat man himself is to the lower animals : he makes them subservient to his use, and when he cannot subdue, lie destroys them. Oppression has, at one stroke, deprived the descendants of the Africans of almost all the privileges of humanity. The Negro of the United States has lost even the remembrance of his country ; the language which his ibretiithers spoke is never heard around him ; he ab- jured their religion and forgot th<^ir customs when he ceased to belong to Africa, without acquiring any claim to European privileges. But he remains half-way between the two communities, isolated between two races ; sold by the one, rei)ulsed by the otiier ; finding not a spot in the uni\erse to call by the name of country, except the taint imajre of a home which the shelter of his master's roof affords. The Negro has no family : woman is merely the tem- porary com])anion of his pleasures, and his children are on an e(j[uality with himself from the moment of their bir*;h. Am 1 to call it a proof of God's mercy, or a visitation of his wrath, that man, in certain states, appears to be insen- sible to his extreme wretchedness, and almost obtains a depraved taste for the cause of his misfortunes ? The Negro, plunged in this abyss of evils, scarcely feels his own calamitous situation. Violence made him a slave, and the habit of servitude gives him the thoujihts and desires of a slave ; he admires his tyrants more than he hates them, and finds his joy and his pride in the servile imitation of those who oppress him. His understanding is degraded to the level of his soul. The Negro enters upon slavery as soon as he is born ; nay, he may have been purchased in the womb, and have begun his slavery before he began his existence. Equally devoid of wants and of enjoyment, and useless to himself, he learns, with his first notions of existence, that he is the THK TIIRKK RACKS IN TIIK INnKI) STATKS. 427 j)r()[)orty of anotlicr, who lias an intori'st in pivsi-rviiig Ins liti', and that tliu care of it doos not devolve npon himself; even the power of thonght appeal's to him a iisi'Iess gift of Providen('(?, and he qnietly enjoys all the privileges of liis dehasenient. If he becomes free, independence is often felt hy him to be a heavier burden than slavery ; for, having learned, in the course of his life, to submit to everything excejit reason, he is too unacquainted with her dictates to obey them. A thousand new desires beset him, and he has not the knowledge and energy necessary to resist tliein : these are masters which it is necessary to contend with, and he has learnt only to submit and obey. In short, he is sunk to such a depth of wretchedness, that, while servitude bru- talizes, liberty destroys him. ()j)pression has been no less fatal to the Indian than to the Negro race, but its effects are diiferent. Before tlie arrival of white men in the New World, the inhab- itants of North America lived quietly in their woods, en- during the vicissitudes and practising the virtues and vices common to savage nations. The Europeans, having dis- persed the Indian tribes and driven them into the deserts, condemned them to a wandering life, full of inexpressible sufferinrjs. Savage nations are only controlled by .opinion and cus- tom. When the North American Indians had lost the sentiment of attachment to their country ; when their fami- lies were dispersed, their traditions obscured, and the chain of their recollections broken ; when all their habits were changed, and their wants increased beyond measure, — European tyranny rendered them more disorderly and less civilized than they were before. The moral and physical condition of these tribes continually grew worse, and they became more barbarous as they became more wretched. Nevertheless, the Europeans have not been i iV;: I'm V ,■;:;•.; , fi;.<l '■■M luft;-,.ii i I't 1 i I u ; 11 \ i 428 DKMOCRACV IN AMKRICA. able to ('linnn;o the cliiiriictcM' of tlie Indians ; and, tliouf;li they have had power to destroy, tliey liave never been able to subdue and eivili/.e them. The lot of the Nei^ro is placed on the extreme limit of ser\ itude, while that of the Indian lies on the utter- most ver^e of liberty ; and slavery does not produce more fatal effects upon the first, than independence ujxm the second. The Nef>;ro has lost all pro])erty in his own person, and he cannot dispose of his existence without conunittino; a sort of fraud. But the savaoe is his own master as soon as he is able to act ; parental authority is scarcely known to him; he has never bent his will to that of any of his kind, nor learned the difference between voluntary obedience and a shameful subjection ; and the very name of law is unknown to him. To be free, with him, siiTiiifies to escape from all the shackles of society. As he deli<:hts in this barbarous independence, and would rather perish than sacrifice the least part of it, civilization has little hold over him. The Negro makes a thousand fruitless efforts to insinuate himself amongst men who repulse him ; he conforms to the tastes of his oppressors, adopts their opinions, and hopes by imitating them to form a part of their community. Hav- ing been told from infancy that his race is natiu'ally inferior to that of the Avhites, he assents to the proposition, and is ashamed of his own nature. In each of his features he discovers a trace of slavery, and, if it were in his power, he would willingly rid himself of everything that makes him what he is. The Indian, on the contrary, has his imagination inflated with the pretended nobility of his origin, and li\es and dies in the midst of these dreams of pride. Far from desiring to conform his habits to ours, he loves his savage life as the distinguishing mark of his race, and repels every advance to civilization, less, perhaps, from hatred of it, than from TIIF. TIIRKF, RACKS IN Till: VNIIKD STATUS. 120 a (Irond of ivsi'iiihlinj; tlio Europoans.* Wliil** lie lias iKttliiii^ to ()]){)()so to our porli'ctioTi in flu* arts Imt tlu? rosources of tlio dcsiTt, to our tactics notliiuii' l)Ut undisci- plincd coui'aiic, — whilst our \v('li-(lio;('stc(l plans arc met only liv the sjiontancous instincts of savaii'c life, — who can wondci" if he fiiils in this nne(|ual contest ? The Neijro, who carni'stly desires to niinLi'le his i-ace with that of the Euroj)ean, cannot <1" so ; while the In- dian, who miiiht succeed to a certain extent, disdains to make tho atteni^jt. The servility of the one dooms him to slavery, the pride of the other to death. I renu'inher that, while I was travellinjj^ throni;li tho forests which still cover tlie State of Alahama. I arrived i:t * 'I'lic niitive of North Amerira retains his opinions and tlie most insip- niticuiit of iiis hal)its witli a di';;rec of tenacity which has no imnillel in liistory. For more than two Imndred years, the wanderinj.^ trihcs of North America have liad daily intercourse witli the wliites, and tlicy have never derived from tliem a custom or an idea. Yet the Europeans have exercised a powerful infhience over tlie sava<jes : tiiey liavc made them more licen- tious, hut not more European. In the summer of 1831, I happened to 1)6 lieyond Lake Michij^an, at a place called Green-Bay, wliieli serves as the extreme frontier hetv/een the United States and the Indians of the North- west. Here I hecame acfpuiinted with an American ofticer, Major II., who, after talkintr to me at lenj^th about the iiiHcxiliility of the Indian character, related the followinj; fact: "I formerly knew a younj^ Indian," said ho, " who had heeii educated at a eolleij;e in New Enj;land, when' lie had ^a-eatly distiii<^uished himself, and had ac(inired the external appearance of a civil- ized man. When the war hroke out lietwcen ourselves and tlie Enj,^lish in 1812, I saw this young man ayain ; he was serving; in our anny, at the head of the warriors of his tribe; for the Iiulians were admitted amon<:st the ranks of the Americans, on condition only that they would al)stain from tiieir horrible custom of scalpinj:: their victims. On the evening of the battle of * * *^ (J. came, and sat himself down t)y the tire of our bivouac. I asked him what had been his fortune that day : he related his exploits ; and growing warm and animated l»y the recollection of them, he concluded by suddenly opcTiing the breast of his coat, saying, ' You must not betray me: — sec here!' And I actually beheld," said the Major, "between hi» body and his sliirt, the skin and hair of an English head, still drii)ping with blood." SMik\ ii :ii :;■'!' II-. 1 t 480 DIMoriJACY IN AMKRICA. m ;i:' one (lay at tlu; l(>«;-li()use of a pioneer. I did n visli to peiietrnte into tin* dw('iliii<; of the Ameriran, l)iit retired to rest myself for a while oti the margin of a sj)rin^, which was not far oft', in the woods. While I was in this plaee, (which was in the nei^hhorhood of the Creek territory,) an Indian woman api)i'ared, followed hy a Nen;rcss, and holding hy the hand a little white girl of five or six years old, who)n I took to be the daughter of the pioneer. A sort of harharons Inxnry set off" the costume of the Indian ; rino;s of metal were hann-ino; from her nostrils and ears ; her hair, which was adorned with glass beads, fell loosely upon her shoulders ; and I saw that she was not married, for she still wore that necklace of shells which the bride always deposits on the nuptial couch. The Negress was clad in squalid European garments. All three came and seated themselves upon the banks of the fountain ; and the }oung Indian, taking the child in her anns, lavished upon her such fond caresses as mothers give ; while the Negress endeavored, by various little artifices, to attract the atten- tion of the young Creole. The child displayed in her slightest gestures a consciousness of superiority which formed ji strange contrast with her infantine weakness ; as if she received the attentions of her companions with a sort of condescension. The Negress was seated on the ground before her mistress, watching her smallest desires, and apparently divided between an almost maternal affec- tion for the cliild and servile fear ; whilst the savage dis- played, in the midst of her tenderness, an air of freedom and pride which was almost ferocious. I had approached the group, and was contemplating them in silence ; but my curiosity was probably displeasing to the Indian wo- man, for she suddenly rose, pushed the child roughly from her, and, giving me an angry look, plunged into the thicket. I had often chanced to see individuals together in the rRFSKNT AND ITTrRK CONDITIDX OF TIIK INDIAN'S. 4ol siimc iil.'U'c, wlio licloiirfcd to tlic tliroo races wlildi pcoplo North America. I had perceivefl from many ditKrent traits tlie preponderaiire of tlie wliites. But in the pic- ture wliicli T luive just l)een (U'scrihiu^, tliei-e was some- thin*; peculiarly touchinf];; a bond of ailectiou lu'ro miited the oppressors with the oppr(>ssed, and the effort of Nature to hrinii them totfether rendered still more striking the immense distance placed between them by prejudico and the laws. ,/H. 1 1 i came an( THE PRESENT AND rROTIABT.E FUTUllE CONDTTION OF THE INDIAN TRIBES WHICH INHARIT THE TERRITORY POS- SESSED BY THE UNION. Gradual Disappearance of tlic Native Tribes. — Manner in which it takes place. — Miseries accompanyin;^ the forced Miij;rations of the Indians. — The Sava;^es of North Amorira had only two Ways of escapint; Destruc- tion, War or Civilization. — Thoy arc no Ioniser able to make War. — Reasons why they refused to become Civilized when it was in their Power, and why they cannot become so now that they desire it. — In- stance of the Creeks and Cherokees. — Policy of the particular States towards these Indians, — Policy of the Federal Government. None of the Indian tribes which formerly inhabited the territory of New Encjland — the Narragansetts, the Mo- hicans, the Peqiiods — have any existence but in the rec- ollection of man. The Lenapes, who received AVilliam Penn, a bimdred and fifty years ago, upon the banks of the Deln ^ are, bave disappeared ; and I myself met with the last of the Iroquois, who were begging alms. The nations I have mentioned formerly covered the country to the sea-coast ; but a traveller at the present day must penetrate more than a hundred leagues into the interior of the continent to find an Indian. Not only have these wild tribes receded, but they are destroyed ; * and as they * In the tiiirtcen original States, there are only 6,273 Indians remaining. km h' i\ ir wmm m ' ^01 !;: ■ i ill 432 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I'-- give way or perish, an iininense and increasing people fill their place. There is no instance upon record of so pro- digious a growth or so ra})id a destruction : the manner in which tlie latter change takes j)lace is not difficult to describe. When the Indians were the sole inhabitants of the wilds whence they have since been expelled, their wants were few. Their arms were of their own manufacture, their only drink wa.s the water of the brook, and their clothes consisted of the skins of animals, whose flesh furnished them with food. The Europeans introduced amongst the savages of North America fire-arms, ardent s})irits, and iron : they taught them to exchano;e for manufactured stuffs the rouo;h ear- nients which had ])reviously satisfied their untutored sim- })licity. Having acquired new tastes, without the arts l)y which they could be gratified, the Indians were obliged to have recourse to the workmanship of the whites ; but in return for their ])roducti(ms, the savage had nothing to offer except the rich furs which still abounded in his woods. Hence the chase became necessaiy, not merely to provide for his subsistence, but to satisfy the frivolous desires of Europeans. He no longer hunted merely to obtain food, but to ])rocure the only objects of barter which he could offer.* Whilst the wants of the natives were thus increas- ing, their resources continued to diminish. * Messrs. Clarke and Cass, in their report to Cont^ress, the 4th of Feb- ruary, 1829, p. 2;5, remarked : " The time wlien tlie Indians <j;enerally could supply tliem.selves with food and clotliin<r, without any of the articles of civ- ilized life, has lonjf since passed away. The more remote tril)es, beyond the Mississipjii, who live where immense herds of buffalo are yet to be found, and who follow those animals in their periodical mij;rations, could more easily than any others recur to the hal)its of their ancestors, and live with- out the white man or any of his manufactures. But the buffalo is constantly recedinj;. The smaller animals — the bear, the deer, the beaver, the otter, the musk-rat, etc. — principally minister to the comfort and support of the IJ t m I Ih't!' PRESENT AND FU 1 URE CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 4:13 [}0})le fil\ r so pro- manner fficult to the wilds mts were ire, their ir clothes furnished of North ey tanght ongli gar- ored sim- the arts 're obliged lutes ; but nothing to his woods, to provide desires of itain food, he could LIS increas- 4tli of Feb- jncrally could Irtifles of civ- Is, beyond the to be found, I, could more Ind live with- is constantly lor, the otter, Ipport of the From the moment when a European settlement is formed in the neighborhood of the territory occu])ied by tJie Indians, the beasts of chase take the alarm.* Thou- sands of savacjes, wanderinji in the forests, and destitute of any fixed dwelling, did not disturb them ; but as so(m as tlie continuous sounds of European labor are heard in their neighborhood, they begin to flee away, and rcti-H' to the West, where their instinct teaches them that they will still find deserts of immeasurable extent. "The butiiilo is constantly receding," say ^Messrs. Clarke and Cass in their Report of the year 1829 ; " a few years since they nj)i)roached the base of the Alleghany ; and a few years hence they may even be rare upon the .immense plains which extend to the base of the Rocky Mountains." I have been assured that this effect of the approach of the whites is often felt at two Inmdred leamies' distance from their frontier. Their influence is thus exerted over tribes whose name is unknown to them ; and who suffer the evils Indiims ; and these cannot be taken without guns, aninuinition, and traps. Among the "\orthwcstern Indians, particularly, the labor of sui)i)lyiiig a family with food is excessive. Day after day is spent by the hunter with- out success, and during thi^ interval his family must subsist upon bark or roots, or perish. Want and misery arc around them and among them, ilauy die every winter from actual starvation." Tlie Indians will not live as Europeans live ; and yet they can neither snbsi:>t without them, nor exactly after the fasiiion of their fathers. This is (lcn\onstrated by a fact which I likewise give upon oflicial authority. Some Indians of a tribe on the 1)anks of Lake Superior had killed a European ; the American government intei dieted all tralHc with the tribe to wh'wh the guihy parties i)eloiiged, until they were delivered up to justice. This mca;;- urc had the desired eticct. * "Five years ago," says Volney in his Tableau dcs Ktats-Unis, p. 370, " in lioing from Vineennes to Kaskaskia, a territory which now furms part of the State of Illinois, but which at the time I mention was completely wild (1797), you "ould not cross a prairie without seeing herds of from tour to five hundred butlaloes. There are now none remaining ; they swam ucru. s ! be Mississippi, to escape from the himtcrs, and more particularly from the bells of the American cows." 19 «B ■■rU 'ii,:iiVfiliiM, 'Wm 434 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. H ' n' ;»!■ ' r of usurpation long before thoy are acquainted with the authors of their distress.* Bold adventurers soon penetrate into the country the Indians have deserted, and when they have advanced about fifteen or twenty leagues from the extreme frontiers ol' tlie wliites, they begin to build hnbitations for civilized beings in the midst of the wilderness. This is done without dif- ficulty, as the territory of a hunting nation is ill defined ; it is the common property of the tribe, and belongs to no one in particidar, so that individual interests are not con- cerned in protecting any part of it. A few European families, occupying points very remote from each other, soon drive away the wild animals which remain between their places of abode. The Indians, who had previously lived in a sort of abundance, then find it difficvdt to subsist, and still more difficult to procure the articles of barter which they stand in need of. To drive away their game has the same effect as to render sterile the fields of our agriculturists ; deprived of the means of sub- sistence, they are reduced, like famished wolves, to prowl through the forsaken w^oods in quest of prey. Their in- stinctive love of countrv attaches <^hem to the soil which gave them birth, f even after it has ceased to yield anything * The truth of wliat I here advance may be easily proved l)y consulting? the tahuhir statcmei>t of Indian tribes inhabitinj? tlie United States and tiieir territories. (Legislative Documents, 2Uth Congress, No. 117, pp. 90-105.) It is there sliown tl. it the tril)es in the centre of America are rapidly de- creasing, although the Eurojicans are still at a considerable distance from them. t " The Indians," say Messrs. Clarke and Cass, in their Keport to Con- gress, p. 15, "are atta<'fied to their country by the same feelings which l)ind U8 to ours ; and, besides, tliere are certain superstitious notions connected with the alienation of what the Great spirit gave to their ancestors, which operate strongly upon tiie tril)es who have made few or no cessions, but which are gradually weakened as our intercourse with them is extended. 'We will not sell the spot which contains the bones of otu' fathers,' is almost always the lirst answer to a proposition for a sale." fm nih the itry the jd about rs oC the liont (lif- defined ; cTs to no not con- y remote ills which ians, \vho m find it ocvu'e the To drive sterile the lis of sub- to prowl Their in- soil which I anything In- consnltiriK litcs and their L). 90-105.) |e rapidly dc- llistance from [port to Con- Is which bind [ns connected lestors, which [cessions, hut is extended. Ivs,' is almost PRESFA'T AND FUTT'RE CONDITTOX OK TIIi: INDIANS. 43') but miserv and death. At lenjjth, thev arc conipcllcd to a<'([nicsce and depart : they follow tlie traces of tiu' elk, the buffalo, and the beaver, and are miided b\- tlicsc wild animals in the choice of their future country. I'roju'iiy speakincr, therefore, it is not the Europeans who dfi\c awav the natives of America ; it is famine; — a liapjiy distiiu - tion, which had escaped the casuists of former times, and for which Ave are indebted to modern discovery I It is impossible to conceive the frio-htfid suiferin<]^s wliich attend these forced mi<i;rations. They ari» undertakeu by a peoy)le already exhausted and reduc(.'d ; and the countries to which the new-comers betake themselves arc inhabited by other tribes, which receive them with jt'alons hostility. Hunger is in the rear, war awaits them, and misciy begets them on all sides. To escape from so many enemies, ihey separate, and each indi\idual endeavors to procure secretly the means of supporting his existence by isolating himself, living in the immensity of the desert like an outcast in civ- ili/x'd society. The social tie, which distress had long sine-- weakened, is then dissolved ; they have no longer a coun- try, and soon they will not be a pe()j)le ; their very families are obliterated ; their conunon name h forgotten ; theij language perishes ; and all traces of theli '-igiu disappear. Their nation has ceased to exist, excrpt iii ;he lecoliection of the antiquaries of America, and a i'cw of tlie learned of Europe. I shoidd be sorry to have my readier suppose that I am coloring the picture too highly : I saw with my own -^yes many of the miseries which I have just described, and was the witness of sufferings wdiicli I have not the })ower to ])ortray. At the end of the year 18ol, wdiilst I was on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a })lace named by Euroj)eans Memjihis, there arrived a numerous band of (Miocuinvs (or Chactas, as they are called by the French in Louisiana). 'I ! Ill '! ' ,•11 'ii ! 436 UEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. These savages had left their country, and were endeavor- ing to gain tlie right bank of the Mississippi, wliere they lioped to find an asylum which had been promised tliem by the American government. It was then the middle of winter, and the cold was unusually severe ; the snow had frozen hard uj)on the ground, and the river was driftino- huge masses of ice. The Indians had their families with them ; and they brought in their train the wounded and the sick, with children newly born, and old men upon the verge of death. They possessed neither tents nor wugons, but only tlieir arms and some provisions. I saw them em- bark to pass the mighty river, and never will that solemn spectacle fade from my remembrance. No cry, no sob, was heard amongst the assembled crowd ; all were silent. Their calamities were of ancient date, and they knew them to be irremediable. The Indians had all stepped into the bark which wan to carry them across, but their dogs remained upon the bank. As soon as these animals per- ceived that their masters were finally leaving the shore, they set up a dismal howl, and, plunging all together into the icy w^aters of the Mississippi, swam after the boat. The ejectment of the Indians often takes place at the present day in a regular, and, as it were, a legal manner. When the European population begins to approach, the limit of the desert inhabited by a savage tribe, the gov- ernment of the United States usually sends forward en- voys, who assemble the Indians in a large plain, and, having first eaten and drunk with them, address them thus : " What have you to do in the land of your fathers? Before long, you must dig up their bones in order to live. In what respect is the country you inhabit better than another ? Are there no w^oods, marshes, or prairies, except where you dwell ? And can you live nowhere but under your own sun ? Beyond those moun- tains which you see at the horizon, beyond the lake which um PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 4o7 l)(iuntls your territory on the west, there lie vast conn- tries where beasts of chase are yet found in great ahun- dance ; sell us your lands, then, and o;o to live hap{)ilv in those solitudes." After holdino; this lanouage, they sj)read before the eyes of the Indians fire-arms, woollen garments, kegs of brandy, glass necklaces, bracelets of tinsel, ear-rino-s. and lookinn;-oiasses.* If, when thev have beheld all these riches, thev still hesitate, it is insinuated that they cannot refuse the required c(msent, and that the o'overnment itself will not Ions have the power of protecting them in their rights. What are they to do ? Half convinced and half compelled, they go to inhabit new deserts, Avhere the importunate whites will not let them remain ten years in peace. In this manner do the Americans obtain, at a very low ])rice, whole provinces, which the richest sovereigns of Europe could not pur- chase, f * See, ill the Lefrislative Documents of Conaress (Doc. 117), tlie iiiirni- tivc of what takes phiee on these occasions. This curious passaue is i'mm the formerly mentioned Report, made to Congress by Messrs. Clarke and Cass, in February, 1829. "The Indians," says the Report, "rcich the treaty-ground poor, and al- most naked. LarLT q\iaiititles of Lioods arc taken there by the traders, and are seen and (examined by the Indians. '!'he women and eliiidren l)ecomo importunate to have tiieir wants supplied, and their influence is soon exerted to indr . ■•. sale. Their improvidence is habitual and uncoiKjuerable. 'J'lie gratification of his immeiliaic wants and desires is the ruling luission of an Indian. The expectation of future advnntages seldom ])r(jduecs inmli etierr. Tiie experience of the past is lost, and the [irospccts of tiie future disre^iard- ed. It would be utterly hopeless to demand a cession of land, uid^'ss the means were at hand of gratifying their immediate wants ; and when tiieir condition and circumstances are fairly considered, it ought not to surprise us that they are so anxious to relieve themselves." t On the 19th of May, 1850, Mr. Edward Everett afflrmod licfcre the House of Representatives, that the Americans had already ac()uirod by ticctti/, to the east and west of the Mississippi, 2.30,000,000 of acres. In 1808, the Osages gave up 48,000,000 acres for an annual payment of 1 ,000 d(illiu<. Li 1818, the Quapaws yielded up 20,000,000 acres for 4,000 dollars. They ::^ m 438 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Tliose are m'cat evils ; and it must be added that tlicy appear to me to be irremediable. I believe that the Indian nations of North America are doomed to j)erish ; and that whenever the Europeans shall be established on the shores of the Pac^ific Ocean, that race of men will have ceased to exist.* The Indians had only the alter- nati/e of war or civilization ; in other words, they must either destroy the Euro})eans or become their equals. At the first settlement of the colonies, they might have found it possible, by uniting their forces, to deliver them- selves from the small bodies of strangers who landed on their continent.! They several times attempted to do it, M i: f ! !■ i • ' ,'ii 1 reserved for themselves a territory of 1,000,000 acres for u hunti»i<i;-<;roiiii(l. A solemn oath was taken tlmt it should he respeeted : but; before !on<^ it wiis invaded like the rest. Mr. Bell, in his " Report of the Committee on Indian Affiiirs," February 24, isyo, has these words: "To pay an Indian tiihe what thei.. ancient huntin<;-ti;ronnds are worth to them after the {ianie is fled or destroyed, as a mode o*^ ,vppro]iriatin<i; wild lands claimed by Indians, has been found more conveiiioiit, and certainly it is more afyreeable to the forms of justice, as well as more merciful, than to assert the poss(!Ssion of them by the sword. Tims the practice of buyiuj^ Indian titles is but the substitute which humanity and expediency have imposed, in place of the sword, in arriving at the actual enjoyment of projjerty claimed by the right of discovery, and sanctioned i)y the luitural superiority allowed to tlie claims of civilized communities over those of savage tribes. Up to the present time, so invariable has been the operation of certain causes, lirst in diminishing the value of forest lands to the Indians, and secondly, in disposing them to sell readily, that the plan of bu} ing tlieir right of occupancy has never threatened to retard, in any per- ceptible degree, the prosperity of any of the States." (IjCgislative Docu- ments, 21st Congres;-, No. 237, p. 6). * This seems, i'.:uc.jd, to be the opinion of almost all American states- men. "Judging 01 tl'C future by the jiiist," says Mr. Cass, "we cannot err in anticipating a progressive diminution of their numbers, and their eventual extinction, uidess our border should become stationary, and they be removed beyond it, or unless some radical cliange should take place in the principles of our intercourse with them, which it is easier to hope for than to expect." i Amongst other warlike enterprises, there was one of the Wampanoags, ntiu'v-ii'i"!)! PRKSKNT AXD FUTUUK CONDITION 01' TllK INDIANS. -ISl) and wore on the point of succeeding ; but the dis})ropoi- tion of tlieir resources at tlie present day, wlien compared witli those of the wliites, is too great to allow such an enterprise to be thou«j;ht of. But from time to time amonii the Indians, men of sagacity and energy foresee the final destiny which awaits the native population, and exert themselves to unite all the tribes in conunon hostility to the Euroj)eans ; but their efforts are unavailing. The tribes which are in the Uv^'ghborhood of the whites ai'e too much weakened to oli'er an effectual resistance ; whilst the others, giving way to that childish carelessness of the morrow which characterizes savaoe life, wait for the near approach of danger before tlu'y })repare to meet it : some are unable, others are unwilling, to act. . It is easy to foresee that the Indians will never civilize themselves, or that it w'ill be too late when they may be inclined to make the experiment. Civilization is the result of a long social process, whicii takes place in the same spot, and is handed down from one generation to another, each one profiting by the experience of the last. Of all nations, those submit to civilization with ihe most difficulty who habitually live by the chase. Pastoral tribes, indeed, often change their place of abode ; but they follow a regular order in tlieir nn'grations, and often return to their old stations, whilst the dwelling of the hunter varies with that of the animals he pursues. Several attempts have been made to diffuse knowledge amono;st the Indians, leavhio- uncliecked their wanderino; propensities, by the Jesviits in Canada, and by the Puritans in New England ; * but none of these endeavors have been 1 'tk Wampanoags, and other coufederate tribes, under Metaconi, in 1675, against the colonists of New England ; the English were also engaged in war with them in Vir- ginia in 1(522. * See the historians of New England, the Histoire de la Nouvdle France,, by Charlevoix, and tlie work entitled Lettrts cJijianhs. I.: fJil HI;; M 0: '!,!■ 440 DKMOCliACY IN AMKUICA. crowned by any lasting success. Civilization bef^an In tlie cabin, but soon retired to expire in the woods. The great error of these ley:islators ol' the Indians was their not un- derstanding that, in order to succeed in civilizing a i)eo])le, it is first necessary to fix them, which cannot be done with- out induciuii' them to cultivate the soil ; the Indians ouiiht in the first place to have been accustomed to agriculture. But not only are they destitute of this indis[)ensable pre- liminary to civilization, — they would even have great dif- ficulty in acquiring it. Men who have once abandoned themselves to the restle^is and adventurous life of the hunter feel an insurmountable disgust for the constant and regular labor which tillage requires. We see this proved even in our own societies ; but it is far more visible among races whose partiality for the chase is a part of their national character. Independently of this general difficulty, tliere is another, which ap})lies peculiarly to the Indians. They consider labor not merely as an evil, but as a disgrace ; so that their pride contends against civihzation as obstinately as their indolence.* There is no Indian so wretched as not to retain under his hut of bark a lofty idea of his personal worth ; he con- siders the cares of industry as degrading occupations ; he compares the husbandman to the ox wdiich traces the fur- row ; and in each of our handicrafts, he can see only the labor of slaves. Not that he is devoid of admiration for the power and intellectual greatness t)f the whites ; but, although the result of our efforts surprises him, he con- * "In all the tri'>cs," says Volncy, in his Tableau des Etats-Unis, (p. 423,) "tliere still exists a generation of old warriors, who cannot fovbcar, when they sec their countrymen using the hoe, from exclaiming against the degradation of ancient manners, and asserting that the savages owe tiieir decline to these iuiiovatious ; adding, that they have only to return to their primitive habits, in oaler to recover their power and glory." If' ' i^i- .1 y^'.^ PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 441 toiiins the meuns l)v whicli we obtain it ; and wliilo lie acknowledges our ascendeney, he still helieves in his own superiority. War and hiuiting are the only pursuits which appear to liim worthy of a man.* The Indian, in the dreary solitudes of hi-, woods, cherishes the same ideas, the same opinions, as the nohle of the Middle A^cs in his castle; and he only needs to become a con(|ueroi* to com- plete the resend)lanci'. Thus, however strange it may seem, it is in the forests of the New World, and not amongst the Europeans who people its coasts, that t'le ancient prejudices of l-^urope still exist. More than once, in the course of this Avork, I have endeavored to exj)lain the prodigious influence -which the social condition appears to exercise uj)on the laws and the manners of men : and I beo; to add a few words on the same subject. When I perceive the resemblance which exists between the political institutions of our ancestors, the Germans, and the wanderino; tribes of North America, — between the customs described by Tacitus, and those of which I have sometimes been a witness, — I cannot help thinking that the same cause has brouoht about the same results in both hemispheres ; and that, in the midst of the apparent n If-. * The following dcscrii)tion occurs in an ofKciiil document : " Until a young man lias been engaged with an enemy, and has performed some atts of valor, he gains no consideration, but is regarded nearly as a woman. In their great war-dances, all the warriors in succession strike the post, as it is called, and recount their exploits. On these occasions, their auditory lon- sists of the kinsmen, friends, and comrades of the narrator. The profound impression which bis discourse produces on them is manifested by the silcMit r,ttention it receives, and by the loud shouts which hail its termination. The young man who finds himself at such a meeting without anything to re- count is very unhappy ; and instances have sometimes occurred of young warriors, whose passions had beeu thus inflamed, quitting the war-dance suddenly, and going otf alone to seek for trophies which they might exhibit- and adventures which they might be allowed to relate." 19* ■1 ' 442 DEMOCRACY IN' AMKRICA, i'iff (liviTsity of Iminaii afliiiis, (M.'i'tain jM'iiiiaiy flicts may 1k» (lisrovoivd, from wliicli all the others ai'o (K'rived. In what we usually call tlie (iermau institutions, then, I am inclined to perceive only harharian haliits, and the opinions of savages in what wi' style feudal principh... However stronuly the vices and ]>rejudices of the North American Indians may be ()})posed to their becoming agri- cultural and civili/ed, necessitv sometimes dri\('s them to it. Several of the (Southern tribes, considei' My numerous, and amongst (others the Cherokees and the Creeks,* fuum! themselves, as it were, surrounded by European , who bao landed on ihe shores of the Atlantic, and, either descend- ing tlie Ohio, or proceeding up the ^lississippi, arrived sinudtaneously u})on their borders. These tribes had not been dri\en fnmi place to place, like their Northern breth- ren ; but they had been gradually shut up within narrow limits, like game driven into an enclosure before the hunts- men plunge among them. The Indians, wlio were thus placed between civilization and death, found themselves obliged to li\'e ignominiously by labor, like the whites. They to' k to agriculture, and, without entirely forsaking their old lud)its or manners, sacrificed only as much as was necessary to their existence. The Cherokees went further ; they created a written * These nations are now swallowed up in the States of Georgia, Tennes- see, Alabama, and Mississippi, There were formerly in the South four great nations (remnants of wliich still exist), the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, tlie Creeks, and the Cherokees. The remnants of these four nations amounted in 1830 to altout 7o,t)00 individuals. It is computed that there are now remaining in the territory OfeUj)ied or claimed by the Anglo-Amer- ican Union about 300,000 Indians. (See "Proceedings of t])e Indian Board in the City of New York.") The official documents supplied to Congress make the number amount to 313,130. The reader who is curious to know the names and numerical strength of all the tribes which inhabit the Anglo- American territory should consult the documents I have just referred to. (Legislative Documents, 20th Congress, No. 117, pp. 90-105.) Mi^ ts may l)o •ivc'd. Ill hell, I am le opinions tlie Nortli >miu«' a;;ri- 's tlicm to n\nn('rou>, .'ks,* found ^, wlio lui«l n* clescpntl- ipi, arrivt ,[ L^s had i.ot licrn brotli- liin narrow ! tlic Imnts- \vere thus themselves the whites, forsaking mch as was a written orgia, Tcnnos- 10 South four c Chickasaws, lour nations ted tiiat there Anglo-AiTier- Iiidian Board to Congress irious to know bit the Anglo- st referred to. 05.) PKESKNT AND FUTLUE CONDITION OF THF INDIANS. 443 lan^iia<j;e, cstahlislu'd a permanent form of o^ovi'rnmcnt, and, as I'Vi'rytliing proceeds rapidly in tlie New \\'orld, ])ef(»re they all t»l' them had clothes, they set up a news- j)aper.* 'J'he di'vi'lopment of European liahits has hci-n nuieh accelerated among these Indians hy the mixed ra<'*' wliitdi has sprung up.f Deriving iiitelligenci' from the tiither's side, without entirely losing the savage customs of the mother, the liull-hlood forms tlu; natural link hrtwci'ii ci\ ilization and harhai'isiu. Wherever this raei- lias unil- ti|)lied, the savam' state has hcc 'ic uiodilied, and a iireat <'haiige has taken })lace in the m is of tlu' pco[)le.J * I lirought hack with nie to France one or two copies of tiiis singuhir ])ul)lication, t See, ill the lioport of the Coniniittee on Indian Atfairs, 2Ist Congress, No. 2:27, p. 2.'}, the reasons for tlie niultipiication of Indians of mixed Mood among tlie Cherokees. The principal cause dates from the War of Iiidc- l)endence. Many Anglo-Americans of (Jeorgia, having taken the side of Knghind, were ohiiged to retreat among the Indians, where they nuuTicd. t Uniiappily, the mixed race has heen less numerous and Icjs inlluential in North America than in any other country. Tiie American continent was j)eopled hy two great nations of Europe, the FriMich and tlic English. The former were not slow in connecting themselves with the daughters of the natives ; hut there was an unfortunate afHnity hctwccn the Indian char- acter and their own : instead of giving the tastes and hahits of civili/tMl life to the savages, the French too often grew jtassionately fond of Indian life. They became the most dangerous inhabitants of the desert, and won the friendship of the Indian by exaggerating his vices and his virtues. M. de Kenonville, the Governor of Canada, wrote thus to Louis XIV. in IG8.') : " It has long been believed that, in ortler to civilize the savages, we ought to draw them nearer to us. IJut there is every reason to suppose we have been mistaken. Those which have been brought into contaet with us have not be- come F''rench, and the i'rench who have lived among them are changed into savages, affecting to dress and live like them." ("History of New France," by Charlevoix, Vol. II. p. 345.) The Englishman, on the contrary, con- tinuing ol)Stinately attached to the customs and the most insignificant habits of his forefathers, has remained in the midst of the American solitudes just what he was in the bosom of European cities ; he would not allow of any communication with savages whom he despised, and avoided with care the <' i 1 H 1 t i ^T^ .wv. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) % J A O :/- .<i _^ .v^ <■ ^^-^^^ :/, 1.0 I.I 1.25 m \A. 11.6 V] <^ / ^ / y^ '■y y Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 t t I: i 444 DF.MOCRACV IN AMERICA. ■■il'f, ■I'i V t 'k>? m i; • ' i' 1 ; -r ! ( I f.j:: Tlie success of the Clierokees proves that the Indians are cajjahle of civilization, Init it does not prove tliat they will succeed in it. This difficulty which the Indians find in suhmittini!; to civilization proceeds from a general cause, the influence of which it is almost iini)ossil)le for them to escape. An attentive survey of liistory demonstrates that, in general, harharous nations have raised themselves to civilization by degrees, and by their own elforts. When- ever they derived knowledge from a foreign ])eople, they stood towards them in the relation of conquerors, and not of a con([uered nation. AVhen the conipiered nation is enlightened, and the con([uerors are half savage, as in the invasion of the Roman em})ire by the Northern nations, or that of China by the Mongols, the ])ower which victory bestows upon the barbarian is sufficient to keej) uj) his importance among civilized men, and permit him to rank as their e(pial until he becomes their rival. The one has miiiht on his side, the other has intellio-ence ; the former admires the knowledge and the arts of the concpiered, the latter envies the power of the conquerors. The barbarians at length admit civilized man into their palaces, and he in turn opens his schools to the barbarians. But when the side on which the physical force lies also possesses an intel- lectual superiority, the conquered party seldom become civilized ; it retreats, or is destroyed. It may therefore be said, in a o;eneral wav, that savaws 0:0 forth in arms to seek knowledo;e, but do not receive it when it comes to them. If the Indian tribes which now inhabit the heart of the continent could summon up energy enough to attempt to civilize themselves, they might possibly succeed. Superior already to the barbarous nations which surround them, union of his race with theirs. Thus, while the French exercised no salutary influence over the Indians, the English have always remained alien Irom them. PliKSKNT AND FUlUUfc: COXDITION Or HIK INDIANS. 445 they would n;riulu;illy "j^uin stivngth and exporionoo, and wlien tlie Europeans should appear upon tlioir borders, they would be in a state, if not to maintain tlieir indepen- dence, at least to assert their right to the soil, and to incorporate themselves with the conipierors. But it is the nn'sfbrtune of Indians to be brouiiht into contact with a civilized people, who are also (it must be owned) tlie most n;ras|)ini£ nation on the o-lobe, whilst thev are still semi-barbarian ; to find their muoters in their instructors, and to receive knowledge and op})ression at once. Living in the freedom of the woods, the Nortli American Indian was destitute, but he had no feelin<i of inferioritv towards any one; as soon, however, as he desires to j)enetrate into the social scale of the whites, he can only take the lowest rank in society, for he enters, ignorant and j)oor, witliin the i)ale of science and wealth. After having led a life of aiiitation, beset with evils and danwrs, but at the same time filled with proud emotions,* he is obliged to submit * There is in tiie adventurous life of tlie hunter a certain irre.sistil)le charm, which seizes the iieart of man, and carries him away in spite of rea- son and experience. This is plainly shown by the " IVIenioirs of Tanner." Tanner was a European who was carried away at the ajrc of six hy the In- dians, and remained thirty years with them in the woods. Xothinj; can lie conceived more appallinp: than the miseries which he descrihes. lie tells us of trii)es witliout a chief, families without a nation to call their own, men in a state of isolation, wrecks of powerful trilies wandering' at random amid the ice anil snow and desolate .solitudes of Canada. llunj;er and cold pursue tli«.Mii ; every day their life is in jeopardy. Amon^-'st these men, manners lia-e lost their empire, traditions are without power. They become more and more savajjre. Tanner shared in all these miseries ; he was aware of Ills European orij:in ; he was not kept away from the whites by force ; on the contrary, he came every year to trade witii theia, entered their dwellin;:s, and witnes.sed their enjoynu'nts ; he knew tiiat whenever he chose to return to civilized life, he was perf(;ctly able to do so, — and he remained thirty years in the deserts. When he came into civilized society, he declared that the rude existence, the miseries of which he described, had a secret charm for him which he could not define : he returned to it aL'aiii and ajrain ; at lenj^th he abandoned it with poignant regret ; and when he was at length fixed m V !l ^ : '.. I .!. fii li m m m\ 446 DKMOcnACY IN AMFRICA. to a wearisome, ohscurc, and (li'i^rafled state. To oain the bread which noiii'islies him hy liard and ii;iiohK' lahor, — tliis is in liis eyes tlie only residt of wliieli (■i\ilization can boast ; and even this lie is not always sure to obtain. When the Indians undertake to imitate their Euro))ean neighbors, and to till the earth like them, they are imme- diately exposed to a formidable eom[)etition. The white man is skilled in the craft of agriculture ; the Indian is a rouiili be<rinner in an art with which he is unac<|uainted. The former reaps abundant crops without difficulty, the latter meets with a thousand obstacles in raisinix the fruits of the earth. The European is placed amongst a population whose wants he knows and partakes. The -ivage is isolated in the midst of a liostile people, with whose manners, lan- guage, and laws he is imj)erfectly acquainted, but without whose assistance he cannot live. He can only procure the materials of comfort by bartering his commodities for the goods of the European, for the assistance of his country- men is wholly insufficient to supply his wants. Thus, when the Indian wishes to sell the i)roduce of his labor, lie cannot always find a purchaser, whilst the European readily obtains a market ; the former can only produce at considerable cost what the latter sells at a low rate. Thus the Indian has no sooner escaped those evils to which bar- barous nations are exposed, than he is subjected to the still greater miseries of civilized communities ; and he finds it scarcely less difficult to live in the midst of our abundance, than in the depth of his own forest. among the whites, several of his children refused to share his tranquil and easy situation. I saw Tanner myself at the lower end of Lake Superior : he seemed to me more like a savajre than a civilized heing. His hook is written without eitlier taste or order ; hut he gives, ev^n unconsciously, a lively picture of the prejudices, the passions, the vices, and, aliove all, the destitution, iu the midst of which he lived. <. 1 PRF.SF.XT ANi> irni.'r. (•o:\-i)rii(tN of tiii; fndians. -147 lie liiis not yot lost tlio habits of liis orrntic lill' ; tlio traditions of liis fatlu-rs aiul liis passion for \\\v cliaso are still alivf within liiin. The wild cnjoyinciits which fnr- morly aiiiniated him in the woods painfully excite his troubled imagination ; the j)rivations which he endun-d there appear less keen, his fbrmi'r perils less appallini;. He contrasts the inde])endence which he possessed am(»nii;st his (Mjuals with the si-rvile position which he occu])ies in civili/ed society. On the other hand, the solitudes which were so lonij; his free home are still at hantl : a few hours' inarch will hrinij; him hack to them once mort'. The whites otter hiin a siun, which seems to him considerable, for the half-cleared nround whence he obtains sustenance with ditticulty. This money of the Europeans may possibly enable him to live a happy and tranquil life far away from them ; and he (puts the i)louL!;h, resumes his native arms, and returns to the wilderness forever.* The condition of * Tliis destructive influence of hijilily civilized nations upon otiiers wiiicli are less so, lisis lieen observed unionj^ tlie Eurojieuns themselves. Aliout u eontury niso, the French founded the town of VinccTines upon the Walmsh, in the middle of the desert ; and thoy lived there in preat plenty, until the arrival of the American settlers, who first ruined the previous iidialutants hy their competition, and afterwards purchased their lands at a very low rate. At the time when M, de Volney, from whom I borrow tiiese details, jtassed tiu'ou^di Vincennes, the immher of the Freiu'h was reduced to a hundred individuals, most of whom were about to migrate to Louisiana or to Can- ada. These French settlers were worthy people, hut idle and uninstructed : they had contracted many of the habits of sava^^es. The Americans, who were ])erhaps their inferiors in a moral point of view, were innueasurably superior to them iu intelligence : they were industrious, well informed, rich, and accustomed to govern their own community. I myself saw in Canada, where the intellectual difference between the two races is le.ss striking, that the English arc the masters of commerce and man- ufacture in the Caiuidian country, that they spread on all sides, and confine tlie French within limits wliic h scarcely suffice to contain them. In like manner, in Louisiana, almost all activity iu commerce and manufacture cen- tres in the hands of the Anglo-Americans. But the case of Te.\as is still more striking : the State of Texas is a part ma ■'^'' I: :(■; ii 448 DKMOCRACY IN AMKIUCW. tlie Crocks and Cherokees, to wlildi I have already alhuk'd, sufiicioiitly corroborates tlic trutli of this sad picture. The Indians, in tlie little which they have done, luive un- questionahly displayed as much natural j^enius as the })e()- j)lcs of Eurojie in their greatest undertakin<5s ; but nations as well as men reipiire time to learn, whatever may be their intcllioence and their zeal. Whilst the savages were endeavoring to civilize themselves, the Europeans contin- ued to surroiuid them on every side, and to confiJie them within narrower limits ; the two races (i-radnallv met, and they are now in innnediate contact with each other. The Indian is already superior to his barbarous parent, but lie is still far below his white nei<fhbor. With their resour- ces and accpiired knowledge, the Euro})eans soon appro- )»nated to themselves most of the advantages which the nati\es might have derived from the possession of the soil: tlu'v have settled among them, have piu'chased land at a low rate, or have occupied it by force, and the Indians ha\e been ruined by a competition which they had not the means of sustaininfj. Thev were isolated in their own country, and their race oidy constituted a little colony of troublesome strangers in the midst of a numerous and dominant people.* of Mexico, iiiul is upon the frontier between that country and tlie United State:). In the course of tiic hist few years, tlie Ani^lo-Aiiiericans have penetrated into this province, which is still thinly peopled ; they purchase land, tiicy produce the commodities of the country, and supplant the origi- nal population. It may easily he foreseen, that, if JNIexico takes no stops to check this change, the province of Texas will very shortly cease to belong to t'lat governineut. If the different degrees — comparatively slight — which exist iu Euro- pean civilization produce results of such magnitude, it is easy to understand wliat must happen when the most perfect European civilization comes iu contact with Indian l)arlmrism. * See in tlie Legislative Documents (21st Congress, No. 89) instances of excesses of every kind committed by the whites upon the territory of the Indians, either in taking possession of a part of their lands, until compelled lii y alliulod, lire. , have un- !, the pec)- iit nations r may be •a lies were ns contin- ifine tlieni Y met, and her. Tlie ■nt, but lie v\y resour- )on api)ro- whieli the jf the soil : land at a he Indians ■V had not I their own colony of erous and id the United lionciiiis have dicy puirlmsc hint the ori;.^i- |es no stt'its to ISC to belong kist iu Euro- \o understand Ion comes iu 1 instances of rritory of the Itil coiupelled rRESF.NT AND rUTUIIK CONDITION OF niK INDIANS. 440 AVasliinirton said, in one of his mossajjes to Cotiiiross, " We are more enli<jjhtened and more j)o\verrid than the Indian nations ; we are therefore bonnd in honor to tri'at them with kindness, and even with n;(.>nerosiry." lint this virtiious and hi^h-minded ])()li('y has not ht'cn followed. The rapaoitv of the settlers is nsnallv hacked hv the tvraimy of the government. Althoudi the Cherokees and the Creeks are established ni)on tcrritorv which thcv inhabiti'd bt'fore the arrival of the Kuro])eans, and although the Americans have frerpiently treated with them as with foreii^n nations, the snrronndinuj States have not been w ill- ini>; to acknowledge them as an independent people, and ha\'e nndi'rtaken to snbject these children of the woods to Aniilo-American ma»fistrates, laws, and cnstoms.* Desti- tntion had driven these nnibrtnnate Indians to civilization, and oppression now drives them back to barbarism : many to retire hy the troops of Congress, or carrying off their cattle, burning their houses, cutting down their corn, and doing violence to tiieir persons. The Union has a rcpresciuative agent contiinuilly employed to reside among the Indians ; and the rejmrt of the Cherokee agent, which is among the documents I have referred to, is almost always favorable to the Indians. " The intrusion of whites," he says, " upon the lamls of the Cherokees will cause ruin to the poor, helpless, and inoffensive inhal)itants." And he fur- ther remarks ujion the attempt of the State of Georgia to establish a boun- dary line for the country of the Cherokees, that the line, having i>cen made by the whites alone, and entirely upon ex parte evidence of their several rights, was of no validity whatever. * In 1820, the State of Alabama divided the Creek territory into counties, and subjected the Indian population to Kin'o]ican magistrates. In 1830, the State of Mississippi assimilated the Choctaws and Chicka- saws to the white population, and dei'lared that any of them wiio should take the title of chief should be punished by a tine of 1,000 dollars and a year's imprisonment. When these laws were announced to the Choc- taws, who inhabited that district, the trilie assembled, their chief commu- nicated to them the intentions of the whites, and read to them some of the laws to which it was intended that they should submit ; and they unanimously declared that it was better at once to retreat again into the wilds. CO I 4:)0 DKMOrRACV IN AMKIJICA. I- of tlicm ahnndnn tlie soil wliicli tliey liad begun to clear, and return to the habits of savan-e life. If we consider t..e tyrannical measures which have been adopted l»y the legislatures of the Southern States, the con- duct of their Governors, and the decrees of their courts of justice, we shall be convinced that the entire expidsion of the Indians is the final result to which all the eft'orts of their j)olicy arc directed. The Americans of that part of the Union look with jealousy u})()n the lands which the natives still possess ; * they are aware that these tribes have not yet lost the traditions of savajje life, and before civilization has })ermanently fixed them to the soil, it is intended to force them to depart by reducing them to despair. The Creeks and Cherokees, oppressed by the several States, have ap- pealed to the central government, which is by no means insensible to their misfortunes, and is sincerely desirous of saving the remnant of the natives, and of maintaininn; them in the free possession of that territory which the Union has guaranteed to thc^m.f But the several States oppose so formidable a resistance to the execution of this design, that the government is obliged to consent to the ex- tirpation of a few barbarous tribes, already half destroyed, in order not to endanger the safety of the American Union. But the Federal government, which is not able to pro- tect the Indians, would fain mitigate the hardships of their lot; and, with this intention, it has undertaken to trans- port them into remote regions at the public cost. * The Georfiians, who are so much troubled by the proximity of tlie In- dians, inhabit a territory which docs not at present contain more than seven inhabitants to the square mile. In France, there are one hundred and sixty- two inhabitants to the same extent of country. t In 1818, Congress appointed commissioners to visit the Arkansas ter- ritory, accompanied by a dei)utation of Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. This expedition was commanded by Messrs. Kennerly, M'Coy, Wash Hood, and John Bell. See the different Rei)orts of the Commissioners, and their journal, in the Documents of Congress, No. 87, House of Representatives. to dear, Ikivc been <, the con- courts of pulsion of rts of tlioir lart of the the natives ivc not yet ization has 0(1 to force riic Crocks i, have ap- ' no moans 'ly desirous maintaining which the v-eral States tion of this it to the ex- f destroyed, lican Union, ble to pro- ips of their n to trans- ost. lity of the In- here than seven Ircd and sixty- Arkansas tcr- ^d Chickasaws. Wash Hood, Incrs, and their [preseutatives. PKKSKNT AND FUTUHK rONI)niON OF THK INDIANS. -I")l rJetwoon tlio -^'mI and fJTtli doirrees of north latitu(h', a vast tract of country Hcs, wliich lias taken the name of Arkansas, from the j)rincij>al river that waters it. It is Lounde(l on thi' one side hy the confines of Mexico, on tlu* otlier hy the Mississippi. Numherless stroiuns cross it in every direction ; the climate is mild, and the soil jirodiic- tive, and it is inhabited only by a few wanderini;' hordes of savam's. The o;o\ernment of the l^nion wishes to transport the broken remnants of tlie indigenous popida- tion of the South to tlie portion of this country which is nearest to Miwico, and at a irreat distanci' from the American settlements. We were assured, towards the end of the yi'ar IS:}!, that 10,000 Indians had alreadv ^.^nw to the shores of thc^ Arkansas, and fresh detachments were constantly follow- in<; them. But Conj^ress has been unable to create a unan- imous determination in those whom it is disposed to protect. Some, indeed, Joyfully consent to quit the seat of o[)pres- sion ; but the most enhVhtened members of the connnunitv refuse to abandon their recent dwelliuijs and their spring- ing croj)s ; they are of o])inion that the work of civiliza- tion, once interrupted, will never be resumed ; they fear that those domestic habits which hav been so recently contracted may be irrevocably lost in the midst of a coun- try which is still barbarous, and where nothing is pre})ared for the subsistence of an agricultural people ; they know that their entrance into those wilds will be o])posed by hostile hordes, and that they have lost the energy of bar- barians, without having yet acquired the resources of civ- ilization to resist their attacks. IMoreover, the Indians readily discover that the settlement which is proposed to them is merely temporary. Who can assure them that they will at length be allowed to dwell in peace in their new retreat ? The United States pledge themselves to maintain them there ; but the territory wdiich they now WB ^*!r ii; L'ltory a u ■n \'^^ 452 I)i;.M()('l{A("Y IN* A.MKIMCA. occupy was fonucrly secured to tlicin liy tlu' most solcnui oatlis.* Tiic Auu'ricaii <^ovcrMnK'Ut docs not indeed now roll them of tlieir lands, hut it allows perpetual encroach- ments on them. In a few years, the same white jiopida- tion which now flocks aroimd them will douhtkss track them anew to the solitudes of the iVrkansas ; they will then he exjiosed to the same evils, without the same reme- dies ; and as the limits of the earth will at last fail them, their only refu<j;(.' is the <j;rave. 'J'he Union treats the Indians with less cu})idity and vi«)lence than the several States, hut the two ^overmnents are alike deticient in }i;ood liiith. The States extend what they call the henefits of their laws to the Indians, heliev- inii; that the trihes will recede rather than suhmit to them ; and the central government, which jiromises a permanent refuse to these unhapjiy beings in the West, is well aware of its inability to secure it to them.f Thus the tyranny * Tlie fifth article of the treaty made witli the Creeks in Au;;ust, 1790, is in the followinj^ words : " The United States solemnly {rnarantee to the Creek nation all their land within the limits of the United States. The seventli article of the treaty concluded in 1791 with the Cherokees says : " The United States solemnly guarantee to tiie Cherokee nation all their lands not hereby ceded." The following article declared that, if any citizen of the United States, or other settler not of the Indian race, should estalili.sli himself upon the territory of the Cherokees, the United States would withdraw their protection from that individual, and give him up to be punislied as the Cherokee nation should think tit. t This does not prevent them from promising in the most solemn manner to do so. See the letter of the President addressed to the Creek Indians, 23d March, 1829. "Beyond the great river Mississippi, where a part of your nation has gone, your father has provided a country large enough for all of you, and he advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not troul)le you ; they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you and all your children, as long as the grass grows, or the water runs, in peace and plenty. It will be yours forever." The Secretary of War, in a letter written to the Cherokees, April 18th, 1829, declares to them that they cannot expect to retain possession of the t solemn oi'd now 'Hcroiich- • J)0|Hlltl- L'ss track tlicy will UK' n-nie- •ail tliein, idity and .ornnRMits tend what lis, boliov- to tluMn ; pi'mianont veil awaro ,e tyranny •just, 1790, is Viintce to the :es. le Clicrokees ec nation all il tliat, if any \\ race, should nited States him up to be llemn manner Ircek Indians, [re a part of Tc enough for ^hite brothers you can live or the water I, April 18th, Icssion of the rHKSKNT AND rLilKi; CONIUTION OF 1111'. INDIANS. [')'.) of tile States obli^i's the savages to retii'e ; the rnioii, hv its jironiises and resources, fiicilitates their retri'at ; and these ineasnres tend to precisidv the same end.* *' By tlie will of oiu* Father in llcavi'n, the (Inv- ernor of the whole world," said the Cheroki-es, in their petition to Conuri'ss,! ''the ri'd man of America has become small, and the white man oreat and I'eiiowned. When the ancestors of tlu; pi'ople of thesi' Uniti'd States first came to the shores of America, they fonnd tiie re(l man stroma: thon^h he was ignorant and savage, yet he received them kindly, and jiave them drv land to rest their wearv feet. 'I'hey met in peace, and shook hands in token of friendshij). AVhaU'vc* the .white man wanted and asked of the Intlian, the latter williniilv iiave. At that time, the Indian was the lord, and the white man the snj)j)liant. Bnt now the scene has changed. The streniith of the red man has become weakness. As his nuiii'hbors increased in nnmbers, his j)ower becami' less and less ; and now, of the many and ))owerful tribes who once covered these United States, only a few are to be seen, — a few whom a sweeping pestilence has left. The Northern tribes, who were once so nnmerons and pow- erful, are now nearly extinct. Thus it has happened to lands at tliat time occupied by them, but {z;ivcs them the most positive assur- ance of uninterrupted peace if they would remove beyond the Mississipiii : as if tlic i)0wcr which could not grant them protection then, would lie al)le to att'ord it tiiem hereafter ! * To obtain a correct idea of tlie policy pursued by the several States and the Union with respect to the Indians, it is necessary to consult, — 1st. " The Laws of the Colonial and State Governments relating to the Indian Inhab- itants." (See the Legislative Documents, 21st Congress, No. 319.) 2d. " The Laws of the Union on the same subject, and especially that of March 30th, 1802." (See Story's "Laws of the United States.") 3d. « The Eeport of Mr. Cass, Secretary of War, relative to Indian Aftiiirs, November 29th, 1S23." t December 18th, 1829. '■'■' \ V 1 f" % I ■ i< c |j; ': 1' i^ 4:>4 I)i:m(jci:acy in amkuica. I i the n'd man of Aiiu'rica. Shall wo, who iiru ri'iiuiaiits, Bhari' th»! >aine late ? "The land on winch wo stand wo have rocoivod as an inJH'i'itanci' IVoin onr latluTs, who jiossossod it from time innncnioi'Iai, as a ^ii't from onr connnon Fathrr in Heaven. They hi(|ni'athod it to ns as their eiiildren, and wo liaNo saci'edly kept it, as containin;;' the remains of onr heloNed men. This ri^iit of iniii-ritaneo wo havo novor coded, nor over forfeited. i*erniit ns to ask, what hotter ri^ht can tho })eo|>Ie havi' to a conntry than the ri<:;ht of iidieritanci* and innneinorial peaceahU; possession ? Wo know it is saiil of late hy tho State of Oeornia and hy tho Exocutivo of the I'nited States, that wo havo I'orfoited tliis ri^ht ; hut wo think tiiis is said jiratnitcmsly. At what time havo wo made ti 10 forfeit ? What eroat crime liav(^ wo committod, wiierehy wi; must forovor be divested of our country and riii'lits ? Was it when wo wore hostile to the United States, and took part with tho king of Groat Britain, dui'ino; tlio strn<i<rlo for independence? If so, why was not this forfeiture declared in tho first treaty of i)eaco between the United States and our beloved men ? Why was not such an article as the followinn; inserted in the treaty : ' Tho United States give peace to the Cherokeos, but, for the part they took in the late war, declare them to be but tenants at will, to be removed when the conven- ience of the States within whose chartered limits they live shall recpiire it ' ? That was the i)roper time to assume such a })ossession. But it was not thought of; nor would our foretiithers have agreed to any treaty whose tendency was to deprive them of their rights and their country." Such is the language of the Indians: what they say is true ; what they foresee seems inevitable. From which- ever side we consider the destinies of the aborigines of North America, their calamities appear irremediable : if they continue barbarous, they are forced to retire ; if they m riJLSr.NT AND FiniHIi COXDinOX OK tin: INDIANS. 4o5 att('iii|)t to ('In ili/A' tlu'iiiM'lvos, tlu* (•(intact ot' a iikuh' civ- ilizi'd cuiiunuMity •^ulijccts tlu'in to oppri'ssioii and di'stitu- tion. riii'y prrisli it' tlii'V continni' to wander from waste to waste, and it' tlu-y attempt to settle, tlu'V still nnist pei- isli. 'I'lie assistance (»!' Hm"o|)eans is necessary to instrni't them, hut tlu; apin'oaeh of Europeans eoiTupts and n-pels them into savai^e life. Thev refuse to chany-e their hahits as loni;- as their solitudes are their own, and it is too late to change tlu-m when at last they are constrained to suhmit. The Spaniards pursued the Indians with hlood-hounds, like wild heasts ; they sacked the New AVorld like a city taki'ii hy storm, witli no discermnent or compassion ; hut destruction must cease at last, and fren/y has a limit: the riMunant of the Indian ])opulation which hail escaped the massacre mixed with its concinerors, and adoi)ted in the 'ud tl len* reliii'ion anc I their maimers.* The conduct of the Americans of the United States towards the ahorii^ines is characterized, on the other hand, bv a sino;ular attach- ment to the formalities of law. Pro\ided that the Indians retain their barbarous condition, the Americans take no l)art in their affairs ; they treat them as Independent natious, and do not possess themselves of their hunting- grounds without a treaty of purchase ; ,md if an Indian nation happen to be so encroached upon as to be imahle to subsist upon tlieir territory, they kindly take them by the hand and transport them to a grave far from the land of their fathers. The Spaniards were unable to exterminate the Indian race by those unparalleled atrocities which brand them with indelible shame, nor did they even succeed in wholly * The honor of this result is, however, by no means due to the Spaniards. If tiie Indian tribes had not been tillers of the ground at the time of the ai'rival of the Europeans, they would unciuestiouably Jiave been destroyed in South as well as in North America. !, ! 456 DEMOCRACY IN AMKKICA. (Ic'jtriving it of its ri^lits ; but the Americans of tlie United States liave accomj>lished tliis twofold j)urj)()se with singu- hir fehcity, tranquilly, legally, philanthro])ic'ally, without shedding Llood, and without violating a single great prin- ci[)le of morality in the ej^es of the world.* It is impos- sible to destroy men with more respect for the laws of humanity. SITUATION OF THE BLACK POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DANGERS WITH WHICH ITS PRESENCE THREATENS THE WHITES. Why it is more difficult to abolish Slavery, and to efface all Vestiges of it amongst the Moderns, than it was amongst the Ancients. — In the United States, the Prejudices of tlie Whites against the Blacks seem to increase in Proportion as Slavery is abolished. — Situation of the Negroes in the Northern and Southern States. — Why the Americans abolisii Slavery. — Servitude, which dcbu'^es the Slave, impoverishes the Master. — Con- trast between the left and the right Bank of the Ohio. — To what at- tributable. — The Black Race, as well as Slavery, recedes towards the South. — Explanation of this Fact. — Difficulties attendant upon the Abolition of Slavery in the South. — Dangers to come. — General Anx- iety. — Foundation of a Black Colony in Africa. — Why the Americans of the South increase the Hardships of Slavery, whilst they are distressed at its Continuance. The Indians will perish in the same isolated condition in which they have lived ; but the destiny of the Negroes is in some measure interwoven with that of the Europeans. * See, amongst other documents, tlie Report made by Mr. Bell in the name of the Committee on Indian Affiiirs, February 24th, 1830, in which it is most logically estal)lished, and most learnedly proved, that " the funda- mental principle, that the Indians had no right, by virtue of their ancient possession either of soil or sovereignty, has never been abandoned either ex- pressly or by implication." In perusing this Report, which is evidently drawn up by a skilful hand, TRKSEXT AND FCTURE CONDITION OF TIIK NKGROES. 457 These two mees are fastened to eacli otlier without inter- minghiig ; and they are ahke unable to separate entirely or to cond)iue. The most fonnidable of all the ills which threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black })opulation upon its territory ; and in contem- plating the cause of the present embarrassments, or the ftiture dangers of the United States, the obscr\ er is inva- riably led to this as a [)rimary fact. Generally sijeakiuii;, men must make great and unceasin"" efforts before permanent evils are created ; but there is one calamity which penetrated furtively into the world, and which was at Hrst scarcely distinguishable amidst the ordi- nary abuses of ])ower : it originated with an individual wdiose name history has not preserved ; it was wafted like some accursed germ u])on a portion of the soil ; but it afterwards nurtured itself, grew without effort, and spn^ad naturally with the society to which it belonged. This calamity is slavery. Christianity suppressed slavery, but the Christians of the sixteenth century re-established it, — as an exception, indeed, to their social system, and restrict- ed to one of the races of mankind ; but the wound thus inflicted upon humanity, though less extcnsi^'e, was far more difficult of cure. It is important to make an accurate distinction between slavery itself and its consequences. The immediate evils produced by slavery were very nearly the same in antiqui- ty as they are amongst the moderns ; but the consequences of these evils were different. The slave, atnongst the ancients, belonged to the same race as his master, and !1 one is astoiiishccl at the facility with wliich the author p^cts rid of all arjiu- ments founded upon reason and natural rifrht, whicli he designates as ah- stract and theoretical principles. The more I contemplate the dinbrcncG between civiliz.cd and uncivilized man with regard to'the principles of jus- tice, the more I ohserve that the former contcst8 the foundation of those rights, which the latter simply violates. 20 it 458 DEMOCRACY IX AMERICA. ■'/ ! I",. - (J was often the superior of tlie two in education * and intel- ligence. Freedom was the only distinction between them ; and when freedom was conferred, they were easily con- founded together. The ancients, then, had a very simple means of ridding themselves of slavery and its conse- quences, — that of enfranchisement ; and they succeeded as soon as they adopted this measure generally. Not but that, in ancient states, the vestiges of servitude subsisted for some time after servitude itself was abolished. There is a natural prejudice which prompts men to despise whom- soever has been their inferior lono; after he is become their e(j[ual ; and the real inequality which is produced by for- tune or by law is always succeeded by an imaginary in- equality which is implanted in the manners of the people. But, among the ancients, this secondary consequence of slavery liad a natural limit ; for the freedman bore so en- tire a resemblance to those born free, that it soon became impossible to distinguish him from them. The greatest difficulty in antiquity was that of altering the law ; amongst the moderns, it is that of altering the manners ; and, as far as we are concerned, the real obsta- cles beo;in where those of the ancients left off. This arises from the circumstance that, amongst the moderns, the ab- stract and transient fact of slavery is fatally united with the physical and permanent fact of color. The tradition of slavery dishonors the race, and the peculiarity of the race perpetuates the tradition of slavery. No African has ever voluntarily emigrated to the shores of the New World, whence it follows that all the blacks who are now found there are either slaves or freedmen. Thus the Newro transmits the eternal mark of his ignominy to dl his de- * It is well known that several of the most distinguished authors of an- tiquity, and amongst them JEsop and Terence, were, or had been, slaves. Slaves were not always taken from barbarous nations ; the chances of war reduced highly civilized men to servitude. 11' i ]Ji PRKSENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGROES. 459 scendants ; and although the law may abolish slavery, God alone can obliterate the traces of its existence. The modern slave differs from his master not only in his condition, but in his origin. You may set the Negro free, but you cannot make him otherwise than an alien to the European. Nor is this all ; we scarcely acknowledge the common features of humanity in this stranger whom slav- ery has brought amongst us. His ])hysiognomy is to our eyes hideous, his understanding weak, his tastes low ; and we are almost inclined to look upon him as a being inter- mediate between man and the brutes.* The moderns, then, after they have abolished slavery, have three l)reju- dices to contend against, which are less easy to attack, and far less easy to conquer, tiian the mere -fact of servitude, — the prejudice of the master, the prejudice of the race, and the prejudice of color. It is difficult for us, who have had the good fortune to be born amongst men like ourselves by nature, and our equals by law, to conceive the irreconcilable differences which separate the Negro from the European in America. But we may derive some faint notion of them from anal- ogy. France was formerly a country in which numerous inequalities existed, that had been created by law. Noth- ing can be more fictitious than a purely legal inferiority, — nothing more contrary to the instinct of mankind than these permanent divisions established between beings evi- dently similar. Yet these divisions subsisted for ages ; they still subsist in many places ; and everywhere they have left imaginary vestiges, which time alone can efface. If it be so difficult to root out an inequality which origi- nates solely in the law, how are those distinctions to be destroyed which seem to be based upon the immutable i'!M * To induce the wliites to abandon the opiuon they have conceived of the moral and intellectual inferiority of their former slaves, the Negroes must change ; but as long as this opinion subsists, they cannot change. 1 II It If K I| mi f 'WR'iiii p ;:, llli .IaMj i^ ■I •■V 'r '■'■ m "I'M; 4C0 DKMOCRACY IX AMERICA. laws of Nature horsclf ? AVlien I rcmeml)er the extreme difficulty with which aristocratic bodies, of whatever na- ture they may be, are comminuled with the mass of the peo})le, and the exceeding care which they take to preserA'e for ao-es the ideal boundaries of their caste inviolate, I de- spair of seeing an aristocracy disa])pear which is founded upon visible and indelible signs. Those who hope that the Europeans Avill ever be amalgamated with the Negroes ap])ear to me to delude themselves : I am not led to any such conclusion by my reason, or by the evidence of facts. Hitherto, wherever the whites have been the most power- ful, they have held the blacks in degradation or in slavery ; wherever the Negroes have been strongest, they have de- stroyed the whites : this has been the only balance which has ever taken place between the two races. I see that, in a certain portion of the ten'itory of the United States, at the present day, the legal barrier which separated the two races is falling away, but not that which exists in the manners of the country ; slavery recedes, but the prejudice to which it has given birth is immovable. Whoever has inhabited the United States must have per- ceived, that, in those parts of the Union in which the Negroes are no longer slaves, they have in no wise drawn nearer to the whites. On the contrary, the prejudice of race appears to be stronger in the States which have abol- ished slavery, than in those where it still exists ; and no- where is it so intolerant as in those States where servitude has never been known. It is true, that in the North of the Union marriages mav be legally contracted between Negroes and whites ; but public opinion would stigmatize as infamous a man who should connect himself with a Negress, and it would be difficult to cite a single instance of such a union. The electoral franchise has been conferred upon the Negroes in almost all the States in which slaveiy has been abolished ; III '!-,.»■ 1, rRKSKNT AND 1 TTrUi: CONDITION OF THE NKGKOKS. 4G1 but if tlu'V nnnv forwtirtl to vote, their lives are in danirer. If ()i)|)resse(l, tliev mav brin^; an action at law, but they will find none but whites amouiist their iudm's ; and al- thouiih they may legally serve as jurors, prcjudiee repels them from that olKce. The same schools do not receive the children of the black and of the European.* In the theatres, oold cannot })rocure a seat for the servilcj race beside their former masters ; in the hos))itals, they lie apart ; and idthough they are allowed to invoke the same (lod as the whites, it must be at a different altar, and in their own churches, Avith their own cler<i:y. The gates of Heaven are not closed against them ; but their inferior- ity is continued to the very confines of the other world. When the Negro dies, liis bones are cast aside, and the distinction of condition prevails even in the equality of death. f Thus the Negro is free, but he can share neither the rights, nor the pleasures, nor the labor, nor the afflic- tions, nor the tomb of him whose equal he has been de- clared to be ; and he cannot meet him upon fair terms in life or in death. In the South, where slavery still exists, the Negroes are less carefully kept apart ; they sometimes share the labors and the recreations of the whites ; the whites consent to intermix with them to a certain extent, and although legis- lation treats tlieui more harshly, the habits of the people are more tolerant and compassionate. In the South, the master is not afraid to raise his slave to his own standing, because he knows that he can in a moment reduce him to the dust, at pleasure. In the North, the white no longer * This is a mistake. In most of the public schools in the Northern States, black and wliitc children may be found side I)y side in the same class- room. Blacks may also be found in many of the churches, though in sepa- rate scats. — Am. Ed. t Tliis is eloquent, but it is not true. Negroes are buried in the same graveyards, and often in the same tombs, with whites. — Am. Ed. !:J i'K] ! i '■■»»:■ V i M ) il 'M m 11 462 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. (listinetly perceives the ])arrler wliich separates liim from tlie (lef^racled race, and he shuns the Neijro with the more pertinacity, since lie fears lest they should some day be confounded tofjether. Amongst the Americans of the South, Nature some- times reasserts her rights, and restores a transient equality between the blacks and the whites ; but in the North, pride restrains the most imperious of human passions. The American of the Northern States would, perhaps, allow the Negress to share his licentious pleasures, if the laws of his conntry did not declare that she may aspire to be the legitimate partner of his bed ; but he recoils with hor- ror from her who mifjht become his wife. Thus it is, in the United States, that the prejudice which repels the Negroes seems to increase in proportion as they are emancipated, and inequality is sanctioned by the man- ners whilst it is effaced from the laws of the country. But if the relative position of the two races which inhabit the United States is such as I have described, why have the Americans abolished slavery in the North of the Union, why do they maintain it in the South, and why do they aggravate its hardships ? The answer is easily given. It is not for the good of the Negroes, but for that of the whites, that measures are taken to abolish slavery in the United States. The first Negroes were imported into Virginia about the year 1621.* In America, therefore, as well as in the rest of the globe, slavery originated in the South. Thence it spread from one settlement to another ; but the number of slaves diminished towards the Northern States, and the Ne- gro population was always very limited in New England.f * See Beverley's History of Virginia. See also in Jefferson's Memoirs some curious details concerning the introduction of Negroes into Virginia, and the first Act which prohibited the importation of them, in 1778. t The number of slaves was less considerable in the North, but the ad- hut tlio :ul- rHKSKXT AND FUTL-RH CONDIIIOX OF TIIK NKiJROKS. 4(>:] A rontury liad scarcely elapsed since the foiiiKhition of the Colonies, when the attention of the planters was struck by the extraordinary fact, that the provinces which were comparatively destitute of slaves increased in jxiptdation, in wealth, and in })rosperity more rapidly than th(jse which contained many of them. In the former, however, the inhabitants were obliji'ed to cultivate the soil themselves, or bv hired laborers ; in the latter, tliev were furnished with hands for which they paid no wages. Yet, though labor and expense were on the one side, and ease with economy on the other, the former had the more advanta- geous system. This result seemed the more difHcult to explain, since the settlers, who all belonged to the same Euro})ean race, had the same habits, the. same civilization, the same laws, and their shades of diffin'ence were ex- tremely slight. Time, however, continued to advance ; and the Anglo- Americans, spreading beyond the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, penetrated farther and farther into the solitudes of the West ; they met there w'ith a new soil and an unwonted climate ; they had to overcome obstacles of the most various character ; their races intermingled, tlie in- habitants of the South going up towai'ds the North, those of the North descendinij to the South. But in the midst of all these causes, the same result occurred at every step ; vantages resulting from slavery were not more contested there tlian in the Sonth. In 1740, the Legislature of the State of New York declared that the direct importation of slaves ought to be encouraged as much as possible, and smuggling severely punished, in order not to discourage the fair trader. (Kent's Commentaries, Vol. II. p. 206.) Curious researches, by JJelknap, upon slavery in New England, are to be found in the Historical Collections of Massachusetts, Vol. IV. p. 193. It appears that Negroes were introduced there iu 16.30, but that the legislation and nuinners of the people were op- posed to slavery from the first; see also, in the same work, the manner iu which public opinion, and afterwards the laws, finally put an end to slavery. ■; -r i! U :H It ■mn 404 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. m t ?\w ' , , I ! I rl in general, the colonies in which there were no slaves be- canu' more populous and more prosperous than those in which slavery Hourished. The farther they went, the more was it shown that slavery, which is so cruel to the slave, is prejudicial to the master. But this truth was most satisfactorily demonstrated when civilization reached the hanks of the Ohio. The stream which the Indians had distinguished by the name of Ohio, or the Beautiful River, waters one of the most magnificent valleys which has ever been made the abode of man. Un- dulating lands extend upon both shores of the Ohio, whose soil affords inexhaustible treasures to the laborer ; on either bank, the air is equally wholesome and the climate mild ; and each of them forms the extreme frontier of a vast State : that which follows the numerous windings of the Ohio upon the left is called Kentucky ; that upon the right bears the name of the river. These two States differ only in a single respect ; Kentucky has admitted slavery, but the State of Ohio has prohibited the existence of slaves within its borders.* Thus the traveller who floats down the current of the Ohio, to the spot where that river falls into the Mississippi, may be said to sail be- tween liberty and servitude ; and a transient inspection of surrounding objects will convince him which of the two is more favorable to humanity. Upon the left bank of the stream, the population is sparse, — from time to time, one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert fields ; the primeval forest reappears at every turn ; society seems to be asleep, man to be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activ- ity and life. From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which proclaims afar the presence of industry ; * Not only is slavery prohibited in Ohio, but no free Negroes are [were] allowed to enter the territory of that State, or to hold property in it. •i: \ f; liwcs be- thosc in x'lit, the el to the ted wlien le strejim I of Ohio, a'l'nificent un. Un- lio, whose on either irtte mild ; of a vast iicrs of the upon the Avo States 5 admitted B existence eller who lot where to sail be- inspection ch of the lulation is troop of primeval be asleep, |e of activ- ised hum industry ; Lcs are [were] iu it. riJESKNl' AND FUrrKK COXDHION of TlIK NKOnOF.S. 4G5 the fields are covered with ahundiiiit liarvests; the eli'u;anco ot" the dwelliniis aiiiiounees the taste and activity of tlie laborers ; and man appears to be in the (>njnynieiit of that weahh and contentment whicli is tlie reward (»f labor.* The State of Kentucky was founded in 177'), the State of Ohio onlv twelve vears later ; but twelve vi'ars are more in America than half a century in iMn'ope ; and, at the j)reseiit day, the po|)nlation of ( )liio exceeds that of Kentuckv bv two hundred and Hftv thousand souls. f These different effects of slavery and free-dom may read- ily be understood ; and they suffice to explain many of the differences which we remark l)etween the civilization of antiquity and that of our own time. Upon the left bank of the Ohio, labor is confounded with the idea of slavery, while upon the rioht bank, it is identified with that of prosperity and improvement ; on the one side, it is degraded, on the other, it is honored ; on the former territory, no white laborers can be found, for thev would be afraid of assimilatinfj themselves to the Ne<i;roes, — all the work is done bv slaves ; on the latter, no one is idle, for the white population extend their activ- ity and intelligence to every kind of employment. Thus, the men whose task it is to cultivate the rich soil of Ken- tucky are ignorant and a])athetic ; whilst those who are active and enlightened either do nothing, or pass over into Ohio, where they may work without shame. * The activity of Ohio is not confined to individuals, but the undertakings oi' the State are surprisingly great : a canal has been established between Lake Va-'ic and the Ohio, by means of which tlie valley of the Mississippi conununicates with the river of the North, and the European commodities which arrive at New York may be forwarded by water to New Orleans across five hundred leagues of continent. t The exact numbers given by the census of 1830 were: Kentucky, 688,844 ; Ohio, 937,679. [The disproportion has become vastly greater. In 18.")0, tlie population of Kentucky was 982,405; of Ohio, 1,980,329; their areas are respectively 37,680 and 39,9t)4 square miles. — Am. Eu.] 20* DD 400 DK.MOCUACY IX AMKRICA. '¥ It is true tliiit, in Kentucky, tlie planters are not f»l)li<i;('(l to pny tlie slaves whom tliey employ ; but they derive small profits from their labor, whilst the waj^es paid to free workmen would be returned with interest in the value of their services. The free workman is paid, but he doi-s liis work (juicker than the slave; and ra[)idity of execution is one of the OTt^nt elements of econcmiv. The white sells his services, but they are oidy purchased when tliey may be useful ; the black can claim no remuneration for his toil, but the expense of his maintenance is perpetual ; he must be supported in his old age as well as in manhood, in his profitless infancy as well as in the productive years of youth, in sickness as well as in health. Payment must equally be made in order to obtain the services of either class of men : the free workman receives liis waces in money ; the slave in education, in food, in care, and in clothing. The money which a master spends in the main- tenance of his slaves goes gradually and in detail, so that it is scarcely perceived ; the salary of the free workman is paid in a round snm, and appears to enrich only him who receives it ; but in the end, tlie slave has cost more than the free servant, and his labor is less productive.* * Independently of these causes, which, wherever free workmen ahound, render tlieir labor more productive and more economical than that of slaves, another cause may be pointed out which is peculiar to the United States : the suijar-cane has liitherto been cultivated with success only upon the banks of the Mississippi, near the mouth of that river in the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana, the cultivation of the sugar-cane is exceedingly lucrative ; nowhere does a laborer earn so much by his work ; and, as there is always a certain relation between the cost of production and the value of the produce, the price of slaves is veiy high in Louisiana. But Louisiana is one of the con- federate States, and slaves may be carried thither from all parts of the Union ; the price given for slaves in New Orleans consequently raises the value of slaves in all the other markets. The consequence of this is, that, in the countries where the land is less productive, the cost of slave-labor is still very considerable, which gives an additional advantage to the competition of free labor. ii4 4 o\)Vni;»'(l J derive paid to he value I he does xociition hite sells hey may r his toil, he must od, iu his years of lent must of either wages in e, and in the main- lil, so that workman only liim cost more tive. |men abound, ;liat of slaves, nitcd States : )on the hanks ^lexico. In rive ; nowhere rays a certain produce, the ic of the con- parts of the itty raises the [his is, that, in le-labor is still )mpetition of PRKSKNT AND 1 Til IM". CONDITION OF 1111: NKtJRoKS. 407 The influence of slaverv extends still furtlier : it alfects the cliaracti'r of the master, and imparts a jieculiar ten- dency to his ideas and tastes. Upon hoth hanks of tlie Ohio, the character of the inliahitants is entei-jtrisinn' and cneriietic ; hut this vi^or is verv ditferentlv exercised in the two States. The white inhahitant of Oliio, ol)ii<;ed to suhsist hy his own exertions, regards teni]»oi'aI prosper- ity as the chief aim of his existence; and as \\\v country whi(di \\(\ occupies presents inexhaustihie resources to iiis industry, and ever-varying lur(s to his activity, his accpiis- itive ardor suri)asses the ordinary limits of liuman cuj»id- ity : he is tormented hy the desire of wealth, and he holdly enters upon every path which fortune o[)ens to him ; he hecomes a sailor, a j)i(meer, an artisan, or a cultivator, with the same indifference, and supports with e(pial constancy the fatiinies and the dangers incidental to these various professions ; the resources of his intelligence are astonish- ing, and his avidity in the pursuit of gain amounts to a species of heroism. But the Kentuckian scorns not only lahor, but all the undertakings wdiich lahor promotes ; as he lives in an idle independence, his tastes are those of an idle man ; money has lost a portion of its value in his eyes ; he covets wealth much less than pleasure and excitement ; and the energy which his neiiihbor devotes to c;ain, turns with him to a passionate love of field sports and militaiy exercises ; he delights in violent bodily exertion, he is familiar with the use of arms, and is accustomed from a very early ao-e to expose his life in single combat. Thus slavery not only prevents the whites from becoming opulent, but even from desirino; to become so. As the same causes have been continually producing opposite effects for the last two centuries in the British colonies of North America, they have at last established a striking difference between the commercial capacity of 1 408 I)KMocra(;y in amkimca. the iiiliabitants oC the South and those of \\\o Nortli. At tlie present day, it is only the Northern States wliicli are in j)ossession of shippinij;, manufactures, raih'oads, and eanai>. This (hH'eivnee is jK-rceptiiile, not oidy in eonipariim tiie Kortii with the South, hut in eonipariuij; tiie several South- ern States. Ahnost all those who carry on conunercial operations, or endi-avor to turn slave lahor to account, in the most southern districts of tlie Union, have emigrated from the North. 'J'he natives of the Northern States are constantly spreading over that j)ortion of the American territory, where they have less to fear from comjii-tition ; they discover rt'sources there which escaped the notice of the inhahitants ; and, as they comply with a system which they do not approve, they succeed in turnino; it to better advantage than those who first founded, and who still maintain it. Were I inclined to continue this j)arallel, I could easily prove that almost all the differences which may be re- marked between the characters of the Americans in the Southern and in the Northern States have originated in slavery ; but this would divert me from my subject, and my ])resent intention is not to point out all the consetjuen- ces of servitude, but those effects which it has produced u])on the material prosperity of the countries which have admitted it. The influence of slaveiy upon tlie production of wealth must have been very imperfectly known in anticjuity, as slavery then obtained throughout the civilized world ; and the nati(ms wliicli were unacquainted with it were barba- rians. And, indeed, Christianity only abolished slavery by advocating the claims of the slave ; at the present time, it may be attacked in the name of the master ; and, upon this point, interest is reconciled with morality. As these truths became ap])arent in the United States, slavery receded before the progress of experience. Servi- rni:sr,\r and iin im: coxnnioN of tin: NM'ciUor.s. I'll) tiido liiid iK'miii ill till' Soutli, :iM(l had tliciirf «.pi'i'ad to- ward till' Nortli ; l)iit it now ri'tircs ai;aiii. l-'rccdoin, Avliicli >-tarti'd fVom tlio Noi'tli, now descends niiiiiter- ruptedlv to ird the >oilth. Amongst tile ureat States, Pennsylvania now eonstitntes the extreme limit i»t' sla\eiy to tho Noi'th ; iuit, e\eii within those limit>, the >la\e system is shaken : Marvland, whitdi is iinmediatt-K' helow I'emisylvania, is pi'i-pariiiiX l<»i' it^ abolition ; and X'ir^inia, which comes next to Marvland, is ali'eadv discnssinn- its utility and its dan«j;ers.* No e;reat chaniff takes place in hninan institutions, with- out involvine; amongst its causes the law of iiihei'itance. When the law of primogeniture ohtained in tlu' South, each linnily was ri'presented hy a wealthy iiidi\idnal. who was neither compelled nor induced to lahor; and he was surrounded, as by jiarasitic j)huits, liy the other members of his family, who were tiieii excluded by law from sharin tlie common inheritaiu'e, and who led the same kind of life as himself. The same thinii; then occurred in all tho families of the Soutli whiidi still haj)])ens in tlu' nobh; in Europe, namely, that the (f the same state of idleness as families of some countries youniior sons remain i their elder brother, without beino; as rich as he is. This * A peculiar reason contrildites to detach the two last-mentioned States from the cause of slavery. The former wealth of this part of the Union was principally derived from the cultivation of tohacco. This cultivation is spe- cially carried on by slaves ; but within the last few years, the nuirket-pricc of tobacco has diminished, whilst the value of the slaves remains the same. Thus the ratio between the cost of production and the value of the produce is chauf^ed. The inhal)itants of Maryland and Vir;,nnia are therefore more disposed than they were thirty years ago to give up slave-labor in the culti- vation of tobacco, or to give up slavery and tobacco at the same time. [It is hardly necessary to remind the American reader that the text here was written nearly thirty years ago, and was a tolcral>Iy accurate description of the state of affairs then, though circumstances have greatly changed since. — Am. Ed.] I ii ^ ii 4. ,v 470 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Ill I ! U f'fH' Hv identical result scorns to be produced in Europe and in America by who]!y analogous causes. In the South of the United States, the whole race of whites formed an aristocratic body, headed by a certain number of privi- leged individuals, whose wealth was permanent, and whose leisure was hereditary. These leaders of the American nobility kept alive the traditional prejudices of the white race in the body of which they were the representatives, and maintained idleness in honor. This aristocracy con- tained many who were poor, but none who would work ; its members preferred want to labor ; consecpiently, Negro laborers and slaves met with no competiticTi ; and, what- ever opinion might be entertained as to the utility of their industry, it was necessary to employ them, since there was no one else to work. No sooner was the law of primogenitu • e abolished, than fortunes began to diminish, and all the families of the country were simultaneously reduced to a state in which labor became necessary to existence, — several of them have since entirely disappeared, — and all of them learned to look forward to the lime when it would be necessary for every one to provide for his own wants. Wealthy individuals are still to be met- with, but they no longer constitute a compact and hereditary body, nor have they been able to adopt a line of conduct in which they could persevere, and which they could infuse into all ranks of society. The prejudice which stigmatized labor was, in the first place, abandoned by common consent, the number of needy men was increased, and the needy were allowed to gain a subsistence by labor without blushing for their toil. Thus, one of the most immediate conse- quences of the equal division of estates has been, to create a class of free laborers. As soon as competition began between the free laborer and the slave, the inferiority of the latter became manifest, and slavery was attacked in PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGROES. 471 its tuntlamental principle, which is, the interest of the master. As slavery recedes, the black po})ulation follows its ret- rograde course, and returns with it towards those tropical regions whence it originally came. However singular this fact may at first appear to be, it may readily be ex])lained. Although the Americans abolish the ])rinci])le of slavery, they do not set their slaves free. To illustrate this ivmark, I will quote the example of the State of New York. In 17f^8, this State })rohibited the sale of slaves within its limits, which was an indirect method of prohibiting the importation of them. Thenceforward the number of Ne- groes could only increase according to the ratio of the natural increase of population. But eight years later, a more decisive measui'e was taken, and it was enacted that all children born of slave parents after the 4th of July, 1709, should be free. No increase could then take })lace, and, although slaves still existed, slavery might be said to be abolished. As soon as a Northern State thus prohibited the impor- tation, no slaves were brought from the South to be sold in its markets. On the other hand, as the sale of slaves was forbidden in that State, an owner could no lonjier wt rid of his slave (who thus became a burdensome possessi(m) otherwise than by transporting him to the South. But when a Northern State declared that the son of the slave should be born free, the slave lost a large portion of his market-value, since his posterity was no longer included in the bargain, and the owner had then a strono; interest in transporting him to the South. Thus the same law j)re- vents the slaves of the South from coming North, and drives those of the North to the South. But there is another cause more powerful than any that I have described. The want of free hands is felt in a State in proportion as the number of slaves decreases. But in i a:: JIfe \ I is 1^ t . t' H it fN 472 DKMOCKACV IN AMKRICA. ])ropoi'tion as labor is })C'rforinc'(l by free hands, slave-labor becomes less productive ; and the slave is then a useless or onerous })ossession, whom it is important to export to the Soutii, where tlie same competition is not to be feared. Thus the abolition of slavery does not set the slave free, but merely transfers him to another master, and from the North to the South. The emancipated Negroes, and those born after the abo- lition of slavery, do not, indeed, migrate from the North to the Soutli ; but their situation with rei^ard to the Euro- peans is not unlike that of the Indians ; they remain half civilized, and de})rivcd of their rights in the midst of a })opulation which is far superior to them in wealth and knowledge, where they are exposed to the tyranny of the laws * and the intolerance of the people. On some ac- counts they are still more to be pitied than the Indians, since they are haunted by the reminiscence of slavery, and they cannot claim possession of any part of the soil : many of them perish miserably,! and the rest congregate in the great towns, where they perform the meanest offices, and lead a wretched and precarious existence. But even if the number of Neo;roes continued to increase as rapidly as when they were still ai slavery, as the num- ber of whites augments with twofold rapidity after the abo- lition of slavery, the blacks vfould soon be, as it were, lost in the midst of a strange population. * The States in which slavery is aboHshcd usually do what they can to render their territory disagreeable to the Negroes as a place of residence ; and as a kind of emulation exists between the diftereiit States in this respect, the unliappy blacks can only choose the least of the evils which beset them. t There is a great difference between the mortality of the blacks and of the whites in the States in which slavery is abolished; from 1820 to 1831, only one out of forty-two individuals of the white population died in Phila- delphia ; but one out of twenty-one of the black population died in the same time. The mortality is I)y no means so great amongst the Negroes who are still slaves. (Sec Emerson's ^ledical Statistics, p. 28.) PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGROES. 473 A district wliicli is cultivated bv slaves is in m'lieral less populous than a district cultivated by free labor : moreover, America is still a new country, and a State is therefore not half peopled when it abolishes slavery. No sooner is an end put to slavery, than the want of free labor is felt, and a crowd of enterprising adventurers inunediately arrive from all i)arts of the country, who hasten to jiroHt by the fresh resources which arc then opened to industry. The soil is soon divided amono;st them, and a familv of Avhite settlers takes possession of each })ortion. Besides, Euro- pean emiii;rati(m is exclusively directed to the free States ; for what would a poor emigrant do who crosses the Atlan- tic in search of ease and Ii!ip})iiu'ss, if he were to land in a country where labor is stigmatized as degrading? Thus the white population grows by its natural incivase, and, at the same time, by the immense influx of emigrants ; whilst the black population receives no emigrants, and is upon its decline. The proportion which existed between the two races is soon inverted. The Neo-roes constitute a scanty remnant, a poor tribe of vagi'ants, 'lost in the midst of an immense people who own the land ; and the presence of the blacks is only marked by the injustice and the hard- ships of Avhicli they are the victims. In several of the Western States, the Negro race never made its appearance ; and in all the Xorthern States, it is rapidly declining. Thus the great question of its futiu'e condition is confined within a narrow circle, where it be- comes less formidable, though not more easy of solution. The more we descend towards the South, the more diffi- cult does it become to abolish slavery with advantage ; and this arises from several physical causes which it is impor- tant to point out. The first of these causes is the climate : it is well known that, in proportion as Europeans approach the tropics, la- bor becomes more difficult to them. Many of the Ameri- 1 111' ;- -|' '•' . ji" ■ ':! '% "t ■■■'■; lis 474 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. I"'+"1! cans cvon assert that, within a certain latitude, it is fatal to them, while the Ne<Tr()es can woi'k there without dani;er ; * but I do not think that this oj)inion, which is so favcn'able to the indolence of the iidiahitants of the South, is con- firmed hy ex])erience. The southern parts of the Union are not hotter than the south of Italy and of Spain ; f «nd it may be asked why the European cannot work as well there as in the latter two countries. If slavery has been abolished in Italy and in Sj)ain, without causinj^' the de- struction of the masters, why should not the same thing take place in the Union ? I cannot believe that Nature has prohibited the Europeans in Georgia and the Floridas, under pain of death, fn 'u raising the means of subsistence from the soil ; but their labor would unquestionably be more irksome and less productive J to them than to the in- habitants of New Eno;land. As the free workman thus loses a portion of his superiority over the slave in the Southern States, there are fewer inducements to abolish slavery. All the plants of Europe grow in the northern parts of the Union ; the South has special productions of its own. It has been observed that slave labor is a very expensive * This is true of the spots iu which rice is cultivated ; rice-grounds, which nrc unwholesome in all countries, are psirticularly dangerous iu those regions which are exposed to the beams of a tropical sun. European" would not find it easy to cultivate the soil in that part of the New World, if it must necessarily be made to produce rice ; but may they not subsist without rice- grounds 1 t These States are nearer to the equator than Italy and Sjiain, but the temperature of the continent of America is much lower than that of Eu- rope. J The Spanish government formerly caused a certain number of peasants from tiie Azores to be transported into a district of Louisiana called Attaka- pas, l)y way of experiment. These settlers still cultivate the soil without the assistance of slaves, but their industry is so languid as scarcely to sup- ply their most necessary wants. TRKSENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGUOES. 475 method of cultivatinrr cereal grain. The fanner of corn- land, in a country where slavery is unknown, habitually retains only a small number of laborers in his service, and at seed-time and harvest he hires additional hands, who only live at his cost for a short })eriod. But the agricul- turist in a slave state is obliged to kee]) a large number of slaves the whole year round, in order to sow his tiulils and to gather in his crops, although their services are recjuired only i\)V a few weeks ; for slaves are unable to wait till they are hired, and to subsist by their own labor in the mean time, like free laborers ; in order to have their ser- vices, they must be bouiiht. Slavery, independently of its general disadvantages, is therefore still more ina})[)licable to countries in which corn is cultivated, than to those which produce crops of a different kind. Tlie cultivation of to- bacco, of cotton, and especially of the sugar-cane, demands, on the other hand, unremitting attention : and women and children are employed in it, whose services are of little use in the cultivation of wheat. Thus slavery is naturally more fitted to the countries from which these productions are derived. Tobacco, cotton, and the sugar-cane are exclusively grown in the South, and they form the principal sources of the wealth of those States. If slavery were abolished, the inhabitants of the South would be driven to this alter- native : they must either change their system of cultiva- tion, — and then they would come into competition with the more active and more experienced inhabitants of the North ; or, if they continued to cultivate the same pro- duce without slave labor, they would have to support the competition of the other States of the South, which might still retain their slaves. Thus, peculiar reasons for main- taining slavery exist in the South Avliich do not operate in the North. But there is vet another motive, which is more coo;ent tol I 'ilf'i-' 1- §; [| il, ; i: !:■!■ N.rn |!i im ; in li 1 H^^^H t |i NMRIPl-i TaSwr' K'- !■« |:i ,M ill 1 476 DKMOCUACY IN AMKRICA. tr? p'?!' i**.:'' i;. ' i liM tlian all tlio otliers : tlio South miglit, indocd, rigorously speaking, abolish slavery; but how should it rid its terri- tory of tiie black po])ulation ? Slaves and slavery are driven from the North by the same law ; but this two- fold result cannot be hoped for in the South. In proving that slavery is more natural and more advan- tageous in the South than in the North, I have shown that the number of slaves must be far greater in the formei-. It was to the southern settlements that the first Africans were brought, and it is there that the greatest number of them have always been imported. As we advance towards the South, the prejudice which sanctions idleness increases in power. In the States nearest to thp tropics, there is not a single Avhite laborer ; the Negroes arc consequently much more numerous in the South than in the North. And, as I Jiave already observed, this disproportion in- creases daily, since the Negroes are transferred to one part of the Union as soon as slavery is abolished in the other. Thus, the black population augments in the South, not only by its natural fecundity, but by the compulsory emi- gration of the Negroes from the North ; and the African race has causes of increase in the South very analogous to those which accelerate the growth of the European race in the North. In the State of Maine there is one Necro in three hun- dred inhabitaiits ; in Massachusetts, one in one hundred ; in New York, two in one hundred ; in Pennsylvania, throe in the same number ; in Maryland, thirty-four ; in Vir- ginia, forty-two ; and lastly, in South Carolina,* fifty-five * We find it asserted in an Amcrian work, entitled " Letters on tlie Colo- nization Society," by Mr. Carej-, 1833, "That for the last forty years, the black race has increased more rapidly than the w'iite Uioe in the State of South Carolina; and that, if we take the avcra<j:c population of the five States of the South into whidi slaves were first introduced, viz. Maryland, Vir- yiuia, Soutli Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, we shall find that from riJKSKNT AND FrUIJH CONDITION OF THi: NKOKOKS. 477 per cent of tlio iiiliabltants tire black. Such was the pro- portion of the black population to the whites in the year I80O. lint this proj)orti()n is jjcrpetually chaniiinu;, as it constantly decreases in the North, and aumnents in the South. It is evident that the most southern States of the Union cannot abolish slavery without incurrinn; o;reat danti-ers, which the North had no reason to apprehend when it emancipated its black population. We have already shown how the Northern States made the transition from slavery to freedom, by keepin<i; the present jreneration in chains, and setting their descendants free ; by this means, the Negroes are only gradually introduced into the society ; and wliilst the men who might abuse .their freedom are ke})t in servitude, those who are emancipated may learn the art of being free before they become their own masters. But it would be difHcult to apply this method in the South. To declare that all the Negroes born after a certain period shall be free, is to introduce the principle and the notion of liberty into the heart of slavery ; the blacks whom the law thus maintains in a state of slavery from which their children are delivered, are astonished at so unequal a iiite, and their astonishment is only the prelude to their im- patience and irritation. Thenceforward slavery loses, in their eyes, that kind of moral power which it derived from time and habit ; it is reduced to a mere palpable abuse of force. The Northern States had notliing to fear from the contrast, because in them the blacks were few in number, and the white population was veiy considerable. But if i if '■!'''*t. I^ : i4 i:''il 1790 to 1830 the wliitcs have augmented in the iiroportion of 80 to 100, and the Wacks in that of 100 to 112. In the United States, in 1830, the popuUitioii of tho two races stood as follows : — States where slavery is aholished, 6,505,434 wliites ; 120,520 blacks. Slave States 3,960,814 wliites; 2,208,102 hlacks. 'M 478 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. :i?-l m tills fiiiiit (liiwn of freedom wore to show two million^ of men tlieir true ])osltion, the oppressors woiiUl h;iv(; reason to tremble. After liavini: eiifninehised the children of their slaves, the Eurojx'ans of the Southern States would very shortly be obliired to extend the same benefit to the whole black population. In the North, as I have already remarked, a twofold migration ensues upon the abolition of slavery, or even precedes that event when circumstances have rendered it probable ; the slaves quit the country to be transported southwards ; and the whites of the Northern States, as well as the emigrants from Euroj)e, hasten to fill their place. But these two causes cannot operate in the same manner in the Southern States. On the one hand, the mass of slaves is too great to allow any expectation of their being removed from the country ; and on the other hand, the Europeans and Anglo-Americans of the North are afraid to come to inhabit a country in which labor has not vet been reinstated in its rio;htful honors. Besides, they very justly look upon the States in which the number of the Negroes equals or exceeds that of the whites, as exposed to very great dangers ; and they refrain from turning their activity in that direction. Thus the inhabitants of the South would not be able, Avhile abolishing slavery, like their Northern countrymen, to initiate the slaves gradually into a state of freedom ; they have no means of })erceptibly diminishing the black population, and they would remain unsuj)})orted to re|)ress its excesses. Thus, in the course of a few years, a great people of free Negroes would exist in the heart of a white nation of equal size. The same abuses of poAver which now maintain slavery would then become the source of the most alarming ])erils to the white population of the South. At the present time, the descendants of the Europeans are the sole own- Mi rRF.SI.NT AND FUTURE CONDriTON OF THK NKlUHM'.S. 479 ers of tlic land, and the .11)8011110 masters of all lahor; tluy alom' possess wi-alth, kno\vlu(lo;o, and arms. 'lUv Mack is destitntc of all those a(lvanta<fos, but can s.osist without thom bocauso he is a slave. W ho wore froo, and oblip-d to pro\ido for his own sul)sistonoo, would it bo possible for him to roniain without those thin<^s and to sujipoi't lito? Or would not the very insti'unionts of the ])ri'sent suj)ori- ority of the white, whilst slavery o.xists, expose him to a thousand daniiors if it wore abolished ? As lon^ as the Negro remains a slave, ho may bo kept in a condition not far removed from that of the brutes ; but, with his liberty, he cannot but acquiri' a di'ureo of instruction which will enable him to ap})rociate his mis- fortunes, and to discern a remedy for thom. Moreover, there exists a singular principle of relative justice, which is firmly implanted in the human heart. Men are much more forcibly struck by those inequalities which exist within the same class, than with those which may bo remarked between different classes. One can understand slavery ; but how allow several millions of citizens to exist under a load of eternal infamy and hereditary wretched- ness ? In the North, the population of freed Negroes feels these hardships and indignities, but its numbers and its powers are small, whilst in the South it would be numerous and strono;. As soon as it is admitted that the whites and the eman- cipated blacks are jdacod upon the same territory in the situation of two foreign communities, it will readily be understood that there are but two chances for the future ; the Negroes and the whites must either wholly [)art, or wholly mingle. I have already expressed my conviction as to the latter event.* I do not believe that the white * This opinion is sanctioned by authorities infinitely weijihtier tlian any- thing that I can say : thus, for instance, it is stated in the Memoirs of Jef- ferson, " Notiiing is more clearly written in the book of destiny than the iV M', Jill i4 in 480 DKMOCRACY IN AMKHICA. ;:t. : 1 ii and Mack races will ever live in any country nj)nn an e(|nal fixftini;. But I believe the difficulty to be still jjjreatcr in the United States than elsewhere. An isolated individual may surmount the })rejudices of reli<;i(m, of his country, or of his race ; and if this individual is a kini;, lie may effect surprisiui; chano-es in society ; but a whole people cannot rise, as it were, above itself. A desjK)t who should subject the Americans and their former slaves to the same yoke, might perha})S succeed in commin»j;lin<f their races ; but as long as the American democracy remains at the head of affairs, no one will undertake so dilHcult a task; and it maybe foreseen that, the freer the white population of the United States becomes, the more isolated will it remain.* I have previously observed that the mixed race is the true bond of union between the Europeans and the In- dians ; just so, the Mulattoes are the true means of transi- tion between the white and the Negro ; so that, wherever INIulattoes abound, the interrri ture of the two races is not im}»ossible. In some parts of America, the Euroj)ean and the Negro races are so crossed by one another, that it is rare to meet with a man wdio is entirely black, or entirely white : when they are arrived at this point, the two races may really be said to be combined, or, rather, to have been absorbed in a third race, which is connected with both without beino; identical with either. Of all Europeans, the English are those who have mixed least w^ith the Negroes. More Mulattoes are to be emancipation of the blacks ; and it is equally certain, that the two races will never live in a state of equal freedom under the same government, so insur- mountable are the ban-iers which nature, habit, and opinion have established l)etween them." * If the Britisii West India planters had governed themselves, they would assuredly not have passed the Slave Emancipation Bill which the mother country has recently imposed upon them. PRKSENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF TIIi; NF.GIMI f scon in tlic Soutli of the Union tlmn in the Xortli, Imji intiniti'Iv fl'wcr tli;ni in nnv other Kuroncan colony: Mu- lattocs arc hy no means nnnierons in tiic Unitrd States; they have no force peculiar to tliemselves, and wlu'ii (piar- rcls ori^iinatinji; in (hfVcrences of color taki' ])laci', thev i^cn- orally side with the whites, — just as tlu? Iack(>ys of tlui o;reat in Euro])e assnnie the contcniptnons airs of nohility toward the lower orders. T\\o pride of ori^^in, which is natnral to tlie English, is sini^nlarly an<:;niented l)y the [)ersonal ])ride which demo- cratic liberty fosters amon<Tst the Amei-icans : the white citizen of the United States is prond of his race, and [)rond of himself Bnt if the whites and tlie Ncixroes do not interminiile in the North of the Union, how shonld they mix in the South? Can it bo snpposed for an instant, that an .American of the Southern States, placcfl, as he imist forever be, between the white man, with all his ])hysical and moral superiority, and the Nofi^ro, will ever think of beino; confounded with the latter ? The Americans of the Southern States have two powerful passions, which will always keep them aloof; — the first is the fear of being assimilated to the Negroes, their former slaves ; and the second, the dread of sinking below the whites, their neighbors. If I were called upon to predict the future, I should say that the abolition of slavery in the South will, in the com- mon course of things, increase the repugnance of the white population for the blacks. I found this oj)inion u])on the analofjous observation I have alreadv made at the North. I have remarked that the white inhaV)itants of the North avoid the Negroes with increasing care, in proportion as the legal barriers of separation are removed by the legisla- ture ; and why should not the same result take place in the South ? In the North, the whites are deterred from interminglino; with the blacks bv an imaginarv dano-er ; in 21 KE '•MS' .Hi I I. > I 482 PKMOrRArV IN AMERICA. I ;>' till' Soutli, wlicrc tlio (liin;,(T would l)i' n':il, I cannot lu'Iicvc tliiit tlu' fi'iir would he less. If, on the one hand, it Ih' admitted (and tlic fact is un- qn»'stional)l(') tliat the colored population porjx'tually accu- nudatc in the extreme Soutli, and increase more ra|>idly tlian tlie whites ; and if, on the otlier liand, it In- allowed that it is inipossihle to foresee a time at which the whites and the hlacks will he m) int(>rmin<!;led as to derive the same henefits from society, — must it not he inferred that tlie hlacks and the whites will, sooner or later, come to open strife in the Southern States ? Rut if it he asked what the issue of tlie strufi^le is liki'ly to he, it will readily be understood that we are here left to van;ue conjectures. The human mind may succeed in traciii":; a wide circle, as it were, which includes the future ; but, within that circle, chance rules, and eludes all our foresight. In every pic- ture of the future there is a dim spot which the eye of the nnd(>rstandino; cannot p(>netrate. It appears, however, extremely j)rohable that, in the West India Islands, the white race is destined to be subdued, and, upon the conti- nent, the hlacks. In the West India Islands, the white planters are isolated amidst an immense black population ; on the continent, the l»lacks are placed between the ocean and an iimumerable people, who already extend above them, in a compact mass, from the icy confines of Canada to the frontiers of Vir- o;inia, and from the banks of the Missouri to the shores of the Atlantic. If the white citizens of North America remain united, it is difficult to believe that the Negroes will escape the destruction which menaces them ; they must be subdued by want or by the sword. But the black popidation accumulated along the coast of the Gulf of INIexico have a chance of success, if the American Union should be dissolved Avhen the strugo;le between the two races begins. The Federal tie once broken, the people rRKSKNT .\\i> rriTRK ('(>xi)mo\ or riir. N'r<;T!OKs. AHi^ of tlu' Soutli could not ri'lv upon aiiv lastin"" succor from we a wan* tlu'ir Nortlicru countrvnu-u. Tlic latter arc ft that tlic (lau;;or can never reach thcni : and tMilcs«< they ure eonstraiiu'(l to march to the assistance of the South hy a T)ositive ()hliij,ation, it may he foreseen tliat tlie svnipatliv • ft/ I I fr of race will he powerless. Vet, at whatever period tlie strife mav hrcak out. the whites of the South, even if they are ahandoned to their own resources, will enter the lists with an iini nense sune- rioritv of knowledire and the means ctf warf:iri> : hut the blacks will have numerical strenifth and the enei'iiy of desj)air npon their side ; and these are powerful I'csources to men w ho I lave tak (Ml Up arms. Tire fite of the white population of the Sontliern States will, pei'haps, Ik- similar to that of the ISfoors in Spain. After lia\in<;' occupied tlie land for centuries, it will, perhaps, retire hy deiri'ees to tlie country whence its ancestors came, and fhandon to the Neiiroes the possession of a territory which I'lvtvideiice seems to have destined fen* them, since they can subsist and labor in it more easily than the Avhites. The danger of a conflict between the white and the black inhabitants of the Southern States of the Union — hi(di, h b 'itabU ever remote it it perpetually haunts the imaixination of the Americans, like a painful dream. The inhabitants of th(^ Xorth make it a common topic of conversation, altlioiiii;li directly they have nothiiif; to fear fr<mi it ; but they vainly endeavor to devise some means of obviatinii- the misfortunes Avhich they fore- see. In the Southern States, the subject is not discussed : the planter does not allude to the future in conversinj:; with straiiijjers ; he does not communicate his apprehensions to his friends, — he seeks to conceal them from hims(>]f. Hut there is somethinn; more alarminn; in the tacit forebodinirs of the South, than in the clamorous fears of the North. This all-pervading disquietude has given birth to an un- ;H', ,■1: '! t H 484 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. dertaking as yet but little known, but wliicli may change the fate of a portion of the human race. Fi-om apj)re- hension o'' the dangers which I have just described, some American citizens have formed a society for the purpose of exporting to the coast of Guinea, at their own expense, such free Negroes as may be willing to escape from the op))ression to whicli they are subject.* In 1820, the society to which I allude formed a settle- ment in Africa, upon the seventh degree of north latitude, which bears the name of Liberia. The most recent intelli- o-ence informs us that two thousand five hundred Negroes are collected there. They have introduced the democratic institutions of America into the country of their forefath- ers. Liberia has a representative system of government, Negro jurymen, Negro magistrates, and Negro j)riests ; churches have been built, newspapers established, and, by a singular turn in the vicissitudes of the world, wdiite men are prohibited from establishing themselves within the set- tlement.! This is indeed a strange caprice of fortune. Two hun- dred years have now elapsed since the inhabitants of Eu- roj)e undertook to tear the Negro from his family and his home, in order to transport him to the shorf^ of North America. Now the European settlers are engaged in sending back the descendants of those very Negroes to * This society assumed the name of " The Society for the Colonization of tlie Blacks." See its Annual Reports ; and more particularly the fifteenth. See also the pamphlet, to which allusion has already been made, entitled, " Letters on the Colonization Society, and on its probable Results," by Mr. Carey, Pliiiadclphia, April, 1833. t This last regulation was laid down by the founders of the settlement ; they apprehended that a state of things might arise in Africa, similar to that which exists on the frontiers of the United States, and that if the Ne- groes, like the Indians, were brought into collision wth a people more enlightened than themselves, they would be destroyed before they could be civilized. PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGROES. 485 the continent whence thev were orliiinally tuki'n : tlu? bar- barons Africans have learned civilization in the midst of bondage, and have become acquainted with tree j)olitical institutions in slavery. Up to the present time, Africa has been closed against the arts and sciences of the whites : but the inventions of Europe will perhaps ])enetrate into those ren-ions, now that they are introduced bv Africans themselves. The settlement of Liberia is founded \\\nn\ a lofty and fruitful idea ; but, whatever mav be its results with regard to Africa, it can afibrd no remedy to the New World.^ In twelve years, the Colonization Society has transported two thousand five hundred Neoroes to Africa ; in tlie same space of time, about seven hundred thousand blacks were born in the United States. If the colony of J^iberia were able to receive thousands of new inhabitants every year, and if the Negroes were in a state to be sent thither with advantage ; if the Union were to supply the society with annual subsidies,* and to transport the Negroes to Africa in the vessels of the state, — it would still be un- able to counterpoise the natural increase of population amongst the blacks ; and, as it could not remove as many men in a year as are born upon its territory within that time, it could not prevent the growth of the evil which is daily increasing in the States.f The Negro race will * Nor would these be the only difficulties attendant upon the undertak- ing ; if the Union undertool< to huy up the Negroes now in America, in order to transport tliem to Africa, the price of shives, increasing with their scarcity, would soon become enormous ; and the States of the Nortii would never consent to expend such great sums for a purpose wliich would profit them but little. If the Union took possession of tlie slaves in the Soutliern States by force, or at a rate determined by law, an insurmountable resistance would rise in that part of the country. Both courses are eqiuiUy im- possible. t In 1830 there were in the United States 2,010,327 slaves and 319,439 free blacks, in all 2,329,766 Negroes : which formed about one fifth of the total i '" "1 Pi ■ I l| '. '^ 1 ^ y 48G DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. m::' v. '»»:■ never leave those sliores of tlie American continent to whicli it was brouglit by the passions and tlie vices of Eu- ro])eans ; and it will not disap])ear from the New World as long as it continues to exist. The inhabitants of the United States may retard the calamities which they appre- hend, but they cannot now destroy their efficient cause. I am obli<i;ed to confess that I do not ren;ard the aboli- tion of slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the Southern States. The Negroes may long remain slaves without complaining ; but if they are once raised to the level of freemen, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all their civil rights ; and, as they cannot become the equals of the whites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies. In the North, everything facilitated the emancipation of the slaves ; and slavery was abolished without rendering the free Negroes formidable, since their number was too small for them ever to claim their rights. But such is not the case in the South. The question of slavery was a commercial and manufacturing question for the slave-owners in the North ; for those of the South, it is a question of life and death. God forbid that I should seek to justify the principle of Negro slavery, as has been done by some American writers ! I say only, that all the countries which formerly adopted that execrable principle are not e(pially able to abandon it at the present time. When I contemplate the condition of the South, I can only discover two modes of action for the white inhab- itants of those States ; viz. either to emancipate the Ne- groes, and to intermingle with them, or, remaining isolated fi'om them, to keep them in slavery as long as possible. All intermediate measures seem to me likely to terminate, and that shortly, in the most horrible of civil wars, and population of the United States at that time. [In 1850, the numbers were 3,204,313 slaves and 434,495 free colored; in all, 3,638,808. — Am. Ed.] PRKSKNT VXD FUTURE CONDITION OF TlIF NlXillUKS. 487 perhaps in the extirpation of one or the other of the two races. Sueli is the view which tlie Americans of the South take of the question, and tliey act consistently with it. As they are determined not to mingle with the Ne- groes, tliey refuse to emancipate them. Not that the inhabitants of the South regard slavery as necessary to the wealtli of the planter ; on this point, many of tliem agree with their Northern countrymen, in freely admitting that slavery is ])rejudicial to their inter- ests ; but they are convinced that the removal of this evil would peril their own existence. The instruction which is now diffused in the South has convinced the inhabitants that slavery is injurious to the slave-owner, but it has also shown them, more clearly than before, that it is almost an impossibility to get rid of it. Hence arises a singular contrast ; the more the utility of slavery is contested, the more firmly is it established in the laws ; and wdiilst its principle is gradually abolished in the North, that self-same principle gives rise to more and more rigor- ous consequences in the South. The leoislation of the Southern States with regard to slaves presents at the present day such unparalleled atroci- ties as suffice to show that the laws of humanity have been totally perverted, and to betray the desperate position of the community in which that legislation has been pro- mulgated. The Americans of this portion of the Union have not, indeed, augmented the hardships of slavery ; they have, on the contrary, bettered the physical condi- tion of the slaves. The only means by which the ancients maintained slavery were fetters and death ; the Americans of the South of the Union have discovered more intellect- ual securities for the duration of their power. They have employed their despotism and their violence against the human mind. In antiquity, precautions were taken to pre- vent the slave from breaking his chains ; at the present ,m n 488 DEJIOCRACY IN AMERICA. day, measures are adopted to deprive liim even of the desire of freedom. Tlie ancients kept the bodies of their sUives in bondage, but placed no restraint upon the mind and no check u[)on education ; and they acted consistently with their established principle, since a natural termination of slavery then existed, and one day or other the slave might be set free, and become the ec^ual of his master. But the Americans of the South, who do not admit that the Ne(j;roes can ever be commin<iled with themselves, have forbidden them, under severe penalties, to be taught to read or write ; and, as they will not raise them to their own level, tiiey sink them as nearly as possible to that of the brutes. The hope of liberty had always been allowed to the slave, to cheer the hardships of his condition. But the Americans of the South are well aware that emancipation cannot but be dangerous, when the freed man can never be assimilated to his former master. To give a man his freedom, and to leave him in wretchedness and ignominy, is nothing loss than to prepare a future chief for a revolt of the slaves. Moreover, it has long been remarked, that the presence of a free Negro vaguely agitates the minds of his less fortunate brethren, and conveys to them a dim notion of their rights. The Americans of the South have consequently taken away from slave-owners the right of emancipating their slaves in most cases, — not indeed by positive prohibition, but by subjecting that step to various formalities which it is difficult to comply with. I happened to meet with an old man, in the South of the Union, who had lived in illicit intercourse with one of his Negresses, and had had several children by her, who were born the slaves of their father. He had, indeed, frequently thought of bequeathing to them at least their liberty ; but years had elapsed before he could surmount the legal obstacles to their emancipation, and in the mean » :i PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION OF THE NEGROES. 4^9 various wliile liis old age was come, and he was about to die. lie pictured to himself his sons drugged from market to mar- ket, and passing from the authority of a parent to the rod of the stranger, until these horrid anticipations worked his expiring imagination into frenzy. When I saw him, he was a prey to all the anguish of despair ; and I then un- derstood how awful is the retribution of Nature upon those who have broken her laws. These evils are unquestionably great, but they are the necessary and foreseen consequences of the very })riii('i{)le of modern slavery. When the Europeans chose their slaves from a race differino; from their own, — which many of them considered as interior to the other races of mankind, and any notion of intimate union with which they all repelled with horror, — they must have believed that slavery would last forever, since there is no interme- diate state which can be durable between the excessive inequality produced by servitude and the complete equal- ity which originates in independence. The Europeans did imperfectly feel this truth, but without acknowledging it even to themselves. Whenever they have had to do Avith Negroes, their conduct has either been dictated by their interest and their pride, or by their compassion. They first violated every right of humanity by their treatment of the Negro, and they afterwards informed him that those rights were precious and inviolable. They aifected to open their ranks to the slaves, but the Negroes who attempted to penetrate into the community were driven back with scorn ; and they have incautiously and invol- untarily been led to admit freedom instead of slavery, without having the courage to be wholly iniquitous, or wholly just. If it be impossible to anticipate a period at which the Americans of the South will mingle their blood with that of the Negroes, can they allow their slaves to become free 21* 490 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i¥'n :l til ( ;' :iii witliout compromising their own security ? Arcl if thoy are obliged to keep that race in bondage in order to save their own flimihes, may they not be excused for avaihng themselves of the means best adapted to that end ? The events which are taking place in the Southern States ap- pear to me to be at once the most horrible and the most natural results of slavery. When I see the order of nature overthrown, and when I hear the cry of humanity in its vain struggle against the laws, my indignation does not light upon the men of our own time who are the instru- ments of these outrages ; but I reserve my execration for those who, after a thousand years of freedom, brought back slavery into the world once more. Whatever may be the efforts of the Americans of the South to maintain slavery, they will not always succeed. Slavery, now confined to a single tract of the civilized earth, attacked by Christianity as unjust, and by political economy as prejudicial, and now contrasted with demo- cratic liberty and the intelligence of our age, cannot sur- vive. By the act of the master, or by the will of the slave, it will cease ; and, in either case, great calamities may be expected to ensue. If liberty be refused to the Negroes of the South, they will, in the end, forcibly seize it for themselves ; if it be given, they will, erelong, abuse it. t tt--- i ' 'I CIIAN'CKS OF DURATION OF TIIF UNION. 401 WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF DURATION OF THE AMERICAN UNION, AND WHAT DANGERS THREATEN IT. What makes the preponilerant Force lie in the States rather than in the Union. — Tiic Union \vill last only as lonj; as all the Status choose to belong to it. — Causes wliirli tend to keep tliem united. — Utility of the Union to resist fbreiji;n Enemies, and to e.M hale Forei^qiers from Amer- ica. — No natural Harriers between the several States. — No conl!i(tiii<; Interests to divide them. — Heeiproeal Interests of tlie Nortlierii, South- ern, and Western States. — Intellectual Ties (f Union. — Uniformity of Opinions. — Danjxors of the Union resultinj; from tlie ditU'rcnt C'hiirnc- ters and the Passions of its (Citizens. — Cliaracter of the Citi/cns in the South and in the Nortii. — Tiie rapid Growth of the Union one of its greatest IJangers. — Progress of the Population to the Nortliwest. — Power gravitates in the same Direction. —7 Passions origiuiiting from sudden Turns of Fortune. — Wiiether the existing Government of the Union tends to gain Strength, or to lose it. — Various Signs of its ])e- creasc. — Internal Improvements. — Waste Lands. — Indians. — The Bank. — The Taritt'. — General Jackson. The maintenance of the existin"; institutions of the sev- eral States depends in part upon the maintenance of the Union itself. We must therefore first inquire into the probable fate of the Union. One point may be assumed at once : if the present confederation were dissolved, it appears to me to be incontestable that the States of which it is now composed would not return to their original iso- lated condition, but that several Unions would then be formed in the place of one. It is not my intention to in- quire into the principles upon which these new Unions would probably be established, but merely to show what the causes are which may effect the dismemberment of the existing confederation. With this object, I shall be obliged to retrace some of the steps which I have already taken, and to revert to topics which I have before discussed. I am aware that the reader may accuse me of repetition, but the impor- tance of the matter which still remains to be treated is my 11] 1' ! t I?.' 492 DEMOCRACY IN AMKHICA. f „ ;: It ■ v'l I- m I (1 ,| u excuse : I had rather say too much, than not he thoroughly understood ; and I prefer injuring tlie author to shghting the subject. Tlie legislators who formed the Constitution of 1789 endeavored to confi'r a se})arate existence and superior strength upon the federal power. But they were con- fined by the conditions of the task which they had under- taken to perform. They were not appointed to constitute the government of a single people, but to regulate the association of several States ; and, whatever their inclina- tions might be, they could not but divide the exercise of sovereignty. In order to understand the consequences of this division, it is necessary to make a short distinction between the ftmctions of government. There are some objects which are national by their very nature, — that is to say, which affect the nation as a whole, and can only be intrusted to the man or the assembly of men who most completely represent the entire nation. Amongst these may be reck- oned war and diplomacy. There are other objects which are provincial by their very nature, — that is to say, which only affect certain localities, and which can only be prop- erly treated in that locality. Such, for instance, is the budget of a municipality. Lastly, there are objects of a mixed nature, which are national inasmuch as they affect all the citizens who compose the nation, and which are provincial inasmuch as it is not necessary that the nation itself should provide for them all. Such arc the rights which regulate the civil and political condition of the citi- zens. No society can exist without civil and political rights. These rights, therefore, interest all the citizens alike ; but it is not always necessary to the existence and the prosperity of the nation that these rights should be uniform, nor, consequently, that they should be regulated by the central authority. ■t,+- ;• CIIAXCKS OF DUHATION OF TIIP: UNION. 493 There are, then, two distinct categories of ohjects whicli are submitted to tlie sovereign power ; and these are found in all well-constituted cunnnunities, whatever may be the basis of the j)olitical constitution. Between these two extremes, the objects which I have termed mixed may be considered to lie. As these are neither exclusivi'ly national nor entirely })rovincial, the care of them may be given to a national or a provincial government, according to the agreement of the contracting parties, without in any way inn)airing the object of association. The sovereign power is usually formed by the uni(m of individuals, who compose a })eo})le ; and individual powers or collective forces, each representing a small fraction of the sovereign, are the only elements which are found under the general goveriunent. In this case, the general government is more naturally called upon to regu- late, not only those affairs which are essentially national, but most of those which I have called mixed ; and the local governments are reduced to that small share of sovereign authority which is indispensable to their well- beino;. But sometimes the sovereign authority is composed of pre-organized political bodies, by virtue of circumstances anterior to their union ; and, in this case, the provincial governments assume the control, not only of those affairs which more peculiarly belong to them, but of all or a part of the mixed objects in question. For the confederate na- tions, which were independent sovereignties before their union, and which still represent a considerable share of the sovereign power, have consented to cede to the gen- eral government the exercise only of those rights wdiicli are indispensable to the Union. When the national government, independently of the prerogatives inherent in its nature, is invested with the right of regulating the mixed objects of sovereignty, it ^ ./ •? j m 494 DF.MOrRACY IN AMF.RICA. '■H r " possesses a preponderant influence. Not only are its own rights extensive, hut all the rifjhts which it does not pos- sess exist hv its sufferance ; and it is to he feared that the provincial govennnents may he deprived hy it of their natiu'al and necess;>.ry prero<ratives. When, on the other hand, the ])rovincial orovernments are invested with the power of regulating those same af- fairs of mixed interest, an oj)posite tendency prevails in society. The preponderant force resides in the province, not in the nation ; and it may he aj)j)rehended that the national government may, in the end, he stripped of the privileges which are necessary to its existence. Single nations have therefore a natural tendency to cen- tralization, and confederations to dismemherment. It now^ remains to apply these general principles to the American Union. The several States necessarily retained the right of regulating all purely provincial affairs. More- over, these same States kept the rights of determining the civil and political competency of the citizens, of regulating the reciprocal relations of the members of the community, and of dispensing justice, — rights which are general in their nature, but do not necessarily appertain to the na- tional covernment. We have seen that the government of the Union is invested with the power of acting in the name of the whole nation, in those cases in which the na- tion has to appear as a single and undivided power ; as, for instance, in foreign relations, and in offering a common resistance to a common enemy ; in short, in conducting those affairs which I have styled exclusively national. In this division of the rights of sovereignty, the share of the Union seems at first sight more considerable than that of the States, but a more attentive investigation shows it to he less so. The undertakings of the government of the Union are more vast, but it has less frequent occasion to act at all. Those of the provincial governments are f \ •!■ CHANeKs OF DLUATlUN UK lllK I NION. •ll>o comparativi'ly sinall, \n\\ tlity are iiici'ssaiit, and tlicy keep alive tlu' autlmrity wliicli they repivseiit. The govern- ment of the Union watciies over tlie mineral interests of the eonntry ; hut tlie general interests of a j)eo|»le have hut a questionahle influence n[)on nulividual happiness, whilst j)rovin('ial interests produce an innnediate I'll'ect upon the welfare of the iidiahitants. The Union secures thi' in(U'- pendence and the greatness of the nati(»n, whicii do not immediately affect private citizens ; hut the several States maintain tho liherty, regulate the rights, j)rotect the tor- tune, and secure the life and the whole future prosperity, of every citizen. The Federal government is far removed from its suh- jects, whilst the provincial governments are ^^ithin the reach of them all, and are ready to attend to the smallest appeal. The central government has upon its side the passions of a few superior men who aspire to conduct it ; but upon the side of the provincia governments are the interests of all those second-rate individuals who can onlv hope to obtain power within their own State, and who nevertheless exercise more authority over the people be- cause they are nearer to them. The Americans have, therefore, much more to lutpe and to fear from the States than from the Union ; and, accord- ing to the natural tendency of the human mind, tliey are more likely to attach themselves strongly to the former than to the latter. In this respect, their habits and feel- ings harmonize with their interests. When a compact nation divides its sovereignty, and adopts a confederate form of government, the traditions, the customs, and the manners of the people for a long time strutriile aoainst the laws, and give an influence to the cen- tral government wdiich the laws forbid. But when a num- ber of confederate states unite to form a single nation, the same causes operate in an opposite direction. I have no If^ » 40i; DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. li.-; If \ ,' i if. > ! pi'' :M 1:1 rl ii: ;? ,;f ! ;]i ( -i'i : * : ■ ; • it li^: m (loiilit tliat, if Fraiu'o were to becumo a confi'dcratt' rcpiilt- lic like iliat of tlie United States, the ^overinneiit would at fust l)e more energetic than that of tlie [Jiiioii ; and if the I'nion were to aher its eonstitution to a monarchy like that of France, I tliink that the American o;()vernmeiit would louii' remain wi-aker tlian the Kn-nch. When tlie national existence of the A njilo- Americans hetraii, tln'ir provincial I'xistence was already of lono; standin<; : neces- sary relations were estahlished between the townshij)s and the individual citizens of tlu> same States ; and they were accnstometl to consider some objects as common to tlicin uU, and to conduct other athurs as exclusively relatin<^ to their own special interests. The Union is a vast body, which presents no definite object to i)atriotic feelintf. The forms and limits of tlu; state are distinct and circumscribed, since it represents a certain number of objects whicli are familiar to the citi- zens, and dear to them all. It is identified with the soil ; with the right of property and the domestic affections ; with the recollections of the past, the labors of the })res- ent, and the ho})es of the future. Patriotism, then, which is fretpiently a mere extension of individual selfishness, is still directed to the State, and has not })assed over to the Union. Thus, the tendency of the interests, the habits, and the feelings of the people is to centre political activity in the States in preference to the Union. It is easy to estimate the different strength of the two governments, by remarking the manner in which they ex- ercise their respective powers. Whenever the government of a State addresses an individual or an assembly of indi- viduals, its language is clear and imperative, — and such is also the tone of the Federal government when it speaks to individuals ; but, no sooner has it anvthino; to do with a State, than it begins to parley, to explain its motives and justify its conduct, to argue, to advise, and, in short, any- ciiAN("i;s OF i>ri!Aii(>\ or nii; isios. 4'.)7 tliiiiii l)ut to romiMMtul. Tf douUts nro raisi'd ih to tlic limits of the coiistitiitioMiil |)o\vits of citlicr ^iovcrmiu'iit, till' |tro\iiiciiil !:;ov( rninciit prcfrrs its clMiiu with liolilncss, iiiid takes |ti'(»m|tt mih! cncrm'tic steps to sn|)|i(»rt it. Mean- while tlii' jioNcnimeiit of the I'liioii reasons; if a|»|>e;ils to tlu' interests, the iiood sense, the y;loi'v of the nation ; it tt'n»|)ori/.es, it neiiotiates, and doi's not consent to act mitil it is redneed to the last extremity. At fii'st sinht, it ini^ht reailily he imauiiit'd that it is the |)ro\ineial n()\ei-nn»ent which is iM'inetl with the authority of tiie nation, and that Couiiress represents a sinn;le State. The Federal ii'overnment is, therefore, notwithstandinir the precautions of those who founded it, naturally so wn-ak, that, more than any other, it reijuires -the i'roo conseiit of the governed to enable it to subsist. It is easy to perceive that its ol)J(>ct is to enable the States to reali/.i' with tiicility their determination ' ninainiiuj; unite(l ; and, as loniv us this ])reliniinary condition exists, it is wise, stronii;, and active. The Constitution fits the m)vernment to control individuals, and easily to surmount such obstacles as they may be inclini'd to offer, but it was by no means establislied with a A'iew to the possible voluntary sejjaration of one or more of the States from the Union. If the sovereiijnty of the IJ^nion were to enija<:;e ^ a struireK' with that of the States, at the present ihi.\\, its defeat may be confidi'Utly ])redicted ; and it is not probable^ that such a strugii'le would be seriously undertaken.* As * The prcat struggle which is now going on (1862), and a greater one is nowiiere recorded in liistory, proves tiiat M. de Tocciuevillc overlooked one great ol)stacle to the dismeinl)ernicnt of the Union. Tiiis is found in tiic strong attachment of tlic remaining members of tlie federation, who resist to the dcatli tlie attempt of tlieir sister States to withdraw, first, because tlie original compact between them made no provision for such withdrawal except by the voluntary consent of tlie greater numlier ; and secondly and chiefly, because tlic remaining States, who are the large majority, are not willing to allow the intcnsts, the power, and the glory of all to be sacrificed by the act 1 • i- i f . * li I 498 DKMOCRACY IX AMERICA. ■■' \ .v'f '}>■'' often as a steady resistance is offered to the Federal 2;ov- ernment, it will be found to yield. Experience lias hith- erto shown that, whenever a State has demanded anvthino: with perseverance and resolution, it has invariably sue ceeded ; and that, if it has distinctly refused to act, it was left to do as it thought fit.* But even if the government of the Union had any strength inherent in itself, the physical situation of the country would render the exercise of that strength very difficult.! The United States cover an immense territory, they are separated from each other by great distances, and the population is disseminated over the surfiice of a coun- try which is still half a wilderness. If the Union were to undertake to enforce by arms the allegiance of the confederate States, it would be in a position very analo- gous to that of England at the time of the war of in- dependence. However strong a government may be, it cannot easily escape from the consequences of a principle which it has once admitted as the foundation of its constitution. The Union was formed by the voluntary agi*eement of the States ; and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their nationality, nor have they been reduced to the con- of a few. They thus act in strict accordance with their own republican prin- ciple, that the will of the majority, duly ascertained and expressed in the manner and under the limitations prescribed by the Constitution, shall be the ultimate and supreme law, from which there can be no appeal. And this determination they are now manifcstinj; with a xmanimity and enerpy such as no nation has ever before shown in defence of its f^overnment. — Am. Ed. * See tli^ conduct of the Northern States in the war of 1812. " During that war," says Jefferson in a letter to General Lafayette, " four of the East- ern States were only atta^'hed to the Union like so many inanimate bodies to living men." t Tiie profound peace of the Union affords no pretext for a standing army ; and witiiout a standing army, a government is not prepared to profit by a favorable opportunity to conquer resistance, and take the sovereign power by surprise. CHANCES OF DURATION OF THi: UNION. 499 dition of one and the same people. If one of the States cliose to withdraw its name from tlie contract, it would be difficult to disprove its right of doing so,* and the Federal government would have no means of nuiintainino; its claims directly, either by force or by right. In order to enable the Federal government easily to conquer the resistance which may be offered to it by any of its sub- jects, it would be necessary that one or more of them should be specially interested in the existence of the Union, as has frequently been the case hi the history of confederations. If it be supposed that amongst the States which are united by the Federal tie there are some which exclusively enjoy the principal advantages of union, or whose prosper- ity entirely depends on the duration of that union, it is unquestionable that they will always be ready to sui)port the central government in enforcino; the obedicMice of the others. But the government would then be exerting a force not derived from itself, but from a princijjle contrary to its nature. States form confederations in order to de- rive equal advantages from their union ; and in the case just alluded to, the Federal govennnent would derive its power from the unequal distribution of those benefits amongst the States. If one of the confederate States have acquired a prepon- derance sufficiently great to enable it to take exclusive pos- session of the central authority, it will consider the other States as subject provinces, and will cause its own suprem- acy to be respected under the borrowed name of the sov- ereignty of the Union. Great things may then be done in the name of the Federal government, but, in reality, * It is enoup:h here to say in reply, that the opinion of our fxrcatest law- yers and statesmen, fortified l>y repeated judf^mcnts of tiie Siiprenic Court, is, tliat a State has no right under the Coustitutiou voluntarily to secede from the Union. — Am. Ed. ■m I '! :l :,;;,i . ij m !!« ; >•'•. 600 DOIOCRACY IN AMKKICA. '*t >.i that government will have ceased to exist.* In both these cases, the power which acts in the name of the confedera- tion becomes stroriiier tlie more it abandons the natural state and the acknowledged principles of confederations. In America, the existinji; Union is advantageous to all the States, but it is not indispensable to any one of them. Several of them might break the Federal tie without com- promising the weltiire of the others, although the sum of their joint prosperity would be less. As the existence and the ha})piness of none of the States are wholly dependent on the present Constitution, they would none of them be disposed to make great personal sacrifices to maintain it. On the other hand, there is no State which seems hitherto to have its ambition much interested in the maintenance of the existing Union. They certainly do not all exercise the same influence in the Federal councils ; but no one can hope to domineer over the rest, or to treat them as its inferiors or as its subjects. It appears to me unquestionable, that, if any portion of the Union seriously desired to separate itself from the other States, they would not be able, nor indeed would they attempt, to prevent it ; and that the present Union will only last as long as the States which compose it choose to continue members of the confederation. If this pouit be admitted, the question becomes less difficult ; and our object is, not to inquire whether the States of the existing Union are capable of separating, but whether they will choose to remain united. Amongst the various reasons which tend to render the existing Union useful to the Americans, two principal ones are especially evident to the observer. Although the * Thus the province of Holland, in the republic of the Low Countries, and the Emperor in the Germanic Confederation, have sometimes put themselves in the place of the Union, and have employed the federal autliority to tiicir own advantage. -^iif CHAXCKS 01' DURATKJN or TIIK UNION. 501 t ' Americans are, as it were, alone upon tlieir continent, com- merce i!;ives tlieni for neiiilibors all the nations with which they trade. Notwithstanding their apparent isolation, then, the Americans need to be strong, and thev can be stron;:; only by remaining united. It" the Sttites wei'e to split, tliey would not only diminish the strength which they now have against foreigners, but they would soon create foreign powers upon tlieir own territory. A system of inland cus- tom-houses would then be established; the valleys would be divided by imaginary boundary lines ; the courses of the rivers would be impeded, and a nuiltitude of hin- drances would })revent the Americans from using that vast continent which Providence has given *hem for a iloininion. At present, they have no invasion to fear, and conscMiuently no standing armies to maintain, no taxes to levy. If the Union were dissolved, all these burdensome things would erelong be required. The Americans are, then, most deeply interested in the maintenance of their Union. On the other liand, it is almost impossible to discover any private interest wdiicli might now tem])t a portion of the Union to separate from the other States. When we cast our eyes upon the map of the United States, we perceive the chain of the Alleghany Mountains, running from the northeast to the southwest, and cross- ing nearly one thousand miles of country ; and we are led to imagine that the design of Providence Avas to raise, be- tween the valley of the Mississippi and the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, one of those natural barriers which break the mutual intercourse of men, and form the necessary limits of different States. But the averajxe heio-ht of the Alleohanies does not exceed 2,500 feet. Their rounded summits, and the spacious valleys which they enclose with- in tlieir passes, are of easy access in several directions. Besides, the principal rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, the Hudson, the Sus(juelianna, and the Potomac, Hi m ;«,]: :| 'f >■;•:'. 502 DEJIOCRACY IN AMERICA. m n'i ^:rl! '"t'1 i': fi mi mi i:r take their rise beyond the Alleghanies, in an open elevated plain, which borders upon the valley of the Mississi})pi. These streams quit this tract of country, make their way throuMi the barrier which would seem to turn them west- ward, and, as they wind through the mountains, open an easy and natural passage to man. No natural barrier divides the regions which are now inhabited by the Anglo-Americans ; the Alleghanies are so far from separating nations, that they do not even divide different States. New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia comprise them within their borders, and extend as nuich to the west as to the east of the line. The territory now occupied by the twenty-four States of the Union, and the three great districts which have not yet acquired the rank of States, although they already contain inhabitants, covers a surface of 1,002,000 square miles,* which is about equal to five times the extent of France. Within tliese limits the quality of the soil, the temperature, and the produce of the country, are ex- tremely various. The vast extent of territory occupied by the Anglo-American republics has given rise to doubts as to the maintenance of their Union. Here a distinction must be made ; contrary interests sometimes arise in the differ- ent provinces of a vast empire, which often terminate in open dissensions ; and the extent of the country is then most prejudicial to the duration of the state. But if the inhabitants of these vast regions are not divided by con- trary interests, the extent of the territory is favorable to * See Darliy's View of the United States, p. 435. [In 1860 the nunihtT of States has increased to 34 ; tlie population to 31,000,000, and tlie area of the States, 3,189,000 square miles. — Eiu/lish Translator's Note,] [And now that the United States comprise a vast region bordering on the Pacific Ocean, the liocky Mountains, and the barren and mountainous country adjacent to them, form a great natural barrier between the eastern and western portions of the Union. — Am. Ed.] CHANCES OF DURATION OF THE UNION. m their prosperity ; for tlie unity of the government pro- motes tlie interchange of tlie different })roduc'tions of the soil, and increases their vahie by tiiciUating tlieir con- sumption. It is indeed easy to discover different interests in the different parts of the Union, but I am unacquainted with any whicli are hostile to each other. The Southern States are almost exclusively agricultural. The Northern States are more j)eculiarly commercial and manufacturing. The States of the West are, at the same time, aiiricultural and manuflicturing. In the South, the crops consist of tobac<'o, rice, cotton, and sugar ; in the North and the AV^est, of wheat and maize : these are different sources of wealth ; but union is the means by which these sources are opened and rendered e([ually advantageous to all. The North, which ships the produce of the Anglo- Americans to all parts of the world, and brings back the produce of the globe to the Union, is evidently interested in maintaining the confederation in its present condition, in order that the number of American producers and con- sumers may remain as large as possible. The North is the most natural agent of communication between the South and the West of the Union on the one hand, and the rest of the world upon the other ; the North is therefore inter- ested in the union and prosperity of the South and the West, in order that they may continue to furnish raw ma- terials for its manufactures, and cargoes for its shipping. The South and the West, on their side, are still more directly interested in the preservation of the Union and the prosperity of the North. The produce of the South is, for the most part, exported beyond seas ; the South and the West consequently stand in need of the commercial resources of the North. They are likewise interested in the maintenance of a powerful fleet by the Union, to pro- tect them efficaciously. The South and the West have no ! ' 'II. m 504 DK.MOCRACY L\ AMKUICA. ji ill \'. vessels, but willinfily contribute to tlie ex})eiise of a navy; for if the fleets of Euroi)e were to blockade the ports of the South and the delta of the Mississij)])i, what would become of the rice of the Carolinas, the tobacco of Vir- ilinia, and the suoar and cotton which m'<>w in the vallcv of the Mississippi ? Every portion of the Federal bud«ivt does, therefore, contribute to the maintenance of material interests which are connnon to all the confederate States. Independently of this commercial utihty, the South :uid tiie West derive great jjolitical advantages from their union with each other and with the North. The South contains an enormous slave population, — a population which is al- ready alarming, and still more formidable for the futuri'. The States of the West occupy a single valley ; the rivers which intersect their territory rise in the Ivocky Mountains or in the Alleghanies, and fall into the JNIississippi, wl)ich bears them onwards to the Gulf of Mexico. The Western States are conse(piently entirely cut off, by their position, from the traditions of Europe and the civilization of the Old World. The inhabitants of the South, then, are in- duced to su])port the Union in order to avail themselves of its protection against the blacks ; and the inhabitants of the West, in order not to be excluded from a free commu- nication with the rest of the globe, and shut up in the wilds of central America. The North cannot but desire the maintenance of the Union, in order to remain, as it now is, the connecting link between that vast body and the other parts of the world. The material interests of all the parts of the Union are, then, intimately connected ; and the same assertion holds true respecting those opinions and sentiments which may be termed the ui- aterial interests of men. The inhabitar of the United States talk much of their attachment to neir country ; but I confess that I do not rely upon tl at calculating patriotism which is founded CHANCES OF DlliATION OF TIIK INIUN. oO.J , are in- commu- upon interest, and wliieli a change in tlii' interests may destroy. Nor do 1 attach nuich inijxtrtance to the hm- gnage of the Americans, wlicn they manifest, in their daily conversation, the intention of maintalnino- tlie Federal sns- tem ado})ted by their forefathers. A govennnciit retains its swi<^ Mv > a ;i;i'oat number of citizens far less hv tlie volunta^^ a' rational consent of tlie nndtitude, than by that instinctive, and to a cei Mt extent invohuitary, agive- ment "svliich results from simihu'ity of feehni;s and resem- blances of opinion. I will never admit that men constitute a social body sim})ly because they obey tlie same head and the same laws. Society can oidy exist when a great luim- ber of men consider a oreat ninnber of thiniis under the same aspect, when they hold the same opinions upon many subjects, and when the same occurrences suggest the same thoughts and impressions to their minds. The observer who examines what is passing in the United States upon this princi})le, will readily discover that their inhabitants, though divided into twenty-four disti.ict sovereignties, still constitute a single ])eople ; and he may perhaps be led to think that the Anglo-American Union is more truly a united society than some nations of Europe which live under the same legislation and the same prince. Althouo;h the Anolo- Americans have several relio-ious sects, they all regard religion in the same manner. They are not always agreed upon the measures which are most conducive to good government, and they vary upon some of the forms of government which it is expedient to adopt ; but they are unanimous upon the general princi})les which ought to rule human society. From Maine to the Flor- idas, and from the Missouri to the Atlantic Ocean, the people are held to be the source of all legitimate power. The same notions are entertained respecting liberty and equality, the liberty of the press, the right of association, 22 m 506 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i t' tlie juiy, and the rosponsibility of the agents of govern- ment. If we turn from tlieir political and religious opinions to the moral and philosophical principles which regulate the daily actions of life, and <xovern tneir conduct, we still tind the same uniformity. The Anglo-Americans* acknowl- edge the moral authority of the reason of the community, as they acknowledge the pohtical authority of the mass of citizens ; and they hold that i)ublic opinion is the surest arbiter of what is lawful or forbidd( n, true or false. The majority of them believe that a man, by following his own interest rightly understood, will be led to do what is just and good. They hold that every man is born in posses- sion of the right of self-government, an'^' *hat no one has the right of constraining his fellow-creatd'es to be happy. They have all a lively iiiitli in the perfectibility of man ; they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessa- rily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance flital ; they all consider society as a body in a state of im- provement, humanity as a changing scene, in Avhicli noth- ing is, or ought to be, permanent ; and they admit that what appears to them to-day to be good, may be superseded by something better to-morrow. I do not give all these opinions as true, but as American opinions. The Anglo-Americans are not only united by these com- mon opinions, but they are separated from all other nations by a feeling of pride. For the last fifty years, no pains have been spared to convince the inhabitants of the United States that they are the only religious, enlightened, and free people. They perceive that, for the present, their own democratic institutions prosper, whilst those of other countries fail ; hence they conceive a high opinion of their * It is scarcely necessary for me to observe that, by the expression Aiujlo- Americans, I mean to designate only the great majority of the nation ; for Bome isolated individuals, of course, hold very different opinions. I ti.. .-; CHANCKS 01' DUUATIUN 01" Till:; UNION. i07 superiority, and are not very remote from believing them- selves to be ji distinct species of mankind. Thus, the dangers which threaten the American Union do not originate in diversity of interests or of o})inions ; but in the various characters and passions of the Ameri- cans. The men who inhabit the vast territory of the United States are almost all the issue of a conunon stock ; but climate, and more especially slavery, have gradually introduced marked ditferences between the Jiritish settler of the Southern States and the Jiritish settler of the Mortli. In Europ(j, it is generally believed that slavery has ren- dered the interests of one part of the Union contrary to those of the other ; but 1 have not found tiiis to be the case. Slavery has not created interests in the South con- trary to those of the North, but it has modified the char- acter and chanoed the habits of the natives of the South. I have already explained the inHueuce of slavery upon the commercial ability of the Americans in the South ; and this same influence equally extends to their manners. The slave is a servant who never remonstrates, and who sub- mits to everything without complaint. He may sometimes assassinate, but he never withstands, his master. In the South, there are no families so poor as not to have slaves.* The citizen of the Southern States becomes a sort of do- mestic dictator from infancy ; the first notion he acquires in life is, that he is born to command, and the first habit which he contracts is that of ruling without resistance. His education tends, then, to give him the character of a haughty and hasty man, — irascible, violent, ardent in his desires, impatient of obstacles, but easily discouraged If he cannot succeed upon his first attempt. jr m ili ll 1 1 . 1"! ■' 1 ««! ■ i|: * This is not strictly true. There are many " poor whites," as they are termed, in the Soutlierii States, who own no slaves, and earn a scanty sub- sistence by the labor of their hands, though they labor very unwillingly, — Am. Ed. :1 1 ¥ m ! i:<r 508 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. ■)§.:!.' Till' Anu'ricati of tlie North sees no sluvos siround him ill liis cliildhood ; he is even ui attended hy free siTviints, for he is usually obliged to provide tor his own wants. As soon as he enters the world, the idi'a of necessity assails him on vvi.n'y side : he soon learns to know exactly the natural limits of his power ; lu' never exjK'cts to suhdue by force those who withstand him ; and he knows that the surest means of obtain i no' the su|)[)ort of his fellow-creatures is to win their favor, lie therefore be(;omes j)atient, reflect- ing, tolerant, slow to act, and persevering in his designs. In the Southern States, the more pressing wants of life are always snpplii'tl ; the inhabitants, therefore, are not occuj)ied with t)ie material cares of life, from which they are relieved by others ; and their imagination is diverted to more ca})tivating and less definite objects. The Ameri- can of the South is fond of grandeur, luxury, and renown, of gayety, pleasure, and, above all, of idleness ; nothing obliiies him to exert himself in order to subsist; and ts he has no necessary occu})ations, he gives way to indolence, and does not even attempt what would be useful. But the etpiality of fortunes and the absence of slavery in the North plunge the inhabitants in those material cares which are disdained by the white population of the South. They are taught from infancy to combat want, and to place wealth above all the pleasures of the intellect or the heart. The imagination is extinguished by the trivial details of life ; and the ideas become less numerous and less general, but far more practical, clearer, and more precise. As pros- })erity is the sole aim of exertion, it is excellently well at- tained ; nature and men are turned to the best pecuniary advantage ; and society is dexterously made to contribute to the welfare of each of its members, whilst individnal selfishness is the source of general happiness. The American of the North has not only experience, but knowledge ; yet he values science not as an enjoyment, bnt CUANUKS OF IHIJ.MION OK Illl': INIoN. :>o!) 1 cares Soutli. to place heart, ails of eneral, s pros- -ell at- an a uu'aiis, and is only anxious to sci/A' its usi't'ul aj)plica- tions. 'riic iVnicrican of the South is nioi'i' t:;ivi'U to act upon iinj)ulsc! ; he is more ("lever, nion; i'rank, more ircner- ous, nioiv intellectual, and more l)rilliant. Tlie former, with a ^ri'ater degree of activity, conunon sense, information, and general aptitutU*, has tiie characteristic good and evil (jual- ities of tile middle classes. The lattt-r lias the tastes, tiie prejudices, the weaknesses, and the magnanimity of all aris- tocracies. If two men aie united in society, who have the samo interests, and, to a certain extent, the same opinions, hut different characters, different actpiirements, ami a dilferent style of civilization, it is most prohahle that these men will not agree. The same remark is applicable to a society of nations. Slavery, then, does not attack the American Union di- rectly in its interests, but indirectly in its maimers. The States which ijave their assent to the Federal con- tract in 1700 were thirteen in number ; the Union now consists of twenty-four [thirty-four] members. Tiie j)oj)- ulation, wdiich amounted to nearly four millions in 171)0, had more than tripled in the space of forty years ; in 18-)0, it amounted to nearlv thirteen millions.* Chauiics of such maiinitude cannot take ])lace without dauixer. A society of nations, as well as a society of individuals, has three princij)al chances of duration, — namely, the wis- dom of its members, their individual weakness, and their limited number. The Americans who ([uit tlu' coasts of the xVtlantic Ocean to })lunge into the Western wilderness are adventurers, imj)atient of restraint, greedy of wealth, and frequently men expelled from the States in which they were born. When they arrive in the deserts, they are * Ccnsuri of 1 790 " 1830 " 1860 12,8r)6,165. 31,134,066. I St r r>io DKMOCISACV IN AMKIMCA. I'll r I' ' ' K' ! M'H\ 1. 'i1 ! v t tl: i I mA ( i unknown to cacli other ; tlicy liiivc ni'itluT triulitions, Him- ily li'('Iin<:;, nor tlu' torce of cxiunjdc to clicfk tluir ox- ci'sscs. 'I'lic iuitlioritv of till' h\\\s is tl-clili' ainonn;st tlicni, — that of morality is still wcaki-r. Tlu' settlors who aro constantly pcoplino; the valley of the Mississipjii are, then, in every ri's|)eet, inferior t(» the Americans who inlialiit the older i)arts of the Cnion. I5nt thev alri'adv exei'cise a oi\'at influence in its councils ; and they ari'i\ e at the jfoM'rnment of the conunonwealth bel'ore they have learnt to <jjo\'eru themselves.* The o-reater the individual weakness of the contractinii; ])arties, the <:;reater are the chances of the dnration of the contract ; for their safety is then dt'|)endent upon their union. When, in 17*.H), the most popnlons of the Ameri- can rej)ul)lics did not contain 500,000 inhal)itants,f each of them felt its own insio;nificance as an independent peo- ple, and this feelinii; rendered compliance with the Federal authority more easy. liut, when one of the coni'ederato States reckons, like the State of New York, two millions [three and a half millions] of inhabitants, and covers an extent of territory eijual to a (juarter of France, :j: it feels its own strength ; and, although it may still support the Union as useful to its prosj)erity, it no lojiger regards it as necessary to its existence ; and, while consenting to continue in it, it aims at preponderance in the Federal councils. The mere increase in number of the States weakens the tie that holds them together. All men who are placed at the same point of view do not look at the same objects in the same manner. Still less do they do so when the point of view is different. In proportion, * Tins indeed is only a temporary dant,fer. I have no doubt that in time society will assume as much staliility and re<rularity in the West as it has already done upon the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. t rcnnsylvania contained 431,373 inlial)itants in 1790. t The area of the State of New York is ahout 4G,000 square miles. cuANcKs or Dn.'AiioN- (ii' iiii; r\i(>\. Ml tlii'ii, as tlic AiiKM'iciUi i"fj)iilili(s Iiccoiiu' iiiofc numerous, flicrc is less cliimcc (»t' tlu'ir imaiiiiiiity in matters dt' K'^is- liition. At pivsc'Mt, till' interests of the tliU'erent parts ot' tlio Tnion are not at variance; l)Ut who can t'oi'esee tlio various changes of tlio future in a couiitrv in w hich new towns i le fouii<U'(l every day, and new States almost every vear ? Since the first settlement of the Ri'itish Colonies, the mimher of inhahitants has ahout douhled ('veiy twenty- two years. I perceive no can es which are rifely to check this ratio of inc >f the An<rlo-A ilati crease or nie An<j;io-AiT -.'rican po|>ulatU)ii for the next hundred years ; and hef tvi' that time has elapsed, I believe that the territories. .•■ d (h'|i< : deiu es of the United States will bo covered by more th;'. a hundred millions of inhabitants, and divided into foi v State>: f I admit that these hundred millions of ''ic>i have no di.; rent interests. I sujipose, on the contra /y, that they are all ecpially interested in the maintenance of the Union ; but I still say that, for the very reason that they are a hundred millions, forming forty distinct nations uiuMpially strone;, the continuance of the Federal m)vernment can only bo a fortunate accident. Whatever faith I may have in the perfectibility of man, * If tlie i)0[)ulation coiitiiuios tr 'louhlc every twenty-two yenrs, as it lias done for the last two limulred j-ea/- -n numl)cr of inlialiitants in the United States in 1852 will l)e twenty-fonr millions; in 1874, forty-eitrht millions; and in 1896, ninety-six millions. This may still he the case, even if the lands on the eastern slope of liie lioeky Mountains should lie found unlit for cultivation. The territory whicii is already occupied can easily contain this numlier of inhahitants. One hundred millions of men spread over the sinfaco of the twenty-f ;'ar States, and the three dependencies, which now constitute the Union, would only give 762 inhahitants to the square lea<;ue ; this would I)e far helow the mean population of France, which is 1,006 to the s(|uare lcaj:iie ; or (if Eiiiiland, which 1,4.')7 ; an<l it would even he helow the population of Switzerland, for that country, notwithstanding its lakes and mountains, eci tains 783 inhahitants to the square league. 11. ml m: 1.1 ' ii' ■■ ['t M .1; t fe' !li >1'2 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. i ■■ ' i'. b ;# r ■ ; ■)':;; until Imnian nature is altered, and men wholly transformed, I sliall refuse to believe in the duration of a n;overnment which is called upon to hold togetlier forty diflerent nations, spread o ' <• a territory equal to one half of Europe, to avoid all rivalry, ambition, and struggles between them, and to direct their inde])endent activity to the accomphsh- ment of the same desions. But the greatest peril to which the Union is exposed by its increase arises ft'om the continual displacement of its internal forces. The distance from Lake Superior to tlie Gulf of Mexico is more than twelve hundred miles, as the crow flies. The frontier of the United States winds aloncj the whole of this immense hne ; sometimes falling within its limits, but more frequently extending far beyond it, into the waste. It has been calculated that the whites advance every year a mean distance of seventeen miles along the whole of this vast boundary. Obstacles, such as an un- ]>r()ductive district, a lake, or an Indian nation, are some- times encountered. The advancino; column then halts for a while ; its two extremities curve round upon themselv^es, and, as soon as they are reunited, they proceed onwards. This gradual and continuous progress of the European race towards the Rocky Mountains has the solemnity of a providential event ; it is like a deluge of men rising una- batedly, and daily driven onwards by the hand of God. Within this front line of conquering settlers, towns are built, and vast States founded. In 1790, there were only a few thousand pioneei's sprinkled along the valleys of the Mississippi ; at the present day, these valleys contain as many inhabitants as were to be found in the whole Union in 1790. Their population amounts to nearly four millions. The city of Washington was founded in 1800, in the very centre of the Union ; but such are the changes which have taken place, that it now stands at one of the extremities ; and the delegates of the most remote Western States, in I : ■ mselves. CHANCES OF DURATION OF TIIF UXIOX. 518 order to take tlioir seats in Cono;ress, are already ol)lio;(Hl to perform a journey as long as that from Vienna to Paris.* All the States are home onwards at the same time in the patli of fortune, hut they do not all increase and prosper in the same proportion. In the North of the Union, the detached ])ranches of the Alleghany chain, extending as far as the Atlantic Ocean, form spacious roads and [)orts, constantly accessihle to the largest vessels. lint from the Potomac, following the shore, to the mouth of the ]Missis- sippi, the coast is sandy and flat. In this part of the Union, the months of almost all the rivers are ohstructed ; and the few harhors which exist amono-st these lamnies afFoi'd shallo\\er water to vessels, and much fewer com- mercial advantao;es, than those of the North. This first and natural cause of inferiority is united to another cause proceeding fi-om the laws. We have seen that slavery, which is aholished in the North, still exists in the South ; and I have pointed out its fatal consequences upon the prosperity of the planter himself. The North is therefore superior to the South both in commerce f and manufacture ; the natural consequence of * Tlic distance from Jefferson, the capital of the State of Missouri, to Washinjjton, is 1,019 miles. t The following statements will show the difference between the commer- cial activity of the South and of the North. In 1829 the tonnajre of all the merchant-A'cssels helonjjiii}]^ to Virfrinia, the two Carolinas, and Georjria (the four jjreat Southern States), amouTitod to only 5,24.3 tons. In the same year, the tonnape of the vessels of the State of Massachusetts alone amounted to 17,.'322 tons. (See Legislative l^ocu- moiits, 21st Congress, 2d Session, No. 140, p. 214.) Thus Massachusetts had three times as much shipping as the four above-mentioned States. Nev- ertheless, the area of the State of IVrassachusctts is only 7,.3.'}.') square miles, and its population amounts to r)10,014 inhabitants ; wliilst the area of the four otlicr States I have (juoted is 210,000 s(|uare miles, and their population .3,047, "()7. Thus the area of the State of Massachusetts forms only one thirtictii ])art of the area of the four States; and iis population is but ono fifth of theirs. [In 18.')8, the tonnage of the these four Southern States was 22* GO I ■ nn 4 1 i 1^ i ^m 514 DEJIOCRACY IN AMERICA. i'v! II '■: ( it ,: which is the more rapid increase of population and wealtli within its borders. The States on the shores of the Atlan- tic Ocean are already half peopled. Most of the land is held by an owner ; and they cannot therefore receive so many emigrants as the Western States, where a boundless field is still open to industry. The valley of the Missis- sippi is far more fertile than the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. This reason, added to all the others, contributes to drive the Europeans westward, — a fact which may be rigorously demonstrated by figures. It is found that the sum total of the population of all the United States has about tripled in the course of forty years. But in the new States adjacent to the Mississippi, the population has in- creased thirty-one fold within the same time. The centre of the Federal power is continually displaced. Forty years ago, the majority of the citizens of the Union was established upon the coast of the Atlantic, in the envi- rons of the spot where Washington now stands ; but the great body of the people are now advancing inland and to the North, so that, in twenty years, the majority will un- questionably be on the western side of the Alleghanies. If the Union continues, the basin of the Mississippi is evi- dently marked out, by its fertility and its extent, to be the permanent centre of the Federal government. In thirty or forty years, that tract of country will have assumed its natural rank. It is easy to calculate that its population, but 4,765, while that of Massachusetts was 32,599.] Slavery is prejudicial to the commercial prosperity of the South in several diftcrcnt ways; l»y di- miuishi' ; the spirit of enterprise amongst the whites, and by preventing them from obtaining the sailors whom they require. Sailors arc usually taken only from the lowest ranks of the population. But in the Southern States, these lowest ranks are composed of slaves, and it is very difficult to employ them at sea. They are unaljle to serve as well as a white crew, and ap- prehensions would always be entertained of their mutinying in the middle of the ocean, or of their escaping in the foreign countries at which they might touch. CIIANCKS OF DURATION OF THE UNION. 515 compared with that of the coast of the Atlantic, will then be u round numbers, as 40 to 11, In a few years, the Stales wdiich founded the Union will lose the direction of its policy, and the population of the valley of the Missis- sippi will preponderate in the Federal assemblies. This constant gravitation of the Federal power and in- fluence towards the Northwest is shown every ten years, when a general census of the population is made, and the number of deleo-ates wdiich each State sends to Cono;ress is settled anew.* In 1790, Virginia had ninetcH'u representa- tives in Conm'ess. This number continued to increase until 1813, when it reached tw^enty-three ; from that time it began to decrease, and, in 1883, Virginia elected only twenty-one. f During the same period, the State of * It may be seen that, in the course of the last ten years (1820-1830), the population of one district, as, for instance, the State of Delaware, lias increased in the proportion of five per cent ; whilst that of another, as the Territory of jNIichifian, has increased 250 per cent. Thus the poi)ulation of Virginia had augmented 13 per cent, and that of the ijorder State of Ohio 61 per cent, in the same time. The general tahle of these changes, which is given in the National Calendar, is a striking picture of the unequal fortunes of the different States. t It has just been said, that, in the course of the la.st term, the population of Virginia has increased 13 per cent ; and it is necessary to explain how the number of representatives for a State may decrease, wlien the po])ulation of that State, far from diminishing, is actually upon the increase. I take the State of Virginia, to which I have already alluded, as nn- term of com- parison. The number of representatives of Virginia in 1823 was propor- tionate to the total number of the representatives of the Union, and to the I'elation which its population bore to that of the whole Union ; in 1 83.'? the number of representatives of Virginia was likewise proportionate to the total number of the representatives of the Union, and to the relation which its population, augmented in the couse of ten years, bore to the augmented population of the Union in the same space of time. The new number of Virginian representatives will then be to the old number, on the one hand, as the new numl)er of all the rei)rcse!itativcs is to the old number ; and, on the other hand, as the augmentation of the population of Virginia is to that of the whole population of the country. Thus, if the increase of the popu- II' ii3 ;Ji !* I liif n- m Is ^1 II if 516 DEMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. New York followed the contrary direction : in 1790, it had ten representatives in Congress ; in I8I0, twenty-seven ; in 1823, thirty-four; and in 1833, forty. The State of Oliio had only one re})resentative in 1803 ; and in 1833, it had already nineteen. [Virginia now has thirteen. New York thirty-three, and Ohio twenty-one representatives.] It is difficult to imagine a durable unior of a nation which is rich and strong with one which is poor and weak, even if it were proved that the strength and wealth of the one are not the causes of the weakness and poverty of the other. But union is still more difficult to maintain at a time when one party is losing strength, and the other is gaining it. This rapid and disproportionate increase of certain States threatens the independence of the others. New York might perhaps succeed, with its two millions of inhabitants and its forty representatives, in dictating to the other States in Congr'^ss. But, even if the more pow- erful States make no attempt to oppress the smaller ones, the danger still exists ; for there is almost as much in the possibility of the act as in the act itself. The weak gen- erally mistrust the justice and the reason of the strong. The States which increase less rapidly than the others look upon those which are more favored by fortune with envy and suspicion. Hence arise the deep-seated uneasiness and ill-defined agitation which are observable in the South, and which form so striking a contrast to the confidence and prosperity which are common to other parts of the Uuion. I am inclined to think that the hostile attitude taken lation of the lesser country be to that of the greater in an exact inverse ratio of tlie proportion between the new and the old numbers of all the representa- tives, the number of the representatives of Virginia will remain stationary ; and if the increase of the Virginian population be to that of the whole Union in a feebler ratio than the new number of tlie representatives of the Union to the old number, the number of the representatives of Virginia must decrease. CHANCES OF DURATION OF THE UNION. 517 bv tlic Soutli recently, is attributable to no otlier cause. The inliabitants of the Southern States are, of all the Americans, those who are most interested in the main- tenance of the Union : thev would assuredly suffer most from beino; left to themselves; and yet thev are the dulv ones who threaten to break the tie of confederation. It is easy to perceive that the South, which has given four Presidents — Washington, Jefferson, IMadison, and MdU- roe — to the Union, which j)erceives that it is losing its Federal influence, and that the number of its representa- tives in Congress is diminishing from year to year, whilst those of the Northern and Western States are increasing, — the South, which is peoi)led with ardent and irascible men, is becoming more and more irritated and alarmed. Its inhabitants reflect upon their present position, and re- member their past influence, with the melancholy inieasi- iiess of men who suspect oppression. If they discover a law of the Union which is not unequivocally favorable to their interests, they protest against it as an abuse of force ; and if their ardent remonstrances are not listened to, they threaten to quit an association which loads them with burdens whilst it deprives them of the profits. " The Tariff," said the iidiabitants of Carolina in 1882, " enriches the North and ruins the South ; for, if this were not the case, to what can we attribute the continually increasing power and wealth of the North, with its inclement skies and arid soil ; whilst the South, which may be styled the garden of America, is rapidly declining." * If the changes which I have described were gradual, so that each generation at least might have time to disappear with the order of things under which it had lived, the danger would be less ; but the progress of society in Amer- ica is precipitate, and almost revolutionary. The same * See the re])oit of its coininittee to the coiiveiitioii whiili proeliiinicd the uullification of tlic Tariff" iu Soutli Ctiroiiiia. liii /; 'i S" G18 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. w ¥ y~:i » 'A'- if:':: >':: :t|!!^ i citizen may luivo lived to see his State take the lead in the Union, and afterwards become powerless in the Federal assemblies ; and an Anglo- American republic has been known to grow as rapidly as a man, passing from birtli and infancy to maturity in the course of thirty years. It must not be imagined, however, that the States which lose their ])reponderance also lose their population or their riches : iio stop is put to their prosperity, and they even go on to increase more ra})idly than any kingdom in Europe.* But they believe themselves to be impover- ished because their wealth does not augment as ra})idly as that of their neighbors ; and they think that their power is lost because they suddenly come in contact with a power greater than their own : f thus they are more hin-t in their feelings and tlieir passions than in their interests. But this is amply sufficient to endanger the maintenance of the Union. If kings and peoples had only had their true interests in view, ever since the beo-innino; of the world, war would scarcely be known among mankind. Thus the prosj)erity of the United States is the source of their most serious dangers, since it tends to create in some of the confederate States that intoxication which accompanies a rapid increase of fortune ; and to awaken in others those feelings of envy, mistrust, and regret which * The population of a country assuredly constitutes tlie first element of its wealtli. In the ten years (1820-1830) during which Virginia lost two of its representatives in Congress, its population increased in the proportion of 13.7 percent; that of Carolina, in the proportion of 15 percent; and timt of Georgia, 15.5 per cent. But the population of Kussia, which increases more rapidly than that of any other Em'opean country, only augments in ten years at the rate of 9.5 per cent ; of France, at the rate of 7 per cent ; and of Europe altogether, at the rate of 4.7 per cent. t It must be admitted, however, that the depreciation which lias taken place in the value of tobacco, during the last fifty years, has notably dimin- ished the opulence of the Southern planters : but this circumstance is as in- dependent of the will of their Northern brethren as it is of their own. CHANCES OF DUHATIOX OF TIIF UNION. ol9 usiuilly titti'iul tliL' loss of it. Tlie Aniericiins contem- l)latc! tliis extniordinary progress witli exultation ; but they "vvould he wiser to consider it with sorrow and alarm. The Americans of the United States must inevitahly hecome one of the greatest nations in the world ; their otfspring will cover almost the whole of North America ; the conti- nent which they inhabit is tlieir dominion, and it cannot escape them. What lu'ges them to take ])ossession of it so soon ? Riches, power, and renown cannot fail to be theirs at some future time ; but they rush upon this innnense fortune as if but a moment remained for them to make it their own. I think that I have demonstrated, that the existence of tlie present confederation depends entirely on the contin- ued assent of a^l the confederates ; and, starting from this principle, I have inquired into the causes which may in- duce some of the States to separate from the others. The Union may, however, perish in two different ways : one of the confederate States may choose to retire from the com- pact, and so forcibly to sever the Federal tie ; and it is to this sup})Osition that most of the remarks that I have made apply : or the authority of the Federal government may be gradually lost by the simultaneous tendency of the united republics to resume tlieir independence. The central pow- er, successively stripped of all its })rerogatives, and reduced to impotence by tacit consent, would become incompetent to fulfil its purpose ; and the second union woidd perish, like the first, by a sort of senile imbecility. The gradual wx'akening of the Federal tie, which may finally lead to the dissolution of the Union, is a distinct circumstance,, that may produce a variety of minor consequences before it operates so violent a change. The confederation might still subsist, although its o;overnment were reduced to such a degree of inanition as to paralyze the nation, to cause internal anarchy, and to check the general prosperity of the country. 'tl \m \r Si, I k :i'i m i I if I !| 520 DEMOCRACY IX AMKUICA. fi..) ■ a--' ' ;l V:^-^l' <:' After luiving invostioatoJ tlie causes wliicli may iiulure the Anglo-Americans to disunite, it is imi)urtant to iiKiuire wlietlier, if the Union continues to subsist, their n;(>vern- ment will extend or contract its sphere of acttion, and whether it will become more energetic or more weak. The Americans are evidently disposed to look upon their condition with alarm. They perceive that, in most of the nations of the world, the exercise of the rights of sover- eignty tends to fall into a few hands, and they are dis- mayed by the idea that it may be so in their own country. Even the statesmen feel, or alfect to feel, these fears ; I'or in America centralization is by no means })opular, and tliere is no surer means of courting the majority than by invciiihino; aijainst the encroachments of the central i)o\vei'. The Americans do not perceive that the countries in which this alarming tendency to centralization exists are inhabited by a single people ; whilst the Union is composed of diti'er- ent comnumities, — a fact w Inch is sufficient to baliie all the inferences which might be drawn from rjialogy. I confess that I am inclined to consider these fears of a great number of Americans as purely imaginary. Far from par- ticipating in their dread of the consolidation of power in the hands of the Union, I think that the Federal govern- ment is visibly losing strength. To prove this assertion, I shall not have recourse to any remote occurrences, but to circumstances which I have myself witnessed, and which beloncT to our own time. An attentive examination of what is going on in the United States will easily convince us that two opposite tendencies exist there, like two currents flowing in con- trary directions in the same channel. The Union has now existed for forty-five years, and time has done away with many provincial prejudices which w^ere at first hostile to its power. The patriotic feeling which attached each of the Americans to his own State is become less exclusive ; CHANCES OF DURATION OF TIIK I'NION. r^'ii great and the diftl'iviit })iirts of tlio Union have lu-cdine more amicable as tliey have beeome better accjnainted with eaeh otlier. Tlie post, that great instrument of intercourse, now reaches into the backwoods ; and steamboats lia\i' estab- lislied (hiily means of comnuniication between tlie (Hlfi'i'ent })oints of tlie coast. An inland navigation of unexami»led rapidity conveys commodities up and tlown 'lie rivers of the country. And to these facilities of nature and art may bo added those restless cravings, that busy-miudeduess, and love of pelf, which are constantly urging the' Amei-icau into active lite, and bringing him into contact witli his fellow- citizens, lie cr()ss(}s the country in e\ery dirt'ction ; he visits all the various ])oj)ulations of the land. There h not a province in France in which the natives are so well known to each other as the thirteen nnlll >ns of men who cover the territory of the United States. Whilst the Americans intermingle, they as.imilate ; the differences resulting from their climate, their origin, and their institutions diminish; and they all draw learer and nearer to the common type. Every year thousands of men leave the North to settle in different pans of the Union: they bring w^ith them their faith, their opinions, and their manners ; and as they are more enlightened than the men amongst whom they arc about to dwell, they soon rise to the head of affairs, and adapt society to their own advantaiie. This continual emigration of the North to the South is peculiarly favorable to the fusion of all the difi'er- ent provincial characters into one national character. 1'lie civilization of the North appears to be the common stand- ard, to which the whole nation wall one day be assimi- lated. The commercial ties which unite the confederate States are strengthened by the increasing manufactures of the Americans ; and the union which began in their oj)inions gradually forms a part of their habits : the course of time ' I' Si:' ! I; i ^'i^: UKMUCUACY IN AMKUICA. luis swept away the bn^l)C'iir tliou^hts wliicli liauiited tlie imii^iiiiitioiis of the citizens in 1781*. The Fi'thM'iil })()wer is not become oppressive ; it has not destroyed the iiidc- pench'iice of tlie States ; it l»as not sul)je('ted the confe(h'r- ates to nionar(;iiical institutions ; and tlie Union has not rendered tlie lesser States dependent upon the lar<;er ones. The confederation has contiiuied to increase in po])ulation, in wealth, and in power. I am therefore convinced that the natural obstacles to the continuance of the American Union are not so })owerful now as they were in 1781), and that the enemies of the Union are not so numerous. And yet a careful examination of the history of the United States for the last forty-five years will readily con- vince us that the Federal power is declinin<^ ; nor is it difficult to explain the causes of this phenomenon. When the Constitution of 1781) was })ronuilgated, the nation was a prey to anarchy ; the Union, which succeeded this con- fusion, excited much dread and hatred, but it was warmly suj)ported because it satisfied an imperious want. iVl- though it was then more attacked than it is now, the Fed- eral power soon reached th(3 maxinuun of its authority, as is usually the case with a government which triumphs after having braced its strength by the struggle. At that time, the interpretation of the Constitution seem-^d to extend, rather than to repress, the Federal sovereignty ; and the Union offered, in several respects, the appearance of a single and undivided people, directed in its foreign and internal policy by a single government. But to attain this point the people had risen, to seme extent, above itself. The Constitution had not destroyed the individuality of the States ; and all communities, of whatever nature they may be, are impelled by a secret instinct towards in- dependence. This propensity is still more decided in a country like America, in which every village forms a sort U' .; CIIANCKS OF DIRATION OK Till; INION. 523 of ivj)iil)lic', accustoincd to <i<)vern itsi'll". It tlKTcfore cost tliu States an cH'ort to sul)niit to tlic Fi'derul siipri'iniicy ; and all t'tforts, however .succcsstul tlicy may Ik-, ncci'ssa- rily subside with the causes in wliich tlu'y ori<;inated. As the Fedei'al iiovennnent consolidated its authoritv, America resumed its rank amongst the nations, peace r*'- turned to its frontiers, and puMic credit was restored; ((in- fusion was succeeded hv a fixed state of things, which permitted the full and live exercise of industi'ioiis enter- prise. It was this very prosperity which made the iVineri- cans forget the cause wiiich had produced it ; and when once the dan«i;er was passed, the eni'r^y and the patriot- ism which had enabled them to brave it disa])peared from amongst them. Delivered fnjin the cares which oppresse(l them, they easily returned to their ordinarv habits, and gave themselves up without resistance to theii" natni'al inclinations. Wlien a powerful ooNcrmnent no longer appeared to be necessary, they once more began to think it irksome. Everything prospered under the Uiiion, and the States were not inclined to abandon the Union : but they desired to render the action of the power which re})reseiited it as light as possible. The general j)rinciple of union was ado[)ted, but in every minor detail there was a tendency to independence. The princij)le of confedera- tion was every day more easily admitted, and more rarely applied ; so tiiat the Fefleral government, by creating order and peace, brought about its own decline. As soon as this tendency of public opinion began to be manifested externally, the leaders of })arties, who live by the passions of the people., began to work it to their own advantage. The position of the Federal government then became exceedingly critical. Its enemies were in posses- sion of the popular favor ; and they obtained the right of conducting its policy by pledging themselves to lessen its influence. From that time forwards, the government of the I i: t :; I I I' 624 DKMOL'KACY IN AMFFM"" \. um V- .'1 Union, as often as it lias ontoivd tlie ^' is With the p;ov('rn- nients of tlie Stati's, lias almost invanahlv been oljjiocd to rcccdi'. And whenever an interpretation of the terms of tlie Federal Constitntion has heen pronounced, that inter- pretation has <j;en('rally heen ojiposcd to the Union, and tiivorahle to the States.* Tlu' Constitntion mive to the Fedi'ral <rovermni'nt the ri^ht of ))ro\idinn; lur the national interests; and it had heen held that no other authority was so fit to superintend the "internal improvements" which atfected the j)ros])»'r- ity of the whole Union ; sncli, lor instance, as tlie cuttiiiL!; of canals. lint the State's were alai'ined at a power uiiicli could thus dispose of a portion of their territory ; they were afraid that the central <i;overnment would hv tiiis means acquire a formidable })atrona<fe within their own limits, and exercise influence which they wished to reserve excluslvelv to their own a<;ents. The Democratic party, which has constantly opposed the increase of the Federal authority, accused Congress of usuri)ation, and the Chief Mamstrate of ambition. The central <j;overnment was in- timidated by these clamors ; and it finally acknowledged i's error, promising to confine its influence for the future v'ithin the circle which was prescribed to it. The Constitution confers upon the Union the right of treating with foreign nations. The Indian tribes, which border upon the frontiers of the United States, had usually been regarded in this lioht. As lonii as these savajies con- * This assertion may he douhtcd. The only authorized interpreter of the Constitution is the Supreme Court of the United States ; and in most of tiio suits hefore this tril)unal, wliiih have involved a question as to the limits of tlie Federal and the State authority, tlie decision has heen in favor of tlie former. See the Dartmouth College case, that of Ciiisholm v. Georgia, Gii)i)oiis i". Og- den, Ogden v. Saunders, the Cherokee Land case, and many others. Sev- eral of the cases which our author goes on to cite are instances of hf/islatire, not judicial, interpretation; that is, legally they are no iiiteri)retation at till, being all liahle to be overruled l»y the Supreme Court. — Am. Eu. ciIANrKS ()!• DIIJAIION <»r Till; iNIoN. irs} 8( ntcd to retire lu'foiv tin- civili/i'd sottlcrs, the I'nltMuI of tlio of tlio of tlie ibniu'r. ■ V. (\- Scv- \sl<itiir, .at all, riti'lit Uiis ii(»t coiitcsti'd Kilt as soon ns an IikI i;in trilio attrm|)t»'(l t(» fix its ri'sideiice' iij)Oii a ^ijivcn spot, the ailja- cejit States claimed possession of the lands, and a rii;lit of 8oveivio;iity over tln' natives 'I'l le eenti'al eovei'iinient soon recooiii/.ed hotli these (dainis ; and alter if had con- cluded ti'eaties with the Intlians as independent nations, it o;ave theni up as sui>jects to the legislative t\ rainiy of the States.* Some of the States whicli had heon founded upon the coast of the Atlantic; extended iiidelinitely to the Wi'st, into wild regions where no ICuropean had yet j)enet rated. Tiie States whose confines were irrcvocahly Hxed looked with a jealous eye uj)on the unhounded regions which were thus opened to their neie;hl)ors. Tlu' latter then agreed, with a \ iew to conciliate the otliers, and to facilitate the act of Union, to lay down their own Ixnuidaries, and to abandon all the territory wliich lay beyond them to the confederation at hir^e. f Thenceforward the Federal ,i;'ov- ennnent became tlie owner of all the uncultivated lands which lie beyond the boi'ders of the thirteen States first confederated. It had the ritflit of parcellinii' and selliuix them, and the sums derived fnmi this source were paid into the public treasury to furnish the means of purchasing tracts of land from the Indians, openine; roads to the re- * See, in the Lcjiislativc Docmneiits already quoted in speakiiif,^ of the Indians, tlie letter of the I'resident of the United States to the Cherokees, his correspondence on this suhject with his apents, and his niessafjjes to Con- gress. [In the case here referred to, Cj!eor;;ia did not claim a riyht of sov- ereignty over the Indians as her own suhjects, hut only denumdcd that they should leave a tract of country, the Indian title to which the Federal )j;ov- ernment had pledj;ed itself to extin;:iiish. — Am. Kd.] t The first act of cession was made hy the State of New York in 1780 ; Virjrinia, Massaehu.setts, Coiuiecticut, South and North Carolina, followed this example at ditK'rent times, and, lastly, the act of cession of (jeorj^ia was made as recentlv as 1802 i: !\h Y m i2G DK.MOCRACY IN AMERICA. mote settlcTiionts, and accelerating the advance of civiliza- tion. New States have l)een formed in the course of time, in the midst of tliose wilds which were formerly ceded hy the Atlantic States. Congress has gone on to sell, for the profit of the nation at large, the uncultivated lands which those new States contained. But the latter at length as- serted that, as they were now fully constituted, they ouglit to have the right of converting the produce of these sales exclusively to their own use. As their remonstrances he- came moi'e and more threateniuff, Cono-ress thought tit to deprive the Union of a portion (>f the privileges which it had hitherto enjoyed; and, at the end of 18o2, it passed a law hy which the greatest part of the n^veiuie derived from the sale of lands was made over to the new Western republics, although the lands themselves were not ceded to them.* The slightest observation in the United States enables one \> appreciate the advantages which the country de- rives from the Rank. These advantao;es are of several kinds, but one of them is peculiarly striking to the stran ger. The iiotes of the Bank of the United States are taken upon the borders of the desert for the same value as at Philadelphia, where the Bank conducts its operations.! But the Bank of the United States is the object of great animosity. Its directors proclaimed their hostility to the * It is true that tlie President refused his assent to this law ; but he com- pletely adopted it in prindplc. See Message of 8th December, 183.'J. [This is overstated again. The Western States never claimed the lands, Imt only that they should be sold at a low price, so as to encourage their settlement, aTid that a fair portion of the purchase-money should be devoted to opening roads and other internal improvements. — Am. Ed.] t The Bank of the United Slates was established in 1816, with a capital of 35,000,000 dollars ; its charter expired in 18.'JtJ. In 1832, Congress passed a law to renew it, but the I'resident put his veto upon the bill. The struggle continued with great violence on either side, and the sjjcedy fall of the Hank might iiave been foreseen. CIIAXCRS OF DURATION OI' TlIK IXIOX. 'ri: President; and tliey were accused, not witliout j)r()1)a1>ility, of liaviuii; abused tlieir influence to tliwart liis election. The President therefore attacked the estabhslnneiit Avith all the warmth of pei'sonal enmity; and he was encouraui'd in the pursuit of his revenge by the conviction that he was supported by the secret inclinations of the majority. The Bank may be regarded as the great monetary tie of tlu; Union, just as Congress is the great legislative tii' ; and the same passions which tend to render the States indepen- dent of the central power contributed to the overthrow of the liank. The Bank of the United States always lield a gi'eat num- ber of the notes issued by the })rovincial baidvs, which it can at any time oblio;e them to convert into crsh. It has itself nothing to fear from a similar demand, as the extent of its resources enables it to meet all claims. But the existence of the provincial banks is thus threatened, and their op- erations are restricted, since they are able to issue only a quantity of notes duly proportioned to their capital. They submitted Avith impatience to this salutary control. The newspapers which they bought over, and the Presi- dent, whose interest rendered him their instrument, at- tacked the Bank with the o-reatest vehemence. They roused the local passions and tlie blind democratic instinct of the country to aid their cause ; and they assertt'd that the Bank directors formed a ])ermanent aristocratic body, whose influence would ultimately be felt in the govern- ment, and att'ect those principles of equality upon which society rests in America. The contest botw^een the Bank and its opponents was only an incident in the great struggle wdiich is going on in America between the })rovinces and the central ])ower, — between the spirit of democratic inde])endence, and that of a proper distribution and subordination of power. I do not mean that the enemies of the Bank were identically ■ i 1 ! I 51 '11 ii^ I 'lli .Mi m 528 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. ^1 I i ' I ;* I tlio same individuals who, on other points, attacked the Federal government ; but I assert that the attacks directed against the Bank of the United States originated in the same propensities which militate against the Federal gov- ennnent, and that the very numerous opponents of the foi'mer afford a deplorable symptom of the decreasing streniith of the latter. But the Union has never shown so much weakness as on the celebrated question of the Tariff'.* The wars of the French Revolution and of 1812 had created manufic- tiiring establishments in the Noi'th of the Union, by cut- ting off free communication between America and Eurojie. When peace was concluded, and the channel of intercourse reopened, by which the })roduce of Europe was transmit- ted to the New World, the Americans thought fit to estal)- lish a system of im])ort duties, for the twofold purpose of protecting their inci])ient manufactures and of pnyiug off the amount of the debt contracted during the war. The Southern States, which have no manufactures to encour- age, and which are exclusively agricultural, soon com- plained of this measure. I do not pretend to examine here whether their complaints were well or ill founded, but only to recite the i..cts. As early as 1820, South Carolina declared, in a petition to Congress, that the Tariff was " unconstitutional, oppres- sive, and unjust.'" And the States of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi subsequently remonstrated against it with more or less vigor. But Congress, far frcm lending an ear to these complaints, raised the scale of Tariff duties in the vears 1821 and 1828, and recognized anew the })rinci])le on which it was founded. A doctrine was then proclaimed, or rather re- vived, in the South, which took the name of Nullification. * See ])riiH'ijmIIy, for tlic details of tliia ufltair, the Legislative Doeumetits, 22d Couyrcss, 2d Sessiou, No. 3U. r ; CHANCKS OF DURATION OF THK UNION. (".O 29 I liavc sliown in tlio proper place tlmt tlie oliject of tlie Federal Constitution was not to t'onn a leairue, Itut to cre- ate a national »j;overnment. The Americans ol' the United States form one and the same people, in all the casi's wliieh are specified hy that Constitution ; and upon thc^e points, the will of the nation is exj)ressed, as it is in all constitu- tional nations, by the voice of the majority. Wlu'ii the majority has once spoken, it is the duty of the minority to snhmit. Such is the sound leual doctrine, and the oidy one which aorees with the text of the Constitution, and the known intention of those who framed it. The partisans of Nullification in the South maintain, on the contrary, that the intention of the Americans in uniting was not to comhine themselves into one and the same people, hut that they meant only to form a league of lnde})endent States ; and that each Stave, consequently, retains its entire sovereignty, if not Je facto, at least de jure, and has the right of putting its own construction u])on the laws of Congress, and of suspending their exe- cution within the limits of its own territory, if they seem unconstitutional and iwijust. The entire doctrine of Nullification is comprised in a sentence uttered hy Vice Vr-'sident Calhou'i, -he head of that ]>arty in the South., bv.^>)'^ the Senate of the United States, in 18o3 : " Tli' CouMi + ution is a eom])act to which the States were parties in I'.ieir sovereign capacity: now, whenever a com])act is L'uiered in!o l)y parties which ac- knowledge no connnoii arltiter to decith- in the last resort, each of them has a right to judge (or its^if in ivlation to the nature, extent, and, obligations of the instrument." It is evident that such a doctrine destroys the "\"ery basis of the Federal Constitution, and brings back the anarchy from which the Americans were delivered by the act of 17811. When South Carolina perceived \hat Congress turned 23 mi M ■4 If!; 580 DEMOCRACY IN AJIERICA. !i !., I I a deaf oar to its remonstrances, it tlireatened to apply tlic doctrine of Nullification to the Federal Tariff' law. Con- gress persisted in its system, and at length the storm broke out. In the course of 1882, the })eop!c of South Carolina* named a national convention, to consult upon the extraor- dinary measures Avliich remained to he taken ; and on the 24th of Novemljer of the same year, this convention pro- j-iulgated a law, under the form of a decree, wiiicii an- nulled the Federal law of the Tariff, forbade the levy of the imposts which tliat law commands, and refused to rec- ognize the appeal which might be made to the Federal courts of law.f This decree was only to be put in execu- tion in the ensuing mouth of February ; and it was inti- mated that, if Conn-ress modified the Tariff' before that period. South Carolina might be induced to proceed no further with her menaces : and a va2;ue desire was after- wards expressed of submitting the question to an extraor- dinary assembly of all the confederate States. In the * That is to say, the majority of the people ; for the opposite party, called the Union party, always formed a very strong and active minority. Carolina may contain about 47,000 voters ; 30,000 were in favor of nullifica- tion, and 17,000 opposed to it. t This decree wa^ preceded hy a Bcport of the Committee In' which it was framed, containing the explanation of the motives and object of the law. The following passage occurs in it (p. 34) : " When the rights re- served by the Constitution to the different States are deliberately violated, it is the duty and the right of those States to interfere, in order to check the progress of the evil ; to resist usurpation, and to maintain, within their re- spective limits, those jiowers and privileges whii'h belong to them as indepen- dent, fiovereign States. If tliey were destitute of tliis right, they Avould not be sovereign. South Carolina declares that she acknowledges no tribunal upon earth above her authority. She has indeed entered into a solemn compact of union with the other States ; but she demands, and will exercise, the right of putting her own construction upon it ; and when this compact is violated by her sister States, and by the government which they have created, she is determined to avail herself of the unquestionable right of judging what is the extent of the infraction, and what are the measures best fitted to obtain justice." CIIAXCKS OF Dl'RATION OF TIIK TNIOX. 531 mean time, South Carolina armed licr militia, and pro- pared for war. But Congress, wliieh had sliglited its su})pliant suhjects, listened to their com])laints as soon as they ai)peare(l witii arms in their hands.* A law was passed, l)y wliicli tlu; tariff duties were to be o-raduallv redueed for ten years, luitil they were brouo;ht so low as not to exceed tlie supplies necessary to the government. Thus Congress completely abandoned the principle of the Tariff", and substituted a mere fiscal impost for a system of pi-otec- tive duties. f The government of the Union, to conceal its defeat, had recourse to an exjx'dient which is nuich in vogue with feeble governments. ' It yielded the jjoint <le facto, but remained inflexible upon the j)rincij)les ; and whilst it was altering the Tariff law, it })assed anotiier bill, by which the President was invested with extraor- dinary powers, enabling him to overcome by force a resist;- ance which was then no longer to be feared. But South Carolina did not consent to leave the Union m tlie enjoyment of these scanty appearances of success : the same national convention which had annulled the Tariff bill, met again, and accepted the profi'ered conces- sion ; but, at the same time, it declared its unabated per- severance in thi doctrine of nullification ; and, to prove what it said, it annulled the law investing the President with extraordinary powers, although it was very certain that the law would ne'^er be carried into effect. Almost all the ccmtroversies of which I have been s])eak- ing have taken place under the Presidency of General 1 f III' \ ill. 'it' * Coii<rrcss was ritiitlly decifloil to take this step hy tlie cou ■ ict of the powerful State of Virginia, whose Legislature cftere.l to serve as a mediator between the Union anil South Carolina. Hitherto the latter State had ap- peared to be entirely abandoned, even by the States whieh had joined in her remonstrances. t This bill \va^ lirought in by Mr. Clay, and it passeil in four days through both houses of < 'oiigress, by an immense majority. a 532 DKMOCKACY IN AMKRICA. -i' / [ 'H*! ; i' h m Jackson ; and it cannot be denied tliat, in tlie question of the Tarirt', he has supported the rigiits of the Union witli energy and skill. I think, however, that the con- duct of this President of the Federal ifovernment may be reckoned as one of the dangers which threaten its continuance. Some ])ersons in Europe have formed an opinion of the influence of General Jackson upon tlie affairs of his coun- try which a})pears highly extravagant to those who have seen the subject nearer at hand. We have been told that General »lackson has won battles ; that he is an energetic man, ])rone by nature and habit to the use of force, cov- etous of power, and a despot by inclination. All this may be true ; but the inferences which have been di.Avn from these truths are very erroneous. It has been imagined that General Jackson is bent on establishing a dictatorship in America, introducing a military spirit, and giving a degree of influence to the central authority which cannot but be dangerous to })rovincial liberties. But in AmeiicT the time for similar undertakin<is, and the ao-e for men of this kind, is not yet C(mie : if General Jackson had thought of exercising his authority in tliis manner, he would infalli- bly have forfeited his political station, and compromised his life, — he has not been so impiaident as to attempt any- thing of the kind. Far from wishing to extend the Federal power, the President belongs to the party which is desirous of lim- iting tl)at })'>wer to the clear and precise letter of the Constiiiirion, and which never puts a construction upon that ai't favorable to the government of the Union ; far from standing forth as the champion of centralization, Gen- eral Jackson is the agent of the State jealousies ; and he was placed in his lofty station by the passions which are most o])posed to the central government. It is by per- petually flattering these passions that he maintains his sta- r-r t:. i ji W: I CHAN'CKS OF DURATION OF THK IXloN. tion and his popularity. General Jackson is the slave of the majority : he yields to its wishes, its j)ropensities, and its demands, — say, rather, antiei})ates and forestalls them. Whenever the governments of the States come into col- lision with that of the Union, the President is ^eiu'rally the fir't to question his own rights, — he ahuost aiwiiys outstri])s the legislature ; and when the exti'iit of the Fed- eral ])ower is controverted, he takes j)art, as it were, against himself, — he conceals his ofHcial inti'i'ests, and labors to diminish his own dignity. Not, indeed, that he is naturally weak or hostile to the Union ; for wlu-n the majority decided against the chiims of nulHHcation, he j)ut himself at their head, asserted the doctrines which the na- tion held distinctly and energetically, and was the tii'st to recommend force ; but General Jackson appears to me, if I may use the American exjjression, to be a Federalist by taste and a Republican by calculation. General Jackson stoops to gain the favor of the major- ity ; but when he feels that his po])ularity is secure, he overthrows all obstacles in the ])vu'suit of the objects which the community apj)roves, or of those which it does not regard with jealousy. Su])ported by a power which his predecessors never had, he tramj)les on his personal i-ne- mies, whenever they cross his path, with a facility williout example; he takes upon himself the responsibility of meas- ures which no one before him would have ventured to attempt: he even treats the national representatives with a disdain ap])roaching to insult; he puts his veto upon the laws of Congress, and frerpiently neglects even to reply to that powerful body. He is a fiivorite who sometimes treats his master roughly. The })ower <jf General -fackson perpetually increases, but that of the President declines; in his hands, the Federal government is strong, but it will pass enfeebled into the hands of his successor. I 684 DKMOCRACY IN AMKRICA. I am strangely mistaken if the Federal government of the United States be not constantly losing strength, retiring gradnally from pnblic affairs, and narrowing its circle of action. It is natnrally feeble, but it now abandons even the a})})earance of strength. On the other hand, I thought that I remarked a more lively sense of independence, and a more decided attachment to their separate governments, in the States. The Union is desired, but only as a shadow ; they wish it to be strong in certain cases, and weak in all others ; in time of warfare, it is to be able to concentrate all the forces of the nation, and all the resources of the country, in its hands ; and in time of peace, its existence is to be scarcely perce[)tible ; as if this alternate debility and vigor were natural or possible. I do not see anything for the present which can check this general tendency of opinion : the causes in which it originated do not cease to operate in the same direction. The change will therefore go on, and it may be predicted tliat, unless some extraordinary event occurs, the govern- ment of the Union will grow weaker and weaker every day. I think, however, that the period is still remote, at Avliich the Federal power will be entirely extinguished by its ina- bility to protect itself, and to maintain peace in the country. The Union is sanctioned bv the manners and desires of the ])eople ; its results are palpable, its benefits visible. When it is perceived that the weakness of the Federal government compromises the existence of the Union, I do not doubt that a reaction will take place with a view to increase its strength. The government of the United States is, of all the Fed- eral governments which have hitherto been established, the one which is most naturally destined to act. As long as it is only indii'ectly assailed by the interpretation of its laws, and as long as its substance is not seriously im})aired, a II i, ! , I rR015A15LK DUUATIOX OF llIK UKl'inLIC. 535 low ; change of opinion, iin internal crisis, or a war, may restore ail tlie vii^or wiiicli it recjuires. Wjiat I liavc hccn most anxious to establisii is simply this: ^lany })ropl(' in France imaoine that a chanov of opinion is goin<j; on in the United States, which is favorable to a centralization of jxiwcr in the hands of the President and the Congress. 1 hold that a contrary tendency may distinctly be ol)si'rve(,. So liu' is the Federal government, as it grows old, from aciiuir- incT strenii'th, and from threatening the s(nerei!>iity of the States, that I maintain it to be o-i'owinii' weaker, and that the sovereignty of the Union alone is in danger. Such are the facts which the present time discloses. Tiie future conceJs the final result of this "tendency, and the events which mav check, retard, or accelerate the chauiies I have described ; I do not affect to be able to remove the \eil which hides them. II very Inch ina- ntry. I?s of sible. leral I do w to laws, ^d, a OF THE REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND WHAT THEIR CHANCES OF DURATION ARE. The Union is only an Accident. — Repub'licau Institutions liavc more Pcr- miinence. — A Republic for tlic Present is the nivtunil State of the An- glo-Americans. — Reason of tliis. — In order to destroy it, all the Laws must be ciiangt.d at the same Time, and a great Aheration take place in Manners. — Uifticuliics wliich the Amcrieaus would experience in creating an Aristocracy. The dismemberment of the Union, by introducing war into the heart of those States which are now confederate, with standing armies, a dictatorship, and a heavy taxation, might eventually com})romise the fate of re})ub!ican insti- tutions. But we ought not to confound the future pros- pects of the republic with those of the Union. The Unicm is an accident, which will only last as long as circumstances favor it ; but a republican form of govs^rnment seems to i: H\l 'iii Mi H 530 UKMOCUACV IX AMLUICA. i: V I mo tlie ntitural state (jf tlio Amuriciins, wliicli notliliiu; l>iit tlio coiitiiuu'd action of liostilc caib st's, ahvays ac'tinu- in tne lid munu direction, could cliaii^i' into a inonaivliy Tiic r iiiun exists ]ii'iiici|»ally in tlic law wiiich flinicd it ; one revolu- tion, (»ne clian^t; in public oj)iinon, niinlit di-stroy it for- ever ; but the ivj>ublic has a deeper tbundatioii to rest upon. What is understood by a re})ublii an govt'rnmeiit in the United States, is the slow and (juiet acti'>n of socii-ty upon itself. It is a regular state of things n-ally founded n])()ii the enlii;litened will of the }te(iple. It is a c< iciliatmy governnieiit, under which resolutions are allow d time t(t ripen ; and in which they are deliberately discussed, and are executed only wlieii mature. The rej)ublicans in the United States s(;t a high value upon morality, respect re- litiious belief, and acknowlediie the existence of riiihts. They profess to think that a })eople ought to be nioi-al, religious, and tem})erate, in proportion as it is free. What is called the rej)ublic in the United States is the traiKpiil ride of the majority, which, after having Imd time to ex- amine itself, and to give prv)of of its existence, is the com- mon source of all the powers of the State. But the ])ower of the majority itself is not unlimited. Above it, in the moral world, are humanity, justice, and reason ; and in the political world, vested rights. The majority recognizes these two barriers ; and if it now and then overste}) them, it is because, hke indivitluals, it has passions, and, ke them, it is prone to do what is wrong, wdiilst it discerns what is right. But the demagogues of Europe have made strange dis- coveries. A republic is not, according to them, the rule of the majority, as has hitlierto been tliought, but the rule of those who are strenuous partisans of the majority. It is not the people who preponderate in this kind of govern- ment, but those who know what is good for the people ; — iM;on.\iu,F. DiuATioN OF iiii: iir.i'i lu.u'. a lin]i|)y distinctioii, wliicli allows nu'ii t(» act in tli'' iiamo of nations without (•«)ii>iiltiiii;' thi-m, aiul to claiiii tlicir ji;ratitii(li' wliil-t tiicir i-ii:lits aiv tfanipK-il uikIit foot. A ivpuhlicaii j;(»\('rnint'iit, mon'oNcr, thoy hold, is the onI\' one which has the ri^lit (tf (loin^- whatever it (•hoos^'^, and despisiiiu- what men have hitherto respected, iVoni th" hiiiii- est moral laws to the \uli;'ar rules of eoiuuion sell•^c. It had heeu siipposi'd, until our time, that (les|)otI-?ii was odious, under whatever lorm it a|»]iearcd. i»ut it i-. a disco\erv of ukmIci days that there are such thinii's as leoitimate tyranny . holy injustice, |tro\ided they are exercised in the name of the people. The ideas which the Americans- have adopted respcctini;' the republic, render it easy for them to live under it, and insiu'c its duration. With them, if the republic he ofti'u j)ractieally had, at least it is theoretically wood ; and, in the end, the peoj)le always act in contbrmlty to it. It was impossible, at the foundation of the States, and it would still be ditKeult, to establish a central administration in America. The inhabitants are dis])ersed over too ereat a space, and se[)arated by too many natural obstiudes, for one man to undertake to direct the details of their exist- once. America is therefore pre-eminently the country of provincial and miniici|)al ojovornment. To this cause, whicdi Avas })lainly felt by all the Kuroj)eans of the Xew World, the Antfio-Americans added several others pecu- liar to themselves. At tlie time of the settlement of the North American Colonies, municipal liberty bad already ])enetrated into the laws as well as the manners of the English, and the emi- grants adopted it, not only as a necessary thing, but as a benefit wdiich they knew how to appreciate. We have already seen how the Colonies were founded : every })rov- ince, and almost every district, w^as peopled separately by men who were strano;ers to each other, or were associated 23* !\ '' \ I II ,.^.. V v^ t>^ .^^ %%^>»^ ^,^. ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1^ 1^ 1^ 2.0 11.25 i 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 .-! 538 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. m. with very difFureiit purposes. The Enghsh settlers in the United States, therefore, early perceived that tliey were divided into a creat number of small and distinct connnu- nities, which belonged to no common centre ; and that each of these little communities must take care of its own affairs, sint^e there was not any central authority which was naturally bound and easily enabled to provide for them. Thus, the nature of the country, the manner in which the British Colonies were founded, the habits of the first emigrants, in short, everything, united to promote, in an extraordinary degree, municipal and provincial lib- erties. In the United States, therefore, the mass of the institu- tions of the country is essentially republican ; and, in order permanently to destroy the laws which form the basis of the republic, it would be necessary to abolish all the laws at once. At the present day, it would be even more diffi- cult for a party to found a monarchy in the United States, than for a set of men to convert France into a republic. Royalty would not find a system of legislation prepared for it beforehand ; and a monarchy would then really exist, surrounded by republican institutions. The monarchical principle would likewise have great difficulty in penetrat- ing into the manners of the Americans. In the United States, the sovereignty of the people is not an isolated doctrine, bearing no relation to the pre vail- ing habits and ideas of the people ; it may, on the con- trary, be regarded as the last link of a chain of opinions which binds the whole Anglo-American world. That Providence has given to every human being the degree of reason necessary to direct himself in the affairs which interest him exclusively, is the grand maxim upon which civil and political society rests in the United States. The father of a family applies it to his children, the master to his servants, the township to its officers, the province to PUOBABLE DURATIOX OF THK KKl'l.BLIC. ,'>:.d its towiisliips, the State to tlie provinces, the Union to the States ; and, when extended to the nation, it becomes the doctrine of the sovereignty'^ of the people. Thus, in the United States, the fundamental })rin('ii)le of the republic is the same which governs the greater part of human actions ; republican notions insinuate themselves into all the ideas, opinions, and habits of the Americans, and are formally recognized by the laws ; and, before the laws could be altered, the whole connnunity nmst be revo- lutionized. In the United States, even the religion of most of the citizens is republican, since it submits the truths of the other world to private judgment : as in politics, the care of their tem})oral interests is abandoned to the good sense of the people. Thus, every man is allowed freely to take that road which he thinks will lead him to heaven, — just as the law permits every citizen to have the right of choosiufj his own ijovernment. It is evident that nothing but a long series of events, all having the same tendency, could substitute for this com- bination of laws, opinions, and manners, a mass of opposite opinions, manners, and laws. If republican principles are to perish in America, they can yield only after a laborious social process, often inter- rupted, and as often resumed ; they will have many appar- ent revivals, and will not become totally extinct until an entirely new people shall have succeeded to those who now exist. There is no symptom or presage of the aj)proach of such a revolution. There is nothinji more strikin*; to a person newly arrived in the United States, than the kind of tumultuous agitation in which he finds political society. The laws are incessantly changing, and at first sight it seems impossible that a people so fickle in its desires should avoid adopting, within a short space of time, a completely new form of government. But such apprehensions are pre- mature ; the instability which affects political institutions 540 DK.MOCHACY IN AMKKICA. ii' M is of two kinds, wliicli ought not to he t'onfoundrd. Tlie first, wliicli niodities secondiiry laws, is not inconi- ])atil)K' with a vcrv st-ttlcd state of socictv. 'J'lu' otiu-r shakes tlie very founchitions of the Constitution, and at- tacks the fundamental j)rin('i))les of leiiislation ; this sj)e( it-s of instability is always followed hy troubles and revolu- lions, and the nation which suffers under it is in a violent and transitoiy state. Experience shows that these two kinds of legislative in- stabilitv have no necessary connt'ction ; for thev have been %,' i' •/ found united or separate, accordiuiji: to tinu-s and circum- stances. The first is conunon in the United States, but not the second : the Americans often chauii'e tlu-ir laws, but the foundations of the Constitution art' respected. In our days, the republican j)rinciple rules in ^Vnu'rica, as the m(»narchical princi])le did in France under i^ouis XIV. The French of that period were not (tidy friends of the monarchy, but thought it imj)ossible to put anything in its place ; they received it as we reci'ive the rays of the sun and the return of the seasons. Amongst them the royal power had neither advocates nor opponents. In like manner does the republican government exist in America, without contention or op])osition, without proofs or argu- ments, by a tacit aiiroement, a sort of com^cnsiis uiiioersalis. It is, however, my oj)inion, that, by changing tlu-ir ad- ministrative forms as often as they do, the iidiabitants of the United States compromise the stidtility of their gov- ernment. It may be a})prehended that men, perpetually thwarted in their designs by the nuitability of K'gislation, will learn to look upon the republic as an inconvenient form of society ; the evil resulting from the instability of the secondary enactments might then raise a doubt as to the nature of tlie fundamental prii? iples of the Constitu- tion, and indirectly bring about a revolution ; but this epoch is still very remote. I'1{015A1jm: duration of THi; ur.i'i r.Lic. :4i It may Ik' Ibi't'srcii I'Vfii now, tlmt, w licii tlu' AmcricMiis Jose tl>'ir ri'j)ul)lifan institutions, tlu-y will sjx'cdily ;inl\(^ at a (lesj)oti(' (jjoviTnuu-nt, witlumt a lonn' intiT\al ot" lim- ited nionaivliv. Montt'siniicu ivniarki'd, that uotliinLi is more absolute tlian the autiioi-ity of a prince who innu''- diately succeeds a republic, since the indctinite powci-s wliii'h had fearlessly been intrusted to an elected niai:i<- trate are then transferred to an hereditary soNcrei^n. This is true in <:;eneral, but it is more pi'culiarly apjdicable to a democratic republic. In the United States, tin: magistrates are not elected by a particidar class of citi/.ens, but by the majttrity of the nation ; as they are the innnediate re[)re- sentatixes of the passions of the multitude, and are wholly dependent upon its j)leasure, they excite neithei" hatred nor fear: hence, as 1 have already shown, veiy little cari' has been taken to limit their authority, and they are left in possession of a vast deal of arbitrary ]>ower. This state of tliin<fs has created haljits which would outlive itself: the American matristrate would retain his indefinite })owi'r, but would cease to be res[)onsible for it ; and it is impossible to say what bounds could then be set to tyranny. Some of our Euroj)ean politicians ex])ect to see an aris- tocracy arise in America, and already predict the exact period at which it will assume the reins of government. I have jnvviously observed, and I repeat it, that the present tendency of American society appears to me to become more and more democratic. Nevertheless, I do not assert that the Americans will not, at some future time, resti'ict tlie circle of political rii^hts, or confiscate those ri^lits to the advantaiie of a sino-le man ; but I cannot believe that they will ever give tlie exclusive use of them to a privi- leged class of citizens, or, in other words, that they will ever found an aristocracy. An aristocratic body is comjiosed of a certain number of citizens, who, without beini;; verv fi.ir removed from the ;!i A'2 DKMOCHACY IN AMKI.'K'A. ili 'I. !■ ii;. mass of the peojjlf, arc, lu'vcrtlu'lcss, jxTinaiU'iitly sta- tioned above tlicm : — a hodv wliicli it is casv to toiidi, and dilHcult to strike, — with wliicli the )»e(»|ile are ix daily contact, hut with wliich thev can ne\i'r c(»Miliine. N<)thiii<f can he iniaLjined nioiv contrary to nature and to the secret instincts of the human lieart, tlian a sulijection of tliis kind ; and men who are left to follow their own hent will always j)refer the arbitrary power of a kinij; to the ri'ii:ular administration of an aristocracy. Aristocratic institutions cannot subsist without layino; down the in- equality of men as a fundamental principle, lenali/,iii<r it beforehand, and introducinji it into the fimily as wi'll as into society ; but these are things so repu«j;nant to natural equity, that they can only be extorted from men by con- straint. I do not think a single people can be quoted, since human society began to exist, which has, by its own free will and its own exertions, created an aristocracy within its own bosom. All the aristocracies of the ]\Iiddle Ai>;es were founded by military conquest ; the concpieror was the noble, the yanquished became the serf. Inecpiality ^vas then im})osed by force ; and after it had be n once introduced into the manners of the country, it maintained itself, and })assed naturally into the laws. Communities haye existed Ayhich were aristocratic from their earliest origin, owing to circumstances anterior to that event, and which became more democratic in each succeedino; ao;e. Such was the lot of the Romans, and of the barbarians after them. But a people, having taken its rise in civili- zation and democracy, ^vhich should gradually establish inequality of condition, until it arrived at inviolable privi- leges and exclusive castes, would be a novelty in the world; and nothing indicates that America is likely to be the first to furnish such an example. COMMKIHIAI, I'HOSl'ERITV Ml' HIK I NIH:!) STAIKS. 'A-\ Ao;os it, and g age. )arians civili- tablish * SOME roN'sini;u\TT()\>! n\ tfik cmv^fs of the commiiiu i vl I'KOSPr.lUTY OK TMK INITKl) HTATKS. The Arncricuns (U'stined liy Nature to In' a j.'iTiit Mariliine IVoplc — Kxictit of tlioir Coiisfs. — Dcptli of tlit-ir Torts. — Size of their Kivcrs. — The Commercial Superiority of the AiiLrln-Americ atis less attril>utalile, liow- ever, to Physical ("ircums^^nc('s, than to Moral ami Iiitelleciual Causes. — Reason of thi.s (>])iiiioti. — Future <if the An;^lo-Amcricaii.> as a ( om- mereial Nation. — Tlie Dissolution of the Cnion uuulil not check the Maritime Vi;^or of the States. — I'easou of this. — Anulo-Anicricans nnIII naturally supply tiie Wants of the Inhahitants of South America. — They will hecome, like the Knylisli, the Factors of a great J'ortion of the World. The coast of the United States, from tlie I>av of Fiindv to the Sabine River in the (iuH' of Me.xicb, is ni(.iv tlian two tlionsand miles in extent.* These shores form an nn- broken line, and are all subject to the same o-overnment. No nation in the world possesses vaster, deeper, or more secure i»orts for connnerce tluui the Americans. The inhabitants of the United Sttites constitute a oreat civilizetl peo[)le, which ibrtune has j)laced in the midst of an uncultivated country, at a disttuice of three thoiisaiul miles from the central ])oint of civilization. America con- sequently stands in dtiily need ot" Kiu'ope. The .Americans will, no doubt, ultimately succeed in producino- (»r maiui- facturing at home most of the articles which they rt'ipiire ; but the two continents can never be indepenilent of each other, so numerous are the natural ties between their wants, their ideas, their habits, jnid their manners. The Union has peculiar connnodities which have now become necessary to us, as thev cjuuiot be cultivated, or can be raised only at an enormous expense, upon the soil * It is hardly necessary to remind the American reader that tlu- annexa- tion of Texas, and the aeccssion of Orejron and California on the Pacitie, since M. de Tocfiiicvillc wrote, have made this coast-line half as Ion;; ai^ain. — Am. Ed. f I 544 I)I;M()C1!A(:Y im amkimca. ):,: of Eiiroj)!'. Tlio Amorii-ans consunu' only u sniiill portion of this ])ro(lii('c', and tlicy arc willing to sell us tlu' rest. Eui'ojx; is tliiTcfoi ' tlu' niai'ki't of America, as America is the market of Imu'ojx' ; and maritime commerce is no less necessary to cnaMe the iniialiitants of the United Stati-s to transport tlieir raw matt-rials to the ports of Enropt", than it is to enahle ns to snj)j>ly them with onr manntiictnred j)rodnce. The United States mnst therefoie either fnr- nish mnch hnsiness to other maritime nations, even if they shonld themselves renonnce connnerce, as the Spaniards of Mexico have hithei'to done, or they mnst hecome one of the first maritime powers of tlio glohe. The Ano-lo-Americans have alwavs dis])laye(l a decidecl taste for the sea. The Declaration of Inde])endence, hy hreakinjj: the commercial bonds which imited them to Enii- land, oave a fresh and ])owerfnl stimulns to their mai'itimo ofnius. Ever since that time, the shii)})ing of the Union has increased almost as rapidly as the iinmher of its inhab- itants. The Americans themselves now transport to their own shores nine tenths of the European })ro(luce which they consume. And thev also brino; thi'ee (luai'ters of the ex[)orts of the New World to the Euroj)ean consumer. The ships of tlie United States fill the docks of Havre and of Liverpool, whilst tlic number of English and French vessels at New York is comparatively small. Thus, not only does tlie American merchant brave com- j)etition on his own ground, but even successftdly sup})orts that of foreign nations in their own ports. This is readily explained by the fact, that the vessels of the United States cross the seas at a cheaper rate. As long as tlie mercantile shipping of the United States preserves this superiority, it will not only retain what it has acquired, but will con- stantly increase in prosperity. It is difficult to say for what reason the Americans can navigate at a lower rate than other nations ; one is at first coMMKiJciAL I'ltosi'r.inrY OF Tin; rNin;i) statks. .")4'> led to attril)iiti' tliis sujx'riority to the pliysical ii<lvanta;;»'s wliich nature (rives tliciii : but it is not S(». Tin- Aiut'iMcau vessels cost almost as much to l)uil(l as our own ; * tlicy ai'i- not better built, and they y;eiierallv last a shorti-r tiun-. 'rh.' () t' the i\merican sailor is more considfrable than I Ik pay pay on board Kui'opoan sliips, which is pi-oxcd by the ^rcat number of Europeans who arc to be Ibund in the mci'chaut- vessels of the Uniti'tl Stater II o\\ liai>i»('ns It, then. that tlie Americans sail their vessels at a cheaper I'ate than W(! can ours ? I am of opinion, that the true cause <>f their superiority must not be sought for in physical adsantam's, but that it is wliollv attributable to moral and intellectual qualities. The fi)llowinn; com|)arison will illustrate mv meaninii". Durinj;- the cam[)aijfns of the Revolution, the l^'rench introduced a lU'W system of tactics into the ai't of war, wliich perplexed the oldest generals, and very nearly de- stroyed the most ancient monarchies of Europe. Tlicy first undertook to make shift without a number of thini;s which had always been held to be indisj)ensable in wartiire ; they required novel exertions of their troops, which no civilized nations had ever th()un;ht of; tliev achieved o;reat actions in an incredibly short time, jmuI risked human life without hesitation to obtain the ((bj'ct in view. The French had less money and fewer men than their ene- mies ; their resources were infinitely inferior ; neverthe- less, they were constantly victorious, until their adversaries chose to imitate their example. The Americans have introduced a similar system into commerce, — they do for cheapness what the French did for concjuest. The European sailor naviu;ates with pru- dence ; he sets sail only when the weather is favorable ; if an unforeseen accident befalls him, he puts into port ; at * Materials are, fjeiierally speaking, less expeusive iu America tliau ia Europe, but the price of labor is much higher. IZ 1 r>i(; J)|;mo(1iacy in amkimca. <IH tt''> iii;ilit, Ih' furls a jiurtiuij of liis caiiNas ; ami wlicii tin- wliitciiiii;:; Mlluws iiitiiiiatr flic \ icinity <tt" land, Ik- clu'cks his i-ctui'sc, and takes an olisiTNation ol' tin- sun. Tlic Aini'rican ncult-cts tlicsi' |iri'cauti(>ns, and liravi-s tlu'sc dan- pTs. lie wcitilis anchor hfliti'c th(- ti'mpcst is u\cr; hv ni^iit :nid ity day iu' sprcadN his sheets to tiie ^vind ; lie repairs as lie ^oes alon;^' such dani;i;j,'e as his vessel may lia\c> su>tained iVoiu tiie storm ; and when he at last approaehes tlu* term of his vovm^c, In- <larts onward to the sliori' as il' he already (K'seried a port. The ^\meri- cans are often shi|)\vri'('ke(l, hut no trader crosses the seas so rapidly. And, as they pei'lorm the same distance in a shoi'ter time, they can jierform it at a <'heaper rate. The I'^ui'opean navigator touches at ilitieri'Ut ports in tho course of a lonj; voya^^e ; he loses precious time in uiakin^; tlie haihor, or in waitin^f for a lavorahle wind to leave it ; and 111' |tays daily thies to he alhnved to remain tiiere. The American starts from I>ost(»n to [lurchase tea in China : he arrives at Canton, stays there a few days, and then returns. In less than two v»'ars, lie has sailed as lar as the entire circunderence of the ^lobe, and has seen land but once. It is true that, during a voyat;e of eit^ht or ten months, he has drunk brackish water, and lived upon salt meat ; that he has been in a continual contest with the sea, with disease, and with weariness ; but, upon his return, he can sell a pound of his tea for a halt-p<^'ii"y l<-'«'^ than the En»i;lish merdiant, and his purpose is accomplished. I cannot better explain my meaning, than by saying that the Americans show a sort of heroism in their manner of trading. The Euro})ean merchant will always find it dif- ficult to imitate his American competitor, who, in adopting the system which I have just described, does not follow calculation, but an impulse of his nature. The iidiabitants of the United States experience all the wants and all the desires wliicn result from an advanced (•(>.MMi;i:(IAI- I'KdSI'KIUTY (U- IHi; l.MIKK MA IKS. .047 ri\ ili/,iiti(»n : ;>ii(l as tlu'V an* not sui'numdfd, ;i> in I^ninpt', l»_v ji cnnnnnnitv skillnlly oriinni/fd tn •>;iti>l\ tlnni, llu-y Miu' I'l'trn iililim'd to jirttcnrc t*<»r tlu'niscIs»-< tlif Niii'itMis Mi'fi- ch's wliicli I'diicatiun and lial»it have iH-mUiH-d n»'C('»ai"ics. In Ann j-ica, it sfunctinit's lia|t|»»'ns tliat tlir ^anif |nr>(iri rills liis Held, laiilds Ids dwcllini:, contrivrs Ids tools, niaki's Ids sliocs, and wcaxcs tlu' coarx' stntl' of wlddi his (li'c» is coinuosi'd '11 ^vo|•k, hnt it powi- •ifnil •r till V contnljntcs to a\\al\i'n the nitclli MS is prc'indicial t<» tlic cxci'ljcncf gcncc of tlic workman. Notldnii ti-nds to niatt'riali/.c man, and to d('|»i"i\(' Ids work of the fainti'st ti'aci- of nund. mort- than the t'xtrcini' division of lahor. In a coinitiy lik*- Anirrica, whci'i' men devoted to sjieeial occupations are ran-, a loni: ajiprenticeslnp caiUKit be re(|nM-c(i irom any one who endti'aces a |)n»fession. Ulu' Americans theretltre clianii'e their means of uainin^ a livelihood \erv readily. an( I th lev sint their occupations to tl le exiuencii's of tin- nu n nient. Men are to be met with wlio have successively hee lawyers, ianners, nu-rcliants, miiusters of the GosjkI, and pliysicians. If the American be less perfect in each craft than till' luiropean, at least there is scarcely any trade with whicli he is utterly unaccpiainted. His ca})acity is more general, and tlie circle of his intellioeiu'e is on'jiter. Till' inhabitants of the United States are never fettered by the axioms of their profession ; they escajje Irom all the ])rejudices of their j)reseiit station ; they are not more at- tached to one line of operation than to another ; they are not more })rone to emjdoy an old method than a new one ; they have no rooted habits, and they easily shake off' the influence which the habits of other nations niiiiht exercise upon them, from a conviction that their country is unlike any other, and that its situation is without a precedent in the world. America is a land of wonders, in whicli every- thing is in constant motion, and every change seems an improvement. The idea of novelty is there indissolubly r>4H ' DKMOCRAcn' IN AMF.niCA. coiinccttMl with tlif i(ic;i of amelioration. No iiatiiial l)()iiii<lai'y >(('ins to Ua srt to tlic i-tlorts of man ; and, in liis eyes, wliat is not yet tlonu is only wliut lie has not yi-t utti-niptcd to (h). Tliis piTjii'tnal chaii;^!' wliich ;^oi's on in tlic Unitefl States, these tViMinent vieissitndes of I'ortnne, these un- f'oreseiMi fhictnations in jirivati* and |)nl)lie wealtli, serve to keej) the minds (»!' the peopK' in a perpetnal t'l-verish agitation, wliieli achniiahly in\i<:;orates tlieir exertions, and keeps tliein, so to speak, ahove till' ofdinary level of hu- manity. 'I'lie whole life of an American is passed like a ^ame of chance, a iwolntionary crisis, (tr a hattle. As the same causes are contimially in oi)i'rati()n throii;;liout the country, they ultimati'ly impart an irri'sistiiile impulse to the national character. Tin; American, taki'U as a chance specimen of his countrymen, nnist then bi* a man of sinn'ular warmth in his desires, I'uterprisin;^, Ibnd of adventure, and, ahove all, of novelty. 'I'he .same bent is manifest in all that he does : he introduces it into his polit- ical laws, his relio'ioiis doctrines, his theories of social econ- omy, and his domestic occu})ations ; he bears it with him in the depth of the backwoods, as well as In the business of the city. It is this same passion, ap}»lied to maritime commerce, which makes him the cheaj)est and the ([uickest trader in the work!. As louii as the sailors of the United States retain these mental advantages, and the practical superiority which they derive from them, they will not only continue to supply the wants of the producers and consumers of their own coun- try, but they will tend more and more to become, like the English, the factors of other nations.* This prediction lias * It must not he supposed that Englisli vessels are exclusively employed in transporting foreif^n produce into En<^land, or British produce to foreij:;u countries : at the present day, the merchant ship|)ing of Ku<^hind nniy he regarded in the light of a vast system of public conveyances, ready to serve (■((.MMKUCIA'. I'noSI'lJJIiV o| nil. IMIIM SIATKS .'4!> tliese I they tlie loun- tho lias bloyed proi;!;ii [ay be serve nlrcady Iic^mim t«» Ik- rciili/.cd ; we jn'rcfivr that tlif Airwr- icaii tradt'i's ai'r iiitrodiiciiii' tlifin-rl\fs ;i> iMtfi'iiit'iliutc a;ji'iits ill the coimiU'rcc ot' several l^iifdin-aii nations:* imd America will oMer a still wider field t<» tlieir eiiter|iri>e. Tlu' iireat ('(i|(»iiies wliicli were rounded in Soiitli Auier- ica l)V the Spaniards and the l'ortn<Mii'se have sinee lucdine I'inpii'es. ('i\il wai* and o|t|iression now la\' \\a>te tho^e extensive rei;ions. {'opnlatioii does not inei'i-a^e, inid th" thinlv scattei'eil inhahitaiits arc too mneii alworhed in the cares of selt-dereiiei' i'\cn to attempt anv amelionition (•!' thi'ir condition. IJnt it will not alwavs he so. l'!ni'o[ie lias siK'ceeded hv her own ell'orts in iiierein!"' the ^looni of the Middle Aijes. South America has the same (hristian laws and usages as we ha\e ; she contains all the ^^.t'rm- of civilization which have e;r()wn amidst tlie nati(»ns of l^n'ope or their offsets, added to the athantajjvs to he derived from our examjde : why, then, should she always remain unciv- ilized ? It is clear that the ([uestion is sim]»ly one o| time ; at some future period, which may he more or less remote, the inhabitants of South America will form flourishin<i; and enli<i;htened nations. But when the Spaniards and Portn<i;uese of South Amer- ica l)en;in to feel the wants common to all cixilizi'd nations, they will still he unable to satistV those wants fi»r them- selves ; as the youiieest children of civilizati(»n, they must perforce admit the superiority of their elder hrt'thivn. They will be aiiriculturists loni; bi'fore thev succeed in manufactures or commerce ; and they will reipiire the me- diation of strantfers to excdian^e their jtroduce beyond seas for those articles for which a demand will beoin to be felt. It is unquestionable that the Americans of the North all the prodncors of tlio world, and to often commiuiieations between all na- tions. The niiiritime f;cniiis of the vVniericaiis pronijtts them to enter into eoiniK'titioii with the Knj;'lisli. * I'art of the couniieree of the Mediterranean is already earried on by Amcriean vessels. 650 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. will one day l)e called upon to supply tlie wants of the Americans of the South. Nature has placed them in c(m- ti<j;uity, and has furnished the former with every means of knowino; and appreciating those demands, of establishing permanent relations with tliose States, and gradually filling their markets. The mercliant of the United States could only forfeit these natural advantages if he were very infe- rior to the merchant of Europe ; but he is superior to him in several respects. The Americans of the United States already exercise a great moral influence upon all the na- tions of the New World. They are the source of intelli- gence ; and all those who inhabit the same continent are already accustomed to consider them as the most enlight- ened, the most powerful, and the most wealthy members of the great American flimily. All eyes are therefore turned towards the United States : these are the models which the other communities try to imitate to the best of their power ; it is from the Union that they borrow their political principles and their laws. Tile Americans of the United States stand in precisely the same position with regard to the South Americans as their fathers, the English, occupy with regard to the Ital- ians, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, and all those nations of Europe which receive their articles of daily consumj)- tion fro!n England, because they are less advanced in civil- ization and trade. England is at this time the natural emporium of almost all the nations which are within its reach ; the American Union will perform the same part in the other hemisphere ; and every community which is founded or which prospers in the New World, is founded and prospers to the advantage of the Anglo-Americans. If the Union were to be dissolved, the conunerce of the States which now compose it would undoubtedly be checked for a time ; but less than one would think. It is evident that, whatexer may happen, the commercial States FUTURF PROSPKCTS OF THE UNirKD STATKS. ")')! Ital- ions uin])- ivil- tnral 11 its part ■li is led t IS tatcs will remain united. They are contiguous, same o})inions, interests, and maimers ; : , they have tlie md thev alone form a great maritime power. Even if the South of tiie U to ht independent of the North, it Id oome still require the services of those States. 1 have already observed that the South is not a commercial country, and nothing indicates that it will become so. The Amei-icans of the South of the United States will therefore long be obliged to have recourse to strangers to export their pro- duce, and supply them with the commodities whicli satisfy their wants, liut the Northern States are undoubtedly able to act as their intermediate an;ents cheaper than any other merchants. They will therefore retain that employ- ment, for chea})ness is the sovereign law of commerce. Sovereign will and national prejudices cannot long resist the influence of cheapness. Nothing can be more virulent than the hatred whicli exists between the Americans of the United States and the English. But in sj)ite of these hostile feelings, the Americ;ins derive most of their manu- factured commodities from Ensi-land, because Eniiland sun- plies them at a cheaper rate than any other nation. Thus the increasing prosperity of America turns, notwithstand- ing the crrudiie" of the Americans, to the advantaoe of British manufiictures. Reason and experience prove that no commercial pros- perity can be durable if it cannot be united, in case of need, to naval force. This trutli is as well understood in the United States as anywhere else : the Americans are already able to make their flag respected ; in a few years they will make it feared. I am convinced that the dis- memberment of the Union would not have the effect of diminishing the naval power of the Americans, but would powerfully contribute to increase it.* At present, the * This proplu'cy has ahrady hccii fullillcd in a rcmarkaiile inaiiner Iiy the trroat struggle wiiieh is uuw going on between tlie North and tiie South. — Am. Ed. r)52 DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. If ll commercial States are connected with others which are not commercial, and which unwillingly beliold tlie Increase of a maritime power by Avhich they are only indirectly benefited. If, on the contrary, the commercial States of the Union formed one and the same nation, commerce would become the foremost of their national Interests ; they 'would consequently be willing to make gi*eat sacri- fices to protect their shipping, and nothing would prevent them from pursuing their desires upon this point. Nations, as Avell as men, almost always betray the prom- inent features of their future destiny In their earliest years. When I contemplate the ardor with which the Anglo- Americans prosecute commerce, the advantages wliich aid them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot help believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world. CONCLUSION. I AM approaching the close of my inquiry : hitherto, in speaking of the future destiny of the United States, I have endeavored to divide my subject into distinct portions, in order to study each of them with more attention. My present object is to embrace tlip whole from one point of view ; the remarks I shall make will be less detailed, but they wmII be more sure. I shall perceive each object less distinctly, but I shall descry the principal facts Avith more certainty. A traveller, who has just left a vast ci . climbs the neighboring hill ; as he goes flirther off, he loses sight of the men whom he has just quitted ; their dwellings are confused in a dense mass ; he can no longer distinguish the public squares, and can scarcely trace out the great thoroughfares ; but his eye has less difficulty in following FUTT'RK PROSrECTS OF TIIK UNITKD STATES. 55:'. .'ing •the boundarios of tlie oitv, and for tlie first tiiiu' he soos the shape of tlie whok". Such is the future (h'stiny of tlic British race in North America to my eve ; the (U-tails of the immense picture are k)st in the shade, hut I conceive a clear idea of the entire subject. The territory now occupied or possessed by the United States of America forms about one twentieth part of the habitable earth. But extensive as these bounds are, it must not be supposed that the Anglo-American race will always remain within them ; indeed, it has already gone far beyond them. There was a time when we also might have created a great French nation in the American wilds, to counter- balance the influence of the English upon the destinies of the New World. France formerly possessed a territory ia North America scarcely less extensive than the whole of Europe. The three greatest rivers of that continent then flowed within her dominions. The Indian tribes which dwelt between the mouth of the St. Lawrence and the delta of the Mississippi were unaccustomed to any other tongue than ours ; and all the European settlements scat- tered over that immense region recalled the traditions of our country. Louisburg, Montmorency, Duquesne, Saint- Louis, Vincennes, New Orleans, (for such were the names they bore,) are words dear to France and familiar to our ears. But a course of circumstances, which it would be tedious to enumerate,* have deprived us of this magnificent inher- itance. Wherever the French settlers were numerically weak and partially established, they have disappeared : * The foremost of these circumstances is, that nations whicli are accus- tomed to township institutions and municipal f^overnment arc l^etter alile than any others to found prosperous colonies. The hahit of thinkinji; and governin<^ for one's self is indispensable in a new country, where su<'ccss ne- cessarily depends in a great measure upon the individual exertions of the settlers. 24 554 1)i:m(KI{Ac;v in am;;i:ica. m those wlio remain are coUectt'd on a small extent of coun- try, and are now .snhject to other laws. The 400,000 Freneh inhabitants of Lower Canada constitute at the present time the remnant of an old nation lost in the midst of a new people. A foreign jjopulation is increas- inij around them imceasinnlv and on all sides, who already penetrate amongst the former masters of the country, j)re- dominate in their cities, and corrupt their language. This population is identical wirh that of the United States ; it is therefore with truth that I asserted that the British race is not confined within the frontiers of the Uiiion, since it alivady extends to the northeast. To the northwest, nothing is to be met with but a few insignificant Russian settlements ; but to the southwest, JVIexico presents a barrier to the Anglo-Americans. Thus, tlie Spaniards and the Anglo-Americans are, properly speaking, the two races which divide the possession of the New World. The limits of separation between them have been settled by treaty ; but although the conditions of that treaty are flivorable to the Anglo-Americans, I do not doubt that they will shortly infringe it. Vast provinces, extendino; beyond the frontiers of the Union towards Mex- ico, are still destitute of inhabitants. The natives of the United States will people these solitary regions before their rightful occupants. They will take possession of the soil, and establish social institutions, so that, when the legal owner at length arrives, he will find the wilderness under cultivation, and strangers quietly settled in the midst of his inheritance. The lands of the New World belono; to the first occu- pant ; they are the natural reward of the swiftest pioneer. Even the countries which are already peopled will have some difficulty in securino; themselves from this invasiim. I have already alluded to what is taking ]>lace in the jirov- ince of Texas. The inhabitants of the United States are FUTURE PROSPKCTS OF TIIK UNIIKl) STATKS. i>.)0 liuler of porj)ctually niii2;r;i^inii; t(^ Texas, wluTc thoy purcliasf land ; and altliouiili tlicv contorni to the laws of the countrv, tliev are gradually founding the empire of their own language and their own manners.* The province of 'i\'.\as is still }>art of the Mi'xiean dominions, but it will soon contain no ^Mexicans ; the same thing has occurred wherever the .\71glo-Americans have come in contact with a j)eople of a ditferent origin. It cannot be denied that the liritish race has ac([uired an amazing preponderance over all other European races in the New \\'^orld ; and it is very superior to them in ci\il- i/ation, industry, and })ower. As long as it is surrounded only by desert or thiidy-])eopled countries, as long as it encounters no dense population uj)on its route, through which it cannot work its way, it will assuredly continue to spread. The lines marked out by treaties will not stop it ; but it will everywhere overleap these imaginary barriers. The geograj)hical position of the P)ritish race in the New World is })eculiarly favorable to its ra[>id increase. Above its northern frontiers the icy rejxions of the Pole extend ; and a few degrees below its southern confines lies tlie burn- ing climate of the Equator. The Anglo-Americans are therefore placed in the most temperate and habitable zone of the continent. It is generally supposed that the prodigious increase of population in the United States is posterior to their Decla- ration of Independence. P>ut this is an error : the po{)u- lation increased as rapidly under the colonial s^'stem as at the present day ; that is to say, it doubled in about twenty- tv/o years. Put this proportion, which is now aj)plied to millions, was then apjdied to thousands, of inhabitants ; and the same fact, which was scarcely noticeable a century aso, is now evident to e\erv observer. * III loss than ten years after De Toequcville wrote, the auuexatiou of Texas fulHlled tins prophecy. — Am. Ed. 656 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. The English in Canada, wlio arc dependent on a kinir, augment and spread almost as ra})idly as the British settlers of the United States, who live under a re})ubliean govern- ment. During the war of Independence, which lasted eight years, the population continued to increase without intermission in the same ratio. Although powerful Indian nations allied with the English existed, at that time, u]>on the western frontiers, the emigration westward was never checked. Whilst the enemy laid waste the shores of the Atlantic, Kentucky, the Avestern parts of Pennsylvania, and the States of Vermont and of Maine, were filling with inhabitants. Nor did the unsettled state of thiniis which succeeded the war prevent the increase of the pf)pulation, or stop its progress across the wilds. Thus, the difference of laws, the various conditions of peace and war, of order or anarchy, have exercised no perceptible influence upon the continued development of the Anglo-Americans. This may be readily understood, for no causes are sufficiently general to exercise a simultaneous influence over the whole of so extensive a territory. One portion of the country always offers a sure retreat from the calamities which afflict another part ; and however great may be the evil, the remedy which is at hand is greater still. It must not, then, be imagined that the impulse of the British race in the New World can be arrested. The dis- memberment of the Union, and the hostilities which micht ensue, the abolition of republican institutions, and the ty- rannical government which miixht succeed, mav retard this impulse, but they cannot prevent the people from ultimately fulfilling their destinies. No power upon earth can shut out the emigrants from that fertile wilderness which offers resources to all industry, and a refuo;e from all want. Fu- ture events, whatever they may be, will not deprive the Americans of their climate or their inland seas, their great rivers or their exuberant soil. Nor will bad laws, revo- FUTrni: i'iiosri:cTS of the united states. OOI this itelv shut )ffers Fu- tile lutioiis, and aiuin.-liy be abU' to obliterate that love of prosperity and spirit of enterj)rise which sei-ni to be the distinctive characteristics of their race, or e.\tin>;uisli al- together the knowledoe which jiuides them on their way. Thus, in the midst of the uncertain future, one event at least is sure. At a period whicjj may be said to be near, — lor we are speakinii of the life of a nation, — the Aniilo- Americans alone will cover the innnense space contained between the })oha' regions and tiie tropics, extending from the coasts of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific Ocean. The territory which will j)robably be occnpieil by the Anglo-Americans may })erhaps efjual three (piarters of Euro})e in extent. The climate of the Union is, upon the whole, preferable to that of Europe, and its natural advan- tages are as great ; it is therefore evident that its population will at some future time be proportionate to our own. Eu- rope, divided as it is between so many nations, and torn as it has been by incessant wars growing out of the barbarous manners of the Middle Ages, has yet attained a population of 410 inhabitants to the square league. What cause can prevent the United States from having as numerous a pop- ulation in time ? Many ages must elapse before the different oflPsets of the British race in America will cease to present the same physiognomy ; and the time cannot be foreseen at which a permanent inequality of condition can be established in the New World. Whatever differences may arise, from peace or war, freedom or oppression, prosperity or want, between the destinies of the dift'erent descendants of the great An- glo-American family, they will all preserve at least a simi- lar social condition, and will hold in common the customs and opinions to Avhich that social condition has given birth. In the Middle Ages, the tie of religion was sufficiently powerful to unite all the different populations of Euroj)e in the same civilization. The British of the New World 558 DKMOCRACY IN AMERICA. have a thousand other reei})rocal ties ; and they live at a time when the tendeney to e(juahty is general amongst mankind. The Middle Ages were a period when every- thing was broken up, — when eaeh })eople, eaeh })rovinee, each eitv, and each family tended stroiiiily to maintain its distinct indiviiluality. At the present time, an opjiosite tendency seems to prevail, and the nations seem to he ad- vancing to unity. Our means of intellectual intercourse imite the remotest parts of the earth ; and men cannot renuiin strangers to each other, or be ij^norant of what is taking j)lace in any corner of the globe. The conse(pience is, tliat there is less difference at the ])resent day between the Euro]»eans and their descendants in the New World, in spite of the ocean which divides them, than there was between certain towns in the thirteenth century, which were separated only by a river. If this tendency to as- similation brings foreign nations closer to each other, it must a fortiori prevent the descendants of the same peo- ple from becoming aliens to each other. The time will therefore come, when one hundred and fifty millions of men will be living in North America,* equal in condition, all belonging to one family, owing their origin to the same cause, and preserving the same civiliza- tion, the same language, the same religion, the same habits, the same manners, and imbued with the same opinions, propagated under the same forms. The rest is uncertain, but this is certain ; and it is a fact new to the world, — a fact wdiich the imagination strives in vain to grasp. m* There are at the present time two great nations in the world, w^hicli started from different points, but seem to tend towards the same end. I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed ; * Tliis would be a population proportionate to that of Europe, taken at a mean rate of 410 inhabitants to the square league. FUTrRF, rROSI'KCTS OF TIIK INITKl) STATKS. 559 }ry- * aiul wliilst tlu' iitti'iition of iiiJinkiiid wjis diivcti'd dsc- wluMV, tlu'v liiive suddenly jdact'd tlji'insclvcs in tlu- IVont rank anionu' the nations, and tlu* world li-anu'd tlu'ir exist- ence and their t^reatness at almost the same time. All other nations seem to have nearly reached their nat- ural limits, and they have only to maintain their jiowci- ; hut these are still in the act of orowth.* All the otiiers have stop})ed, or continue to advance with extivme dilli- culty ; these alone are })roceedinii' with ease and celerity along a ])ath to which no limit can he j)erceive(l. The American struiiii'les auainst the ohstacles which nature oi>- })()ses to him ; the adversaries of the Russian are men. The former comhats the wilderness and savage life ; the latter, civilization with all its arms. The conquests of the American are therefore gained bv the i)loui'hshare ; those of the Russian by the sword. The Anglo-American re- lies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided strength and common sense of the people ; the Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm. The i)rincipal instrument of the former is freedom ; of the latter, servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same ; yet each of them seems marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the o-lobe. * The population of Russia increases more rapidly than that of any other country in the Old World. END OF VOLUME I. 1 at a Cumbridge : Stcrcotj'ped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.