New-York daily tribune., 1843-08-01
Truth ManfulIy Spoken.

@. A. BRowNsoN has in the last Democratic
Review paper on The Origin and Ground of
Government which embodes much truth essen
tal to the public welfare which has not hitherto
been duly set before their readers in the pubica-
ton claiming to be especially Democratic. We
take from it the following extract, which embo-
dies scathing rebuke to the demagoguism of
the day which passes with too many for Democ-
racy:
"There is strong tendency,--and hold,
dangerous tendency,--among us, to underate the
Importance of liberal studies, philosophical nvcs
legations, profound scholarship, and scientific at
tainments, and to extol and defer to the alledged
wisdom and good sense of the mass which prac-
tically means the wisdom and good sense OF the
small minority at the head of one or the other OF
the two great political parties INTO which the
country is divided. Mere scholarship for the sake
of scholarship, is no doubt contemplate; we
want no pcdantry, no dilcttantnsnl That sort
OF scholarship which, in its spirit and effects,
looks never beyond the cultivation, the interest,
or the pleasure of the scholar himself, deserve
no encouragement from ii Christian people. All
scholarship, or scholastic, or scientific, or even
artistic attainments, like the possession o! pro-
perty, place, or power, should be regarded as a
sacred trust TO be used not for the personal good
of the possessor, but for the moral, intellectual,
and sacred elevation OF the mass. The Lltcra-
ture we want IN this country, is not the literature
which results from deierrng to popular passions
and instincts, nor indeed the literature that rises
not above the simple apprehension OF the ma
tority; but literature that breathes free, noble,
and generous spirit; that is full OF the love OF
man as man; and that klndles up holy ardor IN
L.
them the needed wisdom TO labor for the moral,
the religious, the intellectual, and the physical
welbeing Of all men, especially of the poorer
and more numerous classes. The tendency Of
which we speak, is to the creation Of literature
the reverse of this. 1t is evehng tendency :;
but it levels downwards, and not upwards. In
stead of feeling il an imperious duty to instruct
and elevate the mass, the tendency amongst us is
TO take our law from the mass, and to bring
thought down to level with the narrow views,
crude notions, and blind instincts of the multi
tude. II this tendency is continued and en-
couraged, our whole intellectual word will be-
come superficial and void, and American hte too
feeble thing to be worth possessing.
s'What IS most dangerous IN this tendency, Is
the fact that It is thought TO be democratic, and
is encouraged BY some who have the ears and the
hearts of the Democracy. TO set our faces
against it, is TO expose ourselves to the vague
charge of being ariStocrats, and to be denounced
as the enemies of the people, who have
no confdence IN the people, no love for popular
government but who would introduce a monar-
chy, or build up an aristocracy, or something else
quite as bad if not worse. But | for one meet
this charge here on the threshold. | deny that
this tendency is democratic, or that it results
from democracy; ii is decidedly anti democratic,
and originates in the abuse, in the perversion OF
democracy. There is democracy, in any worthy
sense of the term, only where each man has a
mind of his own, and utters that mind, clearly,
distinctly, without suffering 1t TO be lost IN the
voice OF any other man. Moreover, Democracy,
regarded as a principle, is not necessarily de
ferrng to the mass but is the wise and just lnsti
tuition and administration of Government, for the
shighest and best good Of the whole people. am
thought TO want confidence in the people; butI
have really more confidence in them, than he has
who said the other day." Since have been in Of
hce, have made IL my duty to ascertain and con-
form to the viii of my constituents !. for dare tell
the people what believe to be the truth essential
TO their weli-being, and to contradict them to
their very. faces when believe them in the wrong.
But my confidence in the people is in their capa
bilites, and not In their actual attainments or in
the practical wisdom of their actual judgements.
The people In whom want confidence is the