Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-10-08

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subjected to that ordeal. But when in
cumbents Of elective posts, like Macon,
are faithful, they are not often supplanted
without detgiment 10 the constituency
When one party vanquishes another, il is
but just that the principal places should
| be filed by the victorious. But abuse Of
this unquestonable principle to others, de
moralizes communities by pampering NOR
bid thirst and Unsuitable yearning for emo
| lument, substitutes avarice for ambition
| Does not Macon's success demonstrate that
no American statesman can be successful
" both ambitious and avaricious? That
he can no more prefer himself before the
people, than serve Mammon before God!
To be of the aristocracy of the democra-
cy, is common ambition; but Macon's de-
sire was TO be Of the democracy OF the
arIstocracy.
Whatever (says Burke, writing Of the
French National Assembly, the distin-
guished few may have been, men of known
rank or shining talents. il is the substance
or mass of the body which constitutes lis
character, and must finally determine It's
direction. In all bodies, those who viii
| lead must also In a considerable degree.
follow. Macon was leading follower
not summit, but part of the mass OF Con
gress; not commanding actor or writer,
no demagogue, hardly communing with
his constituents but by the monosyllabies
OF votes, always before them in print. but
taking no undue means for soliciting their
good will. Yet his popularity never fail
ed, his success was transcendan:, and the
influence of his example is still enduring
and increasing. The centrllISm of la
milton has almost disappeared. The fed
cralsm of Washington and the consiitu-
tionalism of Madison have been, in a mea-
sure, superseded 10y the repu5licanism Of
Jefferson, which may be swaIl wed up IN
the radicalism Of Macon. Viii that lie
declining or advancing?
The most frequent Encouragement cast
by Europeans on American rePubiIcanisn,
is its aledged tendency to degenerate /
downward tendency, which is to swallow |
up learning, wealth, liberty and refine |
ment, and establish a despotism Of mere
vulgarity that public lite is les sought |
by Responsibility than elsewhere or former |
~, and that talents avoid It. Whether
this be 50 in America, IS it more so than
elsewhere! Great talents are the crea-
tons Of great coniunctares; and the tran
quilIty of the United States has been a.
most stagnant under the present forms Of
government. In such circumstances, COM
mercial, professional, and other lucrative
pursuits, are more attractive than politics;
and with the growth Of luxury, which has
been prodigious since the Introduction of
paper money, there will always be large
class preferring fashionable Idleness to po-
| litical notoriety. Nine. dc Stael saws, Ia
her considerations on the French revolu-
| ton, that many Of the old nobility Of En-
rope dospised the Emperor Alexander as
an upstart, not to be received into good
| society. Social and ancestral distinction,
a strong desire, more prevalent IN Europe,
is not without acknowledgment IN Anne
RIGA. Descendants of celebrated Ameti-
cans are often chosen into political life, for
that reason. Congress and the State le-
gisatures abound with members Boosting
some family merit, such as kindred with
soldiers of the revolution and it Is COM
mon to meet with Americans who preserve
their ancestors certificates of service in
the revolutionary army as it they were
certificates Of nobility. Besides the merits
of personal pedigree, Burke eloqaenily
vindicates those of honorable national Ii
neage. Yet the country attorneys, village
lawyers, notaries, brokers, traders, and
clowns, whom he enumerates as the maiO-
rity of the third estate of the French Ma
tional Assembly, inferior. in his judgment,
to the noblemen and gentlemen whom be
extols as hereditary legislators, enacted
laws which reformed the crumbling basis
of society, and reconstructed France so
as to render that declining kingdom not
only freer, but incomparably happier, rich
er and greater, than it was before the days
of what Burke calls its downfall. If De
Tocqueyille7s idea be true, that American
i democracy is irresistibly swallowing up
every thing else American, and such be
the decline which Europe imputes to this
country, at all events Great Britain, France
E and all the freer kingdoms Of Europe, are
passing down the same declivity with more
violence and precipitation than this coun-
] try. one of whose consultations is Jetfer-
sons maxim, that government, at best, IS
i but relative good, and that, with all the
faults of which it is accused, democracy Is
at least less injurious and more durable
state than royalty, since one OF the unques-
tionable consequences Of the American
) revolution is, that revolutionary move
{ ments, with equality and liberty, have be-
i gun throughout the Old World Be that
i as it may TO public bodies and national
:. stability, Macon found public life not more
4 precarious or unprhftable, and less toll.
some or irksome than private pursuits: and
if American legislatures had more OF .suei