The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-11-03
opp,rRIIcAN AND FEDERALIsT.

sbich we employ, 10 h'ai '"o Po''' .
III we think they are well entitled. rigid
s,.r,v however, to certain principles opinions
.,,;ndc,s. warrants the application to the anti
'.nhlir.n party of the present day, OF that name
tn Indicates an identity with the federal party
|oraoo,her period ofour history.
IT.. address Of the democratic party oil the State
.M....cbuse,ts (extracts from which we published
!. ss,urdsy,) discusses, in the most admirable
dis whole subject Of the origin and character
| fpartics'
j, :, The great bulk of the people OF the United
|S,.,.s were thoroughly democratic The occa-
o,,l demonstrations, occurring at long intervals m
| -. history of the government, and seeming at the
tan, 10 impeach the truth of that declaration,
~. No, shaken our conviction upon that point
a,.., tho neople of the United States have been all
a. ble essentially democratic, we consider fact
a,,nouestionabe certainty. We put it down to
~. lasting honor Of certain State OF Tins
u,;on that the theory of the most extensive
.ar,;.s Il eouality, or the safest practicable APP
Ii N H. was sustained at the outset by
r. .Lu:,ss and influence of class there, which,
according 10 the usual sympathies that control
o,;nio,. might have been expected to be found In
,.,oson to any enlarged notion Of the capacity of
no neople for selfgovernmeni. A very striking
.v.r,nle Of this will be found in the instance Of
AZ. is9erson. whose name stands at the head OF
~, brilliant array of names emblazoned upon the
,.mple Of the national glory. The splendid reputa-
,on and invaluable services Of that immortal states
man. have acquired for him the most imposing
sobriquet in the world And yet, TO appreciate
fllv the real majesty of his political character it
.boud be recoected that Ito speak in common par
lsnce) he was born an aristocrat--with hereditary
Do,sessions at least sufficient to beget opinions and
create sympathes opposite to those which lie en-
er,ained But nothing could have prevented so
serious phianihropist from making common cause
with the great mass of his feow-creatures. The
fictitious consequence TO be derived from mere
social position of eminence, was forgotten by that
GREAT man. in his expanded sense Of the dignity and
elevation of the species. Fortune, indeed, happily
for mankind, placed him beyond the necessity of
strenuous personal exer,ion or his own account;
and the theatre for the display of his great endow-
ments as public man was soon presented
The "apostle of freedom" with noble devotion
to the cause of popular supremacy resisted without
hesitation, the temptations allurng in an opposite
directions and, a. the threshold Of his political exist
.nce took sides with the fierce and "rabble' democ-
ncy of the times Animated throughout long and
patriotic career, with the most passonate-indeed,
-
feminine attachment to the people, he died with
such requtal as few ever merted or received.
And, to the very last, his "ruling passion" dis
closes itself In death, delirious memory re-
visits the evenfu scenes of the revolution, and re-
calls the terrible agencies then employed "Warn
the committees" was the startling ejaculation of
|,he dying patriot. We make these observations
with reference to Mr.. Jefferson, because he was the
great founder Of the party to which we belong, and
because has become fashionable, with the modern
wings, to disparage the memory and repudiate the
principles of that ilustrious man. We have made
them in this connection, for another reason
that il has become the custom, in the same quar-
ter to cherish the conceit, that whatever of
learning, of genius, and Of dscency shall be
found, is Indigenous TO the federal soil. The
truth is, that the history Of the country will attest
that from the first, down TO our own times, the re.
publican party has been pre.eminehtly distinguish
ed in the number of its extraordinary men, in the
degrees of excellence to which they had attained,
whether stasts, orators, in general literature.
II we are 10 be 'ravshed by the whistling of a
name," the enumeration from us of the more cele-
braed might be prolonged to the end of the chap
ter.
But, in nstituting comparison of another and a
higher description, as between federast and demo-
cn, how widely divergent their principles! Pre-
lmnary 10 the proofs on this head, il may be as
serted that the predomnating trait of the federal
party has always been liability to entertain the be-
lief that the people inadequate to parti-
cirate, with safety to themselves in affairs of gov
eminent. In defiance Of continuing proofs to the
contrary, it is, we insist, an idea which has been
extensively inculcated, that popular preponder-
ance felt in the administration Of our affairs is des
tined 10 make this short-lived nation, and that the
dreaded agent Of Its early dissolution is to be detect
ed in the too large infusion Of the democratic spirit
These were the notions Of the primitive federal
iss and the same have descended to our times,
and are yet strongly entertained.
Any one who shall recur to the early history Of
the republic, will find abundant proof of the fact,
that there were men who contended more for indie
pendence than for genuine popular liberty. They
resisted, indeed, with stout arms and heroic hearts,
the rule of foreign prince; but the penchant for
royal dominion still existed displaying itself in the
most elevated circles and in open attempts to model
the government upon highly obnoxious principles.
Inc American monarchists Of '87 beheld with adj
mra'lon the solidity of the English government
and they came to think that not only we're the 'cor
ruPtons" and inequalities which il countenanced
essential to its stability, but that the splendor and
'applngs Of majesty contributed to that end. Such
men repel|ed, as preposte rously absurd, the idea
mat the general community had the dscernment or
'he discretion to make ct selections of public
luncdonares. The persons imbibing these opin-
IONS were all the eminent federasis ofthe day, and
conspicuous, we admit for their devotion to the
american cause during the war Let the reader oh,
serve the following declaration Of the elder Adams
made in ,a-