The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-07-24

ton, ii h the gradual entertainments of authort,
upon the ussges, rights and privileges Of ,
people.
Appropriations increases, ~ wealth aceamulates
~ ehques and parties become moro perfsctly OF
ganiEsd; - corruption Of every sort advance
with the passion for fortune-making, men los
much Of that honest simplicity and noble pa
triotism. which distinguishes them Ia their earl
or agricultural state. tg F
Men. lot them begin ever 70 modestly, end b
acting dissaterally, and by assuming right +
profit By corruption. By the incssssnt action 0
intsrmsddlipg. the population gets habituatedst
encroaehment--and a. the authority of the Capt.
tai aagAsnts, the respect. adoration--we mign
nay, devotion, for power increases in proportion
70 the dread It inspires. s
Almost all new States have been formed ii
moderation and fAirness--but how few have re
tained for single century their new laws ant
institutions! Or if the laws and institution,
have not absolutely changed, they have become
little better than mockery, inasmuch as the
action Of authority in modifying, and Restricting
and restraining, and Misunderstanding their too
honest and clear meaning has rendered them a
mere dead.lstter. Tnus, in England, for in
stance, where great privileges exist, and great
distinctions between classes, the Interpretation
of the law varies with the station Of the parties
in litigation, and is made to assume a thousand
forms 10 suit as many interests. Yet, on the
face Of the law all is fairness. And the Eng
lishman, who can trace back to Alfred some of
its wisest regulations, sees them alone, and is
only brought back to the realities of practice,
when he finds himself party interested and
menaced. English newspapers are pretty full
of these expositons Of one-sjded interpretations
of law.
We, as nation, are making great progress
in error, as much as other nations which have
gone before us. And we cannot too quickly or
too often warn the people of the danger of in
terfering in the affairs of each other We have |
all equal rights-we all know our own affairs
best-we all have an interest in managing them
to the best advantage -and it is the universally
free and independent action of all the parts Of |
the vast machine, which we call the nation, that
constitutes it, strength, moral and material.
Rome was the capital Of vast republic. But
the spirit Of its laws was such, that every nation
1t conquered became an Independent, though in
tegral portion of the republic. Each preserved
its own laws,-each continued in the free exer-
cises of its own religion--each still enioyed its
peculiar habits, usages and institutions, and thus
. multitude of people, speaking an endless
variety of idioms, were kept together by the ties
Of freedom, infinitely more binding, than if they
bad been occupied by a thousand armies
Such was Rome, republican. When, how
ever, by the action Of the dangerous elements,
We have already alluded to, power became con.
centrated in the capital, Rome assumed new
phrase, and although the spirit of her old laws
and institutions, still survived here and there, the
of the new system of Capitalization
and depotism, gradually undermined her moral
and physical power, and prepared her downfall.
Many Of these observations will he found
70 b true As regards the Persians. Until
the time Of CYRus, they had good laws, and en-
joyed a fair amount of liberty; but on descend |
ing from their country to the fertile plains of
Msssopotamia, they became changed, overcome,
II b unrsaectingly said by historians, by the
warmth Of the climate, and the abundance and
wealth Of their new possessions.
II was not climate, or abundance, that cor
rupted them--it was the never ceasing encroach-
rnsnts OF authority. whose restraints checked
industry. and whose meddlings paralized energy
and aowed insecurity and dependence.
Thus capitals invariably increase for time
to the disadvantage of the extremities.
1aOf this fact we have proof at the present day
in the actual state of France. Capitalization
has snriehed Paris arti6cially, and made her alb
solute mistress of the whole country. The
provinces have no independence, and 30 many,
and 10 wide are the restrictions, that the coun
Try producer can find no free market wherein to
sen his grain, wine, vegetables, or poultry. All
these impositions, meeting the Frenchman on
every hand, and paralyzina his energy, have been
laid on, or kept up by the ignorance of govern
msnt wrapt up only ia raising revenue, and
maintaining authority.
II IL not here question of republicanism-
but one Of Capitalization of power. The effect
in the same, whatever name the government
takes.
We have already required to Italy, of the
middle agss, in former article, "a an instance,
when consisting Of a number Of republics, of the
prosperity that follows independence Of every
part--snd the iuprobability of her having been
able 10 acquire such wealth and power under a
cSntssaiaed form of government.
b England can hardly be taken as an example of
~ eeass~lization of power. The political in
naspce 3 vested in Glass; and tho guidance Of
~ national Affairs has been almost altogether in
fts hands; but there has been An element of in
dependence in municipal government through