Washington sentinel., 1854-07-21
TRUE AND FALSE DEMOCRACY.

Almost every day we see some new phase
of the unwholesome spirit which is pervading
our country, and which derives its only import
ance from its false assumption of the name of
democracy. All that is pure, prosperous, and
powerful in our government, we sincerely be-
lieve is due to this great principle, properly
understood and properly restricted. But it is
equally true that much'that is impure, and that
tends to the destruction Of government itself,
springs from the same source, when construed
by the rules which fanatics and narrow-minded
demagogues have established for their guide.
The theory is abroad in the land that govern
ments are made for the masses and not for the
man--that man is the creature, and not the
creator of social government. Rampant radi-
calism is in the ascendant, and appeals to the
Jacobin principle of universal democracy to
Justify its excesses.
Every good contains some element of evil
peculiar to, and derived from, itself. If there
were no religion, there would be no canting,
puritanical hypocrisy. If there were no society,
there would be no robbery, no murder, no So
cial crime; and SO if there were no democracy,
there would be none of the many evils which
every day we are called to deprecate, and
which derive their existence from false inter.
pretation of it's principles. Yet who would
bauish religion from the world, who would re-
solve society into its original elements, who
would destroy the pure principles upon which
that society can alone securely rest, because
each of these blessings gives rise to co-ordi-
nate evil? Snakes leave their eggs, as we are
told, to be hatched by the genial rays of the
sun. Thus, corrupt principles and corrupt
men derive their existence from the very bright
ness of the society by which they are sur
rounded.
Under these circumstances it is the duty of
every man, but particularly of public press, to
purify the fountain from whence springs the
evil, and to learn to distinguish the pure from
the corrupt, the true from the false, the genuine
from the spurious. There never was time
when such course was more essential than at
present. Both in the Federal and the State gov
ernments there is fearful tendency TO strength
en- the central power, to the prejudice Of the
original creators of that power. In the foruBr,
the tendency is to degrade the States to the
condition of mere provinces towards the gov
ernment, which derives its very breath from
them. In the latter the tendency is TO concen-
trate all power in the hands Of government, and
10 debass the man, its creator, to mere slave,
subservient to its will.
The reason given for this change in the prin.
ciples of governments, that the necessities of
the times demand it-ihat this is an age Of pro-
gress, and that the principles which are appli.
cable TO nation in its infancy, are not appli.
cable when that nation has grown and strength
ened. But it should be remembered that the
principles Of government can never change.
They are the same yesterday, to-day, and for.
ever. They apply alike to the Russian serfand
the American freeman; to the naked Pict of
the third, and the free-born Briton Of the nine
teenth century. The constitution Of govern.
ment is rritten in the very nature Of man,
and this is the only chart by which it can
be safely guided We do not mean that the
policy and action Of government should
be always the same. These indeed change
with circumstances. But the principle itself
reuains unchanged. That principle is founded
in the individual liberty Of each man, not the
aggregate liberty ofa mass Of men. 1t is for the
protection of this liberty that governments are
formed, and il is for this alone that they are
formed. When, therefore, government inter
feres with these individual rights, except so
far as is requisite to secure the same rights TO
others, when it seeks TO advance the masses
and TO merge the man, then il transcends the
designs Of its formation il then becomes a
despotism-a despotism not the less odious be.
cause it manifests itself in the relentless tyran
nv of a fixed majority. Viewed in this light,
the oft repeated and much abused maxim Of
Pope is true.
For forms Of government, let fools contests
That which is best administered is best
The political maxim which teaches that the
purpose Of goyernmentis is to secure the greatest
good to the greatest number, is only true be-
cause the greatest number is aH and thus the
greatest good is secured to each and all. Fur.
ther than this the principle is just as false as
.that which secures the greatest good to the
smallest number, and establishes the absolute
sway Of the Russian Car.
Now, once establish this as the principle Of
true democracy, and nc. longer can the absur-
dities which swarm in The light Of the nine
teenth century end protection there. The
systems which would make government the
censor morum, and the reformer Of all who
live under its authority, which would prescribe
the food, the drink, or the mental culture of
the people, which would cram nnwholesome
principles and false logic down the throats of
unwilling children, and then administer cold
water to prevent them from choking, must
seek their origin elsewhere than in democ-
rscy which recognizes the perfect liberty Of