The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-07-30
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
Ues...Aav aferp,ux. July 30, 1885.

Hon,e Reaectfons Of De Tecqacville.
In the treat work Of De Tocquevilie. Democra-
cy In America, are the following reflections, sus-
eessed BY the supposed absence Of aristocracy In
the United States:
ssWheu survey this countless multitude OF oelns-
sbaped ia each othe = likeness amidst when nos
rises and rothns falls, the sight Of such 49,
ssddens aod chills ne. and tempted TO I
state Of society which has ceased TO be. nS 80
world wss full of men Of great tmPonsS .rtrsm.
poverty OF great learning and extreme lsnu. .;n -
turned aside from the latter 20 hK my .h,s m,
the former alone. who grstihed my @tnm INV own
l admit that this qualification arose ITO" ny W.
weakness; ii 10 because am unable 90 - :. 49,"
around me- that am allowed thus 10 seiec' suu seps
rate the objects Of my predieet'sn 'ion' s"'Ns -
many others
such IL not the case with the Almighty snd Etei-
nal Being whose gaze necessarily lnsiaass ,hnnah
Of created things, and VINO surveys oisinc"J'
.We NAV naturally believe that It 10 not the sipsu
lar prosperity of the few. but the greater
of all which 10 most plesSing IN the sight OF the Gre
stor sod Preservsr of men, What appears TO me 10
be mans decline, 10 TO His eye advancement; Wnat
a!aic.s me- IL acceptable to Him. state of equal y
10 perhaps less esvated but it 10 more just snd its
justice constitutes its greatness and Its beauty
woue strive then 70 raise myself TO this point OF tne
Divine contemplation, and thence to view ana 1uoee
the conc rnsof men,"
If this state Of equality existed in the United
States, 1t would -,erit the eulogum bestowed up
on It by the philosophic De Tocqueville But men
rise and fall, and fortunes shift in America like
the changeful bues of kaleidoscope Whilst po-
Htical equality is secured to all social equality Is
thing As unknown in this Republic as in desPot-
ism. All our large cities exhibit the spectacle OF
3 few towering fortunes and Of a telling multi
tude, willing but unable to earn the means Of coin
Portable subsistence. Whilst we have no recog
nzed aristocratc orders, such as exist in other
countries, aud are capable of leading and enlight-
ening public opinion, we have, at least, in our
Northern States the vilest of all distinctions, that
which Is foueded upon the mere possession OF
wealth, and has regard to either intellectual or
moral merit. 1t is very doubtful whether, if the
great DIR. johnson were alive, and should visit
New York, he would receive a. much consdera.
tion from it's upper ten" as be did from the mo-
march of Great Britain; or whether Milton, Burns,
or Shakespeare, would be looked upon in the arts
tocratic circles of that city, as equal to some vu
gar upstart who had made q fortune by the most
sordid or even immoral traffic. Just as likely or
not, the kings of the English tongue would be ell
bowed from the pave by mushroom nabobs, who
can't write their own names correctly.
Social equality is an impossibiity, unless all
men can become equally intelligent and refined
but, surely, of all despicable and unnatural arts
tocracies, that which is based alone upon wealth
and affects superiority over virtue and talent liz
poor estate, is the most degrading irrational and
demorazing.