, 1860-03-28

The following lett:r, which re have been per.
mittcd to present to the American people, in tl,c
pages Of the Hts;:nger. fills up that csiasm. It
belongs TO an' occasional correspondence, Of
seiuc years. standing, between Lord Macaulay
AMI Lon. Henry S. Randall, of yew York, au-
| thor Of The Lille Of Jefferson.
| HoI1Er L7p7x, KExs1so1ps, Lozpsx Nav Il le5.1.
| Henry s. RANDALL, EsQ.-Lscr Sir: You
| arc surprised to learn thar I hare Eut bigh
| opinion Of Mr. Jefferson, and am surprised 1t
your surp- is:. an certain ttat never wrote
n line, and tlnt neyeT, in Parliament, il CON
Eersaiion, or cven on the hustings-a place
| where It is the fashion to court tue uopulacc-
uttered word indicating m opinion That the
supreme authority in State ou hs to be iotr,st-
ed to tue MINORITY Of citizens told by the heail:
in other words, to the poorest and most ignorant
part Of society. ! have long been convinced
That institutions purely derocr2ticmnst, sooner
1u Eurcpc. a here the population is dense, lhc
effect Of such institutions would be a1n,usi in
Simultaneous. What happened lately in France
il en example. In 1913 pure Democracy was
established there. During short time there
was reAaon TO expc:t general spoliation, na-
tlonal bankruptcy, new partition Ct tue soil,
maximum Of prices, ruiuous load Of taxation
laid en- the rich FOR the purpose of supporting
the poor in idieuess. Such system would, in
twenty ,ca:s. hare made France as poor aud
unFoA.ous ~ IEAHce CT ahe Cafl0V4nTlaEs.
Happily the Danger was avertcd; aud now there
is despotism, silent tribune, au ens1ayed
Press. Liberty is gone; but civilization las
been saved. nave not tue smaiIes. doubt t!,a:,
i We bad purely Democratic Government
here, tie effect would be the same. Either the
poor would plaEder tile rich, and civilization
would perish; or order aud property would be
taved By a strong military government, and
Liberty would perish
fou may thiuk that ycur country erjovs an
exemption from these evils I will frankly own
70 yon that am Of Il very different opinion.
deferred By physical cause As 1cng rs you
have bound!ess extent Of fertile and uuoccu-
Fled lard, yeur inboring population will lie far
more ut case than the lab b,1ing population Ct the
old world; and, while that Is the case. the Jef
fcrson ptllcy may continue to exist without
causing nny fatal calamity. Du. the lime viii
come When New England will he as rh;ckly peo-
pied AZ Old England. Wages will be as low. aud
will hnciua!e as :nuch with you a. with Us. You
will hare your Nanchesiers and Bisu,ipgl,Gms
and, in those Mauchesters and Burming gfams,
hundreds Of thousands ofar!isaus wilt assuredly
be sometimes out Of work. Then your institu- |
tions will be fairly brought to the test. Dis
tress everywhere makes the labo1cr mutuous
and discontcnted and inc'!nes him to listen with
eagerness TO agi!ators who tell him that i: il a
monstr5us iniquity that one man should have a |
million while another cannnt gct full ureI In
sometimes a1i:rle riot ng. But it MA ters little.
For here the sufferers Ire not the rulers. The |
supreme power is in the hands Of ca>s. nu- |
n,crocs Indeed, but select, and educated class,
o:a class which is, md knows itscilso he, deeply
interested in the security Of property and tho !!
maintenance Of order. Accordingly, the NAL !
contents are firmly, yet gently restrained.
Tie bad time is got over without rhbbiEt, !he |
wealthy 10 relieve the indigent The springs |
ofnat:onal prosperity soon begin to flow asa;u;
work is plentiful; wages ri=c, and al is tran |
quility and chcertu;ncss. l hare seen England
seasons as hare described. Through such !
senscns the United States will hare to pass. in |
the course Of the next century, if not of this. |
How will you pass through. them? heartily |
wish you good de'igerance. But my reason
and MY wishes a:e at war, and I cannot Lc'p
your Government will nercr be able to restrain |
distressed aud discontcnted majority. For
with you the majority is the Government, aud
las the rich. who are always minority, ubso-
lute!y at its mercy. The dsy VII! come when,
in the State Of Eew York, :; multitude Of teo.
Lleakfast. or expects to hare more than half
dinner, will c,.oosc Legislature. IL i; possi;:e
tn dsuh. toArt sort Of L.yis!atare tri; 5e
chesen:9 On one side IS statesman, preach
ing patience. respect for vested rights, strict
observance Of public faith. On the other is
tat:sts and usurcrs, and asking why anybody |
sleuid be permitted to drink champagne unit
TO ride in n carriage, while thousands Of honest
folks are III want Of nccessarts. Which OF the |
twa candidates is likely to lie preferred by
working man who hears his children cry for
more brc ID? seriously apurehend that you
will in some ssca season Of adyeritT us layc |
described, do things which will prevent pros
perity fIon returning; that you wll act like
people would, in rear OF scarcity, dercur ail
the seed corn, and thus make the next year, |
year not Of scarcity, hut Of absolute famine.
There will be, fear, sposiafion. The spolia-
linn will increase the distress. The distress |
will produce fresh spoliation. There il no.
thing 10 star you. Your Constitution is all |
sal! nud no anchor. As said before, when :. |
seeiety has entered on this downward progress,
either civilization or liberty must perish. Either
some C;nsar or Napoleon will seize tho 5elns OF
government with strong hand; or your Re:
public will be rs fcarfully plundcrcd and laid
waste by barbariaus in The twentieth century
az the lsataan Empire was in the fifth, with this
difference, that the Huns and Tandals. who
ravaged the Roman Empire, came from without,
and ltut your Huns and Tunduls will have been
engendtred within your county by your own
institutions.
Thinking thus, Of course, cannot reckon
.IefeFson anoug tlle benefActcrs Of mankind.
re.dly admit that his intentions we're good
and his abilities considerable. 0lious stories
have been circulated about his private life; +; Int
do not know what evidence those stories
rest; and think It probable that they false,
or nlonetrously exaggerated. have no doubt
that shall derive both pleasure and in!or,na-
tion 5rons your account ct him.
have the honor to be, dear sir,
Your faithfnl servant,
7. D. MAcArLAY.