The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-01-07

the PRESIDENT OF "
request an immediate an- e..
dismiss b;mseu =, a. ;n.,.. A. barge
by others, of every cEacial who sYall have bSss
concerned In the thefls, peculations, abstrac-
tions, and, we regret to be compelled to add,
indecencies, which the afidavits enumerate.
The Founders and the Philosophy OF
EmPfres-Causes OF the Change I'm POpu-
lar Politics.
The debates in the Senate have recently
turned upon the different views taken of slavery
and social class relations now and in the earlier
years Of the republic; and Mr.. Mason, the
Senator from Virginia, frankly confessed that
the opinion of that State is different from the
opinion entertained by our earlier statesmen.
They held to the belief that slavery was q con-
dition more to be deplored than fostered, while
the lapse of time has shown that it is strong
and living form of society, and blessing to
both races, where they inhabit In common.
1t is well known that the founders of our
empire sympathized largely with the philoso-
phic element that grew up in France under the
reign of Louis XIV, and that both drew from
the political fountains opened in the preceding
century by the English Revolution. In revo-
lutionized France philosophy soon ran into
Jacobinism, and the connections between the
two countries, formed during our own Revolu-
ton, led to much sympathy between the leading
actors of the two great life dramas. In
rnlifiro1 oofinn 40 81
time of the French popular leaders, and as
they were practical men they framed pracH-
cal political constitution upon the forms which
we already possessed as colonies. But their
writings are interspersed with views of social
philosophy much more in accordance than
their practice with the theories that prevailed in
France during the close of the last century,
and which, in the practical construction of en-
pire, they held in allegiance to the necessity of
harmonizing great material interests.
In France the reaction against Jacobinism
ran wild, brought the empire, and political and
social philosophy was driven back to dwell
amid q few distractions. Pondering con.
stantly on these, French philosophy has adj
vanced to the most absurd development of
social theories and imaginary plans of politi-
cal organization, based upon the idea of human
perfectibility. On the other hand, we have fol-
lowed the path of untrammelled develope-
ment, and practice has not only outgrown
theory, but has demonstrated how untenable
are many Of those held by the statesmen of
former days. Washington, Jefferson, Adams,
Monroe, Madison, Jay, and many, if not
ALL, Of their fellow workers believed
that the institution of negro slavery
was q decaying institution, that would soon
disappear from the land. They felt its exist
ence as great material interest, which should
not be disturbed by present political action;
inherent within itself, decay and disappear. So
impressed were the men Of Virginia with these
ideas, that in 1888, when the Northwest Terri
tory was coded by that State to the Union,
they feared that the fertile bottom lands of the
Ohio, If opened to slave emigration, would add
another element Of decay to the institution in
Virginia, and by too rapidly drawing Off the
slaves, before q cooperating element could
grow up, diminish the value of land and pro-
perty in the Old Dominion. It was, therefore,
stipulated in setting off the great Northwest,
that no slave States should be made north of
the Ohio river.
The growth of time and the development
of material interest have produced change in
this, as well as in many other of the prevailing
opinions IN the popular mind. While the great
interest Of New England was navigation, the
people there were all believers in free trade.
Daniel Webster's earlier speeches are all in
favor of that policy. When they became manu-
featuring States they clamored for pro-
lection. Now that they are becoming
largely commercial, they are free ira
ders again. So, too, the Middle States
were for long time convinced of the necessi-
ty of national bank; but their. interests having
far outgrown the capacities of one institution,
the idea of national bank is an obsolete one.
A similar result has attended the growth of the
South. The institution of slavery, instead Of
decayhg, has advanced with gigantic strides.
In numbers it has increased from 100000 to
4,5OOOOO while in the value of its contribu-
tions to the supply Of the necessities Of the
civilized world, it far surpasses the contribu-
tons of any similar number Of population on
the face Of the globe.
1t is this practical development, this unan-
ticipated and prodigious vitality and growth,
that has produced tho great change in the
Southern sentiment in regard to slavery, and
which is now working even greater changes in
the opinions held by other communities re-
garding it Had the founders Of our empire
lived to witness the present state Of things, the
same cause would have worked change in
their philosophic views. They were practical
men. They knew, and acknowledged in every
act, that permanent government cannot be
founded on principles which actively violate
the great existing interests Of men. They acted
h. o%SOv %botv1