The Burlington weekly hawk-eye., 1863-02-14
Pure peuaseracy and the Peculiar Inssi.

Pure Deunoeracy and the Peculiar Inssl.
f]iA ~ iAtF tuition. ~ -
r We have on former occasions endeavored to
prove, from an examination Of their character
istics and tendencies, that Slavery and Demo.
cracy were Incompatible We mean, OF course,
by the word Democracy" that form of popular
Government in which the people rule
by majorities. Slavery necessarily tends to ar
istocracy. 1t is essentially a selfish institution
1t must be 60 because Of its. elements. is
founded upon property Instead Of principle, and
must have ali the heartlessness which gold usu-
ally inspires II is governed by selfish interest,
and is utterly incapable of emotions Of disin,
ter erestedness On the other hand there never
yet was community which, as whole was not
generous Impulses often take possession oi
popular bodies, in which self-interest is h most
strangely ignored Liberty possesses marvel.
lous charms in their eyes, and qualities Of man
liness and native nobility, without reference to
rank Or origin, are e1tolled, while those traits
Of character and lines Of conduct which slavery
develops, sink into corresponding disrepute in
their estimation. Hence there must ever exist
an 'irrepressible conflict" between the masses
of any people, invested with full political pow
er, and the devotees of the peculiar institution.
The latter have not been SLOW 20 recognize
this fact, and have sought in everv conceivable
way to repress-t the euefgiesof the former. Here
has been the real secret of the origin of there
bellion. The great object has been to escape
the rule Of National Democracy, and substi-
tute that of q property. institution. 3,,.s
In this way the most honest as well AS the
most sagacious leaders Of toe South have long
talked. We might if we chose, furnish bund-
reds Of extracts from their writings and speech
es pointing in this direction, but the following
for the present will suffice. s.ss.aza ngssl+
oe On the Sd Of May, 1861, NJ R H. Garnett, Of
Virginia, wrote a letter 70 VIM. Il. Trescott, of
South Carolina, which Was captured not long
since among other papers on Barnw welrs Island,
BY Gen. Hunter. In it be says: s5 4Gsf5 .gt4,
81 must acknowledge, my dear sir, that
look to the future with almost a. much appre-
hension as hope You may we'll object to the
term Democrat. Democracy, in. its original
philosophical sense, is, indeed, incompatible
with slsvely and the whole system Of Southern
society" sW 5ao 7pe e s1olssa, kls
- The following is quoted from speech made
in the Vicksburg Secession Convention Of
1885, sdt ssss7sa.s o- asa. l5aa qtsas "a
p; while our population has advanced, there
has been no proportionste Advancement in the
number ofslaves. The widening West has made
demand of slaves upon the older States-the
older States have been compelled to yield to
such action. With every transportation there
was hireling labor ready to supply its place,
with hireling labor came the form and spirit Of
democracy. 1t made its way across the bor-
der-it overspread the States Of Delaware and
Msrylsnd-it extended in the States of Ken-
lucky, Missouri and Virginia it entered into
Southern cities--it glided into schools and pul.
pits-it crept about the halls Of legislation;
and 50 it is, that We are not alone in contest
with the North, which bears the banners of
democracy, but with the democracy itself
within the States, the cities and the institu-
tions Of the South The speaker assumed
that, if this democracy could not be got rid Of
'tbe separation from the North would merely
adjourn the contest'-that, 'as this Southern
democracy grapples slavery in its homes, and
on its hearthstones; slavery was like the Thra-
clan horse that bore its rider from the field, and
that escaping enemies abroad, it would be
forced to wage still more deadly contest with
its enemies at home"
Here is another testimony of the same sort {:
In an essay written by J. Quitman Moore, Of
Mississippi, and published in the Charleston
Mercury, and republished in DeBow's Review
in 1861, the author in revilement Of the demo-
cratic principle, says: ....
.sThose pes:ilent and pernicious dogmas-
the majority shall rule'-are, in their practi-
cal application, the frightful source of disor.
ders never to be quieted-philosophie the
most false, and passion the most Wild, des-
tructive and ungovernable. In America, says
the author, by reason ofthe operation of causes
wholly extraneous to the considerations Of
Government and society, the. republican. e1-
pertinent has been prolonged beyond recorded
precedent; but painful as the reflection must
be to all such IS subscribe to theiUtopian phi.
losophy, and have an abiding faith in the Ca
pacity Of man for enlightened self rule, it must
be confessed that the experiment of the demo-
cratic Republic Of America has failed The
author concludes, that the institution Of an
hereditary Senate and Executive is the politi-
cal form best suited to the genius and most e1.
pressive of the ideas of the South. By Fa