Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-02-01

: very remarkable letters addressed by Lor,
Macauley to Henry S. Randall are published
The substance of one of these was printe,
years ago, but under circumstances that i'm
parted to it no especial interest Mr.. Randall
, sent Lord Macauley copy of his Life Of Je1
ferS0n, and this with some other casual litera
ny courtesies, led to the correspondence
Lord Macauley's views are from an Engsl
standpoint and any one who will peruse Mr.
/ Conways article on William Lovett, published
in the same number with these letters, vii
readily account for the eminent historians ap.
prehensions regarding our political future
, We quote two of Macauley's letters that seen
most fully to convey his meaning
HOLLY LODGE KENsINGroN,
LONDON, May %, 1857.
DEAR SIR,-The four volumes oil
the Colonial History of Ne,o YORK.
reached me safely. | assure you
shall value them highly. They con-
tain much to interest an Englishman
as well as an American reader. Pray
accept my thanks, and convey them
to the Regents of the University.
| You are surprised to learn that
have not high opinion of Mr.. Jeffer-
son, and | am surprised at your sur
prise. / am certain that never wrote
a line, and that never, in parliament,
in conversation, or even on the hust-
ings-a place where it is the fashion
to court the populace-uttered a word
indicating an opinion that the supreme
authority of state ought to be in
trusted to majority of the citizens
told by the head; in other words to
the poorest and most ignorant part of
society. l have long been convinced
that institutions purely democratic
must. sooner or later, destroy liberty
or civilization, or both. In Europe
where the population is dense, the eff
feet of such Institutions would be in
Simultaneous. What happened lately
in France is an example. In 1946
pure democracy was established there.
During short time there was reason
to expect a general spoliation, nation
al bankruptcy, a new partition of the
soil. maximum of the prices, ruin
Gus load of taxation laid on the rich
for the purpose of supporting the poor
in idleness. Such system would, in
twenty years, have made France as
poor and barbarous as the France OF
the Carlovingians. Happily the dan
ger was averted and now there is
despotism, a silent tribune. an en-
shaved press. Liberty is gone, but
civilization has been saved. | have
not the smallest doubt that, if we had
purely democratic government here,
the effect would be the same. Either
the poor would plumber the rich, and
civilization would perish, or ordar and
prosperity would be saved by strong
military government, and liberty
you'd y8aEia4 sYHpg may think that
from these evils. | will frankly own
to you that / am of a different opin-
ion. Your fate | believe to be cer-
tain, though it is deferred by physi-
cal cause. As long as you have
boundless extent of fertile and unoc-
cupied land, your laboring popula-
ton will be far more at ease than the
laboring population of the Old World,
and, while that is the case, the JEFF
ferson politics may continue to exist
without causing any fatal calamity.
| But the time will come when New
England will be as thickly peopled as
old England. Wages will be as low,
and will fiuctuate as much with you
as with US. You will have your Man
chesters and Brminghams hundreds
Of thousands of artisans will assuredly
be sometimes out of work. Then your
institutions will be fairly brought to
the test. Distress everywhere makes
the laborer mutinous and disconnected
and inclines him to listen with eager
ness to agitators who tell him that it
is monstrous iniquity that one man
should have million while another
cannot get full meal. In bad years
there is plenty of grumbling here, and
sometimes little rioting. But it mat.
tiers little. For here the sufferers are
not the rulers. The supreme power
is in the hands of a class, numerous
indeed, but select; of an educated
class; of class which is, and knows
itself to be, deeply interested in the
security of property and the mainte-
nance of order. Accordingly, the
mal-contents are firmly yet gently re-
strained. The bad time is got over
without robbing the wealthy to re.
lieve the INDECENT. The springs of
national prosperity soon begin to flow
again; work is plentiful, wages rise,
and all is tranquility and cheerfulness.
[ have seen England pass three or
four times through suoh critical
sons as | have described. Through
such scenes the United States will
have to pass in the course of the next
century, if not of this. How will you
pass through them? / heartily wish
YOU a good deliverance. But my rea-
son and my wishes are at war, and |
cannot help foreboding the worst. 1t
is quite plain that your government
will never be able to relieve a dis
tressed and disconnected majority,
for with you the majority is the gov
eminent, and has the rich who are al
ways a minority, absolutely at their
mercy. The day will come when in
the State of New York multitude OF
people, none Of whom has had half a
breakfast, or expect to have half a
dinner, will choose Legislature. Is
it possible to doubt what sort of a
Legislature will be chosen ? On one
side is a statesman preaching patience,
respect for vested rights, strict OBJ
servance of public faith. On the
other is q demagogue ranting about
the tyranny of the capitalists and usu-
ers, and asking why any body shonld
be permitted to drink champaign and
to ride in carriage while thousands
OF honest folks are in want of neces-
saries. Which Of the two candidates
are likely to be preferred by work
ing-ma who hears his children cry
! for bread ? | seriously apprehend that
you will, in some such season OF adj
varsity "a I have described. do things