The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-07-25
MACAULAY,s PROPHECIES.
Bis Apprehension Of tho Future of tho
American Republic.
Richmond. Yd., Times.

Macaulay, on which vie have COM
mented in our editorial columns this
morning. It is taken from an appen-
dix to HTrcvelvan's Life and Letters
Of Lord Macaulay." The history of
how this letter came to be published
there is curious and interesting.
When the first edition of Trevelyan 8
book appeared, which was, we think,
in 1875, Colonel William H: Palmer,
of this city, who remembered the let
| ter when it was published in 1857,
was greatly struck with it (Mr. Ran
dali having let it get into the newspa-
pers of the day,) noticed that the book
| did not contain it. He mentioned
the fact to Mr.. John OFT, then Of this
city. now of Roanoke, who wrote to
Mr.. Treyelyan, and asked him why he
| did not print it. Mr.. Trevelyan re-
| plied that he had never beard OF it,
and asked Mr.. OFT to send it to him.
The only copy of it that Mr.. OFT could
find was in the possession of very
intense Northern Republican, who
was very averse to a republication of
it. Mr.. OFT finally succeeded in get
ting it from him, and sent it to MIR.
TreYelyan, who printed it as an ap-
pendix to the next edition of his work.
HOLLY LODGE KENs1NGToN,
LONDON, May %, 1857.
Dear Sir: The four volumes Of the
"Colonial History Of New York"
reached me safely. I assure you that
I shall value them highly. They con-
tain much to interest an English, as
we'll as an American reader. Pray
accept my thanks, and convey them
to the regents of the university.
You are surprised to learn that l
have not a high opinion Of Mr.. Jefer-
son, and I am surprised at your sur
prise. I am certain that | never
wrote a line, and that never, in Par
lament, in conversation, or even on
the hustings-a place where it is the
fashion to court the populace-uttered
a word indicating an opinion that the
supreme authority in State ought to
be intrusted to the majority of citi-
zens, told by the head p; in other
words, to the poorest and most igno-
rant part of society. Ihave long been
convinced that institutions purely
Democratic must, sooner or later, de-
stroy liberty or civilization, or both in
Europe, where the population is dense,
the effect of suoh institutions would
be almost instantaneous. What hap
pened lately in France is an example.
In 1848 pure Democracy was estab-
lished there. During short time
there was reason to expect general
spoliation, a national bankruptcy, a
new partition of the soil, maximum
Of prices, ruinous load Of taxation
laid on the rich for the purpose of
supporting thepoor in idleness. Such
situation would in twenty years have
made France as poor and barbarous as
the France of the Carlovingians:
Happily, the danger was ayerted, and
now there is despotism, a silent
tribune, an epslaved press. Liberty
is gone, but civilization has been
saved. I have not the smallest doubt
that if we had purely Democratic
government here the effect would be
the same. Either the poor would
plunder the rich, and civilization
would perish, or order and prosperity
would be saved by strong military
government and liberty would perish.
You may think that your country en-
joys an exemption from those evils. l
will frankly own to you that 1 am of a
| very different opinion. Your fate /
believe to be certain, though it is de-
ferred by physical cause. AS long
| as you have boundless extent Of fer
| tile and unoccupied land your labor
| ing population will be far more at ease
| than the laboring population of the
Old World, aud while that is the case,
| the Jefferson politics may continue to
| exist without causing any fatal calam-
ity. But the time will come when
New England will be as thickly popu-
lated as old England. Wages will be
| as low and will fuetuate as much with
| YOU as with us. You will have your
Manchesters and Birminghams, and in
those Manchesters and Birminghams
hundreds of thousands Of artisans will
| assuredly be sometimes out of work.
Then your institutions will be fairly
brought to the test. Distress every
| where makes the laborer mutinous
| and discontented, and inclines him to
| listen with eagerness to agitators who
tell him that it is monstrous inlqul-
|.ty that one man should have a million,
while another cannot get a full meal:
In bad years there is plenty OF
grumbling here, and sometimes lit
| tie rioting. But it matters little.
| For here the sufferers are not the rul-
| ers. The supreme power is in the
hands of class, numerous indeed,
but select; of an educated class; of a
| class which is, and knows itself to be,
deeply interested in the security of
order. Accordingly, the malcontents
are firmly, yet gently restrained.
The bad time is got over without rob-
bing the wealthy to relieve the indi-
| gent. The springs Of national pros
perity 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 such critical seasons as
have described.
Through such seasons the United
States will have to pass in the course
of the next century. if not in this.
How will you pass through them l
heartily wish you a good deliverancc.
But my reason and my wishes arc at
war, and I cannot help forebodipg the
| worst. It is quite plain that your
government will never be able to re-
strain a distressed and discontented
majority. For with you the majority
is the government, and has the rich,
who are always a minority, absolutely
at its mercy. The day will come
when in the State of New York null
titude of people, none Of whom has
| had more than half breakfast or ex-
poets to have more than half a dinner,
| will choose Legislature. Is it pos