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diff --git a/2482.txt b/2482.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fd1725 --- /dev/null +++ b/2482.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1545 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of New York, by James Fenimore Cooper +#5 in our series by James Fenimore Cooper + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +New York + +by James Fenimore Cooper + + + + +{Text transcribed and annotated by Hugh MacDougall, Founder and +Secretary/Treasurer of the James Fenimore Cooper Society, who +will appreciate corrections and comments at jfcooper@wpe.com. All +material not from Cooper's text is enclosed in {curly} brackets. + +{Introductory Note: In 1851, just before his death on the eve of +his 62nd birthday, James Fenimore Cooper was working a history of +New York City, for which he planned the title of "The Towns of +Manhattan." Cooper never completed it, and most of the parts of +the manuscript that he did complete were destroyed in a fire at +the printers after his death. The Introduction to the work, +however, survived, and was published during the Civil War in "The +Spirit of the Age" (New York: April 5-15, 1864), a fund-raising +publication of the American Sanitary Commission (predecessor of +the American Red Cross). Substantial excerpts were reprinted, as +"James Fenimore Cooper on Secession and States Rights" in the +"Continental Monthly: Devoted to Literature and National Policy," +Vol. 6, No. 1 (July 1864), pp. 79-83. + +The "Spirit of the Age"text was much later reprinted in book form +under the title of "New York" (New York: William Farquhar Payson, +1930) in a limited edition of 750 copies, with an introduction by +Dixon Ryan Fox, and was later re-issued in facsimile form +(Folcroft: PA., Folcroft Library Editions, 1973) in a limited +edition of 100 copies -- from which this text is taken. + +{A few other surviving fragments from "The Towns of Manhattan" +were compiled in James F. Beard, Jr., "The First of Greater New +York: Unknown Portions of Fenimore Cooper's Last Work" (New York +Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. XXXVII, No. 2, pp. 109-45, +April 1953). + +{The text has been transcribed as written, except that because of +the limitations of the Gutenberg format, occasional words in +italics have been transcribed in ALL CAPITALS. Annotations +(identified by {curly} brackets, have been occasionally +added--identifying allusions, translating foreign terms, and +correcting a few obvious typographical errors. + +{Introduction from "The Spirit of the Fair" (April 5, 1864): + +{Unpublished MS. of James Fenimore Cooper. + +{Our national novelist died in the autumn of 1850 [sic]; previous +to his fatal illness he was engaged upon a historical work, to be +entitled "The Men [sic] of Manhattan," only the Introduction to +which had been sent to the press: the printing office was +destroyed by fire, and with it the opening chapters of this work; +fortunately a few pages had been set up, and the impression sent +to a literary gentleman, then editor of a popular critical +journal, and were thus saved from destruction: to him we are +indebted for the posthumous articles of Cooper, wherewith, by a +coincidence as remarkable as it is auspicious, we now enrich our +columns with a contribution from the American pioneer in letters. +In discussing the growth of New York and speculating on her +future destiny, the patriotic and sagacious author seems to have +anticipated the terrible crisis through which the nation is now +passing; there is a prescience in the views he expresses, which +is all the more impressive inasmuch as they are uttered by a +voice now silenced for ever. They have a solemn interest, and +were inspired by a genuine sympathy in the progress and +prosperity of the nation. It should be remembered that, when +these observations were written, the public mind had been and was +still highly excited by the "Compromise Measures"--the last vain +expedient to propitiate the traitors who have since filled the +land with the horrors of civil war.} + + + + +NEW YORK + +THE increase of the towns of Manhattan, as, for the sake of +convenience, we shall term New York and her adjuncts, in all that +contributes to the importance of a great commercial mart, renders +them one of the most remarkable places of the present age. Within +the distinct recollections of living men, they have grown from a +city of the fifth or sixth class to be near the head of all the +purely trading places of the known world. That there are +sufficient causes for this unparalleled prosperity, will appear +in the analysis of the natural advantages of the port, in its +position, security, accessories, and scale. + +The State of New York had been steadily advancing in population, +resources, and power, ever since the peace of 1785. At that time +it bore but a secondary rank among what were then considered the +great States of the Confederacy. Massachusetts, proper and +singly, then outnumbered us, while New England, collectively, +must have had some six or seven times our people. A very few +years of peace, however, brought material changes. In 1790, the +year in which the first census under the law of Congress was +taken, the State already contained 340,120 souls, while New +England had a few more than a million. It is worthy of remark +that, sixty years since, the entire State had but little more +than half of the population of the Manhattanese towns at the +present moment! Each succeeding census diminished these +proportions, until that of l830, when the return for the State of +New York gave 1,372,812, and for New England 1,954,709. At this +time, and for a considerable period preceding and succeeding it, +it was found that the proportion between the people of the State +of New York and the people of the city, was about as ten to one. +Between 1830 and 1840, the former had so far increased in numbers +as to possess as many people as ALL New England. In the next +decade, this proportion was exceeded; and the late returns show +that New York, singly, has passed ahead of all her enterprising +neighbors in that section of the Union. At the same time, the old +proportion between the State and the town--or, to be more +accurate, the TOWNS on the Bay of New York and its waters--has +been entirely lost, five to one being near the truth at the +present moment. It is easy to foresee that the time is not very +distant when two to one will be maintained with difficulty, as +between the State and its commercial capital. + +Bold as the foregoing prediction may seem, the facts of the last +half century will, we think, justify it. If the Manhattan towns, +or Manhattan, as we shall not scruple to term the several places +that compose the prosperous sisterhood at the mouth of the +Hudson--a name that is more ancient and better adapted to the +history, associations, and convenience of the place than any +other--continue to prosper as they have done, ere the close of +the present century they will take their station among the +capitals of the first rank. It may require a longer period to +collect the accessories of a first-class place, for these are the +products of time and cultivation; though the facilities of +intercourse, the spirit of the age, and the equalizing sentiment +that marks the civilization of the epoch, will greatly hasten +everything in the shape of improvement. + +New York will probably never possess any churches of an +architecture to attract attention for their magnitude and +magnificence. The policy of the country, which separates religion +from the state, precludes this, by confining all the expenditures +of this nature to the several parishes, few of which are rich +enough to do more than erect edifices of moderate dimensions and +cost. The Romish Church, so much addicted to addressing the +senses, manifests some desire to construct its cathedrals, but +they are necessarily confined to the limits and ornaments suited +to the resources of a branch of the church that, in this country, +is by no means affluent. The manner in which the Americans are +subdivided into sects also conflicts with any commendable desire +that may exist to build glorious temples in honor of the Deity: +and convenience is more consulted than taste, perhaps, in all +that relates to ecclesiastical architecture. Nevertheless, a +sensible improvement in this respect has occurred within the last +few years, to which we shall elsewhere advert. + +It will be in their trade, their resources, their activity, and +their influence on the rest of the world, as well as in their +population, that the towns of Manhattan will be first entitled to +rank with the larger capitals of Europe. So obvious, rapid, and +natural has been the advance of all the places, that it is not +easy for the mind to regard anything belonging to them as +extraordinary, or out of rule. There is not a port in the whole +country that is less indebted to art and the fostering hand of +Government than this. It is true, certain forts, most of them of +very doubtful necessity, have been constructed for defence; but +no attack having ever been contemplated, or, if contemplated, +attempted, they have been dead letters in the history of its +progress. We are not aware that Government has ever expended one +cent in the waters of Manhattan, except for the surveys, +construction of the aforesaid military works, and the erection of +the lighthouses, that form a part of the general provision for +the safe navigation of the entire coast. Some money has been +expended for the improvement of the shallow waters of the Hudson; +but it has been as much, or more, for the advantage of the upper +towns, and the trade coastwise, generally, than for the special +benefit of New York. + +The immense natural advantages of the bays and islands at the +mouth of the Hudson have, in a great degree, superseded the +necessity of such assistance. Nature has made every material +provision for a mart of the first importance: and perhaps it has +been fortunate that the towns have been left, like healthful and +vigorous children, managed by prudent parents, to take the +inclination and growth pointed out to them by this safest and +best of guides. + +London is indebted to artificial causes, in a great degree, for +its growth and power. That great law of trade, which renders +settling places indispensable, has contributed to her prosperity +and continued ascendency, long after the day when rival ports are +carrying away her fleets and commerce. She is a proof of the +difficulty of shaking a commercial superiority long established. +Scarce a cargo that enters the ports of the kingdom that does not +pay tribute to her bankers or merchants. But London is a +political capital, and that in a country where the representation +of the Government is more imposing, possessing greater influence, +than in any other Christian nation. The English aristocracy, +which wields the real authority of the state, here makes its +annual exhibition of luxury and wealth, such as the world has +never beheld anywhere else, ancient Rome possibly excepted, and +has had a large share in rendering London what it is. + +New York has none of this adventitious aid. Both of the +Governments, that of the United States and that of the State, +have long been taken from her, leaving her nothing of this sort +but her own local authorities. But representation forms no part +of the machinery of American policy. It is supposed that man is +too intellectual and philosophical to need it, in this +intellectual and philosophical country, PAR EXCELLENCE. Although +such is the theory, the whole struggle in private life is limited +to the impression made by representation in the hands of +individuals. That which the Government has improvidently cast +aside, society has seized upon: and hundreds who have no claim to +distinction beyond the possession of money, profit by the mistake +to place themselves in positions perhaps that they are not always +exactly qualified to fill. Of all social usurpations, that of +mere money is the least tolerable--as one may have a very full +purse with empty brains and vulgar tastes and habits. The wisdom +of thus throwing the control of a feature of society, that is of +much more moment than is commonly supposed, into the chapter of +commercial accidents may well he questioned + +Some crude attempts have been made to bring the circles of New +York within the control of a code prepared and promulgated +through the public press. They who have made these abortive +attempts have been little aware of the power with which they have +to contend. Napoleon himself, who could cause the conscription to +enter every man's dwelling, could not bring the coteries of the +Faubourg under his influence. In this respect, society will make +its own laws, appeal to its own opinions, and submit only to its +own edicts. Association is beyond the control of any regular and +peaceful government, resting on influences that seem, in a great +measure, to be founded in nature--the most inflexible of all +rulers. Tastes, conditions, connections, habits, and even +prejudices, unite to form a dynasty that never has yet been +dethroned. New York is nearer to a state of nature, probably, as +regards all its customs and associations, than any other +well-established place that could be named. With six hundred +thousand souls, collected from all parts of Christendom--with no +upper class recognized by, or in any manner connected with, the +institutions, it would seem that the circles might enact their +own laws, and the popular principle be brought to bear socially +on the usages of the town--referring fashion and opinion +altogether to a sort of popular will. The result is not exactly +what might be expected under the circumstances, the past being +intermingled with the present time, in spite of theories and +various opposing interests; and, in many instances, caprice is +found to be stronger than reason. + +{conscription = the military draft; the Faubourg = the +fashionable neighborhoods of Paris; the popular principle = +democracy} + +We have no desire to exaggerate, or to color beyond their claims, +the importance of the towns of Manhattan. No one can better +understand the vast chasm which still exists between London and +New York, and how much the latter has to achieve before she can +lay claim to be the counterpart of that metropolis of +Christendom. It is not so much our intention to dilate on +existing facts, as to offer a general picture, including the +past, the present, and the future, that may aid the mind in +forming something like a just estimate of the real importance and +probable destinies of this emporium of the New World. + +It is now just three-and-twenty years since, that, in another +work, we ventured to predict the great fortunes that were in +reserve for this American mart, giving some of the reasons that +then occurred to us that had a tendency to produce such a result. +These predictions drew down upon us sneers, not to say derision, +in certain quarters, where nothing that shadows forth the growing +power of this republic is ever received with favor. The +intervening period has more than fulfilled our expectations. In +this short interval, the population of the Manhattan towns has +more than trebled, while their wealth and importance have +probably increased in a greatly magnified proportion. Should the +next quarter of a century see this ratio in growth continued, +London would be very closely approached in its leading element of +superiority--numbers. We have little doubt that the present +century will bring about changes that will place the emporium of +the Old World and that of the New nearly on a level. This opinion +is given with a perfect knowledge of the vast increase of the +English capital itself, and with a due allowance for its +continuance. We propose, in the body of this work, to furnish the +reasons justifying these anticipations. + +{another work = James Fenimore Cooper, "Notions of the Americans: +Picked up by a Travelling Bachelor" (Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and +Carey, 1828)--a detailed description, in the guise of letters +written by a fictitious Belgian traveler, of the geography, +history, economy, government, and culture of the United States} + +Seventeen years since, the writer returned home from a long +residence in Europe, during which he had dwelt for years in many +of the largest towns of that quarter of the world. At a convivial +party in one of the most considerable dwellings in Broadway, the +conversation turned on the great improvements that had then been +made in the town, with sundry allusions that were intended to +draw out the opinions of a traveller on a subject that justly +ever has an interest with the Manhattanese. In that conversation +the writer--his memory impressed with the objects with which he +had been familiar in London and Paris, and Rome, Venice, Naples, +etc., and feeling how very provincial was the place where he was, +as well as its great need of change to raise it to the level of +European improvement--ventured to say that, in his opinion, +speaking of Broadway, "There was not a building in the whole +street, a few special cases excepted, that would probably be +standing thirty years hence." The writer has reason to know that +this opinion was deemed extravagant, and was regarded as a +consequence of European rather than of American reasoning. If the +same opinion were uttered to-day, it would meet with more +respect. Buildings now stand in Broadway that may go down to +another century, for they are on a level with the wants and +tastes of a capital; but none such, with a single exception, +existed at the time of which we are writing. + +{seventeen years since = Cooper had returned to New York in +November 1833, after a seven year sojourn in Europe} + +In these facts are to be found the explanation of the want of +ancient edifices in America. Two centuries and a half are no very +remote antiquity, but we should regard buildings of that, or even +of a much less age, with greater interest, did the country +possess them. But nothing was constructed a century since that +was worth preserving on account of its intrinsic merits; and, +before time can throw its interest around them, edifice after +edifice comes down, to make way for a successor better suited to +the wants and tastes of the age. In this respect New York is even +worse off than the other ancient places of the country--ancient +as things can be regarded in America--its great growth and +commercial spirit demanding sacrifices that Philadelphia and +Boston have as yet escaped. It is quite within the scope of +probable things, that, in a very few years, there should not be +standing in the old town a single structure of any sort, that was +there previously to the Revolution. As for the new towns, +Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, etc., they had no existence worth +alluding to anterior to the commencement of the present century. +If any dwelling is to be found within the limits of either, that +can claim a more remote origin, it is some farmhouse that has +been swallowed up by the modern improvements. + +That which is true of the towns, in this respect, is equally true +of the whole country. A dwelling that has stood half a century is +regarded as a sort of specimen of antiquity, and one that has +seen twice that number of years, of which a few are to be found, +especially among the descendants of the Dutch, is looked upon +with some such reverence as is felt by the modern traveller in +gazing at the tomb of Cecilia Metella, or the amphitheatre of +Verona. + +{tomb of Cecilia Metella = the most famous monument on the Appian +Way outside Rome, commemorating the wife of Crassus (d. 53 BC), +who as member of the First Triumvirate, joined with Caesar and +Pompey to end the Roman Republic; amphitheatre of Verona = built +by the Emperor Diocletian about 290 A.D. to stage gladiator +combats, it is one of the largest surviving Roman amphitheaters} + +The world has had a striking example of the potency of commerce +as opposed to that of even the sword, in the abortive policy of +Napoleon to exclude England from the trade of the Continent. At +the very moment that this potentate of unequalled means and iron +rule was doing all he could to achieve his object, the goods of +Manchester found their way into half of his dependent provinces, +and the Thames was crowded with shipping which belonged to states +that the emperor supposed to be under his control. + +{abortive policy = in the early years of the 19th century the +French Emperor Napoleon had sought, largely unsuccessfully, to +blockade England from trade with Europe} + +As to the notion of there arising any rival ports, south, to +compete with New York, it strikes us as a chimera. New Orleans +will always maintain a qualified competition with every place not +washed by the waters of the great valley; but New Orleans is +nothing but a local port, after all--of great wealth and +importance, beyond a doubt, but not the mart of America. + +New York is essentially national in interests, position, and +pursuits. No one thinks of the place as belonging to a particular +State, but to the United States. The revenue paid into the +treasury, at this point, comes in reality, from the pockets of +the whole country, and belongs to the whole country. The same is +true of her sales and their proceeds. Indeed, there is very +little political sympathy between the places at the mouth of the +Hudson, and the interior--the vulgar prejudice of envy, and the +jealousy of the power of collected capital, causing the country +to distrust the town. + +We are aware that the governing motive of commerce, all over the +world, is the love of gain. It differs from the love of gain in +its lower aspects, merely in its greater importance and its +greater activity. These cause it to be more engrossing among +merchants than among the tillers of the soil: still, facts prove +that this state of things has many relieving shades. The man who +is accustomed to deal in large sums is usually raised above the +more sordid vices of covetousness and avarice in detail. There +are rich misers, certainly, but they are exceptions. We do not +believe that the merchant is one tittle more mercenary than the +husbandman in his motives, while he is certainly much more +liberal of his gains. One deals in thousands, the other in tens +and twenties. It is seldom, however, that a failing market, or a +sterile season, drives the owner of the plough to desperation, +and his principles, if he have any, may be preserved; while the +losses or risks of an investment involving more than the merchant +really owns, suspend him for a time on the tenter-hooks of +commercial doubt. The man thus placed must have more than a +common share of integrity, to reason right when interest tempts +him to do wrong. + +Notwithstanding the generally fallacious character of the +governing motive of all commercial communities, there is much to +mitigate its selfishness. The habit of regarding the entire +country and its interests with a friendly eye, and of associating +themselves with its fortunes, liberalizes its mind and wishes, +and confers a catholic spirit that the capital of a mere province +does not possess. Boston, for instance, is leagued with Lowell, +and Lawrence, and Cambridge, and seldom acts collectively without +betraying its provincial mood; while New York receives her goods +and her boasted learning by large tran{s}shipments, without any +special consciousness of the transactions. This habit of +generalizing in interests encourages the catholic spirit +mentioned, and will account for the nationality of the great mart +of a great and much extended country. The feeling would be apt to +endure through many changes, and keep alive the connection of +commerce even after that of the political relations may have +ceased. New York, at this moment, contributes her full share to +the prosperity of London, though she owes no allegiance to St. +James. + +The American Union, however, has much more adhesiveness than is +commonly imagined. The diversity and complexity of its interests +form a network that will be found, like the web of the spider, to +possess a power of resistance far exceeding its gossamer +appearance--one strong enough to hold all that it was ever +intended to inclose. The slave interest is now making its final +effort for supremacy, and men are deceived by the throes of a +departing power. The institution of domestic slavery cannot last. +It is opposed to the spirit of the age; and the figments of Mr. +Calhoun, in affirming that the Territories belong to the States, +instead of the Government of the United States; and the +celebrated doctrine of the equilibrium, for which we look in vain +into the Constitution for a single sound argument to sustain it, +are merely the expiring efforts of a reasoning that cannot resist +the common sense of the nation. As it is healthful to exhaust all +such questions, let us turn aside a moment, to give a passing +glance at this very material subject. + +{Calhoun = Senator John C. Calhoun (1782-1850} of South Carolina} + +At the time when the Constitution was adopted, three classes of +persons were "held to service" in the country--apprentices, +redemptioners, and slaves. The two first classes were by no means +insignificant in 1789, and the redemptioners were rapidly +increasing in numbers. In that day, it looked as if this +speculative importation of laborers from Europe was to form a +material part of the domestic policy of the Northern States. Now +the negro is a human being, as well as an apprentice or a +redemptioner, though the Constitution does not consider him as +the equal of either. It is a great mistake to suppose that the +Constitution of the United States, as it now exists, recognizes +slavery in any manner whatever, unless it be to mark it as an +interest that has less than the common claim to the ordinary +rights of humanity. In the apportionment, or representation +clause, the redemptioner and the apprentice counts each as a man, +whereas five slaves are enumerated as only three free men. The +free black is counted as a man, in all particulars, and is +represented as such, but his fellow in slavery has only three +fifths of his political value. + +This is the celebrated clause in which the Constitution is said +to recognize slavery. To our view the clause is perfectly +immaterial in this sense, making the simple provision that so +long as a State shall choose to keep a portion of her people in +this subordinate condition, she shall enjoy only this limited +degree of representation. To us, it appears to be a concession +made to freedom, and not to slavery. There is no obligation, +unless self-imposed, to admit any but a minority of her whites to +the enjoyment of political power, aristocracy being, in truth, +more closely assimilated to republicanism than democracy. +Republicanism means the sovereignty of public THINGS instead of +that of PERSONS; or the representation of the COMMON interests, +in lieu of those of a monarch. There is no common principle of +popular sway recognized in the Constitution. In the government of +the several States monarchy is denounced, but democracy is +nowhere proclaimed or insisted on. Marked differences in the +degrees of popular control existed in the country in 1789; and +though time is lessening them, are still to be found among us. + +The close consideration of all these facts, we feel persuaded +will give a coloring to some of the most important interests of +the country, differing essentially from those that have been +loosely adopted in the conflicts of parties, and many heresies +appear to us to have crept into the political creed of the +Republic, purely from the struggles of faction. When men have a +specific and important purpose in view, it is but natural they +should bend most of its collateral connections to the support of +their own objects. We conceive that the Constitution has thus +been largely misinterpreted, and they who live at the epoch of +the renowned "equilibrium" and of the "rights of the people of +the Sovereign States," will have seen memorable examples of the +truth of this position. + +The first popular error, then, that we shall venture to assail, +is that connected with the prevalent notion of the sovereignty of +the States. We do not believe that the several States of this +Union are, in any legitimate meaning of the term, sovereign at +all. We are fully aware that this will be regarded as a bold, and +possibly as a presuming proposition, but we shall endeavor to +work it out with such means as we may have at command. + +We lay down the following premises as too indisputable to need +any arguments to sustain them: viz., the authority which formed +the present Constitution of the United States had the legal power +to do so. That authority was in the Government of the States, +respectively, and not in their people in the popular +signification, but through their people in the political meaning +of the term, and what was then done must be regarded as acts +connected with the composition and nature of governments, and of +no minor or different interests of human affairs. + +It being admitted, that the power which formed the government, +was legitimate, we obtain one of the purest compacts for the +organization of human society that probably ever existed. The +ancient allegiance, under which the Colonies had grown up to +importance, had been extinguished by solemn treaty, and the +States met in Convention, sustained by all the law they had and +backed in every instance by institutions that were more or less +popular. The history of the world cannot, probably, furnish +another instance of the settlement of the fundamental compact of +a great nation under circumstances of so much obvious justice. +This gives unusual solemnity and authority to the Constitution of +1787, and invests it with additional claims to our admiration and +respect. + +The authority which formed the Constitution admitted, we come +next to the examination of its acts. It is apparent from the +debates and proceedings of the Convention, that two opinions +existed in that body; the one leaning strongly toward the +concentration of power in the hands of the Federal Government, +and the other desirous of leaving as much as possible with the +respective States. The principle that the powers which are not +directly conceded to the Union should remain in first hands, +would seem never to have been denied; and some years after the +organization of the Government, it was solemnly recognized in an +amendment. We are not disposed, however, to look for arguments to +the debates and discussions of the Convention, in our view often +a deceptive and dangerous method of construing a law, since the +vote is very frequently given on even conflicting reasons. +Different minds arrive at the same results by different +processes; and it is no unusual thing for men to deny each +other's premises while they accept their conclusions. We shall +look, therefore, solely to the compact itself, as the most +certain mode of ascertaining what was done. + +No one will deny that all the great powers of sovereignty are +directly conceded to the Union. The right to make war and peace, +to coin money, maintain armies and navies, &c., &c., in +themselves overshadow most of the sovereignty of the States. The +amendatory clause would seem to annihilate it. By the provisions +of that clause three fourths of the States can take away all the +powers and rights now resting in the hands of the respective +States, with a single exception. This exception gives breadth and +emphasis to the efficiency of the clause. It will be remembered +that all this can be done within the present Constitution. It is +a part of the original bargain. Thus, New York can legally be +deprived of the authority to punish for theft, to lay out +highways, to incorporate banks, and all the ordinary interests +over which she at present exercises control, every human being +within her limits dissenting. Now as sovereignty means power in +the last resort, this amendatory clause most clearly deprives the +State of all sovereign power thus put at the disposition of +Conventions of the several States; in fact, the votes of these +Conventions, or that of the respective legislatures acting in the +same capacity, is nothing but the highest species of legislation +known to the country; and no other mode of altering the +institutions would be legal. It follows unavoidably, we repeat, +that the sovereignty which remains in the several States must be +looked for solely in the exception. What then is this exception? + +It is a provision which says, that no State may be deprived of +its equal representation in the Senate, without its own consent. +It might well be questioned whether this provision of the +Constitution renders a Senate indispensable to the Government. +But we are willing to concede this point and admit that it does. +Can the vote of a single State, which is one of a body of thirty, +and which is bound to submit to the decision of a legal majority, +be deemed a sovereign vote? Assuming that the whole power of the +Government of the United States were in the Senate, would any one +State be sovereign in such a condition of things? We think not. +But the Senate does not constitute by any means the whole or the +half of the authority of this Government; its legislative power +is divided with a popular body, without the concurrence of which +it can do nothing; this dilutes the sovereignty to a degree that +renders it very imperceptible, if not very absurd. Nor is this +all. After a law is passed by the concurrence of the two houses +of Congress it is sent to a perfectly independent tribunal to +decide whether it is in conformity with the principles of the +great national compact; thus demonstrating, as we assume, that +the sovereignty of this whole country rests, not in its people, +not in its States, but in the Government of the Union. + +Sovereignty, and that of the most absolute character, is +indispensable to the right of secession: Nay, sovereignty, in the +ordinary acceptation of the meaning of the term, might exist in a +State without this right of secession. We doubt if it would be +held sound doctrine to maintain that any single State had a right +to secede from the German Confederation, for instance; and many +alliances, or mere treaties, are held to be sacred and +indissoluble; they are only broken by an appeal to violence. + +Every human contract may be said to possess its distinctive +character. Thus, marriage is to be distinguished from a +partnership in trade, without recurrence to any particular form +of words. Marriage, contracted by any ceremony whatever, is held +to be a contract for life. The same is true of governments: in +their nature they are intended to be indissoluble. We doubt if +there be an instance on record of a government that ever existed, +under conditions, expressed or implied, that the parts of its +territory might separate at will. There are so many controlling +and obvious reasons why such a privilege should not remain in the +hands of sections or districts, that it is unnecessary to advert +to them. But after a country has rounded its territory, +constructed its lines of defence, established its system of +custom-houses, and made all the other provisions for security, +convenience, and concentration, that are necessary to the affairs +of a great nation, it would seem to be very presumptuous to +impute to any particular district the right to destroy or +mutilate a system regulated with so much care. + +The only manner in which the right of secession could exist in +one of the American States, would be by an express reservation to +that effect, in the Constitution. There is no such clause; did it +exist it would change the whole character of the Government, +rendering it a mere alliance, instead of being that which it now +is--a lasting Union. But, whatever may be the legal principles +connected with this serious subject, there always exists, in +large bodies of men, a power to change their institutions by +means of the strong hand. This is termed the right of revolution, +and it has often been appealed to to redress grievances that +could be removed by no other agency. It is undeniable that the +institution of domestic slavery as it now exists in what are +termed the Southern and South-Western States of this country, +creates an interest of the most delicate and sensitive character. +Nearly one half of the entire property of the slave-holding +States consists in this right to the services of human beings of +a race so different from our own as to render any amalgamation to +the last degree improbable, if not impossible. Any one may easily +estimate the deep interest that the masters feel in the +preservation of their property. The spirit of the age is +decidedly against them, and of this they must be sensible; it +doubly augments their anxiety for the future. The natural +increase, moreover, of these human chattels renders an outlet +indispensable, or they will soon cease to be profitable by the +excess of their numbers. To these facts we owe the figments which +have rendered the Southern school of logicians a little +presuming, perhaps, and certainly very sophistical. Among other +theories we find the bold one, that the Territories of the United +States are the property, not of the several States, but of their +individual people; in other words, that the native of New York or +Rhode Island, regardless of the laws of the country, has a right +to remove to any one of these Territories, carry with him just +such property as he may see fit, and make such use of it as he +may find convenient. This is a novel co-partnership in +jurisdiction, to say the least, and really does not seem worthy +of a serious reply. + +The territory of the United States is strictly subject to the +Government. The only clause in the Constitution which refers to +this interest conveys that meaning. But, were the instrument +silent, the power would remain the same. Sovereignty of this +nature is not determined by municipal law, but by the law of +nations. Thus, for instance, the right to make war, which is +inherent in every state of FOREIGN RELATIONS, infers the right to +secure its conquests; and that clause of the Constitution which +declares that the war-making power shall abide in Congress, says, +at the same time, by an unavoidable implication, that the +national legislature shall have all authority to control the +consequences of this war. It may dispose of its prisoners and its +conquests according to its own views of policy and justice, +subject only to the great principles that modern civilization has +introduced into public concerns. + +One can understand why a different theory is in favor at the +South. It would be very convenient, no doubt, to the slaveholder +to be permitted to transfer his slaves to the gold diggings, and +gather the precious metal in lieu of a crop of cotton. But this, +the policy of the whole country forbids. Congress has very justly +left the decision of this very important matter to the people of +California itself; and they have almost unanimously raised their +voices against the measure. This, after all, is the really sore +point in controversy between the South and the North. The +fugitive slave has been, and will be given up to the legal claims +of his master; and, in a vast majority of the people of the +North, there is no disposition to disturb the legislative +compromise that has been made of this matter. It is true that the +North still owes the South a great deal more, though it may be +questioned if the machinations of demagogues and the ravings of +fanaticism will permit it to discharge the obligation. Penal laws +should be passed, punishing those who meddle with this grave +interest out of the limits of the State in which the parties +reside; and energy should be shown in rendering such an act of +justice effective and sure. Good-neighborhood, alone, would exact +some such provision from every well-disposed community, and there +cannot be a doubt that good policy coincides. The abolitionists, +beyond a dispute, have only had a tendency to rivet the fetters +of the slave, and to destroy the peace of the country. +Emancipation has not been extended a single foot by any of their +projects; while the whole South has been thrown into an attitude +of hostile defiance, not only towards these misguided persons, +but to their innocent and disgusted fellow-citizens. There might +be a hope that the well-intentioned portion of these people, and +it is both numerous and respectable, could be induced to adopt a +wiser mode of procedure, were it not that dissolute politicians, +who care only for the success of parties, and who make a +stalking-horse of philanthropy, as they would of religion or +patriotism, or any other extended feeling that happened to come +within their influence, interpose their sinister schemes to keep +agitation alive for their benefit. This, then, is the actual +state of things, as between the North and the South; and we will +take a hasty view of its probable consequences on the growth and +commerce of the towns at the mouth of the Hudson. + +{California = California, newly conquered from Mexico and where +gold had been discovered in 1848, had in 1849 adopted a +Constitution banning slavery, at the same time that it applied +for admission to the Union as a free State; it was admitted in +1850 as part of the so-called Compromise of 1850, which included +the Fugitive Slave Act empowering the Federal Government to seize +and return slaves fleeing from slave to free States} + +It is undeniable that any serious derangement of the political +institutions of the country, would produce a very injurious +effect on its prosperity generally; and perhaps in its immediate +influence, primarily on its commerce. But the first reverses of +such a calamity overcome, we do not see reason for believing that +the well-established principle, that trade will make its own +laws, should not apply to these towns as well as to any other +place known in the history of the world. New York, as has already +been intimated, at this moment contributes quite as much to the +prosperity of London, as it would probably have done had the +political connection between England and her colonies never been +severed. Making allowances for the greater prosperity induced by +the political independence of America, it is not improbable that +she even contributes more. Society and trade enact their own +laws. The first is found to be mainly independent of the +influence of political power, and the same, with certain +qualifications, may be said to be equally true of the last. + +But we see little to apprehend from this source of danger. If the +slave-holding interest would be rendered really more secure by +separation or secession, then, indeed, such a result might be +looked for with some degree of confidence. But it is very certain +that the measure would lead to an escape of most of the slaves +near the northern frontiers of the Southern Confederacy, as well +as of a vast number of those who live at a greater distance from +what would probably be the dividing line. The North has been +aroused to the necessity of being just, and of adhering to the +conditions of the Constitution; and the recent measures of the +country go to prove there is no real disposition, in the masses, +to do otherwise. The attachment to the Union is very strong and +general throughout the whole of this vast country, and it is only +necessary to sound the tocsin to bring to its maintenance a +phalanx equal to uphold its standard against the assaults of any +enemies. The impossibility of the North-western States consenting +that the mouth of the Mississippi should be held by a foreign +power, is in itself a guaranty of the long existence of the +present political ties. Then, the increasing and overshadowing +power of the nation is of a character so vast, so exciting, so +attractive, so well adapted to carry with it popular impulses, +that men become proud of the name of American, and feel unwilling +to throw away the distinction for any of the minor considerations +of local policy. Every man sees and feels that a state is rapidly +advancing to maturity which must reduce the pretensions of even +ancient Rome to supremacy, to a secondary place in the estimation +of mankind. A century will unquestionably place the United States +of America prominently at the head of civilized nations, unless +their people throw away their advantages by their own +mistakes--the only real danger they have to apprehend: and the +mind clings to this hope with a buoyancy and fondness that are +becoming profoundly national. We have a thousand weaknesses, and +make many blunders, beyond a doubt, as a people; but where shall +we turn to find a parallel to our progress, our energy, and +increasing power? That which it has required centuries, in other +regions, to effect, is here accomplished in a single life; and +the student in history finds the results of all his studies +crowded as it might be into the incidents of the day. + +A great deal that has been done among us of late, doubtless +remains to be undone; but we are accustomed to changes of this +nature, and they do not seem to be accompanied by the same danger +here as elsewhere. The people have yet to discover that the +seeming throes of liberty are nothing but the breath of their +masters, the demagogues; and that at the very moment when they +are made to appear to have the greatest influence on public +affairs, they really exercise the least. Here, in our view, is +the great danger to the country--which is governed, in fact, not +by its people, as is pretended, but by factions that are +themselves controlled most absolutely by the machinations of the +designing. A hundred thousand electors, under the present system +of caucuses and conventions, are just as much wielded by command +as a hundred thousand soldiers in the field; and the wire-pullers +behind the scenes can as securely anticipate the obedience of +their agents, as the members of the bureaux in any cabinet in +Europe can look with confidence to the compliance of their +subordinates. Party is the most potent despot of the times. Its +very irresponsibility gives it an energy and weight that +overshadows the regular action of government. And thus it is, +that we hear men, in their places in the national legislature, +boasting of their allegiance to its interests and mandates, +instead of referring their duties to the country. + +All large commercial towns are, in their nature, national in +feeling. The diversity and magnitude of their interests are +certain to keep them so; and, as we have already said, New York +forms no exception to the rule. She belongs already more to the +country than she does to the State, and every day has a tendency +to increase this catholic disposition among the votaries of +commerce. + +That some extravagant notions, in which interest has thrown its +mists before the reason of our people, exist, is, we think +undeniable; and we concede that the two recently promulgated +figments of the equilibrium and the rights of persons over the +property and Territory of the United States have a character of +feebleness and obvious delusion that would excite our wonder, did +we not have so many occasions to observe and comment on the +frailty of human judgment when warped by motives of this nature. +To us it would seem, that the people of any particular State have +just the same claim to use the ships of war, and forts, and +public buildings of the United States, as they have, unpermitted +by the sovereign power, to occupy any of its lands. That which is +the property of the public is no more the property of +individuals, in law or reason, than the estate of any one man is +the estate of his neighbor. Carry out the doctrine in spirit, and +it would lead to general confusion, and a state of things so +impracticable as to disorganize society. If the people are thus +intrinsically masters and owners of all around them, why are they +not the proprietors of the banks and other corporations created +by themselves? They made the government, if you will, though in a +very limited capacity; and they made these corporations, much +more directly and unequivocally; and, admitting the truth of this +copartnership principle, in which every man is so far a member of +the firm that he may take his share of the assets, we cannot see +that he is not equally entitled to lay his hands on all the other +progeny of the popular will. In a word, the doctrine would seem +to be not only weak, but absurd; and we find a difficulty in +believing that any cool-headed and reflecting man can feel the +necessity for refuting it. + +{just the same claim = Cooper is again ridiculing John C. +Calhoun's assertion that, because the new Territories of the West +acquired from Mexico belonged to the people rather than the +Federal Government, Southerners had an inherent right to bring +and keep their slaves in them regardless of Federal law} + +But other dangers undeniably beset the country, that have no +connection with this question of Slavery. However repugnant it +may be to the pride of human nature, or the favorite doctrines of +the day, there can be little question that the greatest sources +of apprehension of future evil to the people of this country, are +to be looked for in the abuses which have their origin in the +infirmities and characteristics of human nature. In a word, the +people have great cause to distrust themselves; and the numerous +and serious innovations they are making on all sides, on not only +the most venerable principles in favor with men, but on the +divine law, must cause every reflecting man to forbode a state of +things, far more serious than even that which would arise from a +separation of the States into isolated parts. + +The particular form in which this imminent danger is now, for the +first time seriously since the establishment of the Government, +beginning to exhibit itself, is through the combinations of the +designing to obtain a mercenary corps of voters, insignificant as +to numbers, but formidable by their union, to hold the balance of +power, and to effect their purposes by practising on the wilful, +blind, wayward, and, we might almost add, fatal obstinacy of the +two great political parties of the country. Here, in our view, is +the danger that the nation has most to apprehend. The result is +as plain as it is lamentable. In effect, it throws the political +power of the entire Republic into the hands of the intriguer, the +demagogue, and the knave. Honest men are not practised on by such +combinations; but, with a fatality that would seem to be the very +sport of demons, there they stand, drawn up in formidable array, +in nearly equal lines of open and deriding hostility, leading +those who no longer conceive it necessary to even affect the +semblance of respect to many of the plainest and most important +of the principles of social integrity that have ever been +received among men. + +Anyone familiar with the condition of Europe must know, that +under the pressure of society in that quarter of the world, and +toward which we are fast tending by a rapid accumulation of +numbers, the present institutions of America, exercised under the +prevalent opinions of the day, could not endure a twelvemonth. +That which is now seen in France rendering real political liberty +a mere stalking-horse for the furtherance of the projects of the +boldest adventurers, would inevitably be seen here; the bayonet +alone would be relied on for the preservation of the nearest and +dearest of human rights. There could and would be no other +security for the peace of society, and that circle of power +which, rising in the masses, ends in the sceptre of the single +despot, would once more be made as it might be in derision of all +our efforts to be free. + +{now seen in France = following the French Revolution of 1848 +Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1808-1873), nephew of the first Emperor +Napoleon, had been elected as President of France and was +consolidating his power--in December 1851, shortly after Cooper's +death, he would proclaim himself Emperor Napoleon III} + +If the existence of nations resembled that of individuals, it +would not be difficult to foretell the consequences of this state +of things; but communities may be said to have no lives, and are +ever to be found occupying their places, and using the means +assigned to them by Providence, whether free or enslaved, +prosperous or the reverse. No one can foretell the future of this +great country, in consequence of the extent and number of its +outlets, each a provision of Providence to put a check on +revolutions and violence. + +The elements of a monarchy do not exist among us; the habits of +the entire country are opposed to the reception of such a form of +government. Nor do we know, bad as our condition is rapidly +getting to be, strong as are the tendencies to social +dissolution, and to the abuses which demand force to subdue, that +anything would be gained by the adoption of any substitute for +the present polity of the country to be found in Europe. The +abuses there are possibly worse than our own, and the only +question would seem to be as to the degree of suffering and wrong +to which men are compelled to submit through the infirmities of +their own nature. There is one great advantage in the monarchical +principle, when subdued by liberal institutions, as in the case +of the government of that nation from which we are derived, which +it would seem a republic cannot possess. We allude to the +transmission of a nominal executive power that spares the +turmoil, expense, and struggles of an election, and which answers +all the purposes of the real authorities of the State in +designating those who are to exercise the functions of rulers for +the time being. It has often been predicted that the periodical +elections of the chief magistrate of this country will, at no +distant day, destroy the institutions. It would be idle to deny +that the danger manifestly increases with the expedients of +factions; and that there are very grave grounds for apprehending +the worst consequences from this source of evil. As it now is, +the working of the system has already produced a total departure +from the original intention of the Government; a scheme, +probably, that was radically defective when adopted, and which +contained the seeds of its own ruin. Recourse to electors has +become an idle form, ponderous and awkward, and in some of its +features uselessly hazardous. We are in the habit of comparing +the cost of government in this country with that of other nations +in the Old World. Beyond a question, the Americans enjoy great +advantages in this important particular, owing to their exemption +from sources of expenses that weigh so heavily on those who rely +for the peace of society solely on the strong hand. But confining +the investigation simply to the cost of Executives it may well be +questioned if we have not adopted the most expensive mode at +present known among civilized nations. We entertain very little +doubt that the cost of a presidential election fully equals the +expenditures of the empire of Great Britain, liberal as they are +known to be, for the maintenance of the dignity of its chief +magistracy. Nor is this the worst of it; for while much of the +civil list of a monarch is usefully employed in cherishing the +arts, and in fostering industry, to say nothing of its boons to +the dependent and meritorious in the shape of pensions, not a +dollar of the millions that are wasted every fourth year among +ourselves in the struggles of parties, can be said to be applied +to a purpose that has not a greater tendency to evil than to +good. The simple publication of documents, perhaps, may form some +exception to these abuses; but even they are so much filled with +falsehoods, fallacies, audacious historical misstatements, +exaggerations, and every other abuse, naturally connected with +such struggles, that we are compelled to yield them our respect +and credulity with large allowances for caution and truth. Were +this the place, and did our limits permit, we would gladly pursue +this subject; for so completely has the hurrah of popular sway +looked down everything like real freedom in the discussion of +such a topic as to render the voice of dissent almost unknown to +us. But our purpose is merely to show what probable effects are +to flow from the abuses of the institutions on the growth of the +great commercial mart of which we are writing. + +{recourse to electors = the Electoral College} + +We certainly think that even the looseness of law, legislation, +and justice, that is so widely spreading itself over the land, is +not exactly unsuited to sustain the rapid settlement of a +country. No doubt men accomplish more in the earlier stages of +society when perfectly unfettered, than when brought under the +control of those principles and regulations which alone can +render society permanently secure or happy. In this sense even +the abuses to which we have slightly alluded may be tolerated, +which it would be impossible to endure when the class of the +needy become formidable from its numbers, and they who had no +other stake in society than their naked assistance, could combine +to transfer the fruits of the labors of the more industrious and +successful to themselves by a simple recurrence to the use of the +ballot box. We do not say that such is to be the fate of this +country, for the great results that seem to be dependent on its +settlement raise a hope that the hand of Providence may yet guide +us in safety through the period of delusion, and the reign of +political fallacies, which is fast drawing around us. Evil is so +much mixed with good in all the interests of life, that it would +be bold to pretend to predict consequences of such magnitude in +the history of any nation. But we feel persuaded that radical +changes must speedily come, either from the powerful but +invisible control of that Being who effects his own purposes in +his own wise ways, or the time is much nearer than is ordinarily +supposed when the very existence of the political institutions of +this country are to be brought to the test of the severest +practical experiment. The downward tendency can hardly proceed +much further with the smallest necessary security to the rights +of civilized men. When a legislative body can be brought solemnly +to decide by its vote that because the principles of law leave +them the control of the rules for the descent of property, +therefore, whenever a landlord may happen to die, his tenant +shall have the privilege of converting his leasehold estate into +a fee on which the debt is secured in the shape of mortgage, +there is little left in the way of security to the affluent and +unrepresented. They must unite their means to prevent +destruction; and woe to that land which gives so plausible an +excuse to the rich and intelligent for combining their means to +overturn the liberties of a nation, as is to be found in abuses +like those just named. We very well know that the idea is +prevalent among us of the irresistible power of popular sway; but +he has lived in vain who has seen the course of events in other +nations for the last half century, and has not made the discovery +that men in political matters become the servants of money as +certainly and almost as actively as the spirits of the lamp were +made to do the bidding of Aladdin. To us, it would seem that the +future of this country holds out but three possible solutions of +the tendencies of the present time--viz. the bayonet, a return to +the true principles of the original government, or the sway of +money. For the first it may be too soon; the pressure of society +is scarcely sufficient to elevate a successful soldier to the +height of despotism, though the ladder has been raised more than +once against the citadel of the Constitution by adventurers of +this character, through the folly and heedless impulses of the +masses. Fifty years hence, and a condition of society will +probably exist among us that would effectually have carried out +the principle of despotic rule which is beginning to show itself +in the bud amongst us, and which is nothing more than the +shadowing out of coming events. + +{legislative body can be brought = the New York State legislature +had enacted laws giving certain tenant farmers the right to +purchase the land they occupied, thus ending one of the causes of +the so-called "anti-rent wars" of the 1840s in upstate New York} + +Notwithstanding all these obvious tendencies and the manifest +dangers that beset the real liberties of the country, we do not +see that any material influence will be brought by them to bear +upon the fortunes and ascendancy of the particular place of which +we are writing. Even political despotism in this age would +necessarily respect the ordinary rights of commerce, and quite +probably the greater security that would be given to property, +the increased dignity and authority of the courts of justice, and +the visible control of a vigilant and efficient government might +rather have a tendency to build up than to check the progress of +the capital of any country. + +Civil war, in our view, can alone produce any material checks to +the prosperity of these towns of Manhattan. Against the malign +influence of so great a source of evil no one can with discretion +venture to predict the consequences. But we do not think that it +enters into the spirit of the true American character, so +remarkable for its mildness and disposition to mercy, in carrying +out the powers of government, to permit such a struggle as would +be likely to produce long-continued, or very withering local +distress. Compromises in some form or other would be resorted to, +to restore the course of the commerce of the country; and +although it might be, and probably would be, that this could only +be accomplished in the midst of the triumph of disorder, +irresponsibility, and the derangement of most that is necessary +to permanent security and quiet, a set of laws would arise for +the control of the affairs of the towns that would exercise their +sway, without any appeal to regularly constituted authority, +beyond that of the law of necessity. At this very moment, when we +have all the machinery of an efficient government around us, and +one has a right to look to the courts for the protection of his +rights, a thousand dollars of debt are secured and paid in a +place like that of New York, by the sole influence of commercial +opinion, where one dollar is secured and paid by the process of +law. Trade issues its own edicts, and they are ordinarily found +to be too powerful for resistance, wherever there are the +concentrated means of rendering them formidable by the magnitude +of the interests they control. + +We see, then, nothing in the future that is very likely seriously +to disturb the continued growth and increasing ascendancy of the +great mart of the country. A trading people will pursue its +interests under any conceivable or tolerable condition of things. +It would require a generation or two, indeed, to obliterate, or +even sensibly to diminish the habits and opinions now in +existence among the people; and it must ever be remembered that +society pursues its regular course more or less successfully, +according to circumstances, even in the midst of revolution, war, +and rapine. A battle is fought to-day, and a month hence it +becomes difficult to discover its traces, over which the p{l}ough +has already passed, and among which the husbandman is resuming +his toil, as he replaces his fences, and clears away his fallen +trees after the passage of the whirlwind. It follows from these +views, and this course of reasoning, which might be greatly +extended and much more satisfactorily developed, that political +changes have less direct influence on the ordinary march of +society than is commonly supposed. The spirit of the age is and +must be respected by rulers of every shade of character; and the +fourth estate, as opinion is commonly termed, enters largely into +the ordinary action of every form of government or combination of +social organization that the accidents of history have produced, +or the sagacity and wants of men have more ambitiously paraded +before the eyes of their fellow creatures. When we couple with +these facts the certainty that there are undercurrents which +enable ordinary society, trade, and all the other active and +daily recurring interests of life, to manage their own affairs +more or less in their own way, it is not easy to foresee any +material consequences to the progress of a place like this at the +mouth of the Hudson, that can trace their rise to the future +course of political events in the country. We do not anticipate +any apparent dissolution of the ordinary ties of society, for we +know that nations will bear burdens of this nature for a long +period of time, without struggling or making the effort necessary +to remove them; and that it is only when they are felt to be +intolerable to the great body of the people that one may +confidently hope for redress and reformation. Petty wrongs are +never repaired by the masses; they sometimes vindicate their +rights by means of the strong arm, when seriously required to do +so, but in general the wrong is endured, and the victim immolated +without awakening attention or leaving any regrets among those +who escape its immediate consequences. + +It has long been a subject of investigation among moralists, +whether the existence of towns like those of London, Paris, New +York, &c., is or is not favorable to the development of the +better qualities of the human character. As for ourselves, we do +not believe any more in the superior innocence and virtue of a +rural population than in that of the largest capitals, perfectly +conscious of the appalling accumulation of vice, and sin, and +crime that is to be found in such places as London and Paris, and +even in New York. We cannot shut our eyes to the numberless evils +of the same general character of disobedience to the law of God, +that are to be found even in the forest and the most secluded +dales of the country. If there be incentives to wrong-doing in +the crowded population of a capital town, there are many +incentives to refinement, public virtue, and even piety, that are +not to be met with elsewhere. In this respect we apprehend that +good and evil are more nearly balanced among us than is commonly +supposed; and we doubt if it were possible to render the laws a +dead letter in the streets of New York, as has been done around +the bell of the Capitol at Albany, and strictly among its rural +population, directly beneath the eyes of the highest authority of +the State. The danger to valuable and movable property would be +too imminent, and those who felt an interest in its preservation +would not fail to rally in its defence. It is precisely on this +principle that in the end property will protect itself as against +the popular inroads which are inevitable, should the present +tendencies receive no check. Calm, disinterested, and judicious +legislation is a thing not to be hoped for. It never occurs in +any state of society except under the pressure of great events; +and this for the very simple reason that men, acting in factions, +are never calm, judicious, or disinterested. + +{around the bell of the Capitol = Cooper is alluding to the +public ferment in upstate New York, during the "anti-rent wars" +of the 1840s, resulting in laws infringing, in Cooper's view, on +the legal contractual and property rights of landowners} + +Nevertheless, the community will live on, suffer, and be deluded: +it may even fancy itself almost within reach of perfection, but +it will live on to be disappointed. There is no such thing on +earth, and the only real question for the American statesman is +to measure the results of different defective systems for the +government of the human race. We are far from saying that our +own, with all its flagrant and obvious defects, will be the +worst, more especially when considered solely in connection with +whole numbers; though we cannot deny, nor do we wish to conceal, +the bitterness of the wrongs that are so frequently inflicted by +the many on the few. This is, perhaps, the worst species of +tyranny. He who suffers under the arbitrary power of a single +despot, or by the selfish exactions of a privileged few, is +certain to be sustained by the sympathies of the masses. But he +who is crushed by the masses themselves, must look beyond the +limits of his earthly being for consolation and support. The +wrongs committed by democracies are of the most cruel character; +and though wanting in that apparent violence and sternness that +marks the course of law in the hands of narrower governments, for +it has no need of this severity, they carry with them in their +course all the feelings that render injustice and oppression +intolerable. + +We think that the towns of America, generally, will suffer less +from these popular abuses than the rural districts. As has been +already said, associated wealth will take care of itself. It may +make, and probably will make, in the earlier stages of these +political changes, some capital mistakes; and there cannot be a +question that in the rapacity of private efforts to accumulate, +some of the most obvious and natural expedients of protection +will be overlooked, until the neglect compels recourse possibly +even to the use of the strong hand. Still property will +eventually protect itself. For, in an age like this, when even +the bayonet must be carried ordinarily in its sheath, and when +men get to be accustomed from infancy to the inbred recognition +of many of the most important principles of government, society +starts, as it might be, far in advance of the point which it +reached in the ages of pure military and arbitrary sway. The +celebrated saying of Napoleon, "L'Europe sera, dans cinquante +ans, ou republicaine ou cossaque," has a profound signification; +yet it must be greatly qualified to be received with safety. The +"cossaque" of the close of the nineteenth century will be a very +different thing from the "cossaque" of the days of Paul. It now +means little more than conservatism, and this, too, a +conservatism that is not absolutely without that principle of +concession to the spirits and wants of the passing moment. These +quarrels and bitter conflicts of which we hear so much in the Old +World, like some of our own, have their rise in abstractions +quite as much as in actual oppression; and the alternative +offered by change half the time amounts to but little more than +the substitution of King Stork for King Log. It may not be +agreeable to the pride, recollections, and national traditions of +the Hungarian, or the Italian, to submit to the sway of a German; +but it may well be questioned if the substitutes they would offer +for the present form of government would greatly tend to the +amelioration of the respective people. + +{L'Europe sera.... = Europe will, in fifty years, be either +republican or cossack [French]; Paul = Paul I, Tsar of Russia +from 1796 to 1801; King Stork for King Log = from Aesop's Fables} + +What is true in the Old World will, in the end, be found to be +true here. To us, it would seem that the portion of the people of +this country, whom we should term the disinterested, or those who +have no direct connection with slavery, on the one hand, or with +fanaticism, and its handmaid demagogism, on the other, should +turn their attention solely to the achievement of a single +object. They have the strength to do it, if they only had the +will. By compelling the disturbers of the public peace to submit +to the control of the government, and to cease their meddling and +wanton invasion of the security and property of their brothers +and neighbors, the question of slavery would soon take care of +itself. A single generation would, probably, see it confined in a +great measure to the extreme Southern and Southwestern States; +for, under the present emigration from Europe, it cannot be long +before the upper counties of even the Carolinas and Georgia will +make the discovery that the introduction of a single white man +will be really of more importance to them than that of a dozen +negroes. Could Virginia be made to see her true interests in this +behalf, the glory of the Old Dominion would speedily revive, and +her fine population of gentlemen would shortly take its place +again where it so properly belongs, in the foremost ranks of the +nation. We require an exchange with that quarter of the country, +for we could give that which she greatly needs, and receive in +exchange that which would probably not a little benefit +ourselves. Puritanism, most especially when it breaks out of +bonds by the process of emigration, does not always produce the +most acceptable fruits; while, on the other hand, the descendants +of the Cavaliers might obtain homely lessons, of great practical +benefit, from the utilitarian spirit of the whole North. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of New York, by James Fenimore Cooper + |